Chapter 826 |
“…How did you end up like that?”
He looked so wildly out of place against the scenery around him that it was almost impressive. It was like someone had taken a famous landscape painting and slapped a child’s flower sticker right in the middle of it. One of those round, brightly colored things. The flower fluttered its leaves like little hands.
– This is a different world now, so I have to match it!
You do not match it at all. You are the only one in a completely different art style. Well, in its own way, it was very Park Hayul. The longer I looked at him, the more absurd it felt, and somehow that actually helped me calm down. This guy had a weird effect where he pissed me off and settled my nerves at the same time.
“Anyway, I’m glad to see you. Rookie said you might be able to help us.”
– Only you come closer, hyung.
The two leaves, drawn like something from a kid’s picture book, split their duties. One beckoned me over, while the other waved at Seong Hyunjae, shooing him away. Seong Hyunjae stared quietly at the ridiculous flower. Park Hayul Flower flinched, his petals trembling.
– Ugh, gross. I used to be a fan, but not anymore, okay!
“Hayul, you were a fan of Seong Hyunjae?”
“Uh, right.”
– Still, the mood among Haeyeon fans changed pretty fast once people started saying that if you combined the Breeding Facility and Haeyeon, Haeyeon would take first place. Sesung fans were way more defensive. So then people were like, fine, we’ll merge with Breaker instead. They didn’t like that the Breaker Guild Leader was close to you either. They said you didn’t fit with her. Because the people who ship the Sesung Guild Leader, the Breaker Guild Leader, and the Chief of the Awakened Management Office together are the biggest group!
“R-right.”
They did fit together, but I felt like Hyunah would hate that. I mean, I also thought they looked good together, but still. If I got shoved in between them, it would definitely look ridiculous.
– A lot of people liked grouping you separately with the Haeyeon Guild Leader, Yerim, and me. Then later Noah Hunter joined the Dodam-Haeyeon side, right? But Hunter Kang Soyeong was Sesung, so people started doing this Romeo and Juliet thing, and then Hunter Liette showed up!
“…Hey, Hayul.”
– And, and, when you and the Sesung Guild Leader started looking close, Sesung fans went totally overboard saying Sesung was going to absorb Dodam, you know? So then Haeyeon fans started fighting back, saying, what are you talking about, Yujin and the Haeyeon Guild Leader are so close, they’re family! And since all of that affected stock prices too, even people who weren’t fans were fighting in the comment sections under news articles~.
“Hayul, the gardener situation is kind of urgent right now.”
– This is basically just the prologue. The real stuff starts from Chatterbox’s party!
“I’ll hear it later. Later.”
I did not particularly want to hear it.
Park Hayul waved Seong Hyunjae away again with his leaf. I also asked Seong Hyunjae to give us a moment. Seong Hyunjae obediently stepped back, and I bent down toward Park Hayul Flower.
– I think you’re cooler and stronger than any S-rank, Yujin hyung.
Wrapping the area in mana so Seong Hyunjae could not hear us, Park Hayul spoke in a low voice.
– Watching you from this world only made me more sure of it. I thought you could pull off anything. But hyung. The gardener won.
“…What?”
The gardener won? We had not even properly clashed yet. What kind of bullshit was that?
– The garden hasn’t taken over this entire world yet. That’s why I was able to slip in like this. But it won’t last long. This place is going to become the garden in the end, and once that happens, even Crescent Moon won’t be able to do anything about it.
“Even Crescent Moon?”
– It’s the gardener’s territory. No matter what kind of transcendent they are, they’re at an extreme disadvantage inside another transcendent’s territory. And the garden is a territory that’s been maintained for a very, very long time. He used the World Tree transcendents to move that garden here.
“…But Rookie said all we had to do was destroy the garden.”
– If you can destroy it. I think Rookie thought it would be possible at first too. But the garden took root far more completely than expected. Hyung.
The flower swayed, almost as if it were sighing.
– With your power, you can’t destroy the garden.
The silent trees, the grass, the hedges came into view. The stillness made me dizzy.
“You can’t decide that so easily. Do you know what it took for me to get this far? Not a single part of it was easy.”
– There really isn’t a way, hyung. A transcendent’s territory, once it has taken root, can only be removed by clashing it against another transcendent’s territory. And even that isn’t easy.
“Then what about you? Hayul, you’re a transcendent too, and you have your own territory.”
– My territory isn’t even a month old. And I’m nowhere near enough to really call myself a transcendent. The garden has been weakened because it took my territory from me, but even so, I can’t do it. Rookie was hoping there might be a chance too, but in the end, he said it wouldn’t work.
“Still, there has to be… something. Crescent Moon isn’t just going to sit back and let him take the pseudo-source!”
– She can’t help from outside. And it would be almost impossible for Crescent Moon to force her own territory in the way the gardener did. I’m a seed that never became a transcendent, but the gardener is different. It’s hard for anyone to connect and enter at all.
My mouth had gone completely dry at some point. My head spun in circles. Maybe I should not have run. Maybe I should have gone straight to Yuhyun instead. Whatever happened after, at least I might have reached him once…
– So, hyung. Go back. If you leave the garden and enter what’s left of my territory, I can help you. Now that the garden has appeared instead of the dream world, our world is even safer. There’s no transcendent who can break through the garden. Now, really, no one can interfere anymore.
“What about Yuhyun!”
– Trade the Sesung Guild Leader for him.
Park Hayul answered as if he had been waiting for me to ask.
– This is why I told you not to let the Sesung Guild Leader listen, but the Puppeteer succeeded.
“…What is that supposed to mean now?”
The Puppeteer had Sigma with him. His goal had been to sever the contract with the gardener and send Sigma to our world. But he succeeded?
– I don’t know the details either. But the Puppeteer and the Sesung Guild Leader’s younger sibling aren’t here anymore. And that contract was transferred to the Sesung Guild Leader.
My head snapped around on reflex. Seong Hyunjae, who had been standing some distance away, met my eyes and smiled with them.
– Crescent Moon’s contract is still stronger, though. Right now, the Sesung Guild Leader can make a new contract directly with the gardener. The gardener will want the pseudo-source more than your brother, hyung, so you should be able to negotiate.
The Puppeteer…
What the hell had he done?
– Yujin hyung. If you just hand over the pseudo-source and the lunar eclipse, the gardener’s garden will protect your world. You can save your brother and go home.
“…I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard that.”
That everything would be fine if I just let go of one little thing.
Not only from Seong Hyunjae. Since I was young, over and over again.
A laugh slipped out of me on its own.
“Shouldn’t I hear someone tell me not to give up and keep fighting together once in a while, just to balance things out?”
– Hyung! I… I want to say that for you, but it really won’t work. There’s no way.
“You said we’d need to slam another transcendent’s territory into his and push it out. Then what if it’s a transcendent whose power hasn’t been damaged? Could they burn away the garden even without their own territory?”
– Yes. The gardener and the garden were damaged coming in here too. But it’s impossible for someone like that to enter this place intact. Even that insanely strong old man can’t do it.
Of course.
But what if it was a transcendent who did not have to enter, because they had already been here from the beginning?
I opened my status window. The list of people the keyword I love you had been applied to appeared before me.
‘OFF.’
If I deactivated the keyword.
Rookie had said I would gain power comparable to a transcendent. Then I could destroy the garden and save Yuhyun.
But right after that.
‘Would he feel like I was dead even if I was standing right in front of him?’
I might lose my brother all over again. I might have to watch Yuhyun fail to recognize me even with me right there in front of him, then die in despair.
‘…And if the garden disappears, Crescent Moon will go after Seong Hyunjae.’
In the end, that was not an answer either. I could not use it, for Yuhyun’s sake most of all.
“This is bleak.”
I calmly organized the situation.
Taking down the gardener and saving Yuhyun was close to impossible. We would need either an undamaged transcendent or a territory on roughly the same level as the gardener’s current one. By deactivating the keyword, I could temporarily reach a transcendent class of power, but if I did, I would not be able to save Yuhyun.
No external transcendent could invade the gardener’s garden. Therefore, our world, protected by the garden as a barrier, was even safer. If we left the garden and entered Park Hayul’s territory, we could return to our safe world.
Leaving my brother behind.
‘If I want to get Yuhyun back without fighting the gardener… I have to trade the pseudo-source.’
And somehow, the Puppeteer had transferred the gardener’s contract placed on Sigma over to Seong Hyunjae and escaped.
“…Can you contact the Puppeteer?”
– No. He’s not in this world at all.
Fine, then.
“Hayul. As long as they get out of the garden, can you send the others back to the original world on your own?”
– If you give permission in advance, hyung. Let’s see. Yerim, Peace, Noah, and Liette. Those four are part of your system, so it’s possible. The Sesung Guild Leader and the Chief of the Awakened Management Office have to give personal consent.
“Then I’ll send the kids back first. Make sure they get home safely. I’m counting on you.”
– What about you, hyung?
“I have to take Yuhyun with me.”
Every step forward was another mountain, but what I had to do was clear.
I asked Park Hayul a few more things and confirmed what I needed to know. Then I called Seong Hyunjae over.
“The Puppeteer ran off with Sigma, and apparently there’s no answer to the gardener. They’re telling me to trade you for Yuhyun and go home.”
– Ack! Hyung! I hid that on purpose!
“It’s not like I can grab Seong Hyunjae by the wrist and force him to sign a contract.”
– The Chief of the Awakened Management Office would’ve helped you.
“That is true. So, what do you think, Seong Hyunjae?”
Seong Hyunjae looked at me for a moment before opening his mouth.
“To be perfectly honest, to me, Han Yuhyun is nothing more and nothing less than Han Yujin’s younger brother.”
“So you wouldn’t care if he got captured if not for me. Well, it’s not as if you have any obligation to help save Yuhyun.”
Yuhyun and Seong Hyunjae had no real relationship. They saw each other because of me. Before the regression, they had been strangers with no reason to cross paths. So as far as Seong Hyunjae was concerned, a hostage exchange was not something he could accept.
“I would offer a certain degree of cooperation for Han Yujin’s sake.”
“I’m not going to ask you to get captured by the gardener in my brother’s place. Though if the gardener says he’ll kill Han Yuhyun unless you hand over the pseudo-source, I might lose it and hit you over the back of the head.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“So, if you want to leave, you can.”
I folded my arms and looked at Seong Hyunjae with my head tilted.
“I just sent my brother away. I like you, Seong Hyunjae. I do like you, but.”
I drew in a deep breath.
“I might not be able to hold myself back. Even right now, the thought of just trying to negotiate with the gardener keeps running through my head.”
“Did you not tell me to follow you?”
“…Yes. But really. Really, I might…”
Yuhyun’s face hovered before my eyes.
Twenty-one years old.
Twenty-six years old.
Even knowing I should not do it, I had no idea how much I would be able to endure.
“I had also intended to warn Han Yujin to be careful.”
“…What?”
Seong Hyunjae suddenly said something completely unexpected. Still smiling, he continued.
“So you do not regard me as too good a person.”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“I, too, am capable of abandoning Han Yujin and prioritizing my own safety.”
“Well, I mean…”
Seong Hyunjae lowered his head. His golden eyes came abruptly close to mine, and I flinched without meaning to.
“Even setting that aside, I may lay hands on Han Yujin for my own enjoyment.”
“What kind of hands? How?”
“In any way. Once you stop being a fragile opponent who must be kept beneath me and touched carefully, I may become harsher instead. A kitten that climbs onto one’s lap may be pushed away with a finger, but should a tiger bare its fangs, would one not have to aim a gun at it?”
Seong Hyunjae straightened again and smiled.
“To stand as equals means accepting that kind of danger as well.”
…
So, simply put, he no longer had any reason to go easy on me.
Since I had stopped bending over backward to earn Seong Hyunjae’s recognition, he was saying he would do the same. Seong Hyunjae lowered his eyes slightly, looking expectant.
“It would be enjoyable if Han Yujin tried to capture me and offer me to the gardener.”
“…Is this seriously fun for you?”
“So do your best. I will not be easy.”
A laugh escaped me.
Really, this man.
“Sure. If I decide there’s no other way, I’ll hit you over the head properly, grab you, and drag you there.”
He was not simply saying this to ease my mind. He meant it. If things went wrong and we ended up against each other, neither of us would hold back. We would turn our blades on each other with everything we had.
And somehow, I felt like that would be all right.
For some reason.
That was roughly the kind of relationship we had.
“Not that I’m planning to give up easily. To begin with, the very idea of bowing my head to the bastard who touched my brother makes my skin crawl! I should be dumping truckloads of pesticide on him, not negotiating with a kidnapper!”
I was not going to politely knock on the door of this damn garden with, Excuse me, sir, without even trying to set it on fire first.
“The gardener should know Yuhyun has value as a hostage, so he’ll be safe. Would Seong Hyunjae be crazy enough to sign a contract himself? No. But the gardener doesn’t have anything to offer you, does he? He’ll probably try to use me or Chief Song, since we’re the ones you care about.”
“The gardener is unlikely to offer me what I want. However, Han Yujin as well—”
“I feel like if I team up with Chief Song, we can figure something out.”
Are you listening, gardener?
This is your garden, so maybe you are.
“Listen up, bug bastard. If anything happens to Yuhyun, Seong Hyunjae won’t be safe either. Pseudo-source, whatever, all of it will disappear.”
“So I was a hostage as well.”
“Which means I’m taking back what I said about leaving. Stick close to me, and let’s find the others first. Hayul, can you track their locations?”
– This isn’t my territory, you know. But I can tell the general direction. For now, that way~.
A petal pointed to the right.
Should I pluck this thing out and carry it around?
Anyway, as for the kids.
‘I should send them back.’
They had already been in more than enough danger. If anything, I had let it go on too long.
No more.
–TL Notes–
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