Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: An Unlikely Bedfellow
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Haon didn't feel any sense of betrayal or disappointment in this situation.
Rumors that the mad scientist had lost her touch were rampant, and more than a few people had underestimated her, proposing ridiculous deals.
Everyone who had visited today was the same.
“President Yang. Are you a con artist?”
“A con artist? We just have different perspectives on the value of things!”
He was utterly shameless.
It was true that Dr. Eun had become tamer than before, so people were careless with their words and actions.
Haon sighed and raised her phone, and a mana bullet struck President Yang.
As programmed, Blue ejected the unconscious guest from the research institute.
As long as she had Blue, she wouldn't get scammed when acquiring materials, but the repetition of these encounters was draining.
‘I should go check on the Awakening Sphere's energy extraction.’
However, while adjusting the extraction settings, Haon dozed off again.
The fact that the Awakening Sphere had nearly exploded, almost taking the entire building with it, was a secret she kept from Bani.
* * *
The hesitation in Haon's steps vanished as she walked through the old district.
It was partly because she'd grown accustomed to visiting Solmae's clinic, but coming in broad daylight, she saw this place was no different from any other neighborhood.
“Hey, Kim! Come over after work today!”
“Sounds good! It's been a while since I had some chicken!”
A little shabby, perhaps, but respectable shops lined the street.
“Mom, my shoes are too small.”
“Again? I bought them a size up on purpose. You're growing like a weed these days.”
Families out for lunch strolled leisurely down the street.
The place that had felt like a deserted, lawless zone at night now seemed like an ordinary neighborhood.
Haon watched a cat drinking water in front of a pizza parlor before turning a corner.
‘Still, I shouldn't drive my car in here.’
‘Eun Haon's’ cars were all expensive, flashy supercars that tended to attract unwanted attention.
Seeing that nearly all the cars parked on the roadside were damaged, she could guess what the fate of a supercar would be.
‘It would probably be stripped for parts and towed away.’
Even though it seemed ordinary in the daylight, she couldn't let her guard down completely.
When Haon knocked familiarly on the clinic door, Solmae opened it with a displeased expression.
“Hello, sir.”
“Seeing you here again, I take it it was another failure.”
Solmae shook his head slowly and sat down in his clinic.
“Yes. Do you have anything else?”
Haon asked with an awkward smile as she sat across from him, and Solmae let out a deep sigh.
“It sounds like a psychological issue. If that's the case, coming to me is useless.”
She came to see Solmae to get sleeping pills.
She had tried various types of sleep aids and sleeping pills, but none of them had much effect.
If anything, they only made it harder, taking longer to wake from her nightmares.
“Some things can't be solved with medicine. You'd be better off getting counseling. Or find someone you can confide in.”
“That's…”
Haon hesitated, then fell silent.
She knew that the terrible nightmares and insomnia tormenting her were due to psychological factors.
But even if she went to counseling, what would she say?
*The truth is, I fought in a war for two years, got caught in an explosion, and fell into another dimension, where I've been struggling because I happen to have the same name and face as a heinous scientist.*
*I have dreams every night about the Gimpo Bridge—which doesn't exist here—collapsing and people dying, and it's driving me crazy.*
*Because it's not just a dream; it's something I actually experienced in my previous dimension.*
Thinking over her story, Haon pressed a hand to her forehead.
‘They'll think I'm insane.’
In the worst-case scenario, they might see it as an opportunity to have ‘Dr. Eun Haon’ committed to a psychiatric hospital.
“By any chance, sir, do you offer counseling?”
“Don't say such dreadful things.”
Solmae looked appalled.
“Have you any idea how many people with sob stories live in the old district? If I started offering counseling here, I'd never be able to close up shop.”
“Ah…”
He didn't bat an eye at Haon's disappointed sigh. Instead, he offered an alternative.
“Think about the last time you slept soundly.”
“And then?”
“Try to make your sleeping environment as similar to that time as possible. Once you figure out what's essential for you to get a good night's sleep, things will become much more comfortable.”
“Ooh.”
Haon was about to agree with his words when she grew flustered.
She actually already knew what was essential for her to get a good night's sleep.
‘The reason I'm trying to get sleeping pills is because that condition can't be met. What should I do?’
* * *
‘Seriously, what should I do?’
Haon's dilemma continued even as she went to search for an Awakening Sphere.
‘If this keeps up, I might doze off and blow up all the Awakening Spheres I've gathered. Along with my own life…’
She had to find a solution.
She knew she could only sleep soundly, without being plagued by nightmares, if someone was by her side.
She had slept like a log during the two days she spent with Juyeol, so that much was certain.
‘…I wonder how Juyeol is doing.’
She had debated dozens of times whether to go find him and beg him to let her sleep.
But Juyeol wasn't answering her calls, nor had he come to retrieve his helmet. Perhaps he had grown weary of everything related to Villains and Heroes.
Bani refused to sleep at the institute, even on pain of death, and Chacha… she couldn't trust her yet.
If she couldn't even trust Chacha, who on earth could she possibly let into her bedroom?
“Aaa-yawn.”
Her sigh turned into a yawn, and an embarrassed Haon covered her mouth as she hurried into the park grounds.
This was where an Awakening Sphere had been discovered in her previous dimension.
“Blue. Begin searching for the Awakening Sphere.”
[Beginning search for the Awakening Sphere.]
Spreading its blue mana wide, Blue flapped its wings.
[Traces of mana are detected, but there is no Awakening Sphere within the search range.]
“Huh? Is it on the edge?”
She circled the perimeter of the park grounds with Blue, but the Awakening Sphere was nowhere to be found.
It was impossible for her to have missed it due to sleepiness. After all, it was Blue searching for the sphere, not Haon.
But Haon didn't look surprised.
‘It's not here either. Someone already took it.’
This wasn't the first or second time this had happened.
The strong traces of mana indicated that an Awakening Sphere had been buried here until recently.
‘Has Hero Headquarters started actively searching for Awakening Spheres?’
Haon considered checking one more location, but the fog clouding her mind made her give up.
Since she couldn't sleep, she at least needed to rest properly so she could go out searching for spheres again.
Just as she was about to head back to the institute, leaving her disappointment behind, Blue issued a warning.
[Haon. Nova is approaching from the rear.]
“……!”
She whipped around to see a model-like man with mystical white hair and golden eyes approaching.
His relaxed demeanor suggested he had no intention of hiding his presence.
“Your little pet bird is quite the tattletale. It's ruining my surprise.”
Nova, whose appearance was a surprise in itself, spoke with a beautiful smile.
She hadn't seen him for a while and had hoped he'd given up, but that didn't seem to be the case.
“Nova. It's been a while.”
“I've been a bit busy.”
The last time they met, he'd left saying something had come up. Was he busy with that?
It occurred to her that if the Villains were moving so busily, the Heroes must be busy as well.
“How do you know where I am?”
“Who knows. Anyway, what about my gift?”
“Um…”
He ignored her question and said what he wanted.
As Haon fell silent and cautiously observed him, Nova bent down slightly to meet her gaze.
“I told you to love me if you don't want to die. Is that so difficult?”
“It's pretty hard, yes. How am I supposed to like someone who's threatening to kill me?”
“I won't kill you. Will you love me then?”
“Well…”
“...I thought something interesting had appeared, but you don't love me, and you don't cry. Should I just kill you?”
Sweeping back his white hair, Nova straightened up and stared intently at Haon.
Seeing the contemplative look in his eyes, Haon swallowed nervously and clutched her phone tightly.
‘My matchup against Nova is the worst. A mana shield can't block his bare hands.’
Besides, unlike this world's ‘Eun Haon’, he could use Mana Engineering. He wouldn't go down easily.
Then, a lightbulb went off in her head.
Someone who knew she was a different person from ‘Eun Haon’.
Someone who wouldn't think she was crazy if she confided in him.
“Nova. How about something other than a weapon for your gift?”
“Something else?”
Nova showed interest at Haon's sudden change in attitude, her eyes sparkling as she asked.
Nova was even less trustworthy than Chacha.
But since he genuinely wanted a custom-made item for himself, she figured he wouldn't do anything she disliked.
Unless he decided to just kill her.
“I'll lift the ban on you entering the institute.”
“Hmm.”
It seemed that wasn't enough to pique his interest.
Haon watched his long fingers stroking his chin when another good idea struck her.
“And I'll make you something else, not a weapon.”
“With sincerity?”
“Yes. Complete sincerity. Though not love.”
“...Well, I suppose I can be satisfied with that for now.”
“Then, would you like to come with me now? You can stay for a long time. Stay the night at the institute.”
As Haon spoke with a face full of anticipation, Nova gave a languid smile.
“So my darling has a cheeky side to her after all.”
“Let's go. Quickly.”
Excited, Haon didn't even register what Nova was saying.