Chapter 84: Not Trapped, but Chosen
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 84: Not Trapped, but Chosen
As soon as we finished filming and climbed into the Cullinan, Jang Ji-hye started playfully swatting my shoulder.
“Yu-jin, Yu-jin! How can you be that cute? What am I supposed to do with my poor heart? Huh? Well?”
“I didn't even do anything...”
“You were radiating cuteness from start to finish! I guess you weren't satisfied with just having everything else; you had to scrape up every last bit of cuteness and smear it all over your face too! Right?”
“...”
“The fans are losing their minds. ‘Baby Elf is going to live with her mommy and daddy forever’—how is anyone supposed to survive that?”
“But it’s true. I’m never getting married. I’m going to live with my parents and take care of them for the rest of my life. Ji-hye, why don't you skip the marriage thing and live with me too?”
“And let my parents’ money go to some random relatives? No way. Just to make sure that never happens, I’m going to find the most handsome man in the world, get married, have at least three kids, and pass everything down to them.”
The Cullinan started moving, but Jang Ji-hye’s chatter didn't stop.
Ugh, my ears feel especially sore today.
“Yu-jin, Yu-jin, I scrapped the best fan reactions. Just take one look, okay? Please?”
“No. I’m not looking. Get that away from me.”
“Please? Just once?”
“I said no. I’m not looking.”
I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep.
The moment my consciousness drifted below the surface of sleep, I heard the voice of a scruffy little child.
—Mommy! Don't eat me! Please save me! I don't taste good! Mommy! Please! Let me live! Mommy! Mommy!
It was me from my past life—the part of me I had forgotten...
*
[Title: Do we really need to stick to just 'Goddess Elf'?]
(Video.mp4: Lee Yu-jin saying, “I don’t have an ideal type, I don’t have any preferences at all, and I’m going to live with my mom and dad forever.”)
Lee Yu-jin’s appearance on the U Puzzle Talk Show live stream brought unspeakable joy to her fans.
Thanks to the English subtitles the production team hurriedly put up, international fans were able to enjoy it as well.
Though they probably would have been happy just looking at her face and hearing her voice.
*
“Yu-jin, Yu-jin, did you have another nightmare?”
“Yeah, I couldn't sleep well at the end. I need more rest.”
“Sleep some more. But was the evening dress design I showed you really that shocking? Enough to give you nightmares?”
“That wasn't the genre of the dream, but hearing you say that makes me feel like it’s about to be added. Ugh, I shouldn't have listened.”
Lately, I’ve been having nightmares every day.
In the dream, I run as hard as I can to avoid being eaten by my parents, but eventually, I’m caught and forced into a pot.
The moment the lid closes and my vision turns to darkness, I wake up. At least the water isn't hot, so it’s slightly less stressful.
Before I knew it, I drifted off again.
—Mommy! I don't taste good! Please let me live!
I woke up from the nightmare just as I was being put into the pot again.
Clutching my throbbing head, I opened my eyes to see Jang Ji-hye watching a drama on the living room TV.
What is she... Oh, it’s Game of Scenes.
Just as I was about to look away in case my own face appeared, Jang Ji-hye spoke without even turning around.
“You’re dead. You don't come out, so relax.”
“Are you psychic? How did you know?”
“It’s obvious. You can never watch your own work.”
“Well, since my scenes are over... maybe I’ll watch a little.”
The Angel of Judgment taking the form of a human priest.
It was the cameo played by Priest Montanus, who would surely become a Cardinal and eventually the Pope in the future.
[Quod nomen tibi est?]
(What is your name?)
[Ignifer. Pro magistro meo dilecto, ut omnia peccata mundi comburam et discindam.]
(Ignifer. In place of my beloved master, it is the name that shall burn and tear apart all the sins of the world.)
The image of the child actor speaking firmly while wiping away tears touched my heart.
Come to think of it, even though we were in the same production, this was the first time I was seeing his face.
[Dominus futurum tuum servabit.]
(The Lord shall save your future.)
The benevolent smile Priest Montanus wore as he stroked the boy’s head struck a chord deep within me.
Something surfaced in my memory.
I had seen something similar before. I had felt this feeling somewhere.
I closed my eyes and searched the depths of my mind.
Everything, including the sound of the TV, drifted away from my senses, and darkness found me.
I’m inside the pot.
The water is getting hotter.
I’m suffocating. Not because of a real lack of oxygen, but because the fear of death in this enclosed space is strangling me.
Should I run?
But an inner whisper held me back, telling me not to.
As if asking me to look. As if asking me to watch just once. As if asking me to finally forget.
At that moment, the lid of the pot opened, and a blood-stained, muscular hand grabbed me and hoisted me upward.
It was a giant old man with a mace in his right hand and a sack full of books on his back.
The old man held me in his arms and looked back. I could see my parents bowing and scraping.
“Do not use that money to buy and eat another child.”
“Oh, of course not. Thank you, thank you, milord...”
“I shall take this child. If raised well, she might be useful as a seed.”
“Oh, thank you. Thank you so much.”
The giant old man walked down the road with me perched on his shoulder.
The pouring sunlight was so bright that I couldn't see the old man’s face clearly.
It was blurry; I could barely make out a silhouette.
“Grandpa... who are you?”
The old man looked back at me.
Whether it was because I wasn't used to the bright light or for some other reason, I couldn't see his face clearly.
“I am nothing. Therefore, I have no name to give you.”
At that moment, my consciousness was snapped back into reality.
Coming to my senses, I took a deep breath.
Ah... I wasn't eaten.
My chest felt tight. What a relief. I didn't have such a gruesome past life after all.
Peace settled over my heart, and I felt a sense of certainty.
I wouldn't have those nightmares about running away to avoid being eaten anymore.
“Hey, Jang Ji-hye. Thanks. It’s thanks to you—Gaaah! Aaaargh! Turn off the TV! Turn it off now!”
“No way. I’m going to watch the black-haired Sword Master Saintess’s entrance on loop.”
“Fine, I’ll be the one to disappear! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Rocktten Jupiter Bell, I am under indiscriminate mental attack from Jang Ji-hye! I can't hold out!”
Of all things, the Season 2 teaser was playing.
That horrible scene where I was acting all cool and tragic, trying to look lethal.
Feeling a grief so deep I wanted to gouge my eyes out, I bolted.
[Te ex illo carcere educam, etiamsi omnia mea offerenda sint.]
(I will get you out of that prison, even if I have to offer everything I have.)
That’s not me! That’s not me! Aaaagh!
I want to scrub my ears out...
*
Curator Han Ji-woo’s brow furrowed ever so slightly upon receiving the secretary’s report.
“How much did you say the foundation donations were?”
“A total of 2.8 trillion won. 280 people donated 10 billion won each. Here is the list.”
Han Ji-woo hurried through the pages, and as soon as she saw the first line, she almost burst out laughing.
“I’ve heard all these names before.”
Every single one of them was a super-rich individual with immense political and economic influence in their respective countries.
They had each donated 10 billion won to Lee Yu-jin’s foundation for pediatric patients.
“Did they collude? It’s a coincidence that the donations match exactly at 10 billion won. Every single one of them.”
Han Ji-woo read the intention behind the number 10 billion.
“They want to give more, but they’re afraid our Goddess Elf will get scared and hide. So, they’re starting with a light greeting.”
Han Ji-woo thought back to the recent regular concert.
There were so many familiar faces that day.
Because she had been so mesmerized by Lee Yu-jin’s timpani performance, she had assumed at the time that they had only entered the country briefly to see her.
“Check the residences of these people. I have a feeling they’re all going to be staying in Korea for a while.”
“Understood.”
“Be careful and polite so they don't feel like they’re being investigated.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
*
“Yu-jin, Yu-jin! Please, just look at it once, okay?”
“I’m not going to wear it anyway, so what’s the point?”
“I have to place the order first. That’s the only way they’ll start making it.”
“I’m telling you, I’m not wearing it, so why order it?”
“Your mind might change later.”
For days now, Jang Ji-hye had been pestering me about evening dress designs.
She argued that since we didn't know how I might feel later, we should at least order a design I liked, and she wanted me to pick one from several candidates.
“I’m not going to the awards ceremony specifically so I don't have to wear an evening dress.”
“But the Rookie of the Year award is something you can only get once in your life, in your debut year...”
“I don't need it.”
“It’s such a waste of an award...”
“Fine, I’ll allow the ordering. But I’m never going to wear it.”
“Thank you. Thank you for at least allowing that.”
My heart almost wavered at the desperate look in her eyes, but I stood firm.
“I am merely recommending a dress code suitable for an actress’s official activities in my capacity as a stylist.”
“I know you’re doing your best as a stylist. And look, I don't mind wearing skinny blouses for official events.”
I didn't have an aversion to that level of women’s clothing because it felt like community service for the fans who were helping mine Envidium stock.
Though, of course, I would never wear them in my daily life.
But the Rookie of the Year award is a bit of a waste. An actor only gets it once.
I briefly considered closing my eyes and playing the role of 'Actress Lee Yu-jin' at the ceremony, but then I quietly gave myself a mental flick on the forehead.