Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: [Unnumbered]
Chapter Title: Will You Date Me? Or Die?
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After bidding farewell to the two Clan Head Princesses who had to stay behind in Busan.
On the drive up to Seoul in the convertible.
"Wh-what the hell is Seolgi doing?"
"She said she's waging war against the Republic of Korea."
No, I must have misheard.
Suddenly, the atmosphere screamed national overthrow.
At such an absurd claim, I even checked the date, wondering if it was April Fool's Day.
"It's not..."
Today was just an ordinary day.
Not the kind of day for Seolgi to spout nonsense about toppling the nation.
'What is this? What the hell am I even hearing?'
No, before that—what the hell had happened to Seolgi?
Sweat trickled down my back.
The story was just that unbelievable.
Not content with monopolizing her entire clan on her own, she was now trying to claim the whole damn country.
"That's why I rushed to find you, Yongchan."
"What do you mean...?"
Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon turned to me with a grave expression.
She proceeded to explain the full situation in Seoul—right on the brink of martial law.
"Currently, legion-level Republic of Korea forces are deployed around the Supreme Lee Clan's territory."
"L-le-legion-level?!"
"Yes. Even a division-level deployment I could've brushed off, but... you know Korea's never moved legion-scale forces except for North Korea's provocations back in the day, right?"
Of course I knew.
That axe murder incident at the tree or whatever?
Anyway, Korea's legions weren't supposed to budge unless it was DEFCON 2—right on the edge of wartime footing.
No, wait—didn't Korea's operational control rest with the U.S. anyway?
Did that mean the U.S. saw Seolgi as an enemy too?
"For the record, the U.S. isn't intervening in this fight."
"Oh, good?"
"Yeah. Not sure if Seolgi cut some deal with them, but there's zero movement on their end."
That was a small mercy amid the disaster.
The Hunter Association's HQ was in the U.S., after all.
If Seolgi had turned the world's superpower—the United States—into an enemy, forget Korean regime change; half the planet's S-rank hunters would've converged here. East Asia's map would've looked mighty empty after that.
"By the way, Branch Chief."
"Yes?"
"How'd you know I was in Busan?"
Meanwhile.
Her timing had been impeccable—how exactly had she tracked me down?
The question popped into my head, so I asked Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon, who was riding shotgun while I drove.
"You won't get mad?"
"...Out of nowhere?"
"Yeah, 'cause I kinda crossed a line..."
Suddenly?
Crossed a line?
Whatever it was, she'd always had my back.
"It's fine. Just tell me."
By the time we passed Gyeonggi-do and rolled into Seoul, I'd given her the go-ahead, and Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon finally spilled how she'd found me.
"Well... truth is, if I have a 'body part' from someone, I can pinpoint their location."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah. Used that method to track you down, Yongchan."
...That was it? Nothing major?
She'd built it up like she'd committed some secret crime behind my back, but it was surprisingly tame.
"Anyway, how'd you get my body part? Wait—did you save some blood from when I was injured?"
"...It was from when you got hurt, yeah, but... it wasn't red. It was white..."
"......Huh?"
First I'd heard of it.
"They say a male hunter's semen is dozens of times more potent than a regular guy's..."
"Uh, yeah?"
"So while you staggered out of the dungeon and passed out, you had a massive wet dream."
"Ah......"
...I see.
Come to think of it, a guy's vitality spikes like crazy near the brink of death—for species propagation.
She'd passed out before she could release that pent-up load, so it'd leaked out like piss.
And the ones handling cleanup? Obviously my personal docs: specialist Kim Deokja noona from Korea's medical division... and her boss, Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon.
......Hmm.
Shouldn't have asked.
Felt like I'd pried open Pandora's box for no reason.
"Ah! But I used my upper mouth, not the lower one, so no worries there."
Yeah, Branch Chief.
I won't worry about a thing, so please—just stop there.
She licked her lips at me like it was meant to reassure, but it only fueled my imagination. No way that was my imagination.
Seoul on the verge of martial law.
This place was...
"Hahahaha."
"Hohohoho."
"Huh?"
Nothing like the sweat-drenched tale she'd spun—it was Seoul as usual.
"Um... Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon?"
"Yes, Yongchan."
"That crisis situation? In Seoul?"
"That's right."
Way too normal for that.
She answered matter-of-factly as question marks floated over my head.
"Think about it, Yongchan."
"...?"
"If Seoul were really a sea of flames, would I have bothered trekking all the way to Busan to drag you back and beg you to talk Seolgi down?"
"!!"
...Fair point.
The calm before martial law was like the eve of a storm.
That serene normalcy before the typhoon hit—that's what Seoul looked like right now.
"Even so, Korean troops are deployed around the Supreme Lee Clan."
The hunter clans' territories sat in wooded outskirts for legitimacy, away from city centers.
Branch Chief Im Eonnyeon stressed that side was primed for war—no room for complacency.
"Planning to head straight there if possible. That okay?"
"Yeah, of course."
No time to dawdle just 'cause I'd hit Seoul.
Tanks in your front yard? That's no joke.
I had to talk Seolgi down before she crossed that line for real.
Even if this wasn't the Seolgi I'd known—I still had to reel her in somehow.
That's what friends did.
We were nearing the Supreme Lee Clan's territory along the mountain road when...
Rumble rumble rumble.
"Huh?"
"...What?"
What was this?
The line you don't cross.
Subjective as hell, impossible to pin down exactly—but one look at the scene ahead, and I knew instantly.
Lee Seolgi.
This idiot had gone and crossed it.
I'd chalked the growing darkness to storm clouds at first.
But no.
In front of the Supreme Lee Clan's territory.
Branch family old foxes—dyed red—impaled on iron stakes, dangling gruesomely.
And that carnage was just the appetizer.
Dozens of tanks and hundreds, thousands of ironclad artillery pieces blotted out the sky.
Had the army already clashed?
But the ground around the territory showed zero battle scars. Instead, the missiles the troops had fired hung motionless in the air, unfused.
"S-save me!"
"Help us, please!"
Complete with the soldiers themselves.
"Th-this can't be...!"
"Tanks! There are soldiers inside the tanks—and they're floating in the sky...?"
"...Helmets! Or maybe 'cause they were clutching their rifles so tight."
No, even if a gun's a soldier's lifeline.
In that mess? Better to cut the straps and bail.
It was that precarious a sight—even watching made my heart race.
"Don't tell me... casualties already?"
Staring at the military gear blotting the blue sky, my mind jumped to the worst-case scenario I'd pieced together.
The thought that I'd arrived too late buckled my knees to the dirt.
"I didn't kill anyone."
"...!"
"Did 'cause I figured you'd be sad."
"Seo-Seol...?"
"Seolgi!"
I whipped around at the familiar voice.
And for a split second, she smiled.
But not my old childhood friend, beaming innocently as always.
This was Seolgi like an 'absolute ruler'.
Wearing a blood-soaked red helmet that didn't suit her one bit, red eyes flashing beneath.
She'd closed the distance before I knew it.
"Get up. The ground's filthy."
"Huh? Uh, yeah..."
She offered her hand, so I took it.
Her cape billowed as she threw herself into my arms.
The feel was unmistakably my childhood friend.
But... something was off. Why this vibe?
Seolgi for sure—yet somehow, just a little different.
Like some unknown 'impurity' had snuck into the dish called Seolgi.
"Seolgi, you okay?"
First things first—check her condition.
I spun her around, probing why the sudden cosplay and what she'd done to the Korean military.
But she brushed off my worry with a grin.
"Hey, Yongchan. Want anything?"
"Huh?"
Out of nowhere, she hit me with that.
"Me? I can give you anything now. Money, power, authority—even lives, if you want!"
"S-Seolgi...?"
"Yeah, it's me. Lee Seolgi. No more weak little princess overshadowed by her sisters. Lee Seolgi—current Clan Head of the Supreme Lee Clan and next leader of Korea!"
Was I seeing things?
Between pupils gone heart-shaped, I glimpsed slit snake eyes stretched long.
"Yongchan, let's live together. Forever."
"Seolgi..."
"Answer me. If you don't..."
"I'll rip off every limb and make you a body that can only sit by my side."