Chapter 50: Older Sister, Kang Ma-ri
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 50: Older Sister, Kang Ma-ri
“Heavenly Demon!”
Just as Baek Seol-hyang cried out, a beat too late, someone landed in front of Cheon Hong-ryeon.
The moment the new figure appeared, Cheon Hong-ryeon struck with her sword, but her opponent was no pushover.
She parried every one of Cheon Hong-ryeon's blows, forcing them both back.
The hooded woman somersaulted through the air, landing gracefully while holding a single, slender white wooden sword.
At that moment, Cheon Hong-ryeon's fine eyebrows twitched.
A sharp glint entered her eyes.
Seeing a woman who had, even for a moment, perfectly mimicked her swordsmanship began to sour her mood.
“How dare you copy my sword style?”
With those words, Cheon Hong-ryeon stepped back, drawing her sword to her hip as camellia petals began to swirl around her.
It was a sign that she was about to use the Heavenly Demon's Divine Art in earnest.
The woman, who had been watching her silently, immediately swung her wooden sword.
But she swung it in a different direction.
“Kuhak!?”
Song Hyeok-seo, who had sensed something was amiss, was struck in the solar plexus. His body bent and went limp.
Seeing this, Cheon Hong-ryeon hesitated for a split second. In that instant, the woman hoisted Song Hyeok-seo onto her shoulder without a second thought and shot into the air.
“Where do you think you're going!”
Cheon Hong-ryeon belatedly swung her sword, unleashing a torrent of strikes that rode along her blade, swirling with camellia petals as they rushed toward the woman.
In response, the woman performed the bizarre feat of using Song Hyeok-seo, who was still wreathed in shadows, as a shield to block the attack, neutralizing Cheon Hong-ryeon's strikes.
But it didn't block them completely. Her hood was torn, and a cascade of black hair whipped through the air.
“Huh?”
Baek Seol-hyang, who was about to move with Eunhyeon to capture her, saw the woman's face, and her eyes widened.
It was the face from her childhood memories, now grown into an adult's.
A person who had disappeared long ago, with no sightings ever reported.
“Mari-unni?”
As Baek Seol-hyang blankly uttered the name, the woman glanced their way once before vanishing like an illusion.
Perhaps because she had seen a completely unexpected face, Baek Seol-hyang remained frozen for a moment. She reached out a step too late, her hand grasping at empty air.
As she began to fall, Eunhyeon caught her and landed lightly on the ground.
“What. You let her get away? And just one person…”
Unaware of the situation, Cheon Hong-ryeon approached Baek Seol-hyang to scold her, but she stopped short when she saw her expression.
She had never seen Baek Seol-hyang look so troubled, so lost in deep thought.
“…Why are you making that face? It doesn't suit you.”
“…That was Ha-chan's older sister.”
“Huh?”
Hearing Baek Seol-hyang's words, Cheon Hong-ryeon froze.
She was one of the few who knew about Ha-chan's past.
Of course, she knew exactly what his sister meant to him.
“I… I just swung my sword at Doremi's sister?”
And she stood frozen, shocked for an entirely different reason.
“That's not the problem right now.”
“Then we have to chase her.”
Cheon Hong-ryeon looked ready to dash off at once, and Baek Seol-hyang turned to Eunhyeon.
But she just shook her head.
“There's no trace of her. It's as if she's vanished from the world entirely.”
Baek Seol-hyang had personally been searching for Ha-chan's sister for a long time.
Ha-chan had never opened up to her about his past the way he had with Cheon Hong-ryeon, but as the chairperson of the World Returnee Association, she had been tracking the personal details and movements of most returnees.
Naturally, the returnee Kang Ma-ri was among them.
That was why, despite her continuous search, Kang Ma-ri had never been found, as if she had simply disappeared from the face of the earth.
Using the Crown would solve it, but knowing what that could entail, she had been trying to track her through other means.
And now, that same Kang Ma-ri had suddenly appeared.
And of all things, to intervene in the fight between her and Song Hyeok-seo.
She definitely wasn't a member of Girasung.
If she were, Song Hyeok-seo would never have reacted that way.
“…Come to think of it.”
Just then, Cheon Hong-ryeon's eyes narrowed as she began to stroke her chin.
“For some reason, she looked familiar.”
“My face?”
Cheon Hong-ryeon made a disgusted face.
“Not you. I'm talking about Doremi's sister.”
“Why would Mari-unni—no, Kang Ma-ri—look familiar to you?”
“I don't know.”
Cheon Hong-ryeon frowned and tilted her head.
“Is it because she looks like Doremi? Or maybe somewhere else…”
She seemed to be pondering it, but Baek Seol-hyang raised a hand to stop her.
“Let's discuss this later. We need to clean this up and go see Ha-chan.”
“To Doremi? I want to go too, of course, but you seem to be in a hurry. Did something happen?”
“Ah.”
Baek Seol-hyang remembered that she hadn't told Cheon Hong-ryeon that Ha-chan had gone with Catherine to save the other Seo-ho.
After all, with her personality, she would have ignored the plan and rushed straight there.
“…Is there something you haven't told me?”
“I'll tell you if you promise not to get angry.”
“I won't get angry.”
And then Cheon Hong-ryeon exploded with rage.
*
23
After hearing the whole story about my sister from Baek Seol-hyang, I stood in silence with my arms crossed.
I glanced at Baeksan, and he nodded, seeming to share my thoughts.
“It seems she's acting on a flawed prophecy.”
I wonder how much of the prophecy Baeksan sent has changed.
There was no way to know, but one thing was certain: my sister was alive and well.
‘Considering even Ahyu and Baek Seol-hyang couldn't catch her.’
It won't be easy for me to find her, either.
Since she's appeared, I wish she would've at least shown her face to me, but if that was her intention, she would have revealed herself long ago.
“I'm sorry.”
Just then, Baek Seol-hyang suddenly apologized.
When I looked at her, puzzled, her face was filled with regret.
“If I hadn't been so stunned, I could have caught her.”
“No, no. It's not your fault at all, Baek Seol-hyang. If anything, wasn't it my sister who messed things up? I should be the one apologizing.”
“Not at all. In fact, you could say she helped us out. A decisive battle with Asura—no, Song Hyeok-seo—would have forced us to endure significant losses.”
Hearing that was a small relief.
“If we only consider the goal of driving Girasung out of Korea, this outcome is actually more beneficial.”
I was worried my sister might have caused trouble, so that was a relief.
“…Is my sister part of Girasung?”
“We're looking into it. But from what I saw, I'd judge that she isn't.”
That's a relief.
I don't know where she is or what she's doing, but it would have been very complicated for me if she were involved in criminal activities.
“What happened with Girasung?”
“We've captured most of the remnants in Korea. A few have gone into hiding, but it's only a matter of time. The Korean branch has been thoroughly uprooted. However…”
Baek Seol-hyang gazed silently out the window.
“Girasung has nests all over the world. When they learn that their Korean branch has been wiped out, they'll start to move again. We'll begin to clash with them in earnest overseas as well.”
“One problem after another, I see.”
Now I finally understand what an all-out war between the World Returnee Association and Girasung really means.
At the same time, I was worried about the Association.
Having witnessed several fights between returnees recently, I knew it wouldn't be strange for anyone to die.
“Don't worry. Except for one guy, those Girasung idiots can't beat the Returnee Association no matter what they do.”
Baeksan chimed in, as if to ease my worries.
I didn't know who that 'one guy' was, but his words reassured me a little.
“…Baek Seol-hyang, what happened to Kwak Sa-yeon?”
And so I asked the question I'd been reluctant to bring up.
Hearing my words, she fell silent for a moment before gently taking my hand.
I could see Ahyu and Si-ho scowling slightly behind her, but Baek Seol-hyang ignored them completely and spoke to me.
“From the moment she fused with a dimensional entity, Kwak Sa-yeon was classified as one. Furthermore, through Umbrella, who was subdued by Ha Si-ho and Catherine, we've secured all the details of what Kwak Sa-yeon did and what deals she made with Girasung. We also managed to stop the homunculus they were secretly preparing as her replacement.”
Baek Seol-hyang began to explain everything related to Kwak Sa-yeon, one detail at a time.
As if to alleviate my guilt.
Her voice was incredibly gentle.
“Legally, there are no issues. JMC learned of the situation and preemptively cut ties, claiming they had nothing to do with Kwak Sa-yeon. So, nothing that happens from here on will cause you any trouble, Ha-chan.”
“She deserved to die anyway.”
Ahyu suddenly cut into Baek Seol-hyang's explanation.
“She made Doremi-oppa suffer so much!”
Ahyu cried out resentfully, but then seemed to notice me looking at her and lowered her voice.
Still, the blazing anger in her eyes didn't fade.
“She should have been tormented so thoroughly that she begged for death. How could she walk around so shamelessly after what she did to Doremi-oppa? Really, Doremi-oppa, you did the right thing!”
It was a stretch to call it the 'right thing,' but watching Ahyu get so angry on my behalf made me feel a little better.
“The Heavenly Demon is right. It's better this way. And don't worry. Like I said before, I'll take care of JMC myself.”
“Y-Yes?”
I flinched and looked up at Baek Seol-hyang at her words about crushing JMC, the top hunter company in the country.
“Well, JMC is what produced a woman like Kwak Sa-yeon, isn't it? I may not destroy the company itself, but as for those who helped her or turned a blind eye to cover up her atrocities…”
Baek Seol-hyang was smiling, but she wasn't smiling.
“I'll be sure to see them to their end. I despise it when people try to cut their losses and run.”
Goodbye, JMC.
I had stopped them from buying the artificial dimension gate, but they hadn't been able to stop Kwak Sa-yeon. I silently bid JMC farewell.
I should tell Seo-ho to switch companies.
“Th-Thank you, everyone. Si-ho, Ahyu, and Baek Seol-hyang. You must have been very worried because of me.”
Hearing my thanks, Ahyu grumbled but seemed to relax, while Si-ho smiled sweetly, the corners of her lips turning up.
“And on that note, Ha-chan.”
“Yes?”
Thinking I had heard the gist of the outcome, I answered, and she told me the reason she had called me here.
“Right now, Ha-chan, you're not a returnee or a hunter, but you possess power, correct?”
“Uh, right.”
“And knowing your personality, I'm sure you'll be the first to jump in the next time something happens.”
Hearing that, my shoulders flinched.
I could feel Baek Seol-hyang's chiding gaze on me.
“With Kwak Sa-yeon, the situation was created in a way that we could sweep things under the rug, but there's no guarantee it will be the same next time.”
And then, Baek Seol-hyang got to the point.
“You should register as a hunter.”
“Huh-wha?”
And just like that, it looked like I was going to become a hunter.
*
24
Having agreed with Baek Seol-hyang to become a hunter, I was discharged from the hospital the next day.
Of course, for the time being, I still had to visit the hospital every day for injections, medication, and internal check-ups, but being discharged was still being discharged.
‘A hunter.’
I had never been a hunter, but I had always lived close to that profession.
I had yet to actually help a real hunter fight a dimensional entity, but regardless, I knew a lot about them.
‘Looking at my current situation…’
I was definitely not an ordinary person anymore.
The Brain Thunder bullets I fire from Thunderbolt have enough destructive power to wipe out entire buildings.
And even if I just use my aura without forming a Brain Thunder, it just emits red lightning, but even that is dangerously powerful.
In any case, having an official status would certainly make it easier to handle any problems that might arise in the future.
And the most fundamental reason for all this extra paperwork lay with me.
I stared down at my hands.
The image of Kwak Sa-yeon disappearing the moment I fired Thunderbolt still lingered in my mind.
It wasn't so much guilt as it was a sense of unease.
No matter how much I hated her, recalling that moment made my conscience prick my heart like an awl.
‘If only I could have controlled it.’
Things wouldn't have turned out that way.
The problem wasn't that I killed Kwak Sa-yeon, but that I had to kill her to save Si-ho and Seo-ho. That's what bothered me.
Will things like this not happen again?
I couldn't say for sure.
According to Baeksan, I'm going to get involved with many more returnees in the future.
I could feel it happening even now, enough to be sure it was an ongoing process.
If I ended up on the verge of death just from firing a single lightning bullet, I would clearly be more of a hindrance than a help.
“Baeksan.”
“What.”
Baeksan, who had been floating along half-heartedly behind me, answered.
It was an indifferent reply, but he seemed to know what I was going to say.
“Like I said before, I want to get stronger.”
Baeksan had always nagged me, saying I needed to become strong enough to at least protect myself.
Back then, I hadn't truly felt it, so my resolve was vague. But this time was different.
I had come to fully realize my own inadequacies and shortcomings.
I had to change.
At least enough to be able to protect the people around me.
“Don't act like you're in some shonen manga at twenty-six. It's embarrassing.”
Way to rain on my parade after I finally made up my mind.
“Hmph. Deciding you want to get stronger not for yourself, but for others. That's so like you.”
“What, are you going to tease me about that 'Salvation Madness' thing again?”
“Yeah, it is madness, you bastard.”
With that, Baeksan descended from the air and began to trudge ahead of me.
“And I never said I particularly disliked that madness of yours.”
Hearing that, I couldn't help but smile.
“You just told me not to act like I'm in a shonen manga.”
“Shut up. Dammit, follow me. I'm going to train you properly, focusing on your physical body until your internal injuries heal.”
“Go easy on me. I just got out of the hospital today.”
“Don't be a baby. You're the one who was just saying you wanted to get stronger.”
Every time I saw him, Baeksan made me think he was a good guy.
That was the day I felt I had finally overcome the past five years and gotten back on my feet.