Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 048
Chapter Title: Return, New Seodaemun-gu (2)
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3.
“The Star Messenger said there’d be rewards beyond what she mentioned.”
A brief, heavy silence fell.
After a long moment, Choi Uk muttered with a sigh.
“Seven fragments…….”
“Will you believe me?”
“Believe? No, what in this world is there to believe? I’ll just keep it in mind.”
Chilling. Another cold shiver.
Choi Uk stared at me steadily, then flashed a faint smile.
“My 《X-Ray Vision》 can discern the truth of all things. Words are no exception. You’ve never once lied to me.”
Phew…… That’s a relief.
If I’d tried to bluff my way through, it might’ve turned us into enemies.
Choi Uk rose from his seat.
He walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out at the so-called Paradise for a long time.
“I hate Nightmares.”
“…I know.”
“I thought revenge was all I had left…… But if that fragment story is true…….”
Muttering like that, Choi Uk.
Suddenly turned around, his eyes gleaming.
“For now, I think it’s fine to treat it as our top priority.”
The suspicion burning in his eyes had softened considerably.
The strange tension between us had eased a great deal.
“To collect the fragments, we need to hunt the Exalted Ones…… Either way, you’re the key.”
“Yes. I’ll reconvene the raid team the moment the search party returns. Once word spreads that you’re awake, they’ll assemble quickly.”
“Please do.”
“‘Please do’? Do you have other business?”
“I’m going to find Shin Tae-yeop.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong looked baffled, and a glint appeared in Choi Uk’s eyes.
“You’ve found his location?”
I nodded and stood.
I didn’t know yet.
But the Dawn Sword would guide me, or so I’d heard.
“I’ll head out as quickly as possible too. If you two discuss it, the whole plan might change.”
As I moved to leave the [Commander’s Office], Choi Uk suddenly called me back.
Turning around, I saw him raise his teacup like a toast.
“To Kim Gye-sang’s peace.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong turned her gaze away in a daze. Feeling the sharp pain, I raised my teacup in response.
“To Kim Gye-sang. And to the peace of our other comrades.”
May the light of Gel dharia guide their souls to rest. Recalling my conversation with Terry, I prayed thus.
4.
“That fragment story…… it’s real?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong asked as we exited the main gate of <Romance>.
“Of course. I can’t lie. And even if you ask for more details…… I don’t know anything else.”
“God…… maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong said with worried eyes.
“There was a reason to take the risk. The value of having Choi Uk as an ally is greater.”
“I’m not talking about Choi Uk. Sigh…… fuck. I should’ve left you two alone to talk.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong had been acting strange for a while. Feeling an odd tension, I carefully asked.
“Something’s up with you, Ha-kyeong.”
“I can’t say. Just…… leave it at that.”
Ah, I see.
Like with Choi Uk.
“In that case, got it. Oh, from now on, I’ll share all important info with you, Ha-kyeong.”
“What? Why? Why all of a sudden?”
I chuckled and pointed above Jeong Ha-kyeong’s head.
“It’s for your contracted Holy Apostle to hear. They’ll relay it themselves, so don’t go nagging them to eavesdrop. If you do, tell them you won’t share.”
Jeong Ha-kyeong looked up at me in disbelief, then burst out laughing and shook her head.
“Fuck, that’s hilarious. Did you just threaten my Holy Apostle?”
If it came across that way, good.
I shrugged, and Jeong Ha-kyeong bowed her head, murmuring softly.
“It’s not just that…… but thanks anyway.”
That’s when another voice came.
“Lead bro?”
This voice.
A familiar voice brushing my ear.
A burly man in gleaming heavy armor stared at me from across the street, in utter disbelief, for a long moment.
It was Hong Byeong-gyu.
I recognized him instantly.
Even in blood-smeared [heavy armor], even with his voice hoarse from exhaustion, I knew.
I forced my constricted throat open.
“Byeong-gyu. It’s me.”
A brief silence.
Hong Byeong-gyu charged over, his armor clanking.
“Jesus Christ…… it’s really you. How the hell……? The Star Messenger definitely…….”
“I told you. That fucking bitch was lying.”
“A dream. Am I dreaming? I don’t know. I really don’t.”
Hong Byeong-gyu was so excited his words poured out like machine-gun fire.
“They say fools live long, but you’re such a fool you won’t even die?”
“Seems that way.”
“Last time I saw you, I couldn’t believe you were alive. Hey, did your junk regenerate too? You didn’t turn into a girl or something, right? Oh man, then what about Ha-kyeong?”
Jeong Ha-kyeong smacked his breastplate.
“Fuck, you say that shit to someone who came back from the dead?”
“This is an American joke.”
“American my ass…… wait, aren’t Americans kinda slutty?”
“Yeah? Told ya.”
Just like that.
Hong Byeong-gyu was exactly the same.
From the absurd jokes to that laugh, all of it.
I let out a hollow chuckle. I’d missed it. Even as I was dying, during training, I’d longed for these conversations.
“B-Baek-jun bro?”
A stammering voice.
Turning, Yoon Geon-woo stood there with his messy mop of hair and beard, eyes wide.
“W-What is this…… a dream?”
“No. It’s me.”
Yoon Geon-woo covered his eyes with one hand, letting out a joyful hollow laugh.
“Good to see you again, Geon-woo.”
“Boss.”
That’s when Cha Seung-hyeon appeared. He’d grown gaunt in my absence, eyes hollow.
This guy…… looked like he’d crawled out of a blood pit, his whole body crusted with dried gore.
“The real boss?”
“You think it’s fake?”
Tears welled in Cha Seung-hyeon’s eyes.
He flapped his mouth, words tangling, then suddenly said something else as if it just hit him.
“What Choi Uk said…… it’s a lie, right?”
“What?”
Only then did I realize.
The bad news he was denying was obvious with one second’s thought……
“Gye-sang bro’s still on undercover duty, right? He’ll be back soon?”
“Hey, Cha Seung-hyeon!”
Even with Yoon Geon-woo’s restraint, Cha Seung-hyeon didn’t stop.
“Yeah! With his personality, he’d cover the retreat. Holding out three days is nothing for him.”
“…Seung-hyeon.”
“And think about it. Nothing turned up in the Nightmare. He’s hiding somewhere. And boss, you know where?”
Cha Seung-hyeon’s face was wretched.
A smile on the verge of tears. Eyes about to shatter.
A hole ached in my heart.
I too wished this was a dream, that Kim Gye-sang was still alive somewhere in the Nightmare Zone. But.
“Gye-sang is dead.”
The world I live in.
Is clearly a Nightmare, yet not a dream.
“Because he was a fool who cared more for others…….”
Knowing that.
I had to wake Cha Seung-hyeon from his dream.
“He died saving me.”
A grim silence descended.
Moments later, Cha Seung-hyeon forced a burst of laughter.
“Hanging with <Romance> made you too jokey. Gye-sang bro dead……? That’s too far…….”
“Sorry.”
“It’s a lie!”
Cha Seung-hyeon bolted toward Independence Gate. Yoon Geon-woo and Jeong Ha-kyeong chased after.
“You idiot! Where you going!”
“I won’t believe that bullshit! I’m gonna find him!”
“N-Nunna, grab him with 《Super Acceleration》!”
“Fuck…… no. Too exhausted, can’t use it.”
Watching their backs.
My fists trembled with helplessness. That’s when Hong Byeong-gyu slung an arm around my neck.
“You’re still young…… Lost a close noona back in Muak-dong too, right? Cut him some slack.”
“No…….”
“Did Gye-sang really die saving you?”
Choking on hollow laughs, I recounted Kim Gye-sang’s final moments. Hong Byeong-gyu chuckled.
“True to form to the end.”
Hong Byeong-gyu thumped my back. I could feel him suppressing his grief in that gesture.
“I’ll drag that rascal back, even if I have to break his legs to keep him from going into the Nightmare alone. Let’s meet up once things calm down.”
He started toward Independence Gate, then suddenly stopped.
“Lead bro.”
And left those words before running off.
“Thanks for coming back alive.”
Stunned by that, I stood there.
Only much later did I punch my chest.
Get it together.
This wasn’t the time for sorrow or tears.
- Go find Shin Tae-yeop.
In this empty world, I must live.
In this pitiable world, I must fight on.
Only then.
In a world neither empty nor pitiable.
When children’s laughter blooms, I can pour a drink on Kim Gye-sang’s grave and weep freely.
5.
“Sorry. This is the outskirts, so carriages don’t run often.”
Muak-dong’s chief.
She bowed her head, and I waved awkwardly.
“No, it’s fine. Walking and taking in the sights feels refreshing.”
It was different from the Muak-dong I knew.
It had to be. I smiled faintly to myself. Last time I came and went, it was all ruins and Heteromorphs.
This was Muak-dong.
The fierce battlefield of the first assault, now an administrative district annexed to Paradise Zone through victory.
“Besides, a carriage would draw too much attention.”
“Attention you don’t want……? Is something going on?”
Muak-dong was a peaceful outskirts.
In the inner districts, citizens hold their breath under the Hunters’ gaze.
But here in Muak-dong, the streets were filled with citizens chatting idly.
Just as the chief had said when I entered.
The chief is elected by outskirts citizens to represent them and communicate with the Hunters.
“We outskirts folk don’t fear the Hunters.”
“That’s…… unusual.”
“Why fear them? We earned the right to live in Paradise because of them.”
The young chief grinned and led the way down the night street, oil lamps ahead.
“There are a few who complain sometimes. Say it’s all hard work since coming to Paradise.”
“Isn’t that fair? The labor intensity…….”
“Ungrateful whining. Out there, you risked your life for a single meal…….”
Tears crept into the young chief’s voice.
“My husband was dying. No treatment, no hygiene…….”
Died outside Paradise, I suppose.
Unsure what to say, I stayed silent, but the chief suddenly bowed her head.
“Really…… thank you.”
“…?”
“Paradise. Just when I was about to give up, the gates opened. I heard Hunters fought to the death for it—especially the Lead Hunter. If you’d come earlier, we’d have thrown a welcome party. Really.”
A smile crept onto my face.
Those sincere tears. They made it feel like our battles hadn’t been in vain.
But now wasn’t the time to smile together.
“Did Shin Tae-yeop tell you that? Or his comrade?”
It was dark, hard to see.
But the chief’s face paled as she backed away—that much was clear.
“That gratitude made you hide Shin Tae-yeop.”
In inference-based questioning, act like it’s certainty, not guesswork.
“W-Who told you…… no, no one could…… Outskirters can’t even enter the inner districts…….”
Bingo.
For reference, inner district folk can come to the outskirts, but outskirters are barred from inner districts.
“No one tipped us off. Too hard to explain—just leave it at that.”
I stepped closer to the chief.
“Take me to him. Where Shin Tae-yeop is.”
“A-Are you here to take that child? B-Back into the Nightmare…….”
The Dawn Sword’s guidance was spot on.
Guilty(?) civilians usually fold under police-like pressure, confessing without evidence or warrants.
“I’m not dragging him by force. Whether he comes is his choice.”
“B-But why?”
“But I’m here to urge him.”
The chief looked miserable.
“C-Can’t you…… just leave him be? His heart’s completely shattered…… It hurts to even see.”
Impressive courage. For a citizen to argue like this to a Hunter…… Shin Tae-yeop had charmed another soul.
But I couldn’t back down either.
“Who in this world isn’t shattered?”
A throb.
Kim Gye-sang’s smile brought dizziness again.
“Help me. Right now, he…… no, humanity needs his power.”