Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Gwak Ho-young's Misery and Sama Jeong's Return
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A few days after wrapping up the mining in the Flame Dungeon.
I was lying on the sofa in the training hall like always, fiddling with my phone.
"Aigoo, my back."
Lying on one side for so long meant it was time to flip over.
Otherwise, I'd end up with bedsores.
As I wriggled around, I accidentally hit the community button, which I hadn't touched in ages.
"Maybe I'll search for Justice Guild for old times' sake?"
I was about to move my finger when a familiar name caught my eye on the community main page.
"Gwak Ho-young?"
I'd been wondering how that guy was doing lately anyway.
I quickly tapped the post.
Taesan Gwak H.O. Recent Situation;; (HOT!)Ddangddang Waterdrop | Views: 564,788 (Pickaxe-holding figure entering gate from behind.png)
Heard he's suffering like hell as the maknae of Sama Guild's guerrilla 4th raid team these days
Guess it was true ;;
Running endless errands while getting bitched out nonstop by all those older hunters
They even have him mining? Pickaxe... ㄷㄷㄷ
Guy used to kiss up to Taesan back in the day
Seeing him like that now... total karma, lol
Listening to old Taesan hunters spilling tea solo lately
That bastard needs to roll even harder
"Eew, the 4th raid team."
Sama Guild's guerrilla gate dedicated raid teams numbered six, and the fourth one was infamous for being a dumping ground for the roughest hunters.
Not actual ex-cons like the comments said, but it was where they shoved problem children from the smaller guilds Sama Guild absorbed—guys who didn't fit anywhere else.
Of course a guy like Gwak Ho-young, who thought he was hot shit and treated his guildmates like slaves, couldn't hold his head up there.
In a place crawling with A-ranks like Sama Guild, grade ego wouldn't fly either.
"All karma, pure karma."
Should've treated people better back then.
Then maybe one or two comments would've defended him.
Everyone seemed repulsed by the true colors he showed during that dungeon raid broadcast with us.
I clicked my tongue and moved to the next post.
It was a post that had just gone up—nothing but a single news article link.
Normally I'd skip it out of laziness, but "Sama Guild" made my finger twitch.
"...Sama Jeong?"
I bolted upright from where I'd been lying.
Sama Jeong was Sama Young's half-brother.
He hadn't set foot in Korea lately, supposedly tied up with some research at the American Awakener Association.
I peered closely at the entry photo in the article just in case, but yeah, it was definitely him.
A man with a slightly smaller build than Sama Young, dressed in a flashy white suit.
His face smiled leisurely, as if he'd anticipated the cameras aimed his way—similar to Sama Young yet totally different.
Thump, thump, thump.
My heart started racing.
"Sama Jeong coming back means..."
I quickly pulled up the search bar and typed in Sama Young's name.
The guild master's movements were practically public 24/7 anyway.
And right at the top of the results was a YouTube link labeled "LIVE."
My slightly sweaty finger tapped it, and the familiar Igidae caster's hyped-up voice blasted from the phone speaker.
A vast grassland was burning.
And smack in the middle stood Sama Young, all alone.
Every time the flames roared higher, his suit hem fluttered, and wherever his languid gaze turned, crimson fire devoured massive trees.
The enormous tree-type monsters—so huge you'd never see the top even craning your neck—shrieked grotesquely, desperately trying to uproot and flee the blaze, but their escape routes were already seas of fire.
The inferno that had engulfed an entire A-rank field in seconds vanished cleanly the moment the final monster died.
The green meadows I'd glimpsed when I first tuned in were now just black ash.
The camera zoomed in on Sama Young standing tall in the center, capturing his profile.
His long lashes shaded his eyes as he quietly watched the blackened earth he'd reduced to nothing.
Like a man searching for something that had withstood his flames atop it.
But the very next instant, Sama Young's red lips curved upward ever so slightly.
As if he were utterly pleased with the black plain he'd created.
"Yeah, that's more like it."
What was he even searching for?
Those melodrama eyes of his were the problem—always looking like there's some tragic backstory.
I turned off the raid broadcast once the team, Sama Young included, headed for the next field.
Then I checked the time.
"3 PM."
The high school trio would be heading home from school soon.
After that, we'd all gather for dinner.
And after that...
"Sigh. Guess I won't be sleeping tonight either."
I flopped back onto the sofa with a thud, muttering to myself.
But my heart was still pounding away.
Sama Jeong's return. Sama Young's record-breaking A-rank clear.
The day had finally come.
"Nayeo-ju-ya, nothing out of the ordinary today, right?"
After dinner, as we were eating fruit, Han Ji-seong suddenly asked me.
"Today? Nope, all good. Why?"
"Had a dream."
Han Ji-seong elegantly dabbed his mouth with a tissue before continuing.
"I don't usually nap, but today I was weirdly sleepy. Dozed off for a bit, and you showed up in it."
"Me? That's new."
"Nah, you pop up pretty often. But that's not the point."
Han Ji-seong looked at me with concern.
"In the dream, you were playing with fire."
"Fire... playing?"
I swallowed the strawberry I'd been chewing and asked back.
"Yeah, a huge campfire roaring away, and you were poking around right in front of it. I tried to stop you, but my voice wouldn't come out."
"That's pretty standard for dreams."
Of all things, fire.
For someone with secret dawn plans tomorrow, it hit way too close to home.
"Then suddenly you pick up a stick from the ground and start jabbing at the fire. Like stirring it up."
"Maybe trying to make it burn bigger?"
"Could be. 'Cause then you straight-up doused it with gasoline."
"Gasoline? On fire?"
"Yeah, like, gushing it out."
"Gush, gushing..."
I cleared my throat awkwardly and pretended to eat another strawberry.
"So of course the flames shot up house-sized, but you didn't even flinch? I was yelling your name and woke up. Felt uneasy after, but glad nothing happened."
"Puhaha! Nayeo-ju's not an idiot! Why pour gasoline on fire?!"
Jang Su-ho teased Han Ji-seong that it was a nonsense dream.
The other guildmates joked too, saying dream fire-playing meant I needed to hit the bathroom then bed.
"Haha... Y-yeah, guess so..."
I forced a laugh and eyed Han Ji-seong with narrowed eyes.
Was this oppa low-key psychic or something?
I chewed my strawberry to mush, then grabbed a fresh fork.
Speared the biggest, juiciest one left, and handed it to Han Ji-seong.
"Huh? Why's Nayeo-ju suddenly taking care of me?"
He took it absentmindedly and tilted his head.
"No reason."
I wiped strawberry juice from my lips with the back of my hand.
"Just felt like I needed to offer a sacrifice or something."
Please, please, let everything go smoothly without a hitch.
Just past midnight, 4 AM.
I snapped my eyes open.
From afar came the click of a door closing.
Kang Han and Jang Su-ho heading out for their dawn workout.
I quietly got out of bed and opened the closet.
"Gotta use this again."
In a gloomy voice like bumping into an ex I never wanted to see again, I pulled out the stealth mask and cap.