Ch.173173. Friends Come First.

Geum Do-hyun received a radio message that the plan had been initiated. The two of them would deliberately stay apart, pretending to be doing something while the other Jaegers would exit the water.

“Let’s move to the opposite side just to be safe.”

“But why are we doing this, Do-hyun? I mean, I’m doing it because you’re paying me… but isn’t this a bit dangerous?”

The Jaeger he hired seemed puzzled, but Geum Do-hyun merely offered a vague excuse.

“It’s just a prank. A prank.”

This was clearly madness. Making someone attack with a real monster while questioning their motives.

Something was definitely off. In that incident at Seoraksan, Do Jong-hyun’s position and actions were too suspicious.

‘And monsters appear on days when Do Jong-hyun is absent.’

Though not conclusive, the rate of monster appearances on days when Do Jong-hyun was conspicuously absent was high.

If one were to investigate the correlation between Do Jong-hyun’s absences and monster appearances as Eun Se-rin suggested, suspicion would only grow.

‘If you’re a monster, Do Jong-hyun…’

He would have to be killed. For humanity’s sake.

“No.”

Geum Do-hyun shook his head, feeling dizzy. But even Dokgo Jun had to acknowledge to some extent that Do Jong-hyun’s “assistance” helped people.

‘There are multiple monsters but only one Do Jong-hyun… Does this mean Do Jong-hyun is connected to the monsters?’

But the lack of a summoning spirit also bothered him.

‘I’ve always been warned to be cautious of human monsters. Damn it. Fine, if I’m wrong, I’ll bow my head and apologize. And I should be wrong.’

What could go wrong? Geum Do-hyun proceeded with his plan. He deliberately moved away from Do Jong-hyun to the opposite side. Until he was out of sight.

The radio was still working normally.

He issued orders on another channel.

“Now release the captured monster. Is the control working well?”

[Of course. It’s all set. Hey, we could even do synchronized control right now.]

“Good. This is just a prank, but it would be a disaster if someone actually got hurt.”

Geum Do-hyun wasn’t a fool. To use a computer analogy, he was creating a secure lock.

One of the people he hired could control monsters using a manipulable summoning spirit.

In some ways, it was an ability with pros and cons similar to Seol Yu-hwa’s Brisingamen.

The manipulated monster was now supposed to attack Do Jong-hyun.

But something unexpected happened.

[Do-hyun! The monster is acting strange… It’s ignoring my control! It’s only C-class, but tell him to get away!]

As a groan erupted, Geum Do-hyun realized something was wrong.

‘…’

By this point, any thoughts about Do Jong-hyun’s true identity had long vanished from his mind.

He could only think about the life of his colleague and friend.

Geum Do-hyun began swimming as fast as possible, cutting through the water, and finally saw the monster.

‘What kind of monster is that? I only brought a C-rank Big Mouth!’

It was a thin, elongated monster resembling a cutlassfish. Its body structure was completely different from a Big Mouth.

No, that wasn’t important now. It was time to save his friend.

The monster was flying toward Do Jong-hyun.

‘What the hell is going on?’

Something was strange. Whenever Do Jong-hyun was involved, something always felt off.

He swam vigorously, but the monster was naturally faster.

‘This is dangerous.’

At that moment, Geum Do-hyun recalled the booster technique Do Jong-hyun had taught him.

[If you can maintain flames under pressure, you can also create explosions.]

The method Do Jong-hyun had explained to him repeatedly.

‘Let’s try it. No, I have to do it.’

His friend was in danger. Geum Do-hyun maintained the flame exactly as Do Jong-hyun had taught him.

A continuous explosion of magical power, with added pressure to cause a blast.

His trembling hands revealed the fear of attempting something unfamiliar.

‘Go, Geum Do-hyun!’

The moment he pushed himself, an enormous amount of magical power burst forth.

The sudden release of magic made him feel dizzy from the sheer force.

With his head spinning, he finally grabbed his friend Do Jong-hyun.

“Hold onto me!”

“What?”

Before Do Jong-hyun could finish speaking, Geum Do-hyun triggered another magical explosion, and they began to rise rapidly.

The unfamiliar, sudden release of power. Unknown to him, the water within hundreds of meters was being churned into violent waves by the pressure.

As they emerged, a Jaeger who had been watching nearby rushed forward.

Just as they were caught in mid-air, a monster whose body had transformed into something like a blade leaped up from beneath the water.

“…Kill… that thing.”

Do Jong-hyun uttered a command through his dazed consciousness. The professional Jaegers had already realized something was wrong.

They prepared for a coordinated attack via radio.

“Don’t let it get back into the water!”

The knife-like fish that had leaped up was now falling rapidly due to gravity, then bounced back up with elastic force.

In that interval, the Jaeger with manipulation abilities stabbed the monster’s body with a summoning spirit weapon.

A small knife emitting magical power allowed for control.

“Phew, now it’s…”

But at that moment, he saw the body gradually turning black.

“Get away!”

If someone below hadn’t blocked it using elasticity, he would have died.

As the sharp black blade that could cut through even elastic forces turned in the opposite direction, he hurriedly descended.

“I can’t control it! This technique works on S-class monsters.”

That meant only one thing. It was at least SS-class.

“It was originally C-class, but its shape changed!”

“Wait! It’s getting bigger!”

And it began growing larger at a rate beyond their expectations.

Like an insect emerging after molting, its long, slender body transformed into a jelly-like form and expanded.

This time, there was no chance to dodge. The attack came simultaneously with its growth.

Only a flame struck in front of it.

Geum Do-hyun. This staggering man had fired a final shot.

But this flame was different from before. Its color changed as it blazed upward, protecting the Jaegers.

Do Jong-hyun noticed that the firepower was different from before.

In this gap, the professional Jaegers hastily retreated.

“Fall back! We need to call a stronger guild!”

“I already contacted them! Jaegers are on their way!”

Amid the urgent voices, the jelly-like body transformed into a massive snake. But even more impressive were the wings.

Translucent wings extended along its sides.

When it writhed once, the beach was instantly devastated.

The Jaegers fled, taking Geum Do-hyun with them.

“Where is everyone? Order an evacuation!”

“What about Do-hyun’s friend?”

“He already left! We’re the only ones left, so we need to retreat first.”

As they swallowed hard while watching the giant monster bouncing like a flying fish, something happened.

Behind them, with a massive vortex, a dragon with a ferocious appearance revealed itself.

*

Do-hyun saved me. That’s enough. It doesn’t matter where this monster came from or how. I’ll just defeat it here.

I pretended to flee while using optical camouflage. Then I moved through the chaotic scene into the water.

[Evolution]

-Half-Human Half-Water Dragon Sura

My entire body begins to transform. A long snake-like body like that creature’s. My body, covered in scales, starts emitting various colors.

[Traits]

-Apex Predator (Applies debuffs to enemies encountered underwater and increases your stats by 2 ranks)

-Water Orchestrator (1 rank up underwater, can control water flow)

My stats began rising all at once due to these traits.

I apply a debuff to the opponent.

[Debuff Successful]

-The opponent’s movement is reduced and defense is lowered.

I dove in the moment it succeeded.

[Skill]

-Fang Strike

As magical power swirled around my teeth, I bit the enemy in one swift motion. Then I wrapped my body around it in a crushing combo!

The creature began to crumble, unable to move.

That easily?

At that moment, I discovered something like a larva in its body.

You again?

The moment that part separated, all conditions disappeared.

Simultaneously, it began regenerating. Are you stupid? Doing that right in front of me?

So I applied the debuff again and attacked in the same way.

But I encountered stronger resistance than before.

Something’s different from earlier?

[Debuff]

-The opponent is resisting.

The debuff is even being resisted. Well then? I employed another trait.

[Special Muscles]

-Decreases the enemy’s defense by 2 ranks. Increases body strength and stamina rank.

With greater strength, constricting became easier. Now I understood its mechanism.

As long as the main body exists, it can regenerate, and it becomes harder after regeneration.

In that case?

[Skill]

-Detection

I tried to find its main body using detection. Two giant snakes coiling around each other on the beach. But at that moment, the creature’s body crumbled like tofu.

This easily?

It chose to be crushed quickly rather than resist. This weak thing.

Just as I was about to locate it, a darker and larger version struck my body.

“Hmm!”

As I fell back into the water, it charged at me like a flying fish.

That blade-like face was already incredibly sharp.

Even in this evolved form, I had to dodge in surprise.

But the moment it missed my body, I felt intense pain.

A chunk of my flesh had been torn off by its attack.

It shot out at high speed and aimed at me again, swimming against the current.

Water Orchestrator

This time, I didn’t counter with something else. Knowing it could regenerate if necessary, I couldn’t act recklessly.

Monster Combat Technique. Gauge and predict your opponent.

[Skill]

-Detection

-Energy Focus

[Sub Card]

-Stat Up

-Ultra Vibration Wave (Can emit powerful vibration waves in addition to controlling water flow)

If necessary, it will regenerate after taking damage. I need to catch it in one go to prevent that.

Watch how I handle this. Once again, wounds appeared on my body as it wrapped around me, opposite from before.

Amidst the excruciating pain throughout my body, I activated Detection.

Where is the enemy?

While waiting for Detection to find the enemy, overwhelming pressure that felt like it would burst my blood vessels hit me.

There’s only one card to use in this situation.

[Squishy Squishy]

The card I drew along with optical camouflage. The moment I used Squishy Squishy, the pressure became more bearable. As my rubber-like stretched body was freed from the pressure, the creature showed an opening for a moment.

At that instant, Detection pinpointed the enemy’s location.

[Ultra Vibration Wave]

A massive vibration wave erupted within the water vortex. Everything except me was within its range.

As the creature’s entire body was being torn apart, Detection successfully located its main body.

I attack the main body with an omnidirectional assault and then snipe the exposed core with pinpoint accuracy.

[Dragon’s Breath]

My Dragon’s Breath flew according to my will and directly hit the larva hidden among the jelly.

The overwhelming power of the breath shattered the larva into pieces, and I saw the victory point.

[Monster Defeated!]

-Monster Points: 5 acquired

-DNA Points: 5800

It was finally over. But regardless of victory, I needed to escape this place quickly. The presence of Jaegers was everywhere.

I slipped into the seaside and returned secretly.

After some communication, I was able to meet with Geum Do-hyun.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Why did you go through all this trouble because of me? That monster…”

Geum Do-hyun started to say something but stopped. Instead, he looked at me and extended his hand.

“As long as we won, it’s fine. Today, you saved a friend. Thank you.”

“If you had tried harder earlier, you wouldn’t have passed out.”

“That’s right. Ah, this Geum Do-hyun fired without limits. But who cares? It all worked out in the end.”

The expression of unease I had seen before was gone from Do-hyun’s boastful face.

Instead, he looked unburdened.

“You look relaxed.”

“Do I? Maybe it’s because I saved a colleague.”

We looked at each other and grinned.