Chapter 169
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: Ha Yul (5)
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While I was resting in another reception room, Ha Yu-ri came looking for me.
"Did the conversation go well?"
"...Yeah, but what about that woman?"
"Oh, Shariss? She said she felt stuffy and stepped out for a bit."
"...I see?"
Ha Yu-ri blurted that out and plopped down in the seat next to me.
"...What's wrong? Something happen?"
She looked like her mood was all tangled up. Like she had something to say.
After a long pause, Ha Yu-ri finally started speaking slowly.
"...Kanda Koshiro. He's a guy I used to like."
"Huh?"
Her sudden coming-out confession caught me off guard.
'Why the hell is she telling me this?'
"Why bring that up out of nowhere? And 'used to'?"
"...Not anymore."
"What, did that guy do something wrong to you?"
"No, it's not that..."
"...Then why tell me all this suddenly?"
"......"
"Ha Yu-ri?"
"...No, nothing. Just felt like saying it."
Her face looked off. Like she was despondent about her situation.
"I don't know what happened, but let's focus on what matters now. We have to heal your sister today."
"...Right. That's the priority. We need to save my sister."
Shariss returned and opened her mouth upon seeing Ha Yu-ri's face.
"What's with her? Why's her face like that?"
"...Like what?"
"She looks like she just got dumped."
"...It's not like that."
"Anyway... you ready?"
She was asking if we were prepared to enter Ha Yul's mind.
"...Yes."
"Then let's head to the hospital room."
Inside the hospital room, Ha Yul lay there still, eyes closed as if dead.
Ha Yu-ri choked up at the sight of her sister's face.
"...Why do you look like you're about to break down again? Pull yourself together."
"...You think it's that easy?"
'Fair point.'
I gave Shariss a look. We needed her explanation first.
"Listen up, both of you. What I'm about to do is link your minds with that little one's. So you'll both drop into her conscious space together."
"What about you, Shariss?"
"I obviously can't go in. Someone has to control things from the outside. And just in case something goes wrong."
I got it. This mental interference was a bit unconventional, so external control was necessary.
Naturally, Shariss, the spellcaster, had to stay out.
"So what do we do now? Just close our eyes like this?"
"...Idiot? You'd just flop onto the floor."
"....."
'Damn it...'
"Lie down comfortably on the bed and close your eyes, obviously."
"...Got it."
I nodded, and Ha Yu-ri pleaded desperately with Shariss.
"...Please take good care of us."
"Hmph, whatever. Just don't go crying in there."
With that, Ha Yu-ri and I lay down on our beds, closed our eyes, and soon our minds sank below the surface of sleep.
Ha Yu-ri opened her eyes and immediately checked her body.
'Body feels fine. Yul must be here somewhere?'
It felt just like being in a dream. The closest comparison was a lucid dream.
"...Lee Yun-seong?"
But the problem was, the man who should have entered the conscious space with her was nowhere in sight.
He must have landed separately. Unlike what she'd expected—starting from the same point—they'd been scattered.
'Where is this...'
Earth. More precisely, her and Yul watching TV back on Earth.
'Yul...'
Seeing her sister made her chest tighten, but instinct told her otherwise.
This was just a scene from the subconscious. Not her real little sister.
She watched herself talking to Yul.
"Yul, you really enjoy watching boy idols that much?"
"Of course! They're so handsome. And they dance so well..."
...Yul had been incredibly shy. Unlike Ha Yu-ri, who spoke her mind, Yul never uttered a harsh word to anyone.
But there was one time her sister got chatty: watching idol shows on TV.
"Kyaa! Oh no! I'm going crazy!"
"Ugh, you little rascal... What'll you do if you end up with a bad guy later?"
"Hehe... Then you can beat him up for me, sis."
Her sister looking up at her with sparkling eyes was devastatingly cute.
In fact, there had been a few times bad guys hit on Yul, and Ha Yu-ri had chased them all off.
Yul was as pretty as she was, so guys flocking to her on Earth was inevitable.
To be precise, Ha Yu-ri was the sexy, haughty type, while her sister was the cute one.
Especially since Yul couldn't say no to favors, plenty targeted that weakness.
'And that didn't change... even after coming to Eras.'
Guys hit on Yul just as much as they did her.
Especially that major clan master who'd tried everything to get to her.
When he looked at Yul the same way, she'd wanted to gouge his eyes out.
And when he came offering to sponsor her and her sister, twisting his neck had seemed justified.
'...Not the time to dwell. Gotta find Yul quick.'
Yul had to be somewhere in the subconscious. She had to find her.
Walking endlessly, she spotted a door in the pitch-black space.
It appeared as if beckoning her, startling her at first, but she opened it and stepped through.
'Ah... this time...'
"Y-Yul... why are you here?"
"...Sis?"
It was the moment she'd run into Yul by chance during party activities.
She later learned they'd both entered Eras at the same time—her in Baronia, Yul in Taios—so they'd missed each other.
After reuniting by coincidence, they'd partied together.
"What the hell?! I almost died because of your sister!"
"S-Sorry..."
"...Sorry. Yul must be nervous. She's not usually like this, but today..."
"Control your mana better. What's a flame mage who can't adjust firepower even good for?"
"...I'm really sorry. I'll work extra hard to make up for Yul's share. Please calm down..."
"Making a candle flame when we need max power, and a fireball when we need it low—first time I've seen that in my life. Ha, unbelievable..."
"Sorry..."
A pot-bellied man next to the angry guy tried to intervene.
"Hey, hey, ease up. It wasn't on purpose, right?"
"Yes..."
"But we did take damage. So we need some compensation."
"Huh? What..."
"Sorry, but we can't pay you."
"Can't pay?! I pulled more than enough weight for two people myself..."
"Heh, even if you exceed a single share, the payout per person is fixed. The issue is your sister didn't do her part."
"What nonsense is that?!"
"C-Calm down. We can pay... but we'd prefer compensation another way."
"Another way...?"
The man suddenly leered openly at her and Yul.
"W-We match numbers perfectly. Get two rooms at an inn, all four of us stay together. Yeah? Gotta unwind those tired bodies, right?"
'Fucking bastards.'
Being pretty was a double-edged sword.
Especially in a strength-based world like this.
"...Get lost."
"Get lost? You okay skipping pay? This one's a big sum."
In the scene, she ignored him, grabbed Yul's hand, and walked away.
"...S-Sis."
"......"
"S-Sorry. Because of me..."
"Why's it your fault? Forget it, we don't need their damn pay."
Yul looked dejected, thinking she'd cost them their share.
Proof: head down, following blindly as Ha Yu-ri led.
Suddenly, the light flickered out like a dying lantern, plunging everything into darkness.
'...Another door.'
Opening it revealed a horrific scene.
"G-Grandpa! Please don't do this... Please..."
"Heh heh... Child, you have potential you don't know about. I'm just trying to make you my masterpiece. Why resist?"
"Please... I don't want to forget... Sis, s-save me... Sob... Sis..."
"Tsk, you're being reborn anew. Don't be scared. First, we'll implant this mana heart."
"No, don't! What's that... Don't bring that sharp thing near me..."
"I'll cut open your abdomen. No anesthetic, but recovery potions mean you won't die. Don't worry. Though the pain might shatter your mind."
The sight made her want to claw out her own eyes. She couldn't bear thinking her sister endured this.
But Yul's echoing screams forced her to clamp her ears shut and collapse, eyes squeezed tight.
'No, no, no, no, no!'
"Aaaah! Aaah! Stop! Please stop!"
'No, no, no, no, no!'
"Grandpa! Please... Huhuuk... Aaah! Don't! Pleeease... Sis..."
'This couldn't have happened. No way...'
"Sis! Save me! I don't want to forget! Someone save me! Please! Stop! Don't do it! Grandpa, please stop! It hurts! Save me!"
Yul's screams felt like they pierced straight into her heart.
They were Yul's cries, yet Ha Yu-ri felt the pain herself—unbearable.
Memories of her own atrocities flooded back.
After losing her sister, her mind fixated solely on rescuing her.
But to do that, she needed power and fame, so she joined the Swamp of Oblivion expedition—and lost all memories of Yul.
Forgetting Yul's suffering entirely, she'd lived as Ha Yu-ri, master of the Madan Clan.
A life now revealed as a horrific lie.
'I... I...'
She wanted to tear herself apart. Kneel and beg Yul.
She knew rationally this wasn't the time, but courage failed her.
'What... what have I done all this time?'
She couldn't forgive her obsession with money, fame, power.
'Is this... punishment?'
Punishment for abandoning Yul and living luxuriously.
Her crumbling heart was surely retribution.
Yul's screams stabbed relentlessly into her ears.
Like someone mercilessly slashing her with a knife.
Each cry a dagger flying at her.
'Stop, stop... I was wrong...'
Tears streamed down her face.
'Just like this... let it end...'
As her spirit shattered completely—
A hand gripped her shoulder where she sat collapsed.
"...Ha Yu-ri."
His voice reached her at the same time as the touch.