Chapter 152: Fully Revived! Perfect Kim Yoo-Sung!
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 152: Fully Revived! Perfect Kim Yoo-Sung!
Dazzling sunlight poured down from above.
"......!"
Clatter!
The moment I realized this, I shot up from my bed in surprise.
Outside the window, the sun was already high in the sky.
Normally, I would have been out exercising at 4 a.m., but for the first time in a while, I had overslept.
Having gone to bed completely naked last night just in case, I hurriedly reached for the clothes draped over a chair.
And then I froze.
My arm, which had thinned to the likeness of a twig due to the drug's side effects, had returned to its original log-like thickness.
"No way."
It had only been a day since Saya moved out of my body.
And yet, the effects were already showing.
Perhaps it was thanks to all the beef and eel I ate yesterday.
'First, I should get dressed.'
Instead of the old clothes I had been wearing temporarily, I put on my original ones.
A perfect fit.
This was how it was supposed to be, but I felt surprisingly emotional.
I never thought I'd experience the cliché of not knowing what you've got 'til it's gone.
After throwing on some comfortable clothes, I went out to the living room, but there was no sign of anyone.
They must have gone down to the restaurant to prepare for opening.
I had been deliberately avoiding my parents since coming home, so it had been almost a week since I'd last seen them.
Having unintentionally become an unfilial son, I went down to the shop on the first floor to at least show my face.
"Oh! Son! You seemed sick. Are you sure you don't need more sleep?"
That was the first thing my mother said when she saw me.
"Me?"
It was the first I'd heard of it. As I tilted my head in confusion, my mother took off the towel on her head and spoke.
"I heard a strange noise at dawn and opened your door to check. You were groaning in your sleep, so I just quietly closed the door and left."
Thankfully, it seemed my mother had only seen me after my body had returned to normal.
Otherwise, she wouldn't be speaking with such a calm expression.
I felt a secret sense of relief and realized that groaning in my sleep must have been the reason I overslept.
"Shouldn't you go to the hospital? You were sweating a lot."
Ever since I started working out, my body had become so healthy that I never got sick, no matter the season. But my mother was worried about me first and foremost.
"It's Saturday, so I'm not sure if any clinics are open. I'll go if I can find one."
"Okay. Good idea. Go on up and get some rest."
"Alright. I'll just go see Dad for a second."
After checking in with my father in the kitchen, I spoke to my mother before heading back upstairs.
"I'm home."
My mother looked at me with a "Huh?" before seeming to understand what I meant. She gave a faint smile and replied.
"Welcome home."
*
The long, long summer vacation.
And now, its end was just around the corner.
Looking back, this summer vacation seems to have been far more eventful than last year's.
It meant my once-narrow circle of friends had widened, but it also meant that a significant portion of the original story's plot, which I was unaware of, had already progressed.
'The second semester will surely be full of even more events.'
After all, the second semester in a romantic comedy is a series of major events.
For second-year students, there was the school trip, the sports festival, and of course, the cultural festival—an absolutely essential element.
Perhaps because I've read too many rom-coms, the future developments seemed obvious, but there were also parts that worried me.
'The Seven Fist Masters.'
It was mentioned with strange frequency, too much to be just a passing bit of foreshadowing.
There was Ivan Romanov, the first one I defeated; Fuma-senpai's father, Fuma Kotaro; and Li Meiling, who returned to China, is a disciple of the Seven Fist Masters.
I had a feeling that in a Jump-style battle manga plot, the 'Seven Fist Masters' would be the keyword that runs through the entire story.
Besides, Mahes, the Egyptian ghost attached to Ryuji, was no ordinary spirit either.
'I'll have to work even harder once school starts.'
Unintentionally, I barely made it to the gym during summer vacation.
I couldn't help it, with plans popping up about once a week, but to make up for the muscle loss, I'd need to put in twice the usual effort.
I was skipping the gym so often that the director even asked me worriedly if I had lost interest in working out.
I had to sweat to reassure him that wasn't the case.
Especially when I told him I could quit porn but never the gym, the director was so moved he cried, saying he could feel the sincerity in my words.
They say men in their fifties get an increase in female hormones and become more emotional, and it seems to be true.
To think a guy who looks like the strongest man in the world would be bawling his eyes out.
Anyway, that's enough about the gym. With school about to start, I had one very important task left.
Finishing my summer vacation homework.
I thought I'd gotten a lot done during the first week of vacation, but there was still a fair amount left.
It would probably take half a day to finish it all.
'But before that, I have to go pick up Saya.'
It's already been three days since I temporarily left her with Sasha, who knows about the underworld.
It would be best to get her back quickly, before anything happens to Sasha's body.
I stopped by the restaurant and told my mother I was going out for a bit to meet a friend.
"Will you be late?"
"No, I'll only be an hour or two. I'll be back by evening at the latest."
After telling her that, I headed to the subway station to go to the hotel in Akihabara where Sasha was staying.
*
"I'm here to see Alexandra Ivanovna Romanova."
"Ah, yes. I'll show you the way."
The person at the hotel front desk was the same one from three days ago, but their reaction was like night and day.
When I came in my younger form, they had looked at me as if I were admirable, but now they seemed a bit intimidated.
Anyway, when I took the elevator and arrived at the suite on the top floor, Boris was already there to greet me.
The last time I visited, it felt like I was standing before a giant stone statue, but now, I felt nothing of the sort.
"This form suits you better."
Boris said, tossing out a casual compliment, then turned and started walking away without a backward glance.
He seemed embarrassed, from what I could tell.
Following Boris, I arrived in the living room.
I was shocked to see Sasha, her hair now as white as snow.
"Ah, you're here, Kim Yoo-Sung."
Sasha herself, however, greeted me with a nonchalant expression.
"What on earth happened? And where's Saya?"
Sasha waved her hand as if it were nothing and said,
"We have plenty of time, so don't be so impatient. It's a bit of a long story."
She said this with a chuckle and drained the glass that was on the table.
At first I thought it was water, but when I caught the scent, it seemed to be alcohol.
"Is that vodka?"
"Yeah. Want a glass?"
Sasha asked, holding out the glass, which was stained with her lipstick.
"No, I'll pass."
I black out after just a few cans of beer; there was no way I could drink something stronger than that.
"Alright. Suit yourself."
Sasha said, tilting the glass back again.
"So, what happened to Saya?"
"She's right in front of you."
"What?"
"She's inside my body right now. Saya."
Sasha said this, poking her chest with a finger, and then explained what had happened.
"I found out while spending time with Saya that we're more compatible than I expected. So, I tried a full possession as a test. And what do you know? I could use her powers."
As she said this, she smiled brightly and suddenly dropped the glass she was holding.
Huh?
The glass, which should have fallen to the floor and shattered, stopped in mid-air as if by magic.
"This is Saya's power, 'Freeze.' It can freeze objects, living things, and even time itself for a short while."
"Even time?"
I realized that when I fought Saya, the reason my body kept stopping periodically was because of this Freeze ability.
Forget that, stopping time? That's a completely broken ability.
"The duration seems to be about five seconds at most, but honestly, even that is just ridiculous, isn't it?"
"...You're right about that."
Judging by her yin energy alone, I knew she was a ghost on the level of a great demon, but I never imagined she had a time-stop ability.
If a character like this appeared in a battle manga, wouldn't she be boss-level?
"But there's just one problem."
"What is it?"
"It's freezing cold."
Sasha said, shivering, then poured more vodka into her empty glass and drank.
Now that I looked closer, it seemed she wasn't drinking to get drunk, but to survive.
"Then you should just undo the possession."
"I waited like this because I wanted to surprise you when you came."
She certainly did surprise me, though in a different way.
A perfectly fine girl's hair had suddenly turned pure white.
Then again, it was blue to begin with, so maybe "perfectly fine" isn't the right word?
"Anyway, you look like you're struggling, so stop now."
Sasha nodded obediently and closed her eyes.
Then, a white, soul-like form slowly emerged from her body.
It was Saya, who had been invisible until now.
「What took you so long?」
"I came exactly on the day we agreed on, didn't I?"
I gave the pouting Saya an incredulous look before letting out a small sigh.
"Anyway, let's go. I have to do my homework when I get home."
Saya stared at me as if I were ridiculous, then let out a small laugh and drifted closer.
「Alright. Let's go back.」
To your home.