Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Childhood Friend (10)
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With our parting as childhood friends set in stone and aware of the Jin Clan’s impending ruin of the Jin Family looming ahead, there was only one thing I could do for her.
To ensure she could overcome the trials ahead on her own and keep surviving no matter what.
I hadn't expected us to part so suddenly, but we'd sparred every single day for three years without fail. It was obvious that the little one standing before me now was far stronger than her original self in the story.
That was why this real-sword duel we were starting now served as the final calibration to prepare her for the ordeals to come.
It was a way to confirm for her that she'd truly internalized everything we'd built together over those three years.
She'd learned it perfectly. All those years of relentless tempering without ever going easy were worth it.
The little one effortlessly dismantled the first and second forms of the Azure Dragon Twelve Swords that I unleashed.
Since I'd shown her the counters with my body rather than words, she could use them naturally without any separate instruction.
Everyone knows that teaching a newbie the right way to catch not fish, but actual meat, is the proper stance of a veteran. Seeing how she'd grown on her own filled me with a sense of accomplishment, and I grinned proudly.
"W-Woo-bin... you..."
"This is my parting gift. You have to survive. Survive, and we'll meet again at the academy."
Whether born with the blood of a prestigious family or an awakened commoner, anyone who became a superhuman had to enter an academy the moment they turned twenty.
This was the International Superhuman Decree, applying to all superhumans. Violate it, and you'd be branded a global pariah, with special superhuman squads dispatched to judge unregistered ones.
No superhuman in existence wanted that to happen, so attending an academy had become an essential part of surviving in the world as one.
"It's a promise. Got it?"
As long as she survived, we'd meet again. And since I wanted to see her once more, I made that pledge of reunion.
"Ugh... Y-Yeah! I got it...! I'll survive, no matter what. I swear I'll keep our promise!"
The little one and I made a promise to reunite seven years later, when we'd both be twenty.
Only then did the usual sparkle return to her deep, darkened eyes.
"Good. Then, one last round."
Seeing her renewed vigor eased my worries, and to help her handle future trials even better, I demonstrated the final sequences of the Azure Dragon Twelve Swords.
The results were, fortunately, more than satisfactory.
※
In the game Reversal Hero Saga, the Jin Family was already a fallen house by the time the story began—a tragic clan of the past.
The cause of their downfall doubled as a mid-boss you'd encounter during the game: the specter of the ruined Jin Family, Jin Yu-ha. Defeating her would summon a hidden servant of the Jin Family, who would reveal why they'd collapsed, letting players learn their tale through the event.
The reason for the Jin Family's fall was Jin Yu-ha's illness.
After giving birth to her second child—the little one—her health began to decline, eventually worsening to the point where she couldn't even venture outside.
In a superhuman society where power equaled rights, a prestigious family's authority stemmed from its strongest pillar: the family head. Jin Yu-ha's illness struck terror into the hearts of the entire Jin Family.
Thus, the year her eldest daughter, Jin Su-jeong, turned eleven and awakened, the family swiftly elevated her as heir to secure their future.
But a year later, when Jin Su-jeong turned twelve and her position as successor seemed all but official, her second daughter, Jin Se-jeong, awakened.
Not only had she awakened at the tender age of ten, but she formed a mana core in just a week and wielded sword aura within a month. Everyone hailed her as the genius who would lead the Jin Family.
In the bleak future overshadowed by the family head's illness, her dazzling talent shone like a ray of sunlight. That was Jin Se-jeong.
But brilliant talent doesn't win universal acclaim.
Jin Su-jeong and her supporters resented Jin Se-jeong's awakening, forcing the girl to seek refuge with the Yang Family to survive.
That was the story as it unfolded in the original.
And if things followed the original path, three years from now, Family Head Jin Yu-ha's condition would deteriorate so much she'd miss a family council meeting.
Clan Regent and the family head's sister—fervent supporter of Jin Su-jeong—Jin Yu-hee would then assume full authority temporarily and demand Jin Se-jeong's return from the Yang Family.
With the justification squarely on the Jin Family's side, the Yangs had no choice but to comply. Upon her return, Jin Se-jeong walked straight into Jin Su-jeong's grasp.
Under Clan Regent Jin Yu-hee's guidance, Jin Su-jeong had honed the Azure Dragon Twelve Swords even further. She challenged Jin Se-jeong to a duel for heir selection, and with no options left, the girl accepted.
In the duel, Jin Su-jeong's blade would claim Jin Se-jeong's life. Family Head Jin Yu-ha would witness that moment, igniting the family's downfall.
A kin-slaying—a heinous transgression that should never occur.
Seeing her own child slaughter her younger sibling for power with her own hands, Jin Yu-ha collapsed before her second daughter's corpse and her triumphant elder sister, descending into madness.
The family head was the clan's pillar and strongest superhuman. When she went berserk, no one could stop her. Thus, the heir selection duel ended with the family losing both daughters to the head's rampage.
The last remnant of the fallen Jin Family, Jin Yu-ha, clutched the corpses of her eldest—whom she'd slain—and her second, killed by her sibling. Guarding a Jin Family reduced to nothing but bodies, she impaled every intruder, becoming a global pariah.
Subjugating that public enemy was the mid-story arc of Reversal Hero Saga: the "The Fall of the Jin Clan."
※
It was a horrific story, and now that I'd become friends with the little one, it was something that absolutely could not be allowed to happen.
That was why I'd sparred with her daily for three years, relentlessly dismantling the Azure Dragon Twelve Swords every time. As a result, she could now effortlessly counter it even with her immature, incomplete body.
A fifteen-year-old's Azure Dragon Twelve Swords? It couldn't even graze our little one's skin anymore.
Bound to the Yang Family as I was, I wouldn't get to witness the epic scene of her schooling her power-hungry sister firsthand, which was a shame—but it was fine.
Our little one was guaranteed to win anyway.
I knew Reversal Hero Saga better than anyone and had coached her one-on-one for three years. Beating some fifteen-year-old kid was a given.
Altering the original story like this might earn me be criticized as a meddling veteran, but now that the game world was reality, such things hardly mattered.
Even if this derailed the original plot down the line, rendering my veteran knowledge obsolete, I wouldn't care a bit.
I'm a veteran of Reversal Hero Saga, after all.
In fact, her survival might unlock new events, which would be far better for a veteran like me.
"Then... thank you so much for the past three years! I'll be going now!"
On the morning she left, pushed to the very back because "males were barred from the inner gate" for some archaic social convention, I watched her bow deeply from the gut to everyone in the family, pouring her heart into it.
Standing at the rear where no one watched me, I freely thrust my fist toward her in encouragement.
It meant she'd face hardships ahead but could overcome them—that she could do it.
"Ngh...!"
As she finished her bow and looked up, she spotted my fist and bit her lip, eyes welling with tears.
But that was it. She held back the sob without crying, even curving her lips into a smile.
Our farewell from the night before was enough, so she turned and walked out the gate without another word.
The little one I'd seen every day—the spark in my life—departed like that, but I felt no regret.
We'd meet again in seven years at the academy.
※
Rumble...
The closed doors swung open, and a girl with flowing blue hair stepped inside.
Her name was Jin Se-jeong, once the Jin Family's second daughter and hailed as the genius who would illuminate their legacy.
But now, she was little more than a sacrificial lamb led to the altar.
"It's been a while, Se-jeong. I've really missed you. I'm serious."
The current de facto powerholder and heir apparent of the Jin Family, Jin Su-jeong, welcomed her little sister with a grin.
Her joy at seeing Jin Se-jeong was genuine.
After all, she could finally eliminate the one obstacle in her way.
"Yes, I've missed you too, Su-jeong unnie."
And the feeling was mutual for Jin Se-jeong.