Chapter 11
Chapter 11
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 11
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Find
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Juyeol recalled River's expression, which was still hilarious in hindsight, and continued his cheerful shoveling.
He had thought Eun Haon had lost her memory and become unreserved with people, but that wasn't the case.
She kicked up a fuss about how scary everyone else was, yet she was only at ease with him.
That fact gave him a strange sense of satisfaction. It was like a hamster, wary of its surroundings, letting only him get close.
It was funny that no other animal would approach him besides this hamster, but that made the experience all the more novel.
Just as he was savoring his smug feeling, Juyeol's shovel hit something with a *thud*.
“...!”
He’d hit something.
He hurriedly dug away the dirt, and what emerged was...
“See, Juyeol? I told you we could find it!”
It really was an Awakening Sphere. Haon jumped up and down with excitement.
“I finally got one!”
“How did you...?”
Juyeol, looking dazed as if he couldn't believe he'd dug it up himself, examined the Awakening Sphere.
It wasn't a similar-looking mineral, nor was it a fake someone had hidden to prank him.
This was a real Awakening Sphere.
With eyes sparkling as brightly as the sphere itself, Haon held it in both hands.
Now, fixing my phone will be a breeze!
Her heart swelled, and her eyes welled up with tears again.
“Don’t even think about trying anything funny.”
A large hand snatched the Awakening Sphere away.
“I don't know how, but you said you're fixing your phone with this. I'll be watching you until then, so you know.”
Juyeol reached for his holster. Now that the Awakening Sphere was actually in ‘Eun Haon’s’ hands, he couldn’t help but worry she would misuse it.
Seeing how she found an Awakening Sphere in a way no one else knew, it was clear she had truly pioneered a new field called ‘Mana Engineering.’
This meant that ‘Eun Haon’ now possessed one more—or perhaps an unknown number of—dangerous elements.
“If you use it for anything else, I’ll shoot you on the spot, so act accordingly.”
“...!”
At the sight of the gun pointed at her, Haon’s shoulders flinched up before slowly slumping.
“...A Juyeol like this is scary.”
Her sullen mutter made Juyeol’s brow twitch.
“Annoyingly, she’s just gotten more timid.”
There was no hesitation in his hand as he holstered the gun.
* * *
Returning from the forest, Haon went straight up to the penthouse, not the lab.
Not to the living room or the study, but to the bedroom.
“Juyeol. Are you really going to stay with me?”
She plugged her phone into the charger and turned around to find him watching her with suspicious eyes.
“You have to do it here? Instead of the lab?”
He didn't even step into the bedroom.
Haon pulled a device she had brought from the lab out of the closet.
“Yeah. This is all I need.”
The device, shaped like a metal rake curved into a circle, was an energy extractor made by ‘Eun Haon.’
“It's a little different from the one I made, but the function itself is the same, so it should be fine.”
Despite her answer, Juyeol still looked skeptical.
Haon turned on her phone and launched the ‘Mana Engineering Device Troubleshooting’ app.
“It’ll take a long time, and I’ll have to fix any errors that pop up, so I was planning to let it run here while I sleep.”
On the phone's screen, the words ‘Diagnosing problems’ appeared along with a circular loading bar.
Then, the malfunctioning features began to stack up, filling the screen.
「Automatic Mana Charging, Mana Operation and Transformation, Information Synchronization, AI Assistant Voice Memory, Infrared Camera, Radiation Sensor...」
The list went on and on.
Haon covered her mouth with a fist, staring anxiously at the list.
“...You’re sleeping?”
A voice laced with a dry laugh came from behind her.
Juyeol held up the Awakening Sphere and continued.
“If this is some kind of trick to keep me out of the bedroom so you can use the Awakening Sphere for something else—”
“You can sleep here too.”
Juyeol froze at Haon's words as she turned to face him.
“Actually, I think I’ll need your help to get a good night's sleep.”
Haon added nonchalantly, then sat leaning against the bed and looked at her phone.
「Opening repair kit...
Please select repair type.
Manual Repair / Automatic Repair」
After selecting ‘Automatic Repair,’ Haon dismissed a pop-up window with a few warnings and tapped at the phone's keyboard with two fingers.
「Automatic repair function requires a Mana Core.
Searching for Mana Core...」
“Juyeol. The mana, the Awakening Sphere, could you...?”
Lifting her head as she reached out to Juyeol, Haon met his dark eyes, which were glaring at her as if she were trash, and was bewildered.
“What, what’s wrong?”
“Did you... use this kind of method on that bastard too...?”
The thought of ‘that guy,’ who could return at any moment, made Juyeol swallow the rest of his words and shudder.
“What are you talking about? I need the Awakening Sphere.”
Haon held out her hand again.
With a reluctant expression, Juyeol stepped into the bedroom and handed her the Awakening Sphere.
The excited scientist carefully fitted the Awakening Sphere into the energy extractor. It was a little loose, but not enough to fall out.
She clicked the energy extractor's cable into a small socket on the bottom left of the phone.
「Searching for Mana Core...
Mana Core connected to the device.
Repair will be paused if the Mana Core is disconnected.
Starting automatic repair.
Estimated time required: Approx. 48 hours」
Haon gently placed the phone on the bedside table and bounced on her feet, her face flushed.
“I'm so nervous. So excited!”
Then she shot up, her eyes dripping with anticipation and excitement, and said.
“It says it’ll take about 48 hours.”
Juyeol’s expression soured instantly.
“I have to stay here for two days?”
“I told you it would take a long time.”
Haon replied casually as she opened the closet and started pulling something out.
“Juyeol. You must have been sweating from all that digging, so you should wash up. Here are some fresh clothes.”
Juyeol hesitantly took the T-shirt held out to him.
“What’s this?”
“I borrowed some clothes to use as pajamas here, so I replaced them with a similar size.”
“You want me to stay in this?”
“It would be uncomfortable wearing what you have on for two days, right? Or do you want to go home and change?”
*Does she think I'm here for a sleepover at a friend's house?*
Juyeol felt like prying open her small head to see just how her brain worked.
Meanwhile, Haon had grabbed her own clothes and headed for the bedroom's bathroom. After a few days, she had grown used to this house.
“Juyeol, use the bathroom in the living room!”
Staring at the closed bathroom door, Juyeol blankly looked up at the ceiling. A sudden sense of futility washed over him.
*What am I even doing here?*
And yet, he still headed for the bathroom outside the bedroom.
He kept getting swept along by this unpredictable mad scientist, just letting things happen as they may.
Oblivious to his thoughts, Haon was simply thrilled and happy.
She washed off the sweat and dirt from digging for the Awakening Sphere and changed the gauze on her side.
After that, a wave of drowsiness hit her, and her eyelids grew heavy.
Her brown eyes, flickering between her lashes, were still filled with anticipation.
*I might actually get a good night's sleep today.*
Hoping for just that, she left the bathroom to find Juyeol, who had finished his shower first, drying his hair.
Their eyes met. He flinched, then scowled.
“What are you smiling at?”
“It just reminded me of the old days.”
Haon giggled.
As she looked him over, reminiscing about their time at the orphanage, she thought the clothes looked a bit small on him.
The firm muscles of his forearms and chest were clearly visible.
Haon marveled at a sight she had never seen from ‘her Juyeol.’
*I guess you need to be in good shape to deal with Villains.*
As she stared blankly, Juyeol strapped on a harness over his T-shirt.
As if that wasn't enough, he also attached a holster to his waist.
Haon suppressed her disappointment and let her eyes wander until she noticed a scar on his arm.
There was a long, diagonal scar below his elbow.
“What happened to your arm?”
“...You're the one who cut me with a knife.”
Her brown eyes widened in shock.
“How could I do that to you!”
Haon approached him and hesitantly reached out, but she couldn't bring herself to touch the scar.
“And, and you just let me?”
“...Who do you think shot you in the leg?”
At his indifferent words, Haon blinked, then placed a hand on her right thigh.
“Yeah, there. You seem to remember that, at least.”
Her hand fumbled over her thigh.
*This... was from a gunshot by a terrorist, though?*
The memory of that day was still vivid.
It was the first time she had ever been shot, the first time she had ever bled so much. She couldn't remember how much she had cried.
The ‘Eun Haon’ of this world had a gunshot wound in the same place, but to think it was a scar from fighting with Juyeol.
*This feels strange.*
As Haon fiddled with her thigh through her sweatpants, Juyeol looked down at the top of her round head, lost in a new thought.
*How is she so tiny?*
He’d only ever seen her in high heels and a voluminous fur coat, so he’d never realized. Now that he looked, she couldn't be more than 155cm tall, making her about 35cm shorter than him.
Even without looking closely, her frame was slender. The oversized T-shirt she wore made her seem even smaller.
*So I shot this thing that looks like it would shatter at a touch.*
He felt a faint pang of guilt, then flinched.
*Get a grip, you crazy bastard.*
Juyeol berated himself, clicking his tongue internally. What did her physique matter when dealing with a Villain?
“But why were you two fighting?”
Haon asked casually.
Juyeol shook off the thoughts that had just filled his mind and answered dryly.
“You were raising hell, demanding that I hand over an arrested Villain for you to use as a test subject.”
A chill ran down Haon’s spine. She gasped and froze.
“...Good shot.”