The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

Chapter 152 : If You Want to Sacrifice Others, Bet Your Own Life Too (3)

If You Want to Sacrifice Others, Bet Your Own Life Too (3) A plaza in Hand, once crowded with people.

In an instant, it had turned into a battlefield where two men were locked in a fierce, bloody struggle.

Both fought as though determined to sever the other's lifeline.

Yet a discrepancy lingered in the intent of each fighter.

One seemed to be burning with hatred, as if facing a mortal enemy, while the other looked exasperated, wondering why he was even fighting here.

"Dieeee!!!"

Kwon Yongjun leaped high and smashed his fist down toward his opponent.

Jin Rain-nimbly dodged, but when the fist struck the ground, the earth split and debris flew in all directions.

Lava burst through the cracks, which Kwon Yongjun manipulated and hurled at Jin Rain.

Jin Rain blocked the jetting lava with his tonfa.

"Kugh!"

But the overwhelming force pushed him back.

The heat radiating from the lava made sweat bead on his hands and brow.

If he hadn't reinforced his hands with magic power, he would have been severely burned.

"Haa!"

At last, Jin Rain deflected the lava and dashed towards his opponent.

In response, Kwon Yongjun gathered scorching rocks around his fist and charged.

KWAAANG—!

Tonfa and rock-laden fist collided, unleashing a massive shockwave.

Nearby cars flew like toys, and phantoms loitering about were torn to pieces by the blast.

—Kieeek!!

As the phantoms died with screams, their blood rained down.

Drenched in that rain, a tense heat flared between the two.

But Jin Rain, who harbored doubts about the fight, momentarily quelled that intensity.

"While fighting, I've thought carefully. I have no reason to fight you."

"What nonsense is that!"

"You said just a moment ago that I'm your mother's enemy."

"That's right, you bastard! You... did that to my mother...!"

"I have never met your mother!"

Jin Rain shouted in Kwon Yongjun's face.

No matter how he saw it, it made no sense. He had no connection whatsoever with Kwon Yongjun's family.

He didn't even recall meeting them as an enemy—there was no point of contact at all.

It was truly absurd.

He was being seriously misunderstood for something he hadn't done.

It was as if he were blamed for causing an avalanche, despite not even having ice powers.

"As I said, not just about your mother—I've never fought against the Hwasan guild!"

"What are you saying! Don't you remember when your Sura guild attacked us?"

"I wasn't even there at the time!"

Yelling once more, Jin Rain set his tonfa down on the ground.

Feeling suspicious, Kwon Yongjun cautiously asked,

"What are you doing?"

"If you still don't believe me, what will it take for you to trust me?"

"What do you think? Clear evidence that you didn't do it."

"Evidence? Fine! I have an alibi for that day—let me show you!"

With confidence, Jin Rain took out his phone.

He launched a show only accessible to Sura guild executives.

There, all the executives' schedules and appointments could be viewed.

Sometimes, if there was an important event, there would even be photo documentation.

By sheer luck, he had such a photo for that day.

Straightening his shoulders, Jin Rain began searching the records.

"Huh?"

The day of the showdown between Hwasan guild and Sura guild.

Seeing his own schedule for then, Jin Rain's face twitched.

There was something unexpected written there:

[Participation in the Hwasan guild subjugation operation.]

He was certain he had been tasked with guarding Sura that day.

His mission had been to follow Sura wherever she went.

But what was this about participating in the Hwasan guild subjugation operation? This made no sense.

'No, wait!'

Another fact occurred to him belatedly.

At that time, Sura and Kang Ah-rin had been... inside the airship.

That airship was the second one launched specifically to confront the Hwasan guild.

Naturally, Jin Rain, as guard, had also been inside.

"I'm ruined...!"

"What—it looked like you were about to show me evidence!"

"Wa, wait a second!"

With Kwon Yongjun pressing him, Jin Rain frantically searched.

It was true he was deployed that day.

But the record should have read 'Sura guard detail,' not 'Hwasan guild subjugation operation.'

Someone had obviously altered it intentionally.

Since they'd been on the airship, changing the record to look like he'd participated in the assault would've been easy.

"Don't tell me... Kang Ah-rin!"

Just then, the culprit's identity flashed in his mind.

"What's that?"

A screen flickered across electronic signboards set up all over Hand.

Even on the stage where Masked Singer was underway, that same footage appeared.

Thanks to this, the two had an unobstructed view of the feed.

And what they saw next left them aghast.

"... Could that be?"

On screen appeared Kang Minji, Kwon Yongjun's mother, and at the same time, Jin Rain himself and several hunters presumed to be his subordinates.

The background was a forest—the same region where the Hwasan guild full-scale confrontation had occurred.

"..."

"..."

A chilling discomfort washed over them as the video played.

And then, in one shocking scene, they gasped in horror.

Jin Rain's subordinates burning Kang Minji's hands and feet, and Jin Rain was seen destroying her blood vessels.

He grabbed Kang Minji by the throat and appeared to suck something out of her.

He must have crippled her magic power that way.

"You... you bastard...!"

After seeing that, Kwon Yongjun turned to Jin Rain with a murderously cold glare.

"Ah...! No, it's not...! This is...!"

"Don't give me that! There's the evidence right there!"

"It's a misunderstanding! I truly..."

"Drop the excuses!"

A great heat surged from Kwon Yongjun's body.

Everything nearby, including the ground and the structures, started to melt.

Fueled by rage, his lava fist smashed into Jin Rain at full power.

"I'll make you suffer just the same!!"

"Kuuugh!!"

Jin Rain had to block the lava fist with his hands, covered in magic power.

But the moment he did, his hands seared with heat and burns began to form.

Worse, he had dropped his tonfa and couldn't defend himself properly.

"Feel the pain my mother felt... try it for yourself!!"

Kwon Yongjun pressed forward relentlessly, slamming Jin Rain through a neighboring building.

With another huge blast from his fist, the entire structure was destroyed, turning what would be called a high-rise building to powder in an instant.

Even the exceptionally sturdy construction of Hand was nothing before the power of an S-rank hunter.

"Guh!"

Despite that ferocious blow, Jin Rain stood up again.

But the shock was so great, he coughed up blood.

If he kept on like this, he'd be wiped out before he knew it.

Just what was that footage just now?

And why was only his own record so conveniently falsified?

He had a mountain of questions, but they would have to wait.

"Ugh...!"

"Got you!"

In an instant, Kwon Yongjun closed the gap and grabbed his left arm.

"I'll make your arm just like hers!!"

"Graaaagh!!"

Kwon Yongjun's lava-drenched hand began roasting Jin Rain's arm.

Overcome by excruciating heat, Jin Rain screamed.

Kwon Yongjun then formed an even bigger lava fist in his other hand and seized him.

"This is the end!"

"GUOOOAAAH!!"

He raised the heat with the intent to burn his foe to a crisp.

But Jin Rain, also an S-rank, endured like a cockroach.

Still, the agony from the burns was unimaginable.

It felt as if salt were being rubbed into every wound on his body.

'I can't go down like this!'

Jin Rain used a skill called 'Wind Blade' to slice through the massive lava hand.

Barely escaping, he seized Kwon Yongjun by the throat and slammed him down.

Then, Jin Rain began to siphon something from inside his body.

"You—no way!"

"Just stay still!"

Kwon Yongjun instantly knew what he was doing.

It was Jin Rain's Trait—his very identity. The reason he was called 'Blood Pellet Destroyer'.

By absorbing the blood pill, he could cripple his enemy's magic power.

The pain of absorption drove Kwon Yongjun to scream louder.

"You're trying to make me like my mother, you devil!!"

"And that's something you have the nerve to say to me!!!"

Their throats strained as both shrieked.

Pinned down, Kwon Yongjun managed to form a superheated rock blade and stab it into Jin Rain's side.

"Aaaaugh!!"

"Die, you bastard!!"

"Shut up!!"

Their savage shouts echoed outside the plaza.

Both their faces were flushed crimson, blood boiling in their agony.

One struggled to kill, the other to survive.

'I've waited so long for this day!'

Since his mother's fate, Kwon Yongjun had dedicated himself to training.

As his father once said, easy training was meaningless.

He had thrown himself into survival training instead.

He volunteered for S-rank gates and actively participated in investigating precursors to disasters.

Through surviving those dangers, he raised his Karma and became far stronger than before.

He was still nowhere close to SS-rank like his father, but this was enough to avenge his mother.

"Just die already!!"

The blade stabbed into Jin Rain's side heated up even more.

Jin Rain tried desperately to hold out with magic power, but the rising temperature made his mind reel.

Eventually, the searing pain overwhelmed him and he was forced to let go of Kwon Yongjun's throat.

In that instant, Kwon Yongjun swung the rock blade savagely, as if he'd been waiting for just that.

"Kuaaaaah!!"

Struck square in the chest, Jin Rain fell to the ground screaming.

The excessive bleeding was a fatal wound—any ordinary person would certainly have died.

But Kwon Yongjun wasn't much better off.

Having had vital energy from his blood circulation absorbed, his face was haggard.

Thankfully, he hadn't ended up like his mother, but he could hardly stand.

"Mom..."

The aftereffects of the absorption caused Kwon Yongjun to lose consciousness briefly.

"Gah... I thought I was a goner!"

But Jin Rain, by some miracle, managed to get up.

Though blood streamed from his chest and side, he used his unique control over blood flow to minimize the bleeding.

The trait that was so dangerous to others could be used to his benefit.

"Now, I need to get away...!"

Jin Rain tried to flee, but sudden cold froze his legs, and he collapsed to the ground.

"Where are you trying to run?"

A chilly voice rang out as the temperature dropped.

A woman in a suit, with skin pale as a corpse, stood before the fallen Jin Rain.

Multiple awakeners in matching suits surrounded him.

"Who are you people?"

At his question, the pale woman, Karen, spoke.

"We're an awakened unit dispatched from The World. I'm Karen Reyhold, a teacher here in Hand and a member of The World."

Karen pointed to the roaming phantoms and continued,

"I could bring up a number of issues about this incident. You know what I'm about to say, don't you?"

"No way...!"

"Your Sura guild will be held responsible for this incident."

As expected, he'd been found out.

Yet Jin Rain just smirked mockingly.

"Arresting me won't change anything. As long as the rift to the Underworld remains..."

"The rift? You mean that one over there?"

"What?"

Karen pointed at where the rift had been.

Jin Rain looked up at the sky and was once again shocked.

"Why... the rift...!"

He'd been too busy fighting to notice.

The rift, which should never have disappeared, was suddenly gone.

"Thanks to it vanishing, the number of monsters spilling out from the rift has dropped drastically. There's not much of a threat anymore."

Currently, Hand was garrisoned by countless hunters.

If the rift had remained, it would have been a different story—but now, the handful of monsters left could be easily handled.

"Still don't believe it?"

At that moment, a familiar voice reached Jin Rain's ears.

Beside Karen stood Kang Ah-rin, now known as Sura.

"Believe it or not, suit yourself. This is reality."

"..."

"By the way, you really are brutal. Burning a woman's limbs and making her a magic-cripple? Are you insane?"

As Ah-rin taunted him, Jin Rain frowned.

"That wasn't me! I swear, that's one thing I definitely didn't do!"

"Hahahahahaha!"

Ah-rin burst out laughing at his desperate protest.

Then, whispering into his ear, she said,

"I know. You didn't do it."

"... What?"

"Actually, what was shown in that footage—those were clones made from my tail fur."

Jin Rain's eyes quaked in shock at the revelation.

Just as he began to shout, Karen suddenly froze his mouth.

"Of course, I didn't make that video alone. Seongjin helped, too."

"Mm—mmmmm!"

"And you know what? The real fun starts now."

As soon as Ah-rin finished, a new video appeared on Hand's screens.

This time, it was footage featuring Ai Hoon of the Sura guild.

"You once said you'd sacrifice anything for Sura guild, didn't you?"

"...!"

"I'll sacrifice anything for my benefactor, too."

Even if Jin Rain's mouth thawed, he would have been unable to reply.

"And I'm sure all the people sacrificed will understand. Right?"

Those were the very words he had once used to justify himself.