Chapter 108: A Talisman That Grants Any Wish
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 108: A Talisman That Grants Any Wish
Se-hee looked at Ha-chan and placed a hand over her chest.
She then inscribed a character onto a piece of her very soul, forming it into a blue talisman.
“Domi.”
Se-hee approached Ha-chan and called his name.
When he turned to her, his face was completely devoid of any selfish desire.
How can a person be like this?
The thought crossed her mind for a moment, and she felt a sense of nostalgia. It reminded her of Ran, the benefactor who had even given up her life of wandering for their sake. Ha-chan was a person of a similar kind.
“I never thought you’d actually keep your promise to save me.”
“Haha, I can’t say it was nothing, since everyone went through so much. But honestly, I don’t think I did all that much.”
Ha-chan’s low self-esteem showed through. Even this part of him was just too good for his own good.
“Nothing else matters. To be honest, I never even imagined I’d be given this time again. You’re the one who gave me back my time, Domi.”
Having said that, Se-hee bowed her head, showing the greatest respect she had learned as the daughter of the head of a Spirit Mage family. Her elegant gesture was the very picture of courtesy.
“I, Ryeongju, Song Se-hee, was saved by you, Domi, Kang Ha-chan. I swear here and now that I will repay you for the rest of my life.”
“Eh, Eva-noona?”
“Of course, the same goes for Song Hyeok-seo, the master of all manner of spirits.”
Seeing Ha-chan’s troubled expression, she held out the talisman she had just created. It was the highest honor she could offer as someone whose life had been saved.
“This is a talisman inscribed with my soul. If you carry it, I will grant any request you make of me, anytime.”
Wanting to repay even a fraction of the debt she owed, Se-hee offered it to him.
Ha-chan glanced down at the talisman for a moment before looking back at Se-hee.
“Eva-noona, what happens if this talisman is torn or damaged?”
“Pardon? Ah, well, since it’s made by inscribing my soul, it would lose its power. But don’t worry. It’s imbued with my strength, so it won’t tear that easi—”
The moment he heard that, Ha-chan poured all of his aura into his hands and tore the talisman.
Seeing this, Se-hee’s eyes went wide, and she stared at him with a dumbfounded expression. She couldn’t comprehend the meaning of his actions.
Regardless, Ha-chan let out a sigh and watched the talisman burn away in his hand.
“You just got your life back. Why are you trying to pledge it to someone else with something like this?”
Ha-chan had no intention of accepting such a thing. An item that could grant any wish was simply absurd.
Hearing his words, Se-hee felt something shatter in her mind.
She had never imagined a day would come when she would hear something like this.
Other than Song Hyeok-seo and Ran, the people around Se-hee had always been those who sought to use her. Some coveted her exceptional beauty, while most approached her for her talent as a Spirit Mage or, later, for her title as Ryeongju. The goodwill of people was always tied to the expectation of a reward.
But Ha-chan remained unshaken by such rewards, displaying only his own convictions.
“...Domi, a person’s heart is like a reed. One day, I could become an ungrateful person who bears you ill will.”
The man named Maro, who had killed Ran and tried to rape her, had been just like that. He had once followed Ran and treated Se-hee very well, harboring feelings of love for her. Of course, Se-hee had no intention of accepting his feelings and had rejected him several times, but he had insisted his love would never change.
But he did change.
Even though she hadn’t dated anyone and had clearly rejected his confession.
At some point, he began to scorn her, claiming a “vulgar bitch” had played with his heart, and eventually, he started to hate even Ran.
And the end was ruin.
He killed Ran, his own sister, and tried to rape her.
Having seen such a person, Se-hee believed that the human heart was not always righteous. And she didn't think she herself would always be a righteous person either.
Just as her twin brother had chosen to harm others solely for her sake.
For everyone, such a moment eventually comes.
And that talisman was a card to prevent such a thing.
“A person’s heart is supposed to be like a reed. It sways and gets all jumbled up. But even if my future self comes to regret today, my present self has no intention of accepting this from you, Se-hee-nuna.”
But Ha-chan declared he would not accept it.
Seeing this, Se-hee stood frozen in place, completely stunned.
“Let’s just play some ranked games together next time, and grab a meal sometimes. That’s enough. All of our guild members worked hard for this.”
“...”
Ha-chan said this with a smile. Then, saying, “Everyone worked hard, let’s get some rest now,” he started to walk away.
For some reason, Se-hee couldn’t take her eyes off his back. She saw Ahyu and Ha Si-ho following him.
At the same time, she saw a spirit standing behind him.
He had pure white hair, and his face was mostly erased, making it hard to see. However, his lower face was faintly visible.
He looked at Se-hee and moved his lips.
—Don’t get involved.
Seeing him speak as if giving a warning, Se-hee covered her mouth and let out a hollow laugh. The situation—she, Ryeongju, being warned by a spirit—was a little funny.
Don’t get involved, he says.
She had known for a while that Cheonma and Si-ho liked Ha-chan. She also knew that even Chairperson Seol-hyang liked him.
‘At first, I wondered why they all liked Domi so much.’
She had known he was a kind person for a long time. The Domi she met in the game was a good person, someone she could open up to. His occasional obsession with returnees hinted at some deep personal history.
But this incident had made Se-hee see the person named Ha-chan in a new light.
For her and Hyeok-seo, who were practically strangers, he had pushed himself to such an extent and had, in the end, protected them.
‘It’s excessive.’
Excessive, but… thanks to it, she had survived.
And she realized that all the fates intertwined around him were the result of his actions.
The countless destinies tangled around Ha-chan caught her eye. For a moment, she found herself envying the women caught up in those destinies.
To be able to love a person like that so freely must be a very happy thing for them.
Because Ha-chan was the kind of person who would give back more than he received.
Having lived a life on borrowed time without a place to put her heart, she had been subconsciously searching for a place to lean on. She knew that if she leaned on her brother any more, he wouldn’t be able to bear it.
And into her sight, Ha-chan had begun to appear.
“...What a shameless thought.”
Se-hee felt ashamed of herself and turned away. It seemed her desires had grown excessive after coming back to life. Was it true that living creatures' desires grew stronger after a near-death experience? It seemed she had been momentarily bewitched.
Even so, the memory of Ha-chan tearing the talisman she gave him remained with her.
‘This isn’t the time for that.’
It was time to first apologize and thank the others she had troubled. To do that, she decided to first meet with Chairperson Seol-hyang to discuss her future, forcing her thoughts in a different direction.
*
25
Somewhere in the forests of Bukhansan, South Korea.
As autumn approached, a squirrel gathering acorns flinched in surprise at the sound of footsteps and scurried away.
Beside the fleeing squirrel, a woman stepped out from under her robe. Golden eyes, black hair fluttering around her neck, and a silver, moon-shaped earring were visible between the folds of her robe. She was none other than Ha-chan’s sister, Kang Ma-ri.
She climbed the mountain slope and let out a small sigh, as if she had finally arrived. She was exhausted from all the things she had been doing recently. Even so, thinking of the younger brother she had left alone for his entire life, she swallowed her fatigue and lifted her head.
“I’m here.”
As Ma-ri’s voice echoed, the sound of footsteps came from between the shadows of the trees.
Looking at the approaching figure, Ma-ri placed the Chinese-style fan she was holding down in front of them.
“Shinseon. I see you’ve handled it.”
“You said this one would be the most dangerous.”
“That’s right. He is the most dangerous figure in the events to come.”
Just then, the fan caught fire and flared up. It seemed to signify the end of the Shinseon, the terrorist who had blown up Beijing.
“How was it this time?” Ma-ri asked, watching the flames.
“Thank you. Everything is proceeding as planned, now that you’ve told her. What did she say?”
“She was very surprised.”
Kang Ma-ri recalled Seol-hyang, whose eyes had gone wide when she heard the story. Was it really that surprising? Not knowing Seol-hyang all that well, she found it strange and trudged over to the tree the other person had been leaning against and plopped down.
“How much longer do we have to go?”
“Not much longer. I’m sorry.”
As a slender finger came to rest on her head from above, Ma-ri looked up at the night sky.
The condition that she must never reveal herself to Ha-chan. Thinking of the pain Ha-chan had suffered because of it, her eyelids trembled.
She was sorry, so very sorry.
And one day, she wanted to tell him.
What she had done.
And why she had to do it.
“We’re both going through a lot because of one person.”
“Not as much as you.”
Their voices echoed quietly in the fading sunlight.
Rustle—
At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed.
The presence beside Kang Ma-ri vanished, and her eyes sharpened. Someone was on the other side of the trees.
“...Come out.”
As Kang Ma-ri spoke quietly, another woman with long black hair walked out.
Eunnamu.
She, whose life had been ruined and toyed with by the Evil Gods, was there.
She was not in a normal state. There was a gaping hole in the center of her stomach, through which the other side was visible, and she was desperately trying to stop the flow of blood.
She had tried to hold Erebos back by herself. But she had ultimately failed, and his attack, which partially ignored even her immortality, had left her in this state. It would heal with time, but it would take a considerable amount.
Because of that, she had ended up letting Erebos head toward the World Returnee Association.
She had somehow chased after Erebos and had found Kang Ma-ri there.
“Mari-unni.”
She looked at Kang Ma-ri with wary eyes. Eunnamu had been tailing Ma-ri ever since she first appeared near Ha-chan. That was why she had seen with her own two eyes the person who had been beside Kang Ma-ri just moments ago.
“...Who was that person?”
As Eunnamu asked the question, Kang Ma-ri looked at her for a moment.
“Ugh.”
Meeting Kang Ma-ri’s gaze, Eunnamu seemed to reach her limit, collapsing and losing consciousness.
Kang Ma-ri looked down at the unconscious Eunnamu and let out a faint sigh.
“This was also expected, right?”
Muttering the question, Kang Ma-ri rose to her feet.
For the sake of a single world, the world continued to flow on.