Ch.41Aquamarine 4

“You too… Happy birthday.”

I repeated her words mechanically.

Then I brought the rim of the glass to my lips.

A calm sea lingers in my mouth.

Eventually, the alcohol slides down my throat like a wave.

Perhaps because I drank it all at once, I ended up coughing repeatedly.

“You idiot. Who drinks cocktails like that?”

Seon-ye approaches with a worried expression.

Then she pulls her chair close and sits down.

“…”

She wiped my lips with her handkerchief.

But soon the bartender stopped abruptly and stared at my face.

Her black pupils shimmer in the moonlight.

I stared intently at that sparkle.

And I ask.

“Do you. Have something. To say?”

“How did you know I had something to say?”

She smiles broadly.

Seon-ye covers her mouth with the back of her hand, perhaps feeling her smile was too frivolous.

“Are you that perceptive now?”

“We’ve. Been together. For three years now, so that much is easy.”

I sipped my drink, suggesting it was nothing special to ask.

The Aquamarine had already revealed its bottom.

“That’s right. It’s been three years since we left that place.”

Seon-ye gazed into the distant void as if reminiscing about everything that had happened.

Then, as if something occurred to her, she glanced at me and said:

“You’ve become so much stronger during this time.”

I smirked and shook my head.

It’s true that I’ve gotten stronger, but even so, I’m barely within the top 30.

“I just. Did what. The old man told me to do. That’s all.”

To my casual remark, Seon-ye responds with a serious expression.

She raises her finger with a completely calm voice.

“Not everyone can get stronger just by following orders. You learn faster than others and you’re creative.”

“Anyone can. Do it. With enough effort.”

“Even with effort, becoming an S-rank Hunter in just three years is impossible.”

Seon-ye chuckles and ruffles my long hair.

But I find this meaningless back-and-forth uncomfortable.

Why is she suddenly showering me with compliments?

It feels like she has something to say but is going through preparatory steps to get there, which irritates me.

That irritation soon turned into a question.

“So. What is it you really want to say?”

At my direct question, Seon-ye’s face momentarily stiffens.

She soon wears a gloomy expression, as if awakened from a wonderful dream.

“Actually… there’s something I’ve never been able to tell you.”

This is what I’ve been waiting for all along.

The seed of doubt planted when Tolkin injected me with that drug has been thirsting for these words from Seon-ye.

“What is it?”

I put down my glass.

Is this finally the moment my curiosity will be satisfied?

“The day you become a ranker. They’ll come to retrieve you from the facility.”

“What… retrieve?”

Using the term “retrieve” for a person.

It’s absurd.

Moreover, the word “facility” that I haven’t heard in a long time is very unpleasant.

It makes all the time I’ve spent with Seon-ye at this inn feel like a dream.

“How would. They know. Where we are.”

“They can’t not know.”

Seon-ye speaks with turbid eyes like mine.

The freshness that used to dwell in her eyes has long since disappeared.

“Because I reported everything.”

The moment I heard those words.

The place became insanely quiet.

The sound of cars outside.

The occasional meowing of cats.

None of it could be heard anymore.

“What…?”

“How many times you swung your sword. How many times you went to the bathroom. How many hours you slept. I reported it all to the facility.”

In the past, I felt the sensation of a centipede burrowing into my brain.

And when I heard Seon-ye’s words, it felt like that sensation was reviving after a long time.

“Actually, the facility deliberately let us go. They were watching you grow in the real world.”

The centipede crawling in my brain burrows into deeper wrinkles.

And that pain begins to make me colder and more cruel.

So what’s the conclusion?

You’re a traitor, so I should kill you?

“Why are you. Telling me this. Now?”

I asked her with an expressionless face.

In response, Seon-ye speaks to me calmly, as if she’s laid everything down.

But her narrowed eyes became moist, as if filled with numerous emotions.

“Because today is the last day I send a report. The ‘S-rank Project’ ends today.”

A very faint light flashes outside the inn window.

My turbid eyes catch it instinctively.

“Then why not just ambush me secretly? Why tell me now?”

Not sensing that light, Seon-ye continues to stare at me intently.

She says:

“Because I liked you. I didn’t want to see you get capt—”

The moment I heard those words, my mind froze as if electrocuted.

Thanks to that, my hand, beyond control, was already gripping Seon-ye’s neck.

After deceiving me.

After breaking me again.

Trying to get away with just saying “I liked you”?

Unforgivable…

Seon-ye’s face vibrates gently.

Soon, blood begins to flow from her nose.

“Run away, Anna. To somewhere no one knows you.”

Seon-ye whispers softly.

The nosebleed drips down her chin onto the floor like raindrops.

With her final words, the inn’s windows shattered.

Armed hunters rappelled in with the broken fragments.

Seon-ye half-closes her eyes, as if she had anticipated their arrival.

A Colt pistol was now in her hand.

She hadn’t drawn it even while I was strangling her.

But Seon-ye aimed that pistol not at me, but at her allies.

The bartender’s eyes, which had been calmly pouring drinks, flashed.

That gaze was reminiscent of her survivor days at the facility, when she trained combat to the death.

The pistol spits fire.

“—!”

Though three years had passed, her skills remained intact.

After perfectly hitting the foreheads of two men rappelling down, Seon-ye immediately kicks a chair to block the view of the remaining one.

I took that opportunity to draw my sword.

And as the blade was revealed, I split the third hunter’s body in half.

“There’s no time. A facility-affiliated ranker will be here soon!”

Seon-ye shouts.

But as she shouts, she begins to cough up blood.

Seon-ye firmly grips the pistol with both hands.

And she fired warning shots at the hunters trying to enter through the front door.

But they didn’t just come in through the front door.

Three more hunters burst in through the window, avoiding the gunfire.

I began to face them one by one with my drawn sword.

I strike the solar plexus of a man wielding a large sword with my sword handle.

I stab the chest of the one attacking from behind by pulling back my handle.

But I couldn’t block the remaining one.

The man with his face covered by a mask runs past me toward Seon-ye.

Why?

Surely they’re targeting me, and Seon-ye should be on their side.

Fortunately, she easily blows off the head of the man rushing at her with her pistol.

The last armed hunter who invaded the shop collapsed pathetically.

Thanks to that, the bar becomes quiet as death again.

“…”

Strange.

If they know I’ve become an S-rank Hunter, they should know these weaklings aren’t enough.

It feels like I’m being tested.

I slowly scan my surroundings and then look at Seon-ye.

Surely there must be a strong ranker like the man I saw in the laboratory…

It was at that moment.

A massive hand shoots out from the wall Seon-ye was leaning against.

And the position where that hand emerged…

was right through the center of Seon-ye’s abdomen.

It had completely penetrated her body.

“Ah…”

Perhaps due to the shock.

Seon-ye’s once-sharp gaze begins to fade.

“Seon-ye.”

I murmured, seeing that sight.

That momentary scene I witnessed shook even my calm fighting spirit.

My head throbs as if the centipede I had barely suppressed is writhing again.

The arm that had pierced Seon-ye retreats back into the wall.

She slid down the wall, leaving a trail of blood, and collapsed to the floor.

Eventually, a man wearing sunglasses enters through the front door.

The steps of the man with blood all over his hands were very leisurely.

Because there was no one left to fire warning shots at the front door.

<Black Hand, Lim Chang-yoon>

Occupation: S-rank Hunter, Rank 10.

Information: Reached 10th place solely through assassinations, not raids.

Lower house member of the Korean Hunter Association.

He adjusts his sliding sunglasses and looks at the panting Seon-ye.

Chang-yoon mutters, shaking his head.

“How stupid. If she had just succeeded with the surprise attack, the situation would be over, but why is she doing this now…”

“…”

A ranker.

And a skilled one within the top 10.

But I didn’t even notice his appearance.

I was only looking at Seon-ye, blood streaming from her abdomen.

Recognizing my state, Chang-yoon moves.

Very stealthily and quickly.

His hand, covered in Seon-ye’s blood, rushes toward my neck.

I wanted to ignore that hand.

But the drug that entered my brain in the past, perhaps wanting to save me, immediately commands my body.

Block it.

I clearly didn’t see it.

It wasn’t even an attack visible to the naked eye.

But my arm moves following the sound of air being torn.

My head tracks that sound and gives the command, and my hand, receiving the order, immediately raises the sword.

The blade revealed from the scabbard catches his grip.

“—!”

Though it was a bare hand, a metallic sound rings out as it collides with the blade.

Chang-yoon snorted, seemingly surprised by my instantaneous defense.

“Most children couldn’t even dodge this… you’re definitely different.”

The grip that collided with the blade slides.

Loud friction sounds and stinging sparks begin to fly.

It’s a strong force.

But I don’t yield either.

The sliding hand edge digs into my abdomen past the back of the blade.

I barely twist my body to avoid the attack.

My shirt is torn.

My navel is fully exposed.

A red laceration appears on my bare skin.

Having tasted blood, he immediately delivers the next blow.

It’s to prevent me from having the timing to swing my long sword.

Knowing this, I didn’t immediately try to swing my sword.

I just stomped the floor hard with my foot.

The opposite side of the pressed floor rises.

And soon the sharp edge stabs Chang-yoon’s neck.

“—!”

Surprised by the unexpected attack, he grabs his neck.

Black blood flows from his torn skin.

Taking advantage of the gap, I immediately swing my sword.

He quickly stepped back to avoid the attack.

“Indeed…”

The high ranker, having barely created distance, catches his breath for a moment.

He shakes his head to brush back his flowing bangs, as if regaining composure.

“They said this test subject was worth looking forward to… it certainly wasn’t an empty promise.”

He mutters with an excited face.

As if enjoying this situation…

“This one…?”

My eyebrows furrow at his meaningful words.

“Ah, I guess that woman hasn’t told you that part yet. Besides you, many other test subjects were sent outside the island.”

He smiles proudly.

His irregularly twisted teeth are disgusting.

“Most subjects died by my hand, using the training methods they learned at the facility. But you’re definitely different. You’re creative.”

He evaluates my skills like a civil servant.

To him, killing people is just a performance and a mission.

But I rather liked that coldness.

After all, I’m also skilled at killing.

We’ll communicate well through words and actions.

The corner of my mouth twitches.

I’m excited.

I’ve been longing for such an intense fight all my life.

For the first time since the ranker who subdued me in the laboratory.

In response, the slaughter specialist rushes at me, cutting through the air.

He’s fast.

No matter how long my sword is, it’s hard to deal with someone who closes in so quickly.

I was busy avoiding his rushing grip before I could swing my sword.

Eventually, I start getting cornered.

“Your movement is good, but if you just keep dodging, you’ll eventually be cornered.”

He speaks leisurely, as if trying to teach me.

I ignored his words and calmly allowed myself to be driven to the dead-end wall.

His black grip flies toward my face.

At that moment, I ducked as if collapsing.

Like when he penetrated Seon-ye’s abdomen, his arm completely pierced the wall.

But that place…

Is made of tiles.

And behind those tiles are steel frames.

“—!”

His slender, long fingers pierced into the steel frame.

And the steel frame crumpled to match the shape of his fingers.

“T-this…”

The 10th-ranked hunter stares at the steel frame entangled between his finger joints.

“A hunter who didn’t even properly investigate the habitat of his prey?”

I smile lazily.

Seeing that sinister smile, his eyes tremble.

His pupils, which had been relaxed until now, contracted.

Because his hand stuck in the steel frame wouldn’t come out.

No matter how desperately he struggles to pull it out, the wall only shakes.

It absolutely refused to release the impertinent hand that had invaded it.

Now it’s my turn to teach him a lesson.