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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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A thousand hands swept across the earth.
“Crack! Boom!”
“Kyaagh!”
As if determined to leave not a single tree or rock standing, a massive wave crashed down upon the ogres, sweeping them away like fallen leaves in autumn.
Like a tidal wave, like a tsunami.
After that monstrous wave subsided, the ogre horde had been reduced by a fifth.
‘This isn’t enough.’
She had to kill them faster, more efficiently.
Mana hands seized the ogres by their throats and lifted them into the air.
“Gurgle…!”
“Keeek!”
They swung their glaives frantically, trying to break free, but the mana hands, glowing brighter than ever, held firm.
10 meters. 20 meters. 100 meters.
The thousand hands, rising endlessly, finally…
KABOOM!
…hurled the ogres back to the earth without mercy.
Body parts scattered, broken bones flew through the air.
The once-lush forest was now a desolate wasteland, awash in crimson blood.
Hell.
This was a living hell.
“He’s alive…”
Irena walked through this hell with faltering steps.
Already weakened, this exertion had taken its toll on her.
“He’s alive…”
Like a zombie, she stumbled forward, scanning her surroundings.
A clear demarcation line.
Lush forest and barren wasteland.
The areas Irena had ravaged and those she hadn’t were distinctly separate.
As she crossed into the untouched forest, she saw…
“…”
…Kim Seong-ho.
His corpse, barely recognizable, lay sprawled on the ground.
The sight made Irena clutch her chest.
“Gasp… gasp…”
The irregular beating of her heart intensified, pounding against her ribs as if trying to escape.
“No… It’s not Seong-hyun… It can’t be…”
Fighting against her ragged breath and blurring vision, she forced herself onward.
Deeper into the forest.
She began to find traces of him.
“…”
Torn pieces of clothing.
A wallet.
His belongings were being discovered one by one.
With each discovery, Irena’s expression grew more vacant.
The light had long since faded from her eyes.
With mouth agape, she mumbled the same word over and over, like a madwoman, as she stumbled deeper into the forest.
And there, waiting for her…
“…”
…was Lee Seong-hyun, lying next to the corpses of dozens of ogres.
The ground around them was scorched black, as if by fire, and the air reeked of burnt flesh.
And…
“Ah…”
…Lee Seong-hyun lay motionless.
His body was covered in wounds and blood was still flowing freely.
She approached him, praying desperately that he was only unconscious, that he was still alive.
She gently gathered him into her arms and pressed her ear to his chest.
She heard nothing.
No faint heartbeat, no subtle stirring of his organs.
His body had shut down.
Realizing this, Irena’s tears finally overflowed.
“I’m… sorry…”
An apology he would never hear.
Yet, she couldn’t stop the words.
“I’m so sorry… I truly am… I truly am…!”
She held his cooling body close.
The second time.
All her resolutions, all her promises to herself, meant nothing.
‘I…’
What was she?
She had vowed to take him as her student, to protect him, to never let him end up like Seong-yul.
That was why she had delayed officially accepting him as her student.
She had worried he would become arrogant, complacent.
She had worried he would become reckless. But all of that had been for nothing.
‘If I had accepted him sooner…’
He might have lived.
He could have used the Academy’s resources to acquire opportunities, elixirs, to become stronger.
‘It’s all… my fault.’
Did she deserve to live, knowing she had led him to his death?
Her mind shattered.
Her already fragile, patched-together sanity crumbled.
Self-loathing consumed her, pushing her to the edge.
‘I’d rather… join you…’
Rather than struggle to survive in this hell, she wanted to see her two children in heaven.
As if responding to her wish, mana hands wrapped around her throat.
The agonizing pain of her cervical vertebrae shattering made her cling tighter to Lee Seong-hyun.
‘You must have been in so much more pain…’
Compared to his suffering, this was nothing.
Her consciousness faded and her vision turned white. Just then…
Woooong~
A golden light enveloped her and Lee Seong-hyun.
A color similar to Lee Seong-hyun’s Lightning God.
No, even more vibrant, more luminous.
She had seen a similar light before.
‘When he used the Wishing Stone…’
When three lightning bolts had threatened to consume Lee Seong-hyun, a golden bolt had appeared, protecting him.
The same golden light now embraced him, gently caressing him as if cradling a loved one.
“His wounds…”
His battered body began to mend.
His stilled heart began to beat again, his necrotic organs revived.
“What is this…?”
A miracle.
A miracle only a god could perform.
‘Miracle or not…’
The reason didn’t matter.
Even if it was a pact with the devil.
“I’m so glad…”
He had returned.
That was all that mattered.
“I’m so, so glad…”
With tears streaming down her face, Irena held him tight.
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“Holy shit… is that a Witch…?”
Wang Tae-in gaped at the scene unfolding before him.
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of ogres had been flung through the air.
The result was, of course, instant death.
The ogres lay piled in a heap, like a grotesque mountain of flesh.
‘Retired because of a broken body, my ass. She could wipe the floor with most A-rank Hunters.’
The woman, once known as a potential Ranker, still possessed formidable power.
But what truly unnerved him was something else.
‘This is intense.’
Lee Seol, Han Yuri, and Choi Ah-hyun were tearing through the dungeon like vengeful spirits, with their eyes burning with a murderous intensity.
They were clearly searching for someone.
One of Wang Tae-in’s subordinates approached him, with a pale face.
“Who the hell is this Lee Seong-hyun?”
“He’s the fastest to reach D-rank, isn’t he?”
“But Han Yuri carried him, didn’t she? I don’t understand why the Association and the Portan Guild are going to such lengths for a single kid. He’s probably already dead…”
KABOOM!
“Eek!”
A meteor crashed just in front of the subordinate’s feet, making him tremble.
Han Yuri glared at them both.
“Find him.”
“Y-yes, ma’am!”
Wang Tae-in sighed, watching his flustered subordinate.
After a thorough search of the dungeon… they found Lee Seong-hyun.
Sleeping soundly in Irena’s arms.
“Lee Seong-hyun!”
“Hyeon-ah!”
“Seong-hyun!”
The three women rushed towards him, their faces alight with joy at seeing him safe.
Wang Tae-in cursed under his breath.
‘Fuck. This damn lookism.’
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The wind blew.
A gentle breeze, rustling the leaves and swaying the moss roses.
Rustle, rustle!
He opened his eyes to the sound of the wind whispering through the grass.
He was lying in a garden filled with moss roses, with his head resting on her lap.
The place he longed to be.
“…”
“…”
As if comforting him, she gently stroked his hair.
No words were exchanged.
The simple act of being near her warmed his heart and cleared his mind.
He wanted to stay like this forever.
He wished time would stop.
A small, selfish wish, but one he knew would never be granted.
Even if this was a dream, even if it wasn’t real.
He had to say it.
“I love you.”
As the words left his lips, his consciousness surfaced.
The familiar scent of alcohol filled his nostrils.
He was in a hospital.
‘I actually survived.’
The 48-hour ordeal.
Honestly, using Lightning God at the end had been a gamble, but it had paid off.
He tried to sit up, but…
“…”
…Irena.
She was asleep on the attendant’s bed, holding his hand.
Her hand, unlike her cold demeanor, was warm and soft.
He tried to pull his hand away, but…
‘It’s stuck.’
She was surprisingly strong for a ranged attacker.
He could probably break free if he tried hard enough, but that would wake her.
He gave up and tried to go back to sleep, but…
“…Are you awake?”
“Oh, yes.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine. I feel like I could clear three or four assignments right now.”
“Is that so… I’m glad.”
Irena smiled in relief.
He spoke cautiously.
“Um… could you… let go of my hand…?”
“…”
Silence.
Was she ignoring him?
“Professor…?”
“Yes.”
She wasn’t ignoring him.
So why…?
“Could you let go of my hand…?”
“…”
‘Bitch.’
He gave up and asked her what had happened.
“Kim Seong-ho is dead. His secretary helped him escape. He’s in Association custody now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. They’re adding his crimes to his father’s and the secretary’s sentences.”
So, it all ended with Kim Seong-ho’s death.
He felt a twinge of regret.
He should have tormented him more.
The conversation ended, and an awkward silence descended.
One minute. Two minutes.
The only sound in the room was the ticking of the clock.
Irena stared at the floor, lost in thought, while he stared out the window.
‘Holding hands changes things, huh?’
Normally, they would have chatted easily.
But the clasped hands created a strange tension.
He felt like something was about to happen.
He tried to pull his hand away again, but…
“Um… Lee Seong-hyun.”
“Yes?”
“You have a goal, don’t you?”
“Yes, I suppose…”
“I’ll help you achieve it. So…”
She tightened her grip on his hand.
“Please… quit being a Hunter.”
Her expression was more earnest than he’d ever seen.
Her eyes pleaded with him.
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This is so peak