Chapter 49
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Reunion (1)
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Hah, hah—
My lungs burned like they were on fire. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d run this hard.
‘Back then, I’d only sensed the spider horde...’
It was pointless to say it now, but things had been a total mess when we fled.
The school was blazing, hundreds of people screaming as they ran for their lives. And an even greater number of spiders chasing every last survivor.
“Damn it, I should’ve picked up on it back then...”
Sicarius.
That bastard had definitely shown up. No, the uncle must have been fighting it the whole time—I just hadn’t sensed it.
“Shit, my luck is the absolute worst.”
Sure, it was partly my fault for missing the presence, but if I could offer one excuse...
After the apocalypse hit and Atlnak nested here.
In the month we’d spent in this place, I’d only seen Sicarius leave the gate twice—when it dragged humans off to Regina’s gate—and once when it wrecked Garak Market Station. Just three times total.
And of all days...
‘Who would’ve thought today would be one of them.’
Looking back now, I’d always been half-doubting.
‘Sicarius is really gonna come out of the gate just because of this? We’ll just save some people and call it a day. There’s no way this uncle is seriously trying to fight Sicarius,’ like those idiotic thoughts.
Even if I denied it, anyone would think the same.
It wasn’t just me.
I figured the uncle thought that way too, at least to some extent.
But unlike me, that uncle had been dead serious from start to finish.
‘Is he just simple-minded, or plain stupid? What does he think he can accomplish fighting a monster like that?’
KABOOM! RUMBLE!
The closer I got to the school, the louder the explosions grew.
And with them, my stray thoughts multiplied.
‘Can I really be of any help if I go there?’
No way. I had a perfect grasp of my own limits. That’s how I’d survived this long... So why was I rushing toward that uncle?
We’d barely spent more than a handful of days together. Going there would just mean dying alongside him.
‘On top of that.’
I had every reason not to die.
My little brother, Seo-woo. I had to take care of him. So why the hell was I running toward danger?
Because he’d given me expensive antidotes, Red Potions, Survival Time? Taught me how to fight people and Apostles? Shared secrets and tips about the System?
‘I don’t know.’
Whatever it was, it couldn’t be more important than mine and Seo-woo’s lives.
The moment I’d dropped Seo-woo off somewhere away from the school, my legs had carried me straight toward it.
Far off, I spotted the uncle swinging his sword at blurring speed, locked in combat.
It was a fierce clash.
BAM! CRASH!
I knew the uncle was strong from hunting together, but I’d never dreamed he could stand toe-to-toe with Sicarius.
‘If I just add a little strength, we might win?’
SHUNK—
‘...Huh?’
The very instant I saw the uncle pressing Sicarius and dared to hope we could pull it off.
A tendril of darkness shot from Sicarius’s hand, piercing the uncle’s gut. Blood sprayed out.
‘No...’
That uncle was different from others.
He wasn’t someone who could afford to die here.
Dan-woo finally understood why he’d come here.
It wasn’t for some grand, heroic reason.
Without that uncle, his and his brother’s survival would be in jeopardy.
This merciless world was far too harsh for him and his brother alone.
He’d come searching for an adult he could rely on in tough times.
He didn’t want to be on his own anymore.
I have to save him. No, I absolutely must.
“Escape is the best stratagem.”
The 36 Stratagems’ runaway tactic was my specialty.
Hah. Hah. Hah.
My breath came in gasps, but I couldn’t stop.
The thought that this was my one chance while Sicarius was off-guard spurred me to run even faster.
KWWWWBOOOOM—!!
Suddenly, a pillar of light shot out, swallowing Sicarius whole and blasting toward the auditorium.
‘...Huh? What the?’
It happened in an instant.
Nothing remained where the light pillar had passed.
Sicarius’s upper body was gone, and a massive hole gaped in the auditorium wall.
“Sicarius... is dead?”
Then the uncle smashed something that looked like a speck into pieces. Starting from its arm, the creature’s entire body crumbled to dust and vanished into the air.
I didn’t know the details... but the uncle had killed Sicarius.
“...Huh?! Uncle!”
The uncle, who’d been clutched in Sicarius’s grip, tumbled to the ground.
Snapping to his senses, Dan-woo sprinted over again.
Spiders swarmed toward the uncle from the opposite side.
The only silver lining was the lack of giant specimens.
He usually preferred silently picking them off one or two at a time with ambushes, but circumstances didn’t allow it now.
Gritting his teeth, Dan-woo drew his M7 bayonet in reverse grip.
As he passed the uncle, he snatched up the fallen dagger in his left hand.
Dual-wielding the daggers, he charged into the spider swarm.
Stab! Crunch!
He blocked fangs with the bayonet and split their brains with the uncle’s needle-like dagger.
The [Cat’s Step] he normally used for quiet movement proved a huge asset in actual combat, letting him dart around nimbly.
It wasn’t easy. He minimized damage with agile dodges, but minimized wasn’t zero—wounds accumulated bit by bit.
‘Still... this much is worth enduring.’
Repaying the favor and the hope of escaping this hellhole with the uncle’s help drove him on.
“Hah, hah...”
When he came to, spider corpses littered the surroundings.
He vaguely recalled a System message about body alteration rates amid the fighting, but the uncle came first.
Dan-woo approached the uncle, lying pale in the blood-soaked dirt.
“Uncle! Uncle!”
He straightened the uncle’s slumped body and checked the wound.
The armor’s seam had torn wide open like it was pierced through, and a roughly 10cm hole was plugged with blood-soaked cloth.
He frantically rummaged through his bag and pulled out the [Intermediate Red Potion] the uncle had smugly handed over.
If it wasn’t a lie that it cost 2,000 hours, it had to work.
He uncapped it, pouring half on the wound and half down the uncle’s throat.
Sssss—
When he’d first heard one potion cost 2,000 hours, he’d thought it was insane.
But using it now, it seemed worth every second.
The wound healed at an uncanny speed.
“Uncle, snap out of it!”
The visible injuries had improved greatly, but the uncle’s face remained ashen, his eyes half-lidded.
‘In movies, they fall asleep like this and...?!’
A grim thought hit him.
In a panic, he slapped the uncle’s cheeks wildly.
“Hey! Hey, you bastard! Don’t close your eyes!!”
“...”
“Damn it. Just try dying on me like this, I dare you.”
He didn’t know how many hours passed after that.
Dodging and weaving through alleys to shake the spiders’ pursuit, Dan-woo finally managed to lay the uncle down in their hideout.
* * *
Struggling to survive had led me to murder.
Not once or twice, but so many I couldn’t count them on ten fingers.
‘I’ll probably end up in hell when I die...? No, I’m already dead. Is this hell?’
That was why I couldn’t open my eyes even after regaining consciousness.
I was scared.
Fully accepting my death, accepting the karma I’d piled up—it terrified me.
From the start... it was only natural for someone who’d thrashed desperately to live, now fearing what came after death.
If this was hell, I should hear screams and wails...
‘...? Wait, screams and wails?’
Truth be told, heaven, hell—all that stuff was just imagination. Maybe there was nothing after death.
The place was wrapped in utter, silent stillness.
‘Am I deaf? Or is hell just this quiet?’
A world with gods and saviors, yet no hell? Or maybe arriving in hell meant no body part—like ears—left intact.
Min-jun cracked his eyes just a sliver, pretending to be unconscious in case a demon appeared, and scanned his surroundings with extreme squint-vision.
Contrary to expectations, only darkness. No hellfire anywhere...
FWOOSH!
“Wha—!!”
A spark flared before his eyes. Min-jun flailed in panic and tumbled to the floor.
He hit hard enough for a thud, and with his already battered body...
“Huh?”
It was fine. Even groping himself all over confirmed it.
The hole in his gut was gone. Stunned, Min-jun whipped his gaze around.
Before him was a familiar hideout backdrop, and a familiar kid playing with fire.
“Huh? Uncle’s awake!”
“Seo-woo! Why are you here...”
“Why? It’s home.”
“...Home?”
“Not hell?”
“What’re you talking about? Uncle’s acting weird.”
Right... This was the hideout we’d stayed in for days.
‘Which means?’
I’m alive.
I’d made it out of that school in one piece.
Forcing his sluggish brain to turn, he puzzled it out.
How had he survived in that state, that situation?
“...Dan-woo?”
“Oppa? Oppa went to get magic stones.”
“Dan-woo’s not hurt?”
“Oppa was hurt bad too, but he’s better now. I gave him a present. Hehe.”
My hunch was right.
Dan-woo must’ve thrown himself into the fray to save me.
Worried he might get hurt during the operation, I’d bought him an [Intermediate Red Potion] and given it to him.
That must’ve saved my life. Otherwise, no way a minor wound and that massive gut hole would heal so perfectly.
Either way, the important thing was I’d scraped by alive.
‘Guess I’ve got a tougher thread of fate than I thought...’
“Seo-woo, how long has it been since I got here?”
“Um, wait... Oppa taught me subtraction... Um, uh. Back then, the number was 225, and now this much is left.”
112 was written on Seo-woo’s wrist.
‘113 hours? That’s a full five days lying here.’
No wonder my muscles screamed when I’d jolted awake in surprise.
Not just the wounds, then.
“So how long ago did Dan-woo leave?”
“Oppa left just a bit ago. The number’s only dropped by three digits.”
“Yeah?”
Then I’d have to wait a while.
We usually roamed for at least seven hours when hunting or gathering. Plenty of time to check my condition before he returned.
I bought a lollipop and handed it to Seo-woo, then opened my status window.
Comparing it to the System message logs, I began scrutinizing what had changed.