Chapter 1: Regression (1)
“…Brother, are you okay?”
He asked if I was alright, even though his side looked as if it had been gnawed away, his insides spilling out. I was annoyed by his nonchalant face; he was merely a little pale while dying.
Sitting slumped on the floor, I looked up at my younger brother without saying a word.
He was the one who interfered with my affairs at every turn. He was so damn successful that I had heard him tell me to stay quiet and not hold back his arrogant younger brother, and it was painful to hear.
Since I had ended up not just holding him back but completely breaking his ankle like this, he wasn't wrong.
But still.
“…Why did you come here?”
A curt voice escaped my lips, despite having been rescued. Why didn't he just let me die as punishment for acting so foolishly?
Far from being on good terms, we were nothing but cold and distant whenever we crossed paths. He didn't even come to visit me once when my leg bones were shattered into pieces.
I hadn't properly exchanged a word with him since that day he coldly refused my request to help fix my leg, which would leave me limping for life, and dragged me out, abandoning me with a "stop acting up and just take the money" remark.
At my question, he smirked bitterly.
"Why did you come, you bastard?"
I thought it was a case of the pot calling the kettle black, but the curses still slipped out.
How much weight is placed on his shoulders, and he expects me to risk my life to save a useless blood relative?
You crazy bastard.
Since when have we been that close? If you died and ended up on the news, I'd just curse a few times and forget about it.
But why are you trying to save me?
I was furious. I was angry not at him, but at my own patheticness, and irritation surged through me.
Yeah, I'm always a pathetic older brother. A piece of trash filled with inferiority complex who spouts childish complaints even in a situation like this.
So why didn't you just leave me to die in a corner of the dungeon instead of coming looking for me!
"Listen up, Hyung."
He ignored my question and spoke.
“Rauchitas falls asleep every five hours. If you hide for just one more hour, he’ll enter a sleep state. Then you can slip out through the entrance. I’ve taken care of all the minor monsters, so as long as you don’t touch Rauchitas, you should be safe.”
Saying this, he held out a small blue stone to me.
It was a Gate Stone, which creates an escape route through closed dungeons. It was an incredibly rare item that could only be used near the entrance, was single-use, and required one use at a time.
I refused to take the Gate Stone, pretending to be bold, and said, “Forget it. You use it.”
He laughed at my words.
“I have one too. Though you won’t need it.”
…I suppose you must be the strongest hunter in Korea to carry around several of those precious Gate Stones.
I reluctantly accepted the Gate Stone.
Only then did he take his eyes off me and look at his wound.
It was a severe injury; without the power of the skill, he would have collapsed and been dying long ago.
“…You have a Gate Stone, yet you don’t have anything like an Elixir?”
“Yeah, I don’t have any. I have some small potions, but I don’t think that will be enough. There is a powerful curse residing in Rauchitas’s claws, you know.”
He laughed again.
I don’t know how he can laugh.
But even that composed demeanor soon reached its limit.
His knees buckled, and his body collapsed forward. I reflexively caught his upper body.
The smell of blood, which I hadn’t noticed before, stung my nose.
It was terrible.
I thought I had become fully accustomed to the smell of blood while running through dungeons, but I felt nauseous. I felt retching. I felt an urge to throw the body I was clinging to and run away.
“…Hey.”
I could barely hear his breathing.
No answer.
He didn’t even laugh.
“…Did he die?”
My voice was trembling.
Whether this bastard lives or dies, it’s none of my business.
“Han Yuhyeon, are you dead?”
Damn it, this stupid bastard.
If I make it out alive alone, I’m just going to get cursed at to death. There must be swarms of guys ready to step forward and burn that piece of trash who devoured his arrogant younger brother.
“Are you trying to screw me over to the very end?”
I muttered despondently.
You’ve been blocking me from stepping forward at every turn all this time. Now it looks like I’ll have to go around hiding.
You’re disgusting to the very end, really.
[The effect of Title 'Nurturer' is activated. Nurturing Bonus Skill – Final Reward: The skills and stats of Awakener 'Han Yu-hyeon' are transferred with double efficiency. Duration – 01:00]
A notification window popped up, confirming his death.
It was one of the bonus skills of my title; if a target I had previously given a growth buff to died, I could receive their skills and stats for one hour. And they were doubled at that.
As power surged through my body, a part of his memories was also transferred to me.
'My brother is an F-Rank Awakener.'
This bastard, really, even to the very end—
'So you must not get involved with me.'
Yuhyeon was talking to someone. He looked a little sad.
'We’re already completely broken, but from now on, we need to keep our distance even more. Awakened ones who qualify as Hunters don’t receive the same legal protection as ordinary people.'
'If you become my weakness, those bastards will definitely target you.'
…Who on earth are those bastards?
'Damn it, take care of all those sons of bitches!'
It was when my leg was broken.
He was angry. And he was also sad.
'No. Tell them… that healing support is impossible. That would be better. Just kick them out for now… and then, pretending it’s unavoidable since they’re brothers, offer help…'
'Brother, I’m sorry.'
'I’m sorry…'
'Please, don’t go into the dungeon.'
'Brother.'
Memories of my younger brother choked me.
The surroundings were silent, but the sound of that damn brother’s voice made my ears ache.
The body clinging to me was cold and hard.
I felt like I was going to go crazy.
As expected, this guy tricked me to the very end.
Who do you think you are to protect me?
I am the older brother.
It is I, the older brother, who lost our parents early and dropped out of school to care for and raise my younger sibling.
“You damn bastard. Do you think I’ll regret it just because you do this?”
It is your fault for not saying a word.
I carefully laid my brother’s body, devoid of warmth, down on the floor.
His face looked peaceful.
Is it enough for him to just leave peacefully on his own?
“I won’t even cry for you.”
Why would I cry for a guy who acted as he pleased to the very end?
It’s a waste of tears.
I sat up.
I looked at the status window and saw a dense array of skills. They were all top-tier, and some even had double buffs applied.
A laugh escaped me.
Just one hour.
For the price of my younger brother's life, I became stronger than anyone in the world for just one hour.
“Damn it, what am I supposed to do with just one hour?”
It would be far better if the Black Blood Flame Emperor, Han Yuhyeon, lived forty or fifty more years. Even when that bastard Yuhyeon becomes a wrinkled old man, he would still be several times stronger than me.
How can he even be compared to a one-hour disposable item?
“You idiot, you goddamn idiot.”
Tears welled up in my eyes at my brother’s stupidity.
The title of “genius” is too good for him.
The utterly stupid fool.
“Gigant Shield.”
As I used the skill, a faint golden light enveloped my body.
It was a shield that originally couldn't even block Rauchitas's claws, but now, with the double buff, it would withstand a direct bite.
“This is all yours. So, I will take revenge.”
I slowly walked out through the gap in the wall where I had been hiding.
A massive monster lurking at the far end of the vast cavern came into view.
Rauchitas.
A Class 1 Dragon Species.
The Dragon King of Poison and Curse.
A monster deemed unkillable, having appeared only twice so far, and having been dealt with both times by stalling for time to close the dungeon gate.
A three-headed red dragon glared at me.
—Grrr.
A low throat rumble pounded against the cave walls, spreading heavily.
The middle of the three heads had its eyes burned away. Although Rauchitas possessed tremendous regenerative powers, it seemed he could not heal the wounds inflicted by Yuhyeon's Blood Flame in such a short time.
Yeah, my little brother is amazing.
He is twice as amazing as that little brother.
Damn it.
You're dead.