Chapter 457: Chapter 457 - For My Beloved Little Brother (1)

Kim Si-Hun’s expression was frozen beyond belief the moment Kim Tae-Hyun called Oh Kang-Woo hyung.

‘The hell?’

Kang-Woo stared at Si-Hun in confusion.

‘Why does he look like his entire world shattered? It’s not like I cheated on him or anything.’

He felt like he was some husband who was caught cheating on his wife.

Kang-Woo approached Si-Hun and carefully called, “Si-Hun?”

“Oh.” Si-Hun came back to his senses and shook his head with an awkward smile. “I-It’s nothing, hyung-nim.”

‘Nothing, my ass. Why would you make that face if nothing was wrong?’

“M-My grip loosened. Hahaha. The sword is a little heavy.”

‘That’s a formless sword, it doesn’t have any weight. He looks shocked, however I look at him. Is it because I allowed Tae-Hyun to call me hyung?’

Considering the situation, that seemed to be the reason.

‘For real? Just because of that?’

Kang-Woo chuckled as he stared at Si-Hun averting his gaze from Kang-Woo as he smiled awkwardly.

“I’ll be going back to my room. Haha. Welcome to Guardians, Tae-Hyun,” Si-Hun remarked as he approached Tae-Hyun, still smiling awkwardly.

Tae-Hyun smirked as if mocking Si-Hun and grabbed the hand that Si-Hun stretched out. His eyes were filled with the leisure granted to the victor.

‘The hell’s with him now?’

Kang-Woo frowned at Tae-Hyun’s attitude which looked as if he were looking down on Si-Hun.

Tae-Hyun replied as if boasting, “Thank you very much. I managed to win purely by luck today, but I was able to see how amazing of a Player you were, Sword Dragon.”

Si-Hun remained silent.

Tae-Hyun smiled as he stared at Si-Hun.

‘I heard that Kang-Woo hyung treasures the Sword Dragon.’

The public already knew that Sword Dragon Kim Si-Hun and Kang-Woo were sworn brothers. It was difficult for them not to know since Si-Hun bragged about Kang-Woo constantly wherever he went.

‘It’ll be different now.’

Tae-Hyun clenched his fist. He won the duel, so the one who would be standing alongside Kang-Woo would be him, not Si-Hun.

“Hehe,” Tae-Hyun giggled innocently.

He imagined himself saving the world from danger with his benefactor who had saved his life in the past.

‘And one day...’

He would surpass his benefactor and save him from danger! Tae-Hyun couldn’t help but smile as he imagined the scene straight out of an anime. His heart beat faster as his passion grew. The ridicule and disrespect that he had faced as someone with the weakest class flashed before his eyes.

‘To do that...’

Tae-Hyun stared at Si-Hun, who was more handsome than the average celebrity and far more talented than the average Player. He was the epitome of a protagonist.

‘...I have to surpass the Sword Dragon.’

He had already taken the first step. He was surprised by the unexpectedly powerful attack at the end of their battle, but he managed to defeat the Sword Dragon nonetheless.

Tae-Hyun smiled slyly and continued, “Hahaha. I’ll be in your care from now on.”

“Ah, yes...”

“We’re brothers now, aren’t we?”

Si-Hun’s expression momentarily crumpled. His gaze toward Tae-Hyun shone chillingly. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“Yes... we are. We’re both... brothers. Hahaha.”

Si-Hun giggled as his shoulders trembled and turned around to quickly leave the training room.

“Um, Si-Hun...” Layla called.

“I’m sorry, Layla. I’m feeling a little tired, so can we talk later?”

Si-Hun walked toward his room in the Hall of Protection without even looking Layla’s way.

“H-Hoho. Si-Hun seems to be a little shocked. I don’t blame him since I didn’t expect Si-Hun to lose either,” Layla said forcibly, trying to sound bright to lighten the mood.

Kang-Woo stared at Si-Hun getting further away.

Tae-Hyun walked toward Kang-Woo and asked with anticipation, “Umm... Kang-Woo hyung. Could you give me a tour of the Hall of Protection?”

The Hall of Protection was the symbol of Guardians. It was a strategic hub that allowed them to have access to the entire world via Gates. All Players wanted to visit the Hall of Protection at least once.

“Yeah, sure,” Kang-Woo replied with a smile and nodded.

He took Tae-Hyun around the Hall of Protection.

“Wow, hyung! So this Gate is connected directly to the Grand Canyon? That Gate is connected to Beijing...”

Tae-Hyun expressed astonishment as he looked at the Gates connected to areas all over the world. Kang-Woo stared at him with narrow eyes— to be more exact, at the necklace made of overlapping geometrical shapes that Tae-Hyun was wearing.

‘What could that be?’

The necklace was unquestionably the item that gave Tae-Hyun his immense power.

‘It has to be an intervention from a deity.’

One of a considerably high rank, no less.

Kang-Woo scanned the brightly smiling Tae-Hyun in silence.

‘Should I invest in this coin?’

Kang-Woo’s mind was filled with whether or not to invest in the Kim Tae-Hyun coin that had appeared like a meteor. He would be lying if he said that he wasn’t curious. Nothing about the item could be examined with the Authority of Insight and it granted its wearer power even stronger than regular Deific Essence and an ability to predict the future. Although Tae-Hyun’s movements were poor at the moment, he would become several times stronger once his skills were polished. His potential was even greater than that of Si-Hun.

‘I could also take that item from him and give it to Si-Hun or just use it myself.’

However, that was like cutting open the belly of a goose that laid golden eggs[1]. Besides, most items Legendary-grade and above were imprinted to their wielder, so it would be pointless to take them from others; especially if it were an item that looked to be at least Transcendent-grade like that necklace.

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes. Si-Hun also likely thought the same thing.

‘Thinking of it that way, the way Si-Hun acted makes sense.’

Kang-Woo had thought that Si-Hun was shocked over something so trivial, but he slowly understood his reaction.

‘He wasn’t shocked that Tae-Hyun called me hyung.’

Kang Tae-Soo also referred to Kang-Woo as hyung-nim. If that was why Si-Hun was shocked, he would also not like the way that Tae-Soo called Kang-Woo hyung-nim.

‘The difference between Tae-Soo and Tae-Hyun... Si-Hun must be thinking... that his place might be taken from him.’

It was within the realm of possibility since to Si-Hun, Kang-Woo was someone more precious to him than his blood-related brother; Kang-Woo had rescued him from a life of trauma and led him to where he was now.

‘Si-Hun, you...’ Kang-Woo felt bitter as he thought about Si-Hun’s emotions. ‘There’s no way I would abandon you.’

Kang-Woo no longer thought of Si-Hun as just a talented pawn. There was no way that Tae-Hyun’s potential being higher than Si-Hun’s would affect their relationship.

‘I don’t think Si-Hun feels the same way, though.’

Si-Hun let go of his sword the moment that Tae-Hyun called Kang-Woo hyung. It was not difficult to guess how shocked Si-Hun was, considering how important a sword was for Si-Hun as a swordsman.

‘Tae-Hyun also fanned the flames.’

He had blatantly taunted Si-Hun as if he was telling Si-Hun that his hyung was his now.

Kang-Woo recalled Si-Hun’s devastated expression in silence.

“Kang-Woo hyung?” Tae-Hyun called.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, I wouldn’t say that.”

“Then—”

“That aside, could you tell me exactly what happened when you obtained that necklace? Don’t leave out a single detail.”

“I’d love to, but there are honestly more things that I don’t know than what I know.” Tae-Hyun gripped the Eye of Nostrian and continued, “There isn’t much I can tell you other than that I gained a skill called Foresight and that I became extremely strong once I got this necklace.”

“Have you heard any voices in your head?”

“No, never.”

“Then has your body ever moved in a way that you didn't intend to?”

“That hasn’t happened either,” Tae-Hyun replied as he shook his head.

Kang-Woo narrowed his eyes.

‘They haven’t done anything to him despite granting him that much power?’

It was far too suspicious.

‘That’s impossible.’

It was as if a millionaire gave the majority of his wealth to a random person on the streets with no strings attached. Something like this with no price or objective was bound to have hidden conditions.

‘This is a dangerous coin.’ Kang-Woo was made sure of it after listening to Tae-Hyun’s story. ‘But it’s too soon to make a move.’

Kang-Woo still had no way of figuring out who gave Tae-Hyun that power or for what reason. However fishy it was, it would not be wise to give up on the Tae-Hyun Coin.

‘Especially when he’s so loyal to me.’

It would be a huge waste to give up on someone who could be a huge asset if handled well.

‘Allies with Deific Essence are always welcome.’

Kang-Woo did not expect Tae-Hyun to be of help to him in facing Bael since no one but himself was able to.

‘But the otherworldly invasions are a different story.’

He would not be able to block the invasions by himself; this was evident by the fact that he couldn’t resolve the abnormal phenomena occurring in the Gates all over the world by himself.

‘After all, there’s only one of me.’

No matter how powerful he was, one soldier couldn't defend a castle. He needed dependable allies to keep the castle that was Earth safe.

‘I’ll have Lilith keep him monitored twenty-four seven.’

Keeping his guard up was good enough for now.

“Haha. I never thought a day like this would come. I can’t believe I’m touring the Hall of Protection with you... Kang-Woo hyung.”

Tae-Hyun smiled as if he couldn’t be happier. He seriously reminded Kang-Woo of a dog.

‘His excessive loyalty might become a problem.’

Kang-Woo sighed as he recalled the war of nerves between Si-Hun and Tae-Hyun. He stood in front of the closed door of Si-Hun’s room.

‘What should I do about Si-Hun?’

He was already getting a headache when thinking about how to console the shocked Si-Hun who had locked himself in his room.

“What’s wrong, hyung?” Tae-Hyun asked as he turned around to look back at Kang-Woo, who suddenly stopped in place.

“Oh.” Just then, an idea popped up in Kang-Woo’s head. “... No, that’s a bit...”

Kang-Woo shook his head.

‘But this is the best option.’

He thought about other options but couldn’t think of anything else.

Kang-Woo clenched his fists.

‘Yeah.’

He had no other choice; he needed to be the one to help Si-Hun overcome the wall blocking his growth.

‘The older brother needs to make sacrifices for his little brother.’

He needed to steel his heart for the sake of his beloved little brother.

“Tae-Hyun,” Kang-Woo called.

“Ah, yes, Kang-Woo hyung?”

Tae-Hyun trotted toward Kang-Woo with a smile. Kang-Woo also smiled brightly and put his hand on Tae-Hyun’s shoulder.

“Why don’t we go grab something to eat together?”

“Ah.” Tae-Hyun’s eyes widened. “O-Okay! S-Sounds good! I was just about getting hungry as well!”

“There’s a good kimchi stew place I know.”

“Kimchi stew! I love kimchi stew!”

“Really? Haha. It looks like we’ll get along well.”

Kang-Woo patted Tae-Hyun’s shoulder and turned around.

Shatter!

The sound of something breaking came from inside Si-Hun’s room.

1. This is a Korean idiom that teaches us to be patient instead of chasing instant gratification. ☜