Chapter 69
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 69
Chapter Title: Underground Castle and Hero
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"Phew, that was a relief. If we'd been even a little later, it would've been total hell."
Min-ji let out a sigh as she spoke.
The subway car was already fairly crowded, but compared to rush hour, it was nothing.
"Yeah. This is tame by comparison."
Ji-eun nodded in agreement.
The group was riding Line 7.
Trailing behind them, Su-hyeon still wore a pouty expression.
They'd teased her pretty hard, so she was still sulking.
But the fact that she was silently following along was pretty funny.
"Still mad?"
"...Hmph."
When Ga-eun suddenly asked, Su-hyeon whipped her head away.
Did she know it made her look even cuter?
"Heh, wipe that sauce off your cheek."
"...!"
Su-hyeon hurriedly rubbed her cheek with the back of her hand, but nothing came off.
"Just kidding."
Su-hyeon scowled and lunged at her.
The three burst out laughing at the sight of Su-hyeon tussling with Ga-eun's leg in her jeans.
"Ah, ow! I deleted the video, why are you still mad?"
Swish-swish-
"Heh, okay, sorry. Stop hitting me already. Your hand's gonna hurt more."
Ga-eun finally pretended to give in and played along.
No matter how much they bickered all day, it wouldn't cause any real harm, but ignoring her completely might actually make her cheeks puff up for real.
As laughter mixed with the occasional clanging of the subway, a commotion stirred up ahead.
"What's that?"
"Ugh-."
Min-ji craned her neck to look, just as Ji-eun grimaced.
A group of people had boarded through the doors.
They were bowing to seated passengers and handing something out.
'Street vendors?'
While his companions passed out papers, one man loudly drew everyone's attention.
"Folks, how long do you think the peace will last? Even in just the last month, signs of doom have been popping up one by one! We need to stop turning a blind eye to the uncomfortable truth. Only then can you witness the miracle!"
'Ugh, a cult.'
Their persistent shoving of flyers despite passengers' refusals was infuriating.
Ji-eun stuck out her tongue in disgust.
"Cults are everywhere these days."
"Yeah, none around school, though."
Su-hyeon was pretty surprised.
She'd gotten tangled up with one near school once, but hadn't seen a trace since.
Did the professor tip off security and get rid of them?
...Is our campus security that competent?
"Cults still exist...?"
"You didn't know? They're exploding lately. Not sure about the countryside, but in Seoul... whew."
Ji-eun answered Su-hyeon's puzzled question.
"They used to round 'em all up back in the day, so why not now? Makes no sense."
"I get so annoyed getting stopped every time I go to school."
"Those guys definitely have backers. Politicians as believers or lobbyists or whatever."
"Okay, calm down and ignore them. Ignore."
"Ugh."
Ga-eun soothed the irritated pair while shifting her legs.
When Su-hyeon reflexively grabbed her shin as it lifted toward her stomach, Ga-eun's leg smoothly nudged her inward.
As Su-hyeon moved inside, the flyer distributors approached.
"Hello, sisters."
A middle-aged man spoke with a friendly smile.
His beaming grin, oblivious to their discomfort, sparked raw irritation.
"Would you like to hear about the truth we've discovered?"
Min-ji didn't hide her displeasure.
"No thanks. Go away."
"...!"
"...!"
Ji-eun leaned against the door, staring at her phone without a glance, while Ga-eun kept a blank face.
It felt like the South Pole.
Su-hyeon swallowed hard.
If she'd been treated like that by girls back when she was a guy, she'd have spent three days face-down in bed.
But whether due to fervent faith or whatever, the man didn't back down.
"Come on, this is an important message that could change your lives. You can't ignore the truth just because it's comfortable right now."
"Hey, we're asking you to stop and leave."
When always-cheerful, playful Min-ji snapped harshly, Su-hyeon's heart dropped.
The sharp reaction made the man step back and offer a flyer.
"Fine, just take this and read it once later?"
Smack-
Min-ji snatched it roughly.
The flustered man finally straightened up with a smile.
'He's leaving now.'
Su-hyeon sighed in relief.
The cult was annoying, but her friends' sudden mood shift was scarier.
"Here, one for our young friend too..."
Off-guard, the man suddenly bent down and shoved a flyer at Su-hyeon.
Not just Su-hyeon, but Min-ji jumped too at his sudden approach.
With Su-hyeon's short stature, meeting her eyes meant aiming at the women's lower bodies.
"Huh?"
"What do you think you're doing?!"
Min-ji tried to take it for her, but the man dodged and thrust it at Su-hyeon again.
"What?"
"The chance to know the truth is equal for all. No regard for age, gender, or race. And the younger and purer, the more they should see and think for themselves."
"What the hell are you...!"
"Our friend looks so kind and smart, I'm sure she'll understand."
Whoosh-
The flyer slipped past Ga-eun's leg right to Su-hyeon's nose.
As Su-hyeon and Min-ji panicked at his manic look—
"Gahhh!"
Ga-eun twisted the man's arm up with one hand.
Flutter-
Flyers scattered, screams drawing eyes.
"You just cross the line like it's nothing while we watch."
"Agh! Ow! Sister! M-my arm...!"
Ga-eun yanked him away from the group.
"Why are you so insistent on giving it to the kid?"
"If it goes through others' hands! Vision gets narrow! Different from our intent... Gahhhh!"
"Still not getting it."
Ga-eun raised and lowered the man's still-rambling arm.
Crack crack
He danced wildly each time.
"Mister, we're getting off at the next stop? This guy's done for. Min-ji, report to station staff."
Ji-eun, hearing that, gave a thumbs-up.
"Pressed the intercom the second they came in."
"Nice."
Ga-eun thumbs-upped back with her free hand.
"What?!"
Other cultists noticed the uproar and rushed over.
Ga-eun assessed quickly.
All eyes on them; some filming.
"G-Ga-eun..."
Su-hyeon looked worried.
They were victims, but with Ga-eun soon B-rank Hunter, more fuss was bad.
Her face known from streams—jealous folks would twist this.
"Ga-eun, they'll nab 'em at the next stop anyway."
Ji-eun whispered.
Ga-eun nodded.
She knew holding on risked backlash.
High-rank Awakeners were prime targets online.
She'd been there before.
"Urk!"
She released; he crumpled. Cultists supported him.
"Hey, we were just—"
Another tried explaining, but was stopped and shook his head.
The cultists exchanged uneasy glances and hurriedly moved to another car.
"Tch, hope they crash and burn... Everyone okay? No hurts?"
"Su-hyeon, you alright?"
"Y-yeah..."
Truthfully startled by the girls' sudden shift, Su-hyeon kept quiet now.
"Ga-eun, stop glaring that way. Shh shh."
Ga-eun stared blankly where the cultists vanished.
Min-ji treated her like a rabid dog.
Ga-eun startled at Min-ji's waving hand and turned.
"You good?"
"Huh? Yeah."
"It's over, forget it! Ugh, was having such a good time."
"Yeah. Teasing Su-hyeon was fun..."
"...!"
"Shake it off flower-viewing."
Ga-eun smiled at her friends, replaying the scene.
As cultists moved to the next car—
Brüel's hand from the ceiling snatching their napes.
Three vanishing skyward in a blink—so unreal, she'd zoned out.
'No one saw.'
Not just friends; passengers watched, but no suspicion.
She'd barely glimpsed forms.
Without knowing Brüel the elf, it'd look like monster tentacles.
'Subway ceiling's sealed—how...?'
Meanwhile, Su-hyeon, finally relaxing, startled at a sudden mellow voice beside her.
"Those young friends are awfully brave."
"Y-yes?!"
'Grandpa...?'
Turning, an old man at the end seat addressed her.
"Not scared?"
Not just soothing a kid.
Genuinely curious tone.
"I-I'm fine..."
'Honestly, grandpa's voice scares me more.'
Su-hyeon felt uneasy at the sudden approach, inching away.
"Wow, grandpa, your voice is amazing. Voice actor or something?"
"Haha, thank you."
Min-ji was right.
His dated suit and wrinkled face screamed old, but the voice could pass for a young man.
"That young lady too—brave, but rushing in like that could be dangerous. So many threats out there."
The old man smiled at Ga-eun.
"Um, thanks..."
"Nah, she's fine, grandpa. Looks it, but she's... B-rank Hunter!"
Min-ji whispered.
"Not yet."
"Pfft, soon enough."
"Ho ho ho, impressive."
Ga-eun chided; Min-ji bantered.
Su-hyeon felt oddly familiar yet strange from the old man.
'Brüel? No...'
His intense presence briefly evoked her, then not.
No infinite warmth like Brüel's.
'Speech pattern? Anyway, weird...'
Emotionless, like reading a textbook.
Conversations usually match words and feelings.
Sensitive Su-hyeon sensed no sync here.
'Just a stranger?'
Having half-learned Dryad traits from Grandma, Su-hyeon dismissed it as imagination.