Chapter 57
Chapter 57
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: My Home (1)
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Ten days after the poisoning incident by the Pandinus Guild.
Oh-jin finally rose from his dreadful sickbed and was discharged from the hospital.
‘I thought I was going to die of boredom.’
Just lying there with an oxygen mask on, he was getting so antsy he thought he’d go crazy.
“Tsk… Still, thanks to this, my lightning control has improved.”
With nothing else to do while lying down, he had spent the entire ten days repeatedly training to control his lightning.
This time, he focused on meticulously controlling a very faint amount of lightning.
Concentrating his training on an amount of lightning you’d find in a remote control or a portable fan, he found the sensation to be completely different.
‘It was harder than I thought.’
It was like trying to handle a soap bubble that would pop at the slightest touch.
After only ever unleashing lightning with the intent to destroy everything, lowering the output like this actually made it harder to control.
‘I should keep training this, too.’
He felt that if he improved his ability to finely control his lightning, there would be more ways to use it than he could imagine.
“In a way, I guess you could call this a blessing in disguise.”
If he hadn’t been stuck in a hospital bed, unable to move, he might never have thought of improving his fine control over lightning.
Oh-jin tidied up the hospital room he had lived in for the past ten days and walked out.
*Click.*
“Are you really sure it’s okay for you to be discharged already?”
As he stepped out, Manager Han, who had been waiting, approached him.
“Yes. I’ve fully recovered now.”
“……”
With a stiff expression, Han Jun-man bowed deeply.
“I am sorry, Mr. Oh-jin. This is all my fault for failing to adequately ensure your safety.”
He could see his fists, as large as pot lids, trembling.
Oh-jin smiled faintly and shook his head.
“Why is that your fault, Manager? The ones who tried to poison me are to blame.”
“But.”
“I was also at fault… I should have taken care of my body instead of rushing things.”
“Mr. Oh-jin…”
Manager Han’s voice trailed off, his eyes filled with emotion.
‘What’s with this guy?’
Seeing that look in his eyes on that face was incredibly burdensome.
“More importantly, what happened to those Pandinus bastards?”
“They denied it to the end, but eventually scattered and fled. Other major guilds are pursuing them now.”
Wow.
He knew they would fall, but to think it would happen in just ten days?
‘The tongue is a curious thing.’
A massive guild, one of Korea’s top ten.
The apostles of Scorpio, who belonged to the 12 Zodiacs, were wiped out by a single scam.
‘Well, they had a pretty rotten reputation from the start.’
Even before this incident, the Pandinus Guild’s reputation wasn’t great.
It was as if all their accumulated karma had exploded at once.
“So are there only nine major guilds now?”
“Haha. No. The Valhalla Guild filled the vacancy in the top ten. Though they just barely made the cut.”
“…They’re a guild with less than twenty members in total. That’s impressive.”
“It’s because each and every guild member is exceptionally skilled.”
Indeed, just thinking of Park Chang-hyun, who had joined them this time, he was quite a formidable talent.
Not to mention the guild master, Lee Woo-hyeok.
“By any chance, was there any talk about the Black Star Organization this time?”
“Hmm… No. I haven’t heard anything specific about the Black Star Organization.”
As expected.
So the Black Star Organization cut their losses and ran, too.
‘It’s a shame I couldn’t dig into the Black Star Organization this time.’
The Black Star Organization and the Pandinus Guild.
He hadn’t been able to find out what kind of deals had been made between them or how close their relationship was.
‘I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with taking out their collaborators for now.’
Oh-jin clicked his tongue.
“Ah, but separately from this incident, I have heard something about the Black Star Organization.”
“Yes?”
Heard something about them?
“It’s not news from Korea, but from abroad. I heard that a group called the Black Star Organization is expanding its influence in Italy at a frightening pace.”
“……”
So these bastards aren’t just local assholes, they’re global assholes?
‘Right. It would be ridiculous for a group of their size to be huddled together in this small country.’
For guys who talk about turning the world upside down, it wouldn’t make sense for them to be only in Korea.
‘As for overseas… I don’t have the luxury to worry about that right now.’
He couldn’t even put out the fire in his own house; this was no time to worry about the neighbor’s house burning down.
“For now, please be sure to contact me if you hear any more news later.”
“Yes, I will.”
Manager Han Jun-man nodded and turned around.
“Are you heading straight home?”
“I should.”
Time to go see how my dear sis is doing.
When they were texting, she acted like she knew all along it was his doing, but still, they had been apart for ten days.
“Then I’ll give you a ride home.”
“Oh, that would be great.”
“This way, please.”
Manager Han led him not to the regular patient elevator, but to one reserved for staff.
“Why are we going this way…?”
“The reporters are swarming the place outside. You’ve just been discharged, Mr. Oh-jin, so you should be able to rest comfortably, don’t you think?”
Jun-man grinned and gave him a thumbs-up.
So damn cool.
“You’re the best, Hyeongnim.”
“Aw, what’s with the ‘Hyeongnim’? Hahaha!”
“Then ‘uncle’?”
“…I’m still in my mid-thirties, you know?”
“Pfffft! That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all year.”
Come on, man, have some shame.
He clearly looked like he was in his late forties. How could he shave off more than a decade?
“……”
Han Jun-man’s expression suddenly darkened.
‘Oh, shit.’
Was he really in his mid-thirties?
“You’re in your mid-thirties?! I thought you were in your twenties like me, Hyeongnim!!”
“Ah, is, is that so?”
A shy grin.
The gorilla was smiling.
Holy shit.
He was really in his mid-thirties.
‘So he climbed to the position of Association Manager in his mid-thirties?’
Han Jun-man must be incredibly capable.
Although the deciding factor was probably recruiting an Apostle of Vega into the Association.
“I do get told I look young for my age sometimes! Hahaha!”
As Manager Han laughed heartily, his muscles bulged as if they would burst.
*Pop!*
A button from his shirt, pushed out by his chest muscles, flew off and rolled across the floor.
Hmm.
I can kind of understand how the person who called him ‘young-looking’ must have felt.
“Get in.”
“Yep.”
After taking the staff elevator, he got into Manager Han’s car.
It was a Jeep, fitting for his massive frame.
*Vroooom!*
The car started with a smoothness that was completely unlike its owner.
It took about forty minutes to get home.
“I’ll contact you later, then.”
“Yes. You get some rest too, Jun-man.”
After parting with Manager Han, he entered his house.
*Creak.*
The familiar smell of mold stimulated his nose.
“I’m home~!”
He called out a greeting to Ha-eun, who he expected to be waiting inside.
“Huh?”
But there was nothing inside the house.
Not that Ha-eun wasn’t there.
Literally, everything—from furniture to food—was gone. The place was empty.
“What, what is this?”
Oh-jin looked around with a dumbfounded expression.
‘Did we get robbed?’
No way.
What was there to steal in this rundown house?
“If it wasn’t a robbery, then…”
With a hardened expression, Oh-jin called Ha-eun.
An ominous feeling spread down his spine.
*Trrr-trrr-trrr.*
“Dammit!”
The call didn’t connect.
Oh-jin bit his lip anxiously.
Just then.
“…Hm?”
He saw a scrap of paper lying in the middle of the empty room.
‘What’s this?’
Oh-jin picked up the paper.
[Come to Hapjeong Station, Exit 9, as soon as you see this.]
It was Ha-eun’s handwriting.
“Phew.”
Thankfully, it seemed like nothing had happened to her.
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
Oh-jin frowned and sent Ha-eun a text.
She definitely read it, but there was no reply.
“Ugh.”
Looks like he had no choice but to go and see for himself.
“What kind of wild goose chase is this?”
After an hour’s drive from Yeouido to get home, now he had to go back to Seoul.
He let out a deep sigh and went back outside.
Fortunately, he had a car provided by the Association, so getting there wasn’t difficult.
After driving for another hour or so, he arrived at Hapjeong Station.
“You’re here?”
He saw Ha-eun waiting in front of Exit 9.
“Hey, why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Hehe. Just wanted to mess with you a little. Why?”
Ha-eun stuck her nose in the air with a shameless expression.
Oh-jin let out a hollow laugh as he looked at her.
Mess with him? What was she talking about?
“Stop talking and follow me, you punk.”
Ha-eun grabbed his arm and pulled.
“……?”
He didn’t know what was going on, but…
‘I’ll find out if I follow her.’
He walked behind Ha-eun.
She led him to a mixed-use apartment complex located near Hapjeong Station.
It seemed to be a rather expensive apartment, as luxurious restaurants lined the surrounding area.
“…No way.”
At this point, Oh-jin was starting to guess what Ha-eun was up to.
The empty house with not a single piece of furniture.
The way she was leading him to a luxury apartment with a somewhat smug look on her face.
“Sis, you said you had something to do the other day.”
“Shh. Be quiet.”
“……”
Standing at the entrance of the apartment, Ha-eun held up a key card.
*Beep.*
The door opened with an electronic sound.
They took the elevator up to the seventh floor.
“The floor’s a bit low, but.”
*Grin.*
Ha-eun smiled as she opened the front door.
“Whoa.”
A short gasp escaped Oh-jin’s lips.
It looked to be in the high 20-pyeong range.
For such an expensive apartment, it wasn’t particularly spacious, but compared to their old place, which was less than 8 pyeong, this was practically a palace.
Most importantly, there was no mold. No cracks in the walls, no unidentified mushrooms growing.
“Wh-what is this?”
He looked at her with a bewildered expression.
“Kyahahahat! Surprised?”
Ha-eun nudged him in the side.
“Well… you did buy me this. And it feels a bit wrong to only receive things from my little brother, you know?”
She stroked the eyepatch on her right eye and grinned.
“…Where did you get the money?”
“I told you. I wasn’t just lazing around for the past three months.”
She shrugged and continued.
“I got a hefty reward this time… and I took out a bit of a loan. Those bastards at the bank wouldn’t even look at me five years ago, but the moment they heard I’d recovered my strength, they were practically ready to empty their vaults for me.”
Even though she said it like that, she must have really stretched herself thin to buy this place.
“Well, I can just earn more money from now on.”
Ha-eun laughed brightly and slapped Oh-jin on the back.
“Anyway.”
*Grin.*
With a bright smile on her lips.
“From now on, this is our home!”
She spread her arms wide and stood in the middle of the spacious living room.
“…Sis.”
*Tremble.*
His voice shook.
A lump of indescribable emotion surged up from deep within his chest.
Of course, he had thought they would be able to move to a new house soon, now that he was an Apostle of Vega.
But he never imagined they would get a new home like this.
“Kyahahahat! See this amazing view? It’s close to the Association and the Sanctuary, so it’s way more convenient to get around! And nearby…”
“Sis! Sis! Siiiis!!!”
“Kyaaaak!”
*Fling!*
He threw his arms around her.
“Wha-what? What is it?”
How could he express this overwhelming feeling of being moved?
A burning passion.
Endorphins that stimulated his peripheral nerves gushed out like crazy.
—He could hold back no longer.
He surrendered his body to the torrent of emotions bursting forth.
“Oh, Oh-jin, calm down for a sec…”
He pulled her waist closer.
“Mmph?!”
And pressed his lips against hers.