Chapter 233: Hyung Is Here (2)
For a split second, I almost grabbed the guard by the collar. Clenching my fist tightly, I forced myself to stay calm.
I had only assumed Alpha was my brother based on skill characteristics—there was still a chance he wasn’t. Even if Yuhyun was Alpha, it might not be a big deal. Maybe he had just panicked after suddenly finding himself in an unfamiliar place and caused some trouble.
They said he was “safely subdued” and was being “well-managed”… Damn it. Well, at least that meant he was alive.
Honestly, there was no way Yuhyun would be seriously harmed here. He would be fine.
…Even as I kept telling myself that, my mind was already running through my remaining items, points, and the shop inventory.
No, I couldn’t rush in blindly. First, I needed to confirm whether Alpha was really Yuhyun.
Calm down.
“Thank you for the ride. If it’s not too much trouble, could I ask one more favor? I’d like to sell an A-rank item, but since I’m new to Achates, I’m worried about getting scammed. If you could handle the sale for me, I’d pay you a service fee.”
When I added that I’d be willing to give him a whole 5% cut, the B-rank guard’s eyes lit up.
I handed over one of the many A-rank daggers I had stocked up on. He made a quick phone call, and in no time, the deal was done. Since I didn’t have a card, he even helped me set up a new cash card.
After deducting transaction fees, I received 3 million L.
So the currency here was the same.
The guard, now 150,000 L richer—almost 2 million won in hand—was all smiles. He enthusiastically gave me recommendations for good hotels and restaurants.
“By the way, I have a special support-type skill. Would I be able to work for the Defense Bureau?”
“If you’re a support-type guard from Medsang, you’ll be welcomed anywhere. If you submit a transfer request to the Defense Bureau, they’ll schedule an engraving update for you.”
He even gave me his contact info, saying I should reach out anytime if I had more items to sell or needed help.
Then he left.
Even though I wasn’t far from the Defense Bureau, Achates had a much more modest feel compared to Solemnise. Still, since it was a central area, the buildings were tall, and the streets were bustling with people.
I rode my scooter down the road.
I was exhausted, sleepy, and hungry, but first, I needed to get to the Achates Defense Bureau.
On the way, I stopped to refuel my scooter.
When I arrived at the Defense Bureau’s civil affairs office, I grabbed a waiting ticket. My turn came up fairly quickly.
“Hello, I’m a special support-type guard from Medsang.”
I introduced myself and handed over my ID. The staff member looked slightly surprised.
“I’m considering transferring to the Achates Defense Bureau.”
“Oh, I see. I’ll connect you to the appropriate department right away. Please wait a moment.”
So far, so good.
Shortly after, a man in a neatly pressed suit appeared. He was a D-rank Awakened with an average mana level.
Was he here because he had strong support-type skills? Or had he failed the mana engraving process?
“Hello, Mr. Han Yujin. I’m Dasple, the support-type guard coordinator for the Achates Defense Bureau.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“Please, come inside.”
Dasple led me to a meeting room inside the office.
Once we sat down on the sofa, someone brought out tea.
Dasple, sitting across from me, gave a warm, friendly smile.
“We’re well aware that Achates has a reputation for treating its guards poorly.”
…What?
I felt a sudden sharp headache.
For them to bring it up themselves, just how bad was their reputation?
I barely managed to keep my expression from twisting, forcing a smile that made the corners of my mouth tremble slightly.
“Rumors tend to get exaggerated.”
“Exactly. And besides, support-type guards are different from combatants. To be frank, many combat-type guards are dangerous individuals. Just recently, Alpha went on a rampage and burned down an entire commercial district.”
“That must have caused significant damage. I had heard a little about it.”
“Fortunately, there were no casualties, but the property damage was immense. As a result, Alpha’s containment period has been extended.”
Containment, huh?
This time, my smile formed naturally.
Even with just this brief conversation, I had a rough idea of how they kept combat-type guards on a leash.
‘They must make guards cover all damages from battle.’
Not just when they went berserk—probably even during normal monster encounters.
Forcing guards—and Hunters—to take on debt to keep them under control wasn’t uncommon.
I had experienced it firsthand.
Equipment rental fees, repair costs, potion expenses, dungeon usage fees—the debt could pile up endlessly.
They were probably pulling the same tricks here.
Maybe they had even more ways to tighten the leash. Like leveraging family members… or using the engravings themselves.
“Support-types don’t have to worry about things like that, so that’s a relief.”
I smiled brightly.
Dasple smiled along with me.
“Of course. The restrictions placed on support-types are much lighter. As for combat-types, even if we tie their hands and feet, you never know when they might cause trouble. Since they have such great power, they must take responsibility for it. That’s the duty of being human.”
…What a load of bullshit, coming from someone who relied on that very power for protection.
I understood the fear of high-ranked Awakened. It was natural.
Even an ordinary human with a big, muscular build could be intimidating just by scowling a little.
So it was only natural that people would be terrified of someone who could demolish a building with their bare hands.
That’s why, back in our world, we had worked hard from the start to improve the image of Hunters.
If they wanted to be protected and kept safe by Awakened, then they should at least offer proper treatment in return. That was the real duty of being human, wasn’t it?
It wasn’t like we chose to be born this way. And now, just because we were stronger than others, we had to take responsibility and dedicate ourselves to service? What a load of bullshit.
“In Achates, we prioritize the safety of our citizens above all else. In times like these, nothing is more important than security. Because of that, we do have a few more restrictions compared to other cities. But let’s be honest—freedom is a luxury you can only enjoy if you’re alive.”
He was talking as if I already knew everything, spilling information effortlessly.
“Combat-type guards may have some complaints, I’ll admit. But we take pride in the fact that our support-type and healing-type guards have some of the highest satisfaction rates among any city. I assume you’re already aware of that—that’s why you came here, isn’t it?”
“I had heard the rumors, yes. That’s why the Defense Bureau was the first place I visited upon arrival.”
“Haha, exactly. And besides, you’re from Medsang, aren’t you? It’s well known that Lady Mu of Medsang cherishes her guards. No one would dare treat you carelessly.”
The more I listened, the more curious I became about Medsang.
A city centered around support and healing, where guards were treated unusually well…
‘Hey, Rookie. Couldn’t you have just placed all my people in Medsang?’
Yerim and Noah probably weren’t in terrible cities either, right?
And Peace… I had no idea how he was doing.
I wasn’t too worried about the adults—Seong Hyunjae and Moon Hyunah would manage just fine.
Especially Seong Hyunjae. That man would thrive anywhere.
While my mind was tangled in complicated thoughts, the conversation remained pleasant.
We went over a brief outline of the contract terms.
“I’ll confirm the details of my skill later. For now, I’ll just say that it’s strong enough for a C-rank to reach Achates alone.”
“That’s quite intriguing. It may not be SS-rank, but you must have encountered at least a few S-rank monsters.”
“Oh, several times.”
Dasple exaggerated his surprise, exclaiming about how impressive it was.
As expected, he was convinced by the Medsang reputation and didn’t hold back his admiration.
“We’ll arrange your engraving update procedure as soon as possible.”
“Ah, before that.”
I swallowed dryly and carefully steadied my emotions before speaking again.
“Could I check on Alpha’s condition? To be honest, when I heard about the rampage, I was worried. I even considered heading to a different city instead. On my way here, I was told he was being well-managed, but I’d like to confirm that with my own eyes.”
“I completely understand. I sometimes feel uneasy about it as well.”
He nodded firmly.
“I’ll need to get approval from higher up, but I think it’ll be possible. If we can at least confirm the grade of your skill, that should make the approval process easier.”
“I’ll share one of my relatively weaker skills, then. Mr. Dasple, your rank is D, and your mana level is about average, correct?”
Dasple’s eyes widened.
“A special skill that can determine rank and mana levels?”
“Yes. It allows me to see mana and vitality for up to S-rank individuals and rank assessment for up to SS-rank. It’s a useful skill in both combat and everyday life.”
“If that is considered one of your lower-tier skills… Understood. We should be able to get full approval.”
“When would I be able to check?”
“As you’re still considered an outsider, you’ll only be allowed into the main building after sundown.”
With instructions to visit around dusk, I left the reception room.
A nauseous feeling churned in my stomach.
I already had a buildup of fatigue weighing on me, but now it felt even heavier, as if I had soaked it in water.
I kept telling myself he might not be Yuhyun, but something felt off.
There was still quite some time before sunset.
To distract myself, I tried gathering more information on Alpha.
Unlike with Sigma, quite a bit of information about him was publicly available.
‘Age 26, awakened four years ago after receiving baptism. Surviving family: father; all other relatives deceased.’
The mention of his father still being alive left me with a strange feeling.
There was even a photo attached.
His black hair resembled Yuhyun’s, but both his eyes were red. It seemed like he had naturally red eyes, not something influenced by Iryn.
‘…Now that I think about it, what happened to Iryn?’
Did spirits even exist in this world? I had no idea if they had come through or not.
Alpha was a tall, well-proportioned young man, but he looked significantly different from Yuhyun.
There was no chance of mistaking him.
That fact gave me some relief.
‘This is a different world with different people. Sigma looking exactly like Seong Hyunjae was the unusual case.’
And even then, Sigma wasn’t actually him.
Yeah… there was still a chance Alpha wasn’t Yuhyun.
Leaving the Defense Bureau, I headed to a nearby hotel.
I went into the hotel restaurant and ordered food, but I had no appetite.
I was hungry, yet I didn’t feel like eating.
I just poked at my salad with a fork, stirring the leaves around.
Then, suddenly—
A notification flickered.
[Sub-Quest Activated!]
[You Have to Eat Well
Skipping meals isn’t good for you! Stay healthy by eating more than half of your meal.
Reward: 2 High-Grade Chocolate-Flavored Mana Potions]
…What the hell was this quest?
I let out a small laugh without meaning to.
High-grade mana potions were expensive, yet they were giving me two just for eating? That was way too good a reward for such an easy quest.
Well, if that’s the case… I guess I have to eat.
‘But why chocolate-flavored?’
That man came to mind. It had tasted good.
Once I started eating, the food went down easily enough.
I finished my meal cleanly and received my potion reward.
Now full, I felt drowsy, and with nothing else to do until sunset, I headed up to my hotel room, washed up, and lay down.
Sleep quickly took over.
“Sir, sir! Please wake up!”
Someone wasn’t just calling me—they were shaking me awake.
I opened my eyes to see a hotel staff member standing beside the bed.
Could they just barge in like this without permission?
“The sun is about to set. Please relocate to the hotel shelter.”
Hotel shelter?
Did this hotel have its own designated shelter?
Well, I supposed a hotel that couldn’t be used at night wouldn’t stay in business.
Most likely, the hotel shelter was more spacious and well-equipped than a public one.
The accommodation price had seemed expensive compared to the cost of living here—so that must have included shelter fees.
I told them I had business at the Defense Bureau and left the hotel.
The dimming streets were nearly deserted.
Few people were still outside, and the buses had their “Last Run” signs blinking.
I got on my scooter and headed for the Defense Bureau.
The civil affairs office was already closed, but the guards let me inside.
Soon, a familiar face appeared with another Awakened by his side.
“Welcome, Mr. Han Yujin. This is Mindiva, the Alpha management officer.”
Dasple introduced the man standing beside him.
Like in Solemnise, it seemed that people in this city had three-syllable names without separate surnames.
Mindiva gave a polite nod and took the lead.
“Even an SS-rank Awakened will lose consciousness once their mana is depleted. Right now, Alpha is inside a mana absorption array connected to the mana hall. As long as the array remains active, there is zero chance of him waking up.”
Absolutely safe.
He emphasized those words as he stepped into the elevator, pressed the button for the lowest floor, and tapped a key card.
So without a key card, you couldn’t even reach the mana hall level?
It was underground, and there were probably no stairwells either.
I could buy a master key later if needed, but for now, I made a note of the key card.
“For now, the situation is very secure, but we can’t keep an important asset like Alpha asleep forever. That’s why we’ve modified his mana engraving.”
“…Modified?”
“Yes. A specific few individuals now have the ability to forcibly extract Alpha’s mana by linking their engravings to his. That way, if he ever goes on another rampage, we can suppress him at any time.
However, this process significantly weakens the protective properties of his engraving, meaning he’ll be at greater risk when facing monsters with mana absorption abilities.
Unfortunately, we had no other choice.”
Mindiva added that once Alpha was deemed fully stable, they would restore his engraving.
“Of course, to prepare for a potential second rampage, we will only proceed with the restoration after securing a sufficient number of high-grade mana absorption items. We can’t afford to be careless.”
…In other words, right now, Alpha can be easily subdued at any time.
If Alpha really was Yuhyun, simply rescuing him wouldn’t be enough.
Even in normal combat situations, he could be put at risk.
The elevator came to a stop, and the doors opened.
Just like in Solemnise, multiple layers of security checks followed.
“The biggest issue at the moment is that Alpha is exhibiting symptoms of delirium. You see, he has no brothers among his family members.”
“…Brothers?”
“Yes. Of course, we can’t be certain that he’s referring to a biological sibling. But among the people he might be desperate to find, there is no one he would call Hyung. It’s possible he’s trying to protect someone by keeping them hidden. However, given that he also went into a sudden rampage, we strongly suspect psychological instability.”
I struggled to suppress the surge of anger welling up inside me.
Hyung.
He had been looking for his hyung.
I could no longer deny it—he was Yuhyun.
A cold numbness spread through my body, turning into a deep, gnawing ache.
My stomach twisted painfully.
I clenched my teeth so hard my jaw throbbed.
Stay calm.
Causing a scene here would only make things worse.
Even just getting him out of here wouldn’t be easy, and now there was the engraving issue on top of that.
I couldn’t afford to make them suspicious.
For now, I had to act cooperative and carefully assess the situation.
“This way. After the engraving modification, we moved him to an even more secure containment facility, and the mana absorption array is now closer to the mana hall, making it even stronger. The walls here are blessed by the mana hall itself—an SS-rank Awakened would have difficulty breaking through them. The closer you get to the mana hall, the stronger they become. At this distance, even if Alpha fully regained consciousness, escape would be impossible.”
…They had him locked up that thoroughly?
If what he said was true, even Dragon’s Breath Bombs wouldn’t be enough to break him out.
The containment room had a double-layered structure.
To enter, we first had to go through an outer door.
Then, we needed to open a second, inner door.
Unlocking that required not just a key card, but also facial recognition and another level of authentication.
Finally, the door opened, and I stepped inside.
The space was dominated by a series of glowing formation lines spread wide across the floor.
At the center of the mana absorption array, a young man lay unconscious.
His arms were twisted behind his back, and his legs were bound tightly.
A gag was strapped over his mouth, and a blindfold covered his eyes.
An IV stand stood beside him, a line running from it to his neck, constantly pumping some unknown substance into his body.
I instinctively started to move forward, but Mindiva stopped me.
“You mustn’t get too close to the mana absorption array. It will drain your mana in an instant, and you’ll collapse. It could even damage the items you’re wearing.”
…So Awakened couldn’t even get close, nor could they use items.
Even destroying the room itself was impossible.
I examined the unconscious Alpha closely, fighting my growing sense of urgency.
His eyes were covered, but still—
‘…Yuhyun.’
He looked different from the Alpha I had seen in the photo.
Not exactly the same as my brother, either, but closer.
Much closer.
More than Alpha, he resembled Yuhyun.
I had watched my brother grow from birth, had seen his face every day for years.
There was no way I could be mistaken.
“…Alpha’s appearance seems a bit different from the photo.”
“Oh? It might just feel that way since you’re seeing him in person. To me, he looks exactly the same.”
Like hell he did.
Even his build was different.
It seemed that, to these people, Yuhyun appeared as Alpha’s original form.
I exhaled slowly.
My throat felt like it was burning.
I wanted to rush over to him.
Shit. Why is he being treated like this?
I raised him—
I fucking raised him myself. No matter if it’s not his real body. Even so…
“…You mentioned Alpha is showing signs of delirium, correct?”
“Yes. That’s why he’s also undergoing medication treatment. We’re even reaching out to other cities to find a guard with high-tier mental-type skills.”
“One of my skills is mental-affecting.”
“…Excuse me?”
“It’s a simple calming effect, but it works even on SS-rank individuals.
That’s how I was able to travel here without issue.”
I turned to look at Mindiva.
His surprised expression made me want to punch him.
It was hard to hold myself back from simply pulling out a knife and jamming it into his throat.
“I might be able to help. Would it be possible for me to test my skill on Alpha?”
“Right now?”
“Yes. If I can prove it works, my contract terms will change significantly, won’t they?”
I smiled.
So did he.
“He’s currently too sedated to put up much of a fight, but it could still be dangerous.”
“If I were that cautious, I wouldn’t have made it here alone.”
“Well, that’s true.”
He agreed and promptly began preparations.
Before long, more people entered the room.
Among them were two S-rank guards.
“We’re deactivating the mana absorption array. Please stand by.”
After a series of complex operations, the glowing formation on the floor dimmed and disappeared.
The moment I stepped forward—
The limp body that had been sprawled on the ground suddenly jerked.
His entire body twisted violently, convulsing for all to see.
“It’s okay!”
I called out urgently.
At the same time, Alpha—Yuhyun—stopped moving.
Gasps of admiration filled the room as they marveled at how effective my skill was.
I quickly closed the distance, kneeling beside him and lowering myself to the floor.
“…It’s okay.”
His body trembled faintly, and his breaths came fast and ragged.
Carefully, making sure not to startle him, I removed the blindfold.
His eyelids fluttered open.
Red eyes met mine.
Clouded from the drugs, his gaze wavered—
Then, in an instant, tears welled up.
He reached out.
I pulled him into my arms.
–TL Notes–
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