HDAAD Chapter 159

Insane.

There was nothing else to say.

Where the egg had shattered, there was a baby.

A baby barely the size of an adult’s fist.

‘What is this, Park Hyeokgeose^[1]?’

As I stared blankly in disbelief, the egg fragments began to be absorbed into the baby’s body. With each piece absorbed, the baby’s body started to grow larger.

“It’s amazing.”

“Ppi.”

‘In all my life as a bird, I’ve never seen anything like this.’

‘Salt, you were born not long ago yourself.’

I let out a wry laugh at Salt’s words. By the time all the egg fragments had been absorbed, the baby had slowly descended to the floor.

Its body had grown large enough now to be called a child rather than a baby.

‘I really created a human.’

Unlike when I normally use skills, I hadn’t imagined anything specific.

The concept of “human” itself was too vague for any particular image to come to mind.

Yet a human had been created nonetheless.

“Huh?”

When I saw the child’s face as it touched the ground, I paused for a moment.

The child’s features were definitely familiar, a face I’d seen many times before.

‘That face…’

“It’s a boy.”

“Ppi.”

I didn’t even hear Salt’s comment that it would have been nice if it was a girl. I just frowned at the child’s appearance.

The face the child had now was Kim Hae-ah’s – in other words, my face when I was young.

‘A child with my young face? No thanks.’

The thought alone was enough to give me goosebumps.

“Master. You need to treat your wound.”

“Ah.”

As I stared blankly at the child, Haegeum bumped against me repeatedly and then pointed at my hand.

The situation had become so absurd that I’d forgotten about the wound on my palm.

I took out a healing potion and poured it on my palm.

With a tingling sensation, the bleeding stopped and new skin began to form.

If not for the blood soaking my sleeve, there would be no sign that I’d ever been injured.

“Should I change clothes?”

If Shin Sooha found out I was injured, he might doubt my abilities since I got hurt in a mere D-rank dungeon. But Seo Taeju might also throw a fit, saying this body belongs to the brother he cares so much about.

‘If he finds an excuse to complain, he might demand I not only skip the Cradle, but stop participating in tower raids altogether.’

Thinking it was better not to give them any reason to nitpick, I used Clean to wipe down my body and clothes.

Once I was spotless without a drop of blood in sight, I took out a blanket.

Since the child had no clothes, I planned to at least wrap him in the blanket.

‘But is it okay to touch him? The quest completion message still hasn’t…’

[All linked quests have been completed.]

[Rewards will be distributed.]

[You have received the quest reward ‘Phoenix’.]

Right on cue, the quest completion message appeared.

“Phoenix?”

I observed the child closely.

Though his hair was red, he just looked like a child resembling me. He didn’t look bird-like at all, as the name “Phoenix” might suggest.

‘Given that the quest was completed, it seems I didn’t make a mistake.’

“Is it immortal?”

The typical image of a phoenix is that it doesn’t die except by fire.

Since the child was created through alchemy, he might have an immortal body.

“Master?”

Haegeum called out to me, perhaps finding my sudden words strange.

“It’s nothing.”

Shaking my head, I wrapped the child in the blanket. Unusually, Salt landed on the child’s chest.

“Beep.”

“You’re saying he’s ugly? Hey, he may not be handsome, but isn’t this at least average?”

“Beep.”

“You’re calling him ugly compared to Shin Sooha? Kim Salt, does it make sense to use Shin Sooha as your standard? Besides, isn’t this face better than that one?”

I pointed alternately at Seo Go-woon’s face and the face resembling my younger self.

Salt tilted his head, considering with a “beep”, then sharply turned away.

“Beep.”

“You still think he’s unattractive? Kim Salt, is something wrong with your sense of aesthetics? My face right now isn’t handsome, it’s delicate and pretty. And that face is manly.”

“Master, do you perhaps know this person?”

Haegeum asked, finding my reaction strange.

I scratched my head as I answered.

“I told you I was possessed, right? That’s my face from before the possession. That face.”

Except for the eye color which I couldn’t tell, and just a different hair color, the eyes, nose, mouth, even the position of the mole above the lip – everything was identical to me.

“Wow. I see.”

Haegeum jumped out of my pocket and stared intently at the Phoenix’s face.

“Beep.”

‘You’re saying I should have told you sooner? Who was it that called him ugly without giving me a chance to explain?’

I gave Salt a reproachful glance, then put Haegeum back in my pocket.

“Salt, you get up there too.”

“Beep.”

Salt, seemingly embarrassed, uncharacteristically replied with a “Yes” before climbing up to my head. After confirming this, I hid the child in a corner.

Now that the quest was finished, it was time to complete what needed to be done in the dungeon and return.

First, I harvested the crystals from the Balanced at the entrance.

Since not much time had passed since the Balanced reformed, there weren’t many crystals formed at the entrance.

“Well, it should be coming soon now.”

Now that I’d harvested the crystals, it was about time for the enraged Balanced to appear.

“Let’s get rid of it all at once to avoid hassle.”

I took landmines out of my Infinite Pouch and set them up in a nearby alley.

Since it wouldn’t die from just one explosion, I set up the mines densely. As a precaution, I also attached monster-specific nets to the ceiling.

“It’s coming.”

As I heard the ground vibrating, I took out my mana gun. In the distance, I could see the Balanced charging towards us.

“Come on. Let’s finish this quickly and go.”

I aimed at the Balanced radiating fierce killing intent and waited. Finally, the Balanced stepped on a landmine.

A series of explosions rang out, shaking the cave.

“Wow. That’s impressive.”

As I listened to Haegeum’s exclamation, I glanced at where I had hidden the baby.

I looked over, worried the explosion might have woken him, but the child wrapped in the blanket didn’t stir at all.

‘Is there a separate way to wake him?’

Given that he didn’t wake up even to this loud noise, there might be a specific method to wake him.

‘I should ask Haegeum about it again later.’

I turned my attention back to the Balanced.

As the smoke from the explosion cleared, I saw the Balanced covered in blood.

Though all four of its legs had been blown off by the mines, the creature was clearly still alive.

“Tsk. To finish it cleanly next time, I’ll need to bring stronger mines.”

After killing the immobilized creature with mana bullets, I picked up the child I had hidden.

“Is it over?”

“Yes. Now let’s quickly finish off the main boss and get out of here. I’m feeling a bit tired.”

I’d never felt drained from using skills before, but maybe because Soul Injection was a skill that stole divine authority, I felt fatigue clinging all over my body after using it.

“Beep?”

As I trudged along, I could see the corpses of monsters strewn about.

Salt, who had been resting on my head without paying attention to the surroundings, suddenly asked why the monsters were dead.

“The Balanced killed them.”

I hadn’t known when I first came to the Crystal Dungeon, but the Balanced, being a hidden boss, recognized the monsters in the Crystal Dungeon as enemies and killed them all.

If I were in urgent need of leveling up, I would of course stop it from doing such a thing. But this was just a D-rank dungeon. It might have been challenging before, but at my current level, the difficulty was far too low. Moreover, the experience from regular monsters, not even bosses, was a mere speck at my current level.

‘No need for me to kill them myself.’

I harvested Balanced crystals here and there as I walked towards the boss room.

“Master.”

“Yes?”

“If you’re tired, shall I take care of the boss for you?”

“You?”

I looked at Haegeum with surprised eyes.

Salt would occasionally say things like transforming big and sweeping everything away or stomping on everything, but this was the first time Haegeum had spoken like this.

“You look especially tired today, so I want to help.”

“Beep beep.”

Salt flew down to eye level and said to leave it to them, agreeing with Haegeum’s words.

“Hmm.”

I was tired, true, but not to the extent of needing to leave it to these two.

“There’s nowhere to hide the child here, you’ll have to hold him.”

The boss room had no cover, and baby monsters were crawling on the floor.

However, with the barrier item I had, if I put up a barrier it wouldn’t be a problem.

“I want to do it.”

Haegeum spoke pleadingly, his black pupils sparkling as if he had guessed my thoughts.

“Beep.”

Seeing Salt also saying he wanted to do it, just like Haegeum, I nodded.

“Then shall I leave it to you two?”

“Yes!”

“Beep.”

Salt’s body began to grow larger as he shouted to trust only him, while Haegeum summoned a pillar of water.

“Then I guess I’ll just smash some eggs.”

Just as I was about to preemptively destroy the eggs that would hatch into boss monsters, I felt something flying towards me and quickly turned to the opposite side.

With a whoosh, a bullet embedded itself in the cave wall.

‘A bullet?’

As I turned around, on guard, I saw people in white masks and white robes standing next to the boss monster.

“Ah.”

Despite seeing them for the first time, I knew who they were from their appearance, which matched the description in the novel exactly.

The Doomsday cultists.

The group that had injured my party members by setting off a bomb during the press conference.

‘How did they get in here?’

This wasn’t a public dungeon, but a guild dungeon that could only be entered with an access card.

They had carried out terrorist attacks outside before, but there was no mention of attacks inside dungeons. Could this moment also be a part that wasn’t included in the novel?

‘Damn god. If what I read wasn’t a novel but the actual events of this world, you should have recorded it in detail.’

As I was internally cursing the god who had possessed me, the person at the front of the Doomsday cultist group shouted.

“Seo Go-woon! You must die for our cause.”

I felt a chill run down my spine.

‘Is this an 80s tokusatsu show or what? Do people really say lines like that in real life?’

Unlike me, who was shocked by the excessively cringeworthy dialogue, the Doomsday cultists seemed unfazed.

“Die!”

Suddenly, I saw a flash of light above my head.

Holding the child tightly, I dodged. Lightning struck where I had been standing.

“Wow. They’re insane.”

“Beep beep!”

Shouting something like “How dare you attack my master!”, Salt charged at the Doomsday cultists with his enlarged body.

“How dare you attack my master!”

Haegeum also bellowed and began attacking the Doomsday cultists by summoning multiple streams of water.

The Doomsday cultists, who had been focused solely on me, seemed flustered by the sudden attack from the two pets and quickly scattered.

Taking advantage of the Doomsday cultists’ confusion, I quickly put the child down on the floor and activated a defensive item.

A blue barrier enveloped the child’s body.

It might not be as strong as Michael’s barrier, but it could protect the child at least once.

“What are you all doing?! Ignore the pets! We just need to kill Seo Go-woon!”

At the Doomsday cultist’s cry, I smirked and said:

“[Change]”

The bracelet transformed into a mana gun that fit perfectly in my hand.

‘Except when absolutely necessary, you shouldn’t kill humans with a gun.’

The words of the training instructor who taught me how to shoot in the past came to mind.

But,

“Die!”

I fired the gun at the Doomsday cultist wielding a curved sword.

The mana bullet pierced his heart precisely, and with a single scream, the Doomsday cultist’s body collapsed to one side.

‘When a situation arises where you’ll die if you don’t kill, kill without hesitation. There’s a reason for the saying “Better to be alive and suffering than dead and at peace.”‘

That’s right. My current situation was one where I would die if I didn’t kill.

I couldn’t meet my end here in vain when I hadn’t even returned to my own world.

“Brother!!”

The one who had spouted the cringeworthy lines earlier cried out towards the fallen man.

“What brother?”

I scoffed at his words and fired a mana bullet at the Doomsday cultist who was lifting Salt into the air with wind abilities.

“Ugh!”

“Tsk. There was wind.”

Although I had aimed for the heart, perhaps due to the surrounding wind, the mana bullet pierced his arm instead.

Even though it hit his arm, his concentration seemed to break, and the wind that had been keeping Salt airborne disappeared instantly.

With a thud, Salt hit the ground and tore off the arm of the Doomsday cultist who had attacked him with his beak.

“Argh!”

“Brother!”

“Just how many children did your parents have? There sure are a lot of brothers.”

My sarcastic comment drew fierce glares from the Doomsday cultists.

‘As if glaring at me is going to change anything.’

I had only fired two mana bullets, but the situation was already being handled by Salt and Haegeum.

‘I guess I didn’t need to step in after all.’

I couldn’t tell if it was because the pets’ grades were high or if these cultists were just weak, but since it was better to end this quickly, I was about to aim my mana gun again when-

“Switch to Plan B!”

Suddenly, those fighting Salt and Haegeum quickly retreated.

“Seo Go-woon has no special abilities! Just block the beasts!”

The sword of a Doomsday cultist who shouted furiously stabbed the sleeping boss monster.

At that moment, the multiple eyes that had been closed opened.

1. Founder of Silla Empire[↩]