Chapter 7
[Inauguration]
Eunha had initially planned to teach Euna how to handle mana slowly.
Over the course of a year, however, Eunha was forced to change his plans as Euna began to struggle with the increasing amount of mana.
Too much of anything is poison.
As I’ve said before, mana is the power that allows life to exist in tiny amounts.
Mana that is not controlled by the body can run amok, causing death or transforming into monsters that are beyond the scope of life.
Until now, Euna has been walking a tightrope by unconsciously releasing uncontrolled mana.
However, the amount of mana in her body increased by leaps and bounds when she entered elementary school, and it was not uncommon for it to leak out of her body, sometimes causing her to lose consciousness and collapse.
Even in his previous life, Euna had been weak. It was blur, but he remembered going to visit her in the hospital when he was younger.
He didn’t know her medical history at the time, but in his second life, he could now see that she was suffering from mana accumulation.
So he was looking for a chance to teach Euna how to handle mana.
As luck would have it, his older sister asked him to teach her how to handle mana first.
Of course, when her parents heard the story, they were very much against it at first. Partly because he was too young, but also because Euna’s condition had not been stabilized by hospital treatment.
That was understandable.
At this point, there was no specialized treatment for mana accumulation.
Simply pumping mana out of the body wasn’t enough to deal with the constant buildup of mana.
If Euna knew how to manipulate her mana, she could fix the underlying problem, but that would risk causing a mana explosion, and the hospital couldn’t do anything about it.
But in his second life, Eunha knew a method that hadn’t yet been established by the medical science of this era.
He was able to help Baekryeon, who was about to go into mana overdrive, manage her mana.
No matter how much mana Euna possessed, it was nothing compared to the awakened Baekryeon.
«Ugh, this is hard.»
«It requires constant direction and force, otherwise you’ll lose your balance and fall.»
Euna pouted her lips as she looked at the top toy. (E/N: Picture below!)
Right now, Euna was struggling with the delicate handling of mana.
She was born with the blessing of mana, but ironically, she had no sense of controlling it.
Perhaps it was inevitable.
She’d had a vast amount of mana since birth, and it would take time for her to get the hang of managing a small amount.
So Eunha devised top toy training, which, on the surface, seems to require only the ability to direct mana in a certain way, but is actually quite difficult.
You have to constantly apply the same force to mana, which is out of your control the moment it leaves your body, while trying to keep it moving in a certain direction.
If she was even slightly off balance, the top toy would topple over.
Moreover, Euna was in the midst of battling Eunha, who was not using mana.
«Go~ shoot!»
«Ugh~ that’s fatal.»
Euna’s pouting was futile.
This was not a trivial matter.
Unbeknownst to her, Eunha didn’t have enough mana left to spin her top toy indefinitely.
So he was using his shooter in the longest line, like fish in water.
«I win.»
«Ugh!»
The shooter had won again.
There was no way Euna would give up like this.
«One more time!»
«I can’t help it.»
Look at that.
Euna was competitive. It’s nice to see that she won’t give up until she wins.
However, he had to be careful because if Eunha took it lightly, he would keep playing all day long.
Even before the regression, he had learned how to take care of Baekryeon, but it was harder to make Euna feel better than Baek-ryeon.
«I wonder if Dad will join in!»
«Dad can’t. He’s worse than you.»
«Dad, go learn how to shoot again!»
«Don’t look down on Dad! Three, two, one! Go for it!»
«You’re not even using mana!»
«Hahaha, how about it, do you think you can beat daddy!»
I didn’t know who was the child and who was the adult.
She’s using mana, and he’s using shooters.
I feel sorry for noona.
Oh, I was just doing the same thing, well, it’s a draw.
«Eunha! What are you doing? Go, shoot! You have to push Dad!»
«…I can’t help it. Go!»
If this were a cartoon, the top toy would move the way I think it should.
Using mana is tiring. Phew.
Still, it was better than Euna getting exhausted. Eunha considered her remaining mana and launched the shooter.»
«Pincer attack, two of you!»
«You’re worse with a shooter!»
Dad and Euna were running with excitement.
Eunha, who had run out of mana, declared himself out of the game early and watched the confrontation.
She’s good at it now, too. She’s strong in practice.
«It’s like we have three kids instead of two.»
Even to his mom, who was watching the year-end entertainment awards, dad who interrupted the children’s play looked like a child.
«It’s almost time for next year…. Next year, Eunha will be six, and he’ll have to go to kindergarten, right?»
«I don’t have to go.»
«No, you have to»
My mom always respected my opinion, but she was firm about kindergarten.
She wanted him to get out and socialize with kids his own age, if only for a little while.
In the end, Eunha had finally caved and promised to go to kindergarten only next year, when he turned six.
And next year was already here.
It was now less than a month away. The year-end entertainment awards her mom was watching was the proof.
Kindergarten.
The thought of being stuck in the middle of a bunch of crying, noisy kids was horrifying. I wondered if I would be left behind in taking care of the children.
«Aaaah! I won!»
«Why is it bouncing! Why! Why! Why? One more time! One more time!»
It was just as loud on this side.
In the blink of an eye, Euna had beaten her father.
Ah, that’s how you win.
She’s doing well even without being told
Eunha thought to himself.
Euna had coated the area around the top toy with mana, so dad’s top toy couldn’t touch it and bounced off.
Coating an object’s surface with mana required even more control than spinning a top toy, which surprised him.
If you want to win, you have to do whatever it takes.
Euna was quick to pick up dad’s tricks.
Yeah, I’ll just pretend I didn’t see it.
«You two, come here now.»
«Is it already that time?»
Mom, who was watching a celebrity, changed the subject.
Dad, who was playing with Euna, finally looked up from the TV.
«Huh?»
Euna scratched her head as the screen switched to the end of the closing ceremony.
Ah, so it was now.
The countdown started with one minute left.
Eunha realized as he watched the screen transition to the end of the entertainment awards.
This was a moment that would go down in history.
The screen switched to show the night view of Seoul from above.
The city sparkled with colorful lights.
And in the midst of it all, a red pillar emitting an unusually strong light.
Filling the screen was a stone pathway. And an altar at the end of the path.
Jongmyo Shrine.
The sanctuary, a place where Joseon’s history was alive and well, and where monsters had never been allowed to approach, was showing its majesty.
[It’s finally the beginning of a new history!]
The reporter’s voice was filled with excitement. Even the sound of the helicopter’s propellers spinning couldn’t stop the reporter’s trembling.
He couldn’t help it.
Eunha’s heart was racing a he watched the screen.
High-ranking officials from the Mana Management Bureau emerged from the eastern side of the southern newspaper building, fully armed. They were divided at regular intervals and surrounded the left and right sides of Shinro.
Then, from the west side of the south gate, a woman with long, flowing hair walked out. Without the slightest hesitation, made her way to the path leading to the altar.
The officers of the Mana Administration knelt in reverence as she passed.
The camera view from above changed.
It was replaced by a close-up of her walking down the aisle.
«She’s beautiful…»
Euna said, releasing the breath she’d been holding.
Her mother, father, and anyone else who knew her could only nod.
The woman took a step, then another, slowly, as if to make her presence felt, but never hesitated, moving forward in a straight line.
The sound of the helicopter’s propellers and the reporter’s intense breathing were too far away to be heard, and only the sound of each ringing sound filled the screen with clarity.
The hem of her dress swayed with each step. The way the red dress fluttered in the night breeze, almost touching the floor, was mysterious.
The waistline of the dress was unrealistic enough to make anyone swoon.
The camera angle gradually moved from the bottom to the top.
When the side of her face came into view, her hair was half up in a ponytail, glistening in the light.
No, it wasn’t a light.
It was mana. The gemstones in her jewelry were reacting to the mana flowing through them. The scattered mana particles were emitting a dazzling light, imprinting an unforgettable presence that one could not take their eyes off of.
Im Gaeul,
The first fairy goddess of Korea. She was the one who opened a new era of history.
She was a person who would do anything to achieve her goals. She was an iron-blooded empress who didn’t hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve her goals, someone who discarded what needed to be discarded. She was a queen of iron will.
Despite her relentless and ruthless nature, she was not someone who could be called a fairy descended from heaven. However, in this moment, she looked so elegant and noble that one couldn’t help but be moved as if they had met a fairy descended from heaven.
The reporter had just said it earlier.
The beginning of a new history.
So how could I not be moved?
How could one not be moved by that?
From the moment she stepped onto the stage, hidden behind the scenes, history began to take a different course.
«End-of-the-Century Destruction.»
The world was thrown into chaos when monsters began rising simultaneously.
In this event, South Korea, which was not properly prepared to deal with monsters, lost 30% of its population and had to defend less than half of its territory.
And humanity, having realized the horrors of the End of the Century Destruction, had to live with the threat of monsters that could appear from anywhere.
In such a world, conventional politics has lost its power. A country that suffered a near-destructive blow from a monster could only paralyze its politics, economy, and administration.
Politicians who could only speak in platitudes lost their popularity, wealthy men who catered to their whims lost their fortunes, and crimes were committed by the powerful as the law ceased to exist.
It was only natural that mana, the only power that could defeat monsters, would become the new class distinction.
The country was finally restored to stability as those with real power, wealth, and mana drove out the old guard and emerged as a new force.
But by the time it did, it was too late.
The connections between cities had already been severed. Isolated regions could do nothing but wait for the monsters to wipe them out.
South Korea had already perished.
Korea was already dead.
A world without hope.
A world where only despair exists.
It was on this day that a small candle was lit in such a world.
The inauguration of the Fairy, Im Gaeul, was a turning point for the nation, which had lost its political, economic, and administrative power. With the power to become the natural enemy of monsters, she became the savior of all the people and formed a decision-making body centered around herself.
[Actress Actor Im Gaeul is one of Korea’s most recognized actresses, known for her roles in «Beauty with a Thousand Faces» and «Goddess of Midas».
And tonight, Im Gaeul officially becomes the first fairy to protect South Korea!]
—
There were countless words to describe her.
Including «national actress,» «actress leading the 21st century,» «Beauty with a Thousand Faces,» and «Goddess of Midas.»
From a young age, she was the face of Korea’s home theatre with her outstanding acting skills. As she grew into adulthood, her beauty shone even brighter, and she shed her child actress persona to become the celebrity that men wanted to be their girlfriends, the celebrity that mothers wanted to be their daughter-in-law and the celebrity that girls wanted to be.
It was inevitable that she would rise to a position beyond anyone’s reach in the country.
She was the possessor of the Gift of White Silver.
«Baek-eun (白銀)» which negates the omnipresent nature of mana and disperses it.
Omnipresent mana creates monsters, and the monsters ran towards the cities where humans lived.
No matter how many barbed wire fences and walls humans built, they couldn’t stop the influx of monsters.
Especially monsters born inside the city. It would be even more dangerous.
In such a situation, the existence of Im Gaeul, who possessed a rare gift that was highly valued as one of the best in the world, was like a ray of hope that emerged from despair.
Everyone who wanted to be safe from monsters would support her as she rose to the position of ruler of a nation.
In the end, Im Gaeul withdrew from her life as an actress and was inaugurated as the fairy who rules South Korea…
She becomes the salvation of all the people.
(E/N: Here’s the picture!)