Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Five Years Later
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Five years had already passed since Kim Se-hyun left for the United States.
“The Association is just as we expected.”
Yohan Church looked utterly ordinary from the outside, but its interior and basement had transformed into something out of another world.
Thanks to Yun Seung-ah’s magic, the church’s uniqueness wasn’t visible from the outside, and the inside was even larger than the exterior suggested.
Even the headquarters of Sacred, now the top organization in the country, probably didn’t compare.
Items and facilities still unknown to the public.
If war broke out in Korea, Yohan Church was guaranteed to be the safest place.
“Hide and conceal.”
Sloth spoke in her usual flat tone.
She hadn’t changed much over the past five years.
“Well, it’s not like this is the first or second time.”
Standing beside her was a cute girl with her hair in buns.
Greed—I Ha-yeon.
“Three years ago, and last year too. No matter how many times we leak info because of the Captain, they always do the same thing.”
I Ha-yeon’s face was still full of sleepiness, but she had shed her childlike air and become a proper young woman.
The uniform she wore was from Sacred Middle School.
“Still, this time feels a bit different, Kim Da-yeon. It seems the Association’s Investigation Chief contacted that person.”
I Ha-yeon nodded at Yun Seung-ah’s words.
That was when it happened.
Rustle.
Enbi—Kim Sion—emerged beside them, having grown quite a bit, his form rippling like a shadow.
“Where’s the Captain? Still no contact?”
Sloth nodded heavily at Kim Sion’s question.
It was the first time she, who had never shown any emotional fluctuations, had revealed her feelings.
“He’s really late this time. It’s worrying.”
“Worry about yourself.”
“Hey! I’m the older brother!”
“You don’t act like one.”
Kim Sion and I Ha-yeon bickered for a moment.
Three years ago, Go Yohan had given the Apostles guidelines and ordered them to avoid contact for the time being.
“The Pure White Incident.”
It had happened one year after Kim Se-hyun left for the United States.
“This is probably the last time.”
At Yun Seung-ah’s words, both Kim Sion and I Ha-yeon looked at her with shining eyes.
“I heard there’s been progress.”
Among the Apostles, only Yun Seung-ah occasionally exchanged words with Go Yohan.
“Really?”
“…I hope so.”
“And.”
Yun Seung-ah closed her eyes quietly as she spoke.
Though her appearance hadn’t changed in five years, everything else had undergone changes dramatic enough to be called upheaval.
“It’s soon.”
Not skill, but magic—and her deep understanding of it—allowed her to perceive certain flows.
Not quite the world of divine sight that Go Yohan described, but she could vaguely sense some kind of current.
“You’ll see it someday too.”
Go Yohan had said that, but Yun Seung-ah thought differently.
The deeper her understanding of magic grew, the more she realized something.
“The Captain…”
That person was someone they could never catch up to or imitate, no matter how hard they tried.
“It’s soon…”
Kim Sion brightened as he started to speak.
Rumble!
Then Yohan Church began to shake as if it might collapse.
This wasn’t a facility built with mere hundreds of millions or billions.
They, who were now exerting influence on a global scale, had invested astronomical sums—not to mention protection from Yun Seung-ah’s magic—into this very place.
“Wow, doesn’t she know how to control her power yet?”
Even as the church shook, Kim Sion spoke as if it were just another day.
“Man, it still gives me chills.”
The aura emanating from below was, without a doubt, powerful enough to tense up even the Apostles who had grown over the past five years.
Among those in the church, it was almost the only being capable of sparring against Go Yohan.
It was the existence that had forced Go Yohan into seclusion for three years, and the one that had dragged demons who moved only in shadows—and parts of the church—out into the world.
“Yawn. You’ll get used to it.”
I Ha-yeon yawned nonchalantly.
“She’s the youngest.”
The last Apostle, Pride, was the culprit.
“Hey! I said I’m the older brother.”
“Whatever.”
At that moment, the corners of Yun Seung-ah’s mouth twitched upward slightly.
-Success. I’ll contact you soon.
Go Yohan’s voice echoed in Yun Seung-ah’s mind.
It felt just like.
“Understood, Captain.”
The voice of the goddess that Go Yohan spoke of, full of fulfillment.
*
*
*
Incheon International Airport.
Murmur, murmur.
Countless people whispered and stared in one direction all at once.
Tap, tap.
A woman drumming her fingers, as if annoyed by something.
Her casual clothes were all expensive designer brands, but no one noticed them.
Her ebony-black hair tied in a ponytail revealed a white neckline, along with her tall, slender figure and striking looks.
“That’s her…”
“…right? Right?”
Her displeased frown only made her seem cooler and more beautiful.
“Yeah, looks like it.”
“Wow, insane…”
“Should I ask for a photo?”
Ignoring the familiar murmurs, the woman sat alone, irritably drumming her fingers.
That was when it happened.
Drring.
She smiled faintly at the ringing phone, but soon looked disappointed at the name on the screen before answering.
“What?”
-Hey! You said you wanted to come in quietly and I kept the reporters away—how can you just stand there like that?!
High-pitched shouting erupted the moment she picked up.
-If you were gonna do this, why ask for that favor?!
“Too annoying.”
The woman smiled slyly at the voice.
“Stop yelling. You’re Investigation Chief now, act less frivolous.”
-What? Frivolous? Frivoloouus!
“It’s because of you that I came back. I was planning to stay until next year.”
Only then did the other side seem to calm down a bit.
-Bullshit. It’s not because of me, it’s because of that hotshot youngest of yours.
“It’s both. I came early because you asked for help.”
-What’s the point of staying there? You’ve lost all your first-place titles four years ago anyway.
At that, the woman chuckled again.
“Se-hyun?”
Five years ago, Kim Se-hyun had fled to the United States.
In less than a year, she had skyrocketed.
Now, five years later, she was called a monster among monsters—ranked 29th in the US, 40th in the world.
“Good for her. Her family went bankrupt, and she suffered so much.”
-Whatever! Don’t forget our appointment in three days!
“Got it, you rascal.”
That was when she hung up.
“Um…”
A woman from the crowd gathered around mustered her courage and approached.
“Berserker, Ranker Go Minji? If it’s okay, could I get just one photo…?”
“Sure. I’m waiting for someone anyway.”
*
*
*
Incheon Airport grew noisy at Go Minji’s appearance, but the excitement didn’t die down.
“Wow! It’s Go Minji!”
“Berserker…!”
In five years, Go Minji had completely shed her Sacred titles.
Instead, people called her Berserker, the ranker name she earned in the US.
“Amazing! You’re so pretty, sis!”
“I love you!”
It was no longer news that Players enjoyed celebrity-level popularity.
“What brings you to Korea?”
“Are you returning for good?”
She had fended off reporters through Association Investigation Chief Kim Da-yeon, but it ended up the same.
Not that she minded from the start.
Having lived in the US where media exposure was natural, Go Minji knew better than anyone how to use it.
However.
“…Hm?”
She had cleared the reporters only to accommodate someone different from herself.
“I think that’s enough photos.”
“Ah…”
“My companion’s here.”
But the biggest difference from celebrities.
Swoosh.
Was that she didn’t need bodyguards, and every word she said carried greater power.
Berserker, Go Minji.
She herself was a strategic weapon-grade asset.
The crowd that had gathered parted like a lie, opening a path.
And beyond it.
Smirk.
Stood the reason Go Minji had been waiting—and the reason she returned to Korea a bit earlier.
“…Huh?”
Only then did the people notice him.
Not that they could have missed him.
“…What’s with all this fuss? Weren’t we supposed to come quietly?”
East Asian features, silver-white hair, and sky-blue eyes.
Impossible to fake with dye or lenses.
“Sheesh…”
His tall stature and appearance that proved blood ran thick shone radiantly.
“Sheesh, what, you little punk.”
Go Minji approached him before long.
“You’re thirty minutes late, sheesh?”
It had been almost three years since she last saw her younger brother.
Go Minji’s biggest problem—and Sacred’s biggest problem.
“Want me to tell you why they call your sister Berserker?”
“…Let’s not.”
It was Go Yohan.
“It’s Go Yohan…!”
“Wow, first time seeing the real Go Yohan, insane.”
Go Yohan was famous in his own right.
Public interest in the bloodline of Sacred, now Korea’s number one, was a given—as was his albinism.
Most Koreans knew he’d been a problem child through middle school, then vanished.
“Long time no see, sis. Not happy?”
“…Just drive.”
A large luxury sedan was parked nearby.
“When’d you get your license?”
Go Minji asked, finding this Go Yohan fascinating.
“The day before yesterday. Gonna keep yapping? Lots of people around.”
“…You little…”
Still, Go Minji followed Go Yohan to the parked car.
“If you ghosted contact again, I was gonna turn the place upside down, Uncle Jae-kyung or whoever.”
That was the first thing Go Minji said from the passenger seat.
“What the hell have you been up to?”
The major incident that had thrown Sacred into chaos.
It was around the time Go Yohan should have entered high school.
“I’m going independent.”
The madman had caused a massive uproar.