Chapter 50: The Unforgivable Betrayal
Kwon Yul's family home was in Seoul, but she was currently living in a studio apartment right in front of her university's main gate.
Staring at her laptop screen with lifeless eyes, Yul thought, 'Next year, I'm definitely taking a leave of absence...'
For Yul, who prized work-life balance above all, juggling university life with her hunter duties was pure torture.
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' tilts its head, suggesting you just drop out altogether.
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' boldly declares that even without this place, our Yul's future is tougher than diamond.
'I didn't even mention being a hunter, and it's already jumping to dropout talk. Something's about to go down.'
Yul mechanically tapped the keys, filling in her PPT.
With assignments left unsubmitted and self-canceled classes as routine as meals, her grades from past semesters were already a disaster.
"Honey, I wasn't gonna say anything about your university grades... but this is a bit much, isn't it?"
The memory of Kang Young-hwa's shock upon receiving the academic warning notice at home was still vivid.
Ding.
Her phone screen lit up, even on silent mode.
"What is it."
Constellation 'Blind Sovereign of the Sky' explains it's the notification system made by lowly creatures.
It recites that a Gate has opened.
"Don't know. Not going out today."
Yul replied indifferently.
A quick glance showed the outbreak location wasn't here or near her family home, and though it was a sudden-type Gate, the estimated rank wasn't high.
Even if a wave hit, the guilds or Hunter Management Bureau would handle it. She wasn't a volunteer.
She stepped up reliably when she could out of basic conscience, but only when she had no personal priorities. On days like today, when she was annoyed and exhausted, no thanks.
Yul set her phone face down and refocused on her assignments.
Besides the group project, she had three more due tomorrow.
How much time had passed like that?
Ding!
[Private Hunter Channel - Sender: 'FudgeMaster']
Yul frowned at the sudden message, but bolted from her seat the instant she read the follow-up.
Yul shot into the sky.
The edge of the sky, not yet fully dark, still held the sun.
A few people who spotted her streaking across the bright sky cheered, but Yul heard nothing.
Clutching her terminal in one hand, she shouted.
"What's the situation right now?!"
"Holding it off! The wave hit a while ago—barely managing as is!"
"Mom and Dad?! You nearby?!"
"Not sure exactly. Got the entry list and confirmed, but it's huge—hard to pinpoint!"
The Gate had opened in a massive department store. Whether out for rare shopping, Yul's parents had been there.
Public facilities sent entry lists to the Management Bureau immediately upon a Gate outbreak; Ryu Shin-ah had intercepted and checked it.
Initially estimated D-rank, the Gate had immediately triggered a wave and upgraded to B-rank.
Not impossible to clear by rank alone, but the department store was packed with people.
The moment Yul arrived, she began sweeping away the monsters.
Thwack.
A scorpion-type monster split in two under the merciless swing of her bat.
"Th-thank you!"
"LeeSeonjwaSlayer! You...!"
Ignoring civilians' thanks and the Management Bureau response team, she tore through the interior.
Monster corpses littered her wake.
Mid-leap between floors, the long-awaited update came.
"King! Floor 3! Floor 3, clothing section!"
Yul headed straight there without hesitation.
And the sight that greeted her upon arrival was...
"Gaaah! Aaaah!"
Splat.
Her father shoving her mother toward the monster and fleeing in her place.
The eye beneath her bandages slowly widened.
What just happened?
Before she could even process the facts, her hunter instincts moved her body reliably.
Kieeeek!
Her Judgment staff slammed into the gaping maw.
The snake thrashed in agony as its palate pierced through in an instant, but the staff held firm.
"Ah..."
Kang Young-hwa sighed, her poison fangs inches from her face, body trembling in terror.
Yul immediately kicked the snake's lower jaw.
With its mouth impaled on the staff, it swept through display racks and flew to the back.
Crack.
And then, the floor split open.
"Gasp...!"
"N-no!"
"...!"
Right beneath where Kwon Yu-hyuk, who had crawled forward after shoving Young-hwa aside, stood.
Young-hwa reflexively reached out, and Yul whipped around,
but
Rumble.
"Uwaaaah!"
His figure vanished in a flash.
His brief death cry cut off with a thud.
"..."
Yul couldn't say a word.
The meaning of that sound, what had become of her father, was all too clear.
'...Just now...'
She simply couldn't believe it.
'What happened...'
She'd seen it clearly.
Her father shoving her mother into the monster's jaws.
The scene of him trying to flee to save himself.
Even the Constellation fell silent.
"...Um, over there."
Kang Young-hwa broke the silence.
Unable to control her trembling body, she forced herself to stand and bowed her head.
"Th-thank... thank you."
"..."
"For saving me... th-thank... sob..."
Sobs finally burst out.
At the edge of the sunken floor, unable to look down, she collapsed and wailed.
By the time Yul escorted her mother to the shelter, the Gate had already closed.
"King! It's handled..."
Ryu Shin-ah, rushing over, trailed off at the absent father.
The situation was easy to guess.
Kang Young-hwa blinked upon spotting him.
"Shin-ah?"
"Ah, Mother..."
"You're here too. Yul doesn't know about this yet, right?"
Ignoring their conversation, Yul walked away.
The incident was resolved, her mother safe, but
that unbelievable scene wouldn't leave her mind.
"...What? Dad... Damn it."
Hearing that much, Ryu Shin-ah cursed under his breath and chased after Yul.
Her steps toward the deep ruins were as steady as ever.
But how precarious her back looked—Ryu Shin-ah could feel it viscerally, chills running down his spine.
"General! General! Wait!"
He grabbed her hand urgently.
Yul let him without a word.
"...Dad pushed Mom."
"...!"
"And died."
A prickling energy coursed through his grip.
Yul's black bob swayed in the windless air.
"..."
Ryu Shin-ah swallowed dryly.
She might rampage.
Yul was fundamentally level-headed.
Not the type to lose control to emotions, but this was different.
She might really snap.
"Please, calm down. Please."
But Ryu Shin-ah wasn't worried about the aftermath she'd cause or public backlash.
"...We don't know yet. You'll regret this later. Don't do it, okay?"
"..."
"Mom's still here."
If rampaging would ease Yul's pain, he wouldn't mind her leveling the collapsed store—or a few cities.
He'd be all for it.
But he knew blowing everything away here wouldn't heal her heart.
The dead couldn't return, and aimless destruction wouldn't soothe that betrayal and confusion.
"...Let's go see Mom."
"..."
"Can't leave her alone. She needs her daughter by her side."
Ryu Shin-ah chose simply to make his friend release her weapon.
Her father had died caught in the Gate.
But this wasn't the decisive reason Yul decided to hide her identity.
Barely calmed thanks to Ryu Shin-ah, Yul hurriedly deactivated her powers and rushed to the shelter to find Kang Young-hwa.
"Mom! Dad, he..."
"Your dad."
Young-hwa cut her off.
Having sorted her thoughts in that short time, she forced a smile.
Though her tear-reddened eyes couldn't be hidden.
"He got attacked trying to protect me."
"...What?"
"I was about to die, and your dad pushed me aside and took it instead..."
In that moment, Yul knew instinctively.
She could never reveal she was LeeSeonjwa.
Regrettably, Young-hwa's choice was crystal clear.
Her mother couldn't bear telling her daughter that her father had thrown her to the monster to save himself.
She couldn't make Yul bear that truth.
She chose the lie, to leave her daughter with good memories of her father.
No matter how much it tore Young-hwa apart inside...
'...No.'
Yul barely suppressed the sob rising in her throat.
If she revealed she was LeeSeonjwa, her mother would shatter.
If 'Kwon Yul' was 'LeeSeonjwa', then her daughter had witnessed that scene—the only one—and knew even the mother's lie.
It would expose the cruelest truth and her mother's deception.
'I can't say it.'
At least to her mother, 'Kwon Yul' could not be 'LeeSeonjwa'.