Chapter 251: Jeong Yu-hwa
However, that panic was short-lived.
I silently alternated my gaze between Smiley and So-hee.
Although I didn't know how it happened, I had only managed to suppress her thanks to my Trait's power suddenly doubling.
Comparing the damage remaining on our bodies, my condition was still much worse than Smiley's.
If I let Smiley go here and she attacked again, I had no chance of winning.
I couldn't let the hard-won advantage slip away again.
Therefore, I tightened my grip on Smiley's throat once more.
"She tried to kill , and tried to kill you."
When Smiley said she would kill So-hee or the people around , I felt genuine killing intent.
I could easily distinguish whether it was a simple threat or a genuine intention to kill.
But that was the real Smiley?
If so, why was she doing this?
I narrowed my brow and spoke to So-hee.
"The rational answer, in my opinion, is that this is a fake persona, and they either brainwashed you or manipulated your mind in so way to shake up beforehand. - That's what I think."
At my words, So-hee panicked and stamped her feet.
"You don't trust ?"
"Of course I trust you."
I answered imdiately.
"But this is separate from that."
However, just as I was about to cut off her breath, my fingertips twitched for a mont.
I realized it belatedly.
On the fingertips holding her throat, the pulse that should have been felt was completely absent.
I slowly tilted my head to the side and focused on her heartbeat.
I couldn't hear her heartbeat either.
No, it was so faint that it was barely different from being stopped.
Just a few minutes ago, she was so vibrant, but the mont I suppressed her, her body was rapidly rushing toward death.
No, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say she was already dead.
This was clearly a much more serious condition than mine.
I briefly hesitated.
And seeing my expression, So-hee spoke again.
"If you believe . Please give her one more chance."
Finally, I let out a light sigh.
"In this condition, I can afford to listen to whatever nonsense she has to say."
Since So-hee's safety, the only thing I worried about, was secured, there was no significant problem.
I released the force on Smiley's neck and wrist.
Cough- Choke- Ke-huk-!
Smiley, whose airway was finally free, burst into a series of coughs.
She gently touched the bright red imprint of my hand on her neck with her fingertips.
She had just nearly died, but I let her go so easily.
She smiled faintly.
"You're so weak for that friend. You even listen to what I have to say."
"If you only speak nonsense, I wouldn't mind killing you right away."
"Alright. Alright."
She backed away a few steps.
The Peacemaker rolling on the floor montarily touched her heel, but she ignored it as if she had no interest.
Seeing her appear to have genuinely lost the will to fight, I asked, unable to understand.
"You're the real Smiley? Then the one I saw at first?"
"That persona couldn't hold on and collapsed. Is it because this body won't last long?"
"Since when have you been the real Smiley?"
"It's been a while. Has it been about one or two months since I started taking the main control?"
The crease between my eyebrows deepened further.
That ti was before the kidnapping of So-hee.
In other words, the kidnapping of So-hee, and every situation up until now, was the real Smiley's doing...
"Why the hell?"
A streak of blood trickled from the corner of her lips as she smiled faintly.
"Because I had to genuinely try to kill you and push you to the limit for you to use that power."
Taken completely by surprise, I clucked my tongue.
That power.
It was a sowhat ambiguous term, but for the two of us, it was an expression that required no further explanation.
Smiley's legacy, Smiley's power, which she left behind when she died.
At that ti, she clearly said to pass that power on to a suitable person.
That's why I had been waiting for a fitting talent for that power until now.
She let out a deep sigh.
"It's just an expression. Why keep holding onto it for over 10 years? You just had to watch for the right mont and use it."
Smiley naturally believed without a doubt that I would take that power soday.
That's why, when she revived and faced , she was appalled.
It wasn't just because I was keeping the power without using it.
The sphere of power she left behind was literally an absurd compression of energy.
Taking it could raise even a newly awakened fledgling to the top S-rank.
Such a mighty power couldn't be kept indefinitely.
In just three or four years, the compression and control would release, and it would turn into a re lump of energy.
After that, the power would either continuously dissipate or seep into my body, who possessed it.
Smiley also expected that when that ti ca, I wouldn't discard the intact power, so I would take it all.
However, I forcibly compressed, controlled, and managed it using my own power.
365 days a year.
I suppress the power 24 hours a day.
Simply paying attention wasn't enough.
I also needed considerable strength and concentration to store that power without expending even a little.
Since then, my full power was no longer my full power.
A part of my consciousness and strength was always dedicated to controlling Smiley's legacy.
Even if it wasn't even 1%, it was by no ans a small amount of power.
Smiley spoke in a weak voice.
"If I had asked you to take that power, would you have willingly listened to ? After I got suppressed by another persona and caused such trouble?"
"...I wouldn't have."
I answered reluctantly.
Above all, Smiley's new persona that I first t was firmly at odds with .
Since it was virtually impossible for the sane Smiley to prove she was the real one later, a conversation wouldn't have resolved it.
"So I threatened you by putting your loved ones at risk. Because I thought you might die rather than use it."
In the worst case, I might even give the power to soone else.
That's why Smiley acted as if she was obsessed with the power.
If she kept demanding the power while putting So-hee and the people around on the line, I wouldn't be able to carelessly give it to others.
"But in the end, I failed like this."
The power she left behind from her pri.
If I also acquired that power, I would beco the strongest awakened one, whom no one could oppose.
However, I reacted as if I couldn't understand at all.
"Just for that ridiculous reason?"
"Ridiculous reason, you say."
If Smiley hadn't known the truth of this world, she wouldn't have needed to cling to that power so much.
I was strong enough already.
However, Smiley was also able to glimpse the hidden truth of the world's backside at the New World Trait Liberation Society hideout.
And why they were obsessed with Transcendence.
The real catastrophes that would happen afterward were too harsh for the current .
Smiley burst into a cough.
The back of the hand covering her mouth was stained bright red with blood.
Is she finally reaching her limit?
Still, she stubbornly continued to speak.
"You know it too, don't you? That absurd monster. The you I rember would have been no match for that monster."
I had to beco stronger.
"Still, I'm relieved. That I could be of help in another way."
It was also the reason why Smiley willingly gave up the fight.
My last attack shown in the final mont.
It was a kind that was on a completely higher level, one that even she couldn't dare to estimate.
I didn't know if that was the Transcendence that those Society guys had raved about.
But if I could freely wield that strength, even without her power.
"Yeah. It will definitely be alright."
Saying that, Smiley's body swayed greatly.
As she was about to fall to the floor, I instinctively reached out my hand and caught her body.
I opened my eyes wide, surprised by my own unexpected action, and Smiley just laughed, seemingly amused by my reaction.
I slowly laid her down in the correct position.
Smiley slowly raised her hand and placed her palm on my thigh.
"Hmm."
After contemplating for a mont, she cautiously asked.
"Is it too selfish to ask you to kill again this ti?"
"Of course it is, you idiot."
I answered gruffly.
But contrary to my attitude, there was no hostility in my eyes, unlike before.
I was also convinced by the conversation now.
The Smiley in front of was the real Smiley I knew.
"Calling a person who's about to die an idiot. That's too harsh."
I also knelt down beside her.
"Ah, I'm sleepy. I stayed up all night planning this for the past few days, and my eyes are just closing."
She squird, still lying down, and rested her head on my thigh.
"I'm just going to close my eyes for a bit, so let use this."
Then, without even hearing my opinion, she closed her eyes.
However, after a few seconds, she slowly opened her eyes and smiled slightly.
"So. What happened while I was gone? Was it fun?"
Although she had found out about my past actions through various information, hearing it directly from was a completely different story.
"Since I'm going to sleep anyway, I want to sleep while listening to an interesting story."
I montarily moved my lips.
Honestly... if I opened my mouth even a little right now, the emotions I had been suppressing would all burst out, so I couldn't bring myself to speak.
I barely managed to compose my emotions and slowly began.
"It was boring at first. After all, I was in jail until early this year. And after that..."
I started the story of my second life.
Smiley laughed at my story, agreed with , and sotis let out a slightly sad, regrettable sigh.
How many more minutes passed like that?
Suddenly, Smiley's body flinched.
She cautiously asked.
"...Ho-cheol-ah. Are you there?"
Even while looking up at , Smiley asked that.
The light in her green eyes was infinitely faint.
I answered with a sigh.
"Yes."
"Why aren't you saying anything?"
Sadly, my answer didn't reach Smiley.
Instead, I reached out my hand and took Smiley's hand.
Only then did Smiley look relieved and smile faintly again.
"Ah, you're here."
As if she couldn't hold on anymore, Smiley's eyes slowly began to close.
"I'm sorry, Ho-cheol-ah."
She apologized in a small voice.
"I felt like I left you with too big a burden. That kept bothering ."
Smiley was a person as bright as a star rising in the night sky.
She was definitely the first bright light in my dark life, illuminating the correct path.
Her existence allowed to look up at the sky for the first ti and return to being a human.
After she was revived, Smiley couldn't just be happy watching my upright actions.
In her eyes, I was rely following the path of her dead self.
Whether the root of it was lingering affection or guilt.
Perhaps it was both.
At least it wasn't the life Smiley wanted for .
Smiley only wanted to be happy.
Smiley slowly raised her hand and placed it on my cheek.
"I was so sorry about that. I felt like my existence beca a curse to you."
With a cold body temperature that didn't feel human, I slowly shook my head.
Firmly, as if to say it was absolutely not true.
At my strong denial, Smiley's expression brightened.
"That's a relief."
She smiled radiantly.
It always felt like a heavy rock was sitting in her heart, constantly nagging her.
With that worry relieved, she now had no lingering regrets.
"Now, it's okay not to have a small light like . Because you're already a person who shines on your own."
Smiley whispered, squeezing out her last bit of strength.
In her final mont, the only thing left was a very small wish.
"Can you call my na?"
I leaned forward.
At a distance close enough for my lips to touch her ear.
I delivered the final farewell that I couldn't reach her with last ti.
"Goodbye. Jeong Yu-hwa."
"Thank you."
For so reason, that farewell was heard clearly.
Smiley.
No, Yu-hwa smiled contentedly.
With that greeting, the hand stroking my cheek lost its strength and dropped.
***
I said nothing.
I just overlapped my hand on Yu-hwa's hand that had fallen to the floor.
And behind , So-hee also remained silent, just looking at .
What thoughts he was having, what emotions he was feeling.
As soone who had lived a mundane life and had not yet lost a loved one, she couldn't even begin to guess.
Even more so, it wasn't the first ti; he had lost the sa loved one twice.
She was always an observer, one step behind.
She thought she didn't even have the right to stand there.
She was just the closest bystander.
Ordinarily, she would have probably waited at a distance until I composed my emotions.
But instead, she stepped forward.
My back, which was always so dependable no matter how far away, looked frail and weak today.
She knelt down.
She embraced from behind.
My body flinched slightly.
She held even tighter, as if to let know she was there.
The sun was already rising.
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