Chapter 168
Chapter 168
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 168
Chapter Title: The Truth of the Rampage
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“Seong Yona Hunter is no longer with Fantasia. She's doing just fine now.”
“What... what do you mean? Yona's no longer with Fantasia?”
Kim Min-jeong stared with eyes wide as saucers, as if she'd just heard that red was green.
“Let me introduce myself first. I'm Nayeo-ju, healer of Justice Guild.”
“Ah, right. I'm Kim Min-jeong from Fantasia. But what on earth happened...?”
Ser Yu-baek explained to the still-confused Kim Min-jeong.
“I'm Ser Yu-baek, director of the National Awakener Hospital. Kim Min-jeong Hunter, you've been unconscious for the past two years and only just woke up. Could you tell us the last thing you remember?”
“Two... two years...”
Kim Min-jeong seemed to have a fairly calm personality.
She was stunned for a moment upon hearing about the two years that had passed, but she quickly tried to answer Ser Yu-baek's question.
“I entered a dungeon, and it rampaged. And then... the last thing I remember is being so furious I thought my sanity was flying away, and... attacking my guildmates.”
I'd been worried it might not be the case, but...
Kim Min-jeong remembered everything.
“The guildmates I attacked... they're all dead... right?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Ah...”
Kim Min-jeong buried her face in her hands.
“It's my fault. I shouldn't have gone into the dungeon when I wasn't feeling well... I thought it would be okay...”
Kim Min-jeong bore significant responsibility for pushing herself into the gate despite not feeling well.
Especially since several people lost their lives as a result.
But the greatest blame lay with this world and its system.
It didn't even allow individuals to properly read their own status windows or know their exact addiction rates.
Those who died in that dungeon, the rampaging Kim Min-jeong, and even Seong Yona, who had lived as a fugitive for two years—they were all victims of this wretched system.
“Um, so what about Yona...?”
Kim Min-jeong was just starting to ask me when...
The hospital room door burst open, and two people entered.
One was Kang Han, followed by Seong Yona, her face streaked with tears.
“Min-jeong unnie!”
“Yona!”
“Unnie! Are you okay now? Does it hurt?”
“I'm fine. What about you? Back then, when I...”
Kim Min-jeong's face twisted in pain, as if recalling that day two years ago.
“No, I wasn't hurt that badly. I used a skill to escape the dungeon. Everything's fine. Really, it's all okay.”
It was a heartwarming scene.
Seong Yona and Kim Min-jeong seemed closer than I'd thought; the two embraced tightly and showed no sign of letting go anytime soon.
But the peace didn't last.
“Seong Yona?”
A cold voice cut in.
Seong Rosa, who appeared to be visiting with a large bouquet of flowers, glared at Seong Yona with a rigidly hardened face.
“Rosa!”
Kim Min-jeong cried out with a bright smile.
At that cheerful voice, Seong Rosa slowly turned her gaze toward Kim Min-jeong.
“Kim Min-jeong, you feeling better now?”
“Yeah, I'm totally fine! What are you doing out there? Come in already! Didn't you hear I was bedridden for two years?”
“Yeah. Just a sec.”
Seong Rosa gave a curt reply to Kim Min-jeong, then suddenly thrust one hand toward Seong Yona.
Chwhip—!
A whip made of light shot out from Seong Rosa's pale hand.
But the attack never reached Seong Yona.
Bzzzt—!
Kang Han swung his spear, intercepting the attack midway.
He tore the whip wrapped around his spear with his bare hands and warned Seong Rosa.
“Seong Yona Hunter belongs to Justice Guild. Any further attacks will be considered an assault on Justice Guild.”
“Justice Guild? So that's where you've been hiding all this time, Seong Yona?”
Seong Yona's shoulders flinched violently at Seong Rosa's words, spat through gritted teeth.
“What do you think you're doing in a hospital right now!”
Ser Yu-baek scolded Seong Rosa loudly.
“Seong Rosa! What are you doing to Yona!”
Kim Min-jeong shouted, pulling Seong Yona even closer into her embrace as if to protect her.
“I don't know what happened over the past two years, but she's your sister! Get a grip!”
“Sister?”
Seong Rosa smirked, curling one corner of her mouth.
“My sister died in that dungeon. Right now, you're nothing but a wanted murderer.”
“I didn't do it!”
Seong Yona pulled away from Kim Min-jeong's arms and confronted Seong Rosa.
“I do regret running away that day, but I never killed anyone. I didn't kill unnie or oppa who went into the dungeon with me.”
“Lies.”
Seong Yona's face flashed with despair at Seong Rosa's icy single word.
It seemed she still had some lingering hope because 'she's my sister.'
“I stayed quiet thinking you sisters would sort it out yourselves, but this is just pathetic. Hey, Fantasia Guild Master.”
“Who are you?”
“Who? I'm Nayeo-ju from Justice Guild. And right now, I'm Yona's guardian.”
Seong Rosa's eyes sharpened even more at the word 'guardian.'
“You don't believe a word Yona says, do you? Be honest. You already suspect it, don't you? That the one who killed the guild members in that dungeon that day was Kim Min-jeong Hunter.”
“...”
Of course.
Even to a stranger, Seong Rosa and Kim Min-jeong looked exceptionally close.
There's no way Seong Rosa wouldn't know what form her friend's rampage took.
“Kim Min-jeong Hunter, I'm sorry, but could you explain it yourself? What happened in that dungeon that day.”
At my request, Kim Min-jeong bit her lip for a moment.
But then she turned to Seong Yona.
“Sorry, Yona. I get the gist of the situation now. You've been through hell because of me.”
“Min-jeong unnie...”
“Rosa, it was me. I killed our guild members.”
Her anguish seeped through with every word.
But she didn't stop her confession.
“The rampage symptoms were worse than usual. My body and mind wouldn't obey me. So I thought, ah, this rampage will be my last.”
“Kim Min-jeong, stop talking.”
“No, you listen carefully. I don't know why you left Yona—who's innocent—to take the blame, but I'm truly disappointed in you.”
“...”
“Issue a proper official statement in Fantasia's name. Say it was me, Kim Min-jeong, not Yona, who harmed people in that dungeon that day. I'll take responsibility for the finger-pointing, the murderer insults, and even the sin of killing people—rampage or not. And until then, I don't want to see your face.”
Seong Rosa stood frozen, silent for a long while.
Then she set the bouquet she'd brought on the table by the door and turned away.
“I'll come again.”
That was all she left behind.
In the hospital room, where the storm had raged and then quieted, Kim Min-jeong embraced Seong Yona once more.
“You've been through so much. And Rosa... you know her personality. She acts tough on the outside, but deep down, she'll be regretting it a ton.”
“It's okay. Honestly, I didn't expect her to believe me right away.”
“Still...”
“And now, I'm not alone anymore.”
Seong Yona said, looking at me and Kang Han.
“Now I can say I'm Seong Yona, hunter of Justice Guild, in front of everyone, right?”
It was her declaration of breaking free from the prison she'd built for herself and stepping back into the world.
I patted Seong Yona's head.
“Well done, Seong Yona.”
“Hehe.”
Seong Yona's smiling face looked clearer and more refreshed than ever before.
Kim Min-jeong and Seong Yona had a lot of catching up to do.
“We'll need to keep her hospitalized a few more days to monitor her condition, but Kim Min-jeong Hunter should be fine.”
“Of course. Not with that treatment.”
“Exactly. As expected of you, Nayeo-ju.”
Ser Yu-baek's praise made my shoulders lift proudly.
Me, acknowledged by an S-rank healer.
“I'll head out now, sir. Time to go home, Guild Master.”
I grabbed Kang Han's arm and tugged.
I wanted to hurry back and roll around hugging Baekho.
But Kang Han stood rooted like an old tree trunk, not budging.
“Guild Master?”
“Why are you wearing patient clothes, Nayeo-ju?”
Ah, damn.
I'd forgotten this guy had surprisingly sharp eyes.