Chapter 52
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Lingering Nightmares
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“I-I’ll take a look!”
Jin-woo squeezed between Mi-jun and Min-suk, activating Healing Hand. Amid a fragrant floral scent, vibrant blue leaves swirled around Ji-ui as he gently touched her wrist.
“F-For now, she’s still alive. No injuries, and her breathing and pulse are all completely normal.”
“Mental attack? There are guys out there hiding their appearances right now.”
“I can’t tell that far. My skill specializes in healing physical wounds…”
Jin-woo lowered his gaze, his face falling.
Thump, thump, thump.
Se-bin stood one step behind all the commotion. To make sense of the situation, she needed to hear what the others were saying—but her heartbeat was pounding so loudly she couldn’t hear a thing. Her heart felt like it was about to burst, yet her body grew colder by the second.
This is just like that dream…
About a week before Ji-ui awakened, Se-bin had a bizarre dream. She and Ji-ui were the stars of it. Ji-ui lay on the ground like a corpse, impaled by Se-bin’s weapon ‘Shadow,’ while Se-bin looked down at her. The sensation of being drenched in Ji-ui’s blood was so vivid that she vomited the moment she woke up.
And now, a scene eerily similar to that dream was unfolding right before her eyes.
Step.
Forcing her feet to move when they refused to budge, she drew even closer. Her shadow clung stickily to the soles of her feet.
“Kang Se-bin Hunter.”
Mi-jun called her name, but she knelt on one knee beside Ji-ui and scooped her up without a word. Lowering her head, she pressed her ear gently to Ji-ui’s breathing. Even after confirming she was alive, Se-bin tightened her arms around her.
She’s in bad shape too.
Mi-jun chewed the inside of his cheek as he watched Se-bin. The Kang Se-bin he knew wasn’t one to get rattled by much. She stayed far from greed or ambition, her dark eyes always glazed with boredom.
The one thing—the only thing—that made her seem human was Ji-ui.
Next to Ji-ui, he smiled easily, acted spoiled, even got jealous of others. It was only after seeing that side of him that Mi-jun realized Se-bin was just like any other girl her age.
But right now, she looks like a monster again.
Se-bin’s starry eyes were blankly fixed on Ji-ui. Her shadow swayed wildly, rippling with menace as if it might burst forth at any moment.
“Kang Se-bin Hunter, calm down.”
“……”
Mi-jun spoke in a lower voice than usual. He knew a sharp word would do more good than empty comfort.
Se-bin slowly turned her head toward Mi-jun. The black shadow draping over her face sharpened its contours starkly.
Thump.
“Ugh…”
An alien pressure washed over them. Every hunter staring at her froze for a moment, overwhelmed. Thankfully, their senses returned quickly, and Mi-jun scratched his head with one hand, furrowing his brow.
That damn annoying skill of hers…
Rumble.
The tense silence shattered as a weathered wooden sign suddenly rose from the ground at the edge of their perimeter. Everyone aimed their weapons at it, and Choi Min Hunter, closest, bent slightly to inspect it.
[Today's weather is clear.]
[It should be clear]
[Should be clear…?]
[Not clear?]
“So the bastard who wouldn’t even show his face finally crawls out.”
Min-suk clicked her tongue in annoyance. ‘Today’s Weather is Clear’ stood there dumbly, beginning to express its opinions via the sign.
[The weather has to be clear!]
[I said it has to be!!]
[Gonna find who made the weather cloudy and punish them!!]
“Everyone, get ready for battle.”
Sensing something, Min-suk hurled Dusim into the air, immediately shifting to a defensive stance.
Boom!!
Lightning crashed down exactly where Se-bin had been standing. She dodged by a hair’s breadth, but the tip of her ‘Black Snake Skin’ was slightly singed.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Today’s Weather is Clear kept up its assault. Blinding white sparks dogged Se-bin relentlessly, but she evaded every strike with agility, summoning dozens of black hands from the creature’s shadow.
Clang!
The hands tore at the wooden sign, but for some reason, it didn’t even get scratched.
“Kang Se-bin Hunter, first hand Ji-ui over to Choi Min Hunter!”
Se-bin’s brow twitched. She instantly grasped the meaning—put Ji-ui inside Air Raid Shelter and fight.
Why should I?
A foolish thought flitted through her mind. She didn’t want to pass Ji-ui into someone else’s hands. She believed no one here was more qualified to stay by Ji-ui’s side than herself.
Just wipe them all out…
Boom!!
“Gasp.”
Just before her raw emotions could spill over, her senses snapped back. Only then did Se-bin look around, realizing she was inside Min’s Air Raid Shelter.
What was I just thinking…?
Cold sweat trickled down her spine. It was a thought she’d never had before, yet moments ago, it had felt perfectly natural.
As if she’d done it many times.
“Kang Se-bin Hunter…?”
That was when Jin-woo and Mi-jun entered the shelter. Nokdu, cradled in Jin-woo’s arms, let out pitiful whines the instant it spotted its master.
“C-Could you hand over Shin Ji-ui Hunter? Just in case, I’d like to keep monitoring her…”
Jin-woo pleaded with Se-bin in a quavering voice. He knew she wouldn’t harm him, but instinctive fear gnawed at him relentlessly.
“…Sure.”
Se-bin let out a small chuckle, then withdrew a hand from her shadow and gently placed Ji-ui atop it.
Plop.
She spread her Black Snake Skin on the ground, and the shadow hand carefully lowered Ji-ui onto it.
Screee… Whine. Screech—!
“It’s okay, Nokdu. Your master will wake up soon. There’s a good boy~?”
Jin-woo tried soothing Nokdu with head pats, but it kept circling Ji-ui anxiously. It glanced at her face, then up at Se-bin, then back to her face, repeating endlessly.
I should’ve stayed right by her side.
She’d thought as long as Ji-ui was in her line of sight, she could protect her somehow. That no one but Kang Se-bin herself could safeguard Ji-ui.
But in the end, Se-bin cursed her own arrogance.
“The monster outside is just hammering away at the shelter nonstop.”
Mi-jun sidled up beside Se-bin. A sharp mint scent pierced his nose, fresh enough to cut through the acrid perimeter air.
“…Is that right.”
“Oh, getting a response now.”
Mi-jun shot her a sidelong glance.
Still got that death glare.
Thwack.
He smacked the back of her shoulder with solid force, but Se-bin didn’t even flinch, her eyes glued to Ji-ui. Mi-jun followed her gaze from her finely sculpted profile to Ji-ui.
What exactly is Ji-ui to Kang Se-bin Hunter?
Even calling her a childhood friend didn’t cover the intensity of her reaction. It was too pure to label obsession, too pathological to call affection.
Mi-jun gave up trying to define that strange emotion and spoke again.
“Why are you so wrapped up in protecting Ji-ui?”
“……”
“She’s a grown adult. Sure, she only awakened recently, but she’s SS-rank.”
Se-bin finally looked Mi-jun straight in the eye.
“Ji-ui’s way too used to making sacrifices.”
“……”
“You saw it yourself, Ha Mi-jun Hunter.”
Thump.
Mi-jun’s heart plummeted at her words. Just minutes ago, Ji-ui had taken a hit meant for him. There was no hesitation in her action, no regret in her eyes even as her body was pierced.
“Ha Mi-jun Hunter! Are you okay?”
After everything settled, she’d come rushing to check on him—despite being the one who got hurt.
That uncalculated goodness… it was why Mi-jun felt fear toward Ji-ui.
“She’s always been like that?”
“Yeah. She never just walks past someone in need.”
Se-bin slowly lowered her eyes, her shadow starting to quiver uneasily again.
“Even if it hurts her.”
As Se-bin’s eyes fully closed, a few scenes flashed through her mind.
Dragging her battered body to school after helping someone else, accepting that she couldn’t get as much affection as she wanted because of her sick little sister as if it were natural, and yet always looking at her—her childhood friend—with such gentle eyes.
Grind.
Se-bin clenched her teeth. She loved Ji-ui’s upright nature more than anyone, but she knew better than anyone that it always led to Ji-ui getting hurt. Her mind grew tangled.
“Her being a grown adult—and an SS-rank hunter—makes it even worse.”
Se-bin rubbed her dry face with one hand, muttering before covering her eyes.
“Now that she has more power than most, how much bigger a sacrifice do you think she’s prepared to make?”
Mi-jun said nothing—an implicit agreement with her speculation. Se-bin murmured lowly in a voice somewhere between laughter and tears.
“Ji-ui won’t look after herself, so I have to do it for her.”
Even if it’s not what she wants.
Se-bin swallowed the rest. For the first time in ages, a glint of light flickered in her black eyes, peeking through her fingers.
“Wh-what?!”
Jin-woo suddenly shuddered. As everyone’s attention shifted from Se-bin to him, a status window popped up before their eyes.
The edited monster ‘Corpse Mobile’ has been annihilated by ‘Shin Ji-ui’.
Time seemed to freeze as silence fell over them. In that moment, staring blankly at the status window—
“Guh!”
Ji-ui’s eyes fluttered open.