Chapter 154
Chapter 154
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 154
Chapter Title: Part 2, Episode 17
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Thinking about it, all the rankers who joined the association basically didn't give off much malice.
They seemed like the type where malice just didn't form easily inside them.
Being around those kinds of people put my mind a bit more at ease.
Regular people say my personality is a bit foul.
I tried to treat the association folks a little better, worried I'd unintentionally hurt the soft-natured rankers.
But the funny thing was, the more I thought about wanting to look good, the more burdensome it felt, and I didn't want to be around them.
Those two were comfortable yet terribly burdensome.
Even yesterday, Joo-ho and Han Su-hwan kept nagging me to hang out, but I kept becoming self-conscious about my actions and ended up running away.
To hang out with them, I'd have to relax my eyes, act friendly, cut back on swearing—it felt like that, but with all the anger inside me, it was hard to maintain.
I figured I'd live like that in my next life, so I turned on my phone and checked the Hunter Community.
I rarely logged into the Hunter Community because my eyes would get hazy sometimes, but if rumors had spread to Joo-ho and that Han Su-hwan uncle, there must be quite a bit of talk here too.
It seemed like it'd be fun.
If anyone crossed the line, I'd jump in as the person involved and pick a fight.
I hardly ever lost in keyboard battles or trash-talk in games.
"Were you a keyboard warrior filling your self-esteem online, our Dawn...?"
"Shut up. It's fine since I'm the one involved."
When I explained why I was going into the Hunter-related community, Woo Ji-yoon stabbed right at my heart with her response.
I tucked in my protruding lower lip and entered the page.
There was "[Abyss School Violence Summary]" on the main page, so I clicked it.
「[Hunter Hot Issue] Summary of Recent Abyss-Lee Sae-byeok School Violence Scandal
1. Abyss-origin hunters used violence in school and hid evidence.
2. Kids who got bullied by Abyss retaliated against Lee Sae-byeok. All the fallout splattered onto her.
3. As soon as Abyss found out, they apologized to the victims and voluntarily submitted the school violence evidence.
4. The Abyss kids who were perpetrators got expelled, and the non-perpetrator Abyss hunters followed Lee Sae-byeok to transfer schools.
That group is a total mystery.
What the hell is their dynamic? Lol
From interviews, they seem smart or sly, yet they voluntarily submitted evidence and got expelled quietly because she was suffering because of them. My head hurts.
Now the main figures seem so docile, it's even scarier...
I thought the whole "following Lee Sae-byeok" vibe was just weird memes because they resembled Dun, but fuck, is this incident a meme too?
So curious about their relationships...
-Doesn't it have to do with resembling Dun? Maybe Dun reclassed them into rankers?
└Dun memes about everything;;;
└Yeah... this is Dun Illuminati conspiracy too...
└They don't seem like the type to over-immerse in NPCs though.
-Lee Sae-byeok is scary... What are you... What did you do...
-Hey, but Lee Sae-byeok is still super likable since she must've made them submit the evidence voluntarily.
-Has there ever been a school violence perpetrator case handled so cleanly and immediately? Impressive lol
-Additional info: Apparently Lee Sae-byeok expelled all the first-gen Awakeners who were delinquents at that school too lolololololol
└? Fml lololololol Bright Dawn lolololol
└Are you sure Lee Sae-byeok was the one bullied? Lolololololololololol
└Crazy bitch for real, how'd she do it lolololololol
-Anyone who messes with little Sae-byeok gets utterly fucked...
-But separately, Lee Sae-byeok was a victim anyway... The only unawakened among lab rats and hotshot hunters, plus school violence victim... Wanna go hug her damn it
└Wow yeah...
└Be happy, Dawn...
└Holy shit yeah...」
What the hell. The text is hazy again.
There are a lot of characters that look like 'lololol', though.
Do I need reading glasses at my age?
Anyway, why are they laughing in the school violence summary post? Are cyber sociopaths swarming here?
I wanted Abyss to get a victim image, but shouldn't there be more 'ㅠㅠㅠㅠ' than 'lololol'? The vibe feels off.
Tsk, public opinion shaping isn't for just anyone.
As soon as I left the post, my hazy vision suddenly sharpened again.
Maybe a side effect from abusing my body.
I pressed around my eyes, then left the page and went to the news home.
News headlines were fortunately readable enough.
「Korea's sore spot, top rankers from Abyss. They confessed to school violence during their adjustment period after enrolling! Immediate expulsion.」
「[Exclusive] Unawakened Abyss hunter struggling to adapt, in this state. Bullied in reverse... "They mocked us as monster group and beat us up."」
「[Hunter News] Spotlight on Abyss A-Class rankers hides the tears of Abyss B-D Classes」
The articles seemed to come out mostly in the direction I wanted.
The quick and sincere remorse and reflection from the noisy kids, the humiliating "monster group Abyss" label from the unawakened victim Lee Sae-byeok (me), and spotlighting the B-D class victims.
It totally gave off the vibe of strong but naive lambs that needed protection.
It felt like recapturing that "aww, wanna help them" atmosphere from when Abyss was first introduced in the media.
Back then, the goodwill spawned by that vibe got exploited by some, tarnishing the image weirdly, but now maybe a chance to reset properly.
The articles turned out too perfectly as intended—it was amazing. The comments were pretty heartwarming too.
If it hadn't gone as wanted, I was gonna do something about it, but it worked out before that.
'Oh, the publisher is CSK side.'
Coincidence?
Suddenly, Seol Do-yoon popped into my head.
If he got involved first, it was pretty out of character for him. Since he hates pitiful images.
'Did he get screwed over by regular people because of his image too?'
Whether he did it or not, whatever the intent, good results were fine.
Now, just needed to button up the first step at the new school well.
§ § §
《Thanks for the help, Hee-ah hyung. Please pass on my thanks to Hee-min noona too.》
"No, I'm glad I could help somehow. And how could I refuse when it's Dawn's request? If there's anything else I can do, anytime..."
《Yes, I'll let you know.》
"Yeah, thanks."
《Okay, then head on in.》
"Yeah, you too."
The call from Seol Do-yoon ended.
Yoo Hee-ah fiddled with her phone idly.
Pressing the lock button brought up a photo of young Lee Sae-byeok wearing headphones and engrossed in a game.
She hadn't changed it since setting it as wallpaper; the frowning expression on Lee Sae-byeok was all too familiar.
After that time she came to threaten her, she'd been avoiding her, so it was hard to see her face.
Instead, a strange man had been following her, making her wonder if he was connected to Lee Sae-byeok, but it turned out to be Seol Do-yoon behind him.
Following Seol Do-yoon's orders hidden behind a hired guy, she'd thrown herself into Abyss relief efforts, living a life of atonement in her own way.
Desperate to see her, whose presence ached in her chest, she'd become a hunter to create a connection and raised her ranking to the Abyss kids' bracket.
Luckily, she'd trained in various sports since childhood with exceptional basic athleticism, so hunting suited her well.
Her A-rank mana seemed thanks to Dun buffs.
But to keep her promise to her father, Lee Sae-byeok had deliberately avoided her, so even working at the association, they'd never crossed paths.
Hearing occasional rough updates on Lee Sae-byeok made her heart feel crushed.
"What the hell are you doing out there..."
She desperately wanted to meet and help, but Lee Sae-byeok never showed.
She could only find ways to help through this Seol Do-yoon kid.
Yoo Hee-ah let out a long sigh, hoping her actions had helped even a little.
* * *
"What's up with you?"
Seol Do-yoon had suddenly messaged her to meet at a cafe.
Yeo Woo-hee stared at Seol Do-yoon who'd come to find her out of the blue. She tensed up without realizing.
She didn't want to go one-on-one since he seemed a bit scary, but skipping might cause bigger issues, so she headed to the cafe.
When Seol Do-yoon summoned her, it always brought anxiety. Like she'd be deemed useless and sacrificed for situation improvement.
If needed, he'd listen to worries and act sweet to drop all guards, then sacrifice anyone for the situation when the time came—that was Seol Do-yoon.
Of course, with Lee Sae-byeok stuck to his side, it never happened.
Whenever he tried, Lee Sae-byeok would yank his hair.
Thanks to Lee Sae-byeok handling Seol Do-yoon so casually, Abyss kids saw him as less intimidating than before, but they still treaded carefully.
That's why many deliberately paired Lee Sae-byeok and Seol Do-yoon. To keep him from moving alone.
Still, after frequent fights with Lee Sae-byeok and long work with Lee Yoo-hyun, he seemed to have changed his thinking lately.
But she was still anxious. He knew every situation somehow, but his thoughts were unknowable.
"Woo-hee, been well?"
"Skip the greetings and get to the point. I know you don't call for no reason."
Seol Do-yoon, who'd been gazing at Yeo Woo-hee, smiled.
"Good. Can you relax your shoulders? Here, I ordered a frappuccino. Black sugar flavor, right?"
Seol Do-yoon peeled the straw wrapper, leaving just the end, and stuck it into the drink.
"......"
Ah, fuck. So fucking scary.
This seemed related to the recent Lee Sae-byeok incident, but she couldn't guess the purpose.
"Take this first."
Seol Do-yoon pulled out a prepared document in front of Yeo Woo-hee.
Yeo Woo-hee took several sheets and crumpled her face.
It was about stripping all support and benefits as an Abyss member and kicking her out of the association.
Plus, a paper saying certified Safe Home houses couldn't be entered for new lodging.
Meaning, even finding lodging, she'd have to live wary of gate attacks anytime.
"What... what is this..."
Her spine chilled.
All her past deeds flashed by. Which one pissed him off?
"...You think Lee Sae-byeok would just watch me get cut out?"
"There are plenty of ways to proceed without Lee Sae-byeok knowing."
Suddenly, she recalled getting caught while gathering and training people for the cartel model recently.
Seemed like punishment for that. Ignoring his plan from his head, halting it, and proceeding on her own.
Ah, fucked. What now?
Should she run to Lee Sae-byeok and tell her everything?
Wait, am I not gonna be able to get back to Lee Sae-byeok like this?
'Ah, fuck. Either contact Lee Sae-byeok first or bolt quick.'
As she thought that and moved, Seol Do-yoon's eyes faintly glowed blue.
An intangible force pressed her body, strength drained, and she couldn't budge.
"You should hear people out to the end, Woo-hee."
"......"
"I'll hold onto yours safely, and you can request the documents of the cartel members you built from me."
Yeo Woo-hee's brain rolled. The nuance suggested no immediate cut.
Sounded like he'd even back her.
She wanted to use the people she'd gathered. The blood rushing to her head drained away.
"You won't approve those papers if I don't cross the line, right?"
"Of course."
Seol Do-yoon smiled kindly, eyes crinkling.
"Plus, there's something you need to do when you go to the new school."
Knew it.
He wouldn't just bring heavy docs to warn her to behave.
Wondered when the demand would come. Snake bastard.
"What to do?"
"Don't worry, it's not hard."
Seol Do-yoon soothed the highly guarded Yeo Woo-hee.
"Just change the direction and result of what you enjoy doing."
§ § §
Lately, rampaging everywhere without regard had piled up fatigue.
My body felt strangely chillsome, so I burrowed under the blanket and squirmed in bed.
I blankly stared at the hired room. The room sunk in a subtle blue tint looked chilly.
Gate numbers increased lately, so the kids weren't returning much.
[When you coming?]
Woo Ji-yoon was especially chatty and noisy, so the room felt quieter without her.
My body heated up, dizzy.
Vomited a few times, took Tylenol, then back under covers, rubbing my face on the scented pillow.
After burdensome stuff, I'd get sick like this sometimes.
It'd be fine after sleep, so I closed my eyes.
* * *
"Fly away, birdie, live happily!"
A bird sent off with hope, only to crash its head and die.
"Sis, sis? Why aren't you talking..."
Her orphanage-working sister suddenly lifeless on the floor.
'Uwaaaah! Save me!! Dawn!!!!'
Orphanage kids trapped in a gate, torn apart by monsters before her eyes.
'This is right for a good child...'
Association doing illegal experiments on kids.
Hnggg! Uwaaaah! Aaaah!
Unknown cries and screams filled everywhere.
Seemed like orphanage kids, Abyss kids, or her own voice.
Cries sounding like others turned into her voice, ringing her ears.
'Be quiet... please... Just hold your breath a bit... Please... It'll be okay soon... Trust me... I'll figure it out. Just wait a little...'
I plugged my ears tight, trying to escape the noisy cries and screams, but they grew louder.
§ § §
Knock knock knock.
Seol Do-yoon stood before Lee Sae-byeok's lodging door, rapping it. First time in a while.
In Seol Do-yoon's hand was a Subway chicken sandwich bought on the way.
"Dawn, you in there?"
Lately, Lee Sae-byeok avoided incoming regular hunter-borns and even Lee Yoo-hyun, only playing with Abyss kids, they said.
Seemed like relationship burnout from committing out-of-character acts due to massive debt to the steadfast association president beside her.
Lee Yoo-hyun, especially worried about Lee Sae-byeok, earnestly asked him to check on her, so he postponed work, bought food, and came.
No answer, so maybe not in, but a small scream came from inside.
"Aaaah..."
Seol Do-yoon turned to leave, then stood back at the door.
Lee Sae-byeok seemed to be having a nightmare.
Clicking his tongue, Seol Do-yoon gripped the handle and opened the door.