Closed Door

With a start, I quickly went to the kitchen and prepared a fried egg. Although the smell of alcohol usually dissipates quickly, the residual taste of soju in my throat stubbornly persisted and didn’t want to disappear.

Only after I quickly ate the fried egg could I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Even if I try again, it’s still not to my taste.”

Although I had returned to a younger and stronger body, my throat still rejected soju. Feeling cold sweat breaking out, I wiped my cool forehead with my hand.

“Was grandmother having such a hard time that she drank this?”

Or maybe she unexpectedly liked soju?

“I wanted to create an atmosphere, but it didn’t work out.”

I meaninglessly twirled the soju bottle and refilled the empty glass.

“Grandmother, forgive me, although I’m not yet twenty, but there’s very little left. Even though my body has become younger, my mind has lived to thirty years. Besides, I’ve been through so much. I’ve experienced both the bitterness and sweetness of life.”

This can be called compressed experience, I suppose.

I tipped back the glass of soju into my throat again and grimaced, making a “khe” sound. Looks like I’ll have to prepare a few more fried eggs.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Uaaaa!”

Ma Changgun blocked with his shield the huge claw that whistled through the air.

“Ah, this damn scorpion. So much trouble.”

Cha Yeseung, who had quietly snuck up from behind but was thrown back by the tail strike, grumbled irritably.

It was a scorpion, but the scorpion glowing before them was the size of a dump truck.

The shell, clearly tougher than steel, wasn’t even scratched by blade strikes, and the swinging claws were as sharp as a legendary sword, seeming able to easily tear human flesh even with casual contact. The sting at the end of the tail was huge and sharp like a spear, and the saliva that the scorpion occasionally spat out was poisonous, making it even more problematic and irritating.

“Oh, damn. You spit too? I used to chew gum and spit too, you know?”

Cha Yeseung easily dodged the tail that whistled through the air and cursed again: “Daaaamn”.

“Don’t retreat, witch. Use your Dark Blade.”

“Where would I get such a thing, psycho?”

“Useless. Nothing to be done. I’ll have to use my Mega Strike Ultra Power Bomber.”

“And in such a situation, you can say such things?”

“Cry, fire dragon. Ultra Mega Bomber!”

The fire that appeared from Park Cholsoo’s hands covered the scorpion. The flame that enveloped the shiny black shell, finding nothing to burn, fizzled out with a hiss.

“Damn it.”

Cha Yeseung quietly cursed, watching the attack which, despite the spectacular presentation, didn’t do any damage. It’s okay. She didn’t expect anything anyway. Calming herself in this way, Cha Yeseung slightly concealed her body again and started waiting for an opportune moment.

“Aim for the gaps between segments! Cut off the tail first.”

It was a decent strategy, but not a particularly useful advice.

Ma Changgun was fully occupied blocking the attacks of the scorpion’s huge claws with his shield, and Park Cholsoo specialized in fire attacks and wasn’t strong in swordwork. Cha Yeseung used semi-invisibility and high mobility, so she used a dagger rather than a long sword.

In the end, Sa Gongwoo found himself in a position where he had to both shout and execute the strategy himself.

“Monk!”

At Sa Gongwoo’s call, Jayeon began to strike the wooden percussion instrument he was holding.

“Om somani somani hum harihana harihana hum harihana banaya hum anaya hok baabam baara hum batak. Om somani somani hum harihana harihana hum harihana banaya hum anaya hok baabam baara hum batak. Om somani somani hum…”

The sound of the percussion instrument resonated with the mantra. An invisible energy enveloped the giant scorpion, and its strength and movements slightly weakened.

Sa Gongwoo easily jumped back, dodging the tail falling from above. The spear-sharp tip of the tail thunderously plunged into the ground. Sa Gongwoo ran up the stuck tail, infusing mana into the sword he held in his hand. The sharp long sword transformed into a huge axe.

Reaching the junction of the tail and body, Sa Gongwoo grabbed the axe with both hands and struck with all his might at the gap between segments. The axe blade, filled with mana, flashed brightly. The tail, cut off like tofu in one strike, fell to the ground with a crash.

Kiiiiiik.

The giant scorpion let out a piercing cry and turned around. It swung its claw towards Sa Gongwoo, who had fallen to the ground along with the tail. Although Sa Gongwoo hastily blocked the strike with the axe blade, his body flew into the air like a sheet of paper.

“What are you doing? Attack. Cholsoo, shoot fire, fire!”

At Cha Yeseung’s command, Park Cholsoo shot a fireball at the tail’s cut site. Ma Changgun threw aside his shield and grabbed the giant scorpion, which was writhing and raging, with his bare hands, fixing it in place.

“Oh, really, come on, die already, die!”

Cha Yeseung, having climbed onto the scorpion’s head, began furiously stabbing its eyes with her dagger.

Kiiik like kgurururuk.

The giant scorpion menacingly waved its claws like a shaman dancing with knives. Cha Yeseung and Ma Changgun recoiled from the scorpion.

“Mr. Sa, where did he go?”

“Just now… swoooosh…”

“After he flew off, not a peep?”

He could have crawled back already, how dare he slack off? What a jerk.

Cha Yeseung exhaled, blowing her bangs off her forehead, and patted Ma Changgun on the shoulder.

“After that, it should have died already. But it’s unlikely to die so easily, right?”

“…Uh-huh.”

“When you notice it’s weakened, flip it over. We can’t do anything because of the shell.”

“…Uh-huh.”

“Go, Ma Changgun!”

Cha Yeseung slapped Ma Changgun on the back, sending him forward. Picking up his shield, Ma Changgun timely deflected a flying claw. At the moment when the giant scorpion staggered, he threw aside the shield and grabbed the scorpion’s claw with both hands.

“Uuuu…”

When he strained his strength so that veins popped out on his reddened face, the body of the giant scorpion, which had been wobbling before, flipped onto its side. The legs of the giant scorpion twitched as if trying to stand up again.

“Hey, is it normal for a scorpion to have twenty legs? How many do they usually have, not counting the claws?”

“…Four?”

“Psycho. Insects usually have at least six legs, you know?”

“Scorpion… arthropod…”

“So it’s not an insect, but an animal?”

“A scorpion has four pairs of legs.”

Jayeon gave the answer, passing by Cha Yeseung and Ma Changgun who were seriously discussing meaningless things, and climbing onto the chest of the giant scorpion.

“Oh, monk. You’re so smart!”

“It’s just common knowledge.”

“Oh, man of common knowledge.”

Instead of replying, Jayeon took in his hands a pair of iron clubs that hung on the sides of his belt. And began to pound the chest of the giant scorpion as if beating a drum.

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s okay for a monk to do this.”

“Yeah… usually…”

Cha Yeseung and Ma Changgun, exchanging quiet whispers, parted ways. Cha Yeseung followed Jayeon onto the scorpion’s chest, while Ma Changgun interfered with the movements of the claws, which were still menacingly swinging even when the scorpion was flipped over. Meanwhile, Park Cholsoo persistently continued to show the giant scorpion what his fiery butt was capable of.

“Magic stone!”

Cha Yeseung, who had cut the skin on the chest, weaker than the shell, and was rummaging in the innards, pulled out the magic stone from the body of the giant scorpion. The movements of the giant scorpion, which had been resisting until the last moment, ceased.

“Oh, damn. I really almost died.”

Cha Yeseung, who had fallen onto the chest of the giant scorpion as if collapsing, suddenly jumped up.

“While others were barely standing and struggling, where was that person who still hasn’t shown up? Mr. Sa, you’ve been slacking off lately. We need to re-educate you. Where are you! Where are you!”

The team, which had descended from the scorpion with groans, headed in the direction where Sa Gongwoo had flown off. In the distance lay Sa Gongwoo with a torn stomach, bleeding profusely.

“Mr. Sa. Are you okay? Not dead?”

“It seems… this is my limit. It’s good that you’re all safe. If I die, pass on what I’ve accumulated to Choron.”

Sa Gongwoo breathed heavily and smiled sadly.

“He’s rich, right? I think the money Mr. Sa has saved up will hardly help him much. Most likely, it will be at the level of his monthly pocket expenses.”

“…”

“And the artifacts you’ve collected are just junk too.”

“It’s not junk! Ugh…”

“Don’t torment Mr. Sa like that. We need to let him focus on healing.”

“Oh, looking at how he’s lying and resting, it drives me crazy.”

“If it were others, they would have died already. Only because it’s Mr. Sa, he’s still alive. I understand that Ms. Yeseung scolds him out of guilt, because every time we place a great responsibility on Mr. Sa, but now let’s let him rest.”

As Jayeon said, in every battle, Sa Gongwoo always took on the heaviest role. Unfortunately, his awakening ability was body regeneration, so relying on this, he behaved even more recklessly.

“No, do you think you’re a game character? Why do you exchange damage with the monster? At least dodge sometimes.”

“If someone hears, they’ll think I’m deliberately taking hits.”

“Okay, while Mr. Sa is recovering, the rest of you take a little rest too. I’ll help Mr. Sa with recovery.”

Jayeon, attaching to his belt his iron clubs from which monster fluid was dripping, began to strike the wooden percussion instrument. A clear sound rang out: tuk-tuk-tuk-tuk.

“Namo donphan manwolsegyo sibiisangwon yaksayorebul yaksayorebul yaksayorebul yaksayorebul yaksayorebul yaksayorebul yaksayorebul yaksayorebul…”

Sa Gongwoo’s stomach, which had been regenerating at the speed of a crawling ant, now recovered at the speed of a crawling turtle. This meant that now the recovery became barely noticeable. Sa Gongwoo, relaxing and lying comfortably, looked at the sky inside the gate.

“I miss Choron.”