Ch.132132 – The Vortex Key 2

# 132 – The Swirling Key # 2

The conversation between Yu Dahui and Mr. Kang Bada continued for about 2 hours.

I sat a bit farther away looking at my phone, but there wasn’t anything particularly interesting.

At times like this, checking the Status Window is the best.

『Welcome to the Level 3 Shop.

Our shop sells various items that will help in battles against heroes.』

『Leveling up the shop will add products and apply discounts.

Shop Level 3 (Lv MAX)

1. Trait Drawing Ticket – 80P

2. Capsule Drawing Ticket – 80P

3. Unlock Locked Item – 80P

Should I draw a trait after so long?

I also had 《Trait Enhancement》, so drawing any trait would be beneficial.

Ding~!

Soon something like a roulette wheel commonly seen in games appeared and started spinning round and round. Like a spin-the-wheel feeling.

“Please be something good…!”

Drrrrrrrrrrrr-click.

It stopped!

The arrow on the roulette machine pointed to something that read:

『《Owl Eyes》: Allows you to see better in dark places.』

Oh.

That’s good?

If I knew there was something like this, I should have drawn traits earlier.

Should I do one more while we’re at it?

After contemplating for a while, I decided against it.

I shouldn’t spend points carelessly. I needed to keep at least 1000P at all times to feel at ease. Especially after changing my clock to 《The Broken Clock》.

Swoosh-.

Just then, I saw Yu Dahui getting up from her seat.

Was the conversation over?

Mr. Kang Bada was still sitting, but Dahui came toward me.

“Yeongwon. Let’s go.”

“Huh? Did your talk go well?”

“Yes.”

Was the problem between them really resolved?

I looked at Yu Dahui and Mr. Kang Bada again.

I had no way of knowing if their conversation had truly gone well.

“I told my dad. That I will never give up being with you, Yeongwon. This is the cross and crown I must bear.”

Wow!

I was both surprised and touched by Dahui’s words.

To think that Dahui had such passion for our pirate crew’s affairs.

A part of my heart felt reassured. At the same time, I felt embarrassed.

“What, is that a confession?”

I asked awkwardly, trying to brush it off.

Then Dahui said:

“It’s more than that. Let’s go.”

Dahui pulled my hand.

I was concerned about Mr. Kang Bada sitting in the cafe, but a girl’s hand had considerable magical power, so I couldn’t refuse and was dragged out.

I decided to take Dahui to the park where her driver was waiting.

We walked together on the summer night, and walking alone with a girl was still an awkward and unfamiliar experience for me.

Fortunately, unlike her image, Dahui was quite chatty.

“He told me about my mom. Mom was older than dad. And when mom got pregnant with me, she was over twenty, and dad was 17.”

Yu Dahui was a high school girl with a father in his mid-thirties.

Mr. Kang Bada’s face looked older due to various reasons, but he was actually the same age as my mom.

That meant he was too young to be a father with a high school daughter.

“Yeongwon, thanks to you, I learned about who my mom was and who my dad is.”

“Really?”

That’s good.

I realized that suffering over problems doesn’t help—it’s better to solve them with a direct approach.

I think I’ve been making things too complicated until now.

Maybe it’s because of my dishonest personality that I’ve been complicating things that could be easily resolved.

Was it the magic of the summer night?

Or had I grown through all these experiences?

I decided to ask Dahui something I would never have asked under normal circumstances.

“Dahui. I have something to tell you about my dad. I want to ask about what happened between you and my dad.”

“I thought you wouldn’t want to talk about that time?”

“I did. But I can’t just stay quiet. I saw that summer’s storage room from the third floor. If I see such a scene again, I’ll break down. It’s my trauma.”

Everyone crossing the corridors was facing their own fears directly.

Yang Juhui, Jeongseok, Yu Dahui, and even Bong Jiyeon was overcoming her fears to find her sister’s head.

Yet I, who was driving them into danger, was running away from my past.

I thought it might catch up to me someday, and I wanted to know the truth.

Whether my father was really a criminal or not.

I decided to accept whatever the result might be.

As I was thinking this, Dahui took a deep breath and began her story.

“It was summer then too, just like now.”

# # #

I remember it too.

A summer when cicadas were unusually loud.

A summer when sweat would pour down even if you stood still.

“The memories are hazy like a dream. Back then, I suddenly became ill and kept going to hospitals and doctors, but my condition wouldn’t improve.”

Yu Dahui explained her experience as if she were talking about someone else.

Was it because it was such an old memory that it wasn’t completely intact?

“Then the housekeeper working at our house… not Mrs. Danvers who’s there now. The previous housekeeper sent me to Seoul saying she would treat me.”

Mom!

It was my mom.

Mom sent Dahui, who had suddenly fallen ill, to Seoul.

Mom, who had gone to the past through the elevator and was staying at the mansion, sent Dahui to my dad.

“After that… honestly, I don’t remember. I just remember being terrified and in pain. And a boy’s voice coming from outside… I begged the boy to save me. To rescue me…”

“……”

“Eventually, the boy outside opened the door, and I survived. That’s what I remember. That’s all I can tell you about myself.”

…That’s different from my memory.

It was true that a ‘girl’ was locked in the storage room.

But I still had to lean toward the idea that the ‘girl’ was a completely different person from the current Yu Dahui.

It was Dahui but not Dahui at the same time.

It was closer to a beast than a human, something satanic trying to lure me.

Until now, I wondered if that was possible, but Kwon Suho’s case provided the answer.

Like Kwon Suho, Dahui must have accumulated 2 quirks and transformed.

How did she return to normal?

There must have been a reason why mom sent Dahui to dad.

Did dad know how to restore someone who had transformed after accumulating 2 quirks?

“Yeongwon. I ruined your family. I took away your life. If it weren’t for me, your family would have lived happily.”

Slump-.

Yu Dahui, sitting in the park, drooped her shoulders.

I was surprised that Dahui had such thoughts about me. And I could vaguely understand what mom had meant when she said, “Mom is sorry. Just… suddenly I feel that way.”

Mom, who had disappeared into the past through the elevator, knew how we had lived after dad went to prison.

Nevertheless, she chose to send Dahui to our house, and she seemed to feel sorry for me for the events that unfolded because of it.

Is my ruined life someone else’s fault?

It was, at least until a certain day.

But now, the one who was actually ruining my life was none other than myself.

“Opening the storage room door where you were was my choice. Opening the old school building door was me. Opening the second floor door was me, and opening the third floor door was also me.”

The one I couldn’t forgive the most was actually not my dad but myself.

I realized too late that my choices could completely shatter and shake many things.

It was the same now.

I was always someone who regretted things only after I had done them and they became irreversible.

As Mr. Kang Bada said, I was ultimately someone who only cared about myself and could put others in danger to achieve my goals. In that process, my friends could really die.

“But I will definitely fulfill your dreams. I will. By any means necessary, I will make your dreams come true. So continue to die for me in the future.”

This was the most selfish request one person could make.

Yu Dahui silently hugged me.

We were like broken glass pieces, and our gaps fit well together.

The reason my friends and I got along well was because they were all broken and damaged somewhere.

Only those who are lacking have intense desires.

Perhaps I was attracting people with such desires.

“Yeongwon… I’ll tell only you.”

Yu Dahui, who had been hugging me, whispered something in my ear.

I was shocked by what I heard.

Rustle-.

Yu Dahui pulled away from me.

She smiled gently under the moonlight.

Blood streamed down from both of her eyes.

“Today, I heard about how much my mom loved my dad. If I were in the same situation… I think I would have done the same. So only you should know this. Not even I should know… Because… I’ll end up doing this…”

Yu Dahui collapsed under the moonlight, blooming like a red flower.

“This… is all I can do for you…”

Slip-.

In Yu Dahui’s limp hand was a familiar pouch.

It smelled of lily of the valley.

“……”

Yu Dahui had killed herself.

Meeting her father through my arrangement had clearly caused some change in her mental state.

I realized that if Yu Dahui and Kang Bada met, the same thing would happen again and again. Yu Dahui would die for me.

Without hesitation. Kang Bada and Yu Dahui should never have met.

I closed my eyes and wound the clock.

The blood that had colored the summer was rewinding, and all that had happened would remain only in my memory.

The conversations we had shared withered like cicada shells, and all vows and promises also disappeared meaninglessly into eternity.

When I opened my eyes, everyone was looking at me in front of the old school building entrance.

It was lunchtime on the day we decided to explore Buldansa, when everyone took pictures in front of the school.

“Guys, Buldansa is on the third floor. And if you want to know about this place, they say we need to find someone named Ji Dongseok.”

“You rewound time.”

The smart Jeongseok heard my words and understood the situation.