I tamed the First Rank Chapter 99

"......You said that there were hunters and Awakeners that you met during the Dungeon Break 14 years ago."

“It was like that.”

“Can I ask why they changed Gyu-ha-ssi’s life?”

Hyeon Gyu-ha was silent for a moment. He was only a vague figure in the darkness, but for some reason, I was certain that he was smiling like a boy. Just like when I first talked to him 14 years ago.

“It’s a bit long and boring, so it might be a lullaby for you, Yoo-shin-ssi. You’ll be tired, so don’t force yourself to listen and just fall asleep. After raiding the Erosion Gate at the age of 9, I went straight to the training center……………….”

And he began to tell a story in a soft voice. Life at the training camp. Kang Seok-woo whom he met there. The years of following him like a father. Vampire traits. Research center. And the research institute. 14 years old. Betrayal. Immortality.

The dry recitation of fragments of the past scattered over In Yoo-shin’s head. The traces of the past, a list of facts without emotion, stabbed In Yoo-shin’s heart. How much had the boy, who was only 14 years old, had to dig into his wounds before he could calmly confess his pain?

“I was at the exact age where I would get second-year syndrome. I was just thinking that I wouldn’t care if the world ended, so I should just kill everyone I met, and that’s when I met they.”

Hyeon Gyu-ha's dry voice was filled with warmth again. He did not explain in detail how he met Kim Ji-won and Kim Jeong-hoon, or what form the disaster took that day. Only the 14-year-old boy who seemed about to cry, felt like he had back to life in front of In Yoo-shin.

“My mother gave birth to me only for my father, and I never even saw my father’s face. The man I thought of as my real father was just trying to split my head open and take out my brain. All the parents I knew and experienced were like that, but they weren’t like that.”

“……”

“When I saw them, I knew that love was not a vain illusion, but a real thing.”

Hyeon Gyu-ha slowly lowered his lips to the back of In Yoo-shin’s hand while lifting the hand he was holding. As if he was paying him the respect he had not been able to pay to Kim Ji-won and Kim Jeong-hoon. Carefully and reverently.

“A child who grows up receiving their love will surely grow up to be a beautiful and shining person.”

“………………Just because the parents are good people doesn’t mean the children will be the same.”

“You think so? I don’t think so.”

Even in the deep darkness, Hyeon Gyu-ha’s expression was kind as he looked at himself and smiled brightly, so In Yoo-shin closed his eyes. My parents had to survive, not me. An old emotion sat in my throat and I swallowed it painfully.

Hyeon Gyu-ha covered him with a blanket and gently stroked his shoulders as if he was sleeping well.

[Current status: Murderous. Affectionate. Anxious.]

Who is the one who is really anxious? In Yoo-shin bit his lips, holding onto the hand he was holding tightly as if he was clinging to warmth. Like Hyeon Gyu-ha, who had unhesitatingly told me about his painful past that had only left him with scars, I hoped that one day I would gain the same courage.

At that time, I hope I can also embrace his anxiety.

The strength in the hand that was holding him also disappeared, and the unsteady and scattered breathing became even. Only then did Hyeon Gyu-ha lower his head and let out a thin breath that he had been holding back.

He was worried that if he held his dangling hand too tightly, he might wake him up, so he just held it carefully with both hands. As if embracing his warm body temperature, Hyeon Gyu-ha silently whispered the words that were on his mind.

I will try not to become someone you don't need, because I will.

“………………Please don’t abandon me like my mother.”

***

The world was still in an uproar due to the dungeon boss regenerating from the crystal stone. It would be even more turbulent now that the crystal stone had completely disappeared.

The public was concerned about the power plant using the hidden boss's crystal stone, but they were also noisy about Hyeon Gyu-ha, who hunted the hidden boss alone. Perhaps because it was news that was also receiving attention overseas, there were many more comments from foreigners than usual.

“Hey, hey. It looks like everything has been revealed, including the fact that my boyfriend was kidnapped? That’s the driving force behind why my Hyung-nim was able to hunt alone. Now that it’s come to this, let’s create a hunter unit made up of lovers like in ancient Greece.”

In Yoo-shin, who was extremely embarrassed, hit Park Seung-gi's snout with a pillow as he muttered English comments like 'power of love'. I could completely understand Gong Tae-seong's feelings as he hit the back of Jang Beom's head.

Hyeon Gyu-ha handed a plate to Park Seung-gi, who had come to visit In Yoo-shin and his friend in the hospital under the pretext of checking on their progress. It was the apple he had been peeling diligently for a while.

"Hyung-nim. Thank you for the food……………… Awesome."

“……Gasp.”

Since it took a long time, I thought he might be carved into rabbit shapes. However, the apples were shaped like swans and peacocks, which took even more effort, and were placed on the plate perfectly plated.

Park Seung-gi let out a sigh and quickly took out his phone, and In Yoo-shin also touched the camera app. Click, click, click. For a while, only the sound of taking pictures echoed in the hospital room.

"When did you learn all this, hyung-nim?"

“I practiced for a bit in the morning while watching YouTube.”

"That's amazing. You said you've never peeled an apple before."

In Yoo-shin also stuck out his tongue. He really was someone who could do anything. But why was he the only one who could drive like that……. He quickly cleared his mind because he felt like the trauma from that day would come rushing back if he thought about it any deeper.

At Park Seung-gi’s request to show how to peel it just once and In Yoo-shin’s bright eyes, Hyeon Gyu-ha picked up the apple and the fruit again, and In Yoo-shin diligently filmed. How can he peel the apple so thinly? It seemed like the scenery was reflected behind the peel.

'It's a shame to watch it alone. It would be good if Gyu-ha-ssi also had something like Instagram.'

If Hyeon Gyu-ha starts SNS, I should pretend to be a fan and secretly leave comments.

He also met Kwon Seong-gil in the hospital room after a long time. Lee Hye-yeon also wanted to come with him, but she was too busy with the aftercare and couldn't find the time, so she apologized. In the evening, Manager Kim and Kim Ji-yeon visited as representatives of the office. He was very hurt because he was hospitalized for a reason that was no more than a joke, but he was very happy that he came to visit.

After all the visitors left, he looked around the hospital room, which had become much quieter. Surely there weren't hidden cameras or recorders installed in the room?

“How did you steal the hidden boss crystal?”

Hyeon Gyu-ha, who was carving a rose on a watermelon, blinked his eyebrows.

“That came out of nowhere.”

“Guests kept coming in and out so I didn’t have time to ask about that”

“Um, well. Given that he's the Master who even knows my secret three sizes, I guess I did think he would have noticed.”

“Gyu-ha-ssi, I’ve never heard of your three-size.”

“You can’t tell even after touching it? Then you can touch it again. I’ll take off my clothes first so that you can measure the exact size.”

“T-this is a hospital!”

He quickly grabbed Hyeon Gyu-ha’s wrist, who was really trying to take it off, but instead, his wrist was grabbed. He smiled and tilted his head. He could feel his breath thinly reaching the tip of his nose.

“You think you know my lips?”

In Yoo-shin swallowed hard. If I said I didn't know, he'd probably kiss me telling me to check, and if I said I did know, he'd probably kiss me telling me to re-check if I was certain. Since the outcome was clearly going to be a kiss either way, I just slightly lowered and closed my eyes.

But that was it. Hyeon Gyu-ha’s breath that had seemed to lightly brush against his lips wandered in the air for a moment before moving away. Instead, a light kiss came down on his closed eyelids.

“…….”

When he opened his eyes, Hyeon Gyu-ha was in front of me with the same expression. He couldn't ask him why he didn't kiss him, so he continued talking while he was mumbling.

“I ripped the crystal stone from the hidden boss’s body and injected my mana into it at the same time. Even if you meet that grandmother, time doesn’t pass even for a second in reality.”

“Ah, so at that time…………………”

In Yoo-shin recalled that Hyeon Gyu-ha had been holding something like a lump of flesh in his hand as he emerged from the hidden boss’s back. That must have been the crystal stone.

"This time, the grandmother is on Saturday, it seems. On this occasion, want to check out how the crystal stone turned out?"

In the inventory, Hyeon Gyu-ha pulled out two large and small red lumps of flesh. The two bloody lumps of flesh squirmed and merged into one. In Yoo-shin swallowed a spurt of vomit without realizing it.

"This is a bit………………”

“It’s gross, right?”

"yes……………."

“Well, there are only two left. I’m sorry for surprising you at the auction house. Yoo-shin-ssi also saw it in the system è……..…… Ah, I can’t pronounce it again. Anyway, that’s the bloodline of that so-and-so.”

Hyeon Gyu-ha took out another object from the inventory. It was the same pendant he had seen at the store.

As he calmly examined the pendant with blood-red liquid sloshing inside the engraved glass, a sense of foreboding that he had not felt in the hurried auction house faintly tickled his nerves. If I had seen such an impressive pendant, I would not have easily forgotten it.

“I upgraded its performance last time. Since there were no visible changes, I never thought that I would be able to change the world line even with the Hidden Boss’s Crystal Stone. If I had known sooner……………….”

"I'm really okay. Other than the big wound, I wasn't even hurt. By the way.”

In Yoo-shin hurriedly cut off his self-reproachful words. Now that one question had been resolved, it was time to ask another.

“Gyu-ha-ssi, you have a lot of artifacts, right?”

“I don’t avoid fighting, so I have killed them and taken some, and I have also gotten some from dungeons.”

“Then, you don’t have any artifacts that have functions similar to GPS? Oh, so you can use them to track people?”

“………………Why all of a sudden?”

"I hope you put it on me so that I don't disappear like last time and you don't have to look for me. Even if that doesn't happen, wouldn't you feel less anxious if you could know where I am when we're apart?"

“……”

He asked just in case, but somehow Hyeon Gyu-ha's reaction was strange.

***

HM: Man…. HGH did this ages ago. You don’t even need to ask about this.

------

Credits:

Translator: Hoshi Miya

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