The Otherworldly Magic Swordsman Who Disciplines the Hunter World Chapter 63

She was someone who made everything possible, except for the impossible. Her skill, which was close to a blessing, manifested miracles every time.

It was only after experiencing death that Kim Myungja used that miracle for herself.

To honor those she loved, she settled on this island. Then, with all her heart and soul, she fashioned the dead as if they were alive. Within this uninhabited island, she preserved their images one by one like taxidermy.

Consequently, only a taxidermied past existed here. She pulled the people she should have protected—those she should never have let go—from her heart and made them like reality.

Including herself, there was no one truly alive here. This was a world where no one died, manifested by Kim Myungja’s skill.

“Maintaining this place for one more year is the limit at best. I also think this is a meaningless act. But what can I do… this is just the kind of person I am.”

When she awakened as a Hunter, she lost her husband, two children, and a newborn grandchild all at once. It was a common tragedy in those times. There were countless others besides her who had lost precious beings.

She awakened, became a Hunter, entered Dungeons, and fought and fought against monsters. It was fine when she was fighting. When there was a goal and a purpose, she didn’t have to let other thoughts come to mind.

It was better to fight, fight, and fight again until she fell asleep exhausted, without the leisure to shed tears over the sense of loss.

The Myeongja Circle was formed, new Hunters awakened, and the Hunter Management Bureau was created. The world changed anew and moved forward. The only one who remained right there was her.

This island was a will and an artifact she left behind before her death. Sensing her end, it was a taxidermied world she created by using her skill one last time.

All the people Kim Myungja loved were alive here. In a world full of only happiness, without pain or sorrow.

this entire island was a massive cenotaph she had created. The people she should have protected but couldn’t were living happily, at least within this place.

Kim Myungja had vividly manifested the lingering attachments of the past born from guilt within this island. Even then, she purposely sought out an uninhabited island to avoid causing harm to others.

She figured it would be safe here since it was an isolated place. To maintain a large-scale skill for a long time, a place where people didn’t come and go was best.

“So you must already know my answer. I must stay here until this life ends.”

However, Gong Siyoung did not back down. He had already expected her to refuse.

If Kim Myungja had been interested in Return Stones, she would have shown a different reaction when Gong Sijin inquired with the ‘Myeongja Circle’, instead of saying ‘try persuading her yourself.’

Kim Myungja—or rather, the shadow created by Kim Myungja’s skill—acted and thought exactly like her. The real Kim Myungja was already dead and buried in the ground, but the skill she created remained on the island to guard this place.

That thing wasn’t a fake. Although it was merely a shadow created by a skill, it shared Kim Myungja’s memories and thoughts. At the very least, Kim Myungja’s soul still remained here.

She was someone who had sacrificed herself to save people until the moment she died. He couldn’t force a nominal sacrifice on her now. That was true, but…

Gong Siyoung composed his breathing for a moment. There was a strategic reason hidden in why Gong Sijin sent Gong Siyoung here personally instead of someone else. It was because he judged that if there was anyone who could persuade Kim Myungja, it was only Gong Siyoung.

Kim Myungja had consistently cherished and adored Gong Siyoung. It pained her to see the young Gong Siyoung struggling and sacrificing himself, so she looked in on him more often. The fact she realized the more she watched was that she and Gong Siyoung were very much alike.

They weren’t real family, but they connected on a level beyond that. There was no reason not to cherish a child who thought and acted in the same way. Whether before death or after death, that emotion did not disappear.

“Do you remember before? When we entered that S-rank Dungeon together.”

Kim Myungja nodded. Her face quickly distorted as if it were painful to recall.

“Only you and I remained, and everyone else died… Zion, Yunkyung, Chansol, Mr. Haegyu, Yunjae…”

The names of the dead were listed endlessly. She remembered every single one of them without exception.

Even when it felt like the sadness had vanished, it quickly returned to its place. She had experienced many deaths, and one would think she’d be desensitized, but partings were invariably painful.

“If it wasn’t for you back then, Teacher, I would have died there too. It’s the same now. If you don’t help, both I and the people who entered the overlapping Dungeon might all lose our lives.”

“But…”

Gong Siyoung quickly approached her side. He took both her hands and stared straight into her eyes. Kim Myungja’s gaze wavered with fluster as they looked at each other.

“Please help me, Teacher. Save me just this once, like back then. It’s something only you can do.”

“But Siyoung, I…”

“Every time our comrades died in that Dungeon back then, the truth is I wanted to give up on everything. The exit wasn’t visible, and the monsters followed us as if they were going to kill us all at any second… Back then, you held my hand, Teacher. Thanks to your skill, we were able to escape from there. Back then, you said this: as long as we have become Hunters, there are things we must do even if we are scared. You said we must never give up, and that we must fight until the end.”

He appealed to her without letting go of her hands. He stared straight into Kim Myungja’s trembling eyes.

“So please, just like then, show us the way for our sake.”

The corners of Kim Myungja’s eyes gradually distorted. Recognizing the sign of hesitation, Gong Siyoung drove it home.

“Or do you… want me to die there, Teacher?”

Watching the subtle persuasion that felt like a threat, Julian let out a small sigh.

No matter how you look at it, there’s no way a threat made by shoving your face forward would work so easily…

“Make your choice now, Teacher. Do you want me to die, or do you want me to live?”

It was a statement close to a threat or coercion, but because of his sorrowful face, it felt like he was pleading. Kim Myungja looked back and forth between the joined hands and Gong Siyoung’s face. After hesitating for a long time, she let out a deep sigh.

“Alright, I understand, then. I have to protect you, Siyoung.”

…It works. That works so easily?

Kim Myungja declared her surrender helplessly. A bright smile appeared for the first time on the lips of Gong Siyoung, who squeezed the joined hands tightly.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Scary. It’s scary. I’m telling you, it’s really scary.”

Park Ildo muttered repeatedly. Unbefitting of his large frame, he curled his body as much as possible and crouched on the ground. A strong will was felt that he would not look anywhere else but the floor, no matter what.

“If this isn’t a ghost, then what on earth is a ghost…”

“Watch your mouth.”

Unable to watch any longer, Gong Siyoung chided him gently. Yet, the hand patting his shoulder was fierce.

“Teacher is right in front of you; you should distinguish between what to say and what not to say.”

At the words ‘right in front’, Park Ildo’s shoulders trembled ruthlessly. He desperately held onto his sunglasses. He felt like he would faint if someone took them away even as a joke.

Julian slowly moved behind Park Ildo.

“Wh-where is she n-now… where is she?”

“I told you, right in front of you.”

As if in response, Kim Myungja fluttered her hand. Approaching right up to Park Ildo’s nose, she waved her palm in front of his eyes. As if it were fascinating that he couldn’t see anything, Kim Myungja played around for a long time before turning her head without lingering attachment.

“He’s big but he seems to have a lot of fear? Am I that scary? Based on looks, shouldn’t this side be the one more afraid?”

Even while saying that, she didn’t seem particularly offended.

She trotted toward the center of the yard. A giant rock taken from the backpack Park Ildo brought was embedded there.

Kim Myungja, having taken a serious stance, moved her hand as if drawing on the stone. At her humming, Park Ildo nervously clasped his hands together.

“Other thoughts… good thoughts… Uh, what was it. But how did you persuade Teacher? Any words are fine, so just say something.”

He covered his ears, then readjusted his sunglasses; it was pure chaos.

Julian readily answered on behalf of Gong Siyoung, who ignored Park Ildo while gritting his teeth.

“He used a honey trap.”

Kim Myungja burst into a poof of laughter. Gong Siyoung made a small protest, telling him not to say strange things. At the sound of the cackling laughter, Park Ildo’s face turned pale.

Julian didn’t miss the opportunity and placed a hand on Park Ildo’s shoulder. When he lightly touched the temple of the glasses, the man flinched visibly.

“Just take these off. You’re freaking out more because you’re only half-closing your eyes for no reason.”

“Let go. Let go while I’m being nice. Let go quickly.”

Park Ildo desperately defended his glasses. Since the usually boorish and blatantly rude Park Ildo was acting like that, it made Julian want to tease him more.

Only after shaking the glasses for a good while longer did he pull his hand away.

“I’m telling you to trust me and take them off comfortably.”

What Park Ildo was holding onto like a lifeline was also one of Gong Sijin’s items.

The sunglasses-shaped ‘Mirror of Truth’ determined the truth of all visible targets. Therefore, while wearing the sunglasses, Kim Myungja’s skill would not be visible.

The problem was the fact that while she wasn’t ‘visible’, hearing or feeling her was the same. Isn’t it actually scarier to feel something vaguely rather than seeing it clearly?

But Park Ildo remained stubborn to the end. He hadn’t even intended to come here, but they had just managed to bring him along by coaxing and soothing him under the pretext of bringing the backpack he’d left behind.

“Be honest. You intentionally didn’t bring the backpack, didn’t you?”

“What…”

He probably didn’t intend to play a trick on Park Ildo, but it was true that Gong Siyoung had left the backpack behind on purpose.

No matter how distracted one is, Gong Siyoung wasn’t the type of personality to leave behind the most important item, of all people.

“I couldn’t just shove materials in her face without even getting permission from Teacher first. There’s an order to things.”

It wasn’t exactly a wrong statement. In the end, things worked out well, so there was nothing to complain about. Park Ildo might be suffering a bit, but that wasn’t something Julian needed to worry about.

“It’s amazing. To think all of this was created with a skill.”

Every time Kim Myungja wrote something on the stone, the visible things disappeared one by one. The dishes, the rubber gloves, and even the house and vegetable garden seen in the distance gradually became transparent.

The playground he saw before coming here, and the children playing there, would be the same. Everything on the island was a fake created upon her skill.

Therefore, once this work was finished, this island would truly return to being an uninhabited island.

“My skills have dulled a lot too. I suppose it’ll really be the end after I finish this.”

Every time Kim Myungja’s voice was heard, Park Ildo clasped his two hands and whispered lowly, “God, Buddha, Allah…”

Gong Siyoung stepped firmly on his foot, feigning a mistake. Park Ildo’s eyes widened.

“Hey…! That hurts, damn it.”

“I told you to watch your mouth. I won’t say the same thing three times.”

He brought his index finger to his lips. It meant he should just keep his mouth shut while he was being nice.

Whether Park Ildo fumed or not, Gong Siyoung coolly ignored him. At the two people’s contrasting attitudes, Kim Myungja burst into laughter once again.

“What an interesting friend. He looks familiar, so he’s part of the Yeollak Guild, right? But the handsome young man over there… no matter how much I think about it, I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him.”

The fingertip that had been engraving characters on the stone slab pointed exactly at Julian. She pointed at Gong Siyoung once, then Julian once, alternately.

“I saw earlier that things looked unusual between you two… I wonder what kind of relationship you have?”