Possessor #2 Just Wants to Fangirl Chapter 173

My prediction that Junhwi would neatly sort everything out if I just brought back the apples was thoroughly wrong.

Because of the newly obtained information. The fairy said this:

— Two of the three cause war and discord, and only one brings peace!

— Only a human who reads the great goddess’s will can taste it!

Two apples are destruction endings, only one is the happy ending.

The one who reads the goddess’s will must choose for the correct answer.

At a glance, it seems like I, the quest participant, should step forward, but there’s a high possibility it’s a trap.

‘Because Junhwi said it’s dangerous.’

In a world where legends, myths, and fairytales actually manifest, a princess syndrome patient eating an apple is insane.

Plus my instincts are also madly broadcasting danger signals.

I’m certain this is peak frustration.

‘No matter how you look at it, they’re all the same material, right?’

Can’t forget this.

<On the Brink of Destruction> is the universe’s strongest frustration land! Even the ending is Romeo and Juliet-tier missed connections.

If I thoughtlessly eat an apple, I could sleep until the finale. Entirely possible there’s a development where I wake up to find my babies as cold corpses beside me.

That’s our author’s taste.

Therefore, Yeon Sora is out.

I have to support either Hyeonmin or Junhwi… but strangely, I can’t blindly support Junhwi like usual.

Discomfort? Unease? Repulsion?

I don’t know what to call this feeling, but an unidentifiable hunch is blocking me.

‘Should I approach this logically then?’

What does Gyeon Junhwi need?

Junhwi’s failure wasn’t from lack of power. It’s not like my baby’s brain needs wisdom either. He won’t even glance at love.

Hmm, the logic’s already stuck.

What could be the correct answer…. As I unconsciously turned my head, the monument came into my view.

————==

What do you truly desire?

————==

What I want is simple.

Defeat the masterminds! Prevent destruction! Enjoy academy life!

But they won’t grant it even if I ask, yet it keeps loitering in my vision irritatingly, something welled up inside me.

Just then, there happened to be a pebble at my feet, so I kicked it toward the monument.

Roll roll— Thunk! Thunk! Roll roll—

The rolling pebble caught on something and changed direction.

When I approached, a mana pen was lying on the ground. The object Go Daesik used when scribbling translations on the monument.

‘He’s really careless….’

I should return it, but since I picked it up anyway, let me try using it once. I clicked the cap open and drew a small line on the monument.

Swiiish—.

What is this satisfaction? Strangely exhilarating? Is this why humans do graffiti?

After drawing a few lines, I even wrote some phrases, and it made me feel a bit better.

————==

The earth goddess (earth = dirt = dust collection) bestows a blessing upon the human who has come this far.

You will be allowed to taste the god’s gift for just one bite (only giving one kills the vibe!) so choose carefully. (We heard when you gave your son a knife and he castrated his husband, felt ick since then) What do you truly desire? (Will you grant it if I tell you?)

————==

Petty revenge dot!

I was nodding my head in satisfaction when footsteps came from behind. I whirled around startled to find Juwan.

“What are you doing?”

“Just? Simple artistic activity?”

I hurriedly hid the pen and blocked the monument with my body as much as possible.

“The discussion? Already done?”

“No, Seong Hayul told me to come check if you’re causing trouble.”

During this brief exchange, Juwan had already confirmed the graffiti and let out a sound that was half chuckle, half sigh.

“What if you get divine punishment for this?”

“The foundation of art is freedom of expression! A god who punishes for this kind of thing is….”

“Let’s erase it.”

“Okay.”

I obediently handed over the pen.

The mana pen can only be erased with the special rubber attached to its end, but the eraser was too worn down.

“With this much, I think we can only erase about half….”

“Then how about erasing only part of it? For example, ‘We heard when you gave your son a knife and he castrated his husband’ is factual even in mythology? If we just erase the latter part….”

All my earnestly proposed opinions were rejected. Juwan squeezed the eraser and started rubbing away all the sentences, but it seemed to take considerable effort, making me feel sorry.

“I’ll do it. Don’t you need to go back?”

“No, it’s fine.”

“Why? Didn’t you want the apple?”

Honestly, I was inwardly surprised earlier.

The paragon of yielding, baby angel Yeom Juwan actively appealed that he wanted to eat the apple. Even comparing his and Ki Hyeonmin’s strengths and weaknesses.

But those fiercely burning eyes have now returned to soft persimmon.

“Juwan, does being near the golden apple make your eyes go crazy?”

“Huh?”

“Like a One Ring passive. When you see the apple, you desperately want it, want to go alone into a cave and hold the apple, that kind of thing?”

Just in case, I asked, but Juwan’s hesitation makes me uneasy.

“Is there really something? Auditory hallucinations? Visual hallucinations? Do you have to hide it from me? Does the apple tell you not to play with me?”

“That’s not it… it just feels like I’d lose my way.”

“Way?”

“……”

Juwan deliberately turned his head sharply and worked hard at rubbing the graffiti. After moving his hand wordlessly for a while, only when he reached the irritating phrase did he open his mouth.

“That’s not what I really want.”

“What you want?”

“Actually… if I ate the apple, it seemed like it would help keep our promise. So I got greedy… but I didn’t even notice you’d disappeared.”

There’s only one promise between us.

The promise to die on the same day at the same time.

The promise I hammered in firmly with ‘if you die, I die too’ to seal Juwan’s devoted spirit of sacrifice.

However,

Zzt—

At the word ‘promise,’ something like electricity tingled at my fingertips. While a strange hunch seeped through my body, Juwan continued speaking.

“That’s not what I truly want, right? The apple is just a means, being together is the goal… but before I knew it, I was enchanted by the apple and forgot the goal.”

“Right! That’s it!!!!!”

I jumped to my feet without realizing.

Because the answer was in Juwan’s words. Thanks to that, puzzles that had been scattered separately fit together neatly.

The earth goddess.

Harvest the seed.

Yeon Sora cannot eat it.

What I truly desire….

Finally, I could see the correct answer. But considerable pushback is expected, so I need an ally.

“Juwan, help me! It’s absolutely necessary!”

“What are you going to do?”

“Will you decide after hearing?”

I pleaded briefly but hesitated, when Juwan chuckled and shook his head.

“No.”

* * *

‘A solo operation with Juwan for the first time!!!!’

But excitement is forbidden. I pulled out supplies from my inventory as calmly as possible.

On a plastic box the size of a briefcase, cheesy font reads:

[Treasure Hunter Kit]

A kit with various tools needed for treasure hunting, but they didn’t have stock at the beginning of the semester.

That’s why Juwan looked shocked.

“When did you buy this? Was there stock left?”

“I asked the Broadcasting Club president to lend me one and he said just take it.”

“He just gave it to you?”

“He said it was hard to dispose of?”

During enrollment season, half the freshmen are filled with hope like ‘what if I find treasure?’ But after just two weeks, everyone adapts to reality and sells off their kits.

With so many items overflowing, used kits can’t even be disposed of as clearance… but that’s not what’s important.

“Let’s start!”

Juwan and I departed.

To where the golden apples are!

The apples were stored in Seong Hayul’s special basket, with the fairy standing guard right beside them.

A little distance away, team members sat in a circle examining materials and scribbles Go Daesik had spread on the ground.

“The important thing here is that all three goddesses could bring the golden apple anytime. Hera received it as a wedding gift, right? She has no reason to bribe a human to assert ownership.”

“Then Athena?”

“She returned Heracles’s apple to the garden.”

“Right, Athena can also access the garden anytime. Aphrodite also gave Atalanta three golden apples according to myth, so…. This isn’t the gods’ test but humanity’s test is how we should interpret….”

They’re in the middle of compiling various myths and evidence to reach the most careful conclusion. I was a bit surprised that even Hyeonmin is actively speaking….

“…!”

At that moment, I made eye contact with Ki Hyeonmin.

His eyes seem to be asking ‘what are you up to now this time,’ so I dangled the treasure hunter kit.

Then I approached the fairy guarding the apples.

“Give me one apple.”

“Why?”

“I want to polish it a bit.”

“……”

“I brought it anyway, right? And I absolutely won’t eat it. It’s dangerous if I eat it.”

The fairy reluctantly held out one apple.

I pulled out a brush from the kit and dusted it here and there like a feather duster, then checked with Juwan.

“How is it?”

“I can’t really tell the difference?”

“You can feel the hand oils.”

“Don’t hand oils make it dirtier?”

I’ve been keeping my ears perked, but I only hear Go Daesik and Seong Hayul’s voices. Meaning Junhwi and Hyeonmin are busy eavesdropping on this conversation.

“Hmm, is it because it’s a brush used for finding bones? Let’s try something else!”

I pulled out other tools from the kit and waited while earnestly playing house with Juwan.

Shortly after, I heard sounds of Junhwi and Hyeonmin communicating with Go Daesik. Both must be thinking ‘Yeon Sora being Yeon Sora again.’

‘Stage 1 success!’

Now I need to handle the guardian fairy. Because she’ll sound the alarm seeing what we’re doing to the apples.

The fairy handling method is surprisingly simple.

“You want to try too, right?”

I pulled out the brush and waved it in front of the fairy, making her cross her arms and hmph!

“Why would I do such childish things?”

“Ey, your eyes say otherwise. You’re pretending you don’t while secretly wanting to try.”

“I don’t!!!”

Pop!

The fairy turns to powder when she lies. Since Hyeonmin can hear my voice, I used this move instead of threats.

‘Now!!’

Reading my lip movements, Juwan pulled out a shovel from the kit and started digging the ground. Meanwhile, I put the golden apple on the ground and used the dagger like a guillotine to split it in half.

CRACK!!

With a satisfying sound, the apple split.

Strangely, there’s only one seed. Plus mysteriously, the split flesh bruised like a peach and rotted to mush in an instant.

I only collected the seed and immediately grabbed the next apple.

CRACK!!

I have to handle this quickly before getting caught. Now I picked up the last apple and placed the blade on it, when—

“…?”

The knife won’t move. Something is gripping my wrist. Moving my gaze, Hyeonmin is glaring at me.

“What are you doing?”

As expected, he’s fast.

But this is also within the expected range.

“Sora said she needs it.”

Juwan inserted himself between us and grabbed Hyeonmin’s wrist. While the two exchanged serious gazes, footsteps approached from the distance.

“What’s going on?”

“Yeon Sora again? Ki Hyeonmin! Stop her no matter what!”

Hyeonmin tried to grab me again, but Juwan blocked him. But if Ki Hyeonmin moves seriously, no one can stop him.

I looked at my baby with the most serious eyes I could muster.

“Hyeonmin, trust me.”

“……”

Hyeonmin’s pupils wavered.

He must be considering the cases where luck followed Yeon Sora’s bizarre actions.

That’s all I need from him.

A small lapse in vigilance.

CRACK!!!

I switched the dagger to my left hand and immediately brought it down on the apple. Hyeonmin’s pupils shook like crazy, but it’s already done, so there’s nothing to be done.

“Yeon Sora! You crazy bitch!!!!!”

“S-Sora, what… the, the love apple was….”

“N-no, humanity’s treasure!!!”

The kids who arrived late panicked, but our Junhwi was different. He’s looking at the hole we dug instead of the apples.

I answered Junhwi’s silent question.

“Right, I’m going to plant them.”

“You’re insane!!!!”

“This land makes trees grow fast, right?”

I put the three seeds into the three graves and covered them with dirt. After making dirt mounds and patting them down as finishing touches, I responded to Seong Hayul’s screaming.

“Why, there’s that saying, right? Don’t give kids fish but teach them how to fish.”

“That’s not it, you idiot! It’s not about the number, two of them are duds from the start and you have to get the correct answer!”

“Won’t we know when the trees come up? Two will rot to mush and only one will be fine.”

“How do you know that!”

“I know. Because the earth’s gift isn’t the fruit.”

The quest window said from the beginning.

Harvest the seed.

The earth’s gift isn’t the fruit. If you’re blinded by the golden apple’s splendor, you’ll miss the real gift. Not fighting over the fruit before your eyes, but planting the seed and waiting.

I gave that explanation, but she seems to find it hard to believe.

“That’s just speculation! Do you have solid evidence? What if we fail? Then we can’t get a single apple!”

“Then there’s nothing we can do.”

“Hey!!!”

“You also need to remember this if you’re going to stick with me going forward.”

I looked at Seong Hayul and spoke firmly.

This child will also have moments where she must choose someday, so it’s better to think about it in advance.

“Whether I succeed or fail, we all succeed together, and we all fail together.”

Beside Seong Hayul, Junhwi is frozen without a word. It’s already spilled milk, but he’s agonizing over whether this was really right.

Actually… I don’t really know either. As Seong Hayul said, I might have blown away a precious gift.

But that’s not what’s important.

Because I realized the identity of the discomfort I felt earlier.

The part I felt repulsion about, the reason I couldn’t support Junhwi.

“I hate piling everything onto one person.”

The person who produces the best results. The person with the most ability.

If you hand everything over to that person, the development is obvious.

Someone will sacrifice every crisis. When a strong enemy appears, everyone will join forces to push only one person forward. While saying things like ‘you’re our last hope!’

But….

Hope carried by one person isn’t hope. You can tell just by looking at Ki Hyeonmin’s final choice.

Finally, my gaze turned to Hyeonmin.

‘What I truly want is….’

Not catching the masterminds, not preventing destruction.

Those are just means.

The reason I possessed into this world was one from the beginning.

To change the ending.

So this must be made clear.

At least in the world where I’ve possessed….

“I will absolutely never leave only one person behind.”