The ruined world (3)
An ominous, gray sky, cracked and broken all over.
Since Ramyu was born, that was the only ‘sky’ she had ever seen.
It was natural, since that was the world from the beginning.
And it wasn’t just her story.
After a considerable amount of time has passed since the world fell apart, only the older adults remain who remember the original clear blue sky.
But even in such a pitiful state… Ramyu loved looking at the sky.
Compared to myself, who only holds back my brother’s ankle, my only family member, doesn’t that high sky seem so wide, expansive, and free?
‘I couldn’t even look up at the sky like that. I got scolded a lot by my brother because of that.’
It was only natural, since if you stared at the pitch-black darkness rippling beyond the broken, damaged area for too long, you might end up lost in the abyss and go mad.
She stopped looking up at the sky obediently as he said.
Unlike the others, she instinctively felt that the abyss had no effect on her, but she did not want to worry her brother any longer.
‘If it weren’t for me, my brother would have been treated well and lived wherever he went.’
Her older brother, Liang, was a great man.
Unlike her frail body, she had outstanding innate physical abilities, and her quick judgment and wit were unmatched by anyone.
The proof was herself.
In a harsh world where there is no one to rely on after the death of both parents.
It was definitely not easy to survive for more than ten years while taking care of a newborn baby in a situation where it was difficult to even take care of one’s own body.
He who had accomplished such a difficult task was not just a brother to Ramyu.
To her, who had never even seen her parents’ faces, they were more than just parents.
That was Liang, her only blood relative.
so.
That’s why.
She couldn’t accept the fact that she was alive and well and looking up at that blue sky.
-“Ramy—!!”
Memories of her final moments flashed through her mind.
The sky falls down with an ominous sound.
The sight of her brother running towards her with all his might and hugging her tightly as she stood there in shock at the horrific sight.
-“Ramy, you must remember this one thing.”
She just listened to his words, held in his warm arms.
Because of the inexplicable sense of loss, I didn’t even have the strength to open my mouth.
-“No matter what anyone says, you are my little brother.”
That’s why I couldn’t ask.
What did that mean?
Immediately after that, Liang took off the necklace from around his neck and put it on Ramyu.
One of the parents’ heirlooms that the two of them each shared.
The other half of a heart-shaped ornament split in two.
-“I love you, my brother.”
In that strong embrace.
In the end, the sky she loved came crashing down—.
Gulp—
A loud noise filled the room.
“ah.”
Ramyu, who had been blankly staring up at the blue sky beyond the window, finally came to her senses and rubbed her eyes with her sleeve.
And then he held his stomach and let out a small sigh.
It had only been a few hours since I had eaten, but I was starting to feel extremely hungry again.
‘It wasn’t like this originally.’
It was all because the food in this world was so delicious.
Having previously eaten rough grass roots and tree bark as staples, the body was now eating soft, nutritious food, and whenever there was a chance, the whole body was desperately craving new nutrients.
‘It was my first time having such a sumptuous feast. Even the rat meat I only ate on special occasions was incomparable···.’
She shook her head, swallowing the saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.
No matter how delicious the food was, I couldn’t trust people so easily.
That was the first rule for survival.
‘He doesn’t seem like such a bad person, but…’
He knew that he was being treated unfairly now that he had been treated so well, but he couldn’t help but live by the values he had held onto his entire life.
Because of that, she was always like a thieving cat, eating secretly and locking herself in her room.
Even now, a few days after I got here.
Click—
Ramyu opened the door quietly and peeked her head out.
Then, after looking around here and there, I quietly went down to the kitchen on the first floor.
‘It smells delicious.’
The man who introduced himself as Hoon was always considerate of her and would always prepare food for her when it was mealtime and make sure to step aside for her.
As if telling me to eat comfortably without worrying about what others think.
Although she felt grateful and sorry towards him, she never had the courage to approach him.
In a way, it was natural.
Although she tried her best to keep it a secret, she had just lost her older brother, who was her only family.
I don’t know if it was because of the environment I grew up in or my innate disposition, but I wasn’t so sad that I couldn’t go about my daily life, but I couldn’t help but feel an emptiness in my heart.
‘···Phew, but I guess we can’t keep going like this. Let’s have a proper talk today.’
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In order to move forward, I had to take a step forward somehow.
Her brother, who had been worried about her until the last moment, would have wanted it even more.
She entered the kitchen cautiously, her resolve strong.
“Huh?”
And there.
I found myself face to face with a being I had never even imagined before.
[Q?]
A table filled with various foods.
An unknown creature with a shiny, glossy body and a small head tilted upward.
Ramyu’s round eyes and Hwiryeong’s bright eyes met in the air.
***
Hoon, who also serves as external auditor for affiliates such as Howard Industries and Lunatic Entertainment.
‘It was a success.’
He had been away for a while for work, and he nodded with satisfaction as he opened the front door and entered the house.
“It’s warm… It’s smooth….”
[Kyuurur—!]
“Hehe, it tickles!”
The child’s bright laughter was coming from inside the house.
I had called Hwiryeong and asked her to take care of it separately just in case, and it seemed like things had worked out as I had hoped.
‘As expected, Hwiryeong’s cuteness is the best in the world. Even that cautious cat-like child was taken down in one blow.’
Although it had been several days since she was brought to the Koshiyas dimension, it was not easy to let down Ramyu’s guard, perhaps because she had lived in such an extremely harsh environment.
Somehow I was able to make a statement, but that was all the result.
From this perspective, which wanted closer dialogue and cooperation, this could not help but be frustrating.
‘I can completely understand that feeling.’
From the other person’s perspective, it was a situation where the world they had lived in had suddenly changed completely, so it would have been strange not to be on guard.
But even if you understand that, you can’t just waste time like this.
So, I tried to somehow become close to my child by referring to parenting communities and video sites, but those didn’t help much either.
‘Because Ramyu’s circumstances are different from those of ordinary children.’
The sole survivor of a destroyed dimension.
It was a variable that was not just special, but also unique.
It is only natural that a solution that assumes that a child is normal would not work for such a child.
The first thing that came to mind was Hwangryong and Hwiryeong.
The correlation between animals and children’s emotions is already a well-known fact.
It was a vague question whether the yellow dragon should be considered an animal, but that was not what was important now.
Having already personally experienced Hwiryeong’s loveliness, he started planning without hesitation···.
“Pretty…. Ah! Where are you going?”
[Kyaang!]
I was now facing results that exceeded my expectations.
Hwiryeong flew across the living room, wrapped her arms around Hoon’s neck as he entered the room, and stuck her head out towards his shoulder.
Ramyu, who had been running after him and discovered that he had returned home late, looked around nervously.
‘If it were before, I would have run away right away. The effect is certain.’
He smiled faintly as he stroked his head, which had a blunt, horn-like appearance, with one hand.
[Whoa!]
A small body that keeps shaking as if it knows it is being praised.
And it didn’t take long for such wise guidance to bear fruit.
***
Hoon’s skill, “Mental Communication”, was an extremely useful ability.
It had the potential to expand from the so-called telepathy that allowed it to transmit thoughts to others, to psychometry that allowed it to read thoughts left behind in objects, mind reading, and brainwashing.
It could also be used to instill common sense in those who have no knowledge of this world.
‘I’m still lacking in skill, so I can’t convey much information without side effects, but… Even so, this is good enough.’
It was also a job to explain one by one how to use things like shower heads and shampoos.
Up until now, I had maintained my cleanliness by using magic tools with cleansing abilities, but I couldn’t rely on that forever.
‘For languages with a lot of information, we can get help from the interpretation tool that I gave to Andrew.’
And one more thing.
Another great advantage of using “mental communication” is that you can share the scene that the other person is thinking of in real time.
Because information is bound to be distorted in the process of being transmitted to others.
Since Hans’ black magic has severe side effects due to forcibly reading the brain, it can’t be used anywhere, right?
Beep beep— beep—
“It’s 257 thousand won.”
“Here it is.”
After finishing shopping at a large mart near Anga, Hoon came out onto the street and looked around, his neck twisted here and there.
I had prepared a few things in advance before moving in, but when I actually started living with a child, I realized that there were more than a few things I needed.
‘It might be okay for now, but… it might be difficult to continue taking care of things on my own in the future.’
Besides, because she’s a girl, there are some things that need special attention.
But how could I, who has never had a proper relationship, let alone raised a child, take such delicate care of such things?
‘Well, I’ll think about that later.’
Hoon was lost in thought, recalling the story he had heard from Ramyu before leaving for shopping.
The reason he went out shopping now was to give her time to gather her thoughts with Hwiryeong, who was in charge of her mental care, as she became depressed while recalling her past.
‘The last moment of the Kosiyas dimension.’
Thanks to using “psychic communication” with the other person’s consent, I was able to obtain more vivid information.
What kind of environment she lived in, what events occurred during that time, and in what form the end of the world came.
And among them, there was one topic that particularly caught his interest···.
‘It’s my parents’ heirloom.’
It was about the heirlooms of her parents that she had until the end and which she had received from her older brother.
A pretty necklace that is divided in two in the middle and when put together forms a perfect heart shape.
The combined back side had a single phrase engraved on it.
However, Ramyu and Liang said they couldn’t read it.
“They say it’s the language they used in their hometowns, but it’s completely different from what I learned from my brother… It’s definitely a foreign language, but I don’t know exactly which country it is….”
Surprisingly, Ramyu was an intellectual who learned to read and write even in that hell.
It was because his body was so weak that he couldn’t do anything else, but in a world headed toward destruction, that alone was a great feat.
Hoon checked the text of the relic himself with her permission.
For him who possessed “Xenoglossi”, there was no such thing as a language he could not read.
And just as he had expected, he was able to read the words engraved on the necklace.
‘The only problem is···.’
It was a script he already knew, one he could read without the “Xenoglossi”.
-May our love last forever
‘english.’
It means ‘may our love last forever’.
It was a phrase that went perfectly with the heart-shaped necklace.
‘This was an Earthling, right?’
After hearing their story, it seems that both of them were Awakened beings from Earth who had completely settled in another world.
Could this just be a coincidence?
‘···I’ll have to hear more details when I get back.’
The moment I continued walking with those thoughts in mind.
A small commotion was felt in his senses, which far surpassed those of ordinary people.
A sexual crime against a woman was taking place in a deserted alleyway a little away from the street he was on.
‘You’re so fearless. How dare you do something like that in Seoul.’
Hoon frowned slightly and glanced over at her.
It didn’t end with simply not being caught red-handed.
The vigilantes who protect the darkness of Korea will not miss even the smallest clue and will track it down to the end to punish it severely.
‘Is this extreme? It looks like he hasn’t been back for long so he doesn’t really understand the situation…’
But the power he possessed could never be ignored.
Playing in the big water, his eyes were set high and boundless, so he was in a position where he could proudly stand up straight no matter where he went.
It was a realm where one could be replaced by a sword master, a great magician, or a master of the flower world.
‘I was just trying something out, so this is great.’
Of course, strength has always been relative.
Hoon, his eyes shining, extended his “psychic communication” towards them.
The opponent’s realm was also a realm of the realm, so a strong mental barrier stood in front of him, but thanks to the help of mental skills such as “Great Spirit”, he was able to somehow make contact with the opponent’s thoughts.
[“Who dares!”]
Through that connection, the other person’s thoughts were transmitted.
A feeling of discomfort and murderous intent welled up in him, as if he sensed that someone was trying to infiltrate his mind.
Although I was able to contact the other person’s mind, there wasn’t much I could do at this shallow depth.
At best, is it all about reading a tiny part of the surface consciousness that temporarily passes by?
However, as the opponent, who had been on guard, began to raise his energy, the connection gradually began to fade.
If things continue like this, the connection will be completely cut off, or the villain who traced our location will rush in in an instant.
‘That amount of time is enough.’
But Hoon just smiled faintly.
Once we made contact, it was over.
He immediately opened his mind wide and let out what was inside him.
[“Ugh! What is this···?!”]
Since the accident was connected to him, mental barriers at the pole level meant nothing.
The opponent’s mental world was instantly devastated, as if a giant road roller had trampled through a toy castle.
“···Is this okay?”
Hoon’s eyes sparkled with a small whistle.
He figured out the location and saw that the opponent who had been rushing at him had collapsed and was drooling with his eyes wide open, and then he cut off the connection.
‘Well, I didn’t really expect much from this Avatar’s combat prowess.’
It hasn’t been that long since it was created, but it’s already capable of neutralizing extreme opponents.
Moreover, unlike other avatars whose maintenance burden increases as their level increases, Hoon was able to use his enormous burden as a weapon.
It’s like dumping all the nuclear waste from the nuclear power plant process into enemy territory.
‘It’ll be a much stronger weapon than you think. If you further develop your “psychic” ability here, you’ll be able to reliably connect with much stronger opponents…’
Hoon nodded with a meaningful smile and slowly walked away.
It has always been said that the best way to develop abilities is to use them a lot.
It was the moment when an unknown nightmare called ‘Mind Breaker’ was born in Seoul, a city where villains were already struggling to operate.
