Side Story Chapter 26 - Sesha (1)

At this moment, the person who had the most mixed feelings was probably Nocturne, who now knew his identity. ‘My teacher’s…shadow.’

Nocturne wasn’t a shadow from the twenty-first floor but a real being. However, he still identified as Nocturne, and not Son Jae-won/Vivasvat. The memories and emotions he’d experienced until now left too strong an impression on him. Thus, he could understand how the Martial King was feeling inside right now.

The Martial King was probably despairing and wanted to give up on everything. He might want to flip everything over. Perhaps he was angry that all his emotions and memories were false. He couldn’t die even if he wanted to, nor was he able to be angry. He needed someone to let out his anger on, but after that was done, all that awaited him was emptiness…

And Nocturne knew this all too well. Still, his teacher was able to endure this because he was the Martial King. Nocturne and the Martial King were on entirely different levels.

“…” Nocturne silently closed his eyes. He wanted to descend to where the Martial King was and ask if he was okay. He used to admire the Martial King, and he also resented and despised him. But right now, he just wanted to stay by the Martial King’s side. However, the reason why he wasn’t able to do so…

‘It’s because I still lack the courage.’

Nocturne’s father, the Heavenly Demon, said misunderstandings and hurt feelings should be resolved instead of being kept tucked away. People who believed they would be solved and forgotten over time were fools, and these feelings could unknowingly build up inside of you and suddenly explode. It was important to clear any misunderstandings, and for that, one needed to have a conversation face to face and listen to what the other was thinking. Only then would there be no regret.

Nocturne knew what he had to do, but he found it difficult to step up to the task. He was hesitant because he thought it might make his teacher more upset if he showed up now. All kinds of thoughts swept through his mind. ‘…I suppose I should still go.’ He needed to go talk to the Martial King. If he kept postponing it, there would be nothing left in the end.

Nocturne slowly stood up, and everyone turned to look at him. They had all been wondering what to do after seeing the blank white page, and they tilted their heads in confusion, not understanding what Nocturne was doing.

The Heavenly Demon smiled faintly, as if he was the only one to know. “Have you decided?”

“Yes.”

The Heavenly Demon’s smile deepened. He looked proud of his son. “You’ve grown up.”

Nocturne thanked the Heavenly Demon with a bow and left. The moment he stepped forward, a portal opened and swallowed him up.

Cha Jeong-woo and Shanon didn’t know what had happened between the father and son, but they could tell some of the awkwardness in their relationship had eased and that they had become closer. The two who were traveling along parallel lines that couldn’t overlap had finally changed directions to meet.

Jeong-woo didn’t ask what happened between them. It was enough that the distrust between the two had disappeared, and he knew the situation with the Martial King brought about their reconciliation. What happened between the father and son was between them, so Jeong-woo left their business to them and focused on Yeon-woo’s life again. If Yeon-woo had gone to collect these fragments of stars, was it necessary for him to leave without a word to him or the Heavenly Demon?

‘Wouldn’t it have been easier to collect the fragments with my help?’

Jeong-woo was called “Master of All Laws” across multiple world lines. As Deus Ex Machina, he was the god of the wheel that ruled and controlled over everything, and he was a manifestation of the laws of causality. Just with his mere will, he could probably gather the scattered pieces of the Martial King. There must’ve been a reason why Yeon-woo had to hide it.

‘Where do I start?’

There were no books that had records of Yeon-woo, the Black King’s will and conscious. That meant Yeon-woo cut off his connection with his real body so there would be no traces of his whereabouts. He had gone independent.

Of course, if Yeon-woo wished, he could recover the connection to his real body. The problem was that when he was disconnected, he was pretty much without his omniscience and omnipotence, so it would be dangerous if something happened.

Wondering about the possible reason and if something bad had actually happened, Jeong-woo couldn’t help but feel anxious.

‘Well… He did say he was going to speak to our parents.’

Jeong-woo was about to look into Kronos and Rhea’s conversation with Yeon-woo but realized they might not have realized what he was up to. Their gazes when looking at their son was probably only filled with love. He needed a third party, someone who was very close to Yeon-woo, and there was a particular someone that came to mind…

‘Sesha.’ But Jeong-woo wondered if he could take a peek at Sesha’s records, because it would be like sneaking a look at his daughter’s hidden diary. He was hesitant. It wasn’t like he could look at his daughter’s private life with the Heavenly Demon and Shanon.

‘I have no choice.’

Unfortunately, Jeong-woo truly had no other choice. He would just close the book after skimming to see if there was anything about Yeon-woo. And he would never speak of what he saw. If his daughter had a boyfriend?

‘I’ll just have to kill him.’ Cha Jeong-woo’s eyes glinted dangerously.

[Would you like to attempt another search?]

Gulp! Jeong-woo swallowed and extended his hand in the air.

* * *

B-Beep! Beep, beep! An alarm blared, screaming at Sesha to wake up.

“Ughhh…” Sesha, who was wearing pajamas with adorable bears and a pink bunny sleeping mask, groaned. She didn’t want to wake up. That was the only thought in her mind.

This was an event that took place every morning, so Sesha wondered why she couldn’t just get used to it. To her, school was a prison that kept in students who needed to be free! This was a conspiracy created by society so that they could create dull human beings who would be slaves! She wanted to shout these statements at the top of her lungs.

「Hohohu! Instead of thinking such peculiar things, don’t you think it would be best to wake up and stretch? Like me, huhu.」

‘You don’t sleep!’

「Nah, of course not! I try to sleep at least eight hours a day. The secret to my flawless skin is sleep.」

‘I’m not curious about the skin of a perverted skinhead who likes bunny girl hats!’

「Aw. Our little miss Sesha is being shy again.」

‘I’m not!’

Sesha wanted to tell Laplace, the creature who kept on blabbering nonsense in her shadows, to shut up. But Laplace didn’t even pretend to listen to her. He just continued to speak gibberish 24/7. She was going to go crazy because of him.

‘I want to sleep for just five more minutes but you always wake me up!’

“Cha So-young!” Just then, the door burst open with a shout. It was Ananta, wearing an apron while holding a ladle in her right hand. “Get up! You need to eat before going to school!”

Sesha brought her blankets over her head. “I’m not gonna eat… So just ten more minutes… No, just five more…”

“What are you talking about? You’re not going to have enough strength if you don’t eat. How are you going to study?”

“It’s fine, so—”

“The soup’s going to get cold! Hurry and get up!”

“Arrrgh! I don’t want toooooooooo!” Sesha showed no indication of getting up. She was seventeen this year, an adolescent who didn’t listen to her parents.

The problem was that Ananta was just as fiery as Sesha. Displeased, an eyebrow twitched on Ananta’s face. “Get up this instant.”

“Ugh, whatever! Whatever, whatever.”

“Is that so? Laplace!”

「Yes, ma’am! I’ve been waiting for you to say that!」Suddenly, Sesha’s shadow expanded and something large popped out. It was a man who was at least two meters tall with very bulky and burdensome-to-see muscles. His shirt was who-knew-where, and his chest muscles heaved shinly. On his smooth head were his trademark bunny ears.「The cute and adorable bunny is hereeeeeee!」

Laplace lifted Sesha, blankets and all, as if it was a familiar routine.

“Ahhhhhhh! Let me go, you perverted bunny!”

「Oooh! Very good. Please continue to insult me like that. Haa, haa.」

No matter how much Sesha kicked and struggled, Laplace didn’t even blink. In this household, Ananta was higher on the hierarchy than Jeong-woo, so it was obvious who Laplace needed to obey. Laplace forced the blankets away from Sesha and pushed her into the bathroom. Even the sleepiest of people would have woken up by now.

“Ugh!” Sesha glowered at Laplace.

「Hohohu. I love it. Very good. Please continue to despise me like that.」

“…!”

However, Laplace was a step above Sesha.

* * *

After Yeon-woo took care of all the dungeons, society returned to before the “day of the beginning.” Of course, it wasn’t a complete recovery. It wasn’t possible to return the developed society back to normal in the span of a day.

However, society continued to move forward, and Sesha turned seventeen and entered high school. As one of the most powerful players, she was so famous that she was called a celebrity, but she wanted to live normally like the other children her age. And her wishes…quickly turned to regret not a month after she started school.

‘I shouldn’t have said I’m going to school.’ Sesha thought to herself with a petulant expression as she chewed her food. ‘Who knew you had to get up so early?!’

Sesha didn’t used to have trouble waking up early when she was a player. It was strange. But because she had aged, her stamina wasn’t like before, and she disliked the strict rules enforced by school. School life was definitely enjoyable. She liked learning things she didn’t know, and she had a lot of friends. But she could never get used to this battle in the mornings… If only she could sleep a little more. And her mom was too much, forcing her to eat breakfast before sending her off.

“Thank you for the meal.” Sesha set her chopsticks down and stood up, hoisting her backpack on her shoulder.

Ananta looked down at the table and frantically chased after Sesha, putting down the dishes she was doing. Sesha’s soup was nearly untouched, and she’d only had a few spoonfuls of rice. “Why are you getting up already? You should eat more.”

“Whatever. I don’t feel like it.”

Bam! Sesha slammed the door as she left. It was a small rebellion for forcing her to get up.

Ananta sighed, left alone at the door. “Who does she take after?” She was thankful her weak daughter had grown up to be healthy, but she was sad about Sesha becoming more fiery-tempered by the day.

* * *

“Grandpaaaaa!”

“Oh my! Why is our little princess so angry?”

Kronos always drove Sesha to school because their house was located in a quiet place slightly farther away from Seoul.

Kronos greeted his adorable granddaughter with a smile and chuckled at her pouting lips. He knew his granddaughter was upset and wanted to vent to him about fighting with her mom. He could tell just from the way she spoke.