Not even a full day after waking up from a month-long coma, she was in a taxi headed toward the gate.
Her wallet was gone, her old phone with it, but the one Jinhyuk had left her was enough. She'd set up her card electronically on the ride over, paid the driver, and stepped out into a scene that made her immediately question every decision that had led to this moment.
The area around the gate was packed. Hunters, barricades, news vans, officials, layers upon layers of people, all of whom had significantly more business being here than she did.
"How am I supposed to get in?" she muttered, scanning the perimeter. "There are too many people."
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Seduce your way through. You have the face for it.
『 Above The Broken World 』
Might I suggest the simplest solution, declare yourself the healer who saved humanity and walk in with your head held high. They ought to bow.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Or~ I possess you again and put them all to sleep! Easy.
『 Above The Broken World 』
How barbaric. There is no need to render an entire crowd unconscious when she could simply walk through the entrance unbothered.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Say that again and I'll come to your realm and beat the living daylights out of you.
『 Above The Broken World 』
...You are beginning to sound disturbingly like a human.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Is that a problem?!
Elena tuned them out and looked back at the barricade. The hunters stationed at the entrance were facing outward, eyes on the crowd.
Not on the gate itself.
"...Actually." She straightened up slowly. "I could just walk in like I belong there."
『 Above The Broken World 』
That is what I said.
"You said declare myself. I'm saying act natural. There's a difference."
She smoothed down her clothes, which were Jinhyuk's spare clothes, and started walking toward the entrance with as much confidence as someone who had been in a coma yesterday could reasonably project.
Seo Elena pulled her hood up and pushed into the crowd.
It was suffocating near the front, bodies packed tight, everyone jostling for a better view. She let herself get jostled, moved with it, worked her way forward until she was close enough to see the two hunters standing guard at the dungeon entrance.
Then she found the reporter with the shortest temper. It wasn't hard. She'd been watching for about thirty seconds and already had a candidate.
She bumped into her hard.
The shove that came back knocked her straight to the ground, directly in front of the two guards.
"Ow—" She made sure it carried. "That really hurts..."
The hunters turned. One of them reached down to help her up, and Elena let herself be pulled to her feet slowly, one hand pressed to her lower back for effect.
Then she looked at the guard who'd helped her. Tilted her head. Let her eyes go wide with the particular expression of someone who had just recognized a celebrity.
"Wait... aren't you the one who's always with Hunter Saber?" She said it loudly enough for the nearest cameras to catch. "Are you his brother or... his lover?!"
The reaction was immediate.
Reporters, she had learned, did not need truths. They needed breadcrumbs. And the love life of the strongest hunter in the world was the kind of breadcrumb that turned grown adults into something resembling a feeding frenzy.
The crowd surged forward. Cameras swung. Questions came from every direction at once.
The two guards stumbled back under the pressure, both talking over each other trying to deny it, voices rising with every follow-up question lobbed at them.
Seo Elena was already gone.
She slipped through the gate entrance quietly, hood still up, and didn't look back.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
My child is a genius.
『 Above The Broken World 』
I will admit. That was not the worst plan.
But what appeared before her was far more terrifying than she had imagined.
The moment Seo Elena stepped through the gate, a suffocating wave of heat slammed into her body hard enough to steal her breath away. The air itself felt heavy, scorching against her skin as though the world was trying to burn her alive simply for existing within it.
Her shoes crunched against blackened earth. No, cooled magma was the right word.
Rivers of molten lava carved through the barren landscape like glowing veins, illuminating the jagged terrain in deep crimson light. Massive volcanic mountains towered in the distance, their peaks splitting open as lava spilled down.
Despite nearly burning from the heat, Seo Elena moed forward.
"Hic!" she yelped at the sudden surge of magma erupt at her sides. It looks like she needed to tread carefully too.
『 Due to your constellation 'Above The Broken World' you are immune to lava. 』
"Huh? I suddenly feel cool?"
『 Above The Broken World 』
Naturally. In a realm such as this, my contractee will not suffer. I am, after all, the Lord of Lava.
"Huh, no way?" Elena looked down at the ground beneath her feet, where rivers of molten rock crawled sluggishly between the rocks. "Does that mean I can control lava too?"
『 Above The Broken World 』
Do not get ahead of yourself, human. Just because one can cut an apple with a knife does not mean one knows how to wield the knife.
She rolled her eyes and kept walking. The lava was everywhere, pooling in the crevices, spitting up in sudden bursts from cracks in the ground, but as long as she watched her step, it wasn't touching her.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Lover boy is up ahead. Pick up the pace, child. He looks quite miserable.
Elena picked up her pace.
Ever since her rank had risen to L-rank, her physical abilities had increased several times over, making the grueling climb far easier than it should have been.
Still, compared to other L-rankers, her physical stats were honestly pitiful.
After nearly thirty minutes of traversing the scorched terrain, Seo Elena finally saw what had been hidden beyond the mountain ridge.
A vast stretch of charred land spread before her, flat. Near the center stood a massive throne carved from the same dark material as the ground itself, as though it had risen directly from the wasteland.
And seated upon that throne... was a demon.
Its crimson skin seemed to glow against the ashen surroundings, while its massive frame radiated overwhelming pressure. The creature's head resembled a twisted blend of a wolf and a lion.
If someone had tried to imagine the platonic ideal of a demon king, they would have landed somewhere close to this, and still fallen short.
Ah. Elena thought. It's no wonder why I haven't countered any monsters yet.
That was because all of them had gathered in one place.
Most of the creatures had already been killed, but that didn't mean Minwoo and Jinhyuk weren't struggling. Even for S-rank and L-rank hunters, fighting against an entire army of creatures with only the two of them was overwhelming.
It was an unfair battle from the start.
"What am I supposed to do?" I muttered under my breath, gripping my sleeves tightly. "How am I even supposed to help against monsters like those...?"
Every single one of them looked to be at least A-rank tier.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Open your subspace. I placed your staff there.
"...Subspace?"
The moment the words left her mouth, system window suddenly appeared but it looked exactly like the 'inventory system' from video games.
Inside were several stored items, including the staff she had won at the auction. Even the old Bottle of Healing I hadn't used in a long time was still there.
...If only I had coffee right now. Then I could at least use the healing bottle.
『 The Shiniest Gem 』
Remember your memories, Ophelia. You were a natural born healer.
I didn't understand what that meant.
Still, despite my confusion, I followed its guidance.
She tried to recall the countless days she had spent wandering aimlessly, healing others whenever she could. Then came the memories of the church taking her in, teaching her how to use her gifts properly so she could devote herself to helping people and the kingdom.
And then a memory surfaced.
Not the fragmented dreams she had seen during the month she remained unconscious.
This memory felt different.