Ranker Who Lives Twice

Chapter 363 Sky Wings (1)

Team: HH, Yahiko, thursdays

“What are you……!”

It hurt so much that tears brimmed in my eyes. I was about to argue with him.

Hyung suddenly hugged me tightly, as if he would never let go.

“Never again.”

I felt my shoulder becoming wet.

“Don’t ever leave without a word again. I’ll really kill you then.”

He was saying that we should never split up again, right?

What a tsundere. No, his tone was kind of a yandere.

Of course, I didn’t say it out loud because I would probably get beat up again.

I hugged my brother back.

“Okay. I’m back, Hyung.”

* * *

Yeon-woo slowly opened his eyes. He was in the real world, not the white world of letters. Brahm and Henova were looking at him with concern.

“Are you alright?”

“Fool! Why would you suddenly faint after touching the pocket watch?!”

Brahm cast magic on Yeon-woo to check if he was hurt anyway. Henova’s face was filled with worry while he shouted at Yeon-woo angrily.

Yeon-woo said he was alright and turned to Brontes, who was staring at him.

“How long was I like this?”

『It’s been about three days.』

Yeon-woo clicked his tongue. He didn’t know it had been that long. But in a way, it was expected. He needed an extreme amount of concentration just to take care of the energy within the Soulstone. And considering the events that happened in the white world, three days was actually quite fast.

『I told everyone else that you were busy because something came up.』

“Thank you.”

『But.』

Brontes trailed off, narrowing his eyes.

『Looks like you unsealed the Soulstone, is that right?』

“Yes, sir.”

『Huh! That was possible?』

“Thankfully, I had a helpful tool.”

『Still…… that’s amazing.』

Brontes had studied Soulstones his entire life, so he began to admire the two brothers for being able to handle it.

『Then do you think you can use its power?』

Yeon-woo shook his head.

“Since there’s a big difference between handling it and using it. But I think if I keep on researching it, I will be able to someday.”

Yeon-woo felt the Philosopher’s stone next to his heart. The vibrating Philosopher’s Stone was fine, like it had never absorbed all that energy. He couldn’t even sense any difference.

However, when he used the Philosopher’s Stone as a core to move magic power, that wasn’t the case at all.

His magic power was stronger than before. Just by getting his magic circuit to flow, he felt all his senses wake up. The three Blessings, Draconic, Divine, and Demonic were activated by it.

The quality of his magic power was incomparable to before.

Could it even be called simply “magic power” now? It was such a pure and deeply concentrated magic power, sticky like darkness in a void. It was completely different from what he handled before.

He considered calling it something else.

‘Later.’

Gathering magic power in his hands, he smiled faintly.

‘This is enough.’

Clearing his thoughts, he spoke to Henova and Brahm, who were still looking at him concernedly.

“There’s someone I want to introduce to you two. Would you like to meet him?”

The two tilted their heads, wondering what nonsense he was talking about. Henova frowned and touched Yeon-woo’s forehead.

“Do you have a fever?”

“No, sir.”

“Then what……?”

Before Henova could finished…..

Paaaaaah-

Yeon-woo pushed the magic power gathered in his hands into the pocket watch. The paused hands of the watch began to whirl around, vibrating.

Black letters floated above the glass cover.

The letters inside the diary came out as words and swirled around him.

Then, they gathered at the center and took the faint form of a person.

The more his facial features became clearer, the more emotions flashed across Brahm and Henova’s face.

First, interest, then curiosity, suspicion, shock, certainty, and joy.

“Y, Y, You……!”

Henova was so shocked that he almost fell over.

When the letters finished forming a human face, the thing with Jeong-woo’s face looked around and smiled mischievously at Henova.

『Old man, long time no see.』

Clang-

The hammer in Henova’s hand dropped to the floor. Tears dripped down from the wrinkled corners of his eyes.

The face that he hated but missed was there.

“I, Is it really you?”

『Goodness. Our old man must be losing his vision loss due to age. How can you already not be able to see properly? Wait. My face isn’t one that can be forgotten that easily. Then do you have dementia alread……!』

“I see it really is you after hearing you blabber on!”

Henova fumbled with his short arms and pulled Jeong-woo to him.

『Gosh, why are you being so cringy?』

Jeong-woo spoke like he was going to push Henova away but hugged Henova back with a grin. He had missed Henova too.

The only person who never left his side through the endless cycle of dreams. He truly was like a father.

Brahm looked at the two with red eyes. He also felt tearful. During times like this, he despised his Homunculus body.

Then, he must’ve realized something strange while looking at Jeong-woo and tilted his head. Widening his eyes, he turned to Yeon-woo.

『Yeon-woo, did you……?』

He quietly asked through the connection so Jeong-woo and Henova couldn’t hear.

Yeon-woo firmly shook his head.

『Please don’t tell them anything.』

『…….』

Brahm’s eyes shook for a moment, but he bit his lower lip and nodded his head.

『Alright. Understood.』

* * *

『I’m really tired. I can really take a nap, right?』

Jeong-woo glanced at Yeon-woo while nodding. Although he acted fine on this outside, he was actually extremely worried.

It was because his soul was too worn after going through all the cycles from the benefit.

This meant that he could be scattered into basic spirit at any moment. In fact, it was a miracle that he was able to keep his identity at the present without becoming less than a ghost.

Although Yeon-woo filled Jeong-woo with black energy, there were limits to restoring a broken level.

If he wanted, he could be raised to a Monster Portent level, but things could possibly become worse.

Jeong-woo knew his condition well, so he just felt more cautious.

He was finally getting to meet all the people he missed after waiting up from his long slumber.

He didn’t want to close his eyes again. But since he was less than a ghost, there was nothing he could do at the moment.

“Don’t worry.”

Yeon-woo just pat his brother’s head.

He was speaking without emotion, but Jeong-woo felt comforted by it.

『Okay.』

Jeong-woo closed his eyes with a bright face. With a swoosh sound, his spirit body scattered and letters returned to the pocket watch.

Yeon-woo stroked the pocket watch and turned to Henova and the others.

“This watch is like Jeong-woo’s house. We have to fix it to heal Jeong-woo.”

“Alright. I’ll help you with anything I can.”

Henova raised his sleeves and asked what he needed to start with.

Brahm and the three Cyclops brothers moved busily as well.

With commands from Yeon-woo, different jobs of fixing the pocket watch were assigned to them. The party began to fix its broken pieces.

Thankfully, after moving all the purple energy into the pocket watch, examining the pocket watch went smoothly.

“It was created using ‘Sutra Bhasya’ as a foundation. Then it’ll be easy to fix it.”

Brahm smiled as he examined the formation of the pocket watch. Sutra Bhasya was a type of study that he had created. He was proud that what he created had been raised to this level.

Yeon-woo had seen most of the secrets of the pocket watch when he peeked into Jeong-woo’s benefit, so its recovery was faster than when they created Kynee.

『The outside is the best.』

Jeong-woo left the pocket watch frequently and moved around freely. He was so energetic, like all the concerns of him being able to wake up were futile.

He annoyed them because he kept on poking into what they were doing, and eventually Henova, who was trying to understand him as much as he could, exploded.

“You’re so hectic! Go away!”

Of course, Jeong-woo wasn’t one to listen.

It was a relief he wasn’t able to move far away from the pocket watch. If it wasn’t for that, he would probably poke around the entire holy territory.

After that short commotion, the restoration of the pocket watch was finished.

Tick, tock-

Under the clean glass cover, the hands of the clock pointed at the right time. The seconds needle clicked forward, showing that the pocket watch was functioning perfectly.

The only number left behind was ‘XII.’ They had left it like that intentionally so its initial form wouldn’t be gone forever.

『Looking at this, I miss it.』

Jeong-woo grinned, rubbing the fixed pocket watch. He smiled sullenly when his finger passed through the clock.

He could use it by using his soul power, but there was still a difference. The fact that he had died became clearer to him.

However, Jeong-woo didn’t express his feelings and turned the pocket watch over with a bright smile.

He could see the familiar letters.

J. W. CAH

『When I saw this, I wondered when you would grow up.』

Yeon-woo frowned. He didn’t have any words to say. Back then, he really hadn’t known anytime. When he tried to pick up studying, it was horrible.

『And then you went to Africa into a multinational group. A lot has changed, hasn’t it?』

Jeong-woo and Yeon-woo had many conversations when Jeong-woo came out of the pocket watch.

Jeong-woo was able to learn what happened during the time he was gone through the lenses of his twin brother.

He thought many things had changed.

Five years on Earth wasn’t a short time.

Moreover, what Yeon-woo experienced in the Tower was all amusing.

Actually, Jeong-woo didn’t expect that Yeon-woo would be able to find him in the Soulstone.

That was how complex the formation of the Soulstone was, and its secrets couldn’t be unlocked easily.

When he heard that Yeon-woo used the Philosopher’s Stone that was in his heart, he was surprised. There was nothing he left behind about the Philosopher’s Stone in the hidden pieces..

Other than that, there were many things Yeon-woo accomplished by himself.

Things like Vigrid and the Demonic Divine Dragon Body. They were all things Yeon-woo achieved on his own. Jeong-woo thought that even if he hadn’t left anything behind, Yeon-woo would’ve grown finely on his own, although it might’ve taken longer.

‘That’s Hyung for you.’

He thought it was like Yeon-woo to do that.

Because of that……

『Hyung.』

“What?”

Jeong-woo was able to ask what he had been hesitating to.

『What about…… Mom?』

He thought that even if Yeon-woo did find him, it would’ve been after he arrived on the 50th floor and gained the elixir.

He had hesitated to ask the question because he thought Yeon-woo would’ve returned to Earth to heal their mother already.

While he awaited the answer, his heart thumped in his chest.

“She left peacefully.”

However, Yeon-woo didn’t say the answer that Jeong-woo wanted. He just spoke in a calm voice.

『……Oh.』

“Still, she believed in you until the end. And she smiled. She said she didn’t want to look sad when you came back.”

『I see.』

Jeong-woo clenched his fists. A shadow appeared on his face, and Yeon-woo couldn’t read it. Yeon-woo pretended not to see and turned away. Jeong-woo’s shoulders were shaking.

Jeong-woo raised his head, collecting himself. He didn’t look sad anymore. His firm eyes that were fixed on Yeon-woo seem to have decided something.

『I heard I have a daughter.』

Had he heard from Brahm already? Jeong-woo didn’t seem fazed in the slightest even after hearing about the daughter he didn’t know he had.

No, he had probably come to terms with it and created a new goal for himself. Although he wasn’t able to save their mother, the will to save his child at the very least helped Jeong-woo to get up again.

『I was a bad son, but I want to be a parent like Mom.』

Because their mother loved them so much, Jeong-woo wanted to be like her.

『So.』

He put emphasis on his words.

『I want to live again.』

Yeon-woo looked at his little brother.

『And I want to hug Sesha with my own arms, like Mom did for us. Do you…… think that’s possible?』