Chapter 245
Chapter 245
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 245
Chapter Title: Celebration Party (1)
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My distorted vision returned to normal.
The past and present intersected.
No, in this case, it might be more accurate to call it the future and the present.
Oh-jin sat in the empty living room, curled up like a bug scorched by a flame.
“Ah, ugh.”
A wave of nausea surged through him.
Sour stomach acid stung his throat.
“Damn... it...”
He had known.
He had expected it.
That Ha-eun would have died in the first timeline.
And that because of it, he would have become 'different' from who he was now.
Otherwise, he couldn't have easily imagined a future where he became the Heavenly Demon.
“Hah, hah!”
But just because he knew...
Just because he expected it, didn't mean he was unaffected.
*'Lee Shin-hyeok.'*
*Grit.*
Oh-jin glared, grinding his teeth fiercely.
Even he, who had merely inherited the memories, was boiling with a murderous intent to rip Lee Shin-hyeok to shreds right now. What must his past self have felt?
*'...I don't know if I was there or not.'*
In any case, he would have heard the news eventually.
What happened the moment he heard that Ha-eun had died?
How twisted and distorted did he become?
“Ugh...!”
Oh-jin clutched his head and curled up.
A terrible pain, as if a thick iron plate were crushing his head, pressed down on him.
-Ting!
[The memories of the Awakened Lee Shin-hyeok have been successfully inherited.]
[Due to the eighth bloom of the Black Heaven, the performance of 'Inheritance' has been enhanced.]
[You have acquired the new trait 'Déjà Vu'.]
Messages appeared before his eyes.
“...Déjà Vu?”
Oh-jin tapped the blue window displaying the new trait.
[Déjà Vu - When specific situations and conditions are met, you can acquire a portion of the absorbed Awakened's memories.]
In other words, inheritance didn't have to happen only through the blooming of the Black Heaven; it could also occur through other actions.
But.
“What are these 'specific situations and conditions'?”
It was a rather vague explanation.
After staring at the message window for a moment, Oh-jin grabbed the folding knife tucked into his waistband.
*'If Déjà Vu means what it says...'*
There was something he wanted to test.
*Shhhlick, click!*
As he channeled mana into the folding knife in his hand, it transformed into a long spear.
Oh-jin calmly steadied his breathing and gripped the spear's shaft.
At that moment.
-It's my fault... If only I had been a little stronger!
The image of Lee Shin-hyeok frantically swinging his spear in some unknown forest flashed through his mind.
Memories of 'spearmanship' flooded in, as if a locked faucet had been turned on.
[Your understanding of the 'Spearmanship of Pyxis' has greatly increased!]
[Your 'Spearmanship of Pyxis' has risen to Level 10.]
“Keuk!”
A throbbing pain.
His head felt hot, as if a searing iron had been shoved into his brain.
Suppressing the surging pain, Oh-jin narrowed his eyes.
*'So this is what it meant by specific situations and conditions.'*
In essence, just as the name Déjà Vu suggested, when he encountered a situation similar to one Lee Shin-hyeok had faced in his past life, the corresponding memories would flow into his mind.
*'This won't be an easy trait to use.'*
The spear was Lee Shin-hyeok's main weapon, so simply gripping it was enough to trigger Déjà Vu.
But it would be difficult to similarly replicate Lee Shin-hyeok's other memories without knowing what they were.
“I'd be better off hoping for a coincidental overlap, like a real déjà vu.”
After standing in the living room for a while trying to replicate Lee Shin-hyeok's memories, Oh-jin let out a short sigh and returned the spear to its knife form.
“......”
The moment he stopped moving, a dreadful silence descended.
*Tick-tock.*
The ticking of the clock's second hand echoed like thunder.
The silence, which normally wouldn't have bothered him, now felt unbearably terrifying.
*'Get a grip.'*
Ha-eun's death happened in a past life.
It was nothing more than a crumpled, discarded page of fate, something that had 'not happened'.
So there was no reason to be this anxious—
“Hah, hah.”
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
He exhaled the breath caught in his throat, suppressing his faintly trembling hands.
The left path, the one not chosen.
The image of Ha-eun dying a lonely death there played out in his mind like a terrible nightmare.
“...Noona.”
He wanted to see Ha-eun.
No, at least he wanted to hear her voice.
Oh-jin picked up his smartphone with a trembling hand.
He called Ha-eun's number.
-Ring, ring, ring.
The ringing felt like an eternity.
Ha-eun didn't answer.
“Damn it!”
Oh-jin violently threw his phone and bit his lip.
Could something have happened to her while he was away?
Could she have been captured by someone else, like when Cheon Do-yoon kidnapped her?
“Damn it...!”
Just as he was about to rush out, thinking he should at least go to the Association...
*Click.*
The front door opened, and a sweat-drenched Ha-eun walked in.
She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the sports towel around her neck and turned to Oh-jin.
“Oh, you're back from the ceremony already?”
It felt as if a world that had been drained of color was suddenly filled with it again.
Seeing Ha-eun approach with a tilt of her head, the terrible fear that had filled his heart melted away like snow.
“...Noona.”
Oh-jin walked over to Ha-eun and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Wh-whoa? I-I just got back from training, so I'm all sweaty.”
It didn't matter.
Oh-jin's shoulders trembled slightly at the comforting warmth he felt through his entire body.
“Did something happen during the ceremony...”
Ha-eun suddenly stopped talking and looked up at Oh-jin intently.
“Are you... crying?”
She could see a clear tear streaming down the cheek of Oh-jin, who was hugging her.
Ha-eun slowly reached out and wiped away his tear with her hand.
She didn't know why Oh-jin was suddenly crying, but...
“It's okay, you punk. Noona's right here.”
Ha-eun smiled faintly and patted Oh-jin's back.
She could feel his arms tightening around her.
“Aigoo, my baby. What's wrong?”
Ha-eun asked playfully, as if soothing a crying child.
“......”
Oh-jin kept his mouth firmly shut and lowered his head.
He had already told her about the Black Heaven, so it wouldn't have mattered if he told her the truth, but...
“It's nothing.”
He didn't want to say it.
Even if it was from a past life, the story of how she was abandoned by Lee Shin-hyeok and died...
“...Is that so?”
Ha-eun stroked the cheek of the trembling Oh-jin and nodded.
“If you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to.”
It was true that she wanted to know why he was trembling with such anxiety.
But.
Still, she didn't want to force him to talk about something he didn't want to.
*'Right now, I just...'*
I want to comfort him while he's trembling.
I want to make him smile brightly again.
*'But what should I do?'*
As for comfort, all she could do right now was hug him with her sweaty body.
She had been with Oh-jin for a long time, or rather, because they had been together for so long, she couldn't quite think of how to comfort him.
*'Come to think of it, I saw something on an online community before!'*
She remembered it was a post titled something like 'How to get your sulking husband to cheer up instantly'.
Of course, she wasn't married to Oh-jin yet, and he wasn't exactly sulking right now, but...
*'It'll definitely work.'*
Ha-eun looked at Oh-jin with a serious expression.
She slowly reached out, stroking his back and bringing her face close as if to kiss him.
“Oh-jin-ah.”
“Yeah?”
A deep, subdued voice.
The hand stroking his back gently moved down and rested softly on his arm.
“Wanna touch my boobs?”
“......Huh?”
Oh-jin's jaw dropped in disbelief.
He must have been so dumbfounded that the trembling in his arms had stopped.
*'It really works instantly!'*
Ha-eun nodded vigorously with a proud expression.
***
After painstakingly comforting(?) Oh-jin like that...
Ha-eun lay in bed, playfully poking the cheek of the sleeping Oh-jin.
“Hehe. This cute little punk.”
Usually, she didn't really feel like she was older than Oh-jin.
But today, she felt like she had taken the lead, and a rich sense of satisfaction welled up inside her.
“...Noona.”
“Hm?”
The sleeping Oh-jin turned onto his side and called her name.
Thinking she might have woken him up, she quickly pulled her hand back, but thankfully, he didn't open his eyes—it was just sleep-talking.
“Phew.”
Ha-eun let out a sigh of relief and carefully watched Oh-jin, who was lying on his side.
“Ngh, ngh...”
Was he having a nightmare?
Oh-jin was breaking out in a cold sweat, curled up like a shrimp.
Ha-eun moved closer to Oh-jin with a worried expression.
“...Noo, na.”
“Yeah, yeah. Noona's right here.”
As she was gently patting the sleeping Oh-jin's shoulder...
“...n't.”
“Huh?”
“Don't... die...”
“......”
Ha-eun's expression hardened.
What on earth was making him so anxious?
*'Before... did he say that guy Lee Shin-hyeok's memories flow into him?'*
Could it be that in those memories, something bad had happened to her?
“Geez, this punk. Making a fuss over nothing.”
Ha-eun chuckled and lay down on the bed.
She gently hugged the back of Oh-jin, who was curled up and trembling.
Who cared where or how her past self died?
Right now, she was alive and well, staying by his side.
*'And I will be, from now on.'*
Ha-eun tightened her arms around Oh-jin.
Back when she thought he was saving money to go to 'Paradise', she had thought they could live on even if they were apart.
But now, things were different.
*'Noona's not letting you go anymore.'*
She would do anything to be with him.
She would do anything for him.
She would grant all his wishes, all his desires.
“Oh-jin-ah...”
Ha-eun hugged Oh-jin's back, her voice moist with emotion.
The warmth spreading from his back.
A ticklish sense of happiness spread through her, and another desire suddenly sprang up.
“Ahem.”
An unbearable impulse.
Ha-eun cleared her throat at the desire that suddenly boiled up within her.
“You're... asleep, right?”
Ha-eun poked the sleeping Oh-jin's cheek.
In this state, Oh-jin wouldn't wake up easily.
“Hehe.”
Ha-eun's lips curled into a sly grin.
Just as she was about to slowly reach for the sleeping Oh-jin...
“...Noona?”
Oh-jin groggily opened his eyes and turned toward her.
“O-oh? Y-y-you're awake?”
Ha-eun was visibly flustered.
“Why are you so flustered?”
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes, looking at her hand, which was in a strange position.
“W-well, you see!”
Ha-eun quickly pulled her hand back, stammering.
“Were you trying to do something weird to me while I was sleeping?”
“It's not like that!”
She shot up and exclaimed.
“A-ahem! I mean, I let you touch mine, so!”
“What?”
*What is this noona suddenly talking about?*
“W-well, since we both have two of them, I thought it would be okay to touch yours!!!”
*Two of them... what?*
“I'll be gentle!”
“Shut up.”
“I won't make them pop!”
“Just shut up, please.”