Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Don't Leave Me
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“Kuuuaaaargh!!!”
The Minotaur, stabbed between the eyes by a longsword, roared in agony and began swinging its greatsword wildly.
The goat-headed monsters that approached to help were sliced to pieces.
Fortunately, the white horse golem made from Han Do-hee’s car managed to escape. It grabbed the collapsed girl with its mouth, tossed her onto its back, and safely retreated from the battle zone.
“Hah, my car…”
Han Do-hee was still in disbelief, even as she rode her own car that had become a horse. Minium, who had been clinging to the Minotaur’s head, activated the boosters on its back, stomped on the Minotaur’s face once more to launch itself into the air, and brought its sword down with tremendous force.
Shhhk-!
The Minotaur’s skull was split perfectly in half. The sword stopped around its collarbone, but the creature had already ceased all movement.
Craaash!!
As the massive body toppled forward, the dazed Awakened nearby were jolted back to their senses by the loud noise and began to systematically subdue the fleeing goat-headed monsters.
“Dude, that’s insane. Get a shot of that.”
Han Do-hee, now an unwilling star, was led back to the parking lot by her white horse golem. People’s phones captured the image of her being carried away, slumped limply over the horse’s saddle.
“This is too much… I never wanted to get famous like this…”
But the gate wasn’t over. Although the Minotaur, a mid-boss, had been dealt with, the true boss had yet to appear.
After subduing the goat-headed monsters, people instinctively began to distance themselves from the gate.
Before long, the gate began to squirm and spit out a colossal monster.
“Holy shit, what is that thing?”
“I don’t know, just film it…!”
A gigantic monster with black leather-like skin emerged, one side of its body bearing a goat’s head, the other a bull’s. It was easily one and a half times the size of the five-meter-tall Minotaur. The massive humanoid creature began to crawl out, holding a different weapon in each of its four hands.
“I-Isn’t this dangerous!?”
As the murmurs of the surrounding citizens grew louder, the moment the creature’s hooves finally touched the ground—
Bang! Bang!
Two resounding gunshots echoed in a country where firearms were banned. The attack precisely targeted the knee joints of the emerging boss monster.
What followed was the sight of a sharp blade of pink-tinged magic power perfectly severing the creature’s ankles.
“Over there!!”
Beyond the parking lot, behind the crowd of citizens, a black van was parked on the roadside.
It was a vehicle from one of South Korea’s major guilds, transporting Japan’s S-class Hunter, Tennoji Utaha, and Mexico’s S-class Hunter, Camila Torres.
It was a transport vehicle from the Nova Guild.
“Haaap…!”
A clear, slightly husky battle cry rang out. Utaha, having leaped high into the air, drew her famed sword, Kurenai.
At the sight of the tall, 170cm woman powerfully swinging her sword with her long legs fully extended, Utaha’s fans hidden among the crowd shed tears of joy.
Sliice…!!
Utaha aimed precisely for the center between the two heads and split the monster in half.
However, as its body was cleaved, the twin-headed beast’s wounds healed in an instant, and it multiplied into two separate entities.
As if to balance their bodies, the arms that had been clustered on one side shifted to the other, resulting in two complete, massive monsters.
But before either monster could mount a proper attack, Camila Torres’s two revolvers fired, planting six magic-infused bullets precisely into their foreheads, ending the situation.
“Whoa… insane.”
“So this is what an S-class is like…!”
As the two celebrities received the crowd's cheers, firmly cementing their images in the public’s mind…
“We will take you to a safe place.”
“Ah, um… that is…”
Somehow, I found myself in the Nova Guild’s VIP vehicle, with Han Do-hee lying down and taking up an entire long seat, and me sitting awkwardly by her head.
And the person standing before me was…
“A-Are you perhaps…”
“A pleasure to meet you. I am Yoo Chae-rin.”
“S-So it really was you…!”
The leader of Nova Guild’s 1st main strike force and one of only two S-class Hunters in South Korea.
“We brought you here as you seemed to be in a difficult situation. Is there a problem?”
“What!? Ah, no! It’s just… the horse and the eagle…”
“The horse golem is following in the car behind us. The same goes for the eagle golem.”
“Oh… I see…”
“Team Leader Yoo, the healing is complete.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
A male hunter sitting in the back seat had been quietly healing Han Do-hee. Soon, her nosebleed stopped, and she sat up, wiping under her nose with her sleeve.
“Do-hee. It’s been a while.”
“Ack!?”
“Ah, damn. So embarrassing.”
Han Do-hee then casually stretched out on the wide seat, crossing her legs comfortably.
“H-Han Do-hee!?”
Yoo Chae-rin and Han Do-hee spoke to each other as if they were old acquaintances. Could it be they knew each other?
Their hair was a similar color. Were they sisters…!?
‘No, that can’t be right…? They have different last names…’
Han Do-hee and Yoo Chae-rin had different surnames. And I didn’t think they looked particularly alike either.
Noticing my hesitation, Yoo Chae-rin gave me a warm, friendly smile and spoke.
“And what might this young lady’s name be?”
“I-I’m Eve…”
“Eve… I see. I never expected to meet you in a place like this.”
“Y-You know me…?”
“We received a report from a fellow hunter about the sighting of an avian familiar of unknown origin at the Ahyeon-dong gate. We meant no harm, but we were conducting some tracking for protective purposes.”
“Ehh…”
To think they were tracking me, even if my story made it to the popular posts. They wouldn’t scold me for not being part of the Nova Guild or something, right…?
“Do-hee. How are you feeling?”
“Fine. It didn’t really hurt.”
“I see, that’s a relief.”
Watching Han Do-hee and Yoo Chae-rin talk so casually gave me a sense of cognitive dissonance.
To think that Do-shyung-jwak, the resident attention-seeking, unlikeable, named user of the Awakening Gallery, was an acquaintance of one of the only two S-class Hunters in Korea.
Was being a B-class combatant that big of a deal…?
“You seem curious about my relationship with Do-hee, Miss Eve.”
“She’s my cousin.”
“Oh, I see…!”
That would explain the different surnames. Now that she mentioned it, I suppose they did look a little bit alike…
“Um… where are we going…?”
“For now… we happen to be heading to the Nova Guild’s building. We confirmed that you were being tracked by Chinese hunters at the scene, so we ask for your understanding.”
“Chinese hunters…?”
“There have been several reported cases of certain private Awakened being kidnapped. Our tracking of you, Miss Eve, was also part of a protective measure against such threats.”
“A-Am I strong enough to be targeted…?”
“I would say you have potential.”
Being praised by an S-class Hunter… I have to post about this on the Awakening Gallery when I get home.
“It seems you have some lingering regrets.”
“Eve likes Maxy. She came to see her today, and this whole mess happened.”
“So you’re a fan of Miss Camila Torres. Both she and Miss Utaha will be staying at the Nova Guild’s hotel tonight. If you’d like, I can arrange a meeting.”
“Oh, no! You don’t have to go that far…?”
“It’s fine, Eve. Let her.”
“W-Well then…”
So Han Do-hee was a B-class Awakened with an S-class Hunter for a cousin.
‘She really is a show-off…’
This whole situation—riding in a Nova Guild car with an S-class Hunter—felt completely surreal. I wondered if I was dreaming.
Beep-beep!
“Oh, Doggo.”
“Doggo?”
“Umm… it’s this one… a golem I made from my phone… Ack!! No, I didn’t mean to?!”
“Is that a phone from the Ohsung Group brand?”
“Well, yes, but…”
Come to think of it, Nova was Ohsung Group’s guild. And my phone was an Ohsung phone… I had just told the leader of a major corporate guild that I had smashed her group’s phone to bits to make a golem.
“You seem to possess a unique skill.”
“Ahaha…?”
“Right, Eve. You turned my car into a golem?”
Han Do-hee, sitting next to me, reached out and started squishing my cheeks. It was true that I’d turned her car into a golem, but it was also because of that that I was able to save her, right…?
“Stooop… thaaat…”
“What are you going to do about my car! My fully-loaded Maxcruz!!”
“Do-hee. Should I buy you a new car?”
“…No thanks. I bought that one with my own money.”
“I can turn it back…! P-Probably…”
“What? Really?”
I remembered trying to restore the aluminum cockroach to its original state, but the system said my Issue Command skill level was too low. So… maybe if I practiced using Issue Command a bit more, I could change it back.
“Hmm… how long will it take?”
“I’m not sure…”
“Aish.”
“Miss Eve, could I possibly have your parents’ contact information? The guild needs to contact them directly.”
“Huh…? Why…?”
“We would like for you to stay at the Nova Guild’s hotel for the day.”
“Ah, unni.”
“Hm?”
Han Do-hee covered my eyes with her palm, and I could feel the vibrations as she shook her head or mouthed something.
“Ah… I see. Then, if you have no reason you must return home, we will arrange a room for you at the hotel tonight.”
“I don’t mind…”
“That’s a relief.”
“Unni, I want to go home.”
“You don’t have a choice, Do-hee. Let’s stay together for today.”
“Tch.”
“I’ll call your parents.”
“Am I a kid? I live by myself, why do you need to call them?”
“Just to say hello.”
The Nova Guild’s hotel was none other than the Shilla Hotel, the massive, ultra-luxurious hotel under the Ohsung Group. Even if I earned a ton of money, I would never have dreamed of staying here.
“It’s so tall.”
“Let’s go inside, it’s cold.”
Han Do-hee followed Yoo Chae-rin inside as if it were nothing, but honestly, I was feeling incredibly, immensely, unbelievably burdened.
“Um… my golems…?”
“Ah, they will be waiting inside.”
“Oh…?”
To be greeted with deep bows by a dozen staff members in suits without saying a word in return—she was the epitome of an upper-class woman.
I followed her into a place that seemed to be a reception room. The three of us had walked to the door together, but then…
“Do-hee, I need to talk to you.”
“Hah, again? Eve, I’ll be back in a bit, okay?”
“Uh, o-okay…?”
Han Do-hee didn’t enter the reception room, leaving with Yoo Chae-rin instead. Which meant I was left with…?
“Good evening. I am A-class Hunter Oh Chae-yeon, in charge of your guidance and security tonight. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
A sudden, unfamiliar face broke the silence of the overly quiet, luxurious reception room.
‘Okay, don’t tremble…! I’m a princess, right? This is a piece of cake…’
“Are you the owner of the three golems? They are waiting over here.”
“Oo.”
“Oo?”
“Ooh, uwaaaaaah!!!”
Don’t leave me, Han Do-hee. I think I’m going to cry.