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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 36
THWACK!
A small humanoid monster, barely a meter tall.
It didn’t even look like a real monster—more like a stunted, primitive human. A caveman left behind by evolution, something you’d expect to find lurking deep in an uncharted jungle.
This creature, called a Delkate, was native only to Brazil, where locals referred to it as a “Rift Native.”
Its head had just exploded like a ripe watermelon.
Delkates were lethal.
With slick, agile movements perfect for swamp terrain, venomous darts clutched between their teeth, and razor-sharp stone tools in hand, they’d claimed the lives of countless Brazilian heroes.
To make matters worse, Delkates never fought alone—they moved in swarms of dozens, at minimum.
Even Brazilian heroes tried to avoid them.
So for the Silken Lily Guild, facing them for the first time... it was hell.
No known weaknesses. No effective strategies.
And worst of all—they were fighting in a bog that sapped their movement and slashed their combat efficiency in half.
If Dojun hadn’t been there, there would’ve been casualties—no question. People would’ve died, or at the very least, walked away maimed.
But Dojun? He didn’t just slaughter Delkates from the frontlines—he somehow managed to be everywhere, rescuing guild members like a ghost whenever they were in danger.
Because of him, everyone made it out with just scrapes and bruises.
“Th-Thank you!”
One guild member, nearly ambushed by a Delkate sneaking up from behind, bowed deeply after Dojun saved his life.
“Don’t just follow their movement with your eyes.”
Dojun said.
“Control the space around you.”
Control the space.
In other words, don’t rely on sight alone—tune into every sense and master your surroundings.
And with that bit of advice, he turned and took down another Delkate like it was nothing.
While others struggled just to land a single hit, Dojun seemed to anticipate their every move—predicting them, dismantling them, and killing them like clockwork.
To the Silken Lily Guild, his prowess was unreal—practically divine.
“Honestly, even most S-Ranks would get smoked by him, right?”
“No kidding! I mean… even Hyun Jooyeon wouldn’t—”
The sentence trailed off. No one dared finish that comparison.
“How can someone be that strong?”
“You think the rumors might be true…?”
“What rumors?”
The one who brought it up hesitated, then answered cautiously.
“You know… that thing people say? That eating monsters boosts your abilities?”
Another guild member grimaced hard.
“Come on, that was debunked ages ago. Just some nutjob spreading nonsense.”
It was a widely known rumor—but no one had ever actually proven it. So it got dismissed as baseless superstition.
“Yeah, maybe… but think about it. His age. His skill. That’s not normal. Have you ever seen a hero that young, that good? Honestly… I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s on Kane Lester’s level.”
“…Wait, Kane Lester?”
Now THAT got reactions. The group shook their heads almost in unison.
“Okay, that’s pushing it. You can’t just compare a newly minted S-Rank to the strongest hero in the world.”
“Yeah. Comparing Dojun to Kane Lester? That’s a reach. Maybe he’d break into the top 100, but still.”
The guild member who brought it up doubled down, trying to sound more rational—
“Why not compare them? Even Kane Lester would struggle to knock out a Blue Croco barehanded. But Dojun did it like it was nothing. And these Delkates? Look at him! I’ve watched Kane Lester’s combat footage a thousand times, but I’ve never seen anyone move like that.”
Fair point—Dojun’s skills were insane, even by global standards.
But…
“That’s all relative. Sure, he can knock out a Blue Croco with his bare hands — impressive, yeah. But Kane wiped out thousands of Zytirexes in seconds. That’s a whole different league. And don’t forget, Dojun’s a close-combat specialist. That’s his niche. Can he even fly? No. So comparing the two isn’t exactly fair.”
That shut down the Dojun hype-train—for a moment.
Because let’s face it: Kane Lester was a beast among beasts. The ultimate hero.
Long-range attacks? Check.
Top-tier magic? One in ten thousand heroes had that kind of power, and Kane had it in spades.
Putting a melee-focused rookie like Dojun next to the world’s number one just didn’t add up.
Still…
“They might have different specialties, but one thing’s clear—Dojun’s strength is far from ordinary.”
Everyone nodded. No arguments there.
“…But really. What if eating monster meat actually works?”
And just like that, the discussion looped back to square one—trying to figure out the real source of Dojun’s power.
“No way. You seriously wanna try that?!”
"Hey, you don’t KNOW it doesn’t work. Think about it—Dojun keeps eating Blue Croco meat, even though we’ve got plenty of normal food. Why else would he insist on it unless there’s a reason?"
“…You really think so?”
And once a seed of doubt takes root, it doesn’t just vanish.
“W-We should try it too, maybe?”
“What if something bad happens?!”
“Dojun eats it all the time and he’s fine. Worst case, we get nothing. No harm, no foul, right?”
“...Yeah, I guess you’re right…”
And so, in that moment—just a little—the Silken Lily Guild’s fear of eating monster meat began to fade.
＊ ＊ ＊
“There’s no boss monster in here, right?”
At Dojun’s question, Hyun Jooyeon nodded.
“No boss monster. But there are two sub-boss-level monsters. One is the Blue Croco, and the other…”
She paused for a second and let out a sigh before continuing.
“The Lynx. You’ve heard of it, right?”
“So this is where that thing is hiding?”
Dojun knew the monster well.
Even in the destroyed world he came from, the Lynx was so vicious it was known as the "Swamp King."
In terms of raw physical strength, it ranked several levels below the Blue Croco.
But the Lynx wasn’t dangerous because of its strength—it had a far more peculiar ability.
“They say if you get caught by its cry, your mind goes blank and you lose all combat capability. That’s why we need to plug our ears with these.”
Jooyeon held out a pair of sponge earplugs. Dojun just clicked his tongue.
“Pointless. It’s not the sound—it paralyzes your brain through eye contact.”
“…Through the eyes?”
Jooyeon looked at him, clearly puzzled. She’d never heard anything like that before.
The Lynx was also a monster exclusive to Brazil—extremely rare, only sighted in four rift zones total.
But the real issue was that it had only been successfully hunted less than ten times.
Not because it was hard to find—but because every time someone tried to take it down, the hero casualties were absurdly high. No one wanted to risk it anymore.
“That cry is just a decoy. The real threat is its gaze. Those earplugs? Useless.”
Dojun’s voice was firm, his conviction absolute.
Jooyeon looked down at the earplugs in her hand.
’Can I trust him?’
She wondered—but deep down, she already had.
The way he’d identified Mekkasian’s weakness so precisely, the way he carried himself—Dojun wasn’t the type to throw around baseless claims.
And if what the Brazilian heroes said was true—that the Lynx’s cry was the problem—then why were there so many casualties each time? Why had they eventually stopped trying to hunt it altogether?
‘I’ll trust Dojun.’
Resolving herself, Jooyeon shoved the earplugs back into her pocket.
She was curious how he even knew something the Brazilian heroes themselves hadn’t figured out—but now wasn’t the time for doubts.
What mattered was getting through this rift hunt without losing anyone.
The hunt in the rift zone was going smoothly for the Silken Lily Guild.
Only because Dojun was there.
Whenever danger crept up, whether at the front or elsewhere, he’d appear like a ghost and handle it.
Only a few light injuries had occurred thanks to him.
Given that even the Brazilian Hero Association had declared this zone too dangerous to manage and shut it down, their success was practically unthinkable.
And yet, not one of the guild members let their guard down.
That’s because Jeong Injoo kept repeating one warning:
“Park Docheol! You suicidal or what? You think you can slack off on perimeter checks? Want your corpse shipped back to Korea?”
Startled and snapped out of his daze, Park Docheol shook his head in a panic.
“S-Sorry!”
“Let me make this crystal clear. In this place, none of us dying would be the least bit surprising! If I so much as slip for a second, the person next to me could be dead! Keep that in your damn head!”
At her shout, the entire guild echoed their acknowledgment in unison.
Dojun glanced over at the Silken Lily members.
“That’s just how Injoo-unnie rolls. She’ll keep things warm and family-like when she can—but once it’s go-time, she’s relentless.”
“That’s a good thing.”
He was going to add: ’If only the skills backed it up’—but stopped himself halfway.
Instead, he simply fell silent in response to Jooyeon’s comment.
Kkuuuuuhhh…
A strange, haunting cry pierced the air, stopping everyone in their tracks. It dug into their eardrums like a whisper from the void.
‘It’s here.’
Dojun’s eyes gleamed sharply just as Jeong Injoo’s face hardened. She shouted:
“It’s the Lynx! Everyone, cover your ears—now!”
She was the first to shove sponge earplugs deep into her ears. The rest of the Silken Lily Guild followed her lead in a frenzy, fumbling to block out the sound.
But Dojun? He didn’t budge.
Instead of plugging his ears, he focused on locating the source of the cry. But it wasn’t coming from any one direction—Lynx’s voice echoed from every corner of the space, making even him struggle to pinpoint it.
Meanwhile, the sound was growing louder.
KkuuuuuuUUUUUUHHHHH!!
Mournful.
Desperate.
Heart-wrenching.
There was something almost tragically beautiful in Lynx’s cry—so much so that just hearing it made your chest tighten and your spirit sink.
It had no place on a battlefield—and yet somehow, it belonged.
“Are you sure I don’t need to cover my ears?”
Hyun Jooyeon, trying to trust Dojun, had left her ears uncovered. But her heart thudded from the sheer emotional weight of Lynx’s voice, and every instinct screamed to block it out.
“You think sound alone can control someone’s mind?”
Dojun said, his tone cool and steady.
“Wait… ‘mind control’?”
Jooyeon’s eyes widened.
That wasn’t what she’d been told.
According to the Brazilian Hero Association, Lynx’s cry just stunned its victims—paralyzed them with emotion. That was it. That was all the intel said.
Dojun scoffed at that half-baked intel.
Lynx’s real threat? Not just stunning its targets—but controlling them. Fully. Subtly. Completely.
Whether human or monster, Lynx first incapacitated… then manipulated. In the destroyed world Dojun came from, countless had died without ever realizing they’d been puppets on Lynx’s strings.
‘That thing’s a damn puppeteer.’
Dojun’s eyes glinted coldly. Then—with laser focus—he found the direction Lynx was hiding.
He didn’t hesitate.
Bending low, he grabbed a chunk of stone from the ground and hurled it. It was wrapped in crimson mana, a blur in the air.
KIEEEEEEEHH!!
A completely different cry rang out—a scream not of sorrow, but pain. Direct. Immediate.
Dojun shot forward like a bullet. Jooyeon, Injoo, and the rest of the guild followed without question.
They ran to where the scream had come from—and froze.
“…Oh my god.”
“What… what IS this…?”
“Th-Those things…”
A tide of disbelief swept over the guild. Before them stood hundreds of monsters, gathered in a massive horde.
The most horrifying? Dozens of Delkates, and three towering Blue Crocos, radiating sheer dominance.
And at the center—protected as if by an entourage—stood a small canine-like monster with bluish fur.
It looked like a cross between a wolf and a fox.
Lynx.
“Lynx?”
Jooyeon whispered.
The creature, slightly limping on one leg, turned its blood-red eyes on her.
As their gazes locked, Jooyeon felt herself being drawn in—hypnotized.
Sfft.
Soft hands—too gentle to belong to a man—slid over her eyes, blocking her vision.
“I told you to be careful.”
Dojun said, clicking his tongue.
Still covering her eyes with one hand, he reached behind his back and drew his sword for the first time.
Shrrrrk.
The sword, a gift from Choi Cheol-gwan, slid smoothly from its scabbard.
Dojun locked eyes with the blood-red gaze of the Lynx and smirked.
“You weren’t on the list, but those eyes of yours… they’re going to be useful.”
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HELIO SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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