WE TRIED TRANSLATIONS

Translator/Editor: Coughing Baby

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◈ I Returned as a God ◈

Chapter 87: The Temple (4)

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Eunyoung couldn't quite keep up with what was happening.

Yu Chaeyoung had died during what everyone called the great disaster, the S-Rank dungeon break.

She'd been leading the team on expedition when the dungeon broke.

Eunyoung didn't know Yu Chaeyoung's face, but she couldn't wrap her head around the idea that Yu Chaeyoung was somehow alive.

"Relax. That woman isn't among the living."

"Huh? Oh, okay, wait, what?"

Not among the living meant dead.

"A, a ghost?"

"Ouch. That's harsh."

"I, I didn't mean it like that."

Startled, Eunyoung bowed her head and apologized.

Chaeyoung stepped down from the desk and just smiled, telling her not to worry about it.

Just as Jihan had said, Yu Chaeyoung was dead.

What stood in front of Eunyoung and Jihan was a spirit form carrying on the will Yu Chaeyoung had held while alive.

"What, it's true, isn't it."

"Hey! You don't say 'ghost' right in front of the person!"

"You're the one who called her a ghost."

"That's not..."

"And what else do you call a ghost, if not a ghost."

Calling her a spirit form was the polite way to put it, but at her core she wasn't much different from a ghost.

Compared to a regular ghost, maybe she wasn't a bad one? Though even that was murky, since there were plenty of good ghosts out there too.

The foundation of a spirit form was lingering attachment.

Some strong regret left over from before death was what had anchored her consciousness here.

"Rude."

"Rude? No need for manners when we don't even know if you're an enemy."

"Liar."

If Jihan had really thought that, he should've kept his sword in hand.

The moment he sheathed it, that was proof his judgment had already been made.

Someone whose mouth, mind, and body all moved in different directions wasn't common.

It was proof that if he set his mind to hiding something, he could do it without a shred of hesitation.

Yu Chaeyoung stepped closer to Jihan and Eunyoung and smiled.

"Let's talk."

"Talk?"

"Yeah, believe it or not, I'm the one who saved both your lives. The least you can do is give me some conversation, no?"

"We could've handled it fine without your help."

"Pretty talkative for someone who just barged in here first. I didn't invite you, you know."

"You think this woman could've made it here on her own if it weren't for me?"

Jihan and Yu Chaeyoung glared at each other.

Neither had a weapon drawn, but it looked like they'd start fighting any second.

Caught in the middle, Eunyoung didn't know what to do and tried to pull the two of them apart.

Chaeyoung stepped back.

"Well, you're not wrong either, so I'll let it slide this time."

"If you two want to chat, do it somewhere else."

"Even if I don't say anything?"

"Not interested in your life story. You clearly look like you don't have any friends."

"Right! You don't have friends, do you?"

Eunyoung latched onto Yu Chaeyoung without missing a beat.

Jihan dropped himself onto a nearby sofa.

He hadn't let his guard down completely, but at least for now, nothing seemed to be wrong.

Half giving up, Jihan muttered something under his breath.

[02. Noona Eunyoung!! 7 days ago]

Song Eunyoung (Follower): That's what happened lol 3 minutes ago

Kang Hangyeol (???): Wait. Yu Chaeyoung? 1 minute ago

I'd managed to catch Noona Eunyoung at a good time, and we were talking back and forth through comments in real time.

It was a small mercy that Jihan had decided not to kill Noona Eunyoung before he got out of the temple.

Still, though.

Was the Transcendent Yu Jihan really the future Yu Jihan?

Even accounting for how badly the time and space in my dimension were twisted, this was a bit much.

Yu Jihan was the only person I could form any bond with inside the tower.

Sure, I could climb alone just fine, but I didn't want to cut ties with him over something like this.

There was something else bugging me too.

From what I remembered, Jihan never used dual swords.

Piecing together what Noona Eunyoung had said, it sounded like Jihan was using two swords now.

The only time he'd actually swung both blades was walking into the space where Yu Chaeyoung was, but there was no way he'd be carrying two swords around for no reason.

I figured he had to be a future version of Jihan.

But the possibility that he was a Jihan from some parallel world wasn't exactly zero either.

While I was still chewing on that, a new comment came in from Noona Eunyoung.

"Wait, hold on, does that mean I could get the sword I gave Choi Suhyun back?"

Maybe she still had it lying around somewhere!

The grief I went through with Choi Suhyun over that sword.

Wait, no, was that too much?

Just thinking about the Transcendent Yu Jihan alone was already making my head throb with every possible scenario.

"Anyway, a spirit form of Yu Chaeyoung, inside the god Beritaas's divine temple, of all places."

I crossed my arms and leaned back against the sofa.

Since I hadn't told anyone yet, I was the only one who knew about this.

I scratched my head, thoughts still floating around unresolved.

How was I supposed to explain this to the two of them?

Telling them felt wrong, but keeping it to myself alone felt just as uncomfortable.

Song Eunyoung (Follower): Yeah. She's not exactly alive, but I'm pretty sure it's really Yu Chaeyoung. 10 minutes ago

Kang Hangyeol (???): How long can you stay there? Oh, and food? 7 minutes ago

Song Eunyoung (Follower): I'm fine thanks to Jihan lol think I can last a month? Feels pretty stuffy being cooped up in here though. 5 minutes ago

Kang Hangyeol (???): I'll figure out some way to get you out of there. 3 minutes ago

Song Eunyoung (Follower): Thanks. But don't push yourself too hard, okay. 1 minute ago

Song Eunyoung (Follower): Oh, right!!! And tell him thanks for the ring. 30 seconds ago

I moved my hand to reply.

Song Eunyoung (Follower): Thanks. But don't push yourself too hard, okay. 2 minutes ago

[Comment deleted.]

Kang Hangyeol (???): I already saw it lol 30 seconds ago

Song Eunyoung (Follower): It was a typo, okayyyy? 20 seconds ago

The comment looked like it had been typed in a hurry, flustered.

Kang Hangyeol (???): I'll pass it along nicely. 50 seconds ago

Song Eunyoung (Follower): Thanks. 10 seconds ago

I figured we'd covered everything that needed saying, more or less.

The moment the conversation ended, I called Choi Suhyun.

Better to take the hit fast, wasn't that how the saying went.

Choi Suhyun picked up before the ringing even finished.

Choi Suhyun had been cutting back on his workload recently, apparently already timing his own return.

"Hyung, you free to talk?"

"Talk."

I calmly laid out what Noona Eunyoung and I had discussed over the comments.

Choi Suhyun had treated the whole thing as no big deal at first, but the moment I said Yu Chaeyoung's name, his tone changed completely.

"The god Beritaas turned Jung Hyeonseong into a demigod?"

I sipped the room service coffee I'd ordered and stayed quiet for a moment.

The instant I heard Beritaas had gone after Jung Hyeonseong, who had no affiliation, one particular idea clicked into place.

A vessel.

The large-scale glitch in perception.

And the rare, unaffiliated Awakened who kept popping up.

Unaffiliated Awakened weren't ignored by gods because they were useless.

Put another way, an unaffiliated Awakened was a soul that carried the potential to become a god.

Only one god could become the ruler.

With everyone else already my rivals, it probably made perfect sense to keep an eye on anyone else who might turn into a competitor down the line.

Once something grew into a tree, you needed an axe to cut it down, but a seedling could be stomped out with a few kicks.

Gods normally couldn't interfere directly with the mortal world. But if a god had used an unaffiliated Awakened's body to become a demigod, that changed everything.

Maybe.

Maybe the original owner of this body, the real "Kang Hangyeol," had gone through the exact same thing as Jung Hyeonseong.

What if I had simply taken his place before Kang Hangyeol's soul completely vanished?

Even the situation I was in right now wasn't so far outside the realm of possibility.

"Have you told Siyu?"

"Still working out how to bring it up."

Park Siyu would probably take it in stride without much fuss, but that didn't mean everything would be fine.

Since getting closer to Park Siyu, I'd noticed the guy had this strangely unsettling quality that made people uncomfortable around him.

"Forget it. I'll tell him."

"Oh, thanks a ton."

"Push back on something for once. Just once!"

"Push back on what. I don't exactly want to bring this up either."

"And I do?"

"You've known Park Siyu for ten years, hyung."

"Ugh, don't even get me started. Twenty years, actually. Or is it more than that by now?"

"That's rough, honestly."

"Tell me about it."

The matter of Park Siyu and Yu Chaeyoung seemed more or less settled.

"So how much longer are you planning to hole up in that hotel room?"

"A while longer? Though I'd change my mind if you offered to let me crash at your place."

"Shut up, our place is too small."

"Wow, and here you have a yard and everything. I miss Songsong."

"Songsong doesn't miss you! Get lost!"

With the boss raid a week away, I was basically in standby mode.

A week was an awkward stretch of time, too short to bother going into a dungeon.

"What I mean is, what are you even doing holed up in a corner of that hotel room? Get outside at least once, you shut-in."

Despite how he looked, Choi Suhyun had a real workaholic streak.

Even after becoming an Association employee, the workload Choi Suhyun handled was never small.

On the surface, sure, he looked like he was just relaxing.

No, actually, this seemed like a bigger problem than I thought.

Choi Suhyun clearly wasn't happy about me staying holed up in a hotel room and never coming out.

That guy had to have been someone's mom in a past life, no question.

Ugh, such a nag.

"The temple."

"The temple? Soter's?"

"Bit complicated to explain, but there's a lot going on at the temple."

"The god Soter even has a temple?"

"Of course!"

Honestly, that was half true and half not.

Since I did have a crumbling dimension to my name, a temple had to exist somewhere.

I just didn't know where it was.

Well, either way, as long as I could throw out some vague excuse involving temples or dimensions, that was good enough.

"Well, hang in there. Just don't slack off, that's all I ask."

Judging by his tone, Choi Suhyun seemed to already know I'd been slipping in and out of the god Soter's temple.

Hadn't he treated it as nothing serious even that time Noona Eunyoung made a huge fuss and stormed into my place?

It felt awkward to even ask when he'd figured it out.

"I'll be back before the raid, don't worry."

"Yeah, alright. Got it."

Judging that he had no standing to stop me from entering the temple, Choi Suhyun accepted it without further argument.

[Faillia Duke's House]

Escorting caravans, exploring dungeons, solving murder cases. You've taken on requests from the guild master and resolved a variety of incidents across the capital. Several mercenaries recognize your face, showing curiosity and praising the achievements you've built up.

I don't need this! Just tell me why you called me to the capital!

Finally, a summons from the guild master. Wait, didn't this happen last time too? Hm, something about this feels off. Maybe I should just make a run for it.

Floor: 11

Objective: Complete the guild master's request alongside a companion.

Reward: Merit points [30,000p]

(Floor 11 administrator authority)

The noisy scene of the mercenary guild had become familiar territory by now.

I raised a hand toward a passing server.

"Can I get your order?"

"One dark ale."

I flashed the gold plate in my pocket, just a glimpse.

Thanks to the gold plate issued in the guild master's name, I could use most of the guild's facilities free of charge.

Honestly, a pretty minor perk in the grand scheme of things.

"Huh? Wait, that actually works? I heard you needed a party for that. Why's that... oh, get me a dark ale too."

A woman with short hair placed her order with the server.

The server nodded and turned to leave.

The woman sitting across from me and I locked eyes.

She tilted her head slightly and looked at me.

"That's exactly what I wanted to ask you."

Looking at the woman, I tilted my head too.

She'd just used the word "party."

Judging from that word alone, there was a real chance she was a challenger from outside the tower, same as Yu Jihan.

I'd come to my senses in the guild lobby plenty of times before, but this was the first time someone had already been sitting across from me.

If she'd just happened to sit down in an empty seat while passing by, there was no way I wouldn't have noticed.

Which meant this woman had appeared alongside me from the very moment I came to.

The woman crossed her arms and legs.

"Guess I wasn't the only one who tried to sneak solo into a party floor. No wonder something felt off."

Party floor? Come to think of it, the status window had mentioned something about a companion.

I just hadn't expected that to mean a companion from outside the tower.

Looking me up and down, the woman held out her hand.

"Name's Lee Eunyheui. Ah, just call me Yuri inside the tower. The folks here can't seem to pronounce it right for some reason. So what's your name?"

Just as expected, Lee Eunyheui was a challenger from outside the tower.

Even knowing the time and space in here was twisted, I hadn't expected to actually meet another human from outside the tower, and my mind went completely blank.

What should I introduce myself as?

"Yu Jihan."

Screw it, whatever happens happens.

Footnotes:

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