Black Badger

Chapter 138

Crazy human.

I stared at the reply for a long time.

What the hell was I supposed to say to that? I was aware that I'd been stubborn.

I frowned, pondering, then decided to just pretend I hadn't seen it.

I responded shamelessly with what I wanted to say.

[Me: When are you available, esteemed senior?]

This time, the reply came only after Kal arrived.

[Ricardo: In three days.]

I'd have to spend three days in terror.

I set my smartphone down by the window and greeted the senior who entered the hospital room. *

Kal Dow.

Hesi's mentor. A man with short black hair, deep blue eyes, and a raspy voice that spoke little. He was deeply respected by Hesi and had a good reputation. Ami explained that the more you got to know him, the more genuine he seemed. Yoon evaluated him as not exceptionally skilled but a reliable junior.

I hadn't gone on a mission with him since the day I visited the Library of Beginnings.

So, I didn't know much about him. That made it strangely easy to convey the facts.

I gave him a concise explanation. My true identity and the reason for revealing it to him.

Kal sat still with his arms crossed until I finished speaking.

Then, as the story ended, he broke the silence in a low voice.

"If all this is true, then why haven't you left the core?"

This was the question he chose to ask.

I'd expected him to inquire about the reason for my betrayal or my connection to the tier 10 creature.

I looked at the senior, whose expression was unreadable.

"To kill my kin with my own hands."

Kal fell silent.

It was a night when no presence could be felt in the hallway at all.

The quiet conversation seemed to echo loudly in the air. The crisp freshness unique to night air filled the room. The hospital room reflected in the window.

Kal Dow had an atmosphere like this night, where darkness had quietly settled.

The man, reminiscent of an early summer night, asked again.

"To take responsibility for what you've done?"

"Yes."

"So that's why you stubbornly took the exam?"

His blue eyes turned to my burn scars.

I nodded, lifting the corner of my mouth.

"Yes. I'm aware that I was wrong."

"I won't ask why you betrayed us. It won't change anything even if I hear it, and it'll just upset you."

Huh?

His unexpected words left my mouth hanging open.

Was he letting it slide this easily?

I'd never thought he'd come at me aggressively, but I hadn't expected him to accept the story so readily either. There wasn't that much trust between us. We'd only been together for a short time.

So how was he reacting like this?

"But I doubt you could face your kin without hesitation and kill them."

I froze at Kal's words, my surprise turning to ice.

Clear, blue eyes.

They pierced through my golden eye as if seeing right through it.

"With that look on your face."

Ah.

Yeah. Of course.

I would have had the same doubt myself.

Yoon had harbored the same suspicion, gotten angry, and grabbed my throat. It was a natural question, perhaps.

In a way, it might have been stranger if he hadn't asked.

But I had an answer for this.

I met the eyes of the senior I didn't know well.

"It's less painful than watching my kin die by human hands."

Understanding dawned in Kal's eyes.

Sympathy, too, probably.

I pretended not to notice.

"Does that answer your question?"

Kal nodded.

Then he sank into his own thoughts for a long while.

Until he said he understood and rose from his seat. He kept his eyes lowered as he stood from the chair.

He moved without a sound.

"Next time, we'll meet outside the core."

"Please take care of me, senior."

Kal nodded and left the hospital room.

And that was the end of it. Unlike Ami, who sent a message the next day saying, "I had so many questions I went to ask my brother, and he got super annoyed," there were no further contacts.

According to Ami, Kal was a soldier to the bone and never questioned orders from high command.

Was that why he didn't ask about the betrayal?

Either way, I was relieved not to have to recount the story that burned like fire in my chest every time.

Ray's dream made me clutch my face and swallow groans every time I woke up.

*

When Ricardo came for a visit, I was one day away from discharge.

The nurse had just changed my IV. I'd finished dinner and cleared the tray, so it was evening time when there shouldn't have been any reason to call the medical staff unless something came up.

That's when Ricardo opened the door and entered.

He was dressed in a sharp suit.

"Where have you been?"

I blinked at his tall, polished figure and asked.

But he didn't answer. He firmly closed the hospital room door and walked straight to the bedside.

Before I could even say a word, he grabbed the hem of my patient gown and lifted it.

"Privacy!"

I freaked out and twisted my body toward the window.

"Respect my privacy!"

"You force yourself through the exam and now you talk about privacy~."

Ricardo grinned, his eyes crinkling.

It was a smile dripping with menace.

This didn't bode well from the start.

He already looked in a bad mood, and we hadn't even started talking. This wasn't good.

I looked up at my senior with frightened eyes and quickly pulled down the gown.

"What's a lab rat?"

The man muttered as he eyed the scars while I adjusted my clothes.

I smoothed my gown and smiled faintly.

"That's what they call badgers."

Ricardo snorted.

Then he stretched out his long legs and pulled over the nearby chair. An iron chair prepared for visitors. He sat in it lazily, crossing his legs. I silently watched as he leaned back against the chair back, his expression showing he was holding back from pulling out a cigarette.

This is driving me crazy.

How was I supposed to bring it up?

Terror rooted me in place. I didn't even notice him staring at me intently.

I snapped to attention only when Ricardo spoke.

"So?"

"Yes?"

"What do you have to say~?"

Ah.

I pressed my lips into a thin line and looked at my senior.

Jet-black hair and long eyes. Sharpness emanated from the wrinkle-free, pressed suit.

Taking in those features, I just opened and closed my mouth for a long time.

"What are you doing?"

Ricardo raised an eyebrow.

Scary.

Trembling, I quickly apologized.

"I'm sorry."

"Suddenly at a loss for words? Should I leave so you can rest easy?"

"No. I mean."

If I hesitated more here, I'd really be in trouble!

Anxiety gripped my heart. An immense pressure built up, and the words spilled out.

"I'm not human."

Raised eyebrows.

And then silence. Stillness. The sound of vehicles outside the closed window came through clearly in the heavy quiet. The air quality was utterly different from when I'd confessed to Ami or Kal.

The silence seemed to choke off my breath.

Terrified, I couldn't even meet my senior's eyes.

Ricardo slowly opened his mouth.

"Then what are you?"

He didn't seem that angry yet, right?

The inscrutable tone terrified me, but I mustered courage and turned my head.

His clean face came into view. My senior wore no particular expression.

That made it even more intimidating, but now there was no escaping it.

I squeezed out my crumbling courage.

"A creature."

Another long silence.

Was it always like this?

Did suffocating stillness follow every time I spoke?

Where had my life gone wrong?

Lost in heavy self-loathing with my head bowed, Ricardo's voice reached me.

"Humanoid?"

I looked up.

I stared at the man across from me, my eyes wide. I still couldn't read his emotions.

I just felt his burning green gaze.

Without avoiding it, I nodded.

"Yes. Exactly. The humanoid creature I asked you about before."

"Who said that?"

The follow-up question came immediately.

Hesitation would only make it worse, so I quickly added.

"No one told me. I remembered it myself. My memories have come back somewhat."

"And in those memories, you're a humanoid creature?"

"Yes. To be precise."

I shot a smile at my expressionless senior.

Memories I'd revisited dozens of times in daily life since my conversation with Ye-hyeon. I couldn't recall the beginning and end on Earth, but I remembered the end of the world where I was born and raised.

"I came from another world."

The World Tree blazing like the sun and the crumbling earth.

"Born and raised elsewhere, I came to Earth through a portal."

More silence.

But now, I didn't tremble in fear. The emotions that had gripped me were overshadowed by loss.

My world had collapsed long ago. My memories on Earth encroached on those I'd built there. Yet the sense of loss lingered, endlessly tormenting me.

A world I'd loved with all my heart, even if it hurt.

As I walked through the memories, my senior's voice pulled me back to reality.

"By your account.... That tier 10 creature came from the same world as you-?"

"Yes."

In the end, I'd have to talk about Ray.

Even bracing myself, the pain didn't dull, and my voice caught slightly.

"He was my friend."

The green eyes closed and opened.

Bewilderment filled the long eyes. Ricardo straightened from leaning on the chair.

"Friend?"

Could I end this conversation without getting hit?

That thought hit me the moment I heard my senior's voice.

It wouldn't be strange if he slapped me right then....

Resigned, I nodded.

"Yes."

"You call that a friend? That unidentified thing from the video—you're saying it was your friend?"

"Yes.... I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner. It was classified...."

"If that's true, what are you thinking, staying under Ye-hyeon?"

The sharp interrogation came.

Emotion finally colored Ricardo's face for the first time. He frowned and glared at me.

Disbelief, suspicion, irritation, anger filled his features.

Yeah. This was the normal reaction.

I didn't avoid the green gaze that seemed about to burn me.

My stomach churned at the next question, but I managed my expression.

"Under the human who killed your friend?"

Probably, without a doubt,

I'd only escape this pain after dying by my kin's hands. After taking responsibility for what I'd done, finishing it, and atoning in a way that could never truly atone.

Until then, I had to learn to live with this pain.

I smiled bitterly.

"I betrayed my kin."

Ricardo listened to my words in silence.

"The sword in the video is mine. I handed it to the humans to use against Ray."

As expected, he was quiet for a long time.

I watched him, waiting for a response. He seemed to be mulling over the facts I'd poured out. His head was bowed, finger tapping his chin.

Like Ami and Kal, this man would reach his own conclusion and react accordingly.

Don't be surprised if he hits me. Honestly, it's a miracle no fist has flown yet.

As I thought that and watched the dripping IV, a low mutter came.

"So that's why you vomited your guts out at the colosseum~? And the same context outside the core?"

"Ah, yes. That's right.... I'm sorry for lying. I didn't have permission then...."

"Why did you betray them?"

My senior looked up.

A gaze sharp as a blade.

Struggling not to be devoured by his eyes, I answered.

"I don't remember."

Ricardo blinked.

"That part alone—I can't remember, no matter how hard I try."

My senior didn't move.

Silence descended. Heavier than before. Air that instilled fresh terror into my body, half-resigned as I spat the truth.

He'd speak after another long pause.

As I let my gaze drift into space, Ricardo's returned words hurt me.

"You still have more lies left~? You don't remember why you betrayed them...."

A scoff escaped my senior's lips.

The words that followed roughly tore at my heart.

"How convenient~...."