Hunters Keep Coming To My House - Chapter 158

Chapter 158

Intense mana filled the house. It was entirely different from when Inu used her power through Ellie’s body before.

Whether it was because Cha Jae-joon’s body had been tamed by black mana for a long time or not, if caught in this storm of mana, the outcome would be a dreadful one.

It would be a horrific fate, disappearing without a trace, not even leaving behind a corpse.

To snap out of it, I bit my tongue hard. The sharp sensation and the bitter taste of blood accompanied it.

‘…I need to get my act together.’

Fear clung to my shoulders, urging me to stay still, but I couldn’t succumb. I had to regain my senses and get out of this situation.

‘…Holding onto Cha Jae-joon in this situation is a luxury!’

I needed to get away. At least, I had to get out of this house.

That way, Jung Tae-il, Arvani, and I could all survive. Having quickly made up my mind, I shouted the skill without hesitation.

Since Inu had taken over ‘Cha Jae-joon’s’ body, a skill to immediately expel her, as an uninvited guest, from the house:

“<Unauthorized intrusion is not permitted!>”

Woooom!

The system responded.

It wasn’t just reacting to the skill input as before; it was moving according to my will. A sense of euphoria surged up in me as if everything I wanted would come true in an instant.

A single word seemed like it could make the Black Dragon’s existence disappear completely right now.

But this power wasn’t mine. That’s why I must be feeling the suffocating pressure in my chest.

If it weren’t for this pain, I might have made a foolish choice, forgetting that great power comes with responsibility.

Having barely regained my senses, I used the skill as planned. It felt like I was directly inputting the skill as if I were the system administrator. Unlike in the past, where it would execute automatically.

To remove Cha Jae-joon as a guest and immediately banish her to another world.

As I succinctly inputted my desired outcome, the system responded with what seemed like acknowledgment.

As a result… Fwoooosh!

Bright light surged from where Cha Jae-joon stood, quickly engulfing him. Inu’s startled voice was heard, but it didn’t last long.

With the fading light, Inu also disappeared from the house. At the same time, all traces of black mana that had filled the house vanished.

Perhaps Inu had moved to another gate as I wanted.

“…Phew, finally.”

Having narrowly escaped the brink of death, I slumped down on the spot. I wondered how loudly I had shouted, as my throat hurt.

Rubbing my throat and gasping for breath, Jung Tae-il approached me.

“…Are you okay?”

“…You look more serious than I do.”

“…This mess is nothing….”

“It’s nothing.”

I furrowed my brow and grabbed Jung Tae-il’s hand, pulling him. At that moment, Jung Tae-il weakly sank in front of me.

He would have stood tall as usual. That meant Jung Tae-il wasn’t in good shape. I carefully examined him. His face was relatively unharmed, but being someone who directly resisted the power of the Black Dragon, his body was a mess.

His top was torn, perfect for use as a rag, and his wounds were being corroded by black mana, blood flowing darkly. As for his bottoms, they were beyond repair.

“…First, let’s get your clothes off.”

“…What?”

“Wounds need to be treated. We have to remove the mana embedded in them before they can even start to heal.”

“…I can do it myself.”

“Hah… Hurry up and take them off before I do it for you. You have no energy left to wrestle with me right now.”

After treating his wounds and quickly repairing the damaged house, we had to complete the quest. I hadn’t fully raised my dominance yet.

As I looked at Jung Tae-il with urging eyes, he sighed and spoke up.

“…Seo Yeon-oh.”

“Are you telling me to rest now? I’m fine because Mr. Tae-il protected me. I’m just tired.”

“…Ah.”

“Don’t look relieved. Instead of me, it’s you who’s in bad shape now. So hurry up and undress. I must treat you.”

“…Okay.”

I thought there would be more refusal, but Jung Tae-il gave in easily. Then he slowly took off his torn clothes. It seemed difficult to take them off all at once.

‘…It’s hard to move because of the wounds.’

I tried not to show any signs of discomfort in front of him…

Anyway. If I offered to do this too, would I miss the chance for the treatment I barely got? So, I decided to quietly wait for Jung Tae-il.

Taking advantage of a brief moment, I decided to check the system. What was the power I felt earlier, and what was happening?

While I was looking at multiple system windows, I noticed something strange.

‘…Huh?’

When did my title change? I didn’t see a completion window for the quest…?

Wondering if I missed something, I checked the notification, but there was nothing new. Puzzled, I opened the quest window.

And then, it happened.

Ding!

[One step closer to becoming a ‘Seasoned Homeowner’!

Quest completed!

Congratulations!

You have acquired all the dominance here.

There are no longer any entities that can attack Seo Yeon-oh in this place!

You can kick them out of the world at any time!

Success Reward: Title ‘Seasoned Homeowner’, All stats 100.

Wishing you luck until you become a ‘Perfect Homeowner’!]

As if waiting for me, the system window popped up. It contained the message that the quest had been completed, but something was unsettling about its contents.

‘Why use “this place” instead of just calling it a house?’

And outside the world… Come to think of it, when I drove away the Black Dragon earlier, I also referred to it as “outside the world.” At that time, it was something I unconsciously entered into the system, but now it seemed to have meaning.

While inside the gate was essentially another world…

‘…Why do I feel like I’m sinking deeper into a maze while something serious is happening?’

Is it because I have limited information? Perhaps it’s more frustrating because I don’t know anything.

Sighing deeply from my core, I raised my head.

Perhaps it’s time to threaten the system administrator and force them to spill everything they know.

As I was lost in these radical thoughts, I heard a thud on the floor. I followed the sound with my gaze.

Although he had a sturdy frame, he had delicate hands with long fingers.

“…Seo Yeon-oh?”

The owner of the hand called me with a puzzled expression. Only then did I divert my gaze from the hand and look at Jung Tae-il.

As I felt before, a truly remarkable muscle structure unfolded before me. At another time, I might have been too embarrassed to look properly, but now, with the darkened wounds in place, I looked at him with renewed seriousness.

“It’ll take some time for these wounds to heal even after removing all the mana, right?”

“…I’ll be fine soon.”

“It would be better to go back and meet a healer.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Why not?”

“You’ve been alone all this time.”

Jung Tae-il was very firm. It was a situation where enemies had infiltrated even the supposed safe zone of the house. In such a situation, leaving me alone seemed like a silent invitation to danger.

…There was nothing to say. Jung Tae-il wouldn’t know that I had secured safety in “this place.” And… it was also a trap that I still didn’t have a plausible attack skill.

In such a situation, if Jung Tae-il left, and I was exposed to danger again, he would be the one to be called back. Arvani would surely intervene.

In that case, it was wiser for Jung Tae-il to stay by my side rather than risk being forcibly returned elsewhere.

“…Okay, got it. Then.”

“…Alright.”

“I’ll contact Overflow and get some potions. Just be prepared for that. There’s only emergency ointment in my house.”

Even though it’s enhanced, it’s less effective than potions.

Jung Tae-il nodded lightly in response. I jokingly assured him that I would take advantage of this opportunity to firmly grasp my share, and then proceeded to remove the black mana from Jung Tae-il’s wounds in his territory.

That way, we spent a peaceful time, oblivious to what was happening elsewhere.