Chapter 123

“Yeah. They were bastards.”

The Murim Alliance had taken her parents hostage.

Ayu laughed, though it didn’t seem like a happy laugh.

Her eyes slowly drifted downward, as if she didn’t want to say what came next.

“But Domi Oppa, you know, right? I’m Shin Sora, possessed by Cheon Hong-ryun. Even though the Cheonma’s training made it so I couldn’t fix my speech or behavior. My mother wasn’t part of that training.”

To Shin Sora, Dohwa’s mother wasn’t her mother.

Even if she gave birth to her, her spirit was Shin Sora’s.

“So I laughed at what the Murim Alliance did and crushed them all. Then they brought Gukhu and held him hostage in front of me.”

“Then?”

“I killed him. Cleanly. Along with the guy who took him hostage.”

There wasn’t even a tremble in Ayu’s hand as she held mine.

Her eyes were even coldly mocking.

Her life had been too rough to regret such things one by one.

In her eyes, there was no anger, no sadness, no emotion as she recalled that time.

“After all, I thought they were just men. I’ve killed over ten people with my own hands, descendants of the Taesang Sect Leader. Now, a mother? I didn’t even feel any emotion.”

Countless killings had made death meaningless to her.

“But at the end, he said something. He asked if I was getting along well with Dohwa.”

For the first time, a small tremor ran through Ayu’s hand.

“My real parents are on Earth, so I never really thought of them as parents. But that one thing, I couldn’t forget it strangely.”

She must have returned after killing Gukhu.

And she must have met Dohwa, who had come to the Demon Sect as an envoy.

“When I came back and saw Dohwa, I couldn’t say anything. In her eyes, her older sister had killed her mother and returned.”

I thought of my sister.

Were Dohwa’s eyes looking at Ayu the same way I looked at my sister?

Even if the situation was different, I could tell it wasn’t something Ayu wanted.

“So, that day, I just started to get tired. No, I was already tired. I just realized it then.”

“So that’s why you returned.”

“Yeah, everything became meaningless. Why should I cling to Murim when I could return?”

The moment everything she had built in her life felt meaningless.

She must have felt a terrible longing.

Cheon Hong-ryun’s life must have felt like a fake.

And Dohwa, after Cheon Hong-ryun left, grew up on her own and followed her.

“I didn’t realize until then. How terrible I had been to Dohwa.”

A self-mocking smile hung on her lips.

“When I returned to Earth, I looked for my parents. Stupidly, wrapped in magical energy. They weren’t from the martial world, just ordinary people with no resistance to my energy. After spending so long in the martial dimension, I didn’t realize and just hugged them and cried.”

Ayu returned because the martial dimension she was swept into felt meaningless.

“And because of that, my parents were soon eroded by my energy and passed away.”

But in the place she returned to, she erased the meaning she had found with her own hands.

“After that, the Iron-Blooded woman came, and I worked at the World Returner Association in a daze. She knew the circumstances and had me work there so I wouldn’t cause trouble elsewhere. She’s a cunning woman.”

Ayu, who had erased her meaning, must have had some reason to find meaning again.

That must be why she worked at the World Returner Association.

But I knew.

That too would soon become meaningless to Ayu.

Ayu had lost her meaning to live in that dimension.

And on Earth, where she returned.

She had lost all meaning.

How was she supposed to live after losing all meaning?

“Then, was it then? Maybe that’s when. The first time I played a game. A Returner I knew dragged me to a department store, and I was walking around blankly. We passed a game corner. The game being advertised was Road of Academy. While watching the game…”

Then, as if she remembered something, she looked up.

“Ah? Domi Oppa, I remembered.”

Her eyes widened.

When I looked puzzled, she covered her mouth with her other hand that wasn’t holding mine.

“Kang Mari, Oppa’s sister. She talked to me back then.”

“What?”

And the following words made my eyes widen too.

Why would my sister suddenly appear?

And there of all places?

“Wait, Ayu, why would she?”

“Well… she told me the game looked fun. Enough to find meaning in life.”

Advice that fit the situation perfectly.

The words “enough to find meaning in life” must have been something Ayu couldn’t ignore.

Hearing that, I blankly stared at Ayu.

…My sister intended for Ayu and me to meet.

Because I realized that.

Ayu and I locked eyes for a while.

Our meeting was orchestrated by my sister, but what did Ayu think?

Would a relationship created by someone else’s intention hurt her?

I started to worry about that.

“…I should thank her later.”

But Ayu raised the hand holding mine and clasped it with both hands.

“Because of that, I met Domi Oppa.”

And for some reason, those words made my chest tighten.

Whether my sister intended it or not, Ayu didn’t care.

She cherished the relationship we had more than anything.

“Domi Oppa, do you know what people need to live?”

Then Ayu asked, still holding my hand tightly.

When I looked at her, a faint smile spread across her face.

“People. Someone to break the reason to live, and someone to make you live.”

Warmth came from Ayu’s hand, as if she never wanted to let go.

“That day, I impulsively bought the game and wandered around the game’s town, thinking what am I doing, and took a break. Then I overheard two people talking in front of me.”

She laughed softly, as if reminiscing.

“My memory is a bit hazy, but I think they were badmouthing Returners. Saying Returners have no guilt or shame, causing accidents and casualties with the Dimensional Gates they open when they return.”

“What? Trash. Who are they? I’ll find them and give them a good scolding.”

“Pfft, don’t worry. You already scolded them, Oppa.”

“Huh?”

I blinked.

They were already scolded by me?

“Actually, I wasn’t really interested in the conversation, but suddenly one person stopped.”

“That was me?”

“Yeah, that fool was you.”

Fool, huh?

“That fool started arguing with them. Asking why Returners should feel guilty just for coming home, that the problem is Dimensional Movement, they’re victims. If you want to vent, aim in the right direction, he ranted like crazy.”

I covered my face with my other hand for a moment.

Back then, I was so tired of the world’s unfairness that I would rant like crazy whenever I heard about Returners.

Because Gwak Sa-yeon ruined my reality, I vented like that.

At least that way, I could tell myself I was standing up for Returners.

I was really pathetic.

“But that fool said something. That no one can mock those who fell into a foreign world, knowing nothing about it, with no one they know, surviving through all kinds of hardships.”

Ayu laughed, as if she found it really amusing.

“So the guys badmouthing asked why he was defending Returners so much.”

Damn them, I should’ve scolded them more.

I could even beat them up now.

“So the fool said. There should be at least one person to welcome them back, to celebrate their return.”

“…I was a fool.”

“Yeah, you were. Really. Such a fool. The guys badmouthing eventually got tired of arguing and ran away. But I remembered what that fool said.”

Ayu looked at me.

Her eyes were filled with deep affection.

“So I followed him and saw he was recruiting guild members.”

Back then, when I was recruiting guild members with Juk-sim.

Ayu became our guild’s first member.

“After that, I quickly joined, played the game, hung out every day, laughed, and chatted.”

Ayu closed her eyes and smiled, reminiscing.

“Turns out, the meaning of life isn’t such a big deal.”

Too exhausted to do anything, she chose to do nothing and found a way to live.

Just like my life, worn out by intensity, eventually broke.

Though our lives’ exhaustion and hardships might differ.

We met in the game, and because of that, we could live again.

“Being with Domi Oppa is fun and happy. Everything else just doesn’t matter.”

“I also had fun and was happy playing with you.”

“Hehe, we were both a huge plus for each other, huh?”

“Yeah, I won’t deny that.”

The time spent with Ayu in the game was also meaningful to me.

Excluding Juk-sim, no relationship in the game lasted as long as mine with Ayu.

“So, I found it. The meaning of my life.”

Ayu looked straight at me.

Her face was slightly flushed, and it was undeniably lovely.

“Domi Oppa, I like you.”

Those words flowed from her lips.

“My meaning in life is now Domi Oppa.”

And Ayu smiled more beautifully than ever.

“So I want to stay with Domi Oppa forever.”

“Ayu.”

As I was about to speak, Ayu stood up.

Following her, I stood up, and Ayu buried her face in my chest.

“I know what’s going on with you, Domi Oppa. Your sister is missing, so you feel guilty about being happy alone. That’s why you’re hesitating. Domi Oppa is too kind.”

“I’m not that kind.”

I’m a selfish guy.

If I were truly kind, I would have given a clear answer.

Even now, the greed in my heart kept poking at me.

This greed only grew bigger the closer Ayu got.

“I just need to be by Domi Oppa’s side. I don’t want to lose my meaning in life again. So.”

She stood on her tiptoes and pulled my hand down.

As I leaned forward, Ayu’s face was right in front of me.

When our eyes met, Ayu smiled and pressed her lips to mine.

A soft sound echoed.

I froze at her most proactive action yet, and Ayu, her face bright red, laughed shyly.

“I’ll stamp it in advance.”

My first kiss was.

In the hospital waiting room.