Part 1 Chapter 11-11

Although I had recovered the cube, I had nowhere to use it.

Firstly, I had unintentionally encountered Changyeom, and secondly, there was no suitable place to use the cube.

But summoning Changyeom again was a gamble. They might get angry, asking why I was calling them again so soon after we just met, and I needed to keep at least one cube as insurance, just in case.

‘Fortunately, the Association decided to stand with me.’

In a way, it was a win-win, and in another way, it felt like I had offered up the Azure Syndicate and slipped away myself. But I decided to fully enjoy the nationalistic high that Baek Hee-ah gave me without avoiding it.

– Is it true that the entire Azure Syndicate joined the Association?

ㄴ Yeah, but it’s just Pine Tree Unit Mk.2

ㄴ If it were me, I’d have led the Azure Syndicate to conquer New Seoul and then broken that guy’s keyboard.

ㄴ Our amazing Phoenix-nim, who unified villains for the nation and offered them up ㅠㅠ

“……Now that they say I ‘offered them up for the nation,’ I suddenly feel a bit annoyed.”

My feelings were quite strange in many ways, but fortunately, public opinion regarding the Azure Syndicate’s merger with the Hunter Guild seemed positive.

Everyone would know.

That Phoenix existed behind the Azure Syndicate.

And thanks to the public relations efforts of Baek Hee-ah and Eun Yuha, Phoenix would be transformed into an entity that had pushed the Azure Syndicate onto the nation and was secretly working behind the scenes.

‘In other words, a secret weapon.’

“Though it’s a secret everyone knows.”

Just as the Azure Syndicate hid themselves behind Haneulseong, Phoenix was now hiding behind the Azure Syndicate, putting them at the forefront.

No matter what Phoenix did, the Azure Syndicate itself wouldn’t be a problem.

‘So now, the Round Table won’t make the Azure Syndicate a ‘public enemy’ either.’

“The ones the Round Table will designate as global public enemies will be the seven executives of the Dark Legion.”

Snowy Night’s Rusalka was dead.

The Chaos Phantom Dragon was repelled in China.

So, they would try to apprehend the remaining five executives, and I would be pushed to the last priority by the Round Table.

“Such a sweet future can’t be mine, so perhaps I should prepare in advance.”

I headed to Busan.

* * *

July 19th, 6 PM, Seok Harang’s residence.

“Why are you cleaning someone else’s house as soon as you arrive?”

Seok Harang’s house was still a dump today. The SS-rank, who was too embarrassing to show to anyone, hadn’t changed their living habits much even after becoming a member of the Round Table.

“Did you order delivery again?”

“It’s not like I can go grocery shopping to cook, is it?”

“You could just add things to your online superstore cart and order them. Tsk.”

“……I tried that, and it all ended up like this.”

Seok Harang opened the freezer door. I slammed the refrigerator door shut on the food waste neatly stacked with angular ice.

“Let’s just throw this refrigerator away.”

“Are you crazy? This is a three-million-won one sold by Yuseong Tech.”

“What do you think about turning a three-million-won item into a trash can?”

“…….”

Seok Harang fell silent. I barely managed to salvage the ingredients in the refrigerator and made a meal fit for human consumption.

Fortunately, the refrigerator was clean due to the blueberry drinks.

“Aren’t you bothered by leaving it like that?”

“What are you talking about when I’m busy as hell? Do you know how much I’m being called around these days?”

It had been about 18 days since July 1st.

After I had once again revealed the truth of the world to Seok Harang, I was able to meet them for the first time in Busan.

“I must have taken hundreds of photos meeting the Round Table members every day. Oh, I’m dying!”

Seok Harang rolled on the floor, feigning pain. I had no choice but to spread mana over the food, then got behind Seok Harang and gave them a massage.

“Ah, I feel so alive now, really.”

“That’s what happens when you fly all over the world without taking a plane. Mana is like a muscle, so using it too much is akin to overworking it.”

“Then if I don’t use mana much, will I lose mana? Like muscle loss?”

“…It won’t be lost, but the flow in your veins will stiffen. Once a channel is opened, it doesn’t close again, but it will take a little time to reawaken the flow.”

I moved my hands along Seok Harang’s veins, helping the circulation of mana. Guided by my mana, Seok Harang’s mana slowly began to circulate throughout their entire body.

“Haaah, it feels like being in a hot spring….”

“First I’m treated like a masseuse, now a hot spring? Honestly.”

“But it’s warm, it’s warm. Haa, since you can’t go outside anyway, why don’t you become my personal fatigue reliever?”

“What nonsense are you talking about?”

I poked Seok Harang’s lower back as if acupuncturing a pressure point. When the spot just above their slightly exposed butt crack, visible above their sleep pants, was poked, Seok Harang buried their head deep inside.

“Hmph….”

A nasal sound escaped Seok Harang’s voice.

“You’re not, by any chance, feeling something from this….”

“Ke-keep going.”

Seok Harang didn’t turn their head and urged me to continue the massage. I wondered if this was okay, but I wouldn’t be swayed by this level of temptation.

“Won’t you regret it? I recommend stopping here.”

“How can I stop this? Hurry up. I need to eat my meal.”

“…Who prepared it, I wonder.”

I began to move my hands more seriously. My hands swept over Seok Harang’s skin as if scanning their entire body, and some rather sensitive areas were brushed past.

“Haaah, haaang.”

Seok Harang now openly moaned and turned their head to the side. The look they gave me over their shoulder was sly, like a fox.

“Why are you avoiding my butt?”

“Because you’re so shameless.”

“Why? Am I not the person you love? Or are you scared you’ll fall for me?”

“If my feelings changed just from touching a butt, this world would have already ended, you idiot.”

I stood up and stepped on Seok Harang’s butt with my foot. Even as their lower body swayed, Seok Harang relaxed as if it were part of the massage.

“This is good too…. Hehe.”

“……Seriously, why is everyone like this?”

Starting with Seok Harang, I couldn’t quite understand why everyone kept acting this way.

“Do you think you can captivate me with sex appeal?”

“Yes, very much so.”

Seok Harang replied with a truly serious face.

“Agh!”

Seok Harang grabbed my ankle and twisted their body. With them pulling using mana, I ended up falling on top of Seok Harang, who had flipped 180 degrees, as if stacked upon them.

“Hehe, you like clinging to me too, don’t you?”

“It’s because you’d get hurt if I resisted.”

If I had resisted using mana, Seok Harang would have been hurt. I just relaxed on top of Seok Harang.

“Fine. Do as you please. Just don’t become my enemy.”

“Oh my, our Phoenix-nim is getting scared, aren’t they? Are you afraid I’ll become your enemy just because I’m part of the Round Table?”

“Yes. I’m scared. Happy now?”

“Heheheh.”

Perhaps pleased by my sarcastic admission, Seok Harang hugged me like a doll and swayed.

“Haaah, I feel so healed….”

“Would you say that if I turned into my monstrous human form?”

“Wanna die? Stay still. Haaah, look at this plumpness…. Heheheh.”

Seok Harang grabbed my waist like a pervert. Their lewd grin was eerily similar to Rusalka’s face when she was targeting Gwanggeom.

“I’m only allowing this because you helped me. Otherwise, you’d be dead.”

“Hey. Even though you look like a woman, can I, as another woman, touch your butt and chest?”

“Nonsense. You’re already touching them, aren’t you?”

Seok Harang was hugging me, and since I was lying on top of them, our chests were naturally pressed together.

“Tsk, look here. I went around the world to grant your wish, and you can’t grant me such a small request?”

“That’s separate from this.”

“Why? Is it because only your true love can touch your body?”

“Of course. What I’m allowing right now is my absolute limit.”

I wouldn’t have gone this far for anyone else. But since Seok Harang was a half-spirit, I didn’t feel as much aversion as I would with others.

“Is it because, spiritually speaking, it’s like a niece-aunt relationship?”

“Did you lust after your niece and get her pregnant?”

“…Not me.”

“As if. You might fool other unnies, but you can’t fool me. You’re a man. One hundred percent.”

My heart sank. Since we were pressed together, if my Core’s pulsation sped up, they would notice immediately.

“What if I’m not?”

“If you’re not, then I’ll just think of it that way. It’s fine. I’m a spirit too, aren’t I? If I just become a man, then it’s all good.”

“Do you like me that much?”

“Yes, very much so.”

Seok Harang grabbed my face and met my gaze. A blue flame reflected in their calm, deep, ocean-like eyes.

“Even if my first impression of you was trash…. Thanks to you, I’ve become the strongest in the world and received a lot of help in many ways. Well… if you ask if I love you romantically, that’s a separate matter.”

“……??”

I couldn’t understand. I had no idea what Seok Harang was thinking about me.

“Heheheh, look at this guy, completely flustered. Your Core is beating like crazy right now.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I can feel it right next to me, you idiot. I feel it every time we bicker like this.”

Seok Harang sat up. I suddenly found myself in the position of being hugged by them.

“I always thought, ‘this must be what it’s like to have an older brother.’ Yeah, family.”

“What kind of family has an older brother and younger sister hugging like this?”

“The Himeji siblings do.”

“……They’re just unusual.”

“Then we’re an unusual relationship too, aren’t we? When I was S-rank, I went through all sorts of hell trying to kill you, but once I became SS-rank, my thoughts changed a bit.”

Seok Harang’s expression hardened, and they grabbed my head again.

“It’s only been a few months since we met, but you’ve become my family. Isn’t that still true?”

Seok Harang even dropped their dialect and pointed to the dining table.

“Even though you must have a headache, who else would come all the way to Busan to eat with me like this? Right?”

“……That’s because your living habits are a mess.”

“Right, right. My living habits are a mess, so I’d like a family member who’s good at housework to take care of me. Hmm, since I can cover Busan even if I’m in Seoul now, should I move up to Seoul? Will you give me a penthouse too?”

“……Family, huh. Good grief.”

A strange connection had formed. I grabbed Seok Harang’s shoulders and stood up, detaching myself.

“The food’s getting cold. Get up.”

“Changing the subject, are we?”

Seok Harang and I sat facing each other at the dining table. It was a simple meal, but Seok Harang began to eat deliciously without complaint.

“So, there’s this thing, you see.”

“Your dialect’s back again.”

“Mind your own business. Can’t I do what I want in my own house? Honestly. Eat while you listen. About what the Round Table decided.”

“…….”

I swallowed my rice. I had come all the way to Busan to hear this, and I had done what Seok Harang wanted.

“Alright. What was the Round Table’s decision?”

“……Congratulations.”

Seok Harang clapped their hands towards me with a look that clearly showed they weren’t entirely happy, but had no choice.

“As you wished, they decided to inform the whole world about the world’s demise.”

“……The world will fall into chaos. Good.”

What would humanity do when facing destruction? No one knew if they would plant an apple tree, as Spinoza said, or cut it down with a chainsaw.

“Thanks to this, the movements of the executives will also be revealed. Fenrir and the others have been hiding so well. Heheh.”

“I traveled all over the world, but I couldn’t find a single trace. Are you perhaps lying? Are all three executives really active?”

“That’s for sure. I personally beat those guys down.”

“So that kid got encased in concrete and dumped deep in the ocean, huh. Tsk.”

“…….”

I silently ate my rice. Since I couldn’t reveal the details about Changyeom, I became the guy who got caught off guard and trapped in a Barrier.

“Anyway, you’re truly blessed. While the executives are fighting tooth and nail, you should be truly grateful that the most beautiful, kind, and strongest spirit in the world is on your side. Understand?”

“……Don’t you think that’s a bit exaggerated?”

“A bit exaggerated? Aren’t you keeping your mouth shut right now because of this?”

Seok Harang put down their chopsticks and pulled out two small objects from the front pocket of their shirt. A sigh naturally escaped me when I saw the objects held between their index and middle fingers.

“……I only told you about one.”

“I just happened to find them. Heheheh. Now, hurry up and eat, then do the dishes. We can lie on the beanbag together, and I’ll tell you how I got these.”

Seok Harang fiddled with the two cubes in their hand, grinning foolishly.

“Aren’t I awesome? Oppa-ya.”

“Yes. You’re awesome. …How long are you going to keep calling me ‘oppa-ya’?”

“Hmm, I wonder….”

Seok Harang put the cubes into their shirt’s front pocket and nudged my knee with their bare foot under the table.

“Until ‘oppa-ya’ becomes ‘yeobo-ya’?”

“……You’d better give up.”

“Have you ever seen a Hero give up on reforming a Villain? Heheh. You’re really in trouble. Seriously.”

Seok Harang picked up a side dish and forcibly put it into my mouth. Then, with their other hand, they cupped their chin and lifted the corners of their lips.

“Don’t you want to take a spirit as your wife? I know a really virtuous girl.”

“……Hmm.”

I swallowed the side dish in my mouth and raised my index finger at Seok Harang.

“I have no intention of taking a woman with smaller breasts than this body as my wife-“

“You damn oppa bastard!”

Right.

This is what real siblings are like.

To prevent the situation where ‘oppa’ became ‘yeobo’, I did my best in the post-meal exercise of the SS-ranks that unfolded within the Barrier.

“You crazy bastard, you just went and used your Ultimate Skill from the start!”

[If you’re so upset, use your Ultimate Skill too!]

I couldn’t lose to a cheeky younger sibling, so I started by unleashing a sun from the very beginning.

Fortunately, I won.

…Though I almost really lost once in the middle.