Chapter 99

They said Taehyeok Sa’s manifestation was discovered around the age of three. Taehyeok Sa remembers the moment he was born. It’s not that he has no forgetfulness at all; just as everyone has faint memories of their early childhood, he had memories of his birth. Perhaps it was due to awakening the moment he was born.

“My parents hid my awakening. I never properly went to school. I was homeschooled overseas.”

“You said you had some money, so that was possible, huh?”

“That’s right. That’s how they could prevent my childhood from making the news.”

“It seems your parents didn’t want their son to be successful.”

“To be precise, they disliked the idea of me being exposed to the media too young.”

Cho-i Hyeon frowned. What’s the difference? Taehyeok Sa didn’t particularly explain the two differences. Anyway, it was awkward to tell a child without parents that his parents did it out of concern for him.

“After they realized I was somewhat unusual, they became quite bothersome.”

“For example?”

“Advice like having to use my power carefully.”

“So, to your parents, you were like a suddenly born psychic?”

“That’s right. And I am a psychic.”

Cho-i Hyeon said with a cheerful smile.

“But if his parents taught him that, he shouldn’t use it carelessly. What should we do with this crazy bastard who throws innocent people into dungeons and grinds them up?”

“……”

“So, your previously neglectful parents started paying attention after they learned about your awakening? Doesn’t this feel a bit like the beginning of a superhero movie?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never seen a superhero movie.”

“Actually, me neither.”

The two grinned at each other when their eyes met. It wasn’t a particularly cool smile.

“Anyway, when I was young, those words didn’t really resonate with me.”

“Well, everyone’s like that when they’re young. If you’re told not to do something, you want to do it more. If you have power, you want to use it more.”

“Luckily, I wasn’t like that. I just thought I should use it when necessary.”

“I can’t tell if your head is screwed on straight or not.”

Then one day, Taehyeok Sa saw a certain scene. No, it would be more accurate to say he had a dream. Perhaps an SS-Rank’s intuition manifests in such a way. But at that time, Taehyeok Sa didn’t attach much importance to what he saw in his dream. He considered a dream to be just a dream.

“What I dreamt was the scene of my parents’ accident.”

“What kind of accident? A car accident?”

“Dungeon break.”

There was a major dungeon break on the outskirts of California, where Taehyeok Sa was studying abroad. Many people died and many Hunters were sacrificed. So, Taehyeok Sa’s dream came true.

“Were you not there?”

“No, it was just my parents. If I had been there, things might have been different.”

Taehyeok Sa slowly turned his head and looked out the window. If he was greatly shocked after losing his parents, that wasn’t exactly it. Taehyeok Sa knew very well. He had been SS-Rank since birth, and because of that, he was a little different from others.

“I wasn’t that sad.”

“You were a scoundrel, then.”

Taehyeok Sa smiled.

“Right, I was. But I quickly noticed my surroundings changing.”

“Well, you were young, and property division was something adults handled, wasn’t it?”

“My uncle, my father’s brother, took me in, but it was just as you said. It was less than what I originally enjoyed.”

“So, what did you do?”

Taehyeok Sa shook his head.

“Nothing. I was old enough to know not to kill people.”

“Really? You had more sense than I thought?”

“I also had the thought that it was fine as long as I didn’t get caught.”

“No. It seems I was a lost cause after all.”

Taehyeok Sa pondered his childhood self again. Taehyeok Sa suddenly spoke as if he had realized something.

“I might have known back then.”

“Known what?”

“That I had to protect what I had.”

“…You were smart.”

“Didn’t I realize it too late?”

“Well, I realized it even later.”

Cho-i Hyeon laughed self-deprecatingly. Taehyeok Sa watched her face as if observing her, then opened his mouth.

“So, I hid my awakening until I became an adult.”

“You did?”

“After my parents passed away, I came to Korea to receive an education.”

Taehyeok Sa recalled that time. The man who was his uncle, who smiled kindly while eyeing his inheritance. Taehyeok Sa wasn’t particularly moved by his parents’ inheritance, so he didn’t care what schemes his uncle was up to. He already had his own body, which seemed extraordinary.

“As soon as I became an adult without any trouble, I became independent. Then I went straight to the hunter awakener center.”

“It must have been a sensation.”

“I didn’t even know my rank was exactly SS-Rank. I just thought all hunters were about this strong.”

“Don’t lie, you fraud.”

“Alright, to be honest, I thought I was stronger than regular hunters.”

“So you founded a guild right away?”

“Many people wanted to invest in me. It wasn’t difficult.”

“Honestly, it seems like you could have just gone into an A-Rank or S-Rank dungeon alone, cleared it out, and made a fortune without needing any investment.”

“I actually made up for any lacking funds that way.”

Taehyeok Sa founded a guild without difficulty and reached his current position. He had reclaimed most of the shares that were initially divided under the guise of investment, and now there was truly nothing that could threaten this guild. It wasn’t called the world’s #1 guild for nothing.

“Then, when I was around twenty-five, I had a dream.”

“Again?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of dream?”

“A dream of the world ending.”

“…”

Cho-i Hyeon couldn’t dismiss that dream as meaningless. An SS-Rank’s intuition was almost divine, and if he felt it so strongly, it could mean that it was an event that would surely come someday.

“And there’s been no news of that ‘end’ until now.”

“Is there a possibility it was just a meaningless dream?”

“That could be. But I realized something from that dream.”

“What?”

“The reason I was born here.”

“Do thoughts usually jump that far? Is an SS-Rank different? Is that it?”

Cho-i Hyeon couldn’t understand. To know the reason for one’s birth from just one dream. But Taehyeok Sa had a serene expression. To put it nicely, that’s what it was, but in another way, it was also the face of a kind of cult follower. But perhaps it was only peculiar that his religion was himself.

“Then you appeared before my eyes.”

“Oh, damn it, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have appeared before your eyes then.”

“Cho-i Hyeon.”

Taehyeok Sa called her name in a serious tone.

“I think you’re like that destruction.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“I wish it were nonsense.”

“First, you really need to think again.”

“I’m listening.”

Slurp- Cho-i quickly chugged the coffee in her cup and then leaned forward slightly.

“First of all, this guy inside me doesn’t want this world to be destroyed.”

“That seems to be the case. But I did call it world’s destruction.”

Taehyeok Sa said with a slight eye-smile, as if amused.

“It might not be the world, but the annihilation of humanity.”

“……”

“If things like what’s inside your body can freely roam outside the dungeon, humans won’t survive. Especially if there’s even a being like you, where even I can’t guarantee victory.”

Cho-i Hyeon felt for a moment that his story was strange. So he was telling her this now.

“You…”

Cho-i Hyeon looked at him with wide eyes.

“You think I should die someday.”

“That’s right.”

His voice was calm. Cho-i Hyeon couldn’t even let out a sarcastic laugh.

“You know, I wish you’d die.”

“So let’s try. I don’t know which one of us will survive, but let’s both do our best to survive.”

“……I really hate you.”

Taehyeok Sa and Cho-i Hyeon looked at each other. The two of them, sitting across from each other at their respective tables, seemed to be confronting each other. Cho-i Hyeon had a hardened face and wide eyes, while Taehyeok Sa smiled gently. Even their expressions seemed to indicate that they stood on completely opposite sides.

“Then you should have killed me earlier.”

“I need to get stronger too. Right now, I can’t kill you.”

“……”

“Or I’ll have to borrow someone else’s hand.”

“Like Zhixuan?”

“Yes.”

“You talk very easily about killing a fellow guild member.”

“If it’s for the king, it’s better if you don’t die. For me too.”

“But why are you saying that?”

“I’m telling you to prepare yourself.”

“To fight you to the death someday?”

Taehyeok Sa nodded instead of answering, and Cho-i Hyeon just wanted to twist that nodding neck.

“I’m curious too.”

“About what?”

“How much my stats would increase if I killed you.”

“……You’re definitely dangerous.”

“I know. But I don’t wish for humanity’s destruction, you know?”

“I hope so too. But Cho-i Hyeon. You still occasionally lose complete control to the Entity. And you tend to use it too.”

“…I know.”

“Even if you’re using it like a toy now, I’m uneasy. Afraid that it might completely devour you someday.”

“……I understand.”

Cho-i Hyeon felt a little resentful. There was nothing she could refute in Taehyeok Sa’s words. Cho-i Hyeon certainly didn’t care about her body being controlled. Because even if she died, she would come back to life. If she just passed out for a moment, ‘the Entity’ would resolve the situation. That’s all she thought of it. But if the Entity’s purpose was truly to take over her entire body, that would be a completely different story.

‘From now on, Sanity Paralysis to a minimum…’

Just then, a voice echoed in her mind.

‘Do you think that’s up to you?’