Hard Carry Support

Chapter 41 - The Mysterious Girl (2)

As time went on, the destination began to come into sight little by little.

A 50-meter-wide cliff.

A huge gap across the middle of the forest revealed its majesty.

The scenery made it look like the earth had its jaws wide open. It was so vast and deep that he was sure there wasn't a place like this in real life.

It was one of the most famous places in the Lat Forest, a giant canyon called 'Giant's Lung.'

In front of it, Hyun used Luise's skill to step on a tree branch and jump across the cliff.

Louise's body soared high into the sky.

Jump!

The only thing that supported her body was the air.

The air enveloped her body.

Louise let the inertia move her body.

Paf-!

It seemed like the masked woman was confident that she'd be able to do the jump, so she also jumped in front of the cliff.

It probably looked like two dots doing a parabolic flight from a distance.

Then, suddenly, the two dots became three.

Hyun had stopped Assimilating with Louise.

"What...?!"

For the first time, the woman spoke in surprise.

While flying, an unknown person suddenly appeared in front of her and was blocking her path.

Her mouth became wide-opened in surprise.

She calmed down and placed her hands on her waist.

She would eliminate this guy with her sword and then continue her chase.

«One Second Absorption», «Shield»!

Just before they clashed, Hyun used two techniques.

Tik- The moment the blade was about to cut Hyun…

The woman suddenly felt her consciousness fading away.

When she regained consciousness, she was falling into the canyon.

—But the only one falling was her.

Where was that guy?

What happened to the guy that was blocking her way?!

"Oof..."

Louise, who had sat down on the floor, sighed in relief.

“Ha, ha,” he began to laugh while taking short breaths.

Even though that laugh was coming out of Louise's mouth, it was Hyun who was laughing.

Hyun had used «Assimilation» again to enter Louise's body.

Soon, the masked man appeared on the other side of the cliff.

He looked at the canyon without saying anything and then directed his gaze toward Louise.

After a short while, he took out a flare and shot a flame into the sky.

Magical Power began spreading to the surrounding areas.

That flame was probably a signal to call for more allies.

‘Does this mean that there were more than two people following us?’

Hyun’s expression darkened.

"..."

The masked man who was looking at Louise turned around.

It seemed like he had concluded that he wouldn't be able to jump the cliff successfully.

Louise, who finally had a little bit of time to relax, lay down on the ground.

"Ugh..."

As she took a breath, Hyun also felt the tiredness and pain she was feeling.

«Assimilation» was a skill that made you resonate with the other person's soul and even share what the other one was feeling.

He could undo «Assimilation», but he decided to remain in that state for a while.

He just wanted to close his eyes and sleep for the whole day.

"You mustn't touch the sun..." Louise suddenly mumbled.

She knew Hyun was currently inside her body.

She also knew that even if she spoke alone, he'd be able to listen to it.

"There's special tracking magic applied in me... Sunlight is the medium that makes it possible to locate me."

"The sun?"

"That's right... So before morning comes, we have to find a place that isn't touched by the sun."

After hearing Louise's words, Hyun was even more curious about her identity.

Hyun was sure she wasn't an important character in the story.

After all, Hyun remembered most details about important NPCs thanks to Asra.

It was his first time hearing the name Louise.

There's no way he wouldn't remember an important character.

'If what she's saying is true... There's only one magic in Asra that uses the sun to track an opponent.'

It was a spell called «Stigma of Light».

Rather than magic, it was closer to being a curse.

He wondered why that child, who wasn't even a main character, was under such a horrible curse.

It was such special magic that not even a level 500 Priest or Magician could use.

Only a few NPCs that were either angels or heavenly beings could use it.

Even as a user, the only way to get rid of «Stigma of Light» was to die.

Of course, unless they were the regenerative monsters, NPCs would disappear once they died.

"Stigma of Light."

"What's that...?"

"That's the name of the curse they've applied on you. If what you said is true, we can't stay here."

Hyun, who had disassimilated, grabbed Louise's hand and helped her stand up.

Louise was bittersweet that she had to get out from the sweet break, but Hyun pulled her up.

Both began to move while trying to avoid the sunlight.

"Where should we go...?" Louise said while looking around nervously.

"Somewhere the sun can't reach."

"So… where would that be?"

"A Dungeon."

"What dungeon…? Oh, no, I'm just going to follow you."

Louise asked again, but she shook her head after looking at Hyun's expression.

"Since I've entrusted my soul to you, I'll follow you until the end."

"There's no need to go to such lengths..."

Hyun and Louise walked together.

Because she collapsed, they rested a little bit.

They reached the destination after moving for about two hours.

—The entrance of the dungeon.

The entrance was so big that it seemed that even a giant would be able to go through it.

The stairs that led to the underground were very dark.

Hyun didn't doubt for a moment and walked into it, but Louise seemed scared.

Her trembling hands grabbed Hyun's robes.

"You don't need to worry. I'm very familiar with this place."

"There's no way that's true...!"

"I'm not lying."

As Hyun began walking, Louis hurriedly stuck close to him.

It felt as if there wasn't an end to the staircase.

The deeper they went, the darker it got.

Gluna's light didn't reach the insides of the dungeon; there also wasn't any illumination inside of it.

Louise, who couldn't help but feel anxious, used her magic to illuminate the way.

Fwosh- A small light ignited on Louise's hands. The inside of the dungeon was filled with a warm light.

Hyun, who was looking at her from the side, laughed in a low tone of voice.

"It's similar to Ain's magic... Although the size is smaller."

"Ain...?"

"She's someone I know."

After going down for a while, they finally reached the end of the staircase, and a crossroad that looked like a maze began.

Hyun never stopped walking even though there were numerous crossroads.

He was so comfortable because he had used to use that dungeon in Asra as a leveling-up course.

'I miss it a little bit.'

Hyun laughed again.

He couldn't believe that he was reminiscing about the past in such a place and situation.

But he really felt like that, so he could do nothing about it.

"Here should be okay."

Hyun and Louise stopped after passing through numerous crossroads.

After walking through a narrow maze, they'd reached a fairly large empty space.

It was a quiet and comfortable resting place, except for the bats on the ceiling.

"You're tired, right? Try to sleep a little bit."

"Here...?"

"Yes. This place has a lot of traps and monsters, so even they shouldn't be able to enter so easily."

"W-wait...! Isn't it weird to sleep in such a place?"

"Don't worry. You're safe here."

Hyun opened the inventory and gave Louise some bread and water.

"You can eat before you sleep. It's 10 gold for a piece of bread, don't forget to pay me later on. Okay?"

"What about you? Aren't you going to eat?"

Louise was extending her hand when she suddenly stopped and looked at Hyun.

From what she knew, Hyun also hadn't eaten anything.

Hyun let out a smirk.

"I'm a user, so I won't get hungry even if I don't eat. Oh, you know what a user is, right?"

"But..."

"Don't worry, just eat."

After doubting for a while, Louise finally began eating and drinking water.

Was it because of how tired she was? After finishing, she almost immediately fell asleep.

Once she fell asleep, the only noise that could be heard in the dungeon was the sound of breathing.

Hyun looked at the sleeping Louise for a while.

How she was leaning against a rock seemed uncomfortable.

He picked her up and then made her lay down in a straight line.

She didn't wake up, even though he had lifted her.

Hyun opened the status window and checked out the quest details again.

The details had changed a little bit.

[ - Take Louise to the nearest town or city. She doesn't have anything to give you as a reward. ]

Hyun smiled bitterly.

He wondered why he was doing a quest like that when an important patch was coming.

He laughed at himself, but he didn't feel it was unfair.

SeoHyun changed his settings to rest mode and came out from the capsule.

He connected the capsule with his computer to check out how Louise was doing, so that he'd know when she woke up.

He tried to browse some Asrian communities during his free time, but he got bored after a few hours.

SeoHyun couldn't sleep.

If he did, maybe Louise could get into a dangerous situation.

Louise woke up after a while.

The sunlight was coming through the window.

It was Monday morning.

"Hmm... There's a group class in the morning."

He saw Louise through the PC screen.

She seemed anxious after waking up and finding out that he wasn't there.

It was clear that she was looking for him.

"Should I not go to class today?"

Hyun was a game addict, but he had never negatively affected another person because of it.

But he thought that his quest might take a lot of time, so he thought that maybe it would be an exception.

If it was a normal quest, he would've just given up, but he really didn't want to do that for this one.

It was the first time he had received a named 'main quest,' but there was also another reason…

Louise was starting to get more and more anxious.

She was probably crying.

If he wasn't there, would she be able to escape?

That was impossible.

The safe place of the dungeon changed constantly depending on the hour and day.

After a few hours, that place would be filled with monsters.

There was no way a little kid would be able to survive.

"Oof, I have no other choice."

As soon as Hyun logged in, Louise rushed to him and grabbed his collar.

"Where were you...?! I-I thought you'd abandoned me...!"

"I was thinking of leaving you but decided not to."

"W... What...?! You've even taken my soul, yet...!"

"I was kidding. It was a joke."

Since she was starting to get angry, Hyun tried to calm her.

It was hard trying to adjust to the mood of a kid.

After crying for a while, she began mumbling.

"This place is too dark... I want to get out."

"Not yet."

"Why?! We already lost them. And if we get out at night, we'll be able to avoid the sunlight, right?"

"We haven't lost them yet."

Louise's breath stopped at Hyun's words.

Nearly half a day had passed since they'd entered the dungeon, and during that time, no one had appeared.

That's why Louise thought she'd be safe from then on. That was also why she was so shocked at Hyun's words.

"The opponents have a Thief-type job, right? Even without the sun, they should be able to hunt prey easily. They can follow our smell or even footsteps..."

"Footsteps...?!"

"Yes, that's why they probably know we've entered a dungeon. They're probably preparing a team to enter it, or maybe they're waiting for us to come out."

"That...!"

Louise's face became pale, but Hyun kept explaining to her.

"Don't worry. There isn't anyone that knows this place better than me."

"Y-you...?"

"Yes, so trust me."

Louise grabbed Hyun's collar with a tearful look on her face.

Hyun smiled at Louise, who was following him.

He felt as if he'd changed jobs to a nanny.

"Now that I think about it, I don't know your name... If it isn't too much, could you tell me how you're called...?"

"Hyun."

It was a nickname he'd used since Asra, and he was more used to it than his real name by then.

"My name is Hyun."