Chapter 47
Chapter 47
The Bigfoot was easily over 2m tall, and it looked exactly like a monkey . Aside from its face, its whole body was covered in black fur . Its long arms reached its knees . It walked across the floor like a human . Its face, the only place where it didn’t have fur, was wrinkled face . It was a face of an old man on his deathbed .
However, it possessed arms that were as thick as a man’s waist . It was proof that this monster was on a different stratosphere when compared to an old man .
-Koo-rook!
Its dry and cracked lips moved .
‘It is smirking at us . ’
Its heavily wrinkled face made it less obvious, but one could clearly see it was smirking at them . Sungyoon didn’t become mad at its provocation . If his information was correct, it wasn’t a monster that he would be able to defeat, and he felt a chill down his spine as fear washed over him .
“T . . Tim! What should we do!”
The woman spoke as she looked at the man next to him . Her voice shook, but she did a good job hiding most of her fear . However, the man named Tim didn’t have an answer to her question .
Sungyoon’s eyes sharpened as he watched them . It was clear they were being chased by this terrifying monster . And from what he heard, they didn’t have the ability to kill this monster .
‘If they had the ability to kill it, they wouldn’t have brought the monster here . ’
Sungyoon’s eyes kept moving . He was trying to find an escape route, but as expected, he couldn’t find one . The Bigfoot was blocking the only way out of this dead end .
‘d.a.m.n it!’
Sungyoon slowly retreated backwards . The man and woman also retreated backwards . However, they were unable to move farther away from the Bigfoot . The monster was rapidly closing the distance . It didn’t look like it was walking fast, but it was tall, and its long limbs covered the distance pretty quickly .
The man named Tim kept glancing backwards . His eyes moved past the woman, and they landed on Sungyoon . There were conflicted emotions in his eyes .
Ooh-doohk!
He gritted his teeth .
“I’ll keep it occupied . Run away, Emily!”
He raised his s.h.i.+eld forward .
‘Ah . Is he going to keep it occupied?’
Sungyoon felt relieved . Fortunately, the ones responsible for bringing the monster were going to pay the price . When the man turned to look at him, Sungyoon had worried the man was somehow going to send the monster Sungyoon’s way and run away . Sungyoon welcomed this man’s actions .
“But, Tim . . . !”
“Hurry!”
Were they lovers? Or were they friends? Maybe, they were just comrades? They might be siblings . The only certain thing was the fact that they had a deep relations.h.i.+p .
Obviously, they were in a sad and regrettable situation . He would be lying if he said he felt nothing . However, Sungyoon had no intention of helping them .
‘I was barely able to kill a Fang Boar . There is no way I can do anything against the Bigfoot . ’
If he thought otherwise, he wouldn"t call it courage . It would be arrogance . If he forcefully activated his Gold Gem, then he might be fine . However, he couldn’t easily give up the Gold Gem like that .
Moreover, he didn’t plan on putting his life on the line for complete strangers . After being betrayed by his former friend and ex-wife, Sungyoon had become surprisingly cold towards strangers .
“The person in the back!”
Tim yelled out his words . He was probably referring to Sungyoon, whose eyes naturally landed on the man .
“I’m sorry for troubling you, but may I put my sister in your care!”
‘She is his younger sister . ’
Sungyoon silently a.s.sessed the situation .
‘Would it be ok if I help one of them?’
If the man was successful in occupying the attention of the Bigfoot, he could run away with the woman without much problem . Since she was able to come into the labyrinth, she must be a Connector . She was a woman, but she probably ran much faster than most normal men .
If he ran away with the sister, the brother would probably do everything in his power to stop the Bigfoot . He would probably give up his life . This entered into Sungyoon’s calculation . Calculated was a better description of Sungoon’s current state right now .
“I have a condition . If you fail to block the Bigfoot, I will leave both of you behind . ”
He had to prepare for the worst case scenario . If the man failed to stall the Bigfoot, the monster would gain two new targets . When that happens, he couldn’t take care of this woman .
“That sounds good to me!”
Unexpectedly, the man didn’t quibble and agreed to Sungyoon’s demand . Maybe, he felt guilty about dragging Sungyoon into their mess .
“Tim! I don’t want to do this!”
“Don’t be stubborn! This is the only solution we have!”
“How will I be able to face mom and dad if I do that! I’ll fight with you! I have battle equipment too!”
“You’ve never used it before! You’ve always stayed in the backline as a healer! There is no way you can fight!”
The brother and sister argued with each other . It was a fight born out of love . They were worried for each other’s life . However, Sungyoon’s life would be forfeit at any moment, and their bickering just annoyed Sungyoon .
“s.h.i.+t! You should listen to your big brother in times like this!”
Tim yelled at her . One could feel his desperation from his shout . However, Emily shook her head from side to side as tears appeared in her eyes .
“I don’t want to!”
‘They are a lost cause . ’
The love between the two siblings was thick . She didn’t plan on running away . She wouldn’t abandon her brother . Sungyoon slowly moved away from them . It was unfortunate, because he liked them . However, he didn’t plan on getting involved with the two siblings .
Hweek!
Emily, who had been in the middle of an argument with Tim, turned her head . She looked straight at Sungyoon .
Sungyoon flinched in surprise .
‘Is she thinking about using me as a sacrificial lamb?’
Fortunately, the words Emily spoke were different from what he expected .
“I’m sorry, but is there any way you could fight with us?”
It seemed Emily wanted to recruit Sungyoon to defeat the Bigfoot . Sungyoon glanced at the Bigfoot . It was larger than a human, and it was looking down on them .
‘Impossible . ’
He wondered if his c.r.a.ppy Gems could even pierce through its hide . His blunt spear blade would glance off its hide, and his weak s.h.i.+eld would be shattered . He could vividly imagine his future where the monster’s fist would break open his head like a watermelon .
However, he couldn’t reject it out of hand . Her offer was basically an alliance between the two groups . If Sungyoon turned her down, there was a chance that these two might use him as bait and run away .
Of course, he could lie, and he could run away at an opportune time . However, he didn’t want to do that .
‘d.a.m.n it! My personality has become a real nuisance!’
It couldn’t be helped . Even if he lost his life, he didn’t want to become like that son of a b.i.t.c.h . He couldn’t sugar coat his words to make others trust him then ruthlessly break his promise . He wouldn’t allow himself to become like his former best friend .
“Excuse me……!”
Emily’s voice became desperate . The Bigfoot had reached Tim, who had his s.h.i.+eld up . Its iron fist was raised into the air, and the attack was imminent .
“I’m sorry, but I won’t be of any help . The only Gems I can use are Purple Gems . ”
His Gems were the lowest of the low . He couldn’t even clear the 4th floor of the Beginner’s labyrinth with it .
“I can see you have a Gold Gem . ”
Emily’s eyes were plastered to Sungyoon’s wrist . Unfortunately, the woman was quick in picking things up .
“It isn’t a Gem that I can handle right now . ”
“If . . . if you forcefully activate it . . . ”
‘You want me to waste a Gold Gem on strangers I’ve seen for the first time?’
He almost spoke those words aloud, but he held himself back . His words might cause ill will to form between them . However, Sungyoon’s gloomy silence telegraphed his intentions to her .
Boom!
“Koo-ook!”
An explosive sound rang out . Emily desperately turned her head around . Tim was barely able to stop the iron fist of the Bigfoot . Still, his s.h.i.+eld was creaking as if it was screaming . It was a very tenuous situation .
Emily once again looked towards Sungyoon . Sungyoon was already starting to move away from the battle . He wasn’t showing any signs of activating the Gold Gem . In fact, he looked like he wasn’t going to join in on the battle .
Her heart had a strong and adverse reaction towards the man . A person’s life was on the line, yet he was placing an item over her brother’s life . However, she couldn’t say that out loud . In some ways, a Jewel Ranked Gem was worth more than a person’s life .
‘He said he only has Purple Gems . ’
Her thoughts churned at a rapid pace . He only had Purple Gems, so he was the lowest of the low in terms of rank . Either he started raiding the labyrinth not too long ago, or his talent was trash . It was either of the two . Basically, he didn’t have that much power .
However, she couldn’t leave Tim . Even if she was grasping at straws, she had to grab it since she was drowning right now .
“I’ll give you a Gem!”
Emily yelled out loud .
“If you help us, I’ll give you my Gem!”
Gem . This one word stopped Sungyoon in his tracks .
When she realized Sungyoon was showing interest, she quickly spoke .
“B . . . Blue Gem! It is two ranks higher than the Purple Gem!”
Blue Gem . Amongst the Rainbow Rank, it was the fifth strongest Gem . It was also the Gem one needed if one wanted to acquire a personal labyrinth . It would be a lie to say that he wasn’t tempted . Wasn’t he struggling in recent days to find a higher ranked Gem?
Sungyoon looked at the Bigfoot once again . It was backing the man named Tim into a corner . It possessed great power, but Tim was holding out better than expected . Sungyoon caught sight of the Gems embedded in his Device . They were letting out a bright light .
‘Did he overclock it?’
It was different from forcefully activating a Gem . If one overclocked a Gem, it could produce power that was one rank above its current Rank for a short period of time . As a backlash, the Gem lost its power for a certain amount of time . If one pushed it too far, the Gem would break . Basically, this man was holding the Bigfoot in place knowing he might lose his Gems .
‘Do we have a chance?’
If he joined in, would a victory be guaranteed? Bigfoot was a high ranked monster that shouldn’t exist in the Beginner’s labyrinth . However, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a powerful monster . Moreover, Tim and Emily were armed to the teeth .
“As I’ve said before, I’m a low level Connector, and I don’t plan on using my Gold Gem here . If the situation takes a turn for the worse, I’ll retreat immediately . Is that acceptable?”
“O . . of course!”
Emily"s face brightened . His words were still cold, but she had somehow acquired his help . The probability of the two siblings winning against this monster improved with him joining .
Sungyoon tightly gripped his spear as he slowly walked towards the site of the battle .
The Bigfoot was letting out a roar as it kept pounding Tim’s s.h.i.+eld . Sungyoon firmed his resolve .
‘I don’t trust them, but . . . ’
How could he trust strangers, whom he had never met before? It wasn’t a guarantee that they’ll give him a Blue Gem after this battle ends . However, there were two things that were a certainty . First, he really wanted a high ranked Gem . Second, they had the chance to bait the monster into attacking him . At the very least, they had the initial opportunity of running away, yet they hadn’t .