Chapter : 08
Bzzzt—.
It was a quiet night, with everyone asleep.
[Conducting routine investigation.]
[Collecting surrounding information.]
[Searching for locations where recent mentions of the keyword ‘Arisha’ have surged.]
[Investigating…….]
[Collecting valid data.]
[Focusing on investigation target ‘Rael’.]
[Collecting focused information.]
[Storing information in detail from the investigation target’s point of view.]
[Beginning information collection.]
…….
Rael bit his fingernails—tap, tap.
At the moment he had fainted while examining the Grand Duke’s daughter, he had glimpsed a certain ‘world’.
For a very brief instant, his vision had gone dark, and he had been sucked into a deep abyss of darkness.
When he opened his eyes, what spread out before him was a single, radiant world.
Countless planets floating beneath his feet. And among them, a gigantic golden star that shone with its own light.
Rael was completely overwhelmed by an immense presence he had never felt even once before.
It was a mighty magic so powerful that even merely peeking at it filled him with a distant, awe-inspiring reverence.
‘It was incredible.’
A power of a completely different order—his first time experiencing such a thing.
In that moment, Rael’s world, in which he had lived believing himself to be exceptional, was utterly overturned.
Tap, tap.
His nail-biting stopped.
Rael stiffened his expression for a moment, then shouted sharply.
“……Butler! Gather the retainers!”
The retainers, hastily summoned late at night, wore slightly displeased expressions, but upon seeing the atmosphere surrounding Rael, the head of the family, they sensed the seriousness of the matter.
Rael knew very well how what he was about to say would sound to them.
He knew it could sound like madness.
The Tiberi Marquessate, Rael’s family, was a house that had survived until now by relying on connections.
Things had changed somewhat since Rael inherited the marquis title, but it was still an undeniable fact that connections and political maneuvering remained the most important means of survival for House Tiberi.
So what he was about to say was, unmistakably, a gamble.
In the silence where not even a breath could be heard, the retainers focused on Rael’s words.
“I am convinced that Grand Duke’s daughter Arisha will become the heir of the Grand Ducal House. Therefore, from now on, our family will firmly stand on the side of Grand Duke’s daughter Arisha.”
After a brief moment of shock, the retainers raised their voices one after another.
“What are you saying—!”
“This is—absolutely impossible—!”
It was nothing short of a bombshell declaration.
[Information collection complete.]
[Storing data.]
[Severity of matter: Low.]
[Checking the will of the system designer.]
[Checking…….]
[Situation-handling intent ……insufficient.]
[Memory deletion protocol will not be executed.]
The system quietly shut down.
It was the private garden of the Grand Duke’s daughter, bathed in the midday sun.
Arisha closed the system window she had been viewing. It contained the information collected on Rael the previous night.
As if on cue, a man took a seat in the chair across from her.
It was Kylerop.
Arisha quietly offered him some tea.
She didn’t know how he had found out, but Kylerop had also grasped Rael’s movements and contacted her.
Using that as an excuse to make a formal visit, Kylerop had been dissuaded, and Arisha instead invited him into her private garden, where there were few people around.
She absolutely hated attracting attention.
Kylerop took a sip of the tea Arisha had poured and spoke.
“You said you wanted to rest—are you really just going to leave Rael alone?”
“It’s not that big of a deal.”
Arisha leisurely enjoyed the atmosphere of the garden. The floral scent mixed into the breeze blowing in from afar was fragrant.
“In any case, the firm heir of the Grand Ducal House is Egail.”
She had considered erasing the memories of Rael and his retainers entirely, but it was bothersome, and there was also a slight problem.
[Status: BURNOUT]
[Ability operational range: 100% → decreased to 55%]
Since arriving here, her ability parameters had remained stuck in that state.
Manipulating a single person’s memories was easy, but manipulating the memories of multiple people simultaneously was quite complicated.
In a situation where her abilities were unstable like this, meddling with several people’s memories was not a good choice.
Moreover, it was only Rael’s personal resolve. Something of that level would never cause the heir of the Grand Ducal House to change.
Arisha also took a sip of the tea she had served Kylerop.
It was tea the Grand Duke had specially gifted for her. He had said it was grown while enduring the cold of a frigid land, giving it a deeper aroma.
There was nothing the Grand Duke brought her that failed to please her—tea, food, flowers, even perfume.
It was amazing how he managed to match her tastes so perfectly.
“If any problem comes up, I’ll take care of it myself, so don’t worry.”
As Arisha drifted into thought for a moment, Kylerop smiled brightly at her. It was a confident smile, but not an irritating one.
“Supporting you is my specialty, after all.”
“There you go again.”
Arisha clicked her tongue lightly.
That part of him had been exactly the same back when she was Ari, and even now.
He had been like that when they worked together as hunters too.
He had been more than capable of becoming the leader of another group, yet he had stuck by her side, saying pointless things.
“Pulling from the front, pushing from behind. Then cooking breakfast, doing housework.”
Kylerop rested his chin on his hand and smiled.
“Then I’d tease you and get scolded—just thinking about it makes me feel good.”
“You’ve lost your mind again…….”
“Hearing you call me crazy—it’s been a while. I like it.”
Kylerop lightly tapped his teacup with his fingertip.
Her outward appearance had changed, but everything else was exactly the same.
Her cold tone, her indifferent expression—everything.
The first time Kylerop met Ari was during the Incheon anti-terror incident.
It was a case where a high-ranking hunter of American nationality infiltrated Korea and carried out a terrorist attack.
At the time, Kylerop was a mercenary affiliated with the United States, not Korea.
Intelligence on the terrorist had been obtained, leading to a joint Korea–U.S. operation, and Kylerop was dispatched as the American representative.
That was when he first saw Ari.
His first impression was subtle.
‘She’s completely different from the rumors.’
Back then, Ari was already a hunter whose name was widely known across the world.
They said that after disappearing for two years and returning, she had single-handedly sorted out Korea’s chaotic situation. That within three months of her return, she had stabilized the skyrocketing civilian death rate.
They said she was a crazy person who never slept and spent all day clearing dungeons, so he had wondered what kind of monster she must be.
But then—
‘She just looks like someone who doesn’t want to live in this world.’
She looked younger than expected, weaker than imagined, and didn’t seem as passionate as he had thought.
‘Boring.’
He had come with high expectations, but she felt far more bland than anticipated. After that, Kylerop didn’t particularly try to talk to her.
Then events unfolded rapidly.
The terrorist, whom they thought had already entered Korea, was actually still aboard an in-flight airplane, holding passengers hostage and threatening the government.
The one who turned the tide was her.
“Sorry, but I don’t like wasting time.”
With the same indifferent expression, as if it were nothing, she began deploying her magic.
A massive golden star rose into the sky.
Her name was ‘Ari’, her nickname ‘Golden Star’.
They said she was called that because whenever she deployed her magic, a gigantic golden star appeared in the sky.
It was true.
High above, a new world, brilliantly shining, took shape. Within that radiant celestial realm, she was the ruler who governed everything.
The airplane flying through the sky came to a halt.
It wasn’t just the plane that stopped. She had perfectly controlled both time and space there.
After that, everything proceeded smoothly.
Kylerop, who had been deployed, easily subdued the terrorist, and the passengers were safely released.
That was the day.
The day when, without him even realizing it, the world began to revolve around Ari.
From that day on, Kylerop removed the ring he always wore—the only item that could bring him to Earth and take him back.
He then wrapped up his life in the United States, acquired Korean nationality, and officially began his life as a hunter there.
At first, he thought it was purely out of interest. He had never seen someone so extraordinary before.
After that……
“Try being serious for once.”
“I am being serious.”
“Forget it. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“Are you scolding me right now? Feels good—do it more.”
“……You really are crazy.”
Sticking close to her side, annoying her with jokes, he spent his days like that.
He liked how her usually indifferent expression changed only when he teased her.
He wanted to stay by her side.
He wanted to share her world.
Though she was always extremely busy and they couldn’t always be together, they still spent quite a long time together.
Even though she seemed like she didn’t let people close, he knew. He knew that she treated him as somewhat special.
That was why he had taken lightly that expression of hers that showed no attachment to the world.
Because of him…… he had arrogantly believed she had changed at least a little.
The memory that followed was a completely different scene.
A funeral hall after everyone had left.
In that empty place, only the sound of rain echoed.
He stood there aimlessly, his whole body soaked by the rain.
“You said you didn’t need my help.”
“You clearly said that. That you wouldn’t die. That you wouldn’t.”
He looked at her gravestone, buried in the national cemetery.
The rain poured down even harder. His vision blurred.
Then what appeared was a penthouse in Seoul, and his own exhausted face.
Out of habit, he opened the system window.
After she was gone, this had become both habit and routine—something he repeated.
Because otherwise, he couldn’t breathe.
[System ─ Entering conversation mode.]
[Displaying logs.]
[Connection failed 20xx.12.02 13:24:22]
…….
[Omitting duplicate content.]
[Approximately 12,392 identical entries omitted.]
…….
[Connection failed 20xx.04.12 00:33:11]
[User does not exist.]
[Connection failed 20xx.04.12 00:35:42]
[User does not exist.]
…….
He hurled the half-empty liquor bottle. Shards of shattered glass reflected the city’s nightscape, glittering.
Again. And again.
No matter how many times he tried, it was the same.
The brief breath of hope that opened up with a “maybe” was choked shut again by replies that never came.
It felt like he was going to die.
Like he really was going to die.
You should take responsibility.
If you made someone like this, shouldn’t you take responsibility?
Why—who gave you the right—to die?
After acting as if you’d never die.
There were so many words swelling inside him, ready to overflow at any moment. Yet not a single word came out of his mouth.
It was infuriating, hateful. He hated her for abandoning life so easily.
He hated her for not thinking even once about the people she left behind—no, for not thinking of his existence even once, not even in the final moments.
And then, that hatred toward her turned toward himself.
He hated himself for being someone who had meant nothing to her.
“I’ve finally gone crazy.”
I’ve finally lost my mind.
There was only one thing he could do.
Only one way to endure the pain.
[Connection failed 20xx.04.12 00:37:59]
…….
[Too many attempts causing overload.]
[Temporarily suspending signal.]
“……Retry. Force it.”
[Excessive attempts may place a burden on the body.]
“I don’t care.”
[…….]
[……Resending message.]
Messages that would never receive a reply continued endlessly.
And so, he looked straight at the figure before his eyes now. Though her face was completely different, to him, she was the same.
His eternally radiant, indifferent golden star.
Kylerop made a firm vow in his heart.
This time, I won’t lose you so futilely again.
