Chapter 108

Se-hee looked at Ha-chan and placed her hand over her chest.

As she did, she engraved a character into one of the souls etched within her chest, turning it into a blue talisman.

“Domi.”

Se-hee, who had approached Ha-chan, called out to him.

Ha-chan’s face, as he turned to look at her, showed no trace of ulterior motives.

How could a person be like this?

For a moment, Se-hee felt a nostalgic emotion.

Even Ran, who had given up her wandering life for their sake, was like that.

Ha-chan was similar to her.

“I never thought you’d really keep your promise to save me.”

“Haha, it wasn’t much. Everyone worked hard. Honestly, I don’t think I did much.”

Ha-chan, with his low self-esteem, continued.

He was just too good of a person.

“Nothing else matters. I honestly never thought I’d get my time back. Domi gave me back my time.”

Se-hee, as the daughter of a Spiritual Mage family, bowed her head with the utmost respect.

Her graceful gesture was incredibly polite.

“I, Seong Se-hee, swear here and now to repay Domi and Kang Ha-chan for saving my life.”

“Eh, Eva noona?”

“Of course, Song Hyuk-seo, the master of Imaemangryang, is also included.”

As Ha-chan made an awkward face, she handed him the talisman she had just made.

It was the utmost respect she could show for saving her life.

“It’s a talisman with my soul imprinted on it. If you carry it, I’ll grant any request you make.”

Wanting to repay even a little of the debt, Se-hee handed it to Ha-chan.

Ha-chan looked at the talisman for a moment, then turned back to Se-hee.

“Eva noona, what happens if this talisman gets torn or damaged?”

“Huh? Ah, since it’s made with my soul, it would lose its power. But don’t worry. It won’t tear easily…”

As soon as she said that, Ha-chan poured his Aura into the talisman and tore it.

Seeing this, Se-hee’s eyes widened in shock as she stared at Ha-chan.

She couldn’t understand the meaning behind his actions.

Regardless, Ha-chan sighed and looked at the burning talisman in his hand.

“You just got your life back. Why would you risk it again for something like this?”

Ha-chan had no intention of accepting it.

A talisman that grants any request was just absurd.

Hearing that, Se-hee felt something break in her mind.

She never thought she’d hear such words.

Except for Song Hyuk-seo and Ran, everyone around Se-hee had always wanted to use her.

Some coveted her beauty, others her talent as a Spiritual Mage, and later, her title as the Spirit Lord.

People’s goodwill always expects some reward.

But Ha-chan showed his conviction without being swayed by such rewards.

“…Domi, human hearts are like reeds. One day, I might become an ungrateful person who harbors ill will towards you.”

Marlow, the man who killed Ran and tried to assault her, was like that.

Once, he had followed Ran and treated Se-hee with love and kindness.

Of course, Se-hee had no intention of accepting his feelings and rejected him multiple times, but he insisted his love wouldn’t change.

But he did change.

Even though she never got involved with anyone and clearly rejected his confession.

He started to insult her, calling her a cheap woman who played with him, and eventually began to hate even Ran.

And the end was destruction.

He killed his own sister, Ran, and tried to assault Se-hee.

Seeing such a person, Se-hee believed human hearts are never steadfast.

And she didn’t think she would always be a steadfast person either.

Just like her twin brother, who chose to harm others for her sake.

There’s always a moment like that for people.

And the talisman was a card to prevent that.

“Human hearts are like reeds. They sway and get tangled. But even if future me regrets today, current me has no intention of accepting this from Se-hee noona.”

But Ha-chan declared he wouldn’t accept it.

Seeing that, Se-hee stood frozen, dumbfounded.

“Next time, let’s run together or grab a meal. That’s enough. Our guild members worked hard for it.”

“…”

Ha-chan said that and smiled.

Then he said, “Everyone’s worked hard, so let’s rest now,” and started walking away.

For some reason, Se-hee couldn’t take her eyes off his retreating figure, seeing Ayu and Ha Si-ho following him.

At the same time, she saw a spirit entity standing behind him.

He had white hair, and his face was almost erased, barely visible.

But his jawline was sharply defined.

Looking at Se-hee, he moved his lips.

– Don’t get involved unnecessarily.

Seeing him warn her like that, Se-hee covered her mouth and let out a hollow laugh.

It was a bit funny to be warned by a spirit entity after becoming the Spirit Lord.

Don’t get involved, she thought.

She already knew Cheonma and Si-ho liked Ha-chan.

And she also knew that Baekseolhyang, the Association President, liked him too.

‘At first, I wondered why everyone liked Domi so much.’

She knew he was kind from the start.

The Domi she met in the game was someone she could open up to.

Especially his occasional obsession with Returners suggested he had some deep reason.

But through this incident, Se-hee saw Ha-chan in a new light.

Despite it being none of his business, he went through all that to protect her and Hyuk-seo.

‘It’s excessive.’

But because of that, she survived.

And she realized that all the fates entangled around him were the result of his actions.

The numerous fates intertwined around Ha-chan caught her eye.

For a moment, she felt envious of those women entangled in his fate.

Being able to like someone like that freely must be incredibly happy for them.

Ha-chan would give more than just what they liked.

Having lived her life without a place to rest her heart, using her limited lifespan as an excuse, she subconsciously sought a place to lean on.

She knew she couldn’t rely on her brother anymore.

And so, Ha-chan kept catching her eye.

“…How shameless of me to think such things.”

Se-hee felt ashamed and turned away.

Having come back to life, her desires had grown too strong.

She remembered hearing that living beings, after dying and coming back to life, have stronger desires.

She must have been momentarily bewitched.

Yet, the memory of Ha-chan tearing the talisman she gave him remained with her.

‘This isn’t the time for this.’

It’s time to apologize and thank those she’s troubled.

For that, she decided to first meet Baekseolhyang, the Association President, to discuss her future treatment.

Somewhere in the forests of Bukhansan, South Korea.

A squirrel, gathering acorns as autumn approached, startled at the sound of footsteps and scurried away.

Beside the fleeing squirrel, a woman stepped out, her golden eyes visible under her robe and black hair fluttering.

The silver moon-shaped earring caught the eye. She was none other than Kang Mari, Ha-chan’s sister.

She climbed the mountain slope and let out a small sigh, as if she had finally arrived.

She had been busy with various tasks lately and was extremely tired.

But thinking of her younger brother, whom she had left alone all her life, she swallowed her fatigue and raised her head.

“I’m here.”

As Mari’s voice echoed, footsteps were heard from the shadows of the trees.

Looking at her, Mari placed the Chinese fan she was holding in front of her.

“Shin Sun, you handled it well.”

“He was the most dangerous one.”

“Right. He’s the most dangerous in what’s to come.”

The fan burst into flames, symbolizing the end of Shin Sun, the terrorist who blew up Beijing.

“How about this time?”

Mari asked, looking at her.

“Thank you. It’s going as planned. What did she say?”

“She was very surprised.”

Mari recalled Baekseolhyang’s wide-eyed expression when she told her the story.

Was it really that surprising?

Not knowing much about Baekseolhyang, Mari found it amusing and trudged along.

Then she sat down with a thud in front of the tree she had been leaning on.

“How much longer do we have to wait?”

“Not much longer. I’m sorry.”

As thin fingers touched her head, Mari looked up at the night sky.

The condition of never revealing herself to Ha-chan.

Remembering the pain Ha-chan went through because of that, her eyelids trembled.

She was sorry, so sorry.

And she wanted to tell him someday.

What she had done.

Why she had to do it.

“We’ve both suffered because of someone.”

“You think you’re the only one?”

Their voices quietly echoed through the setting sun.

Rustle-

At that moment, footsteps were heard.

As the presence beside Mari disappeared, her eyes sharpened.

There was someone beyond the trees.

“…Come out.”

Mari said quietly, and a long black-haired woman walked out.

Eun-namu.

The woman whose life was ruined by the Evil God was there.

Her condition wasn’t normal.

Her abdomen was pierced, and she was barely holding back the flowing blood.

She had tried to bind Erebus alone.

But she failed, and his attacks, which even ignored her immortality, left her in this state.

It would take a considerable time to recover.

Because of that, Erebus was left to head towards the World Returner Association.

She had chased after Erebus and found Mari there.

“Mari unnie.”

She looked at Mari with wary eyes.

Eun-namu had been following Mari since she appeared near Ha-chan.

So, she had seen the person beside Mari with her own eyes.

“…Who is that?”

As Eun-namu asked, Mari looked at her for a moment.

“Ugh.”

Eun-namu, meeting Mari’s gaze, soon reached her limit and collapsed, losing consciousness.

Looking down at Eun-namu, Mari let out a faint sigh.

“This was expected, right?”

With that question, Mari stood up.

For the sake of one world, the world was flowing like this.