Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Elena
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The rural city of Oldor, where he had lived for a month.
The woman who burst through the door without warning didn’t fit in with the countryside at all—she screamed outsider from a mile away.
The wide-brimmed hat on her head. Sparkling golden hair. Clear, snow-white skin. A dress that looked luxurious from the fabric alone. Even the shoes on her feet were spotless, without a speck of dirt.
“Why are you pretending not to be here?”
The woman glared at Yuri and repeated the same question.
Yuri couldn’t respond and just stared blankly at her face. The whole situation didn’t make sense to him.
No matter how backwater Oldor was or how shitty the security, having someone smash down your door in broad daylight was ridiculous in every way.
And the one who did it wasn’t some burly thug—it was a pretty woman he’d never seen in this rural town before. On top of that, Yuri was the one getting grilled.
“No way.”
Her eyebrow twitched. A sharp glint flashed from her blue eyes between her narrowing eyelids and thick lashes.
“You don’t recognize me?”
Her expression turned icy, and her voice chilled to match. At those words, Yuri closed his slack jaw.
Honestly, he didn’t. It couldn’t be helped. The face he remembered belonged to a 10-year-old girl. Even if she’d grown up unchanged, there was a world of difference between a 10-year-old and a 20-year-old’s face.
Her vibe had changed a lot too—now, all that remained of the old look was the golden hair and blue eyes.
“There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize you.”
But with her putting it like that, he finally recalled the name.
“Elena.”
In the last letter he’d received, Elena had written that she’d be away from the magic tower for half a year on a Rank 4 commission.
-I’ll be waiting for your reply.
That’s what she’d written at the end.
Yuri hadn’t replied.
Neither had Elena. Half a year had flown by since then, with no new letters.
That’s how they’d given up on each other. The shallow bond tied by childhood memories had snapped. That’s what Yuri had thought.
In the letter before that, he’d already told her there was no need to write anymore. She’d refused and sent a reply anyway, but Yuri had long since wanted to end this “relationship.”
The life of Elena—the Elena Haiderga—that came through in her letters was worlds apart from that of an orphan like Yuri, who didn’t even have a family name.
Her letters had made Yuri confront his reality and sparked feelings of inferiority and jealousy.
“Why are you here?”
Truth be told, Yuri had never wanted to see Elena in his life. Childhood friend or not, she didn’t stir anything in him now. He didn’t feel inferior or jealous about her shining life anymore. He just wanted her to stay a distant existence. Or for him to go far away from her.
He’d never imagined she’d come looking for him. Was that Rank 4 commission she mentioned by chance nearby? Or had she come because he hadn’t replied?
While Yuri racked his brain, Elena clamped her lips shut and glared at him. She gripped the hem of her pristine white dress, then strode right up to him.
“Hey, wait a...”
She ignored his question and closed in, putting him on edge. He became hyper-aware of his neck, which didn’t feel foreign at all. “Veil of Deception.” The gift from Lorellia and the Church of Order. As long as he had it, Elena couldn’t detect his internal energy.
“Stay still.”
Elena snapped at him as he backed away. Even hearing that, he couldn’t just stand there. Should he jump out the window and run? As he retreated with that thought, something bumped his leg.
The bed. In this tiny room, a few steps back had him against it. With his escape cut off, Elena nodded like it was perfect.
Thud.
Elena lightly pushed at the air with her hand. In that instant, Yuri saw the mana in the air shift. But seeing it didn’t mean he should dodge.
“Guh.”
The mana hit him square in the chest. Yuri naturally plopped onto the bed, blinking in confusion.
“Don’t move.”
Her cold voice carried a warning. Elena stepped right up and boldly flicked her finger at the worn-out shirt Yuri wore. Snap-snap-snap! The buttons popped open without her even touching him.
“Hey, what the hell are you doing?”
Yuri asked in genuine panic. Elena ignored him again. She widened her blue eyes and stared at his upper body.
Old scars. Burn marks from a branding iron. The wounds from the Black Snake Gang had healed into fresh scars. Her eyes trembled at the sight of them all.
“Uh...”
Elena bit her lip and swallowed a groan. She bowed her head, clutched her skirt, and composed herself for a moment.
“I got... a letter from Uncle Gordon.”
What?
“Yuri, I heard about your life after leaving the orphanage. You... joined some ridiculous piece-of-shit gang called the Black Snake Gang?”
Fuck. Yuri pressed his lips together. So that’s why Elena had shown up out of nowhere—she’d gotten a letter from Gordon at the general store.
“I know your gang got attacked too. Yuri, I know you barely survived by luck.”
Elena’s voice shook more and more. She steadied her breathing a few times, then lifted her head and glared at his body.
“You almost died.”
“It... wasn’t that bad.”
“What do you mean not that bad? Does getting a non-fatal wound mean you weren’t on the brink of death? You’re the only one who survived that place!”
Crackle! Her uncontrolled emotions sparked electricity around her.
Elena belonged to the Derusia Magic Tower. Just like in the game, this world’s Derusia Magic Tower specialized in lightning attributes, so it was natural for Elena, trained there, to wield it.
“...Hoo.”
Elena steadied her ragged breathing. The crackling sparks faded. She pressed down her static-charged hair and glared at Yuri.
“What the hell is this?”
“...”
“I knew you were up to no good. But there’s a limit, right? You never told me anything, and neither Uncle Gordon nor the director would talk about you.”
Elena let out a hollow laugh and shook her head.
“So I was the only one in the dark. About what you were doing, how you were living.”
“You didn’t need to know.”
He couldn’t stay silent forever. Yuri met her glare with his own steely eyes.
He’d figured out his original personality over the past month.
This guy was just an asshole.
“You’re living it up in your magic tower—why the hell would you need to know about me?”
“What...?”
“Like you said, I’ve lived a shitty... yeah, trash life. So what? What’s it to you how I live?”
Yuri shoved her hand away with a rough voice, then buttoned up his shirt while scoffing.
“What’s it to me...?”
Elena clenched her pushed-away hand. She blinked a few times, composed her face, and parted her lips.
“Why wouldn’t it be? Yuri, you and I...”
“Childhood friends? Isn’t that a joke? We were just same-age kids from the same orphanage, that’s it.”
“Yuri...!”
“Please, Elena.”
Yuri cut her off with a short sigh.
“Ten years.”
“...”
“Ten years since you left for the Derusia Magic Tower. I don’t know how you remember me from back then, but I’m... not the same kid you knew at 10.”
It was true. The orphan Yuri, Elena’s childhood friend, was dead. What was here now was Lee Soo-hyuk wearing his skin.
Of course, that wasn’t the point he was making. Just laying groundwork for any contingencies.
“Please.”
Yuri gazed at her, hiding his desperation. Elena looked stunned, like she’d taken a blow.
Seeing that softened his heart a bit, but there was no helping it.
No matter how much original Yuri was an asshole, current Yuri didn’t need to be. Ten years could change mountains, let alone people. And for childhood friends reuniting after a decade, he could easily say nice things.
He was doing it on purpose. He wanted Elena to cut ties completely. To despise this changed, trashy childhood friend from the old days and leave. So they’d never! Ever get tangled up again.
“...”
Elena glared at him silently. She seemed pissed now? Yuri thought so as he opened his mouth.
“Go home.”
To drive the nail in.
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll handle my own shit, so you...”
“Handle it?”
This time, Elena cut him off.
“Handle what? How exactly?”
Her hand moved. She placed it on the scarred center of Yuri’s chest and twisted her lips.
“Black Snake Gang? When I first heard the name, I thought it was some proper black path sect, but nope. Yuri, why not join a real black path sect? You might’ve picked up some third-rate heart method at least.”
The Veil of Deception was working perfectly. Elena sensed not a scrap of internal energy from him.
“Ten years? You’re right, Yuri. Ten years is a long time. I’ve changed, and you... you’ve changed. But you know.”
Elena withdrew her hand from his chest with a short sigh.
“Don’t you have... anything you want to say to me, after ten years?”
“What about you?”
Yuri shot back.
“If you hadn’t barged in like this, maybe I would’ve said something else.”
Elena blinked a few times, sighed shortly, and took a few steps back.
“You’re right.”
She nodded with a flat expression. Removing her wide-brimmed hat, she bowed her head to him.
“I was rude. Coming here out of nowhere, smashing your door, nagging you without considering your feelings—sorry.”
“I didn’t say that to get an apology.”
“Yuri.”
Elena raised her head.
“I’m taking you with me.”
“What?”
“I won’t listen if you say no. I decided the moment I read Uncle Gordon’s letter. I’m taking you with me.”
There was no waver in her voice. Elena glanced around Yuri’s tiny room and continued.
“Out of this cramped room. Out of this rural dump where there’s nothing and you can do nothing—I’m taking you away.”
Worst-case scenario.
“That’s why I came.”
She hid her trembling fingertips by gripping her hat. She swallowed the urge to cry.
Outfit that didn’t match the rural scenery. Spotless shoes. The “city” they’d once dreamed of as kids. Elena turned her back and chewed her lower lip.
If she hadn’t said those cold words, would he have said she’d gotten pretty?
“Why?”
Yuri couldn’t understand Elena. Ten years without a single visit, just occasional letters. Sure, a few had expressed worry for him, but he’d never dreamed she’d show this level of initiative.
He dredged up old memories. Back at the Oldor orphanage. Yeah, he had to admit it—they’d been close. If anything, Yuri had played the “big brother” role back then.
Before Elena awakened her magic talent. That girl, blessed with everything but an easy life, had beauty on top of her gift, so the meaner orphans bullied her often.
As the saying goes, a promising tree shows from its first leaves—even as a kid, Yuri was a troublemaker.
Young Yuri fought the other orphans constantly but was always sweet to Elena.
When she got bullied, he’d step up and beat them down.
“Was it because of that?”
Ten-plus years ago. Or because he’d nearly died a month back? Just for that?
“No, maybe it’s not ‘just’ that?”
Hearing that a distant childhood friend had barely survived—was that such a shock?
“Why? Why do you think?”
Elena whipped around.
“Because I don’t want to leave you like this.”
Her face showed unyielding resolve.