Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: You've Opened Your Eyes
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I usually sleep like clockwork unless something major comes up.
The reason was simple.
It was like stockpiling energy in advance for nights like this, when I'd have to pull an all-nighter.
Tomorrow was my final counseling session with Seol Yu-wol.
We'd discuss her role as a bodyguard, and if any major issues arose, I'd turn down the offer.
I was preparing for every possibility, considering multiple angles.
I checked the stats the association had measured for Seol Yu-wol.
Her physical strength, mana traits—everything was top-tier for a hunter.
Undeniably S-rank.
If someone like her joined the association to protect me, I'd be grateful, of course.
I hoped tomorrow's conversation would go smoothly.
Pulling an all-nighter like this always left me starving.
I didn't usually eat much at times like these.
But...
Today was different.
"I'm hungry."
[……….]
No response.
'I'll stay by your side until dawn, User!'
She'd boasted as much.
I chuckled and asked the empty air again.
"You asleep?"
[……?!]
Suddenly, the air in front of me shimmered, and a frantic system window popped up like a startled notification.
[No! I'm definitely not asleep!]
[(O_O)]
Anyone could see she looked asleep.
Smiling, I asked,
"Not hungry?"
[I'm always hungry.]
Really?
In that case...
Tonight's midnight snack was decided.
I headed straight to the kitchen.
Put a pot on the stove.
I boiled some ramen.
Called Fire Phoenix Stir-Fried Noodles.
I eat it when I need to blow off steam.
[It's bright red!]
[Looks delicious.]
Perfect—she seemed eager too.
Well.
If she wants it.
"Here."
I'd already scooped it into a disposable bowl and was shoving it into the hole.
Then, with bated breath, I waited.
[……As expected, delicious….]
That seemed to be her first impression.
Then, abruptly, her words cut off.
I was already prepared, pouring chilled milk from the fridge into a cup, holding it in hand.
[…?!]
Silence.
And then.
[It's spicy!!!!!]
The system flashed wildly.
"It's food made to be spicy."
[Heuk… Hek….]
[(T^T)]
[Too spicy ]
I couldn't hold back my laughter.
In the end, I burst out laughing as I shoved the milk into the hole.
A petty revenge, successfully executed.
In Seol Yu-wol's life, when had her mind raced the fastest?
Was it when she'd earned the title of the orthodox sects' greatest junior prodigy, carrying her mother's expectations, and sliced Jahwa-yeon in the Dragon-Phoenix Conference finals?
Or when she'd grasped the principles of a martial arts manual she'd never seen before in just one night?
No situation had ever matched this.
"……."
Until now.
Seol Yu-wol had only ever received from the physician.
Clothes, waffles, even the hope of living again.
All of it handed to her—she'd been purely on the receiving end.
But now, the dynamic was shifting.
No longer client and counselor.
Instead, protector and protected—comrades.
It wasn't set in stone yet; they'd need to talk it through tomorrow.
But the relationship was evolving.
And in this change, Seol Yu-wol wanted to make her mark.
Her brain finally kicked into overdrive.
'A one-sided relationship is dependency, not equality.'
'True equality starts with give and take.'
'What can I give the physician?'
Her body.
Her heart.
Those would be nice, but they felt distant.
Closer was better, but anyway.
The key wasn't 'what'.
It was the act of giving itself.
Seol Yu-wol had no money.
Little knowledge of this world.
She didn't even know what the physician liked.
Therefore.
She made a bold decision.
"Um, could you give me some money?"
"……."
Visiting Yi Seo-ryeong.
Seol Yu-wol asked her long-unseen mother for money.
Something she'd never done in her entire life—not even imaginable.
Yi Seo-ryeong's green eyes widened in surprise.
She set down her teacup and stared intently at Seol Yu-wol's face.
Not out of anger—pure curiosity.
Yi Seo-ryeong was wealthy.
As leader of the top ten guilds and the Azure Heaven Alliance, it was only natural.
"What for, dear?"
"…A gift."
"For whom?"
"For the physician… I want to give it to him."
Seol Yu-wol answered confidently.
Something unimaginable in the past. Back then, she couldn't even lift her head before her mother, answering everything with a simple 'yes.'
But now, she could voice her own opinions.
A welcome change for Yi Seo-ryeong, whose mindset had shifted.
From the beginning until now, Seol Yu-wol had never once asked her for anything.
A faint smile touched Yi Seo-ryeong's lips.
She pulled a thin black card from her bosom and held it out.
"Yu-wol."
"Yes."
"I heard you want to join the association."
"…Mother."
Only then did it seem to dawn on Seol Yu-wol; she slowly bowed her head.
"I'm sorry…."
Seol Yu-wol apologized.
Naturally, Yi Seo-ryeong had assumed she'd return to the Azure Heaven Alliance.
But she'd chosen the association instead—a deviation worth apologizing for.
Yi Seo-ryeong slowly shook her head.
She gently placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder.
"I never want to force any path on you again."
She paused, then bent down to meet Yu-wol's eyes.
"But… could you tell your mother why?"
Yi Seo-ryeong asked with a smile.
Seol Yu-wol pondered.
She could craft a suitable answer for this question…
Tie the Murim Alliance and association ideologies together, like she'd told the physician.
A plausible reason her mother might like and accept.
But.
She didn't want to lie to her mother.
Not even if it meant a harsh scolding.
Conversely, Yi Seo-ryeong felt the same.
She already knew the official reason from the physician.
But… she had her suspicions too.
A plausible excuse was fine, or the real story hidden beneath.
She just wanted to hear her daughter's true voice.
After a long silence, Seol Yu-wol spoke in a tiny voice.
"…The physician…."
"…Yes."
"He's… there."
That was all.
No grand justification needed.
The one person she relied on and followed most was there.
Yi Seo-ryeong fell silent upon hearing it.
Seol Yu-wol squeezed her eyes shut.
Her mother… hated men. To the point of loathing.
She'd been a bit different with the physician, but…
Quitting her position, switching affiliations to follow a man?
In Seol Yu-wol's mind, it clashed completely with the proactive, resilient image of womanhood her mother had instilled in her all her life.
She'd be disappointed. Maybe even angry.
"……."
But the expected reprimand never came.
Instead, a gentle hand slowly stroked her hair.
Seol Yu-wol looked up in surprise.
Yi Seo-ryeong gazed at her daughter with a sincere smile.
"If it's him…."
Yi Seo-ryeong whispered softly.
"Then it's fine."
And.
After a pause, as one woman and a mother who'd seen more of the world, she began advising her daughter.
"Truth is… for a woman to choose a man and strive to win his heart by following him—it's only natural."
Natural.
Because a woman could only survive under a man's protection.
It didn't matter how strong or weak she was on her own.
It was a lack of inherent worth.
One day, when her close friends formed families with men, bore children, and lived happily…
And she watched…
She'd surely feel it.
The loneliness of being left alone in this world.
"Once you've chosen him, never let him go. Hold him deep in your bosom, gently enough for him to breathe. But firmly, leaving no room for anything else to slip in."
Yi Seo-ryeong's green eyes turned to the darkness outside the window.
Seol Yu-wol sensed this advice veered into a different direction.
"But remember this, Yu-wol. Sometimes, women are more fearsome than men. Always be wary of another woman who might covet what's yours."
She met her daughter's eyes squarely again.
"She might be much closer than you think."
With those words, Yi Seo-ryeong smiled meaningfully.
Then she picked up the black card from the table and placed it in her daughter's hand.
Daughter.
"Go on."
You've opened your eyes.
"Pick out a nice gift for the physician."
And get what you want.
After all.
That's what women are.