Ch 128-134 - Online Story Read Mode

Chapter 128 Anomaly (2)

"Ah."

When I was stabbed through the stomach. I thought.

I'm going to die, I thought.

Well, it was obvious if you think about it.

The middle of my abdomen was cleanly pierced through. With blood gushing out from my insides and parts of my intestines scattered about, there was no way I could survive.

Maybe because the condition was so severe, I couldn't even feel the pain properly.

With an injury of this degree, even if I received help from a healing ability user, I wouldn't be able to escape death.

As I was prepared for death and my consciousness was gradually fading away.

"Hic, hic, sob, Jinhyuk-ah-ah-ah."

The sorrowful crying voice of a girl pounded in my ears.

I straightened my hazy mind and painfully opened my eyes to shift my gaze, and what I saw in my vision was Soyeon's face.

"Jinhyuk! Jinhyuk-ah! Are, are, are you o-okay?! Uwuu."

Soyeon, who was looking down at me with her pretty face all distorted, crying and sniﬄing uncontrollably.

I still can't forget that sight of her crying so pitifully that it made me feel even more heartbroken watching her.

She must have been really shocked.

Of course, I expected her to be shocked, but I didn't think it would be to this extent.

I wanted to tell her that I could be revived because I was wearing a resurrection artifact, but I just couldn't get the words out.

Not only was my condition too severe to speak properly, but it was also because of a possible fear.

Fear. Yes, fear.

As I was dying, I was afraid.

What if, what if… I couldn't be revived again.

I was afraid of pushing her even further into despair by telling her I could be revived and then failing to do so, and I was quite scared of dying like this.

Death was practically conﬁrmed at this point.

In the face of impending death, I could only become inﬁnitely weak, and my mind became complicated with a bit of worry, fear, terror, and thoughts about Soyeon.

I was so worried that Soyeon might blame herself too much, that she might go down the wrong path, that she might suffer greatly trying to get revenge recklessly.

Now Soyeon is the only person I can call family. So I really hope Soyeon turns out well.

But the dead can't do anything.

No worries, no advice, no help, nothing at all.

So please.

When I open my eyes next time, I hope I can meet Soyeon again.

I hope I revive properly and wash away all my unnecessary worries.

I hoped and hoped. However.

When I actually opened my eyes… "Hmm? What's wrong, Jinhyuk-ah?" "No, nothing."

…Wasn't it Soyeon from kindergarten welcoming me? 'What is this, what's going on?'

I couldn't understand the current situation at all.

Why on earth is young Soyeon staring at me blankly out of nowhere?

Unable to shake off my puzzled feelings, I could only stare blankly at Soyeon for a moment.

Short stature, smooth hair, delicate features, tender skin… It's deﬁnitely Soyeon from when she was young.

But I have no idea why young Soyeon is in front of my eyes, I really don't know. 'Wait. My body is ﬁne too?'

I didn't notice because I was ﬂustered.

Now that I look, it's clean without a single scar. Doesn't seem to be any aftereffects either.

Is this even possible?

Even if a healing ability user used their power, it should be impossible?

'Where is this?'

I carefully looked around my surroundings.

The place I'm in now is a playground where children would play.

It was a somewhat familiar playground, so I thought for a while and suddenly realized it was the playground where I used to play with Soyeon when we were young.

After my stomach was pierced through, I opened my eyes to ﬁnd myself standing in a playground I used to play in with young Soyeon when we were children…

It was an unrealistic situation. So I realized.

I really had no choice but to realize.

'Could this be a hallucination, like a near-death experience?'

Near-death experience. Why. Isn't it commonly said?

That you can experience hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, lucid dreams, etc. due to the imbalance of neural hormones right before death.

Near-death experiences manifest in various forms, but the most common is meeting a precious person.

For me now, the precious people would be my deceased parents and Soyeon.

I don't know why she appeared as her young self though.

'If this is really some kind of near-death experience, am I really on the verge of death?'

Come to think of it, I vaguely remember someone saying they were taking me to a healing ability user.

It was an injury so severe that I could die at any moment, but it seems I'm still barely hanging on thanks to the healing ability user.

But that probably won't last long either.

Because healing an injury of that degree is practically impossible.

Unless the resurrection artifact activates to revive me, it might be impossible to meet the living Soyeon again.

"You look like you have a lot on your mind?" "…"

I raised my head at Soyeon's words.

Young Soyeon was looking at me with a bright smile.

It was such a pure smile without a speck of dirt that I could only stare blankly at Soyeon's face for a moment.

Then Soyeon said, "Jinhyuk-ah, do you remember?"

"What?"

I answered reﬂexively.

Since this is probably my hallucination or lucid dream anyway, there was no need to talk to that Soyeon.

But I was a bit curious about what Soyeon created by my subconscious would say.

"You saved me near this playground a long time ago~" "Ah."

Come to think of it, there was such an incident. "I was almost kidnapped by a strange man." "Mm."

"I survived thanks to you, didn't I?" "It was just luck, luck."

Right, it was luck.

The kidnapper tried to abduct Soyeon into a vehicle, but unexpectedly, Soyeon's resistance was quite ﬁerce, and I also ﬁrmly grabbed the kidnapper's clothes and wouldn't let go.

Thanks to that, more time was wasted than necessary, and we were able to be safe thanks to some adults who came after hearing the commotion.

"To be honest, I think it would have been ﬁne even if I wasn't there."

As if she wasn't the main character, Soyeon had quite good physical abilities since she was young.

Even if Soyeon had been alone at that time, she probably could have held out somehow until other adults came.

"What are you saying, Jinhyuk-ah? That's not possible." Soyeon shook her head from side to side.

"I was actually really scared then." Then she stares straight into my eyes.

"My mind went blank and I was just trembling, unable to do anything."

Soyeon's golden eyes sparkle beautifully.

"You were shouting and trying your best to save me somehow."

She smiles brightly. "Thanks to that, I was able to muster up courage too."

She grasps my hand tightly.

A warm sensation slowly rises from my ﬁngertips.

The feeling transmitted from my ﬁngertips was softer than anything else.

"Come to think of it, you've been helping me since kindergarten."

Soyeon, who held my hand a bit more strongly, quietly looked up at my face with clear eyes and then smiled brightly again.

"Like a hero. Yes. That's right, you were always my hero, Jinhyuk."

It was the kind of fresh smile you'd expect from a girl of that age.

"So, you know, I like you, Jinhyuk."

"Ah, um."

"I like you so so much."

Soyeon puts her hands on her cheeks as if embarrassed, going "Kyaa~" and then glances at me and blurts out one sentence.

"Do you dislike me, Jinhyuk?"

"…No."

"Then do you like me?"

"…"

At the childlike dichotomous question, I blinked my eyes a few times but suddenly smiled bitterly.

If I had to answer whether I like her or dislike her, my answer is set in stone.

"I do like you." Yes, I like her.

As a childhood friend and as my favorite.

By the way, how did the conversation turn out like this? I'm not sure, but well, I guess I should answer anyway.

"Then why did you reject my confession?"

"Huh?"

Hmm?

Suddenly Soyeon slightly narrowed her eyes and said. Confession rejection? Could she be talking about when I vaguely expressed my feelings while drunk that time?

"Why did you reject my confession like that?"

"No, that 'like' was just as a friend…"

"Really?"

Soyeon cut off my words sharply. And then she stared at me blankly. Soyeon's eyes were asking me.

If those words were really true.

"Did you really never think of me as a romantic interest even once, Jinhyuk?"

"…"

"You just like me as a friend and favorite, that's all?"

"…"

"Always saying you like me as a childhood friend, as a favorite, it's a kind of defense mechanism, isn't it? Trying not to think of me as a romantic interest."

"You… no, nevermind."

I opened and closed my mouth a couple times as if to say something, but then shut my mouth.

Certainly, before recalling my past life memories, I had feelings resembling romantic interest towards Soyeon.

However, after recalling my past life, those feelings became a bit blurry and I intentionally tried to kill those emotions as much as possible.

Because someone like me shouldn't have such feelings for a main character like Soyeon.

Thinking she was destined to be with someone else anyway, trying to kill my feelings for Soyeon as much as possible was what I thought was the wisest method at that time.

'But why am I having this kind of conversation with her?' I don't know how we ended up talking about this.

It's like I'm asking and answering myself in a delusion.

So should I stop now?

This kind of foolish conversation.

"Jinhyuk-ah." However.

"And you used to."

Somehow, I couldn't stop the conversation when I heard Soyeon's voice.

Somehow.

"Why did you try to set me up with guys like Siwoon or Daehan?"

"That's because…"

The reason for trying to set up Soyeon with characters like Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan in the early days of the academy is simple.

Because Soyeon is the female protagonist and Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan are male protagonists.

Of course, I know well that this world doesn't ﬂow exactly like the game content.

But it's also an undeniable fact that a lot of the game settings are reﬂected.

"I thought they would suit you better than me." "In what way?"

"You know. Like abilities, they have a lot of wealth, good backgrounds, their personalities are a bit ambiguous but they'd treat you well at least."

Thinking about the original content, Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan can't be called very good connections, but it's not like everything ﬂows according to the original anyway, and from what I've seen so far, they may not be good to others but they would be good people to Soyeon at least.

So as a friend, helper, and colleague, I tried to set up Soyeon with the male protagonists.

"Above all, you dream of becoming the greatest hero, right?"

"So?"

The greatest hero.

It's been Soyeon's long-cherished dream since she was young.

Soyeon should be able to become the greatest hero she's dreamed of.

And there should be a ﬁtting person by the side of the greatest hero, right?

"Those guys would be able to stand by your side suﬃciently."

Unlike me.

"I was able to help you somehow thanks to artifacts and knowledge of the original, but look at me in the end. I ended up like this."

"…"

"What good would it do for someone like me to hang around you except to die?"

"…"

Even if we achieve a happy ending by safely arresting all the Rebellion members, Soyeon's life as a hero will continue.

In the numerous incidents and accidents Soyeon will face in the future after growing into the strongest in the world, would I be able to survive?

Also, would I be qualiﬁed to stand by Soyeon's side?

Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan who grow to become nearly the strongest in the world might be okay, but it's most important for a weakling like me to know my place.

Besides artifacts, information about the future, and settings from the original, what do I have? In a world where numerous villains and monsters run rampant, the most important thing is power, power.

In that sense, I was inﬁnitely weak.

A weakling with no talent, no ability, nothing. "So to those guys…"

"Lies."

Soyeon moved her small lips. Her calm, settled voice rang out coolly.

"You're lying, Jinhyuk-ah."

"What?"

The corners of her mouth that had been smiling brightly until just now were heavily sunken.

"Saying things like Siwoon and Daehan would be helpful to me, that they would suit me better, that you're too weak so it's burdensome for you to be by my side, that you don't want to be by my side because it's dangerous, they're all lies."

A hint of sadness had settled in her two eyes. "They're all excuses and pretexts, Jinhyuk-ah."

Soyeon, who had a blurry expression, slowly begins to speak.

"You, Jinhyuk, you just."

Soyeon murmurs in a lonely voice. "Don't trust me, right?"

"No, what are you suddenly saying?"

I frowned slightly at Soyeon's sudden words. Don't trust her? What does this mean?

"The actions of mine that you know… you don't trust them, right?"

Chapter 129 Anomaly (3)

"The way I acted after you died." "…"

"Because I hung out with those boys who had troubled you, even though I didn't know anything."

"…"

"I felt betrayed, uneasy, and upset… so you don't trust me, right?"

"…"

Jinhyuk suddenly closed his lips tightly. And he quietly sank into contemplation.

Certainly, Soyeon's words had some truth to them.

Because he knew well how Soyeon behaved after his death in the game.

Therefore, it was natural to feel a bit suspicious of Soyeon due to the inﬂuence of the original content.

Of course, he wasn't equating the Soyeon in the game with the real Soyeon.

But it was inevitable that an uneasy thought lingered in a corner of his mind and wouldn't go away.

…The negative thought that even if he died, someone like him would be quickly forgotten and she'd get along well with other boys, laughing and having fun.

"Yes… I see… Yeah, of course you would…" Did she read his expression in that moment?

Soyeon stared at Jinhyuk's face for a while and then muttered to herself with a self-deprecating smile.

It was a voice tinged with a hint of sadness.

"I can tell just by looking at your face. What you're thinking right now."

She mumbles quietly with her head slightly lowered. "But… but… you know."

Soyeon bit her lower lip slightly and then slowly released it as she began to speak.

"Do you really think that? That I forgot about you and quickly got along well with other boys?"

"Well…"

Jinhyuk answered in an ambiguous voice, slightly trailing off.

That was because all he remembered was Soyeon gradually healing her emotional wounds through the comfort and encouragement of the male protagonists who had troubled him, and defeating villains together with them.

"Jinhyuk… you don't know." Know what?

"With what thoughts… what feelings… I fought against the villains with their help…"

Soyeon's thoughts in the game?

To be honest, he couldn't be certain what Soyeon thought in the original story.

There were hardly any monologues despite her being the protagonist, and she didn't reveal her inner thoughts much.

So he could only guess her inner feelings based on Soyeon's outward words, actions, personality, and so on.

He remembered that after his death, Soyeon was quite depressed but still got along quite well with the male protagonists, as expected of an otome game.

Yes, on the surface.

"And after everything was over." After everything was over?

Could she be talking about after the ending?

"When I ﬁnally found out that you had been severely bullied by those guys, what I thought…"

Come to think of it, he hadn't really considered what happened after the ending.

Well, of course not.

The goal of the game was just the ending, after all.

As a mere gamer, he had no way of knowing what happened after the protagonist and her companions magniﬁcently defeated the ﬁnal boss and the story concluded.

He had vaguely thought that since it was an otome game, she must have gotten along well with the male protagonists somehow.

But.

If the Soyeon in the game had a life, a story that continued on like a real person, what kind of life would she have lived after the ending?

Would she have lived happily ever after, laughing and getting along well?

Or…

"…You don't know anything, do you?"

"…" Of course, he doesn't know.

After all, the original was just a game, a game.

But the Soyeon he had unconsciously created was speaking as if it were reality. To the point where it felt somewhat dissonant.

"Aren't you curious what I thought back then?"

"What did you think?"

"Well, what do you think I thought? Want to guess?"

"What?"

"Actually, by now you should be able to guess to some extent, Jinhyuk."

Soyeon looked straight at Jinhyuk with a bitter and pitiful smile that had multiple meanings.

"What I thought and how I acted."

"What do you mean…"

"So Jinhyuk."

Soyeon, who had suddenly come right up close, slowly stretched out both hands.

Her slender hands, trembling slightly as if nervous, warmly embraced Jinhyuk's neck.

Then Soyeon hugged Jinhyuk tightly and slowly moved her lips with a sorrowful and affectionate voice.

"Me… me…"

Soyeon, who had been choosing her words for a bit, ﬁnally opened her mouth.

"Don't leave me alone." As if trembling ﬁnely.

"Don't let me go astray." Quietly, very quietly.

"Don't give up on me."

She only whispered gently into his ear.

"Soyeon, you."

"Hehe, Jinhyuk's embrace is warm."

Soyeon smiled brightly with a mischievous expression, as if her affectionate whispering just now had been a lie.

Soyeon's warm temperature was slowly spreading.

Soyeon's feelings, thoughts, and warmth towards him were gradually warming a corner of his heart.

A familiar yet unfamiliar warmth. This emotion was like poison to him.

So, he bit his lip slightly and hurriedly pushed Soyeon away from his embrace.

When he pushed her short body away with a bit of force, Soyeon moved away powerlessly. Then an "Ah." sound with a hint of exclamation tickled his ear.

Suddenly Soyeon's warmth grew more distant, and though Soyeon made an expression as if she had some lingering attachment, she forced a smile as if everything was ﬁne.

"We-well, I guess hugging was a bit too much…?"

Towards Soyeon who was laughing awkwardly, Jinhyuk slowly began to speak.

"Don't give up on me, don't let me go astray, hold onto me…"

It was a really sorry thing to say to Soyeon who was expressing her feelings purely like a child, but it was a burdensome request.

To be honest, it was far too much for him.

For someone like him who had no ability, power, or qualiﬁcations.

"Sorry. I'll try my best, but it still seems a bit diﬃcult." "Why?"

I plan to help as much as I can, but what you, no, what I unconsciously want is not just that, Soyeon.

So let's keep to the line I've set in advance. To not have unnecessary feelings for Soyeon.

"As you know, I have no power, no talent, no special ability, I'm just an extra. For someone like me to take care of you to that extent is diﬃcu-"

"Jinhyuk, do you know?" Abruptly.

"That everyone has their own ideal?" Soyeon cut off Jinhyuk's words.

An unexpected change of topic.

But Jinhyuk just stared at her without saying anything.

Because Soyeon had brought up the topic of ideals unexpectedly.

"Everyone lives with their own ideal in their heart, but very few people can actually face their ideal self."

Soyeon lightly extended her index ﬁnger and poked Jinhyuk's chest.

"If my dream ideal is to be the greatest hero, what do you think your ideal is?"

"…"

"You seem to think of yourself as a weak person with nothing, but I know."

"…Know what."

Soyeon tapped Jinhyuk's chest a bit more strongly.

"That deep in your mind, a greater ideal than anyone else's is sleeping."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well~"

She smiles prettily with a bright grin.

"Just like you think of me as the heroine of this world, I think of you as the hero of this world."

She was saying that Jinhyuk was no different from a protagonist to Soyeon as well.

"So promise me, Jinhyuk."

Soyeon carefully held out her pinky ﬁnger.

"That from now on, you won't lie to yourself anymore and will be more honest."

"Ah."

"And that you won't give up on me."

"That's…"

While Jinhyuk hesitated, Soyeon reached out her ﬁnger and intertwined their pinkies.

Like children making a promise.

Like when he used to make promises with Soyeon in the past.

Firmly hooking their pinkies together. One promise.

"I'll help you too."

"Huh? Wait, hold on?" In that moment.

With just a blink of an eye.

Suddenly Soyeon's appearance had changed.

The short stature from kindergarten was nowhere to be seen, and the person making a pinky promise in front of his eyes was a quite young-looking adult woman.

She had a very beautiful but cold impression, so it was a bit startling, but now that he looked closely, she resembled Soyeon a lot.

"So that you can face your own ideal."

It was quite a chilly and cold voice, but an inexplicable affection for him was embedded in it.

"So that you won't hesitate anymore."

Her golden eyes that had been shining brilliantly as if she had experienced all the hardships of the world were now half-dimmed and coldly extinguished. "So, we're making a promise, Hyuk-ah."

"Who exactly are you? Why did your appearance suddenly…"

Without time to collect his bewildered thoughts.

"It seems it's already time. Then Hyuk-ah, take care of yourself."

Jinhyuk's vision went dark.

"Don't go… astray… I'm… begging… you…"

Her voice echoed in his head as his consciousness gradually blurred, then faded away.

And.

"Cough, cough, cough, ugh? What's this all of a sudden."

Jinhyuk, who immediately regained consciousness, couldn't help but be ﬂustered.

It was pitch black and he couldn't see anything in front of him, and he was trapped in something like a long box.

He couldn't move at all because of the long rectangular frame that ﬁt his body perfectly.

Moreover, he was suffocating. He couldn't, couldn't breathe.

'Wait, a box? Did I say box?'

Jinhyuk habitually raised his perception and carefully examined the box conﬁning his body.

'Shit, don't tell me this is a coﬃn?' Coﬃn.

It refers to the box that holds the body at a funeral.

W-why am I suddenly in a place like this? Until just now… Ah?

'Th-that's right, I've come back to life? I've come back to life thanks to the resurrection artifact!'

Then it makes sense.

Why he opened his eyes in a coﬃn during his near-death experience(?).

It seems he was revived in the coﬃn where his corpse had been buried.

…But there's not even a resurrection artifact on my body right now, let alone anything else? No protective barrier, no space ring, nothing at all.

No, now's not the time to think about that. Let's focus on getting out of here ﬁrst. It's getting harder to hold my breath.

Surely, I won't die from suffocation right after coming back to life?

Shit, there's no other choice.

Jinhyuk gathered all the mana in his body at once. Fortunately, the Tears of the Moon inside his body seemed to remain intact.

He used the Tears of the Moon to gather as much mana as possible and exploded it all at once.

Then with a "Kwaaaang!" sound, the coﬃn lid along with a large amount of dirt and dust soared high into the air. Jinhyuk quickly reinforced his body with mana and dug through the dirt as fast as possible to escape outside the grave.

"Haa, haa, haa, I-I thought I was going to die."

If he had been an ordinary person, he would have died again without being able to do anything.

He survived because he was a hero trainee close to being superhuman.

Even though he was the lowest ranked at Union, a hero trainee is still a hero trainee.

His physical abilities are incomparably superior to ordinary people.

"Ugh, it's cold."

The weather is quite chilly.

Jinhyuk shivered and crossed his arms.

What's this, why is it so cold? It should be summer. Ah, is it because I'm wearing burial clothes?

"Huh? That's, uh?"

What he saw before his eyes then was. "It's snow!"

A thin layer of pure white snow.

Hmm. Snow, snow…

"…Don't tell me it's winter now?"

Just how much time has passed since I died?

Chapter 130 Reconciliation (1)

Winter.

According to the seasonal calendar, winter begins on November 8th, the start of winter.

But given how chilly the weather is and the accumulated snow, it seems to be at least December or January…

"I died in summer but woke up in winter, what a situation."

Jinhyuk muttered to himself as he carefully examined his surroundings.

He was currently in the mountains. Right in front of a grave.

There were a few more small graves a little distance away. It was a very familiar type of burial ground.

Could this be…

'The family burial site where my parents are laid to rest?'

In fact, his family had inherited a small mountain for generations.

Located in quite a rural area, they had erected his parents' tombstones there.

It seems they buried him near his parents' graves after he died.

"…"

Jinhyuk gazed at his parents' graves for a moment. How should he put it?

The feeling was a bit strange.

To be looking at his parents' graves like this after dying and coming back to life.

…It made him feel somewhat unsettled inside.

Come to think of it, it had been quite a while since he last visited his parents' graves, hadn't it?

Though he had maintained them regularly. "I'll come again."

Jinhyuk slowly paid his respects to his parents before reluctantly beginning to move his feet.

He wanted to linger at his parents' graves a bit longer, but unfortunately the sun was setting.

His body was already shivering from the chilly weather, so it would be quite troublesome if night fell.

He could end up with frostbite or get lost.

He couldn't afford to waste any more time in the mountains. Jinhyuk hurried down the mountain.

Though his body felt stiff from not moving for a long time, he somehow managed to muster the strength to ﬁnish the hike.

After following the mountain path down, he was ﬁnally able to reach a village.

Should he call it a typical rural village?

Old, shabby houses, crumbling walls, unpaved roads, and so on.

It was truly the countryside, the countryside. "Whew, it's cold."

Jinhyuk wandered around the village for a while when he suddenly spotted some adult men's clothes hanging outside a laundromat.

Some rather warm-looking clothes dangled before his eyes.

He couldn't go around wearing thin burial clothes in this cold weather. Plus, people might look at him strangely.

Feeling a pang of conscience, Jinhyuk glanced around furtively before quickly grabbing the laundry.

Sorry for stealing the laundry.

I'll pay you back tenfold later, so please forgive me.

Jinhyuk recited an apology in his mind as he changed clothes.

Ah, now he felt like he could survive. The burial clothes were too cold.

"…But how am I going to get back to Seoul?" He suddenly became worried.

There obviously wouldn't be any trains or bus terminals. As for buses or taxis… Wait a minute.

He was completely broke right now, wasn't he?

He was in quite a predicament, without even a wallet or phone.

It would be dark soon, was there any good solution? While he was pondering this.

"P-please don't do this!" "Fuck! Can't you stay still?!"

Unfamiliar female and male voices rang out loudly from a short distance away.

What was that sound?

Jinhyuk frowned and carefully stepped towards the source of the voices.

Soon he arrived at an eerie-looking back alley.

There, a woman who looked to be in her early to mid- twenties was half-caught by a young man who seemed drunk and unsteady.

The woman bit her lower lip and struggled, but she couldn't escape the man's grip on her wrist.

"You, you look down on me too, don't you? Just because I'm stuck in this backwater!"

"Ugh!"

"Fuck! Everyone treats me like an idiot just because I got expelled from the academy!"

The man was venting some incomprehensible frustration while holding a soju bottle in one hand.

Judging by his bright red face and half-glazed eyes, he seemed quite drunk.

This could lead to a major incident.

If he was just an ordinary drunk person it might be different, but given his talk of being expelled from the academy, he seemed to be a former hero trainee.

There were quite a few cases of major incidents caused by drunks unable to control their strength.

After all, the strength of a hero trainee was incomparable to that of an ordinary person.

'What should I do?' Jinhyuk hesitated slightly.

Should he get involved in that situation?

It might not be a good choice to rashly interfere without knowing exactly what was going on.

If he wasn't careful, it could escalate into a ﬁght.

Moreover, Jinhyuk wasn't in good physical condition right now.

It would be quite troublesome if it came to a ﬁght. "Haah."

After hesitating for a moment, Jinhyuk suddenly let out a deep sigh.

"This is troublesome."

Jinhyuk muttered to himself as he scratched the back of his neck.

"I am a hero trainee after all…"

Even though he was just a Union student, it wouldn't be right to leave a citizen in danger.

Moreover, if it was Soyeon, she would have jumped in without hesitation.

As someone who once dreamed of becoming the greatest hero alongside Soyeon, he couldn't just stand by.

"Well, the opponent doesn't look that strong either."

If it was a vicious villain, he would have asked someone else for help, but this was just a guy who got expelled from the hero training academy.

Even though Jinhyuk was an inferior student, he had proudly(?) passed the entrance exam for Korea's top hero training institution.

He also possessed an artifact that could absorb and release mana.

Therefore, he didn't think he would lose to some expelled student who was harassing women while drunk.

"P-police! I'll call the police! So stop this!"

"Tch. Go ahead, try screaming! But do you really think there's anyone here who will help you…"

"I'm right here, aren't I?"

Jinhyuk picked up something like a wooden stick lying nearby and slowly stepped towards them.

The man's face contorted at Jinhyuk's sudden appearance. He seemed upset at having his good time interrupted. "Fuck, who the hell are you?"

"Hmm, I wonder who?"

"Hah. What an idiot. Trying to play hero I guess…" The man sneered as if Jinhyuk was pathetic. "…You've chosen the wrong opponent."

My, he's just brimming with conﬁdence. Well, I suppose that's understandable.

A former hero trainee could easily take down an ordinary person with one hand.

But I'm not an ordinary person.

I'm clearly one of the hero trainees.

But why is he so certain I'm an ordinary person? There's always a possibility, you know?

Ah, could it be that he didn't think there would be another hero trainee in this rural village?

Well, whatever.

Then shall we knock some sense into him? "What's wrong with a hero acting like a hero?" "What…?"

Suddenly, with a loud "Kwang!" sound, the old wall next to the man crumbled down.

Jinhyuk had unleashed a Sword qi. Hmm, good, it works well even with a stick. As expected of artifacts, they're the best. "S-Sword qi?"

The man was slightly shocked.

"Why don't you just leave? I'll let you go."

Jinhyuk casually swung the crude wooden stick, showing off a relaxed demeanor.

It was a very deliberate action and performance. To make the opponent think he was truly a hero.

As a former hero trainee, he should be able to recognize the value of a Sword qi.

After all, Sword qi was such an advanced technique that not many professional heroes could use it.

Of course, Jinhyuk's face looked a bit too young to be a pro hero, but he was wearing civilian clothes and the opponent was quite drunk.

It wouldn't be strange for him to mistake Jinhyuk for a hero. "A h-hero… Fuck, w-why is there a hero in this backwater…" The man hesitated with a bewildered expression.

A person in their right mind wouldn't dare to challenge a professional hero.

Someone who even got expelled from the academy should know the gap with pro heroes even better.

'I hope he backs down quietly like this.' In truth, Jinhyuk was quite exhausted.

He had used up most of his mana escaping from the grave, and then used a Sword qi with what little strength he had left.

So, he prayed his bluff would work.

"Y-you, you look down on me too?" "Huh?"

"Hero… a hero? So what!" Was it because he was drunk?

He didn't seem to be thinking straight.

Also, Jinhyuk's relaxed demeanor and claim to be a hero seemed to have provoked him unnecessarily.

Did he have some kind of complex about heroes, having been expelled from the academy?

Why is he suddenly acting like this? "Die!"

"Sigh."

Ah, seriously.

The man immediately charged with an enraged expression.

Though he staggered unsteadily, unable to fully overcome the effects of alcohol, his expression was ﬁlled with inferiority and anger.

Seeing him even infuse mana into his ﬁst, it seems he intends to attack quite seriously.

'This is why I hate drunk people. You can't reason with them.'

Jinhyuk inwardly sighed as he gripped the wooden stick tightly.

Though the man was rushing at him, Jinhyuk didn't feel particularly threatened.

Because compared to Baek Yoorin whom he had fought in the ranking battle, this man's movements were laughably slow.

No, forget Baek Yoorin, his movements were worse than most Union Academy trainees.

…Though they might be very slightly better than Jinhyuk's own.

Well, in any case, he was conﬁdent he could dodge a punch thrown in a drunken state.

So Jinhyuk stared straight at the man, preparing to dodge the punch and counter.

But at that moment.

-Jinhyuk, do you know?

The conversation about ideals he had with young Soyeon.

-That everyone has their own ideal? Was rising to the surface.

-You seem to think of yourself as a weak person with nothing, but I know.

Just as he thought 'Why now, of all times?'

-That deep in your mind, a greater ideal than anyone else's is sleeping.

The man's ﬁst had already reached right in front of him.

-I'll help you too.

Jinhyuk reﬂexively reached out his hand to block the punch.

But he felt he was slightly too late to use the mana absorption artifact or block the punch.

So he gritted his teeth, bracing for the impact.

Though it would be quite a pathetic punch compared to Union Academy trainees, it was still somewhat threatening for an inferior student like him.

But hmm? What's this? "Huh?"

"Ugh!"

The man's ﬁst was blocked by Jinhyuk's hand. So easily.

Almost without even feeling the impact in his palm. End of Chapter

Chapter 131 Reconciliation (2)

"...?"

I blinked my eyes reﬂexively.

Then I quietly shifted my gaze to look at my hand ﬁrmly gripping the man's ﬁst.

How did this happen?

I easily blocked what had been quite a threatening punch.

Of course, it wasn't an exceptionally powerful attack, but it wasn't something someone like me should have been able to block so easily.

Despite catching a ﬁst imbued with magical power with my bare hand, there wasn't a single wound on my palm.

The skin wasn't torn, no blood ﬂowed, and no bones were broken.

It felt like blocking a child's punch.

The man's ﬁst felt so light. Strangely so.

"Y-You're not letting go?!" "...."

The man's voice rang out angrily.

I slowly turned my head to stare at the man's face, which was contorted with effort as he grunted.

His face was ﬂushed red as he struggled to break free from my grip.

A puzzled feeling arose as I watched the man gritting his teeth and using all his strength.

What's going on?

Why is that man acting like that?

I'm not even using much strength right now.

I'm just lightly holding the man's hand, so why can't he break free?

Even if he can't use magic, I thought I was only using enough strength that a normal person could easily escape from.

Could it be that he can't exert his full strength because he's drunk?

If not, then...

"Let go of this!"

"...."

"You son of a… Ah."

I suddenly let go of his hand.

The man rubbed his hand that I had been gripping with a resentful expression.

Looking at it now, my ﬁngerprints were deeply imprinted on the back of his hand. Why were there red marks on his skin when I hadn't gripped it that tightly?

I shifted my gaze back to the man.

When our eyes suddenly met, I could see the man's shoulders ﬂinch.

He looked a bit tense, perhaps?

But he soon shook his head and glared at me even more ﬁercely.

It seemed his pride was hurt by his own momentary hesitation. Judging by his behavior, he appeared to be someone with a mix of pride and inferiority complex.

"Damn it, so you think you're some kind of hero, is that it?"

The man raised both ﬁsts and concentrated his magical power.

A normal person would have backed down by now, but whether due to the alcohol or his pride, the man only showed an even more vicious demeanor.

"Then try blocking this too!"

He roughly thrust out his ﬁst, drawing in magical power.

It was ﬁercer and more powerful than the punch he threw earlier.

I could tell a considerable amount of magical power was concentrated in it. If it hit me directly, it didn't seem like it would end with just a little pain.

It was probably strong enough to even break through a concrete wall.

It seemed he really intended to go all out without holding back.

'Ah.'

But why?

I don't feel any sense of crisis.

I had no thoughts of using a magic-absorbing artifact, stepping back for a moment, or dodging the attack.

It was like an adult not foolishly tensing up when a child throws a punch.

I just quietly, very quietly, stared at the man. "Die… you… bastard…!"

"Watch… out…!"

As I focused on the man's ﬁst, I had the illusion that everything in the world was slowing down.

An illusion? No, this was no illusion.

The man's angry voice, the woman's worried voice, the ﬁst ﬂying towards me with all its might, the sound of the woman's racing heartbeat, the musty smell of the back alley, the touch of the chilly winter wind on my skin.

All of those things were incredibly clear and slow to me right now.

As if watching a slow-motion video.

It felt like time itself was slowing down. 'What is this?'

I was slightly surprised but kept my eyes ﬁxed on the man's ﬁst.

The slowly extending ﬁst.

The trajectory of the ﬁst, the movement of muscles, the ﬂuctuating magical power – all of it was so incredibly clear to my eyes.

Suddenly, I reached out my hand.

I'm not sure why, but I had a strange certainty. A certainty that I could block this attack as well. With my bare hands, no less.

"!"

Pung!

A sound of air being torn apart rang out. The man's ﬁst only struck empty air.

That's because I had reached out and deﬂected his ﬁst.

...It really worked?

I had thought I could probably do it, but actually pulling it off left me feeling a bit dazed.

"W-With bare hands…? Are you looking down on me?" The man's face suddenly contorted.

It seems he hadn't expected his attack to be deﬂected barehanded midway.

So he continued throwing punches at me one after another, even more indignantly.

But.

"Y-You, you bastard!" "...."

I deﬂected all of the man's rapid punches with one hand. Bang! Pang! Pa-ang!

Only the thunderous sounds of striking air rang out, but they didn't land a single hit on me.

Looking at it now, the man's movements weren't particularly slow or terrible.

They just appeared slow and pathetic to me. 'What in the world is going on?'

Even though I was deﬂecting magic-imbued punches with my bare hands, my hand was unscathed as I had somewhat expected.

It seemed my endurance, dynamic vision, reﬂexes, and so on had increased considerably.

Like a professional hero.

'This doesn't make sense. Why has my body suddenly become like this…?'

A change that was impossible when thinking logically. Yet a miracle that made it possible.

In the world, they called miracles that deﬁed reason and natural laws like this:

Superpowers. 'Wait, really? Did I…?'

Did I awaken a superpower? R-Really?

Just like that out of nowhere?

Could dying and coming back to life really have been one of the conditions for awakening?

The thought of awakening a superpower felt strange.

This feeling, this sensation, was so unfamiliar yet didn't feel completely foreign. "Huff, huff, huff."

While I was lost in thought, unable to contain my surprise, I noticed the man was already panting heavily as if exhausted.

Seeing that, I unconsciously clenched my ﬁst.

Alright, let's deal with this man ﬁrst and think about it later. I decided to swing my ﬁst and strike the man's abdomen, intending to end this soon.

Since I didn't know exactly how much my physical abilities had increased, I had to hold back quite a bit.

If I had awakened something like Sunari's level of physical enhancement ability, going all out could potentially kill him.

So with the thought that this much force shouldn't cause serious injury, I struck the man's abdomen.

But.

"Kuh, kuuh, uuuugh?!" Huh? W-What?

The man's waist folded in half like a folder.

He ﬂoated slightly in the air before falling to the dirty ground with a thud.

The man tried to get up immediately but coughed up yellowish stomach acid before dropping his head.

He had passed out. "Ah."

D-Did I misjudge my strength?

I hurriedly examined the man's physical condition.

Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any major injuries. He just lost consciousness temporarily from the shock. Phew. That's a relief. I could have become a criminal if I wasn't careful.

...Well, I guess I could already be considered a criminal for beating up a drunk person, regardless of the reason.

"Huh?"

I tilted my head in confusion.

I realized that the vigor enveloping my body had also faded as the man collapsed.

Until just moments ago, my body had been strangely full of energy, but now it felt drained again.

The sensation of time slowing down had also returned to normal.

I tried ﬂexing my hand just in case, but I couldn't exert the same strength as before. What was that just now? And why did my power suddenly disappear?

Had I unconsciously awakened a physical enhancement ability, but it deactivated again when the tension eased after taking down the man?

Or it could be a completely different type of ability. Ah, I'm so curious.

What could it be?

The ability I awakened.

"Um, thank you for saving me."

"...Oh, it was nothing."

While I was lost in thought, the woman who had been watching cautiously approached and expressed her gratitude.

I turned my gaze towards the woman.

I wanted to ponder more about whether I had really awakened a superpower or not, but it wasn't feasible in this situation.

Regrettably, I'd have to postpone thinking about superpowers for a bit.

"You look so young, but to think you're a hero. That's amazing."

"Ah, well."

I'm far from a hero, just a trainee, but there's no need to mention that.

"To think a hero would come all the way to a rural village like this, it's quite surprising."

"I had some business here."

She seemed quite spirited for someone who had just been attacked by a drunk man. She must have a bold personality.

But how am I going to get back home? I don't even have any money.

"Oh, is that so? I also stopped by brieﬂy to visit my parents' house, but I ran into this strange person…"

The woman muttered while glancing at the collapsed man. "I was about to head back home, but what bad luck, really."

"Home?"

"Yes, I was planning to return to Seoul before it gets too dark."

Wait, she lives in Seoul?

"Did you bring a vehicle by any chance?"

"Huh? Ah, yes."

I looked at the woman with hopeful eyes and made a request.

"If it's not too much trouble, could you give me a ride as well?"

"Ah."

The woman hesitated for a moment. She glanced at me furtively.

From her perspective, it could certainly be a burdensome request.

She had nearly been harassed by a strange man just moments ago, and now I was suddenly asking for a ride. It must be quite bewildering.

Moreover, since I had helped her, she probably felt she couldn't easily refuse.

"Well, you see, I need to return to Seoul urgently, but since this is the countryside, there aren't many intercity buses, so I was in a bit of a predicament."

"Ah, I, I see."

"Please, I'm begging you. I'll deﬁnitely repay this favor."

"F-Favor? No, there's no need for that. You helped me after all, of course I'll give you a ride."

When I pleaded a bit more, the woman's face ﬂushed slightly as she nodded. Huh? Her face is red?

Could she be thinking I'm trying to make some strange advances?

Judging by her slightly ﬂushed cheeks and seemingly embarrassed demeanor, it's certainly possible? But I didn't bother to explain myself. It could just make things awkward.

"Ah, wait a moment." "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, but could I borrow your phone for a bit?" Suddenly, I thought of Soyeon.

I wanted to let her know I was alive as soon as possible. And I also wanted to ease my anxious mind.

I was worried about how Soyeon was doing after my death.

"Here you go." "Thank you."

I took the phone.

From the woman's phone calendar, I could see that about 5 months had passed since my death.

5 months, 5 months…

I hope Soyeon didn't blame herself too much and was able to heal her wounds and live well.

With those thoughts, I called Soyeon.

-The phone is turned off. After the beep, you will be connected to voicemail and charged for the call.

But it seemed Soyeon's phone was turned off. A slightly uneasy feeling welled up.

Why would her phone be off? That rarely happened.

"...."

I thought about leaving a text message, but since I could return to Seoul soon anyway, I decided to call Yoo Seolhyun instead.

I was also a bit curious how she was doing, and I wanted to hear about Soyeon's recent situation through Yoo Seolhyun if possible.

Fortunately, I had memorized Yoo Seolhyun's phone number.

"Hello?"

Yoo Seolhyun answered the phone after a few rings. Yoo Seolhyun's voice that I hadn't heard in a while.

Her slightly cold but charming voice beﬁtting a villainous young lady caressed my ears, and I couldn't help but smile.

She'll be shocked when she ﬁnds out I'm alive, right? "Hey, Yoo Seolhyun. Long time no see."

"Who is this?"

"What, have you already forgotten my voice? That's harsh." "...."

Yoo Seolhyun was silent for a moment.

Is she surprised? Or maybe just dumbfounded. Ah, did I speak too casually?

I was just trying to act friendly since I was glad to hear from her, but maybe that was a mistake.

"Yoo Seolhyun, actually, I managed to come back to life through an artifact…"

"Crazy bastards. Playing pranks again."

-Click. "...?"

Yoo Seolhyun swore uncharacteristically and hung up without even listening to what I was saying.

I was ﬂustered and tried calling again, but she didn't answer.

It seems she blocked the number completely. "...What's with her? Why is she reacting like this?" Crazy bastards?

Playing pranks?

What happened after I died? End of Chapter

Chapter 132 Reconciliation (3)

Early evening on a weekend at Yoo Seolhyun's residence.

-Ring ring ring.

The phone's ringtone gently echoed.

Yoo Seolhyun, who was quietly resting in her room, shifted her gaze slightly.

Glancing at the phone's standby screen in the distance, she could see an incoming call from an unfamiliar number.

An unfamiliar phone number… Who could it be?

Someone calling at this hour.

And to Yoo Seolhyun's personal phone, no less. "...."

Yoo Seolhyun hesitated whether to answer or not, but eventually reached for the phone.

Though unlikely, it could be a work-related call. "Hello?"

Despite answering the phone, the other party remained silent for a moment.

Yoo Seolhyun was about to speak again with furrowed brows when the other person ﬁnally opened their mouth. But an unexpected voice struck her ears.

"Hey, Yoo Seolhyun. Long time no see."

A young man's voice that sounded slightly glad.

It was quite a familiar voice, so Yoo Seolhyun bit her lower lip brieﬂy before speaking.

"Who is this?"

"What, have you already forgotten my voice? That's harsh." The young man was needlessly joking around.

Yoo Seolhyun suddenly realized whose voice this was.

It was a man's voice that was familiar to her, if one could call it that.

But it was also a voice she should never hear again. Because he was already dead.

Right before Yoo Seolhyun's eyes. Very clearly.

"Yoo Seolhyun, actually, I managed to come back to life through an artifact…"

"Crazy bastards. Playing pranks again."

Yoo Seolhyun chewed her lips a few times, then frowned deeply and hung up the phone with a click.

The man seemed to have said something about an artifact before she hung up, but it didn't reach her ears.

She was irritated by the actions of those mocking his death. "Annoying bastards. Can't they just stop already, seriously."

Yoo Seolhyun cursed to herself and blocked the young man's number.

Then she threw her phone down in annoyance. "Haa, really."

Yoo Seolhyun collapsed onto the bed and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Lee Jinhyuk's voice that she had just heard lingered in her ears.

Hearing his voice made her bite her lip hard as she recalled the image of Lee Jinhyuk coughing up blood and dying helplessly.

Her heart felt unsettled for no reason. This is so annoying, really.

"Just when I thought I was starting to forget."

Yoo Seolhyun muttered in a slightly weary voice, then let out a deep sigh.

"Those guys, seriously…" After Lee Jinhyuk's death.

Noticing that she was quite close to him, there were occasionally people who tried voice phishing.

Imitating his voice, way of speaking, appearance, and so on.

They also tried to trap her by saying nonsense like Lee Jinhyuk was actually alive, or that he needed help.

Yoo Seolhyun had quite a few enemies, after all. Both within the clan and at the academy. "Haa..."

She sighed again.Just when she thought things had calmed down lately, this happens again.

Hearing his voice after so long, she couldn't easily calm her troubled heart.

His death was certainly shocking, but why did she feel so uneasy when their relationship had only lasted a few months?

Even though quite some time had passed, just hearing his voice again made her heart so complicated.

She wasn't even the sentimental type.

"...Phew."

As Yoo Seolhyun closed her eyes slightly, his ﬁnal moments and the last words he struggled to utter ﬂickered in her mind.

-So…yeon… Please… take care of… Soyeon. His ﬁnal wish to take care of Jin Soyeon.

In the end, Lee Jinhyuk thought only of Jin Soyeon until his very last moment.

Even though he was dying partly because of Jin Soyeon, he comforted her to the end telling her not to blame herself, while also asking Yoo Seolhyun to take care of things afterwards.

Was she that precious to him? That Jin Soyeon girl?

Even more than his own life? "...."

Come to think of it, he had asked her not to bully Jin Soyeon in exchange for telling her how to clear the Youngdeung Mountain Dungeon.

Looking back now, it seems she failed to fulﬁll almost all of Lee Jinhyuk's requests.

Of course, she didn't go out of her way to bully Jin Soyeon, but she did say harsh words to her before Jin Soyeon went missing.

That could also be considered a form of bullying.

"I couldn't fulﬁll his request..."

Is it really true that I couldn't fulﬁll it?

In fact, isn't it that I 'didn't' fulﬁll it rather than 'couldn't'? Because I didn't like Jin Soyeon.

I felt awkward and uncomfortable around her for no reason.

It's a clear fact that I didn't like Jin Soyeon from the ﬁrst time I saw her.

But thinking about it now, why did I feel so uncomfortable with her, and why did I provoke her by mentioning her romantic history?

I know well that Jin Soyeon's character isn't bad.

She has quite an altruistic personality and is friendly, making her popular among people of all ages and genders.

Her abilities are also considerable, to the point of being mentioned as one of the strongest in the academy since the ranking battle.

Given Yoo Seolhyun's personality of liking talented individuals, there was no particular need to be at odds with her.

Nevertheless, the reason why Yoo Seolhyun felt so uneasy about Jin Soyeon was…

-You must have had a hard time too, Yoo Seolhyun.

-It's one-sided for you too, isn't it? "Ha."

At Lee Siwoon's words that suddenly came to mind, she let out a laugh without meaning.

At the time, she had only sneered at his words about it being one-sided, but given how things turned out, it seemed she could no longer keep denying it.

The reason she cared so much about matters related to Lee Jinhyuk was quite obvious, wasn't it?

In fact, Yoo Seolhyun had somewhat guessed that she had these feelings.

She just foolishly didn't want to admit it.

It's not like anything special happened between them, his face wasn't her type, and his family background wasn't great either, so she didn't want to readily admit to harboring such feelings. It also hurt her pride.

But now that Lee Jinhyuk was dead, it seemed ridiculous to keep acting like this.

Maybe it's time to ﬁnally admit it. These feelings.

"I can't believe myself."

Yoo Seolhyun suddenly burst into laughter. "Hehe, I'm really such a fool..."

For a moment, she could only let out a laugh mixed with various emotions.

What difference would it make to admit it now?

She was always slow to realize her own feelings. And she kept repeating the same regrets. It was the same with her mother, and now with Lee Jinhyuk.

On the outside, she grumbled and pretended not to care, pretended to be ﬁne, pretended to dislike him, but look at this. She always realized and regretted after losing someone.

She thought she had changed after her mother passed away.

In the end, she hadn't grown at all since she was young. Not one bit.

-Knock knock.

Suddenly, there was a knocking sound at the door. She sensed someone's presence outside the room. It seemed to be one of the mansion's servants. "Young miss, may I come in for a moment?" "...Yes."

At her answer, the servant opened the door and entered. "What is it?"

"Ah, well."

The servant looked at Yoo Seolhyun and quietly spoke.

"Someone who claims to be your friend is requesting to meet you..."

"What? My friend?"

Did Yoo Seolhyun have anyone she could call a friend?

If she had to say, there were a few, but if they intended to visit, they would have contacted her beforehand.

It would be very rude to suddenly visit at this hour. "Who is it?"

"Ah, it's someone named Lee Jinhyuk." "...Pardon?"

Lee Jinhyuk?

Did they just say Lee Jinhyuk?

What is this. Could it be the person who called earlier? They didn't actually come to the mansion, did they?

"Did you say Lee Jinhyuk? Did they really say that?"

"Yes. He said he had urgent business with you, young miss." "Ha."

Yoo Seolhyun let out a sneer. She was dumbfounded.

Truly.

"What would you like me to do, young miss?"

"...He said he wants to meet me? Then I should grant his wish."

What could be the reason for wanting to meet Yoo Seolhyun at this hour, even mentioning the name of someone who's already dead?

To be honest, she wasn't very curious.

She didn't know what their intentions were or who they were, but to dare impersonate Lee Jinhyuk and think of coming to her residence like this.

Did they think Yoo Seolhyun was someone to be triﬂed with?

This was clearly crossing a line and an insult to Yoo Seolhyun. Her personality wasn't generous enough to overlook something like this.

After all, Yoo Seolhyun was originally a character who acted as a villain in the orthodox route.

Although meeting Lee Jinhyuk had led to various things going well and prevented her from falling into villainy, that nature hadn't completely disappeared.

Yoo Seolhyun spoke in a cold voice.

"Alright, then please escort that person to the reception room."

"Understood."

"And tell the security team in the residence to wait outside the reception room fully armed until I give a separate signal."

"Ah, yes?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

"Ah, no, I apologize."

"If you understand, then get moving, quickly."

"Yes."

Though startled by her sudden order, the servant soon nodded and hurried away.

She watched the servant's retreating ﬁgure, then took out the short spear hanging on one side of the room.

The sharp spear blade gleamed ominously.

After arming herself just in case, Yoo Seolhyun ﬁnally headed towards the reception room.

On the way to the reception room, Yoo Seolhyun thought. What if, just what if, he was really alive?

What if he didn't actually die and was alive, or came back to life through some method…

'...What foolish thoughts, Yoo Seolhyun.' Ha. Really.

Why are you being like this again?

Yoo Seolhyun shook her head, trying to break free from these useless musings.

Hadn't she already experienced this kind of trickery several times?

In the ﬁrst place, dead people cannot come back to life.

She had never heard of such an ability or artifact.

Even if he hadn't died and was alive, if he had intended to return, he would have done so long ago. After several months had already passed, why now…

'I saw his coﬃn being closed, yet I'm having these thoughts again. I guess I have quite a sentimental personality.'

Yoo Seolhyun bit her lower lip hard.

And then she ﬁnally reached the reception room.

In the distance, she could see the armed security team approaching.

"Young miss, you're even carrying a spear. Is something wrong?"

"...I'm sorry everyone, but please wait until I give a signal."

"Yes, understood."

The security team members professionally refrained from asking any more unnecessary questions.

They simply followed their employer's orders silently. "Phew."

Yoo Seolhyun let out a short breath and slowly grasped the reception room doorknob.

For some reason, she felt slightly nervous.

Beyond this door is the person impersonating him, right?

Let's see what kind of face they have to do such a thing, whatever they were thinking.

-Click.

"I don't know who you are, but to come all the way..." In an instant.

"Ah, you came?"

Yoo Seolhyun's words were cut off. "Sorry for coming so late at night." And for good reason.

"But there's something I really wanted to ask you."

Lee Jinhyuk was calmly sitting there, happily munching on the snacks laid out in the reception room.

Chapter 133 Reconciliation (4)

"Ah."

It was bewildering.

Yoo Seolhyun swallowed hard.

She blinked repeatedly as she looked him over.

Lee Jinhyuk. He was right there in front of her eyes. Dark hair, handsome features, decent build, and so on.

Even after scrutinizing him for a moment, it matched the face of Lee Jinhyuk in her memory.

"...."

He was just sitting on the plush sofa, slowly chewing on a snack while making eye contact with Yoo Seolhyun.

His slightly pale eyes reﬂected her image.

Yoo Seolhyun's expression gradually distorted. She unconsciously bit her lower lip.

She felt deeply insulted by the sight of Lee Jinhyuk calmly sitting there to greet her.

You dare mock me by taking on the appearance of someone who's already dead?

She hadn't planned on ending this nicely from the start, but seeing him like this made her blood boil even more.

She thought he had just borrowed Lee Jinhyuk's name, but to think he would go so far as to openly imitate his appearance.

Yoo Seolhyun opened her tightly closed lips at his brazen behavior.

She wanted to immediately vent the heat bubbling up inside her.

"Who are you?"

Yoo Seolhyun immediately raised her spear.

The sharp blade and faint magical energy were ominously ﬂickering.

As if ready to stab at any moment if he made a wrong move.

"I said, who are you!" She shouted angrily.

A startled presence could be felt from outside.

It was the security team. They were about to rush in at Yoo Seolhyun's voice, but like professionals, they remained silent without a separate signal from her.

"Yoo Seolhyun."

He called her name in a calm voice and expression.

She felt an indescribable sense of rejection at his actions of calling her with the same face, expression, and voice as him.

"I am..."

"I don't know who you really are, but imitating him in my home was a mistake."

Yoo Seolhyun exuded a chilling killing intent.

Though quite thick killing intent enveloped the man imitating Lee Jinhyuk's appearance, he seemed unfazed.

It was intense enough to make an ordinary hero trainee tremble.

Right, you must have some skills to come to Yoo Seolhyun's sanctuary alone, huh?

Perhaps facing him alone like this could be dangerous.

If this man had overwhelmingly superior skills to Yoo Seolhyun, he could take her hostage right away.

Rationally thinking, it would be right to question him while accompanied by the security team.

But Yoo Seolhyun didn't call for the security team. Because she still wanted to face him alone for now.

"Shapeshifting ability? Cloning ability? Doppelganger ability? Or did you use some special makeup?"

There are various supernatural abilities in this world.

It means one could transform into someone else's appearance ﬂawlessly.

Wasn't there someone like the cloning mage So Yuyeong in Rebellion in the ﬁrst place?

Since there had been cases of some villains imitating Lee Jinhyuk's appearance to try and deceive Yoo Seolhyun and Jin Soyeon, she couldn't let her guard down.

"Which organization are you from? What's your purpose? What were you thinking imitating him?"

Yoo Seolhyun gathered more magical energy with a deeply wary expression. But the man didn't take any defensive stance. He was too defenseless even if his skills were good. One wrong move and he could get stabbed by the spear.

What is this man thinking?

If he really intended to deceive Yoo Seolhyun, he would have prepared a situation convincing enough to fool her.

But to openly come in Lee Jinhyuk's appearance and shamelessly sit alone in the reception room, it was truly impossible to be deceived even if she wanted to be.

"I'm not imitating, it's really me." "They all say that."

"Well, I expected you wouldn't believe me, but I guess words alone won't be enough."

Lee Jinhyuk scratched his chin with a bitter smile.

"Yoo Seolhyun, I'll cut to the chase. I actually died and came back to life. Through an artifact."

"Ha."

Yoo Seolhyun scoffed.

The best excuse he could come up with was resurrection? And through an artifact out of nowhere?

It was truly an absurd thing to say.

"You had a resurrection artifact? I've never even heard of artifacts that can resurrect people in the ﬁrst place?"

"I know it's hard to believe, honestly. But remember that ring called Blessing of the Star among the auction items we stole? It was actually a resurrection artifact."

Blessing of the Star?

A resurrection artifact?

Come to think of it, she did recover the Space Ring and Blessing of the Star from Lee Jinhyuk's body.

At the time of recovery, she had wondered why Lee Jinhyuk was wearing the Blessing of the Star whose effect was unknown.

If it was really related to resurrection… No.

What nonsense.

There's no way such a convenient story could be true.

Reality is always cruel. Yoo Seolhyun knew well that miracles don't exist in this world.

"Actually, the reason I suggested stealing the auction items was to retrieve the Blessing of the Star. I wanted to obtain an artifact that could resurrect me just in case. Well… I didn't expect to use it at that time though."

"Alright, let's say I believe you for argument's sake. But you're not wearing the Blessing of the Star now, are you? How were you able to come back to life?"

"It activates immediately upon death, that's why." Lee Jinhyuk secretly added "probably" at the end.

"I didn't expect resurrection to take this long though. Oh, by the way, I wonder if resurrection would have been possible even if I was cremated? That's a bit curious."

"..."

"But where's the Blessing of the Star? You didn't return the auction items, did you?"

"...I still have it for now."

"Is that so? Then check the Blessing of the Star once. It's a one-time ability, so the gem breaks after using the resurrection ability."

"...That's."

Certainly, his words were correct.

Yoo Seolhyun clearly remembered that the gem part of the ring called Blessing of the Star was broken.

But even so, she couldn't readily accept his words.

"There are a few people besides me who know that the Blessing of the Star is broken. Give me more convincing evidence that you're Lee Jinhyuk."

Still, this man knows more than expected.

To think he would even know that Lee Jinhyuk and Yoo Seolhyun had conspired to steal the auction items.

Since they had kept the auction items a secret between themselves, not many people should know about it, so how does he know?

Is he really, really Lee Jinhyuk?

As absurd as it sounds, did he really come back to life through an artifact?

If by any chance he really did resurrect…

"How about the fact that I'm a future sight ability user?" Future sight ability.

It's one of the secrets he had been hiding. But it wouldn't mean much now.

"Quite a few people know you're a future sight ability user." "That's right. I told Soyeon, Roxanne, and a few others." "..."

"And Yoo Dahee also suspected I was a future sight ability user at the end, so it's not much of a secret anymore."

The way he muttered to himself while nodding his head was very similar to Lee Jinhyuk's habit.

So Yoo Seolhyun bit her lip hard.

She shook her head vigorously, inwardly denying that he could be Lee Jinhyuk.

"What should I say to make you believe me?"

If only there was physical evidence, but there's no way there could be physical evidence that he's the real Lee Jinhyuk. So he had no choice but to persuade her.

"Ah, do you remember the ﬁrst bet we made?" "Bet?"

"Oh, you know. The bet we made when we teamed up for the performance evaluation."

Lee Jinhyuk grinned.

"I said something like 'In exchange for following my orders, if I break my promise, I'll be your errand boy during our academy life. How about it?' right?"

"Ha."

He even knows that?

"You nodded your head as if it was interesting." "..."

"And when we had an important conversation about clearing the Youngdeung Mountain Dungeon, we talked about various things at a cafe."

"..."

"Also, during Soyeon's stalker incident, I asked for your help on the rooftop."

"..."

"And what else was there… Ah, right."

He smiled slightly as if remembering something amusing.

"...Didn't I already get rejected by you twice without doing anything?"

0 confessions, 2 rejections. You still remember that?

I'm quite the grudge holder, you know. Lee Jinhyuk smiled faintly.

"You said my face wasn't your type, right?"

He suddenly joked, "Really. What's wrong with my face? Isn't it quite decent? Your standards are unnecessarily high because Lee Siwoon and Kang Daehan are around."

"You."

"Hm?"

"You're really Lee Jinhyuk?" "That's what I've been saying."

"T-That can't be. Resurrection, such a thing can't possibly..."

"It's just that no resurrection-related abilities have been discovered so far, it doesn't mean they don't exist at all."

Yoo Seolhyun hesitated with a slightly confused look, then chewed on her lips.

Her eyes showed that she absolutely couldn't believe in resurrection.

No, it seemed like she didn't want to believe it.

Because if it turned out to be fake later, she would receive an indescribably huge shock.

It was a psychological defense mechanism to protect herself.

"You must have some mind reading ability or telepathy or something to read my thoughts and answer..."

"So you're saying I can transform into Lee Jinhyuk, use mind reading, and I'm acting to deceive you?"

Lee Jinhyuk suddenly shrugged his shoulders as if dumbfounded.

"Well, I guess that could be possible. In fact, from your perspective, that would be more realistic than resurrection."

Lee Jinhyuk nodded with a face of complete understanding. "Then how about this?"

"W-What?"

"Christmas is coming up soon, right?" "So?"

"So I'll make one prediction." Prediction…?

"It will snow this Christmas. A white Christmas." "The weather forecast didn't say anything like that."

"Do you ﬁnd my words as a future sight ability user more credible, or the weather forecast that's wrong all the time?"

His bold and brazen words.

"You don't think I can imitate future sight ability too, do you?"

When he spoke so bluntly, Yoo Seolhyun suddenly closed her mouth.

"If you still can't believe me, shall we wait until Christmas?" "...Haa. No, that's enough. I said enough."

"Yoo Seolhyun?"

"...Ah, really, what is this."

Yoo Seolhyun let out a hollow laugh, then ﬁnally lowered her spear.

"You came back to life...? Really...?"

"How many times do I have to say it? Have you been deceived all this time?"

Seeing his playful face, for some reason an indescribable emotion was slowly welling up from deep inside her heart.

Surprise? Joy? Gladness? What is this emotion?

In any case, it's clearly some kind of overwhelming feeling. "You, really..."

"By the way, Yoo Seolhyun, there's something urgent I want to ask you."

"W-What is it?"

"Ah, it's nothing much."

Come to think of it, didn't he say he had something he wanted to ask from the moment they met?

Something important enough to suddenly visit in the middle of the night.

"I actually went to Soyeon's house ﬁrst." But.

"Soyeon wasn't home." As expected, should I say?

"Do you know where Soyeon went?"

He didn't think about Yoo Seolhyun at all. "Nothing happened to her, right?"

He only worried about Jin Soyeon. As always.

Every time. Always. Continuously. Only Jin Soyeon.

Chapter 134 Reconciliation (5)

"..."

At Lee Jinhyuk's worried question, Yoo Seolhyun's small lips trembled slightly before slowly closing.

Yoo Seolhyun thought to herself unconsciously. That he seemed a bit heartless.

Of course, objectively speaking, it was only natural for Lee Jinhyuk to worry about Jin Soyeon.

Having come back to life after several months, it's understandable to be concerned upon realizing his precious childhood friend wasn't home at this late hour.

Moreover, hadn't Lee Jinhyuk asked Yoo Seolhyun a favor before he died?

To take care of Jin Soyeon.

Therefore, it could be said that Lee Jinhyuk rushing here to ask about Jin Soyeon's whereabouts was a natural course of action.

But why?

His question felt slightly hurtful.

For some unknown reason, a faint pain and stiﬂing emotion stirred in a corner of Yoo Seolhyun's heart.

She didn't know how to explain this feeling and emotion. An emotion she had almost never experienced before.

Should she say it's a mix of feelings like disappointment? Resentment? Hurt? Sorrow? And so on?

Suddenly, Yoo Seolhyun lightly bit her lower lip.

It would have been ﬁne to at least ask how I've been doing. How are you? Are you okay? Was it so diﬃcult to say even one perfunctory greeting?

Or perhaps he didn't care about Yoo Seolhyun's well-being at all.

That would make sense, since his relationship with Yoo Seolhyun was at best business partners or acquaintances close to friends.

Unlike with Jin Soyeon. '...Ha. I can't believe myself.'

Yoo Seolhyun suddenly shook her head, clearing away useless thoughts and foolish delusions.

And she thought it wasn't like her.

To think the great Yoo Seolhyun would be agonizing over such foolish thoughts.

This really isn't like me at all. "Yoo Seolhyun? What's wrong?" "No, it's nothing."

Yoo Seolhyun quickly collected herself and faced Lee Jinhyuk.

He was quietly looking at her.

Suddenly, Yoo Seolhyun let out a small sigh and slowly moved her lips.

"You asked where Jin Soyeon is, right?" "Oh, yeah."

How should I say this?

Well, alright. I'll just have to tell it straight. "She disappeared."

"Huh?"

He ﬂoated question marks above his head. So Yoo Seolhyun told him again.

"She disappeared alone about a month after you died." "..."

At her words that Jin Soyeon had gone missing, Lee Jinhyuk blinked his eyes as if quite bewildered.

He had worried that she might make an extreme choice, but…

To think she would go missing. No, wait a minute.

She didn't disappear on her own, she wasn't kidnapped, was she?

"Looking at your face, I can guess what you're thinking. Don't worry, she left home on her own."

"Oh, really?"

Not sure if this should be considered fortunate or not, but at least she wasn't forcibly abducted by someone, so it's slightly reassuring, right?

"Lee Jinhyuk."

Yoo Seolhyun called out.

She was looking at him with calm eyes. "Soyeon, she's changed a lot."

"Oh, yeah. Seems like it."

"Don't take it lightly. She's changed much more than you're thinking right now."

"Hmm?"

At Yoo Seolhyun's serious words, Lee Jinhyuk hesitated for a moment.

"It's been almost half a year since you died."

To be precise, 5 months. From summer to winter.

The time since Lee Jinhyuk's death was by no means short.

"It may be a short time for some, but for others it could be a long time."

Yoo Seolhyun added in a low voice.

"Long enough to completely change one's personality." "..."

"You seem to think everything will be resolved if you meet Soyeon again and let her know you're alive, but it won't be as easy as you think."

"...Why?"

He had already expected that Jin Soyeon would be in shock and wandering.

But if the reason for Jin Soyeon's wandering was Lee Jinhyuk's death, wouldn't it be resolved by letting her know he's alive again?

"Soyeon, she seems to have been active in the underworld for several months. To get revenge for you. While taking down criminals."

"Ah."

"Drugs, human traﬃcking, organ traﬃcking, illegal clubs, and so on, she single-handedly destroyed several organizations while likely seeing many types of human nature."

It was nonsensical to say she uncovered and eradicated several illegal organizations over a few months, but it wasn't entirely impossible if Jin Soyeon's force was combined with Lee Jinhyuk's future information.

Did Jin Soyeon quickly grow stronger while single-handedly taking down illegal organizations clinging to South Korea?

Isn't that too reckless?

"When I met Soyeon again after she disappeared, I could tell she had really changed a lot. Her expression, way of speaking, look in her eyes… That bright demeanor from before was completely gone."

"Is that… so..."

"She told me directly. That some criminals tried to deceive her by imitating your appearance, mimicking your voice, casting illusions that they were you. Whew, it's fortunate her mother is away on an overseas business trip."

"..."

Since she stirred up criminal organizations alone, it was an inevitable course that she would become their target.

"She won't be easily persuaded like me." She says with certainty.

"It could even be dangerous if you try to persuade her directly. Soyeon might react very extremely."

"Still, I have to meet her and try to persuade her somehow."

Lee Jinhyuk opened his mouth calmly, disregarding Yoo Seolhyun's words.

"I can't just leave Soyeon alone." "...I see. That's just like you."

Yoo Seolhyun soon gave a bitter smile.

She knew Lee Jinhyuk would say something like that.

Isn't he the Lee Jinhyuk who even gave his life for Jin Soyeon?

Yoo Seolhyun herself knew better that he wouldn't hesitate at mere words like this. Yes, he would surely…

"I wonder what Soyeon is doing right now. Haah, really..." Lee Jinhyuk quietly pondered Jin Soyeon's image.

What Jin Soyeon had said during the near-death experience kept lingering in his mind.

– Don't leave me alone.

– Don't let me go astray.

– Don't give up on me. "..."

Lee Jinhyuk made a silent vow to himself.

As Soyeon had asked in that dream, that unconscious state, Lee Jinhyuk had no intention of abandoning Jin Soyeon.

He would not leave her alone, let her go astray, or give up on her.

He will quickly ﬁnd Soyeon and return her life to normal.

By any means necessary.

***

At a drug manufacturing factory in Goesan County, Chungcheongbuk-do.

"..."

A girl is standing there.

Drops of blood dripped from the tips of her jet-black hair reminiscent of pitch darkness. The droplets of blood had already formed a puddle. The surroundings were ﬁlled with people's screams and bloodstains.

And there, only a beautiful girl remained alone. It was Jin Soyeon.

Chapter 8 - Ch 128-134