Chapter 140

Chapter 140

Unlocked chapter (3/11)

[Windless Day (5)]

A child I dont need.

Why did I even give birth to you?

My mother would say things like that out loud.

She was someone who longed for Fathers love so much that she said she had me to regain his attention.

But Father never accepted Mother.

On Fathers birthday, Mother, all dressed up, took me to Fathers mansion.

The emotion Father showed us there was contempt.

Father had the face of someone seeing a cockroach, surrounded by a beautiful wife and cute children.

After that incident, mother rarely came home, and when she did, she would come in drunk and swear at me.

She said I was worse than a dog, that I was only there to be fed.

Why the hell were you born?

I dont need someone like you.

Im sorry, Ill do better.

Ill listen to mom, and I wont be a picky eater.

So please dont throw me away.

It was a tearful scene.

I hadnt done anything wrong.

I was just scared that my mother, that woman, would leave me behind.

She meant the world to me.

But despite my tearful pleas, she never came home.

The last I heard of her was that she had been killed by a monster one day during a terrible snowstorm.

If I hadnt been lucky enough to enter the orphanage, there would have been nothing I could have done.

Seoyoung, what kind of person do you want to become?

I want to be a player, someone who can help others.

When I came to the orphanage, I wanted to be someone who could help someone.

I wanted to be a player who fights monsters to protect people.

I wanted to be a player.

A hero who saves people.

As if this was my destiny, I had a power stronger than anyone else.

The power to protect someone.

The power to save someone.

But the reality and the ideal were different.

The Academy was a brutal world.

People envied those better than them, bullied the weaker ones, and exploited the kind-hearted. While it might be true for any world, their world, where death was always close, didnt hide desire and malice.

It was a challenging world for those who aspired to protect people from monsters.

I had to acknowledge that not all players had a sense of duty as humanitys protectors.

Eventually, my willpower waned with each passing day.

People pointed fingers and criticized me for wanting to be a protector of people.

I was bullied, harassed, and taken advantage of.

The only thing that kept me going was my oppa.

I knew that if I tried hard enough, maybe the others would change someday.

There are not only bad people in the academy, there are also many good people.

Who wanted to be a hero, to save someone.

Someone who didnt give in to evil and didnt hesitate to do what they thought was right.

Someone who could say something was wrong when it felt wrong, or absurd when it felt absurd.

He was my idol, the person I wanted to be.

So I supported him as he graduated from the academy and went out into the world.

I hoped he could save countless people.

Eventually, I graduated from the academy as well.

The world was harsher than I thought it would be.

There were times when I had to kill someone to protect someone, and there were times when I had to lose someone to save someone.

Ive had people Ive helped resent and criticize me.

Why didnt you show up and save them sooner?

If I had arrived sooner, their family wouldnt have died.

That it was the only way to save them.

The reality was different.

As time went on, I became exhausted. I became helpless.

If I hadnt met my oppa back then, I might not be who I am today.

Sung-joon oppa?

Long time no see. How have you been?

Two years after he graduated from the academy.

We met again in the midst of ruins.

The oppa I met again was a shadowy figure.

Surely he had experienced much during our separation.

Two years were both short and long.

We learned that the world is not as beautiful as we thought it was.

How have you been doing in the meantime?

I can see youve been through a lot.

What happened to you?

Can you tell me?

Still, my oppa hasnt given up on his faith.

His face, like ashes that had been overturned, showed a smile not much different from the past.

Back then, I realized that my oppa hadnt given up on his conviction that he wasnt wrong.

Dont cry. Why are you crying?

Theres something I want to do.

I have a lot of work to do.

Wont you help me?

Tears rolled down my cheeks.

I was so ashamed of myself for giving in to reality, but at the same time, I was glad he needed me.

He seemed to understand what I was going through, and I felt comforted that I wasnt wrong.

What are you talking about?

You havent changed at all. You havent done anything wrong.

You did well.

I only have my oppa.

Please look at me.

Please dont abandon me.

Shin Seo-young.

As a player, she was strong, but in love, she was endlessly weak.

Decades of time shaped her that way.

The top floor of Uijeongbu City Hall.

Everything was in ashes.

The entire floor bore only blackened traces, a testament to the fierce battle that had taken place.

Persistent bastard.

Kang Hyuncheol, who had extinguished the remaining embers, lay sprawled on the ground.

Fourth-tier Liger Swallow.

After a battle involving more than ten players ranked A or higher, they had finally managed to eliminate him.

Everyone did their part, and no one died.

Bring some water over here!

Hey, snap out of it! Its all over!

Ive run out of mana. Please bring some potions.

Bang Yeon-ji Sublord, over here!

Well, I need to make aloe vera. We need plants with enough moisture.

There were some injured, though.

He shifted his gaze away from the busy people.

In the direction hed turned, navigators were gathering data from the Liger Swallower.

Blaze Clan lord. Isnt it hot?

What do you mean, its not hot at all.

Im telling you to be careful next time.

What? What do you mean.

At that moment, Clan Lord Do wanjun approached.

He wiped the sweat from the nape of his neck and pointed his finger at the people nearby.

All of them had fought in the battlefield.

All of them were wiping their sweat with towels and gulping down water.

I dont know about your clanmates, but the rest of us, including me, must have felt like we were in a steam bath from the energy you gave off.

Ah.

The supporters deployed magic to block the heat.

But as the battle raged on, even their protective magic was not enough to keep the heat at bay.

His clanmates were used to the heat, but others felt like they were dealing with both heat and monsters.

But you cant withstand this?

I dont think there are many supporters in the country who can handle your strength.

Oh, no. Theres also a player here, Bang Yeon-ji.

You and Bang Yeon-ji are not compatible. Do you think a plant can withstand fire?

Kang Hyun-chul nodded absentmindedly.

As Do Wanjun had said, he and Bang Yeon-ji were incompatible in magic.

Besides, she was only skilled in auxiliary magic using plants, not a versatile practitioner of support system magic like Park Hye-rim.

If we hadnt had the smoke screen, some people would have died from the heat.

Do Wan-jun pointed to a player being carried out on a stretcher.

He had apparently passed out from the heat.

Well, its probably because your magic is stronger than before.

I admit it.

Kang Hyun-chul.

He was a man who burned the stronger the opponent.

This time was no different. Against the Liger Swallower, he realized that he had gotten stronger.

Its good to be strong but, please, cant you look at the situation calmly like Lee Do-jin.

Why is his name coming up here!

Kang Hyun-chul shouted.

<Brainwave> Lee Do-jin.

A friend and rival who had become a Twelve at the same age as him.

Anyway, good job.

Well, thank you.

The monster that ruled Uijeongbu City Hall was defeated.

Now all that remained was to eliminate the monsters around the city hall and wait for Division Cs supply.

Before they arrived, tehyd take anything that might be of value.

It was a victors right.

The corners of their mouths lifted in agreement.

It was then.

Meow.

A cat was sitting by the window.

It crossed its legs and licked its front paws.

Looks like Uijeongbu isnt just for monsters. There are cats too.

Kang Hyun-chul looked at the cat with a newfound sense of wonder.

The cat, which had been wagging its tail, made eye contact with him.

Its nose glistened like a cobalt blue jewel.

It was a mysterious cat that gave off a mystical vibe.

Meow, meow.

The cat meowed.

The players, including him, chuckled. Some of them even rummaged through their pockets, perhaps to offer it some food.

But its quite unusual, isnt it?

What do you mean?

He asked Do Wanjun, who had been gesturing for the cat to come over and scratching his nose.

How did the cat get up here?

Maybe it came up the stairs.

Thats possible. It could have, but how is it surviving in this heat?

Oh, now that you mention it

Kang Hyuncheols eyes widened.

Meow.

The cat leaped out of the window.