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Chapter 87
“I believed in the madam, but…” After a long look at Koo Hui-seo, Koo Kyungman gripped his skinny fingers–his murmurs tinged with resentment.
By madam, he must be referring to Koo Hui-seo’s biological mother, right? Logically, I knew they were half-brothers, but the title ‘madame,’ really showcased the distance.
Koo Hui-seo patted him on the back without saying anything more. His brother buried his head between Hui-seo’s thin thighs, similarly silent.
I was even confused when I saw Koo Kyungman’s agitated back. Was this really the man that left Koo Hui-seo to rot from the inside out in despair?
“It’s not all Mother’s fault. I… also committed some wrongs against you.” Koo Hui-seo’s expression, as seen from my perspective, was formidable. He looked down at his sobbing brother’s head with indifferent eyes, looking very tired and annoyed.
However, that face vanished in an instant when Koo Kyungman lifted his reddened eyes.
Murmuring in that trembling voice with a shady smile, Koo Hui-seo appeared to be nothing more than a wicked man who had no one to rely on after being released from captivity. Koo Kyungman was definitely taken in by that performance.
Even before his brother was finished speaking, Koo Kyungman jumped up and spoke in a rather exaggerated manner, “It couldn’t be helped because of your illness. My life wasn’t threatened.”
“Still…”
“Please don’t let that sin remain in your heart. It was better than letting hyung-nim hurt himself; this was the better outcome. I…”
He’s talking about Koo Hui-seo’s mental illness and his outbursts in which he stabbed him? Koo Hui-seo lowered his head, as if he were moved by his brother’s forgiveness.
In between looking at Koo Hui-seo, the Red Dragon guildmaster nervously checked his watch and knelt at his brother’s feet once more. Maybe he’s going to say what was truly on his mind now.
“Hyung-nim, by the way…What is madam saying? I can’t believe that your condition is now terminal…”
“Ahh, that’s right…I called you here for that reason.” Koo Hui-seo looked up, wiping his damp cheek. Surprisingly, it looked as if he had really shed tears in the meantime. “Yesterday the doctor said the same. Mother too… They said I wouldn’t be able to make it through this year.”
“That’s…”
“And Mother…You know this well, but she’s not the type to bat an eyelid at my death. After examining several times and confirming that my body was fully destroyed… She asked what would happen to the [Red Dragon] guild rather than to ask after my body–saying it would be a disaster if there was no suitable successor…”
The look on Koo Kyungman’s face, after hearing those words, suddenly twisted violently. Of course, he hid this expression before Koo Hui-seo raised his head again, but his rigid jaw didn’t lose its tension.
Then, Koo Hui-seo continued, giving no indication he noticed the signs of tension. “I said to her, ‘what are you implying,’ especially as you’re already the guild master, but… You probably already know. She’s left you that seat temporarily; she doesn’t mean to give you the guild.”
“…It’s because I’m lacking.”
“Don’t say that. Mother is being overly greedy.”
And, Seo Dawon, who was listening to their conversation, muttered ‘Aha!’ as if he had realized something. “So that’s why he wanted his brother dead–even cooperating by confiding Koo Hui-seo separately in that hospital ward.”
It was not until I heard the Mage’s mutters that I fully understood Koo Kyungman’s tempestuous expression.
He must have realized that he was on the verge of losing his position. It’s not clear under what conditions he took hold of the guild master seat, but, from his expression, the situation must be more unstable than I had thought.
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Koo Hui-seo must have known all about that instability; with that in mind, he opened his mouth without hesitation. “I…I think you should continue to be the guild master.”
“……” Koo Kyungman, without confirming or denying, simply looked at his hand which was in his brother’s grasp. At first glance, he appeared to have been avoiding answering while in a difficult position, but, looking at the line of his mouth, he seemed to instead be holding back his rising anger.
However, what Koo Hui-seo said next was even more shocking. “Because, if you’re the guild master… I can survive, out from underneath Mother.”
With these eerie words, Koo Kyungman could no longer remain silent. He clenched his free fist and spoke in an apologetic tone, as if he had already given up. “But, hyung-nim, if the madam objects, I have to step down. And I have little lingering attachment for the guild master position…”
“Before I die.” Koo Hui-seo cut his brother off, “Mother is thinking of making a new heir.”
Like a bomb, a frigid atmosphere exploded in the living room.
The obedient brother mask he had been trying to maintain until then had disappeared from Koo Kyungman’s face–shattered all at once. It was an expression like he had been stabbed in the back of his head by long-held suspicions.
Of course, whether or not Koo Kyungman looked that way, Koo Hui-seo kept spouting provocations. “My body has long been out of my control. No matter what disgusting thing Mother forces upon me from now on, I… can’t refuse. Honestly, it’s always been this way.”
“What are you saying?”
“She’s trying to search for someone to give birth to my child. A new heir. I happened to overhear her when I was pretending to sleep.”
“……”
“The reason why Mother left, today, was to visit a doctor outside the hub. If I really were to have a child, connected by my bloodline…”
Koo Hui-seo lowered his head and sobbed, saying that his mother would attempt to kill him as soon as that child saw the light of the world. He pretended to be someone who was mentally torn to rags due to such a desperate situation.
Then, looking at his brother after being hit in the face by these revelations, bloodthirst slowly grew in Koo Kyungman’s expression. He tightly closed his gaping mouth shut.
Acting as if he had no desire to raise his head, Koo Hui-seo lamented. “So, can Kyungman-ie get me out of here today? I don’t want to spend the rest of my life in hell…”
After restating that all this was for him, Koo Hui-seo looked at his brother with a look of anticipation; Koo Kyungman rose to his feet without answering. He outstretched his hand to his brother.
“Knngh….”
“Ha, fuck….What did you say?”
I summoned Seo Dawon just before Koo Hui-seo was strangled by Koo Kyungman, but the Mage had not yet intervened. Koo Kyungman lost his rationality and began yelling–his face just as red as his strangled victim. “I….I! Fucker, do you think I’ve been taking care of you–calling you hyung-nim–just to be treated like this?”
“Cough, Krnnk….”
“Heir? You’re making me laugh. Who are you to stand in my way? You should have just died in that hospital ward!”
“Ugh……”
“Why’d you have to return alive and create all this trouble!”
Koo Hui-seo could not scratch properly with his skinny hands and dull fingernails; they slipped pathetically off the attacker’s arm.
Seeing that show of struggle, Koo Kyungman placed more strength in his hands. “Do you know why I played along with this family pretense?” He asked his brother, smiling cruelly.
It was questionable if Koo Hui-seo, whose eyes began to upturn in his head, could hear him; grumbling, Koo Kyungman placed his brother in the wheelchair with his hands–veiny from the expended effort. “I had a spot as the guild master as long as I called you brother–it was worth it.”
“……”
“And how nice was it for you to develop a mental illness and to get out of my way. I was really grateful, back then.”
The taunt seemed to have been successfully delivered to Koo Hui-seo. A lone tear dripped across his cheeks in the midst of his convulsions.
I looked between the scene and Seo Dawon nervously, wondering when the mage was going to intervene. What if Koo Hui-seo really dies or suffers some permanent damage…? However, Seo Dawon restrained me from moving.
During that scuffle, Koo Hui-seo’s neck eventually bent in a humanly impossible direction with a cracking sound.
His neck seemed to have broken from purely the other’s grip strength. Given that Koo Kyungman was a User that primarily used gauntlets, such a feat wouldn’t be so difficult for him.
TL: Thanks for joining me for this chapter! I’m always reminded of how MC is so kind for this world of Users–he still had optimism, before, that Koo Kyungman was actually a filial brother when he first heard Koo Hui-seo’s story…but that optimism is probably dashed now.