[ Calm Down (2) ]
Crack!
I woke up instinctively to the sound of something breaking. Was it Blue? I was about to ask what she had broken this time when I realized I was in Yuhyun’s place. The TV was on, showing the 9 o’clock news.
…9 o’clock? This brat probably fell asleep after insisting he wasn’t tired when we got here. I should’ve just set an alarm instead of letting him sleep.
I hurriedly sat up and saw Yuhyun sitting on the couch. He wasn’t sleeping.
“Hey, why didn’t you—”
The words asking why he didn’t wake me didn’t come out. His eyes, staring at me, were dark and cold. I could faintly hear Peace growling from where he sat on Yuhyun’s lap. In his hand was a completely crushed phone.
“Your hand is… Well, obviously, it’s fine, but—”
First things first, I picked up Peace and tried to calm him down. I couldn’t sense it, but Yuhyun was definitely in a dangerous mood. I didn’t know the reason, but…
…Honestly, there were too many reasons he could be angry. Which one was it? Judging by how serious it looked, was it about Noah?
“Uh…”
“I don’t want to hear it from you.”
Yuhyun cut me off sharply as he stood up. He tossed the crushed phone onto the table like it was garbage and opened the cabinet on one side of the living room. For once, he misjudged his strength, and the cabinet’s handle broke off. Inside, there were stacks of unopened phone boxes.
“What’s all that?”
“They break easily.”
He answered, but his voice didn’t sound normal. He looked like he was just going to swap out the SIM card, but I wasn’t even sure if the SIM was still functional. Then I heard another crunch.
Thud.
A phone box, along with the now broken phone, fell to the floor near his feet.
“…Hey.”
“The packaging wouldn’t come off.”
He crushed the second phone too. I heard a small sigh. It wasn’t intentional. Realizing that made me worry even more.
“Yuhyun.”
“Just a moment.”
There was no emotion in his voice. He finally managed to take out the third phone without breaking it, but the SIM card pin went into the wrong slot. His hand seemed to tremble slightly. He stared at the cracked phone, grinding his teeth.
“…Want me to help?”
“No, it’s fine.”
And then the last phone broke in his hands. The room fell into a heavy silence. Yuhyun just stood there, glaring down at the crushed phone in his hand, motionless, like a wind-up doll whose spring had snapped.
“Yuhyun. Han Yuhyun.”
“…”
He didn’t react. I set Peace back on the couch and got up. Even as I took a step closer, Yuhyun didn’t move at all.
“Even if you don’t want to hear it, listen. I wasn’t hiding anything from you. There was no point in trying to hide it, anyway. You’d have found out eventually, so why bother? I just… forgot. After I heard you and Peace were out, I couldn’t think about anything else but you two.”
It was true—I’d completely forgotten. If I had remembered, I’d have prepared an excuse and an explanation before this mess could happen.
“…You forgot?”
“Yeah. I don’t know what you found out, but it wasn’t anything serious.”
His eyes finally shifted to me. They were still hardened with anger, but there was also a faint hint of fear in them.
“How can you say it’s not serious? The one thing I had some peace of mind about was that at least no one would try to kill you. At the very least, the higher-ranking Hunters would see you as valuable and leave you alone.”
So it was about Noah.
“He didn’t attack me.”
“…He didn’t?”
“No. He wanted to attack someone else.”
The problem was that he saw me as that “someone else,” Liette. Yuhyun exhaled sharply, placing the broken phone on the cabinet.
“Who was it, then?”
“Did you break your phone before hearing that? Noah Luhir. He’s not from here—he’s the Guild Leader of a foreign guild called Ark.”
He didn’t seem to recognize the name. He frowned slightly and asked again.
“Are you sure? He didn’t say anything strange?”
“Strange? Like what?”
“…Like someone caught up in a cult, saying crazy things like that.”
A cult? Where did that come from? He wasn’t talking about a regular cult—he must mean those people who worship the dungeon system as a god. But that group shouldn’t be active yet, right?
“Whatever that is, no, it wasn’t like that at all. It was more like a sibling fight. I just got unlucky and got caught in the middle of it, but Yerim protected me, so I didn’t even get hurt. And I got treated right away. See?”
There wasn’t even a trace left now. I hadn’t been seriously injured in the first place. Yerim had taken the brunt of the damage.
“But why are you suddenly worried about a cult? Weren’t you more focused on other guilds or Hunters?”
“I don’t know for sure… Maybe it’s like some Confucian sect?”
“Confucianism isn’t a cult.”
Confucius would be rolling in his grave at the thought. Besides, how could Confucianism become such a big issue? From the way Yuhyun was acting, it was like some SSS-class monster was about to pop out.
I thought about pressing him for more details, but before I could, Yuhyun spoke first.
“So, is that guy Noah dead?”
“…No, he’s perfectly fine. Just detained.”
“And he’s fine? He didn’t escape?”
Yuhyun tilted his head, clearly confused.
“He was captured without resistance, and there were no casualties. No unawakened people were harmed, either. And don’t even think about getting involved. Once you know the situation, you’ll realize he’s kind of a pitiful guy.”
“Is the Sesung Guild Leader back in the dungeon?”
“No. He brought a healer to help.”
“And you’re saying nothing happened? So, was he connected to that guy?”
…So leaving someone unharmed means they’re connected? What kind of logic is that?
“He said he’d help subdue him. I refused, though. Anyway, it was all a misunderstanding, and he’s calm now, so just leave it be.”
“I’ll think about it. But what about the handprint on your neck?”
…He knows about that too, huh? Thankfully, Yuhyun already knew I had Fear Resistance, so explaining it would be easier. I told him what Song Taewon had explained to me, and although he didn’t like it, he seemed to understand.
“That’s why I’m thinking of turning off Fear Resistance at home. With my current situation, I need to keep it on most of the time because I’m constantly dealing with high-ranking Hunters.”
“…Turn it off for a moment.”
“Right now?”
I didn’t see why not. I nodded and deactivated Fear Resistance. I didn’t feel any immediate difference. Yuhyun and Peace’s presence just felt slightly stronger—like the difference between a housecat and a lynx.
Yuhyun studied my reaction carefully before giving me a faint smile.
“Doesn’t seem like much has changed.”
“Of course not. And just so you know, nothing serious happened at the hospital. Goblin was just playing a prank. Chirp was with me the whole time, and he didn’t get a single feather harmed.”
I decided to spill everything while I was at it, picking up Peace, who had been wandering around my feet. It was close to 10 now, so Blue was probably already asleep.
“I should head home soon. Anything else you want to ask?”
“I’ll walk you.”
He extended his hand toward me.
“What?”
“The key.”
He was asking like it was a matter of course. I handed him one of the two remaining keys to the front door.
Since the building was right next door, we decided to walk. With Yuhyun and Peace here, I didn’t need to worry about safety.
Without Fear Resistance, I felt a slight sense of pressure from the A-class Hunters we passed. It felt odd to feel intimidated by an A-class Hunter while walking with an S-class right beside me. Before the regression, I’d felt more uncomfortable around people like Kim Seonghan or Seok Si-myeong than I did around Yuhyun. Maybe it was because I’d known him since we were kids.
Luckily, the SIM card was intact, and there was a phone store right across the street, so Yuhyun bought a new phone. As we walked back, the cool night air felt refreshing.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Doing this.”
Just walking down the street together like this, with nothing special going on. It hadn’t been that long for Yuhyun, but for me, it had been ages. Since we were near Haeyeon Guild, no one approached us, which made it feel even more like the old days.
“If the world hadn’t changed, it wouldn’t feel like such a long time.”
Why did things turn out this way? I hadn’t asked the system administrators that. Not that I thought they’d give me a clear answer if I did.
“Would you prefer if dungeons didn’t exist at all?”
“Of course. They’re dangerous, after all.”
“Most people with good skills or stats tend to feel the opposite—unless they’ve been directly harmed.”
I guess that’s true. Maybe if I had been an A-class from the start, I’d have thought life was easy. Now, though, I’m sick of everything—A-class, S-class, the whole deal.
I’m already worn out, and the future worries me. Even if I gather 50 people like the system admins told me to, will it really end well? I can’t help but feel doubtful.
…Is this sudden sense of despair because I turned off Fear Resistance? It feels like all the worries I’ve been pushing aside are rushing in at once.
“Did you get any special rewards from the dungeon?”
I changed the subject quickly. Clearing an S-class dungeon with just two people—well, just Yuhyun, really—must have gotten him some good rewards. Maybe even a title?
At my question, Yuhyun hesitated for a moment before pulling something out of his inventory.
“I did get something strange, but I don’t know what it’s for.”
In his hand was a small red egg.
“It’s an SSS-class item called ‘Red Egg.’”
“That thing…”
I’d seen it before. Before the regression. It was part of a series of mysterious eggs that would occasionally appear: red, blue, green, and about five others. None of their purposes were ever discovered. They were so hard that they couldn’t be broken, and no matter what people tried, they never reacted, so they were deemed useless.
“Well, I have no idea either. Let me see it for a second.”
I took the egg from him and tried using my My Kid Is The Best skill. As expected, not even the “Keyword not applicable” notification appeared. I couldn’t use the keyword skill on an egg with no ears.
I also tried using the Promising Talent skill, but again, nothing happened.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s even a regular monster egg. Maybe it really is just an item?”
If it were alive, the Promising Talent skill would’ve worked, but there was no reaction.
“Maybe we should give it to Myungwoo. He might be able to use it for materials.”
“Do whatever you want.”
I was about to put the egg back into my inventory when Peace became interested in it. I held it out to him, and he immediately bit down on it, gnawing at it with his little teeth. Not even a scratch, though. This egg had been through even more powerful Hunters than the current S-class ones and hadn’t been damaged.
“Don’t drop it.”
— Grr.
Even though the building was right next door, the facility was so large that we had to walk for quite a while to get back to the entrance of the residential area. Chirp was probably already asleep, and Comet would be waking up soon, but despite my concerns, I walked leisurely.
We made small talk as we walked, and before I knew it, we were in front of the breeding facility. I wondered if I should invite Yuhyun to stay the night. But then, there was Comet. Maybe I should just leave her at the facility for the night. One night should be fine, right?
Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a message from Song Taewon.
[Noah Luhir has disappeared again. Please check your surroundings.]
Again? Why does he keep running away?
‘…Don’t tell me he’s waiting by the mini-portal again.’
A chill ran down my spine. I glanced over at Yuhyun. He smiled when our eyes met. The first thing I did was reactivate the Fear Resistance skill. Once I felt calmer, I smiled back, trying to act casual.
“Yuhyun, how about heading back to Haeyeon Guild for tonight?”
“Hm? Why all of a sudden?”
“I don’t know. I just feel like I need a break tonight. If I go in, I’ll have to take care of the kids again, and just thinking about it makes me tired.”
Yuhyun gave me a puzzled look.
“But you’ve already left them with the facility’s handlers, right?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
Damn, what do I do? If I go inside now and run into Noah, who knows what’ll happen. Yuhyun might just ignore him, or maybe Noah won’t mistake me for his sister again, but…
…Two days in a row, and my house might be destroyed again. I haven’t even been moved in that long.
“Let’s just go inside.”
“Wait, wait—”
Yuhyun pushed open the glass doors, ignoring my attempts to stop him, and walked a few steps before coming to an abrupt halt. He tilted his head slightly, listening.
“Someone unfamiliar is here.”
“He’s not exactly a friend… but he’s my friend’s little brother!”
“Do you know anyone who has an S-class Hunter as a younger brother? Because I sure don’t.”
“We got to know each other recently. You know, through SNS.”
We got close, and then everything fell apart in the span of a few days. Do I have to bring up Liette, too? There were too many witnesses to cover it up at this point. So much had happened in just a few days…
“So why is he here? And at this time of night?”
“He came to talk about monster breeding, and, uh, I guess he’s trying to show his sincerity…”
How was I supposed to explain this? While I was still trying to figure it out, Yuhyun resumed walking.
Ah, seriously!
–TL Notes–
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