RAAGOAT 05

Chapter 5

<Gate Break Cleared!>
Total Experience Points Gained: +7,544

I gained an experience point amount that nearly made my eyes pop out.

‘So that’s why this bastard was so desperate to kill goblins.’

Seeing it directly is dizzying. Moreover, only I can see the experience points quantified as a status window.

“They’re all dead.”
“…!”

My eyes met Han Bi-yeol’s. I could feel the strength drain from his grip.

Stalemate.

The situation isn’t favorable.

A sigh hit the forearm gripping my collar.

‘The details… let’s deal with this first.’

I dismissed the status window with a mental command. So it can do that too. A convenient feature.

Anyway.

I stared at Han Bi-yeol beyond the window. His face looked completely devastated.

I’m the one who should be dying from excessive blood loss, so why do you look like the one about to die?

‘…My head…’

I felt dizzy from anemia. Regardless of leveling up, fatigue was catching up, slowing my recovery.

I’m tired. Even though my sworn enemy is right before my eyes, no hatred boils up. Come to think of it, it hasn’t even been half a day since I regressed. It’s been a truly eventful and dense two hours.

‘If my brother were here, he’d have insisted we go to the hospital 100%.’

Maybe it’s the ingrained fatigue. When I opened my mouth, a cold, sharp tone I didn’t even know I was capable of came out.

“Are you going to let go now?”

Han Bi-yeol’s pale lips twitched.

“Your identity…”

Immediately afterwards, a roar struck my face like an arrow.

“Hey, Mister!”

It was Mr. Choi man. He came running with a golf club, eyes blazing.

“This guy! Let him go and talk!”

Mr. Choi man tore me away with a rough hand. Han Bi-yeol let me go, or rather dropped me, with an absurdly compliant, no, defeated expression.

“Hey, you, are you okay?”
“I’m fine… I am.”
“As long as you’re okay, that’s what matters, hey.”

Your courage and loyalty are S-rank.

“Hey.”
“……”

I inadvertently spoke, and Han Bi-yeol’s eyes snapped open.

‘Isn’t this like the school bully getting dominated by the outcast?’

Anyway, the atmosphere suggested unnecessary tussles with Han Bi-yeol could be avoided. Since I didn’t say anything more, Mr. Choi man didn’t press further either.

‘Right, let’s stay like this for a bit.’

Soon…

“Just a moment.”

An unexpected voice cut in.

It was Reporter Gija-ryeong

She addressed Han Bi-yeol in a low-temperature tone.

“I didn’t see wrong just now, did I?”
“…What?”
“You just grabbed this person by the collar and threatened him. From any angle, that looked like the situation. I think an explanation is needed.”

Han Bi-yeol twisted his lips, almost letting out a hollow laugh.

“Do I, no, do I have any obligation to explain that to you?”
“No, you don’t. Instead, I’m giving you options. I’m a reporter. HTN-affiliated reporter, Gija-ryeong. Why? Should I give you a business card?”
“Re… porter…?”

Han Bi-yeol’s gaze finally lowered belatedly. The focus that stopped on Reporter Gija-ryeong’s hand wavered.

“…Let me see that.”
“Is that confiscating a reporter’s camera?”

Han Bi-yeol struggled to suppress his trembling speech.

“This is clearly a violation of portrait rights. I’m with R&Y. Before the guild responds officially…”

While you’re being polite.

I saw him muttering just with his lip movements. This is a murder flag.

‘No.’

Even while blood wasn’t circulating in my head, I somehow managed to squeeze out a countermeasure.

“Wait a moment.”

With my arm around Mr. Choi man neck, I blocked Reporter Gija-ryeong’s path.

With the two of us blocking the view, Han Bi-yeol flinched, intimidated. More precisely, he looked at me.

“……”
“……”

A brief staring contest.

I tossed the gaze I tore from Han Bi-yeol at Reporter Gija-ryeong

“I know it’s presumptuous, but just give it to me.”
“…What is…”

You owe me your life, lady.

‘What was he thinking?’

Reporter Gija-ryeong stared at the man while moving her lips. Anyone would be furious if told to hand over a magic stone-embedded SD card.

‘He made the proposal first…’

Reporter Gija-ryeong’s expression changed.

Magic stone SD cards can be linked to a maximum of two devices, provided they share the same owner’s unique identification number.

In other words, a cloud system—data is stored in one storage repository, under the premise that the unique ID is the same.

That means.

‘Even if I hand this SD card to that blond hunter, the photos remain in the database.’

Reporter Gija-ryeong’s eyes moved towards Seo Won-Seok’s pocket.

She didn’t want to jump to conclusions because of her profession, but the pieces fit too well. Moreover, this man already knew she was a reporter.

‘From the very beginning until now, it’s all been a calculated approach…’

This is just a hypothesis.

But her reporter’s unique intuition.

Tells her everything seems to be flowing according to this Awakened’s intentions.

Rather than feeling bad about being manipulated, she finds it intriguing. A slightly cunning person is a better collaborator than a saintly one.

SD card? Although it hurts because of the price, think of it as a long-term investment.

“Understood.”

Reporter Gija-ryeong obediently pulled out the SD card. Han Bi-yeol snatched it as if he’d been waiting, and what he said next was absurd.

“I’ll return it after discussing it with guild executives.”
“If you’re going to process it, please notify me separately before that. I have to pay off the loan and buy a new one.”
“Even if… such a situation arises, R&Y will provide appropriate compensation.”

Reporter Gija-ryeong made a businesslike nod and turned her back.
Han Bi-yeol didn’t bother to stop her either.

Ring ring ring!

Belatedly, phone rings erupted everywhere. Finally, the signal is back. Seo Won-Seok’s pocket vibrated fiercely too, but he had no strength to check.

Seo Won-Seok let out a ragged sigh but was inwardly relieved.

‘She’s not ordinary. She made him naturally think there’s only one SD card.’

One thing that stuck was the glance she gave him when handing over the card. That look remained in his mind.

Seo Won-Seok didn’t know.
That SD cards could be linked.
They were reporters’ exclusive tools; he had no reason to be interested and had never used one.
If Reporter Gija-ryeong knew, she would have been shocked.

But handing it over to Han Bi-yeol was entirely Reporter Gija-ryeong’s own decision.
Even if it was a misunderstanding.

‘Anyway, one worry is off my mind.’

Han Bi-yeol’s eyes widened peculiarly.

“Did you even plant a reporter to bury me?”

At that moment, an unusual presence was felt overhead. An immense aura split the night sky as it approached, then landed on the ground.

Various debris, unable to withstand the air current, flew far away. Pupils gleamed within the dust cloud.

“The contact was completely cut off…”
It was a hunter.

“With a Gate Break, it makes sense the signal is out.”
“…!!”

One so high-caliber that comparing him to this blond thug hunter would be an insult.

“That’s why I told you to take a taxi.”

The hunter’s mouth was smiling, but his eyes were cold. Moreover, he glared at Han Bi-yeol, who held the curved sword, with those icy eyes.

“How should I understand this situation?”
“Se, Senior.”

The undisputed strongest hunter of Korea.
Seo Bo-Seok replied in a withered tone.

“Hunter Han Bi-yeol, right? But were we ever in a senior-junior relationship? I think we just saw each other in passing once or twice.”
“N, no, that’s not it.”
“You said you were close friends.”

I inadvertently blurted out.

“W, when did I say that?!”

So it was a lie.

“Were we close friends, Hunter Han?”
“I, I never said that!”
“……”

My brother sent a displeased gaze.
Han Bi-yeol kept repeating his explanations.

Mr. Choi man seemed to have belatedly recognized my brother’s identity.

Meanwhile, Reporter Gija-ryeong looked at me with a very peculiar expression.
Inferring the agreement, it seemed she was asking, ‘This, why, really…?’

…

All that scenery blurred hazily.
The dizziness I had been enduring completely paralyzed my head.
Perhaps thanks to the relief that Korea’s strongest hunter had arrived. My surface consciousness faded, and my mind sank deeply.

“…?! Hey, Seo Won-Seok!”

I could feel my brother’s panicked gaze.

I wanted to reply, but I really couldn’t hold on.

‘I’m dizzy.’

I might even forget the original poison for a moment.

“A dream…”

I hope not.

I blinked a few times before finally closing my eyelids.

When I opened my eyes, a pungent medicinal smell greeted me.
So, it was a hospital.
More precisely, the emergency room.

Disoriented, I had no sense of how much time had passed or how it flowed. When the time came, a nurse would just come and change the IV drip.

Anyone else, maybe not.
But someone like me.
At least someone like me can empathize with the emergency room staff.

I spent the night wide awake, familiar with that medicinal smell and the screams of numerous emergency patients.

‘Wallet.’

A shabby wallet was placed on the bedside cabinet. It was my brother’s. The emergency room was a no-entry zone for outsiders.

‘Maybe he gave it to me in case of an unexpected dispatch…’

Knowing my brother’s personality, he’s probably on standby.

Sigh.

“I need to get up quickly—”

My vision spun in a circle.

‘Is it a side effect of the Blessing ability?’

It’s such a cheat ability that it warrants carrying such a risk. If dizziness is the limitation, maybe it’s not so bad? I can just live on aspirin.

I was mistaken.

The doctor adjusted his glasses and said.

“It’s anemia.”
“An… anemia…?”
“Yes. To put it simply, you are lacking in blood.”

He cut off the professional term too abruptly.

‘Broadly speaking, it’s not wrong.’

No, wait, before that.

Did I have anemia?

‘…No, I didn’t.’

I never felt any sign of it.

“It’s awkward to say this to a patient, but severe anemia, of all things… Other conditions, maybe, but anemia is a bit…”

It happened in an instant.

A greenish halo began to form in spots on the white doctor’s coat. That auspicious light also settled in his pupils.

An Awakening ability.

Although it was an act of checking my physical condition, my mouth felt dry. A healer appeared, and I dropped out of school.

“That’s right, anemia. Blood can’t be restored even with healing abilities, but there are no other external injuries, so you can be discharged. If you feel any abnormal symptoms later…”

The doctor added a few more words and left. Left alone, I tried to organize my thoughts, then gave up.

‘Let’s get outside first.’

I fumbled for the wallet, got off the bed, and left. Then a nurse came and removed the IV needle.

“Thank you.”

Staggering out of the emergency room.

As expected.

“…Seo Won-Seok!”

An exclamation mark seemed to flutter from my brother’s crown.

It was probably the same for me.

Because.

‘The red thread.’

The red thread stretching from my index finger…

Was connected to Hunter Seobo Seok.

‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Come to think of it, my mind wasn’t entirely clear when I met my brother yesterday.

Right after regressing, I was dead drunk. On Haengju Bridge, I was on the brink of death from anemia.

‘Bloodline.’

A commonly used phrase, but seeing it with my own eyes makes it feel real.

My brother and I are blood relatives.

It was only natural that the <Blessing of the True Bloodline> would be established. I was so in the dark under the lamp that I didn’t even think of it!

Simultaneously, I realized the cause of my anemia.

‘The red thread is woven from my blood.’

So much blood had been draining out. It’s a miracle I didn’t die from shock.