Chapter 135
It was impossible to tell what he was thinking.
He was just smiling with slightly narrowed eyes.
It was definitely a smile… but something about it didn’t feel like a simple one, and it sent a chill down the spine.
Lee Hoin frowned.
It was a mix of unease and hostility.
“Mister.”
The word he threw out sounded deliberately rude.
His tone was sharp, and while he used polite speech, it was only in form.
“What are you going to do knowing that?”
“I’m not trying to pick a fight. I’m just curious.”
“In a moment like this, when Nam Muyeong just disappeared, if that’s not picking a fight, then what is it?”
Lee Hoin brushed his hair back roughly and stepped closer to Kim Taekjin.
He wasn’t the type to intimidate others with his physique.
He knew he was big… and that people often got scared of him because of it.
Sometimes it bothered him.
Sometimes he understood.
He had always been large, and with training, his already big frame had grown even bigger.
On top of that, his blunt way of speaking didn’t help.
So it was understandable people felt uncomfortable.
Once people got to know him, they didn’t feel that way… but those who barely knew him, or met him for the first time, did.
Whether he intended harm or not,
his appearance alone had often led to him being pushed away.
At first, it felt unfair.
It hurt.
But over time, he grew used to it.
Still, even as he accepted it, the sense of unfairness lingered… so he didn’t like using his size to threaten others.
He never tried to act that way, even by mistake.
Even in the athletic club, he’d rather get hit than enforce discipline.
And because he was so careful about his behavior, he understood even better how to intimidate someone.
Like how it’s harder to score zero than a hundred, because you have to know every wrong answer.
“Hey.”
Lee Hoin looked down at Kim Taekjin deliberately.
With his bulked-up body from Hermadion,
and a face that looked like he could throw a punch at any moment.
“I can tell how you’ve been living your life, but don’t pull that shit with us.”
Even under that pressure, Kim Taekjin kept smiling,
though his expression stiffened slightly.
“I just want to have a conversation, student.”
He spoke smoothly, trying to calm things down.
Lee Hoin immediately corrected him.
“It’s Lee Hoin.”
He pointed out that he wasn’t a “student.”
Being called a student wasn’t particularly offensive… he was one.
But not now.
It was the attitude behind it… placing himself as the adult, and Lee Hoin as the subordinate.
As if he were the one tolerating things.
Tolerating what?
In this situation, Kim Taekjin wasn’t the one “letting things slide.”
He was the one who had suddenly thrown out a rude remark to test him.
So what exactly was he tolerating?
“Are you angry?”
Kim Taekjin asked lightly, trying to ease the tension.
Even that attempt felt irritating.
“Angry? Am I in a position where I should be angry? Or do I look like I’m angry to you?”
The eyes looking down at him clearly held anger… but they were calmer than expected.
Influenced by the person he’d been with,
Lee Hoin was expressing anger calmly.
An anger that resembled Nam Muyeong’s.
Very different from how he had been at the auditorium in the beginning.
Even he could feel that.
“I just wanted to talk. I had no intention of slandering or misrepresenting your relationship.”
At that explanation, Lee Hoin scoffed.
But Kim Taekjin kept talking.
“In a world like this, it’s hard to trust someone, isn’t it? I’ve been the same. I’ve been with many people. So I know very well… how difficult it is to open your heart this much and walk together.”
His words flowed smoothly.
Like an excuse… but not quite.
Softly soothing, with a tone of apology.
It was clearly irritating… yet if you thought it was irritating, it made you feel like a narrow-minded child.
Lee Hoin realized it instinctively.
‘This bastard’s the type who whispers from the side while someone else enforces discipline.’
The kind who adds one comment and gets someone beaten three times instead of once.
Even as Lee Hoin glared at him,
Kim Taekjin showed no sign of backing down.
“Of course, I’m aware that my tone might have sounded off. But I was just curious about the bond between you two. And curiosity… came from envy.”
He lowered himself… and elevated their relationship.
“I envy a bond where you can completely trust each other and entrust your lives.”
Even then, Lee Hoin’s expression didn’t soften.
It was true he felt a bit disappointed in Nam Muyeong.
It was also true that he wondered if, to him, he might just be a tool rather than a companion.
But…
Nam Muyeong had saved him too many times to be shaken by someone like this.
Even a dog shows gratitude when fed… he wasn’t stupid enough to start rambling about Muyeong just because of words like that.
More importantly… he knew this wasn’t comfort.
It was probing.
Testing how much he could be shaken.
How much pressure would produce what kind of reaction?
The reason behind it didn’t matter.
The act of probing itself was the point.
“Mister, whether I trust him or not… and whether I walk with him or not… ”
Lee Hoin wasn’t stupid enough not to realize that.
And it felt too off to just ignore.
It could simply be the instinctive hierarchy-setting common among athletes.
When several strong people gather together, it’s something that inevitably happens.
“We’re leaving soon anyway, so why do you care so much?”
He drew a line.
They were outsiders.
There was no need to reveal everything or to help with everything.
“Know your place.”
It was best to cut it off here so he couldn’t dig further.
Lee Hoin said that and pushed Kim Taekjin back casually.
Kim Taekjin was pushed back easily.
That, too, was unpleasant.
People who act weak and grovel… There aren’t many decent ones among them.
That was Lee Hoin’s belief.
The moment Nam Muyeong disappeared, the fragile peace they had maintained broke apart like this.
Lee Hoin started walking again.
They had to get out of here first.
***
—
[You call upon your soul, Master ‘Leon Wolf.’]
[Do you agree to partial manifestation?]
[Warning! This may cause severe cracks in your soul!]
—
I trusted my master.
Right now, a leap of faith was the only answer.
I set the location for manifestation.
This was all a gamble.
Just like I said… a reckless act based purely on trust.
—
[Warning! The manifestation location is unstable!]
[This may cause severe damage to your soul!]
—
Somewhere, I heard my master sigh.
A sharp pain shot through the top of my head.
—
[Your soul, Master ‘Leon Wolf,’ answers your call.]
—
In the end, he answered.
The creature climbing the tree paused for a moment.
What I chose to manifest… was an arm.
The location… the incomplete transfer mark I had carved earlier at the base of the tree.
Right above where the neck had started to coil.
Ssssss
The creature began retreating quickly.
But since it had to unwrap its neck from the tree, it was significantly slower.
In that gap, my master’s arm, now fully formed, grabbed the neck.
“Kiiiieeek!”
Sensing danger instinctively, the creature tried to descend faster, then abandoned that, leaving its coiled body as is, stretching its neck further down to turn its head.
It charged downward violently, as if to bite off the arm and tear it apart.
When it was halfway down…
I dropped quickly.
Scrrrt
The cloth wrapped around my hand scraped against the tree bark and tore.
Soon, the fabric wore through,
and my palm underneath began burning from friction.
As my entire body slid down the tree, heat built up everywhere from the friction.
Ignoring the pain,
I dropped… and grabbed the coiled neck.
Still wrapped around the tree.
The texture of its skin, slightly warm… filled my grip.
“Kiiiieeek!”
As it tried to climb back up along my body, my master pulled it downward, throwing it into confusion.
It didn’t know whether to go up or down.
In that moment…
I raised my axe.
Blood from my torn hand smeared onto its neck.
Better that way.
It marked the strike point.
Kill this bastard quickly… find the others… and get out.
The blade of the axe rose high.
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