Chapter 76: Sinful Man (5)

A-class Hunter, Kang Hye-eun.

The vanguard of the Sky Blue Shield, and always in the position of party leader who must issue orders to everyone.

Her brain, which had to constantly think without stopping in any crisis situation and make the optimal judgment according to the circumstances, gave up thinking for the first time in a long while.

“…Kang Hye-eun?”

“……”

“Say something….”

“……”

That the condition for awakening an ability is making love with a woman, could such an absurd ability actually exist?

A vortex of confused emotions endlessly churned Kang Hye-eun’s mind, leaving her standing like a stone statue, repeating the same thoughts.

Understanding the story she couldn’t possibly comprehend required a great deal of time and cognitive power, and on top of that, negative possibilities she couldn’t even bear to imagine began to torment Kang Hye-eun simultaneously.

Perhaps, everything up until now that she and Sung Taekyung had been intimate…

…was perhaps only because of his awakening ability, that he had been intimate with her.

“Hye-eun-ah!”

“……!!”

Just as Sung Taekyung shouted right before Kang Hye-eun’s eyes, she almost fell into deep denial, and she barely managed to hold onto her slipping sanity.

Of course, that didn’t calm the anxious pounding of Kang Hye-eun’s heart.

“Ah, s-sorry, Taekyung-ah. W-w-what were we talking about…?”

“I was telling you that my awakening ability is a bit different from typical swordsmanship abilities.”

“R-right. S-so, th-that, th-that is….”

“I also mentioned that the condition for the awakening ability is making love with a woman.”

“S-so it’s love, th-that’s quite, a-a wonderful ability….”

“Hye-eun-ah, please calm down and listen seriously.”

Calm down?

Calm down?

The thought that perhaps all the love she had shared with him until now might just be a byproduct of his awakening ability wouldn’t leave her mind, and she couldn’t fathom how the words ‘calm down’ could possibly help her calm down.

“T-Taekyung-ah….”

“Yeah.”

“Y-you’re k-kidding…?”

It was denial of reality that she had already repeated several times just today, but what returned was the truth Kang Hye-eun wanted to ignore.

“…What possible benefit is there in telling such a strange joke.”

“Haha, haha….”

At Sung Taekyung’s answer, which didn’t feel like a joke, Kang Hye-eun’s heart instantly filled with all sorts of gloomy emotions, and soon, a single tear trickled down her cheek.

“S-so that’s how it was….”

“…Hye-eun-ah?”

“I-I didn’t even know that, like a f-fool….”

“Why are you suddenly crying, Kang Hye-eun.”

“That y-you loved me too, Taekyung, I foolishly mistook it….”

She could finally figure out the reason why he hadn’t acknowledged her as his lover, but she realized that the truth she had painstakingly uncovered was far more cruel than the lies she had created to deny it.

It didn’t take long for that realization to lead Kang Hye-eun into self-denial.

“Hye-eun-ah, you might really think this is a lie when you hear it now, but.”

“…Hmph, hmm?”

“Separate from this absurd condition attached to my ability, the fact that I love you is an undeniable truth.”

A lie.

It must be a lie.

An impromptu lie fabricated just to console herself as she shed endless tears. Otherwise, she couldn’t possibly comprehend his other actions towards her until now.

“L-li….”

“I mean it, Hye-eun-ah.”

“……”

However, the eyes of her childhood friend, who met her gaze directly and uttered the same answer, were so earnest, and to her, who had known him for at least a decade, they didn’t feel like a lie at all.

Her heart, which had been fluctuating with confusion and denial, began to cool down rapidly.

“R-really? Is it true?”

“It’s true. I truly feel romantic attraction towards you, Hye-eun, and I’ve loved you from the depths of my heart for a long time.”

“Really? N-not a lie?”

“Really, it’s not a lie.”

His words, spoken while meeting her gaze, that he loved her without falsehood.

Just hearing those words was enough for Kang Hye-eun’s racing heart to gradually calm down, and at the same time, her face flushed with embarrassment at the shameful display she had just made.

“I-I’m sorry, Taekyung-ah…. For not listening to the end again and making strange misunderstandings….”

“No, I should have explained step-by-step so you wouldn’t misunderstand in the first place.”

“It’s not a lie, right? Sung Taekyung loves Kang Hye-eun, right?”

“Yes, it’s not a lie.”

“Heehee, huhuhu….”

Having her love confirmed by him once again, Kang Hye-eun buried her face in Sung Taekyung’s chest, her favorite place.

Whether he had awakened as a male Hunter, or that the condition for awakening involved making love with women, none of that was as important to Kang Hye-eun as the fact that Sung Taekyung hadn’t denied his love for her.

Just hearing that answer alone meant Kang Hye-eun had achieved her goal for wanting to meet Sung Taekyung today.

“……”

However, that feeling of satisfaction was short-lived.

Rubbing her tear-soaked face against the chest of the person she loved, Kang Hye-eun recalled one important fact.

As Sung Taekyung had said, he genuinely loved her, and she knew she loved him too, so why had he denied their relationship as lovers? Because the final question that tormented her the most remained unresolved.

…Actually, considering his personality, she could infer the intention behind his words to her.

“Taekyung-ah.”

“Yeah.”

“Can I ask just one thing?”

“…What is it.”

“Really, really, just in case.”

“Yeah.”

“Is there… anyone else besides me…?”

“……”

It was a subject she couldn’t bring herself to utter, but the sentence alone was enough for Sung Taekyung to understand its full meaning, and though he didn’t explicitly answer, his hardened expression was equivalent to a full reply.

“So there is…?”

-Nod.

“…I know it might seem strange to you.”

“Then does this not seem strange?”

“Loving you while also loving and making love with other women to increase my swordsmanship proficiency might sound completely nonsensical at first glance.”

“……”

“But it’s all genuine. The love I shared with you while being intimate. The love I shared with other women, all of it.”

“Wom…en…?”

Oops.

Seeing Sung Taekyung’s expression harden as if he’d slipped up, Kang Hye-eun quietly began to deduce.

Excluding herself, there were at least two, maybe even three or more.

Because it was the awakening ability he had so desperately wanted. If he could increase his proficiency faster by making love with many women, it was entirely plausible considering Sung Taekyung’s personality as she understood it so far.

The moment he broke through the barrier of whether or not to cheat for the sake of becoming stronger, perhaps counting any further numbers was meaningless.

The very fact that he loved two people simultaneously was equivalent to a resolve to throw away his chastity without hesitation if it meant becoming stronger.

…At least, that’s how Sung Taekyung’s actions felt to Kang Hye-eun.

“I’m sorry, Hye-eun-ah.”

“……”

“You probably already figured it out, but the reason I denied being your lover last time was absolutely not because I didn’t love you.”

“……”

“Because someone like me, a piece of trash, wouldn’t possibly be worthy of being your lover. That’s why I denied it. Because even if I became your lover now, all I could do is make you cry like this.”

Why is that?

Even though all the questions I was so curious about this morning have been resolved, why is it that the more I learn the truth, the more I wish I could go back to before I knew?

And even amidst this, while feeling pathetic about herself finding solace in the mere fact that he hadn’t denied his love for her, she asked the man she loved one last time the reason why he had no choice but to act that way.

“It was necessary to become stronger?”

“……Yeah.”

“Insufficient with just the love from one person…?”

“It was a restriction where love shared with just one person wouldn’t suffice.”

“I-I see….”

Taekyung-i had no choice either, huh.

It was necessary to become stronger.

…Yeah, a restriction like that would have been necessary.

If the world’s only male Hunter didn’t have such a restriction, it’s no wonder male Awakeners haven’t appeared until now.

Kang Hye-eun tried hard to rationalize it to herself with such words, and simultaneously justified the actions of Sung Taekyung, whom she loved.

Because she still had too much affection left for the person she loved to completely deny all his actions.

“T-Taekyung-ah.”

“Th-the method for increasing swordsmanship proficiency…. W-what are the exact conditions?”

She wanted to tell him right now to give up on such an awakening ability.

To give up on his dream of becoming the world’s strongest Hunter because she would support him financially for the rest of his life.

Instead, she would become a famous and outstanding Hunter herself, so she wanted him to be her husband.

She would forgive all the lies he told until now. She would pretend all the times he secretly met other women never happened.

She was saying those words to her childhood friend in her mind countless times.

At the same time, a single sense of guilt tightening her chest prevented her from uttering them.

‘If he stays like this, he’ll never awaken as a Hunter even if he dies, and he’ll just be called a Hunter hopeful his whole life, ending up a bachelor, it’s obvious!’

‘He waited. He waited until Taekyung-i decided to give up dangerous work like being a male Hunter and become my husband.’

She hadn’t even considered the slightest possibility that he could awaken, yet the thought of controlling him now that he had obtained the awakening ability he so desperately wanted felt undeniably selfish.

She felt she had no right to stand in the way of his dream, especially after not believing in him until now. That thought weighed heavily on Kang Hye-eun’s heart.

“Specifically, it’s making love with a female Hunter.”

“And this ‘love,’ how deep does it need to be…?”

“As proof of sharing deep love, until both parties reach the pleasure known as climax.”

“I-I see….”

Therefore, upon hearing the conditions for the awakening ability from his lips, Kang Hye-eun quietly made her decision.

Instead of blocking his dream for her own happiness right before her eyes, she decided to help him achieve his dream and make him happy.

“Then, about becoming stronger by sharing that, l-love….”

“……Yeah.”

“Could making love with me right now… also make you stronger?”

Because Kang Hye-eun’s awakened ability, awakened for that very purpose, was the Warrior Woman of the Guardian Shield.