Chapter 71: Her Decision and Declaration
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 71: Her Decision and Declaration
‘Then maybe… it wasn’t me who approached him at the academy.’
Could it be that Ha-chan himself had approached her, holding memories from the world where they were lovers?
That night.
Ha-chan’s face, smiling warmly at her, overlapped in her mind.
Through her jumbled memories, the look in Ha-chan’s eyes began to seem like that of a man pitying his suffering lover.
The gentle hand that had stroked her as she agonized now felt like it was meant to ease a lover’s pain.
‘I have to get Ha-chan back.’
Unforgivable.
She couldn’t bear to see Ha-chan living a life controlled by another, just as she had.
At the same time, the current Ha-chan was strong, unlike the one from that other world.
Strong enough to erase the Evil Gods’ influence directed at her, he at least wouldn’t be harmed by them.
…Then, couldn’t we live as lovers again?
“Ha, haha.”
“Have you lost your mind? What are you laughing at?”
Baeksan, who had rested Bazra on his shoulder with a look of displeasure, spoke up.
Hearing his voice, Eunnamu narrowed her eyes.
She had achieved the initial objective Girasung had requested.
Her objective was to scout Ha-chan.
The blind spatial user, Aoki Kaito, and the lightning-wielding Catherine.
And even Umbrella Isaac.
Incidents where three Girasung members were either subdued or killed.
The common thread in all these incidents was their connection to one man.
And that man was Kang Ha-chan.
But it turned out that all of it wasn’t Ha-chan’s doing, but the work of this monster standing before her.
This monster was ruining the life of Ha-chan, who would have otherwise lived peacefully.
Realizing this, Eunnamu gritted her teeth.
A wave of raw disgust churned in her gut.
‘…Calm down, Eunnamu.’
From the battle just now, she knew exactly how strong the monster coiled inside Ha-chan’s body was.
Her jumbled memories were still unstable, and she was incredibly sensitive right now, especially emotionally.
If she fought such a powerful monster in this state, she wouldn’t just fail to save Ha-chan; she could be defeated herself.
That could not be allowed to happen.
This was an opportunity Ha-chan had deliberately created for her by exhausting all his lightning aura.
She had to suppress her emotions and escape, no matter what.
To save Ha-chan, she needed to return fully prepared.
‘Besides, I have to protect Ha-chan from Girasung, too.’
Girasung was targeting Ha-chan.
That was the very reason they had sent her to scout him.
It was a good thing she had joined Girasung.
She would be able to stop any potential threats to Ha-chan in advance.
But there was a problem.
She had made a contract with him in Girasung, promising to help kill the Evil Gods.
If he tried to attack Ha-chan and she stopped him, the consequences of the contract would fall squarely on her.
‘It’s fine. If that’s all it is.’
She had an immortal body.
Even if she died from the backlash of breaking the contract, she would just come back to life.
The thought of Ha-chan getting hurt was far worse than being unable to kill the Evil Gods.
‘It seems my other self from that world is dead.’
But what pained her more than her own death was the fact that she had tried to harm Ha-chan’s older sister.
In that other world, while she was hunting down other returnees as part of her deal with Girasung…
…the Evil Gods had secretly damaged her brain, brainwashing her into mistaking his sister for a target and attacking her.
All for the simple reason that it would be “fun.”
But in the end, far from harming his sister, she had died at her hands.
The moment Kang Ma-ri’s hand touched her, the remnants of the Evil Gods and their curses that resided within her were destroyed all at once, stripping her of her immortality.
Of course, as long as the Evil Gods weren’t dealt with, it would all return over time.
But for that one moment, she was able to die as an ordinary human.
She felt a deep sense of relief at that fact.
She would rather die herself than make him witness such a tragedy.
By now, death was no longer something she feared.
At the same time, as the memory of that moment surfaced, something else occurred to her.
Kang Ma-ri’s power, which had destroyed the remnants of the Evil Gods and their curses in a single blow.
That power seemed far stronger than even his from Girasung, whom she had thought most suited to killing the Evil Gods.
‘If I can find Kang Ma-ri…’
Even if she broke her deal with Girasung, she could kill the Evil Gods by borrowing Kang Ma-ri’s power.
Convinced of this, she gripped her scythe tightly.
In that case, her priority now was to protect Ha-chan from Girasung and the monster before her, even before dealing with the Evil Gods.
She had to protect Ha-chan from Girasung, find Kang Ma-ri, and ask for her help in killing both the monster possessing Ha-chan and the Evil Gods.
That was the conclusion Eunnamu reached.
While she was coming to this conclusion, Baeksan was scowling.
‘Shit, that bastard Kang Ha-chan.’
Baeksan had noticed that something was possessing Eunnamu and that she had become strange.
It wasn’t the first or second time he’d seen a weird returnee, so he could let that slide.
The problem was that it was painfully obvious this was somehow related to Kang Ha-chan.
‘I’d love to just grab her so she can’t pull any funny business.’
Eunnamu had realized that the bastard Kang Ha-chan had used up all his aura before he’d been possessed.
Even without aura, Baeksan could beat an S-rank returnee like Eunnamu to a pulp, but complete subjugation was impossible.
As proof, Baeksan hadn’t been able to land a fatal blow on her.
It was difficult to break through the Evil Gods’ curses that constituted her without aura.
Aura depletion was a problem that not even he could solve.
‘Besides, even if I tried to use aura now…’
It was obvious Kang Ha-chan’s body wouldn’t be able to handle it the moment he used aura, so he hadn’t even considered it from the start.
There was a reason for the three-month cooldown between possessions.
For Kang Ha-chan’s body, which had nothing but aura, the possession itself was already a burden, and it took three months to recover from it.
“You can’t kill me.”
At that moment, Eunnamu’s voice rang out.
Dozens of eyes appeared and vanished on the arm gripping her scythe.
Simultaneously, a shimmering black shadow could be seen enveloping her.
Thwack!
The moment he saw it, Baeksan kicked her in the jaw.
“So what?”
Unaware of their mutual misunderstanding, Eunnamu’s and Baeksan’s gazes clashed with a spark.
“You think you’ll live just because I can’t kill you?”
The moment he finished speaking, camellia petals soared into the sky.
Appearing in the sky, riding the camellia petals, was none other than Cheon Hong-ryeon.
Her eyes burned as if possessed by a demon, and she was flying straight toward them.
“Domi-oppa!”
The Strongest Under Heaven, Heavenly Demon Cheon Hong-ryeon.
Befitting that name, even Eunnamu, who was no longer human due to the Evil Gods’ curse, could not defeat her.
“Manager!”
On top of that, Ha Si-ho appeared in the sky via spatial teleportation, along with Ha Seo-ho and Jo Si-a.
Realizing they were all gathering for the sake of one person, Kang Ha-chan, Eunnamu gave a faint smile.
At the same time, her eyes locked directly onto Baeksan’s face.
Looking not at Baeksan, but at the Ha-chan beyond him, she accepted the memories.
Even if these were memories from a worldline she hadn’t lived, that other self was still her.
So, she decided to be honest with the emotions she had finally obtained.
“Wait just a little longer.”
In that instant, her eyes turned pitch black, and a book opened within her pupils.
Fwoosh!
At that moment, black flames erupted from her entire body.
As Baeksan hastily retreated, she smiled a sorrowful smile from within the flames, accompanied by the acrid smell of burning flesh.
Remembering the lover she had been forced to leave behind in another worldline.
“Ha-chan, I’ll be back soon.”
The moment she finished speaking, she vanished, turning into a handful of ash.
Baeksan scowled at having lost her right before his eyes, then clicked his tongue.
“Looks like another crazy bitch is about to get attached to him.”
Baeksan began to scratch his head in frustration.
“Dammit. I even regressed, and I’m still not going to live to a ripe old age.”
With those words, he patted his own back a few times and plopped down on the ground.
“That damn Kang Sunfish. Just you try dying again.”
Letting go of Bazra, Baeksan ended the possession.
*
21
“Kkeuaaack!”
The moment I woke up, my sorrowful scream echoed through the nurse’s office.
The intense pain wracking my entire body felt like it wasn’t just piercing my brain, but setting it on fire.
As I trembled from the sensation of having been beaten all over with a hammer, Baeksan looked down on me with a pathetic expression.
“Serves you right, you bastard.”
How could he say that after seeing me in this state? Was Baeksan a demon?
I writhed on the bed, fiercely regretting that I had let Baeksan possess me without observing the three-month rule.
“You’re in this state because I had to wring out and use a body that had already spent almost all its damn aura. You won’t be able to do anything for a day, so just know that.”
“Ghk, keuk.”
Unable to even reply, I buried my head in the pillow.
More importantly, did Baeksan really overwhelm Eunnamu using my body without any aura?
What a monster.
Creeak—
Just then, the door to the nurse’s office where I was lying opened.
When I turned my gaze to the door, Ahyu was standing there. The moment our eyes met, she let out a long sigh.
“Domi-oppa, how many more times do I have to see you lying in a bed like this?”
This time it was the nurse’s office, but it was already the third time I’d ended up bedridden in a medical facility. I couldn’t help but give an awkward laugh.
I had been training hard recently, but I was still not skilled enough to come back unscathed.
“Manager.”
Just then, Si-ho peeked her head out from beside Ahyu.
She looked at me and tried to enter before Ahyu, but Ahyu blocked her with her body, causing Si-ho to pout.
“Domi-oppa, you overdid it. You, don’t rush in either.”
For once, Ahyu said something sensible.
It seemed even she could clearly see that I wasn’t in a normal state.
“Couldn’t you have left it to me a little more?”
Ahyu asked as she approached me.
Her eyes were filled with worry.
Come to think of it, every time I was in danger, Ahyu would arrive late and have to see me injured.
“You can rely on me, you know.”
Realizing how upset she must have been, I looked at her gloomy face and slowly sat up.
Then, with great effort, I reached out and began to gently stroke her hair.
“I’m always relying on you. This time, too, and always. I just did a little more this time.”
Ahyu stared at me silently before letting out a small sigh.
“Stop making my heart drop like that. If this keeps up, I might just lock you up somewhere, Domi-oppa.”
She says scary things so casually.
I nodded as if to say I understood.
“So, what happened to that person, Eunnamu?”
At that moment, a sharp edge entered Ahyu’s gaze.
“I heard from this little brat that she was disguised as a man and shared a room with you.”
Ahyu was clearly smiling, but there was no mirth in it.
“So why would you know that a wench named Eunnamu was a woman, Domi-oppa? What happened?”
I looked at Baeksan.
It’s okay if it hurts, can’t you possess me one more time and get me out of this?
Baeksan smiled at me and raised his middle finger.
Useless regressor.
“Ahyu.”
“Yeah, yeah?”
“Can I ask you just one thing?”
“What is it?”
“Are you going to get mad after I tell you?”
“No, I won’t get mad. Why would I get mad at you, Domi-oppa?”
Hearing that, I felt relieved and explained.
And of course, Ahyu got mad.
Liar.
Of course, the part that really made Ahyu angry was that Eunnamu had approached me with ulterior motives.
“This won’t do. Sharing a room with a woman like that… it’s unforgivable. When you graduate, Domi-oppa, I’m going to come sleep over at your house.”
“How did the conversation get here?”
“Why? You don’t want me to?”
As Ahyu shot me a glare, I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.
“I don’t want you to.”
Just then, Si-ho spoke up in my place.
As Si-ho, who had been listening to our conversation quietly, entered the fray, Ahyu glared at her.
“What’s it to you, you little brat?”
“Si-ho is the Manager’s girlfriend.”
“Hmph, that’s fake.”
“But I’m still his first girlfriend.”
Si-ho puffed out her small chest proudly.
Seeing this, Ahyu’s eyes wavered for a moment.
“…I’m going to marry him.”
And then, strange words came out of Ahyu’s mouth.
“I’m—I’m going to be the first one to marry Domi-oppa!”
Why was the conversation going this way?
As Ahyu shouted, Si-ho’s eyes widened, then turned into a fierce glare as she began to stare daggers at Ahyu.
I quietly pulled the blanket up over my head.
I didn’t have the mental energy to deal with the two of them arguing about dating and marriage right in front of the person concerned.
Is there anyone out there who will respect my opinion?
“Nope.”
Baeksan’s words were the undeniable truth.