Chapter 320. Dawn
Why did Brooklyn explode all of a sudden back then?
A while later.
Enzo barely stopped the violent incident, leaning on his workplace colleague like calming a drunken person—honestly, he never expected a day like this would come.
Only when the situation calmed down did he cautiously ask for the reason.
A refined-looking woman, who had made others covered in blood through her savage actions, explained.
“Everything should be done in moderation.”
In fact, from the moment she first met the colleague sent down by the higher-ups, she hadn’t liked anything about it.
She preferred peace and quiet, coming from a secluded mountain valley. So, it was uncomfortable for her to have to work with someone else after having worked alone comfortably.
Additionally, she was already annoyed about being worked to the bone for little pay, and recently, some guy had even contacted her during her off-hours.
“What? So you mean to say you hit me just because I was annoying you by talking?”
“Of course.”
“Then just say you don’t want to talk! Just a word! If you had just said that, I wouldn’t have approached you like this. And what’s with all that laughing recently?”
“Um?”
“Normally, you don’t show your teeth and smile at someone you don’t like!”
A tousled dyed hair stood out in contrast to her flowing bob.
The hunter with such features returned to smiling brightly while roughly wiping the blood off her knuckles on her pants.
“Are you talking about this? Of course, that was just for socializing.”
It was a scene that felt strangely out of place.
Currently, the bold personality in her body was known as Brooklyn Morgan.
However, even that was in a situation where her social interactions throughout her life were overwhelmingly lacking, making her socially below average.
“Huh.”
An S-Class healer from America was a weirdo.
Her unique background made her this way.
That’s why, while others would have settled disputes verbally beforehand, she held her breath at an unknown baseline, exploding unexpectedly.
“Haha.”
Enzo was too shocked.
To be honest, it was his first time miscalculating the distance with others like this in his life.
‘To think she had completely established herself as a dislike instead of a like…’
However, the shocking news wasn’t over yet.
“Anyway, I’m already married. So, don’t propose going dancing privately again. You dare misunderstand me as a single?”
“What?!”
Immediately, Brooklyn showed the ring she always wore.
Pointing at the ring, she revealed that she was married, at which point a colleague from Spectrum pointed out something wrong again.
“You always wore that ring on your middle finger though.”
“I’ve lost a lot of weight over the years. Now it’s loose on my ring finger.”
“Still, how could you…”
With each aspect stepping away from social norms, it was no wonder she struggled to grasp the situation.
By the way, if there had been a significant weight change over the years, wouldn’t it be better to just get the ring resized?
‘It’s annoyingly unique.’
Enzo gathered more information by talking to her.
Brooklyn Morgan was married, but she had already lost her husband.
‘Well, that’s not that bad, is it?’
With this in mind, Enzo considered continuing with a mission that had a year-end bonus at stake.
Of course, the outcome was disappointingly tragic.
There would never come a day when Brooklyn Morgan would feel intimacy toward him.
The biggest reason she decided to marry in the mountains was simply, “Because I liked my husband’s eyes.”
Being someone who valued looks above all, she wouldn’t take an interest in anyone, regardless of how attractive they might be.
Even once, a British actor who had fallen for Brooklyn through the TV had actively pursued her.
That actor was undeniably handsome, even through Enzo’s eyes.
Nonetheless, a single Awakened one remained unimpressed.
“Hey, Brooklyn. Even if he’s that good-looking, wouldn’t it be alright to give it a try, just once?”
“Uh?”
“Honestly, nothing beats dating for killing time. I’ve seen you just playing around with pinball when you don’t have work.”
In a world where divorce and remarriage had become common, it wouldn’t hurt to look for a new partner.
‘Hmmm…’
Could she seriously think of never getting involved again at such a young age?
When considering her remaining lifespan, wouldn’t that be a wasteful choice?
So Enzo, disregarding the tasks assigned by his superiors, sincerely asked about her true feelings.
However, at that moment.
The words Brooklyn Morgan answered stayed in his mind for an incredibly long time.
“Clinging to the dead and isolating oneself is nothing but a waste of life?”
It was indeed strange how long that thought lingered.
“It’s okay, Enzo. After all, wasting time can be fun.”
Well, if she felt happy doing that, there wouldn’t be any justification to stop her.
.
.
.
“Brooklyn!”
Time moved on again.
A few months passed, and a minimal respect had settled between the two S-Class hunters.
The main reason was the power Enzo had recently displayed in the hunt.
Having witnessed his abilities for the first time, Brooklyn confirmed that he was a formidable presence and dropped her previous dismissive attitude.
“Brooklyn, are you all set? We should be leaving soon.”
“This is horrible. Why do we have to attend some other guild’s founding anniversary? Plus, I ended up taking on the annoying task of collecting information on Awakened—”
The two were partners matched by their company, usually participating in external activities together.
Enzo had entered into a much looser contract than the other S-Class hunters, but the fact that he managed most things haphazardly was a bit of a problem.
“Oh right. I should mention this—it might be late. Brooklyn, you might have to go on an overseas business trip next year.”
“What ridiculous nonsense is that?”
“I heard that China is secretly preparing a superpower arena.”
“If you know about it, it’s not a secret then.”
“They say the bait they’re using is an item called [Triaina]. According to measurements, it significantly boosts skill efficiency by 25%! You’ve been really concerned about your recovery efficiency lately.”
A brief chat flowed.
“Honestly, I think our Spectrum’s Master would send a member to that event to protect their own pride.”
“Us?”
“No, maybe just one person. Since they are such a strong competitor, it’s no longer possible to block hosting unilaterally. If America is entirely absent from an international event, it’s not a good diplomatic look.”
“Hmm.”
“If we’re going to that event anyway, see if you can’t snag an Epic while you’re there. I’ll talk to the guild master to ensure the artifact belongs to you.”
“Annoying.”
“Hahaha. Really?”
“I’d rather something like [Nuckelavee] re-emerge. Then all the countries would stop their silly power struggles immediately.”
“Oh, that was quite the aggressive peace activist statement.”
In any case, after a violent incident, Enzo managed to get along reasonably well with his colleague.
[[Breaking News] Beast resurfaces near Europe…….]
At least, that was the case until such articles started coming out.
[DENMARK BEAST TALKS □ LIVE NEWS]
After the Nuckelavee incident, the Beast, which had been spotted sparingly, suddenly started acting vigorously.
It was an unprecedented phenomenon starting from a specific day.
By the way, it was a truth that nobody, except for an alien and Jeong Ha-seong, knew: Brooklyn Morgan was a complete dual-attribute type.
Moreover, due to the Beast’s characteristic of having spatial movement abilities, the alibi preparations were rather thorough, leaving no evidence at that time.
However.
“….”
Strangely, even during that time, Enzo faintly sensed the identity of the Beast.
‘For some reason.’
He didn’t know why, but she had an utterly fundamental aversion to him.
And as if confirming that this was accurate, not long after, a powerful member of Spectrum went missing, and the Beast’s activity came to a halt.
Brooklyn had died.
“….”
Since Enzo had been assigned to monitor the extraordinarily unique S-Class, he had been consistently reporting his team members’ every move to his employer. It was through this process that he eventually caught Brooklyn as the Beast toward the end of the incident.
A few days after revealing the identity of the Beast to the higher-ups.
Enzo had the opportunity to ask the still-alive employers about these matters.
[Enzo: Who did Morgan get taken out by?]
[靑春: Most likely the Hanbok Warrior :-C
I checked as directed, and the Awakened who entered through Henan Province didn’t leave each other’s sides during their stay, but they never crossed paths with Morgan.]
[Enzo: You mean the Koreans, Gim and Jung?]
[靑春: Exactly!]
Despite the inconvenient typing due to his large hands pressing two keys at once, the massive man diligently typed this on the darknet messenger.
[Enzo: Then before the ceremony is held, make sure to designate Kang Chang-ho as the one to draw him into India.]
Well.
The top two in Korea were always busy with official schedules, making it quite difficult to whisk them away.
So, with not many options left…
[SPECTRUM: Is there a reason to keep Kim Gi-ryeo in the country?]
I don’t know.
To be honest, even Enzo himself was baffled that such a request came from his own fingers.
Brooklyn Morgan was just a colleague he had worked with for about a year.
And like most social relationships, while it wasn’t good, it was hardly heartfelt.
‘She was an annoying Awakened.’
No, let’s correct that.
Enzo disliked Brooklyn about 90% of the time.
Perhaps due to losing her husband, her life had generally become tedious, and she had thrown herself into her new task—the orders from Spectrum—quite passionately.
Because of that, she handled her work with a level of loyalty that seemed pointless to her colleagues.
‘When one person raises the expectations like that, it’s only natural for me to match that!’
It was simply a professional relationship.
Looking back, spending time on the death of someone who had seemed a bit uncomfortable was indeed an immensely meaningless act.
Yeah.
Maybe what that superhuman said was true.
「It’s okay, Enzo. After all, wasting time can be fun.」
Now, there was nothing left in life but drunkenness and hangovers.
He wondered if it would even be noticeable if he indulged a little…
*
Clank.
The perspective returns to the heart of Korea.
The once reflective individual focused back on the current situation.
In fact, a certain superhuman from Spectrum had a deep connection to the Beast in life.
Therefore, he even volunteered for operations targeting Korea to uncover the truth behind Brooklyn’s death.
[33.41Aw]
‘What the hell is this?’
How could a suspect in the Beast’s murder possess such pitiful power?
Even on reconsideration, it was absurd.
“Are you a scammer?”
The foreign Awakened donned in a dead person’s guise felt assured.
And with the ability to fool the entire world until now with such talent, they began to pressure the other.
A powerful superhuman from China, Zhu Han, who could haul entire underground water sources around as if they were appendages.
Moreover, a hunter who had been notorious enough to be deemed annoying even by such a monstrous water-user.
Zhu Han had found a formidable opponent during a Chinese event due to a compatibility issue with superhuman abilities.
The most significant characteristic of superhumans dealing with electricity was their rapid skill activation.
Additionally, this hunter, who imitated beasts, had observed Brooklyn closely enough to recall her distinctly as a [Doppelgänger], unlike the Japanese lightning sorcerer.
All information pointed to one individual.
Currently blocking Kim Gi-ryeo’s path was none other than the new pinnacle of Spectrum—the hunter Enzo Chiano.
“Are you saying a guy with an awakening level of just around 33 killed the Beast?”
“No, that’s not it. I actually saw Lady Morgan back in Mimic City, but…”
“Well, here you are trapped in a cage, and you can’t resist at all. That just confirms it. You’re a total scammer!”
And at this moment.
The Great Mage recalled that the counterpart he met at the American Gate Star party was indeed a rough sorcerer.
‘What was their name again… something with Jo? Anyway, it had a vaguely similar sound.’
So it was Enzo, wearing a bone mask!
In that case, finding a solution should be slightly easier.
The other was probably under the impression that their identity was well hidden by the item.
‘Let’s make an arrangement! That’s the only option.’
Foolish beast.
In fact, with some background research done, they had already figured out his identity.
But the reason for not revealing that casually and coming here was to see if their goal aligned with his values…
‘…Should I test this at this timing? Honestly, even if some outrageous goal came up, just pretending to empathize for a while should be easy.’
Gi-ryeo wanted to stall for time, so he tried to steer the conversation positively.
However, the problem was.
‘To scam the way they did with such lowly talent all this time…’
It was Enzo Hunter’s judgment speed that was swifter than his own attributes.
‘Then “On the contrary,” it’s even more dangerous. Anyway, Brooklyn meeting the Korean team has been confirmed, so we should deal with this beforehand…’
Clang.
Transforming into a slender woman with long, flexible arms, the S-Class hunter Enzo raised the metallic spear again to throw.
Considering it’s a legendary weapon wielded during combat against an S-Class, the spear’s primary capability was one straightforward ability.
【Piercing Defense】
Enzo aimed the spear at the target’s head.
In a world where magic and miracles exist, he thought even the number 33.4 could deal a hefty blow to the back of someone.
‘That crazy, grizzly bastard!’
Ugh.
Caught in the red trap, Gi-ryeo used his genuine magical sense to detect the attack and narrowly avoided it.
However, despite skillfully dodging the spear, he still suffered significant damage.
There was no need to rely on the effectiveness of Piercing Defense.
‘Damn it.’
Enzo gathered as much magic as he could, sending skills coursing through the metallic spear.
Even if it were metallic from dungeoneering, it probably still had freely moving electrons.
Now imbued with the thunderstorm of an S-Class Hunter, the spear zipped past, even with just the brush of it caused the remaining [Shield] to dissipate.
Crackle.
Additionally, the skin near the left ear of the Blond Man suddenly sizzled and bubbled with smoke.
