Chapter 148
Chapter 148
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 148
Chapter Title: ACT.26 Corrupted Flame (4)
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I followed Hwang Chan-jin, maintaining a precarious distance.
The already dense cluster of buildings had collapsed in every direction, forming a maze, yet he navigated it with an air of familiarity.
As if he had lived here for a long time, even after the streets were destroyed.
*CRASH!*
The same sound from before echoed once again.
A sound like something ramming into an object with great force.
‘For a monster that appears in this area to make a sound like that...’
Red-Horned Beast.
The perfect candidate came to mind immediately.
A monster that, as if it had anger management issues, would ram into anything and everything at the slightest provocation.
Its long, red horns packed enough power to shatter concrete; hiding behind a building wall would only get you impaled along with the wall itself.
Of all places, this area was lined with single-family homes.
If someone was hiding in one of them, they would be extremely vulnerable to a Red-Horned Beast's attack.
I could understand why Hwang Chan-jin was in such a hurry.
“You goddamn bastards!”
Hwang Chan-jin shouted as he leaped into the midst of the Red-Horned Beasts.
It wasn't a small number. There were fifteen of them.
It's rare to see Red-Horned Beasts moving in a pack.
A group of over ten was even rarer.
They were C-rank monsters, so facing them shouldn't have been a major issue.
“Where do you think you're going?!”
Hwang Chan-jin couldn't focus properly on the battle itself.
The Red-Horned Beasts weren't just targeting him; they were constantly charging at the houses and knocking down walls.
So, even while fighting, Hwang Chan-jin had to move frantically to stop them.
Then, at one point, one side of a building completely collapsed, revealing the interior.
My gaze shifted there without me realizing it.
‘A person?’
Someone was sleeping soundly on a bed.
The moment I saw them, I knew it had to be Hwang Chan-jin's sister.
The resemblance was that strong.
‘Was protecting his sister the reason he was here when I met him last time?’
Monsters have a tendency to show unconditional hostility toward humans, prioritizing them as targets.
Since Hwang Chan-jin's sister was the only human in this area, they must have naturally flocked here.
Knowing this, Hwang Chan-jin must have periodically visited to clear out nearby monsters.
He was in no position to simply focus on the fight.
The answer to what I should do was clear.
“I'll protect her, so just focus on cleaning them up!”
I jumped into the fray and stood guard at the hole that had opened into his sister's room.
“I can't be indebted to you...!”
“You frustrating bastard. Is that really what's important right now?”
A Red-Horned Beast snorted and charged angrily.
Its eyes seemed to say, 'You think you can stop me?'
*SWOOSH!*
I swung the Black Moon Divine Sword vertically, and it split in two, its corpse vanishing without a trace, consumed by black flames.
Another Red-Horned Beast that was about to charge flinched and warily watched me.
“If you didn't have to worry about anything else, you wouldn't be struggling against these things, would you?”
“...Of course.”
An icy aura extended from the tip of Hwang Chan-jin's sword, freezing the entire ground in the area.
As expected of the S-rank Glacier trait. To freeze the surroundings with just a slight exertion of power.
Their feet frozen solid to the ground, the immobilized Red-Horned Beasts let out panicked cries and struggled.
There was no need to watch the outcome.
Hwang Chan-jin weaved between them, swinging his sword a few times, and they all died, spewing purple blood.
In the process, unlike how I had evaporated even the blood, the way he froze it, creating pillars of purple ice, was quite a sight.
“Hoo...”
Sheathing his sword, Hwang Chan-jin slowly approached and inspected the area around the hole.
A completely collapsed wall.
This place could no longer protect anyone from outside enemies.
Without bothering to ask, I gave him a look that demanded an explanation.
Hwang Chan-jin let out a long sigh and slowly began to speak.
“My family used to live here. The person on the bed... is my younger sister.”
So it is his sister.
Hwang Chan-jin cleared away the collapsed bricks and entered the house through the hole.
This would be difficult to repair.
After confirming there were no more signs of monsters nearby, I stepped into the house.
“...I made a deal with a devil.”
Hwang Chan-jin's eyes were fixed on his sister lying on the bed.
She wasn't simply lying there; a closer look revealed she was hooked up to a host of life support machines.
Most of them required electricity.
In a world where even the main settlements lacked power and had to convert mana into electricity, it was hard to imagine a normal power supply reaching this place.
Moreover, it was literally just prolonging her life.
The state of Hwang Chan-jin's sister, as seen through my Extreme Eye, was so critical that she could die at any moment.
“Even though you know how dangerous a deal with a devil is?”
“So I should just stand by and watch my only sister die?”
“...Sorry. I didn't mean it like that.”
I apologized quickly.
Family is a line you don't cross.
Hwang Chan-jin also calmed his emotions and continued his explanation.
“As you can see, my sister is supposed to be in a hospital. She was. But one day, the world changed.”
“And you realized this was similar to 'End of Apocalypse' and immediately got your sister out of the hospital?”
“Yes. At first, I was actually glad the world had changed like this. I thought that if my sister became a player, she might be able to stand on her own with that power. But no matter how much time passed, she showed no signs of awakening. Just prolonging her life like this was the best I could do. But it's not like I can stay by her side all the time.”
Hwang Chan-jin's gaze turned to me.
His eyes said, 'You know why, so I don't need to explain.'
‘He's right.’
You can't stay in one place forever.
You have to farm, you have to defeat various enemies.
Even staying in one area like Seoul won't last forever.
If a situation arose where we had to leave the country of Korea entirely, it would be difficult for Hwang Chan-jin to make that choice.
“Couldn't you go to a large settlement and leave her in a safe place while you act?”
“Don't be ridiculous, Kim Se-hyeon. How could I entrust her to others, not knowing what might happen to this child? Besides, you of all people should know that settlements can be more dangerous depending on the circumstances.”
Hwang Chan-jin had a point.
All sorts of major incidents happen centered on or targeting settlements.
From another perspective, you could say settlements are actually more dangerous.
“But leaving her alone here, where there's no proper supply of electricity or water, is even more dangerous, isn't it?”
“That's why I made a deal with a devil. I asked it to ensure my sister's safety here. Though it seems they won't lift a finger for anything other than the electricity, leaving me to handle the monster attacks.”
“What about the mana required for that?”
“I included a clause in the deal for my mana to be consumed to power the life support machines.”
So that's why he got tired so quickly when we were fighting Ignis.
If you can't use your mana to its full extent, that can happen.
He could probably create water using his own power, so he wouldn't have needed to include that in the deal.
But if he could get an Elixir and heal his sister's body, he wouldn't have this constant power drain, and he could take her with him and keep her safe.
That must be why Hwang Chan-jin was so desperate for the reward from slaying Ignis.
‘So that's how it was.’
It's obvious.
Even if it's a deal, a devil wouldn't just leave things be.
Just like with the Red-Horned Beasts just now, there must have been continuous monster attacks.
‘It seems Hwang Chan-jin hasn't noticed, but...’
Those monster attacks probably only happened when Hwang Chan-jin was in a position to deal with them.
If a monster attack occurred while he was far away, there would be no one to protect her.
Then the devil would be violating the terms of the deal itself.
It enjoys watching Hwang Chan-jin rush around in a panic.
Whichever devil made a contract with him.
“There's one thing I don't understand. She's not a player, so why did you buy a proof for your sister back then?”
“Because that damn devil told me to prepare my sister's share too.”
Hwang Chan-jin spat out, gritting his teeth.
So that's why.
If he had needed his sister's share from the beginning, he would have gathered 100 proofs during the mission.
“Oppa...”
“Are you awake? Sorry for being so loud.”
“It's okay. I was already awake. I saw the monsters rampaging...”
Hwang Chan-jin gave a gentle smile I had never seen before.
So he can make a face like that in front of his only sister.
‘Even so.’
I recalled when he obtained the Sa-in-geom.
It was absurd that he could wield such immense power from the very beginning.
He must have worried about his sister's safety the moment the world went to hell.
Plus, knowing information about 'End of Apocalypse', it's likely he made a contract with a devil right away.
If he had obtained that power through a deal with a devil, it would be easy to understand.
“How were you planning to deal with the consequences?”
“What do you mean?”
“Your power. Didn't you get that from a deal too?”
“It's been this way since I awakened.”
...So he was just a damn prodigy.
I cursed inwardly.
Some of us had to struggle to a certain extent even with a clear bonus, while he was pulling off overpowered stunts from the get-go.
Anyone watching would think Hwang Chan-jin was the protagonist.
I grumbled to myself and took a bottle of Elixir from my inventory.
“Here.”
“...What is this? Showing an Elixir to someone who needs one. Are you mocking me?”
“Do I look like that kind of guy to you?!”
“You do. Just like with the Sa-in-geom.”
I'm reminded once again, this guy really holds a grudge.
No, maybe 'twisted' is the right word.
Hwang Chan-jin fundamentally seemed to distrust people.
“It's not like that, so take it.”
“What are you plotting, Kim Se-hyeon?”
“Why do you need a reason to save someone's life?”
I forced the Elixir on the reluctant Hwang Chan-jin.
The bright pink liquid sloshed inside the glass bottle.
If Elixirs had appeared before the world changed, their value would have easily surpassed tens of billions.
The wealthy would have scrambled to get their hands on one.
“But this is...”
“You talk too much. Should I take it back?”
“...No.”
Shaking his head, Hwang Chan-jin carefully gave the Elixir to his sister.
Color gradually returned to her deathly pale face.
[The 'Angel of Benevolence' is moved, saying you've grown a lot.]
[You have received a sponsorship of 6000 Coins.]
Perhaps because I readily gave away an Elixir, the scale of the sponsorship was on another level.
As expected of the Angel of Benevolence. They say she has the most coins among all the angels.
Of course, the actual price of an Elixir is incomparably higher.
Still, the difference between getting some payback and getting none is like heaven and earth.
I have a general idea why the Angel of Benevolence is still sticking with me, but there are parts I don't understand, so it's still unsettling.
‘Of course, it's not like I'd give away something like an Elixir for nothing.’
From what I've observed of Hwang Chan-jin, he's the type to be clear about debts and favors.
I saved his sister's life by readily handing over the Elixir.
Now that things have come to this, Hwang Chan-jin will at least not show the same hostility as before.
“Hwang Chan-jin. There's one thing I'd like you to answer.”
“...What is it?”
For once, Hwang Chan-jin was being compliant.
His sister must mean that much to him.
Although his expression still seemed to say 'Of course you would,' it was a huge improvement.
I met Hwang Chan-jin's eyes and opened my mouth.
“Why are your stats so high?”
“I don't know what you're talking about. It's obviously because I obtained the maximum bonus stats I could.”
“No, that's not what I'm talking about.”
I stared at the system message that still told me I couldn't check Hwang Chan-jin's status window and asked.
My Extreme Eye doesn't work on Hwang Chan-jin.
And for a strange reason that I can't easily accept.
“...What happened to the chapter limit?”
At my single question, the momentarily improved atmosphere froze over.