Seung-hoo steadied his breathing, eyes locked on the gigantic bird as it hovered above the lake, its wings stirring the air into uneasy spirals.
He rolled his shoulders once, as if loosening tension before a casual stretch, even though every hunter around him could feel how dangerous the moment had become.
He exhaled slowly.
"…Alright," he muttered to himself. "Let's try something stupid."
The thought came to him so suddenly that even he blinked in surprise.
"What if… I throw this sword straight into its mouth?"
The words left his lips without warning.
The forest went silent for half a second.
Then—
"W-what did you just say?!"
"That's not a plan, that's suicide!"
"You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking!"
Several hunters stared at him as if he had finally lost his mind. One of them grabbed another by the arm and whispered, "S-rank or not, that's insane…"
Seung-hoo didn't answer them. He didn't even look back. He just shifted his stance, feet pressing into the wet soil, sword resting loosely in his hand.
Above them, the bird reacted.
Its massive chest expanded as it drew in air, and instead of fire, the mana around its throat darkened and thickened. The glow inside its mouth changed color—from burning red to a dull, heavy brown.
"…That's not fire," someone whispered.
"No… that's a mana you feel when using earth magic."
An enormous spear formed between the bird's jaws, rough and jagged like it had been ripped straight from a mountain. Bits of stone and dust crumbled from it before it was even launched.
Seung-hoo squinted.
"…Huh. It finally decided to be original."
A hunter in the back suddenly yelled, half offended, half terrified, "Hey! I used that spell earlier!"
Another groaned, "Come on, even monsters steal skills now?!"
The bird released the spear.
It tore through the air with a deep, grinding roar, like boulders being dragged across each other. The ground vibrated as it flew toward Seung-hoo, fast enough to blur its outline.
Seung-hoo waited.
Five meters.
Three meters.
One—
He stepped sideways.
The spear missed his chest by inches, but not cleanly. As it passed, the tip suddenly widened, as if reacting too late, and grazed the side of his neck. The impact tore through his collar, sending a sharp shock down his spine.
"Tch—"
Warm blood slid down his skin.
Behind him, hunters gasped.
"He got hit!"
"His neck—!"
"He didn't dodge in time!"
Seung-hoo touched the side of his neck with two fingers and glanced at the red on them.
"…Of course it clips me."
He didn't slow down.
Instead, he lifted his sword.
Not in a swordsman's stance.
But like someone about to throw a javelin.
Lightning crawled along the blade, thin at first, then brighter, wrapping around the metal in sharp arcs. The air around it hummed, and the smell of ozone filled the space between him and the monster.
The bird turned its head slightly, one massive eye narrowing, as if finally sensing something different.
"You like shooting spears," Seung-hoo said under his breath. "Let's see how you like catching one."
He took one step forward, twisting his body, muscles tightening from his legs up through his shoulders. His grip shifted, firm and precise, like this was something he had practiced a thousand times in another life.
Hunters held their breath.
Some raised their weapons instinctively.
Others covered their mouths.
A few whispered prayers without realizing it.
Seung-hoo hurled the sword.
Not like a sword.
Like a spear.
It cut through the air in a straight line of silver and lightning, spinning slightly, the magic clinging to it like fire wrapped around steel. The sound it made wasn't a whistle—it was a crack, sharp and violent, as if the air itself had been split open.
The bird's mouth was still open from forming its attack.
The blade flew straight toward it.
Closer.
Closer.
The lightning around the sword flared brighter, reflecting in the monster's eye as if it were staring at a falling star. The hunters could feel the pressure of the attack even from where they stood, the mana pushing against their skin like a sudden storm wind.
Seung-hoo didn't move after throwing it. He stayed there, arm extended, chest rising and falling, watching the path of the weapon with narrowed eyes.
"…Please don't bounce," he muttered.
Around him, the hunters stood frozen, eyes locked on the spinning blade as it disappeared into the shadow of the bird's open mouth, the air trembling as the distance between weapon and monster closed to almost nothing.
The sword flew true.
It didn't wobble.
It didn't slow.
It didn't deflect.
It entered the bird's open mouth perfectly—so cleanly that for a brief, impossible moment, it looked almost gentle.
The blade wedged itself sideways between the upper and lower jaws, just like a stick jammed into a crocodile's mouth.
Clack.
The sound echoed across the lake.
The gigantic bird froze.
Its beak tried to shut.
But it couldn't.
The sword refused to bend.
Instead, the force of the bird's own closing jaw pushed the blade deeper inside its skull. The lightning wrapped around the hilt flared once, bright and sharp, as if responding to the pressure.
The bird let out a broken, choking cry.
Not a roar.
Not an attack.
A sound of confusion and pain.
Its wings flapped wildly, slamming into the water and sending massive waves rolling toward the shore. Feathers scattered into the air like dark snow. The lake churned as if something huge had just sunk beneath its surface.
Hunters staggered backward.
"What… what just happened…?"
"Did it… go in…?"
"No way… that went straight into its mouth—"
"He actually did it…"
The bird tried again to close its jaw.
Its body convulsed.
Then—
Crack.
The sword was driven straight upward.
Through bone.
Through flesh.
Through the creature's brain.
For a heartbeat, the massive form remained standing, wings trembling, eye wide and unfocused. The glow in its throat flickered like a dying flame.
And then the strength left it.
Its wings sagged.
Its neck tilted.
Its enormous body collapsed sideways into the lake with a thunderous splash.
Water exploded outward, soaking the shore and knocking several hunters off balance. Mud and feathers rained down. The surface of the lake rippled violently before slowly beginning to settle.
Silence followed.
Not the tense silence from before.
But the stunned, hollow silence of people who didn't quite understand what they had just seen.
The bird didn't move.
Its massive chest no longer rose.
The eye that once burned with fury stared blankly at the sky.
Dead.
Someone dropped to their knees.
"…It's over?"
Another hunter whispered, "…He killed it with one throw…"
Seung-hoo stood where he had thrown the sword, arm still half-extended, breathing slowly. His neck stung where the earth spear had grazed him, and his hand felt warm and numb from blocking the fire spear earlier.
He blinked.
Then he scratched the back of his head.
"…Huh. That actually worked."
Behind him, a few hunters stared at him like they were looking at a myth instead of a person.
"He… aimed for its mouth…"
"That wasn't strength… that was timing…"
"He calculated that in seconds…"
The lake continued to ripple around the fallen monster, feathers drifting on the surface like broken wings. The sword was still lodged inside the creature's head, its handle barely visible between the jaws.
Steam rose faintly from the water.
Seung-hoo exhaled and rolled his shoulders again, as if he had just finished throwing a ball instead of killing something that had petrified half the team.
"…Next time," he muttered to himself, "I'm trying something simpler."
Around him, the hunters slowly began to move again—some stepping closer to the fallen bird, others turning to look at Seung-hoo with fear, respect, and disbelief mixed together.
The forest, once filled with screams and crashing wings, stood eerily quiet, as if even the Rift itself was stunned by what had just happened.
______________________________________________________
|[ Yay, congrats on killing the bird🥳 ]|
|[ That stupid plan of you'res actually worked ]|
______________________________________________________
The system's cheerful message floated in front of Seung-hoo's eyes, bright and completely out of place against the ruined forest and the massive corpse sinking slowly into the lake.
Seung-hoo blinked.
"…Thanks," he said quietly, still staring at the screen.
His chest was rising and falling faster now that the fight was finally slowing down. His arms felt heavy, and his fingers still tingled from blocking the fire spear.
"So…" Seung-hoo continued, rubbing the back of his neck.
______________________________________________________
|[ So… what? ]|
______________________________________________________
The system replied almost instantly, as if genuinely curious.
Seung-hoo frowned. "N-no rewards… or anything!?" he asked, half-expecting another flashy window to appear. "I just killed a giant flying nightmare bird. That has to be worth something, right?"
______________________________________________________
|[ What reward…? ]|
|[ Ohh… no rewards, only quests give rewards ]|
|[ But… The system's reward is… congratulations ]|
______________________________________________________
Seung-hoo's eye twitched.
"…What."
He stared at the words for a full second, then another.
"That's it!?" he shouted, throwing his arms up. "Congratulations?! I almost got my head burned off! I threw my sword into its mouth! I risked my skin—literally!"