However, what was perched on the wolf's head was none other than humanity's ultimate weapon and last hope, an S-grade hunter. He effortlessly pulled his weapon out of the wolf's skull and then lightly leaped away from the wolf.

"Another attack is coming. Hunter Kim Seong, get ready."

Yoon Juyoung, who had lightly landed in front of Hunter Kim Seong after leaping from the wolf, whispered softly.

Mr. Kim Seong, with a face soaked in admiration for Yoon Juyoung, quickly returned to his usual expression and raised his shield. Ms. Sonya did the same.

"Ms. Seohee, stay close behind me."

"Ah, yes...!"

I immediately did as Hunter Sonya told me and stood close behind her, only fidgeting with the ring on my right hand. The otherworldly level of combat unfolding right before my eyes was putting immense pressure even on me, who wasn't directly participating.

The wolf, seemingly disoriented by Yoon Juyoung's sudden attack, continued to shake its head from which blood was still spurting.

It lowered the front of its body as much as possible and tensed its hind legs.

[It's a charge.]

My prediction was not wrong. The creature put all its strength into its hind legs and then shot towards us like an arrow.

I couldn't catch any of the wolf's movements as it charged at us. To me, every movement was too fast and intense.

The only reason I realized it had charged was because I saw Hunter Kim Seong, who was managing to block the creature with just one shield amidst a massive roar.

"Ughhhhh...!!"

"Support coming in again! Blessing of the Earth!"

"Just endure one more attack after this one. Two more attacks and it's over."

With a brief warning, Hunter Yoon Juyoung's figure disappeared once again.

And without any respite, the same situation repeated itself. Suddenly appearing out of thin air, Yoon Juyoung plummeted down, this time piercing through the creature's eye.

[Heugh.]

Honestly, when its skull was pierced, I couldn't see the wound because of its fluffy fur and didn't feel much... But it was somewhat different when its eye was pierced through entirely. I suppressed myself from reacting to any physiological disgust and stared ahead as if glaring.

The person who had pierced through the wolf's skull and then its eye landed next to Hunter Kim Seong without a single drop of blood on him, maintaining a clean appearance.

The creature, suddenly having its eye pierced, let out an unstable and rough cry, far from a howling, and slammed its head into the ground. It seemed like an action to suppress its rage, or a desperate gesture to ignore the sudden pain.

However, the creature soon staggered to its feet again, despite being shaky.

"It seems to be a tough one. To stand up even after having its head and eye pierced through..."

Hunter Kim Seong murmured in a voice that seemed to mix admiration and disgust. Indeed, as he said, the sight of the creature standing up again after receiving what should have been fatal wounds was enough to stimulate human fear.

However, Hunter Yoon Juyoung, who had put the creature in such a state, didn't seem to feel any particular emotion. He nonchalantly took out his elongated weapon again, as if nothing had happened.

[A sword...? No, no, that, it's...]

The weapon in Yoon Juyoung's hand resembled the long spike he had used against the field monster earlier, only larger in size.

My observation of Yoon Juyoung's weapon ended shortly as the wolf, though staggering, directed its murderous intent at us again.

Hunter Kim Seong raised his shield in front, and Hunter Sonya prepared to cast another support spell. Yoon Juyoung, without showing much, gripped the sharp object in his hand a little tighter.

─Grrrrrrrrr...

Instead of letting out a howl, charging at us, or immediately swinging its front paw, the creature lay almost flat on the spot, growling in a way unique to beasts, and glared at us with its remaining eye.

There's something. At the same moment I felt an intuitive sense of danger unique to the weak, Hunter Kim Seong shouted in a panicked voice.

"Something is strange! Perhaps it's a skill that scatters the party members─!"

Unfortunately, his shout was cut short. Because what he had predicted happened exactly.

The creature, which had been lying flat on the ground, suddenly lifted its head and began to emit a massive roar unlike any we had heard before.

It wasn't just a loud roar. It physically pushed me and the other party members away.

[If we fall apart─!]

I don't know about the others, but the moment I'm separated from the party members, I immediately become in danger. I tried my best to stay in place and move closer to Hunter Kim Seong.

However, my body, being merely a rank C hunter, had no chance of evading the attack of an A- rank dungeon mid-boss monster. Unable to endure any longer, I was pushed far away, rolling on the ground.

"Ugh...!"

Fortunately, since my equipment was focused entirely on defense, I wasn't seriously injured, however, the impact was a different story. The area around my ribs still felt numb, and my body, having suddenly received a massive physical force, trembled as if in shock.

I gasped for air and forced myself to stand up. Beyond my slightly blurred vision, I could see Hunter Kim Seong, who had managed to hold his ground, and Hunter Sonya, who had been pushed back a bit less than me. And then─

Something black pierced through the wolf in a straight line.

It took a moment between seeing it and realizing what it was. After blinking a couple of times, I realized that the black thing that had pierced through the wolf's body was none other than the black thing thrown by Hunter Yoon Juyoung.

And with my realization, the creature's massive form gradually collapsed downwards, further and further. A surge of dark red blood gushed out from between its elongated snout.

─......

It fell to the ground, leaving behind a faint sound that was neither a cry nor a howl. As is often the case when something giant falls, the creature left behind a massive noise as it entrusted its body to the earth.

Koong......

Along with a brief cloud of thick dust, the erosion phenomenon that had occurred around us also began to dissipate. The surrounding landscape, which had been covered in a thick layer of snow, began to return to its original state.

[Ah...]

Although I was really, really surprised by the last strike... it seemed like it had safely ended. I let out a sigh of relief and, with my legs still trembling, forced myself to stand up from my spot.

"Huh?"

At least, that would have been the case if something hadn't suddenly grabbed and pulled at my leg. I blankly blinked and looked behind me, feeling a strong pressure on my leg.

"―?!"

There was a wolf. But it wasn't white. It was black instead. And... it had the most intense, fiery red eyes, as if containing the world's most intense flame.

Before I could realize what was happening and make a sound, something swiftly enveloped me and the creature, pulling us in. There was no time to think about what the situation was or what was happening.

The last thing I saw was the urgent expression of Yoon Juyoung, who had somehow grabbed my hand.

* * *

I dreamed of a night that was deeply submerged.

A child was crying. Like most unloved children in the world, the child was silently shedding tears in a small corner, unable to cry out loud.

I approached the child, cutting through the dark shadows of the deeply submerged night.

―Why are you crying alone?

The child lifted its head. In the deep darkness, only the child's brown eyes shimmered with sadness.

I carefully reached out and wiped the child's tears. However, as soon as I collected the tears with my fingertips, new tears fell from the child's eyes.

─What's making you so sad.

In truth, I already knew what was making the child so sad. There were countless reasons for children who grow up without parents and without anyone to rely on to be sad and suffer.

But instead of naming and closely examining each reason, we pretended they didn't exist. So, in the end, we suffered without reason and were simply desperate.

Knowing all this, I still gently pulled the child into my embrace and said.

─Tell me what made you so sad. Let's share your sadness with me.

I gently embraced the child's small back, feeling the slight tremor. Once again, I whispered softly to reassure them.

─I know it must feel like you're all alone in the world, which is why I wish you'd talk more about it.

We are humans, and because we are born and grow as humans, we know loneliness and feel solitude throughout our lives.

Life, after all, is floating alone in this vast world, and living is walking alone on a straight line created by birth and death.

Yet, even so, we alleviate our loneliness and lessen our solitude simply by knowing that our voice can reach someone on another parallel line of existence, that someone else's voice can reach us.

─I want to know your sorrow.

A sorrowful cry was heard. A sob, swallowed by the crying, fell.

Amid the falling tears and sobs, the child whispered softly.

─Don't go.

The child's small hand clutched the hem of my clothes.

─Don't go, don't leave me alone...

Suddenly, as if vomiting out loneliness and solitude like a cry, the small child in my embrace clutched the hem of my clothes tightly, as if holding onto the last lifeline, and whispered everything it had.

─Please don't go, [■■■■].

However, since a dream promises anyone to eventually wake, and because the plea not to go is made knowing the listener will leave, it is the nature of dreams.

And so, I opened my eyes. It was a farewell to the past and a contact with reality.

* * *