The corners of my eyes were damp. And then.
“...You remember everything!”
The dream I’d had when I fell asleep was so faint it was almost erased, but I recalled nearly all of it. Only some parts were hazy—everything I’d said came back to me. Thank goodness it was only the elders here.
“...Brother.”
I heard Han Yuhyun’s voice. When his quiet tone reached my ears, a sharp ache spread through my chest. As I tried to sit up, my younger brother supported me.
“It was just a good sleep, why are you making that face?”
Yuhyun—and Peace, lying on the edge of the bed—both looked at me with concern filling their eyes. I reached out and stroked Yuhyun and Peace’s heads.
“Because you suddenly started crying.”
“Huh? Ah, it was because of the dream. I can’t really remember it well either.”
What kind of dream was it? Hmm.
“...I guess I was pretty mad. There was this one jerk who pissed me off!”
And yet.
“Seeing as you’re still irritated, did you lose when you fought that guy? Anyway, Yuhyun.”
I looked at my brother’s face. Then my mouth moved on its own.
“You don’t have to date anyone! Don’t do it!”
“Huh? Huh.”
...Why did that pop out all of a sudden? Yuhyun looked at me curiously and asked,
“Don’t tell me you cried because you were dating in the dream?”
“No way. It wasn’t that, it’s just...”
I fidgeted my fingers for no reason. I felt like grabbing someone by the collar. Seong Hyunjae? Did he appear in my dream and cause trouble? Or Chatterbox? Or White Bird?
“I’m fine as is. I don’t want anyone else to come into our home. I’ve already turned down all the marriage proposals.”
“Marriage proposals?”
“In the past. There was no shortage of proposals for an unmarried high-rank Hunter. Even minors were considered okay for engagement—people kept contacting me here and there. Park Yerim hasn’t gotten any of those, probably because she’s still too young.”
“True, they say arranged marriages happen sometimes. I’m totally against it. If anyone says that to you—or Yerim—I’ll bury them in a dungeon.”
Even if my eyes fill with dirt—no, I’d haunt them as a ghost rather than allow that. Yuhyun nodded lightly for me not to worry.
“As of now, the only ones I could possibly have an arranged marriage with are Peace and Park Yerim. If we’re going to marry, we have to live together. Yerim’s still a minor, so it’s only Peace at the moment.”
“Uh... okay.”
—Krrng.
Peace tilted his head as if to ask why I mentioned his name. I knew my brother’s tendencies, but it still caught me off guard occasionally.
“Hmm, so you mean a minor is more of a problem than a different species.”
“You said no.”
“Right... I never mentioned species. These days, considering species is discrimination. There are so many species out there.”
Even the elders look human, but strictly speaking they’re aliens. There are spirits like Erin and Ismuar. “We can’t date because of different species if we can understand each other and have similar intelligence” would be wrong... right? Seong Hyunjae is the Crescent Moon’s fiancé, after all.
And maybe someday, a species with tendencies similar to Yuhyun might appear. A species closer to pure fire than humans. Then they might date.
“Species isn’t the issue! We just have to communicate clearly and preferably be the same age range. You and Peace can’t even talk to each other, and the age gap is huge. Let’s not exceed ten years.”
I squeezed my brother’s hand and spoke softly.
“If you ever like someone or want to date or marry someone, you must tell me first. Promise me.”
We can’t let a catastrophe happen where he brings home a weird jellyfish and declares marriage. ...Should I tell Yerim too? If she ever wants to date someone from another species, please—just tell me first. I need time to prepare my heart.
“Got it.”
Yuhyun nodded and stared at me. Then he smiled.
“I’m glad you seem to have cheered up.”
“...Huh? Did it show a lot?”
“Yeah. But I didn’t know what to do...”
My brother’s shoulders slumped as he spoke.
“You said it’d be fine if I worried, and you tried to hide it. But my worrying became your burden. So besides staying by your side, there was nothing I could do.”
“...That’s enough.”
I reached out and hugged him.
“Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can’t fix everything. Like when we were kids. There was nothing to do but wait for time to pass and for us to grow older.”
Sometimes there’s no choice but to barely hold on. It’s not even that I did something wrong or didn’t try hard—it’s just bad luck.
“...I thought things would get better, but they don’t. I guess you were having a lot more trouble than I thought.”
“It’s okay, brother.”
Yuhyun hugged me back.
“As I said back then, I love whatever brother you are.”
I heard a long breath; I couldn’t tell if it was mine or his.
“I can’t fully understand you. I still don’t know why you’re in so much pain. It’s honestly strange to like other people easily and to care for and protect those stronger than you.”
A laugh escaped.
“Is that strange?”
“Yeah. You’re really strange. You’re the strangest person I know. Even though you’re the closest to me and we’ve spent the most time together, I don’t know you more than anyone else. You’re a mystery.”
Yuhyun poured his heart out earnestly.
“But I love every part of you, even that. No matter how you change, you’ll be the brother I love. So whether you get better or worse, I’ll always be by your side.”
...It was worth living. It felt like stepping into a warm house after facing the bitter winter wind. Warmth spread throughout my body, down to my fingertips and toes.
If I let go of my brother, I’d feel more at ease. That was a simple fact, nobody’s fault. But this warmth would vanish forever. It might look foolish to others, but who cares?
Rather than give up the people I care about, I’ll just remain a foolish fool who suffers stubbornly.
“You’re the best, my brother! After a good sleep, I feel better. What time is it now? It must be the early morning. You didn’t stay up because of me, did you? Peace, were you awake because of Dad?”
—Kyawng.
“I didn’t stay awake on purpose. I wanted to watch over you.”
“Still. C’mon, both of you, get some sleep. Lie down.”
I ruffled Yuhyun and Peace on either side of me. They lay back down as I told them, but Yuhyun looked up at me with wide, sleepless eyes.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
“Huh? Well...”
I lost my words. That I tried to kill myself. And... those things. I couldn’t tell him. Not just to Yuhyun, but ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) to anyone. How do I say this...?
“No, brother.”
Yuhyun spoke quickly, noticing my expression. I forced a smile and stroked his head.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tell you about that. I said I wouldn’t hide anything, sorry.”
Yuhyun shook his head gently, as if telling me not to apologize.
“Uncle!”
Park Yerim waved cheerily at me as she flew in. She landed on my shoulder and examined me, then breathed a sigh of relief.
“Were you worried?”
“Of course I was! Ah, ‘sorry’ is forbidden! It’s natural for family to worry about each other.”
Being forbidden from saying sorry left me speechless. Well, apart from apologizing.
“Thanks.”
“What for?”
Yerim seemed a bit shy. Other people also came over to check if I was okay, making me feel a little bashful. Especially Seong Hyunjae—it was awkward to meet his gaze. Why did he show up in my dream?
‘At least my arm is fine.’
Because it was a dream, of course. It looked perfectly whole, so why in my dream was I slicing off my arm and choking the elders? The unconscious mind.
After breakfast, Chatterbox didn’t show up until lunchtime. The staff kept repeating that they’d inform me in advance when they had a schedule, so I should rest easy. How could I not worry? The Korean Hunters claimed an isolated room in the restaurant, using the excuse of holding a tea time. Soundproofing was solid, and secrecy was guaranteed.
“Has anyone noticed anything suspicious?”
I asked as I looked around at the assembled people. Riet, Kang Soyeong, and Evelyn weren’t among the Hunters who came from Korea. They hadn’t heard the details yet. Though Riet had contact with Diarma, she declined, saying it would be boring. Kang Soyeong chose Riet over Noah and her boss after weighing options, and Evelyn didn’t seem interested in attending from the start.
“Dad, that thing!”
Gyeol landed on my shoulder and looked between Seong Hyunjae and me. Seong Hyunjae quietly raised one hand.
“One of my viewers was the Crescent Moon.”
“Why didn’t you tell me until now?”
“I was just watching briefly.”
“...We can’t get involved during Chatterbox’s party, but the problem is it won’t last much longer.”
Chatterbox pretends to be human and roughly follows this world’s rules. In other words, the party can’t last indefinitely. S-Rank Hunters have to tackle their respective dungeons.
Korea’s dungeon activity time has increased, but not in other countries. So a party with many high-rank Hunters is unlikely to exceed ten days. They can’t let the dungeons be destroyed chasing loot, so if the party drags on, S-Rank Hunters will start dropping out one by one.
“And it won’t end quietly.”
If they only targeted me it’d be one thing, but...
I fiddled with the teacup in front of me.
“Chatterbox’s target is me. So we need to start planning.”
“...That’s not worth considering.”
Yuhyun said quietly. Yerim, a beat late, jumped to her feet.
“What do you mean, we might have to give up on you?”
“Calm down, Yerim. For now, Chatterbox doesn’t plan to kill me. He’ll keep me alive.”
If we’re lucky, they might just store me like a harmless king’s relic. If we’re unlucky... well, at least I’ll still be alive.
“It might be better to wait for a rescue opportunity than to forcefully defend me.”
“Dad, you’re going to get kidnapped as a hobby at this rate.”
She grumbled but sat back down. Yuhyun also looked displeased. Gyeol gently tugged my ear so it wouldn’t hurt.
“We’re sure Chatterbox can’t use Transcendent power. We don’t know what’ll happen, but we’ll give it our all until the final game. We have to extract as much as we can to get the upper hand. Originally, the party was also meant to level up Hunters on Chatterbox’s side.”
Anyway, Chatterbox has to use our world’s Awakening for his benefit. So for now, they’re smoothly achieving their party goals. I’m probably at the top of the results, and everyone got a lot of gold.
“After Chatterbox comes the Crescent Moon... sigh.”
—Dad, let’s just throw that thing out.
Gyeol whispered in my ear. Seong Hyunjae propped his chin on his hand and smiled at me. Song Taewon’s expression opposite him darkened a bit.
“Transcendents sure don’t leave people alone. They can’t intervene directly with us, so you both be careful not to get any strange ideas.”
“Same goes for Han Yujin.”
Director Song said as he met my eyes, waving his hand with a smile.
“I’ll live a long time. So instead of Transcendents, how’s our neighborhood?”
“Korea is calm. Same in Japan. Amaterasu Guild Leader keeps sending congratulatory wreaths and gifts.”
Yuhyun said. Maybe Shishio should at least call once.
“Domestic opinion on this party is mostly positive. The image of low-rank Hunters improved, and admiration for high-rank Hunters also rose.”
“I was worried the image might suffer because of me. But it’s fine?”
After all, I’m stat F-rank, and if someone gets beaten by F-rank, they’d look down on you.
“Yeah. It’s probably because it was the first time seeing it live on broadcast. Especially the performances of Park Yerim and Director Song Taewon stood out. The lawless team smashing the city was shown in full.”
Even before returning, after the ranking matches, S-Rank Hunters got more popular.
“But the most famous are still Han Yuhyun and Chatterbox.”
Seong Hyunjae said. I can take my fate, but Chatterbox... still suspicious. The newbies said it’d be fine, but I don’t want his notoriety to rise. If Chatterbox gets famous, recruiting S-Rank Hunters gets easier. Is that what he’s aiming for? But from the broadcasts so far, few S-Rank Hunters seem to want to oppose Korean Hunters.
“Those who resent the gathering of high-rank Hunters are quite active. They’re still protesting today.”
He said they sent related materials to everyone’s email. When I checked my phone, there were protest photos and videos attached.
“...People are busy protecting the world. Even if they don’t expect the world to end, they know dungeons will erupt.”
“They have to live in the world they’ve protected. More people get angry about a blocked commute than tomorrow’s apocalypse.”
“And you have a private helicopter, what are you complaining about? You could commute via portal.”
With no other measures, they only organized the situation. Transcendents aside, Crescent Moon is truly at a loss. It felt like being a school of fish in a massive aquarium. When the net invades, all you can do is dodge; there’s no other way.
“Hyunah, can you come talk with me for a moment?”
“I’m busy, what is it?”
I grabbed Moon Hyunah and Yerim approached with curiosity.
“I have something to discuss among the adults.”
“How come? Han Yuhyun can but I can’t?”
“Yuhyun can’t either.”
Yerim’s mouth fell open.
“What? Are you finally going to confess to Hyunah?”
“No!”
“Han Yuhyun! Dad’s getting married!”
“Yerim!”
Skipping several steps! Yerim’s outburst made everyone look at me. I was embarrassed. It was awkward to look at Hyunah.
“Hyunah, it’s not like that...”
“Just your body, just show up.”
Moon Hyunah said with a laugh. My neck heated up.
“...You tease me too!”
“Park Yerim, you’re making him uncomfortable.”
“Why~ You two look good together~ Han Yuhyun, if Dad marries, we’ll run away! Don’t leave just me and Yuhyun!”
Yerim said she’d run away if only two were left, terrified. Anyway, I hurriedly explained it wasn’t like that and stepped out onto the terrace with Hyunah. As the breeze tousled her hair, she pushed it behind her ear and looked at me.