Chapter 111
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: 【Grotesque Gourmet】
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[Karma: The sinner has been destroyed.]
Awakener ‘Choi Min’ has been freed from the Absolute ‘Tuner’.
‘Is this finally over?’
I had destroyed the apostle contract between Choi Min Hunter and the Tuner. It was practically turning an Absolute into an enemy.
But there were no regrets. The Absolutes had never once been on humanity’s side anyway. Saving the world was my role—and that of my comrades.
The pain ripping through my body like it was being torn apart began to fade as my consciousness slipped away.
If I ended up banished from this nightmare like this, what would happen to Choi Min Hunter trapped inside? Could even the Gourmet’s table save her?
Thump, thump.
Then I heard someone’s heartbeat. A cool, sharp scent tickled my nose—the smell of burning wood.
I slowly opened my eyes, and they met a pair of dark crimson irises.
“Choi Min Hunter...”
Calling her name made her eyes widen.
“Hah... haa... Thank goodness. It’s really you, Choi Min Hunter...”
I let out a sigh of relief without realizing it. Those were eyes fully escaped from the nightmare, clearly recognizing who she was.
Only after my mind eased did I start taking in my surroundings. Flames raged everywhere, so we were still inside the Air Raid Shelter, and Choi Min Hunter had been protecting my unconscious body amid it all.
Crackle.
She set me down and just stared at me wordlessly. Her mouth twitched like she had a lot to say, but no proper words came out.
‘She seems a bit more honest with her emotions now.’
I felt like I could guess what she was thinking.
“Your hair...”
“Huh?”
Hair?
Hearing Choi Min Hunter, I reached up and felt my head.
“Ah.”
It was short. My ears felt exposed. It had been long enough to brush my shoulders since I hadn’t cut it, but now it barely reached my neck. The jagged ends at my nape felt awkward, so I kept rubbing it.
“Must’ve singed it in the fire. Don’t worry about it.”
Vreeee—
At that moment, the Gourmet’s fork began glowing brilliantly in the air.
‘Guess we’re really out of time now.’
I snatched the hovering fork and placed it in Choi Min Hunter’s hand. She glanced back and forth between it and me.
“We’ll talk details after we get out. Dismantle the Air Raid Shelter first.”
“Got it.”
Choi Min Hunter clenched her fist, and the azure flames enveloping us shot skyward, dissolving into smoke and vanishing.
Boom!!
It happened in an instant. The moment the shelter vanished, scarlet flames tried to devour us. Choi Min Hunter and I dodged sideways simultaneously.
Frustrated at failing to burn us, the nightmare’s core relentlessly triggered explosions in midair.
“A monster?”
“Not quite a monster—it’s the core of Choi Min Hunter’s nightmare.”
“...It looks just like me.”
Choi Min Hunter glanced sidelong at her own nightmare and gave a wry smile.
Bang!!
The nightmare’s core spat flames at Choi Min Hunter, who dove toward the ground to evade. The sound of air slicing echoed through the nightmare’s interior.
“Stab it with the fork!”
Choi Min Hunter nodded and rocketed toward the core like a meteor.
Time remaining until ascending the Gourmet’s table: 1 minute
Countdown begins.
‘We’re really cutting it close...!’
Boom boom boom!!
The nightmare’s core spewed fire in all directions at Choi Min Hunter, but whether the flames recognized their true master or not, they couldn’t singe a single inch of her flesh.
Sparks trailed her flight path, unextinguished embers twinkling beautifully—mesmerizing enough to lose yourself watching.
[22 seconds]
The countdown numbers dwindled. Two identical silhouettes overlapped and separated repeatedly.
Bam!!
An explosion erupted, ash-gray smoke swallowing them both. When it cleared, the nightmare’s core and Choi Min Hunter were revealed, each gripping the other’s throat. Flames burst from both their hands simultaneously, but neither turned to ash.
Through gaps in the crimson blaze, I glimpsed Choi Min Hunter’s blazing eyes.
Those eyes, once filled with guilt and self-loathing, now shone with the will to live.
[10 seconds]
“Choi Min Hunter!!”
Choi Min Hunter plunged the Gourmet’s fork in her hand into the nightmare’s core’s head.
[6 seconds]
The core squeezed Choi Min Hunter’s throat harder, but she flexed her arm, splitting its head with the fork.
“Begone!!”
Crash.
With Choi Min Hunter’s roar, black dust scattered everywhere. The fork, having fulfilled its purpose, shattered like glass. Cracks spiderwebbed across the sky where scarlet clouds had loomed, and red embers began falling like snow.
‘Choi Min’ has escaped the ‘Nightmare of Guilt’.
Remaining ingredients: 0
The head chef, bewildered, heads off to inform the Gourmet of the situation.
I’d suspected as much—Choi Min Hunter’s nightmare stemmed from guilt over surviving alone.
I looked up at her back. She stood with her face tilted to the sky, eyes closed. Clear handprints from her guilt-marked her neck.
No telling how long it’d take for those marks to fully fade. But they were just marks now—they couldn’t choke her anymore.
Choi Min Hunter lowered her head and looked at me. Her expression toward me felt surprisingly warm, drawing a soft smile from my lips.
Tap.
The boundary between sky and earth blurred for a moment before we emerged from the nightmare. The five of us hunters, myself included, landed on an opulent red carpet floor.
“Ji-ui!”
“Whoa! Ack!”
Se-bin yanked me into a tight hug. The sudden impact shook me, but since she practically lifted me, I didn’t topple backward. She immediately grabbed my shoulders, scanning me for injuries.
“No wounds? Doesn’t look like any major trauma...”
Then Se-bin stopped mid-sentence. Her gaze fixed on my hair.
“Ah. It got singed a bit.”
“...Like when we were in high school.”
‘Oh yeah, I cut it short back then for track practice.’
Se-bin grinned broadly, fiddling with the ends of my hair. Her fingertips brushed my neck, tickling a little.
“Are you both okay?!”
This time it was Han Jin-woo Hunter. After dismounting from Lucky Rabbit’s Foot, he slathered Healing Hand all over Choi Min Hunter and me. Not satisfied, Cha Do-yun Hunter, who’d joined late, cast Sky Breeze as well.
Seeing the hunters gathered close like that made my chest swell.
‘I saved them all from the nightmares.’
I really had rescued them. I hadn’t let my precious comrades drown in those nightmares.
“What’s wrong? You hurt somewhere?”
I whipped my head around to find Se-bin looking worried.
“It’s nothing.”
‘I feel like crying.’
Vreeee—
As I bit the inside of my cheek to hold back tears, Nokdu popped out from my bracelet.
Kyau! Awoong!
“Ah, Nokdu...”
Nokdu licked right at my eyes, face inches from mine.
‘Salty!’
“Pfft...”
I’d been on the verge of tears, but Nokdu’s antics burst me into laughter. Even that felt like comfort, slowly calming my heart.
“Shin Ji-ui Hunter.”
Choi Min Hunter approached me. Surprisingly, a faint smile played on her lips.
“I have a lot I want to say.”
“Good thing. The person who said there was no benefit to getting close to you now has a lot to say.”
Choi Min Hunter’s shoulders twitched. Her dark crimson eyes oddly made her resemble a rabbit.
“Could we spend some time together later?”
“You don’t have to ask so formally.”
She caught that I was agreeing and nodded quietly.
“By the way, how do we escape from here?”
Han Jin-woo Hunter spoke up.
‘What happens next?’
I doubted escaping the nightmares alone would make the Gourmet’s fragment vanish. I wet my throat with some water and looked around.
Red curtains, carpet, large windows... Same as before.
No ingredients left to serve on the Gourmet’s table now.
Clack, clack.
Lost in thought, I heard the sound of someone’s shoes.
The head chef fails to supply ingredients to the Gourmet and announces that today’s a la carte cannot be ordered.
Dark blue text appeared before my eyes. I looked up to see everyone else freeze and stare at the floating words too.
The Gourmet points accusingly at the head chef.
The table flips, and dishes crash.
Rumble.
The ground shook, probably from the Gourmet’s tantrum.
The head chef calms the Gourmet and seats them again.
The Gourmet scowls and orders dishes haphazardly.
The head chef scurries into the kitchen.
Screeech.
“What...?”
Suddenly the walls split open in all directions, unfolding completely like a box. Looking up, I saw a massive chandelier on a high ceiling. And what I’d thought was the floor... was someone’s table.
It felt like stumbling into a land of giants.
Bam!!
My body reacted faster than my mind could process. A chill and shadow fell over me—I activated Word Without Feet and retreated. A pale white hand slammed down exactly where I’d stood.
Following the hand upward, I saw an arm in a suit. Past the necktied throat to the face... a bouquet of vibrant flowers bound together.
【Gourmet】
Its name appeared in gold lettering on a red card floating above its head.
The bouquet-headed entity was the Gourmet—the mysterious monster that had tried to devour us.
[□ㅣ???■ Food,,,,ㄱ▲a?]
Then the text above the Gourmet’s head fragmented into pieces. In the center of the beautiful bouquet, a downward-curving parabola formed at the bottom, slowly splitting open into a wide, horizontal maw.
A primal revulsion made my whole body stiffen and tingle. Just looking at it muddled my mind.
As I struggled to cling to reason, the shattered text began piecing itself back together.
【Grotesque Gourmet】
A crude being utterly devoid of even a speck of dining etiquette.
That was the moment its true identity was unveiled.