Siwoo had no choice but to scratch his cheek and pull the girl into a hug to comfort her.
It was the best he could do.
The girl soaked his clothes with her tears for a long time in Siwoo’s warm embrace before pulling her face away.
Her eyes were swollen from crying.
“Have you cried enough?”
“Yes.”
“What’s your name?”
“Oppa’s name first. That’s etiquette.”
“. . .Min Siwoo.”
This cheeky little brat.
“I’m. . . Sion.”
“Last name?”
“I don’t know.”
To have a first name but no last name meant that her parents had abandoned her.
Why had the hospital been taking care of this child?
Many questions swirled through his head, but Siwoo didn’t bother to ask them all.
“Will you come and live with oppa?”
Instead, Siwoo asked her the one question she needed to know.
Sion looked up at him with wide eyes, just like when he had first seen her.
Sion hesitated for a few seconds before speaking in a trembling voice.
“Oppa. . . pervert?”
“. . . . . . .”
“Just kidding.”
This little runt, really.
Siwoo barely managed to suppress the urge to give her a good smack.
“Is there a lot of food at oppa’s house?”
“Enough to burst your belly.”
“Is there water too?”
“Use as much as you want.”
“Is it dark?”
“I’ll make it as bright as day, even in the middle of the night.”
Sion smiled brightly.
It was the first time she had shown a genuine smile.
“Then. . . my friend. Can it come with us?”
Friend.
“If it’s a friend. . . that?”
Siwoo pointed at the ‘thing’ that was now clinging to the ceiling of the hallway.
“Aaaaah!”
Ji Yu-ri screamed as if she had been startled by the sudden appearance of the ghost.
It seemed that she had forgotten about the ghost she had seen earlier while she was watching the little girl.
Ji Yu-ri jumped up and clung to one of Siwoo’s arms like a cat.
“It’s my friend.”
Sion extended her palm towards the ceiling.
At that, the gruesome ‘thing’ slid down and wrapped itself around Sion’s body.
It was as if a mother was holding her daughter in her arms.
“My friend. Come with us. I can’t go alone.”
Her words were blunt, but the meaning behind them was not.
Siwoo slowly scanned the ghost.
It was a being that showed no malice or killing intent.
‘๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐จ? ๐๐ง ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐๐. . . .’
Siwoo made a guess of his own and smiled wryly.
Because it was better if his prediction was wrong.
“What’s your friend’s name?”
“Momo.”
Momo. . . It doesn’t really suit it.
Siwoo nodded slightly.
“Okay, let’s take it.”
“Now, wait a minute! Boss! Are you serious??”
Ji Yu-ri, who was standing next to him, exclaimed in surprise.
“Why? Can’t I take it?”
“Noใ ก This little girl is one thing, but, but, but, that, that’s not something to take!!”
“I’m not asking you to live with it, so why? Why not?”
“That’sใ ก.”
Ji Yu-ri was momentarily lost for words.
She just wanted to say that she was scared and didn’t want to take it with them, but if she said that outright, she would make a bad impression.
“Isn’t it suspicious?! A little girl living alone in a place like this, with a ghost, a ghost protecting her?!”
“Yes, it is.”
Siwoo nodded vaguely before continuing.
“Then I’ll bring a Hunter who can check her identity and an Awakener who can figure out that ghost. You stay here and guard it in the meantime.”
“. . . . . .Huh??”
“Wouldn’t it be nice for that Sion girl to have a woman around? Do you really want her to be alone with a man like me?”
Ji Yu-ri opened her mouth wide, but soon tears began to fall.
She was annoyed because nothing she said was getting through to him, and because she couldn’t think of anything to counter Siwoo’s words.
“It seems like you don’t like it, so let’s go together.”
“Yes. . . .”
“If we bring your friend too, will you follow?”
“Yes.”
Siwoo nodded.
He had heard enough about the ghost incident, so it seemed like it was time to wrap it up and go.
‘๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐’๐จ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐ก๐๐๐ง.’
Siwoo’s sharp eyes glinted as he spoke towards the window as if shouting.
“What is it outside? If you don’t come in, I’ll come out.”
๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท๐ท
แด๐ธ๐ข๐ฃs๐ญ๐ สษช๐แนก.๐ศฏฬ๐ข
Gate located on Seongji Mountain, which has no owner.
Fiery red hair that fluttered in the wind.
‘๐’๐ข ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐.’
Kang Yeo-hwa hadn’t slept for two days.
Of course, as an S-Rank Hunter, her stamina and mana capacity would allow her to stay up for a week instead of two days, but the problem was the difficulty.
An A-Grade Gate.
Even for S-Rank Hunters, it was extremely rare to enter an A-Grade Gate alone.
Basically, it was common sense to form a team with a Tanker, Healer, Dealer, and Supporter, taking into account the Hunter’s characteristics.
Because no one could guarantee what kind of monsters would rush in, how many of them there would be, how many phases there would be, or what the boss monster would be inside the Gate.
To go into such a place alone and fight countless monsters?
It wasn’t reckless, it was close to being foolish.
And the person who was doing such an absurd thing was none other than her, the Guild Leader of a guild and an S-Rank Hunter.
“Choi Dae-soo, that son of a. . . .”
Kang Yeo-hwa took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Monster blood was splattered all over her clothes, but Kang Yeo-hwa didn’t even have the energy to brush it off.
Inhale.
And exhale.
In that brief moment of breathing, she gathered fragments of the past and spread them out through the cracks of her hands.
โKang-hwa.
โDon’t call me that?!
โThen what should I call you?
โI have a name, you know, a name!
โYes, Kang-hwa.
โ. . .Yes, Master Siwoo.
โMaster?
โIf you say master quickly, it sounds like that. Master Siwoo
โHahahaha. That’s funny.
โHehehe. Is it?
โRight. As a souvenir, let’s have a match. One hour of infinite sparring.
โWhat???
Why was this memory coming to mind out of nowhere?
A faint voice.
Unreachable fingers.
A faded smile.
Kang Yeo-hwa had counted the blood she had ‘shed’ and ’caused to be shed’ over the past ten years.
It couldn’t be compared to an immeasurable number, but it was easily in the hundreds.
At the end of that bloody struggle, what she wished for wasใ ก
‘๐ ๐ข๐๐จ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช. . . ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง.’
From the moment he had saved her to this day when she was covered in blood.
Kang Yeo-hwa had thought of Siwoo every single day without fail.
Sometimes she was really grateful.
Sometimes she was so sorry.
Or maybe she just liked him too much.
How would Siwoo see her, who had become nothing more than someone else’s pawn like a worn-out die?
No, it doesn’t matter how he sees her.
She would not make excuses even if he considered her a traitor and spat on her.
Even if she was met with contemptuous looks and told that she had become Choi Dae-soo’s dog, she would accept it calmly.
Her role wasใ ก
‘๐๐ค ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐๐๐๐ .’
Just as Siwoo had risked his life for his disciple in the past, it was now her turn to risk her life.
If Siwoo could come back,
If she could just see his face again,
That would be enough.
“Yes. . . Let’s believe that this is the last time and do our best.”
Kang Yeo-hwa spread her mana throughout her body and rose from her seat.