Brothers (2)

Han Sion and his mother froze at those words.
Han Siyoon continued casually.

“So I don’t intend to visit anymore. We live in different worlds.”
Han Sion couldn’t understand.
How many years had they lived like a family?
Just because he awakened, he was going to abandon his family like this?

“Hyung, are you joking?”
“I’m not joking, my foolish younger brother.”
He affectionately patted Han Sion’s head.

“I have no more business with you. Scraps.”
It was only later that he found out.
Han Siyoon had visited their family because of his father’s orders.
He was still his son, after all, and she was still his wife.
He had been supporting them indirectly through his son.
And Han Siyoon despised them.
He just hadn’t shown it.

“Sion, you should not become a hunter.”
After being betrayed by Han Siyoon, whom she had considered her own son, his mother began to shudder at the mere mention of hunters.

“Never become a hunter…”
After one son betrayed her, was she afraid that her remaining biological son would also betray her?
His mother always repeated the words that he should not become a hunter.
Until the day she died early from cancer.
But Han Sion could not follow those words.
No, he did not follow them.

“You can never be like me, even if you die and come back to life.”
To deny those words of Han Siyoon.
He jumped into the Scavenger work, where there was a possibility of being chosen by a hunter, as soon as he graduated from high school.
He tried hard.
Really.
To the point where he couldn’t have tried harder.
And he was chosen.
He was saved.
“Hyung.”
Han Sion raised his sword.
“I am now on the same level as you.”
“You are arrogant and insolent, my younger brother.”
“I won’t ask why you, who was said to have established a large guild, are here as a black hunter.”
Black hunter.
In short, they are hunters who have committed crimes.
Criminals with a bounty on their heads who can never come out and operate in the light.
Han Siyoon had become that criminal.
“Instead, let’s end this today.”
“Sion!”
Baek Jiye watched Han Sion with a worried face.
Han Sion seemed to have already forgotten his purpose of saving Cheon Sanho.
Although Baek Jiye did not know that he was facing his lifelong enemy, she could feel that his momentum was unusual.
But didn’t she and he have a scenario given by the Constellation?
Baek Jiye’s voice reminded him of that.
But….
Han Sion closed his eyes tightly.
“The Calamity will forgive me too.”
“…”
“I’ll definitely win. I’m serious.”
“…I’ll support you.”
Yes, Cheon Sanho is right in front of us anyway.
Baek Jiye’s permission was granted.
Even if it’s not a fair one-on-one duel.
If it’s revenge, what can’t you do?
‘O Calamity, please forgive me.’
Thwack.
Han Sion kicked off the ground.
“Foolish younger brother…”
At the same time, darkness covered the world.
“To think the day would come when I sell my younger brother.”
“What?”
“Welcome, S-rank products.”
An ominous darkness covered the world.
And…
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
When they came to their senses.
They were in a circular arena with bright spotlights.
“This is the Awakener Auction House. Please be sold at a good price.”
The host’s voice echoed cheerfully.

I was now standing on the rooftop of a certain abandoned building.
The white veil fluttered.
Next to me, a Regressor, a head taller than me, was standing.
I glanced at the system window floating in the corner of my vision.

[Warning! You are in an agitated state.]
[Beginner mode is temporarily enhanced to baby mode.]
[If you speak a language, you will receive a severe penalty.]
‘I can’t believe that penalty was coughing up blood.’
I tapped the intangible lock, but this time, the beginner mode didn’t release easily.
Baby mode… how humiliating.
‘I could have released the beginner mode on my own by now.’
But a stronger restriction was placed on me, so I had no choice.
‘I can only hope it will be released over time.’
After placing his hand on the building floor and closing his eyes for a moment, the Regressor, Yeon Taeseon, opened his mouth.
“Basement 2nd floor. There’s an unusually strong energy gathered there.”
“…”
“Is it okay for you not to return to your jellyfish form? You’re in front of your contractors.”
I raised my finger and wrote letters in the air with mana.
Blue and white letters embroidered the air.

[Can you handle an S-rank on your own?]
“No. But if I’m prepared to have my limbs broken, I can secretly take him out.”

[I don’t trust you.]
“This is my best.”

[So I’ll go in this form too.]
“Does that form increase your ability to utilize something?”

[At least I can do as much as a mature Baek Jiye.]
No, actually, I could do it so well that it would be embarrassing to compare it to Baek Jiye.
‘I’ve never fully utilized my skills after becoming a Constellation.’
I knew it instinctively.
That if I used my real skills, I could devastate buildings and regions.
Of course, this was the case with my incarnation, and I, who had descended to the mortal world in my main body, had no idea what would happen if I went on a rampage.
‘So, at a minimum.’
Fortunately, I had a sample named Baek Jiye next to me.
If I use a little more power than Baek Jiye, wouldn’t the building not be destroyed, and no one would get hurt, resulting in a happy development?
And….
‘I don’t want to plant the suspicion that I might be a Constellation.’
I wasn’t ready to show my true form to my contractors.
To be precise, I wasn’t ready to show them that this form was me.

“Kill her!”
The voices that still came to mind clearly.
The beings whose attitude towards me had changed in an instant.
I didn’t want to see them suddenly change from their attitude of treating a cute monster to a formal, worshipful one.
That’s just like… what I experienced in my past life, isn’t it?
My hands suddenly trembled.
Yeon Taeseon walked over to my side and took my hand.
“…?”
When I looked up, he looked away.
Is he pretending not to know?
With the warmth, I felt the trembling subside.
‘Is it because Yeon Taeseon has already seen my face? I don’t feel any rejection.’
It was strange.
“Constellation. Are you ready?”
“…”
“Constellation?”
I raised my hand and wrote the last letters.
It was really, a strange thing.

[My true name is ‘Lee Seonbaek’. Now, SLEEP]
I quietly watched the letters being carried away by the wind.
A magic circle in the shape of the moonlight appeared beneath my feet.
Crack…
The building’s glass windows cracked.
The durability was sharply reduced because it couldn’t withstand the immense mana.
When I listened carefully, I could hear people collapsing.
Thump, thump…
It was the sound of people who couldn’t withstand the large-scale sleep magic.
Yeon Taeseon also seemed to have heard this sound, as he looked slightly surprised.

[Because of the building’s durability, it only applied up to the 4th basement floor.]
“That’s enough. Most of the combat personnel here, except for that Han Siyoon, must have collapsed.”

[But.]
There was a strange feeling.
Was it really possible for the building’s durability to be shattered this much just by putting a little over a hundred people to sleep?
Whether I put a thousand people to sleep or ten thousand, it didn’t make sense for the glass windows to crack like this, no matter how much I couldn’t control my mana.
I could bet my entire magic on the fact that the mana I used now was not enough to shatter the building’s durability.

[I used mana ‘appropriately’. But the building’s durability was worn down. If I had made adjustments, the building shouldn’t have cracked.]
“You’re very confident, Constellation.”

[Answer my question. Is there something else I don’t know?]
At those words, Yeon Taeseon thought for a moment, then finally opened his mouth.
“There’s an Awakener Auction House on the 5th basement floor of this place.”

[What?]
“The reason it only applied up to the 4th floor is probably because the barrier on the 5th floor deflected the magic…”

[Why are you telling me this now!]
I kicked Yeon Taeseon.
What I learned from his statement is as follows:

1. There’s a barrier in the basement strong enough to deflect my magic. I estimate it’s a barrier that can withstand S-rank magic.

2. Because of this barrier, the 5th basement floor is not being properly detected. I can’t guess how many people are there.

3. The most important auction house is on the 5th basement floor!
   You should have told me earlier!
   I kicked Yeon Taeseon repeatedly, but he didn’t even look hurt.
   “This is the main auction house of the black guild, ‘Titas’. It’s a place where they sell stolen goods and kidnapped Awakeners.”

[You should have told me things like that in time!]
“Let’s go in first. We don’t have time.”
Yeon Taeseon grabbed my waist and attempted a free fall from the rooftop to the 1st floor.
I held back a scream and closed my eyes.
When the sensation of falling stopped, I saw the main entrance in front of me.

[Are you going through the main entrance?]
“You put them all to sleep anyway.”

[What about things like CCTV?]
“There aren’t any. The VIPs find them unpleasant.”
He knows even the most trivial things…
Is this the knowledge of a Regressor?
It was convenient to experience it firsthand.
It would have been nice if I could have made a contract.
‘That damn 100 million coins.’
I pouted my lips.
Though it wasn’t visible under the veil.