Chapter 566: The Continent After 1 Year (4)

‘Should I not take it?’

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

I was hesitant because I knew I would be stuck on the call once I received it, but the Goddess’s Hand Mirror grew still.

Of course, from experience, I knew things wouldn’t end like that.

As expected, new messages popped up in a row. In a way, it felt a little scary.

[Jung Hayan: You’re not answering my call. Is everything all right?]

[Jung Hayan: It’s a busy time, so I shouldn’t have called you. I don’t think you’re reading this…]

[Jung Hayan: Is there anything going on? I just wanted to hear your voice after a long time.]

[Jung Hayan: You’re not with another girl right now, are you?]

[Jung Hayan: I sent the text above wrong. Don’t misunderstand me.]

[Jung Hayan: Why aren’t you answering?]

[Jung Hayan: I miss you. I want to see you very much.]

[Jung Hayan: Give me a call.]

[Jung Hayan: It’s over now, right? Can I go there? Can I go now?]

[Jung Hayan: No. I’ll wait here.]

[Jung Hayan: It’s so hard. Can I call you for a second?]

[Jung Hayan: What are you doing right now? What are you doing? You must be working.]

[Jung Hayan: Hello.]

[Jung Hayan: I miss you… I miss you so much.]

Dozens of messages were constantly going up. To be honest, I felt like I had no choice but to answer. It seemed like she had caught a sickness again.

Even Han Sora began sending me messages, and she seemed even more desperate than Jung Hayan. It was clear that those two were in the same place.

[Han Sora: Please answer the phone. Please, Vice Guild Master, please… please answer Jung Hayan’s call, please answer the phone. Please, please. Or at least reply. Are you reading this? You’re reading this, right?]

[Han Sora: Please accept the call just once. I’m so scared.]

‘It seems really hard for her.’

The least I could do was to give a lot of rewards.

In fact, the amount of money I had sent to Han Sora as life insurance over the past year was considerably high.

Han Sora’s life insurance was enough to make her feel nothing if she won the lottery.

Of course, she always told me that she didn’t need those things and I didn’t need to do it. She even asked me to just do something about the situation. But it was hard to imagine Han Sora’s absence next to an angry Jung Hayan.

If it weren’t for her, there could’ve been several accidents.

There were a lot of times when situations came close to causing an incident. Han Sora was needed to act as a mediator in the middle.

“It seemed just yesterday when she called me and cried for me to come and see her…”

‘Please come here. Please, please. I think you need to come quickly. Ugh, please… You have to come now. I think I’ll be in big trouble. You have to come quickly. Please do it for me. Just this once. Please, please, please, Vice Guild Master. Just once… Please save me. Please save me. Just save me once. Ugh… Please save me. Please, please, please, please… Please… you fucking piece of sh*t!’

I was shocked when I had received the message.

Han Sora’s face was dripping with tears and snot as she cried out for me. That made me realize the seriousness of the situation.

She made the right decision to call me before she entered the state of maximum anger.

If I was a little later, an incident similar to what happened during the 27th Corps could’ve been repeated. In short, the plan to not see her face for a year had failed.

However, the plan was also a success in the way that Jung Hayan had grown significantly.

Her growth wasn’t as incomprehensible as it had been in the past, but it was significant that she had gone up another step.

‘It’s only natural for her to grow, I guess.’

Although I considered my plan a failure, I only met Jung Hayan twice during that year. I would’ve been glad if she managed to endure for just a month. What more could I say about six months?

Because of my personal greed, I wanted to create a situation where I didn’t even see her face or contact her, but I realized that such a scenario could lead to an extremely dire situation in no time.

It was necessary to know what her state was, even if it’s just through a video message.

I opened an old video and saw a brighter-faced Jung Hayan from 1 year ago.

-Oppa, A-are you doing w-well? I’m doing fine here. I’m sorry for calling you all of a sudden. I studied really hard today. I read a lot of books in the tower, and I’ve created a lot of new magic. It’s a little difficult, but I can endure it. Yes, I have to put up with this. B-b-because it can’t be helped. So, don’t worry too much. I’m working hard, too…

-…

-All the grandfathers at the Magic Tower were really s-s-surprised, saying that they’ve never seen this kind of magic. You’re doing well, right? I really, really miss you so much… I’ll end the call now. I’m sure you’re busy.

I thought she would be able to hold on back then.

-How are you? I-I’m sorry I called you all of a sudden. I have something to show you. Do you remember what I told you three days ago? I’ll show it to you right now. We’re having a demonstration… Many people gathered because a-a-all the other guild people also wanted to see it. Actually, I don’t know… The g-grandfathers told me that I had grown a lot. They said that I improved so much since a week ago. In fact, they told me that it would be meaningless for me to continue studying here. I’m not lying. T-they really told me that, r-right?

-Yes, Jung Hayan is right. Hohoho Truthfully, it’s a bit disappointing compared to the magic you’ve created before, but it’s worth calling the method groundbreaking.

-W-Why would say it like that! How dare you!!!

-Ah… I-I’m sorry…

-Anyway, Let me show you. You’ll be surprised.

-…

-…

-…

-Did you see that? I-I wonder what you think. Please send me your reaction in a video instead of a letter. Please. I really miss you. I-I think I’m missing you even more because I used to see you every day and s-suddenly, I no longer can. I’m sorry if I bothered you. I’ll call you again next time.

It was still fine up to that point. Although the Magic Tower’s grandfathers seemed to have looked a bit surprised at her reaction, it was still acceptable. The problem started after that, however.

After sending me dozens of videos like that to show her growth, she became more and more desperate.

Jung Hayan always smiled brightly in the video letters, but her background, which showed a portion of her room, was beyond description.

It wasn’t the room that I knew. Books were torn to pieces, and the walls were covered with nail marks. The most noticeable part was Han Sora, who was looking at the screen with anxious eyes in the corner of the room.

Her face was akin to a mouse in front of a cat. Her hair was all over the place.

-T-T-Today, I also… w-want to send you… a video…I m-m-miss you so much, Oppa. So much. I miss you so much… *sob*… But I’m still working hard. I’m working hard, so I want to see you at least once… I hate this. I hate this so much because I want to stay with you… Sora also feels the same, right?

-Y-yes, that’s right, Jung Hayan-nim… You’re right. Vice Guild Master. I think it’s time for you to come back now. Jung Hayan-nim has grown a lot. I know you’re busy, but still… Please drop by the guild once.

-S-S-See? S-Sora feels the same way. P-P-Please come quickly.

-Yes, yes! Vice Guild Master. I’d like you to come. Please… And y-you know what I asked you separately last time… Could you…do something about that somehow… again…

-W-W-What did you ask him separately?

-No. Jung Hayan-nim… That is…

-W-What? What did you say?

-Business, it was a business thing…*sob*… It was a business thing. Ughhh…ugh…ugh. It’s really true.

-Toot.

The way her condition worsened was becoming more visible.

And that was one of the better examples. Jung Hayan’s video message had turned into something else after she didn’t send me one in a long time.

-I just…

-Die…

-…

-You… Look… D-Don’t… Can’t. Ah, that… Yes, that would be good… Ah… Die…

She was muttering to herself while staring at the screen, so I couldn’t just sit still.

It was only normal for her to explode at that point, but it wasn’t the time, so I immediately packed my things and went to the Magic Tower to enjoy my afterlife with Jung Hayan.

And it took me three days to get away from her again because she wouldn’t get off me while crying.

And four months after that, I had to see her again. In total, it had only been two months since I received a call from Han Sora.

‘It’s getting shorter… Is it time to call her over?’

With her explosive cycles getting shorter and shorter, I was glad that she seemed to be growing as much, but even I was a bit worried.

I thought it was better to keep delaying the time until she exploded at the time I wanted, but recently, I felt like I was walking on thin ice every day.

The hundreds of text bombs every day and Han Sora’s crying voice bothered me.

It was a pleasure to see Jung Hayan showing growth every time she went through a difficult period, but…

‘This is making me feel so anxious.’

I was certainly worried that an accident could occur at any time. Didn’t she make a monster wave just recently? Of course, she probably didn’t mean to do that, but it would cause problems if I were to leave her in such a state.

I also found Park Deokgu’s whereabouts, so I thought it was the right time to call her back.

Since some people from the Joint Continental Training Center were also holding their place…

‘I better do that.’

Video clips of Jung Hayan that automatically played in a row stopped, and a call was connected in an instant. In less than a second, Jung Hayan’s face was immediately displayed in the mirror.

-O… O-Oppa! What’s going on?

‘What do you mean what’s going on? You called me.’

-you saw the t-t-text. Did… Did I send you too many? I’m afraid it got in the way of your w-work…

‘They did get in the way. How couldn’t it?’

“No, I was just resting. How’s your studying going?”

Yes, I-I was practicing j-j-just a m-moment before. With Sora.

‘You were texting me just a moment ago.’

“Then, maybe I shouldn’t have called you. I’m feeling sorry all of a sudden…”

-N-No. That’s not true. Yes. I was just about to take a break too. Yes… I was a-a-about to…

“Hayan… really hasn’t changed.”

It wasn’t only her actions but her appearance too, except for her hair that had grown a little longer.

Not to mention, she looked better than I expected. When she sent me the message-bombs, I remembered her eyes looking blood-shot and always stuttering strange words with hair all over the place.

Seeing her neat appearance, I thought it would be okay to give her a little more time.

-Sora is also resting with me. H-H-Here.

However, after seeing Han Sora’s condition, I realized that Hayan’s appearance had been fixed hurriedly. Blood seemed to have been drained from her face. Her eyes looked like they contained all the fears of the world as well.

She looked like a victim trapped in an enclosed space with a serial killer or in a ghost movie.

Perhaps the atmosphere had been intense before the phone call came.

-Hell…o, Jung Hayan has been studying magic as you asked her to do. Vice Guild Master, when will we be… able to see you?

She seemed careful not to let the same mistake happen twice. However, her eyes continued to send me SOS signals.

She definitely had the face of a person that was asking for help.

-R-R-R-Right?

Jung Hayan’s eyes, which were reflected on the screen, were scary, to be honest.

“I think you should move over here in a month…”

-What?

“I think I have some more time now. Of course, if you want to, you can stay there a bit longer.”

-No, no. It’s n-n-not like that. I’ll go. Q-q-quickly. Quickly…

“Yes, but you have to concentrate on your studies as much as you can until then. If nothing changes after this call, I’ll feel like I interrupted your studies. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

‘Let’s work hard… Until the end.’

-Yes, yes, I -I understand. Ugh… I understand. *sob*, I survived. *sob*, it’s finally over. Ughhhh… ugh, finally… Ugh, I’m alive. I-I’ll work hard and go there r-right away. I’ll run there. Ugh. I love you. I love you.

Jung Hayan burst into tears. And next to her, there was another person who burst into tears.

-God…ugh, God, thank you. Thank you, God.

Tears also poured out of Han Sora’s eyes.

‘I’ll give you a lot of money, Sora. Seriously…’

Guilt blossomed from within me.