Chapter 135: Happy Birthday.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 135: Happy Birthday.
“I’m telling you, it’s true! I feel like I could fly today!”
Watching Yu Ha-na hop around, Kang Hyun-woo trembled, looking restless and anxious.
“What’s going on? Is it because you slept with our son last night?!”
He probably meant it as a joke, but surprisingly, it was the truth.
I felt like death because of the pain from shearing off my Innate True Qi, but since I could recover in a little while thanks to the ‘Creator’s Favor’ he gave me, this was a profitable trade.
“Cough…!”
“Honey?!”
“Mom?!”
Oh boy, I knew that would happen.
In the end, she overdid it with her dancing and spat out blood, causing Kang Hyun-woo and Kang Na-hyun to rush to her side in a panic.
Of course, I ran over too, pretending to be shocked.
Naturally, I never thought I could cure her with a single reinforcement.
But if one wasn’t enough, I just had to stack them.
I had the perfect artifact in my hand, so it wasn’t even difficult.
As long as I maintained the reinforcement on her just enough so my own condition didn’t hit rock bottom, and used the necklace’s power sparingly to continuously accumulate life force, a complete cure would be possible.
I felt a bit of worry at the thought of saving a character who was originally supposed to die, but I forced myself to believe that this much would be fine.
* * *
Everything went smoothly.
Aside from the feeling that I was getting a bit too immersed in this ‘playing family’—which I had thought was merely an act—my days continued without much trouble.
Before my memories could fade, I organized the flow of the original story or spent my free time immersed in training to become even a little stronger for the future.
The training was quite difficult.
Unlike Talents, the concept of mana was quite foreign to me. At first, I struggled just to move it, but by the time a little over a year had passed, I was able to handle it reasonably well.
…To be honest, I wanted to get in touch with Lilac or other main and supporting characters besides Cheon Yu-hak, but because I was still young, I didn’t have the luxury of making time for that.
The time around when I turned eight was probably the brightest period for this family.
My older sister would play with me even while acting prickly, and my father, who was busy with work, would force himself to make time to come home with gifts, smiling as he watched my mother grow healthier.
There were no problems with our family play.
“Whew…”
If there was one problem, it was that my still-frail body couldn’t keep up with my plans.
But it was fine.
It wasn’t at an unbearable level.
This was a small price to pay for saving a character.
My family worried about my weakening body, but since I had a way to recover, I tried not to let it show.
On days when they worried about me excessively, I smiled.
The smile I mimicked from my benefactor of the past was still effective, and my mother would usually let most things slide when she saw a smiling face that resembled her own.
Then, something happened that I couldn’t escape from just by smiling.
“So-hyun, can Mom talk to you for a second?”
Her soft voice as she called me was laced with concern.
I could guess the reason.
It was probably because I had collapsed during PE class at school today.
They said the cause was unknown since there were no external injuries and my organs were fine, but I was the only one who knew.
It was because I had exhausted too much of my Innate True Qi—my natural life force.
“So-hyun, you’re keeping a secret from Mom, aren’t you?!”
I could have confessed honestly here, but I didn’t.
“I’m not…”
Because it was more child-like to deny it first before getting scolded by a parent.
“…Really?”
I reflexively flinched at the way she looked at me with those deep, searching eyes.
Even though it was all an act, my heart was pounding strangely—perhaps because I was too immersed in the role, or maybe it was just the physiological reaction of this young body.
If she reproaches me now, I’ll cry and tell her the truth about collapsing at school.
“Is that so? Then that’s fine.”
“…Actually… what?”
She wasn’t angry or disappointed; she simply stroked my head as if that really was enough.
Sometimes, this person bypassed my expectations so easily.
Why wouldn’t she scold or reproach a child who was clearly lying?
“Mom just wanted to tell you that if you felt ashamed of having a weak body, you don’t have to be. And if you were faking being sick because you hated PE, I was going to tell you that you could just say you didn’t want to do it.”
Her gentle touch felt like it was melting my heart.
“But that’s not it. So it’s okay, So-hyun.”
What exactly was okay?
“Mom got healthy, too. So it’s okay now.”
Even now, if I stop the reinforcement, your condition will start to deteriorate immediately.
I felt an ominous sensation for some reason.
“You don’t have to do that for Mom while making yourself sick, So-hyun.”
…For a moment, it felt like I’d been hit over the head with a hammer.
She knew?
How did she notice? Since when?
“Looking at your face, I was right! I was just fishing for a reaction!”
…Shit? I fell for that? Is my brain regressing along with my body?
“It was strange. An incurable disease of unknown cause suddenly gets better, while my son gets weaker and weaker—did you think Mom wouldn’t notice~?”
She pulled on my cheek as if I were adorable.
“Our So-hyun’s cheeks are so squishy~”
…I see. So this was only natural.
Honestly, I thought she wouldn’t know.
Whether I was sick in a cramped one-room apartment or in the orphanage, no one ever noticed if I hid my expression.
My only solution was to endure and hold it in alone.
Because I thought that was what a mature and good child did.
Because enduring was natural for me.
“So, So-hyun, you don’t have to do that.”
“…I don’t want to.”
Perhaps because of that, my mouth moved faster than my brain.
“You~ are you really not going to listen to your mother~?”
I only need to do a little more; I can’t stop here.
Strictly speaking, I didn’t even answer how I knew, so what is she going to do if I just ignore her?
“I didn’t do anything.”
“…Is that so?”
Just a little more, and I can cure you completely.
Then I can recover too, so there won’t be any problem.
Telling her now would only cause worry.
So, for now, this is the right way.
Making decisions on my own is a bad habit of mine. But I can’t help it this time.
* * *
I celebrated my ninth birthday.
For me, birthdays were an image associated with more bad memories than good ones, but that changed after I possessed this body.
I suddenly recalled the birthdays from my previous life.
— Ha-neul is a good boy, so you can stay by yourself, right?
I hadn’t even known what it was, but when I asked my mother about the word ‘birthday’ I saw in a book, that was the answer I got.
I was abandoned on my birthday the following year, so it wasn’t a very good memory.
After entering the orphanage, we had something like a birthday celebration on a set day every month, but it was just wearing a cone hat, singing a song, and that was it.
Before Teacher Cathy came, even that would usually end with the drunk director throwing a fit while we were singing.
Things got a bit better during my school years or after I started working part-time, but I remember feeling like crap until I was almost twenty because the memory of the day I was abandoned would always resurface.
That was why every birthday since being possessed into this world felt incredibly awkward.
Parties, gifts, congratulations, and the sensation of someone caring for me were all foreign concepts.
Above all, my mother’s cooking—she had insisted on cooking herself now that she was healthy—was memorable.
The braised short ribs that were made with only soy sauce and sugar, no water.
The bloated japchae seasoned only with salt.
The soaked seaweed that claimed to be beef seaweed soup.
Every single dish was tasteless, yet they were memorable enough that I forced myself to finish them all.
Lately, I’ve been thinking.
Maybe this is what happiness is.
I’ll return once I work hard and see the end of this world, but until then, maybe it’s okay to indulge in a moment of peace.
Maybe that’s why.
Maybe that’s why I was punished.
For forgetting my original purpose and focusing on other things, for daring to act like I truly belonged in a seat I stole from someone else.
Or maybe it was just the price of letting my guard down.
Despite knowing what kind of world this was, maybe it was because I deluded myself into thinking I was doing well and didn’t need to hurry.
As if the damn world was congratulating me on my ninth birthday.
As if telling me never to let my guard down and to always keep my senses sharp.
The world turned upside down.
It was the Department Store Terror Incident.
On the day my mother led me out, saying she would buy me a gift on behalf of my sister, who had just become a middle schooler, and my father, who was busy with work—that was the day the terror attack broke out.
Ah, seriously.
This is why.
I hate my birthday.
* * *
Drip.
I opened my eyes because of something hot and red soaking my face.
There was a fishy scent of iron.
“Ah, So-hyun, you’re awake?”
At first, I couldn’t understand the situation because of the incredibly bright greeting.
A smiling face.
Lips turned pale blue.
Ah, right. There was a terror attack.
Whether she was caught in something or injured by the debris of the collapsed building, she was bleeding from her head while holding me in her arms.
…Even if she was getting better, she wasn’t at a level where she could endure such a wound yet.
“Let go.”
My head is dizzy.
Am I hurt too?
No, it doesn’t matter if I’m hurt or not. I have to save her.
This time, I can keep from losing her. I can’t give up.
“So-hyun, it looks like we can get out if we go just a little further this way. Mom will try a little harder.”
Don’t lie.
“I said, let go.”
You look like you’re about to collapse from a lack of strength right now, so why are you acting so high and mighty worrying about me?
I can survive on my own, so take care of your own body.
Eventually, she collapsed.
She had pushed forward through sheer will, but reality is never that easy.
“…Ugh…! Pant, pant. It’s okay, So-hyun. Mom is really okay. I’m just a little tired. Let’s get out of here quickly. It’s dangerous here.”
Seeing her still smiling even after collapsing made my brain creak as if it had stopped working.
I don’t know what to do.
Should I use reinforcement, put her on my back, and run at full speed?
I’m not in my right mind either, and if I did something like that, not only me, but she wouldn’t be able to endure it in her condition.
No.
…Actually, there is a way.
If I use the life force I’ve been gathering for years to save her, we can escape this crisis.
But if I do that, will I ever be able to gather enough life force to restore her again?
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
At the worst possible timing, a disgusting and unpleasant voice reached my ears.
“Wow, you’re fast. How did you run all the way here? The boss told us to catch every single one, so this is troublesome~”
It wasn’t just one person. I could hear several of them snickering with annoying voices.
A trembling hand gripped mine tightly.
“So-hyun.”
Don’t speak.
“Do you see the exit over there?”
I told you not to speak.
“Mom will hold them back, so So-hyun, go over there and bring someone to help.”
Even though she was speaking carefully so the villains wouldn’t hear, her tone was resolute.
“Actually, Mom is stronger than you think, you know? So I can hold out until So-hyun comes back.”
Don’t make me laugh.
Seriously, don’t make me laugh.
You’re a liar in the end, too.
If you’re going to be a liar, you might as well act like one.
Abandon me and run away. Make it so I don’t even have any lingering regrets.
“No.”
“…So-hyun. Right, of course. I shouldn’t lie at a time like this. Mom is sorry, So-hyun. I wish I could save you like the heroes do.”
No, I don’t want to hear you say you’re sorry.
The villains, who had approached nearby, were looking at us as if something were hilarious.
She blocked my path.
“I’m sorry I’m a mother who can only do this much for you.”
“Don’t. Why are you going that far?”
“Huh? It’s obvious. Because I’m your mom. What’s so strange about a mother doing this for her son?”
She answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world with a trembling voice, but I knew better than anyone that it wasn’t natural at all.
I can live even without you. So move. No, in the first place, I’m not even your real son.
I’m clearly not the real one, yet I felt like I was going to cry.
“Is the melodrama over?”
“Don’t worry. We won’t kill you. Your mom is quite pretty.”
What do you call this? The necessary words wouldn’t come to my creaking brain.
As they approached, the words I had been slowly forgetting resurfaced, and my heart turned cold.
…Ah, I see. It’s malice.
That’s right.
“I wonder if a kid like him knows about that yet? I heard kids these days are fast and know everything.”
Right.
The world has been a bit warm lately.
I had forgotten because life was somewhat bearable.
I gripped the necklace around my neck tightly.
I remembered that the world was originally a damn cold place for me.
The accumulated life force flowed into my body.
“Don’t touch her. You sons of bitches.”
The villains were a bit surprised to hear a curse come out of my mouth, but they immediately mocked me.
You pieces of trash, you’re just mob-character puppets who aren’t even real characters.
Why are you fucking with me again?
“I’ll make sure you don’t die easily.”
It’s still okay.
I’ll use exactly thirty percent. If I use thirty percent and preserve the rest, it’ll be fine.
Then I can save her before it’s too late.