hotmtlnovel Chapter 157
Chapter 157
1.
Today, like every day, tens of thousands of space orphans are cast into the void, and Ha Eung Eung steps out of the virtual reality capsule.
The motion of removing the hair clinging to her forehead has become a familiar habit.
When playing the game in the narrow capsule, she would unknowingly sweat, causing her hair to stick together.
‘Sweating doesn’t necessarily mean it smells bad, though.’
It’s different from before, when she would play computer games for hours on end, possessed by the game’s world.
It’s different from the days when, after finishing the game, there was no one to meet and nothing to hear but the hum of the computer and the noises of the living room.
‘How laughable.’
Is she feeling loneliness?
The realization that she might be experiencing a shift in her emotions surprises even herself.
‘Compared to my days in the martial world, this is nothing.’
It had been so difficult.
She had wanted to escape so badly.
But unlike the occasional desire to return to the martial world, she never once wished to go back to her days as a man.
She knows.
She had lost her family in an accident, but even if she could get them back,
she couldn’t claim that the bonds forged in the martial world were any less precious.
She had spent so many long years there that she couldn’t even assert that.
‘It’s the same, but different times.’
20 years as a man.
20 years in the martial world.
Though the time that passed was the same, the density of that time was completely different.
‘A weakness that longs for connection, despite having been wounded by so many bonds. Is it that no matter how powerful I become, I can never break free of my ties to the past?’
At times like these, she remembers the back of one man’s head.
The strongest martial artist who severed all worldly ties with his own hands,
and opened the gates to the Heavenly Realm.
‘How I envy his strength.’
Now, only after all the struggles in the martial world have passed, does she truly understand the greatness of that man.
His greatness wasn’t solely in his unrivaled power.
He was able to rule as the absolute being on Earth.
If he wished, he could have united the world beneath his rule.
He was the only man with the potential to achieve the grand dream of conquering the heavens, a feat even the Demon King couldn’t accomplish.
He discarded all that power,
all the bonds of those who followed him,
and all the riches and pleasures of the world,
and ascended to the Heavenly Realm with a single cut.
‘I understand now. His mental strength, unaffected by bonds. I envied that.’
He, who wouldn’t feel the suffocating pain in his chest when loneliness occasionally arrived.
He, who could remain unbothered even in solitude, savoring his solitude without grief.
‘I, too, left the martial world behind and severed my own bonds. But unlike him, I did not continue fighting to become the strongest.’
She only wanted to escape to modern Earth.
Her body may have left for rest, but her heart couldn’t lie.
Loneliness.
Sadness.
Both feelings stem from this knowledge.
But she cannot afford to weaken.
The founder of the Haenam faction and now the guild leader of Haenam,
just as she remembers the back of a man,
there are now disciples who look to her, determined to follow in her footsteps.
‘A family head and a master cannot show weakness.’
No matter how sad, she must not show tears before her disciples.
No matter how difficult, she must not let out a sigh before her children.
When a family head falls, when a master falls,
the family wavers, and the disciples falter.
Su...
With a deep breath, she suppresses the heavy emotions inside her.
As the depth of her thoughts settles,
she opens the door of the room.
It’s done.
Now she could stand firm.
She had returned to her usual self.
It was time to go and perform the ritual for Ayeong.
Suppressing the melancholy with her strong sense of responsibility, she stopped in her tracks with a stunned expression at the scene unfolding outside the door.
“Guild Leader! Are you okay?”
It was Woo Jiwoo.
[Mr. Woo Jiwoo. Who are these people...?]
This was some solid advice.
“Woo Jiwoo was very surprised, you should thank him separately.”
Baek Socheon, holding a fan, casually pointed toward the garden.
Still worried, Woo Jiwoo could be seen peeking from a distance.
Ha Eung Eung immediately went to find him.
[Thank you, Jiwoo.]
Woo Jiwoo, who had been flustered for a moment, soon lowered his head with a sad face.
“It’s nothing... In the end, I wasn’t any help. I’m sorry for causing you trouble with my overreaction.”
[The manager told me. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have been able to find the doctors this quickly.]
Though Woo Jiwoo hadn’t been much help in terms of his position as a guild officer, his loyalty was unquestionable.
If it weren’t for him, she would never have met So Gyeongseok, and through So Gyeongseok, never have come to know Shinseonggak.
‘My connection with Jiwoo wouldn’t have started if I hadn’t met Ayeong, but I owe him a lot already.’
Before the guild’s power expanded like it is now, Woo Jiwoo’s dedication, traveling outside every day to contribute to the association, was something Ha Eung Eung still remembered.
[If Jiwoo is okay with it, I’d like to repay you. Do you have any wishes?]
Ha Eung Eung’s repayment.
The wish she wanted to offer to her first love.
Woo Jiwoo’s heart raced as his thoughts ran wild.
[If you can’t think of anything right away, don’t force yourself to come up with something.]
[Just let me know when you do.]
3.
"You're bad, Unni."
Ha Eung Eung, who had come to Ayeong's apartment to get her tattoo, realized she couldn’t leave until she answered the questions Ayeong asked her after holding onto her.
Ayeong, insisting on knowing what kind of fuss had happened, kept pressing Ha Eung Eung with questions. Ha Eung Eung, realizing she wouldn't be released until she answered, reluctantly began telling her what had happened.
After hearing the entire story, Ayeong scolded her.
"You know Jiwoo Oppa likes you. Why would you say something like that? He won’t even be able to sleep at night."
Realizing too late that her words might have caused a misunderstanding or given Jiwoo some hope, Ha Eung Eung blinked awkwardly. She felt embarrassed and picked up her notebook.
[That wasn’t what I meant.]
Feeling flustered, Ha Eung Eung was staring down at the notebook when Ayeong let out a small laugh.
"I was just joking. I got a little upset when I heard you got hurt in the game, so I teased you."
[You're so mean.]
"Well, if I’d heard you were really hurt, I wouldn’t have been so worried. But you were just fine after the diagnosis, weren’t you?"
Ayeong made a dissatisfied face.
"I would have been less worried if you’d just told me you were actually hurt."
[Did you want me to be hurt?]
"You’ve already reached the end point, haven’t you? If you were fine, hearing that you’re healthy means you must have been deceiving everyone."
While everyone else, including the doctors and healing-class awakened ones, had been easily deceived by Ha Eung Eung’s unknown methods,
Ayeong, who knew her condition, was not fooled.
"That’s why I’m more worried about you."