My Daughter Is the Final Boss - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

“A crack? Now?”

A siren signals that a crack is opening nearby. Cracks are predicted by a radar before they actually appear.

The predicted rift point is notified to nearby guilds or individual hunters.

Originally, hunters would wait before the crack would open. But this siren also meant it was an emergency.

“No way. An unprecedented crack?”

Sometimes, there are ones that appear without foreshadowing. A type of crack that cannot be detected by any radar.

The probability of its occurrence is extremely low.

But, here an unpredictable crack appeared all of the sudden. Confused, he looked around.

Not a single person could be seen on the sparsely populated street.

“Daddy?”

“It’s okay. It’s okay.”

He felt Seol-ah hugging his legs. He put a hand on Seol-ah’s head and reassured her.

First, he had to find something that could be used as a weapon. All he could see was a broom slanted on a wall.

That was close enough.

He broke the tip of the broom. He was thinking of using the sharp part as a tip of a spear.

He held Seol-ah in one arm and the temporary spear in the other.

“Seol-ah. You have to hold on tight.”

“Yes.”

She was afraid of the siren, so she wrapped her arms around his neck. He immediately started running towards their home.

His mind was confused.

‘Are there unforeseen cracks now? Why?’

Such a thing didn’t happen in the past.

Undetectable cracks are very unlikely to occur in the first place. There are only a handful of cases that have been observed in Korea.

If it had appeared near his house, there would have been a ruckus, and he would remember something like that.

‘No way.’

There is a saying called the butterfly effect.

A butterfly’s flap causes a storm.

If there was one thing that changed now, it was him. In other words, because he changed the future, something was twisted.

However,

‘I didn’t do anything that would cause an unforeseen crack!’

He kept running without even thinking about it. His current body was just like a normal person who had no training.

If he encountered a monster, there is a high probability that it would not end well.

Moreover, he was concerned about Seol-ah in his arms. He wasn’t strong enough to fight while protecting his child.

Crrrr.

A sound similar to ice cracking was heard in the sky.

He urgently came to a stop and looked up. There was a huge crack, as if someone had smashed the air.

‘Damn it!’

He was extremely unlucky.

He turned right away.

The crack widened rapidly. Something squeezed through and came out.

thud!

It fell right in front of him. It was heavy enough to crush the asphalt floor.

The monster looked directly at him.

‘A Cretan Bull.’

With an appearance like a black cow with large, downward-facing horns.

It was a monster named ‘Cretan Bull’, because its appearance resembled a bull.

Its body size is almost the same as that of a compact car, and in fact, if it collides with one, it would be no different than a car accident.

The Cretan Bull let out a hot snort and looked around, then fixed its gaze on him.

‘Keuk.’

This was not a problem that could be solved by running away.

The instantaneous maximum speed of Cretan Bull is 90 km/h. It was a monster as fast as a car on the highway.

His number one priority was Seol-ah’s safety.

‘A place to hide…….’

He found a small gap in between the walls of two buildings. A gap that only a small child could barely fit in.

While watching the Cretan Bull, he slowly lowered Seol-ah.

“Seol-ah. Listen to your dad.”

She seemed to have seen the monster. Her eyes were wet as if she were about to burst into tears.

Seol-ah’s small body was shivering with fear. Unfortunately, there was no time to comfort her.

He explained calmly, covering the Cretan bull with his body so that Seol-ah could not see it.

“Go inside that road. You can’t come out until Dad tells you to do so. Understand?”

Seol-ah couldn’t answer and barely nodded her head.

When he pushed her back a little, she went right through the cracks of the building as he requested.

She kept looking back at him to check if he was okay.

“Huu.”

He breathed in.

The siren sound indicates that the crack management headquarters detected it.

Nearby guilds or solo hunters would have been contacted immediately. The time it takes them to arrive will be 5 minutes at earliest, no matter how short it is.

‘If I make a mistake, will I die?’

The Cretan Bull kept its gaze fixed on Seo-jun and scratched the ground with his front paws.

With its head slightly down and horns in front, it seemed like it was going to rush forward without hesitation.

He has to capture its attention, and stall until support arrives at the same time.

In the meantime, Seol-ah could be harmed. He held the whimsy wooden spear in front of him.

Purneung!

The bull snorted and slammed the ground.

A monster weighing nearly 1,500 kg rushed at him with high speed. The pressure he felt was indescribably strong.

But, he had to persevere.

“Dad…….”

He heard Seol-ah calling him with a low voice. He couldn’t let his child experience another misfortune.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Cretan bull ran with enough force to smash the ground. Instinct struck within him and told him to run away.

However, he ran the opposite way, right towards the bull.

Kwaaang!

The Cretan bull just slammed into him.

All the air in his lungs escaped, and in an instant, his vision turned white.

“Ugh…..!”

It was enough of a shock that he would have died instantly if he had been a normal person, but he was a hunter anyway.

With as much mana as he used to protect his body, he was able to survive a hit like that at least once.

Yet, it was difficult to come to terms with the great pain that followed.

‘This isn’t enough!’

He was able to survive with his mental strength. He forcefully inhaled and held it in.

The Cretan bull ran straight at him yet again. They had a habit of crushing their horn-fixed prey against walls.

Boom! Boom!

His body was pushed back quickly.

He turned the temporary spear he was holding upside down as the bull slammed into him.

Monsters emerging from rifts, like hunters, have their skins covered with mana. Existing firearms wouldn’t work, but a spear made by breaking a broom like this could.

But there was no way he could pierce through the tough hide of a Cretan bull.

“Ugh!”

His body heaved up and down helplessly. If he delays too much, he’ll hit the wall as it is and get crushed.

He had to get his act together. He held the spear and concentrated all his nerves.

‘I am not prey…….’

This is the weak point of all animals. His target is the Cretan bull’s eye.

In the midst of trembling, he had to insert the spear exactly into that little point.

For a moment, he felt as if time was passing slowly.

‘I’m a hunter!’

He threw the spear down into its eye.

Kwag!

Clear resistance was felt in his hands. But it went through properly. In the sudden blow, the Cretan bull raised his head.

Bang!

His body went straight to the back of the Cretan bull. Falling on the asphalt road, he was able to stop after a few laps.

Scrappeee!

The bull, with a spear in its left eye, jumped around.

It exhaled in excruciating pain and was barely able to get up.

Kwang!

He felt like he was hit by a car, and then he flew off and hit the floor. His body wasn’t normal, but neither was the Cretan bulls’.

It seemed like the Cretan bull was banging its head against the wall, apparently in pain.

Crash!

The bull banged his head against one wall after another.

The spear stuck in his eye was broken. The monster who shook its head from side to side, turned towards him and roared.

Its sole remaining eye showed hostility and anger.

‘Are you coming again?’

It took a few moments, but it seemed to recover sooner than expected.

This time, he had no weapon, and it was difficult to control his mana properly.

‘Can I avoid it?’

No matter how much damage he does, it will immediately change direction and charge.

It didn’t matter what he thought, it seemed like there was no way.

He didn’t know if he had trained to some extent in this time period. But now he’s not much different from the general public.

‘Think……!’

The bull kicked off the ground again and rushed forward.

His thoughts accelerated. He had injured its left eye. In other words, he had to run to the left side, its blind spot.

But at that moment,

“Ah?”

The strength in his legs loosened, and he collapsed.

The problem was that he tried to land awkwardly as he fell on the road earlier. He didn’t have strength because he sprained his ankle.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

He saw the cretan bull rushing angrily. He could feel it in his gut, this time was really going to kill him.

Crack!

At that moment, something unexpected happened.

He didn’t know if he saw wrong. In an instant, the cretan bulls’ forelegs were bent sideways.

Crashh!

The beast that lost its balance turned sideways. The cretan bull, which hit the ground made of asphalt, stopped completely.

Even a moment later, and he’d definitely be dead from it.

‘This……’

If he had been an ordinary person, he might not have known. But he had been a hunter on the front lines for over 10 years.

So he knew.

‘Magic?’

It was a magic that was used very naturally.

There was no time to think about the answer to that question. He could feel a lot of movement behind him.

“A Cretan bull! There are civilians!”

“Protection first!”

The hunters in uniform came in front of him in unison. Hunters with the Korean swords on one side and the other were hunters from the Goryeo swords.

They would easily be able to hunt a cretan bull.

Tension subdued, and his vision blurred. Power drained from his shattered body.

A hunter from the Goryeo sword looked at him.

“You. Are you okay?”

“My kid……”

The first thing he’s worried about was Seol-ah, who was alone in the middle of two buildings.

In his blurring vision, he saw someone running towards him.

“Daddy!”

Seol-ah looked like she was about to cry. She sat down in front of him and buried her face in his chest.

Perhaps it wasn’t scary, but she shivered. He barely raised his hand and patted Seol-ah’s back.

Then, he lost consciousness.

*         *         *

Yoo Eun-hye, who answered the phone, felt her heart sink for the first time.

She got in a taxi and rushed to the hospital.

Seol-ah, who was in the lobby, hugged Eun-hye. Eun-hye hugged her in return, and rubbed her back as if to reassure her.

“Seol-ah, are you okay?”

“Yes. I’m fine.……”

“Where is Seo-jun?”

Seol-ah did not answer and took Eun-hye’s hand with a somber expression.

Then, after leading her through the hallway, they entered a hospital room. Eun-hye saw Seo-jun Lee lying on the bed.

“S-Seo-jun.”

Yoo Eun-hye could not continue her words.

He had casts on his arms and legs, and bandages on his head and stomach. The IV on the side of the bed was flowing.

Yoo Eun-hye’s lips trembled in front of Seo-jun, who’s sleeping as if he were a corpse.

“Dad was trying to protect Seol-ah.……”

Seol-ah murmured in a low voice.

Eun-hye had been informed of the approximate situation after hearing from the Goryeo Hunters Office.

An unforeseen crack occurred, and Seo-jun Lee was said to have fought alone to protect Seol-ah.

Eun-hye, who sat down on the chair next to the bed, gloomily looked at Seo-jun.

At that moment, Seo-jun Lee opened his eyes.

“Whoa!”

“Kyaaa!”

Eun-hye’s scream resounded in the hospital room. Seo-jun, who raised his upper body, grinned.

Eun-hye was startled and stuttered.

“You, you, you!”

“Surprise. Daughter, High five.”

“High five!”

Yoo Eun-hye was emotional at Seo-jun Lee’s natural response. She was really worried.

Seo-jun was playing with Seol-ah, calling it a successful operation.

Tears welled up in the corners of Eun-hye’s eyes. Then, it was Seo-jun Lee who got flustered.

“Hey, are you crying?”

“Yes! You bastard!”

A shriek echoed through the hospital room. It was a very snappy sound.