I’d heard that question when we first met. When I first met Yu Hanul, I immediately recognized his soul, but he hadn’t recognized mine.
And yet he still asked a question like that… Is it a swordsman’s intuition?
Thinking about it that way was downright frightening. That a swordsman who couldn’t even see souls might sense something just by instinct alone.
To put it simply, the biggest problem in this situation was this: If Yu Hanul were to recall his past life and realize who I really was, would he be someone capable of eliminating me?
The answer came quickly.
…Honestly, the chances aren’t low.
Being a hero doesn’t mean being generous to others. In the end, he’s only a hero because he wields a sword and cuts down enemies who threaten humanity; to reach that level as a swordsman, one must have gone through countless killings. Someone who is unconditionally merciful could never become a hero. So if, by his own standards, he judged me to be “evil,” there was more than enough chance that he would raise his sword against me.
And if that happened, the means I currently had to oppose him were…
“Grrr…”
“Me!”
Yeah, no chance.
Leo, whose size was almost on par with Yu Hanul’s fist, protested from my arms, but I ignored him. No matter how hard I tried, if Yu Hanul truly intended to kill me, there was no way for the current “Jeong Daon” to respond. That was obvious without even considering it. In other words, there was only one choice left to me.
“Achoo.”
I had to create a situation where I didn’t have to answer.
“Oh, are you okay?”
Just standing there and letting out a small cough was enough to make Yu Hanul flinch. In the end, he was the type who couldn’t ignore someone weaker than himself. Late at night, in the cold winter, realizing that he had dragged out someone younger than himself and was saying strange things, his expression sharpened as if cold water had been splashed on him. “I’m sorry. You must be tired, and I suddenly called you out…”
“Mm, it’s not so much that I’m tired… or maybe I am? I used a kind of magic I’m not used to.”
“Magic you’re not used to?”
“Yeah. When I found you, I saw a healing magic circle in the system tutorial and cast it. I thought it might help. But since it didn’t seem to work, maybe I cast it wrong.”
"Ah..." Yu Hanul blinked.
Since it wouldn’t be easy to completely erase the residual mana Yu Hanul had sensed from me, I covered it up by saying I’d miscast a healing spell.
“And strictly speaking, you didn’t call me out. I came out because I heard a car in front of the house.”
"That's..."
“Reporters keep coming to the house these days. If it had been reporters again, I was planning to splash them with cold water or something.”
When I reminded him of my situation with words that subtly prodded his sense of guilt, Yu Hanul’s expression darkened immediately. “…In this weather? I wouldn’t really recommend fighting with the media…”
“They have to be that annoying. It’s a nuisance to my family too. My brother only got a job not long ago. I don’t want to bother him because of me.”
Bringing up a difficult family situation on top of that—
It became hard for him to press further based on nothing more than a vague hunch.
“Ah… I see.” Sure enough, he hesitated, then spoke carefully. “I’m sorry for coming so late. For a moment… I think something was wrong with me. That was my mistake.”
“It’s fine. You’re not feeling well, so that can happen. Your injuries are serious, right?”
“No, not that serious. Um… yeah. I should get going now.”
“Okay. Take care.” I took Leo’s paw and waved it.
Yu Hanul raised his eyebrows at Leo but didn’t say anything. He must have realized that Leo wasn’t an ordinary cat, but also that this wasn’t the right situation to pry.
“Then I’ll see you later, Daon.”
Click. Yu Hanul got into the car, closed the door, and started the engine. I watched him disappear for a moment, then closed the gate and went back inside.
“Should I sprinkle some salt or something…”
No, in this case, would I be the one getting exorcised? Against Yu Hanul, I’d be the evil spirit, after all. Either way, I’d managed to get through one turn safely with quick improvisation…
My face twisted into a frown on its own. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Yu Hanul recalled his past-life memories, especially since the system itself seemed intent on helping Yu Hanul remember his past life. From the system’s perspective, it had to identify who the “Enemy of Humanity” threatening humanity’s survival was.
But wasn’t my own safety being put at risk like this?
“Hey, you stupid collective intelligence.”
The system is listening to the user.
“If Yu Hanul recalls his past-life memories, is it really certain that he’ll be able to reveal where that “Enemy of Humanity” is right now?”
The system is making its best efforts for the survival of humanity.
A conclusion has been reached. If User “Yu Hanul” regains his past-life memories, it will be helpful in tracking down the “Enemy of Humanity”.
“I doubt that so-called conclusion to begin with.”
Considering that this system is not a convenient tool that solves everything, but rather a collective intelligence of humanity, isn’t it obvious that it fundamentally cannot escape the limits of human intelligence? From the outset, it detected a threat and determined that an “Enemy of Humanity” exists, so why on earth does it not know who that target is?
No, at this point, there’s another question that needs to be asked. Just how is this “Enemy of Humanity” currently avoiding the system’s notice?
Aside from evading the system itself, the way I did before it forcibly made contact with me, there doesn’t seem to be any other method that comes to mind…
The system requests that “Jeong Daon” provide support to “Yu Hanul.”
“Ah, enough. Just shut up.”
The conclusion had been reached.
From now on, I’ll avoid contact with Yu Hanul as much as possible.
At least until Yu Hanul concludes that the aftereffects left by the “Self-Exploration” spell were merely a delusion caused by his injuries or until I recover enough stats to survive even if he regains his memories. If that turns out to be impossible, then, just like in my previous life, Yu Hanul can save the world on his own.
“Was this truly the right thing to do?”
The hero’s words, which I had glimpsed in Yu Hanul’s memories, suddenly came to mind. Why had the hero ever harbored such a doubt? You did more than enough of the right thing.
If killing one person can save ten thousand, then bearing that death is surely the right choice.
So do your best again this time, Hero.
Because it’s a killing necessary for humanity’s survival.
After contracting with Han Jaeyeong, the move proceeded swiftly. And on moving day, the supermarket owner, who had just been discharged from the hospital, came by on purpose to say goodbye.
“Oh dear, this is such a shame, what should I do.”
After holding my hand for a long time, thanking me and wiping away tears, she placed a large plastic bag into Jeong Dajeong’s hands.
“What is this, Grandma?”
“I brought some rice cakes.”
“What?”
“When you move to a new place, shouldn’t you hand out moving rice cakes to the neighbors? These days it’s something only old folks do, but still, some traditions are worth keeping.”
"Oh."
Of course, I knew there was a custom of handing out rice cakes when moving. But since our family hadn’t moved anywhere after leaving the orphanage, and even when we came here we hadn’t been in a position to give out rice cakes, this was the first time I was actually seeing moving rice cakes in person.
“Grandma…” Overcome with emotion, Jeong Dajeong’s voice trembled. “You really didn’t have to go to this trouble.”
“No, I had to at least do this much. Daon’s my lifesaver.”
Well, it’s true that I was the old lady boss’ lifesaver. In truth, I could have just run away on my own, but instead I even got injured to save others. Thinking about it that way, a bag of rice cakes hardly balanced the scales.
No matter how I think about it, I did way too good of a deed. Shouldn’t my stats have recovered a bit more?
I glanced at the system window, but there was no particular response.
Cheapskate.
A savory scent wafted out from the black plastic bag Jeong Dajeong was holding.
“I know how hard you’ve had it all this time, Dajeong. Daon, you’ve worked hard too, but your brother really went through a lot. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“As you’ve done until now, the two of you should continue to live well together from now on too, okay?”
“Um, ma’am—” Sniffling, Jeong Dajeong grabbed the old woman’s hand. “Why are you talking like we’ll never see each other again? I’ll come visit sometimes.”
“Oh, that’s enough. You’ll be busy living your own life. What good would it do to come see an old woman? And now, if Daon comes to our place, the reporters will make a fuss. Don’t come.”
“No, but still…”
“Look at me, I’ve lost my head. I left the shop empty for too long, so I need to hurry back. Kids, I’ll be going now. Have a good move!”
“Goodbye, Boss.” I waved to the old woman.
At any rate, I felt that this more than repaid the kindness from the three years I had worked part-time during high school, and I was grateful that our meeting in that dungeon hadn’t been our last.
“Meowk!”
“Warm!”
“Oh dear, Leo’s trying to climb on top of the rice cakes.”
“He must be cold. Leo, don’t crush the rice cakes, come over here.”
With his original body, he should have been impervious to heat and cold, but perhaps because of the aftereffects of dimensional travel, he’d become a bit weak. After confirming that Leo had burrowed into my padded jacket and settled there, I took the car keys out of my pocket and handed them to Jeong Dajeong.
“I’m driving?”
“Then should I? If you’re fine with an unlicensed driver, I’ll happily do it.”
“Oh, no. I’ll do it.”
Of course, they were the car keys Han Jaeyeong had given me in advance. It was a company vehicle; one of Han Jaeyeong’s guild members had parked it right in front of our house that morning and left. I hadn’t specified a model, but an SUV from a foreign brand famous for its durability had arrived, exactly as I’d hoped.
I’d heard that once you awaken as a Hunter, you gain an inventory where you can store items, but since only items made from dungeon materials can be stored there, people generally prefer SUVs with plenty of storage space. Given how many things are needed for dungeon raids, it made sense.
“It really feels like a fresh start. We’ve said all our goodbyes, so let’s go now.”
“But Daon, are you really sure about this?” Even as he took the keys from me, Jung Dajeong’s expression was dark. “Is it really okay to move like this, practically with nothing…?”
All we’d brought from that house amounted to about two duffel bags. After each of us packed what we needed, that was all there was.
“There wasn’t any furniture in that house worth taking anyway. We’d originally rented it fully furnished, and they said they’d take care of furnishing the new place too.”
“And they even gave us a car.”
“I heard this is just how contracts work for S-rank Hunters.”
“I know, but still…”
“We’ve already settled everything, so stop grumbling and just drive. We’ll be late,” I urged along Jeong Dajeong, who kept fretting, and got into the car.
As he started the engine, he spoke with a conflicted tone. “I mean, moving someday was always the goal, but I never thought it’d happen like this.”
That was true. Ever since he got a job, Jeong Dajeong had been eager to get out of the neighborhood. He probably never imagined it would happen overnight, and because of me, at that.
“Think of it positively. You were always worried about the streets at night being scary.”
“That’s true. And now that you’ve become a Hunter, it’d be ridiculous to keep living here anyway. Still, aren’t the reporters completely insane?”
After the last dungeon break ended, reporters had been stationed around here day and night, constantly trying to get interviews, so Jeong Dajeong seemed thoroughly fed up.
“At least nothing serious happened.”
“Can you really say that nothing happened…?”
“I mean, aside from the reporters.”
In less than a week, I’d been caught up in two dungeon breaks. So far, only I’d been directly involved, but I’d been on edge worrying that another dungeon break might occur while Jeong Dajeong was around or that something might target him specifically. But thinking about it another way, it was also strange that despite targeting me twice in such a short time, there had been no further attempts.
Did they run out of resources to cause dungeon breaks, or was my life never their real goal to begin with?
It was something I wouldn’t know until I caught them and asked directly.
After driving through Seoul’s complicated roads for quite a while, we arrived at the address Han Jaeyeong had given us. The destination was a complex of detached houses.
I liked how strict the security was, starting from the guarded entrance into the complex. Thanks to having given our vehicle number in advance, we passed through easily.
Jeong Dajeong’s mouth fell open at the luxurious exterior. “W-wow. I can’t believe I’m actually coming to a place like this. It’s okay to park here, right?”
“Yeah. Let’s go in.”
Using the key we’d been given beforehand, we entered the house and immediately sensed someone inside. Someone standing in the spacious living room, bathed in sunlight, turned around.
Han Jaeyeong smiled and raised their hand. “Hi.”