Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Rakia Bells
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Rakia Bells
The hunter's rank is determined by their world of origin.
The reason everyone in the theme stage was conscious of Rakia Bells' existence.
The reason why, despite facing each other for the first time, everyone recognized Rakia Bells as a powerhouse.
That reason was strongly influenced by her origins.
The world where Rakia Bells was born and raised was home to countless exceptional hunters.
-Remizrana.
A world that worshiped the Black Dragon and upheld the principle of power as its supreme law.
Unlike Earth, they mastered the art of battling monsters from childhood and wielded mana with ease.
Their ways were truly worlds apart.
This background naturally lent credibility to Rakia Bells' outrageous heritage.
Her sister, Rakia Serbel. And even the other high-ranking hunters beyond her.
Their feats involved conquering the tower while honing their solitary might to divine heights.
'O great and mighty Black Dragon, guide us along the righteous path.'
They revered the Black Dragon.
Scales black as the eclipsed sun, an aura ferocious with embedded dragon hide.
With the tower's master—an unreachable idol—at the forefront, they forged unbreakable bonds among themselves.
And so, they committed the act.
'Males must be protected.'
In the world she knew, such was the natural order.
"What are you talking about?"
But with his contemptuous glare and effortless deflection of her strike...
That day, Rakia Bells' world shattered into pieces.
Do-yoon was stronger than Rakia Bells.
Even from Earth—the weakest of worlds—and as a male meant to cower behind a superior female.
'Ah.'
He shattered those very notions with raw power, opening Rakia Bells' eyes to a new perspective.
The principle of strength.
The bond between strong and weak.
In the theme stage, who shone the brightest?
Who bent an impossible difficulty to their will?
The seat that should command every hunter's envious gaze as a matter of course.
'That's not my place.'
As her sister had foretold, she couldn't even display overwhelming authority before everything was effortlessly stolen by a man named Do-yoon.
Rakia Bells' value as a hunter had plummeted.
From her viewpoint, it was utterly unthinkable.
Rakia Bells had lost to him completely—both as a hunter and by her home world's standards.
A lifetime first: powerlessness, humiliation, and something insidious seeping in.
"You."
The moment he blocked her initial assault and fixed her with that terrifying stare...
It lingered so vividly in her mind that it replayed in her dreams from time to time.
In those dreams, Do-yoon hounded Rakia Bells mercilessly, leaving her in ruins.
She charged at him with death-defying resolve time and again, only to fall repeatedly.
"You're weak."
"Kuh, no."
"Still in denial? Take a good look."
He seized her fallen chin roughly, forcing a scene upon her.
There, Do-yoon basked in acclaim from her original world.
A future she herself was meant to claim.
"Let go, let me go!"
"Quit panicking and watch. This is the future awaiting you."
Everyone gazed at Do-yoon in reverence.
The tribe's elite warriors—even her own sister.
'Even Sister?'
"....!"
Her, who had always driven Rakia Bells to be the best, now acted warmly toward Do-yoon alone.
"No."
"No? What are you now? Just the tribe's shame—nothing more, nothing less."
"No...!"
"Accept it. That's the proper mindset for losers like you."
The grip pinning her gaze to the scene now turned her chin toward him.
"Ah."
Rakia Bells met that Do-yoon with tear-filled eyes.
His black pupils sucked in her entire being.
Irresistible. Everything taken.
Power, status, future—all of it.
Like a ravenous demon, he devoured it greedily, ravaged her hollow shell to the brink of despair, and mocked her.
"I, I'm..."
That day, Rakia Bells.
For the first time, peered into the emotions buried deep within.
Sticky, shameful feelings.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "Hah...!"
The quiet dawn.
The woman lying in the grass bolted upright in terror.
"What."
Do-yoon, on watch, shot her a bizarre look.
The sweat-soaked savage stared back at him in shock.
"...You, you."
"What?"
"I'm not... not taken..."
"Still half-asleep or what."
After pulling an all-nighter guarding her, she wakes up accusing him of thievery?
Never seen such gall.
Of course, they'd alternated two-hour watches last night.
From the 8th floor, Rakia Bells' knowledge was useless—they had to hunt the boss room physically.
In the end, failing to find it, they'd camped in the combat zone.
'As the gallery said, they don't move at night.'
Monster intel straight from the boss mobs.
Dryads enter deep sleep without sunlight.
— Boss Mob Gallery [To the immobile dryad... heh heh] — Boss Mob Gallery [Teacher, please hold your breath for just 30 years] '....'
Ignoring the responses blurring boss mob with deviant, he'd alternated shifts with Rakia Bells through the night.
Monsters might be immobile, but other threats could strike anytime.
"If you're with it, snap to. Boss room's still out there."
Mana seeps into a hunter's psyche, clouding judgment over time.
Reason to clear floors fast as possible.
"Hey. What're you doing."
But Rakia Bells, still gripped by dream haze, gawked at Do-yoon like a ghost.
Frustrated, Do-yoon...
-Swish.
...simply rose to rouse the sluggish hunter.
But.
"Eek."
Nothing done yet, and Rakia Bells flinched at his shadow, squeezing her eyes shut.
"What kinda dream leaves her this out of it."
"N-No."
"Drink this."
He handed over the canteen of water.
Hers.
"...."
Gazing at his hand, Rakia Bells took it and gulped it down.
"Better?"
"...Yeah."
Her attitude, starkly shifted from yesterday, raised questions—but she claimed fine, so he shrugged it off.
"Ah."
"...?"
"If your head starts feeling off, say so quick. Gotta take measures."
Measures.
Rakia Bells swallowed hard, nodding gravely at the implication.
"Y-Yeah, got it."
"Why so spooked? Just saying fight on."
Their 8th-floor assault resumed.
"Kieeeek!"
Carving through dryads as usual, forging ahead in the humid woods.
Mid-battle, Rakia Bells—having cleared her front—glanced back at Do-yoon, still engaged.
-Shwaak!
Shield gone from view, his speed surged.
In a flash, Do-yoon slipped into the dryad's blind spot, finishing with a curved sword swing.
"Kek!"
'Picks it up fast.'
Even if basics of basics.
Acquisition blisteringly quick.
His form now showed deliberate intent versus before.
"How's it?"
"Uh, what?"
"The form."
To Do-yoon's query, Rakia Bells startled pointlessly.
"Much, improved."
"For real?"
"Yeah."
"Phew, was stressing it wasn't muscle memory yet."
Like Do-yoon's worry, Rakia Bells agreed.
One day. Mere one.
Learned skills need time to embed; old habits clash, errors arise meantime.
She knew, beaten daily by her sister in training.
'Yet you.'
Do-yoon defied her experience, weaving it seamlessly into his style.
"Ever learn combat specifics from the other hunters?"
"Learned? Bits... mostly intel. Fighting's not their forte."
Styles diverged sharply from seniors.
Han Ji-hyeok on defense, Jo Ha-rin pure aggression, rears polar opposites.
Do-yoon balanced ambiguously between.
"...."
Ignorant of Do-yoon's musing, Rakia Bells stewed alone, replaying the dream.
Dangerous. Dangerously quick learner.
Even upper council hunters gave thumbs-up.
They already clocked Do-yoon.
'This.'
Rakia Bells sensed primal dread.
No—maybe flawed from jump.
'From the start.'
That first clash with Do-yoon.
Further: entering the tower, hunter and great warrior dreams ablaze.
She was fated to lose, to submit to his existence.
"Found it."
Thoughts churning, alongside Do-yoon.
They'd reached the long-sought boss room.