Chapter 272
Chapter 272
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 272
Chapter Title: Greed and Love (4)
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Inside a hospital room so spacious and comfortable it could have passed for a hotel suite.
With a pleasant crunching sound, a beautifully carved apple peel coiled like a dragon as it fell into a bowl.
“Here you go.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
The apple was cut into perfectly uniform slices, as if by a precision machine.
Oh-jin picked up a slice of apple from the bowl with his fork and took a bite.
Sweet juice burst in his mouth.
“So… you’re saying you plan to go to the Demon Realm?”
Having heard from Oh-jin about the suspicious movements of the Demon Realm's kings, Allen asked, his eyes sharp.
“Yes. I can’t just sit back and watch while they prepare to invade.”
“Then… are you planning to lead an army?”
“No. Gathering intelligence comes first.”
They didn't even know how many kings there were in the Demon Realm.
You can’t fight a war blindfolded.
For now, the priority was to gather information about the unknown land called the Demon Realm.
“You mentioned you’ve been to the Demon Realm before, Allen?”
“Yes. I’ve gone to see Elder Cheongwonseong a few times.”
“Elder Cheongwonseong…”
Cheongwonseong Baek Mu-gang.
The number one Awakened among Deneb’s twelve Apostles, and one of the very few who had settled down in the Demon Realm instead of Earth.
“He can be a bit eccentric, but he’s a good person.”
As if recalling the Elder, the corners of Allen’s usually stern mouth lifted slightly.
“Then you must know a fair bit about the Demon Realm, Allen?”
“I only know what I’ve been told in passing. Most of the time, I just delivered necessary items to the Elder and returned immediately.”
He probably wouldn’t know as much as the Awakened who actually lived there.
Oh-jin looked at Allen, his eyes gleaming.
“Could you perhaps tell me what it was you heard?”
“Hmm… Now that I think about it, he often said something.”
Allen’s eyes narrowed.
“That living there is no different from living here.”
“No different means…”
“When you were trapped in the Demon Realm, did you see the city they built?”
“Ah, yes. I did.”
“According to the Elder, several such cities are connected to form a single kingdom.”
A kingdom.
Come to think of it, the city Oh-jin had discovered also had a structure that looked like a ‘castle’.
“If it’s near the location of the first rift… it’s likely where the Beastmen’s kingdom is.”
At the word ‘Beastmen’, Oh-jin’s eyes sparkled.
‘Right, Riak said he was a Beastman.’
It was clear just from looking at Riak, but Beastmen were said to possess superior intelligence compared to ordinary monsters.
It was likely thanks to that superior intelligence that they could form a large collective society like a nation.
“Would you happen to know where Elder Cheongwonseong is located?”
“Of course.”
Allen nodded readily.
As a member of the Seven Stars, the news that the kings of the Demon Realm were making a move was not something he could ignore.
However, dealing with the Named Monsters that had begun to run rampant across the world took precedence over an enemy whose attack time was unknown.
In such a situation, Oh-jin investigating the state of the Demon Realm was welcome news for him.
“If you go see the Elder, you’ll be able to hear a much more detailed account than I can give.”
Allen took a compass from his pocket and held it out to Oh-jin.
“What’s this?”
“Once you enter the Demon Realm, if you channel your mana into it, it will point in the Elder’s direction.”
It was a useful device in the Demon Realm, where communication equipment was useless.
Oh-jin nodded and accepted the compass.
“It doesn’t feel right to entrust such a task to a patient.”
“Well, I don’t plan on going to the Demon Realm before my body has fully recovered.”
“Haha. If you had, I would have stopped you, even by force.”
Allen gave a slight bow and stood up from his seat.
“Then, I will await good news. Please take care of yourself on your trip.”
After a simple farewell, he turned and left the hospital room.
Alone in the hospital room.
He gently gripped the compass Allen had given him and narrowed his eyes.
‘The basic plan is set.’
First, find Cheongwonseong in the Demon Realm and get a detailed explanation from him about its current state.
The relationship between the ‘kings’ and the Heavenly Demon, and how to stop them, were things to think about later.
“…Heavenly Demon.”
He uttered the name that echoed ominously.
Why did he destroy the world in his past life?
Why did he return to the past from a world turned to a handful of ash?
It wasn’t hard to imagine the Heavenly Demon’s goal.
“Because you are me.”
There could only be one purpose.
In the past life, and in this one.
“……”
Oh-jin gazed out the window with bitter eyes.
A strong urge to see Ha-eun right now boiled up inside him.
As he lay there, blankly thinking of Ha-eun, another woman suddenly surfaced in his thoughts.
The image of Isabella, trembling with a frightened expression.
Recalling her image brought a heavy, suffocating feeling, as if dark clouds had gathered.
‘I must be crazy.’
Hadn’t he decided to sort out his feelings for her?
Oh-jin sighed and ran a hand over his face.
The tangled mess of emotions wouldn’t be sorted out easily.
“As I thought… there are too many now.”
At first, he thought that as long as he had Ha-eun, nothing else mattered.
He thought it would be fine if he could save Ha-eun, even if the whole world burned and crumbled.
But.
As time passed, the number of connections he didn’t want to lose grew.
The things he wanted to protect were increasing.
He knew full well it was an incredibly greedy thought.
“Ugh.”
Oh-jin sat up in bed.
He was too worried about Isabella, who had stormed out, to sleep peacefully.
“I should resolve this issue first.”
It seemed that settling things with Isabella before heading to the Demon Realm was the priority.
Oh-jin reached for the smartphone on the shelf.
* * *
In a room shrouded in darkness.
A disheveled woman was curled up in a small room filled with a strange heat.
*Crack, crunch.*
The gruesome sound of nails being crushed.
The woman, with a haggard face, nervously bit her nails, oblivious to the blood trickling from them.
“W-What do I do? W-What can I…”
Isabella huddled, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably.
She had failed.
She had made a mistake.
She shouldn’t have been greedy; she should have been satisfied with second place.
Her greedy desire to be first had led her to do something foolish, and now everything was ruined.
“Why…? H-How? Y-You said before that you didn’t want to lose either of us.”
She thought that even if her plan failed, things would just go back to how they were.
Was this the price of greed?
Oh-jin’s answer was different from before.
“Haa, haa!”
Her breath hitched in her throat.
Every time she recalled Oh-jin calmly saying, ‘Let’s sort out our feelings,’ a pain like a knife twisting in her chest shot through her.
“N-No.”
Sort out their feelings?
Never be by Oh-jin’s side again?
That alone.
She could not accept it, no matter what.
I have to do something.
A life without Oh-jin was now unimaginable.
Isabella bit her lip, her eyes welling with tears.
“I-I have to do something… a-anything.”
But what could she do?
What could she do to win back his heart after he had turned away?
*Crack, crunch.*
As she continued to bite her nails, lost in thought.
“What are you doing in the storage room?”
*Click.*
The door opened, and Ha-eun walked in.
She gasped in horror at the sight of the huddled Isabella.
“Hey! Y-Your nails, what happened?”
A horrified Ha-eun approached Isabella.
“…Ha-eun.”
Isabella looked up at Ha-eun with trembling eyes.
A starlight flickered in her pupils, which had been as dark as a cloud-covered night sky.
“H-Ha-eun! Ha-eun! P-Please, do me a favor!”
“Aah! W-What is it?!”
Isabella crawled across the floor and grabbed Ha-eun’s pant leg.
Isabella clung to Ha-eun’s leg, pleading.
“A favor? What kind of favor?”
“P-Please stop Mr. Oh-jin!”
The reason Oh-jin had told her to sort out her feelings was that he didn’t want to hurt Ha-eun.
If Ha-eun gave her approval, he would surely turn his heart back to her.
“Stop him? What did that jerk Oh-jin do now?”
*Don't tell me he just up and left for the Demon Realm by himself.*
Ha-eun grabbed Isabella’s shoulders with a sense of urgency.
“M-Mr. Oh-jin…”
Isabella trailed off, avoiding Ha-eun’s gaze.
Biting her lip, she spoke in a barely audible voice.
“H-He told me… that we should sort out our feelings.”
“…What?”
“B-But it’s not that he doesn’t have feelings for me! Ah, right! The aftereffects! It’s because of the aftereffects!”
“What are you talking about?”
Isabella tugged on Ha-eun’s pant leg and continued.
“Before he lost his memories, he definitely said he didn’t want to lose me either!”
Right.
This was all happening because he had lost his memories.
“Y-You would know, right, Ha-eun? You said Mr. Oh-jin lost his memories of dating you, right? I-It’s the same for me!”
If only he could remember what happened on the Ferris wheel, Oh-jin would surely accept her again.
Because he had definitely said, ‘I don’t want to lose either of you,’ back then.
“……”
Ha-eun frowned, looking down at Isabella clinging to her pant leg.
“So… Oh-jin dumped you?”
“Th-That’s!”
Isabella shook her head violently.
“No!”
“But you said he told you to sort out your feelings?”
“That’s… that’s only because Mr. Oh-jin lost his memories!”
She clung to Ha-eun’s leg like a cicada, crying out pleadingly.
“P-Please, Ha-eun, go and t-tell Mr. Oh-jin!”
“…Tell him what?”
“To accept my feelings! I-I won’t be greedy for your spot anymore! I won’t lie again! I-I’m satisfied with being second! S-So…”
Isabella, begging as tears streamed down her face.
“I-I’ll do anything you ask… please.”
Fat tears rolled down her cheeks.
Ha-eun looked down at the sobbing Isabella with ice-cold eyes.
“So, let me get this straight. Oh-jin dumped you, and you want me to go and ask him to take you back?”
Ha.
Ha-eun let out a hollow laugh and scowled.
“Are you out of your mind?”
Her cold gaze fell upon Isabella.