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Here is the full English translation of Chapter 17:
Chapter 17
At his question, Saebyeok quickly wiped the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand and said,
“I wasn’t crying, okay?”
Fortunately—or unfortunately—no tears had actually fallen.
But the stinging sensation in her nose told her he had read her emotions correctly.
“Then were you angry?”
Saebyeok tried to hide her feelings, speaking irritably.
The drizzling rain that began to fall over the two had extinguished the fire her lightning had caused,
but it couldn’t wash away the awkward tension between them.
Saebyeok spoke again.
“So how did you end up getting caught by this crazy cult? Even bringing along your little brother?”
She wiped the dust from Sihoo’s face, who sat between them nervously glancing back and forth.
“They said they’d provide room and board, even if the work was a bit hard.”
Saebyeok had expected him to keep his pride and not tell the truth,
but Kang Suho’s mouth opened surprisingly easily.
“Not many places are willing to accept a little kid as well.”
Most of the places Kang Suho could work were those that needed cheap labor.
And such places would never welcome a child who couldn’t work and only needed to be fed.
“Still, to come here of all places… haah…”
Saebyeok stopped herself from saying more.
There was no way he knew this was a cult.
He probably just stumbled here in search of a way to feed his little brother.
In her previous life, Kang Suho had never been involved with scavengers or cults.
The only reason he was found here this time was likely because she had saved his brother.
She was speechless.
Still, I guess it turned out for the best in the end.
She had been worried about how to find him after he disappeared,
but now he had shown up right in front of her—unlucky but lucky at the same time.
“Sihoo.”
Saebyeok poured a potion over Sihoo’s arm to heal the marks left by the kidnappers.
She also handed him another potion, one with stabilizing effects, vitamins, and nutrients.
“Do you remember the promise we made up there earlier?”
The young boy hesitated, then carefully accepted the potion and nodded.
His restless, darting eyes showed just how long he had been forced to tread carefully
and watch the moods of adults to survive.
After sipping the potion and rolling his eyes around as if thinking deeply,
he finally whispered in a small voice.
“Hyung, let’s… live with noona.”
“What?”
Kang Suho’s usually expressionless face slightly contorted.
Startled, Sihoo hid behind Saebyeok and tugged at her clothes.
“Noona said we could live together… and she said she has lots of tasty food…”
“Kang Sihoo.”
At his younger brother’s words, Kang Suho sighed softly.
It was then—
“Wait.”
Saebyeok suddenly turned, pulling both Sihoo and Kang Suho behind her back.
“.”
A blood-red spear spun through the air and landed neatly in her outstretched hand.
Saebyeok thrust the spear straight forward.
“Whoa.”
The man who suddenly found the spearhead at his throat raised his hands in surrender.
Recognizing who it was, Saebyeok slightly loosened her grip.
“Not a petty thief. Why are you sneaking around so much? Doesn’t suit you.”
“I was just trying to copy Hunter Han Saebyeok,
who fights like a flashy magic-user yet moves like an assassin.”
Stepping out under the soft moonlight, Kim Ihan tilted his head slightly,
casting his gaze toward the people behind her.
But Saebyeok shifted her body just enough to block his line of sight.
“I already said I’d give you all the credit.
Shouldn’t you be busy charming the survivors and giving interviews to reporters right now?
What are you doing here?”
“Our deal isn’t finished yet.”
When Kim Ihan took another step closer, Saebyeok instinctively became wary.
She tightened her grip on the spear and drew Sihoo and Kang Suho even closer behind her.
“If you’re planning to use a child for some sob-story publicity,
then I’ve seriously misjudged you.”
Tiny sparks began to dance along the spearhead.
As if she were more than willing to strike him with the same lightning
she had used on the cult leader.
“Hunter Han Saebyeok…
did you forget what kind of person I am?”
He raised both hands again to show he had no intention of attacking.
“You gave me a buff that helped me land a nationwide front-page story.
You think I’d ruin that by falling out with you?”
“Then why did you come? Our deal ended when I left this place…”
“Your title.”
At his remark, Saebyeok let out a small “Ah” of realization.
Their deal had never truly been about 2.1 billion won or accompanying her.
That was just how they had packaged it.
The real transaction was her title in exchange for his handling of the aftermath.
Saebyeok chuckled softly.
What he wanted was not just the title’s name.
He wanted the detailed description that came with it.
A title’s name was revealed when registering as a Hunter anyway.
And since the system referred to Awakened individuals by their titles rather than their names,
it wasn’t uncommon to learn someone’s title through combat.
But the detailed descriptions were different.
They often contained more information than people realized—
part cryptic message, part poetic riddle—
and most Hunters with unique titles kept them secret.
“I just gave the entire country a story to obsess over. Isn’t that enough?”
“You’re not really trying to call it even with that, are you?”
Saebyeok tried to negotiate, but he didn’t budge.
“You didn’t bring me here just for a buff, did you?
You didn’t want the Association to find out, right?”
Kim Ihan’s sharp observation left her momentarily speechless.
“At first I really thought you needed my buff.
But after watching you fight, it was clear you didn’t.
Hunter Han Saebyeok, you could’ve handled these guys without my help, couldn’t you?”
Anyone who saw her lightning strike the cult leader
would know it wasn’t his buff that allowed her to succeed.
“You could’ve called the Association and timed their arrival with your sweep instead…”
Kim Ihan stepped closer and closer to Saebyeok.
“But instead, you used your title as bait to lure me here,
and wrapped it all up as a ‘credit’ deal,
which means…”
Closing the distance, he leaned forward until his face was close to hers.
“…there’s something you really don’t want the Association to find out, isn’t there?”
Just as his body leaned further forward, closing the space between them—
Saebyeok’s body was suddenly yanked back.
Sihoo’s grip tightened, and Kang Suho’s arm leaned even more toward Saebyeok.
But Saebyeok gently caught his arm.
At her touch, his arm dropped without resistance, and her hand slid down along his forearm until it clasped his.
“<Dawn’s Spearmaster>.”
“Huh?”
Saebyeok lightly tugged Suho’s hand and hid him behind her once more. Then, she stepped half a pace forward, blocking Kim Ihan’s view.
“My title.”
It was obvious to anyone that she was deliberately trying to divert attention away from Kang Suho and the child. Yet Kim Ihan, surprisingly, let her.
Saebyeok slowly moved her spear.
The tip traced a smooth, circular arc from above, sweeping down toward the ground like fallen leaves drifting in the wind.
A faint line scored across the ground, and her calm voice flowed over it like a gentle breeze.
“No matter how long the night, dawn always comes.”
Her words carried the weight of a poem—soft, yet resonant.
Following the movement of her spear, her gaze, and her fingertips, nature itself began to stir.
First, the raindrops that had been drizzling down upon the four of them froze in midair, as though time itself had stopped.
The sound of water still pattered on leaves all around, but the rain had halted in this space—a strange, surreal stillness.
“The dawn that arrives without a sound…”
Her voice wove through the silence, and the snapping of stems—tuduk, tuduk—joined in, as though the surrounding trees were responding.
One by one, they shifted, leaning as though to herald the rising of a hidden sun.
The sun began to paint the distant city in soft hues, and soon, even the forest around them glowed with crimson light.
“…colors the sky and covers the world.”
As if her words themselves were weaving reality, the sky slowly turned a rich blend of scarlet and blue.
The glowing spheres of white light scattered around them shimmered, reflecting the changing hues in an otherworldly harmony.
A breeze soon whispered through the space, stirring the lights as if sprites were at play, guiding them in graceful circles around the four figures.
“Then the rays of radiance gather upon the spear…”
Slowly, steadily, flames like tiny firebugs gathered along the spear’s shaft.
Scarlet embers wrapped around the length, while sparks of static flickered and crackled along the tip—tak, tak—like fire kissing metal.
“…and the <Dawn’s Spearmaster> swings it, toward the world.”
Saebyeok lowered her blood-red spear and planted it into the earth with a soft thunk.
Behind her, the first light of dawn refracted through suspended droplets, scattering into a magnificent rainbow.
Her entire aura surged like a balloon on the verge of bursting—barely contained, trembling with power.
Yet even the strength that escaped her control was guided by her touch, tamed like a wild beast beneath her hand.
“There is no such thing as eternal darkness. Endure, and dawn will always come.”
She squeezed Kang Suho’s hand tightly—reassuring, firm.
“So… as long as my spear does not lose its light…”
Though she addressed Kim Ihan, the words were more of a vow to herself—and a promise to the Kang Suho of her past life.
“…the spear of the <Dawn’s Spearmaster> will shine, and the world will not die.”
And at that moment, she understood something.
<Passive: Last Hope (A)>
If you endure the darkness, dawn will always come.
-
Effect: As long as your spear shines, the morale of your allies will never falter.
The passive skill she had once cursed so deeply…
Perhaps it was the very reason she had been given another chance at the edge of the world.
“If only one of us could survive… it had to be you, right?”
Maybe Kang Suho had known that all along.
“So live on… Han Saebyeok.”
The thought struck her suddenly, piercing her chest with quiet certainty:
maybe that was why, back then, he had forced her toward the end—
not out of betrayal, but because he believed she was the one who must carry the light.
