Chapter 194
Chapter 194
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: My Kind Brother
-----------------------------------------------------------------
My brother is a kind person.
Our parents were always busy working both jobs, so they were never around us.
The one who filled that role for me was my brother.
"I've set the table, let's eat quick!"
"Yeah, brother!"
The one who filled my hungry stomach was my brother,
"Division is done like this. Write the number here first and..."
The one who taught studies to me, who was always lacking, was also my brother.
"Brother, when are Mom and Dad coming home today?"
"Who knows. Mom and Dad are coming home late because they want to buy you something tasty, so listen to your brother and wait patiently."
"Got it."
Mom and Dad are busy earning money for me.
My brother could manage on his own even without our parents, but I needed someone to look after me.
That's why my brother, who was just one year older, took care of me.
And I had to listen well to what such a brother said.
My brother always said that, and I thought he wasn't wrong.
"Why did your scores drop even more than last time?"
"Sorry... I thought I was studying hard-"
"This is why Mom and Dad are always so busy! To send you to cram school!"
"Sorry..."
"Sigh... Forget it. Your brother needs to work harder for your sake."
Then one day.
The Great Cataclysm happened.
"Isn't it great? We're going to the amusement park with Mom and Dad after so long, right So-myeong, Ji-myeong?"
"Yes!"
That day happened to be when our parents had made a big decision and prepared a family trip.
An amusement park I'd never been to since birth.
Who could have known that place, which thrilled my young heart, would turn into hell.
"Mom, I need to go to the bathroom..."
"Huh? You need to go? It's over there—can you go by yourself, Ji-myeong? Mom, Dad, and your brother will wait here."
"Yeah."
While I was in the bathroom, screams started coming from outside.
At first, I thought it was just people on rides screaming.
Amusement park and screams.
It wasn't an awkward combination, really.
But the screams got closer and closer, and soon I heard sounds that shouldn't have been heard.
Boom-
"Kyaaak! Help!"
"What is this, what are these things! Aaaak!"
Even in an amusement park, these were clearly explosive blasts and screams that shouldn't be heard.
And mixed in were familiar voices.
"Honey, we need to run first-!"
"Not yet, Ji-myeong is still-! Kyaaak!"
"Mom!"
I rushed outside, and it was a scene from hell.
And by the time I got out.
Stab-
"Kirruk, kirruk!"
"Mom! Mom!"
"So-myeong... run...!"
Freakish goblins, only up to adults' waists, were turning the world into hell.
Thud, thud-
Dad's head had separated from his body and was rolling on the brick floor.
The goblins were taking turns kicking it like a soccer ball, having fun.
"Help..."
Mom was sprawled on the floor beside it, reaching out toward me.
Stab- stab-
One goblin was savagely stabbing her back with a crude knife.
After about five times, Mom's head and hand finally dropped at the same time.
All that was left was my brother.
I had to save at least my brother.
But how could I?
The goblins that killed our parents now approached my brother, who was stiffening up a short distance away.
"Uh... uh..."
My brother was frozen in shock, unable to move.
At that moment, strange letters appeared before my eyes.
[You have awakened.
Your trait is 「Swordsmanship that Slices Vital Points」(B, Lv.1).]
Awakening, trait, swordsmanship.
To my young self, they were words I couldn't properly understand.
What were those goblins, what were these letters suddenly floating in front of me, and what did they mean?
But one thing was clear.
I now had the power to kill those bastards.
"Y-You bad guys!"
I screamed and charged at the goblins heading toward my brother.
"KigrRr..."
The goblins glanced at me, ignored my motionless brother, and seemed to prepare to fight me.
Yes, it was definitely a fighting stance.
Aiming their daggers at me, tensing every muscle in their bodies.
How did I know such things?
The question arose, but it wasn't important now.
We live only if we kill them.
That single fact swirled in my mind.
"Kirik!"
Up close, the goblin was about my height.
The green-skinned one thrust its dagger at me.
'Scary!'
My mind filled with the natural fear fitting a child, but my body was different.
My body already knew how to dodge the dagger and how to counter, acting on its own.
It twisted and grabbed the goblin's wrist, thick with solid muscle.
Crack-
For a moment, strength surged into my grip, snapping the goblin's wrist.
"Kieek!"
Not expecting this from a child, the goblin screamed and dropped its dagger.
Clang-
I caught the falling dagger with my other hand,
Slash-
And sliced horizontally across its throat.
Whoosh, red blood spurted out.
"Kikigi!"
Only then did the other goblins grasp the situation, roaring at me and charging.
More than three blades targeted my small body, but it didn't matter.
My body slipped through the gaps as naturally as flowing water.
Stab-
And immediately stole the life of the closest one.
The other two didn't last long either.
"Brother, you okay?"
"Uwaak!"
After finishing off the rest, I ran straight to my brother.
My brother was staring blankly into space, then jumped in fright and fell on his butt as I approached.
Only then did I realize what I looked like.
One hand holding a dagger, my whole body soaked in hot blood.
Clang-
I dropped the dagger to the ground and checked my brother's condition again.
He was terribly frightened, but no visible injuries.
"Brother, it's me. Ji-myeong. Recognize me?"
"Uh...? Ji-myeong? How...?"
Only after patting his shoulders a few times did my brother come to his senses.
Only then did he recognize me and look around.
But that didn't change the situation that had shattered his mind.
Black smoke rising from fires everywhere, goblins still rampaging.
And our parents, already corpses.
"Mom, Dad!"
As soon as he regained his senses, my brother shoved me aside and ran to our parents, clutching their bodies and bursting into tears.
"Brother, Mom and Dad are already dead."
I said calmly from behind his back.
I was sad that our parents died too, but wailing in this chaos wouldn't bring them back.
Why was I so calm?
My body knew exactly what to do, while my mind was confused.
Then, with a twisted expression, my brother yelled at me.
"It's your fault!"
"...What?"
"If you hadn't gone to the bathroom... we could've run away sooner!"
Was it my fault?
My head hurt.
"Ah..."
I raised my hand to my forehead.
My blood-soaked red hand came into view.
What had I done?
Our parents were gone.
I had killed several goblins from who-knows-where.
Now, the only one left in the world for me was truly my brother.
"Sorry, brother..."
"What?"
"I was wrong. Don't abandon me... Sorry."
The only one left to take care of me was my brother.
I wanted to cling to him, but I couldn't with these filthy hands.
As my hand neither fully extended nor retracted, a commotion broke out in the distance, and people came running.
"There are kids here! You okay?"
Several crying children surrounded by adults holding steel pipes, wooden bats, and knives from who-knows-where.
"Kirruk!"
Whoosh-
Some were even shooting fire into the air.
What had the world become?
"Did you kids kill these goblins?"
An auntie approached us and asked.
Goblins.
Those goblins were called goblins?
My head hurt, and I couldn't answer, when my brother suddenly stood and ran into the auntie's arms, saying,
"My little brother killed them! My little brother saved me. But our parents..."
"That kid killed the goblins?"
My brother sobbing loudly, the auntie holding him and looking at me.
An uncle behind the auntie also looked at me in surprise and asked.
The auntie nodded.
"Looks like it. Maybe that kid too..."
"Man, what is this world coming to. Anyway, kids, it's dangerous here—run away quick."
And so, on the day of the Great Cataclysm.
We had to flee, having lost our parents.
The temporary orphanage was packed with kids like us who had become orphans.
Though kids were gathered, it was a facility where minors of all genders and ages were shoved in indiscriminately.
Naturally, all sorts of things happened.
"Hey, are you a freak? Why don't you say a word?"
High school-aged brothers bullying and beating me and the younger kids indiscriminately was commonplace.
The reason I got it was usually because I was sitting quietly without a word, being unlucky.
Of course, it wasn't a proper reason.
Kids who acted out got hit for that action.
"..."
And I just took it silently without retorting.
I knew for sure.
I could easily kill these brothers who strutted like they owned the world with just one of those twigs rolling on the floor.
But my brother told me not to show that power until we grew up.
- Got it, Ji-myeong? If people find out a kid has that power, it'll only make things harder for your brother. Who do you think is to blame for Mom and Dad dying?
- Me...
- Good. Until we become adults, I'll keep taking care of you like I always have, so you protect your brother from behind instead. Got it?
- Yeah.
And true to his promise, my brother always saved me from the bullying older brothers.
"Aigoo, Hyun-sik brother. My little brother hasn't talked much since he was little... You know, especially after our parents passed."
"You think I let it slide because he's So-myeong's brother, you punk. So annoying."
My brother tirelessly tried to appease the tough older brothers for my sake.
Even guys who treated younger kids roughly would slink away when my brother intervened.
I knew he was offering other kids as sacrifices in my place, but I had no other choice.
"That punk's why we get beat more, what the fuck."
"Sigh. If it weren't for So-myeong brother, really..."
The sacrificed kids gradually distanced themselves from me, and eventually, in the temporary orphanage, the only one talking to me was my brother.
That made my brother's presence loom even larger in my life.
"Ji-myeong, hang in there a bit longer even if it's tough. Not much time left. You know how hard your brother's working to protect you, right?"
"Yeah, I know."
And so, the year I became an adult, I left the orphanage with my brother.
The orphanage, once lawless, had stabilized a lot, so normally my brother should've left the year before, but somehow he stayed an extra year as a 'senior.'
And with a tiny amount of subsidy, we rented a shabby single room, and just days later.
My brother took my hand and brought me to the Association.
"They say if we register as hunters, we can live properly now. Your brother worked hard for Ji-myeong all this time, so now it's your turn to repay him. Got it?"