Trash of the Count’s Family - Chapter 618

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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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Chapter 130. We Humans Have Arrived!

“Rok-soo, are you alright?”

At Lee Soo-hyuk’s words the moment he saw me, Kale found himself hesitating.

‘Should I tell him now?’

Kim Rok-soo in this world answered.

-You’re thinking you should tell him after dealing with all the monsters. But do you know when you’ll return?
‘That’s true, but what if I cause confusion during the battle by telling him now?’
-Besides, Soo-hyuk hyung already knows you’re different from before, doesn’t he?

Kale recalled what Lee Soo-hyuk had said to him last night, before the battle began.

‘Kim Rok-soo, I know you’re hiding something.’
‘You’re still the Kim Rok-soo I knew, but at the same time, something about you has changed.’

Kim Rok-soo in this world spoke calmly.

-I understand your hesitation.

A soft laugh escaped me.
Kale found himself laughing without realizing it.
Even if this Kim Rok-soo was only twenty years old, ultimately only he could understand his own heart.

‘Telling him is the better choice.’
-Right. And Soo-hyuk hyung isn’t the type to let inner turmoil cloud his judgment in battle, is he?
‘That’s true.’

Telling him was the better choice.
Only the thought of a comrade who had already departed from Kale’s own history—not this Lee Soo-hyuk—crossed my mind.

‘And you need to think about yourself too, the you who will remain after I’m gone.’
-I will.

The situation after Kale left this body.
Kim Rok-soo in this place could take control of the body and open his eyes, but there was a possibility that something unfortunate like fainting could occur, causing Kim Rok-soo to take time before opening his eyes again.

At that moment, it would have been good to have at least one helper.

“Rok-soo.”

Kale made a decision in his heart.

“Yes.”
“How’s the body?”

At the repeated question, Kale nodded.
Lee Soo-hyuk, unlike before, was smiling and nodding, which put Kale’s mind somewhat at ease.

Compared to earlier, Kale’s condition now was quite good.

‘Of course, objectively speaking, it’s not a good state.’

He was still pallid.
However, it felt fortunate that he wasn’t experiencing body convulsions or coughing up blood.
Then Kale’s mouth opened.

“My body’s condition is not good.”

A pause.
Lee Soo-hyuk’s shoulders stiffened.

‘…I thought he was fine since the Grand Conference Hall meeting.’

Was all of that an act?
Had he deliberately pretended to be fine so his comrades wouldn’t worry?

But at his next words, Lee Soo-hyuk’s expression hardened completely.

“Actually, my condition has been poor since before I met you, Soo-hyuk.”

Step by step.
Kale slowly approached the Watchtower’s railing and gazed out far beyond the Shelter.

It is morning.
Soon another day of Kale Heniatus’s life will pass.

“Rok-soo.”

Kale could sense Lee Soo-hyuk standing beside him without even looking.

“What do you mean your body’s condition is not good?”
“It’s quite bad.”

Lee Soo-hyuk’s brow furrowed slightly.
Lee Soo-hyuk, Kim Rok-soo. With only the two of them present, Lee Soo-hyuk brushed his hair back and opened his mouth.

“So what kind of condition—”
“Since what dwells within this body is not Kim Rok-soo, it stands to reason the condition would not be good.”

In that instant, Lee Soo-hyuk’s mind went blank.

“…What?”

To him came an indifferent voice.

“Lee Soo-hyuk. The Kim Rok-soo you know does not possess this body.”

Click.
Lee Soo-hyuk’s hand grasped his sword hilt.
Kale regarded him quietly, and Lee Soo-hyuk, without a word, unsheathed his blade from his waist. Then he simply stood it against one side of the watchtower.

And he looked at Kale.

“Tell me.”

Kale watched Lee Soo-hyuk intently—a man who did not know who he was, yet had disarmed himself and made a gesture to simply listen.

“I am.”

Kale’s lips parted.

“I am a Kim Rok-soo you do not know.”

Just as Kim Rok-soo in this world was still young, Lee Soo-hyuk in this world was far younger than the last version of Lee Soo-hyuk that Kale knew.

“I’m 36. Well, maybe 38 now? Anyway, I’m older than you.”

A soft, deflating laugh escaped Kale’s lips.

“I’m your hyung, hyung.”

Kale’s gaze drifted away from Lee Soo-hyuk, whose eyebrows had risen slightly.

Early November.
A cold morning breeze swept across both his cheeks.
Kale spoke his truth.

“In my world, when I turned 36.”

A brief silence descended.
But Kale continued.

“Team Leader Lee Soo-hyuk doesn’t exist.”

A small sound escaped Lee Soo-hyuk’s lips.
A sound of acknowledgment.

“Neither does Choi Jung-soo, nor Grandmother Kim. Not the Lee Siblings, not Park Jin-tae. None of them exist.”

Kale fell silent again.
Lee Soo-hyuk watched him.
Only now did he understand what that sense of alienation he’d felt from Kim Rok-soo truly was.

He’d thought it was because of that peculiar ability, too strange to call mere foresight.
He’d wondered if it was the unfamiliarity of seeing him sharper than before, drawing people in with greater magnetism.

But it wasn’t that.

‘Those eyes.’

Standing there, waiting for an enemy whose arrival was uncertain, those eyes held a depth that spoke of preparation for the future.
Too profound for the eyes of a twenty-year-old—eyes deepened not merely by foresight that granted glimpses of what was to come, but by something far greater.
Eyes deepened by the weight of knowledge itself.

‘There were so many emotions.’

Lee Soo-hyuk, who had once dreamed of becoming an action actor, observed this truth.
In Kim Rok-soo’s eyes lay countless emotions, layered and complex.

Always.
Only now did he truly understand it.

At last, Kale’s lips parted once more.

“And I alone survived.”

Everyone else perished.
But I lived on.

As Kale spoke those words, Lee Soo-hyuk thought he looked utterly exhausted.
Yet Kale soon cast that weariness from his gaze. His eyes, now upright and seemingly indifferent, fixed upon Lee Soo-hyuk once more.

In that moment, Lee Soo-hyuk felt the true weight of Kim Rok-soo’s age settle upon him.

He is an adult.
Far more of an adult than I am.

Unaware of Lee Soo-hyuk’s revelation, Kale focused on explaining himself to the young man.
There was no need to burden him with the fragments of emotion still lingering in his own heart.

“One day I opened my eyes to find myself here, possessing this body—Kim Rok-soo’s body. For a moment, I thought I had returned to the past.”

But this was not the past.

“Soon I realized it was not the past, but another world entirely.”
“…A parallel world?”
“Yes. I came to understand it was a parallel world. This is another Earth—different from the one I knew.”

Lee Soo-hyuk found that voice remarkably composed.

“Regardless of how things turned out, I’ve done everything I could since then.”

That sentence.
Lee Soo-hyuk could sense how much was contained within that single line of explanation.
He had heard, witnessed, and walked alongside everything Kim Rok-soo had accomplished.

‘Regardless of how things turned out.’
It was a time that defied simple description.
‘Everything I could.’
These were not deeds that could be expressed so simply.

“And now, once I defeat that first Unranked Monster, I suspect I’ll return to my original world shortly after.”

Kale Heniatus pointed to his heart.

“By the way, the real Rok-soo is in here. He’ll come back later. Right now, he’s watching and aware of all this conversation and situation.”

Lee Soo-hyuk’s furrowed brow finally smoothed completely.
Kale thought that expression was indeed so like Lee Soo-hyuk and continued speaking.

“Lee Soo-hyuk. Telling you this was also a decision made after discussing it together.”

After saying that much, Kale gazed quietly at Lee Soo-hyuk.
Lee Soo-hyuk looked back at Kale before speaking first.

“Yeah.”

It was only that brief answer.

“You don’t think what I’m saying is a lie?”
“Rok-soo.”

Lee Soo-hyuk stepped closer to Kale Heniatus.
Thud. Then he placed his hand on Kale Heniatus’s shoulder.
His expression was quite serious.

“Even there, Lee Soo-hyuk was your hyung, wasn’t he?”
“…Yeah.”

An older brother, a team leader, a role model, and family.

“I’m Rok-soo’s older brother here too.”

A languid smile painted itself gracefully across Lee Soo-hyuk’s lips.

“Rok-soo, call me hyung. Is it right for you to keep your distance from your older brother like that? Hm?”

Ha!
A short laugh burst from Kale Heniatus’s lips.

-…That’s so like Soo-hyuk hyung.

Right?
Kale Heniatus silently agreed with what Rok-soo said here.
Lee Soo-hyuk continued speaking to Kale Heniatus as if there was nothing wrong.

“Strange things happen in this world all the time. Something like this is nothing.”

He picked up the scabbard that lay to one side.

“I saw how much you suffered, Rok-soo. It wasn’t just me who saw it—everyone did. Would I doubt someone like you?”

Lee Soo-hyuk saw the desperation in Kale Heniatus’s eyes.
It was something that could not be feigned.
Such a person.

“Would I doubt someone trying to save me and everyone else?”

Lee Soo-hyuk shook his head.

“I couldn’t do that.”
“You wouldn’t, hyung.”

Lee Soo-hyuk nodded approvingly at Kale Heniatus, who had returned to formal speech.
Then he let the words slip out casually.

“How did the other me die?”

Kale answered as if it were the most natural thing.

“While saving myself.”

Lee Soo-hyuk’s gaze turned toward Kale.

“And while saving my comrades, the people. I was only saving others before he passed away first.”
“You’re just like him.”
“…Me?”
“Yes. The way you are now is exactly like that. It seems you wouldn’t even fear death if it meant saving the person beside you.”

So be careful with yourself.
That was the meaning hidden within Lee Soo-hyuk’s words.
Yet Kale shook his head.

“You’re wrong.”

Lee Soo-hyuk met those resolute eyes.

“I will absolutely live.”

In Kale’s plain voice lay a sincerity stronger than ever before.
Only then did Lee Soo-hyuk understand.

“So you must absolutely live too, hyung. No matter what happens, you must live.”

This boy—he wishes for everyone to live. Himself, me, all of us.
Lee Soo-hyuk sensed a resolve so profound he could scarcely fathom it.
And so he answered.

“I intend to live.”

Without hesitation.

“All of us together.”

Lee Soo-hyuk spoke with genuine conviction, and both Kale and Kim Rok-soo within him could feel it.

Whoooosh—
A wind slightly warmer than before, yet still biting cold, swept across the place where they stood.

I felt as though the wind was washing away the various things I carried within myself.
Then Lee Soo-hyuk asked calmly.

“How are you in your original world?”
“Hmm. Well…”

I wondered if it was right to have such a peaceful conversation with Lee Soo-hyuk in this place, but I answered anyway.

“Until a few years ago, I just lived. Working hard at what I had to do.”

And after that.
I opened my eyes in a new body—Kale Heniatus—and lived for about two years like this.
And there weren’t many words to describe those times.
Simply.

“Now. These days, life has become… bearable.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”

I closed my eyes for a moment.
The record of the past few years flashed through my mind.

“I have so much to do.”

Not just fighting monsters—countless other tasks erupted endlessly, preventing me from living an idle life.

“So many people are waiting for me.”

Far too many people I needed to meet, let alone lounge at home.
And.

“…So many people I want to see.”

At that moment.
Beep—beep—
Kale Heniatus glanced toward one corner of the Watchtower.
The clock chimed eight o’clock, and an alarm blared through the air.

“Heh.”

Laughter escaped from Kale Heniatus’s lips.

“Heh heh, hahaha-”

And soon that laughter erupted into something far more robust.

“Rok-soo, why are you suddenly laughing?”

Lee Soo-hyuk found the unexpected laughter peculiar, yet simultaneously it appeared remarkably liberating. Kale Heniatus answered the question with a serene smile.
Why laugh?
Why are you laughing?

“Now you can do whatever you want.”

The moment the hour hand passed that number.
Right then.
Right then.

Thump. Boom. Thump.

The sound of the earth trembling could be heard.

“Little brother!” (or “Little sister!” depending on context)

At the same time, a familiar shout was heard.

There stood a creature of immense proportions.
The Dark Tiger, Albert Crossman, had arrived.
Lee Soo-hyuk witnessed the smile spreading across the Dark Tiger’s maw.
The Dark Tiger roared out.
Dark Tiger cried out.

“Let’s clean up and go!”
“Understood, hyung.”

It was the moment Kale Heniatus answered thus.

Beep beep beep—beep beep beep—
An emergency alarm.
A sound that rang only in a single circumstance.

“You’ve arrived at a most opportune moment.”

The Yellow-Haired Monster revealed itself once more.
That grotesque creature would finally meet its end.
Kale Heniatus turned his head to gaze upon Lee Soo-hyuk.

“Let’s fight, hyung.”

Lee Soo-hyuk’s lips curved upward.

“Yes, let’s go. Our brother, Kim Rok-soo.”

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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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