episode_0051

In Korea, Kang Yoo-chan and Shin Yuna were in the midst of intense contact.

Meanwhile, in Cape Town, South Africa, on the other side of the globe.

“Welcome!”

A luxurious mansion. A middle-aged Asian man with a wrinkled face was extravagantly entertaining a stern-faced Asian man with prominent scars, making his impression even more striking.

“After such a long journey, you must be tired. Mr. Ryu! Please, have a seat.”

“….”

As the man addressed as ‘Ryu’ quietly sat on the sofa, the black man sitting across from him chuckled.

“We’ve thoroughly checked the gift sent by the Chinese government! As expected from a big country, the gifts are extraordinary! Hahaha!”

“….”

Ryu simply nodded without giving any further response.

Unperturbed by his reaction, the black man continued with a smile, “Since you’ve come all this way, how about we have a leisurely meal and chat? The chef we brought directly from France is excellent.”

The black man secretly wanted to build a close relationship with Ryu. If he was entrusted with tasks by the Chinese government, showing off wouldn’t hurt.

However, Ryu seemed disinterested.

“I have a busy schedule, so I’ll just take the item.”

“…Understood. Shall we send the item directly to your accommodation, or will you take it here?”

“I’ll take it here.”

Slightly put off by Ryu’s cold response, the black man gestured to a man standing near the door.

The young man approached swiftly, placed a thick case on the table, and unlocked it with the black man’s guidance.

“Please check inside.”

Handing the case over to Ryu, the black man gestured for him to open it himself.

“….”

Ryu reached out and opened the case, revealing a magnificent green gemstone embedded within—a stone known as the “Stone of Life,” discovered in Africa.

“You just need to register your fingerprint to take the case with you.”

The pleased black man attempted to hand over the case to Ryu, who casually tucked the stone into his pocket.

“He plans to move it himself.”

The black man thought it was quite a rough method for something involving a substantial amount of money…

What he didn’t know was that having Ryu move it personally was the safest option.

“It was a good deal. Keep supporting our cooperation between China and us.”

“Haha! I will do my best!”

With a light handshake, the two concluded their transaction, and China now possessed three stones.

*

Silence filled the house.

Sitting in the living room due to the lack of a proper place, I tentatively spoke to Shin Yuna, who was crouched on the opposite side.

“Are you okay?”

“….”

Having stopped crying, she still wore a deeply embarrassed expression, shaking her head.

“What a sudden turn of events.”

She had come to apologize for the noise but ended up bursting into tears unexpectedly, pouring them out like a distressed child.

Feeling obliged, I had brought her home without understanding the situation as a non-Korean speaker.

“I hope I’m not getting involved in something strange again.”

As I silently waited for Shin Yuna to speak, she finally opened her mouth.

“I’m sorry…”

Bowing politely, she offered her apology.

“I’ve caused you a lot of trouble…”

“It’s okay. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

I reassured her with a clap of my hands.

“So, what’s this all about suddenly?”

Having brought her all the way home, it was more than enough to inquire about the situation.

I stared at her with my arms crossed.

“…Well…”

Shin Yuna met my gaze, her expression showing signs of inner conflict as she hesitated on whether to speak the truth or not.

“If it’s difficult to talk about, you can just go back.”

Not particularly concerned either way, I subtly encouraged her to speak by hinting at it.

In response, Shin Yuna closed her eyes tightly and then, with a determined expression, looked straight into my eyes.

“I’ll tell you everything.”

Adjusting her posture, perhaps due to the emotional strain, she requested cool water for her parched throat.

I obediently fetched the water and handed her the cup.

“Thank you.”

She quickly emptied the cup in one gulp, then placed it down with a slightly relieved expression before speaking confidently.

“I can see the future.”

“…?”

I unintentionally displayed a lack of understanding.

“…I’m being serious.”

“…I’m sorry. Please continue.”

Shin Yuna, quietly scanning my eyes, cleared her throat and calmly continued.

She claimed to have awakened her ability even before birth.

She had what they called innate awakening.

“To be born as an awakened individual. Life is truly unfair.”

Moreover, her ability was ‘future foresight,’ a power that had never appeared in history before.

“Is that the ‘reading’ you mentioned before?”

“Yes.”

It was hard to believe.

While there are numerous abilities in the world, an ability like reading the future was unprecedented.

“Or maybe I just didn’t know.”

Anyway, Shin Yuna, possessing the ability of future foresight, had been living by concealing her identity and using her ability under the guise of safety, not in Korea but in Japan.

“Japan? Then…”

“I’m Japanese. My grandfather was a Korean-Japanese.”

“I see…”

Only then could I understand some of her occasional behaviors.

“No wonder she played Japanese songs all day long.”

Born and raised in Japan, yet fluent in Korean, it was somewhat intriguing.

“But can you just tell me such an important secret?”

“…I’m not doing this because I want to.”

Looking at me with a somewhat displeased expression, Shin Yuna cautiously spoke in a subdued voice.

“Do you know Shahid Khan died in India?”

“Shahid Khan? The S-rank Awakened?”

It was around the time when I crossed over from the Maengyeon Book to Korea.

I had seen news about Shahid Khan, an S-rank Awakened in India, who died while attempting to conquer a tower.

Back then, I was too preoccupied and not very interested, so I didn’t pay much attention…

“He was murdered.”

Shin Yuna claimed he was assassinated.

“Eh? Shahid Khan?”

Of course, it was a hard story to believe.

Shahid Khan was known to be quite powerful among the S-rank Awakeneds.

How strong must he have been to wield the power of gods?

The fact that he died on the tower was already surprising, but now to hear that he was assassinated by someone was even more shocking.

I thought it was an absurd claim.

Until unexpected pieces started falling into place.

“Shahid Khan had the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“…?!”

Once again, it was about the Philosopher’s Stone.

“The Philosopher’s Stone has the ability to enhance the user. The Indian Association, realizing this, gave it to Shahid Khan.”

“Unbelievable… So…?”

“Of course, it was taken from him.”

“…!”

Suddenly, memories of the first appearance of the Philosopher’s Stone flooded back.

At that time, Daniel Kiesling, the whistleblower from the European Union, claimed that there was an ‘organization’ somewhere in the world aiming for the stone.

What seemed like a plot from a movie turned out to be entirely true.

“What in the world…”

Staring at Shin Yuna with a shocked expression, I snapped back to reality and asked.

“No, so what does that have to do with anything?”

Setting aside the truth, I still couldn’t grasp what she was trying to say.

Shin Yuna’s future-seeing ability.

The Origin Stone and Shahid Khan’s death.

I couldn’t fathom the connection between them at all….

At that moment, she replied with a very serious expression.

“I have the stone.”

She also had the stone.

“….What?”

I was at a loss for words.

“It’s a long story, but if you want, I can tell you how I obtained it.”

“No… You have the stone? Over there?”

“Yes.”

“Look!”

“I can’t show you.”

“What?”

“Because it’s inside my body right now.”

“?!”

Shin Yuna placed her hand on her exposed white abdomen beneath the crop top.

“You can absorb the stone with magic. But since I can’t naturally contain magic, I implanted it.”

Her seriously insane statement made me slightly fearful.

“…Does that make sense? Implanting a stone in your body?”

“At first, I thought the same way. Anyway, I became stronger, so it’s a benefit, right?”

With a faintly crazed smile, she continued speaking, ignoring my bewildered expression.

“Anyway, after hearing about Shahid Khan’s death, I used the stone to see a bit into the distant future… and that’s where you came in.”

“Me…?”

Finally, it was time for me to appear.

“I can’t go into details. The future could change. The important thing is that you were on my side.”

“So, ultimately, did you approach me on purpose?”

“No. I just accepted the future quietly.”

Shin Yuna claimed that she followed fate to become one with me.

Without creating variables that twist fate, just flowing like water.

In other words, everything that has happened between us so far was all ‘inevitable.’

“Do you understand a bit now?”

“No.”

I didn’t understand at all.

“That’s okay. Fate can be a bit complicated.”

Haha. Shin Yuna, with a smile, regained her composure.

Thinking back on our conversation, her peculiar personality and behavior were somewhat explained…

But her earlier burst of tears remained unexplained.

“Then, was your luck earlier also fate?”

“…Th-that…”

Startled, Shin Yuna lost the composure she had just regained and cautiously continued speaking.

“…I saw a future that was a bit hard to accept….”

Her gaze as she glanced at me, seemed very wary, almost as if she was guarding against me.

“What’s with that look?”

Feeling awkward after being treated strangely, I threw out a response in disbelief.

“Did I try to eat you or something?”

Upon my words, she blushed fiercely, quickly covering her chest.

Then, with a very embarrassed face, she looked away and said,

“If you… want to live, offer your body to me….”

“….What?”

It felt like everything was fading before my eyes.