Chapter 39
Chapter 39
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: Paradise (6)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“…”
For a moment.
A silence fell over the auction house, as if it had frozen solid.
Breaking the brief silence.
“Uh… 10 billion! A bid of 10 billion has been made! As the buyout price was called, the auction for the ‘Yongmaan’ is now concluded!”
The auctioneer shouted, his voice laced with bewilderment.
“I’ll take the item now.”
*Step, step.*
Oh-jin walked toward the Yongmaan displayed on the stage.
The relic looked like a blue crystal carved into the size of a ping-pong ball.
He grasped the Yongmaan and turned around.
“Why, why are you here…”
He could see Song Ha-eun, trembling with a deathly pale face.
A question repeating like a broken machine.
One step, another step.
He descended the stage.
His feet followed his ashen gaze.
“And who the hell are you?”
The man sitting next to Ha-eun glared at him with sharp eyes.
“…”
He noticed the man’s hand resting on Ha-eun’s thigh.
“What gives you the right to interrupt an aucti—”
“Move it.”
“What?”
“Your hand. I said move it.”
He turned his cold, dead eyes to the man.
In that instant.
A blue, spectral light flared in Oh-jin’s black eyes.
“…!”
*Flinch!*
Choi Jong-cheol instinctively snatched his hand back from Ha-eun’s thigh.
‘W-What was that?’
It had only been for a moment.
But the auction house had been plunged into pitch-black darkness, as if by a power outage.
An eerie chill shot down his spine.
“Ugh!”
But that too was brief.
Glancing around the now-bright auction house, Choi Jong-cheol shot up from his chair.
He glared at Oh-jin, his face flushed with anger.
“Who the hell do you think you are, ordering me aro—”
“Did you not hear me earlier?”
He casually brandished his Association Special Official ID.
Choi Jong-cheol scoffed at the ID.
“Ha! A mere dog of the Association dares to pick a fight with the Starlight Lake Guild?”
He sneered at Oh-jin.
No matter how impressive a Special Official was, they couldn’t touch the Starlight Lake Guild, one of the top ten guilds.
‘But was there a guy like this among the Special Officials?’
Special Officials of the Association were well-known, given their immense authority.
‘He definitely wasn’t on the list— Ah.’
Just then.
A newspaper article he’d seen a few days ago popped into his head.
The commotion at Seoul Station.
News that an Awakener from the Association had defeated a monster that appeared from the subway without any casualties.
The young man before him was definitely the one from the photo.
“W-Wait. Don’t tell me… the Thunder Wolf?”
Stammering.
Choi Jong-cheol’s mouth gaped open and closed like a goldfish as he stumbled backward.
Frankly, if he were just the Awakener who defeated the monster at Seoul Station, it wouldn’t have been this shocking.
—But.
‘The Thunder Wolf’s Stigma is definitely.’
The Stigma of Lyra.
He possessed the Stigma of a North Star Constellation, before whom even the Zodiac Constellations bowed their heads.
‘C-Crazy!’
Choi Jong-cheol’s face went white.
Right now, the Apostle of Vega was an Awakener drawing attention not just from Korea, but from the entire world.
A rookie of rookies, one who deserved dozens of “supers” before his title.
That was the true identity of the Thunder Wolf standing before him.
“Well, I guess that’s what they call me.”
His ice-cold gaze fixed on Choi Jong-cheol.
“Did you say the Starlight Lake Guild?”
“Uh, th-that is. I…”
Choi Jong-cheol stuttered, his face pale as a sheet.
Immediately after the news spread that an Apostle of the North Star had appeared in Korea.
Most of the major guilds held emergency meetings.
The Starlight Lake Guild, one of the top ten, was no exception.
The official directive issued after a long meeting was as follows:
-Maintain an unconditionally amicable relationship with the Apostle of the North Star.
It was an obvious directive, if you thought about it.
After all, no good could come from making an enemy of the ‘Apostle of the North Star,’ of all people.
“Th-There must be some misunderstanding…”
“Oh, that was a misunderstanding?”
*Smirk.*
Oh-jin let out a cold laugh.
“Let’s ask the Guild Master of Starlight Lake if he thinks so too.”
“—!!”
Choi Jong-cheol’s eyes widened.
*Thud!*
He hastily dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
“I-I didn’t know she was with you! I-I apologize for my rudeness! Please, please don’t say anything to the Guild Master…!”
“Alright.”
“…Pardon?”
“Do me one favor, and I’ll let this slide.”
“Ah…!”
Choi Jong-cheol’s expression brightened.
“Thank you! Whatever you ask…”
“Get lost.”
“Pardon?”
“I said get the hell out of here, right now.”
“…”
Choi Jong-cheol’s face flushed red and pale.
Thick veins bulged on his clenched fists.
His expression was a mask of humiliation.
‘So what are you going to do about it?’
Oh-jin looked down on him as if he were pathetic.
For now, Choi Jong-cheol might have more experience and a higher-grade Stigma.
But that was it.
Considering the future, Choi Jong-cheol’s worth was no different from an insect’s compared to his, an Apostle of the North Star.
“Hehe. Well then, I’ll be on my way.”
Not stupid enough to be unaware of this, Choi Jong-cheol forced a servile smile, got up, and left the auction house.
“Tsk.”
After the commotion settled down.
“Let’s go.”
Oh-jin placed a hand on Ha-eun’s shoulder.
“Oh-jin, why are you…”
She was still stammering out questions, unable to comprehend the situation.
“Follow me.”
“W-Wait!”
He pulled her by the shoulder.
Ha-eun’s urgent voice called out.
“First, tell me why you’re here… No, hey! Kwon Oh-jin!”
He ignored her.
“Wh-Where are you going! Hey!”
He held her arm firmly and led her away.
They were heading to the sky garden on the rooftop of the Yongsan Auction House.
It was one of the most famous spots in Seoul for its view.
*Whooosh.*
As they arrived at the sky garden, a cold night wind brushed against their cheeks.
“Haa, haa.”
Perhaps because she was flustered by the sudden turn of events.
Ha-eun’s breathing was ragged.
“Oh, Oh-jin, you…”
Her gray eyes wandered aimlessly.
“What about the residency pass for Paradise?! How could you buy that instead?!”
She shouted, as if rebuking him.
The 10 billion he had paid for the Yongmaan was money that should have been used for something else.
“Paradise?”
*Smirk.*
The corners of Oh-jin’s mouth lifted slightly.
Paradise.
He had desperately saved money for the past five years for that.
To be precise.
He had made her ‘believe’ that was the case.
‘She would’ve raised hell otherwise.’
Then and now.
She was the tiresome type who could never stand being in debt to anyone.
‘Though I guess that’s part of my sister’s charm.’
He slowly raised the Yongmaan in his hand.
A blue crystal the size of a ping-pong ball.
Inside the translucent crystal was a yellow pupil, reminiscent of a reptile’s eye.
“Yes! What about Paradise? Why did you…”
“Just stay still for a moment.”
He reached out and cupped her cheek.
*Flinch.*
He could feel her trembling through his hand.
“O-Oh-jina.”
As if she had sensed something.
She reverted to the pet name she usually called him.
Tears welled up in her gray eyes.
*Vwooom.*
As he brought the Yongmaan to her left eye, the translucent blue crystal began to emit a soft glow.
Like ice melting away.
The Yongmaan flowed into her pupil.
*Fssshhh!!*
With a sound like oil sizzling, purple smoke seeped out from both of her eyes.
“Agh!”
A sharp, intense pain shot through her.
A searing agony, as if her eyes were being branded by something hot.
—But.
“Ah, ahh.”
So much so that she couldn’t even think about such pain.
Her heart pounded. It pulsed as if it would burst.
“It’s okay. Just bear with it a little longer.”
A warm voice flowed into the deep, lightless darkness.
Her heart, which had been pounding wildly, calmed down a little.
The intense pain that had been burning her eyes gradually subsided.
And with it.
*Rumble!*
It was collapsing.
The solid darkness that had imprisoned her.
The long night she thought would never end.
It crumbled away, like a sandcastle washed away by the tide.
“—Ah.”
A brilliant night view unfolded before her eyes.
A galaxy of lights, like an inverted night sky, embroidered the city.
“Ah, ahh.”
She touched the corners of her eyes, as if in disbelief.
She could see.
The delicate lamps illuminating the park, the neatly trimmed branches and leaves.
And above all.
“How is it?”
The face she was seeing for the first time in five years.
His face, which had grown a little gaunt.
“The view from Paradise?”
“You, you…”
Ha-eun staggered backward.
So many emotions were tangled inside her that she could barely get the words out.
“Oh right. There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
Oh-jin took out a luxurious black case.
“Wh-What’s that now.”
Ha-eun asked in a trembling voice.
“You’ll know when you see it.”
*Click.*
Oh-jin grinned and opened the black case.
Inside the case was a top-quality prosthetic leg, made so exquisitely it was hard to tell from a real one.
“This is.”
“Hold out your right foot for a second.”
“…”
Ha-eun’s face flushed slightly as she extended her right foot.
Kneeling on one knee, Oh-jin removed the cheap prosthesis she was wearing and fitted the one from the case.
“Wow.”
A gasp of amazement escaped her lips.
A cozy sensation enveloped her, as if soft skin was touching her own.
It was so soft she wondered if it might fall off, so she moved her leg around, but it moved as naturally as if a real leg had grown in its place.
“How is it? Much more comfortable than the one you were using, right?”
“…”
Ha-eun bit her lip gently.
She could see Oh-jin’s face, beaming with a bright smile.
—The fact that she could see that smile.
For some reason, it felt unbearably painful.
“…Why.”
Her voice trembled.
“Why, why, why!”
Too many emotions were mixed together to be defined by a single word.
But the emotion she felt most clearly right now was an unbearable ‘rage.’
“Why did you do something so pointless?!!”
She screamed, on the verge of a sob.
“That was precious money! Money you saved so desperately!”
She knew how desperately he had lived for the past five years, no, his entire life.
Only she knew.
What he was like before he became an Awakener.
His miserable life.
She had watched over him the whole time.
Suffocating in the heat, shivering in the cold.
Getting by on a single cheap calorie bar, picking up and wearing worn-out old clothes.
Enduring, enduring, and enduring.
The way he had scraped and clawed to save that money.
“Y-You told me you were going to buy a residency pass for Paradise! You said you wanted to live comfortably for once!”
Five years ago.
On the day she lost everything.
Oh-jin had come to her and said.
That he was going to Paradise.
That he didn’t want to live like this anymore.
That he would save money and leave.
“You promised me you’d stay with me until you saved enough money!!!”
“Ah, that?”
Oh-jin shrugged.
He turned to her and grinned.
“Ah.”
Ha-eun’s eyes widened.
More than 15 years ago.
A dusty fragment of memory surfaced.
-Oh-jina! You, you need to get out of here! They said the kitchen’s on fire!
-Ah, that?
Just like back then.
Unchanged from back then.
No different from back then.
He burst out laughing and replied.
“—It was a lie.”