Chapter 125
Chapter 125
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 125
Chapter Title: The Night That Falls During the Day (1)
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“Haaah.”
I take a deep breath.
Closing my eyes gently, I focus my mind on the left side of my chest.
—A deep, settling darkness.
Within the darkness that blankets everything like a night sky, constellations of various colors shimmer.
‘The Stigma of Lyra.’
I reach out toward the most brilliantly shining constellation among them.
Blue mana flows from the constellation and spreads throughout my entire body.
*Crackle—!*
Blue lightning crackled and enveloped my body.
*Click.*
I drew the spear from my waist and gripped it with both hands.
The fundamental principles of spearmanship flowed into me, carried on Lee Shin-hyeok's memories.
‘No need to be bound by it.’
I erase the basic spear movements flowing into my mind.
I'm not a martial artist who has dedicated his life to a single spear, anyway.
As long as I know how to thrust and slash, that's enough.
‘What's more important is this.’
*Hoo.*
I slowly exhale the breath I had drawn in deeply, compressing the mana circuits throughout my body as if pressing down on them.
[Activating 《Exceed Lv5》.]
[Prolonged use of the skill will result in the 'Overload' state.]
Blue lightning coiled around my body, flaring violently.
When I first learned it, the side effects were so severe that just using it would leave me unconscious for days, but now it's a skill I can use as naturally as breathing.
‘Though it's still hard to maintain for long.’
Still, thanks to consistent training, the duration increased significantly when the Exceed skill's level rose from 3 to 5.
Before, the limit was 5 minutes at best, but now I can maintain it for up to 15 minutes without overloading.
It's no longer a self-destructive technique that eats away at my lifespan, but something I can use as a buff skill.
“Alright then.”
Oh-jin walked over to the training room wall and flipped a switch.
Hundreds, thousands of lights shot out erratically from the laser pointers installed on the wall.
Of course, unlike the laser weapons from science fiction novels, they had no killing power whatsoever; they were just flashy lights used to liven up the mood at a karaoke bar.
‘—If I touch that light, I die.’
I whisper the lie to myself.
‘My flesh will burn, melt, and be crushed.’
I imagine it.
The light dancing before my eyes isn't just a beam from a machine, but a deadly feather shot by the King of Owls.
Again,
and again,
and again.
I repeat the lie to myself.
“Hup!”
*Bzzzt!*
I move my body, leaving behind an afterimage of lightning.
Hundreds, thousands of lasers swirl through the training room in irregular patterns.
*Swoosh!*
While dodging the erratically moving lasers, one grazed my left forearm.
*Crackle!*
In that instant, blue lightning flared on my forearm, and the flesh burned black.
“Hoo, haa!”
Cold sweat trickles down my forehead.
A thrilling jolt spreads, followed by a stinging pain.
This isn't simple image training. The moment a laser touches me, the mana in my body moves on its own and burns the affected area black.
As if brainwashed, my mana unconsciously reacts to the 'lie' I keep telling myself.
‘This isn't some hypnosis app, for fuck's sake.’
I came up with this training method recently.
By repeating the lie for the sake of image training, I reached a point where I'd get real injuries.
Of course, even doing this couldn't create the exact same tension as a real battle.
*Zzzzing!*
“Haa! Haa!”
But I was able to achieve far better results than just training mindlessly.
‘The Stigma of Horologium.’
In an instant.
The erratically moving lights froze in place as if time had stopped.
In the slowly flowing time, Oh-jin stepped and moved between the lasers.
‘Cheon Do-yoon.’
I recalled the image of the old man I had faced that day.
An old man with deep wrinkles materialized before my eyes, letting out a bizarre "Holholhol" laugh.
*Crackle—!!*
Blue flames blaze along the spearhead.
I thrust the spear, imbued with Noeyeom, toward Cheon Do-yoon.
"Holholhol. Too slow, Wolf of Vega."
The imaginary Cheon Do-yoon dodged the attack with a sneer.
Cheon Do-yoon flicked his hand lightly, and a black feather formed into a long sword, shooting toward Oh-jin.
“Hoo, hoo!”
I gasped for breath and readjusted my grip on the spear.
I swung my spear upward, striking the black feather aimed between my eyes.
*Clang!*
Even though I hadn't actually hit a feather, a sharp shock shot through my palms.
‘It's not enough.’
What I have now isn't enough to face him.
“Haa.”
Oh-jin focused his mind on the left side of his chest.
Deep, dark storm clouds. I reach out toward the dragon coiled majestically, hiding itself among the clouds.
I couldn't control it freely yet.
But I could use a certain amount of the Dragon Vein's mana.
*Fwhoosh!*
The blue flame burning on the spearhead took the shape of a dragon.
A blue dragon made of lightning coiled around the spear shaft.
“Hraaaaaaaaaaah!!”
*Boom!*
I stomped my foot violently and slammed the spear shaft down.
The blue dragon coiled around the shaft spread out in six directions before converging into a single point and shooting toward Cheon Do-yoon.
"Holholhol."
Cheon Do-yoon, pierced by the blue dragon, dissipated into thin air with his characteristic bizarre laugh.
“Hoo.”
Oh-jin steadied his ragged breath and turned off the laser pointer switch.
*Ting!*
[You have succeeded in controlling a portion of the Dragon Vein's mana!]
[You have acquired the skill 《Cheongnyongjin Lv1》. Due to the influence of 《Noejeon Lv9》, it rises to 《Cheongnyongjin Lv4》.]
[The skill 《Exceed Lv5》 has risen to 《Exceed Lv6》.]
[The skill 《Noeyeom Lv4》 has risen to 《Noeyeom Lv5》.]
“Oh wow, they're shooting right up.”
Was it thanks to the effects of this extreme image training where I deceive myself?
Recently, the levels of several skills had been growing by one or two stages at a time.
‘Though the most important one, Noejeon, is still at level 9.’
Just as Riak had said, going from Noejeon level 9 to 10 wasn't easy.
“He did say something special would happen at level 10…”
In truth, since I had already learned Noeyeom, which was supposed to be the level 10 reward, I couldn't predict what would come next.
‘I'll think about this later.’
Oh-jin scrolled down the status window and stared intently at the part labeled 'Gaecheon'.
‘I still have no idea what this is.’
While focusing on training this time, I tried various things, but I still couldn't figure out what kind of ability Gaecheon was or how to use it.
“Tsk.”
I clicked my tongue and closed the status window. Staring at something I don't understand won't make me understand it.
“Hsss… hurts like a bitch.”
I hadn't noticed while moving around frantically, but quite a few blackened burn marks were etched all over my body.
‘I should heal up before I go.’
I got into the oversized bathtub I had filled with water earlier, treated my wounds, and then headed home.
*Click.*
“Noona~!”
I walked over to Ha-eun, who was sitting on the living room sofa.
“…Are you back from training?”
“Yup.”
“Good work.”
Ha-eun turned her head away, her expression somewhat bitter.
‘There she goes again.’
She's been like this ever since we got back from the dungeon last time.
“Why are you looking so down in the dumps again?”
“Mind your own business, you punk.”
“How can I not care when it's about you, Noona?”
“Gh…”
Ha-eun's shoulders flinched.
She glanced at Oh-jin with trembling eyes before slowly getting up.
“Wait a minute. I'll make you dinner.”
“Save me.”
“Huh?”
“No, I mean, I'm really looking forward to it.”
Ha-eun snorted, "Hmph," and headed to the kitchen.
After dinner and a shower, Oh-jin collapsed onto his bed as if fainting.
“Going to sleep already?”
“I've been training pretty hard lately, so I'm a bit tired.”
Ever since I started the image training, my body has been so battered that fatigue builds up quickly.
“…Alright. Go to sleep.”
Oh-jin drifted off to sleep.
“……”
Silence fell upon the room.
Ha-eun flopped down on her bed.
The space below her right leg felt empty, as the prosthetic she had ordered hadn't arrived yet.
“Haaah.”
She let out a deep sigh and stared at the ceiling.
“…Wallowing in self-pity like a fool.”
she muttered in a self-reproachful voice.
Staring blankly at the ceiling, Ha-eun carefully sat up.
She could see Oh-jin, who had fallen fast asleep less than a minute after lying down, clearly exhausted.
*Srrk.*
She sat down next to the lower bunk where Oh-jin was sleeping.
She carefully reached out and ran her fingers through Oh-jin's hair.
*Throb, throb.*
A pain like an awl stabbing her chest washed over her.
"Noona!!!!"
The events from the dungeon flashed through her mind.
The collapsing floor. The sight of Oh-jin desperately reaching out to her.
‘Once again… I was the one being saved.’
She bit her lip.
I wanted to be of some help to him, even just a little, but in the end, I just became a burden again.
‘It's always been like this.’
Rummaging through the storehouse of her old memories, she could only find times when Oh-jin had protected her.
Always, always, always.
Oh-jin was always standing in front of her.
“……”
She was anxious.
What if one day, he gets sick of it and leaves her side?
What if he leaves her, a mere burden, and goes to someone else?
‘Like… Isabella.’
She recalled the image of a beautiful woman with platinum blonde hair.
The daughter of one of Europe's most distinguished noble families.
While her own Constellation was still higher-ranked than Isabella's, the other woman was a super rookie receiving global attention, so there was no telling when she might be surpassed.
No, forgetting about being surpassed, as a supporter-class—practically treated as nobility in parties—she could already be of great help to Oh-jin right now.
And what about her?
“…I don't want that.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.
After everything it took to be together again, the thought that he might leave was unbearably frightening.
‘Oh-jin.’
She gently stroked his sleeping forehead, lost in thought.
A distant past, so long ago she couldn't even remember when it was.
The memory of when she first met him suddenly surfaced in her mind.
‘He was so gloomy.’
When he first came to the orphanage, Oh-jin was what you'd call a gloomy kid, who barely spoke.
At the time, she was the leader among the orphanage kids and had tried talking to him a few times, but she never got a response.
Then one day, after getting a severe beating from the bald director.
She had snuck up to the rooftop to hide from the director and was able to talk with Oh-jin, who was standing there blankly, for the first time.
‘What did I say back then?’
She couldn't really remember now.
All she remembered was that after that day, Oh-jin started calling her 'Noona' and began to follow her around.
“Thinking about it now, it really has been a damn long time.”
With a faint smile on her lips, she caressed the sleeping Oh-jin's cheek.
‘I won't let anyone take him.’
Ha-eun bit her lip gently, her eyes gleaming.
Call me shameless, I don't care.
Call me selfish, it doesn't matter.
‘Oh-jinie is mine.’
She clenched her fist.
Ha-eun got up from the bedside and went back to lie down in her own bed.
There was only one way to make sure Oh-jin, who might leave at any moment, would stay by her side for good.
“Let's see…”
She took out her smartphone and opened the internet search bar.
“How, to, confess, to, younger brother… No, you crazy bastards, not incest, fuck.”
Ha-eun frowned and opened a new search tab.
“Confession methods… that work… on a younger man…”
*Tap, tap.*
In the darkened room, only the light from the smartphone twinkled like a star.