Chapter 170: What Does It Feel Like to Be Killed by the Person You Love?

Moon So Yeon felt grateful that Kang Ian and Kang Ji Yoon ultimately didn’t fly at each other’s throats, likely because they were exercising restraint with Kei sleeping right here at this very moment.

Even so, neither of them was willing to spare the other a single decent expression.

Kang Ian sat on the left side of Kei’s tent, while Kang Ji Yoon sat on the right. The distance separating them wasn’t vast, with a small tent stationed right in the middle, yet the frigid atmosphere hanging between them was enough to ensure no one dared walk over to demand why they were behaving this way.

Both remained dead silent, each gazing in opposite directions without deigning to cast a single glance at the other.

Lucas drifted over to Moon So Yeon’s side, lowering his voice to ask:

"Just who on earth is Kang Ji Yoon? Why does he have a face identical to Kang Ian’s? Is he really Hunter Kang’s twin brother?"

This was likewise the exact inquiry Moon So Yeon was burning to have answered right now, because it was pathetically obvious that Kang Ian’s younger sibling was Kang Mi So, the SS-rank hunter and guild master of Angel’s Kiss.

And yet here she suddenly was, revealed to be a twin younger brother!

Moon So Yeon could merely shake her head in helpless exasperation:

"I’m as in the dark about their situation as you are. All I know is that these two brothers genuinely can’t stand the sight of each other."

She cast a glance at the two men separated by a single tent refusing to look each other in the eye, the corners of her mouth twitching faintly.

To loathe one another to this extreme degree was truly a rare spectacle, even for a pair of twin brothers.

Kim Woo Jin and Do Ae Young strolled over, as well. Kim Woo Jin surveyed the surroundings before speaking up:

"I can fill everyone in on a few details regarding Hunter Kang Ji Yoon, these are all classified intelligence files exclusive to Dream Garden!"

Do Ae Young crossed her arms in anticipation.

"Spit it out then, Kim Woo Jin, since you apparently know everything under the sun."

"First off, to get straight to the point: Hunter Kang Mi So belongs to the [Angel] race. Her ability grants her the freedom to alter her gender at will. In actual fact, Kang Mi So’s gender from the very beginning was male, operating under the name Kang Ji Yoon!"

Moon So Yeon blinked with budding interest, while Lucas arched a brow.

An ability capable of altering gender freely, undoubtedly a bizarre power they were encountering for the very first time.

Kim Woo Jin continued:

"It’s an exceptionally peculiar ability. To my knowledge, aside from Kang Ian and their parents, virtually no one else was privy to this secret."

Do Ae Young shot him a sideways glance:

"Then how on earth do you know?"

Kim Woo Jin shook his head, gesturing that he couldn’t answer.

"That I cannot disclose; it’s proprietary intel belonging to Dream Garden."

"Classic Dream Garden response," Do Ae Young muttered under her breath. "Everyone coming out of Dream Garden is a bunch of slippery tortoises!"

Pretending he hadn’t heard a thing, Kim Woo Jin pressed on:

"After transitioning into a woman, Kang Ji Yoon adopted the name Kang Mi So. She established Guild Angel’s Kiss, which subsequently skyrocketed to become one of the five major SS-rank guilds in South Korea."

"So Kang Ian knew about this the entire time?" Lucas asked.

"Correct."

Because they were, after all, biological twin brothers.

"Yet their relationship never improved," Moon So Yeon muttered, glancing toward the two brothers.

"Every time they crossed paths, they’d resort to needling and provoking one another, ultimately devolving into a chaotic brawl with no one ever knowing the underlying reason."

She abruptly recalled the horrifying clash that had erupted between Kang Ian and Kang Mi So just days prior.

That battle had exploded solely because of Kei.

Moon So Yeon’s eye twitch intensified.

Perhaps the catalyst behind why those two couldn’t stand the sight of each other wasn’t overly complicated at all. It was simply that their tastes matched too closely, to the extent that even the person catching their eye happened to be the exact same individual.

The campfire crackled and popped in tandem with the tale Kim Woo Jin was spinning with such enthusiasm.

The hunters continued whispering amongst themselves, yet Kang Ian and Kang Ji Yoon paid them no mind. One stared fixedly toward Kei’s tent, while the other tilted his face upward to study the midnight sky.

Both were lost within entirely different trains of thought.

After a long beat, Kang Ji Yoon spoke up abruptly:

"Big brother."

Kang Ian didn’t turn his head.

"What?"

Kang Ji Yoon turned his face to look at him. The habitual smile plastered across his lips had vanished, replaced by an abyssal gaze locking straight onto Kang Ian.

"What does it feel like to be killed by the person you love?"

Kang Ian froze.

The crackle of burning logs continued, yet everyone nearby lapsed into absolute silence. They couldn’t fathom the significance underlying Kang Ji Yoon’s words, though that didn’t stop them from burning with intense curiosity.

Moon So Yeon stared at Kang Ian. She had no earthly clue what that inquiry implied, but judging by the expressions etched across both Kang Ian and Kang Ji Yoon’s faces, she knew this wasn’t a matter anyone could casually stick their nose into.

Kang Ian slowly pivoted to look at his younger brother. His gaze turned glacial.

"What on earth are you trying to dig up?"

Kang Ian tightened the hand resting upon his knee into a fist.

Inside the tent directly behind them, Kei remained fast asleep. He was completely oblivious to the fact that out here, Kang Ian’s past was being dragged out into the open right in the dead of night.

Kang Ji Yoon stared right back at him, his tone overflowing with gloating triumph:

"Big brother, what on earth do you assume I’m referring to? It’s painfully obvious you’re running away from it!"

This was a memory shared between Ian and Kael back in the past, alongside the solitary memory known exclusively to Kang Ian and Kang Ji Yoon, a secret shared strictly between the two of them.

Kang Ian abruptly felt a fierce urge to shatter that obnoxious, hateful face belonging to Kang Ji Yoon right before his eyes.

That represented the deepest, most agonizing wound buried within his heart, something Kang Ian would rather die than allow Kei to discover, and yet Kang Ji Yoon was trampling all over it without a shred of remorse.

As expected, this punk had always been an absolute piece of trash!