Chapter 92
"Who are you?"
Song Hwa-rin sharply questioned the empty air.
But no answer came.
The man's spirit stopped directly across from her at the table.
Then he stared down at her and began crying endlessly.
The tears running down his cheeks froze before they could fall, turning into tiny beads of ice that dropped onto the floor.
[Tap. Tap. Tap.]
The sound of invisible tears striking the floor.
The man opened his mouth, trying to say something.
But perhaps because his throat had been torn apart, only a rough, airy rasp escaped.
Hong Man-gi silently watched the spirit.
'......'
The man desperately reached out, trying to touch Song Hwa-rin's cheek.
Naturally, his hand passed straight through her skin.
Song Hwa-rin flinched at the cold sensation brushing against her cheek and leaned backward.
"Hong Man-gi. What is this? Something about this situation isn't normal."
Hong Man-gi stared closely at the man's spirit.
It was an unfamiliar face, yet something about him felt strangely familiar.
Then Hong Man-gi noticed the faint symbol visible on the shoulder of his torn uniform.
A white lotus.
'White Lotus Guild...?'
Then this man must have known Song Hwa-rin.
Hong Man-gi carefully spoke.
"Do you know this person?"
"What?"
Song Hwa-rin stared at Hong Man-gi as if he had suddenly started speaking nonsense.
"What the hell are you talking about? There's nobody here except us."
"No. There's a man standing right in front of you, Master."
Song Hwa-rin's eyes trembled.
"A man? What man? Don't screw around with me."
"I'm not joking. His entire body is frozen... and he's standing there crying while looking at you."
Hong Man-gi turned toward the spirit.
"Excuse me. Can you hear me?"
The man's spirit looked at Hong Man-gi.
His eyes widened when he realized someone could actually recognize his existence.
"Do you know this woman? Guild Master Song Hwa-rin?"
At Hong Man-gi's question, the man desperately nodded.
He nodded so violently that it seemed his neck might snap, then pointed a trembling finger toward Song Hwa-rin.
[Krrgh...!]
He forced out a broken scream while clawing at his own chest.
The sight was so desperate that Hong Man-gi had to briefly look away.
Then he said,
"He says he knows you. Very well, apparently."
Song Hwa-rin's face turned pale.
"Who is he... who the hell is he...?"
The wineglass in her hand shook dangerously.
The droplets on its surface began turning white as they froze.
The spirit seemed to be trying to do something.
Hong Man-gi held his breath and watched his lips carefully.
His throat had been torn apart.
His vocal cords were frozen.
He could not make a proper sound.
But his lips were moving desperately.
As if trying to finally reveal a single truth that had remained unspoken for years.
[......]
Hong Man-gi narrowed his eyes and concentrated on the shape of his mouth.
'K... a... n... g...'
The first syllable was Kang.
The spirit stared at Song Hwa-rin while frozen beads of tears dropped from his face like bloody tears.
He struck his chest.
His movements carried injustice, guilt, and an aching longing.
'M... i... n...'
The second part was Min.
Then, when he tried to form the final syllable, his face twisted in agony.
Even saying his own name seemed like punishment.
'H... y... u... k...'
Hyuk.
The moment the three syllables came together, everything clicked inside Hong Man-gi's mind.
Kang Min-hyuk?
When Hong Man-gi remained silent for a moment, Song Hwa-rin's voice became sharp.
"I asked who it is. Stop dragging this out and tell me."
Hong Man-gi took a deep breath.
There was no avoiding it.
He spoke in the calmest and most careful voice he could manage.
"Master. Do you perhaps..."
He hesitated for a moment, then said the man's name.
"...know someone named Kang Min-hyuk?"
At that instant,
Crash!
The crystal wineglass in Song Hwa-rin's hand shattered.
Wine ran down her white hand and dripped onto the floor like blood.
But she did not seem to feel the shards of glass embedded in her skin.
Her face twisted like that of a furious demon.
The lonely woman who had been casually joking with Hong Man-gi only moments earlier disappeared.
In her place stood the S-rank Hunter known as the Mad Tyrant, burning with murderous rage and hatred.
"...What?"
"You... dare say that name in front of me?"
[RUMBLE!]
The entire restaurant began shaking.
Dishes rattled on the tables and the lights flickered.
Violent mana poured from Song Hwa-rin's body like a storm, crushing the space around her.
'Damn... I must've touched the one thing she absolutely can't tolerate.'
Hong Man-gi quickly spoke.
"That person... is here right now. He's standing directly in front of you, Master, and he's crying."
Then,
"SHUT UP! At least make your lies believable! How dare you mock me?!"
Song Hwa-rin screamed and slammed the table.
[BANG!]
The solid wooden table split in half and collapsed.
"Don't lie to me! That traitorous bastard is here? Even if he's dead, he would never dare show his face in front of me! He has no right!"
She shot to her feet.
Blood ran from the hand pierced by broken glass, but she did not care.
"Did you investigate my past? How the hell do you know that name? And..."
Her eyes had turned bloodshot.
"What rumor did you dig up somewhere? You thought you could use a dead bastard to get my attention? Did you start getting arrogant because I've been nice to you?!"
"No. You've misunderstood, Master."
"Misunderstood? Just because you restored my sense of taste, don't start thinking you're something special. If you're trying to use a dead man against me... if you're trying to shake me up for some scheme, then even if it's you, I won't forgive it. No, because it's you, I won't forgive it even more!"
Strength gathered in her hand.
Hong Man-gi's body lifted into the air.
"Urgh..."
His throat tightened, but Hong Man-gi did not look away from her eyes.
Inside those eyes was something even deeper than murderous intent.
Heartbreaking grief and betrayal.
Hong Man-gi could see it.
Beside them, Kang Min-hyuk's spirit silently choked back sobs.
[Krrgh...!]
He tried to grab Song Hwa-rin's arm as she held Hong Man-gi.
But his hand cruelly passed through her again.
Overcome by helplessness, he dropped to his knees and wept.
Watching him, Hong Man-gi barely managed to speak.
"Please... calm down... I'm only telling you... what I can see..."
"Calm down? Ha, calm down?"
Song Hwa-rin let out a hollow laugh.
Then she threw Hong Man-gi to the floor.
[Thud!]
"Cough, cough..."
Hong Man-gi coughed as he pushed himself up.
Song Hwa-rin swept her trembling hand through her hair.
Large tears dropped from her eyes.
Rather than rage, she now looked like someone whose heart was collapsing.
"What the hell do you know...? What could someone like you possibly know about us?!"
She staggered backward.
Then she leaned against the wall and slowly slid down as she spoke.
"It was a long time ago."
Hong Man-gi cautiously started toward her, but she raised a hand.
"Don't come closer. Stay there. Just... listen from there."
She buried her face against her knees and continued in a restrained voice.
"We were founding members of the White Lotus Guild. I was the Guild Master, and he was the Deputy Guild Master. We were... lovers. We swore that we'd give our lives for each other."
Her tearful voice continued.
"That day, we were clearing an AX-rank dungeon. The Hellish Snowfield. It was the coldest and most dangerous dungeon ever known. We reached the boss room, and there we discovered a treasure that could change the fate of the entire guild, the Heart of the Snowfield."
Hong Man-gi listened without interrupting.
Kang Min-hyuk's spirit also raised his head and stared at her.
"But... right before we faced the boss, he disappeared."
Song Hwa-rin's voice became cold again.
"Together with the Heart of the Snowfield. No explanation, no trace, he simply vanished. When our party was on the verge of being wiped out by the boss, that bastard took the treasure and ran away to save himself."
She raised her head.
Her tear-stained face was filled with venom.
"Traitor. Coward. Trash."
She spat those curses toward Kang Min-hyuk.
"Half our people died because of him. I nearly died there too. I wandered through hell. And now... now you're telling me he's here crying? That he feels wronged?"
She gave a chilling laugh.
"Tell him to go fuck himself. That shameless bastard. He ran away while he was alive, and now that he's dead, he doesn't even have the courage to face me himself, so he's hiding behind someone like you? You expect me to believe that?"
Kang Min-hyuk's spirit violently shook his head.
[No... Hwa-rin... no...!]
He moved his lips desperately, but no voice came out.
Then he looked at Hong Man-gi with pleading eyes.
Please.
Please tell her the truth for me.
But Song Hwa-rin already seemed to have closed her heart.
Hong Man-gi carefully spoke.
"Master. I understand what happened. But... the eyes of the person I'm looking at don't seem like those of a traitor. He looks deeply wronged, and more than anything... he seems worried about you."
"Enough."
Song Hwa-rin cut him off coldly.
"I don't want to hear any more. I'm disappointed in you, Hong Man-gi. I don't know why you're putting on this ridiculous act, but because it's you, I told you my story. That's the end of it. Stop."
She forced her trembling body upright and glared at him.
"Maybe I trusted you too much. I didn't know you were the kind of bastard who would sell someone's painful past just to get ahead, even if it helped your business."
"That's not it! I really..."
"Enough. I don't need your excuses."
She stepped across the broken pieces of the wineglass and headed for the exit.
"I'm leaving for tonight. And... stay out of my sight for a while. I might actually want to kill you."
Her back no longer looked like that of the mighty S-rank Hunter feared by everyone.
She looked like nothing more than a vulnerable woman who had spent years carrying the wound of being betrayed by the man she loved.
Just as she opened the door to leave,
"Wait."
