The Saint Wants to Rest - Chapter 4.1
Monsters cannot communicate with humans. That was common knowledge. However, this entity spoke.
“More, more! Wear that guy out!”
A creature that looked like a scarecrow stitched together from leather, something straight out of a horror movie, swung a conductor’s baton. Each time it did, the surrounding monsters clutched their heads, shrieked, and lunged at Hong Seo-yun .
“More, more!”
Aha. Hong Seo-yun realized what this bizarre monster wanted. It was weaker than him. That was why it was throwing waves of monsters forward, hoping he would exhaust his strength before he could face it directly.
Boss monsters capable of controlling lower-ranking minions appeared occasionally, and it seemed this scarecrow was one of those types.
“This is bullshit,” Hong Seo-yun muttered, gritting his teeth.
What did it matter if it was weaker than him? He couldn’t even reach it right now. All he could do was incinerate the monsters crashing against him like a tide.
Even for an S-Rank Awakened, power was not an infinite spring. Hong Seo-yun was growing exhausted. He fumbled at the pocket of his shirt. It looked like an ordinary shirt, but it was actually defensive gear woven from Arachne’s silk. Thanks to that, the cigarettes he had tucked inside were safe.
Hong Seo-yun pulled out a cigarette and bit down on it. He didn’t light it. There was a time when he smoked a pack a day, but he had quit. It was because the younger brother of his close friend, Choi Jae-heon , absolutely hated the smell of smoke.
That little brat used to nag so much whenever he smoked. He’d shout, asking if he wanted to die early of lung cancer, and would rifle through his things to snatch his cigarettes away. Even knowing that, Hong Seo-yun had brought cigarettes every time. He supposed he liked the feeling of someone caring about him.
But even that eventually came to an end.
“What a wretched life.”
Choi Ian . The kid with the small, pale face had suddenly gone missing one day. At that time, Hong Seo-yun watched his friend go half-mad. They reported it to the police, put up flyers, and wandered everywhere handing them out, but they never found him. He wondered why he still missed a brat who hadn’t shown so much as a hair in years.
He wondered if Ian was the one he wanted to see in his final moments. His mouth tasted bitter. Hong Seo-yun felt his physical strength reaching its absolute limit.
If that was the case, he would just burn his life force. At least the people behind him would die later than he did.
‘You meanie.’
Hong Seo-yun hoped Choi Ian was alive. He didn’t want to believe that a kid younger than him had died. Just as he was about to toss the cigarette aside and gather his strength one last time, someone entered his field of vision. There were hardly any monsters behind him, and it seemed this person had managed to break through and reach him. For some reason, the face looked familiar.
“Huh?”
If that brat had grown up for a few years, he would surely have a face like this. The baby fat that used to be on his cheeks was gone, making his face look slender. His slightly upturned eyes were sharp like a cat’s, and his nose was high. Overall, his coloring was pale, but there was one part that particularly drew the eye.
His lips.
Long, slender fingers reached out and grabbed Hong Seo-yun’s shirt.
“Huh?”
Dazed by the unexpected situation, he let himself be pulled forward. Suddenly, Ian stood on his tiptoes and pressed his lips against his cheek. He had given him a kiss on the cheek. Before he disappeared, Ian had been a guy with a lot of affection, contrary to his appearance. He didn’t do it once he got older, claiming it was embarrassing, but when he was a child, he used to shower his brother’s friends with kisses.
‘No, wait!’
Was this a final hallucination before death? If so, why was Ian, whom he had always thought of as a younger brother? Just as Hong Seo-yun’s head began to spin, Ian pulled his lips away.
“Hyung.”
“Huh? Uh… yeah.”
“Fight now.”
Ian said that while curling his eyes into a smile.
“What?”
What was he talking about so out of the blue? Just as he was about to ask, Ian tapped Hong Seo-yun’s shoulder with his hand.
“Hurry.”
Only then did Hong Seo-yun realize that his depleted strength had been completely restored. When he looked up, he saw the scarecrow floating in the air, its body heaving.
Hong Seo-yun raised his middle finger at the scarecrow.
Bang!
With a loud explosion, the scarecrow burst apart. It tried its best to endure, but it was no match for a fully recovered Hong Seo-yun. It seemed that aside from its control ability, it had a fragile body.
With a roar, the scarecrow went up in flames and crumbled away.
“No, this isn’t right. Why, why…!”
You.
The last word was swallowed like a mumble and did not reach Hong Seo-yun.
Once the scarecrow died, the remaining monsters scattered in confusion, as if suddenly realizing fear and pain. Since things had turned out that way, cleaning up the rest was not difficult. Hong Seo-yun swept away the monsters by blasting flames everywhere.
Once the Scarecrow died, the remaining monsters scattered in confusion, as if they had belatedly realized fear and pain. With a situation like that, cleaning up the rest was not difficult. Hong Seo-yun blasted flames everywhere, sweeping the monsters away completely.
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