# Chapter 17

"I'm sorry, Dahyun. My legs failed me there."

Jisook struggled to get into the car with Dahyun's help due to her weak legs.

"No, Mom. Why would I be tired? I’m the famous Rainbow Six, our country’s strongest hunter!"

"Of course, my daughter is the best. Thank you,” said Jisook.

"But mom, you were surprised today. Weren't you?” asked Dahyun.

"Yes, very. But I'm so glad I can hope for a miracle,” answered Jisook.

"Yeah, me too, Mom. So, what's the good news? You certainly look much better than before,” said Dahyun.

Jisook thought of Gyungho and made a motherly smile.

"What is it? So there IS something then. Mom, what is it?" asked Dahyun.

"You know… Nevermind. Dahyun, do you have time for lunch? Why don’t you stop by thes stores? I'll make you something delicious,” said Jisook.

Jisook was about to tell Dahyun that Gyungho was back, but she quickly changed her words.

‘She'd be really surprised if she saw Gyungho back.’ thought Jisook. She wanted to surprise Dahyun because Jisook was well aware that Dahyun always worried about Gyungho.

"I’ll make the time if it’s for your food. Yeah, I’ll go," said Dahyun.

"That’s great. Then, shall we stop by the mart on the way?” said Jisook.

Gyungho said he was going to prepare lunch, but Jisook couldn’t fully trust Gyungho on that so decided to shop on the way home. Dahyun then drove to a nearby mart.

"Mom, what are you going to make?” asked Dahyun.

"I don't know. Shall we eat tteokbokki? Gyungho used to make it for you a lot. Actually, I can make it much better than Gyungho. What do you think?" asked Jisook. Then suddenly, Dahyun's face darkened noticeably.

"That's not bad either, but...Yeah, let's eat tteokbokki," said Dahyun.

Jisook knew Dahyun more than anyone else in the world so she found her attitude strange.

"Don't you like tteokbokki? We can eat something else,” said Jisook.

"Actually, I don't eat tteokbokki anymore. Mom, let's just eat something else. How about budae-jjigae?" asked Dahyun.

Dahyun actually liked tteokbokki more than anyone else, but she has not eaten it in 10 years since Gyungho's disappearance. Tteokbokki recalled her memories with Gyungho which made her sad.

"That's good, too. Alright. Then let's get some ham and sausage and make budae jjigae."

Dahyun turned to a nearby mart while trying to erase her thoughts on Gyungho, who she was reminded of because of tteokbokki. But the cars suddenly started to stop with the blinkers on.

"What’s going on? Is there an accident in front?" said Dahyun as she also slowed down. It was then when a heavy mana wave surged in from the front. Dahyun immediately opened the window and read the energy.

"It’s a Rupture. Mom, I think there's a Rupture happening,” said Dahyun.

“Shouldn’t you go then?" said Jisook.

"No, I didn’t get any calls, so I think it'll be okay. The Headquarters will take care of it. But we should go around so we don’t get into any troubles," said Dahyun.

The mana wave that erupted earlier was powerful enough to summon up more powerful demonic beasts. Dahyun was strong enough to fight against high grade demonic beasts, but it was never easy to fight while protecting someone.

‘Mom could be in danger if I leave her alone here,’ thought Dahyun. Jisook couldn’t drive so she could get into trouble if she was left alone in the car.

The Rupture however, was growing in size and began to be visible to Dahyun's eyes over the cars in front. The Rupture was rapidly growing on the road just a few yards away. The problem was that the speed of it growing was abnormally fast.

‘It can pop at this rate of speed and the mana wave,’ thought Dahyun.

Usually Ruptures expand for about 10 minutes before it pops, but unforeseen events have always existed. And Dahyun, who as a S Rank Awakener, experienced numerous dungeons and Ruptures, felt instinctively that the Rupture in front was that unforeseen event.

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This was the center of the special residential area, the busiest place with traffic, so it was going to take at least five minutes for the headquarter’s special team to come.

Dahyun sat in the car and looked around. A large number of people were rushing toward a nearby underground shelter with a frightened look on their faces. But there were more people who seemed disoriented and panicking, not knowing what to do. After all, the evacuation center had a limit so it was not going to harbor all these people, and it was already full and the entrance was being sealed at the moment.

‘Why did it appear out of all other places? There's too many people here.’ Dahyun frowned at the situation. Her hands were tied on this.

"Ugh. This is not good,” Dahyun sighed and muttered, to which Jisook quietly reached out and held her hand tightly.

"Dahyun. This is bad, isn't it?" asked Jisook.

Dahyun turned to Jisook in a hesitant look.

"No, the Rupture is growing a little faster but it's nothing to worry about."

"But you can stop that, right? If you're worried about me, don't worry about it and go fight," said Jisook.

"No, you can't even walk by yourself right now.”

"I believe in my daughter. So you should trust you and protect this place. I'll wait here until you get back,” said Jisook.

"No! It's too close to the Rupture and I might not be able to protect you if I fight. Let's just turn the car around."

But Jisook shook her head holding Dahyun's hand who was trying to turn the car.

"Dahyun, I couldn’t tell you earlier… Gyungho returned a week ago," said Jisook.

"What?! Gyungho, that bast… he’s back?” asked Dahyun in shock.

"My daughter. I have no regrets even if I die now. I’ll need a miracle if I’m to live anyway. But look over there," said Jisook and pointed out. There was a mother who was punching the gate of the entrance of the shelter and a child crying while holding onto her skirt. And she wasn’t the only one. Countless number of people pouring out of the surrounding buildings was increasing, becoming more chaotic.

Dahyun wished any Awakener around to come forward, but the Rupture like that required S Rank Awakener like her or it wasn’t even possible to buy time.

"Are you going to risk the lives of everyone here just to save me? I can’t live running away like that. You know this better," said Jisook.

Dahyun had to make a decision. She sighed loudly and looked at Jisook. Dahyun looked at Jisook’s stubborn eyes, the soft but strong willed, and closed her eyes as she nodded.

"Okay, Mom! Then you stay right here. I'll be right back after I finish! Can you do that?" said Dahyun as she burst open the door and went outside.

Only then, a bright smile was made from Jisook's mouth as she looked at Dahyun’s back.

"Yes. That’s my daughter."

***

[Nnngh! You told me I'd get used to this!] Snowball, who was still tied to the Rope of Bind and experienced a tremendous speed exceeding the speed of sound again, glared at the Gyungho with resentment.

"But you didn't puke this time. Didn’t you?"

[So I should be thankful? I'm still feeling nauseous!]

"Consider yourself lucky that you caught Kraken and Sea Serpent in exchange for that. And it'll be easier next time," said Gyungho.

[Don’t tell me you are doing this again. I really thought I was going to die, Gyungho,] said Snowball helplessly.

"But you’re alive. I have a book worth of memories of near death experiences too. And it will make you strong."

[But… Ugh, alright.]

Once again, the Snowball realized that it was impossible to talk common sense to Gyungho, and just mumbled to himself while shaking off the water from his body. Gyungho ignored Snowball and came into the kitchen.

He had to hurry to make tteokbokki for Dahyun, who he hadn't seen in 10 years. He opened the dimensional space and took out two thick chunks of lean meat. It was a soft and tender head meat of a Sea Serpent and the savory and chewy texture of Kraken had been cut off.

"Let’s start with the fish cake."

Actually, Gyungho wanted to try making fish cake ever since he tasted a grilled Sea Serpent that had a mild and light taste. First was to make chopped meat.

"Let's crush it."

Demonic beasts that had a separate poison bag, such as Sea Serpent and Kraken, had no poison in the flesh or bones which made it easier to cook. Gyungho took out a large stainless steel mixing bowl, put the head meat of Sea Serpent, and mixed with his hands.

The flesh of the top grade demonic beast Sea Serpent was quite solid, no matter how tender it was compared to other meats of demonic beast. However, when the Gyungho touched it, it was crushed like a tofu. After a few strokes, it turned into a viscous chunk of fish meat.

Gyungho then cut the kraken flesh into small pieces with a knife and mixed it well with the fish meat for texture. Then, flour and starch were added to save the chaff and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Now, it was important to shape it like the commonly sold fish cakes. Gyungho had seen two sticks roll around and unfold to make it into shape at a marketplace when he was young, but had never actually done it.

Gyungho put a chunk of fish meat on the cutting board and pushed it aside with a kitchen knife, recalling from what he had seen before. The fish spread over the cutting board and Gyungho sliced the edges to make it into a shape. It looked much better than he thought.

“I think I can even open a fish cake business with this!"

Gyungho filled the frying pan with enough oil and warmed it up. He then dropped a little portion of fish mix into the pan, and it fried yellowish with a savory scent.

"Okay!"

Gyungho then picked the thinly laid fish mixture up with a knife and put it down on a frying pan. Fried food was always good. The mouth-watering sound of frying in particular made such a pleasant sound that Gyungho wanted to record it and have others hear it too.

When it reached between golden and black, the fried fish cake was taken out.

"Good!"

More than 30 sheets of fish cake were made from the fish mixture. .

Gyungho opened the refrigerator and checked the ingredients for tteok-bokki such as rice cakes, cabbage, green onions, and onions, and decided to take a short break.

"Whew. This is harder than fighting demons," said Gyungho.

At that moment, a slightly different vibration rang from the phone on his wrist.

[Rupture Warning Announcement]

"There must have been another Rupture nearby. Don’t they ever rest?" said Gyungho, who removed the text notification after looking at the title and called Jisook.

"Mrs. So, are you having fun with your son? You haven't even called,” said Gyungho as soon as she picked up her phone.

[G-Kyung Ho!]

"Huh? Are you not having fun? Your voice sounds weak.”

[Gyungho, don't ever blame Dahyun. Okay? Don’t ever do that,] said Jisook over the phone.

"What are you talking about? What’s wrong? Did Dahyun say something to you?” asked Gyungho.

[I love you. Son. I'm sorry,] said Jisook in a crying voice.

"What? Mom! Are you crying?"

The call was then cut off without her saying anything else. Gyungho felt something was wrong and opened the text message that he had not checked earlier.

[Dungeon Management Bureau of Awakener Management]

[Rupture near Seoul Sector B-3-NA]

[2nd Grade Hazardous Class Demonic Beast, Steelhorn Ram are expected.]

A Steelhorn Ram. It looked like a mixture of buffalo and a ram. A beast with a giant steel horn with an unmatching innocent look and fluffy fur. However, it was a powerful demonic beast, not to be fooled by such appearance. Its steel horn was able to crush even a rock as big as a house, and the fluffy fur was so hard that it did not cut through unless it was struck down with a mana infused sword.

“Snowball, turn on the TV!” shouted Gyungho.

[Huh? Y-yeah]

Gyungho rushed out of the kitchen and looked at the TV screen. As expected, the Rupture site was being broadcast live as breaking news. An awakener with red hair creating fire balls around her shown on the screen.

"W-what? N-no way."

As the screen was gradually zoomed in, the face of the Awakener pouring fireballs at the Steelhorn Rams coming out of the Rupture became clear..

"That's Dahyun! SHIT!"