Chapter 122
Chapter 122
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Pregnancy
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A dark secret chamber.
A sleek round table made of metal.
Four chairs surrounding it.
And sitting on those chairs were two men and two women.
They were the most famous people in the world, showered with all sorts of praise.
S-Rank Heroes.
There were five in the entire world... no, six now with the emergence of Park Un-ho. Four of those S-Rank Awakeners had gathered here.
But a closer look revealed something off.
Their appearances were ghostly and hazy, not quite real.
They were holograms, not the real people.
Great Mage Merlin.
Ice Queen Ella.
Oracle.
Martial God Wang Cheon.
They were all busy.
But when there was important business, they gathered like this.
"What about the investigation on him?"
A typical middle-aged British gentleman, Merlin, asked.
"It's clean."
The girl with brown skin and white hair, Oracle, replied.
"Hah... That guy's clean? A clean guy gained that kind of power in less than a year?"
A young man wearing martial robes straight out of a Chinese wuxia film.
Wang Cheon furrowed his brow in dissatisfaction.
"Yes. His social connections are narrower than anyone among us, so you could say he's the cleanest. And there's precedent like Lady Ella, so an Irregular emerging isn't strange."
"......"
The beauty with long platinum blonde hair, Ella, arrogantly crossed her arms and quietly listened to their conversation.
"Anyone opposed to inviting him?"
Merlin looked around and asked.
"........."
"Then it's unanimous in favor. Send the invitation."
At Merlin's words, Ella's hologram flickered out quickly.
"Hmph! For such a talent to pop out of a small country like that, they're lucky."
"I hope you don't say that to his face."
Oracle warned the grumbling Wang Cheon.
One by one, the holograms winked out, and the chamber was enveloped in darkness.
In the end, Kim Kyung-sook couldn't contact Un-ho.
And her daily life remained unchanged from before.
Even after learning of her husband's affair, she didn't confront him.
Nothing changed.
She just carried on like that.
Her husband was treating her as well as ever—no, even better than before.
Kim Kyung-sook vaguely knew it stemmed from his guilt.
Yet she pretended not to know.
Honestly, she had no time to worry about her husband.
It was because of Park Un-ho.
Once the guilt faded, thoughts of him flooded her mind incessantly.
'Contacting him now...'
She agonized over it dozens of times a day.
Then, after a long while, Yu-na dropped by to say hello.
Kim Kyung-sook could hardly meet Yu-na's eyes, her mind full of Park Un-ho.
"So, how have you been?"
"Yes, I've been well."
Kim Kyung-sook didn't ask Yu-na to move back in anymore.
Above all, her daughter's face looked brighter than when she lived here.
"He went to Jeju Island, right...?"
"Yes, and I'm not a Hunter anyway... plus there's the academy."
"Not bored?"
"No. Ellie comes over often too..."
Ellie didn't just come often—she visited every day and stayed over frequently.
Yu-na was even startled by Alice burying herself in Un-ho's blanket in his room, sniffing it.
As Kim Kyung-sook was chatting and eating with Yu-na, she suddenly felt queasy.
-Urk!
"M-Mom?"
"S-Sorry, my stomach's upset."
Kim Kyung-sook rushed to the bathroom.
"Mom, are you okay?"
"H-Huh? Y-Yeah... I'm f-fine, don't worry. J-Just a stomach thing."
But Kim Kyung-sook instinctively knew it wasn't just an upset stomach.
Park Un-ho, who never used condoms and ejaculated inside without hesitation.
Of course, she'd taken birth control pills during their relations.
'N-No way... I took the pills steadily... M-My period...'
Lately, distracted by her husband's affair and Park Un-ho, she'd overlooked it, but she realized quite some time had passed without her period.
After soothing the worried Yu-na and sending her off, Kim Kyung-sook bought a pregnancy test from the pharmacy.
'T-Two lines...'
Her faint suspicion had become reality.
Kim Kyung-sook stared blankly at the pregnancy test.
-Gulp.
'P-Pregnant...'
She hadn't been intimate with her husband, so it was obviously Park Un-ho's child.
The thought of aborting it didn't cross her mind.
'W-What do I do...'
More than thinking it was a big problem...
'T-The father of the child... I n-need to tell him...'
Kim Kyung-sook glanced at the mirror absentmindedly.
She flinched at her own excited expression reflected there.
'W-Why am I...'
Deep down, she knew. She was just reflexively denying it.
She was thrilled at the pretext to meet him again.
'C-Contact him...'
But when it came to actually doing it, she still hesitated.
She agonized dozens more times over whether to call.
'H-He needs to know...'
After much internal conflict, she finally dialed his number with trembling hands.
"........."
A heavy silence stretched over the phone.
I could feel her hesitation from here.
I knew it was Kim Kyung-sook.
After saying we should break up, she'd called first, so she must be embarrassed.
For her personality, even making the call took considerable courage.
As a man, this was the time to take a step closer.
"You know the place? Let's meet there."
"Yes..."
The place of our memories. She wouldn't have forgotten it already.
They even kept that room empty for me now at the hotel I'd unintentionally become a regular at.
I was in Jeju Island, so normally, it was a distance impossible to meet.
But not for me.
It would consume some mana, but I wasn't going to fight.
Ten minutes tops would suffice.
For a woman who wants me, a real man should rush from Jeju to Seoul—no, to the other side of the Earth if needed.
-Thud.
With that pointless resolve, I stomped my foot, and my body shot into the sky in an instant.
A black mana circle formed behind me.
-Boom!
Propelled by the halo's thrust, I rocketed toward Seoul.
Not as flashy as the first time, I activated transparency and flew at half the speed.
I couldn't set save points in this world.
That was a bit of a shame.
Crossing Korea's skies, I arrived in Seoul in moments. I landed quietly in an empty spot and dropped the transparency.
Then headed to my regular hotel.
As I entered the lobby, the staff stared in surprise at the sight of me.
I was famous now.
Everyone knew I was in Jeju.
Of course they'd be shocked by my sudden appearance.
But they quickly bowed with professional courtesy.
I hadn't snuck around to meet women.
Scandals could've erupted, but none did.
I'd already threatened the government and media to keep quiet about my relationships.
Inadvertently controlling the press.
I didn't care if scandals broke about me.
But my women were different.
Word of mouth was one thing; internet and news exposure was another level.
If they wanted it, fine.
If not, no media exposure.
Contrary to my expectations, Kim Kyung-sook's mood was off when she entered the hotel room.
Not the atmosphere for sex at all.
My erection, stiff in anticipation of reuniting after so long, wilted.
After the awkward silence, I finally spoke.
"Should... I go?"
"Hic..."
At my words, Kim Kyung-sook suddenly burst into tears.
Her sudden crying left me flustered too.
And from her sobbing lips came unexpected words.
"...I... I'm pregnant."
"........."
I was surprised.
Surprised by how little I felt... it was surprising.
Truly, no feeling at all...
No joy at having a child.
No panic either.
My emotions, so different from a normal human's, needed some reflection.
'Just thinking it's no big deal?'
Or were the reactions from TV guys all fake?
'Am I the weird one?'
First time in this situation, so I didn't know what was normal.
Still, it felt a bit novel.
But the focus was slightly off.
My body had transformed so much through skills that I wondered if it could even be called human anymore.
I'd been diligently ejaculating inside women, but I always questioned if pregnancy was possible.
Yet Kim Kyung-sook had done it.
I hadn't obsessed over it, but maybe it related to her still being unawakened?
Or other women were pregnant too but unaware.
Either way, no worries.
Of course.
Back when I was non-awakened, maybe.
But now I was a capable man.
Even if she had the child, I could support her without issue.
"What do you want to do?"
"T-That is..."
"Want to abort it?"
"N-No!!"
She denied it more vehemently than expected.
Maternal instinct?
I'd asked just in case, but apparently not.
Even if she wanted to abort, I'd respect her choice.
Maybe I thought that easily because pregnancy didn't stir much in me.
Man, really no clue.
Would it change if she had the baby?
"Then what's worrying you?"
"Huh?"
"I'll do whatever you want."
I pulled Kim Kyung-sook into my arms.
"U-Un-ho..."
Having shaved bare in excitement before she arrived, the mood wasn't great.
Still, she nestled quietly in my embrace, blushing as she tightly hugged my back in return.