Chapter 58: Tired of Living
Chapter 58: Tired of Living
Ji-woo was going home after parting ways with Dong-hyun at the bus stop. On the way, he thought about the next steps needed to ensure the safety of his family and his mother’s debt. In the end, he decided to take a short break from hunting with the guild. It took too long to collect the money he desired even though he got paid quite a lot.
Ji-woo’s plan required a lot of money. In addition to paying debts, he also needed it for his purposes. For example, buy a factory to forge his weapons and items. In another inclusion, he likewise aspired to form a small agency whose job was to gather all intelligence from all over the place. Since he had already decided to dip his hands into the bloodbath, he couldn’t do it half-heartedly.
The surroundings were quiet, and there was no one around there. All of a sudden, screams come from the alley where Ji-woo was walking.
“Let go of my hand! If not, I’ll report it to the police!”
Ji-woo, who was deep in thought, stopped in his tracks after hearing a familiar voice. He looked to the right side in the night. The dim light from the streetlamps gave vision to where the screams were coming from it.
“Let it go!”
The screaming girl continued to struggle to free herself from the man’s grip.
“Speak of the devil! The nerd is here. What a coincidence!”
The man’s voice turned the girl’s attention towards the street outside the alley. The two then saw Ji-woo, who was standing some distance away from them.
“Tsk, girl. Look. Your Oppa is here now. Sigh, if only you had done what I said earlier to summon him. We wouldn’t have a hassle like this, would we?”
“O-Oppa!? Ji-woo Oppa!?”
Kim Ji-won’s voice trembled. Her eyes became red and teary with fear as she tried to get away from the man that dragged her.
“Hey, nerd. How dare you hang up and block me!? You ungrateful bastard!”
Tae-ha was dissatisfied with how Ji-woo treated him like nothing. Even though he was already kind as the first one that greeted Ji-woo, he didn’t like the nerd acting like he was important.
Someone who had always got ostracized dared to look down on him, Jung Tae-ha!?
Hahaha–
“Have you lost your mind!? Dare to ignore me!”
Tae-ha thought Ji-woo was terrified now that he had seen him just stand still and did not give any response, even when his sister was on the verge of tears.
However, before Tae-ha could yell at Ji-woo again, he suddenly felt a sharp sense of coldness and a wicked fear downing upon him. It gave him goosebumps, and his whole body shuddered.
Ji-woo, who stood doing nothing at the front of the alley, gave off an aura that was stronger and more terrifying than the one he showed at the Portal Gate earlier. His eyes widened, and he glared at Tae-ha in anger.
Tae-ha loosened his grip, and Ji-won was finally able to move freely. But instead of running away, she trembled and fell with her butt to the ground.
The aura that Ji-woo emitted was not limited to Tae-ha alone. Even Ji-won could feel it. It happened because of the enrage that suddenly surged inside Ji-woo that made him lose control of his powers for a moment.
And it didn’t take long before Ji-woo could suppress his rage despite the veins still bulging on his forehead and hands. The aura of fear dissipated immediately, and both Ji-won and Tae-ha subsequently could catch their breath.
“Ah, where are my manners when someone is talking? I’m so sorry about that.
“Ji-won~ah, you can go back home now and don’t have to worry about what’s here. I’ll take care of it.”
Ji-woo spoke with his icy cold gaze, natural placid expression.
“Y-You, f-fu*king nerd! Who do you think you are that can do whatever you like in front of m-me!”
Tae-ha managed to get a hold of himself. He convinced himself that his previous fear was just an illusion. The pressure he felt from the aura was much more tremendous than Ji-won since Ji-woo had the power of the Nullifier as opposed to Mana. So, the hunters would feel more threatened than ordinary people when facing Ji-woo’s aura directly.
“Kim. Ji. Won. I said ‘NOW’!”
Ji-woo’s loud voice startled Ji-won and Tae-ha. But the two had different reactions. Ji-won quickly stood up even though she was still scared and shaking, while Tae-ha just froze on the spot.
Ji-won ran breathlessly out of the alley into the street. And before she turned to her right side, Ji-woo said something to comfort her sister while smiling. “Everything will be fine. I’ll be following you home soon. You can trust this brother of yours.”
Ji-won could only nod while sobbing. Ji-woo’s words made her hesitate, whether to report to the police or just run away without doing anything. But she knew. If she got involved in this, then the situation would be more complicated for her brother.
By the time Ji-won left, Ji-woo’s expression had drastically changed. The smile and eyes that showed affection disappeared in an instant. Instead, he looked at Tae-ha with cold, sunken eyes and said. “I saw a bruise on my sister’s wrist, and you are going to pay for it. There’s no path of return from here on.”
Tae-ha grits his teeth. “F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! I-I’m a D-rank hunter, d-don’t mess with me if you dare!” He then swiftly cast a magic spell.
“Magic of Fire, Flare eruptions!”
Ji-woo instantly disappeared and left an afterimage of where he was standing.
Haaa!
Zreet, Dheg–
Tae-ha’s left hand fell to the ground. It got a clean cut on the forearm as it got sliced by something sharp. He didn’t expect Ji-woo to appear in front of him in the blink of an eye to thwart his magic spell by hitting him with a fist.
A punch strong enough to cut through the forearm like a sword slashing through the flesh and the bone.
“Aaargk…”
Tplak–
Tae-ha’s scream of pain had stopped because Ji-woo choked his mouth.
Mhhm! Mhm!
“Shhh. Don’t make a fuss. My ears hurt to hear it.”
Ji-woo lifted Tae-ha off the ground with his grip and looked like he saw an insignificant insect.
“Say, you are a pathetic and disgusting bastard, aren’t you? Previously, if you had heeded my advice to f*ck off. You wouldn’t have lost a hand like you are now.”
Ji-woo released his grip and launched a casual punch in Tae-ha’s stomach.
Duag!
Uhuk, Uhuk–
Tae-ha fell to the ground. He was in misery and was holding his stumped left arm while coughing from suffocation. He then raised his face while kneeling.
“What! Did! You…”
Paak! Paak!
“Be quiet,” Ji-woo said after slapping Tae-ha in the face back and forth.
“You..”
Paak! Paak!
“I told you, quiet.”
Ji-woo once again slapped Tae-ha’s cheeks to make him shut his mouth.
The slaps made Tae-ha like a frightened child in the corner. He bit his lip while enduring the pain. Currently, Tae-ha couldn’t digest what was happening to him. One thing was for sure, the nerd in front of him was much stronger than the hunters he had ever known. And Ji-woo was not like the nerd he remembered from high school either.
Ji-woo crouched down in front of Tae-ha. He just stared into Taeha’s eyes without saying any word, causing stillness in the night.
Tae-ha grew increasingly uneasy with the silence as he immediately opened his mouth and stammered.
“I-I’m sorry. I-I won’t bother… No, no. I will get out of your life and act as if this has n-never happened at all. So please, s-spare my life.”
However, Ji-woo’s reaction to Tae-ha’s plea was downright ridiculous. He just showed a devilish grin on his face, enough to make Tae-ha shiver. The devil who had shown his smirk at Dong-hyun before appeared in front of Tae-ha now.
Plak!
Ji-woo suddenly covered his mouth with his right hand, removed the devil’s arrogant look.
‘Oops! Not good. I just had an envision, in which I separated this brat’s head from the body, snapping it with both of my hands.’
If Ji-woo killed Tae-ha in that way, it would be difficult to clean up the mess without the help of a third party. He also noticed the side effects of the Nullifier were getting worse. It was the second time this had happened outside of fighting and got triggered by the rage.
Duagh–
Ji-woo hit Tae-ha on the tip of the jaw. The blow wasn’t too hard, but enough to knock Tae-ha unconscious. He then stops the bleeding on Tae-ha’s arm by tying it up using Tae-ha’s shirt.
Ji-woo carried Tae-ha’s body on his shoulder and also did not forget about the severed hand.
Luckily, jumping between buildings at night wouldn’t attract attention.
Ji-woo decided to throw Tae-ha into the Portal Gate he saw on the way to the tier-3 Portal Gate earlier. That Portal Gate still didn’t have a lookout house for the gatekeeper since its new property that recently acquired by the Demigod guild.
Ji-woo had no interest in letting a troublemaker like Tae-ha roaming around. People like that would likely be bound to make trouble again in the future when they got forgiveness.
After clearing things up, Ji-woo finally returned to his home. His clothes were a bit dirty, and there were a few bloodstains. But, as long as no one was paying close inspection and not in a brightly lit place. It would not be visible.
“Huh!?
“What are you doing here? Are you not going home? Where’s mom?”
Ji-woo saw Ji-won standing some distance away from their house. He noticed Ji-won was shaking and didn’t dare get close to him. But, he only smiled faintly.
“Heh, right. Your Oppa is scary. So you have to be nice and show some respect to me if you don’t want me to scold you. Okay!?”
Ji-woo tried to joke and pinched Ji-won’s cheek.
“Aaa… Auch! It hurts! Oppa, let go!”
Ji-woo released his pinch and walked toward the house while making a gesture for Ji-won to follow him.
“Let’s go home.”
Ji-won just nodded while holding her cheek that got hurt from being pinched. Her uneasiness was washed away by Ji-woo’s actions. She was glad that the one in front of her was still her brother despite the incident earlier.