Chapter 244

Kwon Jein’s only blood relative left, her nephew Kwon Lena

Aside from the fact that she’s related by blood to Kwon Jein, Kwon Lena was a good child and an outstanding student.

Whenever the team members of the Lake of Eternity quarreled over the drink that Kwon Lena made personally, she always makes some more for everyone.

And with the incident with Kwon Jein and the fake health checkup, rather than questioning the team doctor’s poor acting, who couldn’t act properly even though he doesn’t have to say anything, she was worried first.

Whenever it crosses Kwon Jein’s mind that this kind-hearted child suffers from her past mistakes and carelessness, her heart gets torn to pieces.

‘I’ve been worried sick when I heard of the incident at the nursery.’

Not too long ago, Kwon Lena suddenly canceled all her lesson appointments.

From her investigation, she found out that Kwon Lena ran into an accident with a service company while volunteering at the Eungwang Light Nursery.

Under normal circumstances, Lena could’ve chosen to run away with Min Geurin, but she stayed there for her friend.

Although she’s proud of Kwon Lena’s bravery in protecting her friend, as her only family, Kwon Jein was inevitably worried.

Jared Lee and the other overprotective team members, upon hearing that the situation was resolved, carried around the “Lena’s Music Study Plan.”

Kwon Jein also imagined living a cozy and safe life abroad with Kwon Lena, but she must’ve decided to put that thought aside for now.

‘Lena’s classmates are watching her.’

Kwon Lena, who was performing on stage for the first time, was very nervous.

She glanced at her classmates and took a deep breath, and she soon felt some ease.

After regaining her usual pace, Kwon Lena looked at Kwon Jein and gave a small nod.

‘…I’ll pay more attention to Lena’s safety from now on. Studying abroad should be our last resort only.”

Kwon Jein doesn’t have much say in it.

Kwon Jein vowed that if ever Kwon Lena gets hurt again, she’d find it out sooner and help her personally.

* * *

The atmosphere changed when Kwon Jein began to glide her bow against the violin strings.

The violin transmitted her energy wave and the energy violin gave off a unique sound that resonated clearly throughout the hall.

When Kwon Jein played through a verse, everyone seemed to be stunned by her breathtaking skills.

The performance itself was beautiful, but many people were surprised by the song selection.

‘This is the impromptu song that Jein played at the beach during the youth retreat incident!’

The legendary song spread through the internet thanks to Mon Saeron.

It reached an incredible number of views and even topped the charts of the streaming site where Moon Saeron uploaded it.

Many people complained because the music was unreleased.

Many of Kwon Jein’s musician fans released cover versions of her impromptu song, but everyone felt that they could not revive the feeling and emotions of the original version.

Everyone thought that the reason why a studio version of the song wasn’t released was that not even Kwon Jein herself could recreate her own emotions as she stood in front of the enormous waves.

But as of this moment, Kwon Jein is perfectly conveying every emotion that she felt that day.

‘This is how Kwon Jein felt that night.’

A firm will that stood tall even in the face of a wall of sea, yet a faint fear felt at the sight of the crazy waves.

A frosty heart that suddenly felt doubt and confusion.

Relaying Kwon Jein’s emotions, the performance gave an uneasy feeling.

That unease was recreated through the carefully chosen chords and notes.

Soon, Kwon Lena’s performance also began.

‘It’s like they’re speaking through the violin.’

With a message of trust, respect, and support, Kwon Lena did her best at playing the violin.

Her technique was still far short of Kwon Jein’s, but her performance didn’t feel unskilled at all.

Rather, Kwon Lena’s immature yet friendly tone stabilized and added depth to Kwon Jein’s playing.

When the performance reached the point where the wall of sea seem to be confronting the two…

‘Oh?’

At the back of the stage appeared a water screen.

The video taken by Moon Saeron on the day of the retreat was projected clearly on a screen made of water.

And then…

Fwaaa…!

Kwon Jein’s light skill, the Lullaby’s Hum, was activated and the surface of the water began to sing.

As if dancing on the water screen, the water droplets reflected the light from the projector, creating a dreamy atmosphere.

While the audience suppressed their exclamations and admired the water droplets, the performance reached its peak.

‘This is…!’

The scenery in front changed for a moment.

Before I knew it, we were at Seokmo Island.

We were facing the huge sea wall and the enemies rushing through it.

I blinked my eyes.

The fantasy created by the energy wave captivated the audience in a flash, and the performance of the two people reached its end.

‘The energy wave that we felt just now… Considering the light skill of that energy wave’s owner, I could guess exactly who was behind it…’

Kwon Jein wore her blue dress and platinum hair cuffs.

In contrast, Kwon Lena wore a platinum dress and her hair was fixed with a royal blue sapphire ribbon.

The two also looked at each other with surprised faces after the performance.

It’s as if the two of them had not expected it too.

It’s because the illusion that occurred just now was induced by Kwon Lena’s light skill “Banquet of Illusions.”

I’m sure now that the illusion was caused by Kwon Lena’s light skill, but there’s something wrong.

‘Kwon Lena’s light skill wasn’t this strong in the game!’

The Nation’s Failed Game PMH had a poor balance of skills between the characters.

And the playable character “Lee Lena” was a fairly weak one.

Her basic skills were low, her other skills were more subtle, and her light skill was basically useless.

Her light skill “Banquet of Illusions” has the ability to draw a designated person into an illusion for a very short time, but there was very little use for that skill.

It’s a weak point that the skill duration was short, but due to the weak implementation of the illusions, the enemy can usually notice quickly that they’re inside one.

When an enemy releases its energy wave, the illusion can easily be broken.

At its best, it can only confuse low-rarity enemies.

‘Could it be… Is Kwon Lena’s light skill the same type as Kwon Jein’s?’

Kwon Jein’s light skill has little use without her violin performance.

If she’s not playing the violin, her energy wave would do nothing except make some ripples on the surface of the water.

‘…The “Lee Lena” in the game didn’t learn violin, so perhaps that’s why she couldn’t make full use of her abilities.’

After the performance and the short illusion were over, the hall turned quiet.

The audience still seems to be fascinated by both.

I decided to help out my obviously embarrassed playable character.

Clap clap clap!

Breaking the silence, I stood up from my seat and gave a loud applause.

As if they had come to their senses, the kids in our class started to clap followed by a sporadic standing ovation from everyone.

“I’m surprised. Even Yong Jegun and I became caught up in that short illusion.”

Hwang Jiho spoke with his eyes shining in admiration!

As expected, my playable character blossomed with her hidden talent!

We applauded generously before sitting down to hear the next performance.

After that, Kwon Jein’s solo performance led to tonight’s main event.

The two have played ‘for LENA’ as an encore song.

Kwon Lena’s “Banquet of Illusions” did not activate again, but everyone had a fantastical time with the performance of the two violinists.

* * *

We were on our way home from hanging out all night on our last day on Joo-Oh Island.

Due to fatigue, I wanted to quickly go back to the dorms and rest.

However, I was conflicted because I also felt that it’d be quite a waste.

Perhaps having the same sentiments, the other kids suggested that we lay on the sunbeds on top of Cheonja and share some stories.

I didn’t have the energy, but I felt sorry so I still chose to chat with everyone.

The topic of our conversation was Kwon Lena.

“Lena’s performance yesterday was amazing…”

“Sunbaenim told me she’d give me an autographed CD if she releases one!”

“I wish Lena’s autograph is there too.”

Meanwhile, Lena mentioned our classmate who was second to the most noticeable yesterday.

“…Is Wooram still unconscious?”

“Yeah… He hasn’t woken up since he fainted.”

Immediately after the first performance, Mok Wooram was already overwhelmed with emotion and his life points seemed to have already reached zero.

Still, Mok Wooram endured it.

It’s because Lena stood on the stage to perform again.

As expected, there was a duet performance of the song “for LENA.”

When the song was over, Mok Wooram passed out while giving a standing ovation.

He seemed to have been suffocated by a great torrent of inspiration.

“The illusion that Lena showed was cool enough to make anyone faint. It’s understandable.”

Hani viewed Mok Wooram’s fainting in that light.

Although Hani couldn’t fully enjoy the concert because of her hearing, she was greatly impressed by the stage directed by Kwon Jein on the water screen and the illusion shown by Kwon Lena.

Hani actively asked us how the two’s performances went and that’s how she enjoyed the concert.

Hani asked Hwang Jiho how he felt, and he answered.

— It’s a wonderful performance that I wish to listen to with an old friend.

It was the highest praise that could come from the arrogant and picky Hwang Jiho, but Hani doesn’t know it.

Hani seemed to regret asking Hwang Jiho because she couldn’t understand the nonsense that came from the Jiho who still acts like an old man.

Hwang Jiho seem to have understood Hani’s thoughts from her expression, but he just smiled.

On the way back, the very happy Jiho looked like he had no care for anything else in the world.

“It’s a pity that the Cheonja is not on this ship.”

(T/N: Jiho used the word Cheonja to mean Son of God.)

“Eh? Isn’t this ship called Cheonja already?”

“Hahaha!”

I wonder what’s wrong with that old man.

Cheonja or the Son of God, is Gong Cheonghwon.

I knew what he meant, but did he really need to say that in front of our classmates?

Hani also looked at Jiho with a face that says, “What’s with that guy?”

* * *

As the kids got closer to home, Kim Yuri’s mood gradually became depressed.

Immediately after being discharged from the hospital, she was able to have so much fun with her classmate that it slipped her mind about what was going to happen once she was home.

Now, once Kim Yuri arrives home, she’d be alone.

‘Mom… Dad…’

Her father was in the hospital and her mother was in nursing care.

What makes matters worse is that she can’t ask the two of them to return home with her knowing that she has the kind of light skill that could hurt them.

And she feels sorry to call over her tired classmates.

‘Should I go to a café? Or maybe I could meet with a teacher? Maybe I should invite the people that Jiho said would keep an eye on me.’

Kim Yuri’s worries deepened.

Just as she was deep in her thoughts, Yuri opened the door to her home.

‘…The living room lights are on?’

Not only were the living room lights on.

The scent of her mother’s favorite chamomile tea oozed from the kitchen.

“Mom! Dad!”

Kim Yuri hurriedly took off her shoes at the front door, threw her bag, and immediately ran to the living room.

Her mother seemed to want to nag at her for doing so, but Yuri didn’t care at all.

She thought how nice it would be to hear her mother’s nostalgic nagging.

“You’re home, Yuri?”

On the living room sofa was Kim Yuri’s father who looked very thin but smiled brightly nonetheless.

Kim Yuri approached her father with a smile.

* * *

After arriving at Incheon port, the students who live in the dorms were picked up by a Hwangmyeong Foundation shuttle.

Some of the First Year Class Zero students headed to the dormitory.

Mok Wooram was taken to the nurse’s office, Saeum of April went home to his parent’s house, Maeng Hyodon went to Tak Geosan to continue his training.

All that remained were me, Hani, and Kwon Lena.

“See you next time!”

“We’ll be going now.”

At the freshmen dormitory building.

Hani and Kwon Lena, who got off the elevator first, bid goodbye.

The kids from the other classes got on a different elevator, so after Hani and Lena got off, I was the only one left inside.

Being alone after a very long time, I started to have a lot of thoughts.

To redirect my thoughts in a useful direction, I decided to contemplate what I had just observed recently.

‘I think Kwon Lena’s using an energy violin already, so why is she carrying around a violin case?’

The energy violin and the energy bow can be transformed into item cards, so a violin case isn’t really necessary.

Ding!

Before I could contemplate further, the elevator reached my floor.

“Hello, Euishin-ah.”

As soon as the door opened, I heard from someone who seemed to have been waiting for me.

“Can I talk to you?”

It was the playful man from the Dragon Clan, Yong Jegun.