Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Chapter 14: Galaxy Agora (2)
Translation: godtl
Fizz.
The crisp, carbonated sound rang out.
"Here you go."
Lee Yu-jeong popped open the can and held it out.
At the sight, Si-mun felt an overwhelming sense of dissonance.
And rightfully so.
This was none other than the Poison Princess of the Seongsam Family.
Someone who seemed utterly incompatible with carbonated drinks was personally offering one—how could he not feel that disconnect?
But what created an even greater sense of dissonance was...
'These hands.'
Hands so delicate they could be described as "jade-like."
Hands that wouldn't lose out in comparison to any celebrity's.
Yet the last time Si-mun had seen Lee Yu-jeong's hands, they hadn't been holding a soda can—they'd been gripping a blood-soaked hammer.
And with that hammer...
'She smashed Chairman Lee Sun-cheol's head open.'
It hadn't just been Lee Sun-cheol.
Every high-ranking official enjoying the banquet that night had their heads blown apart.
It had been the starting point of South Korea's descent into ruin.
Even more shocking?
At the time, Lee Yu-jeong had livestreamed the entire spectacle on her personal broadcast.
The trauma of that moment was still vivid in his mind.
'Why did she do it?'
Lee Yu-jeong, silently crushing the skulls of high-ranking officials begging for their lives.
An act completely at odds with the person he thought he knew.
Why...?
"That's strange."
Si-mun had been staring so intensely at the can with a grave expression that Lee Yu-jeong tilted her head.
"Oppa used to love cider. Did your tastes change?"
She smiled softly and gave the can a little shake.
Si-mun, who had been staring—no, glaring—at the can (or more accurately, at Lee Yu-jeong's hands), suddenly jerked his head up.
"Ah! Sorry. I was lost in thought for a second..."
"Heehee, you haven't changed at all, Oppa. Still getting so absorbed in something that you forget everything else."
"Was I like that?"
"Yes. Thanks to you, I learned how attractive a focused man can be."
She grinned, her smile clear and bright.
Si-mun smiled back.
Though...
"You haven't changed either, Yu-jeong."
...his smile held just a hint of bitterness.
"Hm? Are you teasing me?"
"I mean it."
His past self had been so pessimistic.
Even after South Korea's downfall, he had shaken off that despair.
He had even reconciled with his younger brother, Kim Si-hyeok, whom he'd cut ties with.
'But Yu-jeong wasn't there.'
This radiant woman before him—his other younger sister, Lee Yu-jeong—hadn't been part of that reunion.
"Hey, hey."
A cold sensation touched his cheek.
"Eek! That's freezing!"
Startled, Si-mun jerked his head back.
At some point, Lee Yu-jeong had pressed the cider can against his face.
"Oppa, you keep zoning out in front of people."
"...Sorry."
"Hehe. No need to apologize."
She beamed at him.
Just then—
"Young Miss."
A woman in a white button-up and an H-line skirt approached Lee Yu-jeong.
"Here's the deposit record."
"Thank you."
After syncing the transaction to her Player Watch, Lee Yu-jeong frowned slightly.
"Da-yeong unnie? This doesn't match what I was expecting."
"It's correct, Young Miss."
The woman's tone was firm.
Lee Yu-jeong stared at her silently for a moment before closing her eyes with a displeased expression.
"Fine. Thanks for your hard work."
She immediately projected a hologram in front of Si-mun.
Displayed on it was the number: [50,000,000 won].
"This is the settlement for the [Hobgoblin's Battle Axe] you sold, Oppa."
"Fifty million? That's more than the standard price."
"Our staff made a big mistake regarding you. Consider it... consolation money, I guess? Sigh It's too little, isn't it? But we did our best."
She didn't seem entirely satisfied with the situation.
Yu-jeong bit her lower lip slightly and shot a glance at the woman named Da-yeong.
Seeing this, Si-mun instantly realized.
'She's angry.'
And quite severely at that.
Though it was a memory from over ten years ago, even Lee Sun-cheol, her grandfather, couldn't stop Yu-jeong when she was in that state.
Her usual demeanor matched her pure and delicate appearance—calm and composed.
But once her temper flared, she was the type to see things through to the end.
"I wish I could've given you more... but it seems there's an issue."
"Yu-jeong, it's fine."
Si-mun quickly waved his hand dismissively.
"Even if you're a direct descendant of Seongsam, you still need to keep business and personal matters separate."
"...You really haven't changed at all, Oppa."
Had he said something wrong?
The pressure on her lips tightened further.
Then—
"Still, I'm glad."
The anger that even Chairman Lee Sun-cheol couldn't restrain melted away into a bittersweet smile.
"You're still the same. That's why I can still have conversations like this with you, Oppa."
Yu-jeong gazed at Si-mun with that same melancholic smile.
Naturally, Si-mun could only think:
'What's up with her? Why is she acting like this all of a sudden?'
He couldn't help but feel bewildered.
Sure, it had been over ten years since they last met, but they had grown up together like childhood friends.
He thought he knew Yu-jeong fairly well.
'Well, a lot of time has passed since then, so I guess it's not that strange.'
The little girl he once knew had grown into a proper woman.
It was only natural that the Yu-jeong he remembered from back then would be different now.
Perhaps sensing Si-mun's confusion, Yu-jeong's bittersweet smile brightened again.
"Oh dear, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass myself like that."
"Nah, it wasn't that bad."
Seizing the opportunity, Si-mun quickly changed the subject.
"By the way, you still call me 'Oppa'?"
"Huh? Did I?"
At Si-mun's question, Yu-jeong tilted her head in confusion.
Then, she giggled softly, just like she always did.
"I guess it just stuck after using it since I was little. Hmm... I think I first called you 'Oppa' when I was seven?"
"Was it really that long ago?"
"Yep. You must've been eleven at the time. Remember when we played house with Si-hyeok at our vacation home?"
"Ah, right, now that you mention it."
Si-mun nodded slowly.
Back when he was little—
Back when he was still part of the Kim Clan.
He used to play with his younger brother, Kim Si-hyeok, and Yu-jeong all the time.
Back then, they played house so often, indulging Yu-jeong's fascination with it.
With toys and props so realistic they could rival the real thing.
"You were weirdly stubborn about not wanting to play the mom."
"When was I ever stubborn? I just thought being the younger sister... suited me better than being the mom."
"Well, Si-hyeok, who played the dad, was thrilled about it. He kept saying he didn't have to marry you."
"...Oppa."
"Haha!"
Si-mun burst into a hearty laugh.
Yu-jeong's eyes widened briefly at his reaction before she turned her head slightly away.
"Oh, speaking of which."
Distracted by his drink, Si-mun hadn't been looking at Yu-jeong when he asked:
"How's... your mom doing?"
"Ah... yes."
Yu-jeong met Si-mun's gaze and smiled faintly.
But her smile—
"She's still unconscious, but she's stable. I visit regularly to take care of her."
—carried a quiet but unmistakable bitterness, much like Si-mun's earlier expression.
"I see. That must be tough."
"Honestly, it is. Being a senior in college doesn't help—I've been swamped with everything lately."
"It's not just because you've been grinding the Arena nonstop, is it?"
"Hehe! Well... I have been using visiting Mom as an excuse to play Arena. I even set up a dedicated access device in her hospital room."
Yu-jeong scratched her cheek sheepishly under Si-mun's sharp observation.
"But, Oppa."
Then, with a cautious expression, she asked.
"You said you got this item from the Arena, right?"
"That's right."
"Then, your body... has it fully recovered...?"
Yu-jeong couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.
That sight.
If it reminded him of the past—of the time when Korea had fallen and he first met Si-hyeok—would that be a delusion?
Si-mun smiled bitterly for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah. The Mana Disability is completely gone."
"R-really?"
Yu-jeong's face brightened in contrast.
"Really. I was lucky—it recovered right before I was summoned to the Tutorial."
"What a relief!"
Then—
"Ah! S-sorry! Was I being too dramatic?"
Realizing her voice had been too loud, the girl who had been beaming shrunk her shoulders slightly and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.
And then.
"Um... I don't know if I have the right to ask this, but... could I ask how you recovered?"
At Yu-jeong's careful question, Si-mun fell silent for a moment.
The reason was simple.
"I just happened to recover while regressing!"—that would be an absurd answer, wouldn't it?
No matter how much Yu-jeong trusted his words implicitly, hearing something like that would make her think he was insane.
Si-mun's silence didn't last long.
"I just got lucky. At some point, I started feeling mana little by little. And then, eventually, it fully recovered."
"I see. That's really fortunate."
Yu-jeong let out a deep sigh.
Keeping her gaze fixed on the floor, she continued slowly.
"It might sound ridiculous coming from me, but... I was really worried. No matter how much I looked into treatments for Mana Disability, there was just no..."
"Yu-jeong."
Si-mun shook his head, cutting her off.
"Your concern all this time has been more than enough. So don't blame yourself like that."
He repeated the exact words Si-hyeok had said to her in his past life.
"Oppa."
"That was an accident back then. I just did what anyone would have."
"But—!"
"Enough."
As if refusing any rebuttal, Si-mun shut her down firmly, leaving Yu-jeong speechless.
"Let me say it again—that was my choice back then. Even if I went back to that moment, my choice wouldn't change."
Even as he spoke, Si-mun inwardly mocked himself.
Claiming he didn't regret what happened back then.
Then why, after that day, had he never responded to his two younger siblings' attempts to contact him?
Of course, external pressure hadn't been absent.
A bastard born from an outsider woman.
And now, crippled as a player—the Kim Clan must have wanted him gone for good.
But cutting off contact with the two siblings he had grown up with—that had been Si-mun's own choice.
In fact—
"Even after leaving the clan, those two kept reaching out to me."
Even on the very day he regressed, hadn't his phone been filled with messages from Kim Si-hyeok and Lee Yu-jeong?
Despite his silence, they had stubbornly kept trying to contact him.
"Looking back, it's really shameful."
If he had to make an excuse—
At that time, he had struggled to accept the reality of his Mana Disability.
It was only natural.
Hadn't he lost everything—a future with a mana stat of 10—in a single accident?
By the time he was cast out of the clan, he could barely hold himself together.
So, he drew a line between himself and the world.
Physically and mentally.
Because just surviving on his own had been hard enough.
"Maybe, deep down, I even resented them."
If it hadn't been for you two, would my life have been different?
He had been trapped in thoughts like that.
But—
"Not anymore."
He had long since shaken off such foolish notions.
Even if the same thing were to repeat, he knew he would make the same choice.
That's why.
He always regretted himself at times like this.
Especially when it came to Yu-jeong.
Just like the old days when he'd comforted Yu-jeong after she got scolded by her parents and ended up sniffling.
'If only I had stayed by Yu-jeong's side all along......'
Perhaps she wouldn't have had to end her life under the stigma of being called "one of the world's three craziest bitches" or "the treacherous villainess."
Just what had happened to Yu-jeong?
'No—whatever happened to Yu-jeong, whatever she did, it doesn't matter now.'
Shaking his head, Si-mun suddenly met Lee Yu-jeong's eyes, which were growing moist.
'Because I can change it.'
The two held each other's gaze for a while.
And the first to speak was—
"Big Brother, I never dreamed... you'd say something like that to me......"
—Lee Yu-jeong.
"Yes, that's the kind of person you were. Even if you went back to that time, you'd make the same choice."
She wiped her damp eyes lightly before continuing.
"But that doesn't mean what happened didn't happen. If only we'd had the strength to defend ourselves back then, things wouldn't have turned out that way."
"Yu-jeong."
"But Big Brother, as long as you're okay with it, then that's enough for me."
Though I'm absolutely not.
Swallowing the rest of her words, Lee Yu-jeong rose from the bench.
"By the way, you haven't been in the Arena for long, right?"
"Huh? Ah! Just a few days. I haven't even finished the Placement Test yet."
"Really?"
Lee Yu-jeong's fine eyebrows arched slightly.
She pointed to her Player Watch, which displayed a completed transaction.
"But you've already received all that in cash. Did you join a guild?"
"No, I didn't."
"Then you must really need AP, don't you?"
The hardest part for any newbie entering the Arena was equipment.
Early-game gear wasn't particularly expensive, but since the Placement Test didn't award AP,
you either had to join a guild or dig into your own pockets to at least get a weapon.
Of course—
"I'm fine on AP. I'm not in a hurry for equipment."
This didn't apply at all to Si-mun, who crafted and used Mythic-grade gear himself.
"You're not in a hurry for equipment? Big Brother, are you a Magic Class?"
"Right. My class is Alchemist."
"Alchemist! That explains it."
Lee Yu-jeong nodded in understanding.
Alchemists, though technically Magic Class, were treated closer to Production Classes.
Conversely, the materials alchemists used in the early stages could be bought cheaply even with cash,
so they weren't as desperate for AP as other classes.
"Then are you planning to buy alchemy materials with that money?"
"Yeah. I happened to get lucky with a few recipes."
That "happened to get lucky" again.
You'd think she'd be suspicious of that phrase at least once.
"How fortunate!"
But Lee Yu-jeong didn't doubt him in the slightest.
"Actually, I've been needing some materials myself."
"Materials you need?"
"Yes!"
At her bright reply, Si-mun tilted his head.
"But Yu-jeong, you're Combat Class. What would you need materials for......"
"Ugh, do Combat Classes just mindlessly swing weapons around? We make our own training aids and potions too, you know."
"Is that so?"
No matter how he thought about it,
wouldn't it be more efficient to commission that from alchemists or other Production Classes?
Besides, wasn't Lee Yu-jeong the Seongsam Guild's Poison Princess and a Ranker to boot?
If she wanted, she could sweep up all kinds of Spirit Elixirs to—
Just then.
"Ah, geez!"
Si-mun's thoughts were abruptly cut off.
Lee Yu-jeong had plastered herself against his left arm.
"I don't have time for this. I have to visit Mom at the hospital soon, you know."
Before her clueless big brother could keep overthinking,
Lee Yu-jeong had taken preemptive action.
"Y-Yu-jeong? Could you let go of this first......"
The indescribable sensation coming from his left arm—
"So let's hurry up and go."
"O-okay! Just let go of my arm first!"
"Big Brother's a Magic Class, so you're slow! It's faster if I drag you."
Stiff as a board, Si-mun let himself be pulled along by Lee Yu-jeong.
And then.
"Hah."
A woman in an H-line skirt quietly observed the entire scene.
'Playing innocent and wagging her tail too? Our Yu-jeong. I'm seeing so~ many new sides of you today.'
Or was this her lady's true nature all along?
Kang Da-yeong shook her head back and forth before following after the pair.