-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: Trash Helper (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Each time he yanked out a bone, fresh blood stained Jin Seong-hyeok's clothes. By the time a pile of extracted bones had formed at his feet, one of the monsters that had embedded those bones in him charged at him again.
Wearing an expression of utter boredom, Jin Seong-hyeok extended his hand. Something invisible whipped up the wind, seizing the throat of the monster barreling toward him.
Krrgh... Grrk.
With a casual lift of his hand, the monster's feet left the ground. Suspended in midair, it thrashed wildly.
Kaaak!!!
Its struggles were futile. If anything, they only tightened the invisible grip around its neck, leaving the monster gasping for breath. Slowly, Jin Seong-hyeok clenched his fist.
Kreeeek!!
The monster let out a grotesque wail, writhing in agony. Yet not a flicker of emotion crossed Jin Seong-hyeok's face.
Instead, he opened his mouth with a sneer.
"Die."
With that single word, his hand slammed downward. The monster's body followed suit, crashing into the ground.
Boom!
A massive thud echoed as dust billowed up. The monster lay there, its neck snapped.
Cha Su-ho stared at Jin Seong-hyeok, who had handled it all with just one hand, his jaw slack and refusing to close.
Jin Seong-hyeok's toe nudged the dead monster. He had merely clenched and opened his fist, but flames sparked to life in his palm. With a flick, he tossed the fire onto the corpse, and soon it was engulfed in roaring flames.
His gaze lingered dryly on the growing blaze for a moment before he turned away.
Back turned to the burning monster, his eyes fixed on the last remaining one.
Kuwaaak!!
The monster seemed to sense it instinctively. The overwhelming power of Jin Seong-hyeok.
As it backed away slowly, Jin Seong-hyeok let out a short sigh.
Boredom, disillusionment, tedium, emptiness. He felt it all.
It was only natural, perhaps.
Separated from his family since childhood, everyone shunned him because of his SSS-grade status.
His absolute strength had isolated him, left him alone. The things others took for granted simply didn't apply to him.
The stronger he grew—even as the world hailed him as a global hero—the less happy he felt.
Instead, pressure and futility crashed over him in waves. It felt like he'd been born solely to kill monsters.
Living like this his whole life, trapped in a endless cycle of slaying monsters until he died... Jin Seong-hyeok hated that thought. He yearned to be freer, liberated.
There was only one way.
Death.
Hunters were recognized for their very existence by governments and the World Hunter & Helper Association alike. They wouldn't just let the world's one and only SSS-grade slip away. They followed him everywhere, monitored his every move.
Even if he begged to die, they wouldn't allow it.
Jin Seong-hyeok slowly scanned his surroundings.
One monster left alive. One F-grade Helper. No usual entourage trailing him. The perfect spot to die.
He'd realized during the Clean that Su-ho couldn't help even if he got injured or rampaged.
This was the moment to end his tiresome life.
His gaze settled on the sole surviving monster. He stared at it listlessly, then slowly turned his back.
The instant he exposed his back, the monster's red eyes darted around. For a creature driven purely by instinct, with no capacity for learning, this was suicide.
And that was exactly Jin Seong-hyeok's plan.
To end the monotonous drudgery.
Its frantic eyes locked onto his back. Red flesh began wriggling out from the monster's body. As the tendril-like mass rose into the air like heat haze, Su-ho instinctively knew.
It was heading straight for Jin Seong-hyeok.
In a flash, the flesh shot toward him. At the same moment, Su-ho lunged forward too.
Squelch. Drip.
The sound of flesh tearing was accompanied by a sharp gasp from Su-ho's lips.
"Guhk."
The protruding flesh had pierced both Su-ho and Jin Seong-hyeok's chests simultaneously.
It felt revolting. As the red mass writhed, mucus mixed with Su-ho's blood soaked his chest. Coughing up blood, he buried his face in Jin Seong-hyeok's back. The hunter whipped his head around reflexively.
"You...!"
"...Sorry... I couldn't... do Clean..."
Su-ho's vision blurred. The agony from his punctured chest made his breaths come in ragged gasps.
Am I dying like this?
An F-grade Helper. Better to go out with an SSS-grade than rot in the Center without ever pulling off a proper Clean.
A faint smile tugged at Su-ho's lips.
The embedded flesh twitched again. This time, pain so intense it stole his breath engulfed him.
Sensing the end, Su-ho slowly closed his eyes.
In the deepening haze of his mind, he thought he heard Jin Seong-hyeok's voice—but then, silence swallowed everything.
Complete darkness.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
'Snap out of it.'
A voice echoed in the blackness.
'I know you're listening.'
Su-ho's eyes snapped open.
Even with them open, he saw nothing. Pitch black was the perfect description.
"Wh-who's there...?"
Instead of an answer, a long sigh responded.
'Jin Seong-hyeok.'
"Pardon?"
'I said Jin Seong-hyeok.'
Jin Seong-hyeok? The SSS-grade Hunter?
"Where are you? What about the monster?"
The final moments flashed in Su-ho's mind. The red flesh bursting from the monster's body, piercing both their chests.
But right now, Su-ho felt no pain.
'Are we... in the hospital? Or am I dead?'
Jin Seong-hyeok clicked his tongue at the question.
'That's not the point.'
"Huh?"
'The point is, why the hell am I still alive.'
His voice dripped with irritation as he continued.
'I was finally trying to end this boring-ass life. And now I'm neither dead nor alive...'
"Hold on! Are you saying... you were trying to die? Why? You're SSS-grade, for God's sake...!"
'Cut the SSS-grade crap.'
Only then did it click for Su-ho. Why Jin Seong-hyeok had left that last monster and turned his back.
It was all deliberate. To die.
"Why on earth..."
He couldn't comprehend it.
An SSS-grade everyone revered. He could have anything he wanted, bask in the world's acclaim. What could he possibly lack to choose suicide?
'That's exactly what I hated.'
As if reading his thoughts, Jin Seong-hyeok spoke calmly.
'People worship me just because I'm SSS-grade, but all I want is for this tedious life to end. I'm sick of dancing to their tune. And yet.'
And yet?
'You ruined it all.'
I ruined it? Su-ho's pupils trembled faintly. And that was when it happened.
A booming voice rang from above.
"Heart rate's spiking! Patient's regaining consciousness!"
Su-ho winced at the ringing in his ears.
The pitch-black darkness before him flashed with light. It was so bright he blinked involuntarily, and then a man in a crisp white coat came into view.
"Helper Cha Su-ho! Are you with us?!"
Blinking slowly, Su-ho's gaze drifted to the ceiling. Through his hazy vision, he made out stark white tiles and an IV bag hanging overhead.
The tube snaked down to a needle embedded in his wrist.
The sharp scent of alcohol filled the air. This was a hospital.
Hospital? Then what about Jin Seong-hyeok?!
Recalling the man he'd just been speaking to, Su-ho forced his mouth open.
"Wh-what about... Hunter Jin Seong-hyeok?"
The doctor paused at the question, then let out a short sigh.
"Hunter Jin Seong-hyeok..."
"Yeah, he was just talking to me a minute ago..."
"He's dead."
Dead?
It felt like a sledgehammer to the back of his head. Was the Jin Seong-hyeok he'd been conversing with just a hallucination?
"Wait, that can't be...!"
Su-ho shot up reflexively, only to feel strangely refreshed as he patted himself down.
His chest had been pierced by the monster. The wound should've been fatal. Yet it had healed completely—no pain, like it never happened. He must've been bedridden for weeks, maybe months.
Touching his chest, Su-ho spoke.
"Have I... been out for months?"
"No."
"...Years, then?"
"No."
The doctor adjusted his glasses gravely before continuing.
"Three days. Just three days."
His chest wound had healed in three days? After being run clean through?
"Three days?"
The doctor nodded at Su-ho's incredulous repeat.
"Helper Cha Su-ho."
"...Yes."
"You're definitely F-grade?"
F-grade. The word hit like a brand. Su-ho dropped his gaze.
"Yes. That's correct."
"We should retest you."
"Retest?"
"Yes. Regeneration isn't something an F-grade Helper has."
Regeneration? Who? Me?
Su-ho's head snapped up in shock.
"I have regeneration?!"
"Yes."
Regeneration. A ability possessed by only a handful of even A-grade Helpers, the pinnacle of the profession.
Me, an F-grade, having that?
Still in disbelief, Su-ho pressed.
"There must be some mistake... I'm F-grade. I've never had regeneration, not once..."
"When we found you, Hunter Jin Seong-hyeok had a penetrating chest wound. But,"
The doctor cut him off sharply.
"Helper Cha Su-ho's chest wound had already healed, leaving only scars."
The implication was clear. Which meant Cha Su-ho,
"healed his chest wound in a matter of hours."
Was no longer just an F-grade.