Chapter 784: The Last (17)

Since the temple and statue were created, many people visited them. Basically, they were open to everyone.

There were so many believers coming, but only a limited number of people could enter.

Essentially, the supplies weren’t enough to satisfy the demand. No, that wasn’t exactly the case when I thought about it.

Out of the 24 hours in a day, the temple was opened to the general public for about 3 hours. It was announced that it would be increased to 5 hours on holidays or weekends, but that wouldn’t be enough either.

That created a situation where only a limited number of believers were allowed to enter. In order to enter the temple and see the statue, it was necessary to go through a very strict procedure as well.

It was harder to enter Kiyoung’s temple than obtain an entry visa from another country for nonsensical reasons.

It was common for believers who came to see the statue once from a distant place to return without getting any results.

Considering that there were times when they didn’t open the temple itself due to difficult situations, I thought about whether the Blue Guild was interfering with my business with all their power.

At that level, it was really no different than business interference.

‘It’s a bit too much to spend 21 hours taking turns to visit me among the members.’

Kim Hyunsung and Jung Hayan, who owned very high stakes, did not need to go through the same procedure because they lived almost in the temple. Park Deokgu, the pig bastard, was the same…

In addition, there was a separate time for exposition exclusive to several guild members or major figures related to the Blue Guild…

‘They’re becoming really stagnant due to that. No, not just stagnant. They’re becoming rotten.’

It would be quite a miracle to see the temple gates opening to the public completely.

At least Cho Hyejin, who owned the same share as Jung Hayan and Kim Hyunsung, wasn’t stuck there every day, but sometimes she would come to the temple to spend a lot of time.

-I was a bit busy today.

‘Yeah, I know. Fuck, who else would be doing the right thing there right now if not you? Is manager Kim Mi-young okay? She’s not going to collapse from overwork, right? No, you’re not going to collapse from overwork, too, are you?’

Of course, considering Cho Hyejin’s stamina, that wouldn’t happen.

-The guild’s financial status doesn’t make sense. I don’t know why there are so many things we need to spend on… We have to build another temple, but we don’t have the necessary funds. I guess we should start charging the entrance fee for entering the temple. If it were you, you would have told us to do that, but…

No, even I wouldn’t have the courage to enforce an entrance fee. It’d be pretty good if they could get it as donations or offerings or something instead.

-Anyway, it seems that I’m getting used to you not being here. Still, I miss you sometimes… The same goes for all the others. In fact, I thought the moment I felt before would keep going, but it didn’t.

Really?

-I miss going out and having a drink and playing chess. I end up just lying in bed and thinking blankly now, you know? I wonder what I would be doing now if you were here. At least, the guild wouldn’t have had any financial problems.

Of course, it wouldn’t. Fuck.

-If the donations hadn’t arrived, it might have been really dangerous for us. Have you heard about the Friendship Guild?

‘Did they support too? Fuck, you live and you learn. That’s why people have to live nicely.’

Had I ever told them about the Friendship Guild? I helped them in the past. That’s what we were getting in return now.

-Anyway, I live like that. Recently, there is news that dungeons have been discovered around, so we are preparing for an expedition little by little. The Guild Master didn’t seem to be interested, but what can I do? Hyunsung must be the one having the hardest time…

‘Look at her just calling him Hyunsung.’

Strictly speaking, Cho Hyejin was a Nuna to Kim Hyunsung. Of course, considering that Kim Hyunsung was a regressor, he might be older than her, but at least I felt that Cho Hyejin was more mature.

In fact, he didn’t have any mental growth in the first timeline but had mental breakdowns instead…

Whenever Cho Hyejin talked to herself in front of the statue for a long time, there were times when I wondered if she had become too comfortable.

Well, I liked it, but she seemed to think I wasn’t listening. Or maybe she thought that Lee Kiyoung’s personality had become a little more mature. Or she just completely changed.

To think of that place as her haven, she was no different from others. I was sure she was most reliant on that place.

As I saw before, Kim Hyunsung was still the same, and Park Deokgu and Elena spent a lot of time there, but no one was positively influenced like Cho Hyejin.

‘You’ve gotten a lot better.’

The difference between the way she was broken when I first saw her and now was huge. She seemed to have solved her personal problems too… In this part, Alps’s role, who continued to take care of her, played a big part, but it was the statue of Lee Kiyoung that gave the final blow.

“But, Beningore, how can we send the Holy Lance? Do you have the necessary equipment?”

“W-Well…”

“Oh, come to think of it, don’t you have a spear?”

“Ah… you mean mine?”

“Yes.”

“I… I can’t send them mine. I think it’s more meaningful if you send it directly… My spear has some of its information left at the Benignore Church. Others will probably notice. It’s not because I don’t want to lend it… it’s just that things might become complicated.”

“We have to find a way to save divinity. It was already hard to send the Holy Sword. If we send your spear instead…”

“I think it would be good to think of it as an investment… Oh! First, it would be good to find out if there is a good offer.”

“Where do you want to find out?”

“Oh, we have a market that we can use. We need a mythic-grade spear… Actually, we can’t send something too expensive. It would be nice to set the price at this level. I don’t know if I can find something that fits the conditions… Still, there will be properties that no one is looking for. In the case of a spear, it’s not as popular as a sword, so it’s not a favorite thing for managers on other continents.”

“Please choose a good one.”

Still, I was giving it to a friend, so I didn’t want to argue about the cost-effectiveness. Even if it were a little over budget, it would be better to give a good gift.

“This is the cheapest on sale right now.”

“Can we raise the price…?”

“We can’t buy something too expensive. With our budget, this is the limit. Of course, if you wait a few more years…”

Unfortunately, there was no time for that. I looked at the spear floating over Benignore’s palm, but it didn’t satisfy me. I was curious about how that was even evaluated as mythic-grade. It had no other abilities except that it wouldn’t ever break.

It suited Cho Hyejin well, but it felt like something was lacking.

“What should I do? Should I buy it now? By registering you as the owner, you’ll be able to add shapes or functions, but it’ll be limited. Really limited…”

“It would be better to do that.”

I thought that even a delivery man would come, but that wasn’t what happened. A bright emerged from her hand in an instant and turned into a spear. To be honest…

‘I don’t know anything indeed.’

I thought I had a rough idea of ??how things were going around here, but there was still a lot I didn’t know. After putting my hand on it, it immediately registered me as its owner, and I started customizing it to my liking.

It was hard to edit the functions, but I wanted to change the appearance to something smooth and stylish.

‘Ah, for some reason, it doesn’t look cool…’

“T-That’s cool. I-It looks so sacred.”

But I didn’t think Cho Hyejin would like it. It might be too much, but it would be nice to change the speartip to her favorite color.

“T-The color is a bit…”

“No. I think this is just fine.”

Cho Hyejin was still sitting next to the statue and was still talking.

-Still, it seems to be better than before, but it’s just… Anyway, it would be nice if Hyunsung quickly regains himself… Am I being too greedy? I have changed a lot from before. Actually, I don’t play chess that much these days. I don’t have time because I’m busy every day, and… I don’t have anyone to play with. More than anything else, I keep thinking of you. I don’t know where or what Jihye is doing either…

‘If you keep saying that kind of thing, I’ll be moved.’

-Oh! And Hyunsung seems to think that he is your soulmate. Isn’t that funny?

‘Both of you aren’t.’

-What you said that day felt a little comforting. No, it comforted me a lot. It served as momentum for me to get back on my feet… I don’t know if you really have forgiven my sorrow and sins, but it made me feel more at ease. Yes… really…

-…

“…”

Cho Hyejin went silent.

She was hesitating. Her lips were shaking. Then, she sighed and looked up at the statue.

-It’s possible for you to come back, right?

‘I guess?’

-As you may have heard, Hyunsung will make sure you’ll return. He says every day that it should be possible, that he’ll find a way, but… I’m not sure. Is there really a way, or are we just holding onto a ridiculous hope? I really want you to come back.

‘I wish I can go back too, Hyejin.’

-The fact is… Actually, it’s still too difficult… Sniff… Sniff… really… It’s too hard… I thought it would be okay, but I guess that won’t happen. I thought it would disappear over time, but it didn’t. It feels like one side of my chest is empty. It’s so hard now that I don’t have anyone to chat with to get something off my chest. I lost many people, but you must have been more important to me than I thought. I thought you were just an annoying bastard…

‘No…’

-I thought you were a trash bastard, an asshole… that I didn’t ever want to be associated with… Sniff… Sniff…

That was too harsh.

-I thought you were a really disgusting insect… a son of a bitch…

‘That’s enough. Fuck.’

-Sniff… Sniff…

‘No, I think you can do a little better than that.’

It hurt to see her crying without saying anything. I was still human, after all.

She couldn’t see the statue properly and only shed tears.

Cho Hyejin’s cries continued to fill the temple. I thought I couldn’t leave her like that anymore, so I immediately started preparing to send the spear I had prepared.

Cho Hyejin didn’t seem to notice, but the statue began to shine brightly.

There was a lot of curiosity in her eyes as she slowly looked up, feeling something strange.

-Huh…

She just made that sound and said nothing else.

Hyejin picked up the hand mirror to get in contact with someone in a hurry, but she soon began to look up quietly. She knew that I had something to say to her.

She wouldn’t want things to get complicated either.

-Vice Guild Master…?

The prepared spear fell into the temple.

Boooooooom!!

A spear with a blue blade struck the ground with a thunderous sound.

Because of the shockwave, Cho Hyejin had to cover her face, but her eyes were surely looking at the spear.

There was no way she couldn’t notice the subdued energy.

She seemed to be speechless, but she soon began to slowly approach the spear as if possessed by something.

It was a scene that could become a story. If that moment were told in the future, she would leave her mark in history as the envoy chosen by God.

The earth was surrounded by light, and with every step she took, the light was lifted.

I didn’t know if she’d like the spear I customized, but I thought she would at least like its appearance. She wiped the tears and slowly reached out to it.

And…

“Are you crying?”

-Sniff… Sniff…

“Are you crying now?”

-Sniff… Sniff… Sniff…

“Are you crying, Hyejin?”

-Who… Who… said… Who said… Sniff… I’m crying…

“You seem to be crying…”

-I’m not crying… Sniff… I’m not crying… hic… I’m not crying…