Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Luca's Resolve
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Luca stroked her hair again.
An empty feeling. The sense of incongruity that had shadowed her her entire life.
Without hesitation, she voiced her will once more.
"I'm going back. Because......"
"If I don't go back, I really might forget something precious......"
<<[Is that truly what you desire?]>>
Luca. I'll explain one last time. You cannot be happy.
That is your fate. One you can never escape.
For someone like you, this chance granted by God's love is the sole stroke of luck you'll never see again in your lifetime.
The Proxy pointed at the mirror with a beam of light.
At the same instant, the misfortune felt by the Luca in the mirror crept up her body like mold.
It was a truly horrifying experience. A suffocating sensation, as if an inescapable stroke of bad luck were strangling her throat.
Goosebumps prickled fiercely across her skin, but Luca endured. Courage was a child's virtue, after all.
How much time passed?
The Proxy's voice returned.
<<[And this world is the only response the world could muster to God's command. It means this is the best path to your happiness.]>>
Luca gazed into the mirror again.
Yes.
That's me.
That must be my true self.
The pitiful child living like a slum rat, barely eating or dressing properly... that's me.
"I know."
<<[Your happiness is God's will, so I must ask again and again.]>>
Even if it means a life of misery?
Luca slowly closed her eyes... then opened them, resolved.
"I won't run from my fate. I'll accept it."
<<[Is that your final answer?]>>
The Proxy's tone carried the bewilderment of someone witnessing the unforeseen.
As if this outcome lay beyond all expectation.
As if they'd been utterly convinced Luca would choose happiness.
Truth be told, anyone—not just Luca—would hesitate.
You'll be miserable your whole life. Out of pity, God offered you eternal bliss in a false world.
Accept it, and you'll live happily forever, never realizing it's a lie.
Reject it, and you'll plunge back into irredeemable misfortune...
No one would cast aside happiness upon hearing such words.
But.
"Even if it's a life of unhappiness......"
If something there stirs such deep longing in me.
I have to go.
Even if it means facing that wretched figure beyond the mirror.
"Even so, I'll press on. I won't flee. I'll fight."
<<[Such conviction, Luca.]>>
"Of course. Because—"
—God said I'm not wrong.
So I believe my choice can't be wrong either.
God's Proxy fell silent after Luca's final words—then murmured.
Yes. These weren't words for Luca. Even an enigmatic being like the Proxy felt a shiver and let them slip unwittingly.
—God's words carry the breath of life.
<<[Very well. Then follow your heart. If you wish to reconsider, this is your last chance.]>>
"No. I'm fine. I want to return to my original world."
No matter how many times asked, Luca's resolve never wavered.
I have to go back.
If only to uncover what I've forgotten—what this emptiness is. No matter what.
And...
Whatever choice I make.
God watches over me from above.
Luca slowly closed her eyes.
Visions unfolded: maids stroking her hair, her mom, her dad.
Her parents, who always enveloped her in love. Closing her eyes now revived vivid memories of childhood, spoiled in her mother's arms.
Dad once said he wished I'd never grow up. If even that was an illusion, then maybe this world never truly wished for my happiness.
Perhaps.
For a moment, she wondered if she was squandering the one path to happiness God had granted her—
But it's fine.
Following my heart... that has to be right.
God said I'm not wrong.
'Goodbye, Dad. Goodbye, Mom.'
Even if you were mere illusions—I was truly, truly happy.
Thank you for showing me what happiness is.
I'll cherish that happiness you gave me and walk my path steadfastly.
How much time passed?
The Proxy's voice faded, more time slipped by—and a blinding white flash, too intense to even open her eyes, devoured the darkness.
That light soon engulfed "Luca de Poitiers," the fabricated vessel and the world's response.
And...
* * *
Before the dock, where the evening sun set in pretty hues.
"Luca."
Turning her head, an achingly familiar voice called to her.
The voice seeped into her heart like a gentle puff, fitting perfectly into Luca's wounded soul.
"You didn't forget."
......Yeah.
The 20-year-old Luca nodded slowly.
Father.
I'm home.
Luca knew this was a dream.
Even so, she offered her greeting. To her one and only father.
To the rare blessing in her unlucky life.
Father was right.
God was watching over us.
Father extended his hand slowly.
And with his bony fingers, stroked her hair—
You can do this. Definitely.
* * *
......
How much time had passed?
Waking from the dream, Luca stirred cautiously.
Warm sunlight streamed through the window, birdsong drifting in.
I am... Luca.
Luca Hevnisian.
The name the orphanage director gave me.
Memories flooded back, one by one.
What had happened.
Father's death. Entering the orphanage and taking the surname. Enrolling in the academy...
And...
Luca rose slowly from her seat.
......And.
......!!!
At last, she grasped the source of that nagging incongruity in her hair.
What she'd forgotten all this time.
What she'd sensed as perpetually absent.
"Luca big sis! Safe travels! Here's a gift!"
"This is......"
"Hair in your face is no good for swordplay!"
"Not stolen, sis! I saved my allowance. Hehe."
A sharp pang in her heart. What was this feeling?
Family?
A pure white ribbon.
The one she'd always worn in her hair.
"Ah... Aaa...!!!"
Ah.
Right.
Her head had always felt empty because... the gift from her second family—
The ribbon was gone.
With trembling hands, Luca lifted the pure white ribbon from the table.
She clutched it prayerfully between both palms, dropped to her knees, and whispered shakily—
"This is it......"
Yes. This was it.
What I'd forgotten.
The true source of that shadow trailing me.
The void no amount of hair ornaments could fill... this ribbon.
Luca sobbed like a child, clutching the ribbon for a long while.
This is it, this is it, this is it...
Even in tears, she whispered the words over and over.
And with each utterance—
—God's boundless love surged through her veins, filling the void in her heart.
* * *
With the ribbon tied in her hair, Luca checked the mirror.
Returning to her real world was good, but what now?
First, visit the dean. Somehow scrape together the fees... and pay respects at the director's grave.
The mere thought of the director nearly brought fresh tears, but she held them back.
Luca's eyes were no longer lifeless.
Her heart had shattered, but she'd rebound it tightly with the thread of life.
—It's okay to break. Just keep moving forward.
I'm not wrong. God is always with me.
Those eyes now held a resilience born only of breakage.
The strength to battle a cruel fate that brought nothing but misfortune.
What Luca had gained was a spirit tougher than unbreakable—even if shattered, the will to press on.
As she sorted her plans—
Knock knock.
?
What could it be?
Maybe the dean? If she opened the door...
......Huh?
"Big sis!!"
"Luca sis!!!"
Two familiar faces stood there, though much taller now: a boy and a girl.
"Ammon...? Freya...?"
"Big sis! There you are! I searched high and low to find you—"
"W-wait... you two... you're alive...??"
That day the orphanage burned... weren't you all gone?
Word was everyone...
"Yeah...! We almost died, but... the Saintess healed us!"
"The Saintess's miracle is real!! Right, sis? I have something to tell you—"
—She pulled them into a hug.
"Kids...!!!"
Luca clung to Ammon and Freya, sobbing loud enough to shake the building.
No thoughts came.
Just one phrase, looping in her mind and on her tongue.
I'm so glad you're alive.
Truly, truly glad...
*
The power of 100,000 won could rewrite the Holy Scripture and reshape world history etched with God's miracles.
Yet for one soul to conquer trauma, steel themselves against fate, and stride forward—sometimes it demands more than altering history itself.
Thus, this world declares.
Head bowed, it can only proclaim.
Long live the 300,000-won sponsorship!
Praise our Sole God, who made it all possible.
Long live the 300,000-won sponsorship!
Worship the great one who dismisses the world's imperfect reply with a single divine word!
Long live the 300,000-won sponsorship!
Igugwoden was right once more!
Long live Igugwoden!
! ! ! Long live the 300,000-won sponsorship ! ! !
* * *
Click.
I poured the canned cola into a glass packed with ice.
Gurgle, gurgle—the addictive fizz tickled my ears.
Gulp, gulp. Down it went.
Kya!
"This is it!"
I let out a deliberate whoop to steady my emotions.
That final scene—every time, it swells my chest till I could cry again.
But no tears now. Time to celebrate, right?
'Perfect wrap-up. Yeah.'
I was thrilled Luca chose to face her fate head-on.
From her view, she might've wanted to turn back—but she powered through.
Luca did.
What I wanted to see from Luca—
A human who, despite a painful past, shakes it off, cradles it close, and marches on resolutely.
"You're not wrong" carried that meaning too. She'd walked this far unbowed by calamity.
That's why this ending hit right.
Luca, charging ahead without bitterness toward her unlucky lot.
"Yeah...! We almost died, but... the Saintess healed us!"
"The Saintess's miracle is real!! Right, sis? I have something to tell you—"
[ Igugwoden : (Sponsorship / 8,000 won / Unless it's totally fucked, heal the orphanage kids ASAP) ]
'Wanted something good to happen right after Luca's return, so I shelled out extra...'
Still, a relief some orphanage kids survived.
The author said the dead ones couldn't be revived, no matter the amount.
Sponsorship wasn't an outright cheat code, it seemed. Some things—like resurrections—were off-limits even then.
He could've tweaked his own rules for more cash anytime, but sticking to the details like this? Total immersion bait.
[ Plz Donate : Luca gained the strength to defy her fate through the power of 300,000 won. ]
[ Plz Donate : God's overwhelming sponsorship healed her broken heart. ]
[ Plz Donate : With just 150,000 won, it'd have barely conjured a flimsy illusion, leaving real issues untouched. ]
[ Plz Donate : All thanks to Igugwoden-nim's generous sponsorship. ]
[ Igugwoden : lmao yeah yeah good chapter author ]
[ Igugwoden : Keep it up like this. ]
[ Plz Donate : That said, Luca's path ahead remains a bed of thorns. ]
[ Plz Donate : The 'world's response' did bring the utmost alternative to her tragic fate, after all. ]
[ Igugwoden : That's fine. ]
Thorns or worse—it didn't matter for Luca's road.
[ Igugwoden : I'll always be watching over Luca. ]
—God is always watching over you.
Luca, you're not wrong.