episode_0390
by fnovelpiaIt’s a night that makes one long for the warmth of family.
This isn’t just Eunha-Mann’s story.
“Meow…”
Around the same time.
Yang So-ah, keeping vigil at her grandmother’s funeral,
must be feeling something similar.
“Are you tired?”
“…I’m fine…”
Yang So-ah, drowsily yawning,
shook her fluffy head at Ban Ha-rin’s voice beside her.
Fluff… Fluff…
With her cotton-candy-like hair half-buried in her hood, she looked like an upside-down hedgehog.
The funeral hall, devoid of any mourners, was silent—save for a single clay figurine left behind by an unnamed security guard at the entrance.
Expressionless, Ban Ha-rin and Yang So-ah passed the time in idle silence.
“…Did you know?”
“Yang?”
They exchanged all kinds of stories.
Yang So-ah’s tales of her grandmother.
Ban Ha-rin’s recollections of daily life at the café with Eunha.
At first, Yang So-ah had intended to hold the funeral alone,
but now she’d changed her mind.
It was a relief not to be alone.
It must’ve been lonely before.
Thanks to Eunha.
Yang So-ah hugged the warmth in her heart.
“In the past, there was a Hunter who brought down a nation.”
Was that why?
After hours of conversation,
a rather abrupt story surfaced.
“Yang?”
“She was a Hunter capable of casting a kind of ‘suggestion’ through her own voice. An exceedingly rare ability—to this day, she remains the only one whose ‘skill’ directly interferes with the minds of others.”
“Meow.”
“But her actual combat ability was lacking. She was nothing more than a D-rank Hunter.”
A Hunter who once collapsed a nation,
possessing a ‘rare skill.’
A tale excessive for mere time-killing.
Ban Ha-rin continued, expression unchanging.
“One day, she used her ‘skill’ in front of everyone. And she uttered two phrases.”
“……”
“‘Never tell a lie. Always answer when questioned.’”
“…Yang?”
“Her nation collapsed. Because she spoke in her native tongue, only her country—whose people understood her words—fell.”
Two phrases of suggestion.
The next day, the higher-ups of her nation vanished,
and her country crumbled from the top down.
Fluff…
It felt like listening to a nonsensical fairy tale.
Was this even plausible?
“It’s an old story. Take it with a grain of salt.”
“Yang.”
“Anyway, after that incident… an urban legend emerged: Hunters with uniquely ‘rare skills’ were classified as [Rare Hunters] and secretly managed by the state.”
“……”
Yang So-ah turned her head.
Ban Ha-rin looked down at her with an impassive face.
Rare Hunter.
A term she despised.
Squeeze…
Yang So-ah clasped her hands as if in prayer.
Because Eunha’s face had floated into her thoughts.
“The criterion for being designated a Rare Hunter is whether a single individual’s ‘skill’ holds national-level benefits.”
“……”
For example, Yang So-ah’s [Thread Manipulation] skill.
The ability to control nearby or visible fibers.
The minuscule ‘mana’ required to move a single thread escapes all detection.
Yet, Yang So-ah could kill a person with just one thread.
In other words, untraceable assassination—within anyone’s reach.
Had she grown up even slightly more corrupted, that might’ve been her fate.
‘Grandma…’
Yang So-ah turned away.
Her eyes rested on her grandmother’s portrait.
The one who guided little Fluffy onto the right path.
Fluff…
Though she suffered much,
at the end of that path, she met Eunha.
The darkness before her was no more.
Hug…
Carefully curling her lips, Yang So-ah bowed her head.
“…Ban Ha-rin, Sunbae.”
“I’m listening.”
“Then… Eunha Sunbae… is…?”
A sudden question.
Even if that explained her, why was Eunha deemed a ‘Rare Hunter’?
Yang So-ah pondered.
Eunha’s neck twisted into Ban Ha-rin’s shape.
Eunha, trapped within the mirrors of the ‘Wayfinder Church.’
‘Uh… Eunha Sunbae… what’s her skill…?’
Did she have multiple?
No idea.
“Eunha-nim possesses… a recovery-type skill called [Self-Regeneration].”
“Recovery… How…?”
It was Ban Ha-rin who answered.
Always the one guarding Eunha’s side.
“Consider it. A recovery skill.”
“…?”
“Eunha-nim’s face and figure… will remain unchanged, forever.”
“…!”
Last night, after bathing together and falling asleep nestled in Eunha’s embrace,
Yang So-ah instantly understood Ban Ha-rin’s implication.
“National-level… benefits…”
“Precisely.”
No.
But unfortunately, with no one here to correct it,
Fluff! Fluff!
Yang So-ah nodded eagerly, feigning comprehension.
Crash!
“Fluffy Cotton Candy! Fluffy Cotton Candy!”
Just then,
Kim Yoo-hee, the [Shadow Dragon Captain], having clocked out from Do Jong-ha’s detective agency, burst into the quiet funeral hall and rushed to Yang So-ah.
A woman with orange hair hidden under a black wig.
Rustle… Soon, her ‘younger sisters’ also entered the hall with cautious steps, exchanging greetings.
“Meow… Meow…”
“Almost died dragging myself here at night! Fluffy, hug me.”
“Could you… keep it down…? What’s that baby?”
“Our firstborn. I birthed it.”
“Was it neutered?”
“Soon.”
Five cats muscled into the funeral hall.
The silence huddled in the corner fled out the window, displaced.
“Meow… Meow…”
Hedonists who tossed etiquette out the window.
Surrounded by rowdy mourners and subjected to incessant petting, Yang So-ah let out a pitiful whimper.
Fluff… Fluff…
How long did she endure?
“Good. Now that Fluffy’s been petted, let’s pay respects to Grandma…… What’s that guy doing?”
Kim Yoo-hee, having stroked Yang So-ah until her hair lay flat,
noticed Ban Ha-rin blankly staring out the window and frowned.
“……”
Slide.
Ban Ha-rin removed her eyepatch.
The rice grain-like pupil of her ‘left eye’ rolled unnaturally, gazing up at the dark night sky.
“…Ban Ha-rin, Sunbae?”
“I must go. Take care of Yang So-ah.”
Slide.
Without a sound, Ban Ha-rin rose and abruptly prepared to leave.
As if she’d witnessed something.
Or as if someone had called her.
“Sunbae…?”
“Go ahead. But you good?”
Kim Yoo-hee, now holding Yang So-ah, asked.
Outside, darkness had settled.
A perilous hour for anyone to wander alone.
Yet.
No matter.
“…Eunha-nim is calling me… Why should I care about danger?”
Flicker.
The funeral hall’s lights flickered.
A cold wind blew,
making the cats huddled around Yang So-ah instinctively scan their surroundings like meerkats.
Flicker. Flicker.
The flickering lights.
A trick of the eye?
Under the unstable glow, the silhouette of Ban Ha-rin, standing perfectly still,
shifted eerily—like a colossal ‘spider.’
“Do not step outside.”
Skreech.
The sharp screech of a razor scraping the floor.
Ban Ha-rin’s footsteps, without hesitation, left the funeral hall behind.
‘That’ began advancing beneath the darkened night sky.
A night where the full moon gazed upon all things.
……
……
The passing tale of the ‘Rare Hunter.’
A story of someone who desired a brighter world,
only to ultimately bring ruin upon their own nation.
‘Truly… if such a monster were unleashed upon the world, anything would collapse.’
Meanwhile, in a detention center’s first-floor hallway…
[Azure Blade Master], guild leader Kim Ha-yang.
CRASH!!! CRASH!!
Holding Eunha—her head embedded with a serrated wire—in her arms,
she fled from the pursuit of something.
『Darling. My darling.』
CRASH!
A frigid wind howled.
A winter breeze reeking of blood.
……
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
……
(■■, what are you hiding from Mommy? )
Winter was nice.
Days when cold wind seeped through shattered windows.
Your embrace, warming me as I shivered—that was nice.
An old memory.
Winter was nice.
Not because it was cold,
but because your arms were warm.
“……”
In the end,
what we wished for
was just enough warmth to endure the chill.
……
“…Beast… unnie…”
CRASH!
The building crumbles.
Inside the detention center’s first-floor hallway,
Eunha, cradled like a princess in Kim Ha-yang’s arms,
listened to the footsteps of something chasing them and watched the collapsing facility over Kim Ha-yang’s shoulder.
Creak… Crack…
Moments ago, something burst through the stairwell leading underground.
It was a human arm.
A corpse-pale arm.
Countless arms flailed through the air,
as if desperately searching for something precious.
Creak…
Winter had arrived in the detention center.
The first-floor hallway frosted over with white rime, spreading like mold across walls and ceiling.
CRASH!
From the darkened staircase,
countless arms stretched forth, shattering everything frozen in their march forward.
『Darling. Come to Mommy.』
“……”
The [Beast], alongside the [Black Figure].
Eunha had long wondered about that thing’s grudge.
Over Kim Ha-yang’s shoulder, she met its gaze.
Countless hands emerging from the gloom.
[Beast]’s true form remained shrouded in thick darkness.
Creak…!
Yet, merely staring into the abyss sent a chilling numbness through her body,
as if her pounding heart were being wrung dry.
The heart pierced and healed by a harpoon screamed in agony.
“Haa…”
“Are you alright?”
“…Yes. I’m fine.”
Kim Ha-yang, sprinting down the hall with Eunha in her arms, asked.
Eunha smiled faintly and answered.
All the while, the white frost pursued Kim Ha-yang.
Pop. Pop.
The sound of frozen light bulbs bursting.
Darkness swallowed the hall behind them,
as countless arms stretched from the gloom in pursuit.
“Eunha. Is that an enemy?”
“……”
Kim Ha-yang, clad in white martial arts attire.
Cradled in her arms, Eunha looked past her shoulder at the encroaching darkness.
Reaching hands,
clutching at her like a mother refusing to let go—filled with regret.
A beast’s hands, mimicking human grief.
“…No.”
“I see.”
“But if it catches us, we die.”
“Understood.”
Kim Ha-yang accelerated.
Crunch. Crunch.
She dashed down the hallway, blanketed in thick snow.
A mother fled through winter, wounded child in tow.
Long-held grudges,
from eras long forgotten.
『Darling…』
CRASH! CRASH!
The building collapses.
Frozen iron bars shatter; countless arms burrow upward through the floor.
The darkness, demolishing ceilings and pillars, steadily closed the distance.
A place steeped in exhibited sin—too heavy for human hands to escape.
Like brittle cookies, it crumbles.
CRASH! CRASH!
Why did the [Beast] tear through the building in chase?
Not that Eunha minded.
This wretched place proudly displaying others’ ‘sins’ deserved to be razed anyway.
But why the [Beast]?
Did it resent this building?
‘Hmm… No clue! Hang in there!’
She chose optimism.
The sound of collapsing walls was music.
More destruction, please.
“Eunha! At this rate, we’ll be caught. Any ideas?”
Crunch.
Kim Ha-yang, sprinting through knee-deep snow, asked.
The exit remained nowhere in sight while the [Beast]’s arms closed in behind.
Eunha glanced at the carrier tucked under her arm.
“Hmm… Let’s put our heads together! Something’ll come up!”
“Got it!”
Bonk!
Literal headbutting.
Kim Ha-yang knocked foreheads against Eunha’s crown.
Pain.
A rock skull.
“…I’ll think alone!”
“Understood…”
Kim Ha-yang sulked.
Pouting detected.
……
Eunha pondered.
How to escape the [Beast].
No—more pressing was why it appeared here.
‘It seems fixated on me… Did it come because I stayed out too late? Like when I worked late at [Euncheon Restaurant]?’
No clue.
Building destruction was fun, but regardless, they had to shake the [Beast].
Even if she wouldn’t survive, Kim Ha-yang had to.
‘It’ called her ‘darling’ in pursuit.
Did it think she was its child?
‘Hmm… Mother is…’
Her mind wandered.
An old memory surfaced.
Two women once fought over a child.
Each claimed motherhood, tugging at the child’s arms,
until the real mother, hearing the child’s cries, released her grip.
“Hmm…”
Eunha peered over Kim Ha-yang’s shoulder.
From the nearing shadows, countless arms stretched forth.
A moment’s hesitation.
Would the [Beast] let go of her hand?
‘Even if it refuses… Mother Kim Ha-yang can escape.’
Both live,
or only Kim Ha-yang.
Thus, it’s fine. No matter what, Kim Ha-yang would survive tonight.
……Swish.
Carefully, Eunha extended an arm.
Snap.
Instantly, [Beast] seized her wrist and pulled.
Frozen fingers.
As if sensing the capture,
Kim Ha-yang whirled around in alarm.
“Eek!”
Then,
as Eunha’s wrist was yanked—
Face twisting, she cried out…
Jolt!
[Beast] and Kim Ha-yang both recoiled, releasing her.
“Wai—”
Hug!
Both let go.
Eunha flopped face-first into the snow.
Her cheeks burned inexplicably.
Covering her reddening face, she weakly slapped the ground.
‘Dammit…! Are both my moms or what…?!’
No idea.
Can’t they just get along?
Wobbling upright, Eunha turned to the [Beast].
Inky blackness. Countless creeping arms inched toward her.
“Phew… [Beast] unnie.”
How to escape a charging beast?
Simple. Drop food and flee.
Like a lizard shedding its tail.
“Take half. No more.”
Eunha pointed to the serrated wire embedded in her skull.
Would this satisfy the [Beast]?
『…….』
At her words, a pale hand gripped the wire’s handle.
A sharp inhale behind her.
Yank!
Then, the [Beast] plucked the old wire from Eunha…
Slap!
Smacked her palm against Eunha’s disproportionately large chest,
Swish!
Pressed the wire into her hand,
and shoved her toward Kim Ha-yang.
Creak.
The briefly held wrist shattered like ice.
“Huh?”
“Eunha.”
Slap!
Kim Ha-yang, catching Eunha, smacked her chest too.
Then scooped her up and resumed running.
What.
Weren’t they in a life-or-death chase?
“Never say such things again.”
“Uh… Okay.”
No idea.
Just… moms, please get along.
Eunha opted for silence.
……
……
Grudges don’t fade.
Like snow piling high, freezing until summer.
Creak…
The building, encased in white frost.
A grudge shattered like cookies beneath the [Beast]’s sudden arrival.
And yet,
what endlessly lingers are grudges.
『…■■, what are you hiding from Mommy?』
Beyond the frozen iron bars, at the end of an endless hallway.
Someone’s childhood begins to slip away.
Like a final, desperate struggle.
As if clawing at ankles to hold on.
As if demanding you, too, die in the [Beast]’s grip.
The collapsing building unleashed its malice-soaked grudges.
“……”
The hallway raced past.
Prison bars fleeting like flipbook sketches.
A doodled childhood memory,
flipping pages to animate.
『Understand? Being a Hunter is a noble job.』
Someone’s memories drifted away.
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