The creature smashed the window and thrust one arm inside. Strictly speaking, it was a hand shaped like plant roots.It groped across the table, then grabbed the Deater. At the same time, fine roots shot out from every knuckle joint, weaving together in a tangled mesh.The hand tried to pull the Deater out as it was. But the fine roots had already spread wide like a spiderweb. Because of the swaying spread of roots, the arm couldn’t slide back out through the hole it had come in.Screeeeeeech!A sound like ears being ripped apart rang out. Then suddenly the ground started to vibrate.Crkk.— Gu Sawon! The ground over here is splitting right now!The burger shop ceiling began to shake violently too. From the cracked ground, thin plant roots crawled out, one strand after another.Sawon scooped up Nine and grabbed Ji Hayeon’s hand, sprinting out of the shop. As he ran, he shouted into the comm.— Get far away from here!Rrrr-rrrumble!One side of the building’s roof caved in. From the gaps in the split ground, thin tree roots shot up all at once.The roots writhed like hundreds of snakes. Now that he got a clear look, the thin roots were all grown from a thick trunk root, and that main root stretched long into the collapsed burger shop.A massive plant-type Deater was overturning the entire area trying to yank its arm free. Like burning down the whole house to catch a bedbug. But in the middle of misfortune there was at least one small relief: the tree roots weren’t launching direct attacks.Sawon clamped Ji Hayeon’s waist against his side and jumped backward, retreating once more.Thud.The building sagged down and collapsed, kicking up dust. The thick dust hovered in the air. Once his feet landed in a safe spot, Sawon gently set Ji Hayeon down.Crkk.— Gu Sawon, you okay?— Yeah. I’m fine.— What about aggression? What type of Deater was it?Mok Geonho was asking about the Deater. Huge bulk, massive roots, plant-type body. Sawon pictured what he had just seen.— Looked like a Foreator.Silence fell over the comm, dead as a mouse. A Foreator was a plant-type Deater with spore-generation ability. Ji Hayeon swallowed dryly and spoke in a low tone.— Foreators are more docile than other Deaters. If you don’t provoke it, it probably won’t bother attacking.But Mok Geonho disagreed.— For something so “docile,” it’s killed way too many people, don’t you think.The Foreator’s spores had the power to encroach on space. Because of that, when they crossed into the human world through a black sphere or Gate and spread their spores, that area would be taken over and incorporated into Hinari. Just like S9 and the other districts had become.The black-sphere-ization of fissures and the otherworldization of Earth were separate things. In other words, humans were eaten by Deaters that came through Heukgu, and had their living territory stolen by Foreators. Mok Geonho spoke again, voice quietly sincere.— Maybe we should just kill it now, before it’s too late.Ji Hayeon answered quickly.— I get it, but provoking it here really isn’t a good choice.He tucked the test tube with the leaf carefully into his chest. For Ji Hayeon, there was something more important right now than the Foreator in front of them. The leaf that could be a clue to the mutated fissure. He had to bring this back intact, no matter what.The roots hesitated for a moment, then began to move slowly again. Like a pulled rope being reeled in, the roots dragged along the ground toward the collapsed building. Sawon hid Ji Hayeon behind his back and watched the front with sharp focus.Is it backing off like this? You’re seriously telling me it tore this place up just to take that Deater?Swish.A sound like tree roots scraping the ground slid past his ears.Crkk.— I’m pretty sure it doesn’t have any aggression.— Don’t let your guard down, Kim Wujeong. A thing that big can hit like a truck even with a light tap.— Seo Hansu’s just dying to pick a fight with me any chance he gets, huh.Crkk.Mok Geonho stepped in to break up the bickering.— Both of you, shut it. You’re loud.— He’s the one twisting my words every time.Thud!— Aaagh!A scream came through the comm right then. Mok Geonho shouted:— Fuck, who was that!Sawon turned his body toward where the thud had come from. He had the reflexes to move the instant he heard the sound—but with Ji Hayeon hidden behind his back, he couldn’t step out casually.— Ugh…Tak, tak, tak. Combat boots thudded on the ground. Soon, people converged on a single point.Mok Geonho was the first to reach the source of the accident. In front of him, rookie hunter Jin Jeonghae was sitting on the ground, clutching his calf. They had scattered to different spots to escape the cracking ground, and that had done the damage.— Guess a root grabbed his leg on its way out.Jin Jeonghae’s calf was twisted in a spiral, like a screw mechanism. Mok Geonho smashed all the first-aid capsules he had over it. Kim Wujeong dumped every Metena first-aid item he had on the calf, too.— It’s all because Seo Hansu was talking bullshit.But the capsule contents weren’t nearly enough to fully cover the leg.— Bring every first-aid kit anyone’s got. This isn’t enough.Seo Hansu joined in. After checking the injury, Mok Geonho let out a grim sound.— The bone and muscle are completely twisted. A first-aid kit won’t cut it. And we’ve gotta go all the way down to 400 meters depth to reach the Gate—no way he makes it with that leg.A thud shook the ground again. The Foreator was lifting back into the air. Once it was completely gone, Kim Wujeong spoke.— Then what do we do.— Boosting his recovery would be better. Anyone bring extra Metena?— I didn’t.— Same.Everyone had minimized their load to prioritize raw-material extraction gear. They’d brought emergency kits, so there had been no reason to also bring spare Metena. Seo Hansu asked:— We can’t just inject raw material, right?Ji Hayeon answered at once.— Want to kill a healthy person on purpose?Raw Metena was unrefined, in its original form. You had to refine and filter it and split it into stamina-type and intellect-type.Injecting raw Metena, with all sorts of things mixed together, wouldn’t help recovery—it would send him into shock. At that moment, Sawon sat down beside Mok Geonho and spoke.— Let’s transfuse.— Huh?Sawon held out his wrist.— I’m the only one here overflowing with Metena. I’ll share mine.— Hey. I feel like fixing that mess will use up a lot of Metena.— You guys only have a one-person portion. I don’t.He jerked his chin toward Nine behind his back.“Kkii.”Stamina-type Awakened Metena flowed through Sawon’s body. And his Metena current was linked as one with Nine. On top of that, he could use Nine’s Metena as if it were entirely his own. Because of that, more than three or four times the amount of Metena other people had flowed through Sawon.He continued:— I don’t really have much use for big Metena output unless I’m fighting, and I doubt I’ll be dragging Nine into a fight here. All that’s left is withdrawal. Sharing mine is the fastest way.— …Yeah. There’s no other option right now. Then let’s prep the transfusion…But before Mok Geonho could finish, a long arm suddenly shot in and yanked Sawon up. Ji Hayeon hauled him to his feet with rough force.— Why are you doing it.— Huh?Caught off guard by Ji Hayeon’s sudden move, Sawon stared blankly. Then he grasped the situation and explained calmly.— Ah, I can use Nine’s Metena like it’s mine. And maybe because of my influence, Nine’s Metena is the same type as a stamina-type Awakened’s.— And that still doesn’t answer why you should be the one doing it.Ji Hayeon growled, voice loaded with anger.— Because my Metena tank is big…? Because I’ve got more than everyone else, so it’s way more efficient for me to share than anyone else.— Just because you have more, that automatically means it’s yours to drain?Sawon wasn’t the only one thrown by Ji Hayeon’s attitude. Both researchers and hunters were listening to them. Mok Geonho spoke, his tone touched with fluster.— Uh, Chief Ji. Gu Sawon’s Metena tank is seriously insane. He’ll be fine sharing some.— How can you be so sure? Having a lot always makes it fine? That makes it okay to take it?But Ji Hayeon’s voice only got sharper. There was no way ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) Sawon could feel good about that.What the hell is this guy’s problem now. What’s set him off this time.He needed to calm Ji Hayeon down. Sawon pressed the comm button.[Switching to dedicated line.]The other team members’ voices cut out, and Ji Hayeon’s breathing grew even louder. Sawon pulled him closer.— Chief. Why are you suddenly like this.— Do you even understand how important Metena is to an Awakened?Just like a person dies from massive blood loss, an Awakened also meets death if they lose too much Metena.Sawon stroked his arm as if to soothe him. His hand, gently brushing along Ji Hayeon’s forearm, snagged on the hard metal Amplifier.— I know. That’s why I said it. That my baseline Metena amount is high. You’ve seen how I use several times more than other people even without an Amplifier, right?— Then your minimum requirement is probably that much higher too.— It’s not. I tested it. The minimum amount of Metena needed to sustain life is the same as other hunters.— You drained yourself down to the brink of death to test that? What if something goes wrong?Ji Hayeon’s anger only deepened, making all his effort to reassure him feel pointless. At this point, Sawon wasn’t just flustered—he was honestly dumbfounded.— I’m telling you, nothing’s going to happen. No, more than that—why are you suddenly reacting this sensitively to my Metena?

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