Book 2: Chapter 248
“Aak…!
With a scream, Min Ha-rin shot up in her bed. There wasn’t a single drop of blood on her pale face.
When she looked out the window, she saw that it was still dark outside. This meant that she hadn’t slept well today either.
“Huff… huff…”
Her body shook. Her heart pounded in her chest as if she’d just been running at full speed, and her skin was covered in sweat. Her hair was plastered to her face, but she couldn’t even pull it away.
This was because the tips of her trembling fingers were numb and cold as though no blood was being circulated to them. Even her eyes behind her closed eyelids shook uncontrollably.
She had lost something again. She couldn’t keep hold of it.
She’d just found another person that she had begun to grow closer to, but then she had been forced to helplessly watch him die right in front of her eyes.
For Min Ha-rin, helplessness was one of the worst feelings imaginable.
Ever since she’d become a Hunter, she had never encountered a situation where she had no choice but to let someone she knew or cared about die.
It reminded her of when her parents died.
That was why she always did her best to take care of everyone she knew, no matter who they were.
If she saw that someone was going to die, she would do everything she could to save them, even if it meant giving up her own life in the process.
…Lukas.
Her Master saw this as an act of sacred sacrifice. He said that he saw hope in Min Ha-rin, and had great expectations because of that hope.
She’d been proud when she received that compliment. She’d even thought that she was on the right path.
But she wasn’t.
In truth, there was a slightly more twisted reason for Min Ha-rin’s lack of hesitation when it came to throwing away her life.
‘It was self-satisfaction.’
Was it because she wanted to save people? Or because it was the right thing to do?
No. Min Ha-rin didn’t act that way for such a good reason.
Instead, it was because she felt it would be better for her to die than anyone else. She’d been aware of the fact that she’d been thinking this way all along. But she didn’t think she was wrong, even if it was a slightly twisted thought.
But the death of Lee Jong-hak had led her to a realisation.
In truth, Min Ha-rin’s actions were a result of her own selfishness. It wasn’t something that could be gift wrapped in a pretty title like ‘sacrifice’.
“—urp!”
She felt like vomiting. Because of the stress of the Championship, she’d decided to drink a lot of alcohol, something she wasn’t used to.
“Uwek!”
She vomited on the bed.
Alcohol. She’d vomited because of alcohol.
Min Ha-rin had never felt so disgusted in herself.
She felt like she was going to lose her mind. Gasping for breath, she couldn’t help but think about someone.
It was a face that she thought about dozens or even hundreds of times every day.
“…Master.”
As she thought of this face, her mind gradually cooled down, and her body slowly relaxed. It was almost as if she had ingested a sedative.
Knock knock-
Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door.
Min Ha-rin turned to look at the door with her dead eyes.
* * *
There was no response.
Was it because he hadn’t knocked hard enough?
No, that couldn’t be it.
Taking a deep breath, Leo decided to knock on the door once again.
Knock knock-
“…”
Nevertheless, there was still no response from within the room.
He hadn’t come to the wrong place. He was certain that Min Ha-rin, his Senior Sister, was in this room. It seemed that she had hidden her identity when she came here, but Leo’s tracking skills had already reached the level of a master.
With just their personal information, it was possible for him to find someone within a few days unless they meticulously tried to hide themselves.
Did she leave the room?
That wasn’t it either.
He could definitely feel the faint presence within the room.
Knock knock.
Thinking that it was not enough after knocking again and receiving no response, Leo finally opened his mouth.
“…Senior Sister.”
When he muttered these words in a soft voice, there was finally a response within the room.
He heard a muffled shuffling from inside. Then a few small footsteps. Afterward, the room fell silent again. He couldn’t be sure, but he believed that she was standing at the door now.
Did she think that she had misheard his voice?
No. Now that he thought about it, his voice must have changed a lot after five years. After all, he’d already reached puberty and his voice now carried a clear bass undertone.
“It’s me. Leo Freeman.”
“…Junior Brother?”
A weak, trembling voice asked back in confirmation.
Although she couldn’t see him, Leo nodded, happy to hear the voice of his Senior Sister.
“Yeah.”
Click-
The door opened, and a foul odor immediately flowed from the room. Leo almost frowned, but before he could, he became speechless instead.
“…”
Min Ha-rin.
Unlike himself, her appearance hadn’t changed much.
However, her aura was completely different. It was almost as though she was half broken. Her eyes, shrouded in darkness, drifted for a while before finally rising to look at Leo’s face.
“It’s really you, Junior Brother.”
There was a hint of joy in her weak voice.
Leo should have felt the same. However, after seeing Min Ha-rin’s appearance, he felt more worried than glad.
“Yeah. It’s me.”
“You’re safe. I’m glad.
“Senior Sister too.”
“And you got so big. Is everything okay? I found some clues about you. I heard that you were on Desire Island, I intended to go find you later, but-”
“I’m not the issue right now.”
Leo interrupted her with a slightly firm tone.
“What happened?”
“…”
Min Ha-rin gave a faint and slightly helpless smile.
“…would you like to come inside? N-, no. Actually, it’s a bit messy right now. Give me a minute. Let me get dressed and I’ll come out.”
Leo nodded, and while she was changing, he went down to the first floor and bought two bottles of water.
Min Ha-rin got dressed and left the room. Leo looked down at her for a moment before raising her hood over her head.
“This would be better for now.”
“You’ve become more manly.”
“…”
Originally, those words would have made him smile, but now, he didn’t say anything because he was worried about Min Ha-rin’s condition.
It was quite chilly outside. This was natural since the sun had long since set. Nevertheless, the lights in the city hadn’t gone out, and there was still a crowd of people on the streets.
This was because the afterglow of the Championship hadn’t dispersed yet.
“Dammit! It took me more than a month to get to Lirua! When I got here I was completely exhausted!”
“Did you hear? This is the first time in 150 years that someone withdrew from the Championship. It’s also the first time that anyone has ever withdrawn from the Championship Finals.”
“At least we were able to witness such a historic moment. Ha!”
“I heard that the Fighters on Combat Island valued honor more than their own lives, but that must have just been a bunch of rumors.”
“…”
Leo turned to look at Min Ha-rin.
But her blank expression made it hard for him to figure out what she was thinking.
In any case, he felt that it wouldn’t be good to stay in the downtown area for long. After all, it wasn’t a suitable place to have a conversation.
With that thought in mind, he quickened his pace.
Min Ha-rin matched his pace.
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