Chapter 70
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Forced Awakening
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Shattered cup fragments, curses slamming into eardrums, a chilled atmosphere.
It was a moment when everything felt uncomfortable and unpleasant.
“Yeo, yeobo?”
“What the hell have you been doing over there? Huh?”
Cha Do-yun Hunter's father set down his teacup and rushed out into the living room. But his wife was already seeing red.
“...Looks like there was a reason I shouldn't drink this yuzu tea.”
Cha Do-yun Hunter's mother's eyes twitched beneath dark circles.
“I was trying to make one ungrateful bastard childless, but something weird got mixed in...”
“What?”
“Yeo, yeobo! What are you talking about?!”
Ignoring his venomous glare, she turned to look at Cha Do-yun Hunter.
...He's shocked.
Comforting him could wait. First, I needed to expose this woman's schemes completely.
“You poisoned the yuzu tea, right? Monster-killing poison.”
“......”
“You dropped it while brewing the tea earlier. I tried to pick it up for you, but you smacked the back of my hand away.”
Crunch.
The sound of something hard grinding together echoed as she clenched her teeth tightly.
“Why the hell would you do that to your own son?”
“I poured billions into awakening a talentless punk, and he just runs off. Wouldn't you want to kill him if you were me?”
'Wait, you forced his awakening?'
Before I could ask, she spoke first.
“Oh, you didn't know.”
Her tone suddenly turned saccharine.
“Our Do-yun got awakened through a broker. A mongrel hybrid.”
My mind went blank. I realized for the first time that when something completely deviated from expectations, thinking itself just stopped.
“One of my seniors did something similar a few years ago. One of his clients was a non-awakener who awakened as an S-Rank!”
I recalled the filthy broker bastard Han Cheol-min's words.
The awakening brokers had run rampant 5 or 6 years ago. The massive crackdown happened around then too. It matched Cha Do-yun Hunter's awakening timeline perfectly.
“I originally wanted him to do archery. But he never even got first place once in competitions.”
Cha Do-yun Hunter's mother covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes narrowing sharply. The strange madness in her pupils somehow resembled someone else's.
'Yeon-woo's parents.'
It was just like the eyes of that couple who had handed Yeon-woo over to the broker.
“He's not the sharpest either. All he's got going for him is that pretty face he got from his old man.”
“Hey!”
“I figured out how to make something of him.”
She lowered her hand, revealing her lips curled up smugly.
“Awaken him to at least C-Rank and turn him into a hunter.”
“......”
“Not a bad idea, right?”
A chill seeped into my body. I glanced at Cha Do-yun Hunter.
'Cha Do-yun Hunter...'
He was huddled up, trembling.
“It cost 500 million just for one awakening. Hundreds of millions every session.”
“Don't you know how dangerous the inside of a dungeon is?”
“I do. I'm a gate explosion survivor myself.”
Cha Do-yun Hunter's mother rolled up her sleeve. A long vertical scar ran from her wrist up to the inside of her elbow.
“Thanks to that, I had to quit archery, which I was doing just fine.”
“......”
“When he awakened as an S-Rank, I thought we'd struck gold. But he paid off the debt and bolted right out.”
“And you're trying to kill Cha Do-yun Hunter just because of that?”
She nodded.
“But then you showed up and ruined everything.”
Cha Do-yun Hunter's mother spat a curse under her breath and pulled an empty pill bottle from her pocket, hurling it at me.
Thud.
I caught it lightly with one hand and set it on the table.
*Do not ingest under any circumstances.*
The red label text caught my eye.
Cha Do-yun Hunter from the previous timeline wouldn't have known who fed him this poison. He had tried to protect his mother until the end.
Even knowing all he'd get in return was pain.
“Cut it out.”
[Eloquence Increased]
[Non-Awakener ‘Cha Joo-yeon’ is shaken by Awakener ‘Shin Ji-ui’s statement.]
I couldn't bear to watch anymore, regardless of how Cha Do-yun Hunter felt.
“Cha Do-yun Hunter isn't some mongrel or talentless punk.”
[Eloquence Increased]
[Awakener ‘Cha Do-yun’ is shaken by Awakener ‘Shin Ji-ui’s statement.]
Before my memories returned, I'd honestly resented Cha Do-yun Hunter and wanted to smack him more than once or twice. But he was my comrade in every timeline, kind to the point of naivety.
“You crazy bitch...!”
“He might be a child you want dead, but to me and the other hunters, he's a precious comrade.”
[Speech Result: Resolve]
[Linked Passive Skill Activated]
[‘Words Become Seeds’]
[Implant the seed of ‘he's a precious comrade’ into Awakener ‘Cha Do-yun’?]
And this timeline was no different. The path might have been rough, but I'd made Cha Do-yun Hunter my comrade to face the Hell Path together.
'Yes.'
[Implanted the seed of ‘he's a precious comrade’ into Awakener ‘Cha Do-yun’.]
[One Who Steps on Karma]
[Karma Cleared]
[Progress Greatly Increased]
[Progress: 78%]
The moment I stopped the accident that was about to befall Cha Do-yun Hunter and planted the seed, his karma cleared.
Memories flooded in: Cha Do-yun Hunter losing his voice, sinking into depression and losing focus in battle, getting absurdly injured by a low-grade monster.
“Get out.”
Cha Do-yun Hunter, who had been silent, finally spoke.
“Cha Do-yun.”
“I said get out.”
He lifted his head and glared down at his parents. His eyes were wet, but burning fiercely.
As if he'd resolved never to let them hurt him again.
“Don't ever come see me again.”
“Do, Do-yun...!”
“You too, Dad. Stay out of my sight.”
Cha Do-yun Hunter turned to glance at the remnants of the poisoned yuzu tea.
“...You said you'd pay for your sins?”
“......”
“You will. Soon.”
Bang!!
Cha Do-yun Hunter's mother shot up from her seat and flipped the living room table with her foot. Breathing heavily in rage, she soon started cackling.
“Fuck, when things don't go my way, they get all tangled up...”
“Wait, yeobo! Yeobo!”
She stormed out of the living room, and Cha Do-yun Hunter's father hurried after her.
Thud.
With the front door slamming shut, the house fell into sudden silence.
“Whew...”
'What a mess.'
The cups on the table mercifully hadn't broken, but the floor was wrecked. Of course, the real mess was this atmosphere.
“Did you know my mom was going to kill me when you came here?”
Cha Do-yun Hunter spoke up. When I looked up, his gaunt face stared blankly at me.
“Yeah. I saw the pill bottle fall in the car.”
“So you even lied for me...”
Cha Do-yun Hunter trailed off with a long sigh.
“I've been abused by those people since I was little.”
“...I see.”
“After awakening, I scraped together money desperately and bolted as soon as the debt was paid.”
He rubbed his dry face with both hands. Partly thanks to the seed, but mostly because he knew I'd saved his life, he seemed much more open now.
“The Chairman helped me back then. He even gave me this house.”
'That's why they're so tight.'
In every timeline I'd seen, Cha Do-yun Hunter and the Chairman's bond was unwavering. Cha Do-yun Hunter worshiped him like a god, and the Chairman cared for him tenderly.
I got why Cha Do-yun Hunter felt that way, but why did the Chairman treat him so specially?
“Sorry for acting childish toward you, Shin Ji-ui Hunter.”
“Oh.”
Words I'd never expected to hear from Cha Do-yun Hunter in this timeline hit home.
I let out an involuntary exclamation, and he pouted, turning his head away.
Blushing again.
“Honestly, I didn't like how the Chairman's eyes were on you, Shin Ji-ui Hunter.”
“I had a feeling.”
With verbal abuse from his parents as daily life, the Chairman's kindness must have been a comfort.
'He reacted to "precious comrade" too.'
Choi Min Hunter and now Cha Do-yun Hunter—surprisingly swayed by the word "comrade." Had they seen us as just business partners until now?
“Cha Do-yun Hunter.”
“Yeah?”
I held out my hand to him. His shoulders flinched as he glanced between my hand and my face.
“It's a bit embarrassing to say it now, but anyway, we're comrades, so let's make it work.”
“...Heh, really.”
Grab.
He gripped my hand firmly, a faint smile on his lips.
“I'll think about it.”
“Damn, stubborn to the end...”
'By the way, haven't I planted a ton of word seeds?'
Ego spoke up as I came out of the shower.
'Not many have bloomed, but I've planted plenty of seeds.'
'Let's check.'
I flopped onto the bed and opened my status window.
[‘Words Become Seeds’: When you shake the target with words, implant a ‘word seed’ containing strong suggestion. If the target is ‘moved’ by the caster, the ‘word seed’ blooms, making them susceptible to the caster's words. Increases unique skill power per bloomed ‘word seed’.]
[Implanted Seeds]
[Min A-seop] ‘You can do it!’
[Choi Jae-yoon] ‘Don’t blame yourself too much’
[Ha Mi-jun] ‘We’re comrades’
[Choi Min] ‘Because you came to save me’
[Mina Azadivar] ‘This barrier will definitely save the world’
[Muha Azadivar] ‘This barrier will definitely save the world’
[Cha Do-yun] ‘He’s a precious comrade’
[Bloomed Seeds]
[Min A-seop] ‘You can do it!’
[Choi Jae-yoon] ‘Don’t blame yourself too much’
[Ha Mi-jun] ‘We’re comrades’
'Huh? What's this?'
A new indicator appeared at the edge of the status window. It crackled like static, but I could tell it resembled Ego's form. Reaching out to it brought up new text.
[Available Projectiles]
<Positive> Makes target affirmative.
<Negative> Makes target negative.
<Attachment> Makes target affectionate.
<Awareness> Makes target aware of the situation.
'Ah, those from the Pact shot.'
Ego pointed at the projectiles in its own form.
Projectiles that directly influenced the target's actions... I needed to use them strategically.
Vrrr—
“Huh?”
The status window suddenly shook violently.
[Awakener ‘Mina Azadivar’s seed ‘This barrier will definitely save the world’ has bloomed]
[Awakener ‘Mina Azadivar’ is influenced by Awakener ‘Shin Ji-ui’s words.]
[Unique Skill ‘Command Like a Mountain (號令如山)’ power increased]
[Awakener ‘Muha Azadivar’s seed ‘This barrier will definitely save the world’ has bloomed]
[Awakener ‘Muha Azadivar’ is influenced by Awakener ‘Shin Ji-ui’s words.]
[Unique Skill ‘Command Like a Mountain (號令如山)’ power increased]
[Command Tower]
[Bloom ‘word seeds’ to make comrades.]
[Progress Increased]
[Progress: 30%]
[Savior of the World]
[Protect the world from the apocalypse.]
[Progress Increased]
[Progress: 42%]
These two's seeds bloomed? Wait, that means...
“They succeeded in developing the barrier?!”