Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 196
Chapter Title: The Story of the Young Emperor Oak
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She had no expectations from the family she returned to.
It was the family that had abandoned her from the start, and Lee Se-young had never once benefited from the honor of the Oak Family.
She had simply come to help with the work.
Of course, it wasn't as if that was her only motive. A desire for recognition from those who had once cast her out was urging her on.
Look how much I've grown.
Unlike my father, who couldn't do anything.
She stood confidently before their faces, shouting it out.
"Selfish bitch."
That's what Se-young's older sister, Lee Seo-hyun, said to her.
The words had flown out reflexively the moment she laid eyes on Se-young returning to the family.
"...What?"
In the company corridor, facing each other, they scowled irritably.
She hadn't expected praise, but she hadn't anticipated hearing insults from her own sister.
Then she realized it was because her father had been badmouthing Se-young everywhere.
He had fabricated petty excuses like, "The reason we're being forced into these arranged marriages is all because of that Lee Se-young."
And spewed them to his daughters.
"Living like that, you just ditched us and ran off, huh? Feels good?"
"Ran off, my ass? Who?"
The ones who ran were you fools, playing into that trash's words.
Why am I the one branded a runaway when I didn't even take a single set of clothes from the family?
"What bullshit."
Anger welled up, but from her experiences, Se-young knew how to handle the situation.
She wasn't the type to lose an argument easily.
"I'm not the one who ran. You brainless bitch."
The memory of nearly dying while breaking through a dungeon.
The compensation extorted from her guildmates under the pretext of "protecting a minor."
"You just accepted getting engaged to some scrawny guy from this shitty family on your own terms. Fuck that, not me."
"W-what?"
She had even knelt for a measly ten thousand won once.
"I didn't even expect a welcome. But... but... Ugh. This just pisses me off."
Foods she couldn't buy because she was short a few hundred won, clothes worn over and over.
A childhood sustained on water alone.
The fortunate part was that her Wood Person trait allowed her to survive for quite a while on just water.
Still, Se-young knew how to get by.
"So what the hell do you want?"
"...Huh?"
"I'm here to expand the dungeons, and you're just hurling abuse?"
In her own way, she extracted an apology.
But it didn't bring any real satisfaction.
Instead, only an emptiness lingered, the realization that she truly had nowhere left to return to.
A-rank Hunter. That was the title of Lee Se-young, who had just become a high school student.
Even after returning to the family late and securing her place, even as her other sisters tiptoed around her warily, her mood didn't improve at all.
'......'
Lee Se-young had no family.
She had never felt human warmth or affection.
The longest she'd ever held hands with someone was two seconds, back in elementary school.
Hugs were out of the question, and even eye contact with the opposite sex hadn't happened in her youth.
For her, a few thousand won in front of her was more precious than any human connection.
Romance or love?
Where would she find the time for that?
No, trusting people in the first place was impossible for Se-young.
Unless someone forced their way in to share their warmth.
But no one else had the caliber for that.
No one cared enough to delve into her dark inner thoughts completely.
Especially now that rumors spread she was the Oak Family's sole female with real power.
Few had ever pried open her heart by force.
It was the day she entered university. The academy.
*****
Group projects suck.
These damn professor bastards don't give a shit about people without friends.
"Pair up in groups of three with people you like~"
She had come to swing swords and hammers, so why the hell was she learning theory?
It wasn't like she was whining because she had no friends.
At twenty, Se-young scanned her surroundings with sharp eyes.
Just... gotta tough it out like always.
She had no one she'd call a friend, but she had plenty of classmates' numbers.
Some cadets even approached pretending to be friendly without knowing better. Forming a group wasn't hard if she wanted.
But today, one figure caught her eye.
-Fluttering about.
A yellow-haired girl anxiously glancing around with rat-like eyes.
Se-young was startled by the unusual star-shaped pupils.
"Um, over there... Grou-"
The star-eyed girl cautiously spoke to the kid next to her, but her tiny voice wouldn't carry.
"Hey! Wanna group up with us?"
In the end, other cadets stole her timing.
"...Hing."
She deflated completely and moped alone.
It was the kind of sight that made your own shoulders slump just watching.
"Hey."
"...Eek! Y-yes? Oh, hello!"
"Skip the hello. Just talk casually. We're the same age. Wanna group?"
The oh-so-common group project. Clumsy kids somehow nailed PPTs.
And she seemed a bit troubled.
"What's your name?"
"Starry... Starry."
Se-young, Starry, and... another cadet who slotted in between them.
The three who met over the group project naturally started hanging out whenever something came up after that day.
"...Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Like games?"
After that day.
As if becoming friends over one assignment, Starry started showing interest.
Se-young squinted at her drenched-kitten-like expression that would wilt at rejection.
"......What?"
"Games! Let's play together. Dorm's full of 'em."
What a nuisance.
But no harm in it since she wasn't hurling insults, so she went along.
She was curious too, having little experience playing with others.
A week passed like that.
"Kart? Wanna?"
"No time."
"...Hiiing."
"......Let's go."
"Yay!"
A month.
"Se-youngie!"
"...What's with that nickname?"
"W-why? Don't like it?"
"Kinda dumb."
"...Not dumb!"
A year.
As time together grew, she suddenly thought, Is this what friends are?
Se-young felt it in the dorm room.
"...Shrimp crackers out!"
Starry, lying with her head on Se-young's thigh, playing a phone game collecting tree girls.
Shrimp crackers in her mouth, blinking her big eyes.
"What's fun about that crap you always play?"
"It's not the game... It's raising our kids that's the fun part?"
"Whatever. Movie time. Wanna see the new one. TV on?"
"Ahh, don't move, crumbs'll... Kyaa! My bed!!!"
"Sorry."
Filming sitcoms like that, the two of them.
"...What're you two doing?"
Se-young and Starry, with Yunhyang who often hung out with them, sighing in the back.
"Kumquat! Craving cake. Se-youngie's berry-berry blueberry-strawberry cake. Mine cheese."
"Yeah, go buy some. And it's kumquat, not that dumbass name."
"Same diff?"
"Totally different. Not starfruit, it's carambola."
"No way. Sour names are better!"
As they got closer, they started drinking too, and Se-young, new to alcohol, began opening up.
She realized they all had wounds in various ways.
Lee Se-young, Starry, Yunhyang.
Born in different places, yet they felt akin.
And for Se-young, who had felt others' warmth the least, she treasured those bonds more than anyone.
It was the same for all three.
Se-young just clung a bit more obsessively.
Especially when Yunhyang, one of her friends, died.
It wasn't anything special.
Just one of those academy deaths that happened once or twice a year.
Except the victim was her friend.
More precisely... A dungeon rampage happened. Yunhyang saved Se-young and Starry by trapping herself inside.
Right before it closed, her quick judgment chose death in their place.
Someone dying in her stead.
She'd never imagined it, let alone that she'd be the beneficiary.
"Hey."
"...Yeah."
Yunhyang never returned. The dungeon sealed shut.
At their classmate's funeral, Se-young stood blankly before speaking to the seated Starry.
"...You're... not."
Some thought crossed her mind, but it wouldn't form into words.
Lee Se-young, who had lived her whole life without bonds, lost one of her first two connections.
It happened not long after she'd started cherishing them.
She didn't know what emotion it was.
Just felt like utter shit.
Losing her meant no more talks with that friend. No more sparring with weapons like before.
"Se-youngie. Crying?"
Se-young didn't know, but Starry had some inkling.
She'd heard about Se-young's past and watched her actions up close.
The emptier the heart, the more she obsessed to fill it.
Growing up alone after harsh words from family. Clinging mentally to others for the affection she never got.
Yet she sucked at expressing emotions.
So actions spoke louder than words.
Like when she'd nearly beaten someone half to death for disrespecting Starry...
That was Starry's conclusion about Se-young.
*****
[...There are gaps, but that's probably right.]
Checking the phone call time, two hours had flown by.
Asking and answering all sorts, and time had slipped away like this.
[That's how Se-young is... She gives her all, guts and everything.]
Of course, judging people carelessly is rude.
But a best friend has reasons for her words, and they weren't entirely wrong.
[She's... sensitive about people dying. Especially lovers.]
"I see."
[Si-heon, you're actually... in a life-threatening spot.]
The more she heard.
Lee Se-young had spilled all my secrets to Starry.
Even the rape?
If so, Starry's words carried even more weight.
Starry was that important to Se-young—no secrets between them.
The same woman who kept her mouth shut tight with others.
[...Anyway. What I'm saying is.]
Starry said.
[Make her feel certain about you.]
"......"
How?
The question nearly slipped out, but she held it back.
[She's backed off now, but if you're in danger, she'll throw herself to die. Not just you—me too. She'd try to stop me from dying?]
"I knew she was like that, but not to that extent."
[Hee-heeng. Her obsession's insane. Clings to me when you're not around?]
"Doesn't seem like it."
[Ah, caught me?]
We shared a light laugh.
Anyway, I knew Se-young was unusually kind to me. It'd been a lingering question since I joined the academy.
Thinking about it, similar to Azalea.
Why were all the people around me... somehow deficient?
[Oh, but Si-heon.]
"Yeah?"
[Se-young took a flight there yesterday.]
The voice from the phone.
That instant, presence stirred behind me.
"Hey, dummy."
A soft sensation pressing against my back as I held the phone.
Her ample breasts squished against my wingbones.
"Finally found you."
Was Starry that proactive? Or Se-young too aggressive?
What timing.
I stiffened and set the phone down.
Se-young's long green hair tickled my nape.
Her chin on my shoulder, teacher whispering in my ear.
"...Starry the bitch told me everything."
Her words mixed anger with a hint of playfulness.
"Who you talking to?"