The ladybug dropped almost vertically toward Yonghoon.
Yonghoon tore off the strap across his chest. With that, the spears strapped to his back fell away. It had been the cord tying them together.
He grabbed two of the spears, one in each hand, and stared at the falling ladybug.
He had to strike the exact spot. If he missed even slightly, he’d be crushed to death.
He aimed the spears precisely at the falling monster and infused them with his Dimensional Power.
The spears began to glow.
The ladybug monster crashed down on Yonghoon.
Boom!
With a loud crash, the monster hit the ground, sending dust flying. Everyone turned pale at the sight of the monster crushing Yonghoon.
Then they all rushed toward the monster. There was still a chance he might be alive.
But there was no sign of Yonghoon around the monster. He was clearly pinned beneath it.
Everyone stood frozen, their faces pale, unable to move.
Then it happened.
Green fluid began to seep out from beneath the monster. It was the monster’s blood.
“No way?”
There was a chance Yonghoon was still alive.
Sunhee thought of something she could do. Yonghoon had told her to wait for his signal, but this was an emergency.
Sunhee immediately jumped onto the monster. With her enhanced legs, she easily leapt onto its body.
“Kuaaagh!”
The monster, recovering from the initial shock, began to scream.
The pain rising from its lower belly was the issue.
But the ladybug couldn’t move. Its leg injuries and the spear lodged in its abdomen were preventing it.
The monster flailed its legs in all directions in a frenzy.
‘For insect-type monsters, it was the lower belly, right?’
Sitting on the monster’s back, she recalled what Yonghoon had told her.
She placed her hand on the monster’s back. She could feel the hard shell beneath her palm.
She gripped a protruding spike on its back tightly and pushed her Dimensional Power into the monster’s body.
Following Sunhee, Kangwoo regained consciousness.
The moment he saw Sunhee on top of the monster with her hand pressed against it, he remembered what the rest of them had to do.
It was something Yonghoon always emphasized.
“We have to draw the monster’s attention!”
The others snapped back to their senses at Kangwoo’s words.
They had to take down the monster to help Yonghoon.
The group all charged at the monster and unleashed attacks on its body.
The ladybug was completely disoriented.
The terrifying energy digging into its body from its back, the pain in its belly, and the impact all over its body were enough to shatter the monster’s mind.
Ultimately, the monster acted on instinct. It released gas.
Boom!
The gas blasted away the people attacking nearby.
The monster shot up into the sky.
And as it soared upward, the light flowing through its body began to dim. Its Dimensional Core had begun to become corrupted.
‘It worked!’
Sunhee could feel that she had corrupted the monster’s Dimensional Core.
But the joy was short-lived. She felt all the energy drain from her body.
‘Last time’s hunt was fine, though?’
Back when she was F-Rank, she still had energy left.
But this time, it was a monster of the same rank. There was no way she’d have any Dimensional Power left.
She lost consciousness atop the monster.
And she rolled off its back. She began to fall from a height of 20 meters.
“Kyaaah!”
The people scrambling on the ground finally snapped out of it.
As they searched for the monster, they saw Sunhee falling from it. Jimin screamed at the top of her lungs when she saw her.
At that moment, a black figure shot out from beneath the monster toward Sunhee.
It was Yonghoon.
Yonghoon had crossed the spears into an X and lodged them into the monster, lying beneath its belly.
The crossed spears, placed between the monster’s middle and rear legs, had formed a support that gave Yonghoon space to survive.
Yonghoon had planned to use the monster’s weight and momentum to drive the spears into its relatively weak belly- and he had succeeded brilliantly.
Of course, if he hadn’t enhanced the spears with Dimensional Power, it wouldn’t have worked.
It was something he’d done while risking his life as the youngest member of the team in the other world. He never thought he’d have to do it again, but the result wasn’t bad.
But he couldn’t avoid the aftershock- blood was trickling from his mouth as he threw himself toward Sunhee.
Yonghoon managed to catch the falling Sunhee just in time.
But they were still 20 meters in the air.
“Damn it!”
Sunhee was too competent. And she wasn’t even his subordinate.
Yonghoon had thought the monster would leap at least once more. He had planned to escape then and finish it on the next landing.
He hadn’t expected Sunhee to corrupt the Dimensional Core right away.
But Sunhee had acted on her own, ignoring his instructions.
She hadn’t shared her plan, afraid others would object- and that had led to this situation.
Falling from this height, there was no way they’d be okay.
Yonghoon braced for injury.
He turned his back and held Sunhee tightly as they fell.
Yonghoon and Sunhee plummeted downward.
Then it happened.
He heard the flapping of insect wings above his head.
Buaaaah!
Yonghoon looked up, his face grim. The ladybug monster was diving headfirst after them.
Its eyes, corrupted by the Dimensional Core, were locked onto Sunhee. It was determined to kill her even in its final moments.
At this rate, they’d be crushed by the monster.
Yonghoon’s mind raced furiously.
He turned his head and looked down. Only 10 meters left- it was now or never.
Yonghoon decided to make one last attempt, whether it worked or not.
He focused on the ground. The space began to ripple.
“Open!”
Yonghoon poured his Dimensional Power toward the ground.
As Yonghoon, holding Sunhee, touched the ground, the ladybug monster crashed down on top of them.
Boom!
With a tremendous explosion, the bug-like monster collided with the ground. Green blood splattered everywhere, and its body was crushed.
Its Dimensional Core had been corrupted, leaving it no way to absorb the impact. And since it had fallen headfirst, it was partially embedded in the ground.
Amid the chaos, a trail of dust rose straight behind the monster.
The people rushed toward the monster in shock. They were all in a daze- heart-pounding events had been happening nonstop.
They frantically searched around the monster. Thankfully, this time they found Yonghoon and Sunhee.
They were lying about 20 meters away from the monster. Yonghoon was still holding Sunhee tightly, and she was still unconscious.
Everyone was confused.
The position of Yonghoon and Sunhee was strange, and the long trail on the ground from the monster to where they lay was even stranger.
It looked like Yonghoon had held Sunhee and slid across the ground on his back from the monster’s location.
Fortunately, both of them were safe. Yonghoon’s back looked drenched in blood, but it seemed to be just surface wounds.
Everyone let out a huge sigh of relief.
Sunhee had already used up all her Dimensional Power and stamina and had fainted, and Yonghoon had no strength left in his body, but he was barely hanging on.
He recalled what had just happened.
Yonghoon had used all his remaining Dimensional Power in the final moment to open a space.
Until now, the largest he had ever managed to open was barely the size of a small book.
He had always trained in a way that used the least amount of Dimensional Power-so he could perform multiple space-crossing attacks.
But just now, he had expanded the entrance as large as he possibly could.
And the moment he hit the ground, he succeeded in creating a space tunnel that both he and Sunhee could pass through.
He and Sunhee entered the hole and popped out of the exit right next to it. The exit was not far from the entry point, but it was in a different direction.
He had entered the hole vertically but emerged from a horizontally formed one. Because there was no time, the hole had formed flush with the ground, and he ended up sliding out across the floor.
Still, they survived somehow.
He blamed himself. He realized he had been arrogant, thinking only he understood everything.
He was merely an Awakened who knew a bit more about the monster. He couldn’t predict how others would act.
And since he wasn’t the team leader, he couldn’t expect others to follow his instructions.
Yonghoon resolved to be more careful moving forward.
Seeing that Yonghoon and Sunhee were okay, everyone was relieved.
People were curious how Yonghoon and Sunhee had survived, but Yonghoon brushed it off as luck. Fortunately, his exhausted expression convinced them.
Yonghoon and Sunhee were immediately taken to rest in the minibus, and Kangwoo stayed behind to treat Yonghoon’s back.
The other two busily handled the aftermath.
Team leader Han stepped forward to deal with the people. Jimin, her eyes gleaming, volunteered to help him.
First, team leader Han expressed his gratitude to the soldiers who had been ready to step in if Sunhee contaminated the Dimensional Core.
The soldiers, who had been hiding and guarding the training field, were heavily armed just in case. The group had informed the government official about the hunt and arranged to receive the soldiers’ support before taking down the monster.
The monster had self-destructed, so the soldiers weren’t much help in the end, but they still gave a modest payment to them and their commanding officer.
A little grease was necessary for the future. Seeing this, Jimin pouted.
After a short while, the disposal team arrived.
As soon as they arrived, they grabbed team leader Han and made a fuss.
They said that, aside from the Awakened team from Link System Company, this was the first time an E-Rank had been taken down in Korea.
But the exhausted team leader Han brushed it off and asked for the settlement. They immediately transferred the money to his account.
Team leader Han was a bit surprised by how quickly they handled it and checked the amount on his phone.
150 million won.
When the E-Rank monster appeared, Link System Company had announced they would pay between 100 million and 250 million won for its corpse. The one they had just seen was apparently worth 150 million.
Jimin’s face lit up with joy.
The government had also announced it would pay 100 million won for handling the monster at the training field. In the end, they earned 250 million won from this hunt.
Since Yonghoon had said starting from E-Rank they’d split the earnings fairly, after deducting operating costs, each team member would receive 45 million won.
Jimin clenched her fist. They were almost there. Just a little more effort and they’d make it.
The group decided to take a full week off. It was because of Yonghoon’s injuries and Sunhee’s depleted Dimensional Power.
And on the internet, their team-Team Crazy-had become stars.