Chapter 163: Two Incomprehensible People
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 163: Two Incomprehensible People
“What are you asking me for?”
Heuksan stared at me as if I were insane, her expression a mixture of disbelief and absurdity. I wiped away a tear.
I used to have a normal way of thinking, too. How did I end up like this?
Of course, it wasn't like I had any intention of changing my mind now.
Still, having someone look at the situation with a realistic perspective was, for some reason, a breath of fresh air.
“Baeksan, thank you.”
“Thank… you?”
“Yeah. I needed at least one person who could see things with a normal pair of eyes.”
Heuksan stared at me blankly, as if she couldn't believe what she’d just heard.
“But don’t worry. It’s not what you think. Seol-hyang knows everything, and so does Si-ho.”
“...What kind of crazy shit is this? What do you mean, she knows?!”
“I’ll call Seol-hyang for you.”
If this went on, Heuksan would see me as the freak of the century instead of opening up to anyone, so I decided to resolve the situation first.
Of course, even as I was calling Seol-hyang, Heuksan continued to look at me like I was a madman.
I just hoped she would understand that some things were beyond my control.
[Yes, my husband. What’s wrong?]
A moment later, Seol-hyang answered my call.
As I explained the situation, I could hear her let out a soft, languid laugh.
[Baeksan, let me talk to her.]
Following Seol-hyang’s instruction, I handed the phone to Heuksan.
With a look of extreme displeasure, she took the phone from me and began talking to Seol-hyang. As the conversation went on, her expression slowly turned vacant.
She looked as if she’d just heard something that defied all common sense.
A few minutes later, the call ended, and Heuksan handed the phone back to me.
Still wearing that dazed expression, she slowly looked up at me.
“...Has the world gone insane?”
“No, it’s still normal, I think.”
“Then what the hell did you do to get permission for a situation like this? Who do you think you are?”
“My name is Kang Ha-chan.”
“Shit, I wasn't asking for your name!” Heuksan shouted.
I could only offer a hollow laugh. A complicated feeling settled in my eyes.
“A lot has happened.”
The fact that saving the world meant I couldn't choose just one person.
Heuksan stared at me, dumbfounded, before clutching her head.
“But why would she...”
Seeing that she still couldn't understand Seol-hyang, I said, “Even so, my feelings for Seol-hyang and the others aren't a lie.”
Seeing my sincerity, Heuksan still looked like she couldn't accept it and turned away.
“I don’t get it. My common sense can’t process this. I’ll never understand something like this, not even if I die.”
Hearing that, I gave a bitter smile.
Beside me, Baeksan nodded in agreement.
“As expected of my past self, despite her appearance. Her common sense is firmly in place.”
Like recognizes like, I guess. They sure look out for each other.
And so, my workday ended without any further trouble.
After having dinner with Si-ho, Ji-eun, and Yu U-jeong, I was driving Heuksan home.
Is this what an expensive car feels like?
As I was marveling at the sheer novelty of driving it, Heuksan spoke up.
“Hey, Kang Ha-chan.”
Just like Baeksan, she called me by my full name.
“A dimensional gate just opened up ahead.”
The moment I heard that, I cranked the wheel.
“Give me clear directions.”
Heuksan looked at me with surprise, as if she hadn't expected me to react so instantly.
A dimensional gate had appeared. I had no intention of just sitting by.
“Turn right at that intersection.”
Heuksan was cooperative, at least. I followed her directions, driving quickly.
I stopped the car at the location she pointed out, opened the door, and got out.
The area was filled with several large commercial buildings. No matter where I looked, it was a dangerous place for a gate to open.
“Kang Ha-chan.”
This time, it was Baeksan who called out to me. He stared ahead with a grim expression.
“This is probably that thing I told you about before.”
I knew immediately what he meant.
The intelligent dimensional entity Baeksan had mentioned.
“Baeksan, it’s coming.”
“I know.”
At my words, Heuksan immediately cloaked her body in a red aura.
As she dashed into a building, I followed right behind her.
Just then, emergency alerts for a dimensional gate began blaring from all around.
“It’s a dimensional gate! A dimensional gate!”
“Everyone, evacuate!”
Residents of the commercial buildings rushed out, their shouts creating a clamor as people fled in a torrent.
Watching them, Heuksan and I silently stared at the space in front of us.
I had grown used to this strange atmospheric shift.
Sure enough, with a sharp crack, the space before us began to split apart.
In that instant, something popped out.
It was a tiny, white balloon.
Something pitch-black was attached to the bottom of the white balloon, and on closer inspection, I saw it was an insect.
I soon realized the white balloon was the insect’s body.
It was a dimensional entity I had never seen before.
“...That’s an intelligent lifeform?”
The moment I muttered that, a crimson bolt of lightning flashed.
The lightning struck the insect’s balloon, shattering it.
“What are you spacing out for? We're in front of a dimensional entity.”
Heuksan was frowning as she stared at the gate.
“Sorry.”
I was momentarily stunned that the intelligent lifeform Baeksan had described looked like that.
Just then, more of the same insects began pouring out of the dimensional gate.
As a swarm of the white-balloon insects emerged, Heuksan and I simultaneously cloaked ourselves in red lightning.
Crack! Crackle! Crack!
Lightning erupted continuously, popping the balloons indiscriminately.
The problem was their numbers.
The balloon insects just kept pouring out of the gate.
“Baeksan, can you close the gate?”
“The Tower of Revelation is intervening. It won’t be resolved until a certain number of dimensional entities have poured out.”
Hearing Baeksan’s explanation, I clicked my tongue.
If the Tower of Revelation was involved, there was nothing we could do.
Heuksan seemed to know this as well, as she simply continued to destroy the balloon insects.
It happened in an instant.
The few creatures we missed reached the floor, and their forms suddenly began to change.
I have no idea what principle was at work, but as soon as they touched the ground, the balloons swelled up and took on human forms.
I stared in horror at the bizarre sight, which looked as if they were absorbing memories from the ground itself.
They called it an intelligent lifeform, but at this point, it was just a monster wearing a human mask.
I immediately reached out and crushed the head of a balloon insect that had turned human.
My ability was strongest against dimensional entities.
A few minutes later, hunters swarmed the area.
It seemed they had been notified about the dimensional gate.
“Are you with the hunters?”
They looked at us with confusion.
When a dimensional gate appears, the standard procedure is to seal off the area before hunters move in.
That’s why they were puzzled to see us already here before the lockdown.
“Ah, yes, we’re hunters.”
To avoid any misunderstandings, I took my Hunter ID card out of my wallet.
The hunter who took the card suddenly froze with a blank expression.
He rubbed his eyes once, then looked at the card again.
And again, his face went blank.
As I wondered what was wrong with him, he finally spoke.
“SS-rank...?”
The moment he muttered those words while looking at my ID, the hair on my head stood on end.
I quickly took out my wallet and checked its contents.
Pulling out my F-rank Hunter ID, I realized what he was holding in his hand.
“Is… is this real?”
“...The Hunter Management Bureau’s mark… it’s real?”
As the hunters began to look flustered, I started to panic as well.
In my haste, I never imagined I would have shown them that one.
“Uh, excuse me!”
When I called out, they flinched and looked at me.
Their eyes trembled violently.
They seemed at a loss, unsure how to act if I was truly an SS-rank hunter.
Realizing there was no way out of it now that they’d seen the card, I broke into a cold sweat.
I knew that rumors about an SS-rank hunter had been circulating discreetly among the hunter community; I’d seen them a few times on hunter websites myself.
I finally gave up and said quietly, “...Could you keep this a secret?”
As I spoke, the hunters’ gazes slowly began to change into looks of admiration.
I smiled wryly and took back my ID card.
“Hey!”
At that moment, Heuksan’s voice rang out.
As her voice echoed, I felt something rapidly gathering behind my back.
At the same time, I met the eyes of the hunters standing right in front of me.
They hadn't yet grasped the situation. The moment I saw their faces as they handed back my ID, I reflexively cloaked my entire body in aura and threw out both my arms.
BOOOOM!
A deafening roar erupted as I was engulfed in the explosion.
My body staggered violently.
The blast must have damaged my eardrums, because my head was ringing loudly.
Feeling the faint vibrations around me, I took a shallow breath and managed to force my eyes open.
“Hey, Kang Ha-chan!”
Baeksan’s voice, distorted by static, echoed in my ringing ears.
As my senses slowly returned, I felt the tattered remains of my shirt fluttering against my back.
It hurts.
Even though I had protected myself with aura, the explosion must have been quite powerful, because a sharp, stinging pain shot through me.
When I lifted my head, I saw the hunters staring at me with shocked expressions.
It was clear they hadn't anticipated the explosion at all.
Even I, who had hastily shielded myself with aura, was in this state.
If they had taken the full force of the blast, they would have been dead or severely injured.
“Is… everyone… okay?” I asked, forcing a smile as I swallowed the pain.
My back felt like it was covered in burns, and the throbbing pain was giving me a headache.
“Are you… are you an idiot? Why would you take that hit for them…?”
Just then, I heard Heuksan’s voice.
She was looking at me with eyes that held utter incomprehension.
She knew that I could have easily dodged it if I had wanted to.
Thankfully, Heuksan seemed to have defended herself well, as she appeared uninjured.
“I’m fine.”
As I said that, I tossed one of the Rejuvenation Pills Ahyu had given me into my mouth.
The pain finally began to subside.
I’m always indebted to Ahyu.
With that thought, I looked ahead and began to sense the presence of a single dimensional entity.
In the distance stood a massive insect with several of the same balloons that had been attached to the smaller creatures now covering its body.
One of the balloons on its body had burst; that must have been the cause of the explosion just now.
‘Dangerous.’
If all of those were to explode, this entire area could be blown away.
As if it knew what I was thinking, I could almost hear a grating, cackling sound coming from the dimensional entity.
At some point, it had placed one of its hands on one of its balloons.
It was a threatening gesture, and I could finally understand why Baeksan had called it an intelligent lifeform.
“Baeksan.”
Heuksan glanced my way.
Although the Rejuvenation Pill had dulled the pain, I could feel cold sweat trickling down my face as I spoke.
“Can you buy me some time?”
“...Fine.”
She had been acting strangely flustered ever since I saved the hunters, but she agreed readily enough.
“Hunters, please stay still for a moment.”
I spoke to the hunters and quietly began to gather my aura.
Crackle!
In that instant, red lightning erupted from Heuksan.
The intense crimson lightning was something no living creature could ignore.
For a moment, even the intelligent lifeform’s attention was drawn to it.
The second I saw that, I unleashed my full aura and kicked off the ground.
I shot forward, becoming a blur, and reached the creature in an instant.
Just as my hand reached for it, the dimensional entity’s eyes turned toward me.
As if it had expected this all along.
The moment its eyes curved, the balloons were engulfed in a pure white light.
It’s going to explode.
The thought flashed through my mind, and my eyes widened.
If it exploded now, the entire surrounding area would be caught in the blast.
My aura flared, several times faster than before, and a blue light burst forth from my hand.
The exploding light touched my hand, and a blue radiance spread out.