Chapter 71

“Then did I not approach him at the Academy?”

“Did Ha-chan come to me with memories of the world where we were lovers?”

That night.

Ha-chan’s warm smile overlapped in her mind.

The mixed memories made his gaze seem like he was pitying a suffering lover.

The gentle touch that soothed her pain felt like it was meant to ease a lover’s suffering.

“I must reclaim Ha-chan.”

She couldn’t forgive it.

She couldn’t bear to see Ha-chan live the same way she did.

At the same time, Ha-chan was strong now, unlike in that world.

He was strong enough to erase the influence of the Evil God on her, so at least he wouldn’t be harmed by it.

…Then, could they live as lovers again?

“Ha, haha.”

“Have you lost your mind? What are you laughing at?”

Baek-san, with Bazra on his shoulder, spoke with a displeased tone.

Hearing his voice, Eun-namu narrowed her eyes.

Giraseong’s objective had been achieved.

Her objective was to scout Ha-chan.

Blind Space Mage Aoki Kaito, Brain Dragon Sobolev Yekaterina, and even Umbrella Isaac.

Three members of Giraseong had been subdued or killed in incidents.

The common thread in these incidents was that they all involved one man.

That man was Ha-chan.

But it turned out that it wasn’t Ha-chan, but the monster in front of her who had caused all this.

The monster had ruined Ha-chan’s life, which should have been ordinary.

Realizing this, Eun-namu gritted her teeth.

A wave of disgust rose from within her.

‘…Calm down, Eun-namu.’

She knew how strong the monster entwined with Ha-chan’s body was after the recent battle.

Her mixed memories were still unstable, and emotionally, she was extremely sensitive.

In this state, fighting such a strong monster would not only fail to save Ha-chan but also put herself in danger.

That couldn’t happen.

This was an opportunity Ha-chan had deliberately created by using all his Aura.

She had to suppress her emotions and find a way to escape here.

To save Ha-chan, she needed to prepare thoroughly and return.

‘Besides, Giraseong also needs to protect Ha-chan.’

Giraseong was targeting Ha-chan.

That’s why they sent her to scout.

It was fortunate that she had joined Giraseong.

She could prevent any threats to Ha-chan in advance.

But there was a problem.

She had made a contract with Giraseong to help kill the Evil God.

If he tried to attack Ha-chan and she stopped him, the backlash from the contract would fall on her.

‘It’s okay. I can handle that.’

She had an immortal body.

Even if she died from the backlash of breaking the contract, she would just come back to life.

She hated the idea of Ha-chan being harmed more than failing to kill the Evil God.

‘It seems I died in that other world.’

What pained her more than her own death was that she had tried to harm Ha-chan’s sister.

In that world, she had killed other Returners as part of a deal with Giraseong.

The Evil God had secretly brainwashed her, making her mistake Ha-chan’s sister as a target.

Just for the sake of amusement.

But in the end, instead of harming his sister, she was killed by her.

The moment Kang Mari’s hand touched her, the remnants and curses of the Evil God within her were destroyed, and she lost her immortality.

Of course, unless the Evil God was killed, they would all return over time.

But at that moment, she could die as an ordinary human.

She felt deeply relieved.

It was better for her to die than to let him suffer such a tragedy.

Death wasn’t so scary to her anymore.

At the same time, as those memories resurfaced, something else came to mind.

The power of Kang Mari, who had destroyed the remnants and curses of the Evil God in one go.

That power seemed far stronger than even Giraseong’s, who had thought themselves most suited to kill the Evil God.

‘If I find Kang Mari…’

Even if I break the deal with Giraseong, I can borrow Kang Mari’s power to kill the Evil God.

Convinced of this, she gripped her scythe tightly.

For now, protecting Ha-chan from Giraseong and the monster in front of her was the priority.

Protect Ha-chan from Giraseong, find Kang Mari, and ask her to kill the monster and the Evil God affecting Ha-chan.

That was the conclusion Eun-namu reached.

As she came to this conclusion, Baek-san frowned.

‘Damn it, Kang Ha-chan.’

Baek-san noticed that something was off with Eun-namu and that she was being used.

It wasn’t the first time a Returner acted strange, so he let it slide.

The problem was that it was clearly related to Kang Ha-chan.

‘I want to stop her from doing anything stupid, but…’

Eun-namu had noticed that Ha-chan had used up all his Aura before she possessed him.

Even without Aura, Baek-san, who could beat an S-class Returner like Eun-namu on a bad day, couldn’t fully subdue her.

As proof, Baek-san couldn’t land a fatal blow on her.

Without Aura, it was difficult to penetrate the curses of the Evil God that made up her body.

Aura depletion was a problem even he couldn’t solve.

‘If I use Aura now…’

The moment he used Aura, Ha-chan’s body wouldn’t be able to handle it, so he hadn’t planned to use it from the start.

The three-month possession period wasn’t for nothing.

Ha-chan’s body, which relied solely on Aura, was already a burden just by him entering it, and it took three months to recover.

“You can’t kill me.”

At that moment, Eun-namu’s voice echoed.

Dozens of eyes appeared and disappeared on her arm holding the scythe.

Simultaneously, a swirling black shadow enveloped her.

Thud!

Seeing this, Baek-san kicked her chin.

“What do you want me to do?”

Unaware of each other’s misunderstandings, Eun-namu and Baek-san’s eyes clashed.

“If I can’t kill you, do you think you’ll live?”

As he finished speaking, camellia petals soared into the sky.

Riding the camellia petals, none other than Cheon Hong-ryun appeared in the sky.

Her eyes burned as if possessed by a demon as she flew towards them.

“Domi Oppa!”

Cheonma Cheon Hong-ryun, the greatest in the world.

True to her name, even Eun-namu, who had become inhuman due to the Evil God’s curse, couldn’t defeat her.

“Manager!”

Moreover, Si-ho appeared in the sky with Seo-ho and Josia using Space Movement.

Realizing they had gathered because of Ha-chan, Eun-namu smiled faintly.

At the same time, her eyes locked onto Baek-san’s face.

Looking past Baek-san at Ha-chan, she accepted the memories.

Even if these were memories from a worldline where she couldn’t live, she was still herself.

So, she decided to be honest in the face of the emotions she had finally gained.

“Just wait a moment.”

At that moment, her eyes turned pitch black, and a book unfolded within them.

Whoosh!

Black flames erupted from her entire body.

As Baek-san hastily retreated, she smiled sadly amidst the acrid smell of burning flesh.

Remembering the lover she had to leave behind in another worldline.

“Ha-chan, I’ll be back soon.”

With those words, she turned into a handful of ash and disappeared.

Baek-san frowned at having lost her right before his eyes, then clicked his tongue.

“Another crazy woman to deal with.”

Baek-san scratched his head in frustration.

“Damn it, I can’t even live out my lifespan properly after regressing.”

With that, he tapped his back and sat down on the floor.

“Kang Bok-chi, you better just die this time too.”

Letting go of Bazra, Baek-san ended the possession.

“Ugh…”

As soon as I woke up, my voice echoed pitifully in the infirmary.

The intense pain throughout my body was piercing my brain, setting it on fire.

Every part of my body felt like it had been beaten with a hammer, and I trembled uncontrollably as Baek-san looked down at me with disdain.

“Serves you right, kid.”

To say such a thing after seeing me like this, is Baek-san a demon?

I rolled around on the bed, regretting intensely that I had summoned Baek-san without adhering to the three-month rule.

“I used up almost all your Aura, so your body is completely drained. You won’t be able to do anything for a day, so keep that in mind.”

“Ugh, ugh…”

I couldn’t even respond and just lay my head on the pillow.

But did Baek-san overpower Eun-namu with my Aura-less body?

What a monster.

Creak-

At that moment, the infirmary door opened.

As I turned my gaze towards the door, Ayu was standing there, and as soon as our eyes met, she let out a long sigh.

“Domi Oppa, how many more times do I have to see you lying in a hospital bed?”

This time it was the infirmary, but it was already the third time I’d been hospitalized, so I could only give an awkward smile.

I had been training hard recently, but I still wasn’t at a level where I could come back unscathed.

“Manager.”

At that moment, Si-ho peeked out from beside Ayu.

She looked at me and tried to come in before Ayu, but Ayu blocked her with her body, making a frustrated face.

“Domi Oppa, you overdid it. Don’t push yourself.”

For once, Ayu was making a sensible remark.

It seemed even Ayu could see that my current state wasn’t normal.

“Couldn’t you have relied on me a bit more?”

At that moment, Ayu, who had approached me, asked.

Her eyes were filled with concern.

Come to think of it, Ayu had always shown up late whenever I was in danger, only to see me injured.

“You can rely on me too.”

Realizing how much her heart must have ached, I slowly sat up and reached out to gently pat Ayu’s head.

“I always rely on you. This time, and always. I just did a bit more this time.”

Ayu looked at me quietly and then let out a small sigh.

“Stop making my heart drop like this. I might end up locking Domi Oppa up somewhere.”

What a scary thing to say so casually.

I nodded as if I understood.

“So, what happened to that Eun-namu person?”

At that moment, a sharp glint appeared in Ayu’s eyes.

“This kid told me you shared a room with her, dressed as a man.”

Ayu was smiling, but there was no warmth in it.

“Why did Domi Oppa know Eun-namu was a girl? What happened?”

I looked at Baek-san.

‘Can’t you possess me one more time to get out of this situation, even if it hurts?’

Baek-san smiled at me and raised his middle finger.

Useless Returner.

“Ayu.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you one thing?”

“What is it?”

“Will you get mad if I tell you?”

“No, I won’t get mad. Why would I get mad at Domi Oppa?”

Hearing that, I felt relieved and explained.

And of course, Ayu got mad.

Liar.

Of course, the part that really made Ayu angry was that Eun-namu had approached me with ulterior motives.

“This won’t do. Sharing a room with a girl like that, I can’t stand it. I’m going to stay at Domi Oppa’s house after graduation.”

“Why are we talking about that?”

“Why? Don’t you want me to?”

Ayu glared at me with dagger eyes, and I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.

“I don’t want that.”

At that moment, Si-ho spoke up instead of me.

As Si-ho, who had been quietly listening to our conversation, joined in, Ayu glared at her.

“What’s it to you, kid?”

“Si-ho is Manager’s girlfriend.”

“Hmph, that’s fake.”

“But she’s still the first girlfriend.”

Si-ho puffed out her small chest proudly.

Seeing that, Ayu’s eyes wavered for a moment.

“…I’m going to marry him.”

And then something strange came out of Ayu’s mouth.

“I’m going to marry Domi Oppa first!”

Why is the conversation going this way?

As Ayu shouted, Si-ho’s eyes widened, and then she glared fiercely at Ayu.

I quietly pulled the blanket over my face.

I didn’t have the mental energy to deal with the two of them talking about dating and marriage right in front of me.

Is there anyone who respects my opinion?

“There isn’t.”

Baek-san’s words were the truth.