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Kim Hajun panted for breath, doing his best to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth. Despite his best attempts at regulating his breathing, he couldn’t help but gasp from time to time. He took in a deep breath through his nose and straightened his back. With a grunt, he gripped his weapon, an ant mandible, and yanked, pulling the curved blade out of a massive ant’s head. Behind him, the corpses of two more massive ants were present. Mixed with the yellowish-green fluids coming out of the ants’ wounds, there were generous splashes of red blood as well. There were two large gashes on Kim Hajun’s body: one going down his left shoulder to his elbow, and the other cutting across the back of his right leg.
Kim Hajun gritted his teeth and limped forward, doing his best to ignore the burning sensation in his arm and leg. After creating enough distance from the ant corpses, Kim Hajun removed his vest and collared shirt, wincing as the material widened his wound as the cloth peeled away from his skin. With practiced motions, Kim Hajun made tiny incisions in the shirt before tearing it into strips. He tore apart his vest as well and folded it before pressing it into his wound like a makeshift gauze which he bound with the cloth strips he had made. He used the rest of the vest to bandage the wound on his leg in a similar manner.
Once that was done, Kim Hajun grunted and climbed to his feet. From his prior experience, he knew once the guard ants were eliminated, the queen would immediately sense their deaths and call reinforcements towards her resting area. With that thought in mind, Kim Hajun limped down the tunnel as fast as he could without wasting excess energy. He had to obtain the hidden piece no matter what; it was the only item of value in the tutorial he could trade for Yeol’s Heart of Fire.
Kim Hajun exhaled and took in a deep breath when he reached the end of the tunnel, entering a dimly lit cavern. Everything was exactly as described. Although he hadn’t personally entered the queen’s nest before, he had thoroughly gone over the accounts of those that had. The cavern was spacious with many tunnel entrances leading in and out. All around the edges of the cavern, there were dog-sized, white sacs made of a crusty-looking material, and in the very center of the space, there was a pale ant the size of a moose, the queen. Upon seeing its state, Kim Hajun relaxed, but a moment later, his muscles tensed as he forced himself to remain focused. It was just a queen ant, but currently, he was just a human. A mistake caused by carelessness could be fatal. Then again, there weren’t a lot of mistakes to make when the process of defeating the queen was so simple.
Kim Hajun reached into his pants pocket and retrieved a playing card. On the back of the card, there was a spiral galaxy amidst a background of empty void. On the front of the card, there was a depiction of an eagle shooting lightning from its tail. If Hyeonnam Tokki were there, he’d recognize the eagle as Hyeonnam Dogsuli, the guide that had brought Kim Hajun to the tower. The card flashed, and the depiction of Hyeonnam Dogsuli disappeared, the whole front of the card replaced by a blank canvas. A second later, an eagle’s cry pierced the air as Hyeonnam Dogsuli appeared in the space ahead of Kim Hajun. The eagle’s eyes were staring at the queen ant, but rather than looking at her, it seemed like the eagle was looking through her as if in a trance.
Kim Hajun pocketed the now-blank card and took in a deep breath. His face was unusually pale, and his right leg wouldn’t stop jittering, but the corners of his lips were curved upwards in a faint smile. The queen ant let out a piercing cry, but Hyeonnam Dogsuli’s shriek was even louder because it was accompanied by a torrent of lightning that shot out of the eagle’s tail. With a cry akin to a hammer striking an anvil, the eagle shrieked and flapped its wings, which were like black clouds with arcs of lightning racing through them, bouncing from feather to feather. The whole cavern exploded with white light as bolts of lightning raced from egg to egg, occasionally striking the queen ant as well. Rather than dissipating after striking a target, the lightning bolt multiplied instead.
Kim Hajun closed his eyes and raised his arm up, using his forearm to block out the light. The thunderous explosions of sound caused his ears to ring long after the peals of thunder had stopped. When the chains of lightning stopped arcing, Hyeonnam Dogsuli vanished into thin air, and Kim Hajun lowered his arms and opened his eyes. Thanks to the earlier flashes, the whole cavern was dim, but Kim Hajun’s gaze was already locked on the charred remains of the queen ant’s body.
“I told you the ants weren’t running from me.”
Kim Hajun flinched and turned his head. A shadow of a person’s upper torso moving was projected on the far wall along with an orange glow coming from around the bend in one of the tunnels. Some more words were spoken, but Kim Hajun couldn’t hear what they were because of the scuttling sounds that were growing in volume. It was about time for the reinforcements the queen ant had called in to arrive. Kim Hajun dashed forward towards the charred queen ant, ignoring the icy feeling in his leg where he had been cut.
“They were running to help something.”
Kim Hajun flung aside a piece of the queen ant’s burnt carapace and unearthed a soft, red glow with a hint of gold in the center. He knelt down and snatched the source of the light, the sudden movement causing blood to seep through the white strips bandaging his arm. Faint footsteps echoed through the area, growing louder with every step. Kim Hajun took in a deep breath and stood up, straightening his back and whirling around to face the approaching people. Right as they were about to come into view, Kim Hajun cleared his throat and stepped forward while extending the glowing object in his hand. “Vur, just the person I wanted to see. I’ve obtained something worth exchanging for the Heart of Fire.”