Before I could even catch my breath, I activated the Promising Talent skill.
[Grade 1 Humanoid – Attack-type Hunter
Current Stat Grade SS
Potential Awakening Stat Grade A~S]
SS-Rank. So the original S-Rank Hunters were Grade 1? Then what about natural-born S-Ranks? Well, since he was S-Rank, I supposed he’d be the sa Grade 1 humanoid.
Choi Iram, an S-Rank Hunter who awakened in the sixth year of the dungeon outbreak. I had no idea if that was his real na. Back then, most high-rank Hunters kept their personal information locked down tight, and S-Rank Hunters were protected even more strictly.
‘Is this after Chief Song’s death?’
The fact that this person was stationed at the Hunter Association ant we were looking at a tiline after Chief Song’s death. After Song Taewon—who had been the Association’s backbone—died, the Hunter Association crumbled rapidly, unable to manage S-Rank Hunters and S-Rank dungeons.
Though it had lost most of its real power, the Hunter Association still had to exist, so the major guilds jointly sent S-Rank Hunters under shared affiliation. On paper, he was affiliated with the Association, but he often ignored the Association President’s orders, which caused quite a stir. Eventually, Haeyeon took over completely.
‘Then there’s a good chance this is after Seong Hyunjae’s disappearance too.’
Song Taewon’s death and the Sesung Guild Leader’s disappearance hadn’t been far apart. That’s why Seong Hyunjae had been suspected even more.
But this was an artificial dungeon. The tilines were probably scrambled. Still, Peace and Myungwoo... definitely wouldn’t be here, and the chances of Noah, Liette, and Evelyn being here were slim as long as the setting was Seoul. Though they could have entered through so route I didn’t know about.
If Liette was here too, it would be a real disaster. One natural-born S-Rank was hard enough to handle. At least she wouldn’t have gotten a title, but she was still a tricky opponent.
“Other dungeons weren’t like this.”
I spoke first, deactivating my Stealth skill. I needed to conserve mana.
“This is too—”
“You’re the Haeyeon Guild Leader’s brother, right?”
My tongue froze mid-sentence. My fingertips trembled slightly. I wanted to doubt what I’d heard, but the words I dreaded were crystal clear.
“You were blurry so I didn’t recognize you at first, but you’re Han Yujin, right?”
I looked up at Choi Iram. He wore a genuinely bewildered expression, like a normal human being, not a monster.
“What happened to the F-Rank trash? You took my attack and ca out fine. And what’s with that Stealth skill?”
[Fear is fading!]
The Fear Resistance skill ssage flickered. Even so, my heart hamred so hard it hurt. Choi Iram’s eyes turned vicious.
“Are you a monster that copies appearances? But why pick such a useless human... Or maybe you’re a Hunter targeting the Haeyeon Guild! Either way, the Haeyeon Guild Leader—”
The spear rose. White light gathered at its tip as if he were casting a skill.
“He abandoned his brother long ago!”
That shout pierced my chest like a spearhead. I couldn’t move. CLANG! The sound of tal clashing against tal rang out. It was right in front of , but it felt like it echoed from miles away. Soon, even that sound faded.
I was just stunned. Like I had a terrible cold and swallowed too much strong dicine. I was in a daze. My empty mind burned with heat. No, it felt like dozens, hundreds of different thoughts were surfacing at the sa ti, mixing together into an unrecognizable, pitch-black ss.
THUD—!
“Who are you! I’ve never heard of an S-Rank as young as you!”
“For now, I’m this guy’s guardian. Firstborn!”
“If you’re not a monster, then Arica? India? Maybe Russia?”
SCRAPE, BOOM!
“This damn brat!”
My body was snatched away. CRASH! A thunderous noise echoed as the wall blocking our path exploded. The scenery around us changed instantly.
The wide-open sky ca into view. A reddish sunset was setting. At its edge, a faint bluish-purple light could be seen rising. It looked like we were on a building’s roof. The breath I couldn’t catch properly burst out in a cough.
“This, this dungeon, we have to destroy it...”
“They said it’s because it wasn’t made properly.”
I gasped for air and pounded my chest with my fist. Grace chirped, flustered about whether to stop or not.
“Why, why... The words are one thing, but the mories...”
Why, for what reason. Why do they—all of them—rember? Do you recognize ? Young Chaos scratched his head lightly with his fingertips.
“Normally, all information gets erased. It shouldn’t leak out to other worlds. I don’t know the details, but they say that even if monsters are based on a vanished world, they’re newly created. But here.”
I saw the tips of his feet lightly landing on the rooftop railing. The hem of his loose clothes swayed in the wind.
“This is a dungeon based on your—the Firstborn’s—world, and created in your world. It seems to be due to so kind of information overload and hasty, sloppy creation.”
“Rookie, please tell the rookie! To destroy this dungeon!”
I had finally cald down, but my body was still trembling faintly.
“Why was a dungeon like this created in the first place! Even if an SS-Rank demon king appeared, you could have just let us catch it! We could have handled it just fine!”
With the goblins, I could have used double damage and even My Kid. With that, it wouldn’t have been difficult to catch an SS-Rank. But why create such an absurd dungeon! Chaos turned his head and looked down at .
“The Weaving Nightmare was a demonkin related to the King of Harmless. Since its na was erased, it was impossible to identify through the system, but the King of Harmless recognized it as soon as she saw the goblin.”
I quickly recalled my past mories. Around the ti the King of Harmless appeared, I had lost contact with Yun Yun, who had gone to China. And Choi Seokwon, who had a contract with the King of Harmless, also had connections with China. He had tried to hand over and receive support from China, I was sure.
“Was it a trap that the King of Harmless was involved in?”
What happened after she died might have been the Chinese military’s plan. But at its foundation was the King of Harmless. She couldn’t have intervened directly, but she would have told them how to handle Yun Yun. It was probably the King of Harmless’s power that had brought out the demon king that had been absorbed and disappeared.
My mind slowly cooled down.
“What kind of demon king is the Weaving Nightmare? If it’s related to the King of Harmless, then the mories... well, nightmares are also created by people’s mories.”
“How am I supposed to know all those trivial monsters? The rabbit told this too.”
Trivial? Still, it’s SS-Rank, and you treat it like a mob.
“Roughly, they said the rabbit weakened it into a dungeon because it would be dangerous if left as it is. Since the King of Harmless was involved, if the conditions were t, it would grow rapidly to SSS-Rank or higher.”
Like with Choi Seokwon? If that was the case, then there was nothing that could be done. But, still.
“Still, here... wait a minute! Everyone else is in here too! Yuhyun, Yuhyun too!”
My heart sank again. My throat felt scratchy and dry.
“My little brother, he doesn’t know, he doesn’t know anything... where is he? If he went to Haeyeon. No, if he asks the others, the monsters, about ...”
It was obvious what kind of stories he would hear. I scrambled to get up, but staggered and sat down. My legs had no strength. I forced strength into them, and they throbbed with pain. I have to find him quickly, this is all the demon king’s doing, it’s just a nightmare...
“Worry about yourself, not the secondborn.”
Light footsteps approached .
“Looking like you’re about to drop dead any mont.”
“He doesn’t know! They’ll all say my little brother abandoned . Not just abandoned... if, if he finds out about what happened to , that, and there was even ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) a fabricated article that made it seem like I resented Yuhyun! Also, also...”
Before I awakened, it was just that we had grown apart. But not after I awakened. The Fear Resistance skill ssage kept flashing. I was anxious as if I were about to die, but my body wouldn’t move properly.
“Even if the secondborn feels guilty for not protecting you properly, that’s sothing the secondborn has to bear.”
“It’s not Yuhyun’s fault, sir!”
I bit my lower lip and continued.
“It’s because I’m weak, . The fact that my still young brother had to leave ho, it was to protect . If I had been a little stronger, he wouldn’t have left. He wouldn’t have been lonely by himself. The thing where he left first alone, wouldn’t have happened.”
It wasn’t my little brother’s fault. He tried.
“Bluebird, you stay still.”
– Chirp?
Young Chaos raised his hand. I reflexively covered my ears, but this ti.
“Ack!”
It was my back. It hurt! No, it stung. My entire back was burning hot.
“Weak, what weak.”
“I am weak!”
“In my eyes, the firstborn and the secondborn are fifty steps and a hundred steps! Rabbits and wolves.”
“They’re completely different, aren’t they? And one’s an herbivore and the other’s a carnivore.”
“To a dragon, they’re both just tiny snacks.”
SLAP, my back was struck one more ti. The tears that had been welling up stread down my face. My cheeks were quickly soaked.
“Being weak cannot be a fault.”
Young Chaos said firmly.
“If being weak is a fault, then everyone except is at fault.”
“That’s...”
“Lacking and being insufficient cannot be a fault. To a person who fell from a high place and died, would you say it’s their fault for not being able to fly? To a person who was chased by a beast and bitten to death, would you say it’s their fault for not running faster?”
“No, of course not.”
“What you can’t do, you can’t do. That’s all there is to it. That in itself is not a sin.”
That’s, that’s true. But.
“But because of , my little brother had a hard ti.”
“It was the secondborn’s choice, so it’s the secondborn’s responsibility.”
“You say it so easily!”
“Is your little brother soone who can’t handle that one thing?”
I pressed my lips shut. Young Chaos’s lips curled up.
“From what I see, as long as you, the firstborn, are there, he seems to be fine no matter what happens.”
“Still, I. I don’t want my little brother to get hurt... I want him to be happy.”
I wish he wouldn’t have any painful things. I wish he wouldn’t have any difficult things. I wish he could smile, happier than anyone in the world.
“And the secondborn would also hate to see you suffer because of him. Don’t try to carry everything on your shoulders unnecessarily, just hug each other. He’s the type to be fine with just that.”
I got up again. Slowly, carefully, so as not to fall.
“He’ll definitely feel sorry. A lot.”
“It’s fine if there’s soone to accept it.”
“That’s right. It’s fine if there’s soone to accept it. If there’s soone to tell you it’s okay, then it really becos okay.”
I took a deep breath. My little brother might have already found out. So I had to et him quickly and tell him it was okay.
“To Haeyeon Guild, so... it’s that way. I’m counting on you.”
Young Chaos lifted . Since he was in a child’s form, it looked a bit strange, but it was surprisingly more stable than Yerim. Have you carried a lot of people?
With a single light step, the surrounding scenery changed rapidly. Jumping between buildings, we quickly approached Haeyeon Guild. A very familiar scene ca into my view. Young Chaos landed softly on the road. He broke off a branch from a roadside tree, trimd it with the side of his hand, and handed it to .
“Look at that.”
One step, two steps. I slowly approached the guild building. But I was stopped by a translucent mbrane. Beyond the mbrane, I could see a large tree. A sparkling Christmas tree, set up in the building lobby, inside the full-length glass window.
Colored lights and various ornants were also hanging here and there. The flowerbeds outside were filled with red poinsettias. The brightly decorated building was wrapped in a round mbrane. It looked just like a snow globe.
The cold was late to be felt. The cold wind seeped through my clothes.
“My little brother’s birthday is on Christmas.”
Yuhyun hated doing advertisents. So from the subway, I had a vague guess, but... there were no trees, golden bells, or snowflake models anywhere else. It was just a normal, everyday street.
I placed my hand on the translucent mbrane. There was no one inside or outside the lobby. It was quiet. Maybe inside, it was Christmas Eve. It was still early evening, but maybe they were already having a party.
“This year, we’ll spend it together. After a long ti, just the two of us.”
“There’s still a lot of ti left in the outside world. But you’ll be able to spend it this year.”
“Next year too. And the year after, and the year after that.”
“You talk big.”
“Here, there must be a boss monster.”
After all other places are dealt with, the boss area opens last. I looked around. There was no one other than the two of us. Did they go to another place first after seeing it was blocked? I took out a mo from my inventory.
“The Association is relatively easy and closest from here, so I will go to the Sesung Guild side first.”
I wrote a ssage saying I was going to the Sesung Guild and stuck it to the mbrane. But...
‘If Seong Hyunjae is still at Sesung.’
To that Seong Hyunjae, I would be an F-Rank Hunter with no value or interest. He would look at with an emotionlessness incomparable to when we first t after the regression. A chill ran down the back of my neck again. I really hate this dungeon. It’s literally a nightmare before Christmas. The present and the future are mixed, I hope the past doesn’t co out too.
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