SWNOVELXO chapter 175
[Main Quest: Protect the Main Characters.]
You must protect the main characters from the monster.
Warning! If even one of the main characters dies, the quest will automatically fail.
“Ha.”
Cover let out a hollow laugh. The oppressive aura of the monster weighed down on her shoulders, yet the absurdity of the situation made her scoff.
Protect who?
Main characters? Were they seriously asking her to protect all three of those people labeled “(Main Character)” on the status window? From that unclassified, batshit insane monster?
Ridiculous. The one who needed protecting was herself. How was a fake S-rank without any actual skills supposed to protect real S-ranks?
How the hell is she supposed to hold out for four hours?
There was even a time limit.
This wasn’t a protection mission—it was basically telling her to beat the monster’s ass and resolve the dungeon break while she was at it.
Fuck.
The words “Screw this, you piece-of-shit system” were already rising to her throat, but the world was a harsh, cold place.
If she left things as they were and one of the main characters really died, there’d be no undoing it.
At any other time, she would’ve ignored it. She had her own problems to deal with—how was she supposed to protect S-ranks?
Cover swallowed dryly and glared at the monster.
That massive being... beneath the rounded head with embedded eyes, its form dispersed like smoke, then reassembled into bizarre shapes, over and over again.
With something like that in front of her, she couldn’t just pretend the quest didn’t exist.
“What... what the hell is that…?”
“Is that the boss monster? No, wait—are you telling me something like that was in a B-rank dungeon?!”
“Ugh, urgh…”
The support team, stunned by the monster’s sudden appearance, staggered backward in a panic.
Supporters collapsed with pale faces. Dealers froze with their weapons drawn. No one could comprehend what was happening. A cold silence fell.
“…Hunter Chae Juwon.”
Just as everyone stood dazed, eyes locked on the monster, a low, composed voice cut through the fog and snapped them back to reality.
“Send all Hunters below A-rank to the rear. Dealers or supporters, doesn’t matter. Don’t come closer. If ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ you’re scared, it’s fine to just leave entirely.”
“Wait, what? Guildmaster, you’re not seriously—”
“I’ll go in first and get a read on the monster’s tendencies. Also, call for national backup immediately and report that a new monster has appeared.”
“Wha—no! It’s obviously stronger than an S-rank monster just from the aura alone! You can’t charge in blind like this! Let’s all fall back together and wait for reinforcements—that’s safer!”
“If we do that and the monster goes on a rampage, this entire area will be leveled. There are three other S-ranks here besides me, so we’ll try to hold it off for now.”
Kwon Taehyuk’s voice remained as calm as ever.
Cover remembered locking eyes with Kwon Taehyuk earlier—she’d clearly seen fear flickering in his dark pupils, just like her own.
A being stronger than oneself. A predator they’d come face to face with without warning.
Even for someone whose profession involved swinging a weapon with their life on the line, there was no way he didn’t feel fear.
And yet Kwon Taehyuk was the first to regain his composure and calculate the course of action with the least risk.
Someone like him—of course he had led the charge against the Catastrophe before the regression.
Just as Cover recalled that familiar impression of him and was about to offer to help—
Ding!
A notification chimed, though there shouldn’t have been one with the quest already active.
《For the current Main Quest, the “Main Character Status Guide” is now active.》
[Main Character Status Guide]
A support window that lets you monitor the real-time status of the registered main characters.
If any status reads “Dead,” the Main Quest will automatically fail. Proceed with caution.
Main Character Status Guide?
A new support function had been added to the status window, and its description scrolled before her.
If it helped even a little, she’d take it. Cover focused on the window.
《You can currently view the status of three Main Characters.》
[Main Character Status Guide]
Cover read through the status window and furrowed her brows.
Why the hell does it show their thoughts?
Their current location would’ve been way more useful. Or at least a simple dead-or-alive indicator.
The system always had to have some obnoxious feature to piss her off.
“Hunter Cover, please assist us.”
“…”
“Hunter Cover!”
With Chae Juwon and the support team now decisively withdrawing, Kwon Taehyuk turned back and shouted firmly at Cover, who stood staring into empty air.
“Where the hell is your head right now? We need to move before that monster does!”
He must’ve thought Cover was still paralyzed by fear. It made sense—her face was hidden behind a mask, and she hadn’t said a word.
Given the urgent situation, she understood Kwon Taehyuk’s growing agitation. She was about to say of course she’d help, when the guide window suddenly updated in front of her.
“…No.”
Cover spoke a beat later.
“Don’t charge in yet. Wait. The Circle Guild’s Vice-Guildmaster is on his way here.”
“What? Do we even have that kind of time—”
“Do you really think the two of us rushing in is the right answer? We’ve never encountered this monster before. It might be even more troublesome than the Leviathan that showed up at Gwanghwamun. Rather than acting hastily, we need to gather at least one more S-rank and approach carefully.”
From the low-ranked Hunters to the citizens whose lives would be at risk if this line broke—
She knew Kwon Taehyuk was worried about them. Cover felt the same way. But that didn’t mean she was about to throw Kwon Taehyuk, Ryu Sunghyun, and Eun Woojeong into a slaughterhouse.
“Your life matters too.”
Even without this damn quest notification, she would’ve acted the same.
“Just wait a little. Until Ryu Sunghyun gets here.”
“….”
Kwon Taehyuk blinked with a stunned expression. Without waiting for a reply, Cover turned away from him.
“I’ll go bring back the third one.”
“What, hold on—!”
Before Kwon Taehyuk could stop her, Cover shot forward like a bullet.
She had just told him not to engage and to maintain distance from the monster, yet she herself sprinted straight toward it without hesitation.
Cover bit her lip inside the mask, recalling the words from the guide window.
***
Ah, this is… not good…
Eun Woojeong thought idly and coughed up blood beneath his mask.
He leaned against a tree, staring forward.
Out from the thickening darkness strode a towering humanoid monster, easily over two meters tall.
Clad head to toe in black armor, it held a long blade in one hand.
This wasn’t his first time seeing monsters of this type. Most were hollow suits of armor powered by a core jewel, called the “nucleus.” Destroy the core, and the armor crumbled.
The higher the monster’s rank, the more deeply hidden the nucleus. And this one… just from its aura alone, he could tell it was S-rank or worse—something beyond that. The jewel wasn’t even visible.
Eun Woojeong had been on his way to the dungeon entrance to take care of the bats when the ground shook and the giant monster appeared.
Sensing its overwhelming aura, he realized the bats had just been bait. As he rushed back, the knight monster ambushed him.
Its energy signature was identical to the earlier monster, making detection difficult.
Still, Eun Woojeong caught the subtle shift and reacted in time to activate his skill.
It wasn’t an offensive move—it was meant for defense. Chains, unbreakable and trusted, meant to block the blade—
—passed straight through the monster’s body.
…!
It wasn’t a successful attack.
Like striking water, the chains merely disrupted the surface before dispersing without impact.
Just as Eun Woojeong hesitated in shock—
Clatter!
The knight’s blade stretched out, whipping toward him.
A segmented whip-sword?
By the time he realized it, the blade had already slashed deep across his shoulder, chest, waist, and thigh.
Huff…!
Eun Woojeong crashed to the ground and collapsed after only a few steps.
Clank, clank.
The black knight slowly approached, its armored footsteps echoing.
It was too far for a normal blade to reach, but if that weapon was a specially-made whip-sword, that changed things.
How long was its reach? A couple more steps and his head would be off.
Clank.
As the knight halted and raised its blade, Eun Woojeong gave a bitter smile.
“Ha…”
He’d always lived a life where death could come at any moment, but to go out like this—so absurd. So pathetic, he almost laughed.
As the end neared, the regrets he’d buried deep down surged to the surface.
…I still need to find them.
He still didn’t know anything about that person. If Cover had a warp skill… he was planning to ask her to help him investigate.
If he was going to die here, he should’ve tried harder.
He’d thought he’d done his best, but now, right at the end, he wasn’t so sure.
Shhhk. The segmented blade’s rattle grew more sinister.
Eun Woojeong stared up at the whip-like sword preparing to sever his head—and slowly closed his eyes.
“Fuck!”
A harsh voice roared from somewhere nearby.
Startled, Eun Woojeong looked up and finally saw her—Cover, sprinting toward them from far behind the knight.
Why is she here? She knows it’s dangerous…
Don’t tell me… because of me?
She came because she was worried about him?
Eun Woojeong realized the reason and let out a faint smile.
It wouldn’t change anything. She was too far to block the strike.
Still, it felt surprisingly okay. He wouldn’t die alone after all—someone was there to witness the end.
And that someone was Cover, which made it better.
Smiling faintly, Eun Woojeong let his eyes close.
Then—slash!—flesh tore, blood gushed. A thick, iron-scented wave rolled in the air.
He had accepted death. But then, something was off.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
“Huff, huff… goddamn…”
A voice, gritting through pain.
Before him stood Cover, shielding him with her body, clutching her bleeding side.
“Fuck, surviving in this world’s a goddamn pain.”
Looking up at her—at the side she held, soaked in blood—Eun Woojeong mustered the last of his strength and muttered:
“…So it was a warp skill.”
***
Eun Woojeong’s head slumped to the side. He’d passed out from blood loss.
“You crazy bastard.”
Still wondering about her skill at a time like this?
Disgusted, Cover tossed away the now-empty potion bottle in her hand.
[Time Freeze Potion]
Drinking this potion halts time for 10 seconds. Only the user can move during the stop.
If not for that, Eun Woojeong would’ve died from the last attack. The distance had been too far, and even the ten seconds had barely been enough—she’d had to block it with her own body.
More importantly…
Cover glanced down at her side.
She was clutching it tightly, but the blood wouldn’t stop.
It was a serious wound. No way to sugarcoat it.
Ugh…
She pressed her forehead with a hand.
How the hell was she going to handle this?
As she began to seriously consider her next move, black mist began to swirl at her feet.
The shadow her younger brother had left behind was crawling up to her.