Chapter 238
Chapter 238
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 238
Chapter Title: A Hero for the Small (8)
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“So…”
Oh-jin looked around and let out a hollow laugh.
The civilians who had been hiding and trembling inside the barrier were gone, leaving the space completely empty.
The same went for Io, whom he had risked his life to save.
In place of the civilians, only a beautiful woman with dark green hair remained.
It was as if… scattered pieces had come together to form the complete being known as ‘Rebecca Bell’.
“So this was all a staged act from the very beginning?”
“Hehe. Sorry for tricking you.”
Rebecca smiled brightly and stuck out her tongue playfully.
Was this what Io would look like in ten years?
Even though her body was that of an adult, he could somehow see Io's face superimposed on hers.
“Besides, unless we were completely insane, there’s no way we’d let civilians participate in the tournament, right?”
“…”
He had a point.
He’d thought something was strange from the start.
The very idea of letting a ten-year-old child participate in a tournament to select the Seven Stars, the so-called ‘hope of humanity’.
“Does the Gemini constellation have the ability to create clones?”
As far as Oh-jin knew, Gemini’s power was the ability to freely manipulate plant life.
He understood it as the ability to attack and defend using tree trunks, roots, and seeds. Clones seemed to come out of nowhere.
“This is my unique skill.”
Rebecca shrugged and nodded.
Oh-jin clicked his tongue lightly.
*‘I can’t believe I didn’t notice.’*
Even if he hadn’t known she could create clones, to be led around so blindly…
As a professional(?) con artist with over ten years of experience, it was a serious blow to his pride.
“We even practiced for weeks to make sure the participants wouldn’t notice.”
Allen approached with a wry smile.
They had deliberately created urgent situations and fostered fear to hide the fact that the Seven Stars were participating.
“Was cutting off your arm part of it too?”
“Ah… yes. I admit it was a bit extreme. Sir Jason probably had a professional medical team standing by.”
Oh-jin let out a dry laugh and nodded.
Even if it was to deceive the participants, chopping off an arm was definitely crossing a line, but thanks to that, Oh-jin hadn’t realized the Blue Knight was Allen.
“But it had to be done.”
Rebecca continued in a gentle voice.
“That’s the only way to find a ‘gem’ like you in the mud.”
She approached Oh-jin and extended her hand.
“Welcome to the Seven Stars.”
Rebecca grinned.
Oh-jin sighed, took her offered hand, and pulled himself up.
“Ugh…”
Was it because the tension had finally eased?
Waves of pain washed over his body.
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Rebecca snapped her fingers lightly.
*Rumble.*
A tree trunk shot up from the ground, and a large leaf, like that of a banana plant, wrapped around Oh-jin’s body.
“It’s not as good as Aquarius, but Gemini has some healing abilities too.”
A green sap flowed from the leaf, drenching Oh-jin’s body.
He could feel the pain quickly subsiding and his wounds regenerating.
Despite her claim that it was inferior to Aquarius, the healing speed was remarkably fast.
“By the way, are you really an 8-Star, mister? You haven’t even undergone physical reconstruction yet, have you?”
Rebecca asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
For some reason, her expression reminded him of Io’s sparkling eyes, and Oh-jin gave a wry smile.
“I don’t think our age gap warrants you calling me ‘mister’.”
“Ah, sorry. It just slipped out.”
“It’s already become a habit,” she muttered, bursting into a peal of laughter.
“Should I call you Oppa, then?”
“…Aren’t you older than me, Ms. Rebecca?”
Though she looked to be in her early twenties at most.
As Oh-jin recalled, Rebecca was older than Ha-eun…
“Aww, Oppa. Are you really going to say that to a beautiful lady?”
Rebecca winked and spoke in a flirtatious tone, while Allen watched her with an expression that screamed ‘pathetic’.
Perhaps because they were both from England, the two seemed quite close.
“Oppa… Oppa… Hmm, it doesn’t quite roll off the tongue. I like ‘mister’ the best!”
Having reached her own conclusion, she patted Oh-jin’s back and smiled like a spring flower.
From Oh-jin’s perspective, now being called ‘mister’ by a woman older than him, that smile wasn’t exactly pleasant.
*‘It doesn’t really matter what she calls me.’*
Oh-jin let out a short sigh and stepped out from between the leaves.
“Ah, you could have stayed a bit longer.”
“It’s about time I left.”
He couldn’t just hang around here forever.
It was also a little annoying to have been played by the Council’s little drama.
“Hehe. Then I’ll show you the way out, mister!”
Rebecca grabbed Oh-jin’s arm with a playful smile.
It felt a bit strange to be called ‘mister’ in such a cute way by a grown woman, but since Rebecca herself was so stunning, it wasn’t an unpleasant feeling.
* * *
“Congratulations.”
As he stepped out through the warp device, Olivia bowed respectfully to Oh-jin.
Thick, horn-rimmed glasses and neatly tied-up hair.
She exuded such a business-like aura that it was hard to believe she was the same woman who had been screaming over the broadcast earlier.
“Mr. Oh-jin, you have passed the Council’s test with flying colors and have been selected as a member of the Seven Stars.”
“That broadcast earlier was quite something.”
“That was… ahem. My apologies.”
Perhaps finding it quite embarrassing in retrospect, Olivia cleared her throat and avoided Oh-jin’s gaze.
“Th-This is a fraud! A complete fraud!”
“If this was the case, what was that broadcast for!”
In the banquet hall, the candidates who had come out after hearing the broadcast were gathered, fiercely protesting to the Council members.
Some candidates were even getting physical, shoving and protesting against the Council.
“Enough.”
Allen spoke, his voice cold and low.
At his single word, the noisy banquet hall fell silent, as if frozen.
“The Seven Stars Council does not simply select Awakeners who can hunt the most monsters the fastest.”
Allen’s voice continued in the chilling silence.
“The Seven Stars are the seven stars who will become the hope of humanity and light the path ahead.”
Allen scanned the candidates with sharp eyes.
“Do you think you can call yourselves the hope of humanity?”
“…”
The candidates were struck dumb.
As if they weren’t worth another word, Allen walked past the candidates.
Oh-jin, feeling awkward standing there, quickly followed Allen out of the banquet hall.
“The Star’s Baptism will be held in a week at the Sanctuary. Lady Vega and… Deneb will likely attend the baptism as well.”
Allen, walking ahead, turned to Oh-jin and said.
“I can understand Vega, but Deneb is a surprise.”
“Haha. I apologize for Deneb’s rudeness back then.”
Allen gave a wry smile and let out a short sigh.
“Even Constellations have emotions. I believe the stress that has accumulated over an unimaginably long time was expressed in a negative way.”
“Well, I’ve heard the circumstances.”
He’d heard she was constantly compared to Vega and Polaris for being the weakest of the North Stars.
Among the Constellations, Deneb was apparently treated as something of a freeloader who got in through connections.
“But no matter what anyone says, Deneb is a North Star. She does not let personal feelings interfere with her duties as a Constellation.”
Oh-jin nodded.
He knew well that although Deneb had a childish personality, she wasn’t so naive as to forget her duties as a Constellation.
“Well then, I learned a great deal, Mr. Oh-jin. For the next week, you are free to rest comfortably here at the hotel or return home.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Oh-jin nodded and headed toward Ha-eun, who would be waiting for him.
“…”
Allen stared intently at Oh-jin’s retreating back.
Olivia approached him.
“Sir Allen. There is still one vacancy among the Seven Stars, so we should convene the Council again soon…”
*Thud!*
“Ah, Sir Allen?”
Staggering, Allen bumped into the wall.
“Hah, hah!”
Allen let out a ragged breath and clutched his forehead.
He had barely managed to block Oh-jin’s final attack, but the shock hadn’t completely dissipated.
*‘If I hadn’t blocked it with my sword…’*
Allen let out a dry laugh and wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Just… what kind of monster have you created, Lady Vega?”
An ominous feeling ran down his spine, and Allen swallowed hard.
“Sir Allen! Are you all right, Sir Allen?!”
Olivia cried out urgently, looking at Allen who was leaning against the wall, panting heavily.
“Lady Rebecca! Please, heal him quickly…!”
Olivia turned her head and called for Rebecca, but…
“…Lady Rebecca?”
Rebecca, who had been following behind, had already vanished somewhere.
* * *
“Yes! I knew Oh-jinnie would make it!”
Watching the news in her hotel room that Oh-jin had been chosen as one of the Seven Stars, Ha-eun hugged a sofa cushion and kicked her legs excitedly.
“So is Oh-jinnie going to be called Something-Something Star now instead of Lightning Wolf~”
Ha-eun’s eyes sparkled with joy, like a wife who had just seen an article about her husband’s promotion.
She got up from the sofa and opened the trunk she had brought with her.
“Let’s see… I said I’d give him a sp-special present if he became one of the Seven Stars.”
What she carefully took out of the trunk was a piece of slinky, lacy lingerie.
Holding the quite revealing underwear in her hands, Ha-eun gulped.
“Th-This punk. He’s going to love this, right?”
It was a design so embarrassing that just looking at it made her cheeks flush.
But for Oh-jin, who had brilliantly claimed his spot among the Seven Stars against such fierce competition, she had to do at least this much.
“Tonight… ehehe.”
Imagining what would happen tonight, the corners of Ha-eun’s mouth crept up into a silly grin.
“Alright, since I’m doing this, I’m going to show Oh-jinnie the charm of an older woman today!”
Lately, Oh-jin had been treating her like a younger sister or someone to be protected, so she had been thinking it was time to show him the composure and sensuality of an older woman.
After changing into the lingerie, Ha-eun paced near the entrance, waiting for Oh-jin to arrive.
*Thump, thump.*
The sound of familiar footsteps from the distance.
*‘He’s here!’*
Ha-eun quickly turned off the main lights and switched on a mood lamp.
She struck a sensual pose, leaning against the wall with the most alluring expression she could muster.
*-Creeeak.*
The hotel room door slowly opened.
“Huhu. Has my little baby arrived?”
Ha-eun whispered in a seductive voice, her eyes half-lidded.
She slowly turned her gaze, expecting to see Oh-jin’s shocked face.
“…Huh?”
“Hm?”
Her eyes met with a girl who looked to be about ten years old.
The girl, who had green streaks in her hair, looked at the lingerie-clad Ha-eun and a wide smile spread across her face.
The girl turned her head toward the hallway and shouted at the top of her lungs.
“Misterrrrr! There’s a naked lady in hereeeee!”
Ha-eun’s desperate scream echoed through the hotel room.