Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: The Girl Does Not Despair (1)
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0.
“I’ll be back.”
She had heard those exact words once before.
The situation was completely different from now. Perhaps the entire world had been different.
“……Yeah.”
What Do Ye-jin offered her older sister wasn’t some everyday bag.
The Returning Blade.
A piece of metal that served as a pass in this ruined era.
Her outfit wasn’t a school uniform or a suit, either.
A pure white linen shirt.
Black long coat, gloves, boots. Chainmail.
The renowned official uniform of the <Association>.
“It’ll take half a day or a full day…… But I’ll definitely come back, so wait for me, sis?”
“Don’t cry. Who am I? Do Su-jin. The great Do Su-jin. I’ll come back alive this time, too.”
Her sister stroked Do Ye-jin’s hair. Around that time, jeers from the other hunters reached her ears.
“Look at that, it’s a subordinate weapon.”
“Keeping her around even though she can’t even turn into a subordinate. What’s the Association Leader thinking?”
“Seen those dark blue eyes? Was she even human to begin with?”
“Tch, if she had any conscience, she’d kill herself and offer up a soulstone.”
Those weren’t mere insults.
They were the mark of a criminal, weighing heavily on her chest. Do Ye-jin bowed her head deeply.
“Don’t hang your head.”
A gentle hand grasped her chin and lifted it.
“Let them talk. Since when have we lived caring about what others think?”
A tender grip wrapped around Do Ye-jin’s right hand.
……Soul Chain.
For some reason, their heartbeats synced, and her mind calmed.
“It’s just not time yet. Prove your worth later, right in front of their eyes.”
“…….”
“So train hard in hunter training, okay? Someday, you’ll be the one protecting your big sis.”
At that moment, the order from the operation commander came down.
“Five minutes until search operation begins. Squads, form up and report.”
“Su-jin. Time’s up.”
Kim Baek-jun called from over there, and her sister gave a bright smile.
“Alright. See you later, my princess.”
Her sister always left with that smile, and returned drenched in blood.
Even then, she smiled in front of her little sister.
It was almost like she was trying to show her.
That even if the world had changed, her big sister alone remained the same.
1.
“Let’s see…… Today’s morning training is hand-to-hand combat.”
It was an unusually warm day.
The training instructor yawned lazily, scratched his belly, and skimmed the parchment.
“Boring as hell. How about we start with an event match between the top two in scores?”
The all-teenage 7th Training Squad let out cheers. Riding the momentum, the instructor called names.
“Huh Cheon-gyeom.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You got this?”
“Yes, sir. Huh Cheon-gyeom reporting.”
Huh Cheon-gyeom.
A 19-year-old boy active in the south.
Level 12 upon joining the <Association>. Currently ranked 2nd in training scores.
“Do Ye-jin.”
“Yes!”
“You gonna win?”
“Yes!”
“Great! Damn it, I’m counting on you!”
The 7th Training Squad’s instructors all held little grudge against Do Ye-jin—they were survivors of the Kyunam-dong攻略 battle.
“Yes!”
The instructor burst into laughter at her spirited reply. Do Ye-jin. 17 years old. Currently level 16. Top of the training scores.
“Today’s the day I’ll crack that skull of yours.”
Huh Cheon-gyeom, at 184 cm tall, glared down fiercely at the 157 cm Do Ye-jin.
“How many times have you said that?”
Do Ye-jin shot back with an exasperated look, and Huh Cheon-gyeom bellowed.
“Today’s the last! You little shit!”
“Ready.” The instructor raised his hand, then slammed it down. “Fight!”
Crack—.
Anyone could hear it: the sound of a skull cracking. The victim was Huh Cheon-gyeom.
“Arghhh!”
Crack—.
“Not yet!”
Crack—.
“Ah…… ri…… ght…….”
Huh Cheon-gyeom couldn’t finish his words.
He collapsed to the ground ‘with his head cracked open.’
“What’s this? Total domination now.”
The instructor whistled and flipped through the file.
The combat data recorded by the instructors showed Huh Cheon-gyeom was exceptional. He wasn’t weak. His opponent was just too good.
‘Damn, she’s something else.’
Do Ye-jin’s physical abilities matched those of level 30-40 Nightmare Hunters. In raw strength, maybe even 50-60s?
“Fuck…… Fuck…….”
Huh Cheon-gyeom panted heavily.
“What the hell. What the fuck are you. How are you this strong from day one? The gap isn’t even closing.”
“Why act surprised now?”
Do Ye-jin smiled faintly, lonely yet forcing brightness.
“I’m a subordinate weapon, remember? A monster that wields a subordinate’s power.”
Huh Cheon-gyeom stared at Do Ye-jin in a daze. That wasn’t what he’d meant……
“Alright, event match over. Fall in. Time for the real lesson.”
2.
Do Ye-jin wore her mask again today.
“I’m home!”
Back at the training dorms.
She first bowed to the wristwatch left on the bed.
Her father’s last warmth.
She always removed it before training. It’d be a disaster if it broke.
“Gonna grab some food. Come with?”
Slipping the watch on her wrist brought an odd comfort. Do Ye-jin smiled faintly and dashed to the cafeteria.
Do Ye-jin always wore her mask.
The masks were named ‘Innocence’ and ‘Smile.’
She had to wear them always.
To reassure her sister. To keep her own heart from breaking. To survive this cruel world.
“Oh, welcome, Hunter ma’am.”
“Yes, sir! Thanks for the meal!”
“Breakfast is turtle soup today. Fresh turtle caught.”
Do Ye-jin gagged at the slimy soup on the tray.
“I prefer meat.”
“Turtle’s meat too. Give it a try. All thanks to the <Association>.”
The middle-aged man with [Kitchen] branded on his forehead was nicknamed ‘Association Forever.’
He ended every sentence with ‘Association forever’—but his cooking was insanely good, so who cared.
“……Delicious!”
The moment she scooped and tasted the soup, admiration burst out.
“Apparently he ran a famous restaurant before. With his family.”
Park Ji-won, her peer at the next table, chimed in.
“But his family got killed by Nightmares.”
The guy bragged subtly about his connection to a Lead Hunter.
“Old news, huh? (Common story?)”
Do Ye-jin shoveled soup like possessed, replying. In a world where everyone lost family to the apocalypse.
“Ugh, gross, swallow first then talk!”
“Gotcha.”
“Anyway, he gets a thrill watching the <Association> strike back at Nightmares. That’s why he’s so nice to us.”
“Yeah? Gimme your cookie if you’re not eating it.”
“What? No, I am.”
Too late. Park Ji-won reacted, but the crunchy cookie was already in Do Ye-jin’s mouth.
“Hey! Hey! I said I’m eating it! You bitch!”
“I ate it so it wouldn’t go to waste. Ungrateful. Bleh.”
Do Ye-jin fled from the sniffling, furious Park Ji-won.
“Tch, shorty. Getting mad over that.”
As they left the cafeteria, a female trainee grumbled. Another spoke up.
“……In Paradise Zone, desserts have high unit costs. No refills at meals.”
Dorky face, ponytail.
A shaman-type hunter named Ryu Hyun-ji.
Divine Beasts swirled around her head, giggling.
「Don’t you know that, idiot?」
「Dummy! Dummy! Dummy!」
Cute wolf-like alien beings.
The fluent-talking ‘White’ was a white wolf, as named. ‘Black’ was the black wolf, spitting mostly one or two words.
“Dummies are you guys. Friends share.”
“……Shouldn’t friends not steal from each other?”
The voice she’d waited so long for came right then.
“Ye-jin-ah.”
From the training grounds.
Against a twilight of starlight, Do Su-jin waved.
“Sis!”
Do Ye-jin beamed innocently and ran into her sister’s arms. The sisters giggled for a while.
“Just got back?”
“Yeah. Gotta head out again soon, though…….”
Do Su-jin smiled wearily.
The branch insignia embroidered on her uniform’s sleeve and chest—the ‘Golden Cross’—looked heavier today.
Golden Cross.
The emblem of the <Association>’s elite extermination unit.
Only four hunters bore this honor symbolizing a Lead Hunter’s unique skill: Kim Baek-jun himself, Jeong Ha-kyeong, Im Yong-gon, and Do Su-jin.
Do Su-jin threw herself into frontline assaults daily, bearing that weight for her sister’s sake.
“How’s training life?”
“Hmm…….”
Park Ji-won and Ryu Hyun-ji were good friends.
Her self-proclaimed rival Huh Cheon-gyeom always picked fights but never cursed her out.
“Not bad, actually. Not many bullies.”
There might be, but she wouldn’t know. She wore her mask during gossip or mockery. Still, she said it casually.
“And I’m number one now.”
“Of course you are. Whose sister are you?”
Her sister playfully pinched Do Ye-jin’s cheeks.
“This teen-only training squad? The Association Leader handpicked them.”
“Why?”
“Teens are relatively innocent. No reason for them to hold grudges against you. So make lots of good friends.”
Her sister smiled brightly, and Do Ye-jin smiled back. Even if it was hard.
Do Ye-jin had decided to grow strong.
Her sister said slouching or drooping would just make her a target for ridicule.
“Ah, bell rang. Gotta go.”
“Perfect timing. I need to prep for expedition. Gonna rest.”
Do Ye-jin kept waving with a bright smile until her big sister vanished completely.
“Sis, fighting!”
Do Ye-jin had to be strong.
But she wasn’t strong enough yet, so she wore her mask in secret.
3.
The latter half of training lasted three days. Lead Instructor Dokgo Yeong-jae started with this question.
“Yo. What’s the most impawtant thing for us Nightmare Hunters, whaddya think?”
Baseball cap pulled low.
Hood over it, uniform sloppy, chewing gum loudly—total delinquent vibe.
“……Strength?”
Park Ji-won ventured.
“Powah? Sure, that’s impawtant, but wrong. Answer’s mental fortitude.”
Dokgo Yeong-jae tapped his temple with a finger. Do Ye-jin wondered why he didn’t say ‘mental’ in English.
“Ya gotta not flinch at any Heteromorph. Sound advice.”
“That’s easy. We’ve all hunted before.”
Huh Cheon-gyeom replied confidently, earning a nasty grin from Dokgo Yeong-jae.
“So funny! Ya think Hunting Zone and Nightmare Zone Heteromorphs are the same?”
Dokgo Yeong-jae began drawing grotesque images on talisman paper with a brush.
Prep for his unique skill, 《Forgery》.
The 25-year-old art school grad was dubbed ‘Unlucky Picasso’ by Shin Tae-yeop.
A shaman-type hunter who drew lifeforms on talismans and manifested them.
“Come here, Human Centipede!”
Blue flames ignited on the flying talisman, flashing into a horrifying monster.
“……Insane.”
Someone’s voice trembled.
Rookies backed away one by one. Some dry-heaved.
“Heeheeheeheeheehehehehe.”
What assaulted them was primal terror.
Do Ye-jin felt chills race down her spine.
Centipede body.
Countless twitching human limbs.
A human head gaping wide, laughing nonstop.
“This fucker’s the Human Centipede. Literal translation: human centipede.”
The human centipede prowled before the recruits, rolling its eyes wildly. It didn’t attack.
“Why so scared? This one’s low-tier. Dickrice.”
Dokgo Yeong-jae cackled, savoring the recruits’ reactions.
“Who wants to hunt it first?”
“Me!”
The first to raise her hand was Do Ye-jin.