Chapter 707: Three Days (1)
“This round’s bet goes to Honey’s team.”
The Mermaid Queen said. For some reason, Seong Hyunjae was covered in feathers. The multicolored feathers he plucked off one by one fluttered all the way in front of my eyes. Red, sky blue, yellow, pink…
Yuhyun was flustered. His expression barely changed, but I could tell. He almost never lied, but when he needed to, he could fool even me perfectly. Like when he left me, when he pushed me away. And those few perfect lies had all been for my sake.
Yuhyun didn’t know how to lie for himself. He’d never needed to. Even when he lied as a guild leader, it was the same. Haeyeon itself existed for me.
‘Then why.’
Why had he lied while hesitating and dragging his feet. I’d nodded and said okay to his answer, and before I could ask anything else, I was dragged straight here.
“Congratulations, Honey.”
‘Because he was afraid I’d have a hard time? Was it maybe some trap set up by a Transcendent?’
But if that were the reason, there was no need for him to be shaken. If he’d judged it as purely being for me, Yuhyun would have said no without a flicker of emotion. Calm enough to make me wonder if I’d seen it wrong, if my Grace skill had glitched.
Suddenly I remembered my little brother agonizing over his pre–regression achievements versus his current ones. No way.
‘Was he… bothered by his pre–regression self?’
In other words… something like jealousy. The way I’d been inside the Nightmare Dungeon. The old Yuhyun would never, but the current him might tell a lie with a little personal feeling mixed in. Maybe that was why, unlike usual, he’d let his hesitation show so clumsily.
If he’d actually done something as self–serving as being jealous over me, I’d be happy about it, but I couldn’t be sure. And I hesitated to force it out of him.
‘Yuhyun meeting his pre–regression self isn’t that big a deal in itself.’
I’d done it more than once myself. The jellyfish had shown me an illusion, I’d seen him in dreams, in the Nightmare Dungeon, even during the Chatterbox incident. So if Yuhyun didn’t want to talk about it, it was something I could just let go.
“Honey.”
‘If it really is jealousy… would it be better to keep hiding that I’m planning to go look for twenty–five–year–old Yuhyun?’
I had no idea how he’d react if I just came clean. Before, I’d thought he’d oppose it because I might be in danger. Treating his pre–regression self as nothing more than an obstacle. But now… I didn’t know.
“Honey.”
– Sss.
Something cold moved on my wrist. I blinked, startled. The Mermaid Queen, the King of Predation, and Seong Hyunjae were all looking at me. The snake coiled around my wrist flicked its tongue.
“Ah… I just had a lot on my mind. Sorry.”
I ducked my head awkwardly. It might be nothing, but it kept gnawing at me until I totally spaced out. I shouldn’t be doing this. I’d talk it out with Yuhyun slowly later. As long as we were honest with each other, there was nothing we couldn’t solve by talking. It’s not like he’s anyone else – he’s my little brother.
The Mermaid Queen told us to listen properly and continued.
“There are two bets left. But the current score is one win, one draw, one loss. Even after three rounds, you’re tied, so we’ll say that whoever gets the next win first is the victor.”
“So you mean we’ll settle it with the next single game?”
“Yes. Whoever wins the fourth bet wins overall. If it’s a draw, you’ll fight once more.”
“If you lose, it counts as two losses, and two pieces will be taken from you.”
The King of Predation added the explanation. It wasn’t a bad proposal for me either. But there was no need to show that. Instead, I screwed up my face.
“Isn’t that too disadvantageous for our team? The London battle was right before this, and this game was short too – we haven’t had time to properly recover.”
“We’ll give you three days of rest by Honey’s world’s standard. All used skills will be fully recovered as well.”
“Then can we go home and rest?”
“No. Rookie will create a space as you desire. In addition…”
The Mermaid Queen’s gaze turned to Seong Hyunjae.
“Chain’s sub–team has been annihilated. Therefore, the last game will proceed without sub–teams. One of Chain’s main team members has left – will you be able to fill the spot?”
“Yes.”
Seong Hyunjae nodded lightly. Right, Cho Hwawoon had originally been on the main team. Maybe he’d bring Ms. Evelyn instead. There were probably other S–rank Hunters from Sesung I didn’t know.
“You may send Honey’s sub–team back. Since Chain is unavoidably changing team members, we’ll allow you to change yours without counting toward your original limit.”
“Then I’ll bring Peace into the main team in Shishio’s place.”
Shishio had been more helpful than I’d expected, but if the sub–team could return to our world, it was better to send him back than Peace. I’d thought about making the offer to the Saint as well, but it would be dangerous, and she had a lot to do where she was.
“I’ll send my main team home for one of those three days of rest as well.”
Seong Hyunjae said. The Mermaid Queen accepted, saying that would be only fair.
“However, Chain must stay.”
Chief Song and Hyunah had already been away for a long time. The Mermaid Queen told us to take three days of rest and disappeared. Seong Hyunjae also gave me a brief look, then went back to his own room.
“Um, about these snakes you gave me.”
I approached the King of Predation and held out my arm. The two snakes slithered down my arm and lifted their heads.
“Those two are my descendants.”
“…Excuse me?”
I stared at the King of Predation, flustered. Wait, not just the same species, but his descendants?
“In my world, I was the king of snakes, and naturally I had many offspring. My children’s children, and the descendants below them are beyond counting. Upon taking my place as a Transcendent, I kept a few of the ones who caught my eye by my side.”
“…So all those snakes I saw back then were…”
“Little one, do you consider lifeforms from tens of thousands of years ago to be ancestors you must revere?”
Of course I didn’t. A few thousand years is already vague, and at tens of thousands they wouldn’t even be human–shaped anymore. The King of Predation might call them descendants, but he didn’t seem to feel any special attachment.
“Most of my kin ended their lives as beasts, and only a very few grew to be sapient beings. Yet even the children of that few remained beasts. I do not have great affection for my clan, but I regret that they never became a species worthy of being called people.”
Even if a few particularly outstanding ones were born, the genes themselves apparently didn’t change.
“That pair is still young, but their aptitude is excellent. Their parents were close to sapient as well, so I will give them to you.”
“To me?”
“To your world. I have sent many children to many worlds. Hoping that new sprouts might grow in a new environment. Your world, even if it loses parts of itself, is highly likely to endure, so it is a suitable ground.”
…As long as Crescent Moon doesn’t interfere. After a brief moment of thought, I decided to accept. You never know, maybe I could use this later as leverage to get help from the King of Predation.
“Understood. Do I just send them to our world like this?”
“They are not sapient yet, so they will not resist, and taming is possible. Since you accepted readily, I will give you a reward.”
The metallic tip of his long claw grazed the back of his neck. Red blood seeped out and clumped together like a jewel. The thick, sweet scent made me swallow without thinking.
“You treat your small body recklessly. When it is damaged beyond recovery, swallow this.”
“Is it like an elixir?”
“If an elixir is recovery of flesh, this is far stronger for recovery of the spirit. It will be more useful to you than an elixir. However, its use during the wager is forbidden.”
So it was especially effective for problems related to mana circuits and magic. I accepted the red blood jewel gratefully. He could leave a few more kids with me, honestly. Raising kids is kind of my specialty.
Once the King of Predation left, I headed straight to where the sub–team was staying.
– Kyaaang!
Peace, who’d been sitting alone at one edge of the wide grassland, spotted me and rushed over in an instant. Shishio, who’d been hovering around Peace, also brightened.
“Chief Han! Did you get a good rest?”
“Yeah. I had a nice rest at home. What about everyone else?”
“Their blood’s still running hot, so they’re going at it!”
No sooner had Shishio finished talking than – boom! – the ground shook. I reached out, trying to hug Peace as he rubbed his head against me. But Peace hopped away, dodging my hands.
“Peace?”
– Grrrr.
Peace grew to his adolescent size, then lowered his body to make it easy for me to get on.
“Seems he thinks you’re still tired, Chief Han. Isn’t he thoughtful.”
Shishio looked at Peace with a pleased expression, and Peace completely ignored the gaze. Even with that, Shishio looked nothing but delighted. Peace… sorry Dad left you here. You must’ve been really annoyed all this time.
“Our Peace is such a good boy. You’ve worked hard.”
– Kkuuu.
“I took good care of him, so don’t worry. As expected of an S–rank Monster Mount, he’s quite picky with his food! If he didn’t like it even a little, he’d throw it straight into my face!”
Peace would just refuse to eat, he never flipped the table. Shishio, however, was proudly saying his straightforwardness was befitting a lion. At this rate he’d probably applaud and praise Peace even if he ripped his head off.
I climbed onto Peace’s back and headed toward the training grounds. Shishio took the lead, saying you never knew what might fly at us. Sure enough, with a loud shout the ground flipped over and rocks and trees blasted in all directions. Shishio smacked away a huge boulder with both forearms and shouted.
“Chief Han is here!”
The Hunters around the wide wasteland they’d dubbed the training field waved toward us. A few running over were carrying liquor bottles, sodas, and snacks. I even saw a half–finished tub of popcorn.
“Have they decided on the next game?”
“I kinda wanna play that castle defense one again.”
“Hey, SF! That kid really is Sesung’s Guild Leader’s son, right?”
“Told you he’s not. With Guild Leader Sesung’s personality, would he bother hiding it? He looks too much like him, that’s why it’s less likely. Kids take after their relatives a lot.”
“Exactly, my sister’s daughter looks more like me too. She’s basically my childhood clone.”
Moments like this, S–ranks and non–awakened really are all the same. Same soup, same side dish.
“He’s not Sesung Guild Leader’s kid.”
“See! He said so! Hand over the gloves.”
“No way, I’m not admitting it before a DNA test!”
They’d bet items on it, huh. Once all the Hunters had gathered, I briefly explained the current situation.
“We’ll do our best, but if things go wrong, monster outbreaks will occur in two cities at once. So I’d like you all to go back and prepare.”
“If it’s two cities, we won’t be able to get Chief Han’s buffs in one of them.”
“Right. That’s why we need your strength even more. You can cooperate without me now. Even if it’s not as perfect as last time, it’s enough if you can just buy people time to evacuate.”
The Hunters nodded.
“We’ve fought together a lot here, after all. We more or less mesh.”
“Then shouldn’t we spar a bit more before we go? It’s harder outside. I’m freelance, so I don’t even have prep work.”
“You just need to go back before the last game starts in three days. I’ll send you return messages through the system windows, so please accept them within those three days.”
The guild leaders of the major guilds and the Hunters in important Association posts left first. The remaining Hunters cheered me on, telling me to hang in there. I remembered when we were just starting the Chatterbox party. Back then, I’d been grateful if they didn’t curse me out.
“Then, Chief Han, regrettably I’ll be heading out first.”
Shishio looked at me and Peace with eyes dripping with reluctance as he spoke. As a Hunter representing Japan, he had to return first. He’d have a ton of work piled up related to refugees too.
“Yeah. Thank you for everything, Shishio.”
I’d never dreamed I’d be exchanging goodbyes like this with Shishio. A lot had changed in a short time.
After saying goodbye to the sub–team members, I went back to our room. The others had already arrived while I was gone.
“Mister! This insanely huge wolf popped out! Peace, it was like ten times your size!”
Yerim spread her arms wide the moment she saw me. Liette looked excited too. I didn’t know what kind of game they’d played, but since they hadn’t seen Peace or the sub–team, they must have been split up.
“It was really huge! And that was only part of it! He said he was using power he got from a hunt – I wanna hunt a wolf like that too!”
“Do you think Milky Blanc could get that big someday? He said he came because Mister asked him, but when did you get to know a wolf like that?”
Yeah, thanks to that wolf bastard, Mister’s arm once got ripped off. And I hunted the little shitdogs he sent. Did he introduce himself as my “older brother” the first time we met? I don’t quite remember.
“Just sort of happened. I’m just glad all of you look safe.”
“Are you okay, Yujin? Um, Hunter Han Yuhyun is being so quiet…”
Noah glanced toward the bedroom as he spoke. Just then, Yuhyun came out of the room.
“Hyung.”
Yuhyun had to know I’d caught on to his lie. I could feel his hesitation, unable to come straight over to me. Yerim also sensed the weird mood and looked back and forth between us.
“I’m fine, but Yuhyun lost one of his lives.”
“Oh, that’s gotta be from trying to protect Mister again. Good job, Han Yuhyun!”
Yerim waved her hand like it was fine as long as things ended well.
“Now be careful and leave it to me! I’ve still got one left.”
“Even if you had ten lives, you still need to be careful. Come here, Yuhyun. You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
At my attitude of letting it lie for now, Yuhyun gave a faint smile and came over. I started to regret asking so quickly. I should’ve just waited until he brought it up himself.
“We’ve got three days of rest from here on out.”
I explained that things would be decided in the next single round.
“Mister, what happens when it’s all over? Is it really done after that?”
“Who knows. They promised they wouldn’t interfere anymore if we win, but they won’t step back that easily. Still, as long as the Transcendents leave, we’re more than capable of protecting ourselves.”
Not just us, but the sub–team Hunters had grown too. If the goblins were accepted as they were, dungeon raids would become much safer. With an F–rank like me standing at the front, views on low–rank Hunters had definitely improved compared to before, and thanks to Gyeol’s efforts, Hunters from all over the world had pledged to help other countries in times of crisis. Everyone had seen what it looked like when everyone worked together.
“Because we don’t need any more protection now.”
The system’s role was over. It was time for our guardians to leave. If they were willing to treat us as equal adults instead of looking down from above, we could live alongside them. But they wouldn’t. They’d always try to stand outside the line, acting as rulers. We didn’t need neighbors like that.
I smiled as I looked at Yerim, and at everyone.
“Let’s send them off with a ‘Thanks for everything, we’ll live fine on our own now, so please go.’ And if they won’t leave, we’ll just have to kick them out.”
“Okay!”
“Then for the next three days…”
I contacted Rookie through the system window. Then we moved immediately. A forest and grassland appeared under clear skies, with clean water flowing through. I could see a big two–story house as well.
– Honey!
A volleyball bounced up, and beyond it stood Myungwoo and young Chaos.
“Rest is nice and all, but how about imposing on the Elder instead?”
“Of course that’s great!”
Yerim threw her hands up and cheered. Yuhyun and Noah nodded, and Liette also looked curious. Elder, we’ll be in your care.
–TL Notes–
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