Hollow Ascension - Chapter 84: A Fraying Edge

“My unrequited love is over.” Compared to my perfect older brother, I, Ha Giyeon, was endlessly lacking. My first love and my last love—every single one of them were my brother’s friends. What I got in return for pouring all my affection into them were cold, violent words of rejection. Then came the thunderbolt: I wasn’t even their real son. My family, whose love I desperately sought, kicked me out of the house. Even though I scraped by doing hard labor, it didn’t feel like living. Then came the sudden car accident. Right before dying, I regretted everything and begged— That if I ever got to live again, I would never give my love to the family who scorned and discriminated against me, nor to the brothers who tormented me under the pretense of affection. I would live a life that was truly my own. And as if it were a lie, in the winter of my 17th year, Ha Giyeon returned. As Ha Giyeon began to change, so too did the family and the brothers who had once trampled him…

Due to a mistake on his student’s part, a super Martial Artist had received a wrong class in an online game and had become a mage. He who was used to curbing violence with violence and using strength to subdue strength could only make the best out of his mistake. Taking on a new lease in life, he became a violent close combat mage. When strength and magic came perfectly together, a new gaming path had been opened by him!

I don’t need any deep relationships. I have no desire for a girlfriend, and I only require one friend who holds any value to me. Ever since I threw out my youth for the sake of efficiency, there is one person who keeps entering the bedroom of Ooboshi Akiteru. She’s neither my little sister nor my friend. She’s nothing more than a bothersome, annoying Kouhai, as well as my friend’s little sister: Kohinata Iroha.

“Senpai, let’s go on a date~! Did you think I’d say that~?”

Rather than blood, it seems like energy drinks run through her veins. She keeps occupying my bed, and she tries her best to seduce me with whatever method she can play to her favor. She’s a girl who’s constantly annoying and obnoxious around me. Even though I’m busy all day long, she doesn’t care.

And in case you’re wondering why all these envious gazes are directed at me, it’s because Iroha is actually really popular. She’s an honor student at our school with top grades to boot, and she’s known for being kind and proper to anyone she meets.

…Hey now, why are you only so annoying when you’re around me?

“Even if this universe is truly nothing more than a brutal bloody shadowy forest, we Cultivators will burn all that we have just to give off a single weak flickering spark in the darkness!