Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: 59화
-----------------------------------------------------------------
```html
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Shadows After Victory
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After the tournament ended, in an alleyway corner of the village near the colosseum.
Cha Min-woo, leaning against the wall, let out a sigh of admiration.
"He really won, that guy."
The screen on the kit he was holding showed Lee Soo-hyuk's stream.
The moment of receiving the tournament's grand prize, the Boots of the Free Thief.
Chiiik-.
He took a long drag from his lit cigarette and sank into thought.
"This is outside my calculations..."
"We all thought Schneider would win, right?"
Responding to Cha Min-woo was his partner, Park Hee-young.
With her bow slung over her back, she was looking at the same stream screen as him.
"Isn't it amazing? Already beating Schneider."
"His talent is top-tier in history, for real. I admit it."
"Do you think this guy will really become like Lee Soo-hyuk someday?"
Here, the Lee Soo-hyuk she referred to wasn't the streamer.
It was the legend of Blue Eyes, Cha Min-woo's idol, Lee Soo-hyuk.
"Who knows..."
"Doesn't he have the talent? He even got the same score in the same test."
Not taking her eyes off the stream screen, she wore an intrigued expression.
"They say anything True-hyuk can do, Fake-hyuk can do too. That's the talk going around lately."
"True-hyuk? Fake-hyuk?"
"It's kids' slang these days. Lee Soo-hyuk is the real deal, streamer Lee Soo-hyuk is the fake. True-hyuk, Fake-hyuk."
"What weird nicknames..."
His face scrunched up, clearly displeased.
"And the order's wrong. It's not that Fake-hyuk can do what True-hyuk can do. It's that True-hyuk can do what Fake-hyuk can do."
"Isn't that the same thing?"
"No, totally different."
What exactly bothered him so much?
Whenever Lee Soo-hyuk came up, Cha Min-woo turned into a kid.
"That fanboy heart of yours..."
"What?"
"You heard me. I meant for you to."
Hee-young shrugged and changed the subject.
"So what happens now?"
"What happens? Target change."
"What about the prize?"
"What, you want to snatch it by force?"
Hee-young shut her mouth, at a loss for words.
She knew it too. Now that the winner was decided, there was nothing more they could do.
It was just regrettable.
Blue Zone, the successor to Blue Eyes' legacy, handing their relic over to an outsider.
"Snatching it by force is embarrassing anyway. Look at this guy's viewer count. How many?"
14,000 people.
No small number by any means.
Even after the tournament ended, new viewers kept pouring in. Probably people coming to check out the item.
It meant the issue had blown up somewhere in the community.
"Can't touch this. No upside."
"Should've recruited him before he got too big."
"What can you do when he refused? Means he's confident in his skills."
Even though it was bad for the guild, Cha Min-woo's lips curved up.
"He's confident. His value will rise even more with time."
"Is that really why?"
"Then what? Any reason not to join our guild?"
Cha Min-woo was certain.
Streamer Lee Soo-hyuk.
Someday, he would come into their fold.
Because.
"I can tell. How obsessed this guy is with the legend of Blue Eyes."
He was the same type as him, after all.
"Really?"
Whenever Blue Eyes came up, Cha Min-woo changed somehow.
Hee-young sighed watching her.
"The problem is that legend might end soon."
"Some misunderstanding."
"Hope so."
Hee-young let his words go in one ear and out the other.
Anything else, but not on this mission. His words lacked objectivity there.
While the two chatted.
Lee Soo-hyuk's stream ended after checking the prize options.
"Let's go confirm it then. Whether it's true or not."
Step-.
Hee-young started walking.
And as her footsteps signaled.
Step, step-.
Numerous players began moving from various spots in the alley where they waited.
After ending the stream, Soo-hyuk entered the shop where Unhyang was.
She had grilled the meat just right and waved to Soo-hyuk as he entered.
"Over here, over here."
"What's this, a meat place?"
"You worked hard in the matches. Aren't you hungry?"
It was mealtime anyway. Soo-hyuk picked up his chopsticks and started eating the grilled meat.
"What was the message about?"
"Oh, that?"
Unhyang organized her thoughts briefly before speaking.
"I met a suspicious person in the stands."
"Suspicious how?"
"Well..."
Unhyang recounted the mysterious woman she met in the stands.
A shady player with her face hidden.
"At first I suspected her, but then we talked and I dropped my guard."
"How did you click?"
"She said she was a fan of you, Soo-hyuk-nim."
"My fan?"
"Yeah. Oh, didn't seem like a lie. My eye for people is spot on."
Fans recognize fans. Unhyang didn't think the woman's reaction was faked.
"But when you won, her expression..."
Unhyang recalled the woman's face changing with Soo-hyuk's victory.
A mix of joy, despair, longing—all jumbled up, unrecognizable.
Unsure how to describe it, Unhyang skipped ahead.
"Anyway, then she suddenly disappeared."
At those words, Soo-hyuk's hand paused midway to his mouth with the meat.
"...Disappeared?"
"Yes. Suddenly."
"Dodging Manager-nim's eyes?"
Impossible.
Not just anyone, it was Unhyang. She worked as a manager now, but her skills were far from ordinary.
A player with the moniker of genius.
How many players could suddenly vanish right under her eyes?
Knowing that, she had messaged Soo-hyuk urgently.
'Dodging Unhyang's eyes and hiding her face...'
At least one such player.
Lingered in Soo-hyuk's memory.
'No way?'
Just in case.
Soo-hyuk asked,
"And?"
"Huh?"
"Anything else she said?"
Listening, it felt like a familiar picture drawing itself on a blank canvas.
Who could it be? A bit more, and the image would sharpen with colors.
Unhyang pondered Soo-hyuk's question before answering.
"And um... Oh, right. She asked if I was a fan of Lee Soo-hyuk."
"Me?"
"No, no, not you, Soo-hyuk-nim. Blue Eyes'."
Not a strange question.
Most viewers of Soo-hyuk's stream cherished memories and fantasies of Lee Soo-hyuk.
"But her reaction was a bit odd."
"How so?"
"Sort of positive, sort of not... But definitely not negative."
"Not positive, not negative?"
"It was like..."
How to describe that reaction.
Unhyang picked the closest word she knew after thinking.
"Like she was missing him..."
That instant.
Drag-.
Soo-hyuk stood from his seat.
He tossed the chopsticks and meat aside, rushing outside.
"Soo-hyuk-nim? Soo-hyuk-nim!"
He heard Unhyang's urgent voice.
But he couldn't afford to care now.
Thud, thud, thud-.
Like when he found the ice flower.
Soo-hyuk began frantically searching the surroundings.
Ye-ryeong sat on the rooftop of a building.
From there, the village scenery was perfectly visible. The village bustled with people leaving after watching the matches.
And among them.
Ye-ryeong spotted the movements of certain players catching her eye.
"Knew it."
Cha Min-woo and Park Hee-young at the center, with countless players in hiding.
Mixed in the crowd of spectators. To catch one person.
But.
"Lost your edge, Il-su."
Tsking at them, Ye-ryeong clicked her tongue.
"Think those kids can catch me? Come yourselves, maybe."
Anything more prepared?
To her, the players gathered here were no threat.
Escaping wasn't the issue.
Even facing them head-on, she could kill them all and walk out.
20 years ago, maybe not. But now, she had the ability.
Of course.
'Should I?'
Ye-ryeong's gaze turned one way.
Wearing a mask exposing his mouth, streamer Lee Soo-hyuk strode the streets.
Whatever he was searching for so frantically, she didn't know.
Anyway, right now, what she needed was the boots on his feet.
'Just cut off the feet and take them.'
It wouldn't even take a second.
That much time, no one would notice. If they did, well.
At least this net before her eyes, she could tear through easily and escape.
The problem was.
'Should I, though?'
This inexplicable hesitation.
She couldn't pinpoint why.
Because his stream was fun these past days?
No. No matter how fun, it couldn't compare to a relic from a friend like family.
Yet the reason for hesitating was one.
'Why does he look so much alike? Annoying.'
His face unknown, yet Lee Soo-hyuk kept overlapping in his demeanor.
"Steal it after the winner's announced. Much safer."
Promise with Si-woo.
"Don't worry. Min-jae treasured it most. Won't just leave it there."
Can't return empty-handed.
No matter how much he resembled Lee Soo-hyuk.
It was just cosplay, at best.
'Soo-hyuk is dead.'
He never appeared in 20 years.
Officially, Lee Soo-hyuk was deceased. Unless truly reincarnated, retaking lower trials was system-impossible.
Two different people.
Absolutely not the same.
But...
"Won't sell."
Every time she moved to slice his feet, reasons not to popped up.
"Arghhh! Damn-."
Finally, she clawed her hair, screaming.
And soon.
Springing up, she made her decision.
"You're really from Il-su's guild. If you join there, I'll cut those legs again and come back."
If that happened, no face to show Si-woo.
No.
Dead, couldn't face other friends either.
Whish-.
Turning, she looked at Soo-hyuk once more.
Searching every corner of the village, whatever for.
Didn't feel it while hesitating, but deciding brought odd regret.
"Someday, it'd be nice to talk once."
Definitely.
Talking to him felt like talking to Lee Soo-hyuk.
```