Chapter 3 – Double Team #4

Kang Jin-ho didn’t particularly doubt that the man before him was Yuder Bayer from Heroic Saga 2.

From the very beginning, the man had presented far too much evidence for him to doubt his identity as Yuder.

Of course, the idea of another world—that Pleiades, the setting of Heroic Saga 2, actually existed, and that the Yuder and Cordelia from that world were standing before him—was not something one could easily believe.

But Kang Jin-ho applied the logic and reason he had been trained to use by Alexei.

Yuder Bayer and Cordelia Chase were right in front of him.

No matter how impossible it seemed, it was a phenomenon that was actually happening, so any further doubt or denial was unnecessary.

‘Always remember the victory condition.’

If so, what was the right question to ask now?

If Yuder and Cordelia truly existed, what should he ask them?

‘Why?’

Why did they come here?

Why did they reveal themselves to us?

What was their reason for being with Natasha?

And so, Kang Jin-ho asked.

He condensed all his questions into one: “Why are Yuder and Cordelia here?”

And to that question, Yuder replied with a slight smile.

He had already anticipated it.

“Because you’re number one and number two.”

At Yuder’s answer, Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes, indicating he needed a bit more explanation.

Yuder gave a light shrug and continued.

“As you know, Cordelia is a mage. And in our world, she’s an archmage so great she’s called the goddess’s avatar, who even saved the world once.”

Kang Jin-ho felt a strange sense of kinship in Yuder’s tone, which seemed to be a mixture of pride, satisfaction, and boastfulness, but he remained silent for the moment.

Yuder looked at Kang Jin-ho and held up a finger.

“Traveling between worlds isn’t easy. If you have a starting point, you need a destination, but it’s not easy to specify that destination when moving between worlds. You can imagine what would happen if you fired a missile without designating a target point, right?”

“…Are you saying that Yu-hee and I became your destination?”

“Something like that. While searching for potential candidates for inter-world travel, we were able to find singularities that had a strong connection to us. And as you said, those singularities were you and Ms. Yu-hee.”

A lie mixed with truth was always far more plausible than a complete fabrication.

The explanation Yuder was giving now was not a total invention.

After all, it was true that they had targeted Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee as their destination when they traveled between worlds.

‘Though it wasn’t a coincidence. We aimed for them from the start.’

In any case, a fact was a fact.

As Yuder spoke seriously with a flawlessly clear expression, Kang Jin-ho narrowed his eyes again before speaking.

“The reason we’re singularities is… because we’re number one and number two?”

“Probably?”

When Yuder shrugged as if he didn’t know for sure, Kang Jin-ho’s brow furrowed once more.

‘It seems to make sense.’

Heroic Saga 2 was a global hit, but the only country where Yuder and Cordelia were registered as the top-ranked players was Korea.

On top of that, if one were to consider only ‘affection for Cordelia,’ it would be no exaggeration to say Hong Yu-hee was the world’s best, so the talk of singularities was somewhat understandable.

‘I just have too little information.’

Kang Jin-ho simply lacked the knowledge of magic to determine whether Yuder’s words were true or false.

And at Kang Jin-ho’s dilemma, Yuder smiled a dark smile inwardly.

‘That’s right. There’s no way for you to confirm it.’

It was his favorite tactic, even in Pleiades: “So how are you going to verify it?”

Faced with a one-sided offensive that exploited the asymmetry of information, even Kang Jin-ho would have no way to withstand it.

“Why did you go to the trouble of traveling between worlds?”

‘As expected.’

In the end, the only questions he could ask were those that slightly missed the core of the issue.

Therefore, Yuder lightly offered the answer he had prepared in advance.

“First, because Cordelia wanted to. I don’t know if you’re aware, but Cordelia is incredibly curious. Another reason is to prepare for potential foreign powers… attacks from other worlds. Since we already have the precedent of Heaven and Hell, it’s a reasonable choice to be prepared.”

It was a sound argument.

There were no discernible flaws in Yuder’s story.

But it was at that very moment.

“Can I ask a question too?”

Kang Jin-ho nodded at Yuder’s query.

He had been the one repeating questions as if in an interrogation, so it wouldn’t be right to refuse.

‘There are things you can learn from a question, too.’

A question ultimately reflects what is in the questioner’s mind. Recalling Alexei’s teachings, Kang Jin-ho relaxed his posture slightly, and Yuder said with a grin.

“It’s nothing major… but you don’t seem very surprised by the fact that Pleiades actually exists.”

Even for Kang Jin-ho, he hadn’t expected such a muted reaction to the news that a game he played was a real, other world.

But at Yuder’s question, Kang Jin-ho shook his head as if to deny it.

“No, I was plenty surprised.”

If Hong Yu-hee and Natasha, whom he had to protect, hadn’t been nearby—if he hadn’t been in a situation that required extreme composure—he probably would have shown a bit more surprise.

“And…”

The reason Kang Jin-ho himself was able to remain a bit calmer.

“The moment I heard it, I was convinced.”

“The moment you heard it?”

“Yes, the moment I heard your story… it was strangely convincing.”

It was, in fact, a strange thing.

The very fact that he was now talking about being convinced.

Was it because it was Yuder?

Because he was the original version of the character he had played the longest, a character who was like his own alter ego?

A strange sense of familiarity made Kang Jin-ho smile faintly, and at that smile, Yuder felt an inexplicable awkwardness and composed his expression.

And then, after another ten seconds or so had passed.

“Yuder.”

Kang Jin-ho, who spoke again, asked in a much softer voice than before.

“Was it you two who helped Natasha?”

Even with a six-year hiatus, Kang Jin-ho was still Kang Jin-ho.

He had figured out the reason for Natasha’s sudden appearance long ago.

The only question was the identity of those who had resolved Natasha’s incident.

Who were they, to have annihilated an entire organization in just a few hours?

Was it possible for beings with that much power to suddenly appear and disappear?

At Kang Jin-ho’s question, Yuder, as always, gave a refreshing smile and nodded.

“Yes, that’s right. It was our doing.”

“Why?”

“Because Natasha is connected to you two? Cordelia cares for you both very much.”

Kang Jin-ho thought as he listened to Yuder.

The time when the two first visited Earth.

Since they had resolved Natasha’s issue, it must have been before her visit.

But if the reason they resolved Natasha’s issue was because of Kang Jin-ho and Hong Yu-hee, then it was highly likely that Yuder and Cordelia were also in Korea when Natasha visited.

The time Natasha appeared.

The events that happened around that time.

The offline meetup of the chatroom members.

His meeting with Yu-hee.

And—

“The sprinkler.”

“Huh?”

Having unconsciously formed a single word, Kang Jin-ho looked straight at Yuder.

With eyes filled not with the earlier familiarity or suspicion, but with strong conviction, he asked Yuder.

“The sprinkler in the underground parking lot. Was that you?”

To be precise, the sprinkler that suddenly went off and the broken gate of Yu-hee’s house.

And all the chatroom members who suddenly had things come up on the day of the meetup.

Faced with the incredibly sharp question, Yuder forced an awkward smile and, for the first time in a long while, cried out Alexei’s name in his heart.

*

At the same time.

While Yuder and Kang Jin-ho were taking turns breaking out in a cold sweat, Cordelia and Hong Yu-hee were having the sweetest time imaginable.

“S-So, that day, Oppa…”

“Yes, yes! The boy next door! No, Kang Jin-ho!”

At Cordelia’s urging, Hong Yu-hee fidgeted with her fingers and parted her lips, then finally lifted her head and brought her lips to Cordelia’s ear.

And—

“Eek! He’s a wolf, a wolf!”

As Cordelia squealed with a reddened face at Hong Yu-hee’s whisper, Hong Yu-hee’s face turned even redder. Seeing that, Cordelia got even more excited and jumped up and down.

Hong Yu-hee’s embarrassed expression was just too cute.

‘Is this how Yuder felt?’

Was that why he tried so hard to make Cordelia herself embarrassed all day long?

‘Anyway, he did that to our Yu-hee, did he?’

Kang Jin-ho.

The boy next door.

The Yuder of the past.

“Hmph, hmph.”

So that’s what happened?

Kang Jin-ho to Yu-hee.

“Hehehe.”

As Cordelia’s humming turned into a wicked giggle, Hong Yu-hee’s face grew even redder, and Cordelia’s smile deepened in proportion to that redness.

But it was at that very moment.

“W-What about Yuder?”

“Huh?”

“Yuder. Cordelia-unni’s, uh, husband, Yuder.”

Although Yuder and Cordelia did get married by following the new happy ending route prepared in Heroic Saga 3, the thought of them calling each other husband and wife made Hong Yu-hee feel unusually shy.

And it was the same for Cordelia.

Even though they had long been a lovey-dovey couple recognized by the world, titles like ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ still made her blush.

“M-My Yuder? My Yuder is…”

Cordelia trailed off for a moment, pondering, then made up her mind.

Since Hong Yu-hee had shared so much, it was only fair for Cordelia to share things too, wasn’t it?

Swallowing hard, Cordelia clenched her fists and gestured for Hong Yu-hee to come closer. When Hong Yu-hee, who was already close, leaned in, she whispered in a small voice into her ear.

“So…”

The things that happened with Yuder.

The things Yuder did.

As Cordelia gave voice to the memories in her head, her whole body flushed red, and the same happened to Hong Yu-hee, who was listening.

The stories were far too incredible for her small data set from a short dating period to handle.

“A-A beast.”

As the word popped out reflexively, Hong Yu-hee gasped. Cordelia, perhaps because her embarrassment had already passed its limit, nodded with a rather—no, a very excited face.

“He’s a real beast, a beast. But… you know what?”

“What… is it?”

“That’s why I like it.”

“Kyaa!”

At Cordelia’s shy confession(?), Hong Yu-hee covered her face with both hands and squealed, and Cordelia, too, quickly hid her face from the shame that was once again blooming.

And one pair of eyes was watching the two of them.

It was an incredibly lovely and cute sight, but her eyes turned cold without her realizing it as she thought.

‘Who am I? Where am I?’

Why, of all days, on my birthday, do I have to listen to a double dose of Jino and Yu-hee’s lovey-dovey stories?

My sanity hit zero a long time ago.

‘Still… it seems they really are the same person.’

Though she was in tatters, Natasha was still Natasha.

Seeing the two of them together like this, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say they were real sisters.

‘In the first place, they’re beyond sisters; they’re the same person.’

But how on earth did this happen?

Because of Jino and Yu-hee’s sudden intrusion, Natasha still hadn’t heard the full story from Yuder and Cordelia.

‘Well, I can just hear it later.’

Perhaps feeling embarrassed along with the two of them due to their very embarrassing stories, Natasha, whose body was heating up, drank a cold beer to cool down.

“Hey, by the way, Yu-hee.”

“Yes, Unni.”

“So are you still going to school these days? And is Kang Jin-ho still playing at home—no, no, I mean… enjoying his retirement?”

To be honest, Kang Jin-ho was just playing at home, but there was such a thing as basic courtesy.

As Cordelia quickly corrected herself, Hong Yu-hee suddenly smiled bashfully and began to fidget with her fingers.

“No, Oppa is working again these days, too.”

“Oh, really? What kind of work?”

“It’s something we do together.”

“With you?”

“Yes, with me. Natasha sometimes joins in, too.”

“Natasha too?”

Cordelia reflexively glanced at Natasha and couldn’t help but tilt her head.

Natasha, the cool city beauty, had instantly turned into a cute girl squirming with embarrassment.

‘What is it? What on earth are they doing?’

What kind of work could Kang Jin-ho, Hong Yu-hee, and Natasha be doing together that would make the great Natasha so embarrassed?

“What kind of work is it?”

“Well…”

Giggling, Hong Yu-hee answered in a voice mixed with embarrassment and pride.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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