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Chapter 144



“I haven’t spent much time with my sister.”

Dohwa bit her lip softly, as if she had never said this to anyone before.

“But even during that short time, her expression was always blank. More precisely, it was the face of someone too exhausted to think anymore.”

Ayu said it herself.

At that time, she was already so tired that she didn’t know how to move forward.

And Dohwa must have seen that Ayu with her own eyes.

“My sister was smiling so brightly.”

As if recalling Ayu’s smile, Dohwa forced a complicated smile.

“I couldn’t ask my sister, who was smiling so brightly, to return to Murim.”

To Dohwa, Ayu was her only family.

Even though Ayu had killed their mother with her own hands, Dohwa didn’t hate her.

That fact alone showed the depth of her heart.

“I think this is where my sister should be.”

From the moment Dohwa first told Ayu to return to Murim, I could understand why she never said anything else to her.

It would take a long time to stabilize Murim.

And peace achieved through force would disappear once that force was gone, potentially leading to chaos again.

Once she returned to Murim, she wouldn’t be able to come back to Earth to protect it.

Dohwa knew this, which is why she didn’t go into detail about the Blood Sect and the Heavenly Slaughter Emperor.

If Ayu found out, it might make her heart decide to return to Murim.

So when the Demon Sect appeared, they deliberately hid their tracks to avoid Ayu finding out and complicating things.

Having learned all this, I leaned back in my chair and let out a sigh of relief.

At least he wasn’t hostile toward Ayu.

“Dohwa, you don’t hate Cheon Hong-ryun, do you?”

Hearing my question, Dohwa’s eyes already held the answer.

“How could I resent my only sister, who lived a life harder than mine?”

Cheon Hong-ryun, born due to the kidnapping of the Supreme Sect Leader.

Even though she was born through such a horrific process, the Sword Lord, who had abandoned her as if she were nothing but a sin, must have felt guilty.

He passed on the guilt and kindness he had felt toward Cheon Hong-ryun to Dohwa, his other child born later.

And today, that Sword Lord’s feelings were passed down to Dohwa, allowing her not to resent Cheon Hong-ryun.

‘Ayu, your family is here.’

After killing all her blood-related family in Murim.

And losing her spiritually connected family on Earth, Ayu had someone here who considered her family.

“Dohwa.”

So I looked at Dohwa and spoke.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

“Yes.”

As Dohwa looked at me, I said what I had been thinking.

“Does that Murim really have any meaning for you to save?”

Hearing my words, Dohwa stared at me blankly.

It was as if she had never considered my question.

“What is Murim to you? From your story, all I felt was a sense of obligation.”

“Well, that’s…”

Dohwa’s lips twitched as she heard my question.

Honestly, Dohwa’s life in Murim was a mess.

Her only mother was held hostage by the Murim Alliance, and Dohwa was sent as a hostage to the Demon Sect.

Of course, the treatment Dohwa received as a hostage sent by the Murim Alliance couldn’t have been good.

She must have lived a life of constant fear.

In the midst of this, her mother was killed by her blood-related sister, who then disappeared.

Murim was heading toward destruction day by day, and as Dohwa said, it had become a land of death where not even a single flower could bloom.

Why does Dohwa want to save that place?

“I want to tell Ayu not to return to Murim.”

Ayu was never happy there for even a moment.

If she had been happy, she wouldn’t have returned to Earth.

How could I send someone I care about to a place where they only suffered?

“And I want to say the same to you.”

And to my eyes, Dohwa was the same.

Dohwa only had a sense of duty to protect her world, not any real meaning in Murim itself.

Just the vague thought that it’s our world, so we must protect it.

And sometimes, such thoughts can consume you.

People tend to find it hard to escape the world they live in.

“If you consider Cheon Hong-ryun your family, then your family is here.”

“……”

Dohwa’s lips slowly closed.

Her face trembled for a moment.

“Dohwa, do you really want to protect Murim?”

And I asked her one last question.

If she wanted to protect Murim, I would gladly help her on Ayu’s behalf.

But if she changed her mind, I would also help her with all my heart.

Because Dohwa is Ayu’s sister.

I will protect those I consider my own.

“I…”

Dohwa tried to force her voice out.

But it seemed she couldn’t bring herself to speak, only her lips twitching.

It was clear how difficult this decision was for her.

“Dohwa.”

At that moment, Nae-ki, who had been watching from the side, spoke up.

She looked at Dohwa and gave a faint smile.

“I might be meddlesome, but I tried to save the world once.”

Nae-ki brushed her hair aside as she spoke.

“But even after saving it, I didn’t feel relieved. The weight in my heart didn’t go away easily.”

I recalled how Nae-ki had felt lonely after returning.

She too had been struggling with a sense of emptiness after her return.

Because after saving the world and returning to reality, she had nothing left.

“Why should Dohwa suffer to fix what they broke?”

Nae-ki said with a playful smile.

Her bright smile had a comforting power.

“Broken things can be fixed.”

Nae-ki’s closed left eye twitched slightly, as if she had experienced it before.

“Saving the world doesn’t mean everything ends.”

I told Dohwa after hearing Nae-ki’s words.

“Even after saving the world, people will continue to live, facing the same yet different problems.”

As I finished speaking, Dohwa lowered her head.

“…I don’t want to go back.”

And tears began to fall from Dohwa’s eyes.

Her body trembled pitifully.

“I don’t… want to go back… to Murim.”

Just because it’s her world.

Because it’s where she was born and raised.

Even if it’s a place stained with pain, it’s still where she was born.

For the first time, Dohwa, who had been moving solely out of a sense of obligation, spoke her true feelings.

“Okay.”

And that was answer enough.

I left Dohwa alone to gather her emotions and went outside the café with Nae-ki.

Nae-ki glanced at me while looking inside the café.

“Domi, I’m surprised. I honestly thought you’d tell Dohwa to save Murim.”

Hearing that, I glanced at Nae-ki.

Had Nae-ki also saved the game world she had been in out of a sense of obligation?

Her closed left eye might be a result of that.

“Nae-ki, there are more people in the world who only force things.”

Forcing things can sometimes lead the way forward, but the pressure can also crush people.

And sometimes, the pressure created by one’s environment can also weigh people down.

People living under such pressure often live with tired eyes.

Because the environment is like this.

Because I have to succeed.

Because I have to endure.

The pressure in my heart keeps shouting at me.

It’s like shackles.

I too had struggled under those shackles for a while, so I knew it all too well.

“So it’s okay if one person isn’t forced.”

That’s why I gave Dohwa the option not to save the world.

“And we can create that option for her.”

Embarrassingly, the president of the World Returner Association is my girlfriend.

Creating a place for Dohwa to live would be easy.

Of course, I would also help with all my might, but it would probably just be time spent dealing with Baekseolhyang’s complaints.

“Then it’s settled.”

As I said that and looked at Nae-ki, she looked at me and suddenly smiled brightly.

“Haa, I wish I had met you in that world.”

“What happened there that you’re saying that?”

“This and that. Some good, some annoying, you know.”

Nae-ki shrugged and then turned around.

“Then have a good talk. I’ll go talk more with Dohwa.”

“Matchmaking?”

“You handle that.”

As Nae-ki stuck out her tongue and went inside the café, I looked up.

There, Ayu, who had returned from Cheon Hong-ryun’s form to Shin Sora’s, was walking toward me.

“Domi Oppa.”

Ayu smiled at me as she approached.

But knowing her smile wasn’t entirely genuine, I went to her and hugged her.

As I held her, Ayu flinched for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.

“I can’t win against Domi Oppa.”

“Your face was saying everything.”

“How’s Dohwa?”

“She’s inside the café.”

As I said that, Ayu squirmed and hugged me.

She seemed to like the sound of my heartbeat, as her face relaxed a bit.

“You heard from that guy Jang Ho-young, right?”

“Yeah, the silver fox came too. That guy’s a pro at extracting information. I heard everything about why Dohwa came.”

The information from Jang Ho-young of the Heavenly Slaughter Corps was likely only about turning her into the True Heavenly Demon.

From her expression, it seemed Ayu still didn’t know about the Heavenly Slaughter Emperor.

“It’s okay. It was already expected that Dohwa would resent me.”

So Ayu had already accepted it, smiling weakly.

Feeling guilty toward Dohwa, I held her tightly.

“Ayu, listen carefully. I’m going to tell you what Dohwa told me.”

I slowly told Ayu everything Dohwa had said.

What Dohwa felt about her.

And what decision she had made.

I conveyed everything to Ayu.

As she listened quietly, Ayu soon gave a hollow smile.

It was as if she had prepared to be resented, but finding there was none, she was bewildered.

“…Is that kid an idiot?”


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My Gaming Friends Are Returnees, And Are Obsessed With Me

My Gaming Friends Are Returnees, And Are Obsessed With Me

My Game Friends Are So Obsessed With Me, 내 겜친들이 귀환자인데 집착함
Score 7.2
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: , Released: 2023 Native Language: Korean
After dropping out of college due to a false s*xual harassment accusations, I immersed myself in gaming. However, for some reason, my friends are extraordinary. …And why are they so obsessed with me?

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