Martial Arts Returnee's Game Broadcast-Chapter 406: Eve Christina

 Eve, hooked up to an oxygen respirator.

The executives from Haenam-pa watched her from outside, as she received intensive treatment in the medical ward. Their emotions were heavy and complicated.

“The End Point is truly terrifying. It’s trying to take even someone as good as her.” “I’m really sorry. I’ve owed so much to Eve, so many times.” “Why is everyone saying that? She’s not dead yet, is she? There must be a way!”

At Dashman’s desperate cry, women with tears in their eyes muttered “I can’t watch this anymore” as they left the medical ward. A kind, gentle, yet unexpectedly strong person now lying in a hospital bed, depending on machines to stay alive. The contrast between her vibrant form and the lifeless, mechanically-assisted existence was painful for anyone to see.

“Mother. Eve’s mother is in pain. Can’t she get better?” [She’s already at her limit.]

Hae-eung-eung placed her hand on the glass window of the hospital room, filled with mixed emotions.

[She’s been suffering from the End Point for a long time, weakening her body. Her health collapsed all at once.]

The warmth they had shared on the day Eve collapsed was now blocked by the cold glass wall, severed.

Sister Hae-eung-eung.The thought that Eve might call out with a smile made Hae-eung-eung’s heart ache even more.

On the rooftop of the ward, with a cigarette between her lips, someone approached with soft, almost fragile footsteps.

“Guild Leader. I’ve been thinking.”

“...”

“I was wondering if we could save Eve with a spirit contract.”

“...”

“Mark 2 was freed from Dr. Johan II’s magical influence through a spirit contract, right? If Eve can survive like that...!”

Pain always feels greater for those left behind, more so than for the one departing.

It was equally painful to be the one to inform him that the hope he held was in vain.

[Eve didn’t want it.] “Why!? Why did she refuse? She could have lived, right? Why would she refuse and choose to die on her own!?”

[Eve was watching your streams with me until the very end. We talked a lot.]

“...What did Eve say...?”

[She asked me to tell you. She said today’s stream was really awesome.]

Drop after drop, Dashman’s tears fell to the rooftop like raindrops. Those tears were no different from his past when he had lost his family.

He probably didn’t want anyone to see him like this—this weak side of him.

But he couldn’t help it. Like a broken faucet, tears flowed.

Understanding that pain, Hae-eung-eung sighed as though she were smoking the cigarette herself. Maybe, she thought, she wasn’t exhaling smoke, but sighs instead.

[It was the same for me. You revived the human-faced beast, a comrade who was originally dead, and succeeded in the challenge.] [Both Eve and I have lost many comrades, so we understood that pain.]

Though it was known that Hae-eung-eung’s martial arts history was extraordinary, the Haenam-pa executives didn’t know she was an Awakened.

Yet, even amid this, Hae-eung-eung opened up about her past to Dashman.

[It was moving. But comrades lost in reality can never return. Eve and I have always lived with that memory.] “So... does that mean Eve is really going to die?” [It was her wish. If you truly loved her, respected her, and want to remember her as a good person, then respect her wish.]

Regret and obsession.

Relationships built on such emotions cannot last long.

At best, they will only leave scars on both sides.

When the time comes, people must leave.

Eve was fortunate to have made that decision herself. Her comrades on the battlefield didn’t have the choice to pick when they would leave.

“...Just once. I want to speak with Eve alone, just once more.” [The room will be cleared for you.]

Dashman entered Eve’s room for the final time.

He held her hand and spoke to her. Perhaps recalling happy memories, Dashman sometimes smiled, sometimes cried.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Though Eve should no longer be able to move a single finger, she raised her hand to gently stroke his head.

“!!”

Surprised, Dashman tried to speak, saying Eve had woken up, but Hae-eung-eung calmly opened her notebook.

[She has something she wants to say, even if she has to squeeze the last of her strength. Please, don’t let Eve’s last moments be in vain. Stay by her side.]

With tears in his eyes, Dashman held Eve’s hand.

Requiem.

Like the sun shining brightly on the sky before setting, people, too, burn brightly with life just before they die.

When the final wick is lit, the last flame, made from the melted wax of a candle, is snuffed out, leaving nothing but ash.

Beep—.

The sound of the heart monitor signaled the end of Eve’s breath.

For a long time, Dashman stood, bowing his head, unable to get up, still holding Eve’s hand.

Meanwhile, Hae-eung-eung, consoling a sobbing Lee So-hye, entered the room and turned off the monitor.

‘Goodbye, Eve Christina.’

Though it must have been unbearably painful, Eve’s final face bore a soft, compassionate smile.

It was the final face of «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» Eve, the war hero of the Eastern Bloc, the saint Eve.

 The funeral lasted for three days.

Visitors from far-off Ukraine continuously arrived.

The crowd that showed up was a testament that the country and people Eve had wanted to protect were not in vain. Lee So-hye suddenly spoke.

“Don’t you think Eve, at least once, wanted to return to her homeland?” [She probably didn’t. For Eve, Ukraine was a land stained with tragedy and pain.]

Even after gaining victory, the land where she could live as a person was beyond the battlefield.

Just like how she returned to reality after completing her vengeance in the martial arts world.

After the funeral, once Eve’s body was cremated with a special flame to prevent her awakening powers from being abused, her ashes were handed over to Dashman.

“That’s a necklace I haven’t seen before. Did you make it recently?” “It’s an urn necklace. There’s a picture of Eve inside as well.”

One side contained a picture, and the other side held the ashes in a locket-shaped urn necklace.

It was a necklace that symbolized Dashman’s vow to never forget Eve.

“Nice.”

Lee So-hye spoke, but Dashman could only offer a wry smile.

“What will you do from here?” “I will get stronger.”

Dashman spoke.

“I’ll get stronger, and I want to see the end of the Half-Demon Song. I will keep the human-faced beast, whom Eve loved, alive and bring it to the very end of this game.”

Eve couldn’t protect her comrades.

But he would keep the human-faced beast, which reminded him of them, alive until the end, as the greatest tribute he could give to the Eve who had left first.

[Eve will be proud of you.]

Hae-eung-eung praised Dashman’s resolve.

His determination was not just empty words.

From that day on, Dashman posted an announcement of a break from streaming and focused more on training instead.

‘What about me?’

Eve’s death made Hae-eung-eung ponder deeply.

Her youthful body had caused her mental age to revert, but now, it felt as if 20 years had been added back.

Her entire demeanor had changed.

Like a calm, quiet lake, she hid a monster within her beneath the serene surface.

‘What do I want to do?’

It had all started with a game to extend her lifespan.

To escape the limits of the Goo-eum-jeol-mak and enjoy her fate.

A game where she could accumulate inner power and enjoy life.

But it changed once she met Mark 2.

She decided to increase the spirit contract’s benefits to the fullest for this child’s future.

She made many contracts and enjoyed herself a lot.

But no longer.

And yet, she couldn’t leave Gladiator Growth because, aside from her mentor, Azishahv, a feeling of insecurity held her there.

‘I was still afraid. Afraid of losing something and letting go. I instinctively feared Mark 2’s death more than my own.’

That’s why she focused on Gladiator Growth, not for her own future, but for Mark 2’s.

Eve’s death made her realize this.

“Sister... are you okay? I heard you haven’t been streaming or eating lately. So-hye Unni is worried, so I came to speak with you.”

Mark 2 was not the first.

Before Mark 2, there was her disciple, Joo Ah-young. She had created the guild out of concern for her.

She had always been a coward.

But that coward was strong enough and famous enough that those who trusted and followed her filled Haenam-dong.

Even cowards have their own way of living.

‘I want to check.’

If Dashman wants to move forward,

She wanted to be the one to open the way first.

To prevent her past from repeating itself.

And to make sure that the human-faced beast was saved until the very end.

For a different reason now, she had resolved herself with a stronger will.

[▶Executing Half-Demon Song.]

Let’s see the end of this game.