Translator: Min999, Editor: Spade
Proofreader: Sapphire
From that day forward, Jung Yisun was stuck living next door to Sa Hyeon.
He didn’t expect he would need to move immediately, so he asked if he could bring some stuff from home first, but Hyeon said he would get him whatever he needed. Once he insisted that he’d really like to stop by the house for a while just to pick up a few clothes, he found himself dragged into a department store instead.
“Now you don’t need to go anymore, do you?”
After sifting through a dizzying amount of clothes, he eventually came to terms with the ‘quarantine’ he’d been forced into. He regretted not saying goodbye to his friends when he left in the morning, but it wasn’t as if he could turn back time.
For the first time in eight years, he slept in a different room.
The unfamiliarity of the space, or maybe it was the guilt of being in a house he’d once playfully dreamed of with his friends, gripped him and kept him awake all night. Ever since that event, he had been sleeping too much… but for the past two days, he’d had trouble falling asleep and spent the night tossing and turning.
So the next morning, when Sa Hyeon woke him up and they got into his car, Yisun looked even more tired than the day before. With a puzzled look on his face, Hyeon asked, “Do you have insomnia?”
“I don’t think so. I just had some trouble sleeping lately.”
“You need to manage your condition well, Yisun-ssi. There’s only a week left now.”
One week.
It was the amount of time remaining until the next dungeon raid. Yisun nodded in understanding, but Sa Hyeon’s gaze remained fixed on him. His gaze slowly scanned him from top to bottom, and Yisun felt uncomfortable because he happened to be wearing the clothes he’d bought him yesterday.
Because of Sa Hyeon, Yisun became aware of just how intense the focus of a human being’s eyes can be in close proximity, and it bothered him greatly. Maybe it was because he spent a year only looking at blurry, foggy eyes, or because he was used to walking around with his head down, but Yisun was even more conscious of Hyeon’s gaze.
“…… Why do you keep staring at me?”
Yisun self-consciously touched his hair and looked away, but Sa Hyeon’s hand suddenly reached out. He grabbed his wrist and traced the round protruding bone. Although sudden, It was a fairly gentle gesture, and Yisun felt strange about it. Sa Hyeon looked like winter essence ran through his veins rather than blood, yet his hands always held such warmth.
Both his focused gaze and his warm skin felt unfamiliar. Yisun clearly found his presence hateful, but the fact that he was “alive” made him falter. It was a complex emotion, a mix of both longing and bitterness that was difficult to express.
“I didn’t realize it because you’re always wearing baggy clothes that hide your figure, but you seem to have lost a lot of weight, Yisun-ssi.”
Then, in a soft tone, Sa Hyeon asked if he had eaten breakfast. Yisun did see that the refrigerator at home was stocked with food ingredients, but he didn’t use them. It wasn’t that he couldn’t cook, he just had no appetite. He contemplated for a moment before blurting out that he’d eaten fruits, to which Sa Hyeon raised an eyebrow and chuckled..
Sa Hyeon’s face was exquisitely beautiful, as if it were delicately crafted with the greatest care by a masterful artisan, but every time he smiled, Yisun felt a vague sense of unease. After all, he had never seen him smile without having some sort of hidden motive.
“Well, you’ve been living with corpses for a year, so you wouldn’t have had any proper meals.”
Yisun frowned slightly, but Sa Hyeon didn’t seem to care. He just checked his wristwatch for a moment before casually delivering an ominous remark.
“Let’s start eating together in the future.”
“Why?”
“Did you have to make such an appalled face?”
“…….”
Sa Hyeon smiled softly when Yisun didn’t bother to deny it.
“Food is a basic necessity for humans, right? I’ve given you clothes and a house, now it is just a matter of making sure you eat properly. I’ve already said this many times already, but I need your abilities.”
After announcing his intention to take care of everything until his abilities are back to 100%, Sa Hyeon adjusted their schedule. He then asked him about his favorite and least favorite foods, and when Yisun answered that he had no preferences, he said he would prioritize a nutritious diet first. His behavior made Yisun a little bit, no, very uncomfortable.
Although Sa Hyeon had said before that he would personally take care of him, he didn’t expect it to reach this extent. No matter how much he thought about it, Hyeon didn’t seem to realize that his presence was the main culprit behind his own emotional exhaustion. Or most probably, he did and simply didn’t care.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Sa Hyeon smiled warmly at Yisun’s nervous reaction. He brought his hand up, still holding his wrist, and lightly patted the back of his hand.
“We’re in the same boat, aren’t we?”
Yisun realized that the “same boat” he was talking about was most likely referring to yesterday’s events; The death of the Guild leader and the restoration of his body. Until Sa Hyeon’s plan was complete, it was an absolute secret that should never be revealed to the outside world.
It was then that he realized, the next-door house, commuting together twice a day, and even having meals together, were all a form of surveillance.
Feeling really annoyed and drained, Yisun nodded his head slightly, thinking that he was caught up in a really bothersome and tiring situation.
That day, instead of heading to the HN Guild, they were on their way to a factory for work. He watched in a daze as the car drove out of Seoul, yet Sa Hyeon still didn’t tell him any details. And once he got out of the car, he saw two members of Chord already waiting for them there.
The area around the old, dilapidated, and seemingly abandoned factory was completely desolate. Yisun stared at the barren surroundings, bewildered, and so Sa Hyeon spoke in a honeyed voice.
“From tonight, I’ll make sure you get a good night’s sleep, Yisun-ssi.”
Leading the baffled Yisun, Sa Hyeon approached the factory.
It was a bright early spring day and the blowing breeze was gently refreshing. Shin Jian, who was sitting on a bench, greeted Yisun with a nod and then approached Sa Hyeon to inform him of a call from the Hunters’ Association. As they conversed, another Hunter approached Yisun.
“Restorer Yisun, you’ve had a hearty breakfast, I hope?”
This jovial fellow with shaggy hair and round glasses was “Na, an A-class Healer in Chord. Hunters with healing abilities were commonly referred to as Healers, and they specialized in different areas. Wherein HN’s Vice Guild leader Sa Yoonkang’s specialty lies in potion making, Na Gunwoo excelled in casting buffs.
As a Healer, he excelled in stamina and health recovery, but Na Gunwoo was most renown for his Haste buff. The buff made the target’s movement speed significantly faster for a period of time, making the ability to move in the shadows even more powerful. In fact, all four Hunters who made up Chord’s core team were the best teammates for Sa Hyeon and working together with them optimized his abilities.
Yisun nodded awkwardly in response to Gunwoo’s friendly greeting. He was the oldest of the five Hunters.
“Yes. I ate my fill.”
“Hmm, I don’t think just eating your fill would be enough….”
“…Yes?”
“Ah, the leader must not have told you anything. He said we were testing your restoration abilities today.”
Yisun’s expression changed oddly at the unexpected words. The only time he’d ever had his abilities tested was when he first took his Awakening test. And even then, he only had to restore some collapsed models of the Awakeners’ Management Headquarters…
“Didn’t you guys already witness my abilities when I restored the district office annex, why would you need to check again?”
“Ei~ how can once be enough? We’ll have to do a thorough and detailed examination of your abilities. This may seem strange to you, Restorer Yisun, since you’ve spent most of your time recovering outside of dungeons most of the time, but going inside a dungeon requires a lot of preparation. Additionally, it seems that our leader wants to make the most out of your restoration abilities…”
Na Gunwoo patted him on the shoulder as Yisun blinked slowly.
“You’re in for a rough ride today.”
…… Did he really have to say that with such a sympathetic look on his face?
He then heard Sa Hyeon calling his name, and gestured for him to come closer, Yisun hesitantly stood next to him.
“Hunter Shin Jian.”
“Understood.”
As if on cue, Shin Jian walked towards the factory. She twisted her upper body once from left to right in a warm up, then picked up the pace. It looked as if she was running lightly, but the sharp sound of the wind around her betrayed just how fast she was going. Finally, Shin Jian kicked off the ground with her right foot, throwing herself high up into the air.
As if she were stepping on an invisible staircase, she rose up higher and higher every time her feet kicked the air. At the same time, Jian bent her body at the waist. And to Yisun’s astonishment… She extended her leg and slammed it down onto the factory building.
Her high ponytail fluttered wildly as the huge factory collapsed with a loud crash. Yisun raised an arm to shield his eyes from the dust and wind sweeping over the area like a blast.
When he finally lowered his arm, he saw that the building had been completely destroyed. The factory had three connected huge buildings, yet one of them was so easily destroyed with a single kick from Hunter Jian. Yisun’s eyes widened in shock as he witnessed the power of an A-class Hunter for the first time.
Sa Hyeon spoke with a smile.
“Now, Yisun-ssi, will you restore that building?”
Yisun recovered from his shock, and as he walked towards the building, now in ruins. He marveled at how Shin Jian, who had returned after destroying the building, looked like she didn’t break a single sweat.
He took a deep breath, dust was still floating in the air from the commotion that had just occurred. This building was much larger than the district office annex he had restored a few days earlier, so he had to use more of his abilities to cover a wider area. but at least it has only collapsed recently. That put less pressure on his abilities.
So Yisun restored the factory, thinking back to how it looked about an hour ago. He focused as hard as he could, constantly reminding himself that he had to do this right for the sake of his friends. The debris on the floor slowly rose into the air.
Even so, he was only able to restore around 40% of the building.
Considering the difference in size between the previous annex and the current factory, a 40% restoration was already a huge improvement, yet Yisun couldn’t help feeling a twinge of disappointment. He was staggering slightly from the oncoming headache, and Sa Hyeon, who had come up beside him and steadied him gently asked, “Do you think you’re going to faint?”
“No , it’s not that serious…….”
And as soon as he finished speaking, the building collapsed again. Shin Jian had swiftly flown up and sent the factory tumbling down with a kick.
Sa Hyeon smiled sweetly at Yisun’s dazed expression.
“Then, let’s restore it one more time?”
Four hours.
For four whole hours,Yisun was unceasingly tormented by Sa Hyeon. The moment Yisun managed to restore the building, it came crashing down all too soon, and then it was smashed again, and again, and again…. Only when Yisun was about to collapse from physical exhaustion, did Hyeon call Na Gunwoo to give him a recovery buff. It was then that Yisun realized just why Na Gunwoo was there along with them.
Although Yisun found Hyeon’s attitude quite troubling, he couldn’t deny that he analyzed his abilities very closely. Sa Hyeon had checked the scope of the area that Yisun’s restoration could cover, his restoration speed, as well as just how precisely he could estimate the time to reverse.
His method for checking was quite straightforward; he pointed to the factory that Yisun had just restored and explained that the left building was line 1, the middle was line 2, and the right was line 3. Afterwards, he had Shin Jian destroy all the factories, and told him to only restore building 2.
Until now, Jung had never taken the ability scope into consideration when restoring. His approach had always been to simply restore the building in its whole, and so he was both surprised and puzzled as to why exactly this was necessary. So after restoring the building, he grabbed the arm of Hyeon who was about to destroy it again, and asked him about the use of such a training. Sa Hyeon replied in a tone that implied it should have been very obvious.
“Didn’t you say you were going to restore the dungeons little by little, Yisun-ssi?.”
“…What does that have to do with anything?”
“Then you have to start taking ability scope into consideration. Although it would be best to practice your hidden ability, that is one week’s worth of penalty which we cannot afford in our current situation, considering we would have to enter the dungeon in 7 days. So for now, let’s just train your normal restoration abilities so you can get a handle on your sense of range.”
The answer left him speechless. After seeing the size of the ‘Hanging Gardens of Babylon’ structure, Yisun had decided to restore it bit by bit, but he hadn’t considered the exact scope. Yet, Sa Hyeon did, and told him that if he didn’t train his ability sense beforehand, he’d end up wastefully overusing it early in the dungeon and collapse before managing to finish his job.
“Although I’d love to have Healer Gunwoo help you recover every time, his can only last so much in the dungeon.”
“…So the reason you’re checking how fast I can restore was because of the dungeon?”
“That’s right. Of course, outside the dungeon, everyone would wait patiently for Yisun-ssi to restore, but the same can’t be said about the monsters inside. Moreover, if you’re going to restore the dungeon in stages, then you’ll have to be still able to move around in between… So, you need to train to recover quickly.”
Although he was responsible for his own safety, he thought that Sa Hyeon would take all of these variables into consideration. Because of the weird series of events that led him here, he’d always thought that Sa Hyeon was a strange person, but he seemed surprisingly good in this aspect. No, he was more than good, he made for an excellent Hunter. It was no wonder he was considered the top-ranked S-class in the whole nation.
He may have felt aggrieved at the constantly collapsing building, but he had to acknowledge he was great at honing abilities. Seeing the look on Yisun’s face, Sa Hyeon raised his eyebrows as he smiled, the factory collapsed once again.
“Now that you understand, can you restore it faster?”
For the first time, Yisun realized… Admitting something was one thing, but feeling wronged was another. Even if he acknowledged it, he couldn’t help but feel resentful.
And so, he was tormented for two more hours…
At midday, Na Gunwoo bought lunch and said they should eat first before continuing. For the first time in a long while, Yisun managed to finish the entire meal, to his own surprise. He’d barely managed a few bites usually.
Afterwards, Hyeon led him on a walk, saying that he needed to digest. And that considering his performance today, he needed more exercise to increase his stamina. Yisun wanted to reply that anyone who went through 6 hours of hardcore spartan training would get exhausted, But he didn’t even have enough energy to talk about it, so he kept his mouth shut.
Every time Yisun had been about to collapse from exhaustion, Na Gunwoo would heal him. The Chord leader had insisted on finding out the limits of Yisun’s abilities, which is why they ended up in that situation. But after about three runs of constantly being drained then receiving a recovery buff, Yisun’s mental exhaustion had reached its peak.
“Did we have to take a walk inside the factory?”
“If you’ve only seen the factory from the outside, won’t the unseen inside be quite “interesting”?”
By now, Yisun was determined to not bother with responding to Sa Hyeon’s nonsense at all. He was too busy marveling at the building to bother, it was amazing for sure. Seeing Yisun’s ‘willing-to-cooperate’ and ‘resigned-to-whatever-this-is’ attitude, Sa Hyeon said, “Now, Yisun-ssi, a building is a single structure, right?”
“…… right?”
“So if you’re standing here and you see a pillar in the distance collapse, what would you do?”
Yisun’s eyes widened in curiosity at the sudden question. He pondered for a while and decided on his answer, when Sa Hyeon spoke up again.
“You’re going to run to the area where the collapsed pillar is and try to restore it? But what if the ceiling of the building collapses at the same time?”
“……Are you telling me that if I used my powers on the walls here, I might restore the collapsing pillars in the distance?”
“Exactly.”
Yisun’s mind automatically filtered out Sa Hyeon’s ongoing words of praise about how easy it was to talk to him because he always understood things so well. He was contemplating the feasibility of this remote restoration, as he had never thought about it before. He couldn’t be sure since he had never tried it, but somehow it didn’t seem like an impossible feat.
“I’ve heard that a restoration mostly reflects a Restorer’s image of the building?”
“Yes, that’s right. If you look at a picture of the building and familiarize yourself with it, restoring it will be easier than simply reversing its time.” Yisun replied, recalling the time when he was still active as an official Restorer. The Honshin guild didn’t know anything about Restorers, and so they never provided him with pictures or plans for the building as other guilds did.
Sa Hyeon smiled, pleased with Yisun’s answer.
“Shall we go ahead and experiment now?”
What experiment?
Before Yisun could even ask, Sa Hyeon disappeared before his eyes. Startled, he turned around just in time to see Hyeon, who had already darted near the pillar, move to smash it. It was such a crazy, urgent experiment.
Instantly, cracks started running along the pillar and the ceiling began to shake, Yisun ran quickly to the side and leaned against the wall. He immediately started his restoration ability through his hands, and the result was pretty amazing.
Although there was a slight time lag, the pillar was getting restored just like Sa Hyeon had hypothesized.
“And that’s a success.”
Sa Hyeon, who had moved behind Yisun at some point, spoke. Startled by his sudden appearance, Yisun barely managed to keep from screaming by gritting his teeth. He then threw a look implying ‘Did you really have to startle me like that?’ at Sa Hyeon, who just smiled wordlessly.
But even that lasted only for a moment, before he disappeared from sight again, and this time, he began to destroy the railing on the second floor of the factory. The whisper to ‘do it faster’ echoing in Yisun’s ears felt more like an illusion. It was definitely Sa Hyeon’s voice, but since he couldn’t see him, it felt like he was hearing things.
He’d seen Sa Hyeon move through shadows once before, but never as fast as he did now. Hyeon would appear and disappear like a mirage, and when Yisun managed to restore the railing, he was already smashing the stairs. The lights in the factory were turned off, so the only source for lighting was the sunlight coming in through the windows. However, that only made the shadowy space even an easier playground for the Hunter.
Yisun’s mind was racing. As he stood against the wall, pouring out his abilities non-stop, he realized that the closer he was to the collapsing space, the faster he could use his abilities. Just as he subconsciously moved towards it, Sa Hyeon suddenly appeared from behind and attempted to topple the pillar in that direction.
The black dagger that had suddenly appeared in his hand was emitting smoke similar to black ink, making it look like he was holding darkness itself. Sa Hyeon used the short dagger with ease, and although he had clearly only swung it lightly, the column was destroyed as if a bomb had exploded, and the second floor collapsed. Yisun seriously wondered if Sa Hyeon was determined to bury both of them here.
But even that kind of worry was a luxury for him right now. While Yisun had to use all of his focus on using his ability as quickly as possible, by that time, Sa Hyeon had already started destroying the ceiling panels one by one. He appeared on the closed window sill and jumped slightly up, breaking through the ceiling.
With loud resounding sounds, the panels, which Yisun failed to restore in time, fell to ground with a thud. He became increasingly impatient. Panels that fell to the floor were harder to restore because he couldn’t visualize them as a structure connected to the building. It was a matter of perception, and if he could use 100% of his abilities, he might’ve been able to restore them more easily, but not in his current state.
Eventually, he drew an accurate image of the ceiling panel in his head, then he focused on one structure instead of trying to restore the entire building, following the optimal path his ability would follow starting from the wall he was touching to the panel falling to the ground.
Creaking sounds echoed everywhere,
The panels in the dilapidated factory were so fragile that when one fell, all the ones near it would also start cascading down. The one right above him was also one such panel swept in the chain reaction, but Yisun’s gaze was still fixed on the one at the center of the building.
The cracked panel was about to fall and hit the ground.
In an instant, he felt himself being swept to the side. Sa Hyeon had suddenly moved in front of him, grabbed him, and dragged him back. With the sudden action, Yisun who was thrown back landed on his butt on the ground, and Sa Hyeon landed beside him.
“Yisun-ssi, you need to look closely at how far the crack extends on the target and where they lead.”
Yisun looked at him with slightly widened eyes. It was not so much surprise at the danger he was in as it was astonishment at Sa Hyeon who had pushed him out of the way to save him. He frowned for a moment, then pointed towards the ceiling.
“I did look closely.”
The ceiling was fully restored.
Sa Hyeon’s face lit up in a smile as he followed his gaze upward. Yisun thought it was the least contrived laugh he’d ever seen from him.
But it was quickly thrown to nil as he staggered backwards. He was dizzy from the intense focus in such a short period of time. Sa Hyeon called out his name, but Yisun didn’t answer, only staring back blankly. He didn’t have the energy, and to be honest, he didn’t even want to answer.
After being tortured for the whole day, Yisun thought it was okay to go on a strike and completely let go of his physical strength. And just like that, he collapsed and passed out.
He didn’t wake up for two days after that.
TRANSLATOR YOURE BACK OMG IVE BEEN WAITING 🥹💅💅❤️
Asgsgdh sorry for the wait I’m drowning in assignments ヽ(´□｀)ッ
Relatable 😭 HOPE YOURE DOING WELL! YOU GOT THIS 💪💪💪👊👊
SA HYEON LOOK WHAT YOU DID 😭🫵
I’m so exhausted for him! Sleep well! Thanks for the update 🤣❤️😴
For real, but hey! at least he’s sleeping and eating properly now LMAOO
Thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for reading~<3
Thank you for the chapter!Aw poor Yisun being tortured 🙁 Get the man some rest
Thank you for reading~
Thank you so much for translating! I looove the series, but couldn’t find a good translation of the novel aaanywhere. Thaaaank you 🙂
Aww, I also loved the manhwa sm i ended up picking this up lmao~~ thank you for reading ~~<3
I wish I could go on strike and just sleep for 2 days
Hmmm you would need a boss like Sa Hyeon 😔
omg ma poor baby
thanks for translating dear translator! remember to rest, eat and drink!!!