Translator: Vine
Translated At: Nyx Scans
Chapter: 110
#110. Colony of the Dead (2)
2022.11.18.
Eunha, who had boarded the bus, was resting her chin on the window and gazing outside.
Though the bus hadn't even departed yet, the test had practically already begun.
"Since I have a binding skill, I think it would be good to tie them up with that first and then hunt them."
"Agreed."
"But the monsters there are undead, right? If we don't finish them in one go, they'll keep regenerating..."
"I brought some items with poison effects, just in case. If they're useless after trying them once, we'll have no choice but to inflict physical damage, come what may."
"Wait. How are we going to divide the cores? Isn't that the most important thing?"
Hunters who had already paired up meticulously strategized, dividing roles based on their unique abilities, main skills, and combat styles, putting their heads together on how to overcome this test.
It was a rather familiar scene to Eunha.
Back in those days, after one gate subjugation ended and before heading to the next, they would always travel in military transport vehicles.
At such times, there was always someone who would occupy the seat next to Eunha and chatter away.
'Eunha, have you ever been to Gyeongju?'
'I've always been curious... Eunha, have you, by any chance, made a contract with a divine beast?'
'Among the 12 divine beasts, a dragon would suit you well. Because it's the strongest.'
Resting her chin on her hand, she slowly closes her eyes.
Behind her closed eyelids, the image of a figure standing alone before her mother's tombstone, offering prayers, comes to mind.
'In the end, I couldn't catch him.'
She couldn't ask anything.
Even after visiting her mother's grave two or three times since that day, she hadn't encountered Yijun.
However, Eunha had an inexplicable conviction.
A conviction that she would meet him again soon.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' scoffs, "Hmph, the small fry are having fun among themselves! No matter how much you party play, you bastards obviously can't even hold a candle to our sister," and looks at the surrounding hunters with displeasure.]
Meanwhile, the cat had been in that state since earlier, as if something was seriously bothering it.
Presumably, it was displeased with this situation where no one was offering Eunha a party.
Even though it would bare its claws if someone actually approached.
Eunha thought.
The cat's heart was truly incomprehensible.
[It sighs, looking at those foolish mortals, "Do you think our sister is at a level to be riding the same bus as you lot here?"]
[It even says, "Sister, you too!" "Sister, you're not some F-Class! Because you're just standing there quietly, these guys think you're a pushover, don't they!" and puts its paws on its hips as if scolding you.]
Before Eunha could reply, another message window popped up.
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' strokes its whiskers, "No, wait a minute..."]
[After a moment, it sharply lifts its head, "This is an opportunity!"]
[It suggests that this time, you should clearly show them that sister is on a different level from them.]
[I can't stand this kind of treatment anymore! I didn't escape that place to see such a sight! it exclaims, tapping the ground with its pink jelly beans.]
Ding, ding, ding...
Eunha, watching the message windows popping up before her eyes according to the cat's excitement, said.
"Kitty. Let me tell you beforehand, I've never once thought of myself as F-Class."
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness' retorts, "No, then what are you doing! The world thinks sister is XX!" and shouts.]
Though it seemed like it was just rampaging in anger, come to think of it, there was some truth to what the cat was saying.
She thought it didn't matter.
Because rank wasn't very important to Eunha.
In the first place, back when she lived as Eunha, hunters didn't even have ranks.
However, now she understood well.
'Things that must be done.'
That the world even considers rank when it comes to saving people.
—If so, willingly.
"You're right."
The very first thing the Princess of Dark Flare needed to do now was neither to defeat monsters nor to brandish her parasol.
Proof.
"Now, I'll have to show them."
So clearly, that there would be no room for rebuttal.
[...]
Then, the message window that had been rising with frightening momentum suddenly stopped.
And after a moment.
Ding—!
[The divine beast 'Cat Wandering in Darkness's eyes sparkle, "Is that really true?"]
[Yes! We'll grab tens, no, hundreds of cores! it exclaims, its pink nose twitching as if excited at the thought of putting other people in their place.]
Is it really that good?
The message window, moving here and there, looked as if it were dancing.
While she was silently swallowing her laughter, gazing at something invisible to others.
"Excuse me, may I sit here—"
Someone approached Eunha.
A neatly dressed middle-aged man.
"Yes."
Eunha, averting her gaze from the message window, looked at him and nodded briefly.
However, the moment their eyes met, Eunha noticed he had a surprised expression.
A face as if he had seen a ghost.
At first, she thought it was just because of this flamboyant outfit...
"Young lady, it's been a while. Do you remember me?"
The man sat down next to her with a pleased face.
Though Eunha was unsure at first, the moment she met his good-natured smile, a memory suddenly came to mind.
"I never thought I'd meet you here again like this. Thank you so much for back then."
<2031, Summer's Hottest Star Hunter>, a summer special planned by OnHunt.
This person was a concept hunter who had appeared on it with her.
Unlike then, when he was in clown makeup, today he looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, so she almost didn't recognize him.
"The one who left the prize money in the bag back then, that was you, right, young lady? I chased after you outside the broadcasting station belatedly, but you were already gone. I couldn't find a way to get your contact information even after asking around..."
How surprised he was when he found an unfamiliar envelope in his bag.
Just recalling the memory of that time made his face as embarrassed as it was then.
Eunha, unsure what to say to him who was just awkwardly scratching his cheek, smiled faintly and said.
"Did Minji like the padded jacket."
"...Ah."
Clown Ahjussi, who had frozen for a moment, slowly blinked.
But that too was momentary; he rummaged through his pocket and took out his phone.
"She was jumping around so much, I thought she was going to fly through the roof, you know."
Swish.
In his phone, held out before her, his daughter Minji was posing in a white padded jacket.
"It suits her well."
As Eunha, gazing at the girl on the screen, muttered, Clown Ahjussi smiled brightly, as if he had been waiting for just those words.
"Right?"
Clown Ahjussi, putting away his phone, continued talking about his daughter.
"Don't even mention it. She's making such a fuss, wishing winter would come quickly. Just last week, I had to forcibly stop her from going to school wearing the padded jacket. Who wears a padded jacket from the end of October, I said."
Isn't that right?
Clown Ahjussi looked at Eunha.
Though he let out a sigh, a broad smile was on his face.
It was a smile so happy that it was contagious even to Eunha, who was facing him.
They chatted idly until they arrived at the Colony of the Dead on Bokgye Mountain.
And then, the bus stopped.
The moment she got off, Eunha abruptly stopped her steps.
'Here...'
A black mountain.
That was her first impression.
Though it was still daytime, it felt as if sunlight didn't reach this place alone.
Beyond the Rose Guild members diligently setting up temporary treatment tents, dark clouds covering the mountain peak are visible.
Even though it was November, the cold was incomparable to Seoul's winter.
The faintly heard sound of the wind resembled a scream.
The strange stench of rotten wood seemed to numb her nose.
If it had been Siwoo, with his more sensitive sense of smell than Eunha's, he probably wouldn't have even set foot here, test or no test.
Eunha, frowning slightly, covered her nose with one hand and stepped on the ground.
Crunch—
The soil underfoot was a color as if it had absorbed blood.
This too was likely an effect of the gate, but just looking at the soil, so red it was almost black, one could tell how long this place had been neglected.
"Oh, look over there. It's a skeleton."
As someone shouted, all the hunters there turned their gazes to one place.
Clatter, clatter...
A skeleton soldier, holding a rusty sword, was walking this way.
A walking skeleton, though its eerie appearance seemed straight out of a horror movie...
"That thing, looks X-na weak."
Its build, slightly smaller than an adult man, and its slow movements didn't feel very threatening.
In fact, the creature's level, glimpsed through the system window, was only 5.
Meaning, in terms of level alone, even an F-Class hunter could handle it without much difficulty.
It was the moment the creature swung its sword in a wide arc in the air.
Rumble...
The skeleton collapsed despite not being attacked at all.
Though she had heard that they would be neutralized if they strayed beyond a certain area, seeing it with her own eyes was rather anticlimactic.
"What, it's not even a block."
"Is it dead? Why? What for?"
The hunters, watching from afar, all burst into laughter at the creature's pathetic state.
Some even poked the collapsed bone fragments with their feet.
However, among them, only one person had a serious face.
"..."
It was Clown Ahjussi.
Eunha glanced at him standing beside her.
A stiff face.
It was natural for him, an E-Class concept hunter with little combat experience, to be nervous.
"Ah."
The moment their eyes met, Clown Ahjussi smiled awkwardly, as if nothing had happened.
"Young lady, are you heading out right away?"
"I should."
At Eunha's short reply, he hesitated, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly.
Then, meeting her gaze again, he parted his lips as if resolved.
"Um, young lady, perhaps a party—"
But it was only for a moment.
Clown Ahjussi flinched, then shook his head and smiled.
"Ah, it's nothing."
Glance.
His eyes, which had scanned the skeleton, landed on Eunha again.
"Let's both do our best."
A window sill bathed in sunlight.
A curtain, billowing roundly then deflating.
The man standing silently behind it let out a small groan.
"...Ah."
Fortune-teller.
Codename Andrea.
He opened his closed eyes.
Under the pouring sunlight, his eyes, originally emerald green, were gradually turning red from the edges of the irises.
Wise Eye, open.
His gaze, seemingly looking at the window, was in fact staring beyond it, into the distant yonder.
Bokgye Mountain.
Colony of the Dead.
Black thoughts, black flames, and...
"The one who lost their name..."
Andrea muttered, as if possessed.
The cage placed on the table, the white bird within it chirped anxiously.
