◈ Episode 494. A Peculiar Conference (1)
Since when had it been?
That our youngest, Hoyeol, had become an adult.
Even as she quickened her pace, she looked back on her memories.
The precious youngest son of a daughter in a wealthy family. Hoyeol, who had grown up receiving plenty of love from the elders of the household in a relatively comfortable environment, had no wrinkles, no shadows to speak of.
At least until he entered middle school.
To be precise…….
Yes, it must have been around his second year of middle school.
That Hoyeol started coming home unusually early.
At first, I wondered if the new game, the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent, was that much fun. If not, perhaps he was acting diligent to keep an eye on Dad.
Thinking back on it now still makes me laugh.
"……
Dad really was impossible to stop."
It was an ordinary household.
Mom probably complained that it wasn't just a game but a money-eating machine, asking if he really had to let Hoyeol play it, right? I can still vividly picture Dad being flustered in front of the stubborn Lady Choi.
—"Huh? I bought it instead of going to the field."
—"Then what about the golf clubs you bought not long ago?"
—"Those? Of course I have to sell them!"
Just what was this Chronicles of the Arcana Continent?
I wondered what could make him give up even his love for golf.
Dad had added this:
—"A hobby rich fathers and sons enjoy together. You like that too, don't you?"
However, Dad's dream never came true.
Because the business on the verge of expansion began to waver at its foundations. It was an obvious story, but Father, who had been frantically running around putting out fires here and there, had no leisure to play the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent.
'And so Hoyeol had it all to himself.'
But that was only temporary.
A few months later, the family's fortunes completely collapsed, and red stickers were plastered all over the house. Hoyeol had played the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent for only about those few months.
Perhaps it started from then.
A year apart, just one grade below.
That was when I started worrying about Hoyeol, who attended the same middle school.
The reason I had pretended not to know all that time?
"We treated each other like enemies, so how could I pretend to know him?"
And so, one by one, I came to learn.
The reason Hoyeol's return home had become so unusually early.
In the process, I unintentionally became the subject of misunderstandings around me, but…….
—"Whoa. That noona was Lee Hoyeol's noona?"
—"If I had known that…… Back 'then'……!"
—"Hey, shut up. Just pretend you don't know, you idiot!"
Even so, my heart wasn't at ease.
Perhaps that vague discomfort from back then had remained in a corner of my heart even now, more than a decade later, to the point that I thought so.
Lee Yerim muttered bitterly.
"Because you never fully opened up to us until the very end, did you?"
Lee Hoyeol.
You certainly became an adult back then.
Because after that, no matter how hard it was, you never showed it on your face.
So I pretended not to know as well.
Imagining myself proudly telling that heaven-like noona who helped you, knowingly or unknowingly, to thank her properly.
However.
"……
Like a fool, I kept pretending not to know all this time."
Only now did she realize.
That such a day would probably never come.
Born from the same womb.
How could we be so different?
Lee Yerim muttered.
"If things are hard, you should spread rumors, like me……."
Shhk.
Lee Yerim looked at the cracked smartphone screen on the asphalt.
There were still several months of installments left…….
Still, it was a relief that it turned on.
Beneath the streaked screen, articles were visible.
—[Breaking News] Rumors of Lee Hoyeol's death were true!
—[Breaking News] A miracle of resurrection? The power of the World Tree? Still shrouded in mystery.
—[Breaking News] AAU official: "Resurrection and death may not happen only once."
"……."
Even looking at it again, the strength seemed to drain from her grip. But Lee Yerim bit down hard. Perhaps she could endure it because she had already suspected.
"Because it doesn't make sense for something like this not to happen."
Even if she didn't know about things like the Chronicles of the Arcana Continent.
She was well aware of what dangers the players were exposed to.
She also knew that strength did not guarantee their lives.
Dmitri, was it?
A famous American player as well.
He had left the world not long ago, completely unexpectedly.
Lee Yerim laughed bitterly.
"I knew you weren't showing it."
So she too pretended not to know, as in the past, and turned a blind eye.
Because if Hoyeol wished for them not to know.
She wanted to pretend not to know as he desired.
"But……."
Not anymore.
If she just stood by and watched like that.
She felt she would be the one to crumble first.
'……
Mom, Dad, and my unnies must have found out too.'
What Hoyeol had been going through all this time.
Not from the mouth of the person himself, Hoyeol, but through the mouths of others.
Unlike herself, who had suspected.
The shock might be indescribable.
So Lee Yerim hurried her steps.
Toward her parents' shop, which they might have closed early due to the shock.
It was as expected.
Lee Yerim swallowed a sigh.
"Seriously……."──────Warm and Friendly Dumplings──────The signboard lights were not on. The blinds were drawn, so the interior was not visible either. Worry suddenly welled up. Normally, Mom or Dad would have contacted her first…….
Thump, thump.
"Mom, Dad!"
She rushed over and knocked on the closed door.
Then, movement was felt from inside.
But something was strange.
Beyond the blinds.
Looking at the fleetingly visible shadow.
It definitely seemed like someone had been sitting in a chair and stood up…….
'……
What?'
There was no screeching sound of a chair being dragged.
No, beyond that.
A sense of déjà vu was felt from the size and shape of the shadow.
As if she had seen it somewhere many times before?
"Welcome, Noona."……
It was Hoyeol!
As the door opened, the face of her one and only younger brother she had been thinking about until just now was right before her eyes. And at that moment, Lee Yerim was secretly surprised at the change in her own emotions.
She had thought he would be endlessly lonely. Given Hoyeol's personality of not revealing everything even to his family, it should have been impossible for him to confide his worries to someone.
She had thought, in the common phrase, that Hoyeol was shouldering a heavy burden alone.
That he had overworked himself so much that, as the news claimed, he had breathed his last in the Arcana Continent…….
But why was it?
"You……?"
The moment she faced Hoyeol.
Those worries melted away like snow.
Because of his upright, almost imposing posture?
No, it wasn't that.
She couldn't express it in words, but…….
"I am sorry to have caused you worry."
There were still no wrinkles, no shadows on Hoyeol's face.
As if he was not alone.
Only then did it register in Lee Yerim's eyes.
"Huh?"
A face no citizen of the Republic of Korea could fail to recognize.
The face of Nam Taemin, the guild master of Gaon, Korea's premier guild.
He spoke while raising his hand politely.
"Mother, could we perhaps have all the remaining dumplings?"
……
What was this situation?
Lee Yerim belatedly grasped the situation.
'So this is……?'
Our Hoyeol brought a friend—no, a colleague?!*Nam Cheolmin was sweating profusely.
"No, Mother! This isn't why we came……! No, we'll help ourselves and eat. These days everything is self-service, isn't it? No, I'm really worried you'll get sick doing this!"
On top of that.
He awkwardly stood up and scuffled with Lady Choi Ganghee over the tray.
He was probably reading the room.
I turned my gaze to look at the table stacked high with plates. Since Nam Cheolmin and I had put down our chopsticks long ago, there was no need to say whose stomach all those dumplings had disappeared into.
"This handiwork……!!"
It was Nam Taemin.
If asked how the Nam brothers had found [Warm and Friendly Dumplings], where my parents were.
It was because I couldn't refuse them.
'You guys are all too formal even when you try to be formal.'
They had requested so politely that I could hardly refuse.
"Sit down, Cheolmin. I'm still healthy."
Our Lady Choi made Nam Cheolmin even more at a loss.
I imagine at this point there is a question to be thrown at me. Where did the filial son who sends letters of greeting every dawn go, and am I still making my parents suffer?
But it's not like I didn't try to stop them.
Our Lady Choi, who cheerfully set down a plate.
"We're keeping this place alive out of stubbornness. If we accept help from Cheolmin, our Hoyeol won't have anything to say, will he? So for Hoyeol's sake, please sit down."
"Oh dear, Mother……!"
Perhaps because my name was mentioned?
Nam Cheolmin finally sat down. Even as he sat, he sent a resentful glance toward his younger brother, Nam Taemin. Because the more dumplings Nam Taemin inhaled, the more work there was for Lady Choi.
"Huh? Hyung, if you don't eat, I'm eating it all?"
Of course, the reason-impaired Nam Taemin didn't notice.
I understand; our father's handiwork is quite something.
Moreover, he must not have eaten properly due to repeated battles.
In the end, the resigned Nam Cheolmin whispered to me.
"Suddenly. I am truly sorry. I have no face to show you, Mr. Hoyeol……."
I replied.
"You need not apologize."
"No. No matter what……!"
"This too is pride."
……
Yes, it was pride.──────Warm and Friendly Dumplings──────
Wasn't this ordinary dumpling shop the very pride that our President Lee Junwook and Lady Choi Ganghee had protected all this time? The two of them had kneaded dumplings here to rebuild the collapsed household and raise us four siblings.
That was also the reason I couldn't bring myself to simply stop them.
However.
'……
Can't you at least keep the deep talk inside?'
At my words.
Was it because of my parents' pride?
A sniffling sound suddenly came from the kitchen.
In fact, if that were all, I wouldn't have even said anything.
The late-arriving uninvited guest, Lee Yerim.
Was glaring at me from the table next to me.
Because I had said something embarrassing in this situation.
'……
This is another way to die, seriously.'
I already had much to say to Mom and Dad.
The world had gone crazy, literally.
With the news of my resurrection.
That was precisely why.
I had headed straight home as soon as my schedule ended.
'Just what business do they have?'
But as I said, the Nam brothers had requested to accompany me.
Listening to their story and sending them back was the priority.
I looked at Nam Taemin.
'And how much did he miss this handiwork.'
There, wasn't that his fifth bowl of dumpling soup already?
Of course, considering his size, it wasn't an incomprehensible amount of food.
But since he showed no sign of putting down his spoon, I opened my mouth.
"Etiquette must vary according to time and place."
Meaning, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.
"Speak comfortably."
There is no rule at our 'Warm and Friendly Dumplings' against talking during meals.
Nam Cheolmin, who had been at a loss.
He finally swallowed a sigh and opened his mouth.
"Is it because this kid can't eat home-cooked food usually……? Once again, I apologize for everything. But I wonder if it is appropriate to have this conversation here."
As he spoke, Nam Cheolmin uttered a name.
"Jeong Hantaek……."
At those words, a crashing sound rang out from the quiet kitchen.
"……
Jeong Hantaek? President Jeong Hantaek?!"
"Honey, please be quiet!"
"Oh my, I was surprised for no reason."
Nam Cheolmin said there was no need to apologize to Father.
He quickly waved his hand.
And then continued seriously.
"No. Father, Mother, this is a story you must eventually know as well."
"……
Ah, is that so?"
"Hoho, well then, I'm glad."
A story that our parents too must know.
So it was not a story related to the Arcana Continent.
If so, there was even more reason to listen carefully.
'Perhaps a perspective Granfell and I are not familiar with.'
The President of the Republic of Korea, Jeong Hantaek.
Now that his name had come up.
There was a high probability that this was a story about reality.
That was right.
The capital of the Republic of Korea.
Now that Seoul had become a land of anomaly, fused with the Arcana Continent.
"Commander-in-Chief, from now on, upheaval will occur in Seoul."
The pride of the Republic of Korea.
Gaon's guild master and brain seemed intent, from this time onward, on discussing the fate that awaited me and Seoul.
And since 'Warm and Friendly Dumplings', whose owners were my parents, had taken root in Seoul, they naturally could not avoid being caught up in the upheaval, and thus were conveying a story that could not be overlooked.
Nam Cheolmin continued.
"That is right. Perhaps Seoul……."
I chewed over the projected scenarios he laid out.
If it was indeed the human nature I had seen all this time.
The world might very well do such things and more.
But there was no need to worry from now.
To me, Seoul was my hometown, nothing more and nothing less.
But in such a Seoul, there was nothing other than my parents' pride. As long as 'Warm and Friendly Dumplings' existed.
I, Lee Hoyeol.
And Granfell, whose filial piety was even more terrible than mine.
Our opinions could not help but align.
"It is simple."
I said calmly.
"I shall become the master of Seoul."
"……?!!"