To handle Gop-hwa, mental training is essential to control emotional impulses.
For Hong Yeon-hwa, whose Gop-hwa output was unprecedented, the importance of mental training was especially emphasized.
Thus, Hong Yeon-hwa had considerable patience, unlike her actions.
But even so, she had caused quite a few accidents.
She couldn’t honestly say she was well-behaved.
Most of those accidents stemmed from the fact that it wasn’t necessary to expend precious mental energy to endure.
Was it when she was 14?
During a lively party, there was a girl behaving obnoxiously and poking fun.
At that time, Hong Yeon-hwa was furious. While she wasn’t so angry that her belly would burst, the scales were tipping towards “Should I rough her up?”
She was angry. Gop-hwa flared up. Her emotions were stoked, and as she struggled to suppress them, a sudden question arose.
Do I really need to hold back?
The calculator started calculating.
Household? It’s an insult to compare with the Gop-hwa Clan.
Strength? Back then, even without growth, she could have taken the girl out with one hand.
Other factors? The only thing she could lose to the girl was age.
There would be no real damage to Hong Yeon-hwa from jabbing at her.
So, feigning negligence or accidental mischief, she punched the girl’s face.
What a mess that ugly face must have had after she got hit…
‘……’
Even now, it was similar.
The moment she spotted Lee Ha-yul snuggled up to someone else, her insides twisted.
A woman holding Lee Ha-yul as if he were an object.
Her golden hair and eyes shone brighter than the lights. Her features were striking, and there was nothing to criticize about her looks.
But even more pressing was the formidable aura that approached unmistakably.
Hong Yeon-hwa recognized her. She hadn’t just heard the name as a professor in Shio-ram; she had known it before.
‘Atra Clyde.’
She was infamous as a crazy woman mainly wandering the African Demonic Realm.
Her reputation stemmed from being a genuine powerhouse who made exceptional contributions in the extermination of third-tier monsters and halting monsters in the front lines.
Her infamy came from her prickly, dirty demeanor, and sometimes turning quarrelsome heroes into permanent handicaps after a beating.
So why was she cautiously cuddling Lee Ha-yul like a precious artifact? It was mind-boggling.
Their eyes met.
Red and gold eyes stared at each other.
A brief silence passed, and the first to speak was Hong Yeon-hwa.
“Hello. It’s Hong Yeon-hwa, who planned to visit earlier.”
“Hello, I’m Baek Ahrin! It’s been a while since I last saw Professor Atra!”
“…Right, welcome.”
As Hong Yeon-hwa broke the ice, Baek Ahrin, who had been contemplating whether to flee, jumped in to greet Atra.
Lee Ha-yul still seemed to be asleep.
Baek Ahrin couldn’t wrap her head around why he was asleep in Atra’s arms, but she thought to greet him once he woke up.
“Aren’t you finding it hard to care for him? You don’t have to do it personally…”
“It’s not that hard. It’s tough for an ordinary person, but for someone like me, it’s no big deal. Plus, with magical enhancements, it’s really easy.”
“Definitely, the advancements in magical engineering have been rapid these days. I’m taking lectures on it, and the difficulty is just…”
And so, normal small talk ensued.
The conversation was mainly led by Baek Ahrin.
At first, she was flustered by Hong Yeon-hwa’s sudden change in attitude, but soon she adjusted and gave way to talk.
Just as Hong Yeon-hwa looked over Atra, Atra scrutinized Hong Yeon-hwa.
A visit isn’t just about dropping by randomly.
Those two had asked if they could visit Lee Ha-yul after his focused healing period, and he had accepted, leading to their visit.
Even if it wasn’t today, some others would come to visit later.
‘Hong Yeon-hwa from the Gop-hwa clan… and Baek Ahrin from the Changhae clan.’
Atra knew those two as well. In fact, even a typical non-superhuman would have heard of them.
They were heirs of the three major clans. Their names were known even if you didn’t want to hear them.
While Atra was looking at Hong Yeon-hwa for a moment, she moved her hand.
It wasn’t a deliberate movement. It wasn’t meant to provoke. After these days, it was a reflexive action.
She placed her hands on Lee Ha-yul’s head, gently pressing down.
He buried himself deeply into her ample bosom.
For a moment, Lee Ha-yul, who had been stirring, settled down. It was as if he preferred it this way.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s lips twitched.
Baek Ahrin standing next to her shot a glance at him and subtly drifted away.
Baek Ahrin was confident that she could handle the fiercely burning Gop-hwa, but she had no idea how to manage the frigid Gop-hwa lying at the bottom…
Lee Ha-yul, wriggling away. This was a familiar sight to Hong Yeon-hwa.
She had seen this often.
Lee Ha-yul, nestled in her embrace, burying his face in her chest while being embarrassed yet comfortably slackened…
The perspective changed.
In her memories, she always saw the top of Lee Ha-yul’s head and his face.
The sensation of being in her arms, the rhythmic heartbeats, and the warm, sweet scent always lingered beside her.
There wasn’t a third-party perspective like now. She never had considered it.
Seeing Lee Ha-yul cuddled up… she held back. Hong Yeon-hwa also knew what Lee Ha-yul was going through.
He had sustained injuries that knocked on the door of death. Moreover, his first real combat experience had been like that, so it was natural for him to suffer mentally.
That’s why she understood that he needed human warmth, and that Atra, the one who was teaching him through… beating him up was taking care of him.
However, even now that she had arrived, seeing Lee Ha-yul’s head pressed against Atra’s generous chest had her insides churning.
– Whoosh…
Impulses surged. Emotions tossed wildly. Gop-hwa also stirred.
But this time, something felt different.
Gop-hwa wasn’t violently exploding out. It didn’t bulk up grotesquely or threaten everything around.
Instead, it flared gently. Rather than heat, it radiated coolness while quietly honing its edges.
Gop-hwa understood as well. Raging now would yield nothing substantial.
If it were to rampage, it would only risk provoking Lee Ha-yul.
Hong Yeon-hwa shared the same sentiment.
Thus, she composed her expression.
She straightened her raised eyebrows and settled her quivering lips. She smoothed out the contorted muscles of her face.
And then she created her expression again.
It was intentional but emanated from her feelings—comfortable and seemingly soft.
She adjusted her voice as well. She didn’t think her usual voice was bad; she just wanted to present her most beautiful voice when the moment came.
“Ha-yul?”
– Flinch
Lee Ha-yul jolted. The voice that pierced through his hazy mind was familiar and welcoming.
A voice filled with warmth…
‘Ah.’
Right, Hong Yeon-hwa and Baek Ahrin were coming to visit.
He had turned off his observation powers, and his awareness had dulled, so he hadn’t realized it.
Only now did he feel his consciousness returning. His lazily drifting mind was gradually coming back.
Just before he was about to die, Hong Yeon-hwa’s face had flickered in his mind too.
She was someone he wanted to meet.
Warmth bubbled inside him.
His body moved. He used the arm wrapped around Atra to pat her waist. It was a signal to be released.
Though he couldn’t see in front, he wanted to at least show his face.
Atra lent a hand. She grabbed Lee Ha-yul’s waist and turned him around.
With his head resting on her chest, his back leaning against Atra, he settled.
‘…This is…’
It was a strange position.
Recently, he had received comprehensive care from Atra.
Thanks to that, his severely damaged mental state was recovering.
Alongside that, the reason he had been buried beneath his consciousness was slowly surfacing.
The emotions of shame and embarrassment that had been stuck were surfacing too.
Not all of it came back. At this point, the happiness of being held tight and cuddled was more dominant than the feelings of embarrassment and shame.
However, to act like that in front of those two… felt a bit off.
“Ha-yul?”
The warm voice approached him once more.
“Come here… Ah, do I need to go?”
Come over here.
It was something unexpected, but somehow Lee Ha-yul understood what it meant.
For some reason, he pictured Hong Yeon-hwa with her arms spread out.
“……”
His rationality was slowly recovering, but it wasn’t fully restored yet.
Lee Ha-yul pulled a simple scale out in his mind.
On one side were rationality, embarrassment, and shame.
On the other side was the softness, warmth, the comforting touch, and the gentle strokes when embraced…
The scale tipped.
Lee Ha-yul decided to move.
His body was recovering a lot. Though he needed a wheelchair to go out for long periods or to be carried by Atra, he could walk a little.
– Firm…
He couldn’t move. It was due to the hand wrapped around his waist, coming from behind.
Lee Ha-yul tilted his head in confusion.
Atra was looking somewhat bewildered as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
Hong Yeon-hwa’s eyes had grown colder.
*
[Player Enhancement System: Affection Level]
Lee Ha-yul → Atra Clyde
●●●●●●●○○○(73▷79/100)
“Adult” “Protector” “Expectation” “Sense of Security” “Yearning for Affection”
…
Lee Ha-yul → Hong Yeon-hwa
●●●●●●●●○○(84/100)
“?” “Guilt” “Thankfulness” “Worry”
…
Lee Ha-yul → Baek Ahrin
●●●●●○○○○○(50▷51/100)
“Like” “Wonder” “Confusion”
[Conditions to dispel the “Curse of Silence” not satisfied]
[Conditions to dispel the “Curse of Loneliness” not satisfied]
…
…
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