Chapter 36: Burning Descent

Roy took a deep breath and kicked off the tree, launching himself into the air.

It was just as the Black Bat had gotten close.

The moment the steel under his palm met resistance, he gritted his teeth and raised his arm.

With the help of Kangchul’s strength, Roy’s body soared into the air like a bird.

“I’m gonna tear its wing, so brace for the fall!”

“What did you just say—?!”

Lee Chulhun’s eyes widened, but Roy had already ripped through the Black Bat’s left wing.

“Kiiiiiieee!”

The Black Bat, now missing one wing, let out a shriek of pain as it plummeted toward the ground.

Clutched in its talons was Lee Chulhun, dragged down with it.

Roy, too, was falling fast toward the ground.

This time, he didn’t have enough time to twist his body to redirect the fall.

He braced himself mentally, preparing to land with a roll—at least that was the plan.

“Beeeeep!”(Contractor!)

Ber, wide-eyed with shock, flew toward Roy.

Fluttering his tiny wings furiously, he positioned himself beneath Roy’s upper body to soften the fall.

“It’s okay, Ber. Come here.”

But Ber’s strength wasn’t nearly enough to catch Roy’s falling body.

Roy wrapped his arms around Ber to shield him and twisted himself mid-air.

“Ugh…!”

“Aaaaagh…!”

“Roy hyung!”

“Chulhun!”

Roy and Lee Chulhun hit the ground almost at the same time.

Lee Hajun and Kangchul rushed over, pale with shock.

As the Black Bat’s head took another hit during the crash, its body turned to ash and vanished.

Freed from its claws, Chulhun immediately ran his hand through his hair.

“No, no, no…”

Strands of hair came away tangled around his fingers.

Some were even scorched and curled up like pig tails.

Chulhun’s eyes filled with despair.

Even the hair he’d implanted near his temples seemed to be ripped out.

His eyes reddened with emotion.

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you…?”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Lee Hajun staggered to his feet and charged at Roy.

Still catching his breath, Roy had just sat down when Chulhun grabbed him by the collar.

‘He’s got some energy left. Is his level higher than mine?’

Roy hadn’t fully recovered from the fall either.

While nothing was broken, his entire body ached from the impact.

On the outside, Chulhun looked just as messed up as Roy—but his eyes had gone wild.

Roy’s gaze moved from the hand on his collar to the other hand, which was gripping a handful of hair.

“Are you… balding?”

Roy’s voice was gentle.

His eyebrows drooped with sympathy, and his expression looked genuinely concerned.

That expression snapped the last thread of Chulhun’s sanity.

“You son of a—!”

“What are you doing right now?!”

“Chulhun, stop!”

Chulhun raised his right fist.

Hajun, startled, grabbed his arm.

Kangchul placed a hand on Chulhun’s shoulder and shook his head.

Thanks to the agency’s backing, Chulhun had always gotten extra screen time, one way or another.

Even when his temper slipped out on set, it was always edited out.

But not even the agency could protect him if he assaulted another contestant.

“Beep!” (Contractor, your temper’s gotten real tame.)

“Aaaaaghhhh!”

Ber flapped above Roy’s head and cried out mockingly.

The contractor Ber knew would’ve either left Chulhun as a headless corpse or at least broken a few limbs by now.

Chulhun mustered the last of his self-control and let go of Roy’s collar, backing away with a strangled roar.

His scream echoed through the surroundings like a warning.

“Is everyone okay?”

“Hahh… yeah. I think we’re alright…”

***

Choi Jungwoo and Lee Siwoo finally arrived.

They were covered in grime, too, and their weapons were coated with monster fluids.

They looked at the raging Chulhun with expressions of thinly-veiled disgust.

“Go calm him down, will you?”

Any louder and they’d end up attracting more monsters.

Roy leaned in close to Kangchul and whispered.

“I’ll apologize on his behalf.”

“The apology should come from him. I’m fine.”

Kangchul bowed slightly, his expression unreadable.

Roy, on the other hand, genuinely felt little.

Sure, his neck was still sore from the way Chulhun had grabbed him, but that was about it.

It was harder to keep his face straight every time he looked at Chulhun’s scorched, curly hair.

“Then… please excuse me for a moment.”

Kangchul bowed again to Roy and the others before walking over to Chulhun.

Roy clicked his tongue inwardly.

He couldn’t help but feel sorry for someone as kind-hearted as Kangchul, getting tangled up with someone like Lee Chulhun.

“What’s everyone’s current level?”

But Roy quickly shook off any lingering sympathy for Kangchul.

His own path was uncertain enough—it was a waste of time to care too much about someone he barely knew.

Instead, he looked around at his teammates to assess the current situation.

“I’m still at level 8, hyung.”

“We just reached level 9.”

Hajun was at level 8, while Choi Jungwoo and Lee Siwoo had reached level 9.

Everyone was getting close to level 10.

“Has anyone seen a team shoot up their signal flare yet?”

“Yeah. I think a few teams already have.”

Roy had been too focused on combat to check the sky.

Besides, the production crew had spaced the teams far apart—clearly on purpose, as usual.

Unlike Roy, Choi Jungwoo had been hunting monsters fairly close to another team.

He shared the number of flares he had seen.

“I only saw one team, but there could definitely be more.”

Roy fell into thought.

Since the program loved ranking things, it was obviously best to complete the mission as quickly as possible.

“I’ve reached level 10. From now on, we should take turns getting the last hit.”

There was no need for Roy to level up further.

It made the most sense for him to initiate fights and let his teammates finish off the monsters.

“Kiiiiii!”

“Kyaaaak!”

***

Just then, a group of Black Bats began to creep toward them—five in total.

Now that Roy had hit level 10, Ber’s abilities had grown stronger, and the rest of the team had also leveled up quite a bit.

With Chulhun still in a frenzy, both he and Kangchul couldn’t participate in battle, but Roy judged that the remaining four could handle it.

That’s when another team appeared behind the Black Bats.

Roy and Hajun’s eyes widened.

“Kim Chan?”

“Chan hyung?”

The familiar face of the person charging at the front of the group was unmistakable.

This mission had felt so grueling that time itself seemed to move slower.

It made seeing Kim Chan’s face again feel strangely nostalgic.

The problem was, Kim Chan and his team were being chased by dozens of Black Bats.

Choi Jungwoo raised his torch to shine light into the approaching darkness.

The swarm of bats flying toward them looked like a storm made of shadows.

The expressions of Roy’s teammates turned pale.

“Aaaaah!”

“We messed up! Please help us!”

Kim Chan’s team also had six members.

From the look of it, none of them had come out unscathed—no one was wearing intact clothes.

Their desperate screams echoed across the area.

“Roy hyung! Hajun!”

Just as Roy had spotted Kim Chan, Kim Chan had also recognized Roy and Hajun.

His eyes widened, and then fat tears started pouring down his face.

Tears rolled down his dirty cheeks, mingling with grime and dripping to the ground like oily residue.

Roy gestured to show Kim Chan and his team a path they could use to escape.

“Everyone, hide behind the trees! Ber!”

“Beeeeep!” (We’re still not strong enough to fight them all!)

If they clashed head-on with the Black Bats, someone would definitely get seriously hurt.

There were dozens of glowing red eyes filled with killing intent.

Roy was genuinely curious what Kim Chan’s team had done to provoke such a mob of Black Bats.

Ber flew forward to confront the oncoming swarm.

At first, Kim Chan’s team flinched, thinking it was a new monster.

Then they remembered Roy’s class and veered away from Ber, running toward Roy instead.

“You can rain down fire now, right?”

Roy had chosen Spirit Evolution as his trait because it offered the most efficiency.

Flame Rain and Fire Wings were both unlocked once Ber’s ability reached a certain level.

That meant Roy didn’t need to make those skills into separate traits himself.

“Beep!” (Just trust me!)

Ber’s feathers began to flicker like flames.

His small chest puffed up as far as it could go.

In his original form, a single flap of his wings could blanket the entire island in flame.

But for now, spitting out bursts of fire was the best he could do.

“KIIIIIIIIII!”

The Black Bats at the front of the swarm froze in surprise.

Even though Ber’s powers had weakened, his fire was still lethal to the level-10 bats.

As flame-weak monsters, fire attacks were even more devastating.

Following Ber’s will, sparks began to rain down like fire over the Black Bats.

Ber was compensating for his weakened powers with precise control.

“Ber is seriously strong…”

Hajun stared in awe at Ber’s back.

Even though he was only the size of a clenched fist, he was stronger than any monster Hajun had faced so far.

“Everyone, over here!”

Clenching his jaw, Roy guided Kim Chan’s team into a patch of thick underbrush.

Ber’s wide-area attack came at a price.

Even though Roy had felt lighter after hitting level 10, his body was starting to grow heavier again in real time.

A sharp pain spread through his chest—an all-too-familiar sensation whenever he pushed his powers too far.

“Roy hyung, are you okay?”

Hajun, still in awe of Ber’s strength, noticed Roy’s face had turned pale.

Kim Chan’s team had also lit torches, brightening the area.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

Roy patted Hajun’s shoulder and caught his breath.

“What happened? Did you stumble into a Black Bat nest or something?”

Roy’s question hung in the air as Kim Chan and his teammates tried to catch their breath.

They waved their right hands weakly, as if to say “no,” but didn’t seem to have the energy to explain.

“Well, the thing is, uh… what happened was…”