Damn Hunter Life Chapter 25
The moment the shock penetrated his entire body, Gyeon Gang-hyeon heard rushing footsteps through the ringing tinnitus that buzzed through his head.
Feeling someone’s warm embrace instead of the hard ground, Gang-hyeon drowsily lifted his gaze.
“Hyung, breathe. You have to breathe.”
Hae Mi-jun, who had collapsed to his knees, pleaded with a trembling voice.
Gang-hyeon hadn’t even realized he had stopped breathing. When he finally tried to draw air into his mouth, he coughed up the blood that remained in his throat with a “kheuk—” sound.
Though his shoulder became damp from the blood that burst forth, Hae Mi-jun seemed oblivious as he cupped Gang-hyeon’s cheeks and jaw with his palms, choking back tears. Even while Hae Mi-jun kept wiping his lips, Gang-hyeon could only stare blankly.
“…Are you okay?”
That question came not from Hae Mi-jun, but from the gasping Gang-hyeon.
“Hyung, what about you…”
“I’m fine since this is routine for me.”
“How can that be routine!”
Hae Mi-jun embraced Gang-hyeon tightly while crying.
From a healer’s perspective, Gang-hyeon’s symptoms were qi backflow from sudden and excessive use of awakening abilities. The only treatments were absolute rest and a healer’s healing skills… but currently both Hae Mi-jun and Ja Hyeong-woo had exhausted all their skill uses.
Gang-hyeon was flustered by his situation of being nestled in the kid’s embrace. However, since he couldn’t move even a finger, all he could do was become conscious of Hae Mi-jun’s pounding heartbeat through their touching chests.
In Gang-hyeon’s field of vision, with his chin resting on Hae Mi-jun’s shoulder, the original protagonist standing alone came into view.
Ja Hyeong-woo was empty-handed. That was strange. Why?
Ah, because he doesn’t have a weapon in his hands.
Ja Hyeong-woo’s staff was lying some distance away. Where Ja Hyeong-woo had been standing just moments ago.
While the disheveled Gang-hyeon looked at him weakly, Ja Hyeong-woo’s mind had literally gone completely blank.
The moment he saw the blood, all thought became paralyzed. His body moved with only the thought that he had to catch Gang-hyeon. That’s when his S-grade staff fell and rolled on the ground.
He ran fiercely like a sprinter, but since Hae Mi-jun had been closer, he stopped at the midpoint and lost his way.
The staff, far from its master’s hand, glowed blue even in this moment.
Ja Hyeong-woo’s blankly outstretched hand overlapped due to perspective, as if he were caressing the distant Gang-hyeon’s cheek.
==
Healing Skill List
<Sacred Tree’s Well (Water Attribute)>—Advanced
…….
<Willow’s Water Light (Water Attribute)>—Advanced
…….
==
[Activating <Sacred Tree’s Well (Water Attribute)> skill.]
[Warning: All skill uses have been exhausted.]
[Activating <Sacred Tree’s Well (Water Attribute)> skill.]
[Warning: All skill uses have been exhausted.]
[Activating <Willow’s Water Light (Water Attribute)> skill.]
[Warning: All skill uses have been exhausted.]
Soon Ja Hyeong-woo stopped these meaningless attempts. Gang-hyeon’s weak voice could be heard as his lips moved feebly.
“I’m fine… this is that thing, you know. Backflow. It’s not a fatal illness… and it doesn’t hurt that much…”
His small face contorted, telling such a good lie about not being in pain. To comfort Hae Mi-jun.
Those weren’t words meant for Ja Hyeong-woo to hear.
Ja Hyeong-woo stared persistently at the two who somehow seemed intimate, unconsciously thinking something.
Should I cry too?
He deliberately made heavy footsteps. Only then did Gang-hyeon’s attention become divided. His drained pupils looked at Ja Hyeong-woo.
What a strange thing. Even in this shocked and dazed state, the very fact that Gang-hyeon was focusing on him brought an odd satisfaction.
“You’ve changed.”
It became clear with that sword you’re holding that you helped Jin Seol-woon last time, but even so, that incident was honestly…
“I thought it was just a whim.”
Why did he only realize it now? Why could he only see all of it clearly after Gang-hyeon threw his whole body into it and coughed up blood? Ja Hyeong-woo resented the time when he hadn’t noticed.
The scene visible now was the same. In Ja Hyeong-woo’s mind, Gang-hyeon and Hae Mi-jun should have no connection.
But Hae Mi-jun doesn’t have the unhesitating temperament to embrace a complete stranger so tightly, does he?
“You were the one who encouraged Mi-jun. Mi-jun’s courage was thanks to you.”
Gang-hyeon’s eyes narrowed.
He wished Gang-hyeon would either admit it honestly, or at least stay silent since he was in pain, but as always, he wouldn’t give in easily.
“I did that to make you look ridiculous, Ja Hyeong-woo. Because it’s annoying how everyone lifts you up.”
Hae Mi-jun momentarily doubted his ears upon hearing Gang-hyeon’s sharp words.
Ja Hyeong-woo wasn’t shaken. He didn’t stop there and continued to provoke Gang-hyeon with words.
“Helping Seol-woon too.”
“I did that to make you Twelve Zodiac look like idiots.”
At this point, Hae Mi-jun tilted his head. Almost bumping noses with Gang-hyeon’s profile, he sent a pleading look.
“Hyung…”
Ja Hyeong-woo, and Gang-hyeon.
When these two people he admired met, he was bewildered that Gang-hyeon hyung was being so sharp and confrontational.
So Gang-hyeon hyung was the one acting strange. The cutting words hyung spat out couldn’t be sincere. He had been so good to him.
However, Gang-hyeon silenced Hae Mi-jun.
“Be quiet. Don’t say what you’re thinking right now.”
Since the two were whispering about something, Ja Hyeong-woo frowned without knowing why. He thought he didn’t want to see it.
Gang-hyeon, who had tried to lift his body slightly, rested his chin back on Hae Mi-jun’s shoulder and just panted. Ja Hyeong-woo flinched again and stopped.
The attack Gang-hyeon had delivered to the boss monster was absurdly powerful for someone who had just awakened. Moreover, with that kind of body, a body that seemed like it would break.
But at that moment, there was an entity that shared the shock that Gang-hyeon should have absorbed alone.
‘If that water energy I felt briefly wasn’t an illusion.’
Ja Hyeong-woo’s gaze settled on one place.
On Gang-hyeon’s limp hand, the character ‘子 (mouse)’ glowed faintly, then quickly disappeared as if caught.
Without even being surprised anymore, Ja Hyeong-woo spoke again.
“The mouse familiar, you made that your ally? Why did you do such a dangerous thing? I said I would eliminate it. …Were you trying to return it to me?”
Gang-hyeon silently chewed the inside of his mouth.
‘…This is why I shouldn’t face Ja Hyeong-woo for long. He’ll catch on quickly.’
“Yeah, take it back. I fucking hate being with this thing because it makes me feel connected to you.”
He was aware that his words were becoming increasingly lame, but there was no better way to forcibly push Ja Hyeong-woo away.
‘Because the original Gang-hyeon didn’t die and is still alive, Ja Hyeong-woo has no opportunity to grow… What if it causes harm to others later?’
So even if others didn’t know, at least to Ja Hyeong-woo… he had to remain a scoundrel who provoked anger.
Even now, wasn’t it disturbing Gang-hyeon’s vision everywhere? The bloodstains spilled by civilians.
Gang-hyeon didn’t want to accept someone’s death that would follow if Ja Hyeong-woo’s abilities fell even slightly short, and he especially didn’t want it to be because of himself.
‘I lied to the status window.’
The truth was, he wasn’t prepared to become a hunter.
He was afraid of getting close to Ja Hyeong-woo and sharing responsibility for the number of lives that depended on the original protagonist.
So Gang-hyeon desperately shattered Ja Hyeong-woo’s optimism.
Ja Hyeong-woo slowly took a deep breath, then exhaled long through his nose like a sigh.
“Gyeon Gang-hyeon. You just saved me.”
…I really can’t understand you, Gang-hyeon.
Setting everything else aside, this is something you could just take credit for, so why are you putting up thorns?
If you just hated me, you shouldn’t have come to this dangerous place at all.
“Don’t you have anything to say about this?”
Gang-hyeon couldn’t find an effective rebuttal here and made a hastily improvised response. There was also the limit of holding onto his fading consciousness.
“So what?”
Gang-hyeon, who couldn’t bear to look at Ja Hyeong-woo’s eyes and snapped back, soon completely lost strength in his body.
Hyung, hyung! Hae Mi-jun called urgently.
Ja Hyeong-woo approached with large strides without a word.
As if it were naturally his role, he inserted his hands between Hae Mi-jun and Gang-hyeon. He lifted him up almost as if stealing him away.
Uh… Hae Mi-jun was flustered, then belatedly picked up Gang-hyeon’s sword that had been left on the ground and followed.
The figure of Ja Hyeong-woo carrying Gang-hyeon and preparing to return to school gradually became smaller and zoomed out through the filming drone.
The incident that occurred at the entrance of the gate, in the sea off Busan. Since only the drone remained among the broadcasting equipment, the conversation the three shared at this moment wasn’t heard by the citizens, and only the scene viewed from above remained.
The entire nation encountered that footage through numerous media outlets.
* * *
[“This is breaking news. As of 4:55 AM today, the Busan Gate has been successfully conquered. Currently, civilian deaths number × people, injuries ×× people, of which serious injuries…”]
[“Currently, all successors are mourning the fallen hunters and have returned to school, and the funeral ceremony for the heroes who protected Korea will be held this coming Friday…”]
[“This is an official announcement from the Hunter Association. The final eliminator of the boss monster that appeared in the Busan Gate is… Successor Gyeon Gang-hyeon.”]
[“Successor Gyeon Gang-hyeon is believed to have fully awakened. According to footage provided by the police, he appears to be able to fully handle earth abilities, which are the Dog successor’s attribute…”]
[“The prevailing view is that the attack technique in the footage had similar power to an intermediate skill of Successor Woo Sae-geon, who is at the pinnacle of the same earth attribute.”]
[“Another hot topic is the identity of the weapon that Successor Gyeon Gang-hyeon used to eliminate the boss monster. Currently, netizens are fiercely debating whether the weapon confirmed in the footage is the Dragon successor’s sword or a different sword with similar appearance.”]
The period when the delinquent successor’s awakening heated up the entire country, both in good and bad ways.
No one knew at this time that the day would come when everyone would acknowledge the era of Gang-hyeon’s presence as the golden age of successors.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
