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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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Mijuran had never experienced a truly painful past. She had always been victorious, overcoming every obstacle in her path. As the princess of Mudanad, she had lived a life of privilege and success.
But if she did have a trauma, it was this:
“…This is a dream. I have to overcome it.”
The monster before her.
Ungbak, the mountain guardian.
A monstrous bear, larger and more ferocious than she remembered, loomed over her, its presence a suffocating weight.
‘I’ve become more reliant on Seok-hyun than I realized.’
Without him, she would have been reduced to a bloody pulp long ago. The thought of facing Ungbak alone, without Lee Seok-hyun’s support, made her tremble.
–CRASH!
Ungbak swung its massive paw, the force of the blow shattering the ground, leaving a gaping crater.
A direct hit would be fatal. She knew she had to endure, to hold out until Lee Seok-hyun arrived, but despair gnawed at her resolve.
The first taste of defeat, a bitter pill for someone accustomed to victory thanks to her Predator of Victory Main Skill.
For Mijuran, Ungbak was the embodiment of failure.
“I can do this.”
She forced herself to move, her body screaming in protest.
A single defeat didn’t define her. She wasn’t a loser. She steeled her resolve, drawing strength from within.
Like Lee Seok-hyun, or perhaps even more so.
“I’m not going to be a bystander anymore.”
She had to prove herself, to live up to the reputation of Mirinae Academy’s S-Class.
Mijuran clenched her fists and charged towards Ungbak, defying her instincts, moving towards the danger rather than away from it.
This was the fundamental principle of martial arts.
“Turn defeat into a stepping stone.”
She channeled the beast’s ferocity, transforming it into fuel for her own growth, and threw a punch.
“Iron Blood.”
Her active skill, Iron Blood, amplified her strength in proportion to her past victories, her accumulated experience. Each battle won, each challenge overcome, fueled her power.
“I won’t lose to the past!”
Her fist collided with Ungbak’s paw, a shockwave rippling outwards.
To imagine defeat was to invite it. To retreat was to die.
She pushed forward, her determination unwavering.
‘It’s weakening.’
She couldn’t tell if she was growing stronger, or if Ungbak was weakening, but she sensed victory was within her grasp.
With each step forward, Ungbak faltered, its massive paws slipping, its arms trembling, its shoulders shaking.
‘What?’
And beyond the monstrous bear…
As she drew closer to victory…
She saw a fleeting image of Lee Seok-hyun.
‘Seok-hyun…’
Like Raystember, he stood there, his heart pierced, blood flowing freely.
Despite the fatal wound, he continued to fight, his body moving on instinct, driven by an indomitable will.
He was clearly on the verge of defeat, yet she couldn’t help but believe in him, to trust in his ability to overcome any obstacle.
‘I trust you.’
That was all she could do. She turned her gaze back to Ungbak.
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‘I didn’t think it would actually work.’
When he’d first arrived in this dreamscape, he’d sensed a possibility. He’d been transported back to his seventeen-year-old self, his consciousness inhabiting his past body.
If the dreamscape could shift his physical form to match his memories, then perhaps he could summon the Manaplate Armor.
And that gamble had paid off.
‘The Manaplate Armor is keeping me alive.’
Judging by the blood loss, he should have been dead already. But the Manaplate Armor continuously repaired the damage, its healing properties a constant source of regeneration.
It wasn’t just preventing his condition from worsening; it was actively healing him, his recovery outpacing the bleeding.
‘Raystember has no way to heal, but I do.’
While it was a temporary reprieve at best, like extending the length of a candle’s wick before it inevitably burned out, it was enough.
“Lee Seok-hyun! What is the meaning of this?!”
Raystember, finally regaining his ability to speak, roared in frustration.
Did he think I was unconscious?
Lee Seok-hyun wanted to taunt him, but he knew that even a single word would send a torrent of blood gushing from his lips. He remained silent, focusing on his next move.
He had to attack, to press his advantage.
Raystember, weakened by the initial shock of his near-fatal injury, was moving more slowly than before.
“Why?! Why do you continue to defy your destiny?! Just die already!”
‘You started this, asshole.’
‘Stop forcing this bullshit destiny on me.’
Raystember, having never faced a true threat to his existence, panicked. He flailed wildly, like a child throwing a tantrum, his massive limbs smashing through buildings, tearing through walls. Lee Seok-hyun couldn’t help but scoff at the pathetic display.
‘You’re no different.’
He’d played the part of a superior being, invading others’ dreams, preying on their deepest fears, but in the face of his own mortality, he was just as pathetic, just as desperate.
‘Everyone dies like this.’
Memories of witnessing death, of watching others succumb to their fears, surfaced, anchoring him to the present. They spurred him on, fueled his resolve. You could end up like this. Don’t let that happen.
The playful amusement Raystember had displayed when he’d first appeared had vanished, replaced by a primal fear.
“Stay away from me!”
He recognized the danger now, the lethal potential of the Sunflower blooming on Lee Seok-hyun’s arm. He scrambled to retreat, his movements clumsy and desperate.
‘Not so fast.’
Lee Seok-hyun, sensing his fear, pressed his attack. He drove his fist into Raystember’s thigh, tearing through flesh and bone, creating a gaping wound.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaa!”
The Archdemon roared in pain. Lee Seok-hyun ignored his cries and continued his relentless assault. If he couldn’t use his legs, he’d use his arms. And if his arms were injured, he’d find another way.
As long as his left arm, protected by the Manaplate Armor, remained functional, he would keep fighting. He would pay any price for victory.
‘He’s weakening.’
The initial pain of the wound in his side had faded, replaced by a strange numbness. It felt unreal, like a dream.
“Stay away! I said stay away!”
You should have asked nicely.
Learn some manners in your next life.
Raystember, you have to die here.
“It’s your destiny.”
The words, choked with blood, echoed through the dreamscape.
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‘What is this? What’s going on? Why is this happening?’
He had the upper hand.
Lee Seok-hyun’s death was imminent, his fate sealed. Everything was proceeding according to plan.
But destiny, it seemed, had other ideas.
“Stay back!”
He’d never imagined he’d be hunted in a dream. He’d never considered the possibility, never entertained the thought.
To be defeated in his own domain, the landscape of his victim’s mind? It was preposterous.
–Thud.
“Aaaaagh!”
Lee Seok-hyun began to self-harm again, tearing at his own flesh, ripping the extra arms from his back, shattering his spine in the process. Bone fragments pierced his organs, each movement accompanied by a sickening squelch, yet he continued his relentless advance, his face a mask of grim determination. He paid no heed to the blood and bile that spewed from his mouth with every step.
Despair.
For the first time in his existence, Raystember tasted true despair.
A monster, impervious to his attacks, its limbs shattered yet still advancing.
Lee Seok-hyun had become Raystember’s nightmare.
“I… don’t… want to… die…”
For Lee Seok-hyun, this was a dream. But for Raystember, using his own Main Skill to invade this dreamscape had blurred the lines between reality and illusion. He was experiencing the consequences firsthand. He was dying. His heart was pierced, his spine fractured, his legs immobile as if pinned by steel rods. He could feel his body shutting down, one limb at a time, his life force ebbing away.
Death.
Raystember stared into the abyss, the end of his existence looming before him.
–Thump. Thump.
–Thump. Thump.
The hunter, who had once toyed with humans as if they were mere playthings, trapped in their nightmares, was now facing his own.
“Just who… are you…?”
He echoed the words he’d spoken when he’d first entered Lee Seok-hyun’s dream, his voice filled with a mixture of fear and awe.
With each step Lee Seok-hyun took, the space around him fractured, the dream collapsing, the nightmares spilling out. People fell from great heights, mothers clutched their dead children, their faces contorted in grief. A woman, consumed by addiction, mutilated herself. A man stood silently in the doorway, listening to her screams, his face a mask of despair.
–A single tear, tinged with blood, traced a path down Raystember’s cheek.
It wasn’t his tear, yet the crimson stain remained, a mark of Lee Seok-hyun’s encroaching victory.
He was coming.
“Stop! Please, stop!”
Raystember swung his remaining arm, a desperate, futile attempt at resistance.
Lee Seok-hyun, his body ravaged by injuries, effortlessly dodged the attack.
For Raystember, this pain, this vulnerability, was a new experience. He’d never known fear, never experienced true suffering. And that fear, that vulnerability, was breaking him.
The hunter, now the hunted. The terror of being preyed upon consumed him.
The shame of failing to fulfill his destiny paralyzed him, dragging him down into the abyss.
“This is… your destiny.”
The words, choked with blood, were a death sentence.
–Snatch.
Lee Seok-hyun’s left hand, encased in the Manaplate Armor, clamped down on Raystember’s face.
–Whirrrrrr.
Even as his body crumbled, the whirring of Infinite Track continued, an inhuman sound that made Raystember tremble.
“Ah…”
–Click, click.
Light gathered in Lee Seok-hyun’s hand.
Raystember tried to struggle, to fight back, but he was too weak, his body broken, his spirit crushed. The light, initially a small spark, grew in intensity, filling his vision, consuming him.
“Magnum.”
–BANG!
The sound of an explosion.
–Thud.
The sound of a head hitting the floor.
The blinding light engulfed Raystember, shattering the dream.
“You… you’re not human…”
Raystember never imagined those words would be his last.
“I know.”
–Crunch.
Lee Seok-hyun stepped on Raystember’s severed head, grinding it into the ground.
“I’m your nightmare.”
Those were the last words Raystember ever heard.
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Thanks for the chapters