Chapter 460: The Star Among Stars
Chi-Woo smacked his lips. He had no intention to give up like this because of the unknown sense of anxiety he had felt earlier. He had dealt with the monster with some difficulty, but what about afterward? For example, what if Balim retrieved it and made use of all its remaining potential to complete the experiment? Then Chi-Woo couldn’t even imagine what kind of monster would come out. Perhaps a monster that would even surpass Bael might be born. If Perfect Yoo-Joo’s words were true, there was a high chance that could happen.
Then there was only one method left—to kill this girl. It wouldn't be a bad choice. They got lucky; he could end Balim’s experiment at this place.?‘But…’ It would be too much of a shame because of Perfect Yoo-Joo’s words. Perfect Yoo-Joo had said that she had only shared her abilities to her stars before and had never once been on the receiving end. However, this girl was the only exception.
‘In exchange for training her, Perfect Yoo-Joo said she shared one of her abilities…’
If this was true, this girl would not only help Seven Stars grow, but also help him grow. This was a once in a life opportunity for Chi-Woo, who had been determined to get stronger after the great war. He wanted to turn back time, to a reality where he had arrived a little sooner and saved her. In fact, there was a way for him to do just that.
“Asha,” Chi-Woo called out. “How much Deterrence does it take to bring this monster back to its original state?” Asha, who had been sitting on Chi-Woo’s shoulder, squirmed. After a while, something similar to Asha’s will was transmitted to his mind.
‘…W-What? 30?’?Chi-Woo was shocked by Asha’s response. For reference, the amount of Blessed Luck needed to awaken Evelyn’s power was 10. Even that was astounding, but now he needed to use 30, not 20? He couldn’t help but doubt his ears and fall into thought. His remaining Blessed Luck was 76. He could use it if he wanted, and he still had merits left to replenish it. However, the question was whether the girl was worth it. A total of 30 points of Blessed Luck would be the equivalent of 150 million merits. Additionally, Chi-Woo would probably need to use Power to Rule the World later on. To put it bluntly, she had to show potential for growth that rivaled at least Ru Amuh to make up for his investment.
It was not an easy decision to make. Chi-Woo closed his eyes after some contemplation. Whenever he felt conflicted, he focused on his intuition. Then it was not difficult for him to come to a conclusion; to the point that his concerns felt pointless.?
‘She’s worth that much.’?Chi-Woo let out a hollow laugh and opened his eyes. Since the situation had gotten to this point, he believed he should consider this positively and think that he was just using the merits he would have had to use anyways to rise to Master tier. As soon as he made up his mind, Chi-Woo called out to Asha and said, “Use Deterrence and bring back this half-demon girl in her original form.”
* * *
At Shalyh. The Seven Stars’ zone was bustling with activity as the teams that had gone on an expedition returned one by one. Although they looked rugged and dirty when they returned, everyone’s expression was bright as the light baggage they had started out with became heavy upon their return. This was how a dungeon expedition was usually like. It was hard to find a proper dungeon, but once discovered, a jackpot was guaranteed. They would not only earn merits, but obtain several useful pieces of equipment. The team members were overjoyed by the rewards they reaped through this expedition. As with the first and second teams, the fourth team led by Yunael felt the same.
“It’s on me! I’ll treat everyone today, so drink until you pass out!” Yunael, whose life motto was work hard and play hard, shouted. Of course, none of her team members opposed the idea. They waved their hands in the air, saying, ‘Yay—’ Only one of them was particularly quiet.
“Aida! What are you doing? Don’t think about skipping out like usual and come join us to—?” Yunael stopped midsentence and was shocked when Aida suddenly turned around and pushed her away.
“A-Aida?” Yunael looked at her with a stunned expression, but Aida ran outside without saying anything, and barefooted at that. Yunael couldn’t hide her surprise because this was very different from the Aida she was used to seeing. After standing still for a brief moment out of shock, Yunael rushed out after Aida. Once outside, Yunael saw the other Seven Stars members, including Chi-Woo, return and stopped running; it seemed as if they had arrived a little while ago. And Aida was on her knees, hugging and caressing a girl.
“Thank you for coming. I’m really glad you’re here…” Filled with indescribably deep emotions, Aida constantly whispered to the girl.
* * *
After successfully completing their expedition, Chi-Woo returned to Shalyh, accompanied by an unknown girl. On the day they returned, Aida put herself forward to be the guardian of the unknown girl, and Chi-Woo accepted her request. Frankly, there was nothing much to being the girl’s guardian; her only role was to help the girl adjust well to the new environment. However, it was a necessary role as the girl’s condition, which was reversed with Deterrence, couldn’t be considered normal in any way. Since this wasn’t something he could do anything about right away, Chi-Woo decided to wait and see for now. Aida literally devoted herself to caring for the girl, and she hadn’t taken one step away from the girl for even a single moment since they returned.
A few days later, Aida grabbed the girl’s hand and headed to the Seven Stars cafeteria.
“Did you call for me, my lord?”
When Aida arrived, Chi-Woo asked her to sit down and serve the food he prepared. The girl sat quietly the whole time until Chi-Woo sat opposite her. Chi-Woo stared at the girl with her head down. As a half-demon, her eyes and hair were dark, but perhaps because her human blood was strong, her skin had a strong beige undertone. When using Asha’s Deterrence, Chi-Woo was shocked to see the monster return to the shape of a girl because of how thin she was. She wasn’t just skinny. At first, he had thought he was looking at a telephone pole because all her bones were visible. Moreover, on their way back…he didn't know exactly what was wrong, but she looked as if she had lost her will to live. Her eyes were like a decaying dead fish, and her face was downcast; a dark and gloomy atmosphere hung over her, and ever since she woke up, she hadn’t spoken a single word. Thus, Chi-Woo hadn’t even heard her voice, let alone found out her name.
‘It doesn’t seem like she’s lived a normal life anyway I see it…’
<User Information>
1. Name & Rank: - (☆☆☆☆☆)
2. Sex & Age: Female & 16
3. Height & Weight: 147.9 cm & 37.6kg
4. Class: -
5. Heavenly Title: -
6. Disposition: -
<Physical Attributes>
[Strength F]
[Durability F]
[Agility F]
[Stamina F]
[Mental Fortitude F]
Chi-Woo was shocked when he first saw her user information. Five stars. Her potential was five stars. Even Ru Amuh, who was an extraordinary genius, started out with four stars, so Chi-Woo couldn’t hide his surprise. However, he was disappointed by the way the girl had been acting since she woke up. Besides the fact that she didn’t have a disposition, and that her mental fortitude was F, Chi-Woo couldn’t sense any will to do anything from the girl. He didn’t know whether it was due to the side effects of Balim’s experiment, or whether she had been like this originally. However, he could roughly guess what kind of life she had led considering she didn’t even have a name.
—Since we’re slaves, we’re at least treated like commodities so we receive basic care, but she was treated like a stray dog.
Unfortunately, the boy’s words were true and not just a metaphor.
‘It’s difficult.’?In this state, she was not much different from a doll that could understand human speech. It was to the extent that if they placed an empty-headed fool next to her, they might seem normal compared to her.
‘I used 30 Blessed luck. In terms of merits, it was 150 million…’?While worries clouded his mind, Chi-Woo said first, “You must be hungry, so why don’t you grab a bite first?”
The girl slightly lifted her head. She stared at Chi-Woo with empty and emotionless eyes.
“Eat.”
Only then did the girl seem to understand, and she smashed her head into the plate. She stuffed the food into her mouth like an animal, shoving it in with both hands.
Gobble, gobble-! It didn’t look good to see her stuffing her cheeks until it looked as if they might burst.
“No, you shouldn’t do that. Why don’t you use a fork…” Aida tried to teach her, but the girl didn’t budge. She paused for a moment and gently raised her fist as if asking Aida if she wanted to eat together. When Aida sighed, the girl tilted her head and went back to eating again.
“My apologies, my lord.” Aida apologized as if she was ashamed. “I tried to teach her every meal, but she won’t listen…”
Chi-Woo looked at the girl as hurriedly stuffed her mouth with food and said, “Stop.”Something curious happened then. The girl, who had been eating without rest, stopped. Aida’s expression changed into one of surprise.
“Don’t eat like that, but use a fork.”
The girl stared at Chi-Woo.
“When you eat pasta, you need to use a fork. Roll it gently with your fork and eat it in one bite, do you understand?”
The girl gently squeezed the fork Chi-Woo pointed at. Then she turned it a few times in the air and stabbed it into the pasta. “…?” The girl stared at Chi-Woo again blankly as if she found her action just now strange.
“No, not like that. Like this. Copy me.” When Chi-Woo demonstrated how to use a fork, the girl surprisingly followed along well. She stabbed the pasta with her fork, turned it gently, and put it into her mouth.
After seeing her follow his order, Chi-Woo said, “…She follows instructions well?”
“I’m surprised as well.” Aida’s mouth widened. “I see. I get it now. It’s not that she didn’t listen to me, but there was no reason for her to listen.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s simple. My lord, are you aware of the hierarchy of animals?” No matter which animal it was, if a group was formed, there was bound to be a hierarchy. Humans were no exception, and this was clear even by looking at pet dogs. Dogs tended to obey and follow orders from those they thought were higher in the hierarchy than them, but if that wasn’t the case, they didn’t listen well.
Chi-Woo replied, “Even then, it’s a bit weird to think of a half-demon as a mere beast.”
“I also think it’s regretful, but if you ask me about her exact level of intelligence right now, there’s no other answer I can give.”
Since Chi-Woo had been observing her the whole way back and knew this was an undeniable fact, he couldn’t refute it.
“But even if her intelligence is like that of a beast, it doesn’t mean she doesn't know anything.”
“Hmm?”
“This child is aware of how she had lived, what she’d gone through, and what has been happening to her since she met you,” Aida said in a serious tone. “To put it bluntly, you are basically a god to this child right now.”
“Aren’t you exaggerating? It hasn’t been long since we met—”
“No, I’m not exaggerating.” Aida shook her head and cleared her throat. “Think about what her life was like before she met you. It must have been miserable. She must have spent every day hungry, looking for food without even a name. Not to mention that she was captured by Balim and turned into a test specimen.” She patted the girl’s head and continued, “And my lord, you were able to solve everything the girl hadn’t been able to solve so easily. Thus, it’s not an exaggeration to say that this child considers you a god and follows you.”
Chi-Woo snorted. “Well, besides returning her to her original state, if she thinks I’m a god just because I provide her with food and clothes, Liber must be overflowing with gods.”
“That’s a difference in perspective,” Aida went on calmly. “My lord, let’s pretend that someone suddenly appears in front of you and saves Liber just by turning over the palm of their hand. How would you see that person?”
“…I would think they’re really amazing and be in awe.”
“Yes, that is the same for this child.” Just as humans considered transcendent beings as gods and followed and respected them, if ants had any intelligence, they would also consider humans gods, since humans had built a civilization that ants could never even imagine.
“…Is that so.” Only then did Chi-Woo understand Aida’s words, and he thought he could understand a bit how the girl looked at him now. With that in mind, he finally got a sense of how he should treat this girl. She was definitely not stupid. Rather, she was clever and noticed who was at the top of this group. It was a basic survival tactic to obey the words of the top leader; thus, she didn’t listen to anyone else but Chi-Woo since he was a being that inspired fear and awe in her.
“Flora,” Chi-Woo suddenly said as he stared at the girl, who had devoured all her food and was now smacking her lips. “It means flower. It’s your name that I just thought of.”
“…”
“Of course, I don’t want you to be a flower.” He stared at the girl, whose dull eyes were blinking nonstop.
“Rather than becoming an actual flower…just as a seed germinate, I hope you bloom like a flower.” Chi-Woo continued, “I’ll help you blossom.”
The girl showed no reaction; she just stared at Chi-Woo with slightly wider eyes than before.
“Flora. That’s a great name,” Aida smiled brightly and responded. Then Wallie, who had been quiet so far, suddenly raised his head after hearing her name.
“Then Flora, go rest for today. You’ll be meeting someone with me tomorrow—”
“Woofwoofwoofwoof!” Wallie sprang up and barked fiercely at Chi-Woo.
“W-What the? What’s wrong with him?” Chi-Woo was flabbergasted to see Wallie shaking with a sense of betrayal.
“Uh…um…” Aida decided to keep quiet because she could guess why Wallie was acting like this. It felt a bit out of line for her to convey Wallie’s fierce protest, which was, ‘You stirred up hell of a fuss when you were naming me, but why did you give her a reasonable name on the first try? Is this discrimination?’
That night, Chi-Woo had a dream. It was a strange dream where he was holding a wolf-shaped shield in his left hand and a beautiful sword decorated with flowers in his right hand.
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