Chapter 217
Chapter 217
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 217
Chapter Title: 62-4. Can a Frozen Heart Melt?
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What kind of feeling hits you the first time you meet someone you've only ever seen online?
Fresh? Exciting?
...No, more like a sense of dazed bewilderment.
"My real name is Kwon Ki-seok. I've heard a lot about you from Soo-hyun, sister-in-law."
A sturdy, bear-like build.
A brilliant mind that didn't quite match his frame.
Ki-seok was the one who'd woken up and instantly clocked the connection between Pine and me, even cracking a joke about it.
In the real world, I was older than him, so technically, sister-in-law wasn't wrong.
But with the karma of not recognizing Pine at first weighing on me, I kept my mouth shut.
"Sister-in-law? What does that mean...?"
Pine perked up her ears, trying to parse the term.
Her wagging tail suggested she wasn't displeased.
"In our world, that's what we call an older guy's wife."
"...Hee-hee. You're a fun one."
Did she like the nickname that much?
Pine smiled right after Ki-seok's greeting.
Ki-seok and I were meeting in person for the first time, but we'd opened up like blood brothers online.
"Ki-seok, come on, 'sister-in-law' is a bit much."
It felt nostalgic, like reuniting with an old friend.
I let out a chuckle and gave him a light scolding.
"What's the big deal? Even in the real world, you were singing songs about missing the Saintess..."
"..."
Ki-seok fired back without missing a beat.
I clamped my mouth shut. What the hell was he saying in front of strangers?
Maybe it was that heated debate we'd had about the Nameless Saintess.
I glared at him, signaling not to bring up my dark history.
He'd even called me a 'Saintess fetish' guy after hearing about the life-sized Nameless Saintess figure in my room.
I couldn't let that slip. It made me sound like a pervert.
"...Anyway, glad you're okay. I thought our guild master was cheating or something."
Ki-seok scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
Makes sense, with someone who looked just like the Nameless Saintess right there.
In hindsight, it was all the Demon King's fault.
How was I supposed to know she was an erased princess?
'Was Ki-seok summoned as a hero too?'
The thought crossed my mind as I eyed his muscular frame.
The Grand Duchess, looking like she fancied his burly northern build, kept groping his arms with a grin.
Ki-seok had posted about me taking down Magic Hat on the community forums.
"I was subbing in your Magic Hat guide post when... this happened."
Then he got an email from Fantasia Games and ended up possessed.
"...So you came here? In Flintz's body?"
"Yeah. Living here made me realize this was the real otherworld."
He'd noticed discrepancies with what he knew while living in the north.
Unlike me, misled by the helmet, he'd figured out this world was real first.
"What did 'Fantasia' mean?"
"It meant the gods here made the game we played..."
Hero of Intellect.
The flair I'd used when pretending to be a hero around others? Heavily influenced by Ki-seok.
No one in the game could match his brains.
The God of Intellect, Akasha, might've had her eye on him.
"Ki-seok, did you get a holy sword or any perks...?"
"You think? If I had, I wouldn't have ended up like this against Magic Hat."
Their matching black hair.
He slowly stroked the Grand Duchess's hair as she clung to him like a leech.
'Something's off.'
If he'd been chosen as a hero, he'd have gotten a holy sword. Unlike Kainel, chosen by the Light Holy Sword.
Unless he wasn't picked by a god like me from the start, but possessed to silence him about the Demon King?
Now he'd been summoned by the Hero of Affection, so it was different.
"...Like Dennis, a substitute pick?"
"Probably. When you got possessed, the head was still alive."
I let out a deep sigh. Guess I was the only one who took down Magic Hat.
Would've been nice if there was an easy hint to beat him.
No holy sword to counter the Demon King's power was a bummer, but he'd survived.
"Ki-seok, we'll find a holy sword. Who are we?"
"[One Life, One Death] guild."
It felt like old times raiding together. We exchanged grins.
A twisted take on "one life, one death."
A guild for folks obsessed with one character.
'One love in one lifetime.' Cringy as hell, but true.
I founded it as a middle schooler.
Pine Granasia had basically saved my life.
"Ki-seok, so what went down fighting Magic Hat?"
I asked for a workaround against the Demon King to protect her.
Normally, you'd gather Kainel, Ariel, Dennis, Drake, and challenge it.
But now, other priorities too.
'Grand Route.'
The reason to protect the love lines of game characters.
From original to sequel to now, [Grand Hearts Academy].
It popped up: Kwon Ki-seok, not Flintz.
Like how I showed as Licht for Magic Hat Love Meter stuff.
'...Gods really are involved.'
Does the Truth Demon King want the game character Licht?
Or is Blanc my real name?
"Oh, speaking of... Duchess, remember Magic Hat's appearance?"
"A magician in black clothes... wasn't it?"
Ki-seok tilted his head.
Seemed he couldn't recall the Demon King's face clearly.
"...Looked different to me."
The power to blanket the world in lies. No wonder non-heroes struggle against Demon Kings.
I furrowed my brow and probed further.
"Not sure. I remember fighting, but the face is blurry."
"Probably erased by his power..."
According to Ki-seok, Magic Hat was trying to kidnap the Grand Duchess.
Then switched targets when he barged in.
How'd he know we were friends?
"Pine, we might need to expel this Blanc from the academy."
"Got it, Soo-hyun."
No more holding back, even if it outs Pine as princess.
The curse nearly hit Ki-seok and Sophitia too.
"...You only use polite speech around the Saintess? Surprising."
Ki-seok burst out laughing watching us talk.
Ugh, no letting your guard down with this guy.
"Knew it was the Nameless Saintess. Future me better watch out too."
"Pine, you too..."
She clicked her tongue jealously.
From our labyrinth chats, changing the future could change Nameless Saintess Pine too.
Past and future linked by the present chain.
A youthful face revealed without the helmet. Thick lashes, hair like the night sky.
Pine Granasia stared at Lee Soo-hyun's profile.
'He's definitely handsome. Big hands too... solid muscles...'
Her gaze drifted naturally now.
Pine fidgeted her fingers, recalling his palm size from their handshake.
Her heart pounded uncontrollably.
How much of her heart had she given this man?
Stolen, more like.
How could she hate a hero striving for her and her friends?
'Protecting the love around me and mine...'
Pine couldn't hide her shock at fixing Kwon Ki-seok with her power.
Hero Summon actually pulling someone from another world.
Sounded absurd at first. But real.
Everything he'd done protected others' loves.
"Soo-hyun. So besides these two, others to protect...?"
Pine called to Soo-hyun chatting happily with his friend, puffing her cheeks possessively.
"...Probably my mentor and the sage."
He mentioned Drake and Asmodeus.
The last surviving sage from the mage tower.
Grand Sword Master whose family was slain by dragons.
"Why those two...?"
"The sage has a crush on my mentor."
Unrequited love.
One side oblivious, the other burning.
The hardest kind to make happen.
"Old man did save the sage once. Fell for him then?"
The blue-haired man nearby chimed in on the unexpected pair.
"The Demon King called Omnipotence wrecked the mage tower to eliminate sages."
He was Dennis, who'd earned his PhD there in the past.
When it was collapsing...
Drake rushed in first to save people, he said.
"...Come to think, she did cake on makeup extra before meetings with Drake."
He recalled the sage overdoing it at the last meeting.
Always asking Drake's likes, nagging not to call her 'old lady' despite not being old.
'Looking back, totally a crush.'
The sage with budding first-love vibes.
Versus the muscle-bound master oblivious to romance.
They kept missing each other.
"Licht, how do you know all this?"
But the source was suspicious. Even for a hero of conviction, too much.
Dennis eyed Soo-hyun doubtfully.
"...I'm from the future, Professor. This guy's the same."
"Yeah, both from a grim future."
They spilled their origins to Dennis's question.
Ten years ahead.
Even revealed 3D Magic Circles were his future research.
Proven by the Black Knight's mana circuits tangled like spiderwebs.
"So you knew about me and White Magnolia too."
He nodded slowly.
No hero could spot what an omniscient Demon King erased.
Link the sage and Drake's love, or misfortune comes.
"...We must return to the academy, Professor."
The Black Knight, slaying Demon Kings and guarding loved ones, had his untold story.
"Ariel, Sophi. Thanks for making time."
Before heading back to Grand Hearts Academy,
Pine Granasia secretly gathered Ariel and Sophitia.
"Pine, what's up suddenly?"
"Yeah, something wrong? First time seeing this guy..."
The Blazing Flame Mage and northern Grand Duchess, strangers to each other.
They looked surprised at the princess's shushing finger.
"Um, a favor...?"
Pine fidgeted her lips, working up to it.
"...Could you teach me how to do makeup?"
The Granasia Empire princess's shy plea.
To look good for the man she liked.
"Isn't makeup something you can do solo...?"
"No way. She doesn't know how to..."
Suspicious stares pierced Pine.
Silence, then...
Nods.
Pine nodded small.
"Pine... you're serious."
"...Alright. I'll teach you the secret northern makeup passed down. Seduce him good."
Sophitia and Ariel grinned, diving into heated discussion.