The Way of Life for a Terminal S-Class Hunter - C80
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“Thank you.”
“You finished it all. I’d like to stay longer, but the guild’s been chaotic lately so I think I need to go. If I had known it would be like this, I would have quit earlier.”
“Thank you, Lee-han. But you don’t need to do this next time.”
Seeing me get up to see him off, he gave a bitter smile.
“Take care. I’ll be discharged soon, so you don’t need to come again.”
“I’ll handle it. You just rest well.”
Just before the door closed, Lee-han suddenly turned back to me as if he’d remembered something.
“By the way, hyung, that favor I agreed to do for you is still valid. Don’t worry about the laptop, I just brought it.”
I was momentarily at a loss for words because I had no intention of asking Lee-han for any favors.
“I’m serious. Tell me anything. I’ll do it even if it costs me my life. Don’t take away that chance too.”
He left before hearing my response. I watched Lee-han’s retreating figure through the door crack for a long time. Only when even his shadow was no longer visible did I put the laptop on the desk.
“I need to investigate.”
After connecting the laptop charger, I turned on the internet. Even without needing to search for anything, Kang Seo-heon’s name was prominently featured in the most recent articles, right on the main page.
[Georgia S-rank Dungeon, Kang Seo-heon and Halo Successfully Conquer It Alone!]
‘What is this?’
It was shocking enough that they had entered another S-rank dungeon so soon after conquering one, but going with just Halo was incomprehensible.
It must be related to how my life force increased.
If not for that, there was no logical explanation for that behavior. According to the article, the time they finished the conquest and entered the country almost coincided with when I opened my eyes. While it seemed clearly related to me both circumstantially and timing-wise, I couldn’t figure out how it was connected since I couldn’t know what happened inside that dungeon.
Except for the dragon’s attribute, it seems quite similar to the dungeon we conquered. What did he go there to obtain?
The moment I had a premonition that this nearly insane act was to save me, my throat choked up. Seo-heon is someone who had been deceiving me for 10 years. I was scared of what he might have done this time, and simultaneously, forgotten anger welled up. To avoid being swept away by the flow of emotions, I turned my attention to Halo.
Even if Seo-heon wasn’t in his right mind, why did Halo participate in such an act?
Of course, Halo seemed to care about me a lot. But would he risk his life for someone he had just met? This was another issue. I looked down at my charging phone, contemplating whether to contact Halo, but ultimately decided to investigate a bit more.
“It’s seven o’clock, but no notification window appears.”
Speaking aloud intentionally to clear my head, I opened the status window again.
[117 days of life force remain.]
Setting aside the fact that my life force had increased, I couldn’t understand why the number remained the same despite a day passing, and why pain wasn’t hitting me. With an uneasy feeling, I dug deeper into the news.
“The guild is in chaos.”
In fact, the guild being turned upside down was a natural progression. After completing an S-rank dungeon conquest and exposing a politician’s corruption, the guild leader was doing nothing. On top of that, he went to conquer a dungeon in another country, saying he didn’t even want compensation. It was nothing short of eccentric behavior.
And to think it was because of me.
“Are you really Kang Seo-heon?”
I muttered to myself, looking at Seo-heon in the article photo.
It was hard enough to believe that he had lived for me, but it was even harder to believe that he had thrown away everything he had built up until now to save me.
Maybe I would have believed it if it was about 10 years ago.
“If you do this saying you’re saving me… What am I supposed to do?”
After first learning about what Seo-heon had done, I had despaired because I didn’t have much time left. But now, hearing that my lifespan had suddenly increased, I couldn’t get a grasp on where my emotions should be directed.
As I built up a tower of anger, tenderness would knock it down. But when I felt affection, a sense of betrayal followed like a shadow. Pulling out one emotion brought along a string of others. In the process, even my sense of self seemed to shake. I took a deep breath to shake off this overwhelming sensation.
It’s better to do something to overcome this turmoil. Let’s not get buried in emotions.
I moved the mouse and clicked on the next article.
[The Truth of the Arson Case 10 Years Ago, Assemblyman Kwon’s Secret and Vile Plan.]
The article detailed the corruption Assemblyman Kwon had committed and what he had done to cover it up. It was more specific than what Seo-heon had explained.
At the end of the article, there was an expression of regret about my father being falsely accused, and a reflection on how dangerous it is for media to write articles recklessly, led only by sensational topics.
“Now of all times…”
That was my honest impression. Even if the media that had once pounced on us like they would kill us changed their attitude, nothing would change.
I quietly closed the laptop. I felt queasy and didn’t want to see more.
The clear fact that could be known through the articles was that, as Seo-heon had said, my parents were falsely accused, and he had prepared for a long time to reveal this. And he intentionally didn’t tell me this fact.
It’s the same this time too.
He had done something dangerous to save me and had no intention of telling me about it. His behavior remained unchanged. He says he loves me but doesn’t tell me any truth.
Was it even love to begin with?
After pondering alone like this for a while, I began to suspect that Seo-heon might be mistaking his obsession, stemming from his perfectionist personality, for love.
If that emotion isn’t love, should I just resent Seo-heon wholeheartedly?
In fact, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t find exactly what point of his I should resent. As pathetic as it sounds, I wanted to believe that he really did it for me, because he loved me. Because I knew that was the way I could suffer the least.
However, resentment welled up, wondering if he shouldn’t treat me like this if he loved me. No matter how much I tried to understand with my head, my heart couldn’t accept it.
Shouldn’t he at least not have acted as if he loved Kwon Hojun in front of me?
“It’s all useless.”
I pushed away the table and lay down on the bed, closing my eyes. About ten minutes later, the door to the hospital room opened without a knock. The familiar scent stung my nose, letting me know who it was without turning my head.
“Why did you come again?”
Realizing it was Seo-heon, a sharp remark immediately left my mouth.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to be discharged? And you’re not even eating properly.”
As expected, if I tell the doctor something, it all reaches Seo-heon’s ears. It might be easier to assume that everyone in this hospital is his minion.
“I ate what Lee-han brought.”
Seo-heon’s movement of taking off his coat stopped abruptly.
“Is that so?”
Seo-heon, whom I expected to get angry, said nothing and looked down at my laptop and phone. It felt like he could guess what I had figured out just from that.
“Is your entry into the S-rank dungeon this time related to me?”
So I asked directly without any additional explanation. Seo-heon seemed to have sensed that I would ask, as his expression was very calm.
“Well. What do you think?”
This time, instead of staying silent, he asked back. I’m not sure if he knows how much that irritates me.
“Why!”
Finally, the emotions I had been suppressing burst out with an explosive sound of shouting.
“Why don’t you tell me anything? Are you going to do whatever you want again and then just notify me?”
I had never shouted with such anger before. My heart was beating like mad as if I had run at full speed, but Seo-heon looked composed.
“If you don’t see me as a puppet, answer properly.”
I continued, gritting my teeth. Seo-heon quietly looked into my eyes and then shook his head.
“Woo-hyun, how could I treat you like a puppet?”
“Don’t try to change the subject.”
“I’ll tell you when I’m sure you don’t want to die.”
Even after seeing my firm attitude, he was still withholding his answer.
“Fine. If you won’t tell me, I’ll find out myself.”
“Woo-hyun.”
Seo-heon, who had come closer, overlapped his hand on mine. Gently stroking my hand was his method of calming me down. It was also a very bad habit.
“I’m not trying to deceive you this time.”
Seo-heon said that, but he was a person skilled in lying, and I was a person who didn’t know how to doubt others. Now that I’ve realized this, I’ve reached a point where I can’t trust either Seo-heon or myself.
“I’ll give you trust. What should I do?”