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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Giving Tree
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"Phew."
And just like that, I teleported straight to the underground base.
God, damn it... Bringing two people this distance, I feel like I'm going to collapse.
As I gripped my throbbing head, swaying unsteadily, Lee Hayul and her younger brother looked around, taking in their surroundings.
What they saw were pristine white walls, glowing with LED light. For me, it was just another day, nothing special, but it seemed different for them.
Of course, the younger brother... was his name Lee Chayun? Chayun's eyes sparkled as he looked around, while Lee Hayul hugged her brother, scanning her surroundings with full vigilance.
I, for my part, held my dizzy head and told them,
"Ugh... I'm dying here. Kids. Stop looking around and follow me. Argh..."
As I staggered forward, the kids scurried along behind me. They still followed cautiously, full of apprehension, but at least they were following, right?
As I hobbled down the white corridor, Seoeun and Soobin-ssi popped out from the other end.
"Oppa! Oh...."
Seoeun, who was coming towards me, paused slightly when she saw the children behind me.
The siblings behind me seemed a bit tense at the sudden appearance of someone they'd never seen before.
"Uh, yeah. They're in a bit of trouble, so I brought them here for now. But forget all that for a second, they need a bath. Take them to the showers... and get some spare clothes."
Seoeun seemed a little flustered by my sudden words. Fortunately, however, Soobin-ssi, who was behind her, stepped forward.
"I'll show them. Kids, would you like to come with me?"
Soobin-ssi stepped forward with a kind smile. Yeah, among us, Soobin-ssi looked the kindest. Turns out she's the face of the operation...?
When Soobin-ssi gently asked them to follow, the siblings hesitated but followed nonetheless. Well, it was obvious they'd have to obey us the moment they arrived here.
Still, Lee Hayul looked more at ease following Soobin-ssi than being with me. After all, from her perspective, I'd seem like a crazy person who'd dyed his body all black and killed people with a gun... Plus, Soobin-ssi was also a woman.
But the younger brother didn't seem to feel that way. As he walked, he kept glancing back at me. No, why does he like me so much? Do elementary school kids these days just like me like that?
Anyway, with the kids taken care of, I shuffled towards the fatigue recovery device. Telekinesis was easy enough, but that last teleportation was a bit too much. Doing it with three people might have been an overkill...
"Oppa... you finally wore that hat, didn't you?"
As I stumbled along, Seoeun scurried up behind me, striking up a conversation as she walked beside me.
"Ah... yeah, this."
I fiddled with the black magician's hat perched on my head.
"What do you think? Has a nice feel to it, doesn't it? I plan to keep wearing it from now on."
"Uh... *sigh*. Well, if you like it, Oppa, that's all that matters."
What was the meaning of that sigh?
Anyway, I finally made it to the fatigue recovery device. I lay my weary body down and activated it, and it seemed to be helping a bit.
As I lay there recovering, Seoeun plopped down on a nearby chair and asked,
"So, what are you going to do about those siblings?"
"Ugh... them?"
Originally, I was supposed to build up a relationship and recruit them over time. Things got tangled, so it's a bit awkward now. But...
"Her younger brother really likes me, though. So I think it'll work out somehow?"
"Really? That's surprising. Is it that Mango Squad or whatever?"
"Seems so. Man, I never expected all the goodwill I built up to pay off like this."
"Haha... You must be a kids' president, Oppa."
"Could be. Oh, right, did you finish installing the teleportation device?"
"Finished it yesterday. But are you really moving?"
"Yeah. Being cooped up underground here for three months, I realized this won't do. People need sunlight to live."
"Aww... I like it here."
"Now that we've installed a teleportation device here too, it's practically as close as a basement. Don't worry."
As we chatted idly like that, the door to the room opened after a little while. Soobin-ssi entered first, followed by the siblings, who approached hesitantly.
They all looked like they had showered and changed into clean clothes. Oh, after a wash, they suddenly look like different people. Earlier, in that dusty, chaotic mess, they looked incredibly shabby, but now that they've showered and changed into clean clothes, they're transformed. Lee Hayul, in particular, was as beautiful as she was depicted in the original work. Does this world give villains beauty buffs too?
Anyway, after the two entered. I signaled to Seoeun and Soobin-ssi with a glance to leave. Reading my look, the two quietly left the room.
In that large room, only the siblings and I remained.
"Kids... for now, pull up those chairs and sit down."
I said that while still lying on the fatigue recovery device, and the two hesitated but sat on the chairs.
Hmm, where should I start?
As I was choosing my words, Lee Hayul opened her mouth first.
"Why did you help us?"
She blurted it out suddenly. Looking into her eyes as she spoke, I saw deep-seated distrust. Just as mentioned in the original work, she seemed to trust no one but her younger brother.
After looking at her for a moment, I opened my mouth and spoke.
"I, too, once had a younger sibling, just like you two."
She frowned at my sudden, out-of-place story. Regardless, I continued speaking.
"I once had a younger sibling, but due to my negligence, they were killed by thugs."
"This time, I was tracking down who had stolen my wallet when I saw you two."
"Seeing the thugs attack you, it reminded me of my own sibling who died in a similar way, so I intervened."
Having said that much, I took a breath. For the record, it was all a lie. I never had a sibling. But to get rid of her wariness, I had to pull a bluff like this. Indeed...
"Lee Hayul, Lee Chayun... While you were showering, I looked into you two. Lee Hayul, you killed the orphanage director and ran away, didn't you?"
She was startled when I said that. Yeah, she wouldn't have expected me to know that.
"Well, I'm not here to blame you. I looked into that orphanage director, and she was quite a crazy woman. Though I don't know why she was giving you hell."
Here, I needed to drop a hint like, 'I don't know that you possess top-tier healing abilities~'. If she knew I helped her because of that, given her personality, she wouldn't stay put.
Having said that much, I reset the atmosphere, looked at them, and opened my mouth.
"I can help you two."
"With my abilities, I can manipulate the situation so it looks like you didn't kill anyone, but simply took the opportunity to escape when someone else killed the director. I'm capable of that much."
"And I can provide you with a home and money. Do you go to school? I'll send you to school too."
"You two can just live, playing and having fun."
"I'll support you."
My sudden declaration of being a giving tree. Her younger brother was already like, 'Hurray for Mango Sticks!' but... He's not what's important. Lee Hayul's consent is what matters. As expected, she looked at me with suspicious eyes at my sudden words.
"...Why are you going so far for us? We just met today, didn't we? That doesn't make sense."
She shot back at me, still not erasing the look of suspicion from her face. But even as she spoke so boldly, her body was trembling slightly. Yes, she knew I could kill her with a single gesture, so speaking like that in front of me wouldn't be easy.
To her, I gave a bitter laugh and said,
"I told you earlier, didn't I? You two reminded me of my younger sibling."
"Just think of it as finding a winning lottery ticket on the street."
Even with my words, she hadn't completely dispelled her suspicion, but when I issued a dismissal order for them to go to bed, she disappeared for now.
Soobin-ssi came and took the two, spreading blankets in an empty room for them. Soobin-ssi is better with kids than I thought? She cooks well, cleans well, and apparently she's good with kids too... No matter how I look at it, she's a professional homemaker.
Anyway, after finally getting them to sleep. The next day dawned.
***
"This is the house you'll be living in."
The next day, from morning, the siblings who followed me had their jaws drop.
After an awkward breakfast together that morning, I told them to follow me, and we took an elevator up from the basement to a seemingly ordinary house. Then, riding the suspiciously high-tech teleportation device placed there, we arrived at this place.
A massive three-story mansion, like a grand palace, nestled deep in a mountain valley where no one could reach.
"Ah, no. This is a bit much..."
Faced with its overwhelming grandeur, even Lee Hayul, who had been looking at me with suspicious eyes until now, had her eyes pop out.
"Of course, you two won't be living here alone. We'll be living here too. I'll be on the third floor... and I'll give you two rooms on the second floor, so you can live there."
To them, still with their jaws agape, I gave a sly grin and said,
"Didn't I tell you? I have an insane amount of money."
This is what you call flexing with money.
Anyway, we went inside. I showed them their rooms. Two rooms, roughly, with everything they'd need: a refrigerator, two beds, etc. They looked fully prepared, as I'd gotten them ready in advance.
I practically forced the overwhelmed kids inside, and as expected of creatures of adaptation, they seemed to adjust quickly. I told them everything was taken care of and they could start school next week, which made both their eyes pop out again.
After spending some time together like that, we became incredibly close. Lee Hayul, for her part, definitely seemed less tense around me than before. With the younger brother, I just answered his questions and a few other things, and we became close rapidly. The kid really liked me. To think he was actually part of the Mango Squad...
Anyway, at this point, could I say I've somehow recruited Lee Hayul? Perhaps? She still hasn't revealed her abilities to me, but oh well. If I collapse and am on the verge of death, she'll probably? Save me with her healing ability, right?
Phew. I thought it was a disaster when those thugs suddenly invaded, but somehow, I managed to get through it. What a relief. Man, all my strength is draining away.
But I feel like I've forgotten something...
What was it?
***
[Title] Did Egostic really die??
No, seriously, this is ridiculous.
It's been almost four months now, where did he go!!!
Come back, come back, come back, come back
=[Comments]=
[It's been 4 months since Egostic came. I'm spending the coldest 4 months in the world.]
[He hasn't shown up for 120 days? This is seriously crazy lololol]
[Egostic, damn it, did he really retire?]
ㄴ[Gasp]
ㄴ[Damn it, no!]
ㄴ[But wait, if a villain retires, isn't that a good thing...? Why are you sad if a villain isn't committing terror?]
ㄴ[?]
ㄴ[?]
ㄴ[Stardus spy caught]
ㄴ[You're part of the Stardust Faction, aren't you?]
ㄴ[Say 'Stardus is a bastard']
*
"Haru, why do you keep tapping your cup like that? You seem unusually anxious lately..."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Unnie."
Inside the cafe. Stardus, Shin Haru, stopped her hand, which had been unconsciously tapping the glass cup.
It had been almost four months since that Egostic bastard had simply gone into hiding. Stardus, who had been burning with the resolve to absolutely uncover his secrets, his true intentions, and his plans, was slowly growing anxious.
No. He needs to *act* for me to uncover anything.
'By now... he should have appeared...'
Today, too, she could only continue her meaningless wait.