Chapter 102
Chapter 102
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 102
Before they knew it, the two of them had become adults.
"What do you mean, protect me? You couldn't even keep your promise. You didn't do a damn thing."
A desperate cry choked Do Jun-young's throat. Just moments ago, Se-ra had been smiling, but now her body was covered in wounds. The sight of her, as if mauled by wolves, stole his breath away.
"Once, twice, three times... five times. I kept dying over and over. Do you even know that?"
Se-ra's hands gripped his neck.
"While I was dying alone in a place no help could reach, what the hell were you doing? Why make a promise you couldn't keep?"
"Guh... kgh..."
"In the end, you didn't do anything. That promise was just for your own satisfaction."
Crack. A horrific sound rang out as his vision twisted. Yet even then, the image of Se-ra weeping tears of blood in agony remained crystal clear.
Don't cry. It doesn't hurt. I was wrong.
That was the most painful part for Do Jun-young.
"Do Jun-young!"
"Hah!"
His flickering vision cleared at the sharp cry.
The airport. Yoon Jae-hun, dragging a suitcase, was looking at him curiously.
"You okay? What's with you? Am I that upsetting to leave? Daydreaming like that?"
'What...?'
He touched his neck. It had felt like he'd died, but it was fine.
"Am I... alive right now?"
"Not spacing outyou were standing there dreaming?"
Yoon Jae-hun chuckled and patted his shoulder to snap him out of it.
"I know it sucks, but bear with it. I thought about it a lot... but this seems like the best way."
Ah. Aah. He got it now.
Twenty years old. The moment they awakened, both became S-rank. But their paths diverged completely. Do Jun-young joined the Association, while Yoon Jae-hun enlisted with Athena.
Today was the day he was leaving Korea for Athena.
"...Don't push yourself. And don't get hurt. Your little sister worries about you."
"Worried only about your sister, huh? Not about me? Way to make it sound cold. You're the one pretending not to know Se-ra lately."
Do Jun-young pretended not to hear. It was true, though. Since becoming S-rank, his build and looks had changed a bit, so Se-ra hadn't recognized him well.
But that was fine. Being by her side wasn't the only way to protect her.
"Auntie says she'll bring Se-ra to the Association once she's an adult. Seven years left, so you'll be her boss by then."
"Probably."
"Take care of Se-ra while I'm gone. It's a bit much to ask a friend."
"It's fine. Se-ra thinks of me like a brother anyway."
"Glad you're around. Thanks."
Yoon Jae-hun grinned and clapped his shoulder.
"Protect Se-ra, okay?"
"Yeah."
"...So why the hell didn't you protect my sister after promising that?"
Whoosh. The blood drained from him. He looked up blankly, and Yoon Jae-hun's cold face slammed into his view.
"While Se-ra was suffering alone in the Werewolf Dungeon, where were you? What were you doing?"
"...Yoon Jae-hun?"
"You just lie. In the end, you didn't protect a thing."
Yoon Jae-hun shed tears of blood. He was tormented. Unable to protect his parents or his sister.
"Se-ra died. You killed her in the end. You promised to protect her! You killed my sister!"
Yoon Jae-hun collapsed to her knees. Do Jun-young's eyes widened. Somehow, her friend was cradling Yoon Se-ra's dead body.
"...Why?"
Why was Se-ra here? Why was she dead?
Se-ra hadn't died. Se-ra... Se-ra...
...Was Se-ra really alive?
Had there ever been a time when she hadn't died?
"Do Jun-young. In the end, you survive alone. Selfish bastard. Coward. Even in death, I'll curse you."
Yoon Jae-hun's blade gleamed white. His eyes stung, and he reflexively closed them. When he opened them, his friend's body lay on the floor.
Thud, thud, roll. An unwanted sound, and something bumped his foot.
Resentful, lifeless eyes stared up at him.
Jae-hun had killed himself. Because Se-ra died.
Ah. He looked up vacantly. Seoul crumbling and burning. In the center, a corpse too mangled to identify.
What was that? Ah, Park Jin-yong. Right. Park Jin-yong.
Se-ra died in the dungeon, Yoon Jae-hun went mad and killed Park Jin-yong, then took his own life.
It wasn't just them who'd lost their minds.
Do Jun-young looked up at the rush of heat from behind. Song Han-na, reflected in his unfocused eyes, was smashing the city.
Telekinesis toppled buildings, uprooted trees, shattered roads. Golden patterns glowed wildly on her skin. Her body, stripped of reason, only destroyed.
Right. He remembered. After Yoon Jae-hun's suicide, Song Han-na lost her mind and eventually... to the adult form...
Strange. When did all this happen?
Had it even happened?
It wasn't in his memories, so why did it feel so vivid?
"Ah."
No, this was reality. It was all happening right now.
He'd wanted to bring back the light, just see that sunlit house again. But while he stood frozen, two precious people died.
And the woman who'd lost family again became a puppet, wrecking the world.
Ah. Aah. Aaaah! Aaaaaah!
His head felt like it would split. A nightmare, a nightmare. A horrific one he could never escape.
It was the night of nightmares.
"No, you're crazy. What the hell are you watching?"
A kind voice shattered the blood- and flame-choked Seoul sky like glass.
A ray of light pierced his nightmare-ridden mind. Above Do Jun-young, shedding tears of blood in torment, a white hand with calluses gently touched.
So familiarit was...
"That's not real, okay? Don't kill the perfectly fine guy and come out already. It's just a nightmare."
The hand grabbed his collar and yanked him up. His forcibly lifted body was slowly swallowed into a white glow.
The light filling the world was that pretty light he'd desperately wanted to see again.
* * *
"Hah!"
Do Jun-young bolted upright. The sudden movement sent spike-like pain stabbing his head and eyes.
"Careful. The magical beast's mana hasn't fully left your system yet."
"...Yoon Se-ra?"
He snapped his head up at the familiar voice. Se-ra was looking at him. No blood. She was fine.
"How...? Y-You definitely died..."
"No idea what you saw, but it's the magical beast's ability. Everything you saw was an illusion."
Illusion? Yoon Se-ra dying, Yoon Jae-hun dying, Song Han-na destroying Seoulall illusions? It had felt so real? Like she'd seen it all himself?
"Try remembering step by step. We're here to clear a Grade-1 dungeon that appeared in the Japanese sea, away from Seoul."
Japan dungeon... Ah, right. He'd come with Se-ra, Jung Ho-young, and Kang Se-jun. The dungeon had ghost-type Phantoms.
Mid-battle, the Red Cube emitting a strong presence vanished suddenly, making them anxious, when a chill swept in.
Night of nightmares. Right. He'd fallen to the Phantom Lord's ability, which showed people's deepest fears.
"I remember now. Ha. Grade-1 magical beast abilities are on another level."
He'd been hit by ghost-type mental erosion before, but nothing this horrific.
If that white hand hadn't grabbed his collar at the end, he'd have crossed the river of no return.
"Did you save me, Yoon Se-ra?"
"Technically, this little one did. Say hi."
A furball popped up in front of him. Long snout, fluffy fur, wagging tail.
"A fox...?"
"Yeah. My summon. Cute, right? Her name's Elizabeth."
"You have Taming too?"
"No. Got her as a, uh, reward in the States. What I took was the summon contract."
"Nice score."
"Yeah, she's adorable. And capablechases away nightmares. Looks like a baby fox, but she's actually a gumiho."
Possible with a fox orb infused with divine power. Understanding, Do Jun-young bowed his head.
"Thank you for saving me."
"I'm the one who's sorry. If we'd caught the Phantom Lord properly, this wouldn't have happened."
"Is it dead?"
"Yes. Guild Master Jung Ho-young helped finish it off."
Do Jun-young looked around. Almost no monster presence near the ruined castle.
"We've cleaned up the area, so rest easy. Only you and one Japanese hunter are injured. The others are chasing down stragglers."
A Japanese hunter lay beside him. Shirabu Keigo, the healer? Still unconscious, groaning faintly.
"His erosion went pretty deep. It'll take time to wake, but since it was a regular Phantom unlike yours, he'll be fine."
"You did great."
Se-ra smiled brightly. Her clear, shadowless smile made Do Jun-young's chest ache.
Not the eleven-year-old kid who couldn't smile from the nightmare, nor the one killed by werewolves.
His ominously pounding heart slowly calmed. He never wanted to see a nightmare like that again. Better avoid ghost-type dungeons for a while.
"Ah, they're coming back."
Se-ra waved and approached Jung Ho-young. Do Jun-young watched her back quietly.
The white hand that pulled him from the nightmare.
It had shattered the flame-wrapped sky. It was definitely Se-ra's hand. She'd saved him, saying what was he watching, that it was just a nightmare. Like a lifeline from the heavens.
'Was that an illusion too, like the nightmare? No way Yoon Se-ra actually entered my dream to save me, right? If so, did she see all those horrors?'
It would've been even more terrifying for her, yet she showed no sign, so who knew. His mind foggy, he couldn't think straight and chose silence.
So he didn't notice.
Se-ra's face hardening the moment she turned away. Her arms around the fox clenched tight.