There's No Love In the Deathzone (BL)
Chapter 561 - 555. Rebranding

Chapter 561: Chapter 555. Rebranding

Eight hours after finding the shard, they had a nicely cooked breakfast of warm stew, courtesy of sleepless Bassena. Thanks to the abundant water, they could even afford to have a hot shower each, as well as fill their drinking flask. Fresh and satiated, the group surfaced after Zein coaxed the shy shard to come inside his sealed storage space, and immediately headed toward the previous dungeon gate.

Fortunately, the purification device was still safely installed; meaning that no beasts attempted to come close.

Immediately, they were greeted by a sulking Spirit Queen who stayed inside the dungeon. It couldn’t be helped; without making a contract with anyone, the Queen might get corrupted by the miasma--just like before they liberated the dungeon.

But being left alone inside an empty dungeon must have been annoying, because she screamed at them right away. She was tiny and talking in spirit speech though, so it only sounded like a mosquito’s buzz.

While Eleanor tried to appease the Queen, Zein deliberately walked slower so he stayed at the back. Naturally, Bassena matched the guide’s pace, which made them nicely isolated from the others, who watched the Queen’s tantrum in amusement.

"Hmm...it’s almost as if you want us to have a little date back here," Bassena stroked his chin as he spoke with a lowered, dubious voice like some amateur investigators.

The esper chuckled at his own words, knowing it wasn’t likely the case. But Zein made an unexpected answer. "I do," the guide said with a smirk at Bassena’s flabbergasted face. "I kind of missed you last night."

"...oh," Bassena scratched his nape. The bed inside the tent was a row of singles, so he thought Zein wouldn’t notice. "Sorry, I had something...to think about."

"I know," Zein smiled behind his mask and held the esper’s hand. "Did you talk to Han Joon?"

"How did you--" Bassena closed his mouth, sighing. "Mm..."

"Have you solved it?"

Bassena pressed his lips. Perhaps, he had been underestimating Zein too much.

Glancing at the esper’s complicated expression, Zein chuckled. "I might not care about a lot of things, but I should at least know when my boyfriend had some trouble brewing in his head."

"Uhh..."

Zein rubbed the esper’s hand, and they walked slightly slower to distance themselves even more from the group. "You’ve been quiet lately, except when you giving out orders. Especially when Han Joon was around."

This time, Bassena wanted to laugh instead. He really wasn’t as slick as he thought; perhaps...

Bassena started to think that Han Joon could probably feel it too. After all, Joon was Scatach’s favored ’hunter’, so he had an exceptional observation skill. Wasn’t that why the man called out to him last night?

"So?" Zein asked after giving Bassena enough time to laugh inwardly.

Bassena looked up; the swamp was dirty, and the dungeon’s sky was a muddy blop of grey. But at that moment, it looked nice. "I think I did," he said.

Zein did not say anything, as if waiting for more deliberation. Holding the guide’s hand relaxedly as if they were in the middle of a leisure stroll, Bassena finally asked Zein was had been making a knot in his heart.

"I was confused," Bassena smiled wryly. "I had known him for one thing, and then he appeared and turned out to be another thing."

The stoic, model student who seemed to uphold society by patriotically entering the military. A quiet big brother whose warmth could be felt from the occasional advice and reflective hit. A hardworking man who couldn’t care less about how people either mocked him or pitied him for his lack of talent.

And then he disappeared and practically told Bassena that he was just a selfish man who did everything he wanted for his own objective without caring for other’s feelings.

"Sometimes he felt like him, but more often than not a completely different person. I..."

Bassena’s voice faltered, and Zein completed the unsaid words. "You need to know if you can still idolize him."

Bassena chuckled awkwardly. It was weird hearing the word ’idolize’, but he started to realize that was how he saw Han Joon. A mentor, a big brother; someone he respected, and no matter what, he didn’t want a seed of hatred to sow in his heart. Wasn’t that why he became so upset and conflicted?

He didn’t want to see his idol turned into someone he couldn’t respect.

"Do you?" Zein asked softly, even though he could already see the answer in the esper’s eyes. Still, he thought a confirmation from Bassena’s own lips would strengthen that decision.

Bassena stared at the group ahead of them; at the broad back with trained solid posture...and a pair of feet full of silent scars.

"Yeah, I think so," Bassena nodded. "He is different now, but..."

Han Joon was smiling freely now, instead of looking like there were a pair of eyes looking over him. Laughing, joking around, flirting...all without the need to mind if someone would see it. It would be cruel to say he hid his real self when he did it out of necessity, and probably wanted to be free more than anyone else.

"He’s someone who’s willing to do anything to achieve what he wants, and sacrifice anything...even himself," Bassena smiled bitterly. "He does things that he believes should be done, without caring about other’s opinions."

If he thought about it, Bassena could see that Han Joon had always been like that. He protected Shin and Radia with his own body as the shield, and no matter what people said to him, he kept training himself in the direction that he wanted. People mocked his lack of special talent and called him shameless to hang around geniuses like Radia and Bassena, even his own little brother. But Han Joon never cared about those yappers and found his own way to be ’special’.

"In the end, he is still the same big brother that I idolized, just..." Bassena said lightheartedly, shrugging. "In different packaging, I guess?"

Zein chuckled and nodded. "That’s good."

"What? That I still idolize him?"

"That you find your answer," Zein smiled behind his mask; but the soft glow in the blue eyes was enough to convey it.

As he looked at those beautiful eyes, Bassena thought about the ’answer’ that Han Joon talked about. Would he be able to do the same if Zein was the one getting targeted? Would he risk being hated and losing Zein’s love if it could save the guide’s life?

"Yeah," Bassena muttered a reply, holding the guide’s hand a little bit tighter. "I’m glad too."

"Heeeey!" just as they concluded their talk, someone yelled loudly from the edge of the dungeon where the boss used to be. Of course, it was from their youngest member. "What are you doing walking like a snail back there? You should have done it last night if you want to frolic by yourself!"

"Ugh--he’s annoying as always," Bassena rolled his eyes, but Zein was smiling instead. Now his boyfriend was back to his usual self.

"We do need to be quick though," the guide said.

"Right," Bassena smirked and pulled Zein close by the waist, before teleporting to the other side.

* * *

"Oh, it’s calm, isn’t it?" Han Shin exclaimed in a soft whisper as the swirling gate became smaller and smaller as if sucked by a small hole, before disappearing completely.

Earlier, they exited the dungeon through the back door while taking the core, and Bassena destroyed it once everyone was back in the star corridor. Since their objective was to single out the dungeon where the Fallen Star resided, they had to get rid of as many dungeons as they could. Aside from avoiding confusion, they also wanted to prevent the Fallen Star from moving to another dungeon before they proceeded with the raid.

As such, they had the privilege to watch a different kind of dungeon collapse. Usually, destroying a dungeon came with a harsh mana storm and explosion, and they had to put a barrier and set perimeters around the gate. But this time it was quiet, as if...

"It feels like we are closing it properly," Jock muttered. "Like this is how it should be done."

Zein looked around the vast space and scoffed. "Yeah, because it is operated from this side, no? Closing it from the human side would be considered a violation."

"Ugh--how annoying..." Han Shin grumbled.

That realization, however, sparked a fire of motivation. Wasn’t it annoying to let this fallen Celestial Being, who had failed after devising such contraptions that brought misery to their home, keep doing what it wanted even in its pathetic state?

As if getting rid of the fear they still had before, they glared at the dungeon where the Fallen Star was supposed to be. With a more determined look than before, they entered another dungeon and cleared it up immediately like before. They came out and explored the surrounding area, getting rid of any beasts they could find and trying to figure out their location.

But they weren’t as lucky as before; they didn’t find any path, and there was no shard to be found. After resting for a bit to eat and receive Zein’s guiding, they returned to the star corridor and destroyed the dungeon.

It wasn’t until their fourth dungeon hopping that they found a clue to the field of fog.