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Chapter 127

Choi Yu-Seong reached the max level of D-rank after hunting the Mountain Ridge of the Green Sheep’s boss monster.

‘That was faster than I expected.’

But there was a simple explanation. Boss monsters were difficult to hunt in various ways and presented different types of challenges to hunters, but they gave proportionate rewards.

.

Not only did the max level give him the chance to challenge the promotion test to the next rank, but he also felt that his physical ability and mana had grown much stronger than before.

He felt reassured and confident as he glanced at Chae Ye-Ryeong, who stood by his side.

‘Without Chae Ye-Ryeong’s help, I would have had a much harder time dealing with the boss, the three-headed green sheep.’

Even though there were only two of them, this was the easiest time Yu-Seong had against a boss monster, except for the time he had taken the Lightning Burst. So what if a third person, Yoo Jin-Hyuk, joined their group?

‘…We could form a three-man attack squad.’

Originally, an attack party at this point in time referred to a large group that was capable of hunting a raid boss monster. However, Choi Yu-Seong had a different outlook regarding the term. He wanted something more future-oriented.

‘The numbers don’t matter. Rather, we should prioritize the quality.’

Of course, it was necessary to allow Chae Ye-Ryeong to grow as fast as possible in order to do so, and fortunately, her pace of growth was very satisfying.

“Are you at level thirty now?” Yu-Seong asked.

“Yes. At this rate, I should be able to reach max level within the month,” Ye-Ryeong replied.

Choi Yu-Seong closed his eyes and fell into thought.

‘Since it’s mid-April right now…’

It was already spring, so Chae Ye-Ryeong could probably achieve C rank before the passage into summer. Choi Yu-Seong was quite knowledgeable when it came to such a trend.

‘She’s gained momentum.’

There was a saying – man proposes, but gods dispose. Even if a man diligently performed his duties, what he reaped was the will of heaven. Until now, Choi Yu-Seong had faced numerous challenges and difficulties regardless of how hard he tried, but there was a good chance that things would be different from now on.

‘It’s hard to regain momentum once it’s been lost, but…’

On the other hand, once you started riding and climbing, it would push you forward like a tailwind.

Choi Yu-Seong had been contemplating. In the original novel, Choi Yu-Seong had performed the role assigned to him – a proper rascal – without any problems or difficulties until his death, so why was his life so difficult now?

The answer was yet another simple one.

‘I’ve been running into one problem after another because I’ve continued to defy Choi Yu-Seong’s death, which was destined to happen.’

Such was destiny. Even if one tried to escape, fate would never loosen its grip on their ankle. It would hold on for dear life.

But the momentum Yu-Seong felt now was clearly something new.

‘Fate may still be holding onto my ankle, but…’

Everything was set in place for him to begin his journey upward.

Just in time, Choi Yu-Seong arrived in front of Yoo Jin-Hyuk’s house. This was the last card he needed to set the foundation for his climb. He looked at the rather old building, a five-story apartment complex with no lift.

‘On the top floor…’

18-year-old Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who had feigned even his own death, was living there.

***

The apartment was quite small, just a 10-pyeong space[ref]About 35 square feet] which consisted of only a bedroom and living room. In it was a young man curled up on a computer chair, messing around with a mouse and keyboard while staring at his monitor. Inside the monitor, a character was moving under his command and it swept the battlefield to eventually occupy the enemy base and take the victory.

Yoo Jin-Hyuk was always at the center of the victorious battles, and his teammates always praised his plays. It was to the point where he was referred to as a monster by some of the opposing players. But from Yoo Jin-Hyuk’s point of view, it was a rather curious phenomenon. Most of his strategies and plays had been made without much consideration.

‘Is this supposed to be difficult?’

Yoo Jin-Hyuk had been left without anything to do after his parents’ death and began to play as a hobby. He didn’t know what others thought of it, but he didn’t want to die, so he played games to quiet his mind.

Yoo Jin-Hyuk dismissed the notification on his screen, which screamed “Promoted to Challenger!”. His monitor was constantly being bombarded with messages. There was a flood of friend requests from coaches, managers, and players of professional teams. He stared at the messages indifferently before closing the game. It wasn’t that he hated attention from others, but he found it scary.

‘They don’t know me.’

After leaving behind the monitor, Yoo Jin-Hyuk rolled onto the narrow bed before stretching out his hand toward the ceiling. A red hexagram appeared, and something started to push its head through it when…

Ding-dong-!

Someone rang the doorbell. Yoo Jin-Hyuk hesitated for a moment, then disregarded it. It was probably a delivery for daily necessities anyways. Thanks to the insurance money from the death of his parents and brother, he was able to live isolated from everyone else, but that didn’t mean he wanted to die. As such, he purchased various goods for daily living off the internet, so he has learned to ignore such small disturbances.

Ding-dong! Ding-dong! Ding-dong-!

However, the intruder appeared to be quite obsessive this time around. They continued ringing the doorbell, then proceeded to knock on the door as if they were impatient.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Yoo Jin-Hyuk felt quite annoyed by the loud disturbance. He turned his gaze towards the front door.

‘Who is it?’

His curiosity was quickly satisfied.

“Yoo Jin-Hwan! I know you’re in there. Open the door!” The intruder called out.

The intruder was calling out his alias, the name of his dead brother, to be exact. Yoo Jin-Hyuk felt slightly curious about the intruder, so he slowly rose from his bed and approached the door with staggering steps. He peeked through the small peephole and confirmed the intruder’s identity.

‘Who is this?’

The unfamiliar face felt strangely familiar for some reason… Yoo Jin-Hyuk quickly realized why.

“It’s your uncle. Open the door.”

The intruder was a man who resembled his dead father.

***

After much consideration, Yoo Jin-Hyuk carefully pushed the door handle, which was shaped like a long horizontal stick. Although it only gave way for a small slit, the sunlight stung his pale skin for the first time in a long while.

A moment later, the middle-aged man said, “And you finally open the door. It’s been a long time. You remember your uncle, don’t you?”

“…” Yoo Jin-Hyuk shook his head instead of answering.

“Well, you were only five years old the last time we met, so you may not remember me. By the way, you…” A strange look glimmered in the eyes of the middle-aged man, Yoo Choong-Ryeol, as he scanned Jin-Hyuk from head to toe. With an awkward smile and an oddly sharp gaze, he commented, “My, you’re barely skin and bones. You must be having a difficult time going through this alone, right?”

Yoo Jin-Hyuk stared at the man with an indifferent gaze while asking, “…Why did you come?”

Had he noticed that Jin-Hyuk was living a life using his brother’s name? It couldn’t be, since Yoo Jin-Hyuk had taken care of everything as secretly as possible. He thought he would never be found out, but he was understandably worried now that a relative was visiting him out of the blue.

“What do you mean why? I heard the news. I heard that my brother, sister-in-law, and even Jin-Hyuk have died in a dungeon break. My heart broke to think that you’re suffering alone. I couldn’t help it,” the middle-aged man answered.

Yoo Jin-Hyuk was a cautious person, and he had lived a life while being wary of others. It was easy for him to see straight through Yoo Choong-Ryeol’s lie. However, Jin-Hyuk had no intention of calling him out.

‘This is dangerous.’

Yoo Jin-Hyuk was quick-witted, and he was quite capable when it came to seeing through people’s true intentions. He knew well that the goodwill offered to him by Yoo Choong-Ryeol was something that could change at any moment, depending on the situation. Perhaps it was impossible for an ordinary person to harm Yoo Jin-Hyuk since he was a player, but the same might not hold true for Yoo Choong-Ryeol.

Jin-Hyuk instantly noticed the brown sheathe hanging from Yoo Choong-Ryeol’s waist. He asked, “…Are you a hunter?”

“Hmm? Huh…? Haha, I guess my brother told you. That’s right. I’m currently working as a hunter. Despite how I may look, I’m actually a B-rank.” Yoo Choong-Ryeol flashed his hunter license, then lightly tapped his waist.

He then said, “Of course, I have a certificate of possession for the sword, and it’s officially registered with the government. I carry it around just in case something unexpected happens. You never know when and where you might need to fight as a hunter. By the way, are you just going to keep me out here?”

Yoo Jin-Hyuk opened and closed his mouth a few times before answering, “…The house is dirty right now.”

“What does that matter? We’re family. Let’s just go in and have a good chat. I just want to know how you’ve been living until now and…”

“I’m sorry. Can you come back tomorrow?” Yoo Jin-Hyuk asked after interrupting.

Yoo Choong-Ryeol’s expression stiffened. “Jin-Hwan. If there happens to be a misunderstanding…”

Just then…

“Ah, excuse me. Is this Mister Yoo Jin-Hwan’s place?” Choi Yu-Seong approached and called out to Choong-Ryeol, who was still speaking to Jin-Hyuk through the gap in the door.

“Hmm? And who might you be?” Yoo Choong-Ryeol asked. It was clear from his tone that he was raising his guard.

Yoo Jin-Hyuk was rather surprised when he saw Choi Yu-Seong’s face through the small opening.

‘He’s good-looking.’

Indeed, Choi Yu-Seong’s appearance was quite stunning, enough to startle even Yoo Jin-Hyuk, who was normally indifferent. However, that was all.

“Ah, I am…”

“Both of you, please go back. I don’t really want to meet with anyone today,” Yoo Jin-Hyuk said before Choi Yu-Seong could finish, then slammed the door.

“Jin-Hwan! Again, don’t get me wrong. I only came here because I was worried about you. I will come back tomorrow. Please believe me, okay?”

Yoo Choong-Ryeol shouted towards the door, then sighed before turning his gaze towards Choi Yu-Seong. His stare was cold and filled with greed. He looked completely different from just moments ago when he had been speaking to Yoo Jin-Hyuk.

Glaring at Choi Yu-Seong with annoyance, Choong-Ryeol muttered, “I don’t know what rumors have brought you to this place, pretty boy, but…you better back off when you have the chance. That is, unless you want to waste your life.”

Then, he attempted to shove Choi Yu-Seong on the shoulder. However, his eyes were filled with disbelief when Jin Yu-Ri’s hand came out of nowhere and grabbed a hold of his wrist.

“You should watch what you say if you want to keep that glib tongue of yours,” Jin Yu-Ri said with a grin. She made her index and middle finger into the shape of scissors, then placed them together while muttering, “That is…if you don’t want it to be snipped. Hoho…”

“…” Yoo Choong-Ryeol was shocked as cold sweat dripped down his back. He had been caught completely unaware; he hadn’t even noticed Yu-Ri’s presence.

When Jin Yu-Ri released him from her grip, Choong-Ryeol turned back and bolted down the stairs as if he were being chased. He didn’t even dare to glance in Choi Yu-Seong’s direction as he fled.

Choi Yu-Seong stared indifferently as Choong-Ryeol ran, then said to Jin Yu-Ri, “Please find out who he is and what he does. One day should be enough, right?”

“Of course,” Yu-Ri answered.

Choi Yu-Seong then stepped forward and glanced at the tightly shut door. For a moment, a sad glimmer appeared in his eyes.

‘Yoo Jin-Hyuk.’

Yoo-Jin Hyuk had been known as the Demonic Beast Tamer, then the Demonic Beast King in the original novel. He had lived an extremely harsh childhood too. Even so, he had chosen to live an isolated life instead of resenting the world. How much pain and suffering had he experienced before finally transforming into a terrible disaster?

Yoo Jin-Hyuk and Chae Ye-Ryeong were similar in some ways.

‘An artificial evil created by the twisted world.’

The difference was that Choi Yu-Seong had managed to meet Chae Ye-Ryeong before she experienced her suffering. As such, it had been easy to convince and win her over. However, Yoo Jin-Hyuk had already been hurt because of his parents and brother.

How could it be easy to persuade him in such a situation?

‘It’s obviously going to be difficult.’

Even so, it needed to be done. It was obvious that Yoo Jin-Hyuk’s presence would greatly assist Choi Yu-Seong’s plans. Moreover, Choi Yu-Seong had felt the greatest sympathy for Yoo Jin-Hyuk when he read the novel. As such, he sincerely hoped for Yoo Jin-Hyuk to avoid a tragic ending.

1. Previously, translated as Lightning Bolt