Chapter 46
Chapter 46
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Rest (2)
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I turned on my phone and found a flood of messages waiting for me.
There were a few spam and ad texts mixed in, but most were messages from people worried about my condition.
Guess I haven't been living a wasted life after all.
I felt a warm glow inside as I carefully replied to each one, and before I knew it, an hour had slipped by.
With nothing much else to do, I habitually opened the internet—and an article caught my eye right away.
[S-Rank Hunter Rankings by Nation Rearranged... Korea Finally Joins the Elite]
The title was too tempting to resist, and my finger clicked it on reflex.
But the content was pretty standard fare.
A typical feel-good national pride piece, comparing us to other countries and hyping up how huge a deal this was.
It lavished praise on Jin Seohyun as the youngest S-rank hunter in the entire world, piling on every superlative imaginable... and my face burned hotter than ever.
Somehow, the story of her escape from the Endless Abyss had spread like wildfire, morphing into this grand epic saga.
Betrayal by a comrade, despair, and a dramatic rise to power.
A heroic tale that swelled the chest with pride. Of course, not a single detail matched the facts.
It was getting too painful to read, so I shut off the phone and lay back on the bed.
Jin Seohyun's awakening as an S-rank.
I'd suspected it in that final moment myself.
The "pile of moving corpses" had grown to the size of a mountain.
Its physical attacks packed enough power that no A-rank could have withstood them.
Still, I hadn't been able to say for sure until now.
In the game, Jin Seohyun had never hit S-rank at this point in the timeline.
Even if the exact timing varied slightly from playthrough to playthrough, she'd never reached it this early.
Was the Endless Abyss that big a game-changer?
To survive that hellish place, she'd been forced to take down multiple powerful foes while pushed to her absolute limits.
No other explanations came to mind, so it was probably true.
My thoughts drifted along like a stream of consciousness, pulling me back to the root cause of it all.
The Level 1 wanted criminal. The Raider.
The bastard who'd used his ability to manipulate the raid team and try to kidnap Jin Seohyun.
He wasn't a total stranger. There were a few Named among the wanted criminals.
The Raider was one of them.
In the game, wanted criminals didn't stand out much from elite monsters.
They'd pop up out of nowhere in gates to ambush parties—that was it.
They were trickier than monsters, digging traps and such, and you couldn't even farm mana from them, which made them extra annoying.
Just thinking about the Raider had me frowning without realizing it.
We had bad blood going way back, after all.
This mess with Jin Seohyun was one thing, but tracing it further, even the incident that dumped me into this world was ultimately his fault.
In my last game run, a subordinate of his had disguised himself as a teammate and ambushed me.
The longer he stuck around, the more trouble he'd cause, so it was best to take him out quick...
But since he'd slipped my ability, there was nothing to do but sit tight for now.
Tadak, tadak.
Urgent footsteps echoed from the end of the quiet hallway outside my room.
Rhythmic yet hurried. I snapped out of my reverie.
Something was racing down the hallway that should have been dead silent, heading straight this way.
Bang!
The door flew open, slamming against the wall.
"You're awake?!"
She must have run here nonstop—her breathing was ragged, cheeks flushed red.
It was Jin Seohyun.
Without waiting for a reply, she stomped right up to me.
Bursting in like that and ignoring basic manners for a hospital room was a bit much, but luckily it was a private room, so no issue.
It felt vaguely familiar, like something similar had happened before...
But the emotions etched on her face were so different this time that I couldn't help a small chuckle.
Jin Seohyun dragged a chair to the bedside but didn't sit—just stood there, scanning my body up and down.
"How's your body? Anywhere hurt? What'd the doctor say? Any aftereffects? Can you use mana?"
Questions poured out like machine-gun fire. For a good while, she grilled me relentlessly about my condition.
She even tried to lift the blanket, scrutinized my complexion, furrowing and relaxing her brow over and over.
She was so persistent that I joked, "If you're that worried, just ask the doctor."
Her eyes flashed—she looked ready to march off and do exactly that—so I hurriedly waved her off.
She stared down at me silently for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
I could see the tension drain from her shoulders. Guess confirming I was really okay through our talk had set her mind at ease.
"I heard I collapsed right away and you had a rough time too. Thanks for saving me."
Jin Seohyun had already slipped back into her usual expression.
Meaning that mischievous glint was back in her eyes.
She crossed her arms, lips curling into a sly smirk.
"Not gonna call me noona?"
"Wha..."
The words caught in my throat.
I suddenly remembered our chat before she entered the gate.
She'd said she'd hit S-rank and come back, so get ready to call her noona.
I'd insisted, based on the game's timeline, that it was impossible.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down my forehead.
Her smile deepened.
"I kept my promise."
...No, that wasn't a promise, was it?
It was a one-sided declaration—how'd it turn into a promise?
But I couldn't deny it outright with any conviction.
What she'd accomplished to protect me wasn't something to brush off lightly.
I flapped my mouth a few times, sighed, and resigned myself to saying it.
Just as the word was on the tip of my tongue—
Squish.
A warm, soft sensation pressed against my lips.
Jin Seohyun's finger had silenced me.
Looking up in surprise, I saw her smiling down at me with her eyes.
And in a tone I'd heard somewhere before,
"You're such a serious guy, ajusshi."
She pulled her finger away.
A faint warmth lingered where it had been.
Only then did I realize my body had gone rigid.
My hands gripped the bedsheet tightly.
I finally managed a deep breath to steady myself.
Ever since we'd opened up to each other in the Endless Abyss, I'd felt we'd grown a lot closer.
Sharing secrets and surviving life-or-death together made that natural.
But when she acted like all distance between us had vanished... I had no clue how to respond.
"...If it's a joke, just say it's a joke."
"That'd ruin the fun."
I quietly calmed my nerves, ignoring her giggling like she'd heard the funniest thing.
To lighten the mood, I shifted the topic.
"Anyway, congrats."
"Huh?"
"S-rank hunter. You really did it."
I continued earnestly.
"The article said you're the youngest S-rank out there. Your fame's gonna crush most celebrities now."
I wasn't exaggerating or empty-praising her—it was hype she deserved.
Soon enough, sponsorships and ads would line up for her.
"Plus, Arang Guild's the first of the top four to have two S-ranks. Honestly, do they even qualify as 'top four' anymore?"
I gestured dramatically for effect.
It was no small feat to joke off lightly.
I just wanted to celebrate her purely in this moment.
But her reaction was lukewarm.
I'd expected her to preen, blush, or maybe get annoyed—but she just gazed quietly at me with a soft smile.
Her eyes were so serene that I trailed off despite myself.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
When I asked, she tapped the bed rail lightly.
"Ajusshi."
"Yeah."
"Wanna join our guild?"
The words dropped casually. I stared at her blankly for a second.
"...What?"
"Arang Guild. Come join us."
I let out a hollow laugh.
"What would I even do there? Be the janitor? Or the porter? Big guilds spec-check even their porters—think they'd take a guy like me?"
I tried to play it off as a joke. But she didn't laugh.
The faint smile stayed, but the mischief vanished from her eyes like it'd been washed away.
"I'm serious."
Her voice carried weight. The air in the room grew heavy.
I shut my mouth.
"You don't need to hide your ability anymore."
She spoke deliberately.
"It's way beyond D-rank. You know tons of stuff, and you can do alchemy too. If you want, it's totally doable."
She held my gaze without flinching.
"I get why you've been hiding it. Afraid it might put you in danger, right?"
Her amber eyes reflected me clearly.
I knew the name of the emotion swirling in them.
I'd seen it once before, escaping the Endless Abyss.
"I'll protect you. I can do it."
Resolve.
Knowing this offer was for my sake made me flash a bitter smile.
"Sorry, but I'm already contracted with the Association."
"It's not about the counselor gig, is it? Whatever you're hiding, you could just pay the penalty and break the contract."
I shook my head at Jin Seohyun, who was saying she could handle that much herself.
It wasn't just the contract tying me to the Association.
"I still need the Association."
If things could go by the book, partying up or joining a guild wouldn't be a bad call.
But Illusion Art was far from standard-issue.
Since normal gate clears were tough for me, I had to grow through other means.
And for that, the Association was still essential.
Without their connections, I couldn't have hit the recent gates—Forgotten Palace and Karak's Underground Labyrinth.
"...You worried for nothing."
She must not have expected rejection after psyching herself up to ask.
Jin Seohyun grumbled sulkily.
I watched her quietly, then spoke.
"It's partly because of you."
"...Huh?"
"I don't want to burden you one-sidedly."
Would joining Arang on her offer really be all good?
Doubtful.
I'd still have to hide my abilities and knowledge there.
She'd promised not to pry about the source, but others wouldn't.
Conflicts would inevitably arise, and she'd take my side to keep her word.
That'd hurt everyone involved.
"I don't want to cause you trouble just to make things easier for me."
"Tch..."
She couldn't argue that point—her lips just puffed out in a pout, no further complaints.
Suddenly remembering something, she relaxed her expression and rummaged in the bag she'd left under the chair.
"Here, he told me to give you this."
It was a crudely made wooden box. I took it on impulse, clueless about what it might be.
"Who from?"
"Our guild master. Said to pass on his wishes for a speedy recovery."
The Arang Guild Master, to me?
It couldn't be ordinary—I swallowed hard.
"...Can I open it here?"
She shrugged like it was no big deal.
Click.
Inside the box sat a red orb.
Holding it up to my face let me examine it closer.
Smooth as glass on the surface, with a faint flicker inside like a living ember.
While I stared, mesmerized by the glow, Jin Seohyun explained matter-of-factly.
"Guild Master Ajusshi got it back when he was active. Dropped from a boss monster he took down."
She didn't name the monster, but I knew.
The transparent orb pulsing with inner heat, still alive-like.
And the kind of beast that could carry something like this.
Dragon.
This was a Dragon Core.
"He let it sit around for nearly ten years, saying it was too precious to use. Makes sense? The guy who blew me off when I asked for it... wonder what changed his mind."
I tuned out her grumbling, fixated on the gleaming orb.
A rare drop from slaying a dragon: the Dragon Core.
Its effect upon consumption was straightforward—absorb a portion of the mana it held into your body.
...This was the elixir ingredient Red Potion had been slaving over.