Chapter 37: Damp
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 37: Damp
Leaving Ahyu, who was so playful on the phone and in the game yet shy in person, I followed after Eunhyeon.
“You seem quite close with her.”
“Ah, yes, it just sort of happened.”
As I was following her, Eunhyeon struck up a conversation.
She glanced back at Ahyu for a moment, a somewhat bittersweet smile on her face.
“I’m glad. That she met you.”
Hearing that, I blinked.
Ahyu was a returnee.
Just as Kkotbi had suffered so much because of her past, Ahyu must have had a time like that too.
She had brightened up enough to joke around with me now, but what was she like in the past?
Ahyu was one of the rare cases among returnees: a soul transmigrator.
During a dimensional shift, a transmigrator's original body is ground to dust by the aftershocks, and only their soul is transported.
In other words, the Shin So-ra we see now is likely a form that Cheon Hong-ryeon is creating and maintaining with her power.
The first day she showed her Cheon Hong-ryeon side, she explained that the change in her speech was due to the forced education she received after being born into the Heavenly Demon's bloodline.
What must it have been like for Cheon Hong-ryeon? To have lived on Earth, only to be swept up in a dimensional shift, her original body ground to nothing between dimensions, forced through the Heavenly Demon's training until she eventually rose to become the Heavenly Demon herself.
Even now, when she reverted to her true form, she couldn’t seem to let go of the Heavenly Demon's speech and demeanor.
The bright personality Ahyu showed as Shin So-ra might be something similar to Kkotbi's self-hypnosis.
‘She’s glad she met me.’
I looked back at Ahyu, who had caught up.
Still muttering, “I'm gonna make you say it. For real,” Ahyu now seemed completely fine.
What had I ever done for Ahyu?
I briefly recalled our first meeting.
My memory was hazy, but I think it was back then.
Back when Juksim and I had just created the guild and were scattered about, promoting it.
There was that day when someone was badmouthing returnees over a news article about an incident they’d caused. Thinking of my sister, I got pissed off and went on a tirade.
A character in beginner's gear had approached and spoken to me.
Asking if there was a spot in the guild.
‘Come to think of it, she wasn't even Ahyu back then.’
Was it Sorage?
I think it was a weird nickname like that.
She was quiet at first, but as time passed, she grew closer to me, became a fan of Blackstar Yua, and even changed her nickname. She kept getting brighter and brighter, becoming the person she is today.
If playing Lord of Academy with me was the catalyst for her change, I would gladly play tens of thousands more times.
So I raised my hand and gently ruffled her hair.
What a good kid.
“If you're ever having a hard time, you can tell me.”
“Huh? U-uhm, what’s this all of a sudden?”
“Just because.”
She was my closest friend, so it was possible I hadn't been looking out for her enough.
When I said that and took my hand away, Ahyu looked at it with a hint of disappointment before sidling up next to me.
“What’s the standard for ‘a hard time’?”
“If you feel like it's a hard time, then it's a hard time.”
“I've been having a lot of hard times lately. Is it okay for me to be a little spoiled?”
Ahyu said with a small laugh, so I puffed out my chest proudly.
“I’ll let you make me beg you to stop.”
“Oh, how cool. In that case, pretty Ahyu is going to be spoiled, so can you promise not to get involved with the Iron-Blooded Empress anymore?”
This girl.
“She's the chairperson of my company.”
“I told you I'll support you, oppa! I'll buy you a house! I'll buy you a car! I'll even cook you three meals a day! A-And, I'll give you… m-me…!”
“You two.”
Eunhyeon's voice cut through Ahyu's overloaded shouting.
She pointed to the elevator in front of her and said.
“Perhaps you could continue this inside?”
As I got on the elevator, Ahyu followed, her face red as a beet.
Then, for whatever reason, she started poking me relentlessly in the side. I was worried it might cave in soon.
Meanwhile, the elevator descended.
The World Returnee Association building was massive not only above ground but below as well. The elevator finally dinged to a stop on the fifth basement level.
‘If they dug five stories underground, won't the ground collapse?’
But this was the World Returnee Association building, so I decided to just accept it.
I figured that even if I got an answer, it would be beyond my comprehension.
The elevator doors opened, revealing a pristine white hallway that didn't feel like it was underground at all.
After walking for a while down the brightly lit corridor, Eunhyeon stopped in front of a room labeled ‘205’.
“We're here.”
Looking at the door, I read the name written on it.
Sobolev Catherine.
None other than the returnee from Girasung who had attacked Si-ho and me.
When she opened the door, I could see Catherine slumped against a wall behind a translucent glass barrier.
I couldn't see her face clearly, but there was some kind of chain restraint fastened around her neck.
She was completely still, as if asleep.
“It's the effect of a Sealer's work. I will wake only her consciousness, so please wait a moment.”
With that, Eunhyeon took a lock out of her pocket.
It was a combination lock. As Eunhyeon clicked through the numbers, the lock sprang open with a clatter.
Flinch.
At the same moment, Catherine's head jolted.
It seemed she had really woken up.
‘I wonder what kind of person a Sealer is.’
Suppressing the endless curiosity I felt about returnees, I turned my attention back to Catherine.
“Since only her mind is awake, her body won't be able to move at all. If you'd like, it's also possible to release the seal on her body, leaving only her powers suppressed, so she's like an ordinary person.”
“No, this is enough.”
It was better to minimize the chances of her trying to harm me.
“You can just walk through the glass barrier. The person on the other side won't be able to see or hear us, but please don't be alarmed. You can come right back out just by saying so.”
“Thank you.”
After thanking Eunhyeon for her thoughtful consideration, I moved to step through the barrier.
But then, sensing something was off, I glanced back at her.
Neither Ahyu nor Eunhyeon showed any sign of moving.
“Is it okay for me to go in alone?”
I had asked Ahyu to relay my request to meet Catherine to the Association, and I was only here because they had granted permission.
In other words, I was just someone who had tagged along with Ahyu.
So it felt a little strange that I was being allowed to meet with a criminal like Catherine on my own.
“Will you be going in?”
When Eunhyeon looked at Ahyu and asked, Ahyu made an indifferent face.
“What for?”
“There you have it.”
Is the World Returnee Association really this lax?
“Of course, this permission is only being granted because it's you, Ha-chan-ssi.”
Perhaps because I was still hesitating, Eunhyeon spoke up to ease my concerns.
“What have I done to deserve…?”
“You stopped the returnee Orjia's rampage, persuaded her, and formed a relationship of trust. On top of that, you helped the returnee Han Yua finally overcome the self-hypnosis she could never break free from, and by protecting Ha Si-ho, who was Girasung's target, you thwarted their plans.”
I didn't know how she knew all that in such detail, but after listing everything I'd done, Eunhyeon gave me a smile.
“You've taken on so many burdens that the Association should have handled. Isn't it only natural that we would trust you, Ha-chan-ssi?”
Hearing that, I had to admit it made sense.
Ahyu was chiming in from the side, too. “Yep, yep, our Domi-oppa is pretty amazing.”
“From now on, you don't have to go through the Heavenly Demon. Please feel free to contact us directly if you need help.”
“What? No way! Domi-oppa, if anything happens, you have to call me first. Got it? I'm your bestest friend.”
I tuned out Ahyu's words and nodded.
I hadn't done any of those things with the intention of building trust with the Association, but if this was the result, I couldn't complain.
After all, I would need the Association's help to achieve my future goals.
‘Besides, Baeksan said that Baek Seol-hyang is probably vaguely aware of his existence.’
Baeksan himself told me that before he was a regressor, he was a returnee.
If that was the case, with him by my side, did that mean I was treated similarly to a returnee?
Actually, that might be why Baek Seol-hyang had been so good to me.
Otherwise, there'd be no reason for her to be so kind to an ordinary person like me.
‘Who knows? Maybe Baek Seol-hyang fell for me at first sight.’
Oh, I might have a talent for writing fiction.
With that silly thought, I left Eunhyeon and Ahyu and stepped inside.
Just as she'd said, it was as if a wall had formed behind me, and I couldn't see anything.
How strange.
“You're in.”
Just then, Baeksan suddenly popped up next to me.
Had he been sleeping? He let out a long yawn, glanced at Catherine, and spoke to me.
“You're waltzing in and out of the World Returnee Association like you own the place.”
I guess even to a third party, this situation didn't look normal.
“Well, I guess it's to be expected.”
Baeksan, who knew roughly what I'd been up to, reacted as if it were only natural for the Association to grant my request.
Is that the average reaction?
After the false sexual harassment accusation, I lived my life inside a game. Maybe I'd become too sensitive to how society works.
Leaving Baeksan to his thoughts, I looked back at Catherine.
It seemed she hadn't been awake for long. Her head was bowed so low that her hair covered her face, and she was silent.
“Excuse me.”
The moment I spoke, her body flinched.
But it wasn't just a single flinch.
A tremor spread through her entire body, and she began to tremble uncontrollably.
What was wrong?
I get that being locked up in a place like this is scary, but isn't this a bit much?
While I was looking on, completely baffled, she suddenly started to speak.
“Я сказал, что все скажу. почему…….(I said I'd tell you everything. Why…….)”
Whoa, I couldn't understand a single word.
Help me, Papago.
*
Catherine, who had stared death in the face that day through Baeksan possessing Ha-chan, was in turmoil.
The sheer volume of red electrical current flowing from Ha-chan had been terrifying just to look at.
That current piercing through her brain.
She had lost consciousness from that single blow, but in that moment, she had felt absolute terror.
And after passing out, she had somehow woken up sitting alone in a remote, prison-like room.
The moment she opened her eyes and saw him before her again, her thoughts had frozen in fear.
She couldn't lift her head.
If he unleashed that red current again, she felt like she would pass out on the spot.
She was like a beast of prey herself, but that was precisely why she was so utterly humbled before a true predator.
“What? Seriously, with this foreigner…”
Just then, he suddenly started muttering to himself.
He made a troubled expression, then looked her way as if he'd figured something out.
“I told you to speak Korean when you're in Korea. Are you deaf?”
And the moment she heard his voice, with an intonation so similar to the one from back then, Catherine felt her mind go blank.
“Hic, h-hic.”
It couldn't have been a trick of her imagination that, along with a pained groan, the space between her legs grew damp.