Chapter 3 – Double Team #1

The figure was a woman, and she was smoking a cigarette.

Her eyes were wide, her expression blank.

Natasha?!

It was true.

The woman was Natasha.

Platinum blonde hair that shimmered over her shoulders and piercing blue eyes.

A green tank top and white hot pants.

She was Kang Jin-ho’s comrade-in-arms, his older sister figure, and something close to his first love.

How?

It wasn’t a question of why Natasha was here, of all places, at this very moment.

Natasha had clearly said, “Yudelia.”

In other words, the moment she saw Yuder and Cordelia, the name “Yudelia” had come to her mind.

How was that possible?

How—

Wait.

Yuder turned his head to look at Cordelia.

Cordelia, who was blinking with a face about twice as surprised as Yuder and Natasha, was as cute and lovely as ever, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

[Cordelia.]

“Huh? [Y-Yeah.]”

Flustered, Cordelia had answered out loud before quickly concealing her voice with Message Magic.

Yuder stared straight at her and asked.

[Did you leave something behind?]

[Huh? What?]

[The letter you left for Natasha last time. Did you reveal our identities in it?]

At Yuder’s question, Cordelia blinked again, then flinched and put on an incredibly awkward expression.

It was a look that told anyone she’d spilled the beans.

[Oh, for heaven’s sake.]

[W-Well, I didn’t tell her everything? I-I just said that when she was tired and struggling, she should try shouting ‘Yudelia’… you know.]

Cordelia, who had been rattling off her words in a hurry, began to fidget with her fingers and mumble.

Even she knew it was a ridiculous excuse.

[I-I just… I didn’t think we’d run into her like this….]

[I get it. Well, it’s spilt milk now. Besides, it’s Natasha.]

Gently pinching the crestfallen Cordelia’s cheek, Yuder took a deep breath and turned back to Natasha.

Natasha Molotov.

The woman, who had been squatting, was now on her feet.

She looked like she was just standing comfortably, but Yuder knew better.

He could tell she had entered a semi-battle-ready stance.

She doesn’t seem to have any intention of fighting us.

Moreover, considering when Cordelia had left the letter, it was highly likely Natasha felt indebted to them.

After all, Natasha was someone who never forgot a favor or a grudge.

If Cordelia mentioned Yudelia…

He didn’t know for sure, but chances were she had said something about Yuder himself.

Natasha must have felt something was off, investigated Yuder and Cordelia… and discovered Hero’s Saga.

Since it was a game where Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee were rankers, she would have looked it up at least once out of curiosity.

After looking up Yuder and Cordelia and realizing they were game characters, she probably thought something like this:

‘Did they use game characters as their codenames?’

To think they were the actual characters themselves was beyond fantasy and bordered on delusion.

Alright, whatever the case, she knows about Yuder and Cordelia. She’s flustered now because she saw people who look exactly like game characters and a Spatial Gate. So it’s fine. It’s better to just roll with the Yuder and Cordelia identities.

Having completed his high-speed train of thought in a short time, Yuder cleared his throat to compose his voice and was about to speak, but he couldn’t.

Natasha beat him to it.

“Jino… right?”

Struck by the sharp blow, Yuder blinked for a moment, then shot Cordelia a look that screamed, ‘Just how much did you tell her?’ In response, Cordelia covered her face with both hands.

Hoo, okay. Think, Yuder.

It was still too early to look for Alexei.

Natasha wasn’t certain right now.

She had asked the question, her voice full of doubt.

So it was fine.

He could bluff his way through it.

He just had to act nonchalant and pretend it wasn’t him, as always.

So Yuder turned back to Natasha.

He met the blue eyes he had known since childhood.

Natasha Molotov.

A person like Maia.

Now that Alexei had passed away, she was his only family left on Earth.

Natasha looked at Yuder, and Yuder looked back at Natasha.

And Yuder made up his mind.

He let out a long breath, looked Natasha straight in the eye, and with a small, unconscious smile, he said, “It’s been a while, Natasha.”

“Jino.”

Alexei’s children.

Yuder and Natasha smiled at each other once more.

*

After reading the letter Cordelia had left dozens of times, Natasha had reached a single conclusion.

‘I don’t know who Cordelia is. But Yuder is Jino.’

It had to be Jino.

But concluding it was Jino raised too many problems.

Yuder and Cordelia.

Yudelia.

Pink Bomb and Black Cloak.

The last one was a rather mind-boggling codename, but in any case, their power was truly formidable.

To crush an organization overnight and make off with its hidden assets.

It was absolutely not something a single individual could do.

It required an organization.

And an organization with a certain level of power at that.

But Jino didn’t have an organization.

Jino himself had been retired for six years, and his skills had grown rusty compared to his prime.

Then who could it be?

If not Jino, then who on earth would ask her to pass on the message that they loved her?

‘A one-sided relationship?’

A relationship where the other party considered her family, even if Natasha herself didn’t feel that way—like a crush, in a sense?

‘It’s not like I have no one in mind, but…’

Still, it was a far-fetched assumption.

What in the world was going on?

Who was Yudelia?

As she mulled it over and over, Natasha, thinking it was a long shot, searched for the names Yuder Bayer and Cordelia August Chase.

And she found the source of the names all too easily.

“Hero’s Saga… 2?“

It was a game she was well aware of.

After all, it was the game Jino and Yu-hee—Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee—were completely absorbed in.

‘Did they use game characters as their codenames?’

It was a surprisingly common practice.

After all, she herself had used codenames like Bugs Bunny before.

But…

Hero’s Saga 2.

Didn’t this make it seem even more like Jino?

“Ah, whatever. I’ll just have to go to Korea and see.”

And upon arriving in Korea, Natasha found a clue.

“A clue? What kind?”

Cordelia, who had become engrossed in the story, tilted her head and asked. Natasha glanced at Yuder, who kept his mouth firmly shut, his expression unreadable.

‘Yep, that’s Jino alright.’

He would never show it, even if he was curious.

‘I wonder if he knows that makes it even more obvious.’

Chuckling softly, Natasha pointed to the rooftop floor and said, “This building. To be precise, the PC Bang located in this building.”

At Natasha’s words, Yuder closed his eyes as if keenly feeling his mistake. Cordelia, after tilting her head for a moment, also let out a small “Ah!” and her eyes widened.

“A young man with black hair and a young woman with pink hair. A pair of foreigners who would stand out anywhere they went, visiting a PC Bang.”

“I guess the Cognitive Impairment Magic wasn’t enough…”

He really should have used Polymorph.

Ignoring Yuder’s sigh, Natasha pointed to a hidden security camera in the corner of the rooftop and continued.

“So I installed security cameras all over this building. Just in case you showed up again.”

“So you were here today because…”

“I just stopped by to check the cameras and have a smoke.”

Natasha mimed smoking a cigarette with her fingers, then smiled again and said with a casual shrug, “Anyway, that’s my story. Now, can you tell me yours? Honestly, I’m still dying of curiosity.”

The handsome foreign young man before her.

But he was Jino.

He was definitely Jino.

How could this be?

Jino already existed, so how could there be another Jino, one who looked exactly like a game character?

And the word ‘magic’ that Yuder had just mentioned in passing.

At Natasha’s question, Yuder pressed his lips together for a moment as if choosing his words. Beside him, Cordelia made a small “Hmm-” sound and looked up at Yuder, then turned to Natasha and spoke.

Continued next

---

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

Please do consider subscribing to my Patreon or donate to my Ko-fi if you like this work or to get early access to chapters