Edited By: Sebas Tian
âH-huhâ¦â¦?â
As expected .
The members that were on the ground started coming back to their senses .
They didnât know what happened, so they looked around with a blank expression .
And when they found Hyun-Soo standing tall before them, they realized that they came back to reality, so they released a sigh of relief .
Some released their anger by using profanity while hitting a wall and others stretched out on the ground knowing that they were safe .
A a few started crying .
âAhhhhhh . It was really scary! Hiccup!â
Katrina was one of them and when she found Hyun-Soo after looking around, she started crying and ran towards him .
Hyun-Soo felt some sort of burdened, so when he slightly moved his body, she cried even harder .
âI have that egg in my pocket . â
It felt like he made a kid cry, so when he patted Katrinaâs head, she stopped crying for a moment and then started crying again .
They mentioned books, studying, failing, so they probably had a traumatic experience related to those things .
While Hyun-Soo was calming down Katrina, the members overcame the remaining illusions .
âDamn it, I didnât realize it was an illusion . â
Eugene spoke while massaging his temple .
âOn top of that, it felt like I was stuck in another illusion within that illusion! Itâs an experience I never want to experience again . â
âHow did we come back to reality though?â
When one person asked, the rest naturally turned their attention to Hyun-Soo .
âI cleared the portal . â
That meant that he killed the monster that owned this portal .
âWhat?â
âReally?â
The hunters all looked surprised when they heard that .
They didnât realize that there was a monster and on top of that, they were helpless against the monsterâs skill .
But the new member, Hyun-Soo, detected the illusion by himself and even cleared it .
In the membersâ eyes, Hyun-Soo took the necessary steps .
âWhereâs the monster that you killed?â
They just came back to their senses and the hunt was already over .
The members wanted to see the monster that Hyun-Soo killed .
Hyun-Soo led them to where Karazhanâs corpse was .
âA psychological monsterâ¦â
âThere are theories that says that they could exist, but who knew one would actually appearâ¦and on top of that, at a place like this . â
David massaged his head, most likely because of a headache .
When the members confirmed that a psychological monster existed and that they were helpless against the monsterâs skill, the members had mixed feelings .
âFirst, letâs take the corpse with us . Hyun-Soo, when we return to the base, please stop by my personal room . â
âUnderstood . â
After the members placed Karazhanâs corpse inside a plastic bag, they exited the portal .
As soon as they exited, the staff that were waiting started asking a lot of questions .
But Kim Yoo-Na refused to answer their questions and calmed them down .
They were probably extremely curious, but there werenât any information she could share with them right now .
The members didnât really know much anyways .
Hyun-Soo was the only one that had a lot of information .
After returning to the base, Hyun-Soo met with Kim Yoo-Na .
***
âThanks for letting me know . You really helped out a lot . â
âI only did what I thought was right . â
âThatâs not true . If it werenât for you, our clan wouldâve died inside that portal . If the first group doesnât come back, the second group will enter and after experiencing the same thing that we did, the monster will kill themâ
When Hyun-Soo informed everything he knew, Kim Yoo-Na thanked him .
It was easy to assume that it was a corpse, but when informing her about the appearance, size and distinct features, a lot of time had already passed .
âThis situation is so serious that it could cause an issue . I canât even imagine how big of an issue it will be . â
Kim Yoo-Na looked straight at Hyun-Soo after mumbling .
âI really donât know how to pay you back for this . Iâm already having a hard time paying you back for the things I gotâ¦â
With a troubled look, Kim Yoo-Na stopped talking midway .
Like she mentioned, if Hyun-Soo wasnât with them, they wouldâve failed the hunt .
Like the guilds and groups that didnât return, their clan couldâve disappeared after being labeled as a failed clan .
âBut we succeeded . â
They succeeded twice in a row .
They didnât know how big of an effect this success was going to bring them .
But there was one thing they knew .
The clan now had a lot of power .
A power called information .
People only made theories about psychological type monsters and since the clan now had information that no other clans had, they had the advantage .
This was all possible because Hyun-Soo was there .
âIâll gladly take the credit for all Iâve done, but itâs really fine . I didnât do it because I expected something in return . Actually, you trying to reward for everything that Iâve is more burdensome . I just did the right thing as a member of this clan, so giving me a reward makes me feel like an outsider . â
ââ¦That wasnât my intention . If you felt that way, then itâs my fault . Iâm sorry . â
Even though she apologized, Hyun-Soo had an idea why Kim Yoo-Na was acting that way .
She felt indebted .
It was the same thing he felt towards Kim Yoo-Na a long time ago .
Kim Yoo-Na was feeling the same thing towards Hyun-Soo .
Itâs because she clearly knew that Hyun-Sooâs actions affected the clan greatly .
On top of that, she felt emotionally indebted towards him when it came to Hye-Na .
If he just left things the way they are now, she might try to pull the Cinderella plan again .
âIt was so embarrassingâ
Hyun-Soo remembered the embarrassment he felt then, so he decided to end things here .
âThereâs no need to apologize . Hmâ¦then can you allow me to take one thing?â
âWhat is it?â
âThis . â
Hyun-Soo took out the egg from his pocket .
He forget about it since he was focused on sharing information about Karazhan, but he remembered it at the right moment .
âWhat is that? An egg?â
âYes, I think itâs Karazhanâs egg . â
Hyun-Soo knew it belonged to Karazhan, but if he confirmed that it was, then she could become suspicious, so he answered vaguely .
âOh wowâ¦this is the first time Iâve heard a monster leaving their offspring . â
Kim Yoo-Na expressed her surprise as she looked at the small, purple egg with gold patterns on it .
âIs thisâ¦alive?â
âTouch it . Itâs warm . â
ââ¦â¦!â
After Kim Yoo-Na carefully took the egg from Hyun-Soo, she admired it .
âIâve been surprised many times already . â
âThe colorful portal itself is pretty surprising . It wouldnât be weird if more surprising things happened on top of that . â
The portal itself was already surprising .
Normally, colorful portals arenât supposed to exist .
If that was true, then portals and the existence of hunters wasnât a normal thing .
âCan you make it hatch?â
âYeah, probably . Iâm thinking about trying . â
âIf you need anything, just let me know . Iâll support in any way that I can . â
Kim Yoo-Na promised to help in any possible . It seemed like she was thinking about the possible outcomes after it hatches .
âAn incubator would be nice . â
âIâll have it prepared for you right away . â
Kim Yoo-Na quickly added more information on the report she created and then nodded her head .
She gladly agreed to him keeping the egg .
She couldâve asked to hand it over to the clan, but she didnât hesitate in her decision .
But she mustâve felt excited about it, because she offered to do some research to see if something similar happened before .
There was a very small chance, but Kim Yoo-Na looked pretty excited .
***
As soon as Hyun-Soo returned to the dorm, the first thing he did was wrap the egg with a blanket . He then placed it in a warm area .
âI hope the incubator comes soon . â
It showed on Interface as well .
That he needed to be careful and gently take care of it .
On top of that, he had to be cautious when holding it .
ââ¦I kept it in my pocket all this time, but it should be fine, right?â
He used Interface to check and luckily, there wasnât anything different .
It was night and Hyuna visited after attending her afterschool program .
The egg was the first thing she discovered as soon as she walked in, so she started observing it with interest .
âThis is a monsterâs egg? Itâs so pretty though . â
âInsects and animals that are poisonous look pretty too . â
âYeah, but theyâre a monster . â
âItâs the same when it comes to being dangerous towards humans . â
When Hyun-Soo said they were all the same, Hyuna shook her head .
âYou lack emotion, Hyun-Soo . â
ââ¦Whatâs the point in being emotional towards a monster?â
He almost got killed by a monster that played with human emotions .
Since it wasnât a good experience, Hyun-Soo spoke bluntly .
âNo one is bad right when theyâre born . Even though theyâre a monster, donât you think things will be different based on how theyâre raised and treated?â
She was referring to wild beasts that were raised by humans .
âI donât know . â
When Hyun-Soo didnât show any reaction, Hyuna said, âMaybe not, but still!â
âI heard youâre trying to hatch it . Then we should hope for the best . Who know? If we tell them that theyâre nice and kind everyday, they might really hatch with a nice personality . Thereâs a reason why moms believe prenatal education is important . â
âThen why donât you come over and take care of it?â
âReally? Can I?â
Since Hyun-Soo wasnât the gentle type, he welcomed it .
Hyuna smiled brightly when Hyun-Soo gave her permission .
If Kim Yoo-Na brings the incubator and Hyuna takes care of the egg, then 24 days will definitely pass by really fast .
Hyuna poked his side while Hyun-Soo was thinking about what a relief it was .
âBut you have to take care of it too . Itâs your responsibility since you brought it!â
âCanât you take care of it?â
âNope . When an animal hatches, the first figure they see is engraved into their mind . Since you brought it, youâre the owner . â
Hyuna lectured him after telling him about the duck that saw a human right when they hatched and how the duck started following the human, thinking that it was their mother .
âI got it . â
He wasnât sure if it was true, but Hyun-Soo nodded his head because he felt pressured by Hyuna .
Hyuna created a temporary incubator by placing every lamp on top of the egg . She already started taking care of the egg .
But Hyunaâs shabby incubator was soon replaced by an incubator that a staff brought .
âI hope it grows up without any issues . â
Hyuna mumbled while looking at Karazhanâs egg that was neatly placed inside the incubator .
âMe too . â
Hyun-Soo agreed with her .
He was looking forward to the thing that was going to come out of the egg .
24 days .
The days left until it hatched .