Chapter 37
Chapter 37
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: Paradise (4)
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“Wow, you're so much more handsome in person!”
“Amazing! Can we get a picture with you?”
The two women who approached Oh-jin chattered in voices brimming with excitement.
“Hmm.”
Oh-jin swallowed a groan, his expression troubled.
*I figured someone might recognize me if I walked around.*
But I never expected them to be this aggressive.
*Should I just send them away?*
He didn't want to get tangled up with them any longer than necessary.
“…Aren't you two here to buy coffee?”
He continued, making his annoyance blatantly obvious.
“So stop being annoying and get lost.”
*Good.*
*There's no way they won't get the hint after I put it that bluntly, right?*
“D-did you hear that? He told us to get lost!!”
“Kyaa!! It's the real deal! He's the real deal!!”
*Huh?*
“Oppa? We can call you oppa, right?”
“I-I think I'm going crazy! I love it so much…!”
*You are crazy.*
*What is this?*
*Why are they reacting like this?*
“Oppa, can you give us an autograph?”
“……”
*An autograph, my ass.*
*Kwon Oh-jin, your life has really turned around.*
*Well, it's just an autograph.*
It didn't cost anything, so it wasn't a big deal to give one.
He took the pen the women offered.
But why were they only giving him a pen?
“Where?”
“Here, here!”
One of the women slightly opened her coat, pointing to her T-shirt.
It was near her collarbone, a position where a slight slip could mean touching her chest.
*No.*
*Are they actually insane?*
*Is this a nightclub or something?*
What were they thinking, doing this in front of a cafe counter?
Even Oh-jin, whose skill at controlling his expression was second to none, couldn't hide his bewilderment.
“Hurry up~”
“Heehee, I'm so embarrassed standing like this, oppa~”
*If you're embarrassed, then don't do it, you idiots.*
“…Haa.”
*Tsk.*
He clicked his tongue and raised the pen.
He really didn't like it, but it would all be over once he signed, right?
*Let's just get this over with.*
This was a rare outing with Ha-eun.
He didn't want any more interruptions.
Just as he moved the pen to sign the T-shirt.
“—What do you think you're doing?”
A beast with red hair approached them.
“U-uh?”
“Who are you?”
The two women clinging to Oh-jin flinched and asked.
A burning killing intent.
The ferocious aura, difficult for any normal person to withstand, pricked at their instincts.
“Who do you think, you fucking bitches?”
Ha-eun reached out and grabbed the nape of Oh-jin's neck.
*Thump!*
She roughly pulled him by the neck and hugged his head to her.
“I'm his girlfriend.”
She said with a smirk, the corners of her lips twisting up.
“Uh…?”
“G-girlfriend?”
The two women looked Ha-eun up and down with bewildered expressions.
A towering height of over 170 cm and a flawless figure.
Features that looked as if they were meticulously sculpted by a world-class artisan and fair skin without a single blemish.
“…Ugh.”
The two, who had been quite confident in their looks, found that the only thing they had in common with Ha-eun was having two eyes and one nose.
An overwhelming sense of defeat.
They say looks aren't everything, but for them, who had approached him relying on their appearance, Ha-eun's presence was a literal checkmate.
“W-what's she saying? The nerve.”
“We were just trying to get an autograph, you know?”
The two women, who had been cautiously watching her like grunts before Lu Bu, soon turned and scurried out of the cafe as if fleeing.
“Hmph. Who do those pathetic bitches think they are, getting all cocky?”
Ha-eun crossed her arms and burst into a cackle.
“Mmph, mmph!”
“Ah, sorry.”
She let go of Oh-jin's head.
“Haa. Nunna, really…”
“What? Something wrong?”
“No. You did good.”
Oh-jin, who had been sighing, let out a small laugh.
It wasn't like she beat them up, and they had tucked their tails between their legs and run off on their own. There couldn't have been a better solution.
“More importantly, you're seriously fucking popular.”
“Tell me about it. This is going to be a headache from now on.”
He had expected this would happen, but now that his face was known, it was more than just a little annoying.
*Well, it can't be helped.*
If something rises, something must sink.
In order to freely wield the powerful weapon that was 'Apostle of the North Star,' this level of annoyance was worth enduring.
“…Don't you go following some other girl just because she's nice to you, you hear?”
Ha-eun narrowed her eyes, glaring at him.
“I'm not interested in seeing other women.”
“Huh? R-really? Why… is that?”
Ha-eun asked, her face flushing slightly.
“Because it costs money.”
“Fuck.”
*Same old bastard.*
A low curse was heard.
“Haa… Well, fine. I guess that's better than you fawning over just anyone.”
She sighed and pulled Oh-jin's arm.
“Then let's hurry up and go to the next place!”
“What about the coffee?”
“Forget it.”
If they stuck around any longer, something similar might happen again.
“Let's go somewhere with no people.”
“Where to?”
“Hmm…”
After a moment of thought, Song Ha-eun snapped her fingers.
“Karaoke! Let's go to karaoke!!”
“Hehe. Okay.”
At a karaoke place, even she, with her inability to see, could have plenty of fun.
Although there was the drawback of having to memorize the entire lyrics of any song she wanted to sing.
“Hurry, hurry!”
*Kyahaha!*
Ha-eun pulled his arm with a cheerful smile.
And so, after singing their hearts out with her at the karaoke bar, they came outside.
“…The sun's already set.”
The December night comes quickly.
“Should we head back?”
“Let's stay out a little longer…”
“I have something to do tomorrow morning, so I need to sleep early.”
“……You do?”
After a long silence.
Ha-eun bit her lip gently and nodded.
“…Let's go.”
“Yeah.”
On the way back home.
“Ah, it's snowing.”
Snowflakes fell from the dark, settled sky.
“Hee. I thought I felt something cold falling on my head.”
Ha-eun tightened her grip on Oh-jin's arm and smiled softly.
*Crunch, crunch.*
On the quiet, snow-dusted street, only the soft sound of their footsteps echoed.
“……”
“……”
The silence stretched on, but it wasn't awkward.
It was just—this moment.
This time.
She wished it would never end.
*…But.*
A stinging pain ran through her bitten lip.
“Oh-jin.”
“Yeah?”
“The money… how much have you saved?”
Cautiously.
She opened her mouth as gently as if walking on a snowy path.
“I've saved it all.”
“…A-all of it? The 10 billion?”
“Yeah.”
“……”
Ha-eun's lips trembled.
She knew he would gather it soon, but she never imagined he would have already collected the full 10 billion.
“Y-you earned it so fast.”
It was an unbelievable speed, even for the Apostle of the North Star.
“I got a bit lucky. And I had some money saved up already.”
“I-I see…?”
*Squeeze.*
Her clenched fist tightened.
Her nails dug into her palm.
The snowflakes falling on her head were so cold they made her shudder.
“Then… we really don't have much time left like this.”
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“……”
A reply as sharp as a knife's edge.
As if her heart had been carved out.
Her chest ached.
“Are you really… going to Paradise?”
Even though she already knew the answer.
She asks.
“I'm going. That's what I've been saving money for all this time.”
“……”
It hurts.
It hurts so much, so, so much.
It feels like something inside her is about to break.
“Don't…”
*go.*
*Don't leave me behind.*
She forcefully suppresses the words trying to escape her lips.
“Huh?”
“N-no! It's nothing. Hehe.”
“No, what is it?”
“Shut up, you brat!”
*Thump! Thump!*
She hit his shoulder, feigning anger for no reason.
“……”
Silence again.
“You… you can't forget me, okay?”
She said, squeezing the words out.
“…Why would I forget you, nunna.”
That was the last of their conversation.
The December night sky was dark, without a single speck of starlight.
Just like the darkness that lay before her eyes.
* * *
The next day.
“I'm heading out, got some business at the bank.”
Early in the morning, Oh-jin left.
“Haa.”
A deep sigh escaped the lips of Ha-eun, who was left alone.
She picked up her smartphone and turned on the news.
[The Yongsan auction held today in December is drawing more attention than usual…]
She turned it off.
“…Should I go take a look?”
Musing it over while sitting on her bed, she slowly got up.
She had no interest in the other items up for auction.
The only item she was interested in was one.
*'The Dragon's Demon Eye.'*
A 6-star relic with the power to dispel various curses, including the Dragon's Curse.
“……”
Her gray eyes trembled slightly.
*If only I had the Dragon's Demon Eye.*
*Maybe.*
*Maybe even the curse of the Heavenly Dragon—*
“Ha, haha.”
A hollow laugh echoed in the room.
“There's no way I can afford it…”
The Dragon's Demon Eye was a relic that could only be obtained with extreme rarity from 6-star or higher dragon-type monsters.
It was such a rare relic that its supply was scarce, with maybe one appearing at auction per year, if that.
It would go for at least 6 to 7 billion, so how could she, with a total fortune of just over 300 million, possibly acquire it?
*Still… but maybe.*
Her lips were parched.
The sweet whisper of 'hope' led her on.
*Maybe there won't be any competitors today, for some reason.*
It wasn't an impossible scenario.
It had never happened with the Dragon's Demon Eye, but other 6-star relics were sometimes sold for cheap.
“R-right! How many people are even cursed these days!”
In reality, not many monsters use curses.
Especially a special curse like the 'Dragon's Curse,' which had only ever been used by the Heavenly Dragon Barbatos.
—*In that case.*
*If no one has a reason to 'dispel' a curse in the first place.*
*Couldn't I buy the Dragon's Demon Eye for a bargain?*
“……”
*Gulp.*
Dry saliva slid down her throat.
*No way, there's no way*—she tried to suppress the hope with negative thoughts.
But once it started to spread, 'hope' consumed her mind faster than any poison.
“Right, let's go, let's go! What have I got to lose!”
Ha-eun vigorously pushed herself up from the bed.
*Maybe.*
The thought that a once-in-a-lifetime miracle might occur filled her with energy.
*If only the curse is lifted.*
—*I might be able to go to 'Paradise' with him.*
Just imagining it made the corners of her lips curve up on their own.
“I'll wash up quick and get going!”
She went into the bathroom and splashed cold water on herself.
The water, cold enough to make her shiver, somehow felt incredibly warm.
*Click.*
She opened the door and stepped outside.
She moved forward, tapping the ground with her cane.
-*Tap, tap, tap!*
The sound of the cane hitting the ground felt cheerful.
*Right, if I'm lucky enough, I can definitely buy it!*
Her hand, clutching her card and ID, tightened with resolve.