Chapter 62 

 How to Move Forward

“It’s going to be quite noisy outside for a while.”

Oh Hyeonseong sat on the rooftop, looking down at the surroundings.

There was a huge hole in the ground where the security vehicles had fallen.

There were also signs of fighting elsewhere, suggesting that some remnants of the terrorists had still been hiding around the area.

Of course, they had all been subdued long ago, but the citizens were still running around in confusion over the sudden incident.

‘Ever since Gates and Hunters appeared, incidents and accidents have become commonplace in cities… But even so, something on this scale is pretty rare.’

Fortunately, they had prevented the situation from escalating into the worst possible outcome and had somehow managed to contain it.

But there was no way it would simply pass quietly.

Domestic and foreign media would report it as breaking news, and every available resource would be mobilized to investigate what had happened.

At least the situation was somewhat less serious because it had been an attempted assassination rather than a successful one.

“That’s why I need you to pull some strings.”

“…Anyone listening would think I owed you something.”

Baek Jisu, standing behind him with her arms crossed, replied.

She shrugged her shoulders before continuing.

“Don’t worry. Cleaning up something of this scale is more than manageable. There’s no need to worry about any troublesome attention being directed at you, Senior.”

“Thanks.”

If a proper investigation were conducted, there was no way Oh Hyeonseong’s involvement in the incident could be completely omitted from the investigation.

But what was the point of having useful connections if you never used them?

If the Security Bureau handled things appropriately, it was possible to neatly erase the name of a key figure like him from the official report.

“More importantly…”

Baek Jisu’s gaze shifted toward Yoon Seolha.

Still covered in blood and unconscious, she had been laid down quietly beside where Oh Hyeonseong was sitting.

“You really managed to get her out safely. Even for you, Senior, that couldn’t have been easy.”

“I had some luck on my side. And Yoon Seolha and I happen to be a good matchup. That helped.”

Yoon Seolha’s troublesome special constitution was notorious for being difficult to deal with.

However, her abilities were completely countered by Mertz, the Earth Spirit that Oh Hyeonseong controlled.

Even while in a state of psychosis, she had realized that her abilities weren’t working and switched to a direct confrontation instead of properly using them.

The reason he had been able to subdue her so easily despite the difference in their conditions wasn’t simply because of the information gap.

It was also because of the matchup that had existed between them since long ago.

“That’s true. That troublesome girl could never even touch you, Senior. But what are you planning to do with her now? She looks peaceful enough while she’s sleeping, but you do realize you’re carrying around a ticking time bomb, right?”

“I’m taking her with me.”

“Are you sure that’s okay?”

“The IAE members are enough to put in front of the cameras as the attempted assassins. It would be better for her to stay somewhere quiet for a while.”

“That won’t be a problem from our side, but she’ll be physically dangerous.”

Baek Jisu silently looked down at Yoon Seolha.

Getting her safely out of the scene had solved the immediate problem, but fundamentally, her condition hadn’t changed.

She was still being consumed by psychosis, and her sense of self remained unstable.

She was a far greater risk than Joo Jihye, who had been staying at his house not long ago.

“It’s nice to see my junior worrying about me.”

“You’ve already made up your mind, haven’t you?”

Baek Jisu shook her head.

“If that’s what you want to do, Senior, then I suppose you should. But you look exhausted. Wouldn’t it be better to stay in Seoul for a day before leaving? You could keep an eye on the situation while you’re here.”

“No. I need to leave before Han Suyeon gets here. If I run into her right now, I’ll get an earful.”

Oh Hyeonseong chuckled and got to his feet.

Then he looked down at the streets, which were still chaotic and confused.

Things would probably remain hectic for at least another week or two.

It seemed unlikely that he would have any reason to come up to Seoul for a while.

As it happened, he also felt that he needed some quiet and solitude.

Sunlight slipped through the gaps between the curtains.

The light tickling her eyes made Yoon Seolha flinch.

She blinked and slowly opened her eyes.

An unfamiliar ceiling.

A soft pillow.

A thick blanket.

A warm floor and comfortable air.

She suddenly sat up in surprise.

Instinctively, she reached for her sword, but there was no weapon anywhere beside her.

“Where is this… Guh!”

Yoon Seolha raised her upper body and grabbed her forehead.

A sharp pain throbbed through her head.

And that wasn’t all.

Her entire body ached.

Just then, the door opened and Oh Hyeonseong appeared.

“Don’t push yourself for no reason.”

“Se-Senior?”

“I’m glad you’re awake. You woke up sooner than I expected. Drink some water first.”

Yoon Seolha accepted the cup he handed her.

Clear, clean, cool water.

Apparently, she had been extremely thirsty without even realizing it, because she gulped it down.

Her shoulders gradually relaxed as she calmed down.

“Where is this…? What happened?”

She spoke in confusion.

Fragments of memories were tangled together in a mess, and all she could vaguely remember was being somewhere with Oh Hyeonseong before she collapsed.

But when she tried to question him further, he lightly pushed her forehead and forced her back underneath the blanket.

“Your body has been pushed far beyond its limits. You’re going to stay here for a while, so don’t think about anything. Just rest.”

Even before Oh Hyeonseong had knocked her unconscious, Yoon Seolha had already been at her limit.

She simply hadn’t been in a state where she could realize it herself.

She had endured an incredible amount of physical and mental strain.

Even considering that she had been in a state of psychosis, it was remarkable that she hadn’t collapsed sooner and had continued moving.

“Just… rest?”

“Yeah.”

Yoon Seolha’s anxious eyes moved from side to side.

She felt as though monsters pouring out of Gates or assassins from foreign intelligence agencies might burst through the door at any moment.

But as she breathed heavily, she soon became aware that Oh Hyeonseong was right beside her.

He was simply there.

And somehow, that alone was enough to reassure her.

She slowly closed her eyes.

Clatter.

After briefly going outside, Oh Hyeonseong returned and placed a bowl of porridge beside her bed.

He made sure to gently leave some warmth from the Fire Spirit over it before quietly leaving the room.

Yoon Seolha was still mentally unstable.

Considering the level of her abilities, having her lying in a room was almost equivalent to having a tactical nuclear weapon sitting there.

‘At least she hasn’t shown any hostility toward me. But I don’t know what would happen if someone else appeared.’

To prepare for any possible incident, he contacted people beforehand and asked them not to visit.

That included the Yoo siblings from next door, who visited most frequently, as well as Kwon Gyeongmin from the village.

Ever since he had been rescued from the nest of a burrowing-type monster, Kwon Gyeongmin occasionally came to his house, sometimes even bringing his wife along.

‘I’ve eliminated as many variables as possible… Now all that’s left is to monitor her condition.’

Oh Hyeonseong’s house, located in a remote corner of the countryside in Changyeong-ri, could be considered the cleanest place in the world.

It was completely free of murky energy, with not even a trace of residue remaining thanks to the spirits.

Keeping her in an environment completely free of murky energy and feeding her nothing but clean food that hadn’t been exposed to it.

That was the best course of action he could think of.

‘Of course, I’ll have to wait and see whether this actually works.’

Yoon Seolha had already fully entered a state of psychosis.

Just as quitting smoking wouldn’t cure someone who already had lung cancer, it was questionable whether neutralizing the murky energy inside her body would make her psychosis symptoms disappear.

But at the very least, her condition should improve to some degree.

It was certainly worth trying.

Until only recently, it had been common knowledge that once a Hunter developed psychosis, their condition could never improve.

But that common knowledge had already been shattered.

Joo Jihye had proven it by overcoming the psychosis that had previously only grown worse.

And Yoon Seolha herself had returned not as someone completely consumed by psychosis, but in a state that was better than she had been in the past.

That alone was enough to give them hope.

Now all he could do was hope that she would fight through it successfully.

Several days had passed since she returned.

“Haa… Haa…”

Yoon Seolha breathed heavily, cold sweat running down her face.

Another seizure had come.

But once again, she managed to suppress it without losing her grip on reason.

This was the first time she had completely calmed down from a seizure without Oh Hyeonseong beside her.

“…It’s over.”

She looked down at her trembling hands as they gradually became still.

It had felt so dangerous that she had genuinely thought she might die.

And yet, she had managed to completely suppress the seizure on her own.

More importantly, the fact that she was now consciously aware that she was fighting against psychosis itself was evidence that her condition had improved considerably.

“…”

Yoon Seolha looked around.

The scenery of the room had gradually become familiar.

Yet despite spending several days here, she still didn’t know where she was.

She had never even left the room.

She somewhat awkwardly stood up, gathered her courage despite the slight anxiety, and opened the door.

“Huh?”

Standing blankly in front of her was an exotic-looking girl with pure white hair.

It was Alissa, the Spirit of Light.

Yoon Seolha was momentarily startled, but despite the girl’s flawless appearance, she immediately realized that she wasn’t human.

She had never seen this face before, however, so she wondered whether she was one of Oh Hyeonseong’s spirits.

Grab!

Suddenly, Alissa grabbed her hand.

Yoon Seolha flinched in surprise, but Alissa simply stared up at her without saying a word.

It was the kind of gaze that could easily have felt overwhelming.

Yet for some reason, Yoon Seolha felt more at ease instead.

The warmth of the hand holding hers gradually calmed the trembling at her fingertips.

“…”

“Ah, sorry.”

Alissa abruptly stepped backward.

After feeling the girl’s soft touch, Yoon Seolha realized that she had been holding and fidgeting with Alissa’s hand a little too much.

Her cheeks turned red.

Alissa quickly turned her gaze away and stepped outside the annex.

After standing there blankly for a moment, Yoon Seolha followed her.

Whine!

“You guys…”

The sight of the spirits welcoming Yoon Seolha greeted her.

Inside the spacious yard of the house, spirits were floating and dancing in the air.

They were playing beneath the clear sunlight.

Yoon Seolha stared at them in a daze, and a faint smile appeared on her lips.

“Good to see you came out.”

Oh Hyeonseong, who had been sitting on the wooden veranda of the annex, turned around and spoke.

“…Senior.”

“You seem to have gotten somewhat better, at least.”

“Thanks to you.”

“Do you remember what happened? Any of it?”

At his question, Yoon Seolha shook her head.

Her consciousness had been torn apart so thoroughly at the time that it was difficult for any proper memories to remain.

But that didn’t mean she had no awareness of what she had done.

“Senior, while I was being consumed… how many people did I kill?”

Yoon Seolha asked in a slightly trembling voice.

Oh Hyeonseong gestured for her to sit beside him.

Once they were sitting next to each other, he told her about what had happened in the past.

He couldn’t tell her everything that had happened right there, but he explained what he could for the time being.

It might be painful for her.

But avoiding it wouldn’t solve anything.

“…I see.”

She fell silent.

She had committed countless purposeless murders.

Meaningless slaughter that hadn’t been done to save or protect anyone.

Looking down at her once-clean hands, she could now see countless invisible stains of blood splattered across them.

Her eyes trembled dangerously.

“It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

“Does saying something like that really mean anything?”

“Call it rationalization or whatever you want. But let me make one thing clear in advance. I’ve never regretted choosing to kill you back then, and I’ve never felt guilty about it.”

Oh Hyeonseong spoke in a dry tone.

It wasn’t something he should say in front of the person involved.

But it was the truth.

Because that was genuinely how he felt.

“If I went back to the past, I’d make the same choice again. I don’t think the others would feel differently either. As soon as Baek Jisu heard that you’d returned, she left that option wide open as well.”

He continued.

“So, do you resent us?”

“…Of course not.”

“It’s the same thing.”

This cold world was always filled with unavoidable circumstances.

But in the end, choices had to be made.

And you had to move forward.

Leaving behind what had already passed.

“Then… what should I do now?”

“I was also isolated from the world for a while. The world changed quite a lot during that time. The difference you’ll feel is probably going to be much greater than the five-year gap I experienced.”

Oh Hyeonseong stood up.

Then he spoke to Yoon Seolha, who was looking up at him.

“Take it one step at a time. For now, start with farming.”

Yoon Seolha took the hand hoe he handed her and opened her eyes wide.