S-Class Hunter Heals with Monsters - Chapter 167



Only Noblemtl

Episode 167: Strong Candidate, Number 1 Dodak

Cheon Do-un held up a branch of the World Tree.

“See this branch? It has healing power. If you use it, your stamina will be restored for a little while.”

At Cheon Do-un’s words, the pile of vines stopped standing.

“However, I don’t know how long I can maintain that state. Maybe a month or a year.”

In a matter of hours, it may lose its strength and the stems and roots may rot.

Even after hearing those words, the vine couldn’t hide its excitement.

[That’s fine. If only I could say my final goodbyes… If only I could go see you in puppy form, that would be fine.]

“Really? Then I guess I have two choices.”

[Options?]

“There will come a day when I can no longer maintain my appearance. When that time comes, I will either leave the old man’s side or stay this time.”

The moment when you must choose will inevitably come.

“If I leave this time, I will be remembered as a puppy until the end. But the old man will pay the price.”

[What, what do you mean?]

“You get it back and then lose it again. The sense of loss will be doubled.”

The vine was confused. It was an unexpected problem.

In exchange for your own satisfaction, your friend suffers even greater pain.

What should I choose in this situation?

I don’t know. If it was that easy to choose, I wouldn’t have run away like this.

While the vine was in trouble, Cheon Do-woon was also in trouble.

He looked at the knife he took out of his bag.

‘It’s up to the vine to make the choice. I have to figure out how to activate its healing power.’

If Cheon Do-un swung the branches of the World Tree, it was more likely to have destructive power than healing power.

Swinging the stick was the safest way, but I didn’t want to wake him up from his sleep because he was tired.

If so, there is only one way.

It is about using Dodak as a medium to draw out one’s own strength.

Cheon Do-un held a staff in his left hand and a branch of the World Tree in his right hand.

Preparations were complete. He began gently rubbing Dodak’s belly with his fingers.

-Phew, phew…!

When I tickled his stomach, the roots of Dodak’s feet trembled.

He was snoring with his mouth wide open.

There’s nothing I hate more than being touched while I’m sleeping.

Dodak waved his arms as if he was annoyed.

‘It’s now.’

I got a feeling. This is what it feels like when Dodak is swinging his cane in anger.

Cheon Do-un lifted a branch of the World Tree. The vines were shocked when they saw it.

[Okay, wait a minute. I’m not ready yet…! I haven’t made up my mind…!]

“Then do it now.”

Cheon Do-un hit the vine’s body with a branch of the World Tree.

Light burst from the branches and spread in all directions.

* * *

The old man sat on a chair in the yard and stared blankly at the iron gate.

How many times have I imagined opening that iron gate and Jaerong coming back?

As I let out a sigh, the iron door creaked open.

This kind of thing happened a lot.

The door was left open to let Jaerong in, so the wind made it shake.

It’ll be the same this time too. The old man thought as he looked at the iron gate and froze.

His eyes grew bigger and bigger and trembled.

“Are you…a joke?”

Gray fur was visible beyond the iron gate.

“Jaerong, is that you?”

I asked again.

The old man stood up awkwardly. The iron door opened a little more in response.

What was revealed was a gray Sigorjab species.

A fluffy puppy pushed the iron gate open with its forehead and stuck its head out.

“Hey, Jae-rong…!”

Is this a dream? Am I hallucinating because I wanted it so badly?

The old man stretched out his arm toward Jaerong and started walking.

I wanted to run, but my legs gave out and I collapsed in the middle.

Jaerong jumped towards the old man.

“Ah, my goodness! Jaerong, you’re alive. You’re alive! Where the hell have you been? How much… how much!”

Tears flowed down the old man’s wrinkled face. The puppy-shaped vine also cried.

Cheon Do-woon turned around after watching the two from outside the iron gate.

There was no need for him to be in a position like that.

I didn’t do it to hear words of thanks, so there’s no reason to stay.

He took out the return stone.

The moment he was about to break it, an old man holding Jaerong opened the iron door and came out.

“W-Wait! You found it for me, right? Our Jaerong… You found it for me. Right?”

The old man’s face was a mess of tears. His voice cracked and sounded hoarse.

Where did you find it? How did you find it?

There were many things I wanted to ask, but my throat was choked up and I couldn’t say them.

Cheon Do-woon looked at the old man and remembered what had happened in the cave area.

[This time, I’ll be with you till the end.]

As its energy returned, the vine said:

[You can be afraid of me when you see my true form. But… I’ll still be with you.]

The decision has been made.

There will come a day when you will have to go back to your original form.

It was okay though.

This time, just this once, this time.

[I want to be with you. I want to be.]

I chose to leave and regretted it.

If I’m going to regret whatever I choose, I’ll choose to stay with you and regret it later.

That was the vine’s decision.

[Neither I nor that child will live long.]

The vine spoke. The old man and the vine were both very old.

The end of our given lifespan is near. So we knew that this relationship wouldn’t last long.

[So… I will live one day longer than that child. So that the child will not be lonely.]

Let’s watch over him until his final moments.

[Then I will go too. So that the child will not be lonely.]

It was the wind of the vine that brought back Jaerong’s appearance.

Cheon Do-un, who remembered the incident in the cave area, went to the old man.

He held a branch of the World Tree in his hand.

He put his other hand in his fanny pack and tickled Dodak, who was sleeping.

-Whew, hoo, hoo…!

Dodak, whose soles were tickled while he was sleeping, flapped his feet.

It is now. This feeling of Dodaki is the feeling when using healing power.

Cheon Do-un hit the old man’s forehead with a branch of the World Tree.

Light dust poured down on the old man’s body. It looked like he was receiving a blessing from God.

“What, what is this…?”

The old man looked at his body in confusion.

Cheon Do-un put the World Tree branch into his bag and spoke to the old man.

“This will help me regain some energy.”

“ah…?”

“May you live long and prosper.”

If both of them regain their energy, wouldn’t they be able to live a similar amount of time?

Cheon Do-woon remembered a fairy tale book he had read at daycare when he was young.

The last, worn-out words on the last page were famous enough to be known to everyone.

“And they lived happily ever after.”

There is no such thing in reality.

It’s a story that appears in children’s storybooks.

So, isn’t it okay for it to happen in reality sometimes?

Cheon Do-woon smirked and broke the return stone.

The blue gate opened and he went inside, leaving the two behind.

The old man stared blankly at the sight. He rubbed his forehead, which had been hit by the World Tree branch, with a blank expression.

“What? Something just popped into my head. That person… looks like someone I saw when I was little.”

When I was hit by the staff of the World Tree, memories I had forgotten came back to me.

She is twenty years old.

I once encountered a horde of monsters while crossing the mountains with refugees.

The hunters who had been escorting them came out and fought, but there were too many monsters.

If we continue like this, we’ll all be wiped out.

She hugged Jaerong and closed her eyes tightly in despair.

At that moment, the people burst into cheers.

[Wow! I survived!]

[Who is that kid? I don’t think he’s a hunter we hired.]

[He’s a mercenary! He’s the mercenary kid who shows up when you ask for support! He really came!]

She opened her eyes to the sound of people’s shouts.

What he saw was a boy who looked younger than him.

A boy in his mid-teens was leisurely fending off monsters on his own.

The thread from the boy’s fingertips began to wrap around the refugees.

[The refugees are safe here. Gentlemen, get up and get to work quickly.]

The boy spoke to the hunters.

It was a calm voice that made you not think he was in the middle of a battle.

As the thread formed a dome around the refugee, the boy was no longer visible.

‘Why am I thinking about that time now?’

That was the first and last time I saw the boy.

All I saw was from afar, mixed in with the refugees.

A memory that was long forgotten because it happened in the past.

That memory came back vividly the moment I was hit by the branch of the World Tree.

“That’s right. The boy I saw back then and that person look a lot like each other.”

When that boy grows up and becomes a young man, isn’t that what he’ll look like?

They are so similar that I think that.

‘Could it really be that kid from back then…?’

The old man chuckled at his own thoughts.

That happened decades ago. The boy I saw back then and that young man couldn’t possibly be the same person.

Whatever it is, I hope that one day I will be able to repay this favor.

The old man went into the house, thinking to himself.

The power to eliminate side effects.

The power to recall memories.

Cheon Do-woon has some of his memories blurred as a side effect of the chimera experiment.

The power to bring back those memories fell into Cheon Do-woon’s hands.

* * *

Cheon Do-woon passed the gate and arrived at the yard.

Kim Na-ri, who saw him, approached him with a curious face.

“Sir, did that puppy go home to its owner?”

“Yeah. I went back.”

“That’s good. I hope you’re doing well. That Sigorjabjong was a cute puppy.”

Cheon Do-woon laughed at Kim Na-ri’s words.

There will come a day when Jaerong’s energy will be diminished.

What kind of face would the old man make if he saw Jaerong’s true form?

‘I’ll pat you.’

Cheon Do-woon thought to himself.

As you grow older, you will notice things.

[You protected me when I was young.]

The reason why Jaerong often comes back injured.

The reason why I rarely encountered monsters when I traveled alone.

The old man will realize that it was all thanks to his wit.

‘Well, the rest is up to you two to figure out.’

Cheon Do-woon turned his attention away from them. Instead, he took out Dodak, who was sleeping soundly, from his bag.

‘By the way, something about Dodak has been giving me a strange feeling since earlier.’

Cheon Do-woon turned Dodak over and examined his back.

In the middle of Dodak’s back, a new sprout had sprouted in a curled shape.

Leaves are starting to grow on the back.

It is natural for a plant monster to grow leaves.

However, Cheon Do-un had never seen a mandragora with leaves growing from its back.

‘The growth rate is too fast to begin with. It wasn’t like this when I was exerting my power in Gold City.’

The same thing happened when I exerted my strength in the cave area.

The change happened just a few seconds ago. It was after I used my healing power on the old man.

Just a few seconds later, these new shoots sprouted.

Cheon Do-woon moved the sleeping Dodak from side to side, examining him.

The new shoots growing on the back changed color depending on the angle.

‘It’s the same color as the leaves of the world tree.’

Could it be because I used too much of the World Tree’s power?

As the number of things that resonate with that power increases, it may have become a strong candidate to become the world tree, which may have led to this change.

‘It seems like a plausible hypothesis, but….’

Candidate for the World Tree, number 1 Dodak.

Weapons include a root attack and the World Tree staff.

Sometimes, it uses the power of destruction.

There is also a history of a king who was the leader of over 100 roots.

As for the candidate’s phrase, something like ‘Huh-eung’ would be good.

“He’s a pretty strong candidate.”

Cheon Do-woon chuckled at his own joke.

If things continue this way, will Dodaki evolve into a world tree?

-Ouch, oh yeah!

At that moment, Dodak stretched his arms and legs and stretched.

Cheon Do-woon grabbed the new shoots growing on Dodak’s back to see his reaction.

When I pulled lightly, Dodak, who had been stretching, froze upright.

-Huh, huh…?

Dodaki turned his head and looked at Cheon Do-woon. He stretched his arms behind him as if he wanted to cover his back.

The arms were too short to reach the back.

Still, as if he had noticed something, he rolled over and covered his back.

-Whew, whew…!

A huge helper. This is precious. Don’t pull it.

Dodaki looked at Cheon Do-woon as if he was saying that.