Chapter 58
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 58
Chapter Title: Truth
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At the time, Lee Hwa-yeon thought there was nothing more she could wish for than bringing at least the Seung-woo brothers into the Han family, scraping by with her small gang.
Then she saw a job posting for a caretaker at a villa on Jeju Island and traveled all the way there for an interview.
That was where the bond between Baek I-an and Lee Hwa-yeon was firmly tied.
Ambition.
Han Ho was a man brimming with ambition.
And to fulfill that ambition, he was the kind of man who could easily discard even the woman he loved and his children.
Knowing Han Ho better than anyone, Lee Hwa-yeon couldn't refuse Baek I-an's request.
So, as per Baek I-an's plea, she planned to add Lee Ru-ri to her family registry and raise her like a daughter born from her own heart, cherishing her alongside the Seung-woo brothers.
But one day, Han Ho burst in and forcibly took the Seung-woo brothers away.
He claimed that with Han Yu dead, there was no choice for the sake of succession.
After that, she was chased off to New York without a chance to fight back.
"I remember it. You said you were going to the market and left... and never came back. That semi-basement we lived in together—I can still vividly recall its smell. Honestly, I wasn't in my right mind back then either, so I quickly forgot about you. I was completely consumed by the thought that I was an orphan, living day by day wishing I could just die carelessly."
Lee Ru-ri's words darkened Hurt's and Han Seung-woo's expressions even further.
Lee Hwa-yeon's will was simple.
She asked them to find Lee Ru-ri, make Han Ho pay for his sins, and finally, cremate her and scatter her ashes into the Jeju sea.
"What exactly are the crimes Chairman Han committed?"
"She said he killed quite a few people."
"Any evidence?"
"Min's secret safe. Everything's in there."
"Min...?"
"Han Ho's current wife. That old lady's terrifying."
"Not your average person. Ru-ri, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... a bit tired today."
"Got it. Call if anything comes up."
Han Seung-woo checked Lee Ru-ri's pale face once more before leaving the room with Hurt.
"Ru-ri will be okay, right?"
"If you were going to drop bombshells like that, couldn't you have warned me first?"
"Sorry, really sorry. But those two aren't actually lovers?"
"Not yet."
"Not yet? Oh, so you're saying you'll be lovers soon?"
"It's one-sided on my end, so please don't show it in front of Ru-ri."
"Oh, Seung-woo. So smooth!"
"Creepy. Let's discuss with our people first about what to do next."
Han Seung-woo took Hurt to Yang Jeong-hyun's lab.
Their voices drifted from outside the door, gradually fading away.
My head feels like it's going to explode.
Yoo Il-won, Baek I-an, Lee Hwa-yeon. And Han Ho.
Suddenly connected to so many people all at once.
"That haunting name that tormented me so much... it was Mom's final wish, telling me to run from Han Ho. Meeting him directly must have broken the brainwashing... Haah."
The daughter of Yoo Il-won and Baek I-an, Yoo Ru-ri.
At Baek I-an's request, Yoo Ru-ri was raised by Lee Hwa-yeon and became Lee Ru-ri.
The clearest fact learned from Park Joo-hyung and Baek I-an was that Han Ho killed Yoo Il-won.
In that incident, Han Yu and Baek I-an got caught up, and all three died.
The sole reason Han Ho tried to kill Yoo Il-won was one: to claim the special position for himself.
If he couldn't wield the power of the Conqueror position freely, eliminate it—that was Han Ho's mindset.
"If he finds out I'm a Conqueror, Han Ho will try to drag me into the Han family. And if I don't comply, he'll do to me what he did to Dad..."
Reflecting on those past days of wanting to die and bone-chilling loneliness and poverty, her anger began to boil over.
Her childhood hiding in the orphanage, her adolescence in self-imposed isolation, mistakenly believing she was an orphan.
The moment she graduated high school, she was half-forced into becoming a hunter, enduring a life steeped in poverty ever since.
"I've never truly been happy all this time."
A bottomless sense of emptiness washed over her.
Unconsciously, she opened her status window to check the new gate statuses.
"The past is just the past—better to think that way. Unless I'm going to give up everything now that I know the truth and follow those two to the grave... My goal is clear: make Han Ho pay. Even if the important memories have returned, not all my past memories are fully back yet... No need to rush, right?"
Lee Ru-ri washed her face and left the room.
Let's tackle the immediate issues step by step. Now that I know I'm not that worthless girl Lee Ru-ri with rock-bottom self-esteem anymore, I'll get stronger and get revenge on Han Ho right in front of his eyes.
To calm the whirlwind of emotions, Lee Ru-ri focused on conquering gates in the Yongsan area with Residual Shadow.
At that moment, in Yang Jeong-hyun's lab.
Han Seung-woo urgently asked Yang Jeong-hyun to bring Baek I-an to the lab.
Yang Jeong-hyun immediately messaged back.
She was already in the lab with Baek I-an.
"You're here?"
"Hello."
"Hello, I'm Han Seung-woo."
"Baek I-an."
"I'm Colin Hurt."
"Everyone, have a seat first. Si-jin, could you prepare some refreshments?"
"Sure thing."
Choi Si-jin bustled about preparing coffee and cookies, just as Ham Dae-hee and Kim Tae-woong entered the lab.
"What's with the heavy atmosphere?"
"Where's Park Joo-hyung?"
"He said he's on his way."
Everyone sipped the coffee Choi Si-jin had prepared while waiting for Park Joo-hyung.
"Hello."
Park Joo-hyung entered the lab with a greeting.
"Not intentional, but all the key people are gathered."
"Without us?"
Kwon Dong-nyeon wheeled in Lee Sang-chun, who was sitting in a wheelchair.
"Is it okay for you to be out like this?"
"Jeong-hyun messaged about a secret talk—how could I resist my curiosity?"
Yang Jeong-hyun took over pushing Lee Sang-chun's wheelchair and said.
"You need some fresh air anyway. And it's important."
"As we suspected, Ru-ri is Il-won's daughter, right?"
"Yes."
Kwon Dong-nyeon and Lee Sang-chun let out deep sighs upon hearing Han Seung-woo's confirmation.
"It's time to properly organize things. How about we sort out all the scattered info we've uncovered and decide our next moves?"
"I'll start."
Lee Sang-chun spoke first.
"15 years ago, during the S-rank gate incident, there was a problem with Dong-nyeon’s gear. Without his protection, I often took critical hits. Han Ho and I didn't mesh well, so when I learned about Dong-nyeon's gear issue, the two of us stepped out of the gate for a bit."
Kwon Dong-nyeon continued right away.
"Yeah. No matter how much mana I poured into the shield, the barrier wouldn't form. Turns out the durability was severely damaged. I'd checked it the day before... No idea how."
"So we asked another hunter to lend us some usable gear for Dong-nyeon and waited. But soon after, only Han Ho came out of the gate."
"You can't imagine our shock. We grilled him about where the others were, and he said they were all dead."
"By the time we rushed back in, Han Yu, Yoo Il-won, and Baek I-an were already gone, and Director Han and Eun-woo were unconscious on the ground."
Everyone's faces were etched with unconcealed grief.
"That's why Seung-woo and Eun-woo don't remember that time."
"Sang-chun had a huge blowout with Han Ho then. He said it was insane for the only S-rank tank to abandon the team and save himself. I agreed with Sang-chun. We even stormed Han Ho together, demanding he save the others. But then... we heard something suspicious."
Han Seung-woo asked at Kwon Dong-nyeon's words.
"Suspicious?"
"I sent my shield to the lounge for repairs, and the staff said someone deliberately damaged its durability. With mana, no less. They said it takes high rank to do that much harm."
"I was dead sure it was Han Ho's doing. So I confronted him again and caused a scene. But right then, Dong-nyeon's daughter Eun-hwa got hit by a hit-and-run."
"Ha... Thinking back now, that incident... maybe Han Ho's shadow was behind it too. Eun-hwa became my everything after that; the gate incident faded in importance. I just wanted to save my daughter. Right then, Han Ho offered: if I went on long-term overseas dispatch and sent monthly gate intel reports, the Association would cover Eun-hwa's treatment."
Yang Jeong-hyun and Han Seung-woo nodded, finally understanding why Kwon Dong-nyeon had left for overseas so abruptly.
"That damn old man started blocking my promotions after Dong-nyeon left overseas, holding off my S-rank upgrade until just before this re-exam."
"To sum up, you two don't know what happened inside the gate either."
"Right. All we could do was recover the bodies and get Director Han and Eun-woo to the hospital."
"I know what happened inside the gate."
Park Joo-hyung said.
"Aren't you with the Hans?"
"I'm Park Joo-hyung, Professor Baek's disciple."
"I-an's disciple?"
"Yes. I've been digging into the gate incident under Han Ho's watch."
Park Joo-hyung distributed prepared documents and continued.
"The gate the professors entered was one where even eight S-rank hunters couldn't guarantee success."
"Really? First time hearing that. That madman Han Ho hid it...?"
"We were just ordinary hunters back then, thinking we could clear it like any other...?"
Park Joo-hyung glanced at the bitter-faced Kwon Dong-nyeon and Lee Sang-chun before pressing on.
"The monsters that appeared were Gatekeeper S-rank White Wyvern, boss S-rank Black Griffin."
"My god... I've never even seen a griffon. Super rare monster."
"The key point: all three died inside the gate, and the monsters were already defeated. It's a bit different from what I told Teacher Ham and Teacher Kim. The new info is on the next page."
As Park Joo-hyung said, everyone checked the next page.
"Info I got by pretending to receive separate orders and approaching the vice chairman. Professor Yoo took down all the monsters inside the gate. Director Han lost consciousness fighting them. And the moment the monsters were defeated, Han Ho killed Professor Yoo."
"That fucking bastard..."
Lee Sang-chun was consumed by rage.
"Han Yu tried to stop Han Ho's initial attack on Professor Yoo and died instantly. Enraged, Han Ho was confronted by the two professors..."
Park Joo-hyung trailed off.
Everyone stared blankly at the papers, speechless.
"So in the end, our sister-in-law and brother-in-law..."
"Next page has even more crucial info. Professor Yoo used her Conqueror ability to summon a new monster inside the cleared gate."
Han Seung-woo's eyes flashed at Park Joo-hyung's explanation and the document.
So similar to Ru-ri's ability.
Park Joo-hyung continued.
"They struggled hard against that monster, but Han Ho turned it around by killing Professor Baek. Professor Yoo faltered at her death, allowing Han Ho to kill her too. He achieved his goal but was so shocked by Han Yu's death that he overlooked Director Han and Han Eun-woo's survival."
Finishing his explanation, Park Joo-hyung sat and downed his cold coffee in one go.
Everyone flipped through the documents listlessly, lost in their thoughts amid the silence.
Hurt broke the silence first.
"We need to raid Min's safe."