Chapter 102: Responsibility
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 102: Responsibility
Song Hyeok-seo let out a quiet breath.
His turbulent mind began to think a little more rationally.
Even if I succeed in kidnapping Si-ho here, it’s all over if Juksim doesn’t help, ain’t it?
She was a Constellation from the Divine Realm.
He was going through all this trouble just to abduct one person, Si-ho. If he had to face a Constellation from the Divine Realm on top of that, his chances of success were ridiculously slim.
Song Hyeok-seo only knew Juksim from the game.
She was someone who only ever communicated through chat.
No matter how long they’d known each other, even Ha-chan didn’t fully understand her. There was no way Song Hyeok-seo could.
Therefore, Hyeok-seo had no idea what he could possibly offer her in exchange for saving Se-hee.
The only Constellation from the Divine Realm he knew, Erebos, didn’t even feel human.
All he knew about Juksim was that she had a connection to the man standing before him, Ha-chan.
If he couldn’t save Se-hee even after bringing back her body as promised, then the game was already lost.
“...Domi. All my life, the only things I’ve ever known are fighting and breaking things.”
In Gihangjeon, Song Hyeok-seo had become Duokshini’s contractor just to survive.
To him, both yokai and humans were enemies.
The only person he had ever come to trust was Ran.
But Ran had lost her life to human greed.
That was why he couldn’t trust anyone.
Not the World Returnee Association.
Not Girasung.
He didn’t even trust Si-ho, the very person he was clinging to now.
His gaze turned to Ha-chan.
The man he had consistently watched in the game was a steadfast guy, so much so that he sometimes felt strangely similar to Ran.
The first day they met in person, Song Hyeok-seo had told him they could never compromise.
And yet, despite this being a complete stranger’s problem, Ha-chan had gone out of his way to find a method to save Se-hee.
And now, he had come all this way, suggesting they save Se-hee together.
He claimed they could save her without anyone being sacrificed.
What a dream-like notion, he thought.
Did such a world even exist?
But funnily enough, this was the same guy who held the dream-like idea of wanting to create a place where returnees were glad to have returned.
“Just this once.”
Song Hyeok-seo wiped a hand over his face.
His jaw, where the kid had kicked him, throbbed.
He wasn’t sure if that blow was what had finally knocked some sense into him, but…
“...Can I trust you?”
Hearing those words, Ha-chan’s face slowly began to brighten.
Seeing that expression, Song Hyeok-seo was reminded of Se-hee.
Sometimes, there are things you can’t stop precisely because you’re family.
In Gihangjeon, the one who had ultimately stopped him wasn’t Se-hee, but Ran.
And this time, it wasn’t Ran, but Ha-chan.
“As long as Se-hee is saved, I’ll take all the punishment.”
“I’ll visit you in prison.”
“Why’re you talkin’ like I’m already locked up?”
Ha-chan and Song Hyeok-seo looked at each other and let out a hearty laugh.
“Let’s go back.”
At Ha-chan’s words, Song Hyeok-seo sighed and raised his hand.
It was to dispel his shadow domain.
It was in that very moment.
Something flowed through the inside of his shadows.
[The God of Darkness is watching you.]
In that instant, Song Hyeok-seo realized something had moved through his shadow.
His eyes shot wide open at the realization.
The God of Darkness.
Erebos.
Song Hyeok-seo had made a contract with him when he joined Girasung.
In fact, every executive member had made the same contract.
But there was one thing he hadn’t known.
He was the God of Darkness.
The Constellation most intimately connected to shadows.
“Domi, take her and run, now!”
“Hyeok-seo-hyeong?”
Just as he had never trusted Girasung, had Erebos never trusted him either?
The bastard was forcibly twisting the contract etched into his body, moving the shadows as he pleased.
Song Hyeok-seo urgently tried to shut down his shadow domain.
But his shadows wouldn’t listen, as if they had completely escaped his control.
Shudder!
A chill ran down his spine.
By the time he realized what was happening, Song Hyeok-seo was already running.
He scooped up Ha-chan and Ha Si-ho in his arms and kicked off the ground. The very instant he moved, a spike of shadow erupted from where his feet had been.
His reaction had been a fraction too late. Blood dripped from his foot, which had been pierced by the shadow.
But Ha-chan and Si-ho were unharmed.
“Damn it, that bastard Erebos.”
“Hyeok-seo-hyeong!”
Hearing Ha-chan call his name, Song Hyeok-seo slammed his hand on the shadows below.
In response, a single shadow greatsword formed in his grasp.
This was the only shadow he could control now.
Erebos was manipulating the rest through the contract.
I used too much yokai energy suppressing that girl Se-hee and in the fights between.
On top of that, the aftereffects of the electric shock Ha-chan had delivered inside the shadow still lingered.
Because of those two factors combined, Erebos had managed to snatch away his command over the shadows.
“Domi, I’ll create an opening. Get out when you have the chance.”
Facing the surging shadows, Song Hyeok-seo spoke as he gripped the greatsword.
It seemed the time had come for a rematch with Duokshini, the original master of the shadows.
*
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Hyeok-seo’s greatsword moved through the storm of flying shadows.
The assault of shadows pouring in from all directions was so intense that even he struggled to keep up.
It felt like giant black spikes and chunks of concrete were being swung at him from every angle.
It’s getting stronger.
Was Erebos getting closer?
Even though Hyeok-seo was wringing out every last drop of his yokai energy to try and subdue the shadows, their onslaught continued unabated.
With shadows erupting from all sides and battering his body, Hyeok-seo was gradually becoming covered in his own blood.
But his two legs stood firm, not yielding a single inch.
He had finally, finally accepted everything.
He knew all too well that the moment he fell here, it would all be over.
But contrary to his resolve, his body was slowly reaching its limit.
His own shadows were damnably strong.
Hyeok-seo’s eyes flickered toward Ha-chan for a brief moment.
Ha-chan had already fired several rounds of Brain Thunder at the shadow walls.
But the bullets only produced a brief shower of red sparks before fizzling out, failing to break through the shadows.
He lacked the firepower.
“...Hyeok-seo-hyeong.”
Just then, Ha-chan called out to him.
“You saw what I fired into the sky, right, Hyung?”
He had.
The power that had wiped out all those dimensional entities at once was enough to make even him sick to his stomach.
And he had experienced it firsthand.
When Ha-chan had unleashed that electric shock inside the shadow, he’d nearly lost consciousness.
“I’m going to fire that one more time. So I need you to take responsibility for Si-ho and me.”
A glint of madness flashed in Ha-chan’s eyes.
The moment he saw it, Song Hyeok-seo cleaved through a shadow.
“I know what you’re about to do. Don’t.”
There was barely any energy left in Ha-chan’s body.
After firing an attack of that magnitude multiple times, it was only natural that he would have no aura left.
He was about to draw on his own life force.
The moment he fired another shot with the same output as before, there was a ninety percent chance Ha-chan’s body would overheat and he would die.
He had no intention of watching that happen.
“Domi.”
Hyeok-seo gripped his shadow greatsword tightly and called his name.
“Get ready to leave.”
His next words made Ha-chan’s eyes go wide.
Is there a way?
Seeing his expression, Hyeok-seo smirked.
That kid didn’t want to put his own body through hell either.
He was only human.
Hating pain and not wanting to die was the same for everyone.
But he was the type of person who hated seeing someone else get sacrificed even more than he hated getting torn apart himself.
Which meant he might be about to do the thing Ha-chan would regret the most.
But this was entirely his own responsibility.
Ha-chan had just been swept up in it.
“I may have lost control for now, but the shadows are ultimately connected to me.”
Song Hyeok-seo and the shadows were one and the same.
Though he could hardly call them his own anymore, with Erebos having seized most of the control.
But their foundation was still made of him.
“If I die, the shadows will go out for a moment.”
Therefore, his death would have a major impact on the shadows.
Even if he died, Erebos would still be able to control some of them.
But it would be at a level that wouldn’t pose a major problem for Ha-chan’s escape.
“...Hyung, are you trying to piss me off?”
A brief flash of anger crossed Ha-chan’s eyes.
It seemed the kid truly wanted to save not only Se-hee but him as well, right to the very end.
“Like you said, this is my mess. Ain’t it?”
“That’s getting it all backward! Why do you think I tried so hard to convince you?!”
“Yeah, it’s thanks to your persuasion. That’s why I can make this choice.”
As he cut through another shadow, Hyeok-seo’s eyes shone with a golden light.
The beads of sweat on his forehead seemed to indicate that he didn’t have much time left.
“You said that girl Juksim can save people, right?”
Juksim.
If what he said was true, Juksim could bring Hyeok-seo back to life.
Hyeok-seo knew full well that Ha-chan, who was just as stubborn as he was, wouldn’t listen to him.
So he played the same card Ha-chan had shown him.
Saving a person couldn’t be an easy task.
But the premise that it could be done made the sacrifice easier to accept.
It didn’t matter whether he could actually be revived or not.
All that mattered was that it was easier for Ha-chan to accept.
A broad smile spread across Hyeok-seo’s face.
He had done nothing but cause the kid trouble.
He didn’t think for a second that this would repay his debt, but Hyeok-seo smiled like that to ease Ha-chan’s burden, even if only by a little.
I wish I had listened to you sooner.
Sorry for my thick skull and my bullheadedness.
I’ve only ever been a burden to you.
He didn’t voice those words.
He just kept smiling.
“Please take care of Se-hee until the end.”
He asked for one thing—not for himself, but for Se-hee.
His shadow greatsword was reversed in his grip.
“Hyeok...”
The moment Ha-chan’s voice rang out briefly.
Hyeok-seo’s head flew into the air.
His face, soaring high into the sky…
smiled, as if to say he was sorry until the very end.