Chapter 435 – Results (2)
After asking Noah to pass along a message when Yoohyun returned, I got up from the sofa. Peace trotted after me. We left the living room and stepped out onto the balcony overlooking the garden. In the darkness, the dokkaebi flames Yoon Yoon had made were flickering. I could hear splashing too, as though they were up to something.
“Sit.”
Sung Hyunjae pulled out a rocking chair for me. Come to think of it, what was I supposed to do about my leg? It wasn’t going to heal on its own. Did I need to schedule surgery? When I sat down, Peace curled up by my feet.
Bathed in the moonlight, Sung Hyunjae’s hair looked especially faded as he leaned crookedly against the terrace railing.
“Mr. Sung Hyunjae, you must be feeling pretty lost too.”
He only looked at me in silence, so I spoke first. If there was one thing to talk about, it was probably this. What had happened inside the nightmare dungeon.
Sung Hyunjae’s mind would have become complicated too. He had learned new things about himself. And none of them were good.
“But if you really think about it, the situation isn’t that bad. Crescent Moon won’t be able to intervene in our world directly as easily anymore.”
Back then, it probably would have been easy for Crescent Moon to quietly take Sung Hyunjae away. But not now.
“There aren’t just one or two Transcendents watching our neighborhood now, are there? And our world isn’t just one among the worlds they’re supposed to help anymore. It’s become a world directly tied to the Transcendents themselves. Did I tell you before? The Immoral people and the Filial duty addicts are apparently holding meetings over our world right now.”
No matter how exceptional Crescent Moon was, once both sides finished negotiating, I didn’t think she’d be able to rampage however she wanted. She would have to act carefully. There would also be plenty of Transcendents interested in Sung Hyunjae, like the King of Harmlessness, so he’d have to be careful not to get found out.
If things went wrong, not only could the tower she had built with such effort collapse, it could even be taken away from her.
“So in that sense, we bought time. Compared to before I regressed, we have more information, and there are Transcendents willing to help us too. And if Mr. Sung Hyunjae manages to hold out for about a thousand years, Chief Song will be able to remove the contract Crescent Moon tied onto you.”
If we managed to stop the destruction safely and Crescent Moon could no longer interfere, then someday Song Taewon would save Sung Hyunjae. No matter how painful it would be to let that long time pass, Chief Song would never be able to abandon someone he could help.
As for Chief Song himself… someone else saving him would probably be impossible, though indirect help might still be possible. Still, if things did not unfold the same way they had before my regression, then little by little things would change. In one direction or another.
“How is your body?”
Having listened quietly to everything I said, Sung Hyunjae suddenly asked.
“Huh? Ah, well, I’m fine. The King of Harmlessness said I actually got better, if anything. The one who handled my dungeon rewards wasn’t Newbie but the King of Harmlessness, you see. Apparently the dungeon boss was her vassal, so a fragment of her had remained behind.”
“That is a relief.”
“Right? They said my mana engraving stabilized too. I just have to treat the leg.”
I tapped the injured leg lightly to show him. Peace let out a low little whine and looked at me anxiously. It’s okay, it’s okay.
“So what was it that you wanted to talk about?”
Was there more than what I’d just said?
Up until before I was kidnapped, we’d been talking about him going abroad and things like that. Before that, I had been planning to reveal the regression, but now all of that had come out because of this incident. And we had gathered a lot of information about the little moon and Crescent Moon as well.
At this point, it felt like there wasn’t really anything left to do.
“I think until Newbie gets back to us with the results, all we have to worry about is saving the world. I’ll just keep raising the kiseungsu and keep sticking my nose into the Awakening Center side of things. And you said you were going abroad, Mr. Sung Hyunjae.”
“That is also so I can investigate those connected to this kidnapping.”
“Do you think the background is complicated?”
“Most likely. It seems Bak Hayul was not originally affiliated with the Chinese military either.”
“Right. He mentioned something about a noona. Do you have any idea who that could be?”
Sung Hyunjae slowly shook his head.
“I have spread myself wide, but there are not many countries where I have dug deeply enough. Regrettably, I have only one body. The span of three years itself was too short.”
True. Three years was barely enough even to focus on a single country. And yet he’d still managed to spread his reach across countries all over the world. That really was impressive. China, especially at this point in time, had been closed off enough that even foreign governments would have had trouble digging up detailed information, and yet he was able to produce a place to stay immediately like this. It seemed he had planted quite a few people here too.
Seseong in Korea was large-scale already, but if everything hidden beneath the surface were dragged out, wouldn’t it be unbelievable.
“By any chance, besides Ms. Evelyn, are there other S-rank Hunters affiliated with Seseong?”
“Rather than affiliated, they are cooperative.”
“So there are some, then. Who are they? How many?”
“I will introduce them to you someday.”
So that was classified, huh. Well, if I were him, I wouldn’t tell me either. Still, I was curious. What kind of people were they? There were probably plenty of A-ranks too, not just S-ranks.
“Then I guess it’ll be hard to see you for a while now. Ah, are you maybe trying to say a proper goodbye or something?”
“It is not as though I intend never to return to Korea.”
“Even so, won’t it be more like once every couple of months?”
Well, Seseong had its own private jet, so no matter how far the country, it wouldn’t even take a full day to get to Korea. But still, he’d be entering dungeons over there, causing trouble here and there, and doing all kinds of work. When that happened, a month would pass in no time.
I really won’t be seeing his face much anymore. It felt refreshing and disappointing at the same time.
“Please don’t work Chief Song too hard. I already feel bad for him. As long as you’re a Korean Hunter, there’s no way he can avoid getting dragged along.”
“He said he enjoyed it.”
“…What? Ah, wait, you don’t mean Chief Song from before my regression…?”
…Was that some kind of Stockholm syndrome?
“If there is something you wish to say, I will listen.”
Sung Hyunjae said that out of nowhere. After having already been listening to me this whole time.
“I’ve already said plenty.”
“Is that truly all you want to say?”
“What do you mean by that. These are important things.”
“I had thought Han Yoohyun treated Han Yoojin rather clumsily.”
Why was he suddenly bringing Yoohyun into this?
“The more I watched, the more it seemed that was the best option.”
“What, you mean my brother keeping his distance from me?”
“The thought that, even before your regression, when you had no special abilities, you may still have run around just like this is enough to make me sigh.”
Sung Hyunjae let out a truly heavy sigh. His face even plainly said, I’m full of worries. Why was he suddenly acting like this now of all times?
“No, I know my own place too, you know.”
“The sort of place where an F-rank stat fool grits his teeth and throws himself at an S-rank?”
…Had he actually seen me taking down Rauchitas? At that point I had gotten the dungeon-self stats, so I’d been E-rank, though. And even before that, I only threw myself in because it looked doable. And I actually did manage to take him down safely.
“If you will not say it, then neither will I.”
“…Say what, exactly. I already told you I regressed.”
“If you truly do not understand until the very end, then I shall have no choice but to treat you accordingly.”
For some reason, Sung Hyunjae said that a little bitterly. Why was he talking like he was the only one who understood something?
“What is it now, what now! Seriously, you’re so difficult!”
“I am aggrieved. The two people beside me are twice as difficult.”
Chief Song, I’d concede, but why me? I thought I was relatively simple.
“You ought to get at least a little sleep. Shall I warm some milk for you?”
“Do I look like a baby? Don’t change the subject.”
“With a little honey in it.”
That did sound good, though. But even if I kept pressing, he didn’t seem like the sort who would speak willingly, so I got to my feet.
“Where’s the kitchen?”
“I’ll bring it to your bedroom.”
“I’m making some for the kids too. And for Chief Song. Peace, do you want some too?”
—Kkiang!
Should I sprinkle some powdered magic stone on top for him? We didn’t know what might happen once morning came, so everyone ought to get even a short stretch of proper rest.
“Yerim! Yoon Yoon! That’s enough, come back inside now!”
I shouted out toward the garden, then turned around. Sung Hyunjae held out a hand as if offering to support me, but I declined. Before regression and now too, I could still walk perfectly well on my own feet.
With a tray piled full of cups of milk, I headed back to the living room. By then, Yoohyun had already returned from his call, and he came straight over to take the tray from me.
“Did they say anything unusual?”
“Mm. They just told me to be careful about the part where Bak Yerim is still supposed to be in Japan and I’m still supposed to be inside a dungeon.”
“So Chief Song is supposed to be hospitalized too, right? Chief Song, want to share a hospital room with me?”
At my words, Chief Song, who had just walked into the living room, drew his brows together.
“Are your injuries severe enough to require hospitalization?”
Ah. Right. Chief Song still didn’t know the exact condition of my leg.
“I was thinking I might get a general examination too.”
“That is a good idea. However, as for me, I plan to be discharged immediately after returning to Korea.”
“That’s too bad. You should rest a little longer. Here, have a cup of milk.”
I handed milk to Chief Song, and also to Noah, Yerim, and Yoon Yoon. I added that they all needed to rest quietly now.
I wasn’t sure whether sleep would come, but once I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes, my consciousness quickly drifted away. Even the sensation of being swallowed into darkness blurred.
“The seasons might change.”
I heard someone’s voice.
“If it keeps going on like this, we might even have to build greenhouses. Though with you here, I suppose even if every tree disappeared, it still wouldn’t get cold.”
At the sound of that voice, Yoohyun was smiling. The two of them walked along an empty street at an easy pace.
“We probably can’t manage rice farming, though. How long can rice even be stored? After a few years, we won’t be able to eat rice anymore.”
My brother made a worried face at those casually spoken words.
“Should I try it once?”
“No thanks. We can just eat other things, other things. Vegetables are still easy enough to grow. And chickens. There should be fertilized eggs sold at the mart—if we keep the temperature right, would they hatch?”
“You’re going to raise chickens?”
“We could keep getting eggs and chicken too. Oh, right, let’s loot a pet shop. Isn’t there a bird shop somewhere? They probably sell ornamental chickens. If we get them to sit on the eggs, it should work. And while we’re at it, let’s set all the trapped animals free too.”
I said that surely it would be better for them to look for some way to survive outside than to stay trapped and die.
“How big do pet rabbits get? Rabbits make decent livestock too. If the seasons keep changing, we could let them loose in places like parks and just take care of them in winter.”
Yoohyun listened seriously to what I was saying. He even nodded.
“Can you eat pigeons? There were a lot of them.”
“There’s nothing we can’t eat. The environment will get cleaner from now on anyway. Even before this, there was less trash than in the past thanks to the dungeons. Still, for a while we should eat what’s already there! There’s tons of it, isn’t there.”
My voice sounded rather excited.
“Is there anything you want to eat? What should we loot?”
“I’m fine with anything. What about you, Hyung?”
“It’s not like I’m picky. Should we grill meat after all? Ah, you didn’t get to eat seaweed soup, did you. I’ll make it for you.”
My brother smiled brightly.
“It’s been a really long time since you cooked for me, Hyung.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. My eating habits have been so simple lately that I might be worse than before.”
“I’m good at cooking now. I’ll help.”
“Not on your birthday. Starting tomorrow, tomorrow. And don’t you dare say it tastes bad.”
“There’s no way it would taste bad.”
Was this just a simple dream created by my wishes? Or perhaps, could it be reality shown by a single thread that was still connected to me?
Most likely it was just a dream. But still, it was nice to see. It was a happy dream. Yoohyun’s face was bright and clear, without the slightest shadow. And since my brother looked like that, then obviously I must be wearing a similar expression too.
Morning wasn’t far off, but I wanted to keep seeing that sight, that scene, just a little longer…
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[Honey!]
Just a little more.
[Honey! Honey!]
…Let me sleep. The noisy calling came closer and closer.
“Honey! Open your eyes a little!”
It chattered right in front of my nose. The sun’s not even up yet. I’m trying to enjoy a good dream a little longer, so why are you interrupting me? By then the two figures had already disappeared from before my eyes.
Damn it, seeking method for continuing dreams.
“Hoooney! The results are out!”
“…What?”
My eyes snapped open. Newbie, who had shoved their face right up against mine, jumped back in surprise. Their long drooping ears flapped along with them. Looking at them like that, they really did look like a rabbit. Though of course they were a puppy.
“What do you mean, the results!”
I sat bolt upright. Why were we in a café? Newbie shook their sleeve and nodded.
“The negotiation results!”
“How did it turn out?”
The inside of my mouth had gone dry with tension. I hadn’t expected the results to come this quickly.
“For starters, the Transcendents agreed, same as before, not to interfere excessively in Honey’s world!”
“That’s a relief…….”
A sigh of relief burst out of me. So we’d gotten over one hurdle, at least.
“Then that means neither Crescent Moon nor Chatterbox can just jump out directly, right?”
“Right. There are more eyes watching now, so it’ll be hard for them to pull sudden stunts like before. And the response will be faster too.”
“Really? You did great! Thanks!”
As long as they didn’t cause that kind of chaos again, that was already enough. That really took a load off my mind. But there was no way it would end with only good news. There was no way Chatterbox and Crescent Moon would give up on us so easily.
“The matters of one world should be handled by the people of that world. That’s been an old rule.”
“That makes perfect sense. Total sense!”
“But we, the Immoral people, have already interfered a lot, right? And there are several Awakened who are involved too. So Chatterbox’s side, the Filial duty addicts, will be standing in the same position.”
“Huh? Same position?”
“They’re going to use people from Honey’s world to catch you Honeys.”
…What the hell kind of nonsense was that?
