Chapter 3 – Double Team #2

The moment they stepped into Natasha’s house, Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee appeared. Upon seeing Cordelia, Hong Yu-hee fainted.

And naturally, Cordelia was utterly bewildered to see the collapsed Hong Yu-hee.

“Ah, wha-?!”

Her voice couldn’t even form a proper sentence, but no one could blame her. Everyone else at the entrance was in a similar state.

‘Ca-calm down, Yuder!’

It wasn’t time to call for Alexei yet.

Right, this wasn’t a crisis dire enough to scream, “Help me, Alexei!” He couldn’t go looking for the man the moment he arrived on Earth!

Yuder first looked at Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee, who stood before him.

Hong Yu-hee had fainted with a blissful smile plastered on her face, and Kang Jin-ho was holding her.

‘Excellent, just excellent.’

I protected Yu-hee reflexively.

‘That’s me, all right.’

‘Even after a six-year break, my basic reflexes are still there.’

This strange self-praise had a dual meaning. One was that it showed just how flustered Yuder was. The other was that such self-admiration could serve as the fuel to restart his stalled brain.

Yuder shifted his gaze again.

Kang Jin-ho was staring their way, cradling Hong Yu-hee protectively in his arms. He was on high alert, but his face was filled with an unconcealable bewilderment.

It was only natural. Kang Jin-ho was just as much of a die-hard Heroic Saga fan as Hong Yu-hee—no, in some ways, he was an even bigger one.

Before him stood Yuder and Cordelia—two people who could be none other than them.

Of course, Kang Jin-ho was a man of reason and logic. Rather than believing the two people before him were actually Yuder and Cordelia, he was more likely to assume they were just incredibly convincing cosplayers.

‘Okay, let’s put Kang Jin-ho on hold for a moment.’

Yuder’s gaze turned to Cordelia.

She was stammering incoherently, looking from Hong Yu-hee back to Yuder, and as always, she spoke with her eyes.

‘Wha-what do we do? Huh? What do we do?’

Fortunately, she didn’t seem flustered enough to suggest blowing things up.

So, Yuder feigned as much composure as he could and replied with his own gaze.

‘I’ll handle this. For now, just calm down. Take a deep breath.’

‘O-okay. Hoo-hoo, haa, hoo-hoo, haa.’

Watching Cordelia diligently begin her breathing exercises, Yuder took a deep breath himself before finally turning to Natasha.

[Natasha.]

“Huh?”

The voice that rang inside her head made Natasha blurt out loud. When everyone’s eyes focused on her, she quickly shut her mouth.

‘H-how? Did you just speak inside my head?’

[Yes, I spoke inside your head. This isn’t Message magic, which just sends a one-way thought, but a telepathy-type spell that opens a two-way mental channel.]

At Yuder’s explanation, Natasha blinked a few times before giving a tiny nod.

[O-okay. So if I do this, can you hear my voice?]

[Yes, just like that. But be careful. If you’re not used to conveying your thoughts, you might end up sending everything you’re thinking to the other person. You know what I mean, right?]

[Ah, got it.]

Even perfectly normal people had what you might call ‘weird thoughts’ that they could never say out loud.

At Yuder’s kind warning, Natasha recalled her interrogation resistance training with Alexei and collected her thoughts. Yuder sent another thought.

[Let’s go inside first.]

[That’s fine, but… what’s the plan?]

How would he explain this to Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee?

Yuder had three options.

1. They were foreign friends of Natasha’s, cosplaying as Yuder and Cordelia.
2. Reveal that they are the real Yuder and Cordelia from Heroic Saga 2.
3. Reveal that Yuder and Cordelia are Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee.

Which of the three would he go with?

Having organized his thoughts, Yuder gestured with his eyes for Natasha to lead them inside. Whatever he chose, it was impossible to proceed in this bizarre standoff.

“Um… should we go in and sit down first?”

Natasha asked in a timid voice, so unlike her. Kang Jin-ho, who was on high alert, narrowed his eyes and glanced back at Yuder and Cordelia.

“Are they… friends?”

“For… now?”

It was a slightly suspicious answer from Natasha, but Kang Jin-ho nodded for the time being. It was a strange situation, but while he could be wary of the man who looked like Yuder, his hostility naturally subsided just by looking at the woman who resembled Cordelia.

“Then let’s go in. Let’s go.”

Natasha spoke with forced energy, even letting out a little cheer, and everyone at the entrance began to take awkward steps toward the living room.

And so they arrived at the living room sofa.

On one side of the L-shaped sofa sat Natasha and Kang Jin-ho, with Hong Yu-hee lying down using Kang Jin-ho’s lap as a pillow. On the other side sat Yuder and Cordelia.

“I’ll go get something to drink.”

As Natasha shot up from her seat as if fleeing the uncomfortable situation and headed for the kitchen, Yuder immediately sent another thought.

[Natasha, is today July 12th?]

Natasha flinched and stopped for a moment at the mention of the exact date, but she soon started walking again and replied.

[That’s right, my birthday. You remembered.]

Both Yuder and Kang Jin-ho knew.

No, now, the only others who knew her birthday were Yuder and Kang Jin-ho.

[I’m the one who forgot, actually. After all… since Alexei died and you left, there was no one to celebrate with.]

Natasha flinched again at the unconsciously transmitted thought, and Yuder pursed his lips with a strange sense of guilt.

[Happy… birthday, Natasha.]

The situation was awkward, but this was a separate matter.

Natasha didn’t give a proper reply to Yuder’s congratulations, but he could tell just by looking at her back.

She was smiling faintly.

[Yuder, what’s going on? You’re talking to Natasha, right?]

It was at that moment.

Hearing Cordelia’s urgent message from his side, Yuder gave a small nod, took her hand, and sent a thought to Natasha.

[Natasha, just play along for now. Got it?]

[Got it.]

Natasha, who had returned with a tray of barley tea and cups, replied telepathically and sat back down. Yuder finally spoke.

“First—would it be all right to wake Yu-hee up?”

The atmosphere in the living room shifted drastically at Yuder’s question.

The wariness returned to Kang Jin-ho’s eyes, which had been slowly calming down.

He had clearly mentioned the name “Yu-hee.”

The man before him knew Yu-hee.

Of course, if he was an acquaintance of Natasha’s, and if she had told him about them, it was possible he would say such a thing.

But Kang Jin-ho could feel it instinctively.

That wasn’t it.

The man before him knew more about him and Hong Yu-hee than that.

Kang Jin-ho was thrown into confusion.

If he had his way, he would have grabbed Yu-hee and Natasha and fled this place immediately.

No, even if he was rusty from six years of inaction, if his opponent hadn’t been this man, he would have already set off a smoke bomb and escaped Natasha’s house.

That was how Alexei had trained him, after all.

But he wasn’t doing that.

Why?

Because the two people before him looked like Yuder and Cordelia?

For a reason as simple as that?

No.

It wasn’t that.

There was a greater reason, one that was hard to put into words.

“How… do you plan on waking her?”

It was a question typical of Kang Jin-ho. As if he had expected it, Yuder immediately turned to Cordelia and said.

“With magic.”

“What?”

That was all it took.

Cordelia, who had been itching to break the stalemate one way or another, immediately took action.

“Recovery.”

The moment she extended her hand toward Yu-hee and quietly chanted, a soft light enveloped Cordelia’s hand and Yu-hee’s entire body.

A spell to cure abnormal status effects.

For Yuder and Cordelia, it was as natural as breathing, but for Natasha and Kang Jin-ho, it was not.

At the magic unfolding before them, Natasha and Kang Jin-ho’s eyes widened, and they quickly turned to look at Yu-hee.

“Uuungh…”

With a low groan, Hong Yu-hee slowly opened her eyes.

Just like magic.

Kang Jin-ho kept his mouth tightly shut, while Natasha looked back at Cordelia with eyes full of admiration.

Cordelia, for her part, flashed a triumphant smile.

And then there was Hong Yu-hee.

Having just woken up, she let out another faint groan, rubbed her eyes, and sat up. She looked around at everyone in the living room, starting with Kang Jin-ho.

Kang Jin-ho, Natasha.

And—

“Co-Cordelia?!”

Her eyes flying open just as they had when she first saw Cordelia at the entrance, Hong Yu-hee shouted, then looked at Yuder, and did what everyone had reflexively expected.

“Ah…”

She fainted again.

As Hong Yu-hee collapsed back into Kang Jin-ho’s arms, everyone stared blankly and blinked.

“Uh…”

‘Now what do I do?’

Her brain momentarily freezing, Cordelia looked at Yuder, who squeezed out a voice through his own fluster.

“A-again.”

Recovery, one more time.

They couldn’t proceed until Hong Yu-hee was conscious, after all.

Nodding at Yuder’s words, Cordelia gave an awkward smile to the equally frozen Kang Jin-ho and cast Recovery again.

“Ah…”

And once again, Hong Yu-hee’s eyes opened.

Just like before, she let out a faint groan and sat up. Everyone in the living room watched, tense, waiting for the next step.

“Uuuuhm…”

She rubbed her eyes like someone waking from a nap, looked at Kang Jin-ho, then at Natasha, then at Cordelia and Yuder, and—

“Ah…”

“Recovery!”

Just as she was about to collapse again, the spell Cordelia cast snapped her back to her senses. Hong Yu-hee’s eyes flew wide open, and Cordelia shouted urgently.

“It’s not a dream! It’s real! We’re right here in front of you!”

Cordelia’s face and Cordelia’s voice.

Of course, Cordelia’s illustration in Heroic Saga 2 was 2D, and her voice was only implemented as ‘sound effects’ like battle cries and groans, so it wasn’t a perfect match. Still, Hong Yu-hee knew.

It was just as she said.

This wasn’t a dream.

Cordelia was right in front of her.

How could this be?

Was it actually a dream?

Yes, it must be a dream.

So I have to recognize that it’s a dream.

If I realize it’s a lucid dream, I can do this and that with Cordelia, ehehe.

[Yu-Yuder, Yu-hee is breaking.]

At Cordelia’s worried message, Yuder tried his best to remain calm and looked at Kang Jin-ho.

Unlike Hong Yu-hee, he didn’t seem particularly moved or happy to see Yuder.

He was just watching them with wary eyes.

“Kang Jin-ho.”

Instead of answering Yuder’s call, Kang Jin-ho carefully wrapped an arm around the still-dazed Hong Yu-hee’s shoulders.

Yuder smiled at the natural defensive posture, then lightly raised his right hand and spoke.

“My name is Yuder August Bayer. And this is my wife, Cordelia August Chase.”

A golden whirlwind erupted from Yuder’s entire body, and at the same time, the Aura of the Black Dragon flared up.

As the power surged like a flame and settled into his right arm, Hong Yu-hee couldn’t help but exclaim, “Th-the Black Flame Dragon?!” Yuder looked Kang Jin-ho straight in the eyes, clenched his fist, and said.

“We are the Yuder and Cordelia you’re thinking of.”

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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