Resurrection Chapter 61 - Just Because You’re Precious

The forest had already vanished without a trace, and a heat storm was sweeping across the clearing. Since its aftermath was beginning to reach this far, it seemed I would only be able to retrieve my sword after the fire was completely extinguished.

In any case, it was enough that I knew Kang Cheoljun and Yoon Younghyun had saved Min Gongchan. I had to go back to where Heesoo hyung’s body was, resurrect him, and get out of the dungeon.

I crawled backward through the bushes on my hands and knees. When I judged that I had put enough distance between us, I got up and started back the way I came. I had to wait for my MP to recharge to use Resurrection, so I couldn’t use magic and ran on my own two legs.

Fortunately, the heat had sucked the moisture from the swamp, and the swamp floor was bone dry. The fog was gone too, so running wasn’t very difficult.

Before long, I reached the place where I had laid Heesoo hyung down. And then, I was horrified to see that there was nothing there.

“Heesoo hyung!”

In that moment, all sorts of thoughts flashed through my mind. Did a passing monster eat him? Then there should at least be a trace left! Or did someone take him? Not Kang Cheoljun and Yoon Younghyun, so who on earth could it be?

Another hunter?

If not that, then? Don’t tell me it was Yaksha!

At the worst possible guess, I turned deathly pale.

It wasn’t just Min Gongchan and my sword that I had left behind in the flames. I had left Yaksha there as well.

I hoped he had suffered a fatal wound and burned to death, but I shouldn’t mistake my wish for a certainty. As an S-rank Awakened, he might have somehow survived even in that state.

Above all, Yaksha was a necromancer. It was safer to assume he had survived in some bizarre, unimaginable way.

The problem was the fact that Yaksha might have picked up Heesoo hyung’s body on his way to escape. I began to look around in all directions, searching for Heesoo hyung’s body.

I hoped it wasn’t true, but in the unlikely event that Yaksha had taken his body, he wouldn’t be burying it in a sunny spot. I had no idea how he would make use of that body, so I absolutely had to get it back before Heesoo hyung was turned into an undead.

But how?

When I had been completely helpless in Yaksha’s grasp!

I recalled the humiliation I had felt in Yaksha’s arms. When I was captured by Yoon Younghyun, it was due to the aftereffects of possession, but this time, I had no excuse.

If I didn’t build up my own strength, it was obvious that the same thing would happen again and again. I would be captured by other guys, and Heesoo hyung would die repeatedly trying to save me.

The Golden Emperor’s reprimand hadn’t been entirely wrong. If I had the skills befitting a magic sword, there would be no reason to suppress it with a seal. It was because I wasn’t worthy of wielding Lævateinn that I had lowered its performance and was using it like a steel club.

Just as Heesoo hyung built up his skills by repeating his resurrection, I too had to exercise patience and build up my skills. Only then would I be worthy of being Heesoo hyung’s partner.

The one who needed to be worthy was not Heesoo hyung, but me.

‘Idiot! Moron! Fool! You impudent brat!’

I cursed myself as I thoroughly searched the surroundings for any sign of where Heesoo hyung’s body had gone. As I did, a strange mark left on the dried-up swamp bed caught my eye.

It was a mark of something being dragged.

The width was just about the size of a person, so without a second thought, I ran, following the trail. And before long, I saw someone panting and struggling, carrying Heesoo hyung’s body on their back.

“Ugh, heok. Eok, ugh-eok.”

The one walking while dragging Heesoo hyung’s legs was none other than Park Sigyeong.

I was bewildered, wondering why this guy was here. Seeing no one else around, he seemed to be alone. Had he recklessly followed us in?

It would have been good if he had joined up with Yoon Younghyun or Kang Cheoljun, but it seemed he hadn’t been able to. Seeing as he was still in the swamp, he must have been delayed by fighting monsters or had gotten lost and was wandering in circles.

I was greatly relieved that it wasn’t Yaksha who had taken Heesoo hyung’s body. Then, the thought that Heesoo hyung’s body was in the hands of some random guy made me surge with anger. It was my fault for leaving him anywhere, but I had been scared to death thinking Yaksha might have taken him.

Wondering what to do, I decided to handle things simply. I looked around, picked up a fist-sized rock, and clenched it in my hand.

Although I couldn’t add magic to it, I, who had gone through my days as a jack-of-all-trades, was skilled at throwing. Even a well-thrown rock could be powerful enough, so with the intention of knocking Park Sigyeong out, I put strength into my shoulder and swung my arm powerfully.

Whoosh!

The rock flew and hit the back of Park Sigyeong’s head.

Thwack!

“Ack!”

With a sound like a rock hitting a rock, Park Sigyeong let out a scream. Surprisingly, he seemed completely unharmed. He just flinched in surprise and whipped his head around.

Our eyes met, and my own eyes widened. No, how can a head be that hard? He looked like a healer, so I thought he was one, but was he actually a tanker?

Spotting me in my surprise, Park Sigyeong’s eyes widened in turn.

“You’re…!”

Park Sigyeong, who was about to shout something at me, staggered. He had clearly exhausted all his strength carrying the incredibly heavy Heesoo hyung.

Heesoo hyung slid off his back and fell face-down on the ground with a thud. Standing protectively in front of him, Park Sigyeong shouted.

“You’re Mr. Heesoo’s partner… right? The jack-of-all-trades, Kim Yitae!”

“Yeah, that’s right. So hand Heesoo hyung over.”

I had a gut feeling that things had gotten complicated. Park Sigyeong’s face was splotched all over with tear stains, as if he had had a good cry after discovering Heesoo hyung’s body.

“Y-y-y-you! W-what were you doing, not protecting our Mr. Heesoo…? If you’re his partner, you should have acted like one and protected Mr. Heesoo! Where in the world were you and what were you doing, leaving Mr. Heesoo behind…! Mr. Heesoo, Mr. Heesoo…!”

As he spoke, he seemed to be overcome with emotion again, and Park Sigyeong burst into tears. He seemed unable to bear his sorrow, even before blaming me. Eventually, he collapsed to his knees and wailed, pounding his chest.

“Mr. Heesoo, Mr. Heesoo…! Wahhhh! Mr. Heesoo…! Uwaaaah!”

Since he would think Heesoo hyung was dead, I could understand why he was acting like that. Goodness, and I couldn’t even explain that it wasn’t true.

The biggest problem was that I couldn’t resurrect Heesoo hyung like this. MP aside, I couldn’t use Resurrection right in front of Park Sigyeong.

Even if I snatched Heesoo hyung and took him away, it would be a problem. Since he had clearly seen Heesoo hyung dead, he would surely find it strange to see him walking around alive later.

I looked at Park Sigyeong, who was crying so hard he couldn’t even speak properly, and felt extremely troubled. It was also tricky to manipulate his memories with magic since my opponent was an apostle of a goddess.

Usually, Awakened of the divine class possessed magic resistance, so magic didn’t work well on them. Mental interference, which wasn’t even a physical attack, had a high chance of failing.

Honestly, the best method was to kill him, but he was once Heesoo hyung’s colleague and still cared for Heesoo hyung, so I was reluctant to kill him just to keep him quiet.

Above all, I was worried about what Heesoo hyung would think. If it were my own business, it would be a different story, but I couldn’t commit murder over something related to Heesoo hyung.

‘This is driving me crazy. What should I do?’

This was no time to be conflicted. The heat had crossed the clearing and was beginning to reach this far. The heat storm was approaching, which meant Kang Cheoljun, Yoon Younghyun, and Min Gongchan would be heading this way too. I didn’t want to run into them when I hadn’t even managed to resurrect Heesoo hyung, so my options were limited.

I gazed at Park Sigyeong. It was difficult to believe that his anguish over Heesoo hyung’s death was a lie.

I have no choice. It’s a secret that will be revealed sooner or later anyway.

I resurrected Heesoo hyung, who lay at his feet.

“Resurrection.”

👑

Kim Piljoong, captain of the Otherworldly Abilities Management Agency’s Special Task Force, stared up at the ceiling of the barracks of a field headquarters that looked to have been set up in a hurry by anyone’s standards. To be precise, he was spacing out in a delinquent posture, with both feet on the table and his chair tilted back.

“I think I must have fallen in love.”

At the words Kim Piljoong muttered while looking at empty space, a dumbfounded message was immediately sent back.

—The God of Light Speed says to cut the crap.

Kim Piljoong swept back his comma-shaped bangs and shook his head from side to side.

“If that’s not it, there’s no reason I would miss Yaksha this much, is there?”

The one listening to Kim Piljoong’s ramblings was not only his patron deity, the God of Light Speed. The various team leaders of the Special Task Force also wore expressions like rotten cabbages.

Unfortunately for them, Kim Piljoong, captain of the Special Task Force and one of the seven S-rank Awakened in the Republic of Korea, was a self-proclaimed romantic. As if he had truly fallen in love, he let out a deep sigh and lowered his feet. Then, he placed his elbows on the table and rested his chin in his hands.

“I want to face Yaksha and burst his heart as soon as possible, but he shows no sign of appearing.”

A few months ago, the story of Yaksha attacking the OAMA Training Institute and clashing with Kim Piljoong was known to everyone in the world. Naturally, the fact that Kim Piljoong was defeated there had also become the talk of the town.

Although Yaksha was a fellow S-rank, Kim Piljoong was a high-ranking public official belonging to a state agency. As the Awakened who hunts Awakened, the face of the Special Task Force, being beaten by a ruffian like Yaksha was a deeply embarrassing affair.