"...You're weird, you know that?" Byung-chul muttered as they walked.
Seung-hoo didn't answer. He didn't even look at him. He just kept moving forward through the forest, stepping over broken roots and cracked branches like none of it mattered.
Byung-chul watched him for a second, then gave a quiet scoff and fell into step beside him anyway.
The hunters moved carefully now, their earlier confidence replaced with uneasy silence. The deeper they went, the thicker the fog of mana became. The ground was darker here, soaked with mud and crushed leaves, and every step made a wet sound that echoed too loudly in the stillness.
Crunch.
Squelch.
One of the hunters near the front suddenly stopped.
"What the…?" he muttered, looking down at his boot.
The mud beneath him bubbled slightly.
The hunters behind him nearly bumped into his back.
"What's wrong?" one of them asked.
"Did you find something?" another whispered.
Before he could answer, the mud exploded upward.
Thick, dark tentacles burst from the ground and wrapped around his leg.
"H-HEY—!"
He barely had time to shout before more tentacles surged up, coiling around his waist and arms. The hunters behind him froze for half a second—too long.
More muddy limbs lashed out like snakes, grabbing two… three… four hunters at once.
"GET BACK!"
"CUT THEM OFF!"
"IT'S UNDERGROUND!"
Weapons slashed wildly, but the mud absorbed the blows like wet clay. The trapped hunters were dragged backward, boots carving long lines into the soil as they screamed and reached for help.
Then the ground itself began to rise.
A massive shape pushed up from beneath the forest floor, shaking trees as it emerged. Mud and leaves slid off its back in heavy clumps. Its body was thick and armored with jagged plates like a stegosaurus, but twisted—its surface pulsed like it was breathing through soil instead of skin.
Its eyes opened.
Two dull, glowing orbs stared at the hunters.
A low, rumbling sound came from its chest—not a roar, but something deeper, like stones grinding together underground.
Seung-hoo and Byung-chul both saw it at the same time.
Byung-chul tried to step forward.
His foot wouldn't move.
"…W-what?" he muttered, trying again. His legs felt like they were buried in cement. "Gah—ngh—!"
He struggled, panic flashing across his face for the first time.
The mud monster's tentacles tightened around the captured hunters. One of them dropped his weapon. Another cried out as he was lifted off the ground completely.
Seung-hoo didn't move right away.
He just looked at the creature.
"…Guess it really is an A-rank Rift," he said quietly, almost amused.
Seo-yeon glanced at him from behind, twirling her dagger once in her hand.
"He definitely copied my dagger move from earlier," she said with a small laugh. "Guess swords now, huh?"
Seung-hoo exhaled slowly.
Then he stepped forward.
Crack.
The hardened mud around his feet shattered like dry clay. He bent his knees and leaped—but unlike before, it wasn't a blur. It was slower. He wanted to feel it this time.
Midair, light gathered in his hand.
A sword formed with a faint electric hum.
The monster noticed him.
Its head tilted upward, plates shifting with a heavy scrape. Instead of roaring, its mouth opened unnaturally wide, and a long, thick tongue shot out like a whip.
It wrapped around Seung-hoo's legs in midair.
Several hunters gasped.
"HE'S CAUGHT—!"
But Seung-hoo didn't panic.
With a single smooth motion, he swung downward.
The blade flashed.
The tongue was sliced cleanly in half, falling back into the mud with a heavy slap. Dark liquid sprayed across the ground like rain.
Seung-hoo twisted his body and landed on the monster's back, boots sinking slightly into its muddy surface.
The creature thrashed violently, smashing trees aside as it tried to shake him off. Plates along its spine rattled like armor in a storm.
The trapped hunters were still struggling, their shouts mixing with the monster's low rumble.
Byung-chul finally broke free from the mud around his feet and stumbled forward, staring in Amusement.
"…He's standing on it." he scoffs
Seo-yeon ran closer, cutting through smaller tentacles that tried to reach her. Her eyes never left Seung-hoo.
Seung-hoo steadied himself on the monster's back, sword raised, electricity crackling faintly along its edge as the forest shook beneath him and the hunters fought desperately below, the mud creature roaring silently through its grinding body while its tentacles tightened and loosened in uneven waves.
as if the entire forest turned barren had turned into one massive living trap.
Seung-hoo didn't hesitate.
As the monster thrashed and lifted its head, he pushed off its armored back and dove straight toward its open mouth. The inside was dark, thick with the smell of wet earth and rotting leaves. The walls of its throat pulsed around him, trying to close, trying to crush him before he could move again.
For a split second, everything went silent.
No screams.
No crashing trees.
Only the low vibration of the creature's body and the faint hum of mana gathering in his sword.
Seung-hoo tightened his grip.
Electricity crawled along the blade like living veins of light, illuminating the inside of the monster's mouth in sharp flashes. The air crackled. His clothes fluttered from the pressure alone.
"Lightning Technique… Gigantic Sword," he whispered in his mind.
The power surged.
Outside, the hunters could only see the monster stiffen unnaturally, its body arching upward as if something inside it had exploded with light.
Then—
A blinding flash split through the forest.
The creature's massive body tore apart from the inside, collapsing outward in two heavy halves. Mud and broken roots scattered across the ground like a collapsing wall of soil. The tentacles loosened and fell limp, dropping the trapped hunters onto the forest floor.
Silence followed.
Not peaceful silence—but shocked, frozen silence.
Several hunters stared with wide eyes, mouths hanging open. One of them bent over immediately.
"…Ugh—!" the hunter vomited "Come on! My breakfast!" The hunter says while wiping his mouth
Another covered his face. "What the hell, man…!"
A few stumbled backward, unable to process what they had just seen. Their hands shook as they tried to wipe mud off their armor. Some looked at the remains of the monster. Others refused to look at all.
Seung-hoo landed on his feet between the two fallen halves, sword still humming faintly before the electricity faded away. He stood there for a moment, breathing slowly, mud splattered across his boots and sleeves.
The barren forest felt different now.
The oppressive mana that had weighed on everyone's chest was thinning, like fog burned away by sunlight. Broken branches creaked as they settled. Leaves drifted down from above, disturbed by the shockwave.
Byung-chul stared at Seung-hoo from several meters away.
His throat moved, but no sound came out.
Seo-yeon jogged forward, glancing from the monster's remains to Seung-hoo's face.
"…You really went inside it, you didn't have to do that" she said, half stunned, half laughing
Seung-hoo looked down at his sword, then at the hunters around him. Some were still kneeling, catching their breath. Others stared at him with fear instead of admiration now.
One hunter whispered, "That wasn't even a normal attack… that was like cutting a mountain in half."
Another muttered, "We were about to die… and he just… ended it. Gruesomely"
A wounded hunter slowly pushed himself up from the ground where the tentacles had dropped him. He looked at the mud creature, then at Seung-hoo.
"…I thought I was done for."
Nearby, someone gagged again and turned away. "Don't talk about it… don't make me remember it…"
The ground was still steaming faintly where lightning had struck. Bits of mud slid back into the cracks in the earth as if the forest itself was trying to erase what had happened.
Seung-hoo stored his sword without ceremony.
He didn't look proud.
He didn't look angry.
He just looked tired.
Around him, the hunters slowly regrouped, some limping, some helping each other stand, all of them glancing back again and again at the place where the monster had fallen, as if afraid it might suddenly move again.
The forest no longer attacked.
But no one felt safe yet.