Chapter 47
Chapter 47
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 47
Chapter Title: Aji's Older Sister
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As we approached the edge of the village, sure enough, cars could be seen driving around here and there.
A black hatchback vehicle.
I couldn't tell who was approaching, so for now, I grabbed the back of Aurora's head and pressed it down while issuing a command.
"From now on, keep your mouth shut and follow quietly."
"W-what is this? Explain..."
Thwack!
"Hng!"
I seized her by the hair and forcibly yanked her head right in front of my eyes.
"From now on, if you question my orders like that, you'll get punished, Aurora. 'Good children get rewards, bad children get punished.' Repeat after me."
"G-good children get rewards, b-bad children get punished..."
"Good girl."
I gently released her hair and turned my gaze back.
We circled quietly back to the house from an angle where the vehicle's driver couldn't spot us.
"Master!"
Nari came trotting over happily to greet me, but now wasn't the time to play with her.
"Let's check the CCTV first."
As dusk slowly settled in, it felt strangely eerie to be in a pitch-black house, monitoring someone on CCTV alongside a woman.
At that moment, the car door opened.
A person glancing around cautiously this way and that.
'A woman...?'
The CCTV footage didn't let me make out her face clearly, but her pastel pink long hair stood out sharply. She wore skin-tight leggings, comfortable sneakers for mobility, and a crop top, topped off with a black leather jacket. It was sporty attire perfect for action.
"Uh...?"
Aurora, who had been staring blankly at the CCTV from beside me, let out a dumb sound.
"A-Aji?"
"...What?"
"What do you mean 'Aji'?"
"I-it means puppy."
"Puppy? Where's the dog over there?"
"No, that's the girl's name. Kang Aji."
How could anyone be named Puppy? Well, if you separate the surname Kang from Aji, it wasn't entirely absurd, but what the hell were her parents thinking naming a Kang family daughter Aji?
...I'd let my mind wander to pointless thoughts.
"Aurora, how do you know that woman's name is Kang Aji?"
"Th-that woman."
"That woman is the one who trapped you back in high school."
"W-what?"
Things were taking a bizarre turn. I'd expected at most a detective or private investigator, not the final boss popping up out of nowhere.
Blood rushed to my head.
"What to do..."
Time to strategize.
For starters, I shouldn't reveal myself at all costs. My biggest weapon was the element of surprise. Excluding the deletion of that pink-haired woman's information, I was a former classmate untouched by any other mental manipulation.
Everyone—even that 'king of the school'—must have assumed I was dead. Yet here I was, a prodigal son returned, alive and bearing freakish Awakener abilities that shattered all expectations.
A high probability that no further mental manipulation would work on me, thanks to my mental fortitude and skills.
My very existence was a massive weapon.
I needed to gather intel on that woman without showing myself...
Screech—
That's when Shin Nari returned from the kitchen, where I'd sent her to fetch some snacks.
She glanced at the CCTV screen with a "what are we watching?" look on her face, then let out an odd sound.
"Huh...? Aji?"
What the hell? Nari definitely had no memory of this person.
"M-Master, my little sister... why is she here?"
"What? Little sister?"
Nari had a little sister? That didn't match my memories at all. I clearly remembered her saying, "I'm an only child just like you," while pestering me back then.
And yet she believed the 'king of the school' was her little sister?
"Nari, are you sure? Is that woman really your little sister?"
The moment I asked, Nari's pupils glazed over, and she began spilling out 'memories.'
"Y-yes, Master, that's right—
My Aji is my one and only little sister, whom I've lived with happily ever since we were kids. Aji and I went to the same elementary school and ate lunch together every day. We did everything together in school, and it was always great. Aji and I are the closest sisters. Even in middle school, we were in the same class. We shared stationery too—Aji would drop her eraser, and I'd pick it up for her. When we got home, our parents were waiting and had dinner ready for us. I'd feed Aji her side dishes. She'd hug me tight and say thanks, and since she used the same shampoo as me, it smelled just like mine—it was so cute. Even in high school, amazingly, Aji ended up in the same class as me again. After that, I went through a phase of rebellion and started hanging out with a bad crowd, and Aji—"
She poured out an enormous stream of syllables without even taking a breath, like some kind of glossolalia outburst.
"Whenever someone tried to hit on me, Aji—"
"...Wait, stop for a second, Shin Nari."
"Huh? Ah? Y-yes, Master."
Even after my command, she mumbled a few more words before finally shutting her mouth.
Aurora wore an expression like she'd just heard some creepy urban legend. From her perspective as a third-party observer who'd watched both Puppy and Nari, this had to sound utterly nonsensical. Nonexistent memories.
"W-why is she acting like that?"
Aurora whispered in my ear. She'd just taken a gut punch minutes ago, but with no one else to turn to for answers in this situation, she kept staring at me—biting her lip lightly out of fear, but fixated nonetheless.
The sudden appearance of the school's king, followed by Nari exhibiting these ghost-like symptoms right on cue...
The unknown dread they instilled apparently weighed heavier on her than my tangible violence.
In any case, I'd drilled into her the simple logic: behave and get rewards, disobey and get beaten. Questioning me once probably convinced her I wouldn't beat her senseless over it.
But I had no answers for Aurora's doubts either.
This was weird.
A chatbot reciting pre-programmed macro sentences.
I approached Nari, who looked confused, and gently stroked her back.
"Haaah♡"
Her reaction suggested her affection for me was intact.
"Calm down, Nari. Listen carefully to what I say from now on."
"Y-yesss♡ Master♡"
"Whose possession are you?"
"Yours! Yu-hyeon Master's♡"
"Whose words do you obey?"
"Only Master's! I'll only listen to Master♡"
"Good girl."
Her loyalty was unwavering.
I pulled Nari's voluptuous body into a tight embrace. The soft feel of her breasts against me calmed my frayed nerves a bit.
"Ehehehehe♡"
She was definitely my possession. The System guaranteed it.
'Good.'
That was all I needed.
I'd investigate her symptoms later. For now, deal with the woman lurking outside.
"From now on, go outside with Aurora and chat with your 'little sister.' Find out why she's here, how she knew to come, whether anyone besides your sister knows, that sort of thing. Come back after, and if you do well, I'll give you that 'reward' you've been wanting right away."
"A-ah, r-really!?"
She huffed excitedly, burning with motivation. I watched her head toward the front door with eager thuds, then called Aurora aside separately.
"Listen, Aurora. If that pink-haired bitch presses you, just say you two happened to meet up separately here. I trust you, Aurora. Handle this well, and I'll give you a reward too."
"U-um... Understood."
Time to toss some bait to that mystery figure.
The moment I heard the front door close behind them, I activated the audio pickup on the nearby CCTVs.
"Hey, Shin Nari, what's with that talk from earlier? Why is that person your little sister?"
Nari shot back with a "what are you talking about?" look on her face.
"Huh? What? Aji's my little sister—the little sister I love love love love love love love most in the world!"
"W-what..."
In an instant, she repeated the chilling words like a doll automatically regurgitating implanted lines. With me—who'd been anchoring her—no longer in sight, her condition seemed to worsen.
Then, at some point, she questioned her own words and mumbled confusedly to herself.
"N-no, that's not right, not right... The one I love most is Master, my Master..."
Speechless, Aurora simply led Nari forward to carry out my orders.
Soon, the two women came face-to-face with the third.
"Sis!"
Whoosh!
Kang Aji spotted Nari and charged straight in, wrapping her in a tight hug. Aurora, standing awkwardly unsure of what to do, was completely ignored.
"Sis! Why are you here? And why the fuck is that bitch Aurora here? I clearly told you 'don't contact me anymore'... I 'asked' you, didn't I?"
A strange tone laced with inexplicable force. A command cloaked as a request.
"Uh, u-uh? Huh? Y-yeah... Right, you asked... me... U-ugh. Why did I... Why did I contact you? S-sorry..."
Nari's speech grew hazy. Her eyes glazed over. Her mind turned foggy.
"Hee hee hee hee, it's okay, it's okay, Sis. Just follow my 'requests' from now on, got it? 'Never contact Aurora again'."
'...What?'