Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: The Troublesome Sister
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"Noona is...."
When Go Yohan was young, Kim Dayeon had seen him once.
He was a kid who stood out at first glance, and it somehow felt natural that a peculiar child like him would be called the troublemaker of the Shinseong family, stirring up all sorts of incidents.
'That kid?'
She thought it was unusual.
The Go Yohan she had seen back then was certainly a strange child, but he didn't seem like the type to cause real trouble.
"Where is she?"
But this was Go Yohan after a long time.
Considering he was the younger brother of her closest friend, she should at least greet him warmly.
Rustle.
Kim Dayeon unwittingly stepped back.
The Go Yohan before her was clearly the same person as herself.
Rumble!
Yet he felt like something entirely different.
"......"
In the stifling silence where no one could easily speak, Go Yohan's eyes turned to Kim Dayeon's waist.
"Did Noona give you that?"
Only then did Kim Dayeon snap out of it and nod at Go Yohan's voice.
It was the reason they had survived the Hell Wolf pack's assault, the item Go Yohan had given to the Shinseong bloodline.
An inverted cross accessory that wasn't sealed within the Black Gate and even slightly boosted abilities.
"Ha, that damn Noona."
She had probably just thought of it as a protective talisman and entrusted it to them.
So that Kim Dayeon's weaker group could survive amid the Hell Wolves.
And that had thrown off the trail while searching for Go Minji's traces.
"Minji is...."
Gulp.
Forcing down her tension, Kim Dayeon spoke.
"She went that way to draw the monsters' aggro."
"You didn't stop her?"
Luring the Hell Wolf pack alone?
"Ha, no."
Kim Dayeon probably couldn't have helped it.
Go Yohan knew well about Go Minji's bullheaded stubbornness.
"I'll...! I'll go with you. We can't get lost."
Kim Dayeon mustered her courage to say it, but Go Yohan shook his head.
"I've already found her."
There were more than one or two ways to track Go Minji's traces.
He had simply followed the biggest one here, and if Go Minji wasn't here...
Crunch.
Then the direction was obvious.
"People will come to rescue you. Follow Yoon Seunghwa's instructions."
"......"
Before she could say anything.
Fizzle.
Go Yohan's figure blurred and vanished.
Immediately after.
Kwaaaaa!
A fierce wind swept over them all, as if a sonic boom had erupted.
The site looked like a storm had hit, but no one could open their mouths.
"This isn't the time."
Kim Dayeon said.
"We have to go too."
It was true that Go Yohan had shown absurd power, but as a human, no one knew its limits or how far it extended.
Earlier, they couldn't do anything because Go Minji had dashed off, but not now.
"But...."
Some players and civilians, terrified, hesitated.
"What if we catch up and run into those things again?"
They had felt the Hell Wolves' danger firsthand.
Monsters that had torn apart even association members with just a few of them.
"I'll take responsibility."
But Kim Dayeon was firm.
She couldn't abandon her close friend Go Minji, nor stand by while even her brother was put in danger.
In the end, the group began to move, following Kim Dayeon, who had taken the lead role.
"...My God."
Soon, they witnessed a shocking sight.
A literal path of blood.
Pools of blood from dozens of Hell Wolves connected like a road.
*
*
*
"Ugh."
Go Minji groaned.
'Where was I up to?'
She had definitely met Kim Dayeon at the cafe and shared the story.
About the massive underground force called Black Crown in Korea, unimaginably huge, spreading influence across the entire country.
'This is Ma Jeong.'
And Kim Dayeon's speculation that they might even possess dangerous items that turned humans into monsters.
Go Minji knew about that too.
'Monster Stone.'
It was something that had once plagued even the drug-ridden United States.
Something completely new, unlike existing drugs.
And one of the reasons Go Minji had left America.
'Temple....'
About the faction called Temple too.
'Temple?'
They were an emerging force rooted in North America and Europe, just like the Black Crown Kim Dayeon mentioned.
They took the form of a guild, but no one knew their true nature, with rumors that Acaros, the US's 8th-ranked guild, was one of Temple's pillars.
'Right, she told me that story....'
Damn it.
"Anyway, that useless bitch...."
Go Minji forced a smile.
Around her blood-soaked form lay six fallen Hell Wolves.
She must have lost consciousness briefly while fighting in Berserker state.
"If I'd known it'd be like this, I should've just gone home...."
Today was her mother, Shin Sookyung's, birthday.
And....
"...That bastard, I need to see if he's getting married or something."
Among her siblings, Go Yohan came to mind first.
Shinseong's sorest thumb, the family's troublemaker.
And....
'Poor guy.'
For some reason, Go Minji had always pitied Go Yohan since he was young.
A peculiar kid who seemed to carry some indescribable burden alone.
She had even thought it was a good thing when she heard he was clubbing or causing trouble.
Yet Go Yohan was the reason Go Minji had returned to Korea.
"I can't bear to watch."
Go Minji looked around and sneered softly.
Just taking down six Hell Wolves had used up all her stamina and mana.
These were true monsters unlike any she'd seen before.
She was certain.
'S-Rank Gate.'
It might be like this in the one S-Rank Gate that had appeared in the world so far.
As the faint-hearted thought crossed her mind, Go Minji's eyes flashed.
Thud, thud, thud.
A build incomparable to the other Hell Wolves.
"...You're the boss, huh? Puppy."
This peculiar gate clearly had its boss emerging directly, not staying in the boss zone.
Thud.
Go Minji lifted her massive greatsword.
"Then it's a different story."
Hunt the boss, and the gate shatters.
That slim hope meant that guy right there.
Woooong!
Red energy rippled around Go Minji.
The moment her hidden class that made her a ranker, Berserker, activated once more.
She would lose consciousness and rampage, but with healing regeneration at its limit and all stats nearly doubled—an absurd ability.
It was also why she had lured the Hell Wolves alone.
"Die."
With red eyes, Go Minji began to rampage.
Depending on the regeneration and stat boost she pulled up, the degree of consciousness loss varied, but now there was no room for picking and choosing.
She had to draw out maximum power, pledging all her mind and will.
[Berserker perk, Blood Qi Rampage activates.]
[All stats double.]
With the system voice's end, Go Minji lost consciousness.
And yet she.
"......!"
Suddenly regained her senses and halted her massive greatsword.
Her whole body trembled finely from the skill's aftereffects, pain like torn muscles surging through.
Around her rolled the corpses of Hell Wolves swept by battle, and the presumed boss giant Hell Wolf lay with its neck severed.
But she hadn't done it.
And she hadn't stopped it either.
Thud.
Go Minji collapsed to her knees, separate from her body refusing to muster strength.
"...Wh-what?"
She couldn't believe the sight before her.
"Why... you?"
A being who shouldn't be here.
"Anyway, what a hassle of a Noona."
Go Yohan was there.
*
*
*
Swoosh.
The moment Go Yohan's hand touched her, Go Minji's wound-riddled body healed.
"......!"
Even considering Berserker's regeneration, it was an impossible recovery.
"H-Hey...! Wait a sec!"
Go Minji yelled in panic.
"What the hell is this?"
The Go Yohan before her, with that surging power, made him look not human, but something else.
Just like Kim Dayeon had, her whole body now trembled with fear.
But unlike Kim Dayeon, she didn't back away.
"Did you do this?"
She instinctively knew the being before her was Go Yohan, her brother.
"What is this recovery... power?"
A recovery ability, rarer than rare worldwide.
Players with recovery were treated as rankless regardless of level, a national resource states moved to secure.
"N-No.... That's not what's important right now...."
With her body healed, Go Minji seemed to quickly regain her reason.
"Let's get out. The boss is dead, so the gate should shatter. Until then...."
"What about the others?"
Go Yohan asked.
Kim Dayeon and the rest—she had drawn the Hell Wolves to save them, hadn't she?
"Are they important right now?"
Go Minji stood and said.
"I did it out of a player's duty. Now... you've got you."
Go Minji lifted her greatsword.
"Saving you is my role over saving others. You lunatic. Why'd you come into this dangerous place."
At that sight, Go Yohan slightly curled his lips.
Go Minji—no, the Shinseong bloodline was all like this.
And he was overwhelmingly grateful for it.
"No need to worry."
"What?"
"There are no more Hell Wolves around."
"......?"
"And."
Go Yohan turned his back.
"That wasn't even the boss."
The large Hell Wolf.
"Hell Wolf pack leader, just the leader of these guys...."
Go Yohan gazed into the distance and said.
"Not the gate's boss."
"What does that mean? How the hell do you know that?"
Would a day come to explain?
Putting aside such thoughts, Go Yohan said.
"Go to Kim Dayeon. That side should be safe."
"What? Then you?"
"...Gotta catch the boss."
It was then.
Grip.
Go Minji grabbed Go Yohan's forearm and said.
"Bullshit. Who said I'd let you go?"