Chapter 35: Paradise (2)

A cold breeze slipped through the window. Song Ha-Eun shivered in bed under an electric blanket.

“Ugh.”

It’s freezing.

The temperature would have been life-threatening if not for her superhuman physique.

The heater... Uh, let’s not.

Kwon Oh-Jin had okay'd it for whenever it got too cold, but remembering the way he always sighed whenever they received the utility bill made Song Ha-Eun hesitant.

“Let’s hold on with the blanket for now.”

She had gotten somewhat used to living like this. She reached out and turned on the electric blanket's switch.

With a short sigh, she grabbed her phone. She had grown used to handling it even without being able to see it, so it wasn’t difficult for her to stream the latest news.

[Interest is growing around Kwon Oh-Jin, an Awakener from the association, following the incident at Seoul Station at around four in the evening yesterday.]

[Netizens who saw the report have given him the nickname Thunder Wolf and are praising the birth of a new hero.]

The news was filled with stories about Kwon Oh-Jin.

“Wow... It actually happened.”

She had expected this ever since he said he became an apostle of the North Star, but hearing his name on the news still felt strange.

Now that he’s become this famous... he should be able to save up money quickly.

Song Ha-Eun made a bitter smile. She sensed that it was almost time for them to part ways.

“... Well then.”

She moved to a different video.

[The list of the Astral Relics to be auctioned at the Yongsan auction house in two days has been finalized.]

[The highlighted items include seven-star Astral Relics, the Sword of Dawn and the Twilight Knot. Additionally, the six-star Astral Relic Demonic Dragon Eye will make its first appearance in over a year...]

Beep.

She closed the video.

“Dragon Demon Eye...” She whispered the name with a trembling voice, clenching her fists so tight that veins stood out on the back of her hand.

Just then, she heard a noise beside her.

“Did you just wake up?”

“Kyaaah!”

Song Ha-Eun screamed and shot up from the bed.

“W-What the hell?”

“Why are you so startled?” Vega asked.

“D-Did you not leave with Oh-Jin?”

Kwon Oh-Jin had left about an hour back, saying he had business with the association. Song Ha-Eun had assumed that Vega had gone with him.

“He left without the pendant.”

It seemed like he didn’t need Vega this time.

“... I-I see.”

An awkward tension filled the room. This was the first time the two were alone with each other.

“But isn’t there some kind of law or restriction that stops a Celestial like you from being on Earth this long?”

“A few hours a day is alright.”

“Hmm.”

“I have something I’d like to ask you.”

“To ask me?”

Song Ha-Eun cocked her head in confusion.

“My child seems quite obsessed with money,” Vega remarked.

“Ah... well, yeah.”

“Do you know why?”

Song Ha-Eun’s bitter smile lingered as she fell silent. She knew the answer all too well—Kwon Oh-Jin had told her himself.

“It’s to reach Paradise,” she said, the words slipping out like a shot of strong liquor.

“Paradise?”

The abstract term made Vega blink, her confusion evident.

“

Ah,

'paradise' is just what people call it. The official name is the Ganghwa Island Special Autonomous Zone.”

“

Hmm,

I still don’t understand.”

“So, you see...”

Song Ha-Eun started to explain.

The Ganghwa Island Special Autonomous Zone, commonly known as Paradise, was one of the few

safe zones

left in their crazy world overrun by monsters. There were no gates or monsters that appeared there, and criminals and illegal organizations couldn’t set foot inside.

“And I heard once you get in, they provide you three solid meals a day too.”

It was a place where people didn’t have to worry about sustenance, shelter, or clothing. It was the only place that preserved the peaceful and comfortable life of Korea from before the gates started opening.

“Oh-Jin is saving up to move there.”

The price of admission to Paradise was ten billion won. Pay that, and every worry melted away. Life would be nothing but peace, laughter, and endless enjoyment.

“... A place like that really exists?” Vega asked in disbelief. “I don’t understand. How could that be categorized a safe zone—”

“Because Cheon Sang-Gil of the Avaricious Wolf and his guild members live there.”

Cheon Sang-Gil was the only Korean apostle of the Seven Stars, specifically the Avaricious Wolf. The Ganghwa Island Special Autonomous Zone was directly managed by him and his guild, Heaven’s Grace. If that place couldn’t be considered a safe zone, then nothing could.

“That’s why wealthy businessmen, celebrities, and Awakeners are all scrambling to get in there.”

“So my child is working to earn money to go there?”

“Yeah.”

“

Hmmm,

” Vega sighed, still a little puzzled.

With a faint smile, Song Ha-Eun mumbled, “Do you know what his dream was when he was a kid?”

Her empty gaze wandered through her hazy memories till she saw a black-haired boy with droopy eyes, rolled up like a ball as he held his hands to his bruised cheeks.

“What was his dream?”

“To live in a place where he wouldn’t be hurt, cold, and hungry.”

“...?”

“

Hahaha!

Isn’t that so simple?” Song Ha-Eun laughed. “But such simple happiness always felt so distant for us.”

Vega remained silent for a moment. She felt a deep current of emotions difficult to comprehend.

“Did someone torment my child?”

“Our orphanage director,” Song Ha-Eun replied. She bit her lip, reminding herself of her childhood memories. “We got beaten every day. The other kids got hit sometimes too, but Oh-Jin... he was beaten the worst.”

“Was there a reason?”

“... Yeah.” Her voice trembled. “I was originally the director’s main target, not Oh-Jin.”

“...”

“

Haha!

I had a bit of a temper even when I was a kid. But after getting beaten day after day, it became unbearable. That’s why I even thought about hanging myself to fuck with the director.”

“Couldn’t you have asked someone else for help?”

“Ask who? We were just ten-year-old kids, and that motherfucker had pretty good connections. Even when we asked for help, we were just ignored.”

“That must have been hard for you.”

“Yeah. It was... It was really hard. But one day, when I bit the director’s arm really hard and was getting beaten all day for it...

Pfft!

Do you know what that lunatic Oh-Jin did?”

Vega shook her head.

“He suddenly ran in, saying there was a fire in the kitchen and that we needed to escape. The director started screaming and ran outside like an idiot.”

“What happened after that?”

“The director got totally humiliated, obviously.

Haha!

The fire was a total lie.” Song Ha-Eun laughed, still finding the memory funny. “Oh-Jin fooled that jerk so many times. No matter how much he got beaten, he always came up with some wild scheme to mess with the director the next day.”

“So... that’s how the target shifted from your back to Oh-Jin's?”

“... Yeah.”

Song Ha-Eun pulled her knees up and rested her head on them.

“To be honest, I felt relieved. I was so happy I didn’t have to get hit anymore.”

Tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her cheeks.

Drip.

She tightly wrapped her arms around her knees and trembled slightly.

“I knew what he was taking on for me... but still, I was so glad...!”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

A brief moment of silence passed.

“Yeah. Oh-Jin said the same thing.”

“...”

“Anyway, Oh-Jin has wanted the same thing ever since he was a kid—a life where he doesn't have to lie just to survive.”

That was Kwon Oh-Jin's wish, his longing, and his deepest desire.

“Oh-Jin will go to Paradise,” Song Ha-Eun asserted.

And when that happens, we’ll part ways.

“Aren’t you going with him?”

Song Ha-Eun shook her head and said “... I can’t.”

“Is it because of money?”

“That’s part of it, but... even if I had the money, I wouldn’t pass the test.”

“Test?”

“Yeah. To enter Paradise, you have to go through a lot of examinations and pass a test.”

Her empty gray eyes stared into space.

“A blind cripple like me wouldn’t be able to enter Paradise.”

She let out a self-deprecating laugh, and Vega gazed at her deeply.

“Then what will happen to you?”

“I’ll have to figure out how to live on my own.”

“But—”

“

Haha!

Are you worried about me, Miss Goddess?”

“...”

“I was a seven-star Awakener up until five years ago. I know how to survive on my own.”

Though she had lost everything now, she was considered a

strong

Awakener before

.

“... What happened?”

“This?” Song Ha-Eun gestured to the empty space where her right leg ended below the knee, then touched her eyes. She let out a soft chuckle before replying, “About five or six years ago, I went up against a monster—an absurdly strong one. This is the result.”

She had fallen to the Thousand-Cursed Dragon, Barbatos, a nine-star dragon-type monster. The encounter left her cursed, robbing her of her sight and sealing her mana.

With a soft thud, Song Ha-Eun laid back down on her bed. The electric blanket that was now all warmed up.

“Anyway, I made a promise with Oh-Jin five years ago.”

“What kind of promise?”

“Well, it wasn’t really a promise, more like... a one-sided demand,” Ha-eun said with a bitter smile. She recalled a short conversation in a small, dark, mold-filled room.

“You’re going to buy a spot in Paradise?”

“Yeah.”

“... Then stay with me until you do.”

“Stay with you?”

“You owe me for the last three years, don’t you? I saved you and took care of you, didn’t I?”

“...”

“Once you’ve saved up all 10 billion won, you can go wherever you want.”

“... Okay.”

That day, Song Ha-Eun had placed a curse on Kwon Oh-Jin—one not so different from the curse that had consumed her life. This curse was named Song Ha-Eun.

“

Hahaha!

Wow, thinking about it now, I was such a bitch!” she laughed and clapped her hands. “How could I expect someone who wasn’t even an Awakener to save up ten billion won?”

The

promise

had just been an excuse to avoid being left alone, to trap him with her in this endless darkness where she couldn't see anything at all.

“... I’m being punished for it.”

She never expected Kwon Oh-Jin to become an Awakener, certainly not an apostle of the North Star. She thought she would have at least a few more years with him, but he had awakened with the Stigma of Lyra and was now famous enough to make headlines everywhere. It wouldn’t take long for him to gather ten billion won.

She believed this was her divine punishment for trying to manipulate him for her own selfish reasons.

“

Hehe

, so...”

Song Ha-Eun braced herself on her crutches and awkwardly stood up. She bowed deeply and said with a formal tone, “Please... take good care of Oh-Jin.”

Her voice was heavy, almost as if she was pleading.

Vega silently gazed at Song Ha-Eun with her arms crossed, still slightly confused.

So, my child wishes to leave this girl and go to this place called Paradise? Then why did he wear that face back then?

She thought back to the first time she’d met Song Ha-Eun and asked Kwon Oh-Jin about her eyes. He had made an expression filled with despair—like someone lost in an endless desert, desperately searching for water.