Chapter 284
Chapter 284
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 284
Chapter Title: 89. Partner (12)
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They sat straddling the rocks, panting for breath as they gazed at each other.
It had been an incredibly grueling time.
For Yoo Ji-tae, even more so than the months he'd spent trapped in Noah's dream.
He was somewhat used to it, having been through this a time or two before. But Yeoreum didn't seem to be.
Her expression was dazed as she began doing strange things.
"……."
Yeoreum raised her hand and touched her own body. She prodded her nose. Pinched her soft cheek.
"……."
Yeoreum ran her fingers over the ankle she'd injured on the climb, smearing blood on them. She rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger, then brought it to her nose to sniff the scent.
"……."
Then she brought it to her mouth. As if tasting sweet honey. She savored the flavor of her own blood and smacked her lips. It must have carried a fishy, metallic tang.
"……."
After that, Yeoreum turned her gaze to the world around them. Early morning. At the tail end of dawn. The sun from another dimension was rising, blanketing the entire tranquil sea. At the far edge where no currents flowed, the water mirrored the sun like glass. Near the horizon, it looked like a squashed rugby ball.
"Ah."
Finally.
Yeoreum opened her mouth and tried making a sound.
"Ah. Um. Hm…."
Her voice felt awkward to her.
"Ah…."
But this time, the sound came out a bit different.
Yeoreum's body crumpled.
Yoo Ji-tae hurriedly reached out and caught her as she fell.
It was accumulated fatigue.
She'd held out this long on mental fortitude alone, but now that the tension eased, her body reacted immediately.
"……."
With half-lidded eyes, Yeoreum looked at Yoo Ji-tae.
No words passed between them.
A smile crept onto her weary face.
Yeoreum smiled at Yoo Ji-tae.
Yoo Ji-tae didn't smile back at Yeoreum.
Instead, a few strands of her hair had caught in her mouth, so he gently plucked them out with his fingers.
Then Yeoreum raised her trembling hand, grabbed a fistful of her own hair, and stuffed it into her mouth.
She looked so ridiculous, like some kind of reactionary punk.
So Yoo Ji-tae grabbed her hair and shoved some into her nostril too.
"Eek, sniff, sniff…."
"Eat it all up. Yeah? Eat every bit."
"Are you crazy…?"
That was the first conversation they'd exchanged in a long while.
How exhausted they'd been. How long they'd waited. What they'd endured. What agonies they'd suppressed. None of that suited them. It was all over now anyway. Yeoreum had no desire to talk or hear about it.
So they sat there quietly, without much conversation.
"It's cold…."
At her murmur, Yoo Ji-tae pulled a tracksuit from his subspace and handed it to her.
"Oh. Here."
Yeoreum fished out a cigarette from it and handed it back to Yoo Ji-tae.
"……."
He took the cigarette and put it in his mouth.
He tried to light it using the Red Dragon's mana.
But no flame sparked from his fingertip.
Damn. He'd pretended otherwise, but he was tapped out.
As he slowly recalled his authorities and blessings back into his body.
"……."
Yeoreum raised her trembling finger and lit her own cigarette.
But she was exhausted too—the flame went out almost immediately. By the time her shaking finger reached Yoo Ji-tae's cigarette, the fire was already gone.
"Huh? It went out…."
"Just wait a sec. I'm recalling my blessings."
That was when it happened.
Yeoreum pushed herself up and scooted over to Yoo Ji-tae.
Very close. Her previously unfocused gaze locked onto his eyes, then drifted down to his cigarette.
Her cigarette touched his.
Yeoreum inhaled. The flame at the tip soon transferred to Yoo Ji-tae's cigarette.
Yoo Ji-tae took a leisurely drag, accepting the light.
"……."
The dry rustle of leaves burning.
Smoke drifting over the silent sea.
Yeoreum spoke up.
"Hey."
"Yeah."
"Down there. I saw a little unni for a sec."
"Little unni?"
"Yeah. Some hallucination or whatever… She told me to come with her to a utopia for Red Dragons. So I said no."
It was a hallucination sown by the Ruler Turtle 'to render existence inert.' It preyed on desires rooted in the mind, breaking them at the source. For someone who wanted to run, it showed shattered legs. For a pianist, crushed fingers.
"And that got me wondering all of a sudden…."
Exhaling smoke, Yeoreum looked up into his eyes.
Then she asked carefully.
"What did you see…?"
Yoo Ji-tae exhaled a plume of smoke in response.
He too had seen visions and heard voices amid the battles with monsters in the darkness. Things that would shatter his dreams appeared before his eyes as well.
"You girls."
With that, he dismissed the hallucination he'd witnessed.
Yeoreum didn't fully grasp his meaning. So she asked jokingly.
"Us? Did I show up too?"
"Yeah. You did."
"What was I like?"
"Long hair."
"What? I hate long hair. It gets in the way."
"Down to your waist almost."
"Tch. They suck at acting. Script's garbage, no attention to detail. Stance is all wrong."
"Right."
"So what did I say? Something like I'd run away and go berserk with a knife?"
"No…."
His expression darkened.
It was rare for him to make that face. So Yeoreum dropped it.
Then Yoo Ji-tae asked.
"Was it rough?"
"Piece of cake."
"You can be honest. You girls hold onto bad memories a long time."
When he belatedly asked awkwardly, Yeoreum blew out smoke nonchalantly.
"Wanna go again?"
Only then did Yoo Ji-tae smile faintly.
No wind blew.
Over the still sea, their breaths mingled as smoke.
"Knew you'd say that…."
Yeoreum shut her mouth after that. They didn't exchange further words. Yet they felt a strange comfort.
Each other's presence was consoling them.
On the way back to their original rock with Yeoreum in tow, he fell into brief contemplation.
In truth, during those six months of perceived time.
Yoo Ji-tae had considered quitting the training three times and pulling Yeoreum out with him.
Each time, he'd briefly reactivated his Eye of Blessing to check on her. He'd seen her resisting mental shocks several times.
Back then, watching her, he'd thought.
Just a bit more.
Hold on just a little longer.
Just a bit more….
He knew how grueling and humiliating that time was. As he cheered her on with all his heart, hoping the child wouldn't break.
A massive vibration echoed through the dark world, followed by a strange message.
The Basement of the Apocalyptic Clock.
The basement of the Apocalyptic Clock and its mysterious obelisks that had suddenly appeared one day.
There were eleven obelisks in total, and six had been lit up until now.
One of the remaining five had now ignited.
This was welcome news. For him, who could no longer grow within the providence of endless cycles, it was a step forward toward new growth.
Joy. Pleasure. Hatred. Anger. Deep contemplation. Affection.
And now, Greed….
So what were the remaining four emotions?
The moment Winter tried to grab his hand.
The clone stood up, scooped her into his arms, and plopped her down in front of his legs.
"…What're you doing?"
Winter whipped around, glaring with her big round eyes, and the clone sighed as he explained.
"Yeah. You're right."
"……."
"I'm his little brother. Not someone else."
"…Why'd you, lie?"
"Sorry. Wasn't trying to trick you with bad intentions."
"……."
She pouted for a moment.
Then Winter asked curiously.
"…But. …Why so identical?"
"Dunno. Born from the same root, I guess."
"…Twins?"
"Something like that."
"……."
Winter seemed to be thinking about something.
Soon, she asked in a serious tone.
"…You know him well?"
"What. My… no, our big bro?"
"…Yeah."
"Know him well."
"…Close?"
"Very."
"…Then. Got a question."
"Shoot."
Winter glanced around slyly, then cupped her hand to the clone's ear. He obligingly leaned in.
She whispered, '…What does Ajusshi like?' It was a somewhat out-of-left-field question, so the clone asked in surprise.
"Why do you wanna know that?"
"…Just cuz."
"Well. He likes you, obviously."
The words hit her like a gust.
Winter's heart fluttered pleasantly, and she nodded with a smile.
"…Besides that."
"Tough question, huh."
Winter added another. The clone pondered briefly before whispering back into her ear.
Her eyes went wide, and she beamed.
"…I see."
The clone had no idea why she was so thrilled.
"…It's a secret."
"What?"
"…Can't tell Ajusshi."
"No way. Gotta tell big bro everything."
Winter's eyes widened in shock.
"…Can't tell."
"Nope. Gotta tell him."
"…Can't."
"Told you, no."
"…No."
The clone and Winter glared at each other.
"Why can't I tell him?"
"…Why do you have to?"
"Bro's gotta know everything."
"…What's that good for."
"Anyway, no. I'm telling him."
Winter looked shocked. Then her eyes started to well up, like she might cry.
She shot the clone a resentful look, then turned away abruptly and started sniffling.
"……."
The clone was pretty shocked.
He'd come here to make Winter happy.
It was Yoo Ji-tae's order, and there was no hierarchy between preventing the second night and cheering her up—they carried equal weight.
But Winter was crying?
This was a major crisis.
So the clone quickly closed his eyes and consulted the Sovereign. Winter had asked about him, and she didn't want him knowing about the question and answer. What should he do?
Surprisingly, Yoo Ji-tae replied simply.
'Go ahead.'
"Okay. I won't tell."
"…Really?"
"Yeah. Won't tell, so cheer up."
"……."
Winter turned her head.
She'd seemed like she was crying, but there were no tears.
"……."
Then she burst into giggles right away.
The clone felt like the kid had played him somehow.
For the rest of the time, Winter bossed the clone around with this and that.
There were lots of little things she wanted to make Yoo Ji-tae do normally but held back on, worried it'd annoy him like a bratty kid. But with his identical little brother, it felt easy.
So the clone had to boil ramen five times a day.
In that signature tone, say 'Eat up.' and 'I'm Winter's dad.' repeated for an hour.
Winter laughed so hard every time, though the clone often wondered what he was even doing.
And she wanted hugs.
Daily sock removal.
Fishing together.
Hundreds of selfies.
Making silly faces on command. Winter's watch ended up with about 120 humiliating shots of Yoo Ji-tae.
He even listened to hours of Yeoreum gossip.
Thus, even with Yoo Ji-tae gone for three days, Winter found those days utterly satisfying.
On the last day, she bottled some of the water there.
The week at the tranquil sea came to a close.
After that, Yeoreum returned to the divine ranking competition.
The remaining time flew by.
With her mana exactly 8.5 times greater, Yeoreum now surpassed even Gaeul in total mana.
Some wondered how she'd grown so strong overnight. But that secret was known only to Yoo Ji-tae and Yeoreum.
During the competition, Yeoreum unleashed insane output, achieving feats beyond divine level expectations.
Over the next 40 days, she doubled the progress of the prior 90, exploding onto the world stage.
By the end, over 250 letters arrived at Room 301.
Yoo Ji-tae's messenger filled with 5,000 messages.
Dozens inquired daily at the Lair Promotion Office about reaching him, since he hadn't disclosed Yeoreum's affiliation.
As nearly every major guild worldwide vied to recruit her, a tired Yoo Ji-tae officially registered the fictional Yoo Clan with the Federation. Listing Yeoreum and Gaeul under it finally quieted things down.
With the ranking event concluded, Yeoreum's official Federation World Transcendent ranking was set.
As media speculated she'd hit the top 200—the highest ever for a divine—
The world was stunned.
「Yoo Yeoreum (Kr, 18, MZZ): 93rd」
Gaeul finished at 498th, but she'd never cared much for rankings and purely celebrated Yeoreum.
And so the ranking competition ended.
On a snowy winter day.
"We're hooooome!"
"Ah, sex."
The kids returned to the dorm.