SSS-Class Revival Hunter-Chapter 239: The Death King’s Family (3)

I faced Kim Yul.

He looks handsome.

The man’s long, silver strands were dancing softly in the night wind as if they had no weight, barely holding onto his scalp. It felt like his hair would scatter into some unnamed desert when it was cut.

Yes, his silver hair seemed to yearn for the desert. It was the place he had left, the one he could leave at any time, the same place he would eventually find himself heading toward once more. This longing for the sandy desert could be felt every time his hair brushed past each and every single hair.

“Mr. Kim Yul.”

“Yes, I’m here. Is this the Demonic Realm? So many powerful people are gathered here. Even if I were to fight them in my prime, I wouldn’t be so sure of my victory.”

Kim Yul looked around the yard with his icy blue eyes. The Blood Demon Unit, the Heavenly Demon Cult’s elites and now my clan’s warriors met his gaze in belligerence.

“They’re quite a force.”

He was now a part-time cafe worker, though he had once reigned as an absolute monarch on the Tower’s fiftieth floor. Well, Kim Yul was known for his sincerity.

“How strong?” I asked.

“If you go up to the fiftieth floor with these guys following you, no ragtags will dare come near. The witches and wizards who live in the Magic Tower will have to stop spinning their webs and fight you all to determine who the master of the fiftieth floor is.”

I tapped Uburka on the arm. “What if you count him too?”

Kim Yul carefully observed Uburka. His chest and thigh muscles were bulging so much that they were no different from boulders. After tapping Uburka’s muscles along the Aura Path, Kim Yul slightly raised his eyebrows.

“Amazing. Is he a monster?”

Kim Yul was expressionless, but I could see that he was genuinely impressed. When it came to reading his difficult expressions, Hamustra and I were masters at it.

He went on. “He has the Divine Martial Body. There are warriors who can only cut people with their swords. This is called the Mortal Martial Tier. Some great warriors can expand the territory of their nation using their swords, so they’re on the Earth Martial Tier.

“But the Divine Martial Tier is another league entirely. One sword swing from a warrior of this tier can bring down the sky. When you think of someone of that power level, you don’t think of how many victims or ruined countries they leave in their wake. It’s much more than that. The forces gathered here are strong enough to march onto most Constellations’ floors and destroy them.”

“He’s my son,” I said.

For the first time since being summoned, Kim Yul was at a loss for words. There was a faint hint of confusion in his blue eyes. Being able to confuse someone like Kim Yul made me feel awesome.

“Your... son?”

He looked at Uburka, taking in his size, then at me, and finally at Raviel. His head was processing a very complex calculation. Surprisingly, beads of sweat formed on Kim Yul’s forehead.

“How? It’s impossible both physically and biologically. Is this a curse from the Tower? Or a Skill? But the growth rate—”

“He’s my adopted son,” I clarified with a nod.

Before I knew it, Kim Yul grabbed my throat tightly. It didn’t hurt because he had lost all of his strength from the prime. However, the way he was glaring at me with his blue eyes was a bit scary.

“Do you want to die, Death King?”

“Wow, you became quite expressive. Your face is still expressionless, but you became impressed by Uburka and sometimes have goofy reactions when you see me—”

Kim Yul let go of my throat and sighed. “I’m human too. I can’t help it. I lost the Skill to gain strength by sacrificing my memories, and now I only have half of my life written down in this notebook that contains the things I threw away.”

He took the notebook out and scanned the worn leather cover of the notebook with a heavy gaze.

“I’ve already thrown away everything I had. There’s nothing left. From now on, the only thing I can do is gain. Death King, I am living my life, just as I promised you. I wouldn’t have felt these things before. Even if I did, I would have still thrown them away quickly.

“These things are now slowly piling up in my heart. As the pile becomes higher, it will eventually overflow. When that time comes, I’ll also be able to laugh, cry, get angry, and love like everyone else.” Kim Yul paused to look at me. “If you hadn’t brought the class president so we could meet, I would still have been just a machine with an empty heart. Death King, this is all thanks to you.”

I smiled. “That’s cool. But is that enough?”

Kim Yul tilted his head. “What do you mean, Death King?”

“You’ve found people that are precious to you, Mr. Kim Yul. Your class president. Hamustra also likes you, although he’s a little unreliable. Even if you get back your Skill to throw away memories, you won’t use it the same way as before, right?”

Kim Yul was lost in thought. After a while, he nodded. “Yes, I can’t abandon these new memories as freely. The director spent his life always thinking about my death. Hamustra adores me because he’s fascinated with my life. I’m enjoying all the luxuries that a human can enjoy from birth to death. I can’t lose these things.”

He looked up at the night sky, then at my face.

“I see. I’m happy now, Death King. You made me happy.”

In Kim Yul’s eyes, there wasn’t just surprise or gratitude. Many emotions seemed to be swimming in his eyes that were as blue as the sea. For some reason, concern was also mixed in.

“Is that your wish? Are you going to make everyone you meet happy?” he asked. “I can tell you that it was not easy to make me like this.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, it was really difficult.”

“I lost my memories. To regain fragments of what I lost, you built the world of trauma and brought the class president to prove that I wasn’t just unhappy. This isn’t an efficient method. Applying ointment to one person’s wounds is already very difficult, Death King. What in the world are you dreaming of?”

I scratched the back of my head with a laugh. “It’s nice.”

“What is?”

“That I get to see you all smiling.”

There was a goddess who took our misfortune when we were unhappy. If we were born anyway, the best thing to do was smile as much as we could and achieve everything we wished for. It was difficult, but I thought it was worth it.

“Mr. Kim Yul.”

“Speak.”

“You now have people and things to protect.”

The orphanage director, Hamustra, and even Cafe Planetarium, which he quite liked.

“But you don’t have the power to protect them.”

Kim Yul bit his lower lip.

“Now, you can peacefully enjoy the smell of books and coffee at the cafe built in the great library. Hunters can’t go up there to start a ruckus. I made sure the place is safe. The Black Dragon, the Pantheon, the OJP Sect, the MA, and the Watchman League all invested in the cafe. However, this also means that your happiness now depends entirely on other people.”

I grabbed Kim Yul by the shoulders. There was a time when I had to sacrifice my life a lot of times because I couldn’t get to him. Now it was so easy to hold onto him because Kim Yul couldn’t run away from me or break free from my grip. He knew that, so the emotions in his beautiful eyes swirled harder.

With a smile, I gazed into the waves in his eyes. “Aren’t you afraid? The director is weak and old. If some crazy Hunter decides to attack him, we’ll retaliate as cruelly as possible. Even so, the director will be helpless at that moment.”

I could feel Kim Yul trembling.

“Hamustra is no longer a Constellation. He’s just a weak kid who likes to read books since he also lost his powers. If some lunatic attacks him, he will die too.”

Kim Yul asked, “What do you want from me?”

“If you ask me to protect you, I will order my sharp and agile warriors to infiltrate the library and be on guard twenty-four hours a day. Even if something no one predicted occurs and one of you dies, I have the ability to rewind the day. You can leave everything to me.”

Even if Kim Yul chose this, it was okay. I wasn’t going to blame him. As for the sins he had committed, I could bring him around and try to make amends, but if he chose something other than security and comfort...

“If you don’t want that, I’ll give you your life back, Mr. Kim Yul.”

Kim Yul looked into my eyes. “My life?”

“I’ve become a little stronger than before. I can give you back all the abilities and Skills you had before you joined my legion.”

Kim Yul paused to look around the yard. The warriors had sharp, gleaming eyes. Not long ago, they had been just as helpless as he was. Despite their fighting knowledge and incredible tenacity, they had been unable to utilize their qi or martial arts.

“I see.”

Kim Yul’s gaze finally landed on Estelle. She was silent, but he definitely saw the Constellation and the Demon King that had single-handedly destroyed the empire he had built. It made him realize what I was trying to tell him.

“You seem to get stronger day by day.”

I shrugged. “Well, the universe won’t let me be weak.”

“What makes one strong varies from individual to individual. However, if someone who supports their family swings their pickaxe without stopping because they can’t waste any second or minute, that makes them strong enough. Living life instead of wasting it should be the measure of strength.”

Kim Yul stared at me.

“Time passes no matter what you do. It doesn’t matter if it’s a day or a year. Since you can turn back time, its value should be meaningless to you compared to anyone else, yet you live each day as if you could never turn it back. I think that’s what makes you strong. I also want to become as strong as you. I will try my best to achieve that, Death King.”

I fell silent.

Everyone is trying their hardest.

I wanted to take some time to savor that.

Estelle was a doppelganger who wanted to become human. She would try to achieve her wish and also become my daughter.

Sylvia used to be an immature young noble lady, and she wanted to have Raviel. That was her desire. She would try to have Raviel and fulfill the conditions Raviel had set.

Kim Yul once became stronger by throwing away his memories. Now, he had memories he never wanted to throw away. That was the wish he had, so he would try not to abandon himself.

Yes. Good. Very good.

The others also had wishes of their own, so they wanted to make them come true.

If only they could have an opportunity, even the smallest one....

I could be their opportunity.

“I will give you a body, Mr. Kim Yul.”

For others to get their opportunities, I became stronger.

[The Skill Earthbone Dragon’s Skull has been activated.]

[A Box has been completed.]

Just like Estelle, the Four Demon Kings, the cultists, and Sylvia Evanail, Kim Yul’s existence also became a pitch-black marble that soon colored my heart.

I sighed, sensing that Kim Yul was saddened by the fact that the marble was dark, as if covered in soot, and not white and pure. My breath turned as black as my heart. As it escaped my lips, it settled on the ground like a thick fog. From there, a man slowly took shape.

The Constellation Murderer, now human again, slowly clenched and unclenched his right fist over and over again as he looked up at the night sky.

“I really liked the passage in the book I read today. It was beautiful. But many more beautiful things await me.”

He swung his fist, his aura splitting the night sky. He split it over and over, tearing down the clouds that had some moonlight on them. The full moon stood between the dark clouds that had been soundlessly parted, its white moonlight seeping through the gaps.

Kim Yul blankly looked up at the moonlight pouring down on him. “I don’t remember that passage anymore.”

I approached him.

“Death King, what should I call you?”

“Please call me Patriarch.”

“Patriarch.”

“Yes, we will become each other’s family one day, but I’m not going to hastily talk about it from the beginning. We do not know much and are not very familiar with each other yet. But we’ll be able to get closer in time.”

I took something out of my pocket. It had been a week since I parted ways with the goddess. In the meantime, I wandered around the city and prepared various things.

While passing by an old street, I found a stationery store. An elementary student had skipped school and was playing on a game console in front of the store. I then went inside the store and found this.

I untied the yellow rubber band tying the Constellation Murderer’s hair. It was very tough and tight around his silver hair. “It’s not very expensive, but consider this is a gift for the day we will become a real family.”

After a while...

“Hmm. This is my first time tying someone else’s hair. It’s taking a while. Ah, I think I got it. Did I? Anyway, I guess this is okay.”

The Constellation Murderer’s ponytail was now held up with an ordinary hair tie.

“You won’t need this anymore.”

I took his yellow rubber band and burned it with aura.

Probably a very long time ago, hundreds of years ago even, Lefanta Aegim thought that, even though he was throwing away his memories, he wasn’t going to forget that his world abandoned him.

Students at Shinseo High School took advantage of yellow rubber bands to harass Kim Yul since they damaged his hair and scalp whenever they were forcibly taken off. It was a simple yet effective way of bullying. Anyone could see it, so they all knew that Kim Yul was a victim.

It was a stigma. Lefanta Aegim didn’t hesitate to throw away Kim Yul’s memories because he had no good memories anyway. If he could throw them away, he would be grateful. However, he wanted to keep the proof that his world abandoned him to demonstrate just what kind of person he was, how he had been born, and what kind of stigma he had been ironed with. Only then could he curse the world to his heart’s content.

The proof that bound the Constellation Murderer with his past was now ashes. Kim Yul raised his hand and touched the back of his head, feeling up the cheap hair tie that could be bought at any stationery store[1].

“I’ll become our clan’s leader. Mr. Kim Yul, please become the clan shadow. Investigate the enemies’ movements and gather information about them.”

“Are you asking me to become a spy?”

“Yes.” I pointed to the warriors hiding below the wall. “Among the Four Demon Kings, there is a man named Ghostfire Demon King. He and his Requiem Unit handled intelligence. They were famous across gangho for their abilities. Mr. Kim Yul, lead them.”

“Do you think this is a suitable position for me?”

“Your specialty is recording and analyzing information.” I tapped the notebook Kim Yul was holding in his left hand. The old notebook trembled in response. “From now on, don’t write who you have to kill, who killed you, and the things you have to throw away. Please write only for our clan, turn that notebook into our clan’s diary. Mr. Kim Yul, please use your pen to prove. That will make me very happy.”

Kim Yul looked at me intently. For a long time, he didn’t speak. Eventually, the torn clouds disappeared. The faint moonlight shone down on the dry yard of a hanok that was withstanding time after it missed its time to die. In the remote region of his hometown which ended up becoming his grave, Kim Yul went down on one knee and bowed his head.

“I understand. I'll put my life on your dream, my patriarch.”

1. If you guys want an image, here. It’s the kind of hair band that Korean stationery stores usually sell. ☜

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