CHAPTER SIX !
─── trials and tribulations.

Why?! Why isn't this thing working?!

JINWOO GLARED AT THE STONE STATUE IN FRONT OF HIM. Though it held a drum, it gave no sign of moving anytime soon.

STOMP, STOMP, STOMP!

The giant statue was advancing at a terrifying speed. It had just been all the way on the opposite side of the enclosure, but it was quickly closing the gap.

Jinwoo gulped.

Is it because Joohee, Hyeon and I are standing here?

He couldn't think of any other explanation. The rest of the stone sentries were playing their instruments without any problems.

No time to think.

Jinwoo looked at Hyeon who was shivering in fear like him, he gulped and clenched his fist, he took Hyeon's hand and got ready to run.

Hyeon also grabbed Joohee and the three of them started running "Jinwoo..Hyeon.." Joohee says in fright.

Jinwoo quietly whispered to both of them, "If we three stick together, we'll die." Tears welled in Joohee's eyes.

Hyeon nodded his head and looked at Joohee. "We will be okay, okay? Be Safe please. You too, Jinwoo." Hyeon said. Jinwoo nodded and squeezed his hand.

"Be safe please.."

Jinwoo carefully removed Hyeon's hand and dashed away from both of them. Hyeon also removed his hand on Joohee and they start running

Boom! Ba-doom! Boom!

As he looked back, the stone statue behind Joohee started banging its drum slowly.

Good...

Jinwoo looked at Hyeon who was also in some stone statue. He was gasping but he felt relieved that he was safe.

And he just had one more thing left to do—safely get to another musician! Jinwoo was the only one not yet protected by a statue with a musical instrument. As expected, all of the behemoth's anger was focused on him. He scrambled to get to the other side of the room while avoiding the statue's house-size feet.

STOM !

STOM!

He tripped and even took a tumble but somehow avoided getting stepped on.

"JINWOO!" Hyeon shouted and worried about his best friend.

"Huff, huff." Even if Jinwoo was merely an E-rank hunter, his heightened physical abilities saved him in this case.

Just a...little more...!

He kept an eye on the giant's movements while focusing his power into his legs. He sped up. He was only a few steps from a stone statue.

"Not that one!" Song bellowed. Jinwoo, who'd been focused solely on the colossus, whipped his head to the front in surprise.

"Ah!" Was it not holding an instrument?

What Jinwoo had seen as a musical instrument from afar was actually a shield. The statue struck down with the shield without any hesitation.

"Whoa!" He threw his body to the side.

"Nooooo!" Joohee screamed and Hyeon was clenching his hand helplessly. Tears start rolling on his porcelain cheeks.

"JINWOO! JINWOO!"

Jinwoo looked up from his roll to see that the giant was right on top of him. "It's just one thing after another..."

His vision blurred as blood dripped in his eyes from a scrape on his forehead, presumably because of his hasty roll. His field of vision narrowed, and he found he couldn't see far. Jinwoo urgently looked around.

An instrument, instrument......

No matter how hard he searched, there wasn't a statue with an instrument to be found. The giant raised its foot over him.

"Argh!" Jinwoo threw his body to the side again and barely escaped.

STOMP!

But he'd reached his limit. He felt faint and found it strangely difficult to maintain his balance.

Please......

If there was a God, he wanted to pray for mercy. At that moment, he noticed a statue holding neither a weapon nor a musical instrument.

Is that...?

Jinwoo put his last hope on that figure and half crawled to it. At last, he faced the approaching giant and flopped down. He had no energy left.

"Huff...huff..." He tried to catch his breath as he watched the giant draw closer.

Its scowl seemed to have deepened since Jinwoo had evaded it so many times. The giant stood at attention in front of him. It was as tall as a skyscraper, and Jinwoo felt suffocated with it closing in on him.

"Huff...huff..."

Did it consider Jinwoo a mouse trapped in a corner? The giant did nothing but stare silently down at him.

This is the end......

Jinwoo expected his inevitable death to come from the eyes focused solely on him. But then...

La, la, laaaaa...

Singing that could only be described as heavenly came from behind him.

Jinwoo looked over his shoulder.

La, laaa...la, la, laaaaa...

Every time the statue holding a book opened its mouth, beautiful notes spilled forth and echoed throughout the chamber.

La, la, laaa...laaaaaaa...

The giant's expression was slowly reverting to its default. The severe, scrunched-up face softened and smoothed out again into a blank look. The giant turned around once the song was over. Just like the smaller statues, it headed back to its throne as if nothing had happened.

THUD!

The sound of the colossus sitting down reverberated throughout the temple.

"Huff, huff... Guess I...made it..." Jinwoo gave a small smile.

Joohee and Hyeon bolted toward him. "Jinwoo!" Joohee ran to his side with all her might and knelt down, crying.

"What should I do......? What should I do......?" She poured all her magic into a healing spell. But nothing happened.

"Let me..Let me h-help." Hyeon said while stuttering clearly he was in fear, his crying, his scared and afraid of losing him. Losing Jinwoo.

The scattered hunters gathered around Jinwoo one by one. Their faces all looked grim.

"Oh no...... Jinwoo......" At this point, Joohee was weeping, completely distraught. What was wrong with everyone?

Jinwoo let out a gasp. He tried to ask them why they were upset, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He tried to sit up, propping up his aching torso.

"......?"

From the waist down, he was a bloody mess. He soon realized why he'd felt so off.

"Ohhh......"

His right leg was severed at the knee. Jinwoo sought out the stone statue with a shield. The blood on the edge of its weapon was clearly visible.

The rest of his leg was right below the shield.

Drip..

Drip..

Joohee's nose started bleeding. It was a sign that she'd reached her limit. Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to restore a severed limb with B-rank healing magic. It would be like trying to fill a leaking pot with water.

"That's enough, Joohee...... You can stop now......"

"I said let me h-help, Joohee! Here I-I-bring some p-potion..I t-thing thi–" Jinwoo grabbed his hand making Hyeon jolted on his seat and looked at him crying.

"Y-You can stop..Hyeon." Jinwoo's low voice said. Jinwoo clench his fist, he was fuck. He makes Hyeon cry, he makes him worry, he was hurt because of himself.

He was really...useless.

"I'll fix you! I'll make you better! Don't say anything!"

The others watched them with pitying looks.

Only six remained of the eighteen people who'd come here. One of the six had sustained severe injuries. Song had lost an arm, and Jinwoo had lost a leg. They'd survived, but none of them could celebrate.

Just then, another noise echoed through the room.

KRRRRRRK!

The divination circle at the center of the temple rose up.

Thou shall prove thy faith......

Jinwoo had an inkling what this meant.