Chapter 173: Heuksan Rescued
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 173: Heuksan Rescued
Crackle—
A red spark flared from her forehead.
As blood trickled down her forehead, the space around her began to crackle and shake violently.
It distorted, centering on Heuksan.
The storm of aura was so immense that even the skeleton couldn't swing its spear, merely trembling before it.
Shatter!
At that moment, the sound of something breaking echoed out.
The jewels on the skeleton began to crack and shatter one by one.
In response, the storm of aura raged even more fiercely.
Shatter! Shatter! Shatter!
The sound of jewels breaking rang out in succession.
The jeweled skeleton, too, seemed bewildered, as if it hadn't anticipated this turn of events.
It had never imagined a single human could possess such a vast amount of aura.
Splat—
Blood burst from Heuksan's nose.
The blood streamed over her lips as her hair whipped about.
Shatter! Sizzle!
At that moment, the last jewel shattered, and red lightning erupted around Heuksan's body.
Just as the jeweled skeleton's eyes flared with light, Heuksan, already channeling her full power, thrust her arm forward.
BOOOOOOM!
Her fist slammed into the skeleton right in front of her, and with a flash of red sparks, its head flew high into the air.
Before the severed head could even hit the ground and roll away, Heuksan had already kicked off the floor and reached the jeweled skeleton.
"What are you looking at, you bastard?"
And once again, Heuksan's fist smashed the jeweled skeleton to pieces.
As its head crumbled with a sickening crunch, Heuksan gasped for breath.
Through strands of her disheveled hair, tears of blood trickled from Heuksan's eyes.
Her vision swam from the backlash of using too much aura.
"Ghk, cough."
A throbbing headache pulsed through her skull, and a burning sensation rose from her stomach as she spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Damn it."
Wiping the blood from her lips, she staggered as if her legs had given out.
RUMBLE!
Just then, Heuksan felt the space around her begin to rumble.
Sensing the anomaly, she lifted her head, her blurry vision catching a colossal presence beyond the shattered wall.
The Floor Master, a being that exists on every level of the Tower of Revelation, had sensed Heuksan's aura and begun to move.
Heuksan raised her head weakly.
It was infuriating, but her body wouldn't move, a consequence of overusing her aura.
A massive, toad-like dimensional entity appeared before Heuksan.
The creature was absurdly large, big enough to destroy a building with a single flick of its tongue. It looked at Heuksan and blinked its ten eyes.
"Haaah."
Barely suppressing a curse, Heuksan raised a hand.
She had no intention of meeting her end like this.
"Come on, you bastard."
Just as Heuksan spoke and raised her hand...
Crackle!
The sound of red lightning crackling filled the air.
For a moment, Heuksan wondered if she still had some aura left, but then she realized it wasn't hers.
No way.
Just as Heuksan was about to turn her head...
Sizzzzzle!
A flash of red lightning shot up, splitting the sky.
KRA-KOOOOM!
Staring blankly at the sight, she realized who was responsible.
"This is what happens when you fight relying only on the sheer amount of your aura."
Seeing Ha-chan walk out with a bitter smile, Heuksan's expression crumpled in frustration.
Of all the times for him to show up.
The problem was, infuriatingly, that she felt a sense of relief.
If it had been anyone else, she would have been suspicious, but that crazy bastard was exactly the type to shove his way into the Tower of Revelation just to help her.
But not wanting to admit it, Heuksan bit her lip and glared at him.
"You..."
"Eat this first."
He abruptly tossed her a Rejuvenation Pill. As Heuksan stared at it with a dumbfounded expression, Ha-chan seemed to realize something and walked over to her.
He then broke off a piece of the pill she was holding, popped it into his own mouth, and handed the rest back to her.
"Is this better?"
Heuksan was so wary of things given to her by others that she even had a habit of checking a hamburger several times before eating it.
So when Ha-chan deliberately ate a piece first to show her the pill was safe, Heuksan's eyebrow twitched.
In moments like this, he was an infuriatingly considerate person.
Feeling needlessly grumpy, Heuksan wanted to throw the pill away, but her vision kept blurring, and she felt on the verge of losing consciousness.
Finally, she chewed and swallowed the pill. Ha-chan smiled, then walked forward, gripping his Thunderbolt.
"Get some rest."
As he said that, red camellia petals scattered behind him, and a woman with nine tails and a silver-haired woman began to walk alongside him.
"We'll take care of that."
We.
Heuksan mulled over the word, realizing that she was included inside the fence of that "we." She felt that familiar discomfort tighten around her again.
*
"Are you an idiot?"
After we dealt with the Floor Master of the 23rd floor together.
That was the first thing Heuksan said to me.
"What the hell were you thinking, following me? I left on my own."
Her blunt words were a question: why had I followed her?
"Because you looked like you were in danger."
"What nonsense is that? There's no way I'd be in danger."
"But you were just in danger."
"..."
Hearing my words, Heuksan bit her lip hard and whipped her head away.
Honestly.
I wonder who she takes after, being so proud.
I gave a bitter smile, watching her refuse to admit she'd been rescued.
It wasn't that I wanted her thanks, but I did wish she would learn to rely on us a little.
"Heuksan."
Just then, Seol-hyang popped up beside me.
Her eyes, fixed on Heuksan, were filled with anger.
Heuksan, who had been so blunt with me, froze when she faced Seol-hyang, as if her conscience was pricked.
"I can't just let this go. If we hadn't been here, you would have been in real danger. I know it's hard for returnees to adjust to modern society. Just like the other Baeksan, I and all the other returnees have been through it. But running away like this isn't the right way to handle it."
"..."
It was a sound argument.
Though not related by blood, they were family, so Heuksan was left speechless before Seol-hyang.
Seeing the silent Heuksan, Seol-hyang let out a long sigh.
"Please, think about the people who worry about you. I'm listed as your guardian, you know."
With that, Seol-hyang took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of Heuksan's mouth.
"Let's go back and get you treated. Even the Heavenly Demon's Rejuvenation Pill has its limits."
"...Alright."
In the end, Heuksan answered as if giving up.
She knew this wasn't the time to be stubborn.
I smiled at the two of them and was about to turn to leave with the others.
"Ah."
Suddenly, Heuksan spoke up as if she'd remembered something.
"What is it?"
"...There's a guy we need to take with us."
When I asked, Heuksan told me about Vegas.
Hearing that, my expression slowly softened.
She had saved someone.
The meaning of that was simple.
Heuksan was, after all, the same person as Baeksan.
Just like Baeksan, who had chosen to regress, even at the cost of his own body, to save the world.
She was that kind of person, too.
Because a deep distrust of people is an illness that only afflicts those who once believed in them more than anyone else.
"Looks like she's finally graduating from her chuunibyou phase."
Perhaps sensing this, Baeksan said as much.
Baeksan's gaze, which seemed to look at Heuksan with relief, showed that my efforts hadn't been in vain.
At that moment, my eyes met Heuksan's, and she scowled fiercely.
"What's with that look?"
"Nothing."
I just smiled at her bluntness and didn't say anything else.
Then, a thought occurred to me, and I turned back to her.
"Ah, Heuksan. Merry Christmas."
Hearing me, she seemed to finally register the date.
Climbing the floors of the Tower of Revelation had taken quite some time, and now it was Christmas.
The year was beginning to draw to a close.
"...Kang Ha-chan, since it's Christmas, can I ask you for one thing?"
Heuksan was the one who spoke up.
I never thought she'd use the word "ask," so I stared at her, my eyes wide with surprise.
"Yeah, anything I can do."
This was Heuksan's first-ever request.
Feeling like a puppy I'd raised was finally recognizing me as its owner, I spoke with an air of being ready to do anything, which made her flinch.
She then glanced down and opened her mouth cautiously.
"It's, uh... shit. Help me train."
Hearing that, I understood her request.
To be honest, besides my aura, I probably wasn't much better than Heuksan at anything.
However, the very existence of Baeksan was a huge counter to her, giving me a type advantage.
After hearing Heuksan out, I glanced over at Baeksan.
It was obvious that Baeksan, not me, would be the one training her.
In response to my questioning gaze, Baeksan nodded.
"Perfect. I was planning on teaching her one way or another anyway. Accept."
In that case.
"Let's do it."
Hearing my answer, Heuksan seemed embarrassed about having asked me and spun around.
The tips of her ears, visible through her disheveled white hair, were bright red, showing just how embarrassed she was.
"Ha-chan."
Just then, I realized Seol-hyang was poking me in the side.
"I told you, no to Heuksan."
"...Did I do something wrong?"
"Whatever. You've been warned."
Seol-hyang said, then sighed deeply and walked over to Heuksan.
I'm pretty sure she meant I shouldn't get into that kind of relationship with Heuksan.
"Hey, shit, I forgot."
At the same time, that bastard Baeksan slapped his forehead as if he'd just realized the situation.
"I'll have to train her like crazy to knock some sense into her. Shit, I almost created a fucked-up situation with my own hands."
As he said that, grinding his teeth while planning Heuksan's training regimen, I subtly turned my head away.
Feeling quietly sorry for Heuksan.
He probably won't train her to death, right?
Probably.