Chapter 223
Chapter 223
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 223
Chapter Title: Hydra's Corpse
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Soo-hyuk underwent the procedure from Jin-un last.
It was the final thing before the next exam.
Chiiik-.
Hot steam billowed from the pattern engraved on his bare back.
Before the steam had even cooled, Soo-hyuk dressed again. Jin-un shook his head, looking exasperated.
"Doesn't it hurt?"
"Did you make it painless?"
"What's so pretty about it? I made it hurt like hell."
"Yeah. It hurt like hell."
Jin-un's procedure hurt. No, it was torture.
A knife sliced meticulously into the flesh, mana-infused medicine poured in, then the inside seared with a red-hot iron.
All the while, the recipient had to stay conscious, focusing to let the medicine seep into their body.
"But you endure it well."
"I was always good at taking pain."
Soo-hyuk replied as he buttoned his shirt. The fabric brushing his back made the wound sting fiercely.
By the time he finished changing, Jin-un asked,
"Or is it that you have to endure it well?"
Soo-hyuk's eyes flickered for a moment, his back still turned.
Unhyang did this, and so did Jin-un. They had a way of probing like that.
Which Lee Soo-hyuk are you?
Especially with someone who knew him like Jin-un, he felt the urge to blurt it out every time.
Uncle, it's me.
"People who endure pain like this are usually one of two kinds. Extremely greedy ones... or those with something even more important that demands it."
He couldn't just say nothing, so Soo-hyuk cracked a joke.
"Guess you don't know my nickname. They call me Money Bird."
"I know. Heard it from that kid. Said you're obsessed with points."
Relief lasted only a second.
"But that's just the means to an end."
Soo-hyuk had no choice but to throw up both hands.
Unhyang and Jin-un both sensed the oddity in his behavior.
As he racked his brain for excuses, Soo-hyuk shook his head.
I really can't handle these two.
Right. Can't dodge forever.
"I'll tell you next time I come."
With that, Soo-hyuk finished dressing and headed out.
Words heavy with meaning. Jin-un mulled them over as he packed his tools, then asked,
"...Tell me what?"
But the one who'd spoken was already gone.
Jin-un chuckled dryly.
"Rude punk, ignoring his elders."
He hadn't gone far—could chase him down and ask again. But he didn't.
On the way to the exam hall.
Soo-hyuk read the comments on his channel via the player kit.
The last stream was the day he shared Unhyang's news—just a brief ten-odd minutes.
If counting the inter-guild war as the true finale, this was his longest hiatus yet.
"Everyone's waiting a lot, huh?"
Unhyang's question came as they walked. Soo-hyuk kept scrolling comments and replied,
"Yeah. Looks like it."
"Subscribers shot up while you were off. You're a proper big streamer now."
Soo-hyuk's popularity skyrocketing was inevitable.
The name Lee Soo-hyuk. Lightning. Ranker in record time. His feats in the inter-guild war.
Add the battle in Xinlian City—every step drew eyes.
"They'll be bummed then."
"Huh?"
"If I suddenly quit streaming."
Unhyang blinked in shock.
"You wanna quit?"
"Nah."
"Then?"
"Just hypothetically. What if."
Independent of his will, broadcasting might end.
Possibly soon.
Half a month left.
Time until the day Cheonma revealed.
Counting days on his fingers, double-checking dates and times.
No day could be wasted. After half a month, Hyomin and the other two's fates hung in balance.
And if he died that day...
This stream might be the last.
Die together if it came to that. That was his resolve.
Revenge mattered, but it was secondary. Just as Hyomin's life outweighed all for Siwoo and Yeryeong, those three lives mattered far more to him.
Of course he wanted to keep streaming.
Skill levels were the main goal, but lately the streams themselves felt rewarding.
"Well, your call."
"Really? Figured you'd be sad."
"Of course I am. I'd get canned as your manager."
"Then manage another streamer?"
"If you quit, we'd both get axed, probably."
That big a deal? Soo-hyuk tilted his head, then reassured her.
"Don't worry. Not quitting."
Now that he thought about it, things were quieter than usual.
Normally someone would yell by now, 'If I get fired, I'm a beggar!'
"Cheongryang's going for it again?"
"Yeah. She said she would."
Cheongryang was retrying the tower.
Stuck on floor 7 for ages, she'd resolved to tackle the 8th floor exam again.
The fee was steep, but she'd figure it out somehow.
"She'll nail it. Kid talks herself down, but she's got talent."
Unhyang trusted her despite the daily bickering and nagging. This ordeal had kicked off Cheongryang's own path to not be dead weight.
Watching them, Soo-hyuk often pictured it.
Them, carefree with friends. Him, too.
And thought again.
Can't live like this forever.
Reunite with Siwoo, Yeryeong, Hyomin. Claim revenge at last.
After? Would he still stream? If so, what kind?
Whatever form, one line was certain.
Someday gotta come clean.
Viewers, truth is... I'm Lee Soo-hyuk.
What reactions? Dramatic gold at least.
Such idle fancies drew a laugh. He really was a streamer now.
Unhyang eyed him oddly.
"Good mood or bad?"
"Not bad."
No real good or bad to it.
Learned Siwoo and Yeryeong lived. Got Hyomin's update from Gyuseong.
Knew a massive fight loomed someday.
It had just arrived sooner than planned.
"Just tense, is all."
"Not like you."
"Yeah?"
After a pause, Soo-hyuk nodded.
True. When had he ever tensed up?
But this fight wasn't about his life.
Comrades he'd thought lost forever. Their lives on the line.
And this exam's results might tip the scales.
Above all, the tension's core was one thing.
This is where it ends.
A windy valley slid into view as he walked.
The place I reached.
The path to the exam hall.
Barring it: a valley held by Hydra.
Guardian.
The existences blocking the way to the next floor.
Past-life Soo-hyuk had been stopped cold by that guardian, Hydra—denied the exam.
If nothing changed... would I have survived?
Soo-hyuk had been poisoned by Hydra.
The venom soaking his wounds was vicious. Untreatable.
He'd pushed through on willpower alone, but could he have purged it all?
Did I even win?
History hailed him victor.
Lee Soo-hyuk conquered the 8th floor guardian, Hydra.
But Soo-hyuk recalled no victory.
Not win, loss, draw—somewhere gray.
Mulling that sour aftertaste, his eyes caught something massive amid the valley.
"That's..."
"Oh, right—you're seeing it fresh."
Unhyang spoke casually; she'd seen it before.
"Hydra's corpse. The mightiest guardian Lee Soo-hyuk took down."
Hydra's remains, propped in the valley.
A body vast enough to fill the rear. Fangs like blades, poison-dragon eyes vacant.
No decay—perfectly preserved as felled.
"First sight, I swore it'd rear up and spray venom any second. Still looks alive, right?"
"Why's it here?"
The lack of rot wasn't odd.
He knew from fighting it: scales like armor, flesh tough as leather. Time wouldn't rot it easy.
But that's precisely why it shouldn't be here.
This thing's a goldmine.
Prime monster corpses fetched fortunes. Materials for top-tier gear.
Hydra's? Priceless.
Yet abandoned?
Unthinkable.
"Word is, they could've crafted items from it... but didn't."
"Why?"
"To remember that day."
"You'll be etched as a hero, even in death."
Kim Il-su's voice echoed sharp in his mind.
"Guild master's call. Never forget Lee Soo-hyuk. Hydra's fall impossible without him."
"We will remember him."
The more he heard, the clearer the face, the timbre.
Sacrificing even the Hydra corpse?
You went all in, huh.
Gazing at the corpse, Soo-hyuk looked skyward.
Didn't expect me back here. Neither did I.
He murmured inward to the ceiling beyond—Il-su probably higher still.
Wrong call, Il-su.
Here, memories surged vivid. Like time travel, back to that day.
Hydra clash. Betrayed comrades dying. Desperate stand for survivors.
First death after that hellfight.
Now he got why no win, no loss—just limbo.
You shouldn't have recorded this day.
For Soo-hyuk, that battle raged on unfinished.