༺ Oppurtunity ༻
“Lee Hyun?”
Along with that message, Lee Hyun-a, who had been shaking just moments earlier, suddenly changed.
‘That’s… [Nightmare].’
Instinctively, I thought he was surrounded by magi, but I soon realized I had seen this before.
The S-class skill, [Nightmare].
It could instantly give strength equal to someone they designated as an enemy. In return, a restriction was placed on the caster.
Even I didn’t know what that restriction was, and Lee Hyun-a had always refused to tell me.
“Are you…?”
When it said [An additional error has been added to the world], I recalled it was the same message I had seen the moment before I regressed.
And as a result of that error, Seo-ah also recalled her memories before I regressed.
“…”
But Lee Hyun-a remained silent, perhaps recognizing the gravity of the situation.
As a result of that silence, I couldn’t tell if he had regained his memory or not.
-Swing!
With a flash, he swung her blade. Before he used [Nightmare], it was an ordinary attack, but things had drastically changed.
-Crash!
The inside of the dungeon began to collapse from the damage inflicted by that single strike. That girl, Mane, seemed to be at a loss.
‘Is it working because her skill is S-rank?’
I was able to partially use [Magi Manipulation], so that was likely the reason.
But besides that, what was wrong with her?
‘Why is she so shocked?’
I couldn’t understand her behavior, especially when I thought about it further.
‘She has [Return by Death], so why?’
I wouldn’t be able to remember everything if she regressed because I no longer had [Return by Death], but it didn’t make sense for Mane to be surprised.
If something went wrong, she could just die and adapt.
“…?!”
However, she continued to look increasingly pressed for time. It wasn’t as though she was being overpowered, but rather, she continued to look at her surroundings.
It was as though she was worried the dungeon would collapse from the violent clash between her and Lee Hyun-a.
“No way.”
A thought entered my mind, taking root in my subconscious.
No, I was almost certain I knew the reason why she was being so hesitant.
Almost certain of my theory, I ran toward the fight, worrying that either Seo-ah or Lee Hyun would get hurt.
“I suppose you’re also one of his comrades. Please di-”
Perhaps due to Lee Hyun-a’s other skills being restricted by Mane’s [Skill Nullification], it seemed Mane had the upper hand.
At the very moment she was about to deliver a decisive attack on Lee Hyun’s body, I stepped in.
“I knew it.”
She immediately ceased her attack. The reason was simple.
Because I was also in the vicinity of her attack.
In addition, I could be sure of something else.
-Crunch
“She definitely can’t kill me.”
Because of the opening created by my interference, Lee Hyun-a was able to land a solid hit on Mane.
Now, things are starting to make sense.
“Firstly, you can’t do anything that would even have the slightest possibility of killing me. Secondly, you either can’t regress right now or even if you did regress, this is the ideal scenario you could create.”
“Haha. I’m not sure what you mean by that.”
I didn’t know why, but she was making sure I wouldn’t get hurt at all.
Even when I had used [Magi Manipulation] and fought her, I assumed she was just toying with me, but she was actually making sure not to hurt me by controlling her strength.
She was controlling her strength while fighting with Lee Hyun-a for that same reason.
‘This is better anyway. The information I could’ve gotten from that damned dragon was limited. I don’t think Mane is on the same side as that bastard, but I can probably get more information out of her.’
The situation I thought was dire had changed.
Combined with Lee Hyun-a’s overpowered skill [Nightmare] and the fact that she couldn’t hurt me, we were at an advantage.
If we could take her down, we could get reliable information.
“Hey, Lee Hyun. Can you hang on?”
“…”
The only thing that worried me was the sight of Lee Hyun-a. Perhaps it was due to the restrictions that came with using [Nightmare].
His eyes were unfocused, and he seemed unable to breathe normally, continuing to hyperventilate.
Even so, he gave me the impression that he was still hanging on.
As if demonstrating that, he moved.
“Haha. I never expected such a variable to appear. It’s a shame…”
“Hiii?!”
As if something had gone wrong, Mane had a bitter expression on her face.
At that moment, when Mane dashed toward Ha-eun, Lee Hyun-a intercepted her.
-Clang
She defended against the strike perfectly.
He was still not completely sane, suffering from the cost of her skill, but he had managed to track down Mane and stop Ha-eun from getting hurt.
“Splendid. Shall we keep going?”
“Haa…”
Lee Hyun-a and I began working in tandem to fight against her.
If Lee Hyun-a was in danger, I would step in, and if Seo-ah or Ha-eun seemed to be in danger, Lee Hyun-a would step in.
As long as we maintained this balance, we were at an advantage. I didn’t know how long it would last, but right now, Lee Hyun-a was at least strong enough to match Mane.
“Why…?!”
As if frustrated that things weren’t going her way, Mane’s expression began to distort.
She was continually forced to hold back as I continued to defend against her attacks by running in front of them.
“Don’t you know?! [Return by Death] is a skill that encourages solitude. Nobody remembers anything but yourself. And you can’t be understood by anyone else either.”
“Spouting nonsense again?”
“You should be so much stronger. When you regressed with the last cast of [Return by Death], you should have thrown everything else away! That’s how you had to prepare for the future. Even now, it’s not too late. Kill everyone here right now. If you do that, you can at least have something prepared.”
“That’s enough.”
Was she trying to talk it out because she was unable to make progress?
She was only saying nonsense anyway.
Mane yelled as she exchanged blows with Lee Hyun-a and I, but it was pointless. Lee Hyun-a was barely sane, and I didn’t give a shit.
“Master!”
As we continued fighting, I could hear Ha-eun’s voice as she ran toward me.
“I’ve made it so we can teleport just one time. Should I use it now?!”
“…How? An A-rank skill shouldn’t be able-”
“I’m very talented!”
The situation was already advantageous, but now, it was even more favorable.
Ha-eun wasn’t called talented for nothing.
“Take Seo-ah outside.”
“How about you, Master?”
“I’ll win, so don’t worry.”
After she heard that, Ha-eun seemed to think for a moment.
Realizing that she wouldn’t be of much help in this situation, she took Seo-ah and used her skill to escape.
“Hey, Lee Hyun. Just hang on a bit longer.”
Now that Lee Hyun-a didn’t have to worry about protecting them, we could take Mane down.
I encouraged him to use the last of her strength.
“Fine! If you’re really going to act like this, there’s nothing I can’t do. We’ll meet again! And before that time, you have to kill all your comrades!”
Knowing she had lost, her face contorted as she furiously invoked an explosion.
This time, she didn’t hold back, even for me.
“Fuck.”
Lee Hyun-a and I were thrown against the dungeon’s wall as a result of the shock wave.
And while I had been focused on the incoming explosion, Mane had disappeared.
I had definitely broken something.
“Hey, Lee Hyun, are you okay?”
It was too reckless to chase after Mane right away. Checking up on Lee Hyun-a, who was lying beside me, was the best thing to do.
“Hmm?”
As the skill duration of [Nightmare] ended, the black fog surrounding Lee Hyun’s body began to dissipate, showing his unconscious self.
“What?”
The Lee Hyun-a I had known was a bit petite for a boy, but he had black hair and was certainly a boy.
But now…
“Was he really a girl?”
In the place where Lee Hyun-a should have been, there was a person with blue hair cut in a bob and a woman’s body.
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