MLCAI 04

Chapter 4

Having landed safely on one of the buildings, Saebyeok stared for a moment at the pipe that had pierced the head of the leader and embedded itself in the ground.

“I need to get a spear that fits my hand first.”

She muttered as she clenched and unclenched her fists.

All the items and equipment she had brought with her through her regression had disappeared.

The spear she used before had been custom-made to fit her perfectly, so getting an exact replacement wouldn’t be easy. But she did know the crafting method and the materials.

“Anyway, this should be enough cleaning up, right?”

Saebyeok spoke as she looked down at the scene where dozens of lizard monsters had been annihilated in an instant.

A few lizards had escaped by chance, but other hunters would have no trouble dealing with them.

The important thing was that she had saved Kang Suho’s younger sibling.

“This should count as a proper win, right?”

She hoped that by preventing the death that had plunged Kang Suho’s already dark life even further into despair, he might be a little less ruthless in this life.

“Then I’ll go recruit him… hmm?”

As she dusted off her hands and turned around, a shadow passed above her head.

Looking up, a black dragon floated lazily across the sky. It was not a Western dragon with wings but an Eastern dragon with large horns.

‘So it really was the Black Dragon Guild that ended this mess in my previous life.’

Saebyeok’s eyes met a man standing atop the black dragon.

Dressed entirely in black from head to toe, the man looked even larger from below than he actually was.

‘Hwang Tae-san…’

This man was the fourth-ever S-rank hunter in South Korea and the guild master of the Black Dragon Guild, one of the four major guilds in the country. The dragon was his summon.

Saebyeok’s assessment of him was: ‘Not bad.’

In her previous life, he had been one of the few who fought tirelessly to protect a nation that even the government had abandoned.

And Yongsan District was their territory.

That meant they were responsible for the recent break-in at Seoul Station.

Although they were reputed to manage their territory well, unfortunately, their response to this break-in had been delayed.

‘Street fighting against Hwang Tae-san on a dragon wouldn’t be easy.’

Given that 150 casualties had occurred in her previous life, it was easy to imagine the scale of the damage.

Of course, that was all in a time that had now disappeared.

Saebyeok gave a brief nod toward Hwang Tae-san, who looked down at her expressionlessly, and turned her body away.

If she was going to prevent the <Destruction>, she would eventually need to cooperate with him, but for now, more pressing matters required her attention, so a proper greeting would have to wait.

“…”

Hwang Tae-san’s slight frown as Saebyeok disappeared calmly before him was something she would never know.

Arriving at the safe zone in Seoul Station, Saebyeok tugged at her hair in frustration.

“Where did that man go?!”

While dealing with the lizards, Kang Suho had disappeared!

“Excuse me! Where did the man who was being treated here go?”

She hurriedly grabbed the nearest person and asked.

“Who?”

“This tall, handsome man. His clothes are a bit shabby, and his hair covers his forehead… Ah, he also had a younger brother, around five or six. Didn’t you see him at all?”

Despite her desperate explanation, she received nothing but a look as if they were seeing a crazy woman.

“Damn it, he’s in no shape to be anywhere!”

Kang Suho hadn’t awakened yet. Even with treatment, recovering like an Awakened one would be difficult.

Saebyeok searched the entire safe zone, but it was futile.

‘I was careless. I forgot that Kang Suho distrusted the Association long before awakening…!’

She had temporarily forgotten because the only memories remaining were of relying on each other to stand against the world-consuming <Destruction>.

But Kang Suho had originally hated her. When they first met, he had charged at her as if to kill.

And the only reason was that Saebyeok was affiliated with the Association.

‘Considering his past, it’s understandable…’

Kang Suho’s father could be described as a hopeless romantic, or realistically, as an obsessive sexual predator.

Kidnapping, confinement, assault.

Kang Suho was born into such circumstances.

Under the twisted love of his father, his mother deteriorated day by day, and she vented her stress on Kang Suho, who resembled his father externally.

The young boy’s body never had a moment of peace.

Reporting it did no good.

His father was a hunter.

An A-rank, no less.

The police only said that incidents involving hunters required cooperation from the Association and otherwise neglected the situation.

And seeking help from the Association wouldn’t have worked either.

At the time, the Association was corrupt beyond repair.

The current chairman had since reformed it into a clean organization, but back then it was a group devoid of conscience or empathy.

They routinely turned a blind eye to hunters’ abuse for bribes, and instead of catching villains, they incited them, forcing ordinary citizens to rely on hunters and generate profits.

All of Kang Suho’s pleas for help were ignored, and he received no protection.

“This is insane… what should I do?”

She never expected this past to come back to haunt her now.

After his mother passed away and his father suddenly disappeared, Kang Suho and his younger sibling had been left on the streets.

But because of his deep distrust of the Association and the system, he sought help from no one.

No matter how hard it was, he cared for his sibling himself.

So much so that when he went to work at a labor office and had nowhere to leave his younger brother, he had even hidden him in a public restroom.

‘He’s absolutely essential for the plan…!’

It had been good to save the younger sibling, but losing the very person responsible right in front of her!

‘No, stay calm. The place where he stayed with his sibling… Damn it, he never told me.’

Saebyeok and Kang Suho had hardly talked about their pasts.

The little they had shared was mostly about his sibling, and even then, painful memories often cut the conversation short.

Now, however, Saebyeok regretted not talking to him more.

She bit her lower lip and dug through the memories of her previous life as hard as she could.

‘At least I know the awakening location, so I can wait there and scout immediately… But Kang Suho’s awakening…’

As all kinds of ideas and worries swirled in her mind, a voice cut through.

“Han Saebyeok?”

A voice so clear it could be described as refreshing pierced her ears.

Though the memory was faint from long ago, the familiar voice was so vivid that all of her cells snapped awake, stopping her thoughts in their tracks.

Her head turned jerkily, like a broken machine.

Several hunters fully equipped with gear were looking at her. Faces she longed to see.

But the man walking at the front made everyone else fade into a white background.

All of Saebyeok’s attention focused on him.

Brown hair like a Labrador, a bright smile that seemed untouched by hardship. And…

“Han Saebyeok! What? Why are you here?”

A large frame with a strangely harmonious, clear voice.

So familiar, after such a long time, he ran toward her, waving his big hands.

“…Park Woojun.”

A voice stuck in her throat struggled out.

“Gasp! W-were you caught up in the break-in?!”

He spoke to himself, startled, then grabbed her shoulders, turning her around to check her all over. Concern was etched on his face as he inspected even her expression.

“No injuries. Whew, you scared me.”

The face she missed so much she could draw it with her eyes closed—Saebyeok could not look away from him.

“Everyone, come greet her! My subordinate’s friend!”

“Boss… what do you mean ‘subordinate’s friend’ to a woman, so rude…”

“Uh, this lady’s been through a lot. To be friends with the boss.”

“Y-yo! What are you guys saying…! No, Han Saebyeok! Don’t listen to them!”

While they were chatting noisily among themselves,

“Gasp, boss! Your friend is crying!”

“…?!”

When a tear fell from Saebyeok’s eyes, the whole raid party froze.

The most shocked of all was Park Woojun. He flailed his arms as he checked her frantically.

“Hey! Why, why are you crying! You didn’t get hurt, did you?!”

“Park Woojun.”

“Wait, I have a healing potion here! Drink that first…! No, the healer…!”

Saebyeok grabbed his arms tightly as he rummaged through his bag and searched for a party member in panic.

Seeing his arms still intact brought a storm of emotions.

‘But he saved the party members. Is this arm really important?’

The fool who had laughed as if nothing had happened after losing an arm due to her bad instructions.

‘Just run forward!’

And yet, he had still raised his shield to protect her.

So foolish it made her angry, so stupid, frustrating, annoying.

And yet… she felt sorry.

And resentful.

“You idiot.”

She could no longer hold back her tears and lowered her head deeply.