Chapter 87: These Damn Twins
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 87: These Damn Twins
“Hyeok-seo.”
“Sorry. Looks like negotiations have failed.”
I called out, trying to hold him back, but my words didn’t get through.
How frustrating.
It was clear Hyeok-seo had made his decision long ago.
He was so anxious about his sister dying that he couldn't think straight.
“Just let him go. Besides, she’s a spirit body, so there’s no real advantage to holding her hostage. Not that someone with your personality could do that anyway.”
Hyeok-seo gazed at his sister with a sorrowful expression.
At the sight, Eunhyeon slowly set down her teacup.
“The fact that negotiations have failed doesn't mean I'll simply let you leave.”
As her tails began to sway behind her, Hyeok-seo's shadow wavered in response.
“You think you can stop me from leaving?”
“Perhaps just to buy some time. However.”
At that moment, a man outside the cafe window began to walk toward us.
Black martial arts robes and flowing white hair.
The moment he met the man's gaze—a middle-aged man with a wrinkled face—Hyeok-seo's expression twisted in anger.
“Shit… Have you no fucking courtesy?”
“It was Sir Kang Ha-chan who negotiated with you, not I. Naturally, I had to make preparations.”
The man outside was none other than Gye Du-sik, also known as Geumgangho, the hero of our nation.
“You know, I’ve never liked you.”
“Yes, I’m well aware.”
As she finished speaking, Eunhyeon's nine tails spread out, and the surroundings were instantly engulfed in pitch-black shadow.
The moment I saw it, red lightning erupted around me.
“...I wasn’t finished.”
Hyeok-seo flinched at the sight of my furious expression.
Even he couldn't ignore the sheer volume of aura pouring from my body.
At the same time, when I glared at Eunhyeon, she also flinched and quickly looked away.
She had decided from the start that my conversation with Hyeok-seo would fail.
“What difference does it make if we’re not done?”
My eyes met Hyeok-seo’s.
As our gazes locked, Hyeok-seo was the first to move.
A shower of sparks erupted.
But we were inside a cafe.
There were civilians around, so I couldn't unleash my full power.
I ground my teeth as I watched the tendril of shadow I had narrowly missed slip away.
“I’ll be on my way.”
“...Eunhyeon. Even I'm angry about what you just did.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Eunhyeon dashed out in pursuit.
As I stepped out of the cafe, I saw Gye Du-sik chasing the shadow that was flying over the rooftops at incredible speed, running right up the walls of the buildings.
Behind him, Eunhyeon was firing massive silver projectiles indiscriminately at the shadow, but it simply swallowed them, its speed undiminished.
“...Is my brother gone?”
Just then, a voice came from behind.
She sounded sober now, leaning against the wall as she gazed up at the sky.
Her expression showed she had given up on stopping her brother long ago.
She'd already mentioned arguing with Hyeok-seo, which explained everything.
“Eva.”
“I'm sorry, Doremi, for dragging you into our problems. And to think Girasung was doing that to you… It's all my fault.”
“...So you were working for Girasung too, Eva.”
“Only for a short time. Their methods were so vile I left almost immediately. But the fact that my brother is still with them is just…”
Eva's expression grew dark.
Then, she let out a long sigh. When she lifted her head, she was smiling faintly.
“...I'm sorry. Even if I can't stop Girasung, I will stop my brother.”
Hearing that, just as Eva was about to turn away, I reached out and firmly grabbed her wrist.
It was obvious what she intended to do.
“...”
I looked at her without a word.
She was a spirit body.
Even though she was a returnee, as a spirit body, she couldn't possibly wield her full power.
So how could she possibly stop Hyeok-seo?
The answer was simple.
If the cause was eliminated, Hyeok-seo would have no reason to act.
That smile of hers was one of complete resignation.
She had always acted as if she'd already given up on life.
She was thinking she might as well give up on what little life she had left to stop her brother.
These damn twins were so trapped in their own heads they couldn't see anything else.
“...Doremi.”
Just like twins, their way of thinking was far too similar.
“My brother and Girasung…”
“Even if Hyeok-seo stops, Girasung won't. Those bastards will find a way to target Si-ho no matter what.”
Girasung was targeting Si-ho.
They simply shared a common goal with Hyeok-seo. Him backing out wouldn't change Girasung's objective.
“But… I have no other choice.”
Eva’s eyes wavered.
She must have been searching for a solution all this time.
She searched and searched, but in the end, she must have failed to find an answer and been forced to give up.
“Baeksan.”
So, I called on the single strongest person I knew.
My gaze turned to Baeksan.
My friend, the one who always had an answer for me, was watching me silently.
“Just one.”
And Baeksan spoke.
“At this point in time, it's not certain, but there might be a way. There was someone on record at the World Returnee Association.”
My mind grew ice-cold.
“Tell me.”
“This is someone I looked for back when you died. But I never managed to find them. You okay with that? This could all be for nothing.”
“I don't care.”
I'd do anything if it meant I could sit these damn twins down and give them the lecture they deserved.
“Then.”
“Would you mind not making our Ha-chan so angry?”
Just then, before Baeksan could speak, another voice came from behind us.
The voice was incredibly familiar. I turned, and there was Seol-hyang, walking toward us.
She glanced at me and smiled, then came to my side and gently wrapped her hand around mine.
“Sorry, I didn't want things to turn out like this.”
“...Seol-hyang, you knew who Eva and Hyeok-seo were.”
“Yes, though I only found out recently.”
Apparently, Seol-hyang had discovered through her investigations that Eva was Hyeok-seo's twin sister.
It made sense. It would be natural to uncover something like that while investigating an enemy like Hyeok-seo.
And knowing that was probably why she didn't show up to the guild meeting.
She then let go of my hand and stood in front of Eva.
Eva also seemed to know Seol-hyang.
“...Iron-Blooded Empress. It's been a while.”
“Still using titles? Asura was just giving me a hard time about the same thing.”
“We agreed not to call each other by name, so we wouldn't get attached. It was your way of telling me not to get attached to someone on borrowed time like me.”
The two spoke as if they had a history.
Hyeok-seo used to be part of the World Returnee Association, so she must have been, too.
“You've been keeping an eye on me, haven't you?”
Eva asked as if she already knew, and Seol-hyang nodded.
It was only natural. The most likely place for Hyeok-seo to show up was by Eva's side.
“I'm sorry for the trouble my brother has caused.”
“Yes, he's been quite a nuisance.”
After her blunt reply, Seol-hyang turned to me.
“So, let's take care of that nuisance.”
At her use of the word “we,” my eyes began to widen.
Seol-hyang must have known about this situation all along and been watching.
And what did it mean for her to appear here now?
A smile spread across her face as she looked at me.
It was such a magnificent smile that for a moment, I felt myself being completely captivated.
“Seol-hyang.”
“Yes. Because I've found a solution.”
My childhood friend's declaration was the most reassuring thing in the world.
My eyes met Baeksan's.
He nodded.
His reaction seemed to say that his idea and Seol-hyang's were one and the same.
My childhood friend might be the biggest genius in the world.
“You found a solution?”
A surprised Eva asked, and Seol-hyang nodded.
“Ryeongju, I've found a way to save you.”
“How…”
“Solutions exist to be found, don't they?”
And Seol-hyang looked back at me.
“But before that, Ha-chan, I need your help to save her.”
I immediately nodded.
“Tell me.”
From the moment she came here, I had a feeling that it was something related to me.
Ever since Baeksan had called me his 'masterpiece,' the flow of events seemed to follow a similar pattern.
Hearing my reply, Seol-hyang said something I never would have expected.
“Juksim. We have to persuade her.”
Something I hadn't expected in the slightest.
*
Juksim.
Why did that name come from Seol-hyang?
As I, Eva, and everyone else stared at Seol-hyang in confusion, only one person, who had appeared late, was scratching their cheek with an awkward expression.
It was none other than Naek.
“Hmm, so that's the plan.”
“Naek?”
Naek spoke as if they knew something, and all eyes turned to them.
Under those gazes, Naek walked forward and looked toward Seol-hyang.
“Chairperson, I have to admit, it's a bit bittersweet to see you use the story I told you so quickly.”
“We have to use everything we can.”
“Wait a minute, am I the only one who doesn't know what's going on?”
When I asked in confusion, looking back and forth between Seol-hyang and Naek, the two of them looked at each other.
Their eyes seemed to ask who would do the explaining, and in the end, it was Naek who spoke up.
“Uh, first of all, Doremi, I'm a returnee, right?”
“Uh, yeah, right.”
“I returned very recently.”
Recently.
As soon as I heard that, something came to mind.
That period when Naek hadn't logged into the game for a long time.
It was during that exact period that Naek had been caught in a dimensional shift.
“Could it be that the 'game' you mentioned…”
“That's right. I'm a returnee from a game. To be precise, from a modern fantasy virtual simulation world.”
Virtual simulation.
From what I heard, it was a virtual space, one of countless created and then abandoned by a dimension far more scientifically advanced than our own, one that had reached a technological singularity.
The most peculiar thing is that only the mind gets caught in the dimensional shift, while the body remains intact in this dimension.
This leaves the physical body in a comatose state, and I'd heard that in some cases, the body perishes before the mind can return.
“The World Returnee Association was the one that kept my body alive while I was in that other dimension.”
It seemed that was the reason Naek and Seol-hyang were familiar with each other.
Then again, since Seol-hyang is the chairperson of the World Returnee Association, most returnees would meet her at least once anyway.
“The problem is, I was the type to live alone without contacting anyone. So my body here was left neglected in a comatose state for quite a while.”
“It wasn't just 'neglected for a while'.”
At that, Seol-hyang clicked her tongue and added.
“When we found Naek—Ms. Lee Eunha—she had already stopped breathing once.”
At Seol-hyang's words mentioning Naek's real name, Lee Eunha, my eyes went wide.
Because those words meant that Naek had died once.
But now, Naek was alive and well.
What Seol-hyang was saying sounded like a contradiction.
“...Are you saying that Juksim was involved in Naek dying and coming back to life?”
I voiced the conclusion I had deduced from the conversation.
As if my words were the correct answer, Naek nodded in response.
“While I was busy wandering around that other dimension, my vision suddenly went completely black. I was left in a pitch-black space when a message suddenly arrived.”
“That was Juksim.”
“That's right. The message said she would fix my body, so please wait a moment. Right after that message, I could see again.”
I was lost in thought.
Juksim, who had always played games with me.
According to Baeksan, my guild members had been deliberately gathered around me, so it wasn't surprising to learn that Juksim was connected to the world of returnees.
In fact, all of Juksim's peculiar behaviors now made perfect sense.
But to bring a dead person back to life?
That was something impossible even for a Saint, a master of healing magic.
Even Baeksan was staring wide-eyed in disbelief.
“...The person I searched for so desperately was this close all along?”
Baeksan's voice was laced with a sense of futility.
It made sense.
If Baeksan had known who Juksim was, he would have tried to save me first.
But the fact that he couldn't meant that Baeksan had never found Juksim.
Whatever happened to Juksim back then, it meant she had remained hidden all that time.
To hear that such a person was by my side now, Baeksan couldn't help but feel a sense of futility.
Maybe, in that worldline, the me and Juksim...
...might not have known each other like we do now.