Chapter 3 – The Double Team #3

1. Natasha’s foreign friends were cosplaying as Yuder and Cordelia.
2. Yuder and Cordelia would reveal that they were the actual Yuder and Cordelia from Heroic Saga 2.
3. Yuder and Cordelia would reveal that they were Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee.

Yuder chose option two.

There were several reasons, but as always, the most important one was Cordelia.

It’ll be more comfortable for Cordelia this way.

For one, she wouldn’t have to act like a foreigner who loved cosplaying as Cordelia. Although Cordelia’s acting skills had grown explosively during their journey in Pleiades, her talent was unfortunately limited mostly to scams—specifically, scams targeting fairies. If suddenly asked to act like a foreigner, she was bound to make a string of mistakes.

Besides, we’re in front of Kang Jin-ho.

It felt strange to be praising himself, but it was none other than Kang Jin-ho. There was no way he wouldn’t sense the awkwardness in Cordelia’s acting.

There’s also the matter of Natasha.

This was Kang Jin-ho, after all. It was impossible that he hadn’t looked into the reason for Natasha’s sudden appearance or why she had abruptly decided to settle down in Korea.

If we say that a surreal existence like Yudelia was involved, it would explain everything.

And one last thing. This, too, was for Cordelia.

She’ll be able to meet them.

Not just watch them from hiding, but meet her parents in person, even if it was just as an acquaintance of Yu-hee.

And so, Yuder chose option two. As always, for the sake of rationality and Cordelia.

Option two feels somewhat Cordelia-like, too.

Just as Yuder was thinking that and smiling to himself…

“M-magic! No, since it’s Yuder, it must be martial arts, right? Like, with Ki?!”

Hong Yu-hee, excited by the ‘Black Flame Dragon’ that had bloomed from Yuder’s hand, shot up from her seat and asked. Her eyes were sparkling so brightly it was as if they were actually emitting light.

Because of this, instead of answering right away, Yuder paused for dramatic effect, glanced at Kang Jin-ho, then turned back to Hong Yu-hee and said, “That’s right. This is the power of the Black Moon I possess, manifested as the aura of a Black Dragon according to the principles of the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates.”

It was a slightly long explanation, but it was appropriate. Because the ones present, the ones listening to Yuder’s explanation, were veterans of Heroic Saga 2.

“Wow… Nine Heavens and Nine Gates! Yuder’s graduation skill!”

Thanks to Kang Jin-ho, Hong Yu-hee was as well-versed in all things Yuder as Cordelia was. While Natasha was bewildered by the sudden burst of proper nouns, Hong Yu-hee’s face showed perfect understanding. She looked at Yuder’s entire body—more accurately, at the golden whirlwind still enveloping him—and said, “Th-then what about that golden whirlwind? Is it the Twenty-Four Steps of Gale?!”

“Yes, it is the golden whirlwind of the Twenty-Four Steps of Gale.”

“Woooow.”

He had the Nine Heavens and Nine Gates, and the Twenty-Four Steps of Gale. Martial arts were real!

“Oppa, oppa! He said it’s the Twenty-Four Steps of Gale! The Twenty-Four Steps of Gale!”

A completely flushed Hong Yu-hee bounced on her feet, tugging at Kang Jin-ho’s arm.

And Kang Jin-ho—that man, the very incarnation of reason and rationality—wore a truly complex and subtle expression.

Right, you’re also a hardcore Heroic Saga player in the end.

Yuder’s self-reflective thought was not wrong. Kang Jin-ho, though not showing it as openly as Hong Yu-hee, was also quite excited at that moment.

But he was still Kang Jin-ho. At least on the surface, he showed no agitation, simply playing along with Hong Yu-hee’s words while keeping a close watch on them.

It was at that very moment.

“Um, then can you also use the Trust Twelve Steps?”

In the game, Kang Jin-ho’s primary footwork skill had been the Trust Twelve Steps.

At Hong Yu-hee’s question, Yuder once again smiled brightly and nodded.

“Yes, I’ve mastered it all the way to the Heaven Escape Nine Steps.”

“The Heaven Escape Nine Steps! The phantom skill!”

The ultimate footwork technique, whose existence was known but which no one had ever mastered!

Perhaps that was why. Even Kang Jin-ho, who had maintained at least an outward composure until now, had a flicker of turbulence in his eyes. If Hong Yu-hee and Natasha weren’t around, and if he could trust Yuder and Cordelia, he looked like he would have immediately asked, ‘Where do you get that?!’

But he won’t ask.

The two aforementioned conditions were still in place. As expected, Kang Jin-ho feigned calmness again, and Yuder, smiling inwardly, turned his gaze back to Hong Yu-hee—or more precisely, to Hong Yu-hee, who was now looking at Cordelia.

“U-um.”

“Huh?”

“U-unnie? C-can I call you… Cordelia-unnie?”

Hong Yu-hee, her face blushing scarlet, fidgeted with her fingers as she asked timidly. Cordelia, fidgeting with her own fingers in return, gave a simple smile and said, “Mhm, it’s okay. You can call me unnie.”

In terms of physical age, Hong Yu-hee was actually older, but mentally (?), Cordelia was definitely the unnie. In any case, what was important now was that Cordelia had given her permission.

And the effect was truly tremendous.

“Cordelia-unnie… Hehe, hehehe. Hehehehe.”

Biting her lip slightly and fidgeting with her fingers, Hong Yu-hee kept letting out a silly grin. At her cuteness, Cordelia and Kang Jin-ho’s expressions softened as if on cue. Yuder, for his part, smiled fondly as he watched Cordelia.

What on earth is with these people?

Hong Yu-hee was cute, and Cordelia was cute, but they were the same person. Natasha, the only one (?) who knew the truth, was plunged into a truly bizarre feeling. Just then, Hong Yu-hee clenched her fists as if mustering her courage and faced Cordelia.

“U-unnie.”

“Yes?”

“C-can you show me something too… please?”

It was a timid yet desperate request from Hong Yu-hee.

Show me something, unnie. Show me you using a skill, just like Yuder.

“Uh… well, then, um…”

What should she show? What could she show that would leave Hong Yu-hee completely satisfied?

In truth, the answer came to her almost reflexively. It was something she had done countless times in front of others, thanks to Yuder.

Cordelia slowly closed her eyes and released her angelic power. Although this was an avatar and not her true body, it was a vessel with power comparable to a Seraphim, a high-ranking angel just below an Archangel.

A shining halo materialized above Cordelia’s head, and four wings of light unfurled from her back, changing the very air in the vicinity. A sacred aura filled Natasha’s home.

“An… angel?!”

Natasha didn’t know much about Heroic Saga, but that didn’t mean she didn’t know what an angel was. Seeing the ring of light above Cordelia’s head, she shot up from her seat in surprise. Hong Yu-hee, on the other hand, clasped her hands as if in prayer and began to confess her faith.

“Wow… an angel! A real angel! Cordelia Maji Tenshi!”

“M-Maji what?”

Natasha asked again, but Hong Yu-hee was no longer in a state to answer. She struggled to keep herself from fainting on the spot, all while panting with excited breaths.

“Oh my god. Oh my god. She’s so pretty. A real angel.”

Pretty. Beautiful. Holy.

And all these feelings were not Hong Yu-hee’s alone. Natasha, too, found herself overcome with a sense of reverence and straightened her posture. Kang Jin-ho, without realizing it, blushed.

Because Cordelia was, in the end, Hong Yu-hee.

And one person. The man who was more satisfied with this whole scene than anyone else wore a black-hearted smile and began to whisper like a demon.

“Yu-hee, in our world, Cordelia is actually known as the avatar of a goddess.”

“The avatar of a goddess? Like, Solari’s, from the story?”

“No. She’s the avatar of Cordelia, the Goddess of the Sun, Love, and Beauty, who inherited the divine authority of the sun from Solari.”

It was anyone’s guess when ‘Beauty’ had been added to the title, but that’s what Yuder said, and Hong Yu-hee felt nothing amiss.

It’s Cordelia, so of course she has to be the Goddess of Beauty.

Therefore, her suspicion lay elsewhere.

“Cordelia is the avatar of… Cordelia?”

“Technically, she’s both the goddess and the avatar, but that’s how she’s known for now.”

The moment Yuder said that.

[Hey! What are you trying to say?! Huh?!]

Cordelia, her face beet red, sent him a message spell. Her animal instincts told her that Yuder was ‘building up’ to something.

And as expected, her premonition was correct.

Instead of replying, Yuder gave her his signature black-hearted smile, then approached Hong Yu-hee and said, “I have something good here.”

And what Yuder pulled from his coat was a truly luxurious and stylish book with a black cover and gold foil inlay.

“A scripture?”

“Yes, the scripture of the Cordelia Church.”

“Waaah…”

A scripture. The scripture of the Cordelia Church. Were there really that many people like her in Pleiades, enough to form a whole church?

Hong Yu-hee accepted the scripture Yuder offered with a moved expression, while Cordelia let out a mental scream, firing off a barrage of message spells.

[Hey! Hey! You cra-crazy bastard! You brought that?!]

Why did you bring that! No, why do you carry that around with you at all times!

To Cordelia’s squirming, embarrassed cries, Yuder replied with the same shameless face he had worn once before.

[What’s the big deal? I’m the Pope of the Cordelia Church. Shouldn’t I always carry a scripture?]

[Aaaargh!]

It was a scene reminiscent of the ‘Man with Nine Yin Severed Meridians’ incident, but all Cordelia could do was clutch her hair and scream internally.

Why was the embarrassment always her burden? Yuder was always the one causing trouble!

“C-can I look?”

“By all means. It’s a gift for you, Yu-hee.”

As Yuder opened the scripture for her with a sweet smile, Hong Yu-hee’s eyes sparkled again as she let out a gasp of admiration.

“Wow… it’s the actual script of Pleiades. Oppa, you can read this, right?”

“…I can.”

At Kang Jin-ho’s reply, Hong Yu-hee gave him a look that said, That’s my oppa! before smiling giddily and looking back at the scripture.

“Tell me what it says later. Wow… the illustrations are so pretty!”

She couldn’t read the text, but she could understand the pictures. Moreover, the scripture she was looking at was a custom one Yuder had specially made. Unlike other scriptures, this one was filled with full-color illustrations.

“This part is about Cordelia’s birth. It says that baby angels gathered to bless her birth.”

“Wow…”

As Hong Yu-hee gazed at the baby Cordelia with an admiring face, Yuder smiled fondly again. Cordelia, meanwhile, was writhing in agony.

But Hong Yu-hee, oblivious to Cordelia’s suffering, flipped through the scripture, marveling at the illustrations, when she suddenly looked up and asked, “Th-then is Dahlia in here too? And Maia?”

“Of course. The two of them are the Knight Commander and Chamberlain of the Holy Nation that serves Cordelia.”

Count Dahlia Aile and Countess Maia Tantalot. The Knight Commander and Chamberlain of the Holy Nation of Yudelia.

At the words ‘Holy Nation that serves Cordelia,’ Hong Yu-hee looked ecstatic—to be precise, she was imagining a country where Cordelia’s portrait hung in every single house. Clutching her chest, which felt like it was about to burst, she squeezed out a new question.

“You wouldn’t have… something like a photo, would you?”

“I do.”

“Kya.”

The moment Hong Yu-hee let out an involuntary squeal, Yuder pulled out a flat, square metal plate and infused it with mana. Numerous hologram images floated up from the plate.

“It’s Dahlia! And Maia is there too!”

This time, it wasn’t just Hong Yu-hee who was surprised. Natasha’s eyes widened at the incredibly detailed 3D hologram, while Kang Jin-ho felt a mix of emotions seeing the brightly smiling Maia.

[What, you had something like this too?]

[I also have the Cordelia Collection. Should I bring it out?]

[Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare! Got it?!]

[It’s a shame, there are so many great pictures. I’ll show you later when we’re alone.]

At Yuder’s message, Cordelia hid her face behind her hair and hands in agony, while Hong Yu-hee, seeing the images of Cordelia that Yuder had casually brought out, started squealing and fangirling all over again.

And how much time had passed?

Hong Yu-hee, who had been pushed to the brink of death by fangirling due to Yuder’s antics, suddenly snapped her head up. She had realized she had forgotten something very important.

The original reason she and Kang Jin-ho had snuck into Natasha’s house. The reason today was such an important day, even before the great event of meeting Cordelia in person.

“Th-um…”

When Hong Yu-hee suddenly trailed off, everyone looked at her with curiosity. She seemed to make up her mind, looked straight at Natasha, and said, “Th-this is sudden! And I think I missed the timing! But happy birthday! Natasha!”

July 12th. It was Natasha’s birthday. She was supposed to be the star of the day.

At Hong Yu-hee’s shout, Natasha blinked, but only for a moment. As congratulations followed from Kang Jin-ho, Yuder, and Cordelia, she blushed and said with a slightly awkward smile, “It feels a bit like I had to fish for it… but thank you.”

I’m glad I came to Korea.

Natasha Molotov. To Yuder, she was a person like Maia.

“I’ll go get the cake! Just a moment!”

As Hong Yu-hee scurried toward the kitchen like a squirrel, Natasha and Kang Jin-ho smiled fondly at her retreating back, while Yuder and Cordelia also burst into laughter.

*

Deep in the night.

Standing in the smoking area on one side of the apartment building, Kang Jin-ho looked at the man opposite him—Yuder—and took out a cigarette. It was something he had rarely smoked since he started dating Hong Yu-hee, but today was different. He had needed an excuse to be alone with the man before him.

“Are you going to have one?”

“Hmm… no, I don’t think Cordelia would like it.”

The beast at my house has a good sense of smell.

At Yuder’s words, Kang Jin-ho pushed the cigarette he was about to put in his mouth back into the pack. After a slight hesitation, he spoke.

“Why did the real Yuder and Cordelia come here?”

It was the question he’d had since this whole thing started. And how did Yuder know his and Hong Yu-hee’s names?

At Kang Jin-ho’s question, Yuder seemed to smile bitterly before he began to speak.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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