Chapter 225: Misunderstanding Breeds Misunderstanding
Chapter 225: Misunderstanding Breeds Misunderstanding
“It’s not a lie. Please, believe me.”
“Hangyul, wait a moment.”
His voice sounded as if he were about to burst into tears, so I soothed him gently. His wet, teary eyes almost made me doubt he was a man, but Third Eye would not lie. In any case, it was time to begin the crucial groundwork. I cleared away the frivolous thoughts filling my head and slowly spoke.
“First of all, I believe you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Really. But that’s not what’s important right now. According to you, Park Hwanhee sabotaged you, and you all survived by the skin of your teeth. Fine. Park Hwanhee is a two-faced User, different from how he appears on the surface. Let’s say that’s true. So?”
“Huh?”
“So what do you want to do about it?”
My question cut to the heart of the matter. And I already knew the answer, as I had overheard the conversation between Park Hwanhee and Baek Hangyul before.
Baek Hangyul looked up at me with sorrowful eyes. But as if he understood the intent behind my words, he soon answered in a low voice.
“I don’t know. After what happened, I want revenge, but…”
“You can’t, can you.”
“……”
“I understand how you feel. But it’s too late to make an issue of it now. This is the Hall Plain, and more importantly, you know what Park Hwanhee’s reputation is like at the moment.”
One of them was well-regarded by the instructors and stood at the center of the new recruits. The other, despite having the greatest potential, had isolated himself and was seen as just another average User. Of course, he was free to harbor a personal grudge. But in his current state, he’d be lucky not to get dragged down by Park Hwanhee, let alone get revenge. It might sound cruel, but this was the reality. The gap between them had grown too vast to overturn now.
Now that I had made him face reality again, it was time to ask what he truly wanted.
“What is it you truly want right now? Did you just need someone to genuinely listen to your grievances?”
Baek Hangyul seemed to ponder my words carefully. Finally, he let out a great sigh and the words came pouring out.
“Haa. No. I don’t know.”
“Think back to the first question you asked.”
“My girlfriend… Yuna….”
At my words, Baek Hangyul stared into the air with a pained gaze. Then he opened his mouth and, at last, began to reveal the feelings he had hidden deep inside his heart, one by one.
The story was just as I had guessed. At first, Cha Yuna had hated Park Hwanhee enough to want him dead, but at some point, she slowly began to change. She started opening up to his repeated apologies and sincerity, and eventually, she started spending more time around him than by Baek Hangyul’s side.
“It really looks like you two broke up.”
“We had a big fight, but we didn’t break up. It’s just… she keeps demanding that I get close to Park Hwanhee again, that I become his strength.”
“His strength?”
“It’s just… you know how he has a lot of new Users around him. She’s telling me to join them.”
As he spoke, Baek Hangyul kept glancing at Kim Hanbyul. He seemed to have taken an immediate dislike to her. I understood why; even I thought Hanbyul had overstepped somewhat.
“So you’re saying you’d rather die than build a relationship with that guy again.”
“Yes. But Yuna’s words keep weighing on me. We haven’t spoken recently, but the last thing she said was, ‘Does that mean you can’t trust me either?’ We’ve been together for years and went through the same ordeal. I keep wondering what could have driven her to say that.”
“You can’t trust Park Hwanhee, but you can trust Cha Yuna.”
“Yes.”
Baek Hangyul answered in a heavy voice. A quiet silence hung in the air for a moment. He silently clenched and unclenched his hands around his cup before asking me in a cautious tone.
“What do you think? I know Yuna cares about me. We are angry and not speaking now, but I also feel guilty. I am starting to wonder whether I really am too suspicious, just as she said….”
He’s got it bad.
As I’d thought, Baek Hangyul’s dependence on Cha Yuna was excessive. First, I needed to weaken this dependency. I mulled over what to say for a moment before settling on one particular story.
“Hangyul.”
“Yes.”
“Is it okay if I tell you something?”
“Yes! Of course. I’d love to hear it.”
“Do you know what it means to have a bond with someone?”
“A bond… I’ve heard the word often, but I’m not sure what you’re trying to tell me.”
Seeing his honest reply, I smiled faintly. Then, in a gentle, coaxing voice, I began my story.
“I’m a Year 0 User, just like you. I went through the Rite of Passage six months ago, and now I’m a Lord leading a clan. And half of my current clan members are the kids who went through the Rite of Passage with me.”
“Ah, that’s right! I heard you graduated at the top of the Academy and got an offer from the Golden Lion, but you turned it down for your comrades!”
“Wh-where did you hear that?”
His eyes sparkled with an almost burdensome intensity, and I felt a bead of sweat form on my brow. I cleared my throat once or twice and calmly continued.
“I won’t go into all the details. But the one thing I want to say is that they placed their trust in me, and I wanted to repay that trust. And during that process, nothing ever happened that could have cracked that trust. As a result, we were able to form a good bond. Just like this.”
“Ah…”
At that moment, I heard a small sniffle from the side. I turned my head to see Kim Hanbyul staring at me, her face stiff. When I tilted my head slightly, she bit her lip hard and looked away. I wondered what was wrong with her, but there were more important things to deal with, so I turned my attention back to Baek Hangyul. He was nodding thoughtfully, as if mulling over my words.
“Do you honestly think you can form a good bond with Park Hwanhee?”
“B-but Yuna….”
“Don’t just assume your girlfriend is always right. You can judge for yourself; you’re doing it right now. Why do you keep involving your girlfriend in your own thoughts? Do you really think that if you listen to her now, you’ll be able to form a good bond with Park Hwanhee? I don’t know what his intentions are, but can you guarantee he won’t use you—no, both of you—again? In my opinion, the answer is no. Once someone betrays you, betraying you a second time is even easier.”
“But Yuna….”
Yuna this, Yuna that. It’s driving me crazy. Is she his mother?
Seeing that he still couldn’t let go of Cha Yuna, I decided to be a little more direct.
“And while we’re on the topic, it looks like your girlfriend has already left you.”
“W-we still haven’t broken up.”
“No matter what excuse you make, she has already left your side. That’s an undeniable fact. No matter how long you were together or what you went through… honestly, if I were you, I don’t think I could trust the words of someone who left like that. Think about it rationally. You experienced it yourself, you went through it, so you must have your own feelings about it. Do you think what she’s doing now is right?”
Baek Hangyul’s lips jutted out in a pout before he shook his head with a defeated expression. I raised my voice, speaking with more force.
“What you should be considering is not whether to obey Cha Yuna. I do not know why she sided with Park Hwanhee, but if anything, should you not steady your resolve and make her see reason?”
“But she said if I wasn’t going to listen to her, I should never speak to her again.”
“Then it’s simple. Break up with her. Looking at the situation, anyone would find Park Hwanhee suspicious. Rather than following her words and getting used by him again, it’s better to either give up on her completely or find a way to rescue her.”
“So you are saying I should hold to my own judgment and never waver.”
“Exactly. If she truly cares for you, I don’t think she’ll ignore what you’re genuinely trying to say. Well, we’ll have to wait and see about that.”
I finished with a sharp final point. Baek Hangyul said nothing more, but resolve gradually hardened his expression. My words seemed to have helped him steel himself again. Relieved that he would not be easily swayed, I realized the eight weeks—no, six weeks—I had spent acting as his older-brother figure were finally paying off.
Soon, as if he had made a decision, Baek Hangyul stood up abruptly and spoke.
“Thank you.”
“Haha. For what?”
“No, really. Thinking about it now, what I said was completely out of the blue, but you listened to me, you believed me, and you gave me sincere advice. If it weren’t for you, I really…”
“This was nothing. I’m just glad I could help. Don’t mention it.”
He grinned at my words, then glanced toward the door and spoke.
“I am going to see Yuna right now. If I wait, this resolve may fade, so I should speak to her immediately.”
“It’s a slightly different situation, but they say if you keep at it, you can win anyone over. Even if she doesn’t change her mind, keep trying to convey your true feelings. If she really cares for you, she’ll understand your sincerity.”
“Yes!”
Baek Hangyul bowed politely before immediately opening the door and leaving the room. Just as the door was about to swing fully shut, a cold voice echoed through the room.
“Oppa.”
“Huh? Yes?”
I was exhausted from the long conversation and about to lie down. It had been a while since she had called me ‘Oppa,’ so I was caught off guard. Kim Hanbyul was still sitting in the chair, watching me with a dark, complicated expression. After calling out to me, she hesitated before speaking quietly.
“That boy. Do you really believe him?”
The moment Hanbyul finished speaking, the door clicked shut. I glanced toward it before answering more loudly than usual.
“Hangyul? Yes. Of course I believe him!”
“Why? From my perspective, there were more than a few strange things in his story. And I doubt you failed to notice them.”
“Well, that depends on the person. At least, the Hangyul I have come to know isn’t the type to lie.”
Wow, I said that with a straight face.
I quickly moistened my lips. Then, remembering the questions that had been nagging at me, I immediately turned to her.
“But why are you suddenly asking about that? You’re acting a little strange today.”
“I was just a little taken aback. To my eyes, it’s stranger that you’re treating a mere new User so well. From what I can see, his grades are mediocre, and there doesn’t seem to be anything special about him. I don’t see any reason to recruit him.”
“Grades? Hanbyul, that’s not why I’m treating Hangyul this way.”
“Then why?”
“It’s just… seeing him struggle made me feel sorry for him and want to help. Strangely, Hangyul reminded me of the others. There are several reasons, I suppose.”
The moment I finished speaking, Hanbyul’s expression became colder than ever. Her face revealed a confused mixture of disappointment, betrayal, and hurt. She looked up at me with trembling eyes and continued in a dry voice.
“You wanted to help him? You didn’t even go through the Rite of Passage together; you just met him for the first time at the User Academy.”
“Yeah, that’s right. But for some reason, I felt drawn to him. The kid is so pure and innocent. In a way, he seems similar to Sol. Anyway, I just don’t want to see him struggle. I want to be there for him whenever he needs it.”
“Ha…”
“What’s with the sigh?”
“Then what about me…? Me…? Why am I…”
Muttering incomprehensibly, Kim Hanbyul finally concluded with, “It’s nothing.” She then fell silent, biting her lower lip hard. I shrugged at her reaction and calmly extended my senses to check outside the door.
My Sensing picked up a User with their ear pressed against the door. The moment my conversation with Kim Hanbyul paused, I felt Baek Hangyul cautiously pull his ear away from the door and walk down the hallway. As he slowly moved out of my range, I couldn’t help but smile to myself in triumph.
*
In the mountains, where the evening gloom had settled, an eerie atmosphere lingered. The dense trees and bushes swayed, and a sticky wind seeped through the gaps. Despite it being dawn, the air was warm. The wind, carrying a faint, fishy smell, flowed sharply forward.
Rustle, rustle.
At the same time, something unseen slowly began to reveal its form. A figure that emerged from the bushes had a rather grotesque appearance.
It had a human shape, but upon closer inspection, one of its arms was missing. In the other, it held a large, sinister scythe at an angle. A fishy liquid dripped intermittently from the curved blade. The smell was similar to the one carried on the wind.
The figure swung its foot to catch all the liquid dripping to the ground. Soon after it had fully emerged from the bushes, several other figures appeared one by one from behind it.
“Hoo.”
The first figure let out a short sigh and turned around. It swayed heavily, seemingly having trouble balancing due to its missing arm.
After barely steadying itself, a low voice came from the figure.
“How many survived in total?”
“Seven, including you, Captain.”
“Then how many died?”
“We lost eight crossing the unexplored region. And two just died in that last battle.”
The questioning voice was rough, the answering one slender. Silence fell for a moment. The man with the rough voice scanned his comrades behind him with a weary expression.
“The first eight were just bait, so it doesn’t matter. Hyunjun and Jingyeong are gone? That’s a bit of a waste.”
“Fuck. Captain, look at us. We’re all completely wrecked! Losing like this to one person? How embarrassing.”
“Was that old hag really injured? Was the intel they gave us solid?”
“It was insane. Who knew she’d attack like it was a life-or-death struggle? Ah, crazy. Just thinking about it gives me the chills.”
Starting with the first curse, voices filled with discontent erupted from all sides. They came out simultaneously, a mix of male and female voices making it hard to distinguish who was who. The man at the front listened to the complaints for a moment before letting out another long sigh.
“We underestimated her from the start and let our guard down. It was also a mistake not to finish her off quickly. In any case, the intel was accurate. Still, she’s one of the legends of the Northern Continent, so some losses were unavoidable.”
“A legend, huh? Kehkeh! That old Matriarch’s final expression was priceless. She must never have imagined there was a traitor. Kehkehkehkeh!”
“But Captain, why did we move so quickly all of a sudden? Weren’t we supposed to watch a little longer?”
To the woman’s question, the man called Captain replied in a tired voice.
“It seems Park Hyunwoo has caught our scent.”
“Those guys? They were just chasing their tails. Couldn’t we have waited for a more certain opportunity?”
“No. New intel came in. I heard the Shadow Queen is showing signs of making a move. A meeting between the Mercenary Lord and Park Hyunwoo was spotted.”
The moment he finished speaking, a great commotion erupted among the figures behind him.
“Oh, fuck. Ko Yeonju is coming? We were almost seriously screwed, weren’t we?”
“Why? It’d be great if she came alone. Perfect. My dream has always been to shove my thing in that bitch’s mouth. Kehkeh!”
“You crazy bastard. As if the Shadow Queen would ever come alone.”
“I was getting a little anxious anyway. Phew, it’s a relief we dealt with it beforehand.”
“You erased all traces, right?”
A figure who had remained silent until now finally spoke. The moment he did, everyone who had been chattering away fell silent as if on cue. As they just looked at each other, the man at the front clicked his tongue and took a step forward.
“We’re going back.”
“Why!”
“Because it’s the Shadow Queen. We need to throw the remaining body parts far away, and we don’t just need to erase the traces; we need to blow up the entire location. I should have said so earlier, but I was severely injured and couldn’t think straight. My apologies.”
“Agh, because of that fucking bitch. Just let me get my hands on her. I’m gonna fuck her and cum inside until she gets on her knees and begs me for forgiveness.”
“Give it a rest. I heard… who was it again? Anyway, rumors are flying that she’s already sleeping with some Clan Lord.”
“Shut the fuck up, you crazy bastard! Who’s fucking who? You’re the one who got your ass kicked when you went after her two years ago! And is she the kind of woman who’d let you fuck her?”
“Damn it! That can’t be true! And can’t I even say anything!” the man who was the target of the criticism cried out in a wronged voice as two others berated him simultaneously. For a moment, boisterous laughter swept through them. The man called Captain, who had been smiling faintly along with them, quickly regained his composure and spoke in a stern voice.
“Alright. Let’s put Hyungu’s love for the Shadow Queen aside for now. Everyone, fall in.”
“““““““Yes, sir.”””””””
As the man spoke with a serious expression, the relaxed atmosphere instantly crumpled. They all exuded a sharp aura and quickly formed ranks. The man strode through them, then looked up at the pitch-black night sky and spoke.
“It would be best to leave this place immediately after we’re done cleaning up.”
“Are we returning to that place, then?”
“No. For now, we’ll wait somewhere else. We can only hope those guys do their part, but… you never know what might happen.”
After speaking, the man quietly slipped back into the bushes from which he had first emerged. The remaining figures followed him, muffling their footsteps, and soon, they all vanished without a trace.
In the place they left, only the fishy scent of blood remained. But with each passing gust of wind, it began to fade little by little.