Chapter 128: Bulgaram (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 128: Bulgaram (4)
First, let's break down the current situation.
I was kicked out by Bulgaram.
Well, it didn't seem like I was really kicked out. If I'd been completely expelled, I would've gotten a system notification.
So, again, I was kicked out by Bulgaram.
And the 'child' I was supposed to raise turned out to be Yoon Chae-ha.
And now, I've been teleported to Yoon Chae-ha's room.
She's sleeping peacefully in front of me.
And someone who I assume is her mother is calling for her from outside.
This situation.
How on earth am I supposed to explain this?
“Chae-ha~? Are you still sleeping~?”
Running into Yoon Chae-ha's parents like this was not an option. I had no idea how I'd explain the situation.
I immediately went over to Yoon Chae-ha.
Tap.
“Yoon Chae-ha. Yoon Chae-ha.”
I gently tapped her on the back.
Her sleeping face slowly scrunched up.
It looked like she was about to wake up…
Tap, tap.
“Chae-ha.”
“Ugh… just a little longer…”
Yoon Chae-ha’s eyes fluttered open.
Her hazy eyes looked up at me.
“……”
“……”
For a few seconds, we just stared at each other in silence.
“……”
“Good morning.”
I smiled quietly. The dazed look on her sleep-drunk face was quite funny.
But Yoon Chae-ha's reaction was more subdued than I expected.
“Jung Hae-in…?”
With her eyes half-closed, she slowly looked up at me.
A moment later, without any hesitation, she grabbed my arm and pulled me onto the bed.
Caught off guard by the sudden movement, I lost my balance and fell onto the mattress.
The strong scent of lavender from the bedding tickled my nose.
“Even if it's just a dream…”
she murmured softly, wrapping her arms around my neck.
With her arms around my neck, Yoon Chae-ha pressed her body tightly against my chest.
Her leg slipped around my thigh.
“Hhngh… me too…”
She buried her face against me, taking deep breaths.
I just watched her, motionless.
“Chae-ha, I'm opening the door, okay?”
I didn't know what she was mistaking this for, but it was too late.
It sounded like her mother was right outside.
I just gave up.
Creeak.
“I made breakfa—”
Before she could finish, the door opened.
The woman's movements froze as she took in the scene.
On the bed.
I was lying in Yoon Chae-ha's bed, still in my training uniform.
And Yoon Chae-ha was buried in my arms, her leg wrapped around my waist, breathing deeply.
Through the crook of my arm, her right eye, now open, met her mother's gaze perfectly.
“……Nngh.”
The air in the room froze.
Yoon Chae-ha slowly lifted her head.
Her eyes gradually widened as she finally grasped the situation.
“……”
Yoon Chae-ha's mother closed the door and left.
The door clicked shut quietly, as if nothing had happened.
Only then did Yoon Chae-ha slowly lift her face from my chest.
“It… wasn't a dream…?”
I was at a loss for words.
For a while, neither of us could say anything, frozen on the bed.
*
“What do we do…? What do we do? But this could be fun…”
“Just get dressed.”
I had my back to her, looking out the window.
I had given Yoon Chae-ha a rough explanation of the situation.
That Bulgaram had chosen her.
She was ecstatic, but then seemed to remember our current predicament and grew restless.
“I’m dressed now.”
It seemed Yoon Chae-ha was done changing.
I turned around.
“Are you going somewhere?”
An orange jumper and a white t-shirt.
It wasn't exactly attire for entering the Workshop.
“No… never mind.”
Her clothes weren't what was important.
I led her out of the room and opened the door.
I'd roughly planned out my explanation.
But it wasn't Chae-ha's parents who greeted us outside.
A single white memo was sitting on the living room table.
[Chae-ha! Mom and Dad had something come up, so we had to leave in a hurry. We'll probably be back late tonight! There are side dishes in the fridge, so help yourself with your boyfriend.]
[P.S. Make sure you use protection. I'm not kidding. Your dad insisted I emphasize this. I agree!]
“……”
My chance to explain was gone.
So be it.
Yoon Chae-ha, her face bright red, flipped the note over.
“Let's explain later.”
There would surely be another chance.
I pulled Yoon Chae-ha back into the room.
I had been wondering how to get back to the Workshop, but then I noticed a red tattoo etched onto my arm.
A pattern that looked like flames had seared the skin.
When I traced the tattoo with my fingertips, I felt a faint warmth and a subtle vibration.
I knew instinctively.
If I infused this tattoo with mana, I could return to the Workshop.
But it was designed to be impossible with my power alone.
“Hold this and try infusing it with mana.”
I held out my forearm.
“Okay.”
Yoon Chae-ha carefully took hold of my arm.
I could feel her fingertips trembling slightly.
As her mana flowed in, the tattoo began to glow with a soft red light and radiate heat.
In that instant, the space around us subtly warped.
My vision blurred into white, and all sound and sensation quickly faded.
And when I opened my eyes again,
we were already standing in the middle of a hellishly hot space.
“It’s so hot…”
Yoon Chae-ha gasped for air.
I quickly took the Magma Booster from my pocket and handed it to her.
[Magma Booster]
[Absorbs ambient heat and converts it into a defensive barrier.]
I'd brought it as a spare, but I never thought I'd have to use it.
Yoon Chae-ha cautiously accepted the small switch.
“Press and hold the button. It should help.”
I explained simply.
The booster's activation button immediately absorbs ambient heat and converts it into a protective shield.
It should make it easier for her to breathe and move.
But Yoon Chae-ha just rolled the switch around with her fingertips and gave it a sniff.
And then, suddenly, without any hesitation, she popped it into her mouth.
“Nom.”
“?”
The switch disappeared between Yoon Chae-ha's cherry-like lips.
Slurp, slurp.
She began to taste the artifact, rolling it around like a piece of candy.
Lick, lick.
Once, twice, she slowly rolled it with the tip of her tongue, savoring the strange metallic taste that filled her mouth.
Her eyes darted around for a moment, then the corners of her mouth slowly turned up.
Then, she gave a slight nod, as if satisfied.
“Ptooey.”
The next moment, she spat out what was left of the switch—just an empty shell—onto the ground.
Simultaneously, the surrounding heat began to surge toward her like a wave.
Yoon Chae-ha's Aura absorbed the ambient heat as if devouring it. A red light bloomed from her fingertips.
The intense heat swirled into her body like a vortex.
Soon after, the heat was instantly blocked, and a translucent red shield formed around Yoon Chae-ha.
“Delicious.”
She licked her lips with the tip of her tongue.
Yoon Chae-ha gave a small smile, as if savoring a lingering sweetness.
“This is your gift to me.”
Ah.
As I watched her bizarre display, something suddenly clicked.
“…Seeker of Hunger?”
“Yep.”
The identity of that bizarre act she'd just performed was the Authority Yoon Chae-ha had recently awakened.
Seeker of Hunger.
The one she'd awakened by absorbing the Remains of the Evil God.
Yoon Chae-ha had swallowed the essence of the Magma Booster and made it her own.
It seemed the ability of Seeker of Hunger wasn't limited to simple absorption.
It deconstructed the artifact's power and principles, completely reinterpreting and digesting them in her own unique way.
The switch she'd spat on the ground was now nothing more than a useless scrap of metal.
Watching her, a strange sense of anticipation welled up inside me.
Potential. I could see the potential.
“What's the limit of what you can eat?”
At my question, Yoon Chae-ha paused to think.
“Hmm… you?”
What was she talking about?
“Ah… right.”
Come to think of it, she was right.
After all, Yoon Chae-ha had copied my Catenaccio and Phalanx, transforming them into her own style.
“Just kidding. Probably most artifacts?”
Yoon Chae-ha changed the subject with a playful smile.
It seemed she had awakened a truly incredible Authority.
It was a completely new direction.
It seemed to be a result of the Remains of the Evil God being so powerful that they were unpredictable.
The Workshop was still quite a distance away.
It was time to move forward.
*
“This is much easier.”
Jung Hae-in muttered. It was different from when he'd been wandering alone.
He felt that everything—the path, the fights, the entire process of moving forward—had become noticeably smoother.
He was finally beginning to understand why Bulgaram had emphasized 'solidarity' so much.
Moreover, Jung Hae-in and Yoon Chae-ha's combat synergy was far better than he'd expected.
Perhaps even as good as his synergy with Ha Sion, whom he'd spent ten years with.
If his rapport with Ha Sion was built on long years of trust and consideration, his rapport with Yoon Chae-ha was of a completely different nature.
Yoon Chae-ha constantly observed, learned from, and tried to understand Jung Hae-in's actions.
Inevitably, the more they worked together, the more their approaches began to align.
Jung Hae-in wanted to show her everything he had.
And Yoon Chae-ha had no hesitation in taking it and making it her own.
They moved selfishly, without consideration for the other, each devouring what the other offered, yet their synergy naturally fell into place.
Yoon Chae-ha was getting more and more excited.
A smile spread across her face on its own.
A sudden feeling of gratitude toward Jung Hae-in, for introducing her to such an interesting place, washed over her.
“Jung Hae-in!”
Yoon Chae-ha finally couldn't hold it in and called out to him.
Jung Hae-in turned his head with a gentle smile.
But, in that instant.
For a brief moment, as their eyes met, a strange scene overlapped with his face and the landscape beyond.
A memory that suddenly surfaced from deep within her mind: a colossal tower, collapsing like a scene from hell.
And in the middle of that tower, a lone figure standing.
“Huh…?”
Yoon Chae-ha's gaze wavered.
The face she had just seen was both familiar and strange.
It was as if the shadow of someone she had long forgotten was superimposed over him.
An inexplicable, unknowable sense of dissonance. Déjà vu.
She took a breath. The strange sensation quickly began to fade.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
Jung Hae-in asked with a playful smile.
Yoon Chae-ha stared blankly at his face for a long moment before slowly shaking her head.
"No… it's nothing.“
For a second, Yoon Chae-ha felt as if she had been dreaming.
Suddenly, for reasons she couldn't explain, a faint ache throbbed somewhere in her chest.
