Chapter 91
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 91
A butterfly from beyond memory landed on the notebook.
Staring at the drawing that matched the shape in my memory so exactly, I made a guess.
There was no way it was a meaningless tattoo; it had to be a symbol representing some organization.
Because the way it emitted light along with the surge of mana was far from ordinary.
After reaching that conclusion, I fell into thought.
"Where could it be?"
What kind of organization would use a butterfly as its symbol?
If I could just figure this out, then even if it was from a previous cycle, the person presumed to be Yoo So-young—
I would be one step closer to the white coat. Suppressing the hope that kept welling up, I went back over the related setting details.
"Hm."
But nothing came to mind.
Not the direct armed forces of the Ten Great Families, not the Yosal Corps.
Not even the Ten Kings' Castle, the representative group of the Demonkin, which hadn't fully appeared yet, nor the terror groups with ambiguous colors.
I had swept through the emblems of every famous place, but there was not a single one that used a butterfly with one wing askew as its symbol.
"Is it a newly formed organization?"
Created directly by Yoo So-young after entering this world?
If so, it was only natural that I didn't know it, and there was nothing I could do about it right now.
But I couldn't just give up.
"I'll do what I can."
Hadn't I built connections precisely for situations like this?
I took a photo of the butterfly I had drawn and sent it to Cheol-soo.
I asked him to let me know anything at all if he had even the slightest bit of related information.
Bzzzz
[Okay, since it's a request from Ha-yul, I'll do my best.]
Cheol-soo sent a reply the moment he checked it.
Now all that remained was to return to normal and wait patiently.
I had no intention of letting myself get shaken just because I had glimpsed a secret of this world.
If anything, I would focus even harder than before.
I planned to raise the level of myself and the protagonists by another step.
Episode 532 was roughly six years away.......
There was no guarantee that the mysterious calamity that had swallowed the protagonists wouldn't happen again in this cycle.
"Let's see who wins."
I flashed my teeth slightly at the empty air, then returned to my original appearance.
Feeling strangely lighthearted, I flopped onto the bed and picked up my phone.
"What's this?"
That was when I belatedly noticed that quite a lot of text messages had arrived.
From the perspective of someone who preferred being alone, it was a fairly annoying matter, but I couldn't just ignore them all, so I decided to check them in order.
First, the sender of the first message was the Gumanet Operations Center.
[The auction you registered has ended.]
[The final winning bids are as follows.]
[Nameless Poet's Fountain Pen: 25,000,000 won]
[Yangban Lady's Necklace: 29,000,000 won]
[The brokerage fee is 15%, and payment will be issued once the headquarters receives the auction items.......]
The auction had ended while I was enjoying camping at Geumgangsan.
Heh heh.
I laughed silently, the corners of my mouth twitching.
Where else could you find a side gig where you invest five minutes and earn more than ten times your investment?
I decided to enhance higher-priced items next time and moved on to the second message.
[Midterm Exam Results Notice]
1st, Joo A-rin 75P
2nd, Baek Sa-young 70P
3rd, Cheon Seo-yoon 68P
4th, Reina 63P
Wait, Joo A-rin was first?
I remembered her being third in the original work.
Thanks to the care of a capable supporter—me—she had pulled off the impressive feat of beating even Baek Sa-young.
Since she was thirsting for good grades at the time, it was a good outcome all around.
"So then......."
I scrolled down to check my own ranking.
It was quite far down, so I kept scrolling until I finally found it.
28th, Park Ha-yul 35P
This was a decent enough rank, so I was satisfied.
As long as I avoided supplementary lessons during vacation, that was all that mattered.
But Joo A-rin apparently found it quite uncomfortable.
[How is your body? I wanted to say thank you, but the situation.......]
She must have sent it as soon as she checked the midterm results, because there was barely any time difference.
I figured I should reply, so I thought about what to send and settled on something safe.
[Buy me a meal next time. Something really expensive.]
If a debt remained, she would feel uncomfortable too, so I responded appropriately.
[Joo A-rin's Affection has increased.]
[You have acquired 1 SP.]
......Huh?
That was the moment when the unexpected message appeared out of nowhere.
"Ah. Could this be......."
As a message that could be called the cause flashed through my mind, my vision wavered.
[As a reward for the first-ever access of the Akashic Record, your SP acquisition pathways have been diversified.]
[You will receive additional points when you receive attention or when an important change occurs in your relationship with a character.]
Oh ho.
At the time, the preceding content had been so shocking that I hadn't been able to consider it, but now that I thought about it, this was absolutely huge.
Hadn't the SP supply sources, once limited to achievements, now increased to an uncountable degree?
[......What do you want to eat?]
That was when Joo A-rin's reply arrived.
I was about to answer, "Anything.".......
No, no.
To test the SP acquisition mechanism, I changed it to something a bit more provocative.
[Homemade spaghetti]
It was actually a food I liked, so it was half joke, half serious.
.......
But even after waiting a long while, there was no answer.
Did I accelerate too hard?
I regretted it belatedly, but it was already too late.
I'd just say it was a joke when we met later.
I smiled bitterly and moved on to the next message.
[Sender: Jeong Ae-ri]
[Could we meet briefly tomorrow?]
But why was this woman contacting me?
* * *
A sunny Saturday.
Jeong Ae-ri, dressed in a relatively ordinary white blouse and beige cotton pants that looked neither dressed up nor dressed down, headed to a café located within Taehak.
She arrived just as the sunlight began to feel harsh, opened the door, and went inside.
The café was quiet, so she didn't even have to search for the man she had agreed to meet today.
He was wearing a black coat that didn't suit the weather, but she was able to spot Park Ha-yul, on whom even that didn't look awkward at all.
"Ha-yul......."
Jeong Ae-ri reflexively raised her hand, then immediately fell silent and lowered it.
How to put it.
It was a sight she wanted to appreciate a little longer.
The combination of the cozy café and a man equipped with decadent beauty was like seeing a wolf brought into the house, and it thoroughly satisfied her aesthetic sense.
"Hmm~"
Honestly, he was a man she coveted.
That face, a prestigious family background, and artistic talent worthy of being called genius.
From the perspective of the Trinity chairwoman, rankings within Taehak meant nothing, so he was a talent with not a single flaw.
Which made it all the more regrettable.
If he promoted himself properly, his popularity would rival that of a top star.
She had more than enough ability to support him.
If she put her mind to pushing him, making him a star would be no trouble at all, but his own will was so firm that it was nothing but a shame.
Well, that didn't mean she had completely given up.......
Jeong Ae-ri approached with the chairwoman's signature business smile.
"You came early."
"......Ah, yes. My schedule is tight, so I hurried out. I don't think I can stay long, but please have a seat first."
Park Ha-yul gestured toward the seat across from him with an indifferent expression.
Jeong Ae-ri smiled brightly and thought to herself.
That cynicism was also an uncommon charm, a luxurious wrapping paper befitting Park Ha-yul's image.......
And with good reason.
Most people blushed in front of her or fidgeted nervously.
They piled on all sorts of flattering words to hold her attention even a little longer.
But Park Ha-yul showed not a trace of such behavior.
He was so indifferent he seemed almost numb, and while that sometimes pricked her pride, it also drew her in even more.
"Please accept this first."
So she took out the gift she had prepared.
She had something simple to ask of him, and she had prepared it to strengthen their relationship at the same time.
She placed a palm-sized box on the table, and Park Ha-yul asked.
"What is this?"
"A performance bonus."
"A performance bonus?"
"Portrait of a Girl became a huge hit beyond expectations, so Trinity has been very busy lately. Didn't you know?"
"No. Not really."
"Well, you don't use social media, so I suppose you might not know. Just a moment."
Jeong Ae-ri took out her phone and showed him posts related to Portrait of a Girl.
Park Ha-yul looked at the staggering number of likes and comments, then nodded.
"That's good."
That was all.
His attitude was as if he had known it would turn out that way from the start.
"I'll gladly accept the gift. Refusing would be impolite. May I open it?"
"Of course."
But Jeong Ae-ri was certain.
No matter how much of a Park Ha-yul he was, he would have a hard time keeping his composure once he saw the gift.
Because she had poured an enormous amount of money and effort into preparing it.
"Hmm."
Park Ha-yul's reaction after opening the box was, for now, not much different from before.
And with good reason.
To someone who didn't know better, it looked like a metal watch worn for fashion.
"It's a limited-edition watch produced by the Iron-Blooded Ha Family, a prestigious family famous for magically engineered equipment. Take a close look."
But after she put the watch on for demonstration and pressed the protruding part on the right side of the display—
With a click, the display split open and a small flying object popped out.
As it flew up into the air with a whir, a small exclamation finally escaped Park Ha-yul's lips.
"Oh."
"Four micro-drones are built in. It was specially made for long-range-type awakeners."
Jeong Ae-ri felt a sharp thrill at having surprised Park Ha-yul and continued her explanation.
Maximum flight time: 24 hours.
Adjustable by will without a separate controller, with the captured footage viewable in real time through the watch display.
It even had a built-in biometric detection system that warned when someone approached within 500 meters, making it an essential item for long-range types vulnerable to surprise attacks.......
She rattled off its merits like a door-to-door salesperson.
"It looks really expensive....... Thank you. I'll use it well."
Park Ha-yul, after receiving the watch, grinned for a moment like a child.
Jeong Ae-ri felt a strange sense of accomplishment at that smile, but she deliberately continued in a calm tone.
"Ah, would it be all right to ask for an autograph?"
"An autograph?"
"Yes. I have a lovely acquaintance who seems to have taken a liking to Portrait of a Girl. It's awkward to refuse her. And it's not a bad thing for you either......."
Jeong Ae-ri smiled brightly as she imagined Joo A-rin fidgeting nervously.
When Park Ha-yul nodded without making a big deal of it, Jeong Ae-ri held out the pen and paper she had prepared in advance.
Swish—
Park Ha-yul was unexpectedly skilled.
He moved the pen quickly like someone who had signed autographs quite a bit, then suddenly asked.
"The name......."
"Name?"
"Ah, the name of the recipient. If it's awkward, I can just sign it plainly."
"Ah, that name."
Jeong Ae-ri paused for a moment as if thinking about something, then soon smiled with interest.
"It's Seol-hwa. Joo Seol-hwa."
"Joo Seol-hwa. Joo.... Pardon?"