Chapter 107: Resurrection
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 107: Resurrection
Song Hyeok-seo’s eyes were starting to close, but they shot wide open when he saw Ha-chan reaching out both hands, having just unleashed a full-power barrage of red lightning.
He didn’t know why.
But the moment he saw him, Song Hyeok-seo felt his crumbling will ignite.
From what Song Hyeok-seo had seen, Ha-chan was someone who never gave up, not once, and always gave it his all.
This was the chance a guy like that had created by asking others for help.
He’d told Se-hee he would return. He had promised.
So how could he possibly give up here?
“Domi!!!!”
Letting out a roar just like Ha-chan's, Song Hyeok-seo grabbed his outstretched hand.
BOOM!
The instant their hands met, Ha-chan unleashed another full-power blast of red lightning and kicked off the ground.
But they were still a single step short of the entrance.
“Domi, you really…!”
At the same time, red camellia petals scattered before them.
Appearing at the entrance, her red hair whipping through the air, Cheon Hong-ryeon grabbed both of their arms and yanked them through.
CRASH!
The three of them tumbled through the doorway in an instant, sprawling across the floor.
The moment she saw them clear, Si-ho slammed the door shut.
Naek, who had been about to leap toward the entrance, was seen lifting the hair from the left side of her forehead, letting out a sigh of relief.
“……”
For a moment, there was a heavy silence.
Song Hyeok-seo tried to force his unresponsive body upright, only to be tackled by Se-hee as she rushed toward him.
“Gah.”
Song Hyeok-seo let out a pained groan and was about to complain, but when he saw his little sister clinging to him and sobbing, he fell silent and gently cradled her head.
“Who told you to give up! Who!”
“…I’m sorry.”
Just then, Song Hyeok-seo noticed Ha-chan in the distance, kneeling before Cheon Hong-ryeon and Ha Si-ho with his hands raised in surrender.
“Didn't I—didn't I just tell you? That if you pulled a stunt like this, I'd lock you up!!!!!!”
“…Manager-nim, did you want to see me die?”
“I-I'm sorry.”
Because he had acted so recklessly, both of them were furious.
One wrong move, and he could have been caught in the collapse and died.
Even so, Ha-chan had jumped in without a hint of hesitation.
For some reason, a smile escaped Song Hyeok-seo’s lips.
“What are you smiling about?”
Even as the sobbing Se-hee scolded him, he couldn’t help but smile.
It was because, for the first time in a long while, he felt like he had regained something. He had been hollow ever since the death of Ran—his friend, his teacher, his love.
The feeling was so incredibly warm that Song Hyeok-seo smiled.
It felt as though he, whose entire life had been upended by a dimensional shift, had finally returned home.
*
After getting an earful from Ahyu and Si-ho—more than I thought humanly possible—I then had to endure another lecture from Seol-hyang, who had been briefed on the situation, before I was finally let go.
If I had been scolded just a little more, I would have burst into tears like a child.
All three of them were terrifying when they were angry.
“You brought this on yourself.”
I deflated as Baeksan spoke to me with a look of pity.
A part of me wanted to argue that it was worth it since I’d saved Hyeok-seo, but I had broken the promise I’d just made to Ahyu, so I had no excuse.
Ahyu had looked like she was on the verge of actually locking me up.
Anyway, to catch you up, the Saintess had to be called down to examine Hyeok-seo.
He needed urgent treatment because a massive amount of dimensional exposure from the rift had accumulated in his body in an instant and was starting to break it down.
Fortunately, the Saintess had already researched a cure for dimensional exposure, thanks to the records left by Seiya, Orjia’s former lover.
She said that with ongoing treatment, Hyeok-seo would be able to make a full recovery.
Apparently, the minor exposure I’d accumulated would also clear up quickly with some medicine she gave me.
“I'm not leaving until I see this. Just wait.”
“Sigh, fine. Have it your way.”
Though the Saintess did let out a sigh at Hyeok-seo’s stubborn insistence on waiting to see Eva’s results.
“Juksim, can you do it?”
[ Leave it to me, she says. ]
Juksim, who was standing beside me, replied confidently via text.
With that, Juksim sat before Eva’s physical body and began her preparations.
As Juksim tapped her hands on the floor, a night sky began to spread out, centered on the spot where Eva lay.
I had seen it before, but it was no less of a breathtakingly intense spectacle unfolding at Juksim’s command.
As everyone held their breath, points of starlight began to rise one by one from the illusory night sky.
Simultaneously, Juksim’s form began to grow, transforming into the astrologer-like figure I had seen before.
Raising a staff toward the heavens, she slowly began to float into the air.
At that moment, starlight rained down from the night sky, pouring intensely over Eva.
The light was so bright that for a moment, I couldn't see what was happening.
Only a faint, rustling sound lingered in the quiet space.
After about ten minutes, Juksim lifted her head and looked toward Eva.
The two had already discussed the plan, so they knew exactly what to do.
Eva began to unbutton her shirt, one by one.
“Don't look.”
“Don’t look.”
Ahyu and Si-ho, who were next to me, each covered my eyes with their hands.
I was planning to look away, obviously, but this made it look like I was trying to peek.
Rip—
I heard the sound of Eva tearing off the talismans she’d placed on her chest to bind her spirit body.
“I'm ready.”
The moment Eva spoke, a tremendous torrent of starlight erupted, so bright it seemed to pierce right through the hands covering my eyes.
A moment later, the light faded. I lowered Ahyu’s and Si-ho’s hands and looked ahead.
The space was quiet. Eva’s spirit form was gone; only Juksim and Eva’s physical body remained.
As everyone watched with bated breath, one of Eva’s fingers twitched.
“Cough, ugh…”
Then, she coughed up a mouthful of black blood as she slowly pushed herself upright.
Her restored body was already dressed in the jeans and shirt she often wore.
She looked at us with her blue eyes, then lightly cupped her own cheek with her hand.
“Whoa, holy shit. I'm alive?”
That casual curse was the surest sign that she was truly back.
“Song Se-hee!”
Hyeok-seo was the first to move, rushing forward to embrace Eva.
She flinched as his mountain of a frame charged at her, but seeing him tremble, she gently patted his head.
“Everyone's watching, aren't you embarrassed?”
“I've already made a fool of myself enough today.”
“That's true.”
Eva smiled softly at his words.
“Oppa, we’ve really been through a lot.”
“…Yeah. We've been dragged through the mud.”
“Let’s get some rest now. Both of us.”
Hyeok-seo was scheduled to receive treatment and then be taken into custody.
I don’t know what will happen to him, but that’s entirely up to the World Returnee Association.
It’s not something I can interfere with.
Hearing Eva’s promise, Hyeok-seo gave a quiet nod.
Just then, Eva lifted her head and looked my way.
Our eyes met, and with her body now her own again, she gave me a slow smile.
“…Thank you.”
The moment I saw that tearful smile and heard her words, I remembered.
I remembered the world Baeksan had told me about—the one where Eva eventually died, and Hyeok-seo, unable to bear it, met a lonely end.
But that world is no longer here.
This world was one where Hyeok-seo and Eva could reunite with smiles.
And that fact alone was enough to make me smile.
Happiness holds more value not when it’s for yourself alone, but when you can share it with others.
*
I’m alive.
Realizing this, Song Se-hee found it hard to grasp the reality of the situation.
Only the warmth of her twin brother, Song Hyeok-seo, holding her in his arms, was slowly grounding her in that truth.
‘I never thought a day like this would come again.’
Se-hee touched her own cheek, a vacant smile spreading across her face.
This warmth was so incredibly welcome.
And that welcome feeling soon took on a different meaning.
‘So I wanted to live, too.’
Knowing she couldn't survive, Se-hee had given up on her own life.
So much time had passed that she thought the very meaning of life had faded for her.
But hearing the beat of her own heart, she realized that she, too, had wanted to live.
Of course she did. She was still human, even if she was a returnee.
The peaceful days she’d spent with Ran and Song Hyeok-seo would never return, but her life on Earth hadn’t been so bad, either.
In fact, because she never knew when her life might end, she had enjoyed her time on Earth to the fullest.
She never imagined that living that way would lead her to a connection she made in a game.
Her gaze fell upon Ha-chan.
Her friend from the game, who had promised to save her and had actually done it.
He was always helping others in the game, and seeing him do the same in reality brought an unconscious smile to her lips.
At the same time, looking at the many people gathered around him, she could see at a glance just how valuable his life had been.
Had she and Song Hyeok-seo somehow become a part of that life, too?
“It’s time for your treatment.”
As the approaching Saintess said that to Song Hyeok-seo, he staggered to his feet.
“Se-hee, you remember the guys from Beom, right?”
“You mean that group of underworld hunters you put together.”
“Yeah. The ones who were abroad are all coming back to Korea now. I’m leaving them to you. Use them to help Domi however you can. That kid… he’s going to get himself killed in a ditch at this rate.”
After saying that, Song Hyeok-seo gently pressed his large hand on her head before slowly walking away.
It was the same back she had always seen.
His back, as she’d seen it so many times in Gihangjeon, had always looked unbearably sorrowful.
Song Hyeok-seo had lived for her, and driven mad by Ran’s death, he had become Asura and fought against the world.
And as Ryeongju, she was the one who had clashed with him dozens, even hundreds of times.
She had wanted to stop him. She wanted to stop him from living only for her. She wanted to stop the vengeful demon he had become, who knew nothing but rampaging.
But she had never once been able to stop him.
Because she was his twin sister.
Sometimes, there are things that family simply cannot prevent.
So when they returned to Earth, she thought that this time, she could stop him by protecting his life for him.
But reality had been different.
Because Song Hyeok-seo was once again living for her.
That fact had always pained her.
It was agonizing that even after everything that had happened, she still couldn’t stop him.
But today, the feeling emanating from his retreating back was different. It was one of relief.
He no longer had a reason to sacrifice himself.
Because the two of them had returned to a world where that kind of life was no longer necessary.
The long chain of misfortune that had begun in Gihangjeon was finally broken today.
To Se-hee, that fact brought her more joy than her own survival.
‘And Domi was the one who did it all.’
The person who had stopped the brother she’d spent a lifetime trying to save was none other than a friend from a game.
She had received a debt of gratitude she could never repay in a lifetime.