Chapter 152: 2nd Semester (6)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 152: 2nd Semester (6)
“Huuuh…”
A long, languid sigh escaped Cheon Yeo-wool’s lips as she lay sprawled on the bed.
She felt a little better now.
No, it felt like she’d gotten it all out of her system.
The anger that had flushed her cheeks had long since been washed away by a pleasure far hotter and more intense.
Remembering what Yoon Chae-ha had said, she hadn’t forgotten to cast a soundproofing spell.
Cheon Yeo-wool sat up and straightened her disheveled clothes.
Suddenly, she wanted to be right next to Jung Hae-in.
There was no reason. Did she need one?
“What time is it?”
[PM: 11:40]
The clock on the wall read 11:40 PM.
“Perfect.”
– Tap, tap.
Cheon Yeo-wool turned on her watch and typed a message without hesitation.
[1000_y]: Open the door. I'm coming over now.
A bold declaration.
She was going simply because she felt like it.
I’m sleeping with you tonight, no matter what.
“Hmph…”
But Jung Hae-in didn’t answer.
He hadn’t even read the message.
He was the type to read and reply to messages instantly.
That left two possibilities.
One, he was asleep.
That would be perfect, actually.
She could slip in without anyone knowing.
In truth, sending the text was merely a formality; she had no trouble getting into his room.
And two…
He went out?
That was… a bit of a wild card.
He could be training, but he preferred to finish most of his training before sunset.
And he wasn’t the type to enjoy late-night walks by himself.
This could be risky.
Either way, the conclusion was the same: she had to go and see for herself.
Cheon Yeo-wool stood before the mirror to check her reflection.
There was still a slight flush to her face, but it didn’t seem to be a problem.
Quietly… she slipped out through the window.
Her next-door neighbors had exceptionally sharp ears, so going out into the hallway was out of the question.
It would be like advertising, ‘I’m going to see Jung Hae-in right now.’
Landing silently on the balcony, she expertly climbed the exterior stairs to the second floor.
Finally, she stood before his door.
[Room 201 - Jung Hae-in]
Time to unlock it. Since she didn’t have Jung Hae-in’s watch, she’d have to enter the backup passcode.
“Hmm…”
Without hesitation, she pressed four digits on the digital keypad.
‘1104’
His birthday.
– Beep-boop.
With a cheerful chime, the door opened.
He used his birthday for all his passwords. A truly helpful habit.
She headed straight for the bedroom.
But she sensed a different presence.
“…?”
Cheon Yeo-wool’s brow furrowed. And then she saw it.
The window was wide open.
A cool night breeze rustled the curtains.
Ha Sion.
There was no need to even think about it.
A scent so strong even a passing dog would notice it.
It was the work of Stealth, a signature skill of archers and Ha Sion’s specialty.
She must have thought Jung Hae-in was the one opening the door and fled immediately.
“She really is like a ghost.”
Cheon Yeo-wool let out a dry laugh.
How did she even know I was out to come here so quietly by herself?
In a way, it was admirable.
But that was as far as it went.
She sprayed some air freshener to get rid of the scent and aired out the room for a moment.
Then she walked to the window and slammed it shut.
– SLAM!
She walked over to Jung Hae-in’s bed.
Roughly tearing away the duvet that still held Ha Sion’s lingering scent, she buried her face in his pillow.
“Huuuh…”
She took a deep breath.
‘…’
Wow… what is this?
It felt like her body was melting.
She thought she could understand why Ha Sion kept coming here.
She hugged his pillow and gently closed her eyes.
How much time had passed?
– Beep-beep-beep.
A cold electronic tone woke her from her light sleep.
Cheon Yeo-wool groggily opened her eyes.
The next moment, the bedroom door opened and Jung Hae-in walked in.
When the lights came on, he saw her sitting nonchalantly on his bed and froze on the spot.
“Wh-who are you?”
Jung Hae-in’s voice was colored with bewilderment. He seemed to be doubting his own eyes.
But Cheon Yeo-wool simply tilted her head, as if his reaction was the strange thing.
She was, in fact, completely unabashed.
She got up from the bed.
‘Why did she run away?’
She couldn’t understand Ha Sion’s behavior.
She had come because she wanted to.
She purely wanted to sleep with him.
That was all. There was nothing to get caught for.
Cheon Yeo-wool stretched elegantly and carefully rose from the bed.
Barefoot, she walked over to the frozen Jung Hae-in and grabbed his wrist.
“You’re back?”
Then, she began to gently pull his arm toward the bed.
Like a wife welcoming her husband home late—an act that was, admittedly, intentional.
“Aren’t you coming to bed? I’m sleepy.”
Jung Hae-in just stood there, dumbfounded.
Finally, Cheon Yeo-wool covered his lips with her own.
– Mwah.
She pulled back, looked him straight in the eye, and said, “Let’s sleep.”
She pulled him onto the bed.
The night was long.
– Rustle.
And outside that window…
To be precise, on the cold railing of the second-floor balcony…
A lone shadow watched the entire scene, utterly motionless.
It was Ha Sion.
She hadn’t run away at all.
“…Hh.”
She had left because she had wanted to.
*
In a place where the boundaries of time and space had collapsed.
Before the twisted, dark throne of the Evil God, an Apostle knelt.
He wore bizarrely shaped white priestly robes and was prostrated so completely he might have been dead, not even a twitch betraying life.
There was no one on the throne. Only an unknowable, ominous energy that pressed down on space itself with the mere fact of its existence, shimmering like a black haze.
Then, a voice that shook the very space around them rattled the Apostle’s mind…
[The Central Plains.]
The voice that echoed from the throne had a strange resonance, making it impossible to discern a gender or an age.
[Suppress your hunger. And when the time comes…]
At that moment, the Apostle’s prostrate body trembled as if in a seizure.
The voice of his god was, to him, the ultimate pleasure, something for which he would trade anything in the world.
[Purge the blooming flower of the Central Plains.]
“…!”
The Apostle’s head snapped up. The 3rd Seat, Belial.
His face was completely twisted with a rapture bordering on madness, with tears of ecstasy.
The flower… it must refer to that unidentified power the Lord had recently discovered.
He laughed like a madman, crying out toward the throne.
“A command…! To this humble servant, the Lord himself…!”
He slammed his forehead against the floor again and again.
– Thud! Thud! Thud!
“I SHALL OBEY YOUR COMMAND!!! MY LORD!!!”
With Belial’s crazed shout, a black energy erupted from his body like a storm.
The next moment, his form dissolved into a wisp of darkness and vanished without a trace.
Silence once again descended upon the throne.
And in the Apostles’ assembly hall, located one dimension below the Evil God’s seat of power…
In the center of the space, made of cold marble floors and grotesquely twisted pillars, black smoke swirled and rose.
– Shwaaaaaa!
The smoke soon took a single form.
Belial’s eyes glinted with madness, and an inscrutable smile played constantly on his lips.
The other Apostles merely watched him, some with placid expressions, others with a hint of contempt. Belial’s madness was nothing new.
As if savoring their gazes, Belial spread his arms wide and roared.
“An oracle!!!!”
His voice was completely cracked with pleasure.
Just then, Alexei, who was seated on the second-highest step just below the top, asked in a low voice, “What is it?”
At his words, Belial’s manic laughter stopped as if it had been a lie.
His expression suddenly turned serious as he looked around.
Belial began to recite the contents of the oracle.
“Purge.”
His voice was devoid of any emotion.
“The filthy flower just beginning to bloom in the Central Plains.”
A cruel smile finally appeared on Belial’s lips.
“He has commanded that it be purged.”
*
A dark cave.
A perfect space of nothingness, where the concepts of time and space had ceased to exist.
The deepest… sea of consciousness.
At its center, a man in a black robe sat, motionless.
“……”
How long had he been asleep? In terms of perceived time… no, perception itself was impossible here.
This was the first time he had awoken since he had exhausted every last bit of his Suppression Force to kill Barcus and faded from existence.
He was supposed to have been forgotten by the world.
But…
If he was opening his eyes again now…
It could only mean that the Evil God had begun to make a move so significant it once again defied the World’s Suppression Force.
He didn’t know what it was.
But something was definitely coming.
Something that had to be done, even if it meant delaying his own revival and bearing the penalty of the Suppression Force.
The man in the black robe quietly closed his eyes. His consciousness reached outward.
‘How much stronger has he become?’
He began to observe.
The paths walked while he slept, the events that had taken flight.
Countless memories swirled like a storm within his consciousness.
‘…!’
He had expected it.
He had expected him to have grown stronger to some extent. But he never imagined it would be this much.
For the first time in a very long while, the man in black smiled with genuine feeling.
‘It’s enough.’
If things continued like this…
Yes, it was more than enough.
He was already on an excellent path.
He didn't know what threat was approaching. But whatever it was…
However…
This would probably be his last time.