Every Hunter heard Jin-Woo's voice.
"What?!" "Musical instruments?"
Hope flickered in the Hunters' eyes. Unlike when they had been told to bow, they moved quickly. Of course, if Jin-Woo was wrong, they would be killed the moment they approached the statues holding instruments. But at this moment, not a single person doubted Jin-Woo. Mr. Song was the first to arrive in front of a statue holding an instrument.
"..."
Mr. Song steadied his breathing and looked up. The statue holding a harp, as if it were a lie, began to move its fingers. Twang, twang — ding, ding — beautiful melodies rang out.
"He was right!" "Everyone, get to the statues with instruments!"
The Hunters scrambled to the nearest statues. The statue holding a trumpet blew it, the one holding a flute played it, and the one holding a lyre plucked its strings.
"Hah, hah, hah."
Mr. Kim, on the verge of collapse, dropped to his knees in front of a statue holding a tuba. Ding — ding — once the statue began to play, the new statue chasing Mr. Kim stopped in its tracks. Overwhelmed with emotion, Mr. Kim knelt there and tears streamed down his face.
"Sob, sob, sob..."
The new statue whirled around. It scanned its surroundings and quickly found its next prey.
"Damn it."
Jin-Woo, whose eyes met the new statue's, let out a curse. His heart started pounding as if it would burst. His back was already drenched in cold sweat.
'Why! Why only here?!'
Jin-Woo looked up at the statue before him with resentful eyes. The statue holding a drum showed no sign of moving. Boom! Boom! Boom! The new statue was closing the distance at a terrifying speed. The gap that had once spanned nearly the entire room shrank rapidly toward zero. Jin-Woo swallowed hard.
'Could it be that it won't play because both Joo-Hee and I are under the same statue?'
That was the only conclusion he could reach. The statues the others stood near were all playing without any problem.
'There's no time to think.'
Jin-Woo set Joo-Hee down and prepared to run.
"Jin-Woo..."
Terrified, Joo-Hee grabbed his sleeve. Jin-Woo whispered calmly into her ear.
"If we stay together, we'll both die."
Tears welled up in Joo-Hee's eyes. The fingertips clutching his sleeve were trembling. But there was no time to explain. Jin-Woo gently removed her hand and sprinted across the room. Boom, boom, boom. Looking back, the statue behind Joo-Hee had begun to slowly beat its drum.
'Thank goodness.'
Now there was only one task left. Reach another statue safely! Jin-Woo was the only person still without a statue's protection. Naturally, all of the new statue's fury was directed at him alone. Jin-Woo desperately dodged the creature's building-sized feet as he crossed the room. Boom! Boom! Even as he tripped and rolled, Jin-Woo managed to avoid being trampled.
"Hah, hah."
Though he was only E-rank, a combat Hunter's body came in handy at times like these.
'Just a little more, just a little more!'
Jin-Woo watched the new statue's movements and pushed his legs harder. He sped up. Only a few steps remained between him and the statue.
"That's not it!"
Mr. Song shouted. Jin-Woo, whose attention had been entirely consumed by the new statue's movements, was startled and looked ahead.
"What?!"
It wasn't a statue holding an instrument? He realized too late that what had looked like an instrument from a distance was actually a shield. The statue brought its shield down with savage force.
"Hah!"
Jin-Woo threw himself sideways.
"Aaah!"
Joo-Hee screamed. As Jin-Woo rolled across the floor and lifted his head, the new statue was right in front of him.
"One thing after another..."
The rolling had torn open his forehead, and blood seeped into his eyes, blurring his vision. His field of view narrowed, and he could no longer see far distances clearly. Jin-Woo's head whipped left and right.
'An instrument, an instrument...'
But no matter how hard he looked around, he couldn't spot a statue holding an instrument. The new statue raised its foot above Jin-Woo.
"Hah!"
Boom! Jin-Woo threw himself aside once more and barely dodged the foot. But now he had truly reached his limit. Extreme dizziness struck, and strangely, it was hard to even keep his balance.
'Please...'
If there were a god, he would have prayed. Just then, a statue holding something that was neither a weapon nor an instrument came into Jin-Woo's line of sight.
'That one?'
Jin-Woo staked his last hope on it. He crawled across the floor and arrived in front of the statue. Then he barely managed to flip his body over and face the direction the new statue was coming from. He had no strength left to move.
"Ah— ah—"
Facing the approaching statue, Jin-Woo gasped for air. The new statue, clearly irritated by Jin-Woo dodging it time and again, had its face contorted even more grotesquely than before. The new statue stood directly in front of Jin-Woo. With a creature the size of a high-rise building blocking the way, his breathing grew labored.
"Ah— ah."
Did it think it had a cornered mouse? The new statue simply stared down at him.
'It's over...'
From the new statue's two eyes staring straight at him, Jin-Woo sensed an inescapable death. But then. Woo, woo, woo — from behind, a voice that did not belong to this world flowed out, impossibly beautiful. Jin-Woo turned his head to look behind him. Woo, woo, woo — each time the statue holding a book moved its lips, a sacred song echoed through the interior. Woo, woo, woo, woo — the new statue's expression gradually returned to what it had been before. The grotesquely twisted facial muscles smoothed out completely. Once the statues' singing and playing had all finished, the new statue turned away. And just as the other statues had done, it returned to its original position and sat down as though nothing had happened. Boom! The sound of the new statue sitting shook the entire temple.
"Ah, ah... safe, finally?"
Jin-Woo managed a faint smile. Joo-Hee, who had been on the opposite side, ran over to him.
"Jin-Woo!"
Sprinting at full speed, Joo-Hee collapsed beside him in tears.
"What do we do... what do we do..."
She spent every last drop of her mana casting healing magic. But nothing changed. The scattered Hunters gradually gathered around Jin-Woo. Every one of them wore a grim expression.
"What happened... Jin-Woo..."
Even through all of this, Joo-Hee was sobbing bitterly. Why was everyone acting like this? Jin-Woo's lips twitched. He tried to ask why, but no voice came out. Left with no choice, he forced his creaking upper body upright.
"...?"
His lower body was drenched in blood. Jin-Woo belatedly noticed the change that had occurred to his own body.
"Oh..."
His right leg below the knee was gone. Jin-Woo's gaze drifted to the statue holding the shield. He could see a bloodstain on the tip of its shield. His missing leg was beneath it. Drip — drip — blood trickled from Joo-Hee's nose. It was proof that her body had already reached its limit. A B-rank Hunter's healing magic could not restore a severed body. It was pouring water into a bottomless bucket. Joo-Hee's stamina was draining rapidly.
"That's enough... Joo-Hee. Stop now..." "I'll heal you! I'll make you better!"
The Hunters looked at the two of them with expressions of utter devastation. Out of the seventeen who had entered this place, only six remained. And of those six, two had suffered terrible injuries. Mr. Song had lost an arm; Jin-Woo had lost a leg. They had survived, but no one could smile. Just then, another thunderous rumble shook the room. Rrrrrrr! The circular magic circle carved into the center of the temple's floor rose up abruptly. Jin-Woo thought, it's here.
'Demonstrate your faith...'
He had a vague idea of what those words meant.
5. The Final Trial
The circular magic circle engraved on the temple floor rose to roughly the height of two steps, then stopped.
"A altar..."
At Jin-Woo's murmur, the Hunters reacted sharply.
'An altar?' 'He definitely just said altar...'
In the two preceding crises, the person who had saved their lives was not some high-ranked awakened Hunter — it was Jin-Woo, whom they had always dismissed as E-rank.
'If it weren't for Mr. Sung, we'd all be...'
Every Hunter shared the same thought. In the current situation, Jin-Woo's words were a lifeline. And the word he had let slip — "altar" — was caught by the sharp-witted Mr. Kim.
"Got it. I get it."
Mr. Kim drew the sword at his waist. It was originally meant for cutting down magical beasts. But right now, he needed it for an entirely different purpose.
"Even a brute like me can大致 figure out what this means by now."
The Hunters swallowed dryly at the sight of Mr. Kim's gleaming blade.
"Hey, Mr. Kim. Why are you suddenly pulling out your gear?" "Let's talk this out, talk it out."
With the highest-ranked member — the C-rank Hunter Mr. Song — gravely injured, no one here could stop Mr. Kim, who was quite strong even among D-rank Hunters. Mr. Kim pointed the tip of his sword toward the altar.
"The final commandment: demonstrate your faith. And then suddenly this altar appears in the center."
Mr. Kim's gaze shifted to Jin-Woo.
"In other words, we have to offer a sacrifice. Isn't that right, Mr. Sung?"
Jin-Woo nodded. That was his conclusion as well. Of the six survivors, one had to become the sacrifice.
'Perhaps that's the final commandment...'
That was the conclusion Jin-Woo had reached. He raised his head at the sound of footsteps, and the look in Mr. Kim's approaching eyes was far from ordinary. A long bead of sweat trailed down Jin-Woo's temple.
"Sir... what are you—" "You just shut up and stay still!"
Mr. Kim snapped and turned his sword toward Mr. Song, who was sitting beside Jin-Woo tending to his condition.
"Who was it that dragged us all here? Wasn't it Mr. Song? Then isn't it only right that Mr. Song takes responsibility to the very end?" "Sir!"
Jin-Woo surged forward to stand, but Mr. Song's hand — rough as old bark — stopped him. Jin-Woo looked at Mr. Song.
"..."
Mr. Song silently shook his head. His eyes pleaded for Jin-Woo to say nothing. Jin-Woo had much he wanted to say, but he swallowed it all. Mr. Song slowly rose to his feet.
"Mr. Kim is right. I have to take responsibility." "Now we're talking, old man."
Mr. Kim flicked his sword toward the altar.
"Then hurry up and go. More than ten people are already dead because of you."