Chapter 171
Chapter 171
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 171
Chapter Title: Part 2 Episode 34
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The Abyss kid with the buzzcut had his head bowed low, sobbing away.
Dun straightened his cap and called out to Pyo Sang-hoon once more.
“Hey.”
Either he didn’t realize it was him being called, or he just stayed silent with his head down.
“Crying?”
Dun eyed the tear stains on the floor and asked cautiously. But his tone came out pretty cocky.
“Ah... What now.”
Pyo Sang-hoon looked up, frowning. There were always those types who picked fights for no reason. This seemed like another one.
Right in front of him sat some kid locking eyes with him, a cap pulled low and a mask hiding his face.
“...Who?”
Wondering if it might be someone he knew, Pyo Sang-hoon wiped his nose with his arm and asked.
The mysterious kid suddenly pulled off his mask.
“...Who the hell are you.”
“You’re not surprised. Lame. I’m Dun.”
An out-of-nowhere introduction from a total stranger.
Pyo Sang-hoon wiped his head and face with a towel, then stood up.
Buzzcut~ Don’t cry~ Why you crying.”
“...”
He didn’t have the energy to deal with every weirdo who caught his interest.
Pyo Sang-hoon almost cursed him out but held it in and started walking away. The kid followed persistently from behind.
“Hey. You in a guild?”
“Don’t follow me.”
“Wanna hit a gate together?”
“Piss off, who the fuck are you.”
“I’m Dun. Look me up.”
Total celebrity complex.
Judging by the hair and eye color, he was awakened, and maintaining that state casually meant he was probably a pretty famous hunter.
“Don’t care who you are.”
“I’ll boost your rank.”
“Don’t want it.”
Dun’s lip twitched downward.
Not even a flicker at words hitting his biggest desire right now.
And he was seriously prickly. Maybe console him first since he’d been crying. Or maybe he was just in a bad mood and didn’t want to talk.
‘This baby buzzcut kid’s a real pain in the ass.’
Consoling him was proving tricky, so Dun scowled for a moment. No answers came no matter how he racked his brain.
“Uh... You cried good.”
“...”
Now he was getting totally ignored.
Was this how Prim felt when she first approached him? Though he couldn’t quite remember how he’d warmed up to Prim.
Dun recalled the endless attention Prim had showered on him back then.
‘Now I see she was the queen of persistence.’
He doubted he could ever match that, even if his life depended on it.
Most people around him had always bent to accommodate him as Dun, so soothing this sulky buzzcut was tougher than expected.
So Dun trailed behind him, pondering the best way to approach the kid.
“I’ll boost your rank. Seems like I’m good at raising people up.”
“Don’t need it.”
“I mean it, I’ll do it for real? I’ll even help you get past your monster panic.”
Pyo Sang-hoon scowled at the sudden offer of help out of nowhere.
Smelled like a total scam artist. The cap and mask screamed shady.
He just wanted to be left alone.
“Sound tempting?”
“Get the fuck lost!”
“Whoa, you scared me.”
Pyo Sang-hoon couldn’t hold back and yelled. Dun’s eyes went wide at the outburst.
“That bad, huh? Alright, got it.”
He backed off another step or so. Then kept pace at that distance.
Understanding Pyo Sang-hoon’s frustration with his stagnant rank evaluation scores, Dun added from behind as he followed slowly.
“Still, you aced the basic physical eval.”
“...”
Pyo Sang-hoon gave up shaking Dun off and left the evaluation hall.
Hoping the kid would tire himself out eventually.
Pyo Sang-hoon trudged along and plopped down on a bench near the association entrance. He pulled out his phone and stared at the contact saved as “Respected Dawn Sis.”
Whenever helplessness and self-loathing hit, Lee Sae-byeok from A-Class felt impossibly amazing.
Stuck comparing to B-Class E-rank awakeners, clinging to a rank that wouldn’t budge—it was brutal enough. What must it feel like holding out as an unawakened in A-Class?
Even for awakeners, scoring N1 on the GAL test was like grabbing stars from the sky.
The more he challenged re-evaluations, the more he admired Lee Sae-byeok’s N1 rank.
Pyo Sang-hoon gazed at his phone wallpaper, a photo of the 2nd Division crew. Lee Sae-byeok was in the corner, flashing a V-sign.
‘She’s just so incredibly admirable.’
Pyo Sang-hoon stared hard at Lee Sae-byeok’s face in the pic.
He wanted to treat her to a meal, get some advice and life stories, but worried she’d think his time wasn’t worth it.
Too chicken to just leave, but since he was at the association anyway, he figured he’d shoot a message.
Last time he’d chickened out and bailed, but today he’d meet her for sure.
“What you doing?”
“None of your business.”
That Dun kid from earlier plopped down beside him, peeking at his phone. Pyo Sang-hoon scowled. Still hanging around.
Ignoring Dun, Pyo Sang-hoon typed seriously.
[Hello!!!
Came to the association after a while. Let me buy you a meal?]
“Whoa, that’s dizzying. What language is that?”
“...Shut up.”
Pyo Sang-hoon scowled.
“Ask for a game instead of food.”
“...”
The kid next to him had a point—games might beat awkward one-on-one meals.
[Hello!!!!
Came up to the association after a while. Wanna game?]
“Tell her what game. Oh, I like basketball games. Simple and I’ve never lost.”
“...Didn’t ask your prefs.”
“I’m Lee Sae-byeok, dumbass.”
“What’re you mumbling.”
Dun smirked as he watched Pyo Sang-hoon type and delete repeatedly.
Memory-Pyo seemed all passion and overly polite greetings, no burdensome vibes. Didn’t know he had this insecure side.
Couldn’t recall exactly how he’d acted back then. Too trivial. Had he really hung out with a kid like this?
He waited a bit for Pyo Sang-hoon to message his past self and jog his memory, when suddenly notifications flooded his view.
[[Bridge of the Two Worlds], Time Paradox Penalty settings can be disabled.]
[Current: ON]
Dun blinked at the alerts.
Mentioning Lee Sae-byeok to Pyo Sang-hoon must’ve triggered a hidden feature in the new update package.
‘Wanna turn it off once?’
[※Danger※ Acting freely with penalty off could make you vanish without warning. Only disable when giving cheats to Lee Sae-byeok.]
[Disable penalty settings?]
Dun read the warning and set it to OFF.
To test if the penalty was gone, he turned to Pyo Sang-hoon, still tweaking his message, and spoke.
“Actually, I’m Lee Sae-byeok.”
“Don’t cross the line.”
Chopping context made it unconvincing; Pyo Sang-hoon scowled fiercely.
‘Oh, whoa. She can hear me, huh.’
Intrigued, Dun racked his brain for proof-memories to explain why he was Lee Sae-byeok.
Convince him, and he’d listen better.
[※Warning※ Deviating from T.O-760_(tp) timeline to T.D-769. VER.C.DAWN will naturally dissipate.]
[※Warning※ Deviating from T.O-760_(tp) timeline to T.D-741. VER.C.DAWN will naturally dissipate.]
[※Warning※ Deviating from T.O-760_(tp) timeline to T.D-1039. VER.C.DAWN will naturally dissipate.]
[※Warning※...]
[※Warning※...]
[※Warning※...]
...
Countless warnings exploded in front of him at terrifying speed.
Startled, Dun fixed on one and read.
‘Ah, fuck. Vanish without warning means this?’
To prove he was Lee Sae-byeok, he’d have to talk about her death.
Which would obviously lead to preventing it. Then ‘Lee Sae-byeok’ couldn’t become ‘Dun,’ so he’d cease to exist.
‘Harsh.’
Dun dropped trying to make Pyo Sang-hoon understand. Warnings vanished cleanly.
That nagging ‘Paradox Penalty’ was likely a safeguard against his erasure.
Protecting him from all existence-threatening timelines.
Dun turned the paradox penalty back on.
‘Living’s a real bitch.’
Keep it on until he could pass cheats to his past self.
Clicking his tongue, Dun eyed Pyo Sang-hoon still editing his text.
Minutes passed.
While Dun yawned hugely, Pyo Sang-hoon finalized and hit send.
[Hello, Sis.
Here at the association for rank eval. Wanted to pay respects.]
“Greetings guy, huh.”
“...Don’t look.”
Dun snarked, so Pyo Sang-hoon shoved his face away from the phone.
About three minutes later, reply from Lee Sae-byeok.
[Ah, I’ll be back at the association late.]
Blunt for all his agonizing.
[Then next time if there’s a chance, I’ll pay respects.]
Pyo Sang-hoon buried his face in his hands after sending.
‘Of course... She’s busy all around... Knew it a bit... But still so disappointing... Seeing her face would pep me up... Ask where she is and go? Nah, too pushy...’
Re-eval bombed, no Dawn Sis sighting.
Unable to shake the regret, Pyo Sang-hoon stared piercingly at his wallpaper then bowed his head again.
Then his shoulders shook as he stifled sobs. Everything felt so unfair.
“Whoa, hey. Crying over that...? I’m here, okay? Don’t cry, baby buzzcut.”
“Baby buzzcut, sob, I’ll kill you, ugh...”
Pyo Sang-hoon opened his mouth to curse Dun but burst into loud sobs instead.
“...Hic. So tough... Just wanted to see your face once...”
“...Ah, aah... Uh... Yeah... You were really bummed, huh?”
Pyo Sang-hoon nodded, pressing his red eyes with his palms.
‘What to do with this kid.’
Flustered, Dun scratched his chin, deep in thought.
Past memories painted him as all composed, polite, gutsy. But look at this soft crybaby side.
Since they’d met, he wanted some agreement on rank boosting, but no dice in this funk.
Need to power him up to use in Hysis Gate.
‘Just close Hysis Gate myself quick?’
Maybe that’s when he fails to save other Abyss kids.
Not much known yet.
Anyway, past face alone perks him up, so tease with that first.
Dun stood from the bench and headed to the bathroom around the corner.
‘Body transformation.’
In a stall, he shifted to Lee Sae-byeok and stepped out, eyeing his old form.
Familiar place, familiar sight. Felt like regression, but it was now—weird.
Good as Lee Sae-byeok so far, but suddenly heart raced, cold sweat beaded.
[Ability Utilization: 9%]
Same space as real Lee Sae-byeok? Or world shift? Utilization tanked way below normal.
Dun pulled Curse Tether from inventory, tied to his waist. One touch to a passerby and instant death.
Maintaining color as Lee Sae-byeok, Dun approached Pyo Sang-hoon checking bus times.
“Buzzcut~”
Pyo Sang-hoon looked up from his phone at the voice.
Lee Sae-byeok walked toward him. Outfit familiar, but no big deal.
“Ah, uh, hello!!!”
Shocked, Pyo Sang-hoon shot up into attention stance, bowing deeply from there.
Loved the buzzcut nickname.
Meant she remembered him by that trait—he’d stuck with the style for it.
“Didn’t you say you’d be late to the association?”
“Forgot something.”
“Always working hard!”
“Uh...”
Pyo Sang-hoon wanted to chat more but held back, fearing a flub with his role model. Her reply alone satisfied.
Luck was insane.
Bumping into her like this.
“Then I’ll head out!”
“Uh...”
Dun tensed every muscle to avoid breaking anything in reply.
Kid who’d sniffled moments ago now brimmed with spunk over whatever.
Mood lifted enough—time to soothe baby buzzcut again.
Ducked quick into bathroom, shifted back, hurried to bus stop toward Pyo Sang-hoon.
“Hey.”
“Ah, what...”
Pyo Sang-hoon, smiling faintly, scowled on seeing him.
“Talk for a sec? Won’t take long.”
Pyo Sang-hoon scratched his short hair, pondered, then said firmly.
“Nope.”
Dun’s brow twitched at the blunt no. Figured good mood would open him up.
Understood, though.
Stranger pushing sweet deals—why follow blindly? Sucker move.
Especially Abyss kids: super wary of outsiders.
Past bro not being a sucker was good, but patience was thinning.
Dun exhaled long. Circulated mana to bump utilization a bit. Stuck a few Soul Arrows in himself.
“????”
Pyo Sang-hoon blinked at his suddenly warped view while heading to the stop.
Now he was tied tight to a tree on the nearby hill.
“W-What the-!”
“Sorry, baby. But consoling your crying pissed me off too much.”
Dun grabbed a rock, lightly chucked it near Pyo Sang-hoon’s tree.
Crack! Trees toppled in a sharp crash.
“Wanna talk now?”