As though hoping for that myth to be reenacted, the captain had given it that name.
“‘Marang’ is over there.”
Only then did the man’s steps finally stop.
However, on his face, turned away from Jain, there was instead a deep smile.
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
The man recalled what had happened just moments ago.
Though it had been due to a foolish lapse in vigilance, that bastard had subdued his disciple with a single, slightly special coin.
“The possibility is…”
The man broke into a broad smile.
“It seems fairly high.”
A nonchalant answer.
Jain’s expression turned bitter for an instant, but she refused to back down and answered with an even deeper smile.
“…I will. Until we come to kill you. Survive until the very end.”
End
The police and heroes who had been dispatched arrested all the smugglers who had caused a disturbance at Djerin Land.
Tomorrow, articles would probably appear saying things like, “Smugglers Riot at Djerin Land After Negotiations Fail—”
However, Jin Sahyuk and her group, the ones who had actually caused the real disturbance, disappeared before they could be spotted, and thanks to my potion, Kim Suho and Chae Nayun recovered cleanly without any major problems.
“……”
And now that everything had been settled, beneath the dark sky.
Kim Suho was sitting amid the torn-up asphalt. I approached from behind and placed a hand on his head. His hair was quite soft.
Kim Suho looked back and gave a small laugh. I sat down beside him.
“You okay?”
“Ah, yeah. Thanks to you. I’ll pay you back for the potion.”
“No need. More importantly, that woman from earlier—what’s your relationship with her?”
At my subtle question, Kim Suho kept his gaze fixed beyond the horizon and answered in a murmur.
“Nothing. We just know each other a little.”
“Yeah?”
I didn’t pry any deeper.
The two of us looked up at the night sky in silence for a while.
“…Hajin, you know.”
Then, at some point, his serious voice seeped into my ears.
“Hm?”
I answered as gently as I could. Kim Suho looked at me. Within his darkly shining eyes was a complex emotion that was difficult to put into words.
I understood the flow of that emotion, yet at the same time, I could not understand it.
The sense of loss from losing one’s homeland. It was surely a loneliness similar to mine, but for Kim Suho, there was no “hope” that he might one day return to his homeland.
“…Never mind.”
“What’s that? How anticlimactic.”
I chuckled and eased the mood.
Kim Suho responded with a soundless smile.
“But Kim Hajin. That person—you subdued him, right?”
“No. I didn’t subdue him. He subdued himself.”
“…What does that mean?”
I simply stood up and placed a hand on Kim Suho’s shoulder.
“It means he let his guard down. Unlike you.”
“……”
Kim Suho looked up at me with bright, round eyes.
Thinking about it again, Kim Suho had various charms. Sometimes he was dependable, sometimes he was just handsome, but on a day like today, he had this strange sort of forlornness.
“I’m going. I don’t know what’s what, but don’t be too down.”
“…Who said I was down?”
He smiled bashfully while telling a lie that wouldn’t convince anyone.
For some reason, that annoyed me, so I ruffled Kim Suho’s hair hard.
“Uh, ueh? Ah, hey. What are you doing!”
“I’m really going now.”
“What? Hey!”
Kim Suho, whose hair had puffed up as if he were wearing a wool hat, glared at me with a half-smiling face, but I answered him with a sly grin and trudged back toward the hotel.
* * *
A two-person room in a luxury hotel in Busan.
Yoo Yeonha was leaning against the balcony railing, quietly lost in thought.
Tonight, her mind was particularly complicated. In truth, it was the first night since she had learned the full story of yesterday’s incident. She had fainted last night and lost the whole thing.
“…I couldn’t say it after all.”
She muttered as though sighing.
She had resolved to tell Kim Hajin, but when she actually stood before him, she hesitated and missed her chance.
Of course, he had told her, “You don’t have to say it.” But he could never have imagined what kind of confession she was about to make, and even without those words, perhaps she would not have been able to make a proper confession anyway.
She was afraid.
When he learned the whole truth one day, would the muzzle of his gun turn toward her? Would the man she had, for the first time in her life, thought of as a “comrade” turn into the most threatening enemy in the world?
That was sad and frightening.
“Ah~ I feel refreshed~”
Chae Nayun, who had just finished her shower and come out, cut through the heavy anguish. Yoo Yeonha looked at her. Chae Nayun was drying herself off and rummaging around to put on her underwear.
Yoo Yeonha asked,
“…Are your injuries okay?”
“Huh? Ah, yeah. I’m fine. They said the first aid was good.”
Her body itself was sturdy to begin with, and she had practically emptied an entire bottle of potion as soon as she was hit. Her internal injuries seemed to have been completely healed with that alone.
“Ah, that feels nice.”
Chae Nayun walked over in just her underwear and sat on the bed. Yoo Yeonha looked her over. Underwear with a cat drawn on it. But because her figure was so good, it suited her rather well.
Instead of putting on clothes, Chae Nayun picked up her smartwatch. Watching her project the screen and tap away on the virtual keyboard, Yoo Yeonha asked,
“What are you doing?”
“Huh? Ah, texting Kim Hajin. I figured I should at least say thanks.”
“……”
Yoo Yeonha silently watched her.
Chae Nayun respected her grandfather, Chae Joochul.
However, Chae Joochul was one of the sources of the past’s calamities, no less than Yu Jinwoong—no, perhaps even worse than him.
Of course, Chae Joochul would not have shown his cruel side to his granddaughter. But the longer Chae Joochul remained “an always kind grandfather,” the greater the sense of betrayal she would feel someday.
Then should I tell Chae Nayun about Kim Hajin’s past now?
Should I tell her, in exhaustive detail, that one of the culprits who killed Kim Hajin’s parents, erased the existence called family from his life, and forced him to grow up in complete solitude was the very Chae Joochul she respected?
Or should I simply keep my mouth shut?
…Yoo Yeonha called her name quietly.
“Nayun.”
“Yeah?”
The ill-fated relationship of the past.
About that tangled and knotted relationship, Chae Nayun knew nothing.
And if possible… perhaps it would be better if she never knew until the end.
Because Chae Nayun, who understood the pain of losing family better than she did, would suffer more than her, grieve more than her, and feel sorrier than her.
“…Who did they say that person was?”
“What?”
“The person who attacked you.”
“Ah~ I don’t know either.”
“You didn’t tell the police?”
“No. Too much of a hassle.”
Chae Nayun had deliberately not told the police that she had been attacked. It was probably because she could easily imagine what kind of uproar her father would cause if he found out.
Tap tap tap tap.
Chae Nayun’s gaze and fingers were focused on the smartwatch screen. Yoo Yeonha stared at her quietly, then said just one thing.
“…Do it properly.”
“Huh? Do what properly?”
“The text. You always send them all prickly.”
“…What do you mean?”
“Listen to me. Don’t regret it later.”
“What’s with you all of a sudden? Are you on something?”
Chae Nayun looked at Yoo Yeonha in disbelief, but Yoo Yeonha crawled into bed without another word. Chae Nayun tilted her head, then soon saw the reply that had just arrived from Kim Hajin and furrowed her brow hard.
[Go to sleep.]
* * *
The next day, Sunday, 11 a.m.
I returned to Cube’s dorm with Evandel and Hayang. After three days away, the dorm felt far too cramped compared to the hotel room and my house in Seoul.
Still, next year it would become a little bigger than this. Or should I just apply to commute altogether?
“Chicken~ chicken~ chickenchickenchicken~”
Evandel walked toward the table carrying the three whole chickens we had just bought, and Kim Hayang was already seated in front of that table, waiting for her.
“Since Hayang only eats legs and wings…”
Evandel gave Hayang two legs and two wings. After a long conflict, Evandel seemed to have learned the concept of “sharing.”
I watched the sight with satisfaction, then entered the bedroom and turned on my laptop.
[You have acquired 433 SP!]
[Luck has activated, granting a 22% SP bonus!]
Because of what happened last night, I gained a considerable amount of SP. The bonus from Luck alone was close to 100 SP.
Since I had accumulated enough, perhaps it was about time I wrote one more setting I wanted.
“Hmmm…”
I pulled up one of the many ideas I had recorded on the laptop.
[Medicinal-Property Memory Body (藥性記憶肉體)]
This was a “constitution” I had thought of relatively recently. Thinking about it, I would probably be doping quite a lot from now on, so this was one of the ways to turn that even slightly to my advantage, and make it permanent.
===
□Memory
—When ingesting medicines with identical properties and effects, the body remembers a portion of that medicinal property according to the Luck stat.
□Reproduction
—Medicinal properties that have been 100% memorized are internally secreted and reproduced according to the Luck stat.
—Once a medicinal property has been reproduced, its reproduction will have a different “reproduction cooldown” depending on its performance.
□Adaptation·Enhancement
—According to the Luck stat, the more often a medicinal property is reproduced and the more medicines containing that component are ingested, the stronger the medicinal effect becomes.
===
[1000 SP will be consumed. Would you like to save?]
“Whoa.”
As expected, perhaps because it was related to long-term and permanent stat increases, the price was quite expensive.
However, it would be worth its price, and I had the ability to pay that price.
After all, I had the SP gained from facing the Asura of the 1970s, as well as the SP gained by slamming a single coin into Jin Sahyuk’s forehead.
[The setting has been saved.]
[Luck has activated, partially increasing the overall functions of the constitution “Medicinal-Property Memory Body”!]
“Hm.”
Afterward, I tried ingesting an ordinary wild ginseng elixir meant to increase stats.
[Due to the ingestion of an elixir, Strength, Stamina, Endurance, and Magic Power will slowly increase.]
[The body remembers 4% of the “stat increase” medicinal property of the “wild ginseng elixir.”]
It remembered 4%.
That meant that if I ate roughly twenty-five of them, my body would be able to produce a free elixir on its own.
“Not bad—”
It was then.
In an instant, a fierce pain shot through my forearm.
The agony I had been waiting for, yet deep down had wanted to avoid.
I hurriedly took off my shirt and looked at my biceps. The cross-shaped Stigma engraved on my biceps, and around it, a new line was being drawn in a circle.
I clenched my teeth so that no groan would escape my mouth.
Evandel was outside right now.
I couldn’t make her worry for nothing… the pain was like a branding iron searing my heart, a pain I would never grow used to… My consciousness gradually began to fade.
* * *
“Gasp!”
When I opened my eyes, it was 11 p.m.
And today was Sunday.
The day I had promised Rachel.
“I’m fucked.”
I hurried into the living room, only to find that even Evandel and Hayang had fallen asleep.
I checked my smartwatch first.
[Missed Call—6:34 p.m.]
There had been only one missed call, at exactly 6:34 p.m.
Then…
“Ugh.”
My forearm still throbbed, but I ran in a hurry.
From the dorm to the empty lot where we had agreed to meet, it was only five minutes.
I hid in the nearby bushes and watched the place.
“……”
Rachel was, as expected, still waiting. Perhaps to soothe her loneliness, there was a stray cat sitting beside her.
Rachel stroked the cat’s back and looked up at the sky. Her lips moved slightly. One, two, three… It seemed she was counting the stars.
That pitiful sight made me feel sorry deep in my heart, but first, I checked whether there was a bracelet on her wrist. If she was not wearing the bracelet, I could not help her.
Thankfully, she was wearing it.
I scratched the back of my neck and approached her.
“Um… Miss Rachel?”
Rachel noticed me. Without saying a word, she bowed her head.
For someone who had waited a full five hours, her expression didn’t seem to have changed at all. But judging by the way her lips were subtly jutting out and the corners of her eyes were lifted like a cat’s, she was definitely sulking.
Of course she would be. She had waited five whole hours.
“I’m sorry. I’m really late, aren’t I? Something suddenly came up.”
I sidled over to her.
Rachel greeted me with a subtle smile.
“You look like you were sleeping.”
Rachel glanced at my hair. I ran a hand through it. Yeah, my hair was definitely a bird’s nest right now.
“But it’s fine. I just got here too.”
“······Pardon? Ah······. Ahem. I’m sorry. First, just a moment.”
Her tone made it clear she was sulking.
I asked while pointlessly stretching.
“Since I’m so late, I’ll get straight to it. Um, you asked about barriers, right, Rachel?”
Rachel silently nodded.
“But before I teach you barriers····· how about you try following my training method first?”
“Pardon?”
“Ah, well, you know how everyone has different ways of training. One way to overcome a slump is to change your method. What works for me might work for you too, Rachel.”
At my hurried, rambling explanation, Rachel’s face became rather prim.
“We could just take our time tomorrow······.”
“No, no. First, sit down on the ground in a lotus position.”
A lotus position.
Rachel tilted her head, not knowing what that meant, so I showed her.
“Sit like me.”
“Ah. Yes.”
Rachel sat cross-legged on the ground.
“And try spreading the mana inside your body throughout your whole body. This is called ‘opening the meridians’······.”
I spouted nonsense I’d only ever seen in martial arts novels and didn’t understand myself, and made Rachel do it. Without a single complaint, Rachel began to focus on controlling the mana inside her body. A faint blue light seeped out beyond her skin.
“Good. Keep going, just like that.”
I encouraged her while gauging her reaction.
“And now, try moving all the mana you’ve drawn up throughout your body into your left wrist. After your left wrist, we’ll sweep through all the extremities of your body, but first, start with the left wrist.”
This moment was the most important.
The left wrist.
This training, which would otherwise yield nothing, would become the finest training the moment her mana tore off the bracelet fastened around her left wrist.
“Put strength into your left wrist there, strength. Like you’re releasing mana.”
Rustle, rustle.
The bracelet began to tremble from the vibration of mana. However, the spirit powder inside the bracelet showed no sign of spilling out, and Rachel’s face turned as red as a tomato.
“A little more. A bit stronger. Think of it as breaking the bracelet on your left wrist······.”
The longer I spoke, the stronger Rachel’s trembling became. The movement of her mana grew even more violent in response, and before long······
Snap—
The bracelet broke.
Then the spirit powder inside it slowly began to pour out.
End
Spirit powder flowed down from the broken bracelet. The powder fluttered softly and seeped into Rachel’s mana.
However, Rachel did not notice that small, quiet change, and simply concentrated all her nerves on the movement of mana within her body.
“Now to your right wrist.......”
I had her circulate her mana throughout her whole body so that she wouldn’t suspect anything. Following my words, Rachel began her breathing circulation.
From her left wrist to her right wrist, from her right wrist to her ankles....... And finally, to the crown of her head.
Before long, Rachel’s entire body was drenched in sweat.
“.......Haa. Haa.”
“It’s always hard the first time.”
Even as I said it, I found myself ridiculous. Someone like me giving advice to someone with a potential of 9 to 9.5.
But it probably wasn’t a completely ineffective form of training. It was the warm-up meditation breathing that Kim Suho did every day, after all.
“All right. Then next...........”
In any case, the powder had fully seeped into Rachel’s body.
However, for the powder to settle and for Rachel to enjoy its effects, proper exercise was necessary.
“Now stand up.”
Rachel now, at last