Chapter 8

Chapter 8

A Spirit Sword was an Awakened person’s symbol and alter ego.

To begin with, it was not really an object at all. It would not be inaccurate to regard it as a living creature.

That was what a Spirit Sword was: even if it was destroyed, it would be recreated after a certain amount of time, and although it could be taken from its owner for a while, after a few days it would return to them on its own.

In that sense, a dead person’s Spirit Sword was nothing more than worthless trash.

Once the owner died, the Spirit Sword had fulfilled its purpose as well. You could not pick it up and use it, and since it disappeared after 49 hours, there was no reason for anyone to care about it.

There was a reason people in the West called Spirit Swords [Soul Caliber].

Which made it all the more astonishing that such a Spirit Sword had been sucked into a card.

[Dusk Blade]

Equipment Card

★★

A looted dagger.

“Does this actually work?”

I was not the only one shocked.

“What on earth is that?”

Choi Yura asked me.

“That card absorbed a Spirit Sword? Is that what happened?”

“Looks that way.”

“That’s impossible.”

Even seeing it with her own eyes, Choi Yura still looked full of disbelief.

“How is that even possible?”

“How would I know? I just Awakened.”

“Then can you use it?”

“Hold on.”

At Choi Yura’s question, I examined the card that had changed from [Loot] into [Dusk Blade].

WHOOOSH!

The card glowed, then transformed into the shape of a dagger.

“......!”

We were both jolted with shock.

“So you can use a dead person’s Spirit Sword? You?”

“We’d have to wait 49 hours to know that. It could still disappear.”

“That’s true.”

Choi Yura nodded.

“Wait a second. Let me pick all of them up first.”

“Hurry. We really don’t have any time now.”

“Got it.”

Moving as quickly as I could, I looted the Wrecker bastards’ Spirit Swords scattered here and there.

By the time I was done, cards containing a total of eleven Spirit Swords had been absorbed into the [Infinite Deck].

‘Collector of Madness...... so that was what it meant?’

But I had no time to think deeply about it.

WHOOOOOSH, BOOM!

I had barely registered the sound slicing through the air when an artillery shell landed in the distance, right where the children’s playground was.

It seemed I had delayed for far too long.

“Run!”

Choi Yura shouted.

“Fuck!”

We ran with everything we had, with every last scrap of strength in our bodies.

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The impact points of the shells were getting closer and closer.

‘I’m fucked.’

The safe zone was not far away, but because the Transference had changed the terrain into rugged mountains, we could not build up much speed.

WHOOOSH!

“......!”

A card slipped out of the [Infinite Deck] hanging at my left hip on its own.

[Search]

Magic Card

★

Searches the surrounding area.

Without even having time to think, I snatched the card.

WHOOOSH!

I felt something change in my eyes, and then information about the surrounding terrain and landmarks flooded into my mind.

‘That’ll do!’

I thought I knew what to do.

“This way!”

I changed direction and ran.

“Where are you going, you lunatic?!”

“Shut up and follow me!”

“If I die because of you, I won’t let it go!”

What was she going to do if she died? Regress like I had?

Ignoring Choi Yura’s threat completely, I kept running, and soon I spotted several off-road motorcycles and a four-wheeled ATV parked nearby, the kind people casually called a quad.

They had to belong to the Wreckers we had killed.

“Everyone, get on!”

I shouted as I threw myself onto one of the off-road motorcycles.

Like me, Kim Duhyeon took one of the off-road motorcycles, while the older man loaded his wife, who had trouble moving, onto the quad.

“What are you doing? Get on already!”

VROOOOM!

I started the motorcycle and shouted at Choi Yura.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Get on so we can go!”

“......”

“Hey!”

Despite my repeated shouts, Choi Yura just stood there in front of the motorcycle, hesitating like an idiot.

“Wait...... don’t tell me you can’t ride a motorcycle?”

“Sh-shut up!”

Choi Yura screamed at me.

“Wow, that’s incredible. How does someone even not know how to ride a motorcycle?”

“Shut up! I said shut up!”

Wow, this was real headline material.

A Hunter—and not just any Hunter, but a fairly well-known one like Choi Yura—couldn’t ride a motorcycle?

An ordinary civilian might be one thing, but for a Hunter, riding a motorcycle was as basic as it got.

Whether it was clearing Gates or escaping when a Transference phenomenon occurred like this, there was no means of transportation better than a motorcycle.

That was why the Wreckers rode motorcycles everywhere in the first place.

“Get on!”

“......”

“Get on! Hurry!”

“A-all right.”

Choi Yura climbed on behind me hesitantly.

“Let’s go!”

VROOOOOM!

The moment I twisted the throttle, the motorcycle shot forward at ferocious speed.

CLAMP!

Choi Yura’s arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

‘Ugh.’

I felt something against my back, but I decided not to pay attention to it.

VROOOM, VROOOOOOM!

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

We tore through the danger zone where artillery shells were falling, riding the motorcycles at full speed.

***

Thanks to the gift the Wrecker bastards had left behind, we managed to escape the Transference Zone safely.

“Thank you. Thank you so much. Please contact us later, no matter what.”

“Thank you so much. You’ve really been through a lot. We’ll repay you soon.”

Only after thanking us over and over did the couple finally head toward the hospital.

“Good work.”

“You too, hyung.”

Kim Duhyeon looked half out of his mind.

I understood.

No matter how much field experience he had, it was not as if he had ever fought Wreckers or escaped a Transference Zone on a motorcycle while shells were falling from the sky.

“Thanks. I survived because of you.”

“It was nothing.”

I shrugged as though it were no big deal at Choi Yura’s words.

“Oh, and it’s still not too late, so go get a motorcycle license.”

“Th-that......”

“You’re a Hunter and you can’t ride a motorcycle? Does that make any sense? A 4-Star Hunter, at that? How have you even survived this long?”

“......Shut up.”

Choi Yura glared at me sharply.

‘What’s with that look? Scary.’

It did not seem like she was reacting that way simply because I had teased her, so I decided not to mention motorcycles anymore.

I did have some sense, after all.

“So where are you going now?”

Perhaps realizing she had gone a little too far, Choi Yura spoke first.

“Well, I’ll probably get a room at some nearby motel and rest. I’m homeless now.”

I gave a bitter smile as I looked in the direction of home.

The apartment complex that had once been my family’s home had been reduced to devastation by the bombardment.

For the next few months, until temporary housing became available, we would probably be living in tents at a refugee camp.

“Right. I guess so. If you need help, tell me. I’m not the type who can live while owing someone.”

“Thanks for saying that. Oh, come to think of it, I do have a favor to ask.”

“What is it? Go ahead.”

“I want you to keep my story a secret.”

“What story?”

“All of it.”

The world was deeply interested in newly Awakened people.

Whenever someone Awakened, not only the state but even the media swarmed them, prying into everything and making a nuisance of themselves.

“Are you planning to remain an Unregistered Awakened?”

An Unregistered Awakened referred to those who hid the fact that they were Awakened and lived in secret.

Some did it because they did not want to bear the responsibilities and obligations that society placed on the Awakened. Others simply hated the trouble that came with it.

As far as I knew, there were also quite a few bastards who hid themselves deliberately for the sake of committing crimes, like the Wreckers.

And that type usually had no middle ground.

They were either incredibly strong or utterly insignificant.

“If I were planning that, I would have made everyone keep their mouths shut from the start.”

“Hmm.”

“I just don’t want things to become exhausting, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go around talking about me.”

“And if I don’t want to?”

Choi Yura asked in a provocative tone.

There was some playfulness in her voice, but at least on this matter, I had no intention of joking around.

“Then I won’t have a choice. I’ll have to expose your real identity too.”

“......?”

“I think Godfather would be very pleased to learn who Choi Yura really is. Or should I call you Lee Dahee instead?”

GRAB!

Choi Yura seized me by the collar.

“What are you?”

Choi Yura growled.

“Who are you, really? How did you find out?”

“Let go.”

“Answer me.”

“I told you to let go.”

I gave her a cold smile.

“If I had planned to expose your identity, I would have turned you in to the Incheon Alliance a long time ago. Use your head.”

“That......”

“I know you’ve got a nasty temper, but you should save it for the right people. A moment ago, we were allies. We saved each other’s lives.”

I could feel the strength gradually leaving Choi Yura’s grip.

“Tell me. How did you find out?”

“I’ll contact you soon, so wait.”

“Tell me now.”

“That would be difficult. My family’s here.”

I tilted my head toward a certain direction.

There, my father, mother, and younger sister were wandering around with half-dazed expressions.

“Put your number in.”

“Of course I should. We’re going to be seeing each other often from now on.”

As I entered my number into Choi Yura’s smartphone, I spoke.

The call sign Godfather.

The Incheon Alliance.

And Lee Dahee.

They were magic words that could pull the strings of 4-Star Hunter Choi Yura.

Though those were hardly the only ways I could make Choi Yura move.

“So what are you going to do now? Are you going through the Gate?”

They had bombarded the area and reduced the number of monsters, so now it was time for Hunters to be deployed, enter the Gate, and clear the dungeon.

As I remembered it, the dungeon itself was not particularly difficult to conquer.

“No. I’m going to rest.”

Choi Yura answered with a stiff face.

“I didn’t come here to clear a dungeon in the first place.”

That meant she had come from the start with the intention of killing the Wreckers.

Saving us had only been incidental.

‘Right. Of course.’

Understanding what Choi Yura had been carrying inside, I nodded to myself.

“Make sure you call.”

“I said I would, so wait. I gave you my number, didn’t I?”

“I mean do it quickly. I absolutely hate waiting.”

Leaving those words behind, Choi Yura got into the illegally parked Lamborghini on the other side of the street and drove off.

VROOOOOOOM!!!

The V12 engine roared as though it were screaming.

Ugh, my ears were about to burst.

In the blink of an eye, Choi Yura’s Lamborghini vanished from sight.

She couldn’t even ride a motorcycle, yet she drove like that.

I shook my head and turned toward where my family was.

***

The moment I reunited with my family, my father subjected me to an intense interrogation.

“So you’re saying you had something like a prophetic dream?”

“Yes. More or less.”

“Hah.”

My father looked conflicted over whether he should believe me or not.

“But why didn’t you say anything? You should have discussed it with us at least.”

“Do you think you would have believed me if I had told you?”

“I would have said it was just a ridiculous dream.”

My father admitted it honestly.

“See? That’s exactly why I didn’t say anything.”

“Good grief.”

Though my father looked dumbfounded, he did not say much more.

“All right. If that’s what you’re saying, I’ll accept it for now. We’ll talk about the details later.”

“You’re leaving?”

“I have to. This is my job.”

Since the Hunters could not clean up every monster that had survived the bombardment, the aftermath was usually handled by the military and the police.

My father was a commander in the Regional Defense Force, so naturally he would be deployed for the monster-suppression operation.

“Hup...... even this feels heavy now.”

My father grumbled as he picked up the light machine gun.

“Take good care of your mother and Eunha.”

“Yes. Come back safely.”

“All right.”

Even if it was only a cleanup operation, for my father, a Non-Awakened man, to face monsters was extremely dangerous.

But when it came to carrying out an operation, my father never hesitated or showed fear even once.

And I respected him for that.