Chapter 99
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 99
Noon, hot enough to sweat even in short sleeves and shorts.
The Sword Demonkin Han Soo-hyeok was walking through the Cheonggyecheon used-book street.
Leather jacket, jeans. And a cigarette clamped between his lips to boot.
Along the path he walked, hazy cigarette smoke lingered like footprints, but no one stopped him.
The street was empty—
Literally empty of people, with only some yellow mutt trotting around.
"Tsk, tsk. No wonder you can't make any money."
Han Soo-hyeok clicked his tongue quietly, then soon stopped in front of a modestly sized bookstore.
Cheongwol Seorim.
A bookstore that had opened about two months ago, when everyone else was closing down. The name meant "blue night and a forest of books."
Han Soo-hyeok stared wordlessly at the sign, tapped off his cigarette ash, then tucked the butt into a portable ashtray.
He opened the door and went in.
At once, a bell jingled.
The musty smell of old books, the kind of smell that made you think if time itself had a scent, it would smell like this.
And through it, an old connection, faded white, suddenly revealed itself. Han Soo-hyeok's lips twitched in gladness.
"It's been a whi—"
"Heh heh, Bong-sik, you've come."
"Ah, come on."
His expression immediately twisted in irritation.
"Heh heh, that temper of yours hasn't changed."
The old woman gestured with a face full of mischief. She meant for him to come inside instead of standing there.
Han Bong-sik. No, Han Soo-hyeok grumbled as he followed behind the old woman.
"But why a used bookstore, of all things. If you were going to go through the trouble, you should've set up something that actually makes money, like a pawnshop."
"What would an old woman about to die do with money?"
"Now, now. Don't say things like that. The older you get, the more you need money, I'm telling you. And remember, you said that same thing about dying ten years ago."
The two traded remarks back and forth as if they had met just yesterday, then sat down at a table set up in one corner of the bookstore.
On top of it sat two cups of tea, steam rising gently, as if she had known he would visit at this very hour today.
"It's hot as hell......"
"What was that?"
"Nothing. I won't be staying long anyway."
Han Soo-hyeok subtly pushed the teacup aside, then got straight to the point.
"It's him, right?"
The old woman nodded silently.
The owner of Box 905, Row 11.
His appearance might have changed, but the traces of his legacy didn't go anywhere.
"Did you hide it? Or was there just no chance?"
Han Soo-hyeok continued in a voice tinged with dissatisfaction.
"Neither, you fool. It was something he'd come to know naturally. Why go out of my way to contact him?"
"No, but still, you should've at least let me know."
"Heh heh, if I had, would you have come here?"
The old woman smiled meaningfully and ran her hand over the teacup.
Only then did Han Soo-hyeok grasp her intent.
"As expected......"
She was a crafty old fox.
She could have forced him, yet she hadn't. She had simply waited for him to come on his own two feet.
This was, in a sense, a form of self-preservation.
At this point, when faith in the covenant was growing as faint as the years that had slipped away, this was a decisive move by the covenant's guardian to gather its executors.
If she had forced it, resentment would only have grown, and covenant or not, they would likely have refused.
Han Soo-hyeok himself would have done the same.
"So what now?"
Han Soo-hyeok spoke with a more sullen expression than before.
"What do you mean, what now? We proceed according to the prophecy. There are still eight months left."
"You mean the test?"
"That's right. If he's qualified, he'll survive. If not......"
"......?"
"We recover it and dispose of it."
The old woman's voice was low and resolute, as if she had become a different person.
"You said you'd gotten old, but you're still the same......"
But to Han Soo-hyeok, this was the more familiar sight.
This was the old woman's true face.
The guardian of the covenant and the leader of its executors. Libra.
"And in that regard, I have a favor to ask. It seems the main branch has cooked up something interesting."
The old woman lifted her teacup, wet her throat briefly, then launched into a long explanation.
* * *
Monday, individual training lecture.
At the point when the month-long video analysis class was wrapping up, I sat in the back seat that was practically my assigned spot, pretending to look at the screen.
In reality, I was chewing over three words floating just above it.
Pawn, Booster, and Yoo So-young.
What connection could they possibly have?
"Hoo."
But all I felt was a sense of wrongness. There was no answer that felt perfectly right.
No matter how much I thought about it, there seemed to be no point of contact between those things and Yoo So-young.
The Yoo So-young I knew wasn't the kind of scheming person who would distort the original story's development and experiment on people just because she had tasted failure.
So it was easier on my mind to swap out the last word.
Pawn, Booster, and the white coat.
If I didn't jump to the conclusion that it was Yoo So-young, the sense of wrongness disappeared and the relationships became clear.
Of course, whether Yoo So-young was the white coat or not—
I still had to consider whether projecting a figure from a previous round onto the current round was even the right approach......
"This is hard."
Seriously hard.
Deriving something from limited information is no easy task.
There were dozens of possible cases, and trying to work through them one by one made me feel like my brain cells were burning up.
"Cadet Park Ha-yul."
......But.
"Cadet Park Ha-yul?!"
Me?
When my name was called twice in a row, light flashed and I snapped back to reality.
I lowered the hand that had been propping up my chin and quickly looked at the professor.
"Your video analysis report still hasn't been submitted. You do know it's due tomorrow?"
Ah, that.
I'd kept forgetting about it, and only now remembered.
The professor's gaze was anything but gentle, so I made up something on the spot.
"It's almost done. About 80—no, 70 percent."
"I've heard a lot from Professor Cha Myeong-hwan. They say your insight is outstanding. I'll be expecting it, so make sure to submit it on time."
"Yep."
It wasn't as if I had no way to do it, so I nodded.
"Why does he get praised when he didn't even do the assignment?"
"He's Professor Cha Myeong-hwan's favorite student."
Lee Dae-ho and Cheon Seo-yoon whispering to each other was practically cute by now.
Anyway.
It was a clue I'd found after nearly five months, so it was unavoidable that it kept nagging at me.
But I decided to leave it at that for now. That didn't mean I could afford to be careless in my own round.
"The next lecture topic is barriers. A barrier is a kind of net woven from mana......"
I took out the Cheonjam Thread as usual.
"The reason individual training covers barriers is that both their creation and their neutralization are indispensable......"
I connected the Cheonjam Thread to a pencil.
Then I began transcribing the professor's voice.
In individual training, barriers......
* * *
When class ended, I stretched long and slow.
"Hey, what do you want for lunch? Pizza?"
Thanks to my uselessly sharp ears, I overheard Cheon Seo-yoon's lunch menu while gathering up my blackened notebook.
I had just stuffed it into my bag and was about to stand up when—
Bzzz.
Bzzz.
Phone vibrations started going off from several directions.
My phone was the same, and just as I was checking it, Cheon Seo-yoon shouted.
"Hey, we're going to Italy!!"
"What are you talking about? To eat pizza?"
"No, the field trip club. The Verona Opera something. Anyway, they're recruiting applicants and leaving this week."
"Yeah, right. Like I'd believe that."
—said Lee Dae-ho, but after checking his phone, he shrugged.
"W-what the. We're actually going."
I checked the message too.
[Dear members! The field trip club Youth greets you with good news. The organizers of the Verona Opera Festival formally sent an invitation yesterday.......]
This was the development I'd been waiting for, so I scrolled down roughly.
The duration was three days and two nights, just like the original.
Departing Friday afternoon and arriving back Sunday afternoon.
On the surface, it was a trip taken at the festival's invitation, but the real reason the story moved its stage was Reina.
She had appointed herself the Vatican's stone sentinel, and the main purpose of this episode was that the clash during the festival would lead her to decide to attend Taehak.
But she was already at Taehak—sitting two seats ahead of me, ears perked up.
She was out of the picture, but that probably meant the clash would still happen regardless.
Maybe because the topic of her hometown and opera had come up—after bread, opera was her favorite thing—Reina couldn't easily tear herself away and stood there.
.......
Then our eyes met.
"Um......"
Reina's lips twitched as if she had something to say.
I had business with her too, so I nodded.
It meant I wanted to talk for a moment.
* * *
A park a good distance from the main building.
I was talking with Reina about this trip to Italy.
"Youth, is it. A fine club that lets you officially go out and enjoy yourself."
"It's not for fun. It's a field trip."
"Is there a difference?"
"......We do submit a results report."
"So they keep up appearances. Understood."
"......."
Reina had a knack for zeroing in on the core, so I didn't bother making excuses.
"I'd like to join as well."
But no matter how capable Reina was, this was impossible.
Even for a free-ride club, there was a faculty advisor and internal rules, and new members weren't accepted outside the recruitment period.
I explained it to Reina, who was unfamiliar with the school system, in a way she could understand.
"And about that tattoo."
Along with that, I told her a fact I hadn't revealed yet.
That the next investigation site was Nice, France.
We'd even shaken hands, so I couldn't keep hiding it forever.
If she wanted to follow along personally, I couldn't stop her, but it probably wouldn't be easy.
She was an exchange student, so she'd need permission from the Vatican, and with different schedules, there would be a lot to coordinate.
"I see."
Reina listened quietly, then nodded as if she understood.
"Then I must join all the more."
But why was the conclusion flowing in that direction?
"No, it's imposs—"
"Do you know the person in charge's phone number?"
"I do know it, but."
"Give it to me. I'll handle it myself."
Reina reached out her hand as if she intended to push forward no matter what.
"Good grief."
I didn't think I could refuse to at least give her the number, so I sent her the club president Kim Hak-hyeon's number.
Reina, true to her severe technophobia, pulled out her phone with awkward gestures and, after much fumbling, saved the number.
Then she immediately pressed the call button.
Tsk.
I hadn't intended to watch her get rejected in real time, but it was also awkward to leave, so I stayed by her side for now.
But then.
──!
In an instant, a Hallelujah chorus pierced my ears.
I thought a hymn was playing from somewhere, but Reina, phone to her ear, had closed her eyes with a serene expression.
The Hallelujah was Kim Hak-hyeon's ringback tone.
"Hello?"
"Yes, this is Kim Hak-hyeon."
"Hello. President.... No, fellow believer. This is Reina, second-year Class A."
"Who?"
"Reina Hildegard......"
"Oh my God. Saintess?!"
What in the.......
It was such an absurd coincidence that I reflexively looked up at the sky.
Of all people, Kim Hak-hyeon turned out to be a Catholic.
I was so dumbfounded I could only stare.
"May a path always appear before your feet, may the wind always blow at your back......"
The call even included a remote prayer, and ended with Reina's blessing.
Reina lightly made the sign of the cross, then said to me with a newly innocent expression.
"I've joined?"