Chapter 257 - Tournament Chapter (5)
Chapter 257 – Tournament Chapter (5)
Editor: Tide, Reksatan
[Park Jung-ah]
“Can I be honest?”
[Sure.]
I didn’t know what was wrong with me. Maybe I was too excited about receiving the ring. As if I were drunk, I began to talk about a topic that I usually wouldn’t even think about.
“I know I don’t deserve it. If I go to Earth right now, the families of those who died under my hands will hunt me down. I thought I was right, but now I’m aware that I wasn’t.”
I wanted to say what I wanted briefly, but this was just the beginning of a long excuse that started to tumble out of my mouth. I couldn’t help it because I had already been deprived of my honor.
“I used the excuse that what I did was for the people, so I decided to live the rest of my life for people with penitence.”
Kim Min-hyuk once told me something. Had he said it on the day of the agreement? He said I had two jobs. The first, to catch and kill criminals, and the second, to protect people.
Of course, the job that meant more to me was the latter, and the former was only used to support the latter. Kim Min-hyuk had asked me not to justify my actions by saying I was protecting people. Instead of deceiving yourself by using excuses, try to distinguish between the two jobs, and work sincerely. The meaning was sincere, the words I said were kind, but in the end, it only revealed my desire to kill the criminals.
I already knew my true nature, so I wasn’t confident that I could live outside with my head raised.
I imitated Kim Min-hyuk’s words and proclaimed that I would remain in the Tutorial for the rest of my life and take charge of the Order of Vigilance, claiming that I’d do the same as him. When Ho-jae was trapped on the 60th floor while I was close to finishing the floors, I felt sick. When Lee Yeon-hee appeared and began cruising toward the 60th floor, I cheered for her, but I was nervous.
When Kim Min-hyuk went outside, I felt something change. In the end, everything would change over time, and everyone remaining in the Tutorial would go out one by one, and I’d be left here all alone. It was unfortunate, but it was inevitable. I thought it was something I had to endure.
But time passed. When a man’s cunning heart sprouts a new desire, perhaps by itself, it erases his past deeds. Ever since the buried passion had sprouted out in my heart, its presence had been increasing rapidly.
“Now, I want to go outside, too.”
[You can still go out.] Ho-jae softly whispered as if it were natural. As if there were no problems with my wishes.
“I want to meet you.”
I wanted to meet him, talk face to face, and walk around together. After a few short days, I wanted to feel relieved by his side. I wanted to have him by my side. If he wouldn’t stay willingly, I was willing to chase him around.
[We’ll be able to meet soon.]
* * * * * *
[Hochi]
“You did a great job. Well done.”
“No, I’ll come back tomorrow morning.”
I greeted Baek Sung-woong, who stood in front of the door. Today, Baek Sung-woong had a tough day. I could assure you that today would have been more difficult for Baek Sung-woong if Yong-yong hadn’t been there when the bear suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
After visiting their headquarters, we were guided to our accommodation. Yong-yong, who finished organizing his furniture and decorations in the quarters, insisted that the room was now cleaned up, so he wanted to go outside again. His demand was out of the blue for me, who was about to sleep, and for Baek Sung-woong, who was returning to his quarters.
I persuaded Yong-yong to rest today and play tomorrow, but it didn’t work. Eventually, me and Baek Sung-woong had to take Yong-yong around the streets. The streets were like a market. Countless people roamed, and some sold delicious snacks or items.
I had no choice but to look back, keeping an eye on Yong-yong. Yong-yong, who looked around excitedly, wanted to buy things. However, Yong-yong, who had no items for people to use or any currency distributed by the Order of Vigilance, could not buy anything. Sometimes I got some snacks that people gave me because Yong-yong was cute, but it wasn’t enough to fill Yong-yong’s desire.
Baek Sung-woong suggested asking the Order of Vigilance for some money, but I refused because I didn’t know how much Yong-yong would spend. All the items in the market wouldn’t be enough to satisfy Yong-yong’s greed. After all, the boy was a dragon.
I briefly explained business transactions before Yong-yong, who heard the discussion, proudly declared that he would buy the goods he wanted by himself.
His proclamation stunned me into silence. At this point, I didn’t think I’d be surprised if the sky suddenly collapsed upon us. Fortunately, Yong-yong’s bedtime allowed him to postpone the reckless challenge to tomorrow, but in the end, his business would begin tomorrow.
“Haah. Isn’t this too much.”
I wished I could talk to Ho-jae, but I couldn’t get any advice after I gave the ring to Park Jung-ah. Like Yong-yong, the new items and experiences made me excited. Everything around us seemed to be full of ignorance and unfamiliarity. But, those experiences weren’t just exciting, they were tiring.
Knock knock.
Someone knocked on the door. It was Park Jung-ah. I wondered the reason for her visit, but then I recalled her saying she would come over this evening. I stood up to open the door.
* * * * * *
“Shall we go to another room and drink?” Park Jung-ah asked, looking at Yong-yong, who was dozing off on my lap. Then Yong-yong, who had his eyes closed, shook his head.
“Let’s just drink it here,” I said sheepishly.
As soon as I and Park Jung-ah sat face to face at the table, Yong-yong got out of bed and sat on my lap. He seemed to want to join. He was sleepy enough to doze off on my lap, but I guess he didn’t want to sleep alone in bed.
“The child must have been very tired.”
“Ah, yes.”
Tired? Yong-yong doesn’t sleep just because he’s tired. Basically, the dragon species was a species that slept on its own. Therefore, they hibernate for months or years.
Previously, when Yong-yong entered his first sleep cycle, I and Ho-jae decided to come up with measures to deal with it. Every day without Yong-yong was so boring and depressing. Ho-jae took steps to help Yong-yong sleep little by little every day. Since then, Yong-yong has been forced to sleep for several hours a day.
“By the way, the interior is a bit girly. Was it supposed to be like this?” Park Jung-ah asked, looking around the room. I knew what she meant. The room was painted pink, and the furniture that decorated the interior was covered in lace. I let her know that it was Yong-yong’s handmade furniture and decorations.
“Oh, really? Well she’s a girl, so I guess she’d like it this way,” she murmured.
“What? Yong-yong is a boy.”
“What?” Park Jung-ah asked. “What are you talking about?”
“Yong-yong is a boy. Male. You know, XY Chromosome. Not a daughter, but a son.”
“What?” Park Jung-ah had serious doubts about Yong-yong’s gender, but I made it clear that the interior design was Yong-yong’s personal taste and that his gender should not even be involved.
The reaction was worse than I thought. Park Jung-ah seemed to be beyond embarrassed. From Ho-jae’s perspective, I knew Yong-yong’s taste was very feminine, but was that something to be so serious about? I didn’t know.
“What about Ho-jae? Did he say anything with the ring?”
“Yes, we were talking about it earlier, but he said he’d stop by the 61st floor in the evening. I haven’t heard from him since.”
The 61st floor? It was impossible. No matter how little my technical understanding is, I could see that Park Jung-ah’s words weren’t making sense. The 61st floor was already in Hojae’s domain. Whether he was on the 60th floor or the 61st floor, it would have nothing to do with communication.
Then why did he suddenly stop communicating? Did he really have something to do? Or did he not want to join the conversation between Park Jung-ah and me? First of all, I decided to move as I had wanted.
“Oh, and you can take it easy. Think of me as Ho-jae’s brother.”
In fact, it was better to speak informally and treat her comfortably. It was discomforting to be given an honor that I didn’t deserve, and to top it off, Park Jung-ah was much older than me in terms of age.
“Yes, I will.”
I could see why this woman fitted well with a crazy guy like Ho-jae.
We drank together in a somewhat harmonious atmosphere.
Park Jung-ah confidently said, “This is the most powerful drink ever developed.” No matter how good it was, I drank all I wanted, but I couldn’t feel any intoxication. On the contrary, Park Jung-ah got drunk quickly.
Park Jung-ah tried to speed up the conversation before she was too drunk to hear my thoughts. What Park Jung-ah wanted to ask me was related to Ho-jae.
“How do you and Ho-Jae get along?”
“How do we get along?”
“Yes. I’ve been told through messages and the ring, but I still want to know more. How do you get along with him?”
Maybe this question caused Ho-jae to cut off communication. Maybe he was pretending that he couldn’t listen to Park Jung-ah so that she can ask me this question comfortably.
“We’re doing fine. We get along better than you think. We usually eat together, teach Yong-yong, and spend the rest of our time focusing on research. I was unstable and had a hard time, but I’ve gotten a lot better recently. It’s better now.”
Park Jung-ah listened carefully as if she was trying to memorize what I said. She also told me a little about what had happened in the past, and we shared some anecdotes that we liked.
When I heard as much as I wanted to hear, or when I was satisfied with Park Jung-ah’s face, I asked her a question too. There was always a question I was curious about.
“But why did you two have a bad relationship?”
Ho-jae didn’t explain well. When I was born, the two were already at odds. I had been confused by the inconsistent memories and the facts that remained in my head.
“There are several reasons. First of all, I turned down all the requests.”
“Requests?”
Park Jung-ah said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t talk about this.”
The underlying tone in her words suggested that it’d be better to ask Ho-jae myself.
“That’s why we got estranged the first time, and since then, I kept on instigating fights. I was angry and disappointed.”
The requests seemed to be a big deal, and it occurred to me that even if I asked Ho-jae directly, I would probably not be able to hear the answer.
“Then I threw a stone.”
“A stone?” I asked her out of the blue, but she ignored me and continued her drunk rambling.
“In the past, I overheard him talking in the second tournament. I didn’t know who he was talking to. I thought he was talking to himself back then, but now that I think about it, it seems like he was having a conversation with the sword he had at the time. It was kind of weird to talk about that with a sword.”
It was a scene in my memory. One day, Ho-jae once revealed his innermost feelings next to Park Jung-ah, who was asleep.
“I’ve always been anxious. I wonder if the existence of my feelings means little to him. Maybe our relationship doesn’t mean much to him, contrary to what I think.”
Before I could even recall my memory, Park Jung-ah continued her words. She was already mumbling to herself, not caring at all.
“So I threw it, thinking that the stone I threw could cause a stir in the lake. It was a stupid idea, but it worked. I was happy to see him get angry at me as well, instead of breaking our relationship, but on the other hand I was also upset.”
It was strange.
“It’s strange, isn’t it? It was then that I got even more furious and swore at him to stir a reaction. Maybe I thought a reaction would provide proof that he still cared about me.”
I had no idea what she was rambling about.
(Note from Imagine: Ho-Chi doesn’t get it because he supposedly should have all the memories of Ho-Jae and yet he doesn’t understand nor does he have any idea what shes talking about)
“Anyway, I apologize on behalf of Ho-jae. I don’t have all the details, but it’s probably Hojae’s fault anyway,” I reassured Park Jung-ah, and she burst into laughter upon hearing my words. “If there’s anything I can do for you, just let me know. I’ll help you with anything.”
“Really?” she asked.
“Of course.”
* * * * * *
It was relaxing. I thought Park Jung-ah was drunk enough to forget everything. The problem was that Park Jung-ah still remembered my words and did not forget my promise.
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[In 100 seconds, the duel will begin. Both participants are informed to get ready for the duel and please stand by.]
[Tournament – Duel Stage, Round 1 will begin shortly]
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