Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei
The article was much longer than Lukas expected.
He wasn’t able to immediately understand why Min Ha-rin wanted him to see this article, unlike the other article about Kran from which he grasped her intentions just from the headline.
It seemed that she wanted him to read the entire article.
Considering Min Ha-rin’s meticulous personality, she must have gone over the contents several times and cut off the unimportant part, but it was still quite long.
Fortunately, Lukas could read through it quickly.
As he read the article, he categorised the important components and keywords that he found and separated them in his head.
After reading for a while, he realised something.
This wasn’t a single article. Instead, it was a compilation of at least a dozen or more articles that had been cut and pasted onto a new piece of paper. They were probably articles Min Ha-rin had collected. (TL: It took him that long to realise that?)
All the articles spoke about a murderer.
The murderer seemed to have first appeared on ‘Desire Island’ about three to four years ago.
So far, about 131 people have been killed by them. Or at least, that was how many had been found.
Nevertheless, their notoriety had spread even to Combat Island, which was almost on the other side of the Heavenly Realm.
This was because most of the people he killed were bigshots who dominated the island.
Lukas knew about Desire Island.
It could be said that the entire island was like a giant red-light district.
It was a place where rights claims, confrontations, and territorial disputes were more severe than anywhere else, and where murder, drug abuse, and human trafficking were common occurrences.
It was a thorn in the eyes of Dragon God Island, but they couldn’t do anything about it openly.
The rulers of Desire Island were crafty. They learned their lesson from the ‘Island of Adventure’ of the past and made sure not to go past the Goddess’ bottom line.
They carried out their debauchery in the shadows without directly violating the rules set by the Goddess.
The ones the murderer had killed one after the other were all leaders of the underworld.
Perhaps because he had been active for quite some time, there was a lot more information about the murderer than would be expected.
[Meticulous and ruthless skills.]
[Presumed to be an outsider.]
[According to eyewitness testimony, he is a young man with features so beautiful he could be mistaken for a woman.]
[It is assumed that he doesn’t use weapons.]
“…”
Min Ha-rin slowly opened her mouth.
“I was focusing on any news about outsiders in the Heavenly Realm. Before we came, outsiders were pretty rare in the Heavenly Realm.”
“That’s an efficient approach.”
Since all the participants were outsiders, the scope of Min Ha-rin’s information collection method could be narrowed significantly.
In addition, it was worthwhile since she would be able to passively gain information about Lukas and the other members of their team as well as the other Absolutes and their teams.
“It’s said that the murderer is so famous that there is no one in and around Desire Island who doesn’t know of him. The communication media in this world isn’t very developed, so I was only able to gain this information recently.”
Lukas was silent for a moment before speaking.
“Is it Leo?”
“I think the odds of that are very high.”
The time of his first appearance and the fact that he was an outsider, coupled with the fact that he didn’t use any weapons and had a dazzling appearance all hinted to this fact.
As Lukas expected, Leo had entered this world about four to five years ago.
In that amount of time, it was enough for a young boy to become a young man.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t understand why he was committing murder.
“I heard that all the leaders of the underworld in Desire Island are… trash.”
In truth, ‘trash’ was a vulgar word that she wouldn’t normally say in front of her Master, but Min Ha-rin couldn’t find a more suitable word.
“But the Leo I know wouldn’t kill hundreds of people.”
“Right. Because Leo’s hatred was always directed at the Demons.”
“…should I go search for junior brother as soon as possible?”
Min Ha-rin asked this question in a serious voice.
If Lukas was to nod his head at that moment, it seemed that she would give up her Champion position and immediately leave for Desire Island.
But Lukas shook his head.
“No. You don’t have to.”
“May I ask why?”
“I met Arid yesterday.”
“…huh?”
Min Ha-rin blinked.
“Arid?”
“Right.”
Lukas then briefly told her about his meeting with Arid the day before, before adding.
“It’s a pity. If you had come a day sooner, you would have been able to meet him.”
“Ah… it’s fine. At least I know he’s okay.”
Min Ha-rin let out a sigh of relief. Although it was a bit disappointing that she hadn’t been able to meet Arid, she was more pleased to know that he was safe.
Lukas continued.
“And I also met Lee Jong-hak.”
“…ah.”
This time, her expression had none of the enthusiasm of before.
Realising this, Min Ha-rin quickly changed her expression and looked up at Lukas.
“I see.”
Lukas couldn’t help but smile slightly.
It seemed that although she had matured a bit, she was still immature on the inside.
“Is something wrong?”
Knowing that lying wouldn’t work in front of her wise teacher, Min Ha-rin reluctantly spoke the truth.
“To be honest, I don’t like him.”
“Why?”
“Because he insulted Master. And he doesn’t know anything.”
“That’s exactly why he said that. He said it because he didn’t know anything. Of course, that doesn’t mean one should say whatever they feel like without thinking, but you shouldn’t feel too prejudiced towards Lee Jong-hak. He will take responsibility for his own actions. And more than that, he is a man with impeccable character. He is a necessary talent for us.”
“Yes.”
Although she didn’t completely agree with him, Min Ha-rin hid her dissatisfaction and nodded at her Master’s words.
“Back to what we were talking about before, Arid told me that Leo has changed a lot, but he also said that he would be able to go back to his former self.”
“…if it’s Arid.”
Min Ha-rin also knew about Arid’s abilities, so she nodded.
“It’s the other side that’s more serious.”
Lukas then told her about the situation on Sedi’s side.
This time, Min Ha-rin’s eyes widened when she heard his words.
“Sedi is on Death Island?”
“Right. There is also an Absolute there.”
“She’s in a very dangerous situation.”
Min Ha-rin narrowed her eyes.
She knew Sedi’s strength, but her opponent wouldn’t be a slouch either.
“We’ll have to go save her first.”
“I plan to head to Death Island after my preparations are complete.”
“Alone?”
“Right.”
Min Ha-rin’s eyes lit up.
“I can…”
“No.”
Lukas interrupted Min Ha-rin, something that rarely happened.
“I will go alone.”
His expression was serious, and it was clear that he would not allow any counter arguments.
This was her first time seeing her teacher so determined, so Min Ha-rin couldn’t help but flinch subconsciously.
“…are you afraid that I’ll be a burden?”
“It’s not that. First of all, I only have one Dragon Plaque which was given to me by Arid.”
Lukas took out the plaque and showed it to her before putting it back in his pocket and continuing.
“And it would be better for you to participate in the Championship than follow me to Death Island.”
He shook his head.
“Let’s talk about that later. For now, follow me. There’s a place I’d like to show you.”