Chapter 251
Chapter 251
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 251
Chapter Title: Who Has Returned
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When you fight with your life on the line, you learn a lot about each other without needing words.
Bright and cheerful, quiet and composed. Beyond those personalities, when your life hangs in the balance, a person's true nature inevitably reveals itself.
That's why Soo-hyuk was confident he could predict his comrades' reactions in any situation, even with his eyes closed.
But.
'Will you resent me?'
This was something he couldn't predict.
The greater his expectations, the greater his fear. Fear that the comrades he'd reunited with might resent him.
That after finally reuniting, they'd point fingers and blame him, cursing him to get out of their sight.
Fortunately, that didn't happen.
Neither Gyeong-seong nor Si-woo.
When they saw him alive, all they showed was joy.
But that didn't mean he could fully relax.
'You really... don't resent me?'
The moment he reunited with Ye-ryeong.
Soo-hyuk felt relief that she was safe, but at the same time, he confronted the anxiety he'd forgotten.
Who wouldn't? But Ye-ryeong especially had strong camaraderie. She cherished everyone without discrimination.
She'd even sobbed uncontrollably when Kim Il-su left the guild.
And yet.
'I... killed them all.'
His wrong judgment had led to the deaths of his other comrades.
"You're... really Soo-hyuk?"
Soo-hyuk, meeting Ye-ryeong's eyes, lowered his head again.
It had been the same with Si-woo. He couldn't easily speak.
Even though he wasn't lying.
"Answer me."
Admitting he was himself felt so terrifying.
"You're really Soo-hyuk, right?"
"......"
His mouth slowly opened.
Soo-hyuk, standing there like a fool with his mouth agape in silence for a while, finally dropped his head and answered.
"......Yeah."
"......For real?"
"Yeah."
No persuasion or logical explanation was needed.
At Soo-hyuk's response, Ye-ryeong somehow looked convinced.
"Then my feeling back then was right......"
Ye-ryeong nodded, her expression blank. Even with Soo-hyuk's return, her reaction was just, I see.
Soo-hyuk couldn't look straight at her face and averted his gaze halfway downward.
That cold response made his heart shrink even more.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
It was a grilling about why he hadn't told the truth when he'd gone to retrieve Min-jae's belongings.
"If you'd said it then, you wouldn't have needed to come back like this, right?"
"How was I supposed to say it? You couldn't even see me."
"You? Couldn't find me?"
"Explaining it would take a while."
He'd had the same conversation with Si-woo on the way here.
Their questions were natural.
Why hadn't he looked for them until now? What had he been doing, where?
Dozens of questions probably came to mind right away.
But before answering those, there was something he had to do first.
Soo-hyuk looked straight at Ye-ryeong's face. No matter how hard it was to muster the courage, he couldn't just stare at the ground the whole conversation.
"You must've seen it on the stream. What a mess I was in."
"......Yeah."
"That English name was you, right?"
"How'd you know?"
"It was. I had a hunch."
The viewer with the nickname q1w2e3r4.
It really had been Ye-ryeong.
A brief silence flowed, and after hesitating for a long time, Soo-hyuk clenched his fist tightly.
"I have something to ask."
"What?"
"Same question for you, Si-woo."
Soo-hyuk looked back and forth between Si-woo and Ye-ryeong.
His mouth didn't open easily.
But he had to ask. He couldn't gloss over it otherwise.
His heart tightened. Even after preparing himself for so long, it didn't make the hard part any easier.
He was resolved.
Even if they resented him and pointed fingers, he'd accept it.
It was his sin, after all.
Soo-hyuk took a breath. His trembling lips finally parted with difficulty.
"Did you... resent me a lot?"
"......"
No answer came.
The brief silence felt like an eternity. The longer it stretched, the heavier the weight on his shoulders.
"Ha-."
Then Si-woo let out a hollow laugh. Ye-ryeong stared blankly at the question, lost in thought.
A moment later.
"......Hic."
Ye-ryeong covered her mouth with her hand as tears began streaming from her eyes.
Soo-hyuk panicked. Then Ye-ryeong collapsed to the ground and burst into sobs.
"Wha-wha?"
Tense as he was, Soo-hyuk floundered.
"Hey, why are you crying all of a sudden?"
He'd braced for resentment, but she suddenly burst into tears. He'd imagined this reunion hundreds, thousands of times, but never this scenario.
He'd expected one of two answers: Of course we did, or No.
Soo-hyuk set Unhyang down on the ground and crouched to check Ye-ryeong's face. Should he wipe her tears? Hug her to comfort her? He fumbled, unsure.
As Soo-hyuk fidgeted anxiously.
Ye-ryeong, sitting on the ground and crying, mumbled in a choked voice.
"You're... really... really, really you... You're Soo-hyuk... It really is Soo-hyuk......"
"......"
"Why... why'd you come so late......"
Thwack-.
Ye-ryeong's hand struck Soo-hyuk's chest.
"How lonely we were... How much... how much we missed you......"
The reason Ye-ryeong cried.
Soo-hyuk's question about resentment had made the reality sink in: the real Soo-hyuk had returned.
It was exactly the question Lee Soo-hyuk, as she knew him, would ask.
Watching Ye-ryeong sob with tears and snot streaming, Soo-hyuk gave a hollow smile.
He hadn't gotten an answer. But relief washed over him anyway.
Pfft-.
A sigh escaped his loosened tension.
"Are you happy or sad?"
Both Si-woo and Ye-ryeong.
Once they accepted Soo-hyuk had returned, tears came first.
He'd known it in his head, but now he could feel it.
They'd lived time without him. This reunion had taken far longer for them.
"Sniff-."
Ye-ryeong cried for a while before stopping.
Regaining her composure, she asked.
"So, what happened? How?"
She scanned Soo-hyuk up and down.
His face and height weren't the Soo-hyuk she remembered.
Reverse Transformation Technique at mastery could alter height, build, even face. But Ye-ryeong of all people wouldn't fail to recognize it.
Soo-hyuk was in his bare face right now.
"Died and came back."
"That's what we're saying. We thought you'd died for sure."
"No, I literally died and revived. In a completely different body."
Ye-ryeong tilted her head as if wondering what he meant, but Si-woo flinched and asked back.
"You meant that literally?"
"I told you earlier."
"Say it so people understand!"
"I did. Nothing added or subtracted."
"You didn't add or subtract at all?"
Ignoring Ye-ryeong's shouts, Si-woo clutched his neck dramatically in disbelief.
"Ha-. What is this? That can't be possible......"
"What are you talking about? Don't leave me out—explain so I get it."
Unlike Si-woo, who'd heard the explanation multiple times, Ye-ryeong couldn't immediately grasp the idea of dying and reviving.
"Be honest. You two are messing with me, right......"
Dong-dong, dong-dong-dong-.
That's when drumming echoed in their ears.
Much closer than before. And the demonic energy was closing in just as fast.
At the same time, Ye-ryeong's eyes narrowed.
Far off, she spotted undead dragons flying through the sky.
"......Si-woo, what did you do?"
Si-woo was supposed to stir up the demons in this plan, but this seemed excessive.
"What, you brought those things here?"
"I didn't bring them."
"If not you, then......"
Ye-ryeong's brow furrowed, one eye squinting.
"Karma's biting back."
Blue Zone had long made hunting demons their test trials.
Relations between humans and demons were like that from the start. No special grudge needed to hunt monsters, just as no reason existed for mutual slaughter.
But the demons were the same.
No.
If anything, their malice knew no bounds—worse than humans.
"It was weird we'd only been on the receiving end until now."
"They came to wipe us all out, huh?"
"Obviously."
"Not the Demon King, but Legion Commanders must've moved."
In that brief exchange, Ye-ryeong grasped the situation. If true, Si-woo hadn't influenced this.
But one thing Ye-ryeong hadn't considered.
"Two of them."
"Huh?"
"Legion Commanders. Two are coming."
Caught off guard, Ye-ryeong looked shocked.
One Legion Commander alone put major guilds on high alert. Two meant a fight for survival.
And Blue Zone was missing Kim Il-su right now.
"They're really gonna get wiped out."
"They're not the problem. We are too."
"Agh, my head."
They'd found Hyeo-min, and unexpectedly reunited with Soo-hyuk. He was overjoyed to the point of tears, but now a headache hit immediately.
"Which ones?"
"Bellamus and Ifreion. That's what I confirmed."
"Of course it's the annoying ones."
"Name a Legion Commander that's not annoying."
"Fair."
Ye-ryeong sighed. She already felt exhausted.
Then.
"We need to take down at least one."
Si-woo spoke up. Soo-hyuk and Ye-ryeong's gazes turned to him simultaneously.
"You serious?"
"If they get wiped out here, we'll be tracked too. I'll be one of their targets anyway."
Si-woo had already clashed with the demons. They wouldn't let him off easy.
"It's not impossible, right? With the three of us."
Ye-ryeong pouted but held her tongue at Si-woo's words.
He had a point. If they tried, it wasn't undoable.
To some, a Legion Commander was as bad as the Demon King, but not to Si-woo or Ye-ryeong. They'd hunted a few before.
Still, the reason she pouted was simple.
"But, if he's like what I saw on the stream."
Ye-ryeong glanced at Soo-hyuk.
"This stage might be a bit early for streamer Lee Soo-hyuk?"
She didn't know the exact reason, but she could tell Soo-hyuk had lost power. Ye-ryeong had been a loyal viewer since his first stream.
"You okay?"
A mix of worry and teasing.
"Scared? Say the word, and big sis will protect you."
"Never thought I'd live to see the day you all look down on me."
"Mad? Then prove it."
Soo-hyuk chuckled at Ye-ryeong's giggling words.
"That'll be quick."
Ye-ryeong's laughter cut off abruptly.
It was a cheeky reply, but Si-woo and Ye-ryeong had to admit it.
Soo-hyuk's growth on stream wasn't just fast—it was insane. A rising rookie streamer not long ago now rivaled top rankers who could fight the Divine Lotus Guild.
"Cheeky as ever—definitely Soo-hyuk."
"You said that earlier."
"This feels even more like him."
Soo-hyuk shrugged at Ye-ryeong's teasing.
"Anyway, if it's because of me, don't worry. I'm weaker, but not dead weight."
"If you say so... fine."
With Soo-hyuk like this, Ye-ryeong had no more hesitations.
She stood from where she'd been sitting. Watching her grip her daggers again, Soo-hyuk said.
"Since we're doing it, let's go show them properly."
Flick-.
Soo-hyuk's eyes flashed yellow.
"Who has returned."