S Chapter 51

Swoosh! A thorn that cut through the wind accurately pierced the vital spot of a poisonous toad that had just sprung up. Thwack! Its eyes rolled back, unable even to scream. Without hesitation, thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Three more were killed consecutively. It took exactly 10 seconds. Blood droplets floated up into the air.

The poisonous toads that were following flinched. They instinctively felt fear.

“Shin Jukyeong! You’re keeping up, right!”

Yang U-dam shouted. He runs so fast, yet his voice is so clear. His lung capacity is impressive. But such actions inside a Dungeon only expose one’s location to monsters. Shin Jukyeong resolved to teach Yang U-dam basic Dungeon knowledge when they met as ‘master and disciple’.

“Uh-oh! Go fast, I’m scared!”

Contrary to his urgent reply, his expression was disgustingly relaxed. Shin Jukyeong glanced at the poisonous toads that weren’t following anymore, then casually started running after Yang U-dam again.

In truth, no matter how fast an ordinary person runs, they cannot outrun monsters. Naturally, Shin Jukyeong knew this well. There’s no way he wouldn’t know. It was simply a trick he could play because Yang U-dam wasn’t a certified Hunter or a Hunter Academy student. It was obvious that once Yang U-dam learned proper Dungeon etiquette, he would be full of questions like, ‘How did we survive back then?’

“They surprisingly gave up easily.”

Yang U-dam stopped running, his chest heaving.

“Yeah, right…”

Shin Jukyeong also feigned agreement. In fact, poisonous toads have a persistent habit of chasing a target they’ve identified as prey, even after their comrades die. This is partly due to their lack of intelligence and partly because they act in groups.

Yet, such creatures voluntarily gave up. It meant they felt an instinctive fear. In short, they recognized a natural predator. He had unintentionally become a shameless S-rank Hunter who intimidated low-level C-grade Dungeon monsters.

C-grade monsters struck by lightning: Squeal, please don’t do this! ㅠ.ㅠ Go to a Dungeon that matches your level~!

Shameless S-rank Hunter: “Hmph! I’ll play with you, kekekeke! Come here~ Slurp!”

‘No, no. That’s not right.’

He furrowed his brow intensely. It felt like he heard some nonsense from somewhere, asking, ‘Alright, who’s the villain now?’ but don’t make him laugh. He was merely a good-natured rescuer in the midst of realizing justice.

Shin Jukyeong, the natural predator of poisonous toads, cast aside unnecessary thoughts and calculated their next route. The only escape route was to eliminate the Core, and it was highly probable that the children were also trapped there. In other words, the two of them inevitably had to head towards the Dungeon’s master and boss monster.

Well, that was expected anyway. However, he didn’t want to encounter any other monsters as much as possible before reaching the Core. Since his brother was with him, he wanted to reduce various risks.

As he was being extremely cautious, Yang U-dam suddenly grabbed his cheek.

“…!”

It was a sudden action. He was always prepared for surprise attacks, so he worried he might react with a reflexive strike, but fortunately, his body remained calm, perhaps sensing it was his brother.

‘Hoo…’

Shin Jukyeong secretly sighed in relief from Yang U-dam. Then he surrendered himself with a very obedient attitude. Yang U-dam stared at Shin Jukyeong silently, then blurted out a single word.

“Your face.”

“Huh?”

“It’s swollen.”

Unlike his calm voice, his gaze was surprisingly intense. It was as if he was licking a wound.

‘Swollen?’

However, Shin Jukyeong was bewildered. He just blinked his eyes like an idiot. He shouldn’t have been injured anywhere in the recent battle… Ah? Ahh! His bewilderment was short-lived, as a brief exclamation burst out.

‘I got hit by that monster-freak.’

He had forgotten. Only then did he realize his cheek was throbbing. It wasn’t a big deal, so he had dismissed it, but it seemed to have swollen more over time.

Does it look bad? Shin Jukyeong made a subtle expression. He didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry.

“It’s fine.”

Nevertheless, Yang U-dam didn’t let go of his cheek. Somehow, it felt more painful where his brother was holding it than where the monster-freak had hit him.

“It was that bastard, wasn’t it? The bastard you… went with today.”

“Ah? Uh-huh.”

“Did he hit you?”

Huh? Did he hit me? To the sudden question, an answer slipped out without passing through his brain.

“Uh? Uh… no. Just today.”

He did get grabbed by the collar last time when they had a confrontation… but don’t worry. Your brother doesn’t go around getting beaten up. Though he’s often been intentionally beaten up. As he nodded to himself, Yang U-dam asked the next question.

“What kind of bastard is he?”

…Huh? It didn’t even end there.

“His age? Where did you meet him? His family background? Is the little kid who was with him his son?”

Bang, bang, bang! He became a question bomber, pecking at Shin Jukyeong.

“Uh, no, ag— how old was he, his fami—…”

As Shin Jukyeong fumbled and stammered, Yang U-dam tightened his grip on his cheek, asking why he wasn’t answering. As pressure was applied, his lips puffed out like a goldfish. He was sure he looked like an idiot, but then Yang U-dam suddenly leaned his face in!

‘Isn’t this too close?’

No matter how much he liked his brother, this distance between two men was a bit ambiguous.

‘It feels like we’re about to touch…’

Wouldn’t both of them be mutually uncomfortable? Ugh. Startled, he tried to pull his head back, but it was useless since he was being held. As Shin Jukyeong was profusely sweating, trying to escape his brother’s grip, Yang U-dam spoke his last words in a slightly agitated tone.

“Or should I hit that bastard for you?”

…Huh? After a brief silence.

“Ah, shit. Crazy.”

Yang U-dam’s face distorted as if it were a broken mirror, then immediately flushed crimson. You’d believe he was a relative of a tomato. At the same time, Shin Jukyeong’s eyes widened. Why is he suddenly like this? He’d never seen Yang U-dam so flustered. …Perhaps.

‘Is he sick?!’

Hit what? You should hit yourself.

Yang U-dam genuinely longed for Doraemon. He didn’t ask for much. He just wanted a tool to turn back time by exactly 5 seconds. How much? How much to buy it? Couldn’t he have it with his awesome entire fortune of 35,000 won?

‘That Nobita bastard got it for free…’

Yang U-dam grumbled senselessly. Ah, it was the first time he’d ever felt so stupid. His face was burning. He didn’t know at what point he’d gotten so choked up. As time passed, only questions accumulated.

“…?”

As he stood motionless, the idiot gently shook his arm. His gaze naturally drifted to Shin Jukyeong’s hand.

Though delicate for a man, it was clearly a man’s hand. A man’s hand with thick bones and protruding knuckles, somewhat grotesque. Moreover, this bastard’s hands were as big as a pot lid. There was nothing different from his own. But why wasn’t he uncomfortable? Rather, strangely…

Just as Yang U-dam was about to continue thinking, his brain frantically screamed “Stop!” No, perhaps it was a voice from the heavens.

‘The moment you realize that, your life will be completely screwed! Seriously screwed!’

Ding-dong-ding!

Along with the sound of a bell, a sticky warning descended.

‘Fu…ck?’

He didn’t know the reason or meaning, but his instincts told him to obey, so he did. It was because he had a strong premonition that if he defied it, he would be truly screwed. It sounds like nonsense, but it’s convincing, something like that?

“…Ha.”

Yang U-dam twisted the corner of his mouth. He was having a ‘realization of reality’ about what he was doing right now. It was a laugh that could well be mistaken for a sigh.

He let go of Shin Jukyeong’s cheek and dry-washed his face. His eyelids felt warm, so it seemed he had accumulated a lot of fatigue for various reasons. When he returned, he should get a thorough medical examination.

‘My mind and heart don’t seem right lately. It’s definite. It’s an illness, an illness.’

At this rate, he’d die young.

‘How annoying.’

As he glared into space with empty eyes, Shin Jukyeong kept pestering him. Did this bastard trade his sense for taffy? Can’t he see I want to be alone? Does he want a more intense display or what? Should I stand facing the wall and hmph?

“Yang U-dam, what’s wrong? Are you sick? Look at me.”

…Shut up. You idiot. Because I’m disillusioned with you right now. Well, that’s just how Shin Jukyeong acts, isn’t it. Always getting beaten up by some pathetic bastard. Rage ignited once again.

“…”

His gaze was fierce, yet his expression was calm. It was his old habit of trying to suppress his emotions the more they surged. Then, suddenly, the thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ came to him. Unlike the ‘realization of reality’ he had earlier, as his head cooled, his lost reason returned.

Yang U-dam tilted his head.

‘Right? Why am I here?’

He slowly replayed the timeline. At first, he had definitely followed Shin Jukyeong to mess with him.

‘He was turning my stomach and enjoying his own happy-go-lucky gay life, how could I, as his younger brother, just stand by and watch that?’

So, he had only intended to see him break up his date and be depressed. But what a surprise? Shin Jukyeong was frowning and smiling, laughing and then looking serious, making a huge fuss in front of the guy he was sitting with. That uncharacteristic and unfamiliar sight was quite refreshing, so he just watched for a bit, only to end up following him for half the day.