Chapter 240: Han Yuhyun’s World (3)
“If your body changes, come back for another fitting.”
Yu Myungwoo said as he put away the measuring tape. He had measured not only Han Yuhyun’s height, shoulders, and arms but had even taken a mold of his hands. Unlike armor, weapons rarely adjusted to fit the user’s physique. It was possible to make them that way, but it was usually better for durability and other reasons to keep them fixed.
So, it was always best to craft weapons that perfectly matched the user’s body.
Han Yuhyun looked at Yu Myungwoo with slight confusion.
To be honest, he didn’t think they had a particularly good relationship.
“Isn’t it enough to just make the weapon my brother requested?”
Yu Myungwoo stared back at him as if he were talking nonsense.
“If something happens to you, Yujin will be hurt too.”
Hearing those words spoken as if they were obvious, Han Yuhyun didn’t find it unpleasant.
And not long after, Yu Myungwoo handed him a Damage Nullification Orb.
He had assumed it was just a loan, but Yu Myungwoo never asked for it back.
Han Yuhyun knew the man didn’t particularly like him. Everything he did was for Han Yujin’s sake.
And Han Yuhyun liked that even more.
He wasn’t at the point of accepting Yu Myungwoo into his world yet, but—
Yu Myungwoo was fine.
Scrape.
Sharp claws raked against the wall.
Han Yuhyun sidestepped Noah’s wrist, letting him scratch the wall instead of his shoulder, then struck Noah’s side with the back of his unarmed hand. It wasn’t a full-force attack, but Noah’s body was easily knocked back.
“Only partially transform right before striking.”
Han Yuhyun said as Noah quickly regained his posture, barely disturbed.
“For your opponent, the sudden change in your hand’s size and attack angle makes it harder to defend against.”
“Yes, but my transformation speed—”
“Practice.”
At Han Yuhyun’s cold gaze, silently reprimanding him for wasting a good skill, Noah quickly nodded.
“The same applies even in Dragon Transformation mode. The ability to rapidly change your body size is a huge advantage in battle. Switching between partial transformation and human form is also useful. Hunter Liette seems to use it skillfully.”
“Yes, my sister is… very fast.”
Even though Noah had improved a lot since his fight with Liette, he still occasionally showed a lack of confidence, which Han Yuhyun found frustrating.
By his standards, Noah was still lacking in many ways.
The occasional subconscious hostility toward him was irritating too.
“Let’s go again.”
Still, Noah wasn’t bad.
At the very least, he was improving.
‘And he’s helpful to my brother.’
Noah wanted to be of more use to Han Yujin, and instead of avoiding spars, he was the one asking if Han Yuhyun was available for training.
At this rate, he would turn out decent.
People who had entered his world.
People who, while not fully inside it yet, at least had one foot in.
Han Yuhyun didn’t mind them.
And within that world, he was enjoying his trip to Japan.
There was nothing to worry about with Park Yerim around, and everything was as expected.
It was practically a vacation with his brother, and he was fully enjoying it.
Until he entered the Black Ox Forest Dungeon—
And found himself completely helpless.
“Wait for me.”
The moment he heard those words, Han Yuhyun felt fear.
The thought that his brother would come to rescue him terrified him.
He became desperate to figure out a way out of this situation.
But amidst the drug-induced haze clouding his mind, two figures came to him—
Peace and Park Yerim.
They were there.
They wouldn’t let Han Yujin move alone.
Han Yuhyun stopped struggling.
He couldn’t help but tremble in anxiety, but deep inside, relief settled.
Peace and Park Yerim had the ability to protect his brother.
And there was Noah too.
With those three, Han Yujin had more than enough support to rescue Han Yuhyun.
Park Yerim would definitely brag about it afterward, but—
He even found himself looking forward to that.
‘…Take your time, hyung.’
Come with the others.
As long as Peace and Park Yerim were by Han Yujin’s side, he could wait in peace.
He had even witnessed firsthand how strong they became under Han Yujin’s guidance.
Peace had grown under him.
Park Yerim had gotten stronger because of him.
Noah had managed to step out of his sister’s shadow thanks to him.
Everything—
Had been under Han Yujin’s care.
So, it would be fine.
Han Yuhyun truly believed that.
And finally—
“I’ll get you out of here.”
His brother had returned.
Han Yuhyun smiled.
He waited for the usual annoyed growl, for the scolding about how he looked.
But instead, what reached his ears was—
Bang!
A short gunshot.
The sharp scent of blood instantly filled the air.
Han Yuhyun’s eyes shot wide open.
Why?
He couldn’t understand.
Peace, Park Yerim, Noah—this was an attack they could have easily blocked.
Healing skills—potions—why wasn’t anyone—
“H-Hyung…!”
Somehow, he forced his body to move and caught Han Yujin as he collapsed.
He pulled out a potion, but he already knew—it was too late.
Holding his brother close, Han Yuhyun frantically scanned his surroundings.
All he saw were unfamiliar faces.
“…Why.”
There was no one else.
His brother had come alone.
And now, he was alone too.
“Alpha!”
Someone called out, stepping toward him.
Han Yuhyun forcibly drew out the mana he didn’t have.
Whoosh!
Dark-tinged flames erupted, swirling protectively around him.
A searing wind surged outward, forcefully repelling not just the approaching figure but everyone standing behind them.
“Ugh!”
“Be careful! For now, it’s best not to approach—”
The A-rank Hunters weren’t seriously affected, but the B-rank standing in the corner was thrown back, hitting their head against the wall and collapsing unconscious. As the others quickly retreated to a safer distance, Han Yuhyun, his face pale from mana depletion, looked down at his brother in his arms.
It was silent.
No sound of breathing. No heartbeat.
At this distance, there was no way his senses could fail to detect it. And yet, for a brief moment, Han Yuhyun doubted his own hearing.
Then, he acknowledged it.
His brother was dead.
Han Yuhyun accepted the truth.
Strangely, he did so without resistance, without a single objection.
He accepted that his world had ended.
And because of that, there was nothing left to do.
No need to scream, no reason to shed a single tear.
His world was already over, and any action—any emotion—was meaningless.
His ragged breathing gradually calmed, becoming softer, quieter, until it was nearly imperceptible.
And then, at that moment—
A new set of footsteps echoed through the space.
Crackle.
Mana surged, causing electricity to spark as the protective lock on the door was forcibly released.
Thunk.
The door swung open with a sharp bang.
“Who are you?!”
“Wait, that’s—!”
Gnos blocked a comrade from rushing forward, but before anyone else could react, golden chains lashed through the air.
Like a whip, the chains struck the A-rank guards, sending them flying. They crashed against the walls and collapsed like scattered straw, unable to put up any resistance.
Sigma never spared them a glance.
His gaze was fixed solely on the center of the room.
On the corpse cradled in Alpha’s arms.
“C-rank.”
Of course, there was no response.
That person was already dead.
Sigma shifted his gaze to Alpha, who was holding onto the body as if he would follow it into death, barely even breathing.
If C-rank had still been alive, this would have been fascinating.
But now, it was meaningless.
Without thinking, Sigma let out a quiet sigh.
Suddenly, everything felt dull.
“…Without even receiving the price of the contract. What an anticlimactic end.”
It wasn’t supposed to end like this.
He hadn’t expected it to conclude so quickly, so effortlessly.
It was as if he had been watching a thrilling film, only for the reel to cut off abruptly in the middle.
All that remained were the films he had already seen, and this was the last one he had left to watch.
It was disappointing.
A deep sense of emptiness crept in, stronger than he had expected.
Unlike film reels, this couldn’t be continued—
‘…Wait.’
Was he really dead?
Sigma reconsidered Han Yujin’s actions.
This was someone who had already risked his life in front of him once.
Even when Sigma had tried to engrave him, Han Yujin had shown no fear of death.
Did that mean he truly didn’t care about his life?
‘That doesn’t make sense.’
Sigma looked back at Alpha. At the lifeless body in his arms.
From the start, Han Yujin had planned to come to Achates.
Even before he had any knowledge of Alpha’s berserk state, before he could have possibly known about the situation.
Had he truly come here to claim Alpha?
Or had he planned to save him all along?
If they were complete strangers, would Alpha have reacted like this?
If Alpha was that important to Han Yujin, and Han Yujin was that important to Alpha…
Then, knowing what kind of person Han Yujin was—
There was no way he would abandon Alpha and throw his life away so easily.
Just from observing him briefly, Sigma was certain of that.
So then, why had he offered his life so readily?
Maybe because… he hadn’t actually died.
A dead person couldn’t come back to life.
But there were items that could make someone appear dead after a fatal injury.
Or perhaps… a skill.
Sigma took a step forward.
His chest, which had briefly gone cold, started to stir with anticipation.
“Han Yujin.”
At the sound of that name, Han Yuhyun’s head snapped up.
It was an instinctive reaction.
His red eyes locked onto Sigma.
It was a familiar face.
But now, it meant nothing.
However—
Han Yuhyun suddenly recalled the voice calling his brother’s name.
There were still people left.
People who cared about his brother.
“Ugh… kuh!”
A choking gasp escaped him.
Tears, purely reflexive, welled up in his eyes.
Gasping for breath, he held onto his brother’s body even tighter.
He had to bring him back.
To Peace, to Park Yerim, to the others.
“…Hh… ugh…”
His world should have ended.
But something still remained.
Han Yuhyun forced himself to stand.
It was painful.
Even breathing was difficult.
It would have been so much easier to just stop.
But just one more time—just one last time—he had to move.
For those who would understand that his world had ended.
For those who would share in his grief.
He had to bring his brother to them.
Then, he could finally reach the end.
Tears overflowed.
Grief, which he should never have needed to feel, filled his chest, his entire body, drowning him.
It suffocated him, rising higher and higher.
Han Yuhyun gasped.
It was unbearable.
Why did he have to go through this?
His brother was dead.
He should have ended with him.
“Hand him over, Alpha.”
The sound of chains hitting the floor.
Sigma took another step forward.
Han Yuhyun stumbled but steadied himself.
Hand him over?
“Give me that corpse.”
“…No.”
Han Yuhyun spoke through gritted teeth.
His voice was completely hoarse.
He knew better than anyone that, in his current state, he was no match for the man before him.
But he could never let go.
Boom!
Two warnings were all he got. The third was no longer a request—chains came flying at him.
Since there was a chance Han Yujin could be revived, Sigma had an interest in Alpha and was holding back from using lethal force.
The chains struck the floor and lashed toward Han Yuhyun, coiling like a snake preparing to devour its prey. He barely managed to dodge and, at the same time, pulled a dagger from his inventory and hurled it at Sigma.
Clang.
Without even needing to dodge, the chains flicked effortlessly, knocking the dagger aside.
“You can’t even use your skills, let alone wield a proper weapon.”
Many weapons in this world consumed mana. Most of the weapons in Alpha’s inventory were high-grade and required significant mana to use.
Right now, Han Yuhyun could only manage to wield a few low-grade melee weapons.
Crash! Bang!
The chains repeatedly struck the floor and walls, forcing Han Yuhyun into a corner.
The walls and floor, reinforced by the power of the Mana Hall, remained unscathed, unlike the previous holding chamber.
“Ugh!”
A sword he had used to block shattered, and the chain finally slammed into his shoulder.
His clothes tore, and the flesh underneath was instantly ripped open.
Han Yuhyun’s body rolled across the floor.
He curled around his brother’s body, shielding it completely as he slid to the farthest edge of the room.
It hurt.
But not because of the wound on his shoulder.
That pain was nothing—he barely even registered it.
What hurt was the fact that his brother was dead while he was still alive.
Forcing himself to rise again, Han Yuhyun repeated the same thought over and over.
‘Why is this happening?’
He wanted the man before him to just kill him.
But at the same time, he had to protect him.
He had to leave.
There were still things he needed to do—but why?
“…I don’t want this.”
If it was going to be this painful, this exhausting—
He should have just stayed alone.
Even now, he could stop.
He could give up.
Han Yuhyun swallowed back his sobs.
And yet, he still couldn’t let go of Han Yujin.
He couldn’t stop.
Even as he dodged another attack, even as he was burned by surging electricity, he still tried to escape.
Thud!
Once again, his body slammed into the ground.
A deep wound tore down his back.
Blood soaked through his clothes in an instant.
His vision, already blurred by tears, grew even hazier.
He should give up.
But he couldn’t.
He wasn’t holding on because he was enduring—
For some reason, he just couldn’t let go.
Han Yuhyun, cradling his brother with one arm, clawed at the floor, trying to push himself up.
Blood mixed with the tears falling from his face.
“…Hyung.”
He wanted to stop.
Then why was he trying to go back?
He already had everything in his arms.
Everything had already ended here.
He had reached his limit.
Even keeping his body upright was overwhelming.
So why—why hadn’t he let go yet?
Why wasn’t he alone anymore?
Why had things turned out this way?
He was starting to resent it.
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
[Yuhyun.]
A message window appeared before his eyes.
His grief-crushed chest pounded violently.
[I’m here, Yuhyun.]
More messages flooded his vision.
Tears streamed down his face, round droplets falling.
[I’m okay, Yuhyun. I’ll come back as soon as I can. So—]
“…Hyung.”
[Protect me.]
A system notification followed.
[Protect Han Yujin’s body for 5 minutes against a powerful enemy until his revival!
Reward: Automatic minor mana recovery.]
The five minutes had already passed.
The quest had been applied retroactively and was instantly marked as completed.
If he had received a Mana Potion, Sigma would have likely prevented him from drinking it.
But the quest window wasn’t visible to anyone else.
Han Yuhyun immediately accepted the reward.
His mana replenished slightly.
Sigma, watching him rise, looked faintly surprised.
“I thought you had given up.”
“I still have to wait longer.”
The last tear clinging to his lashes finally fell.
Han Yuhyun carefully adjusted his grip on Han Yujin’s body, holding him even more securely.
He said he would come back.
His world wasn’t over yet.
He was glad he hadn’t given up.
Glad he hadn’t stopped.
Because he wasn’t alone.
And because of that—
He could keep waiting.
He was truly, genuinely relieved.
Whoosh—
Flames flared to life around Han Yuhyun.
Unlike before, they burned with a faint blue glow, softer but unwavering.
–TL Notes–
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