Chapter 763: Black Butterfly (1)
“You’re saying I’m asleep right now?”
“And yet here you are, walking around just fine. More importantly, what about Crescent Moon? She can’t watch you or anything, right?”
Park Hayul hummed, shut his eyes, and bobbed his head for a moment before shaking it.
“She’s not involved with this world at all.”
“Really? You’re sure?”
“Yep. I told you, I’m the owner of this world! I’m stronger now, and I’m still getting stronger, so there’s no way I wouldn’t know. More powerful people keep coming in, too~.”
More powerful people? Don’t tell me actual incarnations had already arrived, not just servants of transcendents.
“How long was I out? Can you tell what’s happening outside?”
“Uh, around two hours? I don’t know the details, but I think they’re fighting.”
Two hours. I hurriedly pulled up my status window and checked the names with the keyword applied. Thankfully, everyone was safe…
“What?”
[Park Hayul(?)]
Park Hayul’s name had been added to the list of completed targets. What the hell? I had used the keyword on him before, but it had definitely been rejected. I stared at Hayul. He just smiled at me with that blank, innocent face of his. He looked completely clueless.
‘I can’t exactly ask him.’
Had the caregiver-type skill someone else had placed on Park Hayul been canceled, letting my keyword apply afterward? Did I mumble something in my sleep about loving him? I couldn’t even tell if this was good or bad.
“…Hayul. Have you ever suddenly thought of me as, I don’t know, some kind of parent or guardian?”
“Sure! When you showed up to save me!”
“I see.”
Then it probably wasn’t because his feelings had changed. I’d checked my status window every so often because of Noah, and I didn’t think Hayul’s name had been there. Though with Noah’s name sitting near the top, maybe I’d just missed it.
‘His rank is a question mark.’
He’d be well above S-rank. If he really had gotten stronger, was he around L-rank now? An ugly thought surfaced before I could stop it. Twice the power of an L-rank. Park Hayul looked at me like a dog waiting for its owner to throw the ball.
“…You really are something.”
“Why?”
His voice was so artlessly innocent it practically said, What did I do this time? A sigh slipped out of me. If this had been back when he was running around trying to kill the S-ranks around me, including Yuhyun, I wouldn’t have needed to think twice.
“I really didn’t want you to be the one teaching me that people are complicated and can change.”
“I used to work in entertainment, remember? Of course I’m complicated~.”
Park Hayul sounded weirdly proud of himself. What was he even talking about? If I used Final Recompense on him, I could probably solve problem after problem that had piled up around us. But I couldn’t do that. Setting my conscience aside, if Park Hayul disappeared, this world itself might be thrown into chaos, and…
Ah. Right.
“The Breeding Facility has probably turned into a battlefield by now. Are you okay?”
“I’m asleep, remember? This is basically my dream, and if I’m asleep on top of that, who’s going to touch me? Crescent Moon’s control doesn’t work on me while I’m sleeping.”
So he was dreaming inside a dream and getting double protection out of it. Either way, it meant he was safe. It also meant killing Park Hayul was impossible. Honestly, that made things easier. Still… if the target of Final Recompense died of natural causes, would it activate? Not that there was any chance of that. I was just wondering.
“Hayul, if your power doubled right now, would you be stronger than a transcendent?”
“Mm, probably not? You said transcendents are insanely strong. Crescent Moon let me get a tiny taste of it, and yeah, no chance. Maybe if I got ten times stronger?”
“…That much?”
Even if he was only the seed of a transcendent, that was still a huge gap. Of course, there was a world of difference between a seed and a fully grown tree, but ten times? Or was Crescent Moon unusually powerful? She was one of the very few ancient transcendents, so maybe that was it.
“She felt like… a world way bigger than me.”
“Well, there are people who became transcendents by swallowing their own worlds.”
I set the recompense skill aside for now. To be honest, even if the target had been someone like Cho Hwawoon instead of Park Hayul, I still would’ve hated using it. No good ever came from inheriting the power and memories of the dead, no matter who they were.
“Hayul, while you’re asleep, can’t you affect the outside world at all?”
“I don’t think so? But I don’t really understand my powers, so I’m not sure.”
“You say that with a lot of confidence. Still, this is your world. Can’t you at least look around while you sleep? Try feeling for it.”
“Mm… ugh… mmmmm!”
Park Hayul threw both arms high into the air and strained dramatically. I could feel the clumsy stir of mana. Compared to the S-ranks, he was barely taking his first steps.
“…I’m going to use a skill on you, so don’t resist it. Just take it.”
Even though the rank limit on my teacher skill had gone up, I wasn’t sure it would work on Park Hayul. But maybe because this wasn’t reality, it did. I shared his senses and slowly guided his awkward mana.
“At your level, you can break past the normal limits of skills. In your world, you can do anything.”
“Anything?”
“First, look at your world. The mana flowing through it, the movement inside it. You’ve done something similar while awake, right? It’s the same thing now.”
Even without sight reaching it, you could sense the world itself. Park Hayul nodded, saying he could see it.
“Should I make a screen?”
“Yeah. Start with where I am.”
A window appeared. I saw myself lying on the sofa. Peace was sprawled on the floor below it, and around us was a familiar living room. Our old house.
‘Yuhyun.’
My little brother stood motionless in the middle of the room. He held the Ruler’s Sword in one hand. Ready to draw at any moment.
“Seeing him like this, he really does feel different from the little brother I saw earlier. You feel different too, hyung. Not because of your age. Just… the vibe.”
A shadow lay over Yuhyun’s face, so still it was almost expressionless.
“Want me to wake you up? I think I can manage that much.”
“…No. If I wake up now, Yuhyun will just knock me out again. Just keep the window open.”
I couldn’t see Yerim, but Peace was there. If a servant came near the house, Yuhyun would probably leave me with Peace and go out to fight alone. Better to wake up then. Right now, I’d just be pinned down before I could try anything else. He had exactly that kind of look on his face.
“How are the others? What about Yerim?”
“One second.”
A new window appeared. Rain was pouring down. The heavy sheet of it actually put me at ease. Water was an advantageous element not just for Yerim, but for Seong Hyunjae too.
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA—!
A huge body skidded across the road, gouging a long trench through the asphalt. The head that rose from the rubble looked almost human. A spear shot toward it. The servant’s sword knocked Moon Hyunah’s spear aside, but at the same instant, the pooled rainwater beneath its feet flash-froze into a slick sheet of ice. The servant’s balance wavered for the briefest instant. The deflected spear spun in midair and the shaft slammed hard into the armored chest.
[Good! You hit it properly that time!]
Ms. Hyunah shouted. Surrounded by blade-like shards of ice, Yerim nodded and calmly scanned the area.
[Mister not being here makes this harder.]
[Still, you’re doing great!]
At Yerim’s mutter, Sanho clapped enthusiastically. Pulling in the rainwater around her, Yerim smiled faintly.
[Your teacher skill was ridiculously convenient.]
Blades of ice rained down along the servant’s retreat path. At the same time, Moon Hyunah chased after it. One ice blade barely skimmed her arm. A crease formed between Yerim’s brows. Without the help of my teacher skill, her aim wasn’t perfect anymore. But she was doing well.
‘She’s had a lot of practice by now.’
Even without the skill, she’d built up the experience to recall that sensation, predict the enemy’s movements, and adjust her timing. She’d be fine without me. That made me proud… and a little sad too.
‘Her defense is solid too, using mist and ice shards. And the range on Cold Sigh has gotten wider.’
KWA-RUMBLE! Thunder rolled somewhere in the distance. Seong Hyunjae. Thinking about him still shoveling magic stones down his throat made me frown, but it wasn’t as if I wanted him getting taken out by a servant either.
“Hayul.”
Park Hayul quickly created another screen. He was starting to seem a little useful. Seong Hyunjae came into view. He was not in good shape.
“Looks like the Sesung Guild Master’s having a hard time too.”
His hair was disheveled and his clothes were torn. His arm looked fine now, but judging from the amount of blood still staining it, he’d suffered a major injury earlier. At that level, it had probably been nearly… severed.
“His face is still intact, though.”
His expression, at least, showed no sign of strain. Chains revolved slowly around him. The area in every direction was ruins. It was supposed to be central Seoul, somewhere I should have known at a glance, but it was impossible to tell where we even were anymore. A short distance away, I spotted Chief Song Taewon. He wasn’t in good shape either. A broken sword was stuck upright at his feet. Next to it lay a torn-off reptilian forearm.
[You’re no pushover after all.]
A newly arrived servant looked at Seong Hyunjae as it spoke. In response, those gold eyes turned toward it. The gaze was dry, detached, the kind you’d give not to a person but to some disposable object you’d use once and toss aside. To Seong Hyunjae, that thing probably didn’t register as much more than another magic stone. Maybe the servant picked up on that, because its long-split mouth stretched open. The electricity coiling through the chains intensified. Then light exploded.
‘That has to be chewing through mana.’
Even if he’d stocked up on potions. Yerim would be fine, more or less, with the rain, but Seong Hyunjae…
Ah.
“Hayul!”
“Yes?”
“Can’t you control the weather?”
“The weather? Hyung, what do you think I am, some kind of go… well, kind of, I guess.”
“You made this world. And there are already storm clouds everywhere, plus it’s naturally the kind of weather where lightning could strike.”
“Hyung, do you like lightning?”
“…I don’t hate it, but do you seriously think that’s why I’m asking?”
Just like Yerim used less mana when she had access to rain, rivers, or the sea, the same principle applied to other attributes. Wind-related skills got easier in strong winds, fire skills got stronger in a blaze, and Seong Hyunjae’s attribute was electricity. Sure, he could probably use artificial power too, but there was no way the electrical grid was intact in a situation like this. And even industrial-grade current wasn’t all that impressive. Lightning was different. I’d definitely heard that the current in an actual strike was monstrous.
“Can’t you do something? Think of it as sleep-talking.”
“I think maybe I could if you help me… Since there are already clouds and rain. But how do you even make lightning happen?”
“Look it up. You should be able to search for information too.”
Information brought in from our world was part of this one too. Saying he needed to concentrate, Park Hayul laid a carpet out on the floor and sat cross-legged on it. Thirty seconds later he complained that it was uncomfortable and flopped onto his stomach.
“Just sit in a chair. There you go. Good. Nice, nice.”
I even clapped for him a little. Encouraged by my praise, Park Hayul focused harder. His mana began moving in a steady current. On the other side of the screen, the clouds filling the sky gradually darkened. Black masses swelled and twisted, gathering thicker and thicker until—
KWA-KWANG!
They spat out light. Lightning struck nearby, and Seong Hyunjae looked up at the sky. Rainwater glimmered in his gold eyes as they blinked.
“…That man, honestly.”
He was looking straight at the screen. Our eyes met. There was no way he’d actually noticed, right? I told myself it had to be coincidence, but the absurdly sharp Sesung Guild Master immediately drove a spear made entirely of metal, shaft and all, straight into the ground. Then he signaled Chief Song to fall back.
“Hayul, there.”
Toward that spear. The servant fighting Seong Hyunjae flared the spines covering its body. Around it, the ground melted into a dark red sludge. Seong Hyunjae stood perfectly still. Park Hayul moved his mana. The black clouds writhed overhead, and just as the servant kicked off from the soggy ground—
KWA-RRRRUMBLE!
A colossal lightning strike crashed down. The bolt speared toward the planted lance, and at the same moment Seong Hyunjae thrust his hand into the pillar of current. The entire screen vanished in white light. Then came the faint metallic rustle of chain after chain, and the blinding brightness slowly receded.
“Whoa, it got completely blown away!”
It looked like hundreds of bombs had gone off. Everything around them had been cleanly swept away. The servant was still visible, tattered and on the verge of death. In the middle of it, Seong Hyunjae was the only one still standing.
“Good. Keep supporting them like this. Even when I’m not around. Yuhyun’s still the same, right?”
“But hyung. While I was making the lightning, I took a closer look at my world, and I found something.”
Park Hayul told me what he’d discovered.
“That’s…”
Right. Of course. This world was—
I grabbed Park Hayul by the hand.
“Hayul, I need one more favor.”
Think of it as paying for your sins and work hard for me. Then maybe I’ll consider reducing your hyung sentence, or even granting a special pardon.
The sky roared. This time, it wasn’t the influence of a transcendent. Between the black clouds came the low, repeated sound of something like a beast growling. Light flickered between them.
“What happened?”
Having taken cover, Song Taewon approached Seong Hyunjae and asked the question. He too seemed to have realized that the lightning just now hadn’t been natural. Sweeping his rain-soaked hair back from where it clung to his skin, Seong Hyunjae looked up at the sky.
“How many people could it possibly be?”
“…Don’t tell me it’s Han Yujin. But how would he even be doing this?”
“Who knows. He’s Han Yujin.”
Surprising, and yet not surprising at all. His memories of Han Yujin were full of things exactly like this. At Seong Hyunjae’s answer, Song Taewon’s face darkened. Was Han Yujin overexerting himself again?
“This does make things easier. Thoughtful of him, too.”
“They’re getting stronger.”
The rain. And the newcomers arriving one after another. They could feel a new path opening toward this world. The two men turned their eyes to the same place.
–TL Notes–
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