Chapter 36
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: A Deal with the Princess
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“It's simple.”
Even if we had different opinions, if there was something we both wanted, there was only one thing to do.
“Let's make a deal.”
“What makes you think I'd trust you?”
“Now's not the time to worry about trust.”
I took one step closer to the princess.
The power she wanted was right in my hand. Plus, we knew about the princess and the resistance. In other words, we had the upper hand. They had barely any information on us.
“…What do you want.”
“Like I said earlier, just guide us to the resistance's hideout. In return, we won't cause any trouble. We'll even hand over this power. Simple, right?”
The princess bit her lip so hard I thought it might bleed. Her eyelids trembled; she seemed deep in thought.
“Well, if you're not interested, that's fine.”
Whoosh. The gem in my grip vanished like smoke.
I stared at the princess for a moment, and her eyes were still wary. Well, she was a princess, after all—she wouldn't jump into a deal without thinking. I'd expected that.
I turned back to look at Ji Hwa-yeon and Hayna. The two were calmly sipping their tea. It hadn't tasted that great.
“Let's go.”
They nodded at my words, lightly set down their teacups, glanced once at the princess, then headed to the entrance as if they'd lost interest.
“Oh, right.”
A sudden thought hit me, and I turned back.
“Can you see this, by any chance?”
I shook my wrist with the string tied to it. The princess furrowed her brow like I was spouting nonsense.
“What are you talking about?”
“Never mind.”
I'd wondered since no one had mentioned the string—turns out it really was invisible to her.
“Then, thanks for the tea.”
I flashed a bright smile at the nanny and opened the front door. That's when an unexpected noise slammed into my ears.
“Found them! Grab them!”
The black-string hunters in red uniforms appeared again. Talk about timing. How did they show up right as the door opened?
'Damn.'
The black-string hunters needed to steal the treasure to win. And the uniforms. That meant...
“…Ah.”
The black-string hunters must be from the empire's side.
Boom! I slammed my fist into the gut of a hunter charging with a massive hammer. Abilities included.
But this hunter wouldn't go down that easily—he withstood the blow and swung his hammer. Before it could reach me, a rose-pink tail clashed with it. The sound of hammer meeting tail was so bizarre it dominated the space.
'Ji Hwa-yeon...'
Maybe because she was with a close friend, their teamwork was flawless. It was hard to tell who was watching out for whom.
I looked up at the sky. Countless fireballs had already filled it. They multiplied in an instant and shot toward us like arrows.
Swish. I flicked my fingers a few times, and white stars appeared right in front of the fireballs. Boom! The fireballs exploded harmlessly before hitting the ground.
“Over there!”
Voices shouted from afar. So many were coming that the ground rumbled.
“Han Ji-eon Hunter! Ji Hwa-yeon Hunter!”
Whoosh. I turned at the familiar voice and saw Park Woo-yun and Yun Sia rushing over, arms full of stuff. What the hell was that?
“Park Woo-yun Hunter!”
Yun Sia called out. Park Woo-yun slapped his hand on the ground. A black liquid that didn't reflect light began spreading across the floor.
The black liquid snaked toward everyone except me, Ji Hwa-yeon, and our group. It silently surged up, binding the hunters' feet. Yun Sia must have been controlling it precisely.
The foot-bound hunters faltered for a moment. I didn't miss the gap—I lightly tapped the nearest hunter's head and leaped up. At the same time, boom boom boom! Stars burst from his head. The gel bullets, synced to my strings, attacked the surrounding hunters too.
“What the hell is going on?!”
Before Yun Sia and Park Woo-yun could catch up, I swung my scythe at the hunter behind them.
“Gahk!”
“Oh.”
Not an S-Rank, apparently—his neck sliced clean off.
'...I struck first, so whatever.'
Thud. Park Woo-yun shuddered at the rolling head. But there was no time to gawk. More hunters poured in endlessly.
'Killing a few might be better.'
It'd thin the numbers, and it'd use less energy than subduing them.
I glanced around at the others.
'...Nah.'
The distant footsteps grew closer. Just as I thought we should run, Ji Hwa-yeon shouted, seemingly on the same page.
“Everyone, this way—”
“Come this way!”
The nanny cut her off.
“Nanny!”
“Princess, they're being chased too. You know they're not with the empire, at least!”
“......”
I faintly heard the princess click her tongue.
'As expected, the black strings are with the empire or whatever.'
Their uniforms had made me suspect, and it checked out.
After a brief pause, the princess shouted.
“This way!”
We bolted back inside. The hunters following us quickly shattered the door and crumbled the walls. I sprinted toward a window on the opposite side, yelling.
“To the side!”
The princess understood, grabbing the nanny and dodging aside. In that gap, I fired off an attack.
Crash!
The wall crumbled effortlessly. The princess scooped up the nanny and leaped through. I followed right behind.
We landed and kept running after the princess. Glancing back, people inside were stumbling out like zombies, crashing into each other. But others leaped over the building and gave chase.
“How far do we have to go?!”
Hayna yelled from behind, erecting gem walls at the pursuing hunters to buy some distance. But with endless S-Ranks and A-Ranks, they smashed through quickly. Incoming abilities were a bonus.
The princess finally parted her bitten lips and shouted.
“Azelle!”
Swoosh—a hole opened in the ground.
“Argh!”
We plummeted into the pit with Park Woo-yun's booming scream. The bottom approached fast. The princess reached out toward it.
Poof boom. Countless turquoise flowers bloomed, cushioning our fall. A lot of flowers, though.
Thud!
It didn't fully cancel the impact.
'Not like any of us would get hurt from a fall anyway.'
...She must trust us enough to worry about injuries now.
The princess landed smoothly and set the nanny down. The flowers scattered into the air and vanished.
“Princess!”
The surroundings erupted in chaos. Countless people stared at us.
“Who are they?”
“…New recruits. Show them to empty rooms.”
Oh. That was a nice bonus.
I looked at the others. Ji Hwa-yeon and Hayna were fixing their hair and clothes. Yun Sia was...
“…What are you doing?”
“My bread got cut in half...”
She had her face buried in the paper bag she'd been lugging around.
“Bread?”
“Yeah...”
So that's what she'd been up to. Filming a mukbang, apparently.
“What if something had happened...”
“It's fine... Park Woo-yun Hunter's got poison resistance.”
“......”
Park Woo-yun grinned sheepishly. Seeing Yun Sia and him looking so pleased left me dumbfounded.
Another commotion rose from afar—not screams or fighting, but cheers. Wondering what it was, I stared.
“Huh.”
A familiar face appeared, looking baffled. The face that had been prowling approached and met mine.
I called out to Ji Hwa-yeon upon spotting it.
“Ji Hwa-yeon.”
“Yeah. Knew you'd be here.”
“Did you two have a precog dream or something?”
Hayna eyed us like we were weirdos. Ji Hwa-yeon smirked.
“As if.”
As the crowd dispersed, my brother—looking just like himself—strode through toward us.
“No trouble?”
“Uh... none?”
Aside from scrapping with hunters, kidnapping a princess, and slicing a few throats.
“Huh? Ethan, what's wrong?”
The hunter paired with my brother clutched his sleeve, grimacing. At Hayna's question, he replied in a dying voice.
“Hayna... this bast— this guy's a total poison mutt, for real.”
“…Huh?”
Oh. The Korean patch was top-notch.
While Hayna chatted with Ethan...
“Han Ji-un Hunter.”
My brother turned at Ji Hwa-yeon's call.
“What's the green string's treasure? Did you find it?”
“Yes. Just found the treasure.”
He pointed somewhere with his finger. Following it, I saw the princess standing there. In her hand...
“A hairpin...?”
He nodded.
It was a hairpin with a golden rod branching out like twigs at the end. Translucent turquoise flowers bloomed along the branches, with dull round gems nestled between.
“Is there another treasure?”
“Yeah.”
“Then...”
My brother naturally looked at the princess. Probably recognized her face instantly. I followed his gaze.
The crowd was congratulating the princess on her hairpin. As I watched, someone approached.
“You're the new arrivals, right?”
I nodded at the rugged man's words. He gestured for us to follow and led us somewhere.
“This is the men's dorm, this is the women's. Pick any room without a nameplate.”
Park Woo-yun flinched. Probably because his string connected to Yun Sia's. He didn't have to room there...
I asked our guide.
“Could I meet the princess?”
“…The princess?”
I nodded, and he stared silently, distrusting the outsider. My brother chimed in.
“I want to see the princess too.”
He was local, so maybe. But the man still looked suspicious. Finally, he sighed.
“…The princess—”
“No need for permission.”
The princess appeared behind him, now in more mobile attire. The man glanced between us in panic.
“You're dismissed.”
“…Yes.”
He trudged off into the distance.
“Right. You had business with me.”
Step. The princess approached me. Once close enough, she extended her hand.
“Deal.”
“You haven't accepted yet.”
“......”
“Kidding.”
Whoosh. A gem with a flower appeared in my grip. Unlike before, I placed it in her hand.
“…Finally.”
She gazed at the flower matching her eyes. Then she looked at us.
“Rest up.”
She strode down the hall. I muttered watching her go.
“It's not over.”
Ji Hwa-yeon replied to my mumble.
“Yeah. Wonder what's next.”
After that, no point in rooms yet—we needed to brief everyone. So we gathered around a table.
Ji Hwa-yeon spoke first once seated.
“Han Ji-un, mind explaining what happened?”
My brother gathered his thoughts and began.
“…We first ran into frozen residents and green-string hunters who weren't. While figuring out where we were, a rabbit-shaped glass craft appeared, saying we'd get treasure if we cleared monsters beyond the door. So... yeah.”
“Seemed done by the time we arrived—must've taken a while. Tough?”
“Don't ask! It was disgustingly huge, insanely strong, and wouldn't freaking die!”
Ethan wailed.
“What about you guys... what happened.”
Ji Hwa-yeon briefly recapped for my brother's question. Once done, he said.
“So the princess... must be from the past. Probably the tower's owner, high chance.”
'Hold up. How'd you jump to that? Could be made-up.'
“Too detailed for fiction.”
Fair, but jumping to conclusions felt premature.
As everyone racked their brains, the gel bullet spoke.
“Isn't the issue why the game hasn't ended?”
Surprising speaker—Ji Hwa-yeon and my brother shot killing glares, knowing its identity. But it was spot-on, so no rebuttal.
“Or not.”
Silence fell.
Glancing around, I spotted my brother pondering. As he opened his mouth...
“Everyone, listen up!”
A familiar voice echoed. Turning, the princess stood in the central open space.
“Everything is finally in hand! Tired of this damn cage, right? But it's over now!”
The crowd cheered, eyes sparkling at her like an oasis in the desert. Wretched figures, but eyes shining like stars.
Flash. She raised her hand. A sparkling gem gleamed unlike before.
“Time for everything to return!”
Flash. The gem outshone the lights. Cheers swelled as it grew.
“And everything—”
Snap. Time stopped.