Once I returned to the room, the broken glass was cleaned up, and bandages and medicine were on the table. I carefully treated my injured arm and took out a piece of paper and a pen. I needed to objectively summarize my situation.
First of all, Cheon Sa-yeon’s order. It had to be accomplished. If I didn’t follow the progress of the original novel, there may be some discrepancies, and right now I was not in a position to openly defy Cheon Sa-yeon. Atlthough deep inside, I wanted to get rid of everyone, but I couldn’t because my body could feel pain and I would just be beaten up. Cheon Sa-yeon was a villainous boss who had neither blood nor tears, so if I disobeyed his orders, he would surely punish me.
It was right to keep an eye on him, at least until I found a place to hide. I moved the pen.
「1. Any pain or sensation in the body feels normal. Death seems possible.
2. I have to take into account whatever happened before if I want to be comfortable.
3. I need a way to break off the relationship with Cheon Sa-yeon.」
I wrote this far and laid back as simply tossing a pen. Leaning back on the sofa, I thought. I had to go to the ‘Empress of Red Flames’ tomorrow and kidnap her, but there were so many things I didn’t know.
“…I don’t know how to use my abilities.”
I was confident that I could handle a knife or a gun well, but with just that, there was no way I could threaten and kidnap someone who could freely handle fire.
I looked down at my empty hands. It reminded me of my original hands, which were not very good-looking, full of scars and bumpy bones. In comparison, Han Yi-gyeol’s hands were much smaller, whiter, and slender… They really did seem like ‘delicate hands’.
However, this pretty hand showed no sign of Han Yi-gyeol’s wind ability. In the novel, he was able to skillfully handle wind with one hand. I looked at my open palms for a while until exhaustion crept up and I laid down on the bed. I didn’t do anything, yet I was already so tired.
‘What the hell did I do to be under that guy’s command?’
I clicked my tongue. I remembered my past life, where I was growing up as an orphan and struggling to live. If I had the ability to control wind, I would have had a much more comfortable and free life. In the first place, Han Yi-gyeol was forcibly tied to him because of his younger sister.
…In fact, I couldn’t understand even that because I’ve never had anything like a younger sibling in my past life.
I closed my eyes, leaving behind the unpleasant thoughts. In an instant, my consciousness clouded and darkness fell.
* * *
“Ugh… Ugh…”
His eyes were blurry. Hot tears were flowing down his face, and his hands on the grey rough cement floor were dirty and stained. He was barely able to raise his head as he pleaded with a trembling voice.
“Please, stay… with me…”
“How persistent.”
The voice that cut off his words was cold. A look of contempt on his face as he looked down.
Pretty lips opened. “Han Yi-gyeol.”
“I said it clearly. I used your sister as an excuse all this time, but that’s over now. Your little sister is dead and you’re useless.”
“……”
“If you understand, don’t show up again. If I see you one more time…”
Without finishing his words, he turned his back away from him. The back that Han Yi-gyeol stared at was moving away as he grabbed his trembling chest.
“Oh, no… no, I…”
What if you leave too? How can I live alone?
It was painful, as if his chest had been mutilated. Tears poured out of his eyes and blurred his vision. He forced his trembling body to stretch out a hand, but even the hem of his robe could not be touched.
“No, please… Please, take me. I will do anything.”
“Take him away.”
“Yes.”
His arms were caught by a strong force. He reflexively gathered the wind at his fingertips to shake them off, but in the end, he couldn’t do anything. He was afraid that he would be hated even more if he rebelled here—even though he knew it was already too late.
“Huh, huh, ah… please…”
Please, please.
Please…
* * *
My eyes shot open.
“Please…”
I muttered involuntarily and got up. As I suddenly lowered my head, tears fell on the blanket. My stomach was churning and my body was hot. Ugh, I groaned and ran my hand over my face. It was wet and I felt dirty.
“Ha, Cheon Sa-yeon… that asshole.”
To be shedding precious tears for that guy. Angrily, I threw off my clothes and went into the bathroom to turn on the water. After taking a cold shower, I felt a little better. I checked the time and saw it was just past 11 am.
I put on my bathrobe and drank water as I thought quietly.
‘Why did I suddenly have that dream?’
The part where Cheon Sa-yeon abandoned Han Yi-gyeol was in the middle of the novel. It was a dream that did not fit the current situation.
“I don’t know.”
I put down my glass of water and sighed. It was easier to just skip questions that you couldn’t find an answer to, and there were some things I needed to check.
I raised my hand and flexed my fingers. For a brief moment, there was a moment in my dream where Han Yi-gyeol tried to use his powers, a strange sensation of something cold running through his body. I had to follow it.
As I closed my eyes and focused, I felt something cool in my heart, to my surprise—it was like smoke and water. The energy that had gathered in my heart began to move as I wanted it to. As energy flowed through my arms and into my hands, I heard the sound of the wind whistling like it had been written in the novel.
I opened my eyes and pointed to the glass of water with my hand. Then, the water in the cup floated into the air in the shape of a whirlpool. It was strange, yet so easy.
‘If I hadn’t dreamed about it, it would have been more difficult to find out.’
Still, I was glad I now know how to use it. I wanted to test the magnitude of the force a little more, but I couldn’t make a mess inside the hotel room, so I’d have to go outside. Well, I could also kidnap the ‘Empress of Red Flames’ while I’m at it.
* * *
I ordered room service for lunch. Since it was the room that Cheon Sa-yeon gave me, I deliberately ordered the most expensive one. As the master of a well-known guild, the cost would probably just be a drop of an ocean to him.*
While waiting for lunch, I turned on the TV and the news came on. The news is the best way to find out what was going on in the world, so I watched it with interest. I widened my eyes at the voice of the announcer that followed.
[The ‘Empress of Red Flames’ Cha Soo-yeon, who went out for reconnaissance in the G7 area, is returning today. Most of the G7 area is inhabited by B-rank monsters, but the area is so wide that it isn’t easy to understand. She is expected to come out of the gate around 3 pm, and the guild is currently…]
I carefully looked at the picture next to the announcer. A woman with red hair, dark eyes, and slightly raised lips. Who cares if it was a male-oriented novel. She was an incredible beauty.
Cha Soo-yeon. It was definitely a name I saw in the novel. She appeared a few times in the beginning, but she was one of the supporting actors who did not appear in the second half. I didn’t think she had such a strong personality…
When the announcer’s explanation was finished, the screen changed and the reporter at the gate of the G7 area started the on-site broadcast. The gate was crowded with reporters and Cha Soo-yeon’s guild members. I had to take Cha Soo-yeon out of there and kidnap her? This was driving me crazy.
Room service arrived when the on-site broadcast was over as it moved on to the next news story. After enjoying the expensive food, I changed into the clothes prepared by Cheon Sa-yeon and took my wallet. No matter how crazy it is, I had to go to the G7 area gate.
I wondered if at least one guard would follow me, but there was no one in the hallway. I came out of the hotel by myself and brushed the back of my hair.
You thought that I wouldn’t be able to run away because I had a younger sister. Well, I was fine.
This world I encountered was much more ordinary than I thought. There were no flying cars or monsters roaming the streets or anything like that. Come to think of it, in the novel, it said that there was one ability user among a thousand people. Even within those numbers, abilities varied according to rank, so there were very few people with the ability to enter the gate where monsters inhabited.
“This is beyond me.”
I walked down the street, stroking my bandaged wrist. I wanted to check how strong my ability was, but the world was so peaceful. If you used your ability here, you could be arrested by the police.
As I was contemplating what to do, I heard a sharp scream from the other side of the road.
“Fire! The building is on fire!”
“……”
Should I call this an opportunity?
*drop in an ocean to him. 개미 더듬이만큼도안 되겠지만. Literally “ant’s antennae”
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