Chapter 80
Chapter 80
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 80
Chapter Title: Seong Yona's Testimony
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Han Ji-seong handed Seong Yona a bowl of instant porridge he'd warmed up nicely.
"Here, have some of this at least."
"Th-thank you."
At first, Seong Yona hesitated a bit, taking one spoonful, then two. But soon enough, she started devouring it like she hadn't eaten in days.
Her pitiful state was so heartbreaking that even Lee Yu-chan, the king of prickliness, fetched her some water.
"Um, sis. Here's some water."
"Thank you..."
Last time they'd seen her, she'd looked anxious but still neat and put-together.
Now, she'd turned into a total ragamuffin.
'Can't blame her, though. How long has she been on the run already?'
She was still wearing her items, but the hood and hat covering her face were frayed and caked in dirt.
She clearly hadn't been able to wash properly while evading capture—grimy from head to toe, looking more like a homeless person than a hunter.
It was impossible to imagine her as an A-rank like the others, who each owned at least a building or two in Gangnam.
"Th-thank you, it was delicious..."
Seong Yona gulped down the water Lee Yu-chan had brought her, then bowed her head in gratitude.
"How many days has it been since you last ate?"
"About three days..."
One bowl of porridge wouldn't cut it.
Once they'd wrapped up the basics, he'd have to buy her some proper food.
Kang Han, who'd quietly taken a seat next to me to give her time to fill her stomach, spoke up.
"You're Seong Yona the hunter, correct?"
"Y-yes. That's me. I'm so sorry for showing up like this..."
Seong Yona wiped her mouth with her sleeve and sat up straight to reply.
She took off the hood and hat she'd been wearing nonstop.
Her plain face, with droopy corners that gave her a timid air, matched the Seong Yona I'd met as 'Gu A-ri' before.
"To verify your identity, could you please unequip your items?"
Seong Yona hesitated at Kang Han's cool demand.
But she soon rolled up her sleeve and removed the silver bracelet.
'Oh, so that's how it works.'
The moment the bracelet came off, her appearance began reverting from head to toe.
Her messy black bob grew out long and turned golden blonde, while her ordinary brown eyes shifted to a sparkling green.
It was like watching a plant sprout and bloom right before your eyes—I stared in fascination.
Then her face changed too.
The somewhat gloomy expression sharpened, her features becoming more defined.
Now, anyone on the street would spot her and think, 'That's Seong Yona!'
As if uneasy about revealing her true self, Seong Yona fidgeted with her dirt-blackened fingertips but didn't put the bracelet back on.
"...Identity confirmed, Seong Yona hunter. If it's uncomfortable, feel free to equip the item again."
"N-no, it's fine."
Seong Yona shook her head slightly as she replied.
"I know letting me in like this puts the Justice Guild at huge risk already. Thank you so much for taking me in."
Her voice was as small as her hunched shoulders.
It was the kind of sight that would stir sympathy in anyone watching, Justice Guild members included.
But Kang Han showed no sign of wavering.
He just nodded briefly and asked his next question in his usual curt tone.
"Why did you choose to flee instead of returning to your guild after the dungeon accident, Seong Yona hunter?"
"Th-that's..."
"If it's uncomfortable, you don't have to answer."
But if she didn't, Kang Han wouldn't trust her.
Sensing that instinctively, Seong Yona clenched her jaw—forming a little dimple in her chin—before opening her mouth.
"I was... scared. There was an accident inside the dungeon..."
"What kind of accident?"
It was almost like an interrogation, but no one in the Justice Guild tried to stop Kang Han.
They'd fed the starving girl out of basic decency, but her answers would change everything.
"Well... The dungeon where it happened was my first one, and Kim Min-jeong hunter—who was with me as my guardian and team leader—went berserk, she..."
"Kim Min-jeong hunter? The A-rank who specialized in four-element magic...?"
"You know her too, Ji-seong oppa?"
Han Ji-seong nodded at my question.
"She was a veteran hunter. I've gotten help from her a few times myself."
If even Han Ji-seong, who used to be with Fantasia Guild, said that, she must have been really skilled.
"Min-jeong unnie was a really good person."
"And you're saying that hunter went berserk?"
"Even before entering the gate, unnie said she wasn't feeling well and that we should clear it as fast as possible. But I was inexperienced, so it took too long. And right in the middle of taking down the boss monster, unnie started going berserk... She attacked the team instead of the boss. I tried to trap her in a subspace to stop her, but..."
An A-rank skilled enough to be assigned as Seong Yona's guardian by Fantasia—if she'd lost her reason, a mere 18-year-old like Seong Yona couldn't have handled it.
"Everyone else on the team died, leaving just me and Min-jeong unnie. B-but she did try to stop her attacks now and then. In the end, she told me to run... run away..."
Tears welled up in Seong Yona's large eyes as she recalled that moment.
"Then why didn't you return to the guild and tell the truth?"
Exactly.
Kang Han wouldn't be swayed by tears.
I'd gotten used to his softer side lately, so seeing this original steel-willed version felt a bit off.
But this was Kang Han's true nature.
Thankfully, Seong Yona wiped her tears and kept answering his piercing questions.
"I did escape the gate alone, but using my skill in such a rush dropped me in some weird mountain. It took days to reach civilization... I went into a store to borrow a phone, and the news said Min-jeong unnie was in a coma, and I might be the one who killed the others..."
"Even so, you're Seong Rosa guild master's sister. If you'd returned properly, you wouldn't have been falsely accused of something you didn't do."
"It... should have been like that. But we're not actually that close as sisters. And that's fair—she's so much better than me, her pathetic little sister... And."
Seong Yona's body shrank even smaller.
"After that, I can't use my abilities properly anymore."
"You've lost your skills?"
"N-not exactly... But whenever I try to use my space teleport skill, that day just... keeps flashing back..."
I checked Seong Yona's status window.
Unlike with Kang Han or Yu-eul siblings, her skills weren't locked.
So the reason was...
'Fear, anxiety, guilt, social phobia. One of those four.'
Or maybe all of them.
Going through something like that at a young age without lingering trauma would be the weird part.
I wasn't the only one thinking that.
All the guild members were looking at Seong Yona with even more pity than before.
But Justice Guild's last bastion of reason, Kang Han, was different.
"Let's reveal the truth now. It's a situation that warrants full consideration..."
"N-no, I can't!"
Seong Yona shook her head vigorously and shouted.
"Why not? It would solve every problem..."
"Then... then Min-jeong unnie becomes the murderer."
A fat tear drop fell from Seong Yona's eyes, which had just started drying.
"It's better if I take the blame. Min-jeong unnie went into the dungeon with me despite feeling sick, just to help—and she's been in a coma for years. Even if she miraculously wakes up, becoming a murderer..."
One word from her, and this fugitive life could end.
I'd have spilled everything that happened in the dungeon without a second thought.
Who took the fall as the killer didn't matter to me.
Seong Yona blamed herself for the delay, but it was natural for a high school newbie on her first gate to be inexperienced.
That's why Fantasia assigned a veteran hunter.
And if that hunter ignored her condition and pushed into the gate anyway, leading to the berserk—that was Kim Min-jeong's own irresponsible choice too.
'Well, everyone thinks differently.'
Maybe to her, Kim Min-jeong was more family than Seong Rosa.
Someone worth taking the murder rap and hiding for years over.
And Kang Han asked,
"Can you swear on everything you've said so far with mana?"