ReLife Player

[Hound (5)]

After sending the children away, Eunha opened Hayang’s lunchbox.

He scattered the remaining food in the chanhap evenly across the street.

This should provide some distraction.

Monsters tended to be attracted to mana.

If it was a hound, it would go after the tenuous mana in Jung Hayang’s lunchbox.

The prediction didn’t change.

The moment he scattered the food, the hound that was chasing him scattered.

Time for the children to get away from the hound.

«…and leave the potion behind.»

The reason for the food was that it was uncomfortable to carry around.

If he left it behind, the monsters might chase after them.

After discarding the food, Eunha strapped the thermos to his back and jumped up a tree.

«…Wow, this is no joke.»

The top of Bukhansan Mountain.

Eunha couldn’t hide his surprise as he felt the growing energy of the hound pack as he headed towards Baegundae.

If they came down the mountain, there would be a huge number of casualties.

He shouldn’t think so easily.

His mana was currently a little more than half of what it should be. He had to conserve his mana like a belt.

Moreover, his fork was the only weapon he could use to defeat the monster.

«Pl…please, save me….»

It was then.

Eunha spun around at the sound from the other side.

A pungent smell was rising up to the treetops. Looking down, he frowned.

There were bodies scattered around as if it were a place where hikers passed by.

The person who requested rescue was a player. Since Bukhansan was a Changhai Clan’s territory, the person must be a player from the Changhai Clan.

As the hound pack approached the player whose side was torn apart, the shadow of death fell on the man’s face.

He was already helpless.

Eunha shook his head at the player who was begging for his life with tears in his eyes.

Death was unstoppable.

The Hounds began to dismantle the body, and the hand that reached for the sky in the hope of salvation fell helplessly.

The Hounds poked their heads in, hoping to take a little more. Their mouths reddened, they squabbled, ready to kill each other.

While the pack was distracted by their prey, Eunha kicked a hound near a tree.

He scattered the pack as soon as he hit the ground.

«Of course…!»

He purposely jumped into the pack because he was sure the player had a weapon.

Without hesitation, Eunha rummaged through the mangled corpses.

He found a longsword that the man must have used, and a stiletto hanging from his waist.

A sword made of mana metal, a mana alloy, was a far cry from the weapons he wielded in emergencies. It was capable of killing a hound without mana, and its cutting power was enhanced by mana alone.

«After all…»

This isn’t going to work.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, he put down the longsword the man would have used.

It was too long and heavy for his young body.

«Come on in.»

Instead, he grabbed the stiletto the man would have used as an aid. It was about the length of his forearm and specialized for stabbing, so he had no trouble carrying it.

Eunha loaded the stiletto with mana and deliberately taunted the hounds.

He didn’t feel fear.

It had been long since he had abandoned that emotion.

A mere seventh rank.

No, there was no reason to be afraid of a pack that would have been relegated to the eighth rank after crossing Cocoon.

The slaughter had begun.

Blinded, he went on a mad rampage against the onrushing pack.

He leapt into the air, plunging his sword into the belly of a hound.

From where he stood, the ravenous horde tore at each other.

He infused his stiletto with mana, extending the blade.

Not just any stiletto, but a weapon created by a player device could be utilized in this way.

Boom.

In an instant, the extended blade touched the hound’s gemstone.

The gem shattered, and the hound turned to mana and disappeared.

There was no need to remove the stiletto from the hound.

Eunha twisted his body hard in the air.

On the ground, the remaining Hounds were waiting for him to fall.

He couldn’t let that happen.

A nip. (Mijim) (微針). (1)

Stiletto’s blade glowed with a searing light.

He swung the blade downward,

The mana in the blade turned into slender needles and rushed toward them.

The small amount of mana in the attack was not enough to kill all of the hounds.

But the pack didn’t close the distance and lunged, dead or alive.

Landing on the ground, Eunha kicked out the stiletto he’d tucked between his armpits.

From the bottom up.

From the top, back down.

Down and back up again.

He traced the star’s trajectory, never pausing his grip on the stiletto.

The trajectory, six times, was enough to slaughter the hounds.

The strength of the hounds was only revealed when they were in a pack.

A lone wolf was no enemy.

Eunha easily cut down the Hound from a distance.

Those caught in his mana-sensing net from the start had no chance to react.

«…I got one.»

He couldn’t be bothered to wipe the blood off his face. Wiping the blood from his face haphazardly, he finished searching the player’s corpse.

The automatic pistol from his back pocket was a G-Fight1, manufactured by Galaxy Devices.

Eunha pulled out the magazine and checked to make sure it was fully loaded.

Unfortunately, he didn’t find any spare rounds.

«…Good thing I have a Yuja-cha tea.»

The joy of wielding a player device for the first time in a long time had drained his mana.

If he hadn’t brought the thermos, he would have run out of mana before he met the Hell Hound.

«Kaaaaaaaah-!!»

«Khaaaaaaah!!!»

The screams came from the bottom of the mountain.

Hard to ignore because they were children’s screams, he clicked his tongue and ran.

It was half a dozen children surrounded by a pack of hounds.

Frowning, he saw Sena’s employer lose an arm in a fight with a monster and quickly intervened.

What the hell are these kids doing here!

He swung his stiletto, unable to hide his irritation.

«Ack, my arm…!»

The hired employed picked up his fallen arm and winced.

Damn. It’s gone.

«I’m goinf to die. I’m screwed’

For now, the shock of having his arm cut off offset the pain.

But over time, he will feel the shock of losing his arm.

There was nothing he could do on the mountain unless I got medical attention right away.

It’s none of my business.

I didn’t care if the man died of shock or not.

Instead, I was irritated by the sound of the man’s fever.

«It’s Sena!»

«Uh, what can I do-!»

The hounds were still there. The ones who had marked the children who had run away from him were running down the path.

I hated taking care of children.

If they weren’t in the same class, the same school, I wouldn’t have bothered.

A thousand steps.

I bent my knees and pounded the ground, closing the distance quickly, but not enough to swing my sword at the hounds that were charging the girl.

Haa.

It was a waste, he thought, but he had no choice.

Clicking his tongue, Eunha fired the G-Fight1 in his left hand.

The mana-alloy bullet pierced the hound’s lungs.

The hound gasped for air through its punctured lungs and eventually died of a pool of blood in its lungs.

«What the hell, was that you?»

I should have left it alone.

The child who had nearly lost her life to the monster was Sena.

Eunha sighed inwardly, wishing he hadn’t used all those bullets.

«If you don’t want to die, go down the mountain.»

«Uh… huh?»

This isn’t working. She hadn’t woken up yet.

He looked around at his surroundings.

She wasn’t the only one who hadn’t come to her senses in the face of the monster.

The children were staring blankly at the spot where the monster had disappeared. Some of them were crying and panicking.

It was a stark comparison to the friends he’d sent down the mountain earlier.

The children were all looking at him.

As if to say, «Do something»

It was annoying. It was truly annoying.

This is why I hated kids.

A child always had to rely on others, never on themselves.

My pre-regression self had to survive alone, with no one to turn to.

«I already told you. The rest is up to you.»

«Uh, uh….»

He glared at the kids trying to get to him.

He didn’t recognize many of them.

Probably kids from other classes.

He had no reason to care about them anymore.

The things that had a reason to be save were not here.

What needed to be done, he had done.

The rest was up to the kids to figure out. If they still encountered monsters in the future, that was simply their fate.

«And the man you were carrying, he’s in serious condition, get him medical attention as soon as you all get down there.»

He probably wouldn’t survive.

Getting down the mountain with a missing arm was one thing.

There was no way a group of children could carry a bleeding adult down the mountain.

Perhaps the man would be forced to make two choices.

He could go down alone and die.

Or he could go down with the children and die.

Either way, the outcome will not change.

It doesn’t matter who dies.

He stood like a knife sharpened from slaying monsters.

If anyone touched it, it would go right through them.

«W, wait…!»

Jin Sena still hadn’t grasped his emotions.

In retrospect, she had never been good at reading other people’s emotions.

Perhaps it was because she had been taught from a young age to only be served by others.

To her, everyone but herself was just a tool for convenience.

It was ridiculous to think that.

Is that why she’s trying to use me now?

He shook off her grasping hand.

He turned his pent-up irritation and frustration into flesh.

Emotionally charged flesh was terribly intimidating.

She couldn’t say anything just by meeting his eyes.

Eunha left the place without a second thought.

He continued up the mountain,

«…I found it.»

The summit of Baekundae.

He finally confronted the monster that commanded the group.

A sixth-level monster, Hell Hound.

The creature emitted a black aura that surrounded its body.

«Whether you do the marking or not….»

Eunha did not resist the black aura that engulfed him.

Amidst the surging energy, he simply imbued mana into his sword and said,

«You’re dead, you son of a bitch.»

Madness (微針).

Notes!

(1) Mijim (微針): «미짐» in Korean or «微針» in Chinese can be translated to «acupuncture needle» in English. Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine that involves inserting thin needles into the skin at specific points on the body to stimulate certain areas and promote healing. Of course, this is an ability that Eunha has to inflict damage on the enemy.

(E/N: I don’t know Chinese…sorry…but I’ll learn it next year!)