Chapter 48

Cheat had been taken down in one hit.

Kim JunHyuk had been taken down by electricity.

The actual hunter sent out to deal with the berserk patient, Yu AeRi, was knocked out cold, but YuSung and EunAh had managed to perfectly resolve the situation.

‘Even so, I shouldn’t let my guard down.’

YuSung placed handcuffs on the unconscious villain. The cuffs were hunter gear that Yu AeRi had put in his Pocket before the start of his shift.

‘I didn’t think I would actually use these.’

After finishing everything up, YuSung turned back to look at EunAh. He had already gotten rid of her restraints beforehand, so the girl was trying to stand up, leaning against a pillar to do so.

“…Oppa.”

EunAh looked at JunHyuk and grimaced. Emotionally, she wanted nothing more than to run up to her brother, but handling a coma patient improperly could have negative consequences. She had to wait for the rescue team to arrive first.

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

The sound of footsteps drew nearer.

A group of people belatedly arrived at the scene of the crime—members of the city guard, paramedics, and three hunters.

“Th-this is…”

But their hurried steps came to an abrupt stop at the sight laid before them—Cheat and AeRi, collapsed at the scene. The hunter in charge, Ju SangHyuk, kept switching between looking at YuSung and EunAh.

“…So you two defeated Ch-Cheat?”

Two students had defeated a member of the villain organization, Rebellion. He couldn’t help the bemused expression that came on his face.

But EunAh shook her head, then glanced towards YuSung.

Ju SangHyuk gulped.

“…No way, by himself?”

EunAh nodded. The one who had defeated Cheat was Shin YuSung. She didn’t want to take any of the credit for the boy’s exploits.

“In any case, this is incredible. I can’t believe some students defeated a villain on their own. Though, I suppose if you look at it one way, you could say it was reckless, but…”

SangHyuk trailed off as if remembering something. He looked back at YuSung.

“Ah, right!” he shouted, “You, you’re the one that was assigned for patrol!”

—The oft-rumored disciple of the Fist King.

Everything suddenly made sense to Ju SangHyuk. Even a villain working for the Rebellion would lose against the disciple of the Fist King—nothing was wrong with that.

“…If you’re the disciple of that Fist King, I suppose this isn’t reckless at all. Very well, then. I’ll report every bit of both of your exploits to the higher-ups, so leave the rest to us.”

With that, he ended the conversation and began to direct the paramedics and the other hunters. EuhAh looked at her brother being placed on the stretcher and turned her head away from the sight in anguish.

—A long silence.

EunAh looked up at YuSung.

Her face betrayed her complicated emotions. She opened her mouth to say something, then shut it closed again. Then, she sighed and made a move to speak again.

“That… Sorry for…”

EunAh’s shoulders were slumped like a man who was awaiting his guilty sentence in court. It looked like all of the energy had left her body. YuSung had never seen her like that before. He tried to reassure her calmly.

“It’s fine. You did it for your family, right?”

He could tell just how much she cared for her brother through her actions. He could also understand why she would abandon her position if her brother was in danger.

“And everything ended up well, right?”

EunAh’s expression was still bitter, but she did respond to his efforts.

“…Thank you.”

Then she looked into YuSung’s eyes with a sincere gaze.

“I’ll repay you for this no matter what it takes. I… never forget a debt.”

Bold declaration behind her, EunAh made her way to the exit. However, on the way out, she was struck by a bout of dizziness—her body wobbled.

Sway!

“…Urgh!”

YuSung caught EunAh before she could lose her balance. She placed her hands on her head to stave off the headache, forehead creased in effort.

“Don’t worry, I’m fine. It’s just a mild…”

EunAh had insisted she was okay, but YuSung still did not let go of her arm.

“….You’ve depleted most of the mana in your body. You need medical attention. EunAh, you already know this, don’t you?”

She lowered her head in lieu of a response.

YuSung had a vague idea of why she was acting that way. He sighed.

“It’s because of your brother, isn’t it?”

EunAh nodded and began to mutter her reply.

“…I’ll get treated after I check on Oppa. Really. I promise. I don’t know when I’ll get to see him again after we part ways here…”

EunAh’s love for her brother was the real deal. YuSung quite liked that aspect of her.

Her deep affection for her brother was a reflection of his own desires for a family.

“…Get on my back. I’ll take you to him.”

YuSung lowered his posture and offered his back to EunAh.

“No, really, I can walk…! Haah.”

She waved her arms in panicked denial before abruptly stopping what she was going to say next. In her current condition, she could collapse at any moment.

Despite that, YuSung understood her desire to see her brother and made the decision to respect it. EunAh thought she should acknowledge his considerations and, in turn, stop putting airs on around him.

“Alright. Then… excuse me.”

Left with no choice, EunAh let herself be carried on YuSung’s back.

“Hang on tight.”

YuSung stood up. EunAh wrapped her arms around the boy’s neck to secure herself in place.

‘Hey, this is…’

Just seconds after getting lifted up, EunAh encountered a problem that had never crossed her mind until right at that moment.

‘H-he’s too close…’

Their bodies were touching. She could feel the heat radiating off his back. Her pride wouldn’t let her express any discomfort outright, so her only reaction was to have her face become redder and redder.

“Hey, a-aren’t I… aren’t I heavy?”

“Not really. More importantly, are you sure you’re alright? Your body feels really hot.”

“I-I’m fine!” she replied hurriedly. Getting a piggyback ride at her age was much more embarrassing than she thought it would be. Even so, she felt a sort of comfort from the action.

It was due to the fact that she had remembered a similar thing happening way back in the past.

[Oh, boy. How do you even get into fights all the time like this?]

[They make fun of me! What am I supposed to do?]

She had probably been seven years old.

Her brother had carried her on his back just like YuSung was carrying her.

Of course, YuSung was the one giving her a ride at that moment, not JunHyuk. Even so, she felt the same comfort back then as she did from YuSung.

* * *

* * *

EunAh began speaking to the other boy once more, expression stiff.

“Hey, YuSung-ah…”

“Yeah?”

Tup tup.

YuSung walked slowly to their destination. EunAh continued to talk with a sincere tone of voice.

“Why aren’t you asking me anything?”

The fact that he hadn’t fascinated her. YuSung had not posed a single question that EunAh was reluctant to answer.

—Why her brother had been in that state.

—How long her brother had been in a coma. How she felt about it all.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Not only did he refrain from broaching those topics, but he also didn’t offer any cheap platitudes.

“…To be honest, I know for a fact that you must have a lot of questions regarding what happened today, so I was waiting for you to ask them.”

She finished off her question with a timid mutter. To that, YuSung gave her a serene response.

“Because you didn’t say anything.”

EunAh snorted. It was true, she had never talked to anyone about her brother before. But YuSung was different. Someone who saved her and her brother’s life was, at the very least, qualified to know more about the situation.

“The reason why Oppa…that is, why he went berserk is because… He took supplements.”

Once ingested, those supplements boosted the strength of one’s Trait for a temporary period of time. However, it was forbidden to take them excessively.

With one pill, one could easily display strength exceeding their limits. Of course, an item that convenient had its own vicious drawbacks.

“He was… super fucking weak…”

The words expressing EunAh’s disappointment spilled out of her mouth miserably. The only way her tenacious brother could prove himself was through his strength as a hunter.

“He’s weak… and an idiot.”

Her disappointment was immeasurable.

Even if he never took those pills and became a powerful hunter, to EunAh, her kind older brother was a source of pride for her.

The events that had passed forced her to confront the thoughts that she had been avoiding up to that moment.

“I wish… that my talent had gone to him instead. Then things would have turned out…”

EunAh slammed her mouth shut after saying that. Only then did YuSung, who had been quietly listening to her the entire time, speak up.

“…Even so. None of this is your fault.”

She could be right. EunAh had the talent to become a hunter that JunHyuk had so desperately wanted—if he was the one with her talent, maybe he would have never used supplements in the first place, but that was where the talk about what-ifs ended.

It was not EunAh’s fault that JunHyuk had fallen into a coma.

But EunAh began to sob. Suddenly, she buried her face into YuSung’s back. She grew silent, with shivers occasionally wracking her body.

YuSung smiled.

“Don’t cry, EunAh.”

EunAh’s eyes were red and welling up with tears. She decided to get angry for no reason.

“Shit… sniff. Who’s… who’s crying? I’m not!”

“Is that so? My back is already wet, though.”

Even though she was yelling at the other boy, EunAh didn’t look to be in a bad mood. YuSung simply smiled as he always did.

—A warmth that touched all the way down to one’s soul.

EunAh was once again feeling a comfort that she had only felt all those years ago. As if to reflect it, the words that came out of her mouth next seemed to be softer than her usual tone.

“Oh, YuSung-ah. Come to think of it… is anyone watching over our patrol area right now?”

She wasn’t putting him on the spot—she was merely curious. Considering YuSung’s personality, there was no way he would abandon his post so irresponsibly.

“Don’t worry. That area is safe.”

As expected, YuSung answered her question confidently.

* * * *

Downtown in Metro City…

People were flocking in droves to see a rather peculiar sight.

“It’s the Fist King!”

“The Fist King is on patrol!”

“My god…”

Their gazes were fastened on the Fist King, Yu WonHak. More importantly, the man was doing a round of patrols with a city guard badge on his chest.

To think that the legendary figure, the symbol of Korea, would do a job usually reserved for third-rate hunters and students.

The citizens took out their cellphones and promptly began to document every action he was performing.

“What’s going on?”

“Yeah, I heard something was going on at the hospital. I thought he was heading that way.”

“Is he filming for something?”

“In what world would Fist King-nim be filming for anything?”

“And you think him on patrol duty is less weird?”

Yu WonHak cleared his throat loudly at the sight of all the people gossiping over a celebrity visiting their city.

“Brat… just what does he take his precious master for!”

Yu WonHak had been genuinely happy when YuSUng had contacted him. It was a rare occasion in and of itself.

[Master, I have a request.]

—His dear, precious disciple’s request.

The Fist King had heartily agreed to it. Of course, he would never have guessed that the boy’s request would be something as trivial as him patrolling the city. Not in a million years.

But even his complaints only lasted a moment.

Even the Fist King, Yu WonHak, was a sucker for his disciple, Shin YuSung, with whom he had spent twelve years of his life with.

‘Nothing I can do… it’s the request of my disciple, after all.’

155th Road in Metro City was safer than it had ever been before on that day. There did not exist a villain who had the guts to commit a crime in a city that the Fist King was protecting.