SSS-Class Sui**de Hunter - Chapter 100

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 100. A Play (1)
1
Squelch.
Blood poured from the Mirror, drenching everything around it.
At first, only a drop or two fell—blood beads gathering like water from a leaky tap that hadn’t been turned off completely.
But when the grandfather clock chimed in the distance—ding… ding…—the trickle transformed. Blood gushed unstoppably from the seams of the Mirror.
Ding…….
Midnight. Twelve tolls.
One drop swelled into a stream.
One stream split into six.
The Hallway was buried in blood.
A red sea of blood.
The grandfather clock sounded its final toll.
We stood in the center of a carpet woven from blood.
“Young Noblewoman.”
I wrapped my arm instinctively around Eun Baek-hap’s shoulders. The blood pooled up to our ankles, its slimy, gelatinous texture deeply unsettling.
“This is…….”
“My nightmare.”
Eun Baek-hap whispered softly against my chest.
“Don’t lower your guard, Steward. This place has become indistinguishable from an Otherworldly Realm. The others—they know nothing of what transpires here, see nothing.”
Bubbles erupted from the sea of blood.
Thousands of bubbles rose and burst, rose and burst.
But among them, some things did not dissolve like foam—they took on whole, solid forms.
[A heart gilded in silver manifests.]
They were demons shaped like lips. Or rather, they were lips themselves—nothing more. No faces, no bodies, only red mouths and red tongues.
One twisted into a grin.
—Your Highness.
—How repugnant.
The lips of the blood bubbles rose ceaselessly and burst, rose and burst. The words they muttered scarcely formed complete phrases. They broke off sharply, like a discordant chorus producing unbearable dissonance.
—Gentle Crown Prince.
—Back when you were not yet Crown Prince, you once plucked a flower for me.
—You dried my tears with your sleeve. Even then, you were kind.
—Your heart was so tender.
—Yet still.
Whoosh!
Eun Baek-hap thrust her Rapier forward, piercing the lip-demon through. It burst—but from the sea of blood erupted tongues, twice, three times more than before.
The demons’ laughter rang out in shrill, crimson peals.
—So lovely.
I swung my blade as well.
—What meaning is there in loving someone born perfect from the start?
The demons’ combat strength was negligible. They did not resist us. They yielded to the blade without protest.
Only.
—A lesser man, though you are.
—True love is guiding the flawed, cradling them in your arms.
It grated on me.
Not a physical attack, but a spiritual one.
—I love you, Your Highness.
—I know how to love as well.
—I am a noble who loves.
I bit my lip. Disgusted, I swung the blade faster, slicing through the blood bubbles more violently.
—Will you kill me?
—It’s useless. Tragedy grows sweeter the more you trample it.
—Geum Sa-mae. Did you see the way it wagged its tail before the Crown Prince?
—Revolting.
The sea of blood laughed and rippled.
—His Highness is so naïve—he still dreams of a romantic life. He does not love Geum Sa-mae at all. He merely uses her as an escape from the throne.
—Pitiable Crown Prince.
—Pathetic Your Highness.
Damn it.
I had witnessed something similar to this before.
‘The Autumn Rain Demon King!’
Before I was taken in and given the name Hungry Ghost. In those days, the Constellation was like this. The Demon King wept blood from the heavens and commanded monster legions at will.
This is the power a Constellation possesses.
Those demons are the familiars of the Young Noblewoman Eun Baek-hap.
[The presence of the silver-gilded heart becomes all the more vivid.]
Something other than lips erupted from the sea of blood.
Hands.
Like a bride and groom at a wedding, two hands clasped each other.
—Ravel, your house and the royal family arranged our engagement.
—An engagement, is that so.
—Yes. But I don’t want a political marriage.
The demon hands interlaced with each other.
From hands made of blood, droplets fell endlessly.
I realized those demons were performing a theatrical reenactment of what had happened in the past.
—Ignore the engagements the adults arranged so carelessly. Regardless of the adults, I will love you. Today I’ve come to propose to you formally.
—Your Highness.
—Ravel, when we grow a little older, will you marry me?
Dozens of lips surrounded the space.
They answered at once.
—Yes.
—I will love you so very much.
—I too shall love Your Highness.
Damn bastard.
He spouts all those words and then takes no responsibility?
—Perhaps the Crown Prince simply forgot.
—It was a promise made in childhood, after all.
—It can’t be helped.
—People forget so easily.
The lips of bloody foam laughed mockingly.
—It can’t be helped!
I couldn’t hold back any longer.
Heat rose through me.
Clang! I stepped forward, concentrating my aura into my front limbs.
Demon Celestial Divine Art.
Eighth Form.
Burning Death Chain Sword.
As waves of blood spread, my aura flared across them.
I burned the sea of blood that covered the corridor with my aura.
—Well, well.
The Backhoe Spirit spoke from behind me.
—So you’ve grown strong enough that even trash mobs don’t stand a chance? You’ve come far, our little sparrow.
Under ordinary circumstances, I would have bantered back at the Backhoe Spirit’s teasing. But I wasn’t in the mood for that now. I swept through the corridor.
The demons flared up. As they vanished, they didn’t even scream. Rather, they laughed all the way to the end, which only made me angrier.
“Damn it.”
I incinerated the demons in a single strike, yet my blood still churned with rage.
Fury toward the Crown Prince. Contempt.
The fact that someone as noble as the Young Noblewoman Eun Baek-hap was wounded because of such a wretch, and that it became a wish that could never be undone—these things enraged me.
“Since when…!”
I drew a breath sharply to steady my voice. No matter how angry I was, I didn’t want to raise my voice at the Young Noblewoman Eun Baek-hap.
“…Since when did you become a Constellation? These must be a Constellation’s familiars. They are creations of yours, my lady.”
That must be why they recognized us as allies and offered no resistance.
The Young Noblewoman Eun Baek-hap nodded as if she already knew.
“It happened the moment I drove the short dagger into my heart.”
Soon the blood began to flow back into the mirror. Ooze, ooze. Rivulets of blood crawled into the mirror’s cracks.
Reverse Flow. The Young Noblewoman Eun Baek-hap watched the blood droplets oozing like leeches with quiet eyes.
“It seems there are no Constellations in this world originally. Whether one once existed and was slain, or whether there was never one to begin with, it’s difficult to say.”
Lepanta Aigim probably killed the Constellation. But that’s not something to discuss right now. I listened to the Young Noblewoman Eun Baek-hap’s words.
“As time passes, the demons grow stronger and stronger. Their numbers expand, their forms grow more massive, and controlling them becomes increasingly difficult. And when the tenth day arrives.”
When the tenth day arrives.
There the Young Noblewoman Eun Baek-hap fell silent for a moment. Then she shook her head once and continued differently.
“…In any case, once those ten days began to repeat, I became the Representative of the World of my own accord. Even if I hadn’t wanted it, the clock hands of this world now revolve around me.”
—Hmm.
The Backhoe Spirit rested his chin on his hand.
—It’s not a normal Ascension. Using Martial Alliance terms, he reached this state through heterodox methods rather than orthodox ones. That sword he embedded in the Mirror—even though it’s only a fragment, it was once a sacred relic of the Goddess of Protection.
The Backhoe Spirit murmured, “Well,”
—Drive something like that into your heart and you’re forced to become a Constellation whether you like it or not. And if you keep repeating regressions, the causality involved exceeds what a human body can bear. Not a complete Constellation, but half of one. In any case, it’s the result of multiple coincidences converging.
‘Can someone become a Constellation without wanting to?’
—Yeah. Then did you choose to be born human, Zombie?
Really, this old man has a way of twisting words.
—What matters is the condition, not the will. There are plenty of people who suffer because they’re human, and there are surprisingly many who suffer after becoming Constellations. It’s remarkably easy to make a life miserable, you see. Do you understand, Little Demon Lord?
“Sigh…”
I swallowed my anger toward the Crown Prince, burying it deep in my chest. The buried anger left a bitter taste in my mouth.
Eun Baek-hap watched me like this.
“How strange. Are you not disappointed?”
“Pardon?”
“What you said is true. Regardless of circumstances, those demons are my Familiar Spirits. They are not making up false words and singing them. Every single one is something I’ve mumbled in my dreams, words I’ve recited in my unconscious mind.”
Eun Baek-hap tilted her head.
“I have sworn an eternal, unchanging love. To keep that love pure, I must strip away the dust and debris that accumulates upon it each day.”
Disappointment.
Frustration.
The desire to be repaid in kind for what one gives.
“Those demons are the result of that process.”
Spiritual grime of the heart.
Curse in its purest form.
“Is it not ugly?”
Eun Baek-hap spoke in a murmur.
“I taught you what love is. But I only taught you. At this point, I intended to withdraw that love. I brought you here deliberately to shatter your illusions.”
“Disappointment?”
A breath escaped me before I could stop it. Not a sigh—a breath barely containing refined anger.
“You think this is ugly? I don’t know about other things, but Eun Baek-hap. There’s absolutely no reason I would be disappointed in you over something like this.”
“…Something like this?”
“You showed me a secret. You laid your heart bare before me, just as it is. You know what truly ugly people are like, Eun Baek-hap? They never show their hearts to another soul. They pretend to be calm, pretend to be composed. They only know how to wound others.”
That bastard Crown Prince.
“If anything, I’m the one who’s far uglier. If you knew what thoughts go through my mind, you’d be sickened.”
“Now I’m curious.”
“If you brought me here thinking you could tear me away, you’ve misunderstood. I don’t love you because you’re not an ugly person.”
Eun Baek-hap went very still. Love. That word. When I spoke it aloud, heat flushed across my face too, but I didn’t hesitate.
“It’s only been a day since you began to admire me. Your words are cleverly beautiful.”
“Does a day matter? Would it be better after a year? After a thousand days? Would it be alright if I came after that?”
“…….”
“I can see what people you despise and scorn. I must hate the same things you do. I can see what wounds and pains you. I love the way you live, because you and I are living the same life.”
Will my words reach her? Am I expressing my intent properly?
I don’t know.
I’ve never said things like this to anyone before. It’s unfamiliar. But I want to possess the person before me. I want Eun Baek-hap to possess me. I want us to own each other and share one life together.
“I love you as much as I love myself. I hope that as I love you, you’ll come to love me just the same.”
That is my true heart.
And I know only one way to devote myself wholly to it.
“I will absolutely make you love me. I won’t tell you to abandon the Crown Prince. But eventually, without my saying a word, you’ll abandon him.”
“My heart is…….”
“I know. Whether your heart is mortgaged to the world or not—I don’t care. If that’s the problem, I’ll fix it. Even if you still love the Crown Prince after that, I’ll become so overwhelmingly better than him that I’ll linger before your eyes.”
“…….”
“Did the Crown Prince give you unforgettable memories in childhood? I don’t care about that either.”
I whispered directly into Eun Baek-hap’s ear.
“The two of us are returnees. The only two in this world.”
I can feel it. My face is flushed right now. But I said what needed to be said.
“There will be countless hours that only you and I can share. During that time, I’ll gift you memories so breathtaking that even the Crown Prince’s recollections will pale. I promise.”
“Hmm.”
The corners of Eun Baek-hap’s eyes lifted.
“So you plan to repeat these final ten days infinitely? You’ll exhaust yourself.”
“That won’t work as a threat. This isn’t my first time repeating the same days over and over.”
“What if I told you to disappear from my sight because I’d grown weary of you?”
“Then I would.”
I moved my hand. Moving it, I caught the fingertips of Eun Baek-hap, the Young Noblewoman who had lost her light while fighting off demons. It was something that required courage. Fortunately for me, I possessed courage enough for what I needed.
“There’s no reason for that to happen.”
“Why not?”
“You never tired of the Crown Prince, and I am a better man than he is. If you find me troublesome, tell me now. I will disappear.”
Silence.
Eun Baek-hap looked at my face.
“…How vexing.”
The Young Noblewoman’s lips parted.
“I ought to find you tiresome, yet I do not. And it seems I won’t grow tired of you anytime soon.”
That was when it happened.
“……Sir! ……!”
A voice rang out from deep within the corridor—urgent and sharp. Eun Baek-hap’s Residence, which had been quiet with all the servants asleep, suddenly erupted into chaos.
“Where is……! But……!”
Footsteps thundered in quick succession. The servants had awakened. Lamps flickered to life throughout the residence, and soon a middle-aged steward came running toward us.
“My sincerest apologies, Miss.”
Eun Baek-hap released my hand.
“What is this commotion at such an ungodly hour?”
“Forgive me for troubling you with such news…….”
Just then, the voice that had been shouting from afar rang out clearer than before.
“Steward! Where are you, Steward!”
My face went rigid.
That voice was far too familiar.
The middle-aged steward bowed deeply toward us.
“The Young Noblewoman Geum Sa-mae is causing a disturbance.”
SSS-Rank Hunter: I Must Die to Live (Serial Publication)
Author | Shin No-ah
Publisher | Kim Ju-hyung
Published by | J Plus Media Co., Ltd.
Marketing | Han Jae-hyuk
Address | 204, 288 Digital-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Guro-dong, Daelung Post Tower 1st)
Email | [email protected]
Website | www.jayplemedia.com
ⓒ Shin No-ah 2019
※This work is published by J Plus Media Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder and may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
Violation of this may result in criminal and civil legal liability.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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