Chapter 100

At first glance, Baek Si-hoo's condition looked bad. An ominous energy enveloped his entire body. However, he seemed conscious, as I remembered he had just called my name in a small voice. The problem is that Baek Si-hoo and I are not very close.

"Han Yi-jin... come here."

"..."

His blazing eyes turned toward me. His whole body was engulfed in flames, yet his eyes glaring at me were more intense than the fire. For some reason, I felt goosebumps and subconsciously stepped back. My wrist, where Baek Si-hoo had forcefully put a bracelet, felt hot. I was reminded of my relationship with him again.

Baek Si-hoo had trespassed into the Muspelheim dungeon to abduct me. He shackled me with a suspicious illegal item to drag me around. If I couldn't remove this item, I wouldn't be able to escape from Baek Si-hoo.

I understand his obsession with me, but I feel like it's more over the top than usual. It was probably because of the energy surrounding Baek Si-hoo and the altar monster that was saying strange things.

"Hurry... You... Ugh."

"Baek Si-hoo!"

Baek Si-hoo's body, engulfed in flames, staggered. I was certain I had applied my auxiliary skill to him, but his passive skills remained inactive. Anxiously, I bit my lip as I stared at Baek Si-hoo. It was only then that I noticed his physical condition.

‘His body is completely fine?'

Baek Si-hoo's body was not affected by the monster's fire. His passive skills would only be triggered if his body were directly injured. When he was hit by Yong-sik's Breath, his passive skills collided with the poison, and the area became a mess. However, since the monster's fire wasn't harming his body, his passive skills would not be triggered.

So what is affecting Baek Si-hoo now is not his body but his mind? What would happen if the monster could control Baek Si-hoo who had received my auxiliary skill?

A terrifying thought crossed my mind, and I was horrified. If that happens, it's over. It would be like facing two boss monsters simultaneously. Not only would we fail to clear the dungeon, but our entire raid party could be wiped out.

It wasn't that I didn't trust the protagonist, Kang Yoo-hyun, because he and Baek Si-hoo didn't get along. Baek Si-hoo was a tough opponent. With Baek Si-hoo receiving my auxiliary skill, his stats would now be as high as Kang Yoo-hyun, making him the most threatening enemy for the protagonist—maybe even more so than the boss monster.

‘Damn it, I shouldn't have used the auxiliary skill.’

But it was too late to regret it. How could I have known that the strange monster would use mental skills? I needed to think about what I should do before Baek Si-hoo completely lost his mind.

"Kyaa!"

"Yong-sik!"

“...”

As if by some twist of fate, Yong-sik and Baek Si-hoo faced each other again. Even in his unstable state, Baek Si-hoo seemed to recognize Yong-sik, and his face hardened. His momentum became even more ferocious.

"Ugh, damn it."

Could Yong-sik handle Baek Si-hoo alone? Previously, Baek Si-hoo couldn't stop Yong-sik's Breath attack, but now I didn't know how strong he had become with my auxiliary skill. Moreover, he may have become stronger because of that unidentified monster.

"Grrr..."

"Yong-sik, no!"

However, before I could stop him, the agitated Yong-sik released his Breath attack at Baek Si-hoo. Just like before, Yong-sik's Breath was aimed precisely at Baek Si-hoo's face.

Pajijijik, pajik!

Yong-sik's Breath attack collided with Baek Si-hoo's passive skills. In the past, Yong-sik's Breath had penetrated these defenses and struck Baek Si-hoo's face. Now, the same menacing green glow of Yong-sik's poison Breath lunged at Baek Si-hoo.

“...!”

The result was shocking. I had anticipated Yong-sik's Breath would penetrate, but it couldn't even pierce through Baek Si-hoo's passive skills; it simply dissipated. I looked at Baek Si-hoo in disbelief.

"Gasp!"

No, how big will she grow? It's almost like Charizard's evolution of Pokémon. I took a deep breath as I looked at Yong-sun, who suddenly grew to the size of a boss monster. After consuming all the fire, Yong-sun opened her big mouth and burped.

"Burp."

"..."

She looked very content. I was silent for a moment as I looked at the satisfied Yong-sun. Then, my eyes met Yong-sun's golden eyes.

"Ppiiik!"

"Uwak! Wait, hold on!"

"Ppiik?"

Yong-sun's body grew to the size of a house, but her bird chirping-like voice remained the same. She didn't even realise that she had grown bigger, and she tried to approach me as casually as before, which was quite scary for me because of her current appearance.

"Yong-sun, you might not realise this, but you look very different now."

"Ppik?"

"If you charge at me like that, you could crush your dad. Could you come over carefully?"

"Ppi..."

I felt a little guilty seeing Yong-sun look a bit dispirited, but I had no choice. One misstep and I could be crushed to death under those huge forelegs. Fortunately, Yong-sun seemed to realise that her body was different from before as she stepped forward. She tilted her head in question "Ppi?" then moved carefully towards me.

"Yes, yes. Well done."

"Ppiii."

Then, she suddenly thrust her head towards me. Does she ask for pats on the head like when she was small? I reached out and stroked Yong-sun's head which was now bigger and wider. Yong-sun closed her eyes and snorted happily.

“Kkyauu...”

“Oops, Yong-sik.”

I immediately lowered my gaze hearing his weak and lifeless voice. Yong-sik's wing was injured by Baek Si-hoo's sword. I examined his wound again before taking out a potion from my inventory.

“...Huh?"

Only bloodstains remained on Yong-sik's wing, and I couldn't see the wound I'd seen earlier. Has it already healed? Was his recovery speed that fast, or was it not a big wound? Anyway, I felt relieved and sighed, but Yong-sik trembled and burrowed into my arms.

"Kkyaung..."

"My Yong-sik must have been really scared."

I wondered how much pain and fear he must have felt. I hugged Yong-sik with compassion.

Boom!

"...!"

A deafening and unusual sound suddenly rang out. I turned my head in surprise and saw Kang Yoo-hyun and Sung Yoo-bin fighting the Sandworm King. No more wasted time. I got up from my seat with Yong-sik in my arms.

T/N: Finally reached 100th! I wonder if I can finish the rest hahaha