“Back here again, huh?”
While quietly sitting and gazing at the sky, I heard a voice calling my name from behind.
I didn’t need to turn around to know who it was.
The voice, the magical signature, the subtle aura... it was all too familiar.
I heard footsteps approaching and felt someone sit down next to me.
“......”
For a while, there was a silence. Occasionally, distant roars from monsters would strike my eardrums. As I let my thoughts drift away with the noise, I felt a gaze flicker toward me from the side.
I glanced sideways without turning my head fully.
A woman with brown hair tied in a messy bun, her green eyes, filled with clear signs of tension and concern, stood out. She had a striking appearance.
Lee Jiyeon, the heir to Taesan.
“Hmm... well...”
Her voice trailed off, a bit hesitant, as she glanced at me and tried to figure out what to say.
“What’s up? Is there something you want to say?”
“No, just... I thought I’d give you some space to cool off.”
Since the Guhwa had calmed down, I patiently waited, and Lee Jiyeon, still wary, asked me.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Yeah, it’s fine now. The Taesan effect works well.”
The troublesome Guhwa had quieted down, and now Taesan was making its presence known.
The fiery emotions that had raged earlier had completely settled, and I was left with a sense of peace rising unexpectedly.
If Changae had triggered, though... I would have just felt cold.
‘Really, I’m like a walking bipolar disorder.’
I couldn’t help but chuckle at that thought.
Guhwa, Changae, and Taesan. The three unique abilities cycle through, or sometimes appear together, and each time they do, it feels like my emotions are being manipulated.
One moment I’m filled with rage, charging at everything like a mad dog, then I’m suddenly exhausted and crumbling to the ground, and then I’m back to being calm, normal, and collected before it all descends again... I must be a madman.
“...Taesan...”
As I muttered that with a bitter smile, Lee Jiyeon’s expression grew serious.
She hesitated for a moment, then seemed to gather herself and spoke with determination.
“I got carried away earlier. There was no need to react so harshly, and I let my temper get the better of me... It was my fault, I’m sorry.”
Gone was the awkwardness from before, replaced with a voice that sounded steady and resolved.
Her tension and worry were still visible, but she didn’t shy away from meeting my gaze.
I studied her eyes for a moment, then, feeling awkward, turned my head away to avoid her stare.
“You don’t have to apologize. It’s my fault, really. I couldn’t control the side effects, so I snapped.”
“No, that’s not it. I should have stayed calm, knowing the situation. I’m the one at fault for not handling it...”
“Alright, alright... let's just agree that we both made mistakes.”
For a while, we kept bickering back and forth, arguing about who was at fault, but eventually, it felt pointless.
What were we even doing?
“Heh.”
I shook my head at how silly it all felt, and I heard a small laugh from beside me.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing.”
I raised an eyebrow and asked again, and Lee Jiyeon giggled and shook her head.
I stared at her for a moment before turning the topic away.
“Anyway, that’s enough of that. How’s the situation outside? Is it still the same?”
“Yeah... it’s still the same.”
The moment I asked about the situation outside, Lee Jiyeon’s laughter abruptly stopped.
Her face aged by what seemed like ten years as she shook her head, and I could easily guess what was going on outside.
“Oh dear.”
It was clear that things were still a mess. I sighed deeply in response.
This was exactly the kind of situation I had feared when I started attending Siyoram.
In the end, in a place packed with people and surveillance devices, my abilities were used recklessly.
As a result, the unique abilities of the Three Great Families were exposed to the world... and it caused chaos.
Unrelated factions were stirred up, and especially the Three Great Families were completely shaken.
The memories of being swept up in the center of that chaos made my body shudder. It was a painful memory I didn’t want to recall.
In the end, I had to retreat and settle down in the magical battlefield area.
At least no one would dare to come to the magical battlefield, right?
‘Huh...’
I couldn’t say I had no regrets... but one thing was clear. If I could go back, I would still do the same.
If I hadn’t used my abilities back then, everyone I could have saved would have died.
I saved them because I used my powers.
Of course, some might laugh and call it meaningless.
...Maybe I think it was meaningless too.
“......”
No matter how much I struggled, the chances of stopping the Tower’s invasion were slim, and even if we won, it would probably be in vain.
‘Tch...’
I knew that, but I still couldn’t just sit back.
If it was an impossible task, I would have accepted it.
If it was a hopeless delusion I couldn’t achieve no matter how hard I tried, I would have given up and resigned myself.
But it was right there.
Within my reach, just a little further, someone could still be saved.
I couldn’t turn away with excuses of it being meaningless, especially when there were so many people like that.
So I asked myself again.
If they weren’t fake, if this world wouldn’t disappear in vain and would continue...
If I turned my back and lived like a dead man, doing nothing, avoiding doing anything.
Then, when one day someone asked if I had the right to feel wronged, I wouldn’t be able to answer without hesitation, “Yes.”
That’s why I was fighting like this.
Not just for others, but so I could be proud of myself.
When the day comes that I am wronged and treated unfairly, I want to be able to say without hesitation that I never lived a life that deserved to be treated that way.
It may be an ideal that’s far too high for my abilities.
I have the desire, but no means to achieve it.
I’ve sought power far beyond my limits, becoming a mental wreck as emotions rise and fall.
And yet, there are very few successes, and so many who I couldn’t save.
“Junior, you’re digging another hole.”
“?”
“Why? Did Guhwa flare up again?”
A hand suddenly pressed against my cheek. When I turned, the fingers dug deeper, and Lee Jiyeon’s concerned face appeared in my view.
“It’s nothing.”
“Nothing? Your face says otherwise, you’re obviously lost in thought.”
“It’s nothing.”
“I don’t know what’s bothering you, but...”
As I tried to evade the hand poking at my cheek and stood up, Lee Jiyeon followed and got up as well.
“If you need help, just say the word. You’ve helped me a lot already, right? I’ll help you with everything I’ve got. Don’t worry, as you know, I’m a pretty capable person.”
Lee Jiyeon said this with an air of confidence, much different from the cautious attitude she had shown earlier.
“......”
People are really confusing.
Sometimes they seem so reliable, and other times they act like nervous wrecks... People really show many sides, but Lee Jiyeon’s tendencies seem to stand out strongly.
That’s what makes her more likable. Especially when she acts like a nervous wreck, I can’t help but feel a strange sense of solidarity.
Maybe the reason we became close so quickly was because, when Lee Jiyeon realized I had manifested Taesan, she showed this unexpectedly awkward side, making me feel more comfortable with her. It made my heart open to her.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freёwebnovel.com.
So, I really hope this person doesn’t die. If the future continues, I want her to be happy.
With a strange expression, I swatted her hand away from my rear.
“I’m stronger than you. And don’t touch my butt.”
“What? I didn’t touch your butt! I just brushed off some dust!”
With a loud smack, Lee Jiyeon, who had been swatted away, looked at me with an astonished expression and shouted.
“Oh... Can you spare some time later? I have something to tell you.”
After a while of grumbling, Lee Jiyeon slumped down, then, sighing deeply, looked at me again, asking with a more serious tone.
I tilted my head.
“Is it really that important? Just tell me now.”
“No, I’ll tell you later. It’s something I need to prepare for mentally.”
“Prepare mentally? Fine, I’ll stop by once more and make time afterward.”
I responded casually, but for some reason, Lee Jiyeon insisted on waiting until later.
She promised to make time after we returned from the magical battlefield.
“But it might take a bit of time. I need to wrap things up first.”
“Okay, I’ll wait.”
Hearing her promise to make time, Lee Jiyeon finally smiled faintly, as if relieved.
[HP has reached 0.] [Player is dead.] [Bad End 4 - Death in the "Magic Battlefield Core."] [Calculating Data.]
[Round: 3rd] [Choice Setting: Vessel] [System Title: "Three Ends"] [Cause of Death: Self-destructive reaction between unique abilities.]
“...Shit? Hayul~”
My consciousness, submerged deep, slowly resurfaced.
My ears, which had felt muffled like I was underwater, cleared up, and I heard someone calling my name.
[Eh?] [Huh?] [Sluggish...] [Three Ends] [Delusion] [Sorrow]
My awareness came back.
My senses returned. Soon, a cool sensation spread from the soft thing my body was pressed against.
Above me, I heard a voice, and it seemed like Baek Arin was calling my name.
[Eh?]
[Yes... what’s going on?]
Still groggy from waking up, I responded in a daze.
I pulled my head from the soft body and glanced around.
Soon, I saw Baek Arin’s face with a strange expression.
Her blue eyes stared at my face... alternately glancing at the necklace of confession and my lips, then grabbing a tissue from beside her and rubbing it on my lips.
Confused, I tilted my head. Why was she suddenly doing this? As I wondered, the tissue became moist.
‘?’
A question mark appeared above my head. The tissue that had been wiping my lips continued rubbing, and moisture spread from it.
“Ugh, it’s all wet.”
Baek Arin, with a tender expression, wiped my lips and glanced down at my face.
My face, still groggy and blank, was wiped with the tissue, and Baek Arin smiled lightly.
She took a new tissue and wiped the dampness from her chest.
The place where I had been burying my face just a moment ago.
‘Oh...’
As my groggy mind pieced everything together, it clicked.
The image of me with my mouth open as I was asleep, the moisture coming from my lips, and Baek Arin’s chest...
It all fell into place.
My face instantly turned bright red, full of various shades of red.
“You were drooling in your sleep. You really slept well, huh?”
With that final blow, Baek Arin playfully patted my rear with a mischievous expression.
My face dropped in embarrassment.
While traveling to the lecture hall, Lee Jiyeon suddenly narrowed her eyes.
A tickling sensation arose in her nose. She tried to hold it in, but it wasn’t going as planned.
"Ah, a-choo!"
She sneezed loudly, her body jerking as the sound overtook the surroundings.
Her friends nearby looked at her with wide eyes.
"What’s that? Jiyeon, what happened? Did you catch a cold?"
"If the Taesan user is sneezing, then we’re all probably dead, right?"
"Haha! Look at that sneeze! So cute."
"N-no..."
Her friends, who had been bored until then, pounced on her like a bunch of little pests, teasing her immediately.
Lee Jiyeon, who was used to being teased, sighed and pouted under the barrage of jokes.