There were seven enemies in total, with Miller as their leader. His level was 45.
In the ga, Miller had been the strongest Hunter Chen Kai had hired. That ant the others were likely in the low 40s.
On paper, their levels were close to ours, and they had us outnumbered.
But numbers didn’t matter here.
“Hey, look at that…”
“All their weapons are Rare!”
The suited Hunters stirred nervously.
“Even that boy’s weapon—it’s glowing red.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that…”
“That’s a Unique Item,” Miller said, slipping on a pair of glowing blue knuckles.
“An item with its own special effect. Not sothing you see often. Don’t underestimate them just because they’re lower level.”
If anything, I’d prefer you did underestimate us.
“Yein, the plan?” Seo Yui asked, raising her shield. A half-mask of blue covered her face, boosting her defensive ability.
“Bowling, then fireworks. Let’s finish this fast.”
Seo Yui nodded, lowering her stance.
iling raised her staff, pressing her left hand to its tip.
Then—
“Hup!”
Seo Yui charged, shield thrusting forward.
“Ugh!”
“Dodge!”
“So fast—!”
With her S-rank stamina aptitude, the shield bash was like a flash of lightning. One Hunter, unable to react in ti, was struck head-on and sent rolling.
“Haa!”
Seo Yui stomped the ground.
The earth caved in with a quake, shaking like an earthquake.
A chain of skill activations left four Hunters montarily unable to act, their movents stiffened by stagger.
If they were monsters, she could’ve used Taunt Shout here. But against Hunters, forced taunt doesn’t work.
At that mont, iling leveled her staff.
Seven fireballs launched forward at once.
“Wha—!”
“No way!”
“How can she cast that many flas so quickly?!”
The Hunters panicked, scattering in every direction.
But the fireballs chased them relentlessly, striking those who couldn’t evade in ti. The rest slamd into the garden and the mansion itself, erupting in deafening explosions.
KWA-BOOOOM!
The front garden of Chen Kai’s mansion beca a war zone.
Through the smoke, I scanned the battlefield.
Four Hunters lay collapsed, struck by iling’s fireballs—each one the sa Hunters staggered earlier by Seo Yui. They’d recovered, but not fast enough to dodge.
“Fla Cluster… with that kind of power…?”
Miller, who had narrowly dodged, muttered in disbelief.
“….”
Chen Kai stood frozen in place, staring as though reality itself had betrayed him.
I looked at iling’s fluttering robe in the scorching wind.
Every piece of her equipnt boosted casting speed. On top of that, they amplified magical damage.
Weaknesses patched, strengths sharpened.
The difference between characters forced to pray for random item drops and those who could select their desired options was vast.
“We’re even now,” Seo Yui said as she regrouped at my side, the Hunters still darting away from the fireballs.
Then sothing unexpected happened.
Miller put his weapon back into his inventory.
“Master Kai. This is as far as we go.”
“What?”
Kai snapped his head toward him, eyes wide.
What?
I hadn’t expected this.
“Neither the young lady nor that boy with the shield are anywhere near the low 30s. Their movents, their magic—it’s no different from pro Hunters. And every item they wield is Rare or higher. We have no chance of winning.”
“Don’t spout nonsense! They’re just trainees!”
“Then why don’t you fight them yourself, Master Kai?”
“…What?”
Miller tossed an item from his inventory.
It landed before Kai in a swirl of heat, taking shape into a sword.
Then Miller signaled the other Hunters.
One by one, they sheathed their weapons back into their inventories.
“As of today, I quit. Pick up the fallen.”
At his command, two Hunters lifted their unconscious comrades.
Miller walked up to iling.
“Lady iling.”
“…”
She said nothing, staff still raised.
“…I’m sorry.”
His voice was low. Then he turned and led his n away from the mansion.
Chen Kai stood rooted in place, as if frozen in ice, watching them go.
Was that too much?
I hadn’t expected Miller to bow out entirely.
Though, co to think of it, last ti he ca to take iling, he’d already hesitated to attack.
Now only one opponent remained.
We all turned to face Kai.
“…”
He stooped, picked up the sword.
“Going to fight, are you?” Seo Yui asked.
“Don’t.”
I eyed the weapon in his hand.
“You may be an Awakener, but you don’t know the first thing about combat.”
“…So you know even that.”
He closed his eyes.
Chen Kai was an Awakener. But he was no Hunter.
His aptitudes were triple F.
Health, stamina, and spirit—all the lowest.
Even I had at least a C in spirit. In ga terms, Kai’s stats were worse than a disposable NPC who died in the opening act.
That was when iling stepped forward.
“….”
“….”
They stared at each other in silence.
Then iling spoke first.
“This is the last ti.”
“…What do you an, the last ti?”
His eyes narrowed.
“The last ti I’ll look at you.”
“!”
His eyes widened.
“Do whatever you want—report us to the police, it doesn’t matter. Even if I end up in prison, I won’t leave them.”
“You think that will help your future? I won’t let you beco a murderer!”
“Better a murderer than a puppet.”
“What?”
“I helped Nam Yein because I wanted to. Unlike you, they don’t demand my obedience.”
“Did it never cross your mind that Nam Yein might just be using you?”
“Using ? Hmph.”
iling snorted.
“Let him.”
Huh? She’s fine with that?
I glanced at her back.
“Because I’m using him too.”
“…Ridiculous.”
Kai’s face twisted.
“Mutual use? Don’t make laugh. The world is divided into masters and servants. Even if it looks equal, one side always profits more while the other loses. That’s the essence of human relations—everyone is an enemy. If you don’t want to be devoured, you climb higher, high enough that no one dares to bare their fangs at you. And yet you’re saying you’ll willingly offer your neck to Nam Yein?”
Neck? What am I, a vampire?
Admittedly, I sotis wanted to smack iling on the head, but biting her? That was a bit much.
As I had that thought, iling spoke again.
“There are relationships beyond the ones you imagine. I only realized that after leaving your side. I used to think people were nothing but hypocrisy and lies. Everyone who approached did it because I was your daughter—either bowing and scraping or trying to gain sothing from . Not one person looked at for who I was.
“But my squadmates are different. They don’t see as the daughter of Forward Magic Engineer president.”
“And how would you know that? Unless you’ve looked into their heads, you can’t be sure.”
“You really don’t get it.”
“…Pitiful,” Seo Yui muttered.
Pitiful… but who is more so?
iling, for having a father whose worldview was so twisted? Or Kai himself, trapped in it?
“There’s one thing I’ve wanted to ask,” iling said, fixing her eyes on him, “Have you ever loved soone?”
“Love? I’ve never been foolish enough to cling to such a sickness.”
“…I thought so.”
Her voice carried a faint sense of release, as though a weight had finally lifted.
“You know sothing?”
“What is it?”
“This is the first ti we’ve ever had an honest conversation.”
At that, Kai pressed his lips tightly shut.
“Let’s go.”
iling turned her back on him and looked at us instead.
“Senior, can you take iling back to Gwangcheon first?” I asked, still staring at Kai.
“Why?” Seo Yui frowned.
iling didn’t speak, only looked at .
“I have unfinished business with Kai.”
“No.”
iling’s answer was sharp, followed by a quick turn of her head.
“I’ll wait outside. We’re going back together.”
“…Fine.”
Once iling and Seo Yui stepped out through the mansion gates, I faced Kai alone.
“Chen Kai.”
“….”
He glared at without a word.
“Let’s be clear. I don’t give a damn about you.”
“…What?”
“Your status, your wealth, your reputation, your connections—none of it matters to . I don’t want it, I don’t need it. Hell, I even kept my promise. Ever since I t iling, she’s grown so much she was chosen as an HAUT candidate. Your daughter excelling at Gwangcheon—that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
His face went slack with disbelief.
“Want to put it simpler? I never intended to leak the recording in the first place. So go on, keep building your business. Don’t dig your own grave like this. You’re the one making want to send it out for real.”
“Then why—why take iling away from …?”
“Because it was pathetic seeing her rot in your shadow, never seeing the sun.”
“What…?”
“You know she’s brimming with talent as a Hunter, unlike you.”
“….”
His face twisted. As expected, the ntion of his lack of talent as a Hunter struck a nerve.
“The first day we t, you told to step aside so iling could rank first. But with that kind of shortcut, she’d never truly grow. Any real parent would know that.”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“A father jealous of his own daughter’s ability… Don’t you find that disgusting?”
“…You’re saying I envied her?”
His pupils shook.
“Think about it carefully.”
I turned my back, then glanced at him over my shoulder.
“And believe it or not, but the one we took down that day… was Persilla.”
Kai looked confused for a heartbeat, then his face drained of color.
“Don’t be absurd! You’re telling you fought and defeated the Craftmaster-killer?!”
“If you don’t believe , investigate. You have good private investigators, don’t you?”
His expression hardened.
“Know this—I’m sparing you right now only for iling’s sake. I don’t want to traumatize her. But if I catch even the faintest whiff of you digging your own grave again, I’ll tear down everything you have.”
“….”
I left him there, silent, and walked out the gate.
“All done talking, Yein?”
“Yes, Senior. Let’s head back now.”
I looked at iling standing beside Seo Yui.
“….”
Her cheeks flushed, and she quickly turned her head away. Then, in a voice barely louder than a whisper, she said:
“Thanks… for coming. Both of you.”
At that, Seo Yui smiled at .
“Next ti, if sothing happens, don’t decide alone. Tell us first.”
“…Yeah.”
iling actually agreed without protest.
iling admitting fault, huh. Now that’s rare.
“You haven’t had lunch yet, right?”
“No.”
“Senior and I already ate. Let’s go to a café I know—they have als there too.”
iling nodded, but still wouldn’t look my way.
Curious, I leaned forward to peek at her face.
“Eek…!”
She jumped back, covering her face with her hands.
“What the—your face is bright red. You’re an Awakener, it’s not like you caught a cold…”
“I-it’s hot, that’s all!”
“…Well, the sun is strong today,” Seo Yui said, glancing at the sky.
“Co on, Yein. Let’s go. The café will have air conditioning—it’ll be cooler there.”
“Right.”
Together, the three of us headed toward the bus stop.
(End of Chapter)
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