Chapter 39
Chapter 39
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Ruined World (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Did I hear that wrong, by any chance?”
Jong-sik gripped the steering wheel once, then let go, rubbing his ear as he glanced at Sa-yoon's expression, groaning in distress before finally asking again. Sa-yoon, with his legs casually crossed, flatly denied it.
“No. You heard right, so turn the car around.”
“Hyungnim!”
“What.”
“I clearly told Geon-ju that an S-grade gate is still too much for him...”
“Jong-sik.”
He softly called the man's name, who was freaking out in protest. At the unusually straightforward summons, Jong-sik swallowed his agitation and straightened the wheel.
“...Yes.”
“I'm desperate.”
Five syllables, uttered without inflection. It was a voice that could have sounded dry, devoid of appeal, but Jong-sik caught the meaning behind it and quietly turned the wheel. Sa-yoon felt the car sharply curving and fiddled with the perfume bottle in his hand.
A-grade Floria's sleep scent.
It induced immediate sleep in any lifeform A-grade or below and restored all conditions to 100% upon waking from deep slumber.
An item that recovered both mental and physical fatigue, used more for healing than crime, and thus expensive—but Sa-yoon didn't mind.
This should do it.
It was an item to aid restful sleep. Even if it took four hours to reach the field, letting him sleep in the car would ensure he woke up refreshed, without a trace of fatigue.
Still, a remnant of his conscience flickered as Sa-yoon gazed at Geon-ju's serene, beautiful sleeping face, his fingers brushing the eyelashes entering his view. He felt an urge to stroke them one by one, but that might wake him. Resigned, Sa-yoon leaned his head against the window.
Ever since gaining the status window, he occasionally found himself turning serious without realizing it—a feeling Sa-yoon quite disliked.
When he snapped back to his senses and faced reality squarely, he inevitably had to bear the weight of his own life. And that was no small annoyance. He'd always lived lightly, frantically, and suddenly becoming aware of his existence felt like sinking into a thick quagmire without warning. How could it not irritate him?
Desperate.
Not empty words. He truly was. He'd spent three months vomiting blood and wrecking his body just to find Han Geon-ju, and now that he had, he was desperate enough to cancel every schedule to raise him to S-grade.
It was the same reason he'd kept Geon-ju's impertinent neck intact—something that would have gotten anyone else killed three times over.
This might be his last chance. The thought that failure now could mean no second opportunity made him cautious, hesitant. Embracing this rare seriousness, Sa-yoon checked his reflection in the window.
The face that always brimmed with mad grins now lacked any mirth, so he immediately lifted the corners of his mouth. His red lips curved up, and his blue-tinged eyes slyly arched. Now he felt like himself.
Putting heavy thoughts aside for the moment, Sa-yoon tapped his phone, messaging the other guild members to grab supplies for the field raid and wait at the entrance.
Having dealt with Sa-yoon's sudden field trips more than once or twice, they responded familiarly with just one question mark: Got it.
[Heading to the field?]
A message from Kyung-jin arrived, as if he'd heard.
[Yeah.]
[With the newbie?]
[Yep.]
[OK OK. Grabbed two return stones.]
Short words, but sharp instincts. Sa-yoon decided to overlook Kyung-jin's increasingly cheeky texts, seeing how neatly he anticipated and assisted without being asked, then turned off the screen.
“I... I don't know. Hyungnim comes first, sure, but there's always that 'what if,’ right?”
“I know.”
“So don't push him too hard. You went through hell to find him.”
“I plan to go easy anyway.”
“That's the thing—your 'easy' and ours aren't the same.”
Jong-sik, driving with slumped shoulders, added timidly. Ultimately, it was concern for him, so Sa-yoon reassured him with an “I got it” and changed the subject.
The new topic: What feats had Han Geon-ju pulled off in that C-grade gate? Sa-yoon recounted exactly what he'd seen, without exaggeration, his voice tinged with excitement.
“In my eyes, it'll take a bit less than half a year.”
“What will?”
“Making Han Geon-ju S-grade.”
“He's not even A-grade yet.”
“He'll rank up after this field. Then one more field after, a new S-grade gate, and an unraided one—he'll grow plenty.”
“Didn't it take you two years, Hyungnim?”
“I'm me, he's him.”
They have different talents.
A faint note of grievance colored his indifferent addition. Awakened with the Supreme Under Heaven title, Geon-ju had started at B-grade and shown overwhelming prowess. Considering Sa-yoon's path of grinding through pain to reach S-grade, it was understandable to feel some inferiority if narrow-minded.
But that was in the past.
He couldn't let pointless resentment ruin things, so Sa-yoon quickly dismissed the unfair thought.
Instead, he devised a plan to squeeze every drop from Geon-ju's innate talent.
As he grinned wickedly, Jong-sik blurted out.
“By the way, does Geon-ju know we're heading straight to a gate?”
“Doubt it.”
“Pardon?”
“I lured him with talk of resting at the guild first.”
“Where'd you say we were going?”
“An A-grade gate.”
That was necessary to hook him.
Pretty good scheme, right? As Sa-yoon preened, Jong-sik eyed him like the world's worst scum. Clicking his tongue, he asked what if Geon-ju bolted, prompting Sa-yoon's hollow laugh.
“Jong-sik, talk sense.”
“Even just looking at now, it seems plenty sensible. If I were Geon-ju, I'd have run already.”
“Running takes will. With prime scraps falling into his lap just by sticking close—better than any buffet—why run?”
Humanity's strongest desires: three.
Wealth, power, lust.
Others might say different, but Sa-yoon thought so. For Awakeners, maybe add self-improvement.
Lust aside, the rest filled automatically by his side.
Wealth?
One unraided gate bus ride, eyes would roll.
Power?
Sit tight, world's top intel guild exec spot incoming.
Self-improvement?
Already fulfilling steadily. Training unmatched anywhere.
With all that on offer, running? Absurd. As he boasted confidently it'd never happen, Jong-sik sighed and countered.
“Fundamentally, survival instinct is the strongest, no?”
“World's full of guys who'd jump from a 10th-floor apartment for 100 billion right now—survival instinct my ass.”
“Well, that's true, but...”
“Plus, Jong-sik. When did I say I'd kill him? I said I'd make him suffer to the brink. A little hardship, then flower path ahead—think my pretty boy can't endure that?”
From close observation, Geon-ju had solid self-improvement drive. Competitive, high pride. No way he'd bail over hardship. Sa-yoon scoffed. As he brushed off the needless worry, Jong-sik, worrywart supreme, dragged out another “but what if.”
“Still, world's unpredictable. Be careful.”
“Even if he runs, I'd find him instantly. What's to worry?”
“True, dodging our intel net's impossible.”
“Break his ankle, he'll rethink it.”
Sa-yoon muttered, elbow on the window, chin propped. Jong-sik, Night Rat's voice of reason, immediately dissuaded him.
“Please, non-violence, Hyungnim. Sane places don't snap ankles for runaways.”
“Why not? Mafia puts holes in heads.”
“This is Korea, Hyungnim.”
“We're global, Jong-sik.”
Jong-sik despaired at the glib wordplay, his face screaming This guy's the guild leader?
“Anyway, no way my pretty boy's running, so drive properly. Planning to let him sleep in the car—don't rush.”
No sooner said, Jong-sik eased the speed. Pitiful guy, he pitied Geon-ju, glancing at the back seat via mirror. As Sa-yoon's attention shifted back to his incessantly buzzing phone, Jong-sik suddenly chuckled.
“Why the laugh out of nowhere?”
“Hyungnim, Geon-ju's smiling.”
Sa-yoon turned at Jong-sik's words, looking at the man head against the opposite window, sleeping. Unaware of the impending gate or his fate, proudly displaying long lashes while breathing softly in sleep—he was indeed faintly smiling, as Jong-sik said.
Floria's scent aided deep sleep, apparently granting pleasant dreams too.
Sa-yoon, who'd never experienced it, could only guess. He took in the picturesque sight, then smiled faintly.
“Leave him. Must be a good dream.”
Yeah, let him laugh it up in dreams—at least there, since where else could his pretty boy smile?
Only tears ahead from now on.
Should tell him to smile sweetly while he still can.