Chapter 92
Terminally Ill, but It's Okay — Episode 92
Connections are like tangled thread.
As you unravel them, they snag here and weave together there.
In that sense, Joo A-rin and I. Joo Seol-hwa and D.H.
The four of us. No, the three of us shared a common denominator: a love of art.
As long as there was some hook to hang a connection on, we were people who could be linked together somehow.
"You caught on?"
"......Well, yes. There's only one Joo you're close to. You said you had a younger sister, so it would be her......."
"Hmm~ I wanted to keep it a secret, but oh well."
I hadn't known—I'd only pretended to figure it out—and Jeong Ae-ri looked like she was enjoying herself immensely.
But why did this woman do a complete one-eighty every time Joo A-rin came up?
The question crossed my mind, but asking felt awkward.
I let it go and looked down at the half-finished autograph.
Back when I'd held an exhibition in England, I'd signed until I was sick of it, so it didn't feel awkward.
The problem was the final phrase to go before my name.
A plain "Thank you—have a nice day—" felt too clichéd.
Wasn't this a child lying in a sickbed?
Still, I'd been asked a favor, and I felt I should show some sincerity. After deliberating, I picked up the pen again.
Let's meet someday, for sure.
This much was vague enough while still being a comforting message for a child confined to her room.
In the end, it was like the last leaf. A dream that couldn't come true, but.......
In the original work, Joo Seol-hwa was set to struggle with illness until Episode 532.
That was because her very existence was a means to an end.
The role assigned to Joo Seol-hwa was to be the catalyst for Joo A-rin's awakening.
Nothing more, nothing less.
.......
With a heavy feeling, I finished the autograph and held it out to Jeong Ae-ri.
Jeong Ae-ri stared at it wordlessly, then asked carefully.
"......You really don't know anything about Seol-hwa, right?"
"No. Is there a problem?"
"No, it's nothing. Don't worry about it. But your autograph is really polished. Like someone who's done it a lot. You could hold a signing event."
Jeong Ae-ri quickly changed the subject, as if she didn't want Joo A-rin's personal affairs leaking through her own mouth.
A signing event, though?
It was probably just a throwaway comment, but in that moment, a decent idea suddenly struck me.
Portrait of a Girl.
It had been enhanced, so its popularity seemed considerable.......
What if I could convert that attention into SP?
I had a temperament that absolutely hated putting myself forward, but my SP acquisition routes were diversifying.
Now SP was also granted when I earned others' goodwill or interest, so at a guess, 100 SP......
No, couldn't I easily earn more than 200 SP?
If so, I'd be able to obtain 500 SP in no time.
And there'd be no strain in enhancing things bit by bit.
Once it felt like an attempt worth making, I spoke to Jeong Ae-ri.
"Um, excuse me?"
"Yes?"
"That signing event....... Should we actually try it? Although I'd prefer to keep my face covered."
"......A signing event?"
Jeong Ae-ri's surprise was palpable even from here, as if the suggestion was unexpected.
I figured I needed at least a reason, so I made up something plausible.
"I received a nice gift, so I want to help as much as I can."
At that, Jeong Ae-ri's face brightened as she continued.
"If you'd do that, we'd be delighted. It would keep the buzz going."
"But my identity has to be thoroughly protected......."
"Don't worry about that. There are artists who work masked for the mystique, so no one will think it's strange."
"Is that so?"
[Jeong Ae-ri's favorability has increased.]
[You have acquired 1 SP.]
I worried for a moment that I'd decided too hastily, but the worry quickly faded.
For SP, there was nothing I wouldn't do.
Greeting people and signing autographs wasn't exactly hard work.
Now that I knew part of the World Setting's secrets, I needed to act more proactively too.
"I came to repay a favor, but I'm leaving with a gift instead. I'll let you know the detailed schedule once our internal meeting is over."
"Sure, contact me whenever."
"Then I'll be going. It doesn't feel polite to keep a busy person tied up. Thank you for the autograph. I'll deliver it safely."
Jeong Ae-ri gathered up the autograph with a visibly elated expression.
I also knocked back the rest of my coffee in one gulp and hurried to get ready to leave.
"Hmm~"
That was when an odd humming sound came from Jeong Ae-ri's mouth.
Jeong Ae-ri hesitated for a second, glanced back and forth between the autograph and my face, then gave me that strange smile again and said.
"So it was because of this."
"Pardon?"
"No, never mind. ......I'll take care of the invitation myself. As a VIP, so it feels like you put thought into it~"
Jeong Ae-ri said only those cryptic words, then spun around and strode out of the café.
"No way, this......."
I connected the phrase "Let's meet someday, for sure" to Joo Seol-hwa, then shook my head.
"......Nah, no way."
I'm not some romantic.
There's no way I look like the kind of person who'd hold a signing event for someone's sake.
I rubbed down the goosebumps that rose at the mere thought of such a fantasy, then took out Jeong Ae-ri's gift.
Now that I knew its function, the watch looked even more lustrous. I activated Appraisal.
Tzzt—
I mastered its usage in three seconds.
As expected of the Iron-Blooded Haga.
True to a limited edition from the family that held the blacksmith position among the Ten Great Houses, its functionality was superb.
If I could add a drone cloaking function on top of this, there'd be nothing better.
Just in case, I tried setting the condition.
[Required SP: 150]
Too expensive, as expected.
Then I could just switch to something cheaper.
The goal, after all, was simply for it not to look like a drone.
I weighed A and B in my mind, then chose B.
[Change the micro-drone's exterior to a fly.]
[Required SP: 2]
Honestly, thinking about anyone seeing flies buzzing around a watch, it did ruin the look.......
But so what.
What mattered was practicality.
I couldn't spend SP recklessly like before anymore.
I added a flight-performance enhancement effect on top of that.
I paid 16 SP for four drones total and finished the enhancements.
Then I checked the time remaining until my next appointment.
Tch.
I was supposed to meet Cheon Seo-yoon this evening.......
It had started with a text yesterday.
[Hey, honestly I didn't really understand that thing you wrote down.......]
I knew this would happen.
I'd thought it was odd that she let it slide so vaguely, and sure enough, she hadn't properly learned it.
[I'll just teach you in person. See you at the general training ground this evening.]
So the appointment I'd made was for around 8.
About six hours remained, so if I hurried over and cycled Samjaegong, the timing would work out roughly.
"Shouldn't have written it down."
Her senses were excellent, so if I coached her directly, she'd pick it up without difficulty.
After sorting out my schedule, I left the café.
Oh, for reference, A had been a mosquito.
* * *
At the same time, Joo A-rin was startled as she looked at the clock.
She'd been up since 7 a.m., selecting the first nest her direct team would raid, filling out application forms for the Association, and moving without pause—and before she knew it, it was already 2 p.m.
Naturally, she'd skipped both breakfast and lunch, so she stepped away from her desk for the moment.
She took out her usual salad and yogurt and sat at the table.
Since it was simple food, meal prep was done in a second.
She opened the yogurt, drizzled it over the salad, speared a bite with her fork, and—yum~
Chewing with her small mouth, she picked up her phone.
She needed to keep up with what was happening in the world between bites.
Joo A-rin went to the news homepage and worked through the important categories.
Economy, politics, Monsters, Demonkin, and so on in order, clipping the important articles.
She threw herself into sorting them separately and building a portfolio.
"Hm."
But then her busy hand suddenly stopped at the bottom of the news window, in front of an advertising post.
[A Special Menu for a Special Day] Octopus Abalone Samgyetang Spaghetti, by Park Jong-won.
"......."
Normally she wouldn't have given it a second glance, but maybe it was because of the message she'd received yesterday.
Joo A-rin furrowed her brow and fidgeted her fingers, then eventually clicked the scrap button.
For now, she saved it to a private SNS folder.
[Homemade spaghetti]
Even thinking about it now, it was an absurd text, but it had been a hard situation to refuse.
The help she'd received so far was no small thing, and this time she was especially indebted.
Hae-rin, once a sore spot, had grown, and Joo A-rin herself had taken first place for the first time since entering the academy.
With results like this, even outings for Seol-hwa no longer seemed like a distant dream.
It was all thanks to Park Ha-yul.
Not only had he guided them to the Azure Tiger's nest, he'd also yielded every point gained from capturing the thought-form.
So she had to do it, one way or another.
Conveniently, tomorrow was Sunday, and her afternoon schedule was empty.
And since she was doing it anyway.
"Octopus abalone samgyetang spaghetti......."
She'd just go with this.
The name was a bit long, but it seemed good for the body.
Honestly, it wasn't difficult.
It was just awkward because this was her first time cooking for someone other than Joo Seol-hwa.
Cooking was a fixed answer sheet, a product of ratios—she was confident in that.
This wasn't mere self-delusion; it had already been proven through Joo Seol-hwa.
Every time, she'd trembled all over and exclaimed how delicious it was.
If anything, her worry was that it might be too delicious—that what was only an expression of gratitude might be misread as romantic interest.
"Reina......."
That person definitely had feelings for Reina.
At one point she'd worried(?) he might like her, but the two of them had been seen out together during the Vatican visit.
His expression and attitude then had clearly been different.
He'd been endlessly kind and had smiled more brightly than ever.
"......Well."
It was for the best, really.
Childish feelings like romance didn't suit her. She didn't have time to waste on something like that.......
It was just as Joo A-rin was nodding to herself without realizing it.
Bzzzz.
Her phone suddenly rang.
When she confirmed the caller was Jeong Ae-ri, she quickly swallowed the salad she'd been chewing and answered.
"Congratulations, A-rin. I heard you got first place on midterms? Seriously impressive."
Jeong Ae-ri congratulated her as if it were her own achievement.
"That's not it."
Joo A-rin couldn't hide her discomfort. It wasn't a result she'd achieved alone, so she wanted to correct her.
"I have one more piece of good news. I met that person."
That person?
As the oddly excited voice came through the phone, Joo A-rin tilted her head.
It was because she couldn't pin down who Jeong Ae-ri would call "that person."
"I met D.H. and got an autograph for Seol-hwa."
"The author?"
Once she knew who it was, her voice rose for a moment.
She'd asked before midterms began, and Jeong Ae-ri had moved quickly.
"Yeah, he's hard to meet, but I managed to talk my way into seeing him~"
"Thank you. Seol-hwa will be so happy."
Thinking of Joo Seol-hwa bouncing with joy over the autograph, Joo A-rin felt all her accumulated fatigue melt away.
"I'm the one who's grateful. Thanks to you, a signing event came about that didn't exist before."
"What?"
"Never mind. I'll tell you separately later. When do you want the autograph? Since I'm calling anyway, can you come out now?"
The flow of conversation was a little odd, but she didn't pay it much mind.
She was simply happy about getting the autograph.
He was a rising rookie artist, and wasn't his autograph something everyone coveted because he was shrouded in mystery?
"Yes. I'm at the dorm."
"Really? Then don't hang up—come out. I'm at the dorm entrance right now."
"I'll be right down."
Joo A-rin stopped eating and stood up.
She'd been maintaining a neat appearance, so there was nothing to prepare—she just had to go out.
"But hey. Don't you have any questions about the author?"
She was just about to press the elevator button when Jeong Ae-ri asked.
Joo A-rin thought for a moment, then spoke.
"How old is he? Judging by the depth of the work, he seemed like he'd be in his forties."
Honestly, she'd simply come to it later than Seol-hwa, but she too had been captivated by Portrait of a Girl, so her interest was considerable.
"That person?"
Jeong Ae-ri had been laughing silently and unable to speak, but soon she said in a meaningful voice.
"Not at all. He's young and handsome. And—this is just for you to know."
"Know what?"
"He's unexpectedly a romantic."
"......What?"
Why would only I know that? No, how does Ae-ri know that?
—She wanted to ask, but stayed silent.
Honestly, Ae-ri.......
Maybe due to work stress, she was often a little odd.
Joo A-rin handled it calmly, as if it were nothing.
"But I'm in the elevator now."