Everyone in the Chae family’s dojo marveled at my cooking. My cooking was even served to Chae Joochul and he gave it a rare, “It tastes good.”
“Even grandfather said it was good. It’s my first time hearing him say that!” Chae Nayun exclaimed.
“He was probably just being nice,” I replied.
I was walking along the Mount Baekdu trail with Chae Nayun under the bright blue sky. Mount Baekdu was definitely not the best place to take a leisurely stroll, but a stroll felt different depending on who you were walking with.
“No, I’m serious. It’s my first time seeing my grandfather's eyes get so big!” Chae Nayun exclaimed.
She discussed some stuff with Chae Joochul for around four hours. I was quite curious about what they talked about.
“So… did he make a decision?” I asked.
“Huh? Oh… That is…” Chae Nayun muttered before she puffed her cheeks and walked ahead.
She walked for a bit before she sat on a boulder at the edge of a cliff.
I hurried after her and sat down as well.
“… That medicine. He said he’ll take it when we’re together… but I’m scared. I don’t know what kind of person Grandfather will be if he gets a portion of his emotions back. I don’t know at all…” she said in a low voice.
Chae Nayun looked at me with troubled eyes, “… Is it because I have something to lose now?”
She smiled and leaned on my shoulder.
We were sitting right in front of the clouds within arm’s length and underneath us were the lush overgrown forests of Mount Baekdu.
I caressed her shoulder and replied, “It’ll all be alright.”
She looked up at me and I couldn’t resist not hugging her since she looked so cute. A baseless confidence suddenly welled up inside of me from who knows where and I said, “I’m not someone who will be easily lost.”
I felt my fingers and toes cringe at my own line, but she laughed in response.
That was more than enough for me. Her laughter and smile were now the most important thing in my life.
“I believe you. I believe,” she said while snickering and holding my hand.
I held her hand with the resolve to never let go.
We both looked at the scenery in front of us. She was enjoying the sight, but I saw the world from a different perspective.
The change that started from her spread throughout the world and changed me. It changed me because this world used to be nothing more than a novel to me, but I learned how to love someone inside it.
That was more than enough to breathe life into this novel and turn it into reality for me.
“I believe. I believe Kim Hajin.”
This incredible miracle that I would’ve never imagined in my wildest dreams just a year ago.
“I’ll believe you until the day I die.”
All of that started with this fool.
***
“I have no idea how long we’ll have to stay like this.”
Chae Jinyoon was sleeping in the VIP ward. No, a patient disguised as Chae Jinyoon was sleeping.
Chae Nayun, or rather Jain, grumbled while longing for freedom.
“Now’s when it really starts,” I passed a file to her.
Jain received the file and Yoo Yeonha immediately started to brief her.
“All instructions are in that file. Chae Jinyoon might be the most important witness in the upcoming trial, but your role is crucial as well,” Yoo Yeonha said.
Jain looked a bit bored as she browsed through the file.
I decided to get straight to the point, “You just have to become someone Kim Sukho killed in the past.”
One specific incident among all of the heinous acts Kim Sukho carried out would prove the most critical. That was the massacre he conducted four years ago to protect his position from the person who possessed the ability to take it from him.
That person definitely died that day, but Jain had met that person before they died. To be precise, it was Jain who killed that person. In turn, it would be extremely easy for her to disguise herself as that person.
“You remember what you promised, right…?” Jain asked.
We promised the Chameleon Troupe Kim Sukho’s riches in return. Although I had no idea where they planned to spend all that money.
“Don’t worry about that. Also, we have never met and will never meet in the future as you requested,” I replied.
Jain nodded in satisfaction and burned the file, “Great. That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Both Yoo Yeonha and I looked at each other. Not a hint of anxiety was in our eyes as we had done our part.
We just had to wait for the finale of this incident to come to a close.
***
January 7th.
We announced that Chae Jinyoon woke up even before the people could rejoice or feel sad about the New Year. News of the massive corruption was simultaneously reported as well.
Chae Jinyoon exposed the relationship between the association and the djinns. This led to Kim Sukho being arrested.
This event divided the association into two factions, namely the Kim Sukho Faction and the Chae Joochul Faction. The whole world was plunged into confusion because of this.
Kim Sukho vehemently defended himself that the accusations hurled at him were utter nonsense, but we had no plans to drag things out for long. We provided evidence for every excuse Kim Sukho came up with as we continued to corner him.
Not only that, the plan we came up with was put into motion without a margin of error.
We started by subjugating the djinn organization that Kim Sukho was in cahoots with.
“… Those damned brats deserve to be ground into dust and spread across the depths of hell!” Kim Sukho raged as his saliva flew all over.
He felt the back of his neck starting to get strained from the tension.
One of his lackeys asked, “What should we do?”
Kim Sukho glared at him and trembled in anger before standing up.
“Chae Joochul can’t do this to me,” he said while looking out the window.
Both of them exposed their dirty secrets to one another. This meant that both of them were in cahoots for every misdeed they committed. They justified each other’s crimes and murders for the greater good of the world. Every bit of it was sealed in a vault deep underground.
“You shouldn’t have done this… Chae Joochul…” Kim Sukho growled in anger.
There was nothing he could do from this point onwards.
‘You brought this upon yourself. I’ll bring to light everything you did and I’ll drag you to the pits of the netherworld with me…’ he thought.
Tak…
The sound of something getting cut was heard and the entire mansion became pitch-black.
Kim Sukho flinched and got down. His bodyguards immediately surrounded him.
“Please don’t worry, sir. We’re here to protect you.”
“Yes, I’m not worried at all,” Kim Sukho was at ease after hearing his henchman’s reassurance.
However, things were already in motion at a place away from his eyes…
***
“Alright, you can start now.”
“Okay.”
As expected, all the guards flocked towards Kim Sukho after the power was cut.
Chae Nayun and I used that opportunity to infiltrate the mansion’s basement.
“This place… looks like a dungeon…”
It was difficult to tell if the basement was a forest or a cave.
“What are you going to do now?” she asked.
“Hold on. Give me a second,” I replied as I infused stigma into my eyes.
My enhanced thousand-mile eyes spread throughout the entire basement and identified all of the traps. Then I finally spotted the hidden vault deep within the basement.
“I found it.”
“Oh! As expected of Kim Hajin!”
All the digital records Kim Sukho possessed were deleted with the help of Kim Hoseup and my [Hacking]. That meant those files in that hidden vault were the only copies left in this world.
“Follow me.”
“Okay!”
We ran together down the corridor.
There were all sorts of tarps such as lasers and a mutated cerberus, but we easily bypassed them with my [Hacking] and Chae Nayun’s strength.
“…”
However, someone blocked our path when the hidden vault was within reach. It was a man covered in a shroud of darkness.
“Move. It’s all over,” Chae Nayun said in a threatening voice as she wielded her sword.
The man read the words inscribed on the sword.
[One Slash To Dye Mountains and Rivers With Blood]
It was the Giant Hwando[1] of Admiral Lee Sun Shin that Chae Joochul gave to Chae Nayun as a gift.
The inscription alone gave the sword great weight and its owner’s mana allowed it to surpass its limitations. Truth be told, we could’ve barged through the front and brute-forced our way in with Chae Nayun’s strength instead of acting so clandestinely.
“…”
Still, Kim Sukho’s loyal minion didn’t back down. Instead, he muttered, “A dog does not abandon their owner…”
Those words were more than enough to tell us that he was resolved to die.
“Sure…” Chae Nayun replied as she closed her eyes and leaned forward with her sword by her side.
It was the stance that allowed her to channel all of her energy forward and end the fight in a single strike.
Bzzzt!
Chae Nayun channeled incredibly high-density mana, but her opponent didn’t retreat a single step.
The mana created threatening sparks that spread throughout the basement as Chae Nayun finally opened her eyes.
Then, the space in front of her was cut in half without a sound. That was the end of it.
“Let’s go,” she said.
I checked the pulse of the man on the ground. He wasn’t dead. No, Chae Nayun spared him on purpose.
I nodded and walked towards the vault.
The vault had six magic seals placed on it. It was a truly impressive security system. In fact, it would have taken weeks or even months to crack if I didn’t possess the gift [Hacking].
As I was about to use [Hacking] on the vault and its seal, a trap was activated.
Shwooosh!
The magic seal suddenly shot out a net that swallowed both of us.
“Uwa!”
“Kyah!”
We were stuck like fishes in a net and couldn’t help but laugh despite being in this situation.
“Hehe…”
“Haha…”
“Come here,” Chae Nayun said as she pursed her lips and approached me.
That wasn’t all. She kept touching me here and there trying to do something, but I immediately formed a blade with stigma to run away from her.
“Come here for your kissy kissy goo goo.”
“… Enough of that.”
I cut the net.
The net seemed to be some kind of ancient artifact, but stigma’s blade cut it like a hot knife through butter.
I resumed hacking the vault.
[500 SP will be consumed to supplement your lacking stigma.]
As expected, the vault’s security was top-notch and required me to use SP to crank up stigma.
Click… Clack…!
The vault opened and revealed an old accounting book slightly damp from humidity.
I carefully took the book out and could feel a hint of mana from its cover. The book turned out to be a high rank magic artifact that not only recorded the events of that day, but even the voices and images of the people present.
Chae Nayun looked over my shoulder and stuttered, “Hey… Uhm… Why don’t you keep that for now…?”
“Hmm?”
“I mean… What if grandfather betrays you and… you know, just in case…”
Chae Nayun seemed scared, but I simply smiled and shook my head.
“I want you to go and give it to your grandfather. Let’s leave it to his soon-to-return conscience.”
“…”
I passed the accounting book to her without a hint of hesitation. Chae Nayun seemed troubled by how nonchalant I was, but she soon let out a sigh of resignation and nodded.
“Yeah… Thanks… I love you…”
***
— In other news, Aileen from the Temple of Justice has run for the position of the new association chairman. Most of the people in the association seemed to be welcoming of her run as she is known to be upright and just when dealing with…
It was already March and the new school year at Cube began.
We didn’t appear on the surface until the situation was resolved. Fortunately, those named giants such as Yun Seung-Ah, Yoo Jinwoong, Aileen, Jin Seyeon, etc. took up arms instead and continued our fight for us after we ignited the initial spark.
“I heard today is the court date.”
We successfully managed to corner Kim Sukho after a grueling two month campaign, but Chae Nayun seemed a bit bitter about something as she clung to my arm.
“Yeah…”
We had no idea what defense Kim Sukho had prepared for the Association Court, but we knew that his old colleague, whom he killed, would come back to life and appear in court.
I wondered what would go through his mind once he saw his old friend, which was actually Jain in disguise.
“I couldn’t sleep these days because of that. Help me sleep, Kim Hajin.”
“Ehem…”
I simply faked a cough and didn’t respond to that. I mean, it was quite awkward for me to respond to something like that when we were in the classroom…
“Hey, Chae Nayun! Dammit… Get out! Class is starting soon. Have you two lost it?!”
The class president, Yoon Jihyun, finally burst into anger after glaring at us for a while.
Chae Nayun simply shrugged her words off as she was ranked thirty-fourth among the sophomores.
“Hey, why are we in different classes? I think someone pulled some strings from behind the scenes… this must be a conspiracy…” Chae Nayun grumbled.
It was exactly as she said. We were in different classes this year.
My luck was quite high, so it was extremely likely for us to be in the same class if it was decided at random. I suspected that the higher-ups got involved after they learned that we were dating.
“Ah… This is so annoying… Anyways, I’ll come running after classes are over,” she said with an expression that made it seem like she lost her motherland overnight.
“Sure,” I replied.
I found her pouting to be extremely cute and had to exercise superhuman self-control to stop myself from patting her head.
Ring!
I suddenly received a message on my smartwatch.
[I hope you didn’t forget. I’m currently making preparations.]
It was from Jin Sahyuk. She seemed to be quite skilled with the smartwatch these days.
I immediately replied, [Of course, I’m also done with my preparations.]
This was another crucial event. Jin Sahyuk could turn into the final boss if I failed to keep my promise.
“Oh right, Nayun,” I called as she was about to leave for her class to prevent that scary final boss from appearing.
“Why? Why? Why? Why? Whywhywhywhy?” she instantly ran back to me and unleashed a barrage of whys.
“Let’s go on a trip after classes today,” I whispered.
Today was Friday. this meant that classes would finish earlier than usual and we had the whole weekend ahead of us.
“Ah…” Chae Nayun muttered as her ears flushed red.
She failed to keep a poker face and started snickering and giggling, “S-Sure... I mean, if you… want to… hehe… I’m fine with anywhere… hehe… as long as it’s with… hehehe… you!”
Three hours later…
“Ah! Really! Damn it! This is so annoying! Why the hell are they here?!” Chae Nayun screamed and stomped in anger when the rest of the Pharmacy Club members gathered.
“I thought it would just be the two of us! I thought we were going to be alone!” she continued her tantrum.
“… What’s wrong with her?”
Kim Suho, Yi Yeonghan, Rachel, and Evandel were dumbfounded. They all blinked a few times while watching Chae Nayun throw a temper tantrum.
1. Korean traditional military sword. More info here: ☜
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