Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Fresh? First Date! (4)
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"...Who are you?"
"Kim Geon-ho."
Persis stared at the man holding Airi.
'What the...? I swear I've seen this guy somewhere before.'
No matter how famous Kim Geon-ho was, the news had only spread domestically so far.
Persis, raised arrogantly abroad, didn't recognize him right away.
He wasn't even a cadet at Hero Academy to begin with.
However.
'...Am I actually scared of him?'
He knew it instinctively.
Something was seriously wrong here.
"But even if you know who I am, do you think that'll change this situation?"
"Is this bastard insane?"
Even if his instincts knew, rationally interpreting it was another matter entirely.
Persis couldn't understand what this arrogant prick had to back up his attitude.
"Do you even know who we are, talking to us like that?"
"Hanging around trash like this? Your level's obvious."
"Yeah, how could we not recognize us?"
"We're the Brand Children, got it? Ring any bells now?"
The four standing in front of Airi, with Persis at the lead, chimed in one by one.
Brand Children.
A coalition formed by the kids of prominent families from the Eurasian continent.
They flew the banner of mutual aid and upholding noble honor.
In reality, they were just a group indulging in luxury and pleasure, strutting around in packs while obsessing over appearances.
The kind where bravado ruled their bodies.
When things got tough, they'd leverage their family names to crush opponents with sheer prestige—that was their weapon and symbol.
BAM!
Of course, that meant nothing to Kim Geon-ho.
"H-Hans!"
The man called Hans vanished from his spot in an instant, and by the time they spotted him again, his face was a bloody mess smashed into the ground.
"Wh-What the hell!"
The guy in front of them. Kim Geon-ho, was it?
Kim Geon-ho hadn't even moved, yet Hans ended up like that?
An unknown terror crept up from his ankles.
"If I know who you guys are, do you think my mind will change?"
Persis heard Kim Geon-ho's words like the final mercy from an executioner.
A few light words offered to the condemned just before death.
They crushed his heart like a lump of lead.
"This bastard! I don't know what sorcery you pulled, but it's gotta be you!"
"Persis! Why are you freaking out? Just kill the prick! Beat this bastard down! And that bitch Airi too..."
"Bitch?"
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
BAM!
KABOOM!
Five impact sounds.
This time, Persis clearly witnessed what happened.
Or maybe Kim Geon-ho had deliberately held back just enough for him to see.
'...This guy's beyond what we can handle.'
With every blink, limbs shattered.
The man called Lu Han was smashed so hard his limbs were embedded in the ground, blood streaming from his face.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
And Hans, whose head had been smashed earlier, now had every bone in his limbs pulverized.
Only Persis and Lance remained.
No matter how much they'd lived off family prestige, now that things had turned like this, even they could tell right from wrong.
"There must be some misunderstanding, right, Persis? We were just bumping into an acquaintance..."
"Shut up."
Crack.
Lance collapsed.
One kick crumpled his knee.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Just like the others, his body slammed fully into the ground.
'...We're gonna die.'
The creeping terror swallowed his heart.
For the first time, Persis felt true fear of another person.
'Should I apologize? Would he even accept it? What do I do? N-No, I don't wanna die, uh... what should I do?'
He'd never learned how to face the strong—hell, he'd been a weakling who thought he was the strong one, swinging his power around.
Persis couldn't come up with the best course of action right now.
In the end.
"You know who I am! You know who we are! Escalating things this far! You think you'll get away clean...!"
He picked the worst option.
"Yeah, I've been waiting for you to say that."
I wasn't gonna forgive you even if you apologized anyway. And I have no intention of letting this end simply.
With every word from Kim Geon-ho, Persis trembled like a leaf.
He could already see his future once those words finished.
"I need to let the whole world know."
What happens when you mess with the Tiger Bride.
Engrave it deep in their heads.
"The Mountain Lords are always in their place, so if you have words, come find us anytime."
"Ah, ahh..."
Only then did Persis belatedly remember who Kim Geon-ho was.
'The successor of the Mountain Lords...'
Why hadn't he mentioned the Mountain Lords from the start?
If he'd named the Mountain Lords, things might've turned out differently.
As that thought crossed his mind, Persis recalled Kim Geon-ho's earlier words.
-But even if you know who I am, do you think that'll change this situation?
-If I know who you guys are, do you think my mind will change?
'He never planned to let us go from the beginning.'
To that man, family was just a label.
He put his own identity above any affiliation.
Persis felt the gulf in their caliber.
"Sp-Spare..."
"I won't kill you."
A life begged for at the very last moment.
But Kim Geon-ho had never intended to take their lives.
Just inflict pain as if they were dying.
Ferocious Tiger was a brutal hunter, after all, knowing hundreds of ways to keep prey alive while tormenting it.
Every finger joint snapped, needles driven under nails, a slow slicing pain enveloping his body.
"Gaaah, graaak... ugh... gaaaaahhh!"
Screaming pathetically, shitting himself, teetering on the brink of life's flame extinguishing.
Conditioned like Pavlov's dog, mere imagination triggering seizures from the terror etched into his body.
The moment he clearly showed what happens when you touch the Tiger Bride.
"Resist, and you die."
Twitch, twitch.
At Kim Geon-ho's words, the others snapped to attention and froze midway through trying to rise.
No matter how much they'd strutted on family name alone, they were nobles.
They had far superior physical specs to average Awakeners.
And now, that became their curse.
"Gaaaaahhh!"
"Uwaaaahhh!"
"Spare me, please, spare me!"
"I won't kill you."
The violence continued.
'Why... why is no one... paying attention...'
Amid the brutality, Persis endlessly waited for someone to save him.
He didn't grasp how fearsome the name Mountain Lords truly was.
Normally, fights drew crowds eager for spectacle.
But with Kim Geon-ho's violence, no one could.
Everyone hurried past, eyes downcast, pretending they saw nothing from the start.
'...Who messed with the Mountain Lords.'
Don't get involved with the Mountain Lords.
Tigers have long been noble kings, famed for mercy toward underlings.
But if it's not a mere underling.
If it's an enemy who defied their will.
No one escapes heavenly punishment.
How long had they wandered the streets aimlessly after leaving the theater?
Airi finally broke the long silence.
"...Sorry."
She was sorry.
To herself, for being helpless and just taking it.
To him, for unleashing violence without hesitation to avenge her humiliation.
"Because I'm like this..."
She felt ashamed.
No matter how much she cried frame job, no one believed her.
This fate forcing her to show such a self.
"It's just, you know..."
She prayed he wouldn't hate her.
So she could remain herself even through this.
If even you, whom she believed was on her side, suddenly changed, she couldn't endure it.
"I, I'm..."
Tears fell.
Her clenched skirt hem wrinkled, tears dripping between tightly shut eyes.
What should she say?
She'd thought after losing her light, nothing bright remained.
Yet you'd shown her a different world from that future, if only briefly.
Ah, why couldn't she say anything to you?
Airi stopped walking, blaming herself.
"..."
And Kim Geon-ho silently embraced her.
Sometimes, one action outweighs ten thousand words.
Airi buried her face in his chest and sobbed.
"Th-The truth is, I, really..."
She was grateful.
For saving her.
For boldly calling her his Tiger Bride and punishing her insulters.
"You don't have to say it. It's okay."
"..."
At Kim Geon-ho's words, Airi said no more.
For now, that was enough.
No, actually, it wasn't.
'More, more, more...'
To Airi, love was hunger.
Insatiable no matter how much she craved, no promises for the future—instead, selling even that future for the now.
If not fulfilled immediately, utterly meaningless.
So Airi slowly rose onto her tiptoes.
Mwah.
It wasn't enough.
She wanted more of your warmth.
She wished this moment eternal.
'It can't be forever.'
Fine, if not forever, make it the most intense memory.
"Closer..."
Come.
Arms around his neck.
On tiptoes, lips brushing, breaths mingling.
Head tilted slightly, saliva exchanged, tongues entwining.
Don't stop, keep going, make this moment eternal.
Her first kiss.
'I love you, Geon-ho.'
And her first love.