Declaration Of Extra Strike

 

Seong San-ha rubbed his face against me. His breath on my neck and the brush of his nose tickled, making me shrink my shoulders.

 

“What nonsense are you spouting in the middle of the night? Are you crazy?”

 

“You said you wanted to see the world, right? Let’s go together. Then I won’t have to rush back. I’ll take you to all the places you’ve been curious about and show you everything you want to see.”

 

“Leave my workshop…? Well, maybe if it’s just a vacation.”

 

Replying in disbelief, I tacked on a small hint of interest. Seong San-ha, who had been chuckling, lifted his head to look at me. His face bore the usual mischievous smile, with a grin that reached his softly curved eyes, but when our gazes met, something felt off. The faint hue of his eyes held a distant, foreign emotion, catching me off guard. I suddenly became aware of our current position.

 

Right. Seong San-ha is, like, 79% likely to be into guys. I should push him away right now, but I froze, too flustered to move.

 

“Come on, let me go. What are you doing?”

 

“How about joining Cheon Rang?”

 

“I don’t want to! You think you’re the only guild leader? I’m the boss too. Do you think I’ll work under you?”

 

“Hmph, …yeah. You’re the boss.”

 

“From now on, call me ‘boss’.”

 

“Alright. Boss, can I ask you something?”

 

“What is it?”

 

I answered gruffly, nodding as I noticed Seong San-ha staring at me, and then he suddenly said something unexpected.

 

“You said you have amnesia. Does that mean you don’t remember anything from when you were a kid?”

 

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

 

“I was just wondering if you have any memories of being adopted.”

 

“Who, me?”

 

Adoption out of nowhere at this timing? That’s suspicious.

 

‘Could he still be hung up on Kang Eui-jin?’

 

I hadn’t worried about this in a while, but now that I knew Seong San-ha had never actually been fooled by Kang Eui-jin, that old thought resurfaced.

 

Anyway, Joo Ho-hyun was just a normal guy who grew up with his parents. I had clearly seen him in the system’s records.

 

“There’s no way that’s the case. Even with amnesia, I haven’t forgotten everything.”

 

“…I’m glad to hear that.”

 

“Let’s stop talking about this. Seong San-ha, give me your hand.”

 

To shift the topic, I turned the conversation. Now that the Illimital issue was over, things should be more relaxed, and since I had the rare chance to meet Seong San-ha, I should check out the hand under the gloves that I saw in the dungeon. 

 

Now that I have the S-rank skill

Touch of the Divine

, I could more accurately assess its condition.

 

I pushed away his rock-hard arm in irritation, and only then did Seong San-ha step back willingly.

 

“Why are you suddenly asking about my hand?”

 

“It’s not that. You saw how I got hurt last time. I just want to check on the condition.”

 

I waved my hand slightly as I spoke, but Seong San-ha shook his head faintly.

 

“It’s not something that can be healed by human strength.”

 

“Where did you hear such nonsense? I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes. So just give me your hand.”

 

“You’re so stubborn… it won’t do any good.”

 

“Even if that’s true, there could be another way to deal with it. I’m not going to let you suffer with poison for the rest of your life… Just give me your hand. It’s been driving me crazy thinking about it every night.”

 

If I hadn’t seen the rotting hand, maybe I could have ignored it, but knowing what I did, I couldn’t just sit back and let it go. I said it firmly with my arms crossed. Seong San-ha burst out laughing and, hesitating, lowered his eyelashes.

 

“Sigh, really… you…”

 

Seong San-ha lifted one of his hands and gently cupped my left cheek. The soft touch of the glove as he caressed my face made me flinch, and I squinted my eyes. He bit his lip slightly, as if holding something back.

 

“Seong San-ha?”

 

I called his name in confusion, and the hand that had been gently caressing my face now firmly gripped my cheek, pulling it.

 

“Ah!”

 

“…You should be able to do something if you’re going to feel guilty. When’s your class?”

 

“Are you out of your mind? Who are you treating like a child here?”

 

I smacked his hand away from my face. Something was really off about Seong San-ha’s mood tonight. It was already late, so I figured I’d quickly check the condition of his hand and then send him on his way.

 

As I reached to grab his wrist, he let out a small sigh, reluctantly offering his hand. I carefully began to slip off the white glove, focusing on my task when I heard his teasing voice above me.

 

“You’re the first person I’ve allowed to undress me. There’s a certain… vulnerability in letting someone else’s touch linger on my body.”

 

“…Are you seriously crazy? Shut up if you’re going to spout nonsense.”

 

Even though I’d expected it, the sight of his decaying skin still made me wince. It was a hand that looked entirely out of place on someone like Seong San-ha. I silently vowed to heal it and activated

“Touch of the Divine”

on his hand, now that I had a skill that would let me accurately assess its state.

 

But when the information surfaced, I could only stare at him, stunned.

 

“This… this isn’t…”

 

“I told you, it’s not something that can be healed.”

 

“It’s not an illness—it’s a curse,” he murmured nonchalantly, pulling his hand away. I was so taken aback that I didn’t even try to hold on.

 

After putting his white glove back on, Seong San-ha glanced at the time and spoke in a regretful tone.

 

“I should get going now. Here—take this.”

 

I narrowed my eyes at the familiar object he pressed into my hand. Frozen, I realized he was giving me none other than the

Laelaps Collar. 

“What is this? Don’t tell me you’re actually expecting me to wear this thing…”

 

“No, I’m just leaving it with you for now. Just hold onto it.” 

 

“Leaving it with me?”

 

“If you disappear on me like last time, I’ll have to come find you, right? If you get scared, just call me,” Seong San-ha said, ruffling my hair messily before giving me a playful wink. Then he turned around and headed out to the terrace. By the time I rushed over to follow him, he’d already vanished after leaping down.

 

“Damn… He treats this place like it’s his own living room…” 

 

I muttered, annoyed, as I clenched the collar left in my hand. Who did he think would actually wear something like this?

 

***

 

The 25th Annual Awakening Tournament was being held on a larger scale than ever this year, partly as an event to lift the spirits of a nation still reeling from recent unusual incidents. 

 

Naturally, today’s star, Yeon Seung-yeon, was present, along with the Yoon Ha-yan family, Han Seo-jin and Park Mu-il, who had just returned early that morning, as well as the Baek sisters and even the tagalong Jin-myung. Together, we made our way to the awards venue.

 

At the entrance, we exchanged some encouraging words with Yeon Seung-yeon before he headed inside.

 

“Wish me luck.”

 

“Go grab that Presidential Award!”

 

“Well, I…I’d be happy with any award, really…”

 

Despite dressing up in a sharp suit and styling his hair for the occasion, he still looked as timid as a little squirrel. Though we could’ve accompanied Seung-yeon inside and enjoyed a better view from the guest seats, we opted instead to sit in the open-air seats with the public, just in case.

 

‘I’ve got my robe on, and my ring’s here.’

 

Although Han Seo-jin had thrown a fit over it, so I couldn’t wear the ring on my ring finger; instead, it was loosely sitting on the second knuckle of my index finger. Twirling it absently with my thumb, we headed to our seats.

 

After the opening remarks, congratulatory messages from politicians and well-known hunters played on the screen, celebrating the tournament’s 25th anniversary. Familiar faces appeared, including Sung San-ha, Im Dan, and some hunters I remembered from Nox, making the show rather entertaining. 

 

The phrase “famous hunters” always piqued my interest, as they were likely to become my future clients. I watched with interest, occasionally asking others about faces I didn’t recognize. Then, the guest performances began.

 

In the public seating area, everyone was here for the fun, making the whole event feel less like a formal awards ceremony and more like a festival. 

 

Taking advantage of a long speech, we snuck out to grab a quick bite. The space behind the seats was wide open, lined with food trucks on the sides, offering plenty of good food options. 

 

Kids holding their parents’ hands clutched balloons or clouds of cotton candy even bigger than their heads, and many groups had spread blankets to sit on in the open area.

 

I bought an enormous cotton candy for Baek Da-hye and Song Ha-jeong, larger than any of the ones the other kids had, and then lined up at a popular food truck for some extra snacks. 

 

Han Seo-jin, holding a staggering seven hot dogs in one hand for the group, grinned as he wiped a bit of sauce off my mouth, laughing at my expression as he enjoyed his own skewer.

 

“This feels just like a day out, doesn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, way more fun than I expected. I almost feel bad leaving Seung-yeon to handle everything alone,” I said, laughing with Han Seo-jin. But then, an awkward voice came from behind us.

 

“Uh… I’m here too, you know? You didn’t forget about me, right?”

 

Turning around, I saw Park Mu-il standing there, looking a bit out of place with drinks in hand. Han Seo-jin, laughing, handed him a hot dog, which he took a big bite of before nodding.

 

“Of course not. Got everything?”

 

“Yeah. The kids have the penguin drinks, Yoon Ha-yan has an iced Americano, and Song Jeong-hyuk ordered a café latte…” Park Mu-il ticked off each item, double-checking.

 

Then, Han Seo-jin leaned close and whispered to me, “Next time, let’s just go the two of us.”

 

The two of us? Wouldn’t it be more fun with everyone? I wanted to answer, but my mouth was full of hot dog, so I just chewed thoughtfully. Just then, cheers erupted from the audience, and I turned to see what was happening, my eyes widening.

 

‘Wait, did it start already? I can’t miss Seung-yeon’s award!’

 

Worried we might miss his big moment, I hurriedly rushed to our seats, only to see that several people were already up on stage.

 

“What? What’s going on? Has it started? Did he get an award?” I asked, a bit panicked.

 

The woman sitting next to me looked momentarily confused but then nodded. 

 

“They’ve started, but they’re still announcing some of the smaller awards. The important ones are yet to come… Wait, do I know you?”

 

“Nope! Nice to meet you.”

 

We shook hands. I heard Han Seo-jin sighing next to me.

Flo here!

The updates are now every Monday and Friday!

Make sure to support the author on ridibooks! It's free chapter a day, so even if you don't understand Korean, just click it to support them! Also, consider buying me kofi if you like my translations~