Unlike before, his voice was very small, devoid of laughter, whispered, and he barely opened his mouth.
It was as if… he intended for only me to hear it.
“I will somehow manage the situation outside, so you only think of Jehee.”
“…”
I heard it with my ears, yet I couldn’t understand the content at face value.
…Was he serious?
Suspicion was my first thought.
Was he waiting for the moment I tried to enter the Gate?
Or was this Gate actually the wrong one?
I couldn’t be sure of anything, but confronting Father right now to ask if he was sincere or not didn’t seem like a good idea.
Everyone around would see.
While I hesitated, Father clinched the matter.
“Have a safe trip.”
I didn’t fully understand the situation, but at least, I could feel the sincerity in his voice.
He was truly rooting for me.
“…Yes.”
As soon as I gave a short reply, I leaped into the Gate.
The feeling was strange.
To be precise, I still didn’t understand the situation.
So… did Father deliberately let me enter the Gate?
By provoking my anger and leading me to take him hostage?
If I thought that way, Father’s actions made a certain amount of sense.
For example, Father is an A-class.
He is one of the few highest-ranked individuals present, even including the injured Cha Taeyang.
He is the rank that would receive the least punishment when I, an S-class, resorted to using force.
Also, there were many Hunters guarding the area around the Gate at the time.
They were elite members prepared in case the rampaging Jehee escaped the Gate.
If I had forcibly tried to break through them, no matter how careful I was, I might have surely injured someone.
If I hadn’t broken through in one go, the situation would have escalated even more.
Even for me, in a state of impatience, facing a large number of people carried a high possibility of hurting someone.
I would also have lost strength proportional to the time spent in confrontation and the number of people.
But because I took the Director of the Hunter Management Bureau hostage, and because the Director of the Hunter Management Bureau obediently followed my lead, I was able to step inside the Gate without confronting the other Hunters.
‘If he provoked me on purpose to do this…’
Was Father truly sincere in trying to send me to Jehee?
Or was I just interpreting his actions with goodwill because we are related by blood? It was confusing.
‘Even if I couldn’t be the kind older man Jehee trusted and followed, he should have at least acted like the ‘Director of the Hunter Management Bureau.’ If he had…!’
If my conjecture was true… today’s Father might indeed be acting as the ‘Director of the Hunter Management Bureau.’
At least he didn’t openly violate regulations, nor did he completely abandon the S-class Hunter who was rampaging beyond help; he made what he considered the best choice.
If I succeed in this situation, it would be the perfect outcome.
“…”
My mind felt tangled with thick vines.
It was dark and complicated, and neither my reason nor my emotions were neatly sorted out.
I shook my head.
‘Just focus on Jehee.’
In any case, the important thing was that Jehee was clearly here.
Still far away, but Jehee’s presence was clearly felt.
I had to get her out quickly.
The inside of the Gate was truly pitch black.
To the extent that even I, who was so carefree as to forget past memories rather than be left with trauma, briefly recalled that time, back then.
It wasn’t exactly the same, though.
Unlike that time when the presence and cries of monsters echoed everywhere and struck us with fear, this place, despite being a Gate, felt strangely devoid of any monster presence.
With the surroundings pitch black and no monsters around, it was enough to make me doubt if I was truly a living person existing here.
At least there were land features, and I was on high alert to track Jehee, so I could tell…
— Keeng.
Just then, a very faint sound echoed in my ears.
I instinctively backed away, and the space where I had just been gaped open like a monster’s mouth before vanishing.
I couldn’t see it with my eyes because of the darkness, but I definitely felt it.
If I had stayed in that spot, I would now be…
A chill ran through my entire body.
“Ah.”
Only then did I understand why there was no presence of monsters inside the Gate.
It was Jehee.
Jehee had torn all the monsters to shreds.
‘Bloodlust…’
Just like in the mountain where I found the missing Jehee during the camping trip, the area was once again filled with the bloodlust scattered by Jehee.
No, it wasn’t exactly the same.
Proving Jehee’s brilliant growth over the years, it was much sharper, more intense, and more painful than before.
It was clear that most Hunters would be paralyzed with fear or have their stomachs turn just by encountering this bloodlust, unable to unleash even 30% of their power.
— Keeng!
Furthermore, the void continued to be torn apart, even in a situation where I couldn’t properly see an inch ahead.
Now I knew how Cha Taeyang, who had run all around every type of scene, from places everyone entered to places others avoided, ended up with such a big injury.
It was almost a relief that it ended just like that.
“Haa…”
I sighed deeply after avoiding yet another attack.
The bloodlust was definitely scattering my focus, but Jehee’s presence was still hard to pinpoint, and her exact location couldn’t be grasped, suggesting she was still quite far away from me.
To be able to accurately target me like this from that distance, in a situation where nothing can be seen.
Truly, her concentration was incredible.
Cha Taeyang had raised Jehee well.
It made sense that she had constantly been named MVP every time she entered a dungeon recently.
I even started to feel sorry for the monsters that stood, or would stand, in Jehee’s way.
— Sizzle. Crackle.
I wondered if Jehee wouldn’t spot me if I lit up the area.
With a sliver of hope, I floated spheres of white electricity in various spots, making the area bright enough to see my toes.
The darkness was still thick all around, but at least my immediate surroundings were brightly lit.
— Keeng.
“…Ugh.”
But Jehee’s attack didn’t stop.
With Jehee’s eyesight, which had been extremely improved upon awakening, she should have already been able to see me, the only brightly glowing mass in this darkness.
She should have recognized that I was human, not a monster.
Despite this, Jehee was continuously attacking me.
The more I raised my ability, the stronger and sharper she tried to tear me apart.
It seemed like she couldn’t distinguish between whether I was human or a monster at all.
Perhaps, she had already ‘lost her sight.’
A bitter smile formed on my lips.
‘You’re truly incredible, Jung Jehee.’
To wield an attack with this level of accuracy while completely unable to see anything.
Her detection ability might even surpass mine.
In the end, I made the spheres that were lighting up the surroundings disappear again.
The surroundings once again became pitch black, but that wasn’t important right now.
I lowered my stance, pushed off the ground with my legs, and dashed forward.
‘Let’s just get to her side quickly.’
Even while attacking me, Jehee must be constantly expending herself.
And that would drive Jehee further towards her limit.
I had to calm her down before Jehee completely broke.
I had to reach her as quickly as possible.
To do that, there was no other choice but to charge forward without looking back.
— Keeng. Keeng. Keeeng.
Had she been able to capture presences well even in the dark because she had lived without sight for a long time?
Or had she magnified her senses and abilities several times over in the face of extreme trauma?
Even though I had watched all the recent videos of Jehee’s activities posted online, her capacity was beyond imagination.
She was even improving at this very moment, tearing space more quickly and sharply to obstruct me as I approached her.
My clothes were torn, some of the attacks even inflicted wounds on various parts of my body, and a few times I was nearly swallowed up if not for my defensive artifact, but I still did not slow my pace.
It was okay to get hurt.
As long as I could reach Jehee, even if I got hurt and became a wreck, and as long as Jehee could find stability a little sooner, I could gladly give up a part of my body.
— Keeng.
“Ugh.”
How long did I run in a trance?
Despite trying to dodge, I ended up exhausting all the defensive artifacts I had, and now I was faced with a situation where I might truly have to sacrifice a part of my body.
Just when my chest tightened, worrying about Jehee feeling distressed if she hurt me, I felt the presence of Jehee, curled up and collapsed on the floor, in the far distance.
“Jehee!”
If I could feel her presence, my voice should reach her, too.
Immediately, I called out Jehee’s name with all my might, until my throat felt like it would tear.
To the extent that the voice modulation artifact I was wearing to hide my identity couldn’t fully function.
But right now, minor details didn’t matter.
I trusted that it was still better than Im Taehwan’s voice coming out exactly as it was.
‘Did it work?’
The sound of space being torn, which had constantly echoed, was no longer heard.
The bloodlust that filled the area was still present, but its sharpness had diminished, as if she had switched to a state of alert rather than attack.
There was hope.
I sprayed potion on my injuries to soothe the wounds and slowly approached the direction where Jehee was.
I moved carefully not to provoke her while she was extremely sensitive.
