Chapter 139: The End of the Festival. Residual Heat.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 139: The End of the Festival. Residual Heat.
After embarrassingly shedding tears during the dance, I made an excuse and headed out to the backyard.
If I had just wailed openly, the kids would have teased me, asking if I was scared because of a nightmare. But because a single tear had just… trickled down my face out of nowhere, I couldn’t even crack a joke to lighten the mood.
They really are people I’m both sorry to and grateful for.
“Whew.”
Past the backyard, a familiar set of stairs appeared.
If I climbed these stairs, I’d reach a high rooftop—the perfect spot to view the night sky. Back when I used to play “exploration” with Cheon Yu-hak, we weren’t allowed up there because we were “just kids.”
Well, I wasn’t heading up there to see the night view this time, though.
It was just a hunch.
I didn’t know why, but I felt like someone would be there.
It didn’t matter if I was wrong, but I hoped I was right. Driven by that simple intuition, I continued up the stairs.
It was early summer now.
The night air had grown quite warm, and the wind blowing harder as I climbed higher felt refreshing.
Stepping through the open door, I saw a girl sitting there.
Perhaps she had been watching the parade.
“Ah, hello?”
“…Oh, hello.”
Chae Yu-jin.
She still had that neat impression, her hair tied back low.
She was the girl I strangely kept running into whenever something big concluded.
The girl who gave off a vibe that somehow resembled my friend.
The girl who seemed to hover around me while desperately maintaining her distance.
And, in my memories, she was the new body you had fashioned for yourself.
“The birthday party is in full swing; why are you in a place like this? Ah, is the dancing too much pressure for you?”
I see you still don’t want this relationship to end. Maybe you don’t realize I’ve regained my memories.
Or maybe it really is just my delusion.
I had to check.
“Seo-ha.”
Her movements stop. She shakes her head. It’s a clear gesture of denial.
“Did you even forget my name? That’s really too much. It’s me. Chae Yu-jin…”
“Seo-ha. You know. That’s why I came here. Let’s stop this.”
The annoying, beaming smile vanishes from her face. In its place, resentment and venom begin to flicker in her eyes.
It really is you. And for some reason, you’ve returned as well.
I had a feeling.
“…Don’t say my name with that mouth.”
“What are you talking about? Are we not on a first-name basis? There’s no one else here to listen anyway. If it bothers you that much, you can call me Ha-neul.”
The Power of the Heart grips my heart tightly.
It had been sulking ever since it realized I had deceived it, but now that its original master had appeared before its eyes, it must be flustered. It’s wavering, unsure of who its true master is, looking just like a confused puppy.
“Let’s talk.”
“…Stop pretending to be Ha-neul in front of me. I won’t be fooled.”
“…What are you saying? Are you a crazy bitch?”
If I’m not me, then who am I? Did you hide some “Ha-neul Second” that I don’t know about?
“I saw it clearly. That day, Ha-neul’s soul was shattered into pieces, unable to withstand the shock of regression. So, you aren’t Ha-neul.”
…How do I explain this? It was all scattering, but someone caught the pieces and put them back together? Can I even say that?
“I’m going to get him back. I’ll get Ha-neul back no matter what it takes. I won’t be fooled by a fake like you. That person promised me. If I tear this world down once more and sacrifice you, Ha-neul will be returned to me.”
“…You’re not the type to fall for something like that. I’m right here, so why are you trying to sacrifice me to find me? Your logic is a bit weird, don’t you think?”
I didn’t know who sent her back through regression, but I could tell they had a pretty nasty personality.
“Yeah, my soul was shattered. But someone stitched it back together. You know that too, which is why you created that noise to try and block my memories, isn’t it?”
“No, I just blocked them because I didn’t want to see you pretending to be Ha-neul. I knew if you had your memories, you’d act exactly like you are now.”
“Liar. But are you really going to protect that idea so desperately?”
“Do you know about the Ship of Theseus?”
Suddenly?
“I mean, I know it.”
It’s the paradox where the Greek hero Theseus’s ship decays over time and has its parts replaced and repaired until more of the ship consists of new parts than the original. The question is whether it can still be called the Ship of Theseus.
“Is that so? Then this should be easy to understand. The price for regression was insufficient, so even if the shattered soul fragments were scraped together, parts were lost. If the form was restored by forcibly fitting in other pieces, can that really be called the same person?”
What on earth is she talking about now?
“I’m sorry, but you’re the one being fooled. There’s no one else mixed into me.”
“Right, you would think that. Kang So-hyun.”
“…You’re really going to keep this up.”
“You might not know, but I can see the shape of your soul all too clearly. Should I really see you as Ha-neul when you’ve already become closer to Kang So-hyun than him?”
“That’s just a side effect of regression. You heard about it too.”
“I’m going back. I’m going to reclaim him completely. Do you know how much I received? Because of someone like me, things ended up like that. I won’t allow Ha-neul to become a half-baked version of himself just for the sake of my pathetic writing.”
Seriously. I can’t get through to her. And here I was, dying of happiness to see her.
“Fine, okay. Let’s concede a hundred steps and say you’re right. Let’s say I’m not Ha-neul, but a ‘Mock Ha-neul’ with a 20% infusion of Kang So-hyun.”
Man, fighting over useless things with her was always a dead end.
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
“I told you. I’m going to destroy this world once more. And I will reclaim you in your perfect form.”
“Hey, you just said you were going to reclaim me.”
“Ugh…!? That’s just a figure of speech!”
Look at her face turning red. She knows it too, she’s just acting out because she’s embarrassed.
“Don’t be like that. Just come over here.”
“…What?”
“It might have been a world we created at first, but it’s not just that anymore. The people here are all living beings. Just because we made them doesn’t mean we have the right to destroy them.”
A parent has no right to harm their child.
Therefore, even if we were the Creator and her friend, we had no right to ruin this world.
“Let’s try again. I’m confident this time. We can just stop the destruction of the world. And then…”
“I can’t.”
“Hey, don’t let your pride get in the way…”
“I said I can’t…!”
A sound that was almost a scream escaped her.
“Listen. I’m going to speak to you as Ha-neul just for this moment. Listen well. Do you think I want to do this…? But I’m telling you, it’s impossible now! If this is the only way to get you back, what am I supposed to do?”
“…What do you mean? If we save the world again—”
“That’s what you think. You already paid the price and had your wish granted. There was even damage in the process. You’re now closer to being a resident of this novel’s world than the original one.”
“…So?”
“Even if you save the world again, you can’t go back. You have to keep living in this novel’s world as Kang So-hyun.”
…Oh. I see.
Actually, I had expected as much from the moment I regained my memories. I was hoping for some kind of miracle, but I guess that was too much to ask.
“What if the promise to return you is a lie? Then what? This is the only possibility left before my eyes. What if there’s another way? What if you break down even further while I’m busy looking for it?”
“Even so, this isn’t right.”
“To me, more than my failed novel—no, honestly, I don’t care if this is a real world. You are the most important thing to me. I can’t go on without you. I only have you left. You ended up like that because of me. I won’t hesitate this time. I won’t be late.”
I thought I could persuade her somehow, but she’s so stubborn.
“…Is there really no other way?”
“Absolutely not.”
It’s probably because just as I know what’s in her heart, she knows what’s in mine.
“You’ve always been like this. Why can’t you just give up on things that don’t matter? You can’t even say you like the things you actually like, yet you stick your nose into everyone else’s business. You Lilac-like bastard.”
“Wow, that’s a low blow.”
“You have no intention of going back, do you?”
“…Well, if there’s no way, I guess I can’t help it.”
“What do you mean there’s no way? We’ve done it once before. I’m telling you, we just have to destroy it again! Fine, you come to my side instead. Let’s do it again.”
“That’s not a solution. If I were going to do that, I wouldn’t have come back in the first place.”
“Is this fake world more important than me?”
“This isn’t a matter of what’s more important. And it’s not fake anymore. The moment parts exist that we didn’t even set, this became a world where real people live. We don’t have the right to do as we please.”
“Do I look like I care?”
“Then who should care?”
Negotiations had failed.
“…I’ve already dealt with the Twelve Zodiacs anyway. The Authority of the Creator was scattered all over the world when I regressed. How are you going to destroy the world?”
“I still have some Authority left, you know. And don’t act like you know all the settings of this novel. There are settings I never showed you.”
“…Huh? Really? That’s a bit hurtful.”
“Ah, sorry. But there was too much embarrassing stuff written in that part… No, what is a fake even talking about?”
“You said you’d think of me as the real Ha-neul just a second ago.”
“…It’s over. This is gross. Stop imitating him.”
Ah, if I’m not careful, I’m going to laugh. What should I do? She seems to think she’s being cold and menacing, but this is barely any different from our usual bickering.
“Telling me not to imitate myself… what kind of logic is that?”
“Anyway, there are plenty of settings you don’t know. Be prepared. I’ll do anything to get you back.”
“Fine. I’ll do anything to make sure you don’t break down any further, too.”
We stared at each other for a moment. I was the one to break the silence.
“Are you not coming to the Academy anymore?”
“…Obviously. How can I go back when my identity’s been blown?”
“I’ll pretend I don’t know, so come whenever you want. I want to see you. If you don’t want to treat me as Ha-neul, I’ll treat you as Miss Chae Yu-jin.”
“…Don’t make me laugh. You care more about the novel than me, Mr. Kang So-hyun.”
“Don’t you make me laugh. It’s because you’re precious to me—because nothing is more precious than you—that I’m doing this so you don’t do something you’ll regret.”
When I said she was precious, her face, already flushed from the wind, turned even redder.
Yeah, of course.
“We’re friends, after all.”
“I hate you. Go away. You haven’t changed a bit since the day we first met…! Idiot…! Dummy…!”
Hmm, I feel like if I reach out now, I might actually catch her.
The moment I took a step toward her with that thought.
[I am sorry. That is far enough.]
A red-haired woman in a butler’s outfit blocked the space between us.
There was no way I could forget that masked appearance.
“Oh, it’s been a while for you too, hasn’t it?”
[Yes. I believe you mistook me for her at first. Hmm, I see now. You truly cannot be compared to how you were that day.]
“That may be true, but even so, I don’t think I’m a match for you.”
Actually, a method had occurred to me when I regained my memories, but it was a final resort with even less of a future than synchronization with Sun Wukong. I didn’t want to use it without knowing her hand.
[Indeed. I did not come to fight today either, so I shall only be taking her with me.]
“Wow, are you really not coming with me? Don’t act tough when you’re just going to cling to me and cry later~ ‘Miss Chae Yu-jin’.”
“…You, really, being so sly even at a time like this. You’re the one who will be doing the regretting. ‘Mr. Kang So-hyun’.”
[…Shall I capture him for you? If you wish, please ask.]
“Forget it. I don’t have many favors left. I don’t plan on wasting one on something like this.”
[That is a pity.]
“Hey, is it okay to talk about your limited favors so openly in front of me?”
“…Ugh, I don’t know!”
The moment our Author was swept into the Red Butler’s arms, the masked woman gave me a small, polite nod.
And in the blink of an eye, silence settled over the rooftop as if no one had ever been there.
“Gone already. How petty.”
You might have felt like you were watching me all this time, but for me, it felt like we were meeting after a truly long time.
Well, anyway, a lot of my questions have been answered.
I wondered why she was acting like such a brat, but her goal wasn’t to protect, but to destroy.
She was pushing me away, calling me a fake, even though she didn’t even believe it herself.
“…Seriously. Talk about being as stubborn as I am. We really are friends.”
Hey, don’t just leave so heartlessly. At least throw a joke my way.
“You know, that thing we used to do. ‘Next time we meet, we’re enemies.’ That kind of thing. Huh?”
I’m seriously disappointed.
* * *
When I returned to the hall, the dance time seemed to have ended, and some kind of talent show was underway.
“Ah, you’re finally here.”
“Hey, so why exactly did you cry, So-hyun? You have to give us some kind of answer so we can comfort you or something.”
“Ah~ I just had a nightmare and got scared.”
When I gave a half-hearted excuse, Ha-ni pouted with a dissatisfied look, but she didn’t pry any further.
“But wasn’t a talent show not in the original plan?”
“Well, since things are already ruined, Father said we might as well have a grand time.”
“Are there prizes on the line?”
“It was decided on a whim, so probably not?”
“Well, knowing Father’s personality, he won’t just brush it off.”
While Lilac and Cheon Yu-hak were answering, I scanned the stage.
Everyone was dancing or singing, but the quality wasn’t exactly high.
“Should I go up?”
“…Huh?”
“Really…?”
Lee Yu-na and Kang Ha-ni—no, not just those two, but everyone looked at me with incredibly shocked faces.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that? I feel like doing stuff like this sometimes too, you know?”
When I signed up to participate, Cheon Mu-jin called my name as if he were delighted and guided me onto the stage.
Well, I’m not exactly a great singer.
My friend—Seo-ha—always told me that no one but her could stand my singing, so I should just stick to songs where I scream my lungs out.
But on a day like this, one quiet song should be fine, right?
It’s not like everyone else was great either.
I’ll just sing quietly enough to let this lingering, murky feeling wash away.
A little while after I started singing, the noisy hall gradually fell silent.
Am I that bad?
After finishing the song, I bowed slowly and stepped down, and a beat later, a burst of applause erupted.
Everyone’s so generous. To think they’d applaud this much. Is it praise for someone who had the courage to sing despite being bad?
But when I actually got back from singing, everyone was staring at me with blank faces, as if they were possessed by ghosts.
…Seriously, what’s with them? Are they shaming me for being bad?
Anyway, Cheon Yu-hak’s long yet short birthday festival came to an end.
It was time to return to daily life.
“Why are you so good at singing!?”
“When you went to karaoke with me before, you only sang songs where you screamed!”
“Whoa, So-hyun! Just one song! Please sing just one more for me!”
…Or maybe not?