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Side Story Chapter 10 - Oh Kang-Hee, Cupid of Love (4)

\'She was Korean...?\'

Layla expected Kang-Hee to be royalty like Iris due to her natural elegance and high aura.

\'Is she from a conglomerate family?\'

Layla knew that although there was no nobility in Korea, there existed an invisible hierarchy based on one\'s wealth.

"Layla?" Kim Si-Hun called.

"Oh, I\'m sorry."

Layla, who had been intently observing Kang-Hee, came to her senses. She bowed modestly and grabbed the hand Kang-Hee stretched out. Her hands were soft.

\'She\'s not a warrior.\'

The hands of warriors were covered in calluses regardless of whether they were men or women.

"Are you a mage or healer, Kang-Hee?" Layla asked.

"Oh, I..."

"She isn\'t a Player," Si-Hun interjected.

Layla stared at Kang-Hee in surprise. She asked, "You were in a Gate despite not being a Player?\'

Si-Hun had said that Kang-Hee had acquired special powers in a Gate like Kim Tae-Hyun had. Non-Players were prohibited from entering Gates.

"I didn\'t enter of my own accord," Kang-Hee replied.

"Then..."

"She was caught in a Gate expansion," Si-Hun clarified.

Layla looked at Kang-Hee in surprise again. Although monsters coming out of Gates to attack things around them was common, the Gate itself increasing in size was a very rare phenomenon.

\'But...\'

Although rare, there had been a few precedents. Si-Hun said that he had discovered an abnormal Gate phenomenon, so an ordinary citizen getting caught in a Gate expansion was more than possible.

"I guess I should make my report of the incident." Si-Hun glanced at Kang-Hee and continued, "I happened to see the Gate expansion when I was in Daejeon and headed to it right away. And, uhhh..."

Cold sweats formed on Si-Hun\'s forehead as he was explaining. He began to look around anxiously like a man who needed to poop after being constipated for five days but couldn\'t find a bathroom near him. Kang-Hee gently stepped on Si-Hun\'s foot.

"And Si-Hun saved me after I was swept into the Gate. Right?"

"Ah, yes. That\'s right."

Layla tilted her head in confusion, noticing the irregularity in Si-Hun\'s expression, and then turned to Kang-Hee. "What did you see in the Gate?"

"Well... I don\'t quite remember," Kang-Hee expressed as she elegantly placed her finger on her lip; even such a simple motion made her feel like royalty. She looked up as if rummaging through her memories and continued, "It was like... outer space. It was full of stars, and... I also saw a super bright Milky Way."

"Inside the Gate...?"

Kang-Hee softly nodded.

Then Si-Hun, who was speed-reading a piece of paper he had taken out of his pocket, remarked, "She\'s right. The inside of the Gate was like outer space. There weren\'t any monsters, but... something like a black hole was sucking her in."

"And that\'s when you saved her, Si-Hun?"

"Yes, that\'s right," Si-Hun replied, nodding in satisfaction for some reason.

Kang-Hee stepped on Si-Hun\'s foot again out of Layla\'s field of view.

"What happened to that Gate?" Layla asked.

"It disappeared as soon as I rescued Kang-Hee."

"Hmm."

Gates did not usually vanish by themselves. Layla fell into thought as she stroked her chin.

\'As Si-Hun reported, it\'s not an ordinary Gate.\'

It could be a sign of an upcoming otherworldly invasion.

"So, what special power did Kang-Hee obtain?"

The power she obtained was more important than the cause of the abnormal Gate phenomenon.

"I..." Kang-Hee slowly stood up and her black hair slightly floated as if defying gravity. "Gained the power to meddle with something known as... the Law of Titans."

"Pardon...?" Layla\'s eyes widened due to Kang-Hee\'s shocking statement.

The Law of Titans was the universal law that Players called the System, which could not be defied even by the gods.

\'She can meddle with such a thing?\'

"What do you..." Layla slurred.

"Just a moment, please," Kang-Hee remarked as she closed her eyes and then slightly moved her lips as if mumbling something.

\'Are you gonna help me or not? Huh? If you don\'t, I\'m gonna fucking quit this guardian deity gig, got it? Do you wanna see how The End of Evangelion ends? Hm?\'

It seemed that was what she was mumbling, but Layla was so shocked that she didn\'t notice it.

Riiing.

[Sniff... Scumbag... Motherfucker... You have no idea how much shit I\'m going through right now...]

[Correction. An erroneous message was generated due to an overload in the \'Law of Titans.\']

[Temporarily granting Player Layla with the effect \'Blessing of Titans\' that drastically boosts all stats.]

Whoooom!!

Immense power enveloped Layla.

"Kyaah!" she yelled as uncontrollable power suddenly rose from her. The unknown power lasted for about ten seconds and faded. "Huff, huff, what was that...?"

"I meddled with the System and cast a temporary buff on you," Kang-Hee answered.

"I-Is that even possible?"

It couldn\'t be compared to an ordinary buff. Layla stared at Kang-Hee in disbelief.

"Yes. I can do other things as long as they are part of the Law of Titans. Things like permanently raising levels and granting new Traits to others..."

Layla\'s mouth was agape as she heard about Kang-Hee\'s overpowered abilities. She called tremblingly, "S-Si-Hun."

"Yes, Layla."

"Information about Kang-Hee will be left as top classified information. Tell only Kang-Woo and Grace— no, don\'t even tell Grace. Only tell Kang-Woo about Kang-Hee."

"Understood."

"And I\'ll have you keep Kang-Hee safe for a while."

Si-Hun nodded.

Kang-Hee smiled faintly and asked, "Does that mean I can stay with you all the time, Si-Hun?"

"Did you say... Si-Hun[1]?"

"Oh, I\'m sorry. I misspoke." Kang-Hee smiled and leaned on Si-Hun. "The truth is, Si-Hun and I have known each other for quite a while. Mm... I guess childhood friend is the best way to put it?"

"..."

"I first met him at the 52nd annual Mir Electronics party. Fufu. We were both such cute children back then."

"I-Is that so?" Layla remarked tremblingly.

Layla expected Kang-Hee to be from a rich household based on her elegant attitude, but she never expected her to have been acquainted with Si-Hun since long ago.

\'Come to think of it, I heard Si-Hun\'s father is a chaebol[2]."

Si-Hun ended up being abandoned because he was a concubine\'s son, but he lived in his father\'s home in the past.

"I-I told you not to tell Layla!" shouted Si-Hun extremely awkwardly.

However, Layla had no time to feel something was wrong due to Kang-Hee\'s following question.

"Why not? Are you two dating or something?"

Deathly silence fell in the office.

"Well... no."

"Really? Then there\'s no need to hide it, is there?" said Kang-Hee as she hugged Si-Hun\'s arm.

Crunch.

The pen Layla was holding was smashed into smithereens.

\'Nice, that\'s what I wanted to see!\' Kang-Woo yelled in his head. \'Man, it was worth putting all that time into my appearance and background.\'

Kang-Woo created his current appearance with the concept lady of a rich household in mind and even added a setting where she could meddle with the System.

\'With this, she won\'t fall behind Layla in terms of looks and capability.\'

The decisive blow was the made-up past with Si-Hun, something Layla didn\'t have.

\'Hell yeah, this is the power of the childhood friend!!\'

Kang-Hee looked at Layla as she smiled like a victor; Layla\'s eyes reflected a vivid sense of jealousy. Kang-Hee hugged Si-Hun\'s arm harder as if to show off.

"Y-You two seem... close," Layla remarked.

"No, we weren\'t that close. I say childhood friend but we rarely kept in touch..."

"But," Kang-Hee mentioned as she twisted around with her face reddened, "Si-Hun... save my life... I don\'t even want to imagine what would\'ve happened to me if I had stayed stuck in that Gate."

Layla shook as if she were struck by lightning, staring at the embarrassed Kang-Hee.

\'S-She\'s cute!!\' Layla thought.

An elegant noble lady was getting embarrassed with her face reddened. Something welled up from inside Layla as she recalled what sort of relationship Si-Hun and Kang-Hee had.

\'Childhood friend... lady of a rich household... life\'s savior... Hitom— urgh, m-my head!\'

Layla knew it would sell like hotcakes if this story were to be adapted to an ero manga.

"You seem to be stuck quite c-close to him... despite saying you\'re not close."

"My, I\'m sorry," Kang-Hee said as she hugged Si-Hun tighter instead. She blatantly put Si-Hun\'s arm between her breasts. "But I can\'t forget... how cool Si-Hun was as he saved me. Fufu, it\'s a bit old-fashioned, but... he was like a knight in shining armor."

Kang-Hee leaned her head on Si-Hun\'s broad shoulder and carefully interlocked her fingers with his.

She then whispered in his ear, "Thanks, Si-Hun. If it weren\'t for you... I wouldn\'t be here."

Layla\'s expression crumpled even more. Kang-Hee smiled in a way that Layla couldn\'t see it.

\'Alright, we\'re almost there!!\'

From Layla\'s reactions, Kang-Woo could tell they were only a few more pushes away until her jealousy burst. Once that happened, her stagnant relationship with Si-Hun would surely take off. Kang-Woo nodded in satisfaction as things were going perfectly to plan.

\'How about it, Si-Hun?! I told you that you could trust me!!\'

Kang-Woo looked up at Si-Hun as if boasting."U-Uhh, Y-Yeah..."

\'Why the hell is your face red, bro?\'

"I-I o-o-o-o-o-o-only did... what I-I should have d-done."

\'What the hell is wrong with this dude?\'

1. Layla is surprised because Kang-Hee is addressing Si-Hun very casually, but it doesn\'t translate well in English. ☜

2. Chaebol refers to a single family (or a member of the family) that runs and controls a South Korean conglomerate. ☜