Chapter 226: Episode 226

’Who am I?’

’What am I doing here?’

In the end, I had come to an Alpine ski resort because of Han Yoonjeong’s request for an “after-date.” This place was covered in snow 365 days a year, so the resort stayed open year-round.

We’d come empty-handed, since we could rent all the gear and clothes we needed right at the resort. However—

“This is hard!”

I hadn’t made it far down the slope before I wiped out again.

I had underestimated snowboarding. Keeping my balance was trickier than I thought. Once I started downhill, the speed ramped up too fast, and if I tried to force a stop, I would just flip over and crash.

“Yahoo! Hahahahaha!”

As I lay sprawled in the snow, Han Yoonjeong shot past me on her snowboard. She launched off a kicker, spun several times in midair, then stuck the landing perfectly.

She was having the time of her life. Other people stopped to stare with their mouths agape, breaking into applause when she reached the bottom.

’She’s really having a blast, huh.’

Apparently, one of her techniques involved something like sandboarding. Thanks to that, she could probably ride a snowboard with her eyes closed.

“Sunbae.”

Carving to a stop beside me, Hong Yeon kicked up a spray of snow. Even the way she slid in, scattering snow, looked like a scene straight out of a commercial.

“Are you all right? Should I help you up?”

“No. I can stand on my own.”

Grunting, I pushed myself back to my feet. The moment I stood, the slope made me wobble. I barely managed to steady myself and looked over at her.

“Didn’t you say this was your first time, too? Why are you so good?”

“…Huh? It just kind of worked out.”

’That gifted freak can drop dead.’

At first, she couldn’t even stand properly and kept squealing every time she fell. But after sliding down a few times, she was now carving, doing dynamic turns, and showing off technique that was practically pro-level.

“I didn’t know I could develop a knack for something like this, too.”

…Her ability really was broken beyond belief.

“I will teach you.”

She slid closer to me.

“You control it by shifting your weight like this. Lean right and you go right, lean left and you go left.”

She demonstrated a few times as she glided down. I watched her movements, then spoke.

“Okay, got it.”

I released the edge and let myself go down the slope. Even the slightest push sent the board rocketing downhill. The problem was that this run was way too steep.

In fact, this was where experts came to practice for competitions. Beginners were supposed to go to a different resort.

’Well, it can’t be helped.’

We could have gone to another resort, but I was the one who had picked this place.

Something was about to happen here.

I’m the type to squeeze every last drop of benefit out of a situation, so before coming to Switzerland, I had checked in advance for any decent calamities or rift incidents nearby. That was when I learned that the material Eunsol had asked me to get would be dropping in this area.

Two birds with one stone. I could enjoy some winter sports and secure a rare material at the same time.

Honestly, when Han Yoonjeong had casually mentioned wanting to go to the Alps, I had been cheering on the inside. For this job, my backup alone consisted of two officially certified Rank 2 hunters. Under the pretext of a fun trip, I had brought along both Hong Yeon and the Pharaoh.

“Aaaaah!”

I had been spacing out, and my weight tipped forward, sending me straight toward the safety barrier. I hurriedly twisted the board sideways and hit the brakes, but the reaction sent my body slamming face-first into the snow.

’Ugh, that hurt like hell. Even with pads on, it hurts.’

Snowboarding was tougher than monster hunting.

“Sunbae! Are you okay?”

“Idiot, you wiped out again?”

They both slid down gracefully and stopped on either side of me. Then, at the same time, they each held out an arm.

’Huh?’

What was with this sudden mood?

Both of them were reaching out to me, not even glancing at each other, knees bent as if urging me to take their hands.

I grabbed both of their arms at once. As I pulled myself up, I gathered mana in an instant and yanked hard.

“Aah!”

“Eek!”

They both toppled over. Dusting my hands off, I flashed a mischievous grin.

“Like hell I’m letting you two be the only ones having fun.”

“You wanna die?”

“Sunbae!”

The way they both snapped at me in unison from where they had fallen was hilarious. Leaving them there, I pushed off and started down again.

As I rode, I checked the time. It was almost time. When I looked up at the sky, the flow of mana was clearly off. The swirling currents were converging on a single point. That was where the anomaly, the “rift,” would open.

“It’s here.”

Right on cue, a massive, unidentified body dropped down behind the resort, and a thunderous impact shook the entire area.

“Whoa!”

“W-What the hell?”

People on skis started panicking, looking around in confusion. I stopped my board on a relatively flat section.

“Ugh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

They both slid down to my side. As she unstrapped her board, Han Yoonjeong grumbled, “We came all the way out here and it’s still work?”

Beyond the resort, I saw two gigantic arms rising into the air.

Rumble!

When it slammed its arms down once, the whole resort shuddered and a massive avalanche began to roar down the mountain. Screams erupted from every direction as people started to flee.

—Emergency, emergency! A monster has breached the area! All guests, please proceed quickly to the designated shelters!

The evacuation announcement blared over the speakers with impressive speed. At the same time, the hunters stationed at the resort revealed themselves.

Judging by a quick glance, they were around official Rank 5. The resort had clearly done everything it reasonably could, but there was no way they could handle a threat like that.

“The avalanche is getting faster and faster!”

“It’s a rift incident. There’ll be a monster behind it! We have to take that thing out first!”

Even as the on-site hunter team argued, the avalanche kept accelerating. At this rate, everyone would be swept up and carried all the way down the mountain. Surviving that would be a miracle.

“All right, Pharaoh?”

I looked at the grumbling Han Yoonjeong and smiled.

“Defense is on you.”

“Ugh, what a way to spend my first vacation in forever.”

She raised both arms. The mischievous tomboy was gone; in her place stood the cold ruler of Egypt.

“This sucks.”

Wooooooom!

Mana in the air began to swirl violently.

Among all Unique Abilities, source-mana types were the rarest, and among those, Gravediggers possessed the power to transform mana into sand. And the Pharaoh, as the leader of the Gravediggers, was a specialist among specialists in that ability.

’She really is something else.’

In front of the white avalanche sweeping down to swallow everything, yellow sand rose in thick clouds, turning the world hazy.

With a sharp snap of her slender arm—

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The descending avalanche and the rising sandstorm crashed into each other head-on. Snow and sand tangled together and exploded upward like waves, soaring into the sky. It was a spectacle unlike anything else in the world.

Here in the grand Alps, she was holding back a massive avalanche with nothing more than a raised arm.

“W-Who is that?”

“Reinforcements?”

The hunter team ran toward us. Seeing us in ski gear, they seemed unsure whether we were just guests or fellow hunters.

“Thank you for the support! M-May I ask your affiliation…?”

“Official Rank 2, Kim Yusin. From here on out, we’ll take command.”

The moment I identified myself, the hunters straightened up and snapped to attention with crisp salutes.

“Yes, sir! Just give the order!”

’So this is what it feels like.’

The Hunter Association granted official Rank 2 hunters legal command authority. Just as the Association President had said, anywhere in the world, on any battlefield, if there was a Rank 2 hunter present, that person was in charge.

“Focus on guiding the guests to safety and blocking any stray monsters that make it into the resort. This might not be the only monster involved.”

“Understood!”

They immediately took off to lead the evacuation.

“Hey, my arms hurt! Hurry up and finish this.”

Still holding back the avalanche, Han Yoonjeong complained.

“I will take point.”

Drawing her sword from her subspace pouch, Hong Yeon stepped forward.

“I’ll support you.”

“I would appreciate that.”

With a powerful stomp, she shattered the ground beneath her and rocketed ahead. I followed right behind her.

She aimed for a section where the avalanche was slightly weaker, skirting the clash zone where snow and sand were colliding under Han Yoonjeong’s control. The avalanche kept coming in waves—a second, a third, and more.

“Hup!”

She swung her sword once. A red line slashed across the massive wall of snow, and it collapsed from the middle. Wrapped in crimson light, she slipped through the gap.

’How many waves is this?’

Just with Deva’s Eye, I could count at least seven waves of the avalanche rolling down. The monster seemed intent on shaking every last bit of snow off the Alps.

But Hong Yeon, charging ahead, was no slouch either. She was cutting down each wave as it came and sprinting forward.

Then, within the fifth wave, I sensed several strange mana signatures.

“Hong Yeon! Watch out!”

The moment her sword sliced through the wave, white-furred monsters burst out from within the snow. One of them grabbed her and slammed her into the ground.

“Ugh!”

With both arms pinned, she found a gaping maw lunging for her face.

Her foot, wrapped in crimson light, drove up into the monster’s jaw, shattering its jawbone completely.

Freed, she planted her hands on the ground and kicked another charging monster square in the face. It screamed as it flew back, and she spun her body, swinging her arm.

Five red streaks, like the claws of a beast, tore through the air and ripped the monsters apart. Then she grabbed the sword buried in the ground and swept it sideways. The body of another charging monster split cleanly in half and fell.

“…!”

But she couldn’t do anything about the incoming sixth wave. It swallowed her up and sent her tumbling.

“Honestly.”

She opened her tightly shut eyes at the sound of my voice. I had caught her, and I was grinning.

“S-Sunbae!”

“You really are high-maintenance. Hold on tight.”

<Devastar>

Still holding her, I activated Devastar on my left foot.

My field of vision expanded in an instant, and with that expansion came a tremendous sense of speed before everything snapped back to normal. By then, we had already blasted through the seventh wave.

Having broken through the entire avalanche, I finally had a clear view of the monster that had come through the rift.

“We’re here!”

“Yes!”

I hurled her with all my strength. Wrapped in crimson mana, she shot forward like a comet straight toward the boss monster.

“Haah.”

Gripping her sword in a proper stance, she closed her eyes and raised her arms. The hulking, white-furred beast swung razor-sharp claws down at her.

<Crimson Dance>

Her body flashed past the monster faster than a beam of light.

And then—

The monster’s body split cleanly in half and crashed to the ground.

Once again, a single strike was all it took.

’One-shotting a Rank 7 monster… Just how strong has she gotten?’

I shook my head. I had been feeling pretty confident after equipping the sixth-order Yusin, but at this rate, it might be impossible to outpace her growth.

“Sunbae! Let’s go together!”

’Well, whatever.’

I laughed and high-fived her as she ran back toward me.

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