Gidan hugged Guru’s head and rolled over twice. Dust scattered thickly into the air.
Guru wriggled out of his arms and poured syrup all over Gidan.
“Cough!”
His wounds started healing rapidly.
“Haa, haah! Haaagh!”
Gidan grabbed Guru’s shoulders and checked.
It was really not a dream. The one in front of him was a child.
The pain and the dark thoughts vanished in an instant. The only thing that filled his mind now was Guru's presence.
Breathing heavily, Gidan scanned the ship for any traces of movement and pulled Guru back into his embrace.
First, they had to get out of Malikian’s sight.
The question of why the child was here was secondary—his instinct to protect him came first.
Without hesitation, Gidan activated "Breath of the Lion," pulling all the nearby ships toward them.
Tilt!
Rumble! Boom!
The ships shifted around, distorting the view. The dust grew thicker, and the shifting presences scattered the opponent’s sense of energy.
Holding Guru tightly, Gidan quickly slipped beneath the ship, moving to a secluded spot.
In the meantime, Guru had dumped an excessive amount of syrup on Gidan, restoring his battered body.
Once Gidan activated a spatial-separating item to block out the nearby presences and sound, he shouted.
“You!”
The teddy bear’s ears perked up. Gidan yanked off the bear hood.
“Look! You’re not hurt, are you?! Why are you here?! How did you get here?! Are you seriously an idiot?!”
At the sharp scolding, Guru furrowed his brows fiercely.
“I’m not an idiot!”
“Then why did you come?!”
Gidan shouted, and Guru sharply inhaled.
Guru wasn’t an idiot. He wasn’t hurt. He used "Dungeon is an Open Door" to get here. He had just protected Gidan with Senbonzakura.
Guru clenched his soft little fists tightly.
The reason he came was...!
“With Opa...!”
Tears welled up in Guru’s eyes as he sniffled.
“Guru is on a team with Dani Opa!”
Gidan stared blankly as if he had been hit over the head.
“...What?”
Guru spoke again, clearly and firmly.
“I’m on Opa’s team. Guru will help.”
“Don’t say nonsense! What could you possibly do?!”
“I can do it!”
“What can you do?!”
“Everything!”
Guru shook out his bag. Handmade children’s toys and syrup bottles tumbled out, rolling across the floor.
“What are you even going to do with this...? Seriously.”
Gidan let out a deep sigh, speechless.
No matter how high-ranked Guru was, he was still a crafter.
A crafter had little use in combat.
And there was no way a mere kindergartener could create anything meaningful for a battle against Malikian.
“I have this too.”
Guru pulled out his Duck Tongs from his inventory and held them up.
Gidan could only stare blankly at it.
When he received no reaction, Guru lowered his head and muttered softly.
“I can’t do it alone. Dani Opa isn’t Guild Master-nim.”
Gidan bristled instantly.
“I know that!”
“Guild Master-nim said going alone is reckless. Being reckless means being an idiot.”
Gidan’s brow furrowed.
I wasn’t an idiot. I did it. I didn’t run away stupidly like that day. I stood my ground alone.
But he couldn’t bring himself to say the words that sat on the tip of his tongue.
The truth was, it had been reckless. It had been idiotic. He had known he couldn’t win. He had pushed himself into danger, thinking it would make him just a little better than before.
After a long silence, Gidan finally admitted the truth he had always known.
“...I know that.”
Guru stared at him, limp like a doll that had lost its battery.
“...Then why....”
Guru trailed off.
Gidan, who wanted to be alone.
Gidan, who wanted to be like Jurim.
Gidan, who had closed his eyes as if he wanted to die at Malikian’s hands.
Guru recalled the Gidan who used to laugh brightly with his baseball team.
“You said that if we do it together, we can. Baseball is played together, right? With a team...”
Gidan clenched his eyes shut.
Thinking about when he had moved as a team. Remembering those days meant memories of his father came along too. The happiness, the warmth—and the unbearable pain. So, he had buried it all.
But the memories and emotions he had long buried overflowed like a dam breaking at Guru’s words.
The days of running together, falling together, crying together, achieving together.
The days of sharing sadness and joy.
The days when he wasn’t alone.
“So do it together with Guru... Guru is on Opa’s team.”
Guru pressed the Duck Tongs into Gidan’s hand.
“Today, tomorrow, the day after, every single day.”
It was as if Guru had sensed what Gidan had been thinking in that moment he was falling.
He was promising him a future.
That promise suddenly sank deep into his heart.
When his armor of anger and self-loathing had been stripped away, when he had become unbearably soft and weak—
The child reached out and held his hand before he could let go.
And he spoke of a tomorrow together.
"Guru wants to play with Opa every single day."
Guru asked in a hesitant tone.
"Opa... do you not want to?"
After reaching the brink of the end, the voice asking him to stay together reached all the way to his heart.
Gidan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.
"...No."
A cracked voice escaped from him. Gidan clenched his throat, pushing down the emotions rising inside.
With his empty hand, he held Guru’s.
His burning, chaotic mind cooled, leaving only one clear goal.
"Let’s play together. Today, tomorrow, the day after. Every single day."
Like watercolor spreading, a bright smile bloomed on Guru’s face.
This was no longer a suicide mission disguised as revenge.
Now, it was truly a moment where he had to risk his life to protect something.
To create moments with this child.
Today, tomorrow, the day after, and every single day after that.
‘What should I do?’
Jurim would definitely come to hunt Malikian as soon as he got the team leader’s message.
The problem was, there was no way of knowing when that would be.
Right now, there were only two options.
Either keep running until Jurim arrived.
Or kill Malikian.
Neither was an ideal choice. How long could he keep running with a child in this confined space?
If only he had the strength to kill Malikian himself—
‘At this rate, there’s no way...’
Gidan bit his lip and clenched his fist—when suddenly, information about the Duck Tongs surfaced before his eyes.
[■■■■-Infused Painful Duck Tongs (Usable)]
Targets attacked within the Frostblood’s territory have their defense reduced by 50%. The wielder’s attack power increases by 100%.Can create snow ducks using mana.
Blood’s Submission: Ignores the defense of Frostblood entities.
Absolute Command: The user’s attack has a low chance of ignoring the target’s effect resistance.
This item is bound to its creator.
What the hell...?
He checked it over and over again, making sure he hadn’t misread it, but the meaning was clear.
"Ignores the defense of Frostblood entities?"
Gidan stared at Guru in shock.
"This thing ignores defense?"
"Uung..."
Guru nodded briefly, tilting his head with an open-mouthed expression, as if he didn’t understand why Gidan was looking at him like that.
‘Something like this exists?’
It was an absurd item.
The higher-ranked a monster, the exponentially higher its defense.
Even an item that could bypass just 30% of a target’s defense under specific conditions was classified as S-rank, something top hunters threw fortunes at to acquire.
But a weapon that ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) completely ignored an S-rank monster’s defense, allowing full damage to go through?
That was something that only existed in dreams.
Even if he was a kindergartener, S-rank was still S-rank, huh?
But...
"Uhmm..."
Gidan groaned.
Yeah, it was an insane item. If not for the ridiculous conditions.
The Duck Tongs were bound to Guru.
That meant Guru had to have the stats necessary to bypass an S-rank monster’s resistance and apply a debuff.
And he had to get close enough to throw a snowball at Malikian.
The only potential saving grace was the "Absolute Command" effect, which had a low chance of bypassing effect resistance.
To sum it up—
If Guru could get close and hit Malikian with a snow duck, a massive debuff would apply.
But it was only a low probability.
The sheer power of the "Ignore Defense" effect was balanced by conditions so absurd, it was practically useless.
"This is... basically just a deadly lottery."
"A deadly lottery?"
At that moment, the peg holding the spatial barrier in place trembled.
The spatial separation item was crumbling into dust.
There were barely ten minutes left.
Malikian was rummaging through the wreckage of the ship graveyard, searching for Gidan.
There was no more time.
A decision had to be made.

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