But because he found Setero unpleasant, Yiwon hid his thoughts. He really didn’t like him.
Thankfully, Setero didn’t look after Joo Yiwon himself. He was extremely busy as the king’s confidant while simultaneously secretly preparing a coup.
Instead, Setero passed Yiwon to someone else.
“Hello, I am Keusagnak Osperam of the Rem species. Hm… how should I address You?”
The man who looked after Yiwon was a tall man with bright blond hair. Keusagnak had a strangely smooth sheen to his skin not like humans, and his attitude was more favorable than Setero’s.
“Keusagnak will be taking care of you, Joo Yiwon.”
“Ah. Is Your name Joo Yiwon?”
“We will change the name later. You can take mine or Hukeru’s surname, and as for the name, it will be best to choose one from among the past kings.”
“Then I shall call you Joo Yiwon until then.”
Keusagnak was much warmer than Setero, who did whatever he wanted. However, just because he was friendly didn’t mean Yiwon warmed up to him.
Joo Yiwon hated everything in Ipeulis, and he couldn’t stand Keusagnak, who was gentle and treated him like a child.
But after spending months together, they naturally grew slightly closer. Unlike Setero, who only brought him here to use him, Keusagnak sympathized with Joo Yiwon and also grew attached to him.
Keusagnak fled into the ocean with Yiwon to escape potential pursuit. They hopped between hideouts located all over the planet to avoid being tracked down.
On the occasions they couldn’t reach the next hideout in a day, Keusagnak would float above the water’s surface with Yiwon on his stomach and tell stories. Yiwon only responded once or twice to every paragraph.
One day, they were talking about this and that when Yiwon revealed that his last name was “Joo” and his first name was “Yiwon.” Keusagnak was overjoyed, like someone who had discovered treasure.
“Yiwon, Yiwon. What a wonderful name. May I continue calling You Yiwon?”
“Can you? My name….”
“If Yiwon believes that his name is Joo Yiwon, then that is what You may continue to be called.”
“But Setero….”
“Do not be afraid of Setero. Yiwon will become king with the power to command Setero with a simple gesture.”
Yiwon couldn’t help but laugh at Keusagnak’s confidence.
It was from that day on. Yiwon started to open up to Keusagnak.
Joo Yiwon learned quite a lot through their conversations.
That Ipeulis’s first fissure had appeared centuries ago, and that this world had defeated the Great Disaster and conquered the fissures. While fissures do regularly appear, they’re no threat to Ipeulis and were actually used as resources.
However, that peace only existed thanks to a “king.”
Long ago, when fissures first appeared, one administrator stepped up as “King.” That king had played a pivotal role in stabilizing Ipeulis.
Afterwards, Ipeulis advanced by serving the administrators as kings. The social hierarchy, which had emerged right after the fissures appeared, slowly faded, but the king still remained a symbolic figure due to their special identity.
In reality, the power possessed by the king–in other words, the administrator–was a territory Ipeulis can’t touch, no matter how they’ve advanced.
However, there had never been a major issue before because the king was fundamentally a being who served their world.
That is, until this age’s king, Tenev, went crazy.
“The king wants to end this world.”
“Why would he want to do something like that?”
“According to the king, this world is too old and outdated. The king says that becoming a dungeon will be far better for the balance of this world….”
“What a lunatic.”
Yiwon’s anger boiled.
It wasn’t easy to stop the king, a fully awakened administrator, from carrying out his plan. Yet because Tenev was also restrained by the condition that he must move for the good of this world, preparations had been slow.
Unable to sit back and watch, the system birthed the next king. Hoping that they would strike Tenev’s neck and become the next administrator that saves Ipeulis.
“If it wasn’t for that crazy a**hole, I wouldn’t be in this situation.”
“That is… indeed true.”
“But….”
Yiwon trailed off. Keusagnak, who was drifting above the water, lifted his head slightly.
“Are You thinking of Shin Jiho again?”
“…Yeah. If that a**hole hadn’t sent me to another world to keep me in check, I never would’ve met Jiho.”
Keusagnak smiled when he heard the longing in Yiwon’s voice. Seeing the apologetic look in Keusagnak’s expression, Yiwon curled up on Keusagnak’s massive body like he was acting spoiled. The sleek body that had warmed to Yiwon’s body temperature trembled slightly.
“I am curious to see what kind of person he is.”
“Don’t be curious.”
“…Would I possibly have strange intentions toward Your lover? We are nearly 800 years apart.”
“You look 20. Stop it.”
“Alright.”
After about a year of running around like that, their life as nomads came to an end. Setero prepared a base where they wouldn’t be discovered, and Joo Yiwon officially began training.
As soon as he familiarized himself with magic, Joo Yiwon searched for spells on traveling through dimensions. When Setero learned of this, he appeared and scoffed.
“Do not try something useless.”
“When I become king, I’m going to take your neck.”
“Though I look like this right now, I am still a Dragon Lord. Do you know how much my neck is worth?”
“If you value your life, keep that mouth shut.”
It wasn’t very threatening, but Setero stopped talking.
The king he brought was many times more talented than he imagined. He had already surpassed most magicians, and in a few years, he’ll easily overwhelm Setero himself. And he will save Ipeulis from the crazy king and become a new, powerful king.
Setero was quite pleased by this young, strong king. That’s why he hoped Joo Yiwon would quickly abandon his attachment to Earth and adapt to Ipeulis.
“I could only succeed in jumping dimensions with help from the system.”
“Then I can also get help from the system.”
“Do you think the system will let go of its king?”
Setero was extremely irritating.
Actually, Ipeulis had already researched dimensional travel to some extent.
The problem is the destination.
When countless worlds exist, the possibility of Yiwon successfully landing on Earth on his first try was virtually zero.
“Plus, don’t you understand? You were only harming Your lover.”
“…”
Yiwon turned pale, pursing his lips as he put the book away and ran away. Setero didn’t follow Yiwon.
Yiwon’s body was mixed with mana that wasn’t his own. At first, they were separated like water and oil, but the more Yiwon learned magic, the more that mana… Shin Jiho’s mana, to be exact, merged into one.
Shin Jiho’s mana that Joo Yiwon had gnawed away at since they were little.
The mana that made Shin Jiho’s body perpetually weak.
Unaware, Yiwon stuck by Jiho, and because he stuck by him, Jiho had his mana stolen away and lived in constant pain for over ten years.
Yiwon’s rapid progress was evidence of what he carelessly stole from Jiho.
When it came to magic, Yiwon was both elated by his rapid progress and, at the same time, he deeply resented it. It was hard for Yiwon to bear that this was at the cost of him gnawing away at Jiho.
That’s why… he wanted to see Jiho one more time.
To apologize, and to return this power back to Jiho. But maybe his apologetic intent is also a result of his own selfishness.
Joo Yiwon was poison to Shin Jiho.
He thought it might be better that he doesn’t return to Earth.
| Then why did you return, you thief! |
Yiwon was interrupted by the cat leaping up and down in anger. Agitated, the cat zoomed around the room and scratched the mattress.
| SOO ANNOYINGGGGGGG MROW! THIEF! INVADER! |
“Stop, stop that.”
“It’s okay. It’s not wrong.”
Even though Jiho tried to stop the cat, Yiwon took the cat’s side. Receiving a glare from Jiho, Yiwon shrugged.
“After I returned, the reason I only stayed with you for brief moments was because I would drain your power whenever I got close. Since I can control it now, I tried to block it, but I couldn’t stop the smaller bits of power leaking through, so… I couldn’t stay very long.”
“…”
The cat would definitely say he’s a fool, but Jiho could feel his heart soften at Yiwon’s words.
So the reason Yiwon left abruptly like he had better places to be wasn’t because he hated Jiho. Jiho controlled the corners of his lips that subconsciously rose and said sternly.
“What do you mean the cat’s not wrong? I gave it to you, so don’t say that.”
“Honey, don’t do this to other people. Only fools give everything away.”
“…”
How could he speak like that to someone on his side? Jiho swallowed down a sigh as he suppressed his desire to hit Yiwon.
Jiho wants to hear more, but… even the abridged version was long. When a gigantic dragon had appeared and attacked the city just a few hours ago, they can’t be leisurely discussing the past.
But he wants to take time to listen to everything because hearing just the main points might lead to misunderstandings.
Having decided to listen to the rest another time, Jiho asked what he was most curious about.
“So did you kill that king and become the new king?”
“Yes. That’s how it turned out.”
“Is it okay for you to be here? That means you’re Ipeulis’s administrator.”
Jiho asked worriedly. Yiwon sulked at this response.
“Honey, is that more important to you than me being here?”
Isn’t that natural? How are those people going to live without you there….
Seeing Jiho’s disdain, Yiwon smiled and shrugged.
“It’s okay, Ipeulis’s system wouldn’t have let me go if I was still the administrator. I settled everything before I came here.”
“…Really?”
“Eung. The next administrator had appeared. Now, I’m a former administrator, to be exact, and that was the end… or it should’ve been, but a few followed me here without my permission.”
Yiwon added like he was slightly annoyed. Yiwon was acting like it wasn’t a big deal, but Jiho’s heart stirred in displeasure.
That means… there were people so loyal to Yiwon that they abandoned everything–their positions and world–to follow Yiwon to Earth, a world they’ve never seen before.
Even Cho Seung Taek, who, based on Yiwon’s stories of his past, looked down on Yiwon, is now doing everything he can to bring Yiwon back to the throne. Of course, that’s not what Yiwon wants, but it demonstrates how much blind loyalty Seung Taek has towards him.
The “king” in Lee Ha Yeon’s skills is also probably Joo Yiwon. There’s someone so loyal to Joo Yiwon that she has several skills dedicated to him.
And what about Keusagnak? They grew closer during their year on the run, and they probably spent a lot of time together afterwards…. What does Keusagnak mean to Yiwon?
It’s good that Yiwon had people he could trust in Ipeulis so that he wasn’t lonely. Jiho should be thankful, but for some reason, he feels stifled instead.
LaZ Bird Corner
We call that jealousy.
Jiho when Yiwon killed a king: Oh.
Jiho when Yiwon has other people around him: ??????????
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