Chapter 47, Lee Yeonhee (1)
The call ended.
After that, I could only stand there blankly as an indescribable storm of emotions swept through my chest.
Lee Yeonhee's final words, Of course, stirred up countless feelings and thoughts inside me.
How could she say it in such a bright voice?
It was obvious she would have to suffer again like before in order to treat me.
Going without sleep would be nothing unusual, and if she overused her divine power, she would probably suffer constantly from the emptiness and exhaustion that followed.
“...This feels strange.”
I stood there blankly for a long time before finally moving.
My legs creaked forward like rusty machinery.
For some reason, I felt gloomy.
To shake off that unpleasant heaviness, I opened the Gallery while walking.
Reading the posts made me feel a little better.
After that, I got back on the motorcycle and returned home.
My companions came out to greet me.
Hwa-ryeon held my hand with a worried look.
Arlin, looking troubled, cast a cleaning spell on me.
Lee Yeonhee approached with a determined expression, hugged me tightly, buried her face against my shoulder, and whispered.
“I'll treat you quickly, so please sit on the sofa!”
Lee Yeonhee left for a moment to prepare.
After that, Arlin and Hwa-ryeon came over and sat on either side of me.
Hwa-ryeon spoke with a slightly relieved expression.
“Still, you look better than the last time I saw you. I was worried, so I'm glad.”
“I feel the same. I was worried as well. I sincerely hope the treatment goes well.”
I blinked while listening to their embarrassing words.
There was such a strong romantic atmosphere around me that I thought maybe I hadn't lived my life too badly after all.
Still, the mood is way too heavy.
I don't like this kind of atmosphere.
I should lighten things up a little.
Maybe I'll open the Gallery.
I opened the Gallery and took a picture of my current situation.
The photo clearly showed me being worried over by two beautiful women.
Hwa-ryeon and Arlin stared blankly when the sudden shutter sound echoed through the room.
Then Hwa-ryeon let out a small laugh.
“You're going to upload it to the Gallery?”
“Yes.”
“Let me see... I don't look pretty in this one. Yuhyeon, take another.”
I nodded and prepared to take another picture.
But just as I was about to take it, Hwa-ryeon suddenly wrapped her arms around my neck.
The result was a sweet-looking photo that made Hwa-ryeon and me look like a couple.
I checked the picture, then quietly stared at her.
There wasn't even the slightest trace of embarrassment on her face.
Only a faint playful smile.
If serious Arlin or shy Lee Yeonhee had done something like that, my heart probably would have started pounding.
But because it was the mischievous Hwa-ryeon, I strangely became calmer instead.
As I narrowed my eyes at her, I heard a door open.
Then came the sound of small, cute footsteps.
It was Confirmation Bias.
A cute yet mysterious little girl who looked around elementary school age.
I placed the confused Confirmation Bias on my lap and took another picture.
This time, the result looked almost like a happy family photo.
“Not bad.”
“This one's pretty good.”
“I love it!”
I asked my companions what they thought and received positive answers.
I saved the picture where Hwa-ryeon was hugging me into a folder.
Then I uploaded the safer, more normal picture to the Gallery.
I added a little bragging flair to the title and content.
[How good is my life?]
[Author: Anonymous]
[(Photo taken together with Arlin, Lee Yeonhee, and Confirmation Bias.jpg)]
[(Photo with the cat and Lucy sitting on my lap.jpg)]
I was about to check the comments when Lee Yeonhee returned.
She looked curiously at the blue window floating in front of me.
“Were you using the Gallery?”
“Yes. Want to take a look?”
Normally, only beings that were Mysteries could see the Gallery.
So originally, Lee Yeonhee shouldn't have been able to see it.
But for some reason, ever since we returned from the Company, she had also become able to see the Gallery.
At the time, I had seriously thought about why that happened.
But I couldn't find an answer, so I eventually stopped worrying about it.
Since then, Lee Yeonhee and I had occasionally browsed the Gallery together.
Lee Yeonhee nodded and came closer.
Then she lightly tapped the blue window.
Tap, tap.
The blue screen rippled beneath her fingers like the surface of a lake.
“I've already seen it several times, but I still can't get used to this...”
“Want to take a closer look?”
I looked at Lee Yeonhee.
Her movements were awkward and stiff.
She seemed extremely nervous.
To help her relax a little, I invited her to look through the Gallery with me.
She nodded and sat directly beside me.
It was the place where Hwa-ryeon had been sitting just moments earlier.
Hwa-ryeon had given up the seat and was now sitting at the edge of the sofa.
“This is...”
Lee Yeonhee leaned slightly toward me and looked at the blue screen.
The comments I had been about to read were displayed there.
Her pupils shook.
Mine did too.
For reference, the comments currently looked like this.
[How good is my life?]
[Author: Anonymous]
[(Photo taken together with Arlin, Lee Yeonhee, and Confirmation Bias.jpg)]
[(Photo with the cat and Lucy sitting on my lap.jpg)]
└ What is this? What is this? What is this? What is this?
└ That's an apocalypse? That's an apocalypse? That's an apocalypse? That's an apocalypse?
└ Is the Gallery Master's world really an apocalypse Mystery setting? Isn't it actually an overpowered harem fantasy setting???
└ If you're sitting alone at home staring at the Gallery Master's picture and crying for some reason, upvote...
└ Upvoted... starting with me.
└ Huh, why am I crying?
└ Mom? Sniff, no, it's nothing, sniff.
└ Sniff... this somehow feels kind of erotic?
└ What the hell is wrong with this guy?
└ This is bad. The Gallery Master learned how to flex.
└ It's fine, haha. Sure, I've been single for 1,700 years, and I don't have a cute book or cat, and I don't have cool flames or a glove on my right hand, but I'm still a Grand Mage, hahahahaha.
└ Can you wipe your tears before saying that?
└ That laugh isn't a real laugh, lol.
└ Hahaha, I may have none of those things, but I'm still stronger than the Gallery Master, so I'm happy, hahaha.
└ Become an ordinary Grand Mage from the Gallery vs become the Gallery Master for one day.
└ Obviously the second.
└ Definitely the second.
└ What can a Grand Mage even do? Split the sky? Summon storms? Why would you need any of that when the Gallery Master has Confirmation Bias and Lucy, lol.
└ Ordinary Grand Mage vs Gallery Master who has a Peak of Ascension martial artist obsessed with him, gives enlightenment to a Magus, and has the Regression, Possession, Reincarnation Gallery in the palm of his hand.
└ When you put it like that, the Gallery Master is actually insane.
└ Seeing the Gallery's post speed instantly double just because the Gallery Master uploaded one post makes my heart swell, damn.
└ SUDDEN WORSHIP.
└ CONSTANT. WORSHIP.
└ Those two fit together pretty well, lol.
Lee Yeonhee made an awkward expression.
“So those people are... Grand Mages and incredibly powerful martial artists, right? And every one of them has experienced either regression, possession, or reincarnation...?”
“...Yes.”
She looked between my face and the Gallery comments as though she still couldn't quite believe it.
Then she smiled, as if deciding it didn't matter.
“So that means all those amazing people are worshiping you, Oppa! Then doesn't that mean you're even more amazing?”
“Uh... I guess?”
Does it really work like that?
Her statement made me tilt my head.
Still, after thinking about it, I couldn't completely deny it.
Lee Yeonhee smiled brightly.
Still smiling, she stood up and moved in front of me.
Sacred light shimmered around both of her hands.
I gave an awkward smile, thinking she was finally about to begin the treatment.
Then she reached out and gently held both of my cheeks.
My awkward smile immediately froze.
It wasn't exactly something I could pull away from either.
The moment Lee Yeonhee's hands touched my cheeks, I could feel the zombie virus weakening in real time.
No matter how it looked to everyone else, this really was treatment.
“...But why my cheeks?”
“The zombie virus affects the brain, right? Then shining divine power near your head should be the most effective. Is it uncomfortable?”
I didn't answer.
When I remained silent, Lee Yeonhee moved her hands upward and gently stroked my head.
Each strand of my hair slipped between her fingers.
This wasn't something friends normally did.
It was something lovers would do.
I already knew Lee Yeonhee had feelings for me.
Of course I knew.
I wasn't that dense.
But even knowing that, I hadn't expected someone as shy as her to act this boldly.
Maybe that was why.
Hwa-ryeon had hugged my head much more aggressively earlier.
Yet Lee Yeonhee gently stroking my hair hit my heart much harder.
“No... thank you.”
I decided to sit quietly and enjoy Lee Yeonhee's treatment.
Then I glanced to the side.
I could clearly see Hwa-ryeon and Arlin's expressions.
For some reason, Arlin's already expressionless face looked even colder than usual.
Hwa-ryeon wore the same faint smile she always did.
Confirmation Bias sat on the sofa while hugging Lucy and the cat in her arms.
She watched me from there.
The treatment continued like that.
Around an hour later, Lee Yeonhee began showing major changes.
The biggest change was her divine power.
At first, it had been bright enough to resemble a streetlight.
Now it had weakened to something closer to a phone flashlight, shining faintly over me.
The next change was her posture.
Standing had apparently become difficult.
Now she was treating me while almost hugging me, taking a posture similar to the one Hwa-ryeon had used earlier.
But unlike before, my heart wasn't pounding.
Her sweat was soaking my clothes.
I wasn't enough of a bastard to feel excited in a situation like this.
I was starting to worry about her.
And it wasn't only me.
Arlin and Hwa-ryeon were worried too.
Everyone in the room felt the same.
