Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Even a Fleeting Beauty That Vanishes Without a Trace
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A massive cavern appeared before the group after they massacred dozens of monsters on their way in.
"Boss room."
In the center was a lake of rippling blue water, and atop a rock rising from its middle sat a monster with the beautiful upper body of a woman, the lower body of a fish, and wings on its back.
The gate's master, the 'Siren.'
"Aaah~ Aaah~"
As the Siren opened its mouth, a bizarre, dreamlike song echoed through the cave.
A high-level sonic attack that muddled the mind.
"Urgh..."
Kim Cheolsu, weakened mentally from his injuries, grimaced and staggered.
Catherine clutched her head, dizzy as well.
But it had no effect on Aileen or Jihyun.
"Siren, huh. Civilians, don't get any closer—it's dangerous. I'll handle it alone."
Aileen irritably went to draw her sword.
"Hold on."
Woojin blocked her.
"Hey, can I take that one down?"
What Woojin meant was the act in games known as 'busing'—carrying someone through for levels.
Aileen and Jihyun knew it well.
They'd done it plenty in Unriworld to level up late-blooming players who'd awakened hidden classes just to fight the Demon King.
But Jihyun looked concerned.
"Any other monster would be fine, but with the Siren, Oppa, there's a risk you'll fall under mental domination."
Aileen nodded.
"Yeah, I'd rather not knock you out myself, Woojin Oppa."
Woojin's level was a mere 12.
Taking the Siren's mental attack head-on up close was a gap he couldn't resist.
But Woojin scoffed.
"Who said anything about charging in blindly?"
He rummaged through his bag and pulled out a small blue pill.
A herbal remedy like the common 'Cheongsimhwan' sold at local pharmacies: 'Bosin Dan'.
Woojin tossed the enhanced pill into his mouth and chewed it up.
"Ugh, pretty bitter. This stuff."
Gulp.
As the medicinal energy spread, Woojin's eyes grew as serene as the lake.
The Siren's piercing song now sounded like mere passing wind.
"Feels totally fine now?"
Woojin shrugged, and the two women were speechless.
"...For real?"
"Yeah, like some hum going on."
"...You blocked a Siren's mental domination with pharmacy meds...?"
How far was this guy planning to go?
Woojin was getting a bit excited.
"If I take it down, I should get 2-3 levels, right?"
Aileen nodded.
"Probably. Bigger level gaps mean experience bonuses."
"Cool, then you guys..."
He was about to ask them to weaken it to near-death for his finisher when a hypothesis flashed in his mind.
'Hold up... Bigger level gap? What if level 0? Where does all that massive experience go?'
Woojin turned back.
There stood Kim Cheolsu sweating bullets, with Catherine tending to him.
"Hey, Aileen."
"Yeah?"
"You know... what happens if a non-Awakener civilian kills a boss monster?"
Aileen answered flatly, like it was boring.
"Lame question. Nothing."
Woojin tilted his head.
"You sure?"
"Our family tested it tons of times. Soldiers shooting monsters don't awaken. Corpses are all that's left."
Civilians weren't under the system's purview. Common knowledge.
But Woojin thought differently.
"Those tests... weren't they just on small fry? Bullets don't work on bosses."
"Well... true, but civilians can't take down bosses anyway."
"Not impossible. Just inefficient."
Letting a civilian land the killing blow on a boss?
What a waste.
"I see it differently."
Woojin's eyes sharpened.
"That massive energy bursting from a dead monster doesn't just dissipate into thin air."
Players absorb it as 'experience.'
So for civilians?
"Tiny mob energy scatters. But dump in overwhelming energy at once...? Boom! Might shatter the wall and breakthrough."
Forced expansion.
Forced awakening.
A boss 20+ levels higher.
Massive finisher energy.
Aileen's expression turned serious at Woojin's hypothesis.
"...Rough theory, but it holds water."
Not theoretically impossible. Just never tried.
Weakening a boss to the brink and handing it to a civilian?
Pure waste of experience.
Only those with overwhelming power could even control it that precisely—not clear, but dominate.
"Worth testing..."
Aileen pointed at Catherine.
"Kim's injured, so Catherine. You're up."
"Me...? Really?"
Catherine pointed at herself in shock. Woojin chimed in.
"Noona, worst case, nothing happens. Best case? Jackpot."
Catherine looked to Aileen, who nodded.
"Let's do it. Can't ignore Woojin Oppa's instincts."
"Understood."
Woojin enhanced another Bosin Dan.
"Take this first."
"Thank you, Woojin-nim."
Decision made, action was swift.
"Alright, I'll tenderize it for an easy kill."
Whoosh.
Aileen crossed the lake in an instant, reaching the Siren.
"Kyaaak!"
The Siren panicked at the overwhelming foe and struck first, but Aileen's sword was faster.
Slash.
Arms and wings severed, the Siren slammed into the rock.
"Kyaaak...!"
"Shut up."
Thwack.
Aileen hilt-struck its solar plexus, knocking it out, then pinned it down.
Perfect control.
"Catherine."
Catherine gripped her dagger with trembling hands. Woojin stepped up.
"Wait. Just in case... this too."
She took a deep breath.
She gripped the knife tighter.
Revenge burned in her eyes.
'The boss of the bastards who did this to Cheolsu!'
Shwick.
Stab.
Catherine's blade plunged precisely into the Siren's throat.
Thanks to Woojin's enhancement, bleeding stacked for a fatal blow.
Moments later.
"Puha..."
The Siren's head lolled limply.
At once, a torrent of blue particles erupted from its body.
The particles didn't scatter—they swarmed to Catherine like iron to a magnet.
Wooong.
"Wha—what?"
Mana storm lifted Catherine slightly into the air.
Dazzling light enveloped her.
"Th-this... awakening?"
Kim Cheolsu's jaw dropped. Aileen and Jihyun watched breathlessly.
Soon.
The light faded, and Catherine landed lightly.
Her eyes gleamed mystical purple.
And in the air, a message only she could see appeared.
Catherine stared blankly at her hands.
The unfamiliar yet potent power surging within.
"Miss... I... I awakened..."
Aileen and Jihyun gasped in unison.
"No way...!"
Woojin grinned as he approached.
"Told you it'd work."
This was a revolution.
Woojin had just unraveled humanity's long-sought 'secret of awakening.'
"Congrats, Catherine Noona. What class?"
Catherine read her status window shakily.
"It says... 'Magic Bullet Gunner'?"
"Oh? A job from Unriworld too?"
A hero class.
A ranged DPS far beyond normal gunners, firing mana-infused bullets.
Her life-or-death shootout experience must've influenced it.
"Jackpot."
Woojin clapped. Aileen stared at him, shock and joy mixed.
"Kim Woojin... what are you...?"
This man's value transcended money now.
She could've stolen the knowledge, but Aileen wasn't that type.
Aileen spoke gravely to everyone.
"This stays secret. I won't even tell my family."
Jihyun nodded solemnly.
"Too big a secret. If it leaks, the world's chaos."
Kim Cheolsu and Catherine looked grave too.
They grasped its weight.
Yet Woojin, its discoverer, said casually.
"Still, let's just awaken Cheolsu Hyung and Sangjin. Cool?"
Everyone agreed.
They cleared the gate and exited.
Still dark night sky, but time distortion meant little time passed outside.
"They're out! They made it!"
Villagers rushed cheering.
Old Lady Jeomsun wiped tears seeing Kim Cheolsu and Catherine safe.
"Oh, my babies! You're alive!"
A heartwarming reunion.
Kim Cheolsu and Catherine clung hands, blaming injuries.
No longer just flirting.
Comrades who'd crossed life and death, now lovers.
Brushing off villagers' warm welcomes and worries, the group prepped to return to Seoul.
Another DH subordinate drove.
As the limo started and heater warmed the interior.
"Hold up."
Aileen paused boarding.
"What's up? Forget something?"
Woojin asked. Aileen gazed at the night sea.
"One thing left."
"What?"
"Something I really wanted to do. Can we delay 30 minutes?"
Woojin nodded.
"Do what you want. What is it?"
"Convenience store there. Park in front."
Aileen got out, entered, and returned arms full.
One thousand-won sparklers bundled.
Woojin looked dumbfounded.
"That's it? Fireworks? At night?"
World's top heiress, convenience store sparklers.
But Aileen's face was earnest.
She walked slowly onto the cold sand.
Crunch, crunch.
She squatted, scribbling in the sand with her finger.
– Eileen ♡ Woojin
Childishly silly graffiti.
"You... seriously..."
Woojin chuckled dryly. Aileen stood, smiling bittersweetly.
"Romantic, right?"
"What? One wave and it's gone. Meaningless."
True to his word.
Splash.
The incoming wave swallowed her writing instantly.
Names vanished traceless.
But Aileen didn't rage—instead, her eyes sparkled at the blank sand.
"That's why it's good."
"Huh?"
"Hehe, I've lived buried in eternals since birth. Unyielding castles, unending power, eternal family glory..."
Her blue eyes stared at the ink-black sea.
"All suffocatingly solid and heavy."
She gathered mana at her fingertip, lighting a sparkler.
Sizzle.
Fwizzlepop!
Tiny pretty sparks bloomed in the dark.
"But look. Fleeting sand writing waves erase, sparks that flash and fade..."
She swung it through the air, laughing like a child.
"No duty, no weight. Just sparkle and gone. That's why it's beautiful. To me."
Crackle, crackle.
Sparks danced in her eyes.
Now Woojin glimpsed her heart.
Empress commanding the world.
Having everything, paradoxically craving momentary freedom.
This childish sparkler play was her sole time as purely 'Aileen,' free of family burdens.
Woojin's chest twinged.
'Damn... touching.'
Silently, he took a sparkler from her hand.
"Gimme fire."
"Huh?"
He lit his from hers.
Sizzle.
Two sparks met.
"Alone's pathetic. Let's do it together."
Woojin spun his nonchalantly.
Jihyun approached, grabbing one.
"Me too! Include me! Almost missed seaside fireworks!"
"Secretaries, join if you want!"
"We're good. Have fun."
Three sparks lit the winter night sea.
"Yeah, multiples are better."
"Pretty! Woojin Oppa! Draw a heart! Heart!"
"Ugh, no way..."
Grumbling, Woojin swung both arms drawing hearts in the air.
Aileen beamed watching.
Fading sparks, but their laughter rang clear now.
"Nice... really nice."
Aileen murmured at the dying sparks.
Even a fleeting beauty that vanishes without a trace leaves indelible footprints in the heart's corner as memories.
And we call those sharing 'the same memory' family, friends, comrades, lovers—many names.
The limo to Seoul was quiet after fireworks.
But the five shared that memory in their hearts.