Chapter 714: Acceptance
Even if I used Battle Precognition and relied on the Ruler’s Sword’s chained–blade form that was hard to evade, it was difficult with my abilities to inflict a critical wound on Seong Hyunjae. So I had to force him to come right up to me twice.
First, I shifted into Delroux–form and ran away. Once Seong Hyunjae confirmed he couldn’t catch up to me in terms of speed, he approached to take Grace away. Close enough for me to be able to hold him.
And so, Seong Hyunjae was poisoned, his movements slowed, and he had to come back to me again. To get detoxified. To stop me from detoxifying him by myself.
That finished the preparations. A distance close enough, poisoning severe enough that he couldn’t avoid me.
“Your claws are pretty sharp.”
The black blade was skewering Seong Hyunjae’s side at a slant and was jutting out his back. A serious wound that must have dug into some of his internal organs.
“I figured you might have a weapon hidden, but I didn’t expect you to call a pet.”
His gaze went to my shoulder. The small Seong Hyunjae wiggled the toes at the end of his loosely crossed legs.
“A pet? Call him a friendly companion for good children.”
Then he conjured an umbrella at his fingertips, spinning it open with a twirl. At this rate, the other Seong Hyunjae might change his mind and cancel helping me. I may look like this, but I really am someone who’s trying hard to live.
“He tends to be dragged back to his main body, so he can’t stay for long,” the small Seong Hyunjae whispered to me.
I used the chance while we’d opened up some distance to flick my poison resistance skill on and off.
“Don’t touch that sword’s handle carelessly. You might lose your hand.”
It gets ferocious if it isn’t its owner. I’m fine, since I’m at least acknowledged as a dad by Seol. At my words, Seong Hyunjae gripped the blade instead of the hilt. Even the blade was hot enough that there was a sizzle, the sound of flesh burning. As he tightened his grip, the edge cut into his palm. Even so, he didn’t so much as blink as he pulled the sword out.
Squelch! Blood gushed out along with the sword being yanked out in one go. The Ruler’s Sword was thrown to the ground. Seong Hyunjae’s body swayed a little. At the same time, I kicked off the ground and lunged at him.
“Potions are a no–go!”
Battle Precognition was still active. I dropped my body low, scooped up the Ruler’s Sword in a sliding motion, and swung it wide. Poisoned and suffering massive blood loss. Even so, Seong Hyunjae avoided my attack. I heard the clinking of chains and lightning flashed.
“Ugh–!”
Even with Battle Precognition, there was no way I could completely dodge the surging electricity. I let only the big ones skim past and took the smaller shocks with my body. Maybe I shouldn’t have turned down Yuhyun when he even offered to lend me his special gear. Still, Yuhyun didn’t have any extra lives left now, so I had to be careful.
Clang–! The chain and blade clashed. The screech of metal scraped painfully at my ears.
“If you go for someone else’s leg, be ready to put up your own!”
“I don’t think I can handle being a cat.”
“No, that part’s not necessary–.”
“Being a cat?”
The tiny Seong Hyunjae hiding in my pocket asked as if to say what on earth I was talking about. Don’t mind it. Thud– Seong Hyunjae swung his chains roughly. It was still a terrifying amount of force, but now I could handle it. He still had one more environmental change left. So when the chance came, I had to pin him down for good.
Zap, crackle! Electricity whipped across my whole body like a lash. Tiny wounds kept opening up. I pushed forward against the wave of light and thrust out my sword. The chain, split into four strands, bound my limbs and the tip of the blade—
Thunk–
—sank into Seong Hyunjae’s shoulder. Far too easily. For a moment I was thrown off. Why? Binding me with chains right now wouldn’t really do much–.
“What!”
Suddenly my body was yanked sharply backward. The sword was pulled out and I flew several meters in an instant, thud!
“Urgh!”
My back slammed into something like a stone pillar. No, metal. The chains around my wrists and ankles pressed flat against the metal column. What is this…
“Magnetism,” the tiny Seong Hyunjae said, sticking his head out of my pocket.
Magnetism? Wait, environmental change? No matter how hard I strained, my limbs didn’t budge. If anything, the pull on my wrists and ankles was so strong it was already bruising me. I didn’t get the exact principle, but it seemed he’d created a giant magnet right after wrapping my limbs with the chains, fixing them in place. Since no other metal was sticking, he’d probably run current only through the chains so they carried opposing magnetic poles.
“…I didn’t think you’d use an environmental change like this.”
I’d even seen magnetism being used before, yet it hadn’t occurred to me. I should’ve told the little Seong Hyunjae about the environmental changes. Being the same person, he’d probably have caught on. While I struggled, Seong Hyunjae leisurely took out a potion and healed his wounds. His shoulder healed almost completely, leaving only a faint mark, but his waist didn’t mend so easily. Still, the bleeding stopped entirely and the pallor had mostly left his face.
“Did you get hit on purpose?”
“The shoulder, yes. The waist was unexpected.”
“You could’ve held me down from the start, ngh. Were you toying with me?”
“No.”
Seong Hyunjae answered as he walked toward me.
“You still had one environmental change left too, Mister Han. If we used them overlapping, you might be able to break free. Saying I’d break your leg was just a simple threat. To keep you from using potions I’d have to ruin your arms as well, and considering what’s ahead, I didn’t feel like injuring all your limbs.”
So he’d said that just to make me use up my last environmental change. I really should’ve forced Seong Hyunjae to expend his first. But there hadn’t been a way.
“The damage was worse than I expected, so I could only bind your limbs after giving up my shoulder.”
Standing in front of me, Seong Hyunjae smiled.
“You did well.”
His hand slowly stroked my head. I shook my head, but couldn’t shake it off. His foot pressed gently down on my right knee. His golden eyes shifted slightly downward, looking at the small Seong Hyunjae in my pocket.
“But this time too, I’ll have to let you go first. Especially you, Mister Han.”
Much smaller golden eyes gazed up at Seong Hyunjae. He lifted his gaze to meet mine. More strength went into the foot pressing down on my leg. I could feel the bone creak.
“I can’t take responsibility.”
“…Your life belongs to you, Mister Seong, so it was never something I had to be responsible for.”
He’s a fully grown adult, why would I be responsible. I twitched my fingertips. The chains rattled, but still didn’t budge. Even if I Delrouxified, the magnetic pull would be faster than my body shrinking.
“I just want you to live how you want. Since we’re at least friends.”
Even if it had magnetism, in the end it was something made by mana, by magic power. I took out the mana–inscription control orb that Myungwoo had made for me during the three days of rest. Seong Hyunjae’s gaze went to the orb, but he couldn’t guess what it was. Since spatial movement items couldn’t be used anyway, he probably thought whatever I tried, I wouldn’t be able to escape.
‘Myungwoo, my stats are S right now, so it should be fine.’
I released the control on the mana inscription. At the same time, I shoved my magic power as hard as I could into the chains binding my limbs. It was a weapon bound to Seong Hyunjae. Of course it resisted fiercely, but right now it was pressed up against my body, not his. A mana sensing ability as delicate as a needle balanced on a thin thread. On top of that, Battle Precognition.
Clink.
The chains lost their magnetism and dropped away. Seong Hyunjae immediately stomped down hard on my knee. Crack, the sound of bone breaking rang out. Using my good leg, I kicked off the magnet pillar and slammed into him. I drove a spear into the scarred shoulder. Thunk, the spear tip pierced through his shoulder and deep into the asphalt beneath.
“You should’ve just broken all my limbs. Acting all relaxed like that.”
I laughed as I climbed on top of him and pinned him down. His eyes also curved into a smile.
“You were more unpredictable than I thought, Mister Han.”
“You’ve used up all your environmental changes, and as long as you can’t detox, you’re at a disadvantage. Just follow along slowly.”
Limping, I got to my feet. Potions… I’d only use just enough to move. Once the game was over, the Mermaid Queen or the King of Predation would patch me up anyway. Seong Hyunjae didn’t even pull out the spear, just lay there looking up at me.
“Not easy, right? So try trusting me.”
No answer came back. I turned and ran for the finish line.
“You can go back now. You’re looking a bit blurry, it seems dangerous.”
The small Seong Hyunjae perched on my shoulder nodded. But he didn’t disappear.
“Mister Han will definitely be the one to leave first.”
“…Can’t be helped. You’re going to live an awfully long time, Mister Seong.”
Even if he was freed from Crescent Moon, the power he’d accumulated wouldn’t vanish. If nothing else happened, he’d probably be the one among us to live the longest.
“If I die, are you even going to cry?”
“Who knows. But I’ll be sad. Feel empty. And yet now and then, when I remember you, I might be able to smile.”
Like a sigh, Seong Hyunjae continued.
“If I keep on living as myself.”
Without losing my memories. A life that continues on this time.
“Don’t forget then. You keep spacing out all the time.”
Seong Hyunjae laughed. His figure vanished. I kept running, down the empty road, past rows of buildings.
I could see the finish line, and beyond it a stand set up to place the baton on. Without hesitating, I crossed the finish line in one go. At the same time, my foot stumbled.
“…Huh?”
Strength drained from my entire body.
“Kh, ngh!”
Pain rushed in not only from my legs but from all over my body. Crap, no way!
“Damn it, Mermaid Queen!”
The moment I crossed the finish line, my stats went back to normal. F–rank and S–rank were so different you could call them entirely different species in terms of physical durability. S–ranks also had stronger resistance to pain, and F–ranks could continue fighting even with life–threatening injuries that had them on the brink. In other words, the same injuries felt completely different to an S–rank and an F–rank.
Flop. My body collapsed powerlessly to the ground. My ragged breathing came in gasps. My stamina was completely empty, and even twitching a fingertip was hard. So I only got that S–rank buff while running in my own sector! It was only natural that I’d revert once I crossed the finish line, sure, but like this–.
“I did think it was suspiciously quiet… is what I was thinking…”
There was no way they’d let the last bet end this easily. Gritting my teeth, I scraped the floor with my fingers. I struggled to somehow get my body up. It was barely even ten meters. And yet I couldn’t reach.
“This feels filthy.”
Footsteps approached. Seong Hyunjae looked down at me, making no effort to hide his displeasure.
“To have to end it like this.”
An ending decided by someone on the outside. Even if it was a whisper promising victory, it wasn’t something to be happy about. Seong Hyunjae bent one knee to the ground and leaned down toward me.
“Still as stubborn as ever, are you.”
His voice was so gentle it made me imagine there was worry mixed in.
“You’ll have to be prepared for things to get even rougher than this.”
“…That’s hardly news.”
It wasn’t like crawling on the ground after collapsing was anything new.
“If I was going to be crushed by just this, I wouldn’t have even been able to start.”
“Even if you were to fall at the very, very end.”
“Then I’d just have to do it over. I can’t end it in failure. You should know that about me by now.”
Instead of answering, Seong Hyunjae undid Grace from his own wrist. Then he fastened it around my wrist.
“In that case, watch properly.”
The voice that had been close grew distant. Holding the red baton, Seong Hyunjae walked toward the stand. I watched his back. The tips of his shoes stopped in front of the stand. The hand holding the baton moved gracefully over the round hollow.
“For Mister Han Yujin. With all my luck in it.”
“My request was—”
“I’ll be sure to grant it.”
The red baton sank into the hollow.
[Team Seong Hyunjae Wins!]
“Not as a favor, but as cooperation.”
The bet was over. Darkness fell over my vision. When my sight cleared again, the pain pounding through my whole body was gone. When I sat up, I saw the Mermaid Queen. Quiet anger rippled around her.
“I didn’t know you’d hit me in the back of the head like that.”
“Honey.”
“Stats reverting after I crossed the finish line, I can accept that much. But you should’ve at least told me.”
Then I would’ve used my potions properly and taken a stamina potion too. It was only ten meters; even if I reverted to F–rank, I could’ve reached it before Seong Hyunjae caught up.
“You wouldn’t be pleased to hear me say I’m sorry, would you.”
“At least make it a draw first and then apologize.”
But of course that wasn’t going to happen. Seong Hyunjae too was giving the Mermaid Queen a chilly look. She didn’t make any more excuses. Excuses were meaningless once someone had already decided to push through with what they wanted to do.
“Honey, I’ll be taking two pieces of the world.”
“Now that the bet’s over, at least tell me why. Feels like that’s also why the King of Predation didn’t come.”
“The designated pieces are America and Korea.”
A dumbfounded, hollow laugh escaped me.
“Wasn’t it supposed to be random?”
“Let’s say it was rolled at random. Monsters will appear simultaneously in every region of the two countries. Even with the Goblin King’s portals, it will be hard to evacuate everyone.”
“The most influential country and my home? Your real intentions are obvious.”
“But honey. If you sacrifice yourself, it can be stopped. And even then, all that sacrifice means is coming to us.”
“Thanks for the nonsense.”
I beamed at her. The Mermaid Queen’s already subdued gaze grew even colder.
Dodam Building’s White Lab. On the huge monitor, all sorts of complicated formulas were spread out. Ever since the London incident, not only Seok Hayan’s team but dungeon & hunter researchers all over the world had been forced to pull all–nighters over the flood of new data.
A second monster rush pouring out without dungeon gates. On top of that, London had been sealed off by some unknown barrier. It was only natural chaos broke out, since this was an incident where dungeons and the vaguely known beings from outside the world had exerted their influence more directly.
“So you’re saying the mana density was higher than a dungeon gate.”
“If you artificially compress mana past a certain point, do monsters pop out?”
“Even during dungeon raids, there are times when out–of–rank monsters suddenly appear. They say it’s after anomalies like the space shaking.”
Rummaging through the mana data London’s research team had measured up to the last moment, Seok Hayan scratched her head with the tip of her pen. Just then, the cell phone on her desk vibrated noisily. With a sigh, she picked up.
“Yes, this is Seok Hayan–”
[We’ve got mana overload!]
A frantic voice screamed from the other end.
[Mana is gathering, like back in London!]
“What? Where? I’ll contact the ministries and the Hunter Association right away–”
[Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Gwangju, Daegu…]
Seok Hayan froze. Nationwide. As expected, another researcher who was on a call shouted.
“Mana overload phenomena in every state in the US!”
What do we do. Seok Hayan blinked. For the first time since she’d opened her cousin’s college textbooks back in elementary school, her mind felt completely blank. Should she start by packing? At that moment, the lab door burst open.
“Evacuate!”
It was Shishio, who had come to Korea after dealing with urgent business in Japan, saying he was going to meet Han Yujin’s adopted son, only to be turned away at the door.
“For now, pack only what’s important and be ready!”
“Huh? So it is dangerous?”
“No.”
Seok Hayan’s eyes went round. Shishio shook his head vigorously as if telling her not to worry.
“Director Han said it’ll be fine, so it’ll be fine.”
“…Excuse me?”
A message window was floating in front of Shishio’s eyes.
[It’s fine.]
At the same time, the other hunters who had been with Han Yujin all received the same message. It’s fine. It will be fine.
“Can we really trust this? They’re saying monsters are going to pour out over the entire US!”
“What else can we do if we don’t. It’s not like the entire US can evacuate; it’ll just make the chaos worse.”
An American hunter who’d been on Han Yujin’s team spoke, sprawled out on the Hunter Association sofa.
“Let’s just wait and see. The Saintess apparently told everyone to trust him too.”
The message telling them it was fine and to wait spread quickly. High–rank hunters armed themselves just in case, and some officials quietly began preparing evacuation plans, but ordinary people were completely unaware of the looming crisis. Only a few who were sensitive to mana felt that something was off.
But eventually the news began to leak out. Anxiety slowly spread from beneath the surface, and right after the governments of Korea and the US started emergency broadcasts—
“The mana overload has stopped!”
The mana that had been gathering like a whirlwind suddenly stopped.
I looked at the message window that had been floating in the corner of the system screen throughout the betting game.
[Mister Han Yujin! Please take Seong Hyunjae’s side~☆ Your beloved partner has chosen you! Please take your partner’s hand, Mister Han Yujin! (?□?)]
I looked at Seong Hyunjae. I accepted the message. Seong Hyunjae accepted the teammate change.
–TL Notes–
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