Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Ascension (3)
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"Haa..."
A woman dressed in a neat suit collapsed onto her bed like a marionette with its strings cut.
Her name was Baek Seol-hwa.
She was an A-rank hunter affiliated with Leon Guild.
Her primary weapon was the spear.
She annihilated races beyond the gates with a single spear, earning her the moniker of an elite hunter: Extinguishing Spear.
"Ah... I'm so tired..."
Even for such a being, an A-rank gate was undeniably a formidable challenge.
The interior of a gate was a completely isolated other dimension—a fragment of another world.
No one knew what might happen inside, what trials one might face, or how one might die.
That was why she always had to keep her nerves on edge, only for an overwhelming wave of exhaustion to crash down as backlash.
"Ah... I don't want to go to work."
What remained after today's work was done?
Tomorrow's work.
No matter how elite a hunter she was, that fact didn't change.
"Maybe it's time to retire and play landlord..."
Baek Seol-hwa's eyes scanned her room.
It wasn't terrible, but it couldn't exactly be called nice either.
It felt like she'd been living here for nearly eight years now.
Her bank account had grown substantially, so she wasn't without the desire to move...
But this was the only place left with memories of her family.
She still couldn't let go.
Even now, so much time later, it felt like her parents or her brother might walk through the front door at any moment.
"...Ah, now I've gone and thought about it."
She had a feeling she'd have nightmares tonight.
What kind? Dreams of her family.
And why were those nightmares? Because the sense of loss upon waking was so excruciating.
Ding-dong!
The sound of someone entering the passcode at the front door rang out.
It seemed the dream had already begun.
Who would it be this time?
Mom? Dad? Or... that damn brother of hers?
Ding! Click!
The door opened, and footsteps drew steadily closer.
Then, an unfamiliar man's voice pierced her ears.
"I'm home."
"..."
"...What, you asleep?"
"Get lost... please..."
Baek Seol-hwa mumbled through gritted teeth, clamping a pillow over her ears.
"...?"
"...Please... stop..."
"The kid's sleep-talking... has she lost her mind?"
The next instant, Baek Seon-woo's palm struck the back of Baek Seol-hwa's head hard.
Crack!
That single blow snapped her half-escaped consciousness back to reality.
"Ow... What the... Huh?"
She rubbed the back of her head and sat up, turning to look behind her.
There, she locked eyes with a man clad in black dragon robes.
"...?"
"If you've seen me, say hello, Seol-hwa. Hm?"
"...Did getting hit on the head make me lose my mind?"
"Hey."
"...Is this really my brother?"
Baek Seol-hwa's voice trembled.
As if she couldn't believe it.
"...Why, why...?"
Baek Seol-hwa crawled forward on her knees toward Baek Seon-woo, caressing the fabric of his dragon robes with her fingertips.
The sensation of the fine cloth against her skin was vividly real.
Trembling, she cautiously lifted her head and met Baek Seon-woo's gaze.
There were slight differences from her memories, but that distinctive aura...
And that dogged personality—it was unmistakably the person she remembered.
She could no longer deny it.
Baek Seol-hwa carefully wrapped her arms tightly around Baek Seon-woo's waist, burying her face in his torso.
"...Where the hell have you been all this time..."
The warmth emanating from his embrace told her this was real.
She had so many things she wanted to say if they ever met again, but for some reason...
None of them came to mind.
The whirlwind of words in her head couldn't form into sentences and escape her lips.
Instead, she simply wept in her brother's arms.
Baek Seon-woo stroked her head with a smirk.
"You used to throw a fit at the slightest touch..."
"Shut up, you jerk..."
"You look exhausted. Sleep it off first, then we'll talk."
"No... I..."
Before she could protest, he struck a pressure point, forcing her into slumber.
Baek Seol-hwa collapsed to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut and fell into a deathlike sleep.
She awoke twelve hours later.
"...Mm..."
Baek Seol-hwa's eyes flew open, immediately flicking to the clock on the wall.
They widened in shock.
"...Eek?!"
Her shift started at 8 a.m.
Yet she'd woken up three hours late.
With nearly an hour needed to get ready, she'd completely blown it.
But instead of scrambling to prepare, she kicked open her door and rushed to the living room.
That person she'd seen, heard, and felt before falling asleep.
To confirm if it had been a midnight dream...
Or true reality.
And there, bursting into the room, she faced her brother, sprawled asleep on the sofa.
On the table sat two chicken boxes picked clean to the bone—and her debit card.
"..."
Five years ago, she'd have leaped up and dropkicked his sleeping face on sight, but not now.
"...Oppa."
"..."
"Hey, Baek Seon-woo..."
"Mm...?"
"This is your fault I overslept... What are you gonna do about it?"
"Ah..."
Baek Seon-woo started to rise but felt something heavy pinning him down.
It was a woman.
One with snow-white hair and skin pale to the point of pallor.
But the horns atop her head—of unequal lengths—betrayed that she was no ordinary human.
Girlfriend?
Wife?
Returnees often came back with partners from other worlds, he'd heard.
So, nothing too strange.
As Baek Seol-hwa pondered this, Baek Seon-woo furrowed his brow and lifted her with one hand.
"...This damn lizard."
And hurled her across the room.
She tumbled to the floor with a crash, but the furniture she hit remained unscathed.
"Ugh... Just wake me up nicely..."
"Shut it, lizard."
"..."
Aselin shot him an aggrieved look, but it didn't faze Baek Seon-woo.
His gaze stayed fixed on his sister, Baek Seol-hwa.
"Sleep well?"
"...This isn't a dream."
"Don't talk nonsense. What about our parents?"
"..."
"They're gone, got it."
"How can you be so casual...?"
"Because I figured as much."
It wasn't hard to infer how many people lived in a house.
People always leave traces in their homes.
He doubted his parents would have left this place for somewhere else.
Well...
Everyone dies eventually.
Inevitable.
"I wanted to see them... Shame."
In an era of monsters bursting out and gates opening, it wasn't surprising.
No reason to grieve; he'd witnessed far too many deaths in the martial world already.
Lost plenty of precious people too.
But that's why he'd learned to rise above sorrow and pain.
Survivors had to keep living.
"We'll talk about the past later... Let's focus on what's important now."
"...I have to go to work."
"Ah, right."
I pulled a business card from my pocket.
It read 'Leon Guild, Team Leader Baek Seol-hwa'.
"The high school slacker's got a job at such a young age... Wow."
"When did you snag that?"
"I'll get you the day off. Just wait."
"...How?"
Baek Seol-hwa's eyes went wide.
I snatched her phone, found the guild master's number in her contacts, and dialed.
"...Oppa! Hey! What are you doing?!"
Ignoring her, I hit call.
-Hello?
A familiar voice came through.
I pressed my palm to Baek Seol-hwa's forehead as she lunged for the phone and held it to my ear.
-Seol-hwa, I was worried when you didn't pick up. Is something wrong—
"Su-hyeon, it's me. Baek Seon-woo."
-...? Ah.
With those words, the faint anger beneath her concern evaporated.
"Haven't seen my sister in ages, so... mind if I borrow her for the day?"
"No, Oppa..!"
Baek Seol-hwa started throwing a fit.
But the voice from the speaker froze her solid.
-Oh, that's what it was. Sure, no problem at all.
"Thank you."
-Anything else you need, just say the word. Phone, ID, residence... even awakener registration. I'll handle it personally. Please keep in touch.
"Will do."
With that, I hung up and tossed the phone back to her with a smirk.
"Legal work-from-home day. Nice, huh?"
"...When did you meet the guild master?"
"Right after I got back."
"This is the brother who couldn't do anything right...?"
"Watch that mouth, or you're in for it."
"No, seriously—what did you do to make the guild master so desperate to impress you?"
"Just came out of a gate and said hi."
At my words, Baek Seol-hwa muttered in disbelief.
"...Don't tell me you cleared that S-rank gate?"
"Yeah. That's why I brought her along."
Baek Seon-woo's fingertip pointed at Aselin across the table.
Baek Seol-hwa's voice shook as she whispered in shock.
"...Don't tell me that's the dragon from the gate?"
"Yep."
"..."
Caught an adult dragon?
Not killed, but fully subdued and tamed?
"...You're really my brother? For real?"
What on earth had her brother—who'd vanished for five years—become to return like this?
Baek Seol-hwa simply couldn't comprehend it.