Chapter 262
Chapter 262
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 262
Chapter Title: Reward (3)
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Yuri flinched at the chilling killing intent radiating from Yurig, sneaking a glance at her as he cautiously opened his mouth.
“Uh... you didn’t even hold a funeral?”
They hadn’t held a funeral in the first place, so how could they have collected condolence money?
But to Yurig, whose ears were already hooked on the word “condolence money” itself, his voice fell on deaf ears.
“Anyway, this is why trying to be nice to you people is pointless. Your friend dies, and not a single one of you shows up to pay respects!”
Yurig grumbled softly over and over.
If you listened closely, most of that muttering was curses aimed at the 50th Cohort.
Even as she did, she didn’t forget to smack away Arin’s hand, which was slyly reaching for her own plate, with her chopsticks.
Arin clutched her reddened, swollen hand and whined for just one bite.
Of course, to Yurig, that was out of the question.
“Scram. No way in hell.”
It was her first proper meal in four whole months.
She wasn’t about to let anyone take it from her.
Theresia, who had been watching Yurig stuff food into her mouth at lightning speed, tossed out the question she hadn’t gotten an answer to earlier.
“So... what the hell have you been up to that you’re only showing up now? The quest ended ages ago.”
No sooner had she finished than everyone else turned to stare at Yurig.
It was the question they’d all been dying to know.
What on earth had this guy been doing for the past month to only pop up now?
Under the barrage of suspicious gazes, Yurig swallowed her mouthful of food and answered nonchalantly, as if it were no big deal.
“Oh, that? I didn’t plan on it, but things just kinda... ended up this way.”
“...Kinda?”
“Yeah.”
“That doesn’t sound like something the guy who vanished for a month and had everyone worried should be saying.”
It was an absurd answer to anyone listening, but Yurig’s words held not a shred of lie—they were pure truth.
She scratched the tip of her nose.
‘I didn’t think it’d take this long, either.’
She hadn’t wanted to stay in that damn tower any longer than necessary.
Yurig had planned to assimilate her domain as quickly as possible, master offsetting perfectly, and get the hell out.
She’d even been confident it wouldn’t take long.
But that was a massive miscalculation on her part.
‘...It took days just to get a proper handle on it.’
Handling a domain was far more complex and tricky than she’d anticipated.
Just a few days into practice, she’d admitted to herself that slicing through Coco’s pipe had been beginner’s luck...
The difficulty and finesse required didn’t need spelling out.
Coco, who had watched Yurig master her domain from the sidelines, saw it differently.
[Why... are you so damn good at this?]
From Yurig’s perspective, she’d felt like she was flailing without even grasping the basics, her progress painfully slow.
But to Coco, Yurig’s adaptation speed was downright astonishing.
[Slow? What slow? Most people take years just to adapt after opening their domain!]
A newly awakened transcendent sense.
It was utterly alien to those accustomed to ordinary senses.
So, an adaptation period was only natural.
[Well, you handled that fake domain before, so yeah, you’d adapt quick...]
But Yurig didn’t need any adaptation period.
The moment she opened her domain, she recognized it as her own, just another sense.
Sure, adaptation varied by person—some adapted fast, some even instantly to domain senses.
What truly shocked Coco, though, was that Yurig was “moving” her domain.
[What? What’s so hard about it? Sigh... I don’t know why I have to explain this, but listen up. Handling a domain usually breaks down into three stages: awakening, fixation, and density variation.]
The freshly awakened stage.
Here, you focus solely on deploying the domain at will.
The next stage fixes it within a set range, creating a “domain field.”
Finally, introducing density variations within that field—that’s density variation.
[When domains clash, offsetting is inevitable. But you can control the speed of the offset.]
When two domains collide, the thinner one vanishes faster, the denser one slower.
Even if that difference is just a second, to certified 7th dan masters and above, it’s more than enough time to sever a throat.
In other words, “density variation” was setting traps with that gap.
Thinner here.
Denser there.
Size, shape, and so on.
Crafting your own battlefield using the timing of offsets.
That’s how certified 7th dan and higher fought with offsets.
The problem? Reaching that level took ages.
Shortest path to density variation: a few years.
Adapting to it: another decade or more.
And this Yurig Holland was freakishly abnormal.
[A guy who can’t even fix his domain field is already moving it to create density differences... That’s not hard—it’s impossible!]
Just days after awakening, signs of density variation mastery? From Coco’s view, it was maddening.
Of course, that was Coco’s perspective.
‘Moving the domain is easier than handling demon arts, though?’
To Yurig, who’d wielded a demon art domain, moving it wasn’t hard.
Fixing it into a static domain field was trickier.
And so, Yurig briefly recalled the past month since June.
She shrugged at the others staring at her in disbelief.
“Well, that’s just how it happened, for real.”
They didn’t press her evasive tone.
Instead, Arin’s eyes sparkled as she asked something else.
“So, how was Hell difficulty? Super tough? Tell me!”
Hell difficulty.
How brutal was it to keep Yurig stuck there so long?
The others stared at her mouth, curious too.
Yurig fired back with a question.
“What about Hard difficulty, then?”
“Huh? How’d you know we did Hard? You went in first.”
“You guys? Obvious. So, how was Hard?”
“Uh, we...”
At Yurig’s question, Arin gave a quick rundown of their Hard difficulty experience.
Theresia and Muchi listened intently too—it might be their quest someday.
A maze on the first floor rigged with special traps.
Challenges on each floor testing limits.
And on the ninth, teams of four learning Black Chain Formation to fight a certified 5th dan Black Sword Soldier squad leader.
Yurig smirked, lip curling.
“That all?”
“...”
“Just that? Damn, you guys had it easy this quest.”
Gunter’s eyebrow twitched at the smug jab.
Yurig chuckled and launched into her Hell escape tale.
“Listen up, ‘cause this body of mine...”
* * *
Gordon silently glared at Coco, who stood at ease in the center of his office.
“...You look pleased.”
“No way. Heh heh.”
Her denial rang false as her lips twitched with delight.
A heavy sigh escaped Gordon.
“What’ve you been up to?”
“You already know, so why ask?”
“...Your face is all glowy. Looks like you had a blast.”
As Gordon said, Coco’s complexion was radiant.
The pent-up frustration and urges? Completely purged, fresh-faced.
Gordon stared silently for a while, and Coco dodged his gaze, asking:
“Done? Can I go?”
“Not yet.”
“Tch.”
Coco pouted childishly.
Her attitude toward the captain was rude as hell, but Gordon seemed unfazed—clearly not the first time.
Knowing her patience was short, he cut to the chase.
“This year, orders came to open the Labyrinth of Sin.”
At “Labyrinth of Sin,” Coco’s face hardened instantly.
“You’re... opening that? On his orders?”
“Yes.”
“Target?”
“All Cradle recruits.”
“The Sword Lord’s raising the young master rough, huh? Or is it for someone else?”
Glee flickered in Coco’s eyes.
Gordon shot her a cold glare.
“Don’t presume to guess his intentions.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then prepare the Labyrinth of Sin.”
“Yess—wait, what?!”
Coco, who’d half-assed her response, bulged her eyes.
“No way! Why me? Labyrinth of Sin’s Duran’s job!”
“Duran’s not here.”
“...”
Only then did Coco recall Duran was out fetching elixir.
She mumbled, deflated:
“Then get someone else! Anyone idle!”
“You’re the idlest in this Cradle.”
“...”
“Who else among the vice-captains slacks off for a whole month?”
“...”
“Got it? No more lip—prepare without fail.”
Seeing irritation creep onto Coco’s refreshed face, Gordon added:
“If Duran returns early, he’ll take over. Quit pouting and get to it.”
“...Like I know when that idiot’s back.”
“Answer.”
“...Yes, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
Gordon waved her off lightly. Coco saluted casually and turned.
As she reached the door, Gordon called:
“What’s with the arm?”
“Oh, this?”
Feeling his gaze, Coco lifted her bandage-wrapped arm with a grin.
“Kitten... nah, cuckoo chick put up a fight. Claws were sharp.”
With that, she left as if done talking.
Gordon stared at the closed door, murmuring intrigued:
“Someone scarred Coco Romani...”
* * *
Yurig’s Hell escape saga neared its climax.
The listeners couldn’t hold back anymore, chiming in one by one.
Theresia started.
“...So, not only were the traps harder than 7-star institution breakers, but a bomb went off at the end too?”
Next, Muchi.
“And then on the fourth floor, you fought three Black Sword Soldiers? Using Black Chain Formation?”
Then Gunter.
“Each floor added one more Black Sword Soldier, and the sixth had a squad leader plus two regulars?”
Arin followed.
“Eighth floor: 6th dan squad leader and four Black Sword Soldiers? And you cleared it all in one day to reach the ninth? For real?”
Last, Poppi.
“Hungry?”
(Arin translated, of course.)
“And why’d Coco show up on the final floor?”
“Indeed.”
“Yeah, why’s the ninth floor vending auntie there?”
Arin and Theresia knew who Coco was.
They just thought she was a lowly Black Sword Soldier manning the first-year discount shop.
So Yurig’s next words made their eyes pop.
“Coco’s the vice-captain.”
“...?!”
Coco’s unimaginable identity.
Theresia, learning it only in her third year, was hit hardest.
“A vice-captain running a shop?!”
“Dunno. Grumpy hag probably fucked up.”
Yurig shrugged.
Theresia, staring blankly, suddenly realized and asked urgently:
“Then... how’d you get out of the tower? With Coco—no, the vice-captain—on the ninth, how’d you pass?”
Everyone turned to Yurig at her question.
If Coco was truly vice-captain, she was a certified 9th dan absolute powerhouse.
How do you slip past that?
Yurig waved it off casually under their stares.
“Psh, no way I beat that ridiculously strong auntie.”
“Then?”
“She said she’d let me go if I even grazed her sleeve, so I landed a clean slice and bolted.”
A heavy silence fell instantly.
The room just stared at Yurig quietly.
After a long stillness, Gunter voiced what everyone felt.
“You’re full of shit.”