I Returned as a God - Chapter 22

 

[Translator – Rainypup]

 

Chapter 22 – Song Eun-young (2)

 

At my shout, Kang Hyun-seung looked at me in confusion.

The egg was essential for Merit Points, so losing it would deduct a large number of points.

But right now, that wasn’t important.

The egg Kang Hyun-seung was hugging shone with a black light.

Kang Hyun-seung was standing the furthest away from the group.

‘Too late!’

The moment I thought we would either die or get hurt, Kim Yoo-han stole the egg from Kang Hyun-seung’s arms.

“Hey, what do you think you’re—”

Kim Yoo-han, who had taken the egg, was quite strong. He pushed Kang Hyun-seung, who was trying to get the egg back, away and threw the egg as hard as he could.

Instead of spewing blood when it burst, black slime flowed. The slime then gathered itself together and shot towards the two people.

Wind shot from the tip of a sword and scattered the black slime.

Kim Yoo-han and Kang Hyun-seung retreated together.

As the ground corroded wherever the slime fell, a mysterious mist covered their surroundings.

Joining the group, I spoke.

“Let’s take it down.”

“H-How can we take something like that down!”

“That’s right!”

Ahn Joo-hye, who had taken a few steps back, agreed with Kang Hyun-seung.

“Then do you want to die here?”

“That’s…”

Ahn Joo-hye looked here and there, refusing to make eye contact. It would be one thing if it were a wide-field dungeon, but the topography of the Giant Ant Cave was limited.

Even if they did run away, they didn’t know when a rescue team would come for them.

Ahn Joo-hye was not oblivious to this fact.

“What do you want to do?”

Min Seong-taek asked while warily eyeing the corrupted entity as he lifted his shield.

“Buy me some time.”

Since I couldn’t be bothered to speak politely to everyone, I decided to just speak casually. Min Seong-taek didn’t pay much attention to my attitude. Instead, he asked about my plan.

“How much time do you need?”

“2 to 3 seconds is enough.”

“Do you think I can last 2 to 3 seconds against that thing?”

“If you do well.”

The power of a corrupted entity depended on the resentment of its medium.

“You have a plan, right?”

Instead of answering verbally, I nodded.

Although it was small when compared to a corrupted entity that could destroy a continent, corrupted entities were, in general, still quite powerful.

I didn’t know why a normal monster suddenly changed into one, but figuring that out could wait until we got out of here.

A dungeon was quite an uncomfortable place for many reasons.

I wasn’t sure about Kim Yoo-han, but if the three of us went up against it together, we could probably earn 10 seconds.

Anything was fine as long as we stopped it from moving.

“Got it. Let’s try.”

“We’ll die either way.”

Kang Hyun-seung also lifted his weapon. Ahn Joo-hye didn’t look happy, but it still seemed like she was going to participate.

“Hey, you help, too.”

“I know.”

Min Seong-taek forced Kim Yoo-han to join. Kim Yoo-han unclipped the sword he had sheathed at his side.

Kim Yoo-han hadn’t unsheathed his sword until now. Did he not do so because he thought he was the best and didn’t need it? Was it a case of 8th-grade syndrome?

Hmm… Anyway, there were plenty of weird people in the world.

“Okay, let’s go!”

At Min Seung-taek’s signal, the four of them dashed toward the black corrupted entity.

Kang Hyun-seung shot arrows.

The arrows silently shot through the air and pierced the corrupted entity’s body.

Black slime rose from its body and swallowed the arrows. It didn’t look like it had caused any damage.

“Ack, what the hell?”

The skin from where the arrow had been swallowed split open and a sharp, spear-like object flew out.

Kim Yoo-han swung his sheathed sword around and blocked the attack.

Rather than being skilled, he seemed to just swing foolishly with a lot of strength. I was curious about just how strong one had to be to do something like that.

‘Did that guy only invest in his Strength stat or something?’

Were all his other stats D except his Strength?

Though his Stamina and Agility were pretty good, too.

Due to the assistance of Kim Yoo-han, Kang Hyun-seung started shooting again.

‘But he seems pretty familiar.’

Actually, I had felt that way since I first saw Kim Yoo-han.

I couldn’t tell for certain because of his very odd fashion sense, but something about him was familiar.

Kang Hyun-seung seemed surprised that Kim Yoo-han, who was the porter, was good at fighting.

He seemed to know that he wasn’t in a position to discriminate as he quickly adapted.

The corrupted entity acted weirdly.

It stretched vertically and opened up like a Pokeball.

White teeth could be seen in its open mouth. It couldn’t be considered either a Queen Ant or an ordinary monster any longer.

From within its mouth, black hands stretched out. Everyone frowned at the sight of its bizarre form.

It swelled up as it was filled with air. 

Its skin was covered in hundreds of sharp spikes which shot out in every direction.

When Kim Yoo-han swung his sword, wind blew and scattered the spikes away.

‘That skill…’

Since he didn’t unsheathe his sword, I couldn’t be certain, but what he just did was quite similar to Wind Fang, one of my skills.

Unlike Kim Yoo-han, who had safely blocked all the spikes, Min Seung-taek struggled to do so.

One of the spikes had pierced through his shield and made its way into his shoulder.

He was bleeding a little, but fortunately, it didn’t seem to be serious.

“Do you know how much this shield cost?!”

Min Seung-taek lifted his shield up and dashed forward.

The hands around the open mouth stretched toward Min Seung-taek.

Chains of light appeared from the shield. 

Usually, Tankers were connected to gods related to protection.

The chains that appeared from the shield bound the corrupted body of the Queen Ant.

I realized that the moment Min Seung-taek moved was the moment I had to move as well.

[Trying to enter the ‘Advent’ state.]

Black lightning struck above my head.

I couldn’t even last a minute when using the 3rd stage.

I was sure I wouldn’t last a few seconds if I used ‘Advent’, which allowed me to temporarily make use of a god’s power. 

Power filled me to the point I felt I was going to burst.

The chains holding down the corrupted entity started to break. As Min Seong-taek flew away, I dashed forward.

The corrupted entity seemed to have spotted me as it opened its mouth. I swung my sword at the mouth that was disgustingly wide open.

The light that was concentrated on the sword pierced through the corrupted entity.

[You are…]

 

 

[Translator – Rainypup]

 

I had to stab my sword into the ground as I could barely stand.

It seemed like Kang Hyun-seung and Min Seong-taek had lost consciousness due to the Spiritual Residue.

Ahn Joo-hye, who was the least injured, approached me.

“Are you alright?”

I nodded as I tried to get my breathing under control.

I thought it was over, but the corrupted entity on the floor suddenly wiggled.

The corrupted entity seemed to have possessed the Queen Ant’s egg.

The corrupted entity that was practically divided in two shot towards Ahn Joo-hye.

Pushing Ahn Joo-hye aside, I grabbed my sword.

I seemed to have used too much strength a while ago as my arm lost all strength all of a sudden.

Just as I thought I was in danger, Kim Yoo-han kicked the corrupted entity.

The corrupted entity which had been kicked far away split in half yet again and headed for Kim Yoo-han. 

Kim Yoo-han unsheathed his sword and swung it. The diagonal slash neatly cut through the two corrupted entites.

The impact of the swing not only cut through the corrupted entities but also left a mark on the wall of the cave. 

‘That guy is really…’

He really wasn’t an ordinary D-rank hunter.

Rankings were pretty loosely defined in many ways.

It was a bit more strict when it came to A-ranks and S-ranks, but in the ranks below, one just had to meet the criteria set by the association.

So it was quite possible that a hunter with S-rank talent could control their strength and get a rating of D.

‘But people usually don’t do that.’

Newly Awakened folks were too busy showing off during the Rank Evaluation.

Unless they had some unspeakable circumstances, no one was stupid enough to do such a thing.

‘They’re too similar.’

I spit out the blood filling my mouth.

A subtle atmosphere filled the air around me and Kim Yoo-han.

I didn’t know what Kim Yoo-han’s circumstances were, but it was true that if he were not here, things would have gone very differently.

“Thanks for the he— “

CLANG!

“What the hell are you doing?!”

Kim Yoo-han suddenly ran over and swung his sword.

I hurriedly blocked Kim Yoo-han’s attack. 

‘Wow, I thought I was going to piss myself.’

“What the hell?!”

I blocked Kim Yoo-han’s attack with my sheathed sword.

‘But why the hell is this guy so strong!’

“What?”

“What do you mean what! What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

“God.”

“Huh?”

“Who is the god you are worshiping?”

I continued to fight against Kim Yoo-han. I thought I was going to die from the pain of my injuries, but the other guy didn’t seem like he was going to let things go.

The sign of the attack that had previously destroyed the corrupted entity in a single slash remained the same.

“That’s…”

Wait, could I say this?

I currently possessed the body of a human but also had the authority of a god.

In addition, the god Soter had only just entered the field.

In a situation where I wasn’t sure if I was properly participating, I couldn’t just same the name.

“Even if I tell you, you won’t know who he is.”

In the Aria Guild, there were many hunters who were affiliated with less common gods.

In fact, A majority of the members were affiliated with gods one wouldn’t have ever heard of before.

Since people respected others’ choices in who they were affiliated with, it was considered rude to ask about other people’s gods.

Of course, this only applied to those in the Aria Guild.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“I don’t want to tell you, alright?”

‘Scram!’

Ducking down, I parried the sword and took a few steps back.

I thought it was over, but Kim Yoo-han dashed towards me again.

Kim Yoo-han’s fist headed for my stomach. He was strong, and I was already confused due to my internal injuries.

‘Did he hit my abdomen?’

Even though I looked like shit, I was pretty good at enduring pain. I held onto my consciousness, unsheathed my sword, and held it to Kim Yoo-han’s neck.

“Oh, dear.”

Kim Yoo-han parried my sword with a dagger.

‘I forgot that bastard had a lot of weapons on him.’

Glaring at me, Kim Yoo-han loosened his grip on the dagger. The dagger fell to the floor as my sword headed for Kim Yoo-han.

In the next moment, I couldn’t see Kim Yoo-han and my vision shook.

“Damn.”

Having fallen to the floor, I opened my eyes. It seemed like I had lost consciousness for a couple of seconds. 

A drop of water fell from the ceiling.

I was trying to sit up despite my body’s vehement protests when suddenly, a sword appeared near me. It was my sword at that.

‘When did he pick it up? He’s pretty quick.’

The blade fell to my chest. His gaze was quite cold.

This guy was serious.

“I’ll ask again. What is the name of the god you worship?”

“If I don’t tell you?”

“Do you know about the 100 ways you can torture a human?”

“Vector.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you learn about evaporation and vector while in school? That vector, you bastard.”

Leaving Kim Yoo-han confused, I tried to look for a chance to stand up. But there wasn’t one. The guy was obscenely careful.

“There’s no way that such a god…”

“There is. And what are you two doing?”

The one who got between me and Kim Yoo-han was none other than Ahn Joo-hye. Unlike the two who were unconscious, Ahn Joo-hye had been watching this unbelievable situation.

But was there really a god named Vector? I just said whatever came to mind.