Chapter 61
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 61
No matter how large and solid a rock may be, once water begins seeping into a tiny crack, it is bound to break apart.
Cheon Seo-yoon clutched her head and grimaced.
......Why am I like this?
It was strange.
She kept telling herself it was nothing, but the pain and doubt had already taken root.
The unease they brought would not easily subside.
In the end, as fear surged up, Cheon Seo-yoon burrowed into Cheon Woo-young's arms as if fleeing.
"What's this? Why all of a sudden, my daughter?"
"......."
"Why? Not enjoying the food? Want me to get you something else?"
Cheon Seo-yoon shook her head from side to side, then buried her face even deeper.
As if she still lacked the courage to face the truth, she struggled to shut out someone's voice that was growing clearer and clearer.
"......I'm done eating. Let's play, Dad."
Cheon Seo-yoon forced the corners of her lips upward, suppressing the sharp ache gnawing at her chest.
After that, they watched a movie and played games together.
She clung to the time alone with him she had longed for so desperately, spending the full day she had dreamed of again and again.
Before long, darkness settled outside the window, and father and daughter lay in bed talking quietly together.
"Is something going on, my daughter?"
"......No, why?"
"Just because. It's been a while since Dad tucked you in, right?"
The moment she tilted her head and met the unusually bright starlight embroidering the night sky.
Don't look away.
The voice she had been deliberately avoiding rang out clearly.
In the end, Cheon Seo-yoon swallowed the tears rising to her chin and forced herself to speak.
"......Dad."
"Yeah?"
"How old am I?"
"How old? What do you mean, how old? You're ten."
But Cheon Woo-young's answer made unbearable anger and resentment surge within her.
Because when I was ten, you weren't there.
Because you promised to spend time together, then left forever.
Cheon Seo-yoon crumbled, trembling as she sobbed.
Once the tears broke loose, they poured down like a relentless downpour.
She cried because of the words she could not bring herself to say aloud.
Your warmth, your scent, your embrace — even if it was a lie, the vivid sensations she felt in this moment made her entire body ache.
The voice whispering that everything was all right sounded so real that she cried her heart out again.
How long had she cried like that?
When she barely managed to lift her swollen eyes, she saw Cheon Woo-young's face, worn out from patting her to sleep.
......Could I be happy if I stayed here like this?
Her memories had already fully returned, but that did not directly decide her choice.
Roberto's dream was that extraordinary.
Enough to make even Cheon Seo-yoon, who had overcome countless wounds, hesitate.
......But.
Soon hardening her expression, Cheon Seo-yoon slipped out of bed.
There was only one reason she rose again. There was something she absolutely had to do.
Gazing at Cheon Woo-young's face, Cheon Seo-yoon murmured as if making a vow.
"It'd be too unfair to bury it like this."
So just wait a little longer. Until I finish this revenge.
Cheon Seo-yoon wiped her tear-streaked face.
Her heart had already poured out all its resentment and gone cold, and what filled the empty space was fury and sorrow.
And a resolve that ended her confusion and carried her one step further.
Cheon Seo-yoon gathered her mana and soon formed a single sword.
Unlike before, small sparks now permeated the vividly blazing blue mana.
The Lightning Power she had rejected out of vengeance—and then lost the chance to use—had revived.
But Cheon Seo-yoon swung the sword down without even a moment to register it.
Rumble.
Her firmly set resolve shattered the space.
* * *
The pink-tinged smile crumbled, staining gray like a faded photograph.
Cheon Seo-yoon, who had briefly closed her eyes, opened them again as soft jazz echoed in her ears.
She had spent an entire day inside the dream, but fortunately, reality did not seem to have done the same.
Kim Hye-jin was bustling about setting something up, and Roberto appeared to have just sat down, straightening his disheveled clothes.
Cheon Seo-yoon silently picked up the sword that had fallen to the floor.
Then, a subtle fullness spread through her grip.
Savoring the sensation that she could cut through anything, she advanced step by step without hurry.
"......What? How did you get out?"
At that moment, the startled Roberto shot up from his seat.
Neutralizing his Allure through her own power was something he had never imagined, and her drastically changed presence was not something to take lightly either.
Roberto poured out his Demonic Energy with everything he had, first trying to stop her advance.
It was a burst of Demonic Energy so powerful that even grazing it would have been enough to be consumed by hallucinations.
But the mana blade, which swelled in an instant, cleaved through the crimson Demonic Energy.
Roberto's eyes flew wide as if he could not believe it, and when he spotted the sparks flickering along the cut surface, he muttered quietly.
"Lightning Power."
It was an incomplete energy, as if released unconsciously, but it was unmistakably Lightning Power.
One of the strongest high-tier attributes, capable of burning away Demonic Energy and erasing it.
"Then that bitch is......."
Roberto realized Cheon Seo-yoon's identity.
He already knew well that among the brats called the prodigies of Taehak, there was a bloodline of the Lightning Cheon Family.
Roberto let out a gleeful "heh heh" laugh.
Because he still held the upper hand.
In fact, Cheon Seo-yoon's steps had halted as she fended off the surging Demonic Energy, and his total Demonic Energy was still abundant.
If he kept pressing her relentlessly and then threatened to use Joo A-rin as a hostage, demanding surrender?
He was certain he could trap her in the dream once more and make her submit this time.
Then, in the end, he would seize both the Joo Family and the Cheon Family in his grasp.......
It was just as greed flashed in Roberto's eyes again.
"If you come at me like this, your friend's safety cannot be guaranteed......."
Just as he was about to reach for Joo A-rin.
────!
A single streak of light flashed down.
There was no time to dodge or do anything — he could only register it.
When a stinging sensation hit, his gaze dropped before he knew it.
"......?"
Then he tilted his head.
A round hole had been punched through his chest, and blood and smoke were gushing out.
Because he could never have imagined that the sudden, sickening reek was the smell of his own flesh burning.
This cognitive dissonance was soon resolved as a horrific, searing pain followed, as if a fireball had settled in his heart.
"Graaaaah."
Roberto howled like a beast and collapsed.
Thoughts like who, how, why were a luxury.
His skin, muscle, and flesh were burning away — there was no way he could think rationally.
Having long since cast aside the dignity of a renowned artist, he merely thrashed in agony, then crawled on all fours across the floor.
His once-confident face twisted hideously, and drool streamed from the mouth that had once dripped sweet words.
And at last, Cheon Seo-yoon arrived.
From the entrance of the hall to right in front of Roberto.
Having fought through countless hardships to get here, Cheon Seo-yoon calmly glanced out the window, then swung her sword.
Slice—
For an artist called the Eighth Demon of the Exorcism Society and the second coming of Klimt, it was a pitifully shabby end.
* * *
[Main Quest #6 — Objective achieved: Rescue Joo A-rin]
[As a reward, 20 days are added to your Remaining Time.]
[Remaining Time: ]
[As a reward, you gain 35P.]
[SP held: 30]
For an incident involving a celebrity, the matter was wrapped up in a relatively quiet atmosphere.
The reason was that this was the first time Taehak had been directly targeted by Demonkin, and the goal was to prevent the ensuing chaos and a secondary terror attack.
Thus, Roberto's cause of death was disguised as something rather ordinary and appeared on the front page of the next morning's paper.
[Famous artist Roberto dies of heroin overdose]
They said the fact that he was a Demonkin would be disclosed once the mastermind was confirmed, but that would likely take quite some time.
There was only circumstantial suspicion of the Exorcism Society, with no physical evidence.
It would probably only surface once the other "demons" began moving in earnest.
[Achievement 61: Savior of the Crisis]
[You rescued two classmates whose lives were in danger.]
[As a reward, 2 days are added to your Remaining Time.]
[You gain 10 SP for the righteous development.]
Also, the two victims who had provided such a tidy reward could not avoid a hospital stay.
Kim Hye-jin was hospitalized for treatment of the aftereffects of Allure, and Joo A-rin under the pretext of mental and emotional stabilization—though honestly, those were only the surface reasons.
In reality, it was a protective measure against a possible secondary attack.
Another notable point was that Jeong Ae-ri was separately summoned for questioning.
Since the incident had occurred in Dodam, she could not escape responsibility, but because the Student Affairs Office had given final approval, the matter was settled with a one-month suspension of activities.
All of these measures were carried out in just two days.
It was thanks to the active efforts of the government and Taehak, and I had to consider myself a beneficiary as well.
Because it allowed me to delay exposure to the Exorcism Society and drawing the attention of the Sulga.
It wasn't that it must never be known — it was that I had no room to worry about that far.
Anyway, by Wednesday morning, the aftermath of the incident had been more or less settled.
I woke up earlier than usual and headed straight to the department office.
Apart from the decision to keep things secret, there was a private commendation ceremony for what was deemed meritorious service that could not be overlooked.
I passed through the now-familiar hallway and entered the department office, where I saw two familiar faces.
"You're here?"
"You came?"
Kim Mi-young and Cheon Seo-yoon, who would be receiving the commendation together with me.
Kim Mi-young told us to wait and left the office.
I was left alone with Cheon Seo-yoon from early morning, but the atmosphere was no longer as awkward as before.
"Are you going to the hospital today?"
"Yeah. I should go."
"Yeah? Then let's go together. Baek Sa-young and Lee Dae-ho are coming too."
Thanks to the Eternal Dream and the Star Flower, she had shaken off the old bad feelings.
"Hey, but you......."
"......?"
"Never mind."
I had been about to say a few words about the new trait Cheon Seo-yoon had acquired, but I just closed my mouth.
It felt like advice that crossed a line.
The trait Cheon Seo-yoon had gained this time was [The Unbending].
It was an evolutionary trait that grew through three stages, and it perfectly captured Cheon Seo-yoon's temperament of refusing to yield even to a harsh fate.
Its effect was the awakening of latent potential.
Its drawbacks were a short duration and severe aftereffects, but it was one of the strongest offensive traits, one that would allow Cheon Seo-yoon to use Lightning Power again.
Of course, it had only just sprouted, so it was still incomplete and would need to be nurtured over time.......
"What? That was anticlimactic."
Cheon Seo-yoon pouted sullenly, then suddenly asked as if she had just remembered.
"But has it still not been figured out who sent that text?"
She seemed to mean the mysterious text that had alerted us to Joo A-rin's kidnapping.
"Probably not? I haven't heard anything separately."
I just pretended not to know. It would be more than a little troublesome if it came out.
"I'm sure it's one of the students. And someone who's been hovering around Arin......."
Cheon Seo-yoon narrowed her eyes like a private detective.
Just as I felt an unwarranted pang of guilt, the department office door opened with perfect timing.
And in came familiar faces.
Kim Mi-young, Lee Taek-jin, and.......
"......And?"
That's strange. Weren't there originally only two attendees?
When an unexpected person entered as well, I immediately stood up and checked my clothes.