Chapter 8
Chapter 8
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 8
Chapter Title: Mana and Misunderstandings
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Tears streamed down Haon’s face, an overwhelming wave of relief washing over her. To think she’d had a dream about being dropped all alone in a strange dimension.
A dimension where ‘her Juyeol’ pointed a gun at her, a dimension where Gimpo didn’t even exist. There was no way that could be real.
She must have been knocked unconscious in the explosion and was only just now waking up.
‘Juyeol’s’ embrace was broad and comforting.
Just as Haon snuggled her tear-soaked cheek against his sturdy shoulder in relief, the scent of gunpowder tickled her nose.
‘…Huh?’
Her tears stopped instantly. Haon groggily lifted her head.
Her eyes met a pair of black ones that seemed to be sizing her up.
His disgruntled expression and unsettling aura felt foreign.
Her mind snapped to attention.
“Ah.”
Reality crashed down on her like a bucket of ice water, her head throbbing.
“You’re not ‘my Juyeol’…”
Juyeol’s brow furrowed as she muttered, unable to hide her disappointment.
Since yesterday, she’d been calling him Juyeol this, Juyeol that, and now she was saying he *wasn’t* Juyeol?
He spoke bluntly.
“Yes, I am.”
When Haon gave him a quizzical look, he twitched an eyebrow and repeated himself.
“The guy you’re hugging. That’s Woo Juyeol.”
“…?”
Bewildered, Haon slowly lowered her gaze.
He was sitting at an angle, one hand on the floor for support, the other arm resting on his raised knee.
A black pistol was clutched in that hand, though it wasn’t aimed at her.
And his other knee…
“Oh!”
Haon finally realized she was sitting on Juyeol’s leg, clinging to him.
Her face flushed crimson in an instant.
‘On a Juyeol who isn’t even *my* Juyeol!’
Not knowing what to do, she scrambled off his lap.
“I-I’m sorry. I thought this was all a dream. I thought you were my friend…!”
She waved her arms, rambling incoherently, before clutching her head.
“I-I just made a fool of myself, didn’t I?”
“If that wasn’t making a fool of yourself—”
“Aah, no! Don’t answer that!”
Her small hands flew up to cover Juyeol’s mouth.
Juyeol’s eyebrow twitched again. He grabbed her slender wrist, pulled it away, and muttered in displeasure.
“So casually clinging and touching…”
He knew she wasn’t in her right mind, but she had no sense of personal space.
“Hey.”
Juyeol got to his feet, dusting himself off and holstering his gun.
“Tell me about this ‘Juyeol’ you keep talking about. Who the hell is he?”
He then looked down at Haon, whose eyes were red and swollen from crying.
She blinked, her expression hazy at first, then gradually clearing into a smile.
“He’s the son of the director of the orphanage where I grew up. He’s two years older than me, but he’s my best friend. The only family I have.”
Haon wiped her tears with the back of her hand and gave a small, shy smile.
“He’s the you from another dimension. Seeing you, with the same face and voice… it’s a small comfort.”
Her eyes and voice were filled with a tender warmth as she spoke of ‘her Juyeol’.
“Hmm.”
Juyeol mulled it over and decided it wasn’t so bad.
‘So that’s the concept she’s going with.’
He’d never heard of other dimensions existing or that travel between them was possible.
But to Juyeol, none of that mattered anymore.
Even if she’d lost her mind, Eun Haon’s connections to the villains would still be intact. It wasn’t like she’d cut ties with her network of contacts.
‘If not now, when will I ever get the chance to use her as an informant?’
There was no telling when Eun Haon would return to her senses, or when ‘he’ would come back.
He had to use this situation to his full advantage. Especially since he was suspended from duty.
“You came, though.”
Her voice, tinged with a happy smile, shattered Juyeol’s thoughts.
“I thought you might not. I guess since you’re Juyeol too, you can’t be completely heartless.”
“What the…”
A strange feeling began to creep up on Juyeol. He scowled and rubbed the back of his neck.
“If you thought I wouldn’t come, why’d you stick that stupid note on the door?”
“In case you made a wasted trip. Good thing I put it up, right?”
The way she looked at him, as if expecting praise, made him uncomfortable.
“So, the guy who killed my brother.”
“Ah, right. I couldn’t find him, but…”
Her tone turned slightly rigid. Haon hesitated for a moment before speaking with resolve.
“I did figure something out! I’m not certain, but I think the person who killed ‘Eun Haon’ is the same person who killed your brother.”
“…”
“Even if it’s not the same person, I think ‘Eun Haon’ was murdered because she discovered the killer’s identity.”
Juyeol’s hand instinctively went to his holster.
He fought the reflex to draw his gun and forced himself to speak.
“Do you remember how to work the machines in the lab? Can you pull up all the data?”
“Some of the files are password-protected…”
Juyeol’s eyes narrowed, and Haon quickly added.
“But I can operate all the machines! That’s my major, after all.”
“So you remember that much.”
He replied indifferently, then continued.
“Why was the anti-intrusion system turned off?”
“That murderer cut all the wires!”
“…”
He suppressed his irritation, repeating to himself, ‘Just think of it as part of her act.’
Juyeol spoke again.
“I can’t be sure if you have partial amnesia or if you’ve just gone completely insane, but I’ll believe that something is wrong with your head.”
“No, I’m—”
“Don’t start with that dimension nonsense again. Actually, no. I’m curious to see what happens. Go on, try it.”
Seeing his hand drift toward his holster, Haon’s eyes widened, and she snapped her mouth shut.
“I said, try it.”
At his taunting tone, Haon frantically shook her head, even biting her lower lip.
‘Mana Engineering doesn’t exist here, so they probably haven’t done any research on the multiverse at all.’
In that case, was being treated as ‘an amnesiac Eun Haon’ her best bet?
Haon, her lip now sore from biting it, cautiously watched Juyeol. When he moved his hand away from the holster, she quickly let her lip go.
“Yesterday, you definitely said you’d help me find the person who killed my brother, right?”
Juyeol suddenly crouched to meet her gaze and asked in a low voice.
“You said you would help me.”
“Mhm. I’ll help you find him. I’ll help you.”
Haon’s eyes lit up as she nodded eagerly.
“Juyeol, you have to help me, too.”
He shot her a suspicious look.
“Just when I thought you’d gone completely stupid. But you’re not? I can’t get a read on you.”
Juyeol clicked his tongue and tilted his head, signaling for her to continue.
“To help you, I need to fix this.”
Haon held up her phone.
“But it’ll take a long time to fix without an Awakening Sphere.”
“…”
“The Awakening Sphere you showed me yesterday. Give it to me.”
All traces of her earlier caution were gone. The way she stared straight at him made Juyeol feel a sudden wave of exhaustion.
“What do you need an Awakening Sphere for to fix a phone? Are you messing with me?”
He let out an exasperated sigh, but then the term Haon had mentioned several times, ‘Mana Engineering,’ came to mind.
Could she have pioneered some strange field of study? And lost her mind in the process?
Juyeol scanned Haon up and down, trying to read her intentions.
It was baffling how ‘that Eun Haon’ could look so pathetic and weak.
“…I don’t have it anymore.”
He answered grudgingly, and Haon’s eyes went wide.
“Why!”
“What do you mean, why? It’s managed by Hero Headquarters. It’s probably back in the vault by now.”
“…A vault?”
Haon tilted her head and asked casually.
“How big is the vault, by any chance?”
“Probably as big as that bed.”
“H-how many Awakening Spheres does Headquarters have?”
“Twenty-something.”
“Juyeol.”
Haon shot to her feet.
“What now?”
“Let’s go find an Awakening Sphere tomorrow.”
The suggestion, delivered with sparkling eyes, was utterly absurd.
Juyeol stared blankly for a moment before his face contorted into a deep scowl.
“Are you insane? Are you saying you want to rob Hero Headquarters?”
“That’s not it.”
Haon explained with an excited expression.
“I’m saying we should go find something no one has discovered yet. Let’s go dig one up tomorrow.”
In a world overflowing with this much mana, there was no way only twenty-something Mana Cores—Awakening Spheres—existed.
There was no one here who could see mana, so they must have simply failed to find them.
“How the hell are we supposed to find something that appears randomly anywhere on Earth?”
“We just have to find the traces of mana!”
“Mana?”
Another unfamiliar word. Juyeol’s brow furrowed.
“Oh, mana is an essential element in Mana Engineering. It’s one of the subatomic particles created when ultra-high-energy cosmic rays, like Oh-My-God particles or Amaterasu particles, collide with the atmosphere at the speed of light and shatter. It’s originally gold, but when viewed through a device, it looks blue—”
“Damn it, I’m losing my mind.”
“Sorry.”
Haon immediately stopped talking and apologized at Juyeol’s harsh outburst.
He was dumbfounded by how quickly she’d gone from excitedly rambling about things only she understood to becoming sullen and withdrawn.
Come to think of it, yesterday she’d been wearing some weird t-shirt under a large plaid flannel shirt.
Without the glasses, her appearance today, combined with yesterday's outfit, was the very epitome of the stereotypical engineering student.
Juyeol pressed a hand to his forehead, then spoke again.
“I don’t know what it is, but you’re saying you have a way to locate Awakening Spheres, is that it?”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”
“…I’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. Be ready.”
With that, he turned and muttered to himself.
“What kind of ‘mana’ nonsense is this? How many comic books have you been reading?”
“It’s not from a comic book, it’s in the sky—”
“Tsk.”
“No, really, it’s in the sky…!”
As he left with a disapproving click of his tongue, Haon shouted after him with an aggrieved look.
“And yet it moves!”