Episode 4[ You have been afflicted with the status abnormality, “Frostbite.” ][ Your body will slow, and your attack accuracy will decrease. ][ If “Frostbite” persists, it may lead to death. ]
It was a spell powerful enough to fill everyone’s faces with shock.
And that spell swallowed even Jeong Seoheun, a fire-type Hunter.
“Urgh!”[ Passive skill, “Flame Aura,” activates. ]
The feeling that he had survived ruled his body—but only for a moment.[ The enraged frost giant shaman offers a sacrifice! ][ Powerful cold pierces through “Flame Aura.” ][ You have been afflicted with the status abnormality, “Frostbite.” ][ If “Frostbite” persists, it may lead to death. ]
In an instant, his body froze over.
Barely managing to move, Jeong Seoheun hid behind cover and pulled out a frost-resistance potion with trembling hands.
“Hoo, hoo….”
The blizzard was still raging. After briefly peeking at the situation, he clenched his teeth and lowered his head again.‘To think it can even pierce through Flame Aura.’It was fortunate he had a frost-resistance potion. Tossing aside the empty potion bottle, he clutched his head.
The B-rank frost-resistance potion they had been issued lasted for one minute.
Since each person had received ten bottles, he could hold out for another ten minutes.
That was enough distance to get out of the coniferous forest and reach the snowy plain.‘From there, I just have to run without looking back.’Jeong Seoheun had kept a close eye on the frost giants while fleeing from them.
Their strength seemed to have increased along with their size, but in exchange, their speed had slowed.
He could shake them off easily enough. Just as Jeong Seoheun reached that conclusion and was about to swing his arm—
“Mr. Jeong Seoheun.”
“?!”
“Take this.”
Han Chasu, who had been hiding behind a nearby tree, rolled something toward him.
“What is this?”
“It’s a reagent I brought. I extracted it from a flame golem… Anyway, it should help you hold out.”
As if it was hard to speak at length, Han Chasu shook his head. His cheeks had gone pale in the fierce wind.
Jeong Seoheun’s eyes flashed as he picked up the red reagent bottle. The essence of a flame golem. For him, a fire-type Hunter, it was exactly what he needed.
Jeong Seoheun took the reagent without hesitation.
“Thank you.”
Han Chasu blinked as if to say, Why thank me for that? Then, perhaps embarrassed, he turned away and handed something else to another person.
“What is this?”
“It’s good for you if you drink it. Oh, and don’t skimp on the frost-resistance potions.”
From the voice, it seemed to be Baek Seon.
Come to think of it, the two of them had looked rather close. Thinking it strange, Jeong Seoheun drank the reagent.
Whoooosh—
The blizzard gradually began to die down.
Glaring at the frost giants that had begun tightening their encirclement, Jeong Seoheun quickly flicked his left hand.
Boom—!
An intense explosion erupted along with a surge of flames.
The necks of dozens of frost giants snapped toward it. Their heavy feet all charged toward one place at once.
Thud, thud, thud—!
“Run!”
At the low shout, filled with force, everyone ran at the same time. It was in the opposite direction from where the explosion had occurred.
And then.
“They run pretty well.”
At the top of an impossibly tall conifer.
After confirming that the people were growing farther away, Han Chasu turned his back.
The giants who had been rummaging through the site of the explosion were glaring this way.
“And the stupid furballs are finally starting to realize they’ve been tricked.”
Then it was time to begin.[ Skill, Poison Crafting (A) ]
The dozen or so reagent bottles in his hand gleamed under the cold sunlight.***Hidden beneath the Shadow Curtain, Han Chasu endured a light dizziness and gripped the reagent bottles.
Red, blue, and yellow reagent bottles.
They had not merely been an excuse to join the support team.
Nor had they been only to deliver the flame golem’s essence to Jeong Seoheun.
“My life is on the line here.”He always had to prepare a fallback plan in case Plan A failed to work properly.
Jeong Seoheun, who had taken the flame golem’s essence, would probably reach the gate entrance safely.
But what if a few frost giants caught up to them?
What if Jeong Seoheun tried to meddle by helping a teammate in danger and got himself killed?‘Absolutely not.’Jeong Iheun, driven mad by his younger brother’s death, would investigate everything that had happened in the dungeon down to the last detail.
If that happened, it was obvious that the shoddy potion he had deliberately made would be discovered.
Even if he had helped Jeong Seoheun inside the dungeon, there was a high chance that all of it would look like hypocrisy to a protagonist who had lost his mind.
So he had to eliminate every possible risk factor.‘I want to quit as soon as possible. Once I’m free, I’ll have to study how to use this body too.’Given “Han Chasu’s” characteristics, assassinating the frost giants would likely go more smoothly than poisoning them.
But right now, it had been exactly only half a day since he had entered this body.‘I can’t get careless and lose my head here.’That was why he had no choice but to keep the B-rank dagger issued by the raid team safely tucked at his waist.
Clicking his tongue in regret, Han Chasu spotted the enraged frost giant shaman.
“Kiiiii—!”
The way it screamed while pointing the head of its staff toward the snowy plain made it look far from merely angry.
Soon, at its gesture, several frost giants knelt and prostrated themselves.‘What is it trying to do?’Han Chasu’s eyes narrowed.
The shaman stabbed the sharp end of its staff into the frozen ground.
Slice.
At the same time, the kneeling frost giants’ heads were severed. Drops of blue blood spread rapidly, drawing a magic circle.[ The enraged frost giant shaman offers a second sacrifice. ][ The enraged frost giant shaman…. ]
The shaman excitedly swung its arms and babbled something.
That was when it happened.
Thwack!
“Kieeek—!”
The head of the shaman, who had been waving its staff toward the sky, burst open with a thud.
Drip.
With an incredulous expression, the shaman felt at its own head.
Along with blood, a bubbling green liquid scorched its palm black.
Han Chasu, who had at some point released the Shadow Curtain, crooked a finger at it.
“Hey, come here.”
Kieeeeeee—!
The shaman’s roar echoed across the snowy plain.***Thud, thud…!
The sight of frost giants, poisoned and turned blue, collapsing like dominoes was spectacular.
“Ha, slow bastards sure have huge HP pools.”
Han Chasu’s face was pale as he looked down at the frost giants lying in rows.
Red blood had frozen over his thick armor. All of it was blood Han Chasu had shed.
Crack!
After crushing the head of a frost giant twitching on the ground underfoot, Han Chasu cast his gaze toward the snowy plain.
A long while had passed since he had killed the shaman and stalled for time by dragging the remaining frost giants around.
Far in the distance, near the gate entrance, the barrier of a defense-type Hunter was faintly visible.
It seemed Jeong Seoheun and the other team members had fortunately taken shelter safely.
“It’s about time they start looking for me…. Cough!”
At the sudden gush of blood, Han Chasu wiped his mouth with an irritated hand.
“Tch, what a pain.”
With cold eyes, Han Chasu looked over his own state. The dried blood caked all over him was unsightly.
The problem had been the skill he had tried using once in front of those nearly dead bastards.[ Warning! ][ A penalty will be imposed for actions that do not match your cover identity. ]
That’s right, a penalty.
What had made Han Chasu bleed like a sickly noble young lady was none other than the penalty from his “cover identity.”
“This world is pointlessly faithful to its settings.”
With a sigh, he trudged toward the snowy plain.
It seemed the “cover identity” imposed restrictions on actions unsuitable for a potion maker.
After all, his body had been fine up until he used Poison Crafting, but the moment he used “Silent Footsteps,” he had suddenly begun coughing up blood.‘It was pretty useful too, since it even hid me like the name suggested and made me faster.’It seemed he wouldn’t be able to use it properly until he threw away his cover identity.
Regretfully pushing through the coniferous forest, Han Chasu’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Crunch, crunch.
Before he knew it, he was in the snowy plain.
A white sigh scattered from Han Chasu’s mouth as he walked across the frozen snowfield.
In the distance, he could see a pale barrier. The fact that he could not see the people inside meant they had likely layered several barriers.
“…….”
Han Chasu quietly watched the barrier growing closer, then drew his dagger.
A potion maker who had been chased by frost giants could hardly be completely uninjured.
The silver blade was raised upside down. In Han Chasu’s indifferent eyes, his wrist, exposed after rolling up his sleeve, was reflected.
That was when it happened.
Woooooo—
“?!”
Far away, beyond the coniferous forest filled with monster corpses.
A dark specter rose to its feet.[ The grudge of the enraged frost giant shaman rises. ][ The grudge of the enraged frost giant shaman searches for the target of its revenge! ]
Having cast off its flesh, it crossed the snowy plain at an unbelievable speed.
The killing intent extending soundlessly from it was enough to make chills crawl over his skin.
Craaaack!
The place where the grudge passed was violently gouged out. A long trail was carved into the frozen snowy plain.
Woooooo—
Han Chasu could see it clearly.
The specter’s hand, rushing forward at an uncontrollable speed, was pointing at one place.
“Where the hell are those eyes of yours looking…!”
Since the grudge’s two eyes were, in fact, empty holes, it was an appropriate thing to say, but cold sweat ran down Han Chasu’s back.
Absurdly enough, the shaman’s grudge was charging toward the barrier.
Even though the one who had killed it was not Jeong Seoheun, but him!
Clenching his teeth, Han Chasu tensed every muscle in his body.