Chapter 69
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: The Tiakl That Swallowed Hatred
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Everyone looked at her with puzzled expressions, waiting for her to speak.
"We're getting married."
"Huh?"
"What? Married?"
"That crazy bastard's finally lost it."
"No, this plot twist is way too sudden and ridiculous."
"Han Gyeol figured out my position. He's using that as leverage to demand marriage. He says Chairman Han still doesn't know about it. If I marry Han Gyeol and take over the Han family, he'll keep my position a secret."
"That lunatic."
"And if not?"
"He said people who know about me and my position will be sacrificed."
"His head must be messed up too."
"We kind of expected something like this, but marriage as the method...?"
Shadows fell over everyone's faces.
"What do you think, Ru-ri?"
"I'm not going there of my own free will. So we need to find a way."
"If that's what you say, Ru-ri, then let's all think it over together."
Lee Ru-ri returned to her room and stared blankly out the window.
As she spaced out for a moment, Baek Eun-an and Jin Mi-seon cautiously entered her room.
"Are you okay?"
"Auntie, President."
"That family only ever hurts you, from start to finish..."
"Ru-ri, want me to go cut their throats?"
Baek Eun-an tightly hugged Lee Ru-ri, who managed a feeble smile.
Lee Ru-ri quietly leaned into Baek Eun-an's embrace.
Jin Mi-seon watched the two with a thoughtful expression.
"They say bad deeds come with punishment. Will those people get theirs too?"
"Of course. If no one else punishes that family, I won't let them off."
"Right. If the law won't handle it, I'll do the stabbing myself. Eun-an, you in?"
"Shall we?"
Lee Ru-ri caught on to their attempt to lighten the mood, straightened her expression, and spoke to them.
"I'll be pretty busy for a while."
"Picked up a mission?"
"Training. Han Ho and Han Gyeol clearly think I'm a joke, which is why they're spouting nonsense like that. I need to flatten their noses properly."
"Want me to come along?"
"No. President, please watch over Auntie—she's in just as much danger."
"Got it."
Baek Eun-an received work instructions, while Jin Mi-seon got a request for raid support.
With heavy hearts for their tasks, the two left Lee Ru-ri's room.
Feeling the room's air grow cold, Lee Ru-ri jumped up and headed down to the second-floor cafe.
After filling her stomach with sweet pastries and black tea, she messaged Han Seung-woo that she'd focus on training by clearing gates for the time being.
Five minutes later, Han Seung-woo replied that he'd come down to the cafe.
As she ordered another hot coffee and waited, Ham Dae-hee and Kim Tae-woong entered the cafe, spotted her, and approached.
"Miss Ru-ri, the vibe here's kinda weirdly off?"
"Gonna smash some gates and sort out my thoughts for a bit."
"You look way too fired up for that!"
"But Miss Ru-ri, your personal stats..."
"Keep climbing, right? Even when I'm this busy, I train constantly."
"You're amazing."
"Hey, lemme check your hand for old times' sake."
Kim Tae-woong grabbed Lee Ru-ri's hand.
Suddenly, a massive gust of wind whipped through the cafe.
"Whoa, what's this now?"
The startled Light Guild members turned to look at Lee Ru-ri's group amid the sudden breeze.
"Ah! Sorry!"
Kim Tae-woong apologized sheepishly as Han Seung-woo entered the cafe.
"What happened?"
"Vice Chairman, have a seat here."
"Sure."
"This is my first time with something like this... Any cases of consecutive re-awakenings in hunters?"
"Hmm, first I've heard of it. Re-awakenings themselves are rare. Why?"
"Hmmm..."
"Bro, what's up?"
"Remember when we first met Miss Ru-ri?"
"Yeah."
"She'd already re-awakened by then, so my ability didn't work. But just now? It took hold—nice and soft."
"So that means..."
Everyone fell deep in thought.
Ham Dae-hee broke the silence.
"Miss Ru-ri, don't stop—keep going. I'm curious how high your stats can go, and to properly check if this 'second re-awakening' thing is tied to them, you'll have to push and show us. You're probably the only one who can."
Everyone nodded at Ham Dae-hee's words.
"Alright, I'll grind till I hit the targets. Might take a few days."
"Report back periodically so we can wait easy."
"Got it, don't worry. And please look after my auntie."
"Understood."
Lee Ru-ri bid the three farewell and left headquarters.
"Zan-yeong, let's go."
―Understood.
Lee Ru-ri and Zan-yeong darted from gate to gate, hidden behind her glass mask.
After clearing quite a few gates in the area, Lee Ru-ri asked Zan-yeong,
"I can move this fast thanks to you. Is there a way to have you protect the people around me like this too?"
―I am Keres-nim's remnant shadow. I understand the Black Lords each possess remnants like me.
"Really? So even after contracting with Keres, if I keep going and contract with the Black Lords to get their remnants, I could protect the important people."
―Depending on the little master's black mana, you could command all twelve remnants under you.
"Then I need to hit hidden gates hard, farm random boxes, and boost my mana first."
With this new info, Lee Ru-ri dove back into gate clearing with Zan-yeong.
Seoul's mid-level gates were now cleared enough that generation cooldowns had kicked in.
"Zan-yeong, can you go a bit farther out too?"
―Yes.
"Similar gates to the ones we've done—pick 'em yourself."
―Understood.
They accelerated the mid-level gate raids again.
Checking her gathered materials, she saw it was already 4 a.m.
"Not tired yet, so let's fill up training gate runs first."
Lee Ru-ri entered the hidden gate waiting room and combined keys.
Thirteen keys in total.
With Zan-yeong's help, she cleared three training gates, then raised the hidden gate difficulty, and checked her accumulated skill points.
"Let's see. Oh, quite a lot."
She quickly checked the skill list.
Key of Repose, Zan-yeong, Glass Mask: Maxed.
Bond, Radiance, Troll's Blood...? Ah, needed those materials. Gotta hit low gates for goblin hearts.
Bond and Radiance from the skill synthesis and change tickets started at max level.
Leveling Flower Rain, Bubble Bubble, and Spear of Lament each to 5 triggered max level notifications.
"Now, Whip of Wrath. Got it from Kai, haven't even checked it yet. Where's my head at?"
Attack Power: 300
Mana Cost: 100
Summons a temporary whip upon use. The whip turns the ground into ice, freezing targets on it. (Duration: 3 seconds)
"Right, Kai had that intense chill. Gotta use this too."
Lee Ru-ri maxed Whip of Wrath as well.
Scanning the skill list again, she spotted one at the bottom she'd overlooked.
"This one?"
Attack Power: 300
Mana Cost: 100
Summons a temporary bone greatsword upon use. Blocks the target's first attack with 100% chance, reflects with 50% chance, then vanishes.
"Whoa, this is incredible too? Scratch what I said about it being useless."
Lee Ru-ri used her remaining two points to level Regenerating Bone.
"Compared to that mana ball with 2 attack power, really..."
She shook her head and checked her Sion.
20 million more and she could buy another S-rank random box.
"Whew, Zan-yeong. Be right back!"
―Understood.
Lee Ru-ri cautiously entered the hidden boss gate door.
Whoosh.
"Come to think of it, torches always lit up like this for special-grade monsters, but Teban and Deoter had none? The space flipped entirely. Why the difference? Gotta ask Keres later."
Lee Ru-ri walked slowly along the torches.
Tap.
"Hm?"
She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned, but nothing was there.
"What, just tense?"
She faced forward again.
How far had she gone?
Tap.
"Something's there."
―Hee hee hee hee hee.
"Who's there!"
Not an illusion.
Someone had definitely tapped her shoulder repeatedly.
She swiftly extended her dagger hand to check the monster's info.
A(H) ― Tiakl That Swallowed Hatred: Current Favor <0>
"Tiakl?"
―Hey, can you see me?
A voice clear as day, though no form.
"I see you!"
―Liar.
"Wanna check?"
Lee Ru-ri hurled Bubble Bubble toward the voice.
―Kyaah!
A burst and a shriek, then it fled instantly.
'Lucky guess, but it hit. If it's like Zan-yeongko, hiding and striking, it'll be a pain.'
Lee Ru-ri advanced toward the shriek, attack stance ready.
Whoosh.
Thinking it was more torches, she turned to see flames circling the floor nearby.
And from the circle's center rose the monster's form.
Lee Ru-ri checked its info again.
As expected, the Tiakl that had touched her and shrieked from her attack.
The Tiakl, with glowing red eyes like Keres's, stared at Lee Ru-ri without attacking for a while.
'Waiting for me to strike first?'
Tap.
"Enough games."
―Hee hee hee hee hee hee.
The flames' Tiakl didn't seem the source of the rowdy laugh, when the real culprit tapped her again, giggling.
―Child, come back.
―Hee hee.
At the flames' Tiakl's words, the laughing one lightly landed on its shoulder.
'Both Tiakls, so one must be the real body.'
As Lee Ru-ri pondered which to hit,
The flames' Tiakl laughed more grotesquely than the other.
Then the one on its shoulder flopped limply to the floor.
"Illusion?"
―How about something more fun?
The fallen small Tiakl charged at Lee Ru-ri in a flash.
She immediately repelled it with Bubble Bubble.
"Fast."
―Ki ki ki ki ki kik.
"That laugh is creepy as hell."
Her body grew heavier by the second.
"Weird, why's my body..."
Lee Ru-ri slowly examined herself.
A bright red mark gleamed near her heart.
"What's this?"
―A mark that your heart will soon be mine.
"Nonsense."
Then it hit.
All strength drained, and she collapsed.
―Child, come closer.
"What...!"
Her body dragged toward the flames' Tiakl without resistance.
The flames' Tiakl caressed her cheek with cold claws up close.
The path scratched easily, crimson blood dripping.
"Why my body..."
―Ki ki ki ki ki kik.
As the flames' Tiakl laughed chillingly again, its moonlit pale face twisted into a horrific, scar-covered mess.
It raked its own face wildly with the claw that had scratched her cheek while laughing.
'Can't control my mind yet...'
Lee Ru-ri slowly summoned a brilliant flash and shouted,
"Manifest!"
⟨ Manifestation ⟩