WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
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◈ Martial Arts Survival Guide ◈
Chapter 26: Triangle
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Baek Hyun sensed the Demon-Faced Spiders approaching and told Jeong Su-a. She nodded, then stepped past him.
“I'll handle them now.”
“Okay.”
“But don't you have any clothes?”
Jeong Su-a stole a glance at Baek Hyun's upper body while pretending not to. With all the physical work of hunting monsters, hunters were bound to have better bodies than most athletes. If they had a decent face to go with it, becoming as popular as an idol or actor was only a matter of time. In fact, the same was true of Jeong Su-a.
‘Wow... What a body...’
Her own figure was excellent, and most hunters were in great shape too, so Jeong Su-a's standards were very high. Even so, she couldn't help stealing glances. Of course, he didn't have an ounce of fat on him. His body, trained for a single purpose, was enough to inspire admiration just by looking at it.
[The Serpent of Regeneration agrees with your thoughts.]
Startled by the voice in her head, Jeong Su-a cleared her throat softly. This was the first time the Serpent of Regeneration had offered so many opinions like this. The Serpent of Regeneration was a picky monarch with high standards, so few hunters around the world had contracts with her.
‘How strange...’
Was that how interested the Serpent was in him? Jeong Su-a kept glancing at Baek Hyun as he brushed off his chest. Each time his palm passed over his chest muscles, there was a soft smack, smack. Watching those muscles tremble slightly, she swallowed hard.
“No. I didn't buy any, either.”
“...Mm... Ahem. R-right. Then I guess there's nothing we can do.”
Deep down, Jeong Su-a thought that was a relief. Her eyes slowly moved down from his chest. Bulging muscles, clearly defined...
Gulp.
Looking at his abs, without a single hair on them, made her heart pound so hard it was embarrassing.
Kieek!
Then the Demon-Faced Spiders arrived. Jeong Su-a swallowed the curse that almost escaped her. Strangely enough, she also felt relieved.
[The Serpent of Regeneration is disappointed.]
“...Ahem.”
Jeong Su-a cleared her throat softly and strode forward. A vivid green light wrapped around both her hands. As she stepped forward, Baek Hyun moved back a little. When she blocked the narrow passage, the Demon-Faced Spiders running along the ceiling dropped down in a rush and attacked her.
Perhaps because their queen had forced them to fast along with her, the Demon-Faced Spiders were vicious beyond measure. They swung their limbs wildly without distinguishing friend from foe, letting out harsh, choking cries. Jeong Su-a raised both hands toward them.
Fsssss...
Green light streamed from her hands. It wasn't wild and destructive like the force aura Baek Hyun used.
“Oh.”
But it was an impressive technique. The moment the Demon-Faced Spiders touched the light she released, they began rapidly melting from the outside in. Pleased by the small sound of admiration Baek Hyun made behind her, Jeong Su-a took another step forward. She swung both hands, and the beams of light curved with them, tracing patterns through the air. It didn't take long to wipe out dozens of Demon-Faced Spiders.
“Wow.”
Jeong Su-a resisted the urge to puff up with pride and turned around, pretending it was nothing. But although she didn't realize it herself, she wasn't very good at controlling her expression. Baek Hyun stared at the faint twitch at the corners of her mouth, then nodded.
“You're strong.”
“A little.”
Jeong Su-a chose her answer carefully, aiming for just enough confidence without sounding too arrogant. But praise could make even a bear dance. Trying not to look at the rising corners of her mouth, Baek Hyun looked past her.
“But didn't you say you needed Demon-Faced Spider venom?”
“The queen's venom will be enough.”
The Demon-Faced Spiders hadn't even managed to spray their venom, and not a single corpse remained.
“Let's go!”
Perhaps the praise had lifted her spirits, because Jeong Su-a spoke brightly. As she took the lead again, Baek Hyun watched her back with shining eyes. Naturally, his interest lay in the poison she used. Did she produce it inside her body? That poison had to be another power of the Serpent of Regeneration. Just how powerful was it?
‘It should be stronger than the Poison King's Utterly Lethal Poison, right?’
The thought made his heart race. It excited him far more than being alone in a dark cave with Jeong Su-a, who was covered from head to toe in a tight black suit. Even at a glance, her poison looked stronger than the Demon-Faced Spider venom he had tried earlier.
First, he would experience the Demon-Faced Spider Queen's venom. After that, he would try Jeong Su-a's poison too. Baek Hyun made up his mind.
What if he couldn't endure it? What if he failed to withstand the poison and his body melted away...?
‘If it looks like I can't take it, I'll use my internal energy.’
He just had to get out before he melted. To him, it was no big deal.
The closer they came to the end of the cave, the more Demon-Faced Spiders they encountered. Then, at some point, the creatures stopped appearing. But that didn't mean every Demon-Faced Spider in this nest except the queen had been wiped out.
At the end of the passage leading deep into the cave, a gigantic Demon-Faced Spider lay in a relaxed pose on a large, densely woven web. Even at a glance, it was clearly on a different level from the others. The corners of Baek Hyun's mouth twitched upward as he looked up at it. Even a rough assessment told him it was stronger than the boss monster he had seen during the monster hunt, and that delighted him.
“It really is a queen.”
Jeong Su-a swallowed hard as she spoke. Dozens upon dozens of Demon-Faced Spiders swarmed beneath the queen. They screeched and waved their limbs threateningly. Baek Hyun glanced at Jeong Su-a.
“What do you want to do?”
“Huh?”
“If they're too much for you, I can kill them all.”
“...No, it's fine. I can handle them all.”
Baek Hyun had meant to be considerate, but Jeong Su-a stepped forward with a stubborn expression. As she did, the Demon-Faced Spider Queen began to move slowly on her web.
“What are you?”
The queen opened her mouth and spoke.
Baek Hyun was utterly startled. He had never imagined that such a hideous monster would speak to them. Jeong Su-a was just as surprised, but she soon calmed down. Not every monster in the Abyss was incapable of conversation.
They simply all regarded humans as prey.
“Hunters.”
“That much is obvious.”
The queen murmured slowly in response to Jeong Su-a's brief answer. She continued moving across her web, staring straight at Jeong Su-a.
“Human. You reek of snake. Did that monster order you to hunt me?”
Jeong Su-a's eyebrow twitched at the queen's sneering words. When she didn't answer, the queen gave a throaty laugh.
“That monster, which swallows everything whole and dissolves it in its belly, seems rather fond of you... Heh heh... That is quite rare.”
The queen's eight eyes turned a deep purple.
“But can you truly hunt me? How strange... You seem rather unqualified for a hunter sent by that monster to kill me... Or does that monster intend to use me to test you?”
The Serpent of Regeneration wishes to test you.
Jeong Su-a recalled the voice she had heard before entering the cave. She chewed on her lower lip. In truth, she had suspected as much. What the Serpent of Regeneration had originally wanted her to do wasn't to hunt this queen. It was simply to obtain Demon-Faced Spider venom. If she hadn't met Baek Hyun, she would have entered a nearby cave rather than the one high up on the cliff, killed a few Demon-Faced Spiders, and collected the venom she needed.
‘She's not an ordinary queen...’
Demon-Faced Spider Queens had been discovered several times before. But among those confirmed sightings, there had never been one so intelligent and powerful that it could hold a conversation.
“Heh heh... It makes no difference... Human. If you cannot hunt me, I shall simply hunt you... Even the ancient monster you serve could have no complaints about that... I am so curious about that monster's intentions... Could it be afraid of me? Does it fear my existence so much that it can no longer leave me alone, and has sent an inadequate hunter like you?”
[The Serpent of Regeneration finds this laughable.]
Jeong Su-a stopped listening to the queen. She might have followed Baek Hyun inside, but in the end, coming here had been her own choice. She took a deep breath and summoned her poison aura.
Fwoosh!
A dense poison aura, far beyond anything she had used against the other Demon-Faced Spiders, wrapped around her entire body.
“It's dangerous, so get back...”
She started to speak, then realized that she was worrying for nothing and stopped.
At that moment, the Demon-Faced Spider Queen looked at Baek Hyun for the first time.
“...But... what are you?”
“I was starting to think you couldn't see me.”
Baek Hyun smiled brightly when the queen looked at him. For some reason, the atmosphere had become so solemn that he hadn't felt comfortable interrupting, so he had stayed quiet. He was secretly pleased that she had spoken to him.
“You are so alien... I cannot understand it. You have no scent at all...”
“Is having no body odor a compliment?”
Baek Hyun tilted his head, muttering under his breath.
“What monster do you serve...? Why do you not carry the scent of the monster you serve?”
“I don't serve anyone.”
Baek Hyun grinned as he answered. The queen blinked all eight eyes.
Then Jeong Su-a moved.
Without hesitation, she charged at the Demon-Faced Spiders. As she spread her hands, poison aura poured out in a wide wave and swept through her surroundings. This was exactly the kind of situation in which Jeong Su-a could unleash her full strength: when she didn't have to worry about anyone around her. Her poison didn't distinguish friend from foe. It simply poisoned and melted everything it touched.
It didn't take long for Jeong Su-a to slaughter dozens of Demon-Faced Spiders on her own. But even as her children were killed indiscriminately, the queen made no move to stop her. She merely moved leisurely across her web, looking down.
After wiping out all the lesser spiders, Jeong Su-a released her poison aura toward the web overhead.
Only then did the queen react.
She raised one hand and extended it.
Fwoosh!
Webbing shot from her hand and spread wide, blocking Jeong Su-a's poison aura. The moment she saw her poison blocked, Jeong Su-a kicked off the ground and leaped upward.
The queen watched her move with a relaxed expression.
Brrrrr!
The threads making up the web vibrated. Hundreds of strands came loose and swept toward Jeong Su-a like a fierce whirlwind. The poison aura surrounding her body swelled.
Fwoosh!
The exploding poison aura melted every sharp strand.
“Heh heh heh!”
The queen's laughter sounded like scraping metal. Her eight arms turned a deep purple. Then the web beneath her changed to the same color.
“Be careful.”
Baek Hyun called out as he watched. Falling through the air, Jeong Su-a gave a slight nod and made her poison aura glow even more intensely.
The purple strands wove together. Thin threads wrapped tightly around one another to form thick cords, which lashed at Jeong Su-a like whips at the queen's gesture. In response, Jeong Su-a stretched her poison aura out into long lengths. It looked just like the poison force (毒剛) used by the masters of poison arts Baek Hyun had seen in the Peach Blossom Realm.
Boooom!
Jeong Su-a's poison force collided with the queen's webbing in midair. Fragments of poison aura flew from her poison force. As they scattered and fell, they melted the ground and released a foul stench. It was a deadly poison that would kill an ordinary person just from breathing it in.
‘She's strong...!’
Jeong Su-a chewed on her lower lip. To think there was such a powerful Demon-Faced Spider Queen! Monsters this strong weren't common even across the entire Abyss.
“How pitiful...”
The queen murmured.
Then her body heaved. Her white abdomen bulged and rippled before splitting open with a riiip.
A pitch-black mass of flesh burst out of the torn abdomen. Jeong Su-a's eyes widened at the sight. Though its shape was disgusting, the thing that had torn through the queen's abdomen was shaped like a cannon barrel.
Boooom!
Compressed poison aura fired out like a cannonball. Jeong Su-a gritted her teeth, concentrated her poison force, and thrust it forward. Her poison force collided with the poison aura fired by the queen. Pain tore through both arms as if they were being crushed, and she felt her body being pushed backward.
Heh heh heh.
The queen gave a mocking laugh.
[The Serpent of Regeneration clicks her tongue.]
[The Serpent of Regeneration regrets that it was too soon.]
Poison aura fired from the cannon barrel once more. Jeong Su-a's face twisted as she struggled to hold on.
Baek Hyun grabbed his waistband with both hands.
He intended to be as careful as possible, but there was no telling what might happen. Even if he protected his lower body with protective force aura, what if the queen's poison aura was stronger than he expected...? Couldn't it break through his protective force aura and melt his pants?
‘And I'm wearing briefs today.’
There were many kinds of men's underwear. Briefs, boxers, boxer briefs. Baek Hyun didn't particularly favor any one of those three styles. Ever since he was young, he had simply bought whatever underwear was being sold in multipacks at the market. It was a habit by now.
Boxers might have been a little better, but today he was wearing briefs. Fairly tight briefs, at that. If he failed to protect his pants, he would end up standing in front of Jeong Su-a in nothing but his briefs. If it came to that, he felt it might be more dignified to let his underwear melt too. He thought being completely naked would seem less erotic than being awkwardly half-covered.
Of course, the best option was not to let his pants melt at all.
It happened in an instant.
A truly, incredibly brief moment.
Baek Hyun resolved that he absolutely would not let his pants melt and raised his protective force aura around his lower body. He left his bare upper body as it was. Then, just in case, he protected his head with protective force aura too.
Exposing his crotch to Jeong Su-a would be terrible, but having every hair on his head melted away by poison would be even worse.
Footnotes:
In Korean, briefs are called “triangle underwear,” which gives this chapter its title.
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