Chapter 569: Night of Potential (5)
Translator: miraclerifle
Editor: Borderline Masochist
The large snake-headed giant’s last scream echoed through the area.
“Roooooooar!”
Its large body finally started to fall down.
Boom-!
There was black blood dripping out of the fallen snake-headed giant's entire body as it had holes everywhere.
As for the person who had created those injuries...
‘I did it......!’
Kim Min Ah started to smile while looking at the fallen giant.
“Huff, huff.”
However, she was breathing heavily and both of her arms were shaking.
The hand she mainly used to hold her spear was also visibly shaking.
“Min Ah, are you okay?”
Bae Puh Rum walked over and asked about Min Ah's condition with concern.
Kim Min Ah chuckled while looking at Bae Puh Rum.
"Bae Puh Rum, I think I'm at least better than you are right now?”
“Is that so?”
Bae Puh Rum looked down at his body.
He wasn't injured even though he crashed into the giant like a rocket over and over while controlling the whirlwinds Kim Rok Soo had given him, but he was still a mess.
Of course, he had some minor injuries and bruises, but it was a win if he could defeat a Grade 1 monster with these kinds of injuries.
“Do you need me to help you walk?”
Kim Min Ah shook her head at Bae Puh Rum's question.
She put some strength into her legs and stood up straight.
‘This is the first time.’
It was the first time she had done this.
She had never fought while using her ability as much as she wanted.
‘...My body can’t keep up with my ability.’
Maybe that was the reason her whole body was shaking.
It didn’t hurt.
These issues would disappear once her body got used to her ability.
She realized that her ability was best described as ‘Herculean Strength.’
That was why it was even more shocking.
‘...Kim Rok Soo, this person, just-’
This person named Kim Rok Soo.
She became more shocked the more she thought about it.
She looked to her side.
Cale and Kim Min Ah made eye contact.
She heard his nonchalant voice.
“That was amazing.”
She observed how Cale somewhat wiped the blood flowing out of the corner of his lips as she talked to him.
“Kim Min Ah, you fought pretty well.”
Something was weird.
Cale’s nonchalant praise was making Kim Min Ah weirdly emotional for some reason.
She couldn’t understand why she was feeling this way.
“Bae Puh Rum, you did well too. You fought well.”
It was the same for Bae Puh Rum as well.
The two of them finally felt that they had really defeated this giant after hearing Cale, who only seemed slightly older than them, praising them.
Kim Min Ah subconsciously blurted out.
“I want to go there too.”
Cale looked toward her and Kim Min Ah expanded on what she had said out of impulse.
“Seomyeon, Busan. I want to go there.”
She then quickly added on.
“In return, you need to make me stronger.”
She could see a gentle smile appearing on Cale's stoic face.
It looked as if he knew she would say something like that.
“Okay.”
Cale calmly responded and turned around.
“The two of you head back to the building now.”
He then walked over to Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min who were standing outside the main door to the building.
Bae Puh Rum started to speak with a blank expression as he watched Cale walk away.
“...Wow. Isn’t that hyung so cool? He’s totally sick!”
“You were cool too.”
“...Huh?”
Bae Puh Rum’s eyes opened wide as he looked toward Kim Min Ah.
Kim Min Ah looked at him with a confused expression and Bae Puh Rum cautiously asked.
“Really? I was cool?”
“Yeah.”
“...Min Ah.”
"What is it?”
“To be honest with you, I didn't say this earlier while we were fighting the giant because the timing didn't seem right. Can I say it now?”
“Sure.”
Bae Puh Rum smiled brightly at Kim Min Ah giving him the okay and started to speak.
“You were so cool when you were swinging the spear earlier. I think you’re the coolest person in the world. I couldn't take my eyes off of you earlier.”
Kim Min Ah truly was the only one in Bae Puh Rum’s eyes.
Pffft.
Kim Min Ah chuckled before responding.
“Keep going.”
“Hmm?”
“Praise me more.”
“Okay! You’re the best.”
“You're so cute.”
Kim Min Ah looked toward Bae Puh Rum as if he was cute and Bae Puh Rum couldn't help but smile widely after seeing her gaze focused on him.
The two of them then looked somewhere.
Cale who had been heading back to the building had stopped and was looking at Bae Puh Rum and Kim Min Ah.
“Ahem.”
“Hem!”
Kim Min Ah and Bae Puh Rum slowly avoided Cale’s gaze.
They then quickly headed toward the building.
The two of them heard Cale's voice as they passed by him.
“You look good together.”
“Then give it your best.”
‘Damn it! I've been had!’
Lee Chul Min started to frown while looking at Cale’s relaxed smile. He now needed to give everything he had in this fight.
Lee Chul Min heard Park Jin Tae's voice at that moment.
He was speaking in a stoic tone.
“That’s right, Chul Min. You should fight at least once with everything you have.”
Lee Chul Min's pupils started to shake for a different reason.
“...Leader-nim?”
“You’ve always been hiding your strength instead of fighting with everything you had. Did you think I would not know that?”
“...Ah.”
Lee Chul Min could see Park Jin Tae smiling while looking at him. Park Jin Tae raised his gun.
“Fight properly... If you don't want to be hit by my bullet.”
‘Damn it!’
Lee Chul Min barely managed to smile back.
“Leader-nim! Please don't worry!”
But neither Cale nor Park Jin Tae were giving Lee Chul Min a look. Lee Chul Min became annoyed at this, but he pushed it down.
There was a simple reason for it.
‘It’s safe here.’
He found Kim Rok Soo annoying and Park Jin Tae scary, but...
Next to these two people was currently the safest place.
That meant that he needed to fight hard.
“Even the leader is stepping forward.”
Lee Chul Min looked toward the monster majestically stepping forward behind the bear and spider.
This monster had a mane like a lion, but it looked like a tiger.
It's black, grey, and white stripes were more beautiful than vicious while its black mane was rich and shiny.
The term majestic suited this Grade 1 monster.
“...The Dark Tiger.”
Park Jin Tae quietly mumbled the name he had heard from Kim Rok Soo.
But he couldn't just stand there and watch the monster forever.
The Dark Tiger started to speak.
“You're quite skilled.”
“......!”
Park Jin Tae and Lee Chul Min's eyes opened wide.
It was Korean.
The monster was speaking a human language.
Cale started to speak as if this was normal.
“Not bad, right? Won’t you make a deal with me?”
“...A deal?”
The Dark Tiger's black eyes slowly observed Cale.
‘A monster that can communicate.’
Cale was able to come up with this plan as soon as he had learned about these monsters.
There was a hypothesis that arose in the future about this Grade 1 monster.
< The monster that could communicate was a taster monster but still could give orders to the other Grade 1 taster monsters. In that case, wouldn’t it possibly be able to give orders to other Grade 1 monsters or lower-grade monsters? >
If this hypothesis was true...
Then it was possible to come up with an innovative plan.
The Dark Tiger was strong and had many abilities, but it also had many other things Cale needed.
“Yes, a deal.”
“What kind of deal?”
“As you might have already realized, you'll end up dying by our hands in the end. Wouldn't it be better to join us than to die?”
Lee Chul Min and Park Jin Tae looked toward Cale in shock.
‘What the hell is he talking about?’
Lee Chul Min’s jaw dropped in astonishment.
Kim Rok Soo was talking about being on the same side as a monster.
How could that be?
‘Absolutely not!’
It made no sense.
However, Lee Chul Min gasped in shock after hearing the Dark Tiger's response.
"What an interesting proposal. But I cannot do that.”
"Why not?”
“I have an order I must carry out.”
“...Is that so?”
An order. Those words made Cale's eyes cloud over.
A monster that can communicate.
Cale knew he needed to speak to this monster.
It was not just so that he could make it a part of his allies.
‘The ones responsible.’
This sudden cataclysm that happened on earth.
He wanted to know who was responsible for it.
These monsters that had suddenly appeared... And the abilities suddenly given to humans and the odd events.
There must be a reason for it.
‘The Demon World and the sealed god. I'm sure they’re related somehow.’
Cale wanted to hear more details about it.
This monster that could communicate was a precious source of information to figure that out.
“How disappointing. Dark Tiger, it would have been great if you could join me.”
Cale suddenly saw the Dark Tiger's gaze change.
“Grrrrrr.”
The Tiger quietly growled and shook its head left and right.
Its mane was shaking.
It then looked down and quietly looked at its body. The Dark Tiger's eyes opened wide as it raised its paw.
Lee Chul Min flinched but the Dark Tiger just raised its front paw and patted the ground a few times.
“...Ho!”
The Dark Tiger laughed in disbelief. It then looked as if it was deep in thought.
Cale recalled a record as he watched.
This was a comment about this situation he had seen in the future.
< For some odd reason, these monsters that could communicate tried to speak to the humans. They tried to communicate at least once. >
< Of course, these monsters attempted to communicate before saying, ‘there’s no point to chat with you.’ and then killed the humans. >
< The important question is, why did these monsters try to communicate with humans? >
< Wouldn’t they have had no reason to communicate if they just wanted to kill all humans and destroy the original central shelters? >
< There must be a reason these monsters tried to communicate with humanity. >
This Dark Tiger's goal.
Cale thought about that goal as he started to speak.
It was so that he could use a certain word.
“Then I might be able to give you the 'freedom’ to ignore your orders.”
He started with that statement in order to figure out its goal.