v2c18

“I don’t resent?hyungnim?very much. But that doesn’t mean I don’t hate you. Honestly, I thought it would be okay, but I get angry when I see?hyungnim’s face.”

“..”

A slight sadness passed by the face of Choi Ji Ho, who kept his mouth shut as if he had nothing to say.

‘As expected. He can’t be such a harsh person as in the original novel.’

Choi Yu Seong, who had guessed Choi Ji Ho’s innermost thoughts, continued his words after a short sigh in his heart.

“Nevertheless. I thought about it, looking for the reason, and after making my own guess, I could understand why this happened. I don’t know what gift Father will give, but it must be a great guy that can be called a treasure, and many people are after it. In case such an object is brought recklessly and makes a problem. So, let’s not give it to an unprepared person that will pose a useless danger.”

Choi Yu Seong drank the tea brought by Choi Ji Ho and wet his throat.

The scent is quite deep and clear, so to be honest, it feels like his shaky mind is being corrected.

“That’s probably what you were thinking.”

“.. You’re right. But that doesn’t mean that I can say I’m correct. I can’t just refuse Father’s orders, so it’s an agreement I got with struggle.”

Originally, Room of Sacrifice was an unprepared test for obtaining the gift arranged by Choi Wu Jae.

However, Choi Yu Seong thought somewhat differently.

‘Perhaps Father thinks Ji Ho?hyungnim?might prepare for such a test?’

If you couldn’t pass this test, you don’t even deserve to have the treasure.

Isn’t it a thought truly like Choi Wu Jae?

Choi Yu Seong, who laughed inwardly, threw out doubts and questions that he had in his head.

“I’m going to ask straightforwardly. Does?hyungnim?hate the fight between our siblings?”

“..”

Choi Ji Ho held a brief silence then lifted the teacup.

After drinking tea quietly, he soon nodded heavily.

“Right. What Father wants is to grow through strife between siblings, but I didn’t want it. I’ve been thinking since I was young and I’ve tried a lot to make it come true. But in the end..”

Someone who shook Choi Ji Ho’s weak heart caused his downfall.

“Who is it? The one who made?hyungnim?like this.”

The original novel does not tell the story in detail.

‘There’s a lot of missing information.’

This was actually the result of the Hyesung Group’s scenario being pushed out of the center of the novel with the death of Choi Wu Jae.

Therefore, even Choi Yu Seong could not complain about it as a setting hole.

“Do you think I’ll tell you?”

“I asked just in case.”

“Even if the result is like this, my heart is no different than before. I think it would be nice if we stopped fighting meaninglessly without anyone getting hurt or hurting each other. You could say it’s silly. That choice eventually made me like this.. But it looked like your choice last night was the same as mine.”

“Hm..”

He couldn’t say that he didn’t really mean to die.

“I hope you’re different from me. In addition..”

Choi Ji Ho also wanted him to be different from other siblings, but he couldn’t add anything more.

Choi Yu Seong shouldn’t follow after him. And he also didn’t want Choi Yu Seong to change into a cold-hearted like other siblings.

So, what to do?

It is unreasonable and excessively greedy to expect Choi Yu Seong to find the answer to a problem he does not know.

“My goal is just to live a moderately good life, but..”

Speaking of which, it also makes no sense to think about what he saw last night.

Choi Yu Seong had no choice but to keep making awkward faces.

“No. It seems I nag a lot as a sinner.”

“As I said, I hate?hyungnim. But I don’t resent you. Of course, I don’t even think about the scary word ‘sinner’.”

As they face each other like this, he could understand better about a person called Choi Ji Ho, who did not appear in the original book.

‘A weak but strong person.’

He has a weak heart. He is so soft and good that he hurt himself, but he has no regret about his choice.

Perhaps he still wanted to change the family’s atmosphere if he had a chance.

However, he is afraid that someone else like himself will be created.

He considers the sacrifice of himself is enough.

In a different sense, Choi Ji Ho looked great.

‘He’s more like a bamboo than a flower.’

It may break, but it doesn’t bend.

Even yet, a bamboo named Choi Ji Ho has not been completely broken.

“Thank you for saying that. But before I give you the treasure, can you promise me one thing?”

“Can I hear it first and decide?”

Choi Yu Seong asked, and Choi Ji Ho smirked.

“Still. You seem smarter than me. Seeing that you don’t recklessly make decisions.”

“Please tell me what you want first.”

“Don’t handle your life recklessly. That thing should never happen again by any means.”

Should I say it?

Choi Yu Seong, who had no intention of dying from the beginning, smiled brightly and answered with sincerity.

“Of course. I never want to die, so I’ll live a long life.”

“You speak well.”

“It’s something I hear quite often. So, where is the gift?”

Looking at the urging, Choi Ji Ho also thought Choi Yu Seong resembled a bit like Choi Wu Jae.

‘If he is a child like this, maybe I’ve been worrying too much.’

He has a good and upright heart, a personality that can be trusted by people around him, and also knows how to calculate and make bold decisions like Choi Wu Jae.

Now he can understand why Choi Wu Jae sent Choi Yu Seong here first than anyone else.

“The treasure is not far away. It’s right here.”

Choi Ji Ho stretched out and extended his hand to Choi Yu Seong.

Choi Yu Seong initially had a rather skeptical face, but soon became surprised and looked at Choi Ji Ho.

“This.. Is this real?”

The asking voice was unconsciously filled with trembling.

***

Awakener’s equipment in this world is broadly classified into three categories.

The first is Made in Earth items that are generally the easiest to obtain.

Of course, even this varies in price depending on performance and in the case of handmade products made by the craftsmen of equipment production type Awakeners, the price soars to an enormous level.

The equipment currently worn by Choi Yu Seong belonged to this category.

The second is the treasures of another world that are purchased from Dimensional Merchants.

Although there are also many items which roots or origins are unknown, their ability often exceeds those of Made in Earth items.

It can only be purchased with Karma Points, cannot be transferred to others, and even has a wear rank restriction.

In fact, the scariest thing about owning the treasure of another world was that it was impossible to transfer but possible to rob it.

And the rob in here was not a possibility for a living person.

A treasure with powerful power that can be stolen by killing!

It’s like a double-edged sword.

Therefore, those who actually use the treasures of another world were known to be at least A-Rank or higher.

And third and the last, there were pieces of equipment called ancient relics.

It is found very rarely in Earth’s old remains, ruins, or dungeons but it is known to be as rare as the treasure of another world and as good as its performance.

However, there is a great advantage that is very distinct from the treasures of another world, which is that equipment transfer is possible.

‘Other kinds of equipment will also appear as time goes on, but..’

It was a rather distant story for now.

However, the ring on the ring finger of the right hand that Choi Ji Ho reached out was none other than that rare ancient relic.

Therefore, Choi Yu Seong couldn’t be helped but be surprised. And Choi Ji Ho had an odd face when he saw the reaction.

“From your reaction, it seems that you already know what this ring is.”

At Choi Ji Ho’s words, Choi Yu Seong came to his senses as if cold water poured on his head and his face turned red.

‘Oops.’

He made a mistake because he was so excited as the doubts led to some degree of certainty.

‘When it’s at the end like this, one by one..’

Like Chae Ye Ryeong did, it seemed like a habit to make mistakes one by one while doing well.

“No need to panic. Rumors have circulated in the family that I have had this ring for a while, so a clever kid like you might already know it.”

It’s the first time Choi Yu Seong has ever heard of such news.

As said, his information is as scrappy as the story from the original novel.

Even so, many things go wrong due to the butterfly effect.

‘At first, I thought it was worth it because I knew the future..’

In this state, the advantage of knowing the future seemed to soon disappear as time passed.

Therefore, it is necessary to secure maximum safety requirements before too many things change.

The ring in Choi Ji Ho’s right hand, now in front of Choi Yu Seong, also belonged to such items.

“Your prediction is right. The ring is one of the ancient relics that our entire Hyesung Group officially only owns about 10, Pharaoh’s Caprice.”

Choi Ji Ho revealed its identity with a calm voice, whether he read Choi Yu Seong’s eyes with confidence or thought it didn’t matter because it was something to give anyway. He took the ring out of his right hand and put it on his own palm.

“I was in charge of it for a while and now it’s yours.”

Choi Yu Seong swallowed his saliva and looked at Choi Ji Ho with trembling eyes.

He could understand anew why Kim Pil Du spoke so sharply and why Choi Ji Ho even prepared a trial separately to test whether he deserved the gift.

‘Pharaoh’s Caprice! It comes out as Choi Mi Na’s treasure in the original, but this was received from Ji Ho?hyungnim.’

Enigmatic Choi Mi Na, the second of the Choi family, is a woman like a beam who will succeed the Hyesung Group after Choi Wu Jae’s death.

Her personality is simply fussy.

Even Choi Wu Jae, who can be regarded as the absolute ruler of the family, cannot easily control her due to her unpredictable fickle personality.

Nevertheless, there is only one reason why Choi Wu Jae does not particularly suppress her.

‘Too strong.’

Although it has not been revealed at this point, Choi Mi Na was already a Hunter who rose to the same level as Choi Wu Jae who is considered the strongest in the family.

Not as a business owner, but just purely as a hunter with more than Choi Ji Ho.

Choi Wu Jae might have already fully recognized her as his successor and put his hands off if it wasn’t for her reckless unpredictable personality.

‘Because originally she’s a monster whose growth potential is within five fingers of the entire worldview in the novel.’

When the entire Hyesung Group was busying themself to catch Kim Do Jin, who killed Choi Wu Jae, there was only one time she went into the battle herself.

And in the battle, Kim Do Jin surprisingly faces a near-death crisis which is a rare thing in the novel.