Possessor #2 Just Wants to Fangirl Chapter 18

Ragged breathing came from above.

Yeon Sora had fallen asleep.

Only then did Yeom Juwan lower the blanket covering his face.

‘Why am I being so stupid?’

A longtime friend awakened outstanding talent.

He should properly congratulate her, but every time he tried to smile, his facial muscles wouldn’t move as if paralyzed.

He… hated himself so much for that.

His ugly self who couldn’t sincerely wish for his friend’s good fortune.

‘Am I jealous?’

Maybe that’s what it is.

Yeon Sora had always been weaker than him.

Now episodes only occur during intense exercise, but as a child, Yeon Sora would collapse without warning constantly.

Yeom Juwan had been taking care of Yeon Sora like that since he was 5 years old. From the very first day they met at daycare.

At first, he’d cared for her out of necessity.

Whenever playtime came, the teachers would guide Yeom Juwan and Yeon Sora to a corner. Then, along with words like ‘You two play here together,’ they’d hand over the best toys.

The two of them had been quarantine subjects.

Yeon Sora because her body was weak, Yeom Juwan because he was a child with poor social skills.

Yeon Sora would fidget and collapse at every turn, and each time, Yeom Juwan would cover her with a blanket and call for a teacher.

As that repeated, before he knew it, Yeon Sora had come to follow him around like a baby chick.

It could have been bothersome… but he didn’t dislike it.

Because it was the first time.

That someone needed him.

— Our princess!!!!

He remembers the day he first met Yeon Sora’s father as if it were yesterday.

The man, handsome as a sculpture, had run up and hugged Yeon Sora tightly the moment he saw her.

Hugging and shaking her wildly, then making a fuss about whether the excessive embrace might have hurt the child—he was every bit the fool.

That sight… made him feel spiteful for no reason.

— You must be Yeom Juwan? I hear you watch over our princess every day? Thank you!

So when the fool man reached out his hand, Yeom Juwan growled.

— Fuck off.

Normal adults would hesitate when hearing those words. Then they’d force a laugh and draw a line saying ‘You mustn’t say such things.’

But the fool man didn’t do that.

— Hahaha! That’s right! If you’re the knight protecting our princess, you should have at least this much toughness!

He knew what a knight was.

Heroes from fairy tales.

Brave beings who wielded great swords and protected the weak.

‘Isn’t he an idiot?’

It was exactly the kind of thing a fool man would say.

But… he didn’t dislike it.

It was the first time being called something like that.

Until coming to daycare, Yeom Juwan had thought his name was ‘parasite.’

Knight sounded better than parasite.

— Sir Knight! I entrust our princess to you from now on!

The fool man smiled and stroked Yeom Juwan’s head.

That touch was so gentle, that warmth was so comforting… tears came out without him realizing.

‘I can’t cry!’

If he cried, he’d have to sleep on the bathroom floor.

It was the dead of winter.

Even though it was the same floor, the temperature of the bathroom floor and the living room floor were completely different.

He absolutely mustn’t cry… but no matter how much he wiped, the tears wouldn’t stop.

It was strange since he wasn’t even sad.

— Oh no, how! Mister isn’t a bad person! I’m Yeon Sora’s dad, her dad!

The fool man withdrew his hand in confusion, but Yeom Juwan grabbed that hand and placed it back on top of his head.

Outside was too cold.

He wanted to feel that warm body heat even a little longer.

Even if it meant being locked in the bathroom forever…

Seeing the child rubbing his own head while crying, the fool man had asked with a serious face.

— Where are your parents?

After that, Yeom Juwan’s life flowed in a completely different direction.

The fool man rescued Yeom Juwan from hell and brought him to a warm home.

— From now on, we’re family for life!

He gained a new family.

And someone he needed to care for his whole life.

— Really, I don’t know how fortunate we are to have Juwan!

Even as she aged, Yeon Sora’s episodes didn’t disappear, and Yeom Juwan willingly volunteered to become her caretaker.

Thanks to getting permission from the school, he could protect her in the same class, right next to her.

3 years of daycare, 6 years of elementary school, 3 years of middle school.

He’d watched over her from the closest distance for a full 12 years.

It could have been bothersome… but he didn’t dislike it.

As long as she was there, he wasn’t a parasite.

He was a hero who protected the weak.

That Yeon Sora… he’d almost lost today.

When the monster’s vicious claws seized Yeon Sora, all the blood in his body froze.

If Yeon Sora disappeared, would he have to go back?

Back to that cold, dark place…

A huge hole opened in his heart, and a bottomless abyss appeared.

Before that abyss could swallow him, he decided he’d burn this shitty world down.

Whoooosh!

That’s how Yeom Juwan awakened.

But the world was never easy.

Yeom Juwan’s flames couldn’t properly burn the monster before his eyes, let alone the world.

KA-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Then, the ground shook.

A roar loud enough to burst eardrums.

Spine-chilling power.

Flames blazing with terrifying momentum.

The one who manifested this overwhelming ability was… Yeon Sora.

The being he’d always protected had this time protected him.

— I’m going too.

Having awakened a new ability, Yeon Sora did something unlike herself.

In the past 12 years, she’d never stepped forward in front of others…

Yeon Sora displayed her ability without panicking even in the middle of the outbreak.

Yeom Juwan, right next to her, could do nothing but hand over potions.

It was unfamiliar.

So powerless.

Suddenly his windpipe constricted.

The solid ground beneath his feet crumbled and a cliff opened up.

Beyond the cliff was a chilling abyss with no visible bottom.

From inside that abyss came a bone-chillingly cold voice.

You’re not needed anymore.

Yeom Juwan tried hard to ignore that voice.

His new family cherished him.

They wouldn’t abandon him at this point.

Until now he’d been useful. Did you really think you were actual family? You don’t share blood, do you?

Until now, Yeom Juwan had a role. The role of caring for Yeon Sora.

If that role disappeared, what would his new family do?

Would they still treat him warmly like now?

He didn’t want to know the answer.

At least not yet…

— Yeon Sora!

So when Yeon Sora collapsed, Yeom Juwan felt relieved.

He was still useful.

At the same time, he hated himself for feeling relieved.

Wasn’t this like wishing for something bad to happen to Yeon Sora?

‘It’s okay, I’m not useless… I’ll get stronger…’

He muttered as if chanting a prayer, but his heart wouldn’t calm down.

In the end, Yeom Juwan couldn’t sleep a wink until dawn.

* * *

I’m currently confused in many ways. The reason being…

Yeom Juwan has changed!

The day after the awakening test, Yeom Juwan went out at the crack of dawn to run and came back.

Even more,

“Mother, could I… attend a gym for just a few days? I want to build up my stamina as much as possible before enrollment.”

When he made this request to Mother, my eyes nearly popped out.

Yeom Juwan is a character with no connection to grinding effort.

Constantly skipping class, barely passing exams. That Yeom Juwan is now running every dawn and investing half his day in strength training.

My baby, what’s wrong?

Do you know this is character collapse?

Of course, I have an inkling of the reason.

If anything deviates from the original work, there’s only one reason.

Butterfly effect.

Yup, the cause is none other than me!

Seeing Yeon Sora, who’s like a sibling, demonstrate a calamity-class skill must have been quite the shock.

Is this some kind of sibling rivalry?

‘Still, well… it’s a good thing.’

In the original work, Yeom Juwan didn’t even attend properly for the first 2 months after enrollment.

I’d thought he rejected the world because of his unfortunate home environment, but now I know the real reason.

He’d been holed up in his room traumatized by Yeon Sora’s death.

Gyeon Junhwi coaxed him into attending class later, but because he completely wasted half a semester, his early growth had been slow.

But the current Yeom Juwan is training with venom even before enrollment.

He’ll get that much stronger, right? Then I should cheer him on!

I want to enthusiastically wave my lightstick shouting ‘My baby, do everything you want!’ but there’s one problem with that.

‘I’m bored!’

The point is that Yeom Juwan won’t play with me at all.

I should go touring the Tower, Tower touring!

From the moment I possessed, I had my fan pilgrimage list all laid out!

When the test ends, exactly one week of rest period is given until enrollment.

I tried to spend that time as fruitfully as possible, but every time I suggest going out to play, Yeom Juwan says this with the world’s most serious face:

“Sorry. I… want to get stronger.”

That look in his eyes is too serious to throw a tantrum over.

The soft persimmon eyes had somehow become hard dried persimmon.

I was going to hold hands with my baby and go play around together hahaha… I really wanted to…

‘Can’t be helped.’

I decided to tearfully grant Yeom Juwan his freedom.

Right, I can do fan pilgrimages alone!

…Or so I thought, but that wasn’t the case.

“Where are you going?”

Because of the quartet of elderly people blocking the entrance.

I’d snuck out thinking no one was in the living room, but while putting on my shoes, the grandparents and maternal grandparents set appeared like the Four Heavenly Kings guarding the door. Fluttering their white hair like martial arts masters.

“I’m just going to the convenience store for a moment.”

“Where’s the money coming from?”

“Window shopping.”

“Go with Juwan when he comes back.”

I knew Yeon Sora was a sickly beauty, but I hadn’t factored the family’s overprotectiveness into my calculations.

Yeon Sora is only permitted to go out when Yeom Juwan accompanies her.

Without a guardian, they won’t even let her go to the apartment playground.

This is practically house arrest level.

“Um, my stamina has increased a lot since awakening…”

“Still, you can’t go without a guardian.”

“I’ll really be careful…”

“Cough! Cough! If I say no, then no… Cough!”

Here it comes!

The Four Heavenly Kings’ secret technique—the respect your elders skill!

A skill that demonstrates declining bodily functions like trembling joints and weak bronchial tubes while appealing that there aren’t many days left to live.

Descendants of Confucius are helpless against this skill, and unfortunately, I was someone raised as a Confucian girl for 24 years.

“Hahh, my back hurts. Let’s go back inside.”

“…Yes.”

I had no choice but to obediently get dragged back inside the house, but I’m not one to give up.

I absolutely must tour the Tower no matter what.

I can’t become a pathetic existence who can’t even explore the world I possessed into!

I’ll succeed, on the name of a possessor!

‘The straightforward method won’t work.’

Having returned to my room, I decided to immediately execute my next plan.

If sneaking out doesn’t work, I should borrow the power of authority.

“Should I mention this to Vice Guild Master Ha Seonwoo?”

I muttered toward the empty air where no one was present.

I’m Ha Seonwoo’s special management target.

If the words ‘Ha Seonwoo’ or ‘Vice Guild Master’ come out of my mouth, he’ll contact me.

Then I’ll say ‘Something came to mind about the bug!’ and suggest meeting.

Phoenix Guild’s guild hall is located on the Tower’s 1st floor, so to meet Ha Seonwoo, I have to go to the Tower.

In other words, it means I’ll be able to see the Tower!

Hehehe, as expected, desperation makes the brain work well.

As I’m grinning while intoxicated with self-admiration—

|Ha Seonwoo| Are you busy today by any chance?

A DM arrived.

Fast.

This is practically genie-in-a-lamp level, isn’t it?

|Ha Seonwoo| I have something to ask, could you come to the guild hall today?

He’s even sending me an invitation first without me needing to scheme.

|Yeon Sora| Is something wrong?

|Ha Seonwoo| It’s not something to discuss over DM. If your schedule’s okay, I’ll send a car to your house

This sounds like he has real business?

When I rifled through my memories a bit, I had an inkling.

Come to think of it, I’d placed an outsourcing request with Ha Seonwoo.

To investigate the bug’s background.

The results must already be out.