Chapter 55
Chapter 55
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Confrontation
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‘What am I even doing here…?’
River sat in the first-floor café of the research institute, her mind a blank as she glanced around.
All she wanted was to ask about Gowon’s death, but she had no idea how things had ended up like this.
Across from her sat Haon and Bani, pressing ice to their eyes, and next to her was Chacha.
The sheer absurdity of the combination was baffling, but she had already missed her chance to leave.
“So, you got dumped by Ghos—Ack!”
The moment River opened her mouth, Chacha stomped hard on her foot.
After a short yelp, River glared at Chacha, who was feigning innocence, before speaking again.
“So, what you’re saying is that you and Ghost had a falling out over an impossible misunderstanding.”
“Yeees...”
The dejected reply made River wonder if she was talking to the Villains’ notorious scientist or just some girl she’d run into at a local café.
But either way, if this was a relationship problem involving none other than Ghost, the answer was obvious.
“Honestly, I’m glad you two grew apart. But why were you even seeing a guy who has nothing going for him but his looks? First Nova, now Ghost? What’s with your taste?”
“That’s what I’m saying! This girl has seriously bad taste in men!”
As Chacha chimed in, Haon’s shoulders slumped.
“Juyeol and I aren’t like that. We were just friends...”
“Anyway! What I’m saying is, it must have been Ghost’s fault. You were probably not in your right mind and got swayed by that foul-mouthed delinquent, but just forget him and go your separate ways.”
“It wasn’t Juyeol’s fault...”
“No. It was definitely his fault.”
River was incredibly firm.
“Even when Heroes fought amongst themselves, if he was involved, it was always his fault. That doesn’t mean I’m on your side, though. My colleagues come first.”
“...?”
Chacha glanced at River, who was bad-mouthing Ghost more viciously than anyone. At this point, she started to wonder if River just wanted an excuse to do it.
“So, what do you want to do about it?”
At Chacha’s question, Haon’s face crumpled.
“If it’s possible, I want to clear up the misunderstanding and be on good terms with Juyeol again.”
“She just doesn’t get it.”
Chacha shook her head.
She had meant to ask, ‘How do you want to get revenge?’ but it seemed Haon didn’t even resent the guy who had made her bawl her eyes out.
“Haon. Why don’t you just meet someone else? Why do you want to get along with Ghost?”
At Bani’s question, Haon pressed her lips together.
It was difficult to explain to them the loneliness of being stranded alone in a strange dimension, where no one truly saw her for who she was.
They were looking at her, but they saw someone else.
Despite their personalities being so different, they simply saw her as ‘Eun Haon’ who had lost her memory.
Even Nova, who knew she was a different person, wanted ‘Eun Haon’ from her.
Juyeol was the same, but the mere presence of his face and voice by her side meant a great deal to Haon.
When young children are lonely or in pain, they instinctively look for their mother or father, but Haon had no one like that.
The orphanage director was like a father to her, but he wasn’t her father.
She had always known. He was ‘Juyeol’s’ father.
So, when Haon was lonely, the only one she could turn to was ‘Juyeol,’ who wasn’t anyone’s guardian.
Though the Juyeol she faced here was different, his presence alone was enough to ward off her nightmares.
With a sigh, Chacha returned from the back of the café with a tray full of something.
“This is the kind of thing you drink to get over! Drink up!”
She handed one of the filled glasses to Bani first, but River snatched it away in shock.
“What are you giving a minor!”
She took a sniff and a small sip. It was sweet apple juice.
“...This is the kind of thing you drink to get over. Drink up.”
River avoided Chacha’s gaze and gulped down the apple juice.
Haon also held her cup with both hands and took small sips.
Throughout the impromptu little party, the three of them subtly told Haon to forget Juyeol, but she had no intention of changing her mind.
In the end, they left a few more nagging words as they departed the research institute.
In the suddenly quiet café, Haon looked at her phone.
A picture of her with the orphanage kids, playing in a valley.
A picture of her and ‘Juyeol’ making a cake, which had ended in complete disaster.
A picture of them finding a beehive during a big clean-up at the orphanage.
A picture of her graduating from middle and high school early and entering university at a young age.
A picture of ‘Juyeol’ smiling brightly.
After staring at that last photo for a long time, she headed up to the fifth-floor lab.
‘That’s right. This isn’t where I belong anyway.’
Her goal had always been to return home.
Though various things had delayed her, slowing her down, the research on the dimension gate was proceeding smoothly, speed aside.
The problem of acquiring the most crucial component, the Dimension Prism, remained, but that part was useless until the dimension gate was complete.
Haon threw herself into building the turbine.
She focused solely on injecting mana into the components according to the formula before her and connecting them one by one, trying to block out all other thoughts.
Until the sun rose and a new day began.
And again, until the sun set and night fell.
Ding-dong─.
[Haon! I've finally succeeded in tracking the phone!]
“...What?”
Startled by the sudden notification, Haon hurriedly checked the location.
“Huh? This place is...”
* * *
“Looks like you’re out of bullets. Why don’t you call it a day?”
Halo, perched leisurely on a pipe, looked down at the floor of the abandoned factory.
Juyeol, dressed in his Hero uniform for the first time in a while, was gasping for breath.
“Bullets?”
He scoffed and picked up a gun from one of the enemies strewn across the floor.
“Right here.”
He then glanced around at the fallen enemies and gave an arrogant smile.
“Plenty of them.”
As soon as he left Haon’s research institute, Juyeol had wandered aimlessly through the streets of the old district.
Just as he had before becoming a Hero, after losing his sister.
He felt like he would go insane otherwise.
How could Eun Haon...
How should I treat Eun Haon...
Why the hell did Halo...
But throwing these unanswerable questions at himself only made his rage sharper.
In the end, without even contacting Headquarters, he had geared up and stormed Halo’s abandoned factory.
Even as he moved in and out of the shadows, wiping out her subordinates, his anger didn’t subside.
Halo’s subordinates, aside from Sniper, were all mercenaries, a ragtag bunch when gathered together.
But facing such a massive number of them and then having to fight Halo was bound to exhaust even Juyeol.
He pressed a hand to his wounded shoulder and looked up at Halo.
Bang!
The bullet he fired at her ricocheted off the pipe with a sharp crack.
An illusion of Halo, created by her powers, reappeared a short distance away.
“You know why I’m here. And you know this only ends when one of us is dead.”
He had resolved to kill Halo.
It would be difficult, but he wanted to at least die trying to kill her.
Maybe then he could escape this storm of emptiness and rage.
The data Eun Haon had could prove that Halo was the true culprit behind the arson ten years ago, but that was all it could do.
Both Headquarters and the police would rather cover up an old crime than deal with the chaos that would ensue if Halo, who kept the Villains in a semblance of order, disappeared.
Halo, showing no sign of surprise, smiled faintly and nimbly made her way down the pipes.
It could be another illusion, but Juyeol aimed his gun just in case.
“Did you kill Dr. Eun on your way here?”
“...What?”
“I haven’t decided whether to kill her or not. If you killed her in a fit of rage, that’s one less thing for me to worry about.”
“...”
Juyeol stared intently at Halo and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
At that moment, Halo ducked to avoid the bullet and closed the distance in a flash.
“...!”
It was the real her.
The instant he realized it wasn't an illusion, Juyeol drove his knee toward her side, but it met the hard guard on her elbow.
Having folded her arm to protect her waist, Halo immediately unleashed a burst of light in front of Juyeol’s eyes.
But Juyeol, having anticipated her attack, had already closed his eyes. He gauged her position and threw a punch. He felt her hair brush against his fingers.
When he opened his eyes, Halo was gone, but a shadow suddenly appeared and passed over his head.
Juyeol quickly changed direction within the shadow and swung his gun at the empty air.
Clang!
Sparks flew as Halo’s longsword clashed with the barrel of his gun.
Their two pairs of dark eyes met, each filled with different emotions.
“Why did you do it? What did you have to gain from burning down one shabby house in the old district?”
A black, burning rage was consuming him.
Halo said nothing, only pressing her blade closer to him.
But in terms of raw strength, Juyeol was far superior.
Screeech─.
Halo’s feet scraped against the ground as she was steadily pushed back. For a moment, the entire factory was plunged into darkness, then became blindingly bright again.
Halo vanished in the instant Juyeol narrowed his eyes, only to reappear as two figures. He held a knife in one hand and his gun in the other, nerves on edge.
The two Halos charged at him, one with her sword held high, the other low.
‘Which one is the clone? The lower one? The upper one? Or are they both?’
Damn it. As Juyeol cursed and prepared to attack one of them, a voice rang out.
“Juyeol! Duck!”
It was a shout that felt strangely familiar.