Chapter 116

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It was the first time I felt this sensation.

It was as if I could see where the arrow would go and at what speed it would fly when I released the string now.

In fact, every time I shot an arrow, I felt that I had hit the target without even looking at it.

The judges, who at first were just watching indifferently, were now looking at me with open mouths and surprised eyes.

Whether they looked or not, I was almost in a trance, shooting arrows like crazy.

There was nothing to grab at in my grasping hands.

It was only then that I realized that I had fired all the arrows I had been given.

I looked around closely and saw that the others still had almost half of their arrows left.

I took a step back, looking at their expressions.

“…… .”

I took a quiet breath and looked ahead.

With the thought that I had gotten something quite useful from an unexpected source.

[Skill]

The other side (???, ???) 

The authority of the Seven Evil Margo has blossomed in a different direction.

If an unworthy person embraces this power, they will be engulfed in an endless curse and will eventually be caught up in destruction.

It seems as if unknown voices are coming from within.

How on earth did Margo, the original owner of this authority, manage to remain calm amidst this crowd's shouts?

― You can copy the memories and lives of your other selves from other worlds, the ones you have succeeded in killing.

― You can copy a total of five people.

― Do not forget their weight. They were your other ending, your future, your life.

― Does not consume mana when used.

― Karma value increases. (Neglected due to characteristics.)

― You can hear the voices of other beings from within. (You are definitely in charge, and you have already succeeded in bringing them into complete submission.)

After a detailed look, I realized that copying was not a skill or talent, but experience and memory.

In fact, I was in a state of accepting the experience of the archer I killed and absorbed when I met him in Margo's tower, who shot arrows like crazy.

…Apparently, he was the one I had almost completely absorbed, so I seemed to be in most sync with him.

The ones I killed were, in order, a knight, an archer, a swordsman, a spearman, and finally a wizard.

And while using Margo's authority, I found that my proficiency in archery increased dramatically, and my proficiency in swordsmanship and spearmanship also increased to a significant level.

Unfortunately, I couldn't use magic at all, and it seemed that I didn't have the talent for magic in this world.

Instead, I could feel that my magic resistance had increased, so I decided to be satisfied with this.

Although it did not appear or change at all in the status window, I felt that in many ways my physical abilities and other parts of my body had risen rapidly.

In fact, the status window still showed my mana level as [D(+)], but I could see that the amount of magic power had at least doubled, or almost tripled, since I realized Margo's authority.

I could feel with my whole body that not only my mana but also my other stats had increased.

And if I had to name the one that had achieved the most growth, it was naturally the branch of the World Tree.

Perhaps it was because he had grown considerably, I could feel his will being transmitted almost clearly.

And, as Lee Jae-Joon said, I could feel that he has a quite belligerent and violent personality, and that he likes me quite a bit.

“Yes, please put down your bows now! You will leave in order, starting with the last number!”

Following the judges' words, people started walking from the farthest place from me.

Meanwhile, I could hear someone calling me, and when I turned my head, there was Han Soo-Young and the others.

I waved once in that direction, and walked out of the preliminary round site according to the instructions.

After hearing that the results would be announced individually at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning, I went out and found the group I had seen earlier waiting for me.

“Oh, you're finally here."

Choi Hyun-Woo, who spotted me, raised his hand with a smile.

And as he was about to approach me, Jin Ye-Seul caught him on the way and stopped him on the spot.

“Ek, hey. What are you doing now... !”

“… I haven't abolished the 3m rule yet, have I?”

"What? You were serious, not kidding?"

While Choi Hyun-Woo was asking Jin Ye-Seul as if it was ridiculous, Han Soo-Young approached me.

Then, she suddenly grabbed my hand and started to rub it.

"What are you doing?"

“No, I'm just… .”

She squeezed the hand she was grabbing, fumbling with her words.

Her hand, which had been squeezing my palm like acupressure, became more and more blatant before long, and in the end, she even scratched it lightly with her fingernails, as if she was checking each palm properly.

“Oh, hey. It tickles!”

“Wa, wait a minute! I'm getting energy from you right now!”

Han Soo-Young said that and hurriedly grabbed my hand that I was about to pull out.

Then she looked at me and made an earnest expression.

“You, you hit all the targets like a psychic earlier. I want you to share some of that energy so I can do well on the exam.”

“Didn’t you get first place in our class this time in the tentative grading?”

"But there was a problem that I got wrong! What if I end up in last place later?”

When I asked the question as if I was dumbfounded, Han Soo-Young gave me a rather angry expression.

Then, she fiddled my hand again, and Jin Ye-Seul, who was looking at it, gently released Choi Hyun-Woo's collar.

“…When there is Soo-Young, the distance limit is abolished."

With those words, Jin Ye-Seul also approached me.

I could see Lee Yu-Na smiling bitterly next to Choi Hyun-Woo, who had a dumbfounded expression on his face, giving him some comfort.

“Ji-Hyuk, when did you learn the bow like that? I was really surprised... .”

Jin Ye-Seul approached me and muttered with hazy eyes.

When I roughly replied that I practiced really hard because I couldn't say it was because of Margo's authority now, she nodded with the same hazy look in her eyes.

“I really liked the way you were shooting arrows earlier, Ji-Hyuk… . Really… . Really… .”

Saying that, Jin Ye-Seul secretly grabbed Han Soo-Young's wrist.

Han Soo-Young let go of my hand regretfully, but tickled my palm with her nails until the end.

“It’s too foul… . That kind of look.”

Han Soo-Young nodded as if in agreement with her words.

Jin Ye-Seul still muttered in a hazy voice as she stared at me.

For some reason, I could hear a crackling sound as her fingers nervously moved.

“… And a foul usually requires a penalty."

"Let me say hello for a moment."

I quickly got away from her and approached Ivan, Belluna, and Lee Yu-Na.

When I nodded as if greeting Lee Yu-Na, who still had an awkward air, she immediately nodded and bowed.

"Thank you for coming."

“Uh, I'm here, for my own business and…… .that, you shot well.”

Lee Yu-Na said that and laughed with a hehehe.

And then she gently stepped back. and I thought it would be better not to approach her burdensomely for nothing.

I immediately held out my hand to Ivan, and when he saw it, he smiled and held my hand.

“Wouldn't you like to take my place as the sniper in our team?”

“How can I beat you with my archery skills?”

“What, I saw you shooting today, so I thought it would be enough.”

Ivan let go of my hand and pointed Belluna to me.

“You’ve seen her before. Do you remember?"

"Of course."

I immediately bowed deeply to her.

Spirits are naturally averse to human contact, so I did not hold out my hand to her for no reason.

“Nice to meet you again, Belluna-ssi. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm... .”

As I was saying so, something popped up in front of me.

It was Belluna's hand.

"I know."

She shook her hand as if to say, what are you doing without holding it?

I carefully took her hand.

She shook my hand quickly.

“Yoo Ji-Hyuk, right?”

"Yes."

Except for Ivan, she was the one who couldn't remember any human name.

But she remembered my name correctly, and looked at me intently, holding my hand.

“Hmm… .”

She looked at the ring on my hand.

It was a ring that could hide the smell of the spirits she had given me.

“I think you need a new one. I'll give it to you later through my son."

"Oh, thank you."

“And it’s very unique.”

She looked at me with genuine wonder, like a child staring at an insect.

And that gaze gave me an unknown chill.

“It wouldn't have been strange if you had died sooner, but how on earth can you be so lively?”

"Mother?"

"And then… .”

She turned her gaze to my chest, which was exactly where Mandragora was.

I could feel Mandragora freacking out and shuddering in her gaze.

“… Well, it's all right. If I had made up my mind to be bad, I would have done so long ago. And you seem like a good kid.”

“Mother, stop now.”

“It was nice to meet you. I hope we meet again.”

At Ivan's words to stop, Belluna quickly let go of my hand.

Ivan, who was standing right next to her, took a small breath, looked at Belluna once, and bowed his head slightly to me as if he were sorry.

"Then I'll get going now. It was a pleasure meeting you all. Yoo Ji-Hyuk and... . Well, everyone.”

Belluna said so and turned around as if she had nothing to see.

Ivan sighed deeply, as if he was really tired of her self-indulgent behavior.

“Belluna-ssi!”

At Han Soo-Young's call, Belluna stopped her steps and looked back at her.

“What's wrong, Kate?”

“We're going to eat lunch now, so why don't you eat some before going?”

“… What's there?”

Belluna tilted her head slightly and asked like that.

“Tuna kimbap, fried chicken, and sandwich.”

"Sandwich!"

Belluna smiled broadly and clapped her hands, then came bounding back.

Seeing that, Ivan sighed even more deeply than before.

* * *

Lee Ye-Eun was walking with lunch boxes in her hand.

It was because she heard that Yoo Ji Hyuk had just finished the preliminary round and went to the break room with his friends.

Perhaps because she heard that he hadn't eaten, she was hastening her steps without realizing it.

“…… .”

As a result of distancing herself from Yoo Ji-Hyuk for a few days, Lee Ye-Eun was able to calm her raging emotions to some extent.

It was the result of her best efforts, such as posting her story on famous internet video resources and to netizens, asking for their opinions.

Her conclusion was simple.

She misunderstood her feelings for Yoo Ji-Hyuk.

She had never been close to people her own age before, and even within her own family, she had no brothers or sisters she could open up to.

This was the first time she had been close to a man who was not a member of the subordinate clan like Yoo Ji-Hyuk.

In her mind, she thought he was her little brother, but in reality, he was almost like a stranger who had lived apart from her until adulthood.

It meant that it was a series of new things that were unfamiliar in many ways.

In fact, she has looked for many similar cases.

For instance, there is the story of the twins who met by chance and became close like friends on stilts, but were actually twins who were adopted elsewhere.

Or siblings who were separated at an early age and fell in love without knowing they were real siblings... .

No, no.

It's not that I saw Yoo Ji-Hyuk as a man and had such feelings for him!

“Eu!”

Lee Ye-Eun shook her head and shook off her thoughts.

Anyway, in short, it's like this.

The situation was not too ordinary, and the encounter was not ordinary either.

Above all, wasn't she the only one who knew that he and she were brother and sister?

In this situation, she felt responsibility, guilty, and curious about the sudden appearance of her sibling… .so many mixed emotions she felt and experienced for the first time that she thought he was the reason, or so she misunderstood.

With that conclusion, Lee Ye-Eun finally felt at peace.

That's right.

There's no way I'd have such an unholy feeling for him.

If I did, it wouldn't be enough for me to die from the heavenly punishment.

Feeling refreshed and even smiling naturally, Lee Ye-Eun opened the door of the break room.

And, she could see him right away.

"Senior? Why did you come all the way here?"

Yoo Ji-Hyuk, who was sitting with a number of people, was the first to find her and stood up from his seat.

She really liked that fact.

However, for some reason, she didn't like the fact that there were several lunch boxes in front of him, that he was eating something other than her own, and that the two girls sitting next to him were particularly friendly.

… Why?

“Oh, that's… .”

Lee Ye-Eun opened her mouth, unconsciously hiding the lunch boxes behind her.

“I was looking for all the people in the club and giving them their lunches. However, only the junior was assigned to the last order, and far away from the others... . And everyone else has probably gone home, so I thought we'd have lunch together... .”

Lee Ye-Eun was perplexed by the way she was making excuses in a mumbling voice without realizing it.

There was not an ounce of a lie in her words.

Therefore, there was no need to show this attitude at all.

The fact that she had delivered meals to other club members.

And the fact that everyone had finished early and left, and only Yoo Ji-Hyuk had taken the test at the very end.

Then the fact that she had prepared lunch boxes for them to eat together.

There was no lie in all.

However, Lee Ye-Eun had no idea that Yoo Ji-Hyuk's assignment in that way was actually because of her henchman, who had ordered them to do so.

“Then come and eat with us, senior. Thank you as always.”

Seeing Yoo Ji-Hyuk getting up saying that, Lee Ye-Eun quickly turned rolled her head.

And she was able to come up with a great idea right away.

“Oh, before that, I'd like to talk to you about the phone call and the text message earlier, is that okay?”

As it was a matter of importance, Yoo Ji-Hyuk meekly nodded.

He said that he would be back soon to the group, and followed Lee Ye-Eun.

At that moment, Lee Ye-Eun felt some kind of satisfaction in the fact that Yoo Ji-Hyuk had chosen to follow her alone over the others.

“… You said you met the head of the Thorns Cross Society?”

"Yes. And he said that he was going to launch a terrorist attack proudly.”

The two exchanged quiet words in a secluded area.

In Lee Ye-Eun's hand were two lunch boxes.

"Is that so… .”

She nodded and murmured as if it were regrettable.

''But since it's not certain, I can't just cancel this festival. If I do it and nothing happens, we would be just a laughingstock, because the meaning of this festival is unique to our clan. On top of that, there are numerous groups' interests at stake, not just ours."

"But… .”

"More than anything else, we can't be seen being pushed around by a mare terrorist group. Because our existence ... carries that much weight."

Lee Ye-Eun, who spoke in a stern voice, looked at Yoo Ji-Hyuk.

“Junior, I believe you. But other people won't believe what you say even if you come with solid evidence.”

Yoo Ji-Hyuk shut his mouth at her words.

At the sight of him, she unknowingly reached out and patted him gently on the arm as if to comfort him.

“Don’t worry too much. There will be numerous heroes and hunters here tomorrow. And I'll be sure to speak to the clan and keep them on alert. I'm sorry that's all I can say right now."

"No, thank you."

Yoo Ji-Hyuk shook his head slightly.

“Thank you for believing my story, senior. Actually… . I didn't think that you would believe me so easily."

“About that, junior.”

Lee Ye-Eun smiled and whispered.

"I'll believe whatever you say."

"Haha… .”

Seeing him smiling awkwardly, Lee Ye-Eun said.

"Rather than that, who exactly are you dating?"

"Yes?"

"I think you're too nervous. They said that this kind of talk is good to relieve tension."

Lee Ye-Eun said that and stared at him.

“Miss Han Soo-Young? Or Miss Jin Ye-Seul... ? Or is it the junior with a smaller body?”

"No. I don't have that kind of person yet... .”

"I can help you if you want."

Lee Ye-Eun looked at Yoo Ji-Hyuk with a smile.

“It's about my sweet junior. I can give you advice and help from a woman's perspective. Anyway, there's nothing more objective than someone else's love story."

At her words, Yoo Ji-Hyuk looked at Lee Ye-Eun as if slightly puzzled.

At that gaze, Lee Ye-Eun recognized something wrong.

I feel like I was going too far without realizing it.

She quickly coughed and turned the direction of the conversation.

"Well… . I'll tell them to be on high alert for now. And tomorrow at nine o'clock, when the results are announced, the opening ceremony will be held shortly after. Please keep in mind that all participants in the finals must be present at that time."

“Oh, yes.”

"You must be tired, so please rest. I'll get going now. Oh, before that... .”

Lee Ye-Eun said that and handed him one of the lunch boxes.

Yoo Ji-Hyuk, who had suddenly received it, asked her.

"What about you, senior? Aren't you going to eat with us?"

“No, um… . I'll just accept that heart. Please go and eat with your friends. I think I'll have to move a little bit faster."

She smiled softly and declined his proposal.

Lee Ye-Eun let out a small sigh when she confirmed that Yoo Ji-Hyuk, who had asked her several times, had eventually gone into the break room with the words, see you again tomorrow.

“…… .”

And after a while, she muttered coldly, putting her own lunch box in the trash can.

“… Not without my permission.”

After all, it was the natural role of a guardian to judge and sometimes exclude those who came into contact with the protected person.

She had no doubt that her actions and thoughts were precisely what a sister who cared about her brother should do.

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