Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Part 2 - Chapter 32
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Dun returned to his room and, as usual, summoned his adorable Poopy, cradling it in his arms as he lay motionless on the bed like he was dead.
He must have dozed off while sorting through his thoughts.
As soon as he woke up, he replied to the messages from Prim that had piled up, and his mood improved a bit.
“Quest log.”
His head had been too cluttered earlier to check them properly, so it seemed like a good idea to review the quests again.
There had been quite a few standout ones besides ‘Kill Lee Sae-byeok.’
Autonomous Quests:
[S Rank Quest] B-Class’s Pyo Sang-hun
Content: Do whatever.
[S Rank Quest] Busan Hysis Gate
Content: Do whatever.
These autonomous quests were a bit suspicious. Why the weird phrasing?
‘More importantly, why are B-Class’s Pyo Sang-hun and the Busan Gate mentioned?’
It felt like there might be some connection.
Lately, his past memories had been surfacing vividly, so Dun revisited them to recall the person and the incident.
Pyo Sang-hun was the one who took responsibility for the lagging awakeners in B-Class and pulled them up. He’d made a huge splash at the Busan Hysis Gate.
Thanks to that event, interest poured into Abyss’s B-Class awakeners, kickstarting proper hunter training.
He remembered the Busan Hysis Gate incident in detail.
The Abyss kids who’d entered that gate had nearly been wiped out.
Back then, he’d been blending in well with civilians and B-Class kids, but after that incident, he’d started hustling hard to reawaken.
That was also when his civilian friends began getting caught in gates, turning everything into total chaos.
‘I guess I need to check out Pyo Sang-hun’s face at least once.’
Whenever A-Class went on overseas high-rank gate closures, B-Class handled domestic dangerous gates effectively. He must have gotten involved somehow.
The autonomous quest seemed to be about raising Pyo Sang-hun to help with the Busan Hysis Gate.
Since it was autonomous, it felt optional, but he planned to meddle anyway.
He neatly folded up his mindset of ignoring the past to focus on the present and launched it into the sky.
It was contradictory, but for him, the past was the present anyway. Past events were his events.
Mandatory Quests:
[S Rank Quest] Default Room Re-entry
Quest Content: Recover the parts of memory presumed lost, from Rahee sis.
[S Rank Quest] Kill Lee Sae-byeok
Content: Kill her and separate the soul from the body to send it to the past.
The rest of the tough-looking mandatory quests could wait.
There was still plenty of time until Lee Sae-byeok’s death date, as he knew it.
His future self, from Lee Sae-byeok’s past perspective, had chosen the autonomous quests.
‘Convenient. I know what to pick.’
Following the events that happened in the past would ensure everything reached his current self safely.
That way, he could exist wholly without anything changing.
Nothing was certain, but it was the one option he felt confident trying.
[Dun……. You okay…….?]
[Face no good……. Looks tired……]
Lost in serious thought, Dun blinked and looked at his dejected Poopy.
It was fidgeting sympathetically to match his mood, which was endearing yet a little heartbreaking.
“Hugging you makes it hurt less.”
Poopy wriggled, extending its soft jelly arm and sticking right to Dun.
“My doggy.”
Dun hugged his wilted Poopy back. The coolness felt nice.
“My water cushion.”
As he rubbed his face against it, Poopy’s expression relaxed, starting to melt and stretch languidly.
§ § §
After coming down from the rooftop, I searched diligently for the memory box again.
My heart felt a bit calmer, like it might turn up if I looked now.
“No, seriously, where the hell did that box go…….”
The memory box, which had been perfectly fine, was gone.
Feeling even more dejected, I steadied myself and rummaged under the bed where it should’ve been.
My hand touched nothing.
After searching all day, exhausted, I collapsed onto the dusty floor.
Lately, it didn’t even feel like it existed.
A corner of my heart felt empty, hollow. Was it because nothing was the same as before?
At least, the silver lining was that everyone else was finding their places.
Everyone except me, Abyss’s A-Rank test subject turned unawakened deadweight.
I’d looked into hunter administration jobs, but sitting still doing paperwork didn’t suit me at all.
I could’ve gotten involved in management through shares in various hunter companies from Seol Do-yoon, but I shelved it, figuring the business vibe would stress me out too much.
So I’d chosen to half-ass my way into sports college prep, but sometimes reality hit hard like this.
Already feeling down, the missing memory box made it worse.
“Sae-byeok, when’re you sleeping? Let’s look again tomorrow…….”
Woo Ji-yoon, who’d been on her phone with sleepy eyes, stirred at the rustling, unable to sleep.
“Want me to turn off the light?”
“Thanks…….”
As I moved to kill the light and crawl into bed, I spotted a document on Woo Ji-yoon’s desk.
It was about providing better dorms for the top 10% of domestic hunters.
Somehow, Abyss dorm had ended up on broadcast TV, sparking petitions from Abyss rankers for better housing.
That must’ve led to this perk. I’d seen other Abyss rankers picking theirs up.
A new training ground, custom weapon forge, all sorts of hunter amenities in a brand-new apartment.
Close to the airport for the surging overseas gate trips—perfectly set up.
The kids had been buzzing excitedly, so I knew all the details.
“When’re you packing?”
“Huh? Hey! Give that here!”
Sleepy Woo Ji-yoon shot up from bed and rushed over, snatching and shredding the paper in my hand.
I let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“What the hell?”
“I’m not going! Most aren’t, except a few. At least I’m not.”
I frowned, not getting it.
“Why……?”
“You’re here. If I go somewhere else, I’d have to deal with other hunters……. Anyway, it’s no fun without you.”
My face heated up at that. I felt the warmth spread to my ears.
It was unbearably embarrassing and humiliating. They weren’t going because an unawakened like me couldn’t?
My position felt ridiculous.
“Ah……. Fuck. Bullshit.”
Not everyone agreed to stay; it was probably a few influential ones like Yeo Woo-hee holding the rest back.
“Bullshit, huh? Be honest. You’d be lonely without me or the others, right?”
“Huh? I’ve got tons of friends even without you guys~”
“You can’t just say you’d miss me?”
I paused at that.
Lee Yoo-hyun had remodeled the dorm a lot, but it still looked rundown.
“I was actually gonna move out and live with a friend prepping for sports college to study for the CSAT.”
“Sports college? Who?”
“Oh, there’s this one. Super studious girl at Na-gil High.”
“There’re tons like that.”
“Well……. Can’t remember her name, but we’d planned it.”
I turned off the light, lay down, and wrapped myself tight in the blanket.
Stretching out under the covers, I finally spoke.
“Anyway, perfect timing. I was gonna tell you I’m moving out too, since I’ve got a place.”
“……Ah, damn. I’d psyched myself up.”
Woo Ji-yoon mumbled in a deflated voice. She kinda wanted to go after all.
Makes sense—after getting dragged into the Abyss Project, she’d always lived communally. She’d want a comfy independent spot.
Turning down a reward for her hard work would be dumb.
“Goddamn. Don’t base big life decisions on me. I’m not giving a shit about you guys and plotting my plans solid.”
“Wow……. Harsh…….”
Fully awake now, Woo Ji-yoon stared at me with her signature round eyes.
Then, in an excited voice, she asked,
“If that’s how it is, wanna look at interiors together??”
“Should we? I’ve got my eye on a Pororo rug.”
“Agh, no, something proper~”
Suddenly hyped, Woo Ji-yoon whipped out her phone and started Googling.
‘She’s this happy, yet…….’
Watching her all excited, I couldn’t help but snicker.
‘Should I look into how to get in there too?’
Perfect timing—an ad email for move-ins had landed.
Even as a registered non-awakener on the Hunter Association list, I got these.
‘Sell some shares, maybe live with the kids…….’
Instead of waiting alone in this tiny room for gate-closing trips, a comfy wide apartment.
“…….”
Nah.
That place was crawling with awakeners. Going would just drown me in misery.
Following them might be masochistic. Just imagining it tanked my self-esteem.
Bzzz!
I was flipping through pics of the new place when a message popped up.
[Sae-byeok noona!]
[Great work today!]
[Sleep well!]
[(Bowing emoticon)]
It was Pyo Sang-hun.
The kid who’d been politely checking in steadily since way back.
He’d joined late in the Abyss Project, nearly made A-Class with his physical prowess, but monster panics hit B-Class more, so he stayed.
B-Class hunters messaged occasionally—not a ton, but enough.
I’d worried they’d hate A-Class for the bad rep they took, but surprisingly few did.
Of course, some held grudges, so when contact happened, I tried to be nice.
Insurance for A-Class’s unawakened trash like me.
[ok]
I replied and went to turn off my phone to sleep when a response came right back.
[(Bowing emoticon)]
[(Bowing emoticon)]
[(Bowing emoticon)]
I glanced at the emoji spam with heavy eyes and drifted off.
§ § §
[ok]
One text from Lee Sae-byeok.
“Wooooah!!”
The training hall’s atmosphere heated up instantly.
“No way, that’s insane!! She replied today too!!!!”
“Fuck, I’m jealous!! You really talk to A-Class’s Lee Sae-byeok??”
Pyo Sang-hun nodded solemnly, gazing at the unignored reply.
Lee Sae-byeok was absolute to Abyss kids.
Not only did she stand up to the intimidating overseer without flinching—she’d made him look ridiculous.
In gates together, she always came back alive and saved everyone.
Unyielding first place in attack, agility, all techs.
She’d always taught others well too—trained a near-execution kid to survive, including famous A-Class Yeo Woo-hee.
Her tough personality made her hard to approach, but her ironclad image as the ultimate powerhouse was etched in minds.
School hero tales amplified it further.
As an unawakened, she’d crushed every delinquent awakener and civilian in school, forcing A-Class thugs to confess.
Turned a notorious transfer school into a prestige high.
All as an unawakened.
A-Class genius tales were huge gossip in B-Class, especially N1 Rank unawakened Lee Sae-byeok’s stories.
Her shift from brute force cred to brains and smarts among awakeners got exaggerated and circulated in versions.
The FBI invite tale was the most famous.
“What’s she up to now?”
“Prepping for sports college.”
“Damn, wrapping up Abyss Project successfully and going full civilian route…….”
“Met her at the Association last time—she took my prank in stride. Epic. Loved it.”
As they crowded around the ‘ok’ text, Pyo Sang-hun reached out and took his phone.
“Sorry, gotta send her evening greetings too.”
[(Bowing emoticon)]
[(Bowing emoticon)]
Hoping his polite image landed right, Pyo Sang-hun fired off a string of emojis.
The 1 vanished fast—perfect timing.
Thrilled, he turned off the training hall lights and headed to his dorm.