Chapter 299: Sun Wukong’s Splendid Return
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 299: Sun Wukong’s Splendid Return
Of course, the Authority didn’t back down without a fight.
It struggled in its own way, but Sun Wukong suppressed the rampaging power as if it were nothing.
“Even if it’s you, a mere fragment won’t be enough to face me now. So stop causing trouble and get back inside.”
The Authority, which had been thrashing until the very end, finally succumbed to Sun Wukong’s overwhelming pressure and returned to its original place.
Even when three major Artifacts had resisted desperately, it had been no use. Yet, the moment she returned, she suppressed the Authority with ease. It was a truly overwhelming display of power.
She was always cool, but today, she looked exceptionally magnificent.
However, for some reason, the magnificent Sun Wukong approached me and suddenly swept me up into her arms.
“…What are you doing all of a sudden?”
“Because of you, I ended up merging with that Gourd fellow. I’m just looking for a little bit of revenge.”
…Revenge? It’s a bit embarrassing, sure, but how is this revenge?
“Hmm? Well, the brainwashing has weakened, and they should be arriving soon, shouldn’t they?”
For a moment, I wondered what on earth she meant. But the second I saw her mischievous smile, it wasn’t hard to deduce what she was thinking.
“A return needs to be flashy to have a proper impact, after all.”
The brainwashing had weakened because the villain had focused it all on me. Lilac had gone to call the seniors. The others must have regained their senses by now.
If they had seen the Authority flowing out of me earlier and the golden light Sun Wukong emitted, they would undoubtedly be swarming this way.
In other words, everyone was about to see me being held by Sun Wukong.
“No, let me go…! Why are you doing this so suddenly!?”
“Not a chance. Just quietly accept the fate that’s about to befall you.”
What is with this person—no, this Artifact? We haven’t seen each other in ages, so why has she suddenly become so sadistic?
“Well, don’t worry. The revenge is half-joke. I just feel like I need to wake them up a bit.”
Oh, so ‘half-joke’ means ‘half-serious,’ right? More importantly, wake them up?
“…Wake them up?”
“Yes, wake them up. Everyone’s mind is so lax that they couldn’t even escape a low-level Illusion Formation and fell into a fantasy.”
…I mean, well. Considering even people with decent resistance fell for it, I don’t think it was a matter of mental strength.
“To sharpen a lax mind, there’s nothing better than the threat of losing something precious.”
Does it really work like that? And wait, is that ‘precious thing’ me?
I couldn’t just stay like this, so I struggled to escape her arms before the others arrived. But Sun Wukong didn’t budge an inch. With a radiant smile, she delivered my death sentence.
“They’ve arrived.”
Judging by the heavy sound of approaching footsteps, it wasn’t just a few people.
While I was frantically trying to think of a way out, the closed rooftop door finally burst open. Familiar faces rushed in, looking quite worse for wear.
Excluding Baek Seol and Master, who looked relatively fine, Lilac was the first to arrive. His shirt had been transformed into a rather ‘casual’ design—likely shredded during whatever happened.
Next, Luna arrived, flying through the sky with Wolf.
Following them, Cathy Noona arrived by scaling the wall, carrying the unconscious Chairperson and Professor Park A-ram on her shoulders. She was currently in her twin-tailed state.
Ha-ni was the last to arrive, perhaps because she had been busy fixing her male disguise. In her haste, while she had bound her chest, she was still wearing a skirt.
One commonality was that while the brainwashing had weakened enough for them to come help me, it hadn’t vanished completely. Their eyes were still strangely hazy.
Ah, of course, the people who hadn’t been brainwashed in the first place were perfectly fine.
Wow, it’s a total mess.
Well, I mentioned an order, but they all arrived almost simultaneously. Some came up the stairs, some flew, and some crawled up the walls.
[You are all late.]
Sun Wukong’s voice echoed from above. When I looked up, I saw she was wearing a red ogre mask. I had no idea when she’d put it on.
[For people called heroes to be this slow… Since you were so late, I simply reached out my hand instead.]
So, to describe the situation as objectively as possible:
There was the brainwashing villain trembling in fear, me being held princess-style in Sun Wukong’s arms a short distance away, and the group who had rushed up and were now panting for breath while Sun Wukong stood there enjoying their stares.
Looking closer, everyone’s expressions were incredibly grim. They probably thought I was in a dangerous situation.
Fearing the impending aftermath, I tried to tell them I was safe. But the moment I tried to move, Sun Wukong poked her fingers into my body at an angle the others couldn’t see. I couldn’t move a muscle, let alone speak.
What the hell, this is terrifying.
— Don’t worry, I only sealed your paralysis and mute points. Let me play a little longer—no, I mean, I’ll release you after I wake them up.
You just said ‘play.’ I heard you say ‘play’ loud and clear! I know you’re laughing under that mask…!
[Indeed, you all still look dazed. First, I should break this annoying Illusion Formation before we talk.]
She declared she would break the formation. Then, as if it were the easiest thing in the world, Sun Wukong concentrated mana into her toes and lightly tapped the rooftop floor. Tap.
However, just because the action was light didn’t mean its impact was.
The powerful mana that radiated from her succeeded in completely blowing away the faint lingering effects of the brainwashing.
She didn’t use a complex spell or an undoing ritual; she simply crushed it with pure force. In a way, that made it even more impressive. Even if it was already weakened, breaking this type of talent with brute force is no easy feat.
As the remnants of the brainwashing vanished and clarity returned to their eyes, they inevitably realized what Sun Wukong had just done. Their gazes turned toward her with something bordering on awe and fear.
[Hmph. You still look like a mess, but at least now you’re fit for a conversation.]
At Sun Wukong’s merciless remark, the faces of those in disheveled clothing turned bright red.
So, what exactly is she planning? She’s not going to just dump this on me and leave, is she? Honestly, if she leaves it to me, I have no confidence in cleaning this up.
…No, surely Sun Wukong wouldn’t be that thoughtless. She must have a solution I can’t even imagine, which is why she’s playing this prank.
Sun Wukong walked straight toward Cathy Noona and held me out to her.
“…Eh?”
[What are you doing? Take him.]
…She’s just giving me back? No, saying ‘giving me back’ sounds a bit weird.
“What is the meaning of this…?”
[I told you to take him. Since he fell into danger because of your incompetence and I personally saved him, the least you can do is receive him properly.]
Oh, for the first time in a long while, the light vanished from Cathy Noona’s eyes.
[What, do you feel wronged? If it weren’t for me, something terrible might have happened. Do you have something to say?]
“…No, I don’t feel wronged. Whatever your motive may be, it is a fact that you saved So-hyun, so I thank you for that.”
Though she didn’t drop her suspicion, she seemed to decide that my safety came first. She carefully took me into her arms.
[Don’t mention it.]
The moment Cathy Noona took me, Sun Wukong gave a mischievous smile, removed her mask, and kissed me on the cheek.
…Wait, what are you doing!?
The moment her lips pulled away, I felt the freedom of my body return. She must have released the pressure points, but did she really have to do it with her lips?
[I only came today to warn you. If you ever put this child in danger again, I will take him away.]
Sun Wukong calmly dodged the punch Cathy Noona threw in a fit of rage. She stood on the rooftop railing, adjusted her mask, and gave the group a light glance.
[Don’t glare at me like that. What if I change my mind and decide I want to claim this boy right now?]
Hey, seriously. How are you going to settle this? You have a way to wrap this up cleanly, right? That’s why you’re joking like this, right…?
[If you don’t want that, then just take good care of him. All you have to do is become strong enough to protect him.]
The Demon King in the red mask began to slowly fade into the scenery.
Wait, why are you disappearing!? You have to fix this before you go…!
[Bear this in mind. This is a chance and a sign of trust I am giving you. The moment I decide you have betrayed my expectations and are unworthy of protecting him…]
No, seriously, is this the end?
[I will come to reclaim what I have entrusted to you without hesitation.]
With those final words, Sun Wukong melted into the landscape and vanished—at least from their sight.
— How was it? My acting is still pretty good, isn’t it?
And then she spoke casually inside my head.
‘Are you actually insane? If you just leave like this, how on earth am I supposed to fix this?’
— Hmm? Fix what? There’s nothing to fix. I settled everything myself.
‘You mean you stirred up a hornets’ nest!’
— No, this is just right. Look at your friends’ expressions.
I slowly opened my eyes to see Cathy Noona smiling kindly at me, and the others looking at me with worry.
Yes, they all had very kind expressions, to varying degrees.
If there was one problem, it was that their eyes were filled with an excessive amount of determination, just like they always were after an incident.
“So-hyun.”
“…Yes? Yes!”
“It’s okay now.”
Yes, I get it, so could you please do something about the fire in your eyes? It looks like something out of a manga. I’m really fine.
“That person was right. To make sure this never happens again, we have to get stronger.”
I felt like I should stop them, but I couldn’t think of a single justification to do so.
— To overcome a new wall, one always needs a clear goal, don’t they?
‘Try saying that without the laughter in your voice!’
Seriously, I thought we were going to have an emotional reunion, but then she pulls a prank like this…!
* * *
And so.
Though she had passed it off as a joke with a laugh, Sun Wukong hadn’t done something entirely useless.
While she was naturally mischievous, and that trait had increased after absorbing the Gourd’s personality, she wasn’t the type to pull such a prank immediately upon waking up for no reason at all.
Immediately after waking, she had caught a faint glimpse of what lay beyond the ‘door’—something she usually couldn’t see because the Authority blocked it.
To protect Kang So-hyun from it, and to ensure his friends wouldn’t be hurt by it, they needed to become much stronger than they were now.
…Well, of course, the fact that she wanted to play a prank was a very strong reason for choosing this specific method.
‘I knew it! You just wanted to mess with them…!’
— I might have to go fetch it soon.
To ensure this fellow, who was currently ranting without knowing her deeper intentions, could continue to exist as Kang So-hyun.
The final Holy Relic her true body had hidden in Hell.
She had a premonition that she might need the smallest prison in the world: the Golden Hoop.
* * *
After the brainwashing wave that had enveloped the Academy vanished and the incident ended, most people felt a sense of disconnect between the bizarre actions they had performed and their suddenly returned common sense.
It was a relief that the incident had concluded before anything truly catastrophic happened.
Meanwhile, in the Academy dormitory, a girl who hadn’t been part of the main event was currently overwhelmed by the sudden return of her sanity.
It was Kim Ga-eul, whose concert plan—which she had spent all day drafting—had just gone up in smoke.
Thanks to phone calls from her friends, she understood that some common-sense-altering or brainwashing villain had been on the loose.
She understood that she had foolishly fallen under the spell and spent the entire day writing a proposal.
However, there was one thing she simply could not accept.
“I worked so freaking hard on this…!”
That was the problem.
The quality of the proposal she had spent the whole day creating was unexpectedly good…!
From the song selection and order to who would play what role on stage and even the dance choreography.
Setting aside whether this was actually a producer’s job, Kim Ga-eul had put her heart and soul into designing the concert stage.
To think this would just turn into a useless piece of paper—could there be anything more tragic?
No, it wasn’t over.
Kim Ga-eul made a vow.
She would save her plan, no matter what.
As she desperately racked her brain, Kim Ga-eul finally realized a certain fact.
After the ranking tournament, the Academy’s Autumn Festival was waiting.
If it was a festival, there would surely be a stage, and she could show off her planning skills(?).
The only problem was…
“Will the others actually agree to do it…?”
Getting permission seemed like it would be incredibly difficult. Nevertheless, Kim Ga-eul decided not to give up.
Rather than giving up without trying, she would rather crash and burn!