Chapter 413

Chapter 413

Chapter 74 Completion (2)

After sending the twins off on the plane, I crossed over causality.

Then, I leaped through space and manifested again in the material world.

It was in front of a university hospital building in Seoul.

I stood there, staring at the hospital building, and pulled my hat down to cover more of my face as I moved forward.

How far had I walked? Soon, I arrived at the ward where the long-term patients were admitted.

‘To think I would come here of my own volition.’

This was a turn of events that even I hadn’t anticipated.

Nonetheless, I had come here.

‘Because it kept bothering me.’

Having come this far, returning without doing anything was not an option.

After confirming the room number through Yang Hyewon, I reached out my hand.

The door to the single-patient room silently slid open.

Inside, two people came into view.

A middle-aged woman lay motionless on the bed, connected to an oxygen mask.

Beside the bed, a woman in her twenties sat on a chair.

I knew the name of the latter.

‘Yun Jihye.’

During the war, Yun Jihye got her sentence postponed on the condition of serving the country.

Due to her achievements during the war, her sentence was reduced, allowing her to avoid imprisonment.

Even now, after the war, she was still working with the government as a player, collaborating with the Mage’s Association.

‘I heard she was dispatched to the Arctic to install a cooling acceleration magic circle… Maybe someone took her place?’

Why was she back on the very day I decided to visit?

I suppressed a sigh as my brow furrowed automatically due to Yun Jihye’s vacant expression, as she listlessly looked outside, her cheek resting on the window frame.

It was a bleak atmosphere, devoid of all enthusiasm, as if all life force had been drained from her.

‘When I saw her back at sea, she wasn’t this lifeless.’

I had thought she was lively, considering her past experiences.

However, it seemed I had not seen the desolate, hidden side that lay beneath the surface.

Seeing her empty back, a bitter taste filled my mouth.

Swallowing a hard sigh, I stealthily entered the room, hiding my presence.

Soon, I stopped next to the bed where the unidentified middle-aged woman lay.

She was Yun Jihye’s mother, who had reportedly attempted suicide and ended up in a vegetative state after her second daughter’s death.

I looked intently at the woman’s face, then retrieved a vial of Divine Elixir from my subspace pouch.

Before setting it down, I glanced at Yun Jihye’s back again.

Yun Jihye.

She was the most memorable among those I had trampled on for my goals.

Someone who distrusted the power of the law to the point of staining her own hands with blood to seek revenge.

Had I not intervened, her revenge would have been perfectly executed.

‘I’m not trying to justify her crime or add a narrative to it.’

But it lingered in my heart. If I had been in her position, I might have acted the same way.

Perhaps I might have plotted an even more brutal revenge.

‘Maybe that’s why I feel guilty about interfering.’

I hadn’t expected that something I trampled for my ideals would linger this long in my heart.

That’s why I stood here today.

‘When I realized I had retrieved the Divine Elixir, the first person’s face I thought of was Grétman.’

The hesitation in giving it directly to him stemmed from the subsequent image of Yun Jihye that appeared in my mind.

‘I’m not doing this for gratitude.’

This was not an act of kindness for Yun Jihye.

It was hypocrisy to rid myself of the uncomfortable weight left inside me.

Thus, I didn’t make an appointment, nor did I greet her, nor reveal my presence.

I simply laid the Divine Elixir quietly on the table beside the bed and turned to leave, as if I had never been there.

Approximately four months passed before I received news of Yun Jihye.

It was through a photo posted on social media.

Holding hands with her mother, who had regained consciousness and was recovering her health, Yun Jihye was walking a small dog.

After that, there was no particularly noteworthy news.

And that “no news” was surely good news.

* * *

After wrapping up matters related to Yun Jihye, I borrowed Jaehyuk’s car and headed to the airport.

Instead of waiting at the gate, I parked the car in the parking lot.

There was no need to leave an illegal entry record by entering the bustling airport.

Leaning back against the driver’s seat, I took a languid breath and relaxed for a while.

“Ora-bang!”

“Hyung, you really came?”

Soon, the twins arrived.

On the way home with them in the car.

Perhaps tired from the long flight or due to the time difference, they started nodding off.

I kept an eye on them through the rearview Mirror as I drove.

Once the semester started, both of them would either live in university dormitories or have arrangements to stay nearby.

I planned to return quietly to Korea once or twice a week to check on them.

However, we would no longer live under the same roof as before.

‘When I was busy with work, there were many days when we couldn’t see each other.’

Despite that, there was a sense of awareness that we shared living space under one roof.

Thinking that such moments would almost cease, my heart felt restless.

“The way from the airport to home feels unexpectedly short.”

Tap, tap.

I tapped the steering wheel with my fingers for a moment.

In the end, unable to quell the fluttering emotions, I spoke again.

“I’ve said this many times, but if anything happens, contact me right away.”

Startled by the sudden admonition, the twins, who had been dozing off, woke with a start.

“What did you say?”

“What?”

“I said, if anything happens, contact me immediately. It doesn’t even take minutes to come from Bihar to here.”

“Yeah…”

“Okay, I will.”

Even in their half-asleep state, the two nodded promptly.

“Don’t try to solve things by yourself and let them escalate. It’s not that I don’t trust you, but there are matters adults should handle.”

“Yeah, yeah!”

“Got it.”

“Yun-woo, be careful with drinks when you’re out, including any suspicious substances. Jinwoo, same goes for you. If anyone offers you something, cut ties immediately and contact me. I’ll make sure to get rid of them without leaving a trace.”

“Uh-huh…”

I’d warned them numerous times before about drinks and had taught them to be cautious.

Hearing the same warning again might have been annoying, but the twins, without any sign of irritation, obediently agreed.

“And…”

Riding the momentum, I continued with more admonitions.

I didn’t usually do such things so often.

Even when I ventured out to battlefields, I wasn’t this restless.

Thinking about their independence gave me a strange feeling.

‘I can’t stay in Korea forever, either.’

With a complicated heart, I checked on the twins through the rearview Mirror.

They were rubbing their eyes or yawning, as if trying to shake off drowsiness.

Observing them, I couldn’t help but let a small laugh slip out.

‘I showed a pitiful side.’

In reality, the twins seemed used to my absence and appeared unperturbed.

It was time for me to face upcoming separations with composure.

‘Living together forever isn’t possible anyway.’

Being born as a family doesn’t mean you don’t eventually pursue individual paths when the time comes.

Both the twins and I would only go further from here.

‘I kept the promise I made to take good care of them until they grew up.’

Recalling the vow I made alone in front of my parents’ graves, I cleared my cluttered mind.

Finally, it felt like I had shed a long-held burden.

From then on, the journey home no longer felt disconcertingly short.

* * *

After dining with the twins and the Seo family, I once more crossed over causality to return to Biharin.

‘A whole day has passed already here…’

Even after realizing the change in date, I didn’t immediately return to the hotel.

Only chaos awaited me there with Breche, after all.

‘… Let’s slack off a bit.’

If Breche were to find out, complaints about betrayal would follow.

‘What would she do if I say work finished late?’

Deciding on this, I put on a brave face to lie.

Having come out, I decided to meet Rasher before returning.

Should I wait in front of the Ministry of Defense or in front of her house?

I needn’t have pondered, as her voice over the phone gave me an answer.

『I might be very late today… I’ll tell the staff, so could you pick up the keys? It might be more comfortable waiting inside…』

Offering keys to wait inside the house.

‘Good.’

A subtle smile broke out as I replied.

“I’ll just wait inside, and you can give me the keys later yourself.”

『A-a-alright.』

There was no question about how I would get inside.

I could manifest by simply changing locations, and Rasher knew that too.

So, technically, I didn’t need the keys.

Still, keys given by Rasher—

It was an item with an alluringly desirable description attached to it.

Receiving them through someone else’s hands was unappealing, so I intended to take them directly.

For now, I decided to spend time inside and wait.

Switching my manifestation location to the inside of the house, I wandered around, exploring the still unfamiliar place, before lounging on the living room sofa to watch TV.

Flipping through the news, then a movie, several hours flew by, maybe five or six.

Suddenly feeling a sign of life approaching.

“In this scorching heat, even beating you senseless would not be satisfying, you bastard!”

With curses more varied than before, Gilenios barged in.

Given that I had deliberately left things as they were, it was no surprise he came running upon hearing of my return.

“How can you call yourself a person?! I, I, the struggles I’ve been through trying to clean up your mess! You disappear without a word, even after returning?!”

Whoever informed him, I didn’t know.

Regardless, once information got in, it couldn’t be undone.

Furrowing my brow—there was no way I could ignore his loud grumbling.

Moments later, having vented out a slew of curses and grievances, Gilenios panted and ground his teeth.

I lightly waved him off, saying, “I know it’s hard, just pretend to work from now on.”

“What?”

“The task of fixing the torn space, act like you’re doing it halfway. The native god here said they’ll fix it eventually.”

Removing it would lead to no good immediately.

‘One major reason America abandoned this land was because of the phenomenon.’

A mysterious, torn space.

An occurrence beyond the explanation of modern science.

Who’s to say it wouldn’t become a black hole swallowing this land and space altogether?

America judged it better to relinquish the land than to bear the unforeseeable risk.

‘They likely figured it was better to pursue other benefits.’

Yet if the torn space were to close within a few years of relinquishing it.

‘Realizing their misjudgment, they wouldn’t hesitate to meddle from behind the scenes.’

A significant number of Americans remained on this land—around 30 to 40% of the population.

The denser the infrastructure, the higher their concentration.

If America were to start interfering from behind?

‘It would inevitably spark conflicts among the population, leading to larger issues.’

The notion that reclaiming this land would be a disadvantage needs to remain, ensuring no needless meddling.

Thus, about 20 to 30 years later, once Biharin firmly established, the Damned System would set everything straight.

Conveying this fact made Gilenios tremble.

His face was beet red, as if about to burst.

“That…”

I momentarily wondered if he’d explode like an overfilled balloon.

“Why did you only tell me this now?!”

The truly exploding Gilenios initiated a second round of shouting.

However, I had no intentions of indulging him to the end.

I sensed Rasher’s presence approaching from afar.

I got up and gripped the raving Gilenios by the neck, dragging him close.

And then…

“Keck!”

In one go, I choked him and pulled him close.

“Should I report every single thing to you?”

“Cough…!”

“And as it’s been bothering me since earlier, let me engrain it in your mind this time.”

If you ever invade Rasher’s house like this without permission again—

“You’ll have to finish the task yourself, not the native god.”

Because I wouldn’t let you out, leaving you trapped in space.

Releasing the grip on Gilenios’s neck, I pushed him away after the sinister warning.

“If you’ve understood, then scram.”

Despite the harsh eviction notice, Gilenios’s belligerent eyes remained the same.

Yet, instead of yapping again, he turned and vanished.

Simultaneously, footsteps approached upstairs—Rasher’s footsteps.

I walked towards the entrance, passing through the living room, and flung the door open to welcome her.

### New Elements & Characters:

– **윤지혜 (Yun Jihye, she):** A memorable individual with a significant past who collaborated with the government as a player after her sentence was reduced.