Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 178
Chapter Title: Raised by Eating (2)
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Stunned, I left the research building.
The fact that he had made such a game was shocking in itself. No, he must have gotten help from someone who knew how to develop games. Kairos wasn’t the type to handle that sort of thing.
He wasn’t the kind to leave a message waiting for me like Eve had.
At least, not as far as I knew.
“Who was it?”
The moment I got in the car heading back to the cabin, Yoon asked.
I muttered dazedly from the passenger seat.
“A Beast Tamer.”
“A Titan? What’s so surprising about that?”
“Well, in all sorts of ways…”
As the car pulled out of the underground parking lot, I rummaged through old memories.
Finally unable to hold back, I turned to Yoon and held out my hand.
“Listen to this.”
“Sure.”
“The guy was such a freak that…”
Kairos was the empire’s greatest Beast Tamer.
He had been a member of Kyle’s tribe, the only one besides Kyle to receive immortality. I think he even got some medal or another from the emperor. From a young age, he’d had an unusual fondness for Magical Beasts, and it blossomed into talent after coming to the empire.
The only one who had ever tamed a dragon as a beast mount.
He was a real oddball.
“The guy was obsessed with Magical Beasts. He barely cared about humans.”
“There are plenty like that in the research building.”
“He was a battle maniac too.”
Imperial citizens loved watching beast mount battles.
It was the top entertainment of the era. Like the World Cup on Earth. Winners raked in massive wealth and fame. Even the imperial family occasionally attended in person—it was hugely popular and profitable.
Kairos won every time.
He didn’t enter for the money. He gave the prize money to his tribespeople. He was the top contributor to pulling Kyle’s tribe out of abject poverty.
But that was just a side reason for him entering.
What he craved on that stage was two things.
The crowd drunk on the heat of the match, losing their composure.
A mighty foe that could devour him.
‘Your body gets used to victory quickly.’
His muttered words echoed in my ears.
‘Give me something stronger before this streak ends.’
“But he wasn’t as conscienceless as you, Senior.”
Yoon raised one eyebrow.
Ignoring the silent interrogation, I continued.
“In everyday life, he was gentle and considerate.”
“Sounds like just an adrenaline junkie.”
“The problem is he wasn’t your average adrenaline junkie. Hard to explain…”
I paused to choose my words, then widened my eyes.
Staring at Yoon with the most harmless expression I could muster.
Ignoring my master’s what-the-hell-are-you-doing look, I added.
“He had these unreadable eyes, like a battle addict.”
I kept my sparkling eyes fixed on him until he reacted.
Big, shiny eyes.
Kairos had really pretty eyes.
His followers adored them. Long, distinct lashes framing them. Beautiful orange eyes like the sun.
Yoon spoke.
“The HR Director?”
“Oh, yeah! Kinda like that.”
Yoon clicked his tongue.
“He wasn’t evil by nature. But during matches, his eyes would change completely. As cold and cruel as yours, Senior.”
“Keep dragging me into this?”
You couldn’t tell which side was the real him.
Of course, by my standards, the HR Director was way more manageable than Kairos. Spreading scandals everywhere was better than occasionally causing massive incidents with Magical Beasts.
“How much cleanup I did after his messes.”
He behaved during match season, but when there were no games, he couldn’t stand the boredom and caused huge incidents.
I skimmed memories of cleaning up after him. Just thinking about it exhausted me. Whenever I rushed over in horror, he’d always grin brightly and say, “Oh, Knight Commander! Sorry about this!”
There were rumors he could take down a Swordmaster if he put his mind to it.
He tamed things that seemed utterly untamable as if it were nothing.
Why hadn’t he sided with Kyle?
No.
And anyway.
Gazing out the car window, I thought of the tribesman I’d never gotten truly close to, despite everything.
What message could he possibly have left for me?
***
If Kairos was still alive, he’d be hanging around Creatures—er, Magical Beasts.
But I had no spare energy to worry about a tribesman whose fate was unknown. I had to handle what I could first.
The moment I got home, I searched for portal accidents.
That site I’d used before to look up info on Ye-hyeon.
Typing “portal accident” brought up posts right away.
• Increased cancer rates among frequent portal users
• Incorrect coordinate settings
- Entered portal but didn’t return
- Entered portal, exited outside core, went missing
- Entered portal, exited outside core, killed by Creature
- Entered portal, exited on or under water surface, drowned
- Entered portal, exited in midair, fell to death
- Other cases of exiting in unsafe locations and dying
• Entering portals meant for inanimate objects
- Entered portal, exited dead
- Entered portal, exited with body parts missing
- Entered portal, didn’t return
- Died of heart attack before entering portal
- Body part that entered portal went missing
• Entering before portal use approval
- Entered portal, didn’t arrive
- Entered portal, exited dead
- Entered portal, exited with body parts missing
- Body part that entered portal went missing
- Entered portal, exited with brain abnormalities
- Entered portal, arrived after time delay
- Entered portal, exited having lost some senses
Ah.
My eyes scrolling down stopped on a specific line.
“Exited with brain abnormalities after entering portal.”
The line right after grabbed my attention too.
“Arrived after time delay despite entering portal.”
Isn’t that me?
My heart started racing. I sat blankly on the beanbag, staring at those two lines.
They had links attached.
With trembling fingers, I tapped “Exited with brain abnormalities.”
The screen changed to an incident summary.
I quickly scanned the cases.
• Male, 45, from Center Core. Ignored administrator, entered portal; hippocampus damaged, lost ability to form new memories. Lives forever with pre-portal memories only
• Male, 23, from Core 8. Ignored administrator, entered portal; artery to occipital lobe blocked, lost brain’s visual processing function
• Female, 30, from Center Core. Activated and entered portal without administrator; temporal lobe seizure, suffers hallucinations
Memory issues, but no total memory loss.
I rubbed my chin.
Maybe this applies to me too.
Dazed, I read the attached explanations. But I didn’t get much useful info.
Researchers still didn’t know why. Portals and the human brain were still mysteries, so no surprise.
The other items seemed similar.
Calming my pounding heart, I tapped “Arrived after time delay.”
A single photo caught my eye.
A man with jet-black hair neatly slicked back, blue eyes wide, grinning roguishly.
Unlike the others, only one case. His name was below the photo.
I scanned it.
Simon…
Simon Diamond.
I stared at his name for a while.
Simon Diamond. 35 at the time of the incident. He entered the portal and arrived at his destination only after 8 years.
He’d rushed in because he heard his wife had been in an accident. To use the portal back to Center Core where she was, he’d been told to wait two months.
But he sneaked in, and arrived only after she’d already died.
His daughter thought he was dead.
His only daughter.
Could she be Sue?
She has to be Sue, right?
I desperately suppressed the urge to call Sue right then.
Calling out of the blue at this hour to interrogate her wouldn’t be polite. She said she’d talk after discharge, so I should leave a message that she’s been discharged.
Ignoring my noisy heartbeat, I opened the messaging app.
Then my phone rang.
[Hilde!]
It was Tom.
I widened my eyes at his urgent voice.
“Tom? What’s up?”
[Are you okay?]
“Huh? Me?”
I pointed at my chest.
“I’m home?”
What happened?
Ragged breathing came through the phone.
I shot up from my seat.
About to grab my shoes and bolt out, Tom said.
[The seniors say anything to you?]
“Huh? No?”
I couldn’t follow.
“What did the seniors say?”
[That you weren’t there during the reclamation battle…]
His trailing voice held uncharacteristic frustration.
[They’re saying you holed up in the barracks using injury as an excuse, didn’t fight properly.]
Oh, that.
No big deal.
I’d been about to dash out the cabin door but stopped putting on my shoes.
After straightening them, I grinned and went back to the beanbag.
“Hey, you scared me. Your voice sounds awful.”
[It’s not just one or two seniors thinking that. I tried correcting them, but they won’t listen.]
“Just ignore it. No need to correct them.”
[They looked ready to call you out and grill you…]
“I’ll handle it.”
He must’ve told them that wasn’t the case.
Now I felt bad for Tom. He should just play along smoothly, but Tom wasn’t the type. Seemed all sweet and innocent, but actually stubborn—couldn’t let falsehoods slide without humbly pushing back.
That’s what I liked about him, though.
These things should just slide off smoothly.
“Don’t bother explaining next time. It’ll just hurt your standing. And they won’t listen anyway.”
[But it’s not true. How can I just let that slide? They don’t even know you well, so why spout nonsense like that?]
“I said don’t worry. Oh, tell Hessi to ignore it too. Don’t want rumors of him committing insubordination again.”
[He already did.]
Huh?
[Grabbed the senior who said it by the collar.]
Ha…
This guy.
A wave of fatigue hit me. My knights under me used to do the same. Even when I, the person involved, didn’t care, they’d flip out and charge at anyone insulting me.
I could’ve stopped them if I’d been there.
I pressed my temples with my thumb.
“They’re not still fighting, right?”
[Nah. Luckily, Senior Lee Ho sorted it out.]
“Good. Let’s grab dinner this week if we can, all three of us.”
Needed to talk face-to-face.
I don’t care about rumors, so don’t react. Tom might get it, but Hessi wouldn’t be convinced over the phone.
Tom’s calmed voice came through.
[Sure. Post the schedule in the group chat. We’ll sync up.]
Then his voice faltered again.
[If the seniors call you out, don’t go. Tell us first.]
I chuckled softly.
His genuine concern came through. Tom had grown up so upright.
I slumped back onto the beanbag and looked down.
Sprawling lazily, I replied.
“Got it. I’ll do that, so don’t worry.”
An obvious white lie, of course.
***
I made plans with Sue.
Unfortunately, after the party. She was on patrol duty on the Center Core outskirts. She promised to let me know the moment she returned to HQ.
And I relayed what I’d found to Yoon.
He didn’t seem too impressed.
“So, me entering the portal seems to be the root cause.”
“Hildebert.”
The genius scientist called me in a voice saying dealing with idiots like me was exhausting.
“Yes?”
“You entered a portal, so you popped out of one.”
A pitiful look flew my way.
“You expect to pop out of a portal without entering one?”
…True.
I chuckled awkwardly and rubbed my neck.
Engine noise wrapped around us. Streetlights dyed his suit.
Yoon sighed and continued.
“The issue is when, how, and in what state you entered the portal.”
“Yeah, makes sense now. But doesn’t this reveal where I was during my blank time? No matter how I think about it, Sue’s guess seems right. I was inside a portal all that time.”
“It explains a lot, but it’s not something that happens commonly.”
My master crossed his arms and sank into thought, his tone flat.
Unfortunately, we were heading to the party. Eric Airheart’s personal invite.
A gathering of Center Core’s elite celebrities.
I really hated it.
“Let’s download the game and bail right away.”
“Yeah.”
Yoon replied without uncrossing his arms.
“If we can.”
Of course we could, right?