For What Do You Fight? -5

Noah opened her eyes on a pure white bed. A steady electronic beeping sound reached her ears.

‘This is…’

A place in her memory. A white ceiling and a bed so pristine it hurt her eyes. Even the large hospital gown she was wearing.

‘It’s the hospital…’

It was strange. She should have been discharged, yet here she was back in the hospital.

As Noah tried to get up with this peculiar sensation, she felt a throbbing pain in the center of her chest.

When she put her hand inside her clothes to feel it, she touched something bumpy. It seemed to be stitches.

‘My chest was sewn up?’

The wound throbbed and her head ached.

How long have I been like this? No, why am I still here in the first place?

After watching the IV drip for quite some time, Noah soon realized.

‘…That’s right, I was taken down by the mister…’

She had prepared herself for death while fighting Kraken, and had passed out after his attack pierced her chest.

Whether by luck or something else, she had barely survived.

“Unnecessarily tough… this life…”

Noah bowed her head in misery.

Being alive didn’t feel like being alive.

“I miss the mister…”

Lying still with her heavy body, she recalled last winter. It was when she had been suffering from a bad cold.

He had done so much for her then. Bought her a new blanket, cooked meals for her.

‘But now there’s no one.’

She felt lonely.

She wished the mister would come and stay by her side right away.

But that wouldn’t be easy. He might not even know that she was alive.

“Haah…”

As Noah was sighing deeply, she heard footsteps approaching.

The footsteps stopped in front of her hospital room door.

Creak.

Noah brightened up at the person who entered, opening the door.

“Mister!?”

“Sorry, I’m not the mister.”

“Oh… Taehwa.”

“Don’t sound so disappointed! I came here taking time off from my restaurant job!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“…It’s fine since you’re awake.”

The visitor was Lee Taehwa, who had brought fruit.

Taehwa pulled up a chair and sat next to Noah.

“How long have I been sleeping?”

“About 3 days.”

“You’re not very surprised for someone who’s been out that long. I thought you’d make a huge fuss when you woke up.”

“You’re not the type to die that easily. Besides, the doctor said it would take about 2-3 days.”

I see.

“Nothing happened, right?”

“Well, as for what happened…”

“Nothing happened then, that’s good—”

“Actually, a lot happened.”

After saying that, Taehwa reached into her basket. She took out a green apple and began peeling it.

Noah stared at her, fidgeting with her hands, and soon asked what she had been curious about.

“So then… what about the mister…?”

Taehwa stopped peeling the apple.

“About that…”

She seemed hesitant.

“Did something happen?”

“A lot happened. Yes… you’ll find out anyway.”

After mumbling for a while, Taehwa took out her phone and showed Noah an article.

A photo of Kraken standing on the ruins of a collapsed building, his tentacles deployed.

And.

“…Is this real?”

“Yes. The Association building, where the higher-ups gather, was destroyed.”

The article stated that Kraken had destroyed the building, captured some executives, and stolen information.

There were no casualties, but important documents, confidential information, and scandals had all been leaked.

“It’s causing quite a commotion.”

“That is serious. The headquarters being raided by a villain…”

“That’s part of it, but look at this.”

Taehwa swiped to the next screen.

There was—

“Huh? That’s the chairman!”

A photo showed the Association’s chairman being led away in handcuffs.

“Hero Association Chairman… sex bribery scandal…!?”

“Yes, there’s evidence in the documents Kraken took, and it seems he… I mean, the mister gathered more evidence.”

“The mister…”

“This is causing an uproar. Various parties with escorts… sexual harassment, tax evasion, and corruption. All of it came from the materials Kraken distributed to the media.”

Noah blinked at Taehwa’s words.

What on earth was the mister doing? No, how did he know about such things in the first place?

The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

As she pondered, Noah wondered about something else.

Could this incident also be related to her?

“Hey, Taehwa.”

“Yes?”

“Was there anything about us in those materials?”

“There was.”

As expected.

Thinking about it, the mister had always done things that helped her. This time must also be related somehow.

“So? What was it about?”

Taehwa’s face reddened intensely at Noah’s question.

It was an expression of anger.

“That pig…”

“Taehwa?”

“Haah… that pig was planning to use us as sex toys. He was going to invite us to what he called a party, drug us, and force himself on us.”

“…”

“Disgusting bastards… even if we’re one thing, Yul is still only in middle school.”

Noah nodded as she listened to Taehwa.

So there was such a circumstance after all.

“Noah? What’s wrong?”

“Taehwa. Can I say something a bit strange?”

“Something strange? Sure, go ahead.”

“I think maybe the mister is, you know. Doing this for us?”

“…Noah, you should rest well. You don’t need to force yourself to talk with me.”

Noah felt wronged.

“No, that’s not it. Think about it, the mister… haah… never mind.”

What’s the use of defending him here? He’s a villain. That much is clear.

“Sorry, Taehwa. I need to rest more. I think I need to organize my thoughts.”

“Okay. I’ll go now, rest well.”

Taehwa placed the apple on a plate and left the room.

“Lady Noah? May I have a moment?”

“Ah, Kyukyu.”

Kyukyu fluttered his wings and flew over.

“If you’re tired, we can do this later.”

“No, it’s more tiring to just lie here doing nothing.”

“I see.”

“So? What is it?”

“Actually, I have something to give you.”

Something to give?

“What is it?”

“Here, a letter.”

Kyukyu held out a white piece of paper.

“A letter? From whom? Is there someone who would send me a letter?”

“First, please get up. Let’s go to that person’s house and talk.”

“That person?”

“I mean Shin Hyun.”

“The mister is there!?”

“No. It’s a request written in that letter. Let’s go take a look.”

What could it be…

Questions welled up inside her. She transformed into Iris and secretly left the hospital. After flying for a while, she arrived at a familiar place with no one to welcome her.

Why did it feel so desolate? Despite it being summer, there was a cool air about the place.

The two sat facing each other at the dining table. Kyukyu pointed at the letter with his wing.

Understanding that she should open it, Noah opened the envelope and began reading the familiar handwriting.

[To Noah.]

Her heart raced.

‘Whew… calm down. This isn’t a love letter or anything.’

What Noah needed to do now was not to make her heart race, but to focus on the letter in front of her.

Having regained her composure, Noah continued reading the letter.

The contents of the letter came as a shock to Noah.

“…Kyukyu, is this true?”

“Yes. Actually, not long ago… I learned about his identity and intentions. I was extremely surprised too.”

“Of course you’d be surprised!”

In conclusion, he had indeed become a villain for Noah’s sake. She had somewhat guessed this part, so it was fine.

But.

“To borrow his expression… it might sound crazy, but I have previewed the contents of the book. That’s what he said.”

He had clearly written in the letter.

Assuming this world is a book, he had somewhat previewed the contents of that book.

“Is this some kind of future prediction?”

“We can only see it that way.”

It might be a type of ability.

No… that’s not what’s important right now.

Noah focused on the latter part.

That he was currently under a curse. That if he didn’t properly face Iris according to the contract, that curse would transfer to Iris.

“What an annoying curse…”

Noah sighed deeply. She had to find a way to break this curse.

Noah turned to the next page to see if there was a way to break the curse, and she found:

‘Ah…’

While the first part was close to an explanation, the latter part was more like everyday conversation.

Things like “I’m sorry,” “Study hard at school,” “Make sure to eat properly.”

[PS. Use that house for a while. Feel free to move your things or use it as you like. I’ve prepaid the rent for half a year, so don’t worry about it. There’s a gift in the freezer, make sure to check it.]

“Gift?”

Noah tilted her head and went to the freezer.

There was—

“An ice cream… cake?”

There was an ice cream cake that she didn’t know when he had bought. When could he have purchased it?

Opening the box, she found a cake with a birthday greeting. Only then did Noah realize.

In the midst of fighting Lust, she had forgotten that her birthday had been the week before last.

“Is this… a gift?”

“It seems so. That mister is strange, who needs something like this.”

Noah said this while hiding her sad expression.

That man was always like this. Someone who always took care of Noah more than himself.

“Say, Kyukyu.”

“Yes.”

“What have I been fighting for all this time?”

It was a question Noah was asking herself.

For what purpose have I been fighting? The answer would probably be ‘money.’

She had fought for herself, for her family, for her economic stability. Of course, she had saved citizens along the way, but that was her duty, and she had followed her father’s teachings.

Even that might have been done because it ultimately benefited her.

But going forward, things would be a little different.

Noah made up her mind.

“From now on, I’ll fight for the mister. I’ll fight to save him.”

She would fight for him.

She would fight for the man who had always looked after her and worried about her.

She would fight for Shin Hyun, stand with him on the battlefield, and fight so that someday everything could return to normal.

And someday, if permitted, she wanted to share her life with him.

‘Wait, in the end, this is also for my own sake?’

She smiled with a chuckle.

Still, she planned to work hard to save him, so she hoped this much would be forgiven.

Seeing Noah’s resolute expression, Kyukyu nodded.

“Yes, if that’s the case, I can give you this now.”

“What’s this?”

“Actually, there was one more sheet of paper.”

“One more?”

Kyukyu handed Noah another piece of paper.

“It’s the last letter he left. He said it contains methods to deal with most of the enemies we’ll face from now on.”

“…Methods to deal with them…”

Noah received the final letter with trembling hands.

This is what was written on the paper:

[How to break the curse and how to deal with various monsters.]

[Keep this safe.]

[Now the walkthrough begins.]