< Chapter 138: Relationships (2) >
“I heard from Maiden about ancestor’s past. The story of the Sunlight Orphanage.”
Upon reflection, it was inevitable that it would come to this.
“As the biotic experiment site of the savior of truth, the only survivor was ancestor.”
The deeper the interaction between Maiden, Yu Hwa, Jia, and Si-yeon, the higher the probability that this would happen.
“They said that through that experiment, you harbored the genes of other races in your body, gaining the ability to use the abilities and ancient relics of other races. That’s what Maiden said.”
Starting with the Vagabond annihilation operation, the two illusory groups began to genuinely interact. That must have been the starting point.
But until then, there was not much to worry about.
Because the relationship between Yu Hwa and Jia was very bad, the probability of exchanging information was very low.
“They also added that you harbor a sense of revenge against the savior of truth due to that incident.”
The requests to Yu Hwa, ‘Don’t tell Jia about my past,’ and to Jia, ‘Don’t tell Yu Hwa about my true identity,’ were being adhered to well.
“The ancestor I know and the ancestor Maiden knows… are very different.”
But as time passed, this fragile relationship began to crack.
Yu Hwa and Jia, who harbored no ill feelings towards each other, began to interact in earnest.
And Si-yeon, with her maxed-out affability, stepped in between the three and strengthened the relationship.
“I heard about Rena too. They said she is also a survivor of biological experiments. Those silver wolf ears are apparently a side effect of the experiment.”
A decisive trigger was the ‘Gate Runaway Incident’.
An operation where everything was poured out recklessly without thinking ahead, shaking the entire plan.
Through that incident, information between the two groups was shared excessively.
Jia must have thought like this,
‘Maiden and Yu Hwa clearly said they didn’t know the ancestor’s true identity, didn’t they? Yet, they don’t find it strange that the ancestor uses ancient relics? That’s odd.’
Yu Hwa, Maiden, and Si-yeon must have had similar thoughts.
‘Something doesn’t add up in the story.’
It wouldn’t have been hard for the four intelligent women to reach such a conclusion.
“Ancestor…”
And this is the result, of the current situation.
Maiden acted to resolve the doubts and spilled everything about my past to Jia.
“What is the truth?”
And now, Jia has come to me to unravel the doubts.
“A horrible survivor of biological experiments? Or is it…”
It was a simple story.
“A half-breed of the Angel race and an elf?”
Jia’s upright eyes stare straight at me.
“Who exactly are you lying to?”
I avoided Jia’s gaze, which was shaking as she looked at me, and looked up at the ceiling.
The human relationships centered around me were starting to crack, like a piece of glass art.
A fragile relationship like a sandcastle started with delusions, which could easily crumble with a small wave that would eventually come.
That small wave has come now. That’s all it is. I looked at Jia with a bitter smile.
“What did you say to Maiden? Did you say I was a half-breed of an elf and the Angel race?”
“I didn’t say anything. Because you told me not to tell anyone.”
“…I see. I see.”
I closed my eyes.
I closed my eyes and thought.
Probably, deceiving Jia now wouldn’t be too difficult.
My identity is ‘a half-breed of an Elf and an Angel being’. The real Kang Seo-yul eventually died due to the side effects of the experiment.
I met Kang Seo-yul just before he died by chance, and in return for fulfilling his last wish of ‘Please take revenge on the Saviors of Truth,’ I took his name and identity, hiding in the world concealing my true self.
Being a survivor of a biological experiment and being a half-breed of an Elf and Angel being are all true.
If I add flesh and bones here and package it plausibly, she will be convinced. Jia would believe it without doubt, saying ‘Ah, I see!’
“…Ancestor?”
But would that be okay?
My lie would act as a glue that could hold this beginning-to-break glass artifact-like relationship a little longer.
But even so, it would only be a matter of buying time. Rather, forcibly sticking it with glue will cause a bigger breakdown later on.
When that time comes, our relationship will shatter irreparably.
The sense of betrayal harbored by the four women, including Jia, would be unimaginable.
I cannot let that happen.
“Jia.”
And more than anything, I don’t want to lie to Jia anymore. I want to stop lying to Jia, who helped me, who fell into this world naked, without any compensation.
“Yes, Ancestor.”
Therefore.
“I am….”
I decided not to lie.
“I am not an ancestor.”
“…Yes? What, what does that mean?”
While looking straight at Jia, who had a confused look.
“I am not something like a survivor of biological experiments either.”
For the first time.
“More than anything….”
I voiced the truth.
“I am not the real Kang Seo-yul.”
A somewhat cowardly truth.
* * *
Shin Jia came home alone and lay blankly on the bed.
“Sigh….”
The periodic sighs echoed, representing Shin Jia’s feelings.
‘What did he mean?’
He is not an ancestor.
He is not something like a survivor of a biological experiment.
Above all, he is not the real Kang Seo-yul.
No matter how much she thought about it, she couldn’t understand what those words meant. It was something she had not expected at all.
‘In the worst case, I thought he was lying to Maiden….’
Shin Jia had been confident that Kang Seo-yul’s real identity was ‘a half-breed of an elf and the Angel race.’
There were many evidences.
‘Knowing about the truth of ten thousand years ago.’
If Kang Seo-yul had been a survivor of the Sunlight Orphanage biological experiment, it would have been something absolutely impossible to know.
Of course, there was a possibility that everything was a lie, but the likelihood would be low.
‘He dealt with the devil and single-handedly handled the super-large gate with 1.26 million magic power.’
It was clearly not something an ordinary 20-year-old human could do.
‘During the gate’s runaway, he also dealt with a human-sized devil… Lucifer.’
Besides, there were countless circumstantial evidence. The fact that he had prior information about the gate’s runaway is one of them.
‘The ancestor is the ancestor.’
From Shin Jia’s perspective, it was natural to say such a thing.
Kang Seo-yul’s entire behavior was evidence. That’s why Shin Jia was confident inwardly.
‘The original Kang Seo-yul was experimented on at Sunlight Orphanage, survived during the rescue but died shortly after.’
‘The ancestor borrowed the dead Kang Seo-yul’s name to disguise his identity, and concealed his appearance.’
‘The kind ancestor decided to serve as to destroy savior of truth to commemorate the poor little boy Kang Seo-yul, whose name he borrowed.’
She didn’t know the detailed inside story, but she said that the general cause-and-effect relationship would have been like this.
‘In this way, the words perfectly match from beginning to end.’
Shin Jia and Ha Si-yeon saw Kang Seo-yul’s ‘inner part.’
Maiden and Yu Hwa saw Kang Seo-yul’s ‘outer part.’
Anyway, since neither of them were false appearances, it turns out that Kang Seo-yul did not lie to anyone.
Of course, all of this was just an uncertain hypothesis speculated by Shin Jia based on Kang Seo-yul’s actions.
There was a good chance that Kang Seo-yul was lying to someone.
‘So, I visited the ancestor’s house right away to gain confidence….’
What is happening?
An unexpected answer came back.
‘I am neither the ancestor, nor the survivor, nor Kang Seo-yul….’
Kang Seo-yul did not continue his words. He just looked at Shin Jia with a bitter smile.
“Ancestor….”
That expression was so miserable that it hurt Shin Jia’s heart just by looking at it.
“Who exactly is the ancestor···?”
Shin Jia’s pupils trembled slightly as she looked up at the ceiling.
* * *
Wednesday.
It’s a day when classes are proceeding normally, following the lifting of the numerous school closures, the number of which is hard to keep track of.
“The final schedule for the group battle will be concluded over the course of tomorrow and the day after.”
Instructor Pi Jin Ho is making the announcement from the lectern.
“The first match will resume the game that was interrupted that day. It will be between Shin Jia’s team and Ha Si-yeon’s team.”
It seems that they don’t intend to unnecessarily postpone this end-of-term exam any further.
… Anyway, it’s annoying to have to fight with Si-yeon’s team again.
While Jia’s Transcendence trait cannot be used in places with many watching eyes due to its external changes,
Choi Ji-Hoon has become stronger through [Asura Magic Armor].
Of course, I have also become stronger by acquiring the Dragon’s Eye, but no matter how I think about it, our team is at a disadvantage.
There’s also a high possibility that the all-in strategy that was used once won’t work again.
And more than anything,
The fact that I am currently a bit awkward with Jia is the biggest problem.
I sneak a glance at Jia.
“….”
Jia, with a strangely enigmatic expression, was staring intently at me.
As our eyes met, she quickly turned her head away as if trying to pretend she wasn’t looking.
I scratched the back of my head.
3 days ago.
Ever since I told Jia a truth that wasn’t exactly the truth for the first time, the atmosphere has been like this.
Contrary to my worries, it’s not that our relationship has soured or anything.
It has just become awkward.
Jia must have had a lot of thoughts in her own way, and I also had many thoughts of my own. Given that both of our feelings are complicated, it was inevitable that our relationship would turn out like this.
“Haah….”
A sigh escaped me unknowingly.
3 days ago,
I had cowardly run away.
‘I am neither an ancestor, nor a survivor of the experiment, nor Kang Seo-yul.’
That statement is definitely true.
But that was all.
I couldn’t bring myself to disclose any more information about my identity.
For good reason, how could I disclose it?
‘Actually, this world is a world within a novel. I was a reader of that novel, and before I knew it, I became the protagonist in this world. Perhaps because of that, I currently have neither a status window nor a system. Being able to use ancient artifacts and racial traits is like a bug, and knowing some truths about the future and the past is because I have been reading the story of this world as a novel.’
There’s no way I could say something like this.
So, I skirted around the truth without telling any lies.
This is the result, the birth of this awkward relationship.
No matter what I try to do, I don’t even know what to say.
“Sigh.”
I can only let out a real sigh.
Of course, I don’t regret not continuing to lie.
At this time, a lie is a poisoned apple, a foolish act of selling the future for the present.
Knowing that I completely eliminated the option of lying.
…There was a bit of an emotional reason as well.
“The next is the last announcement. Club activities restriction will be lifted from next week. It’s a little later than usual years, but be aware that there will be a club presentation.”
As I listened to Instructor Pi Jin Ho’s words, I pressed hard on my furrowed brow, deep in thought.
My head hurt.
Thinking of Si-Yeon, Yu Hwa-ssi, and Maiden-ssi, with whom I’ll have to have further discussions in the future,
It seems like it would be better to disclose my secret to some extent.
…At least I definitely have to say ‘I don’t have a status window.’ It seems that’s the only way to untangle this complicated relationship that feels like a tangled thread.
* * *
That night.
Before the situation was properly remedied, a new issue arose.
“…A dream?”
No, should I call this an issue? Or should I call it an answer?
Anyway, a very complicated and headache-inducing matter has occurred.
“Hello?”
“….”
A man I’ve seen many times before greeted me with a very familiar smile, waving at me.
“Roughly 100 days, huh? You’ve become incredibly handsome in that time. You’re almost comparable to the protagonist of my novel. Haha!”
At his light words, an involuntary hollow laughter burst out of me.
“…Is that what you say to your younger sibling who you haven’t seen in a long time?”
A man adorned in all things luxury from head to toe. The very person responsible for putting me into this world.
“I was thinking of lightening the mood with some casual conversation before we started. Was it too much?”
The man quickly changed to a serious expression in a flash.
“Anyway, it’s been a long time, Seo-yul-ah.”
I murmured faintly as I looked at him.
“…Shin hyung.”
The original author of this novel.
Kim Shin.
Hyung smiled brightly as he looked at me.
“I’m glad to see you’re healthy.”
< Chapter 138: Relationships (2) > End
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