Chapter 31
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Lee Da-som
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Awakened Lee Da-hye demonstrated her ability.
Sharp spears rose from Lee Da-hye's shadow and stabbed relentlessly at the straw dummies in the training room.
The spears moved in strangely linear paths. Watching them, Si-woo asked,
"Can't you do curves?"
Lee Da-hye, her eyes closed in concentration, shook her head.
"It doesn't work well."
"Try once more."
The spear extending from her shot toward the dummy.
When Si-woo stepped in to block its path midway, Lee Da-hye's eyes flew wide open.
The spear hurtling toward him curved aside, merely grazing his arm.
"It works."
"Uh..."
Seeing Si-woo's collar neatly sliced open, he spoke to the fidgeting Lee Da-hye.
"Think more flexibly."
Si-woo recalled the memories of third-rate hunter Park Jin-su.
There had been an overwhelming powerhouse he'd witnessed.
A shadow manipulator who commanded every shadow across the entire city.
Black spear blades blotting out the sky had rained down on a single monster.
He remembered the beast that survived such a monstrous onslaught, but that wasn't important right now.
Si-woo turned to Lee Da-hye.
"Don't set limits on yourself so soon. Awakened abilities are heavily influenced by your mindset. Who knows? You might even figure out shadow teleportation."
Lee Da-hye just stared hole-eyed at the severed collar flap.
One week later.
Si-woo watched his clan members inside the rift.
Han So-young drew the monsters' aggro up front, while Lee Da-hye stabbed from behind with weapons forged from shadow.
The muscular monkeys of the E-grade rift dropped dead in seconds, leaving just one survivor.
"Kkieeek!"
A muscle-bound brute a full head taller than the rest.
Its build was closer to a gorilla than a monkey.
The beast pounded its rock-hard pecs and let out a roar.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Uwooooh!!"
Tension flickered in the women's eyes at the monster's bellow.
Han So-young stepped forward with a small shield gripped in one hand. She didn't even draw the sword at her hip.
The gorilla's superhuman fist slammed into that tiny shield.
Han So-young gave ground step by step, parrying the blows. Her barrier twisted the angle just enough to glance the gorilla's punches aside.
Any she couldn't deflect, she blocked outright with her barrier-clad shield.
"Now!"
An arrow whistled from behind her—an arrow Lee Da-hye had loosed carelessly. But it was a feint. The true strike crept up stealthily from below.
Black spears erupted from beneath the arrow-swatting gorilla, skewering its ankle.
"Kyaaaak!!"
As the monster screamed and began to flail,
Han So-young hammered its staggering jaw with a barrier-wrapped fist. The mandible shattered, snuffing the light from its eyes.
They adapted to the rifts faster than expected. The more they teamed up with Si-woo, the stronger they grew thanks to the Mixed Origin Qi Art—it was only natural.
As they emerged from the rift, Si-woo told Han So-young,
"Still, stick to F-grades when I'm not around. Just in case."
"Yeah."
"No need to rush. You're progressing plenty fast as is."
"I know."
Han So-young smiled. She understood exactly why Si-woo was saying this, and it brought the smile unbidden.
Si-woo chatted idly with her as they headed for the clan house.
Lee Da-hye trailed silently behind. Her reticence still made things a touch awkward.
'She'll loosen up with time...'
At the clan house, someone stood waiting at the entrance. A man with burn scars mottling his face.
An instinctive wariness prickled at the ominous vibe.
Si-woo eyed him, brow furrowing slightly.
"Who are you?"
The scarred man grinned and bowed his head in greeting.
"Ah..! There you are at last."
He extended a hand for a shake, but Si-woo merely stared down at it impassively. Something felt profoundly off—he had zero desire to touch it.
No point shaking with someone radiating suspicion.
Flustered, the man scratched his nape awkwardly.
"Um... First time meeting. Name's Choi Jun-pil, C-grade hunter."
Si-woo nodded.
"Right. Choi Si-woo. What do you want?"
"Awkward with the hand, huh. Haha. Like I said, C-grade hunter."
"Yeah."
Si-woo watched Choi Jun-pil stonefaced. Abruptly, the man's expression stiffened.
The burn scars made even subtle shifts glaringly obvious.
Choi Jun-pil shut his eyes a moment, recomposed himself, then squared his shoulders with brash confidence.
"...I want in on your clan. Looks notwithstanding, I'm a three-year C-grade vet. No signing bonus. We can settle at 9:1..."
Si-woo cut him off before he finished.
"No."
"Pardon?"
"Not accepting. As a clan member."
Choi Jun-pil blinked in shock. Why? For a pipsqueak clan like this, a high-grade like him should be cause for celebration.
He voiced that sentiment.
"Why not?"
Si-woo shook his head. Zero reasons to onboard a shady operator.
His swagger aside, the guy made for an unappealing recruit.
"My call. Time to go."
Choi Jun-pil haggled with fresh terms, but that missed the point. Repeated rejections finally drew a glare before he slunk off.
Si-woo narrowed his eyes after him. Shady as hell.
"Suspicious from top to bottom."
Han So-young nodded. Her gut recoiled too.
"Yeah, he creeped me out just looking at him. Why? The scars?"
"Not only that. How'd he know about the clan in the first place? And why's a C-grade slumming it here?"
Han So-young clocked the inconsistencies then. To her, Si-woo was a powerhouse—joining made sense. Outsiders wouldn't see it that way.
"...True. Who is this creep?"
"Gonna look into it. No rifts for a bit."
Han So-young, freshly hooked on rift runs, deflated. But Si-woo's caution rang true.
"Yeah... Got it. Sucks."
A few days later.
Choi Jun-pil bellowed inside the convenience store—at the blank-faced part-timer.
"Why the hell are you here?"
The part-timer startled. Some rando barking for no reason—what gives? Those eyes deterred any clapback, though.
Day one on the job, and this nutjob...
"Y-yes?"
"Where's Da-som, the girl on this shift... no, the part-timer? Why're you here?!"
Irritated but smiling through gritted teeth—no cure for rabies.
"Haha... Heard she quit?"
Choi Jun-pil's eyes bulged. Fists balled white-knuckled. Trembling, he parroted,
"Quit...?"
"Yeah. She moved—"
Bang!
The part-timer winced at the violently rattling door.
"Fuck. Hope that's not busted."
Choi Jun-pil sprinted flat-out. Jammed roads—no taxi even crossed his mind.
"Kyaaak!"
A pedestrian he clipped screamed, ignored.
One thought consumed him as he bolted.
"No way... No!!"
Choi Jun-pil skidded to a halt before a building, heaving ragged breaths.
The 'Salvation Clan' sign grated.
'Who the fuck saves whom...'!
Choi Jun-pil glared daggers.
She—the one he'd craved so long—was smiling as she entered.
Gripping her sister's hand, bag swinging, that radiant grin. His blood surged in reverse.
How many years of restraint for that smile.
Some bastard had stolen it.
Reason ebbed from his mind.
He charged, stomping the ground. Lungs burned from the run.
"Hah...! Da, Da-som!! Lee Da-som!!"
His rasp made Lee Da-som flinch. She whipped around, eyes wary.
But his face would melt that guard...
"Who're you?"
Choi Jun-pil's forehead throbbed with a vein at her scowl.
"Who... are you...?"
His brain stalled. Couldn't process the words.
"Who...? Who? You still don't know me?"
His voice cracked rough. Heart hammered—running, or her words? Indistinguishable.
"Da, Da-som... Me? Don't you recognize me? After all those shifts at the store...?"
Lee Da-som scowled, then it clicked.
"Ah..! The regular. So...? I quit that job."
His sanity frayed. A hair-thin thread restrained the beast within.
"Regu... lar? Me? Then why the kindness..! Argh!"
He lunged, clamping her wrist. Alert Lee Da-hye shoved at him.
But fresh F-grade Lee Da-hye was no match.
Physique alone dwarfed her C-grade foe.
He flung her aside effortlessly.
Lee Da-hye tumbled across the pavement. Pain twisted her face.
"Ugh..!"
"Sis!! Kyaaak!"
Panicked, Lee Da-som reached for her sister—Choi Jun-pil blocked her.
Wrist vise-gripped, he shuddered.
"Regu... lar!! All that kindness for a regular!! Th... thi...! And this place—what?! Living here?!"
Choi Jun-pil roared, rage incarnate.
The pristine new building. No place for her. Wrong.
"Ow..! Let go!"
Her grimace of pain snapped his last tether.
Eyes brimming hatred, disgust, fear—no reason to hold back.
"No choice now..!"
As he reared for the strike, agony exploded across his face—he flew.
Kwang!
"Keueok!"
He tumbled over the ground, world spinning. Barely refocused—a plink.
His front tooth. Staring at the loose nugget, he looked up. Foot to face—that's what hit him.
"You..!"
Si-woo fixed him with eyes ablaze.
"Fuck. What the hell do you think you're doing?"