Chapter 94: Being Himself
Chapter 94: Being Himself
At the same time Joon-yong cast his magic spell, Ji-woo also threw one of his daggers vigorously to passed through the magic.
Seon-ho took extra effort to block the dagger from injuring Joon-yong. Luckily, the weapon only scratched their cheeks.
Meanwhile, Ji-woo had no trouble at all with the fire magic. He utterly dispelled the flames in the shape of a dragon with his hands.
Ji-woo looked at Seon-ho and Joon-yong, whose cheeks were dripping blood from the cut. Their expressions were both grave and confused.
“Who are you?”
“Are you hiding your Mana?”
Ji-woo instead shifted his gaze to Dong-hyun instead of answering the questions of the two hunters.
Dong-hyun put on a frightened face. He shuddered to see Ji-woo kill five hunters in a matter of minutes. In his entire life, he had never been in a situation where he had to kill or see a kill between hunters. In his days with the Demigod guild, he only knew how to exterminate the Portal Gate creatures. Nothing else but that.
Ji-woo relaxed his posture and patted his left shoulder with the back of the dagger’s blade.
“It doesn’t matter who I am. What matters is whether I die here or the two of you will be the ones that die.”
“Nonsense!!”
“Heh, nice bluffing!”
Ji-woo stopped his mockery and attacked both Seon-ho and Joon-yong.
Seon-ho struck back with an intense swing of the sword. Meanwhile, Joon-yong behind him cast a magic spell.
“Magic of Lighting, Paralyzed Arc!”
Joon-yong put his hands on the ground and shot thin streams of lightning that passed through Seon-ho and headed straight for Ji-woo.
The streams of lightning managed to hit Ji-woo through his legs. Joon-yong and Seon-ho grin at the sight, thinking they’ve managed to hold back Ji-woo’s movement. But contrary to what the two of them thought. Ji-woo kept speeding toward them, and the streams of lightning vanished in the blink of an eye. It took them by surprise.
Ji-woo then swung the dagger in his left hand at Seon-ho, who stopped in surprise. He slashed into the neck, and Seon-ho’s head fell to the ground, unable to respond to the attack.
Joon-yong woke up from his shock and immediately used his sword to fend off the dagger’s attack that came at him. There was a sharp sound of steel clashing against each other. He managed to get past Ji-woo’s attack and thought he had escaped a catastrophe. He turned around and instead got welcomed by a dagger flying into his head.
Ji-woo, in an instant, cleared up the troublemakers. He then picked up the dagger he threw at the beginning and pulled another one on Joon-yong’s head. He wiped the blood on the two weapons on the Kevlar vest.
Now, everything that could stand in his way was gone. It was time for him to take the dungeon loot. He put the two daggers in the bag. Three Magic Crystals and one Magic Stone were also included, along with the other items. His Spatial Bag contained two sets of Golden Armor suits, 12 Magic Crystals, five Magic Stones, two Daggers, one Golden Spear, and the Wooden Bow.
Ji-woo was lucky with the results he obtained, having tasted the bitterness of going bankrupt overnight previously.
“Get up. Let’s go back.” He said to Dong-hyun, who was still shaking on the ground while holding the Dungeon Bead.
Dong-hyun tried to keep his composure and got up from the ground. He forced a smile and tried to act as if he wasn’t bothered by the killing.
“Yes, hyung.”
Ji-woo, with an icy cold gaze, stared at Dong-hyun for a moment. Then returned his face to the Dungeon Bead and destroyed it.
Zip, Zip–
Both Ji-woo and Dong-hyun came out of the tier-4 Portal Gate. He believed that the higher the level of the Portal Gate, the more profit one would get. He only considered the previous tier-4 Portal Gate to be an anomaly. And didn’t want to bother about it.
Ji-woo massaged his neck and shoulders. He decided to bring the Kevlar vest back to clean the blood and bid his farewell to Dong-hyun.
“I’m going home. I’ll return this Kevlar vest later after I clean it. See you later.”
Ji-woo preferred to leave Dong-hyun alone than explain why he committed the murder. He was not interested in justifying whatever he did to other people. However, that didn’t mean he thought what he did was wrong. He just did what he felt had to get done, just that.
After all, what Dong-hyun went through wasn’t as bad as when it was the person who killed a human for the first time. It usually caused to vomit and feel disgusted with what that person had done.
“Hyung, thank you very much for coming because of my invitation. And also for saving me. Sorry for making it difficult for you.”
Dong-hyun bowed and felt grateful to Jiwoo. He didn’t ask why Ji-woo killed those hunters or his friend, who couldn’t be called a friend. He didn’t want to get curious about it.
Ji-woo stopped in his tracks and turned his face to Dong-hyun.
“Are you able to keep your faith because you’re so strong? Or, are you so strong because you always keep your faith?”
“Hyung, what do you mean?”
Ji-woo asked about Dong-hyun’s determination and possible philosophy toward humans. That was because when faced with Portal Gate creatures, Dong-hyun’s spirit could get pumped, but when faced with fellow hunters, he was like a pushover.
Dong-hyun ended up getting nervous and was asked a question without an explanation. And after being silent for a while, he honestly answered.
“Strong because of my faith?”
Ji-woo shook his head at Dong-hyun’s answer and continued to speak.
“You don’t need to hide your fear. Just because you don’t stutter when you speak doesn’t mean you can stop your hands from shaking. It’s obvious.”
Dong-hyun got startled and clasped his hands together to stop the shaking.
Ji-woo took a deep breath and said. “Our situation is neither. Faith? Philosophy? Those things don’t matter in life or death situations. We are strong because of the will to survive.”
“Wouldn’t we be crazy if we only thought about surviving without thinking about anything else?”
“We survive because something is holding us back from falling into the pit of insanity. Something precious like family, friends, partner, or whatever we think is important. It’s to keep us sane enough to move on with our lives.”
Donghyun lowered his head. He still believed that humans should not kill other humans. But, he didn’t want to refute what Ji-woo said. In fact, he survived because he wanted to live. He didn’t want to give himself up again, like when he was about to get scorched by the golden dragon.
“Although, I could just beat them up and let them live. But, I don’t like to let the seeds of trouble growing in the future that will trouble me later. There is also no guarantee that my family as a priority is far from these seeds if I have mercy on them.
“You don’t have to agree with me if your heart and mind are against it. Just do whatever you want. But, one thing you need to remember. This is the real me, and I’m fine with my rules.”
Ji-woo then walked away from Dong-hyun while waving his hand. He didn’t expect to explain and try to justify himself in front of his junior. It was probably out of guilt for attempting to get Dong-hyun to kill those hunters who were about to kill them.
Ji-woo cleaned his clothes in the laundry place before going home and meeting his family. He already had plans for tomorrow.
At home, Ji-woo took a shower and had dinner with his mother and little sister afterward. He also had private time with his little sister to talk about his job as a hunter.
“I’m afraid something will happen to you, and it will make Eomma suffer as she did to our late father,” Ji-won spoke sullenly.
Haha–
Ji-woo laughed lightly. “You don’t have to worry about that. Even though I can’t promise you anything, your brother is strong. So, nothing will happen to me.”
“Oppa, how did you become strong and become a hunter? Did this happen a long time ago? The one with your friend who pulled me into the alley?”
“Yeah, it seems like it’s been a while. But I just signed up to be a hunter. For now, it’s a job I have to do. I can take care of you both like when I was at the evacuation site.”
“So, what happened to that friend of yours? Did you two fight?”
Ji-woo got up from his seat on Ji-won’s bed. He came closer and pinched Ji-won’s cheek.
“Ahh! Oppa! It hurts!”
“We didn’t fight. It was just a misunderstanding. That friend already apologized to me.
“Go to sleep. You have school tomorrow. Also, you don’t have to worry about housework. Your Oppa can help Eomma a little.”
Ji-woo smiled and turned off the lights in Ji-won’s room. Even though it was a little, he was happy to be a big brother to his sister.