Chapter 858: The Last (91)
I hadn’t seen Lee Jihye in a long time, but surprisingly, she was the same as the last time I did.
To be honest, the thought that I was happy to see her came first in my mind.
I hadn’t been able to find a trace of her even after looking so hard, and I’d wished she was with me… a couple of times.
In this situation, I was glad that she and I were moving separately.
However, I still had some concerns.
‘What should I do if this woman has gone crazy?’
In the interim, I’d thought she was showing me a way to accomplish what I needed.
She would have devised her plan considering various variables, and if she had information from Lucifer, she would have paved the path based on that information.
Due to the circumstances, I’d felt like she was watching over me, but it was possibly not the case.
Perhaps Lee Jihye had been considering both options A and B for herself.
The option to reach out her hand and the option not to.
She wouldn’t have even considered Kim Hyunsung in the first place.
In other words, it depended on her whim.
She was rational and reasonable. If she felt that what she could get from the contract with Lucifer was greater than what we could offer, there was a possibility that she would turn her back on us. Of course, I didn’t think she’d want to clash with me, but beyond that, it was hard to predict how her whim might work.
That was the bottom line.
‘I’ll have to humor her well.’
I probably wouldn’t have imagined when I first met her.
“I honestly wouldn’t be here without her.”
It would have been the same in the first round.
“Hyejin. You’ll have to humor her well. Don’t say anything weird.”
She started contemplating what to say first.
She moved carefully as she looked around, and although they seemed to flinch for a moment—except for Sun Hee-young and Kasugano—they didn’t move.
Perhaps it was because there was no other order. The familiar person next to Lee Jihye stopped her.
-That’s enough. Don’t come any closer.
- Yeon-soo, it’s okay.
-Unnie.
-You can’t stop her even if you wanted to anyway. Acknowledging the difference between you and your opponent is a virtue.
-What? What do you mean? I… I don’t lose.
-…
-I don’t lose…
-You should listen to me.
Her villainous aura was awesome. She was the personification of charisma itself.
She was a villain.
Yeon-soo took a step back, looking enraged. Carefully nodding, Cho Hyejin quietly returned her scarf.
Lee Jihye only smiled a little, but for the spearwoman, that would seem very reassuring. At least she’d have noticed that she wasn’t hostile.
Although the atmosphere was a bit tense, she’d probably decided that Jihye had expressed a willingness to have a conversation.
Although she was worried about how to start it, she went with…
-Jihye. The demon who controlled you…
It wasn’t my favorite option.
-…
-…
- Pfff.
-…
- Fuhahaha. Our Hyejin is so naive. Did you really think a demon did that?
‘This is not good.’
“No, why are you asking that? Just get to the point. Why are you talking about demons? Just ask her to help.”
-Did you really think a demon was manipulating me? Yeon-soo, bring me some water. Pfff. This is so funny.
‘Gosh, I’m getting scared of her. She seems to be willing to go with no turning back.’
Saying that she was being manipulated was a way to change their position.
What was her purpose for saying something like that to Cho Hyejin? It was to show her drive.
-…
-…
-I did it from start to finish. I got help from many places, but that was it, and it came from my head. In general, erasing Eberia from the map, turning the continent into a dungeon, and turning Elios into a chess piece were all parts of my work. It’s hard to list them all… well, in many ways.
-Why?
-…
-Why did you go… that far…?
-Because you needed a lesson. Actually, there were many reasons, but it’s difficult to explain here. Just think of it as a whim. When you lose a dear one, you usually get overloaded with thoughts, don’t you? I just did what I had to do. What, do I look different?
‘No, really, what’s up with you? Why are you being so reckless?’
Her voice wasn’t trembling. She slowly put on the mask and quietly leaned on the backrest.
The brigade members were also quietly looking at Cho Hyejin. She didn’t want to show what she was thinking, but I thought that such a look suited her well.
As she raised her chin with her legs crossed, Ha Yeon-soo quietly came forward and blocked Cho Hyejin.
“Hyejin. Just tell him that we should catch up with each other while having a cup of coffee.”
I could see her looking at the spear as if telling me to shut up. She nodded as if she had made up her mind.
-…
-…
-No. It’s not that. You don’t look different. You are just like the Jihye I saw before.
-…
-To be honest, it’s unacceptable by my standards, but… I don’t want to judge you by it. Everyone has a different opinion… and I can understand how sad you must have been. Perhaps everyone felt the same way.
-…
-Mistakes are reversible. You are a wise person.
-I don’t regret what I’ve done.
-…
-It’s the continent, not me, which has to pay for its sins, and to be honest, it’s still not enough. I’m a selfish person and not what you think I am.
-You are affable.
‘She said affable.’
“It’s been a really long time since I last heard ‘affable.’ Really.”
It was a really sweet word. I felt impressed. Our Hyejin. Huh. She’d said that in this situation.
-In my opinion, you’re more affable than anyone else. Why did you wait for me here?
-That was your reward. Think of it as meeting the hidden boss of the dungeon. Whether or not you can get the right rewards is up to you.
-You’re not my enemy. The same goes for everyone here. We can go one step further. The Vice Guild Master said so. Of… Of course, I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. But… I can understand. To be honest, I can understand you. That’s why I want you to join us. I want you to fight with us.
-…
-I want you to give me one more chance to make up for my mistake. I hope that you will give me a chance to pick up your mistakes and capture them.
To be honest, I didn’t think those words would work with Lee Jihye. It was reckless, and I couldn’t really understand what it meant.
However, I saw her slowly taking off her mask. She was quietly looking at her.
Cho Hyejin bowed her head. She didn’t know what she meant, but she was looking at her with a sincere expression.
The expression in front of her proved to be a speechless one. Lee Jihye spoke to her.
-This is how you come out.
-What?
-I wasn’t certain, but… really… you’ve come out like this. I’m the one getting embarrassed.
-…
-You’ve really made me speechless. It would have been easier to talk to oppa. Guys, close the door. Yeon-soo, bring a cup of tea. Hee-young, you can let go of that kid. It seems that oppa was expecting this anyway. He might have been almost sure of it.
-Yeah… what?
-Lucifer’s eyes can’t reach us here. The dungeon system gave us this place as a reward. Even high-ranking people can’t see us here, so you can think of it as a legitimate bug. Well, she may feel that something weird is going on here, but she probably doesn’t know what I’m doing. Oh, can I touch that spear? Anyway, you came. To be honest, I thought you wouldn’t be able to find the hint. Of course, it was a little surprising that you came with a little kid, but… I’m glad you came.
-I… I don’t know how the heck things are going… well…
-I’m saying that you’ve come to the right place, Hyejin. Huhu. We are…
-The one who breaks the moon… the Moon…
-I told you to shut up.
-…
-We’ve been predicting this for a long time. The war against the outer gods, Lee Kiyoung’s death, and the events that followed after… the disappearance of Eberia and the continent turning into a dungeon. It’s all thanks to Yuno Kasugano from Celia.
Kasugano, who was watching the situation quietly, nodded slightly.
-It’s not like I’ve seen everything. I was able to see only a fraction, but… I can be sure that I have reached a future that leads to good results. I mean, so far.
-Yes. Kasugano is right.
-That’s what Jihye…
-Did you think I really did it?
-…
-You didn’t think that the affable me could really do such a horrific thing, did you?
-No… there’s no way… you would do that. Yeah…
-We thought we had to fix this issue beyond the reach of that demon. We had to work in the shade without revealing ourselves. It wasn’t easy, but we’ve managed to get this far for one purpose.
-What…
-The resurrection of the Son of Light.
-Is that possible?
-Yeah. It’s possible. It was Yuno Kasugano and oppa who gave me the plan. Our members and I just prepared the rail for the train to run on. We weren’t sure of the destination… It was only a fragment of his memory that we had confirmed, but with your help, we were able to get here. The continent is now running on railroads. I want to explain many things, but unfortunately, I do not have enough time to explain them all.
-That’s fortunate.
-What?
-Jihye…
-You know my temper, right?
She was really good at lying.
How could she lie like that without blinking an eye?
Hyejin had also noticed that it was a little weird, but it was confusing because Jihye was too confident.
‘It’s impressive, really.’
I wanted to say something to Jihye right away, but I couldn’t.
It seemed like things were going well, but it was a situation where I had to keep an eye on her.
Wouldn’t it be better to get a stamp before she changed her mind?
-I don’t think we have that much time left. Can I talk with oppa for a minute?”
-Ah… Yeah.
Cho Hyejin quietly gave her the spear, and Lee Jihye carefully took it.
Taking a deep breath, she seemed to want to curse, but after she closed her eyes, she held her breath again. She looked like she was thinking about what to say in a way that didn’t suit her, so I guessed I’d have to talk to her first.
“How have you been, Jihye, my love, my soul mate?”
-Of course, I’m fine, oppa, my love, my soul mate.
Her giggling face looked more trashy than ever.