ushernet Chapter 105
Chapter 105
Whoosh. The sound of waves echoed. It was the shoreline just before dawn. There was a single figure leaving footprints in this place where no other traces of humans existed.Young Kang Hana, wearing a five-colored hanbok top and a winter ear-muffler, walked across the sandy beach that had hardened from the cold.
With every breath, white mist puffed out and drifted with the wind, and her brown curly hair fluttered.
Before her, a dark man with sharp features wearing a trench coat knelt down.
“Hana. This is a promise.”
Young Kang Hana’s vacant jade eyes looked up at him. The dark man, whose breath did not turn into white mist even as he spoke, smiled and held out his pinky finger to her.
“I will give you ◼◼, so you give us ◼◼ in return. If you break this...”
Upon hearing those words, Kang Hana hooked her pinky finger with the man’s. Their hands shook up and down once.
A dark power swirled between them. The man continued to speak with a smile.
“You must wake up now!”
Only then did the light return to Kang Hana’s eyes, and she looked at the man in confusion. He was suddenly telling her to wake up. The dark man continued to speak to her while smiling.
“Wake up! You mustn't collapse like this!”
“...Pardon?”
Young Kang Hana asked back as if she couldn't understand. It was strange. Suddenly, the voice of an old man was flowing from the dark man’s mouth.
The man shouted at Kang Hana again with a laugh.
“Hana! You must wake up! You're the pride of Joseon!”
Startled by that shout, Kang Hana snapped her eyes open and quickly stood up.
“What?! The pride of Joseon, not even South Korea?!”
The sea breeze and the sound of waves were nowhere to be found. Looking down, she saw she was no longer a child but a fully grown adult, and she was wearing a thin autumn coat instead of a hanbok.
Feeling a sticky sensation, Kang Hana looked down and flinched in surprise at the dried bloodstains on the floor. Looking around, she realized she was in a familiar, small house.
“Eh...?”
Where was this again? As she sat there with bleary eyes and a hazy mind, a Constellation’s indirect message popped up before her.
[The Constellation ‘Jade Emperor (Abbr.)’ clears his throat, asking if you've finally woken up!]
“Ah. Thank you, Your Majesty.”
No matter how many times she told him it was now called South Korea, the Jade Emperor habitually referred to it as Joseon. It seemed the strange remark made by the dark man in her dream had been the divine word of her Constellation.
Kang Hana wiped the drool from her mouth as if trying to wake herself up.
Unlike usual, she felt a salty taste and pulled her hand away. She clearly thought she was wiping drool, but pitch-black blood was stuck to her hand, thick and sticky.
“Oh geez, what is this.”
Looking down, she saw her autumn coat was covered in blood. Dark blood had dried on the floor to the point that anyone would think it was a murder scene.
Just then, a system message appeared before Kang Hana.
[The Guardian is performing duties. You are under the protection of the system!]
Only after the system message appeared did her memories return one by one. She reflexively turned around to look at the floor and sighed.
She hadn't realized it because she'd lost consciousness after being stabbed, but the amount of bleeding was significant. Not only the floor, but her dress shirt and coat were a mess.
“How can someone bleed this much...”
She lifted the hem of her shirt to check her abdomen. The belly where she'd clearly been stabbed was perfectly fine.
It seemed she'd been restored by the system’s protection. When performing Guardian duties, wounds healed quickly thanks to the system’s grace.
“Oppa is going to worry again.”
Since it was obvious Jihoon would worry even if there were no scars, she stood up, vowing to throw away the clothes she wore today and buy new ones before going up. Checking her watch, it was already 3:00 PM.
“I was out for longer than I thought huh?”
[The Constellation ‘Jade Emperor (Abbr.)’ sighs, saying it must be because a major organ was injured.]
“Still, seeing as he could deal this much damage to a Guardian... he certainly doesn't have average skills.”
She clicked her tongue, hoping this wouldn't add more to his sins.
[The Constellation ‘Jade Emperor (Abbr.)’ looks at you, asking if you shouldn't find the suspect quickly!]
“It’s fine. As long as the handcuffs are connected, I can find him even from a distance.”
Kang Hana stretched her neck as if it were no big deal. At those words, the Constellation quickly sent an indirect message.
[The Constellation ‘Jade Emperor (Abbr.)’ squints his eyes, asking if you didn't fail to put those handcuffs on.]
“Ah...!”
Kang Hana froze right in the middle of her neck stretch. Come to think of it, Chris, who collaborated with her today, had suppressed the target so decisively that she hadn't had a chance to put the handcuffs on.
Which meant.
“Agh!! Agh, I’m seriously an idiot!!”
She had no way of knowing the suspect's location right now! Kang Hana ruffled her hair wildly and immediately kicked open the front door. She bit her lip at the mistake born of her carelessness.
“Your Majesty! Please request a collaboration from Chris’s Constellation! It'll take too long for me to find him alone!”
Her Constellation sent an indirect message saying he understood. He added that sending indirect messages between different mythologies without contact between Incarnations would take some time.
“Really?! Ha.... I feel a bit bad for constantly getting help...”
There are many, many people in Busan. Finding a suspect lost in a massive crowd was no easy task. Furthermore, if she didn't find him soon, there was no telling what the suspect might do once he realized he was being pursued.
Someone she could ask for help came to mind, but she was reluctant to receive help every single time.
Just as Kang Hana was hesitating with her phone in hand, a text message arrived at the perfect moment.
[I sent him to the front of OO Cafe. ^^]
“Ha....”
Kang Hana hung her head at that text. Should she say she'd made a good friend? Or should she say she was always grateful and sorry? It was because she felt a bit guilty that he always miraculously noticed and helped her whenever she was in trouble.
“I guess I have to go...”
Her tension eased slightly as she trudged toward Seomyeon. It was already 3:00 PM, and her train reservation was at 6:00 PM, so she had to arrest the suspect within two hours.
* * *
“My son.”
Nan, who was tapping away at his laptop keyboard, looked up. His mother, who had been meditating with her eyes closed in a lotus position, called him. He stopped his work and spoke.
“Yes, Mother. What is it?”
“I want to eat che-ke.”
Nahan spoke with the tone of a sage. Nan froze for a moment at those words. Wondering if his mother was saying something important, he cautiously continued.
“Mother, I’m sorry, but... what is che-ke?”
Whoosh. The green soul energy swirling around Nahan stopped. Nan flinched, wondering if he'd made a major slip of the tongue. She turned around and spoke in a sharp voice.
“I mean cheese cake. You're more than forty years younger than me, yet you don't know that word?”
“Ah.... I didn't know. I’m sorry, Mother. I'll stop by a bakery nearby and buy some right now.”
Nan bowed his head low, feeling embarrassed. Nahan clicked her tongue and spoke to him bluntly again.
“I want to eat the che-ke from that cafe in Seomyeon.”
“....”
Nan showed a slightly hesitant expression at those words. The distance between the temple where he stayed and Seomyeon was over thirty minutes even by car.
“Mother, isn't that a bit far? The cheesecake might be sold out by the time I arrive.”
“Exactly one slice of cake will be left when you arrive. Go quickly.”
“...Forgive me for saying this, Mother, but I understand that divine powers shouldn't be used for such things.”
“What does it matter? Ten years from now, people will be asking about remaining stock on things called Star-this or Planet-that while using tons of emoticons, so isn't divine power better?”
Nan sighed inwardly. Sometimes he couldn't understand what his mother was talking about. He glanced at the documents he'd set aside.
He was almost finished, and since he wanted to wrap up his work and rest by this evening, he spoke to his mother awkwardly.
“Mother, couldn't I buy it from around here? The taste there isn't bad either, and it's much faster since it's close.”
Nan, feeling a bit lazy, offered a compromise. Hearing this, Nahan sighed and looked forward again.
“Fine.... Forget it. Do as you wish. It brings back old memories. When you were little, you threw a fit crying that you wanted to eat castella or something, so I walked through two villages to barely buy an egg bread. I remember quite vividly how you threw it on the floor saying it wasn't castella...”
“....”
“I gave birth to you when I was over forty. Your father died early.... I raised you so delicately so you wouldn't be hurt by false rumors that you were a son born of an impure act, and yet you grew up to do nothing but fight...”
“I'll be going now, Mother.”
Nan politely bowed his head and put on his coat to escape the "filial piety attack." Only then did Nahan flash a satisfied smile and return to her lotus position. Just as Nan was about to leave the room, Nahan spoke again softly.
“My son.”
“Is there something else you'd like to eat?”
“On your way back with the cheesecake, if there is someone who needs it, give it to them.”
“...Yes, I'll keep that in mind, Mother.”
Only then did Nahan close her eyes again and focus on her meditation. Seeing this, Nan assumed she'd sensed a situation requiring his strength and had used the cake as an excuse, so he started the car parked below the temple.
Of course, he didn't know that "situation" would be something like this.
As soon as he ordered the cheesecake at the cafe Nahan specified, Nan ran into Kang Hana. He gaped in horror at the sight of her.
“Hana?! What’s with all the blood?!”
“Ah, I’m not hurt, so don't worry and come here.”
She was drinking coffee while drenched in sticky blood on her autumn coat.
“Pardon?! Then whose, whose blood is this?! Whose shoulder did you pierce this time?!”
Nan’s face turned pale at her claim that she wasn't hurt. He reflexively clutched his right shoulder. The pain of having his shoulder pierced and searched through a few months ago was still vivid.
“Stop making such a fuss. Don't you see everyone around us is quiet?!”
Only then did he look around. The people were quiet despite Kang Hana’s appearance.
She stood out everywhere, so this shouldn't have been possible. No, even putting that aside, no one would be able to act normal with a person drenched in blood sitting right there in the cafe.
Nan confirmed that Kang Hana had intentionally reduced their presence. He inwardly braced himself, predicting what was to come.
“...So the person who needs my help happens to be you.”
Nan, finally understanding why Nahan had persuaded him in her own way without telling the truth, quietly put the packaged cheesecake into his inventory. Kang Hana nodded and pulled out latex gloves.
“I’m in a real hurry. Seriously, just this one time!”
“I don't believe you...”
He trudged out of the cafe. Kang Hana followed him and comforted him awkwardly.
“Ah, I-I’m really sorry! I, I’ll really do it gently.... Gently.”
“I don't believe that either...”
Trudge, trudge. He walked to the car, got in, and closed the door. Kang Hana, wearing a sorry expression, climbed into the passenger seat. And a moment later.
“Aaaaagh!!!!”
His desperate scream echoed throughout the cafe parking lot. Of course, no one noticed that either.