Disciple of The Three Kings [EN]: Chapter 246

“He sleeps like a log.”

Lee Shinwoo looked at the sleeping Lee Rowoon and gave a bitter smile.

It had been quite a long time since Lee Rowoon had fallen asleep like this.

He had even called a doctor to examine him a while ago.

-He’s in a coma.

A coma.

That was Lee Rowoon’s current state.

There was no hope of him waking up, nothing.

The doctor was of no help at all.

He already knew that much.

A player’s body, or the body of a master of this level, could be said to have transcended the human body.

Their bodies were difficult to treat even with modern medicine.

What had appeared then was.

-Please wait.

Someone unknown even to Lee Shinwoo.

-He will wake up.

After diagnosing Lee Rowoon, he had disappeared like that.

So, he waited.

“There’s nothing I can do for you, is there?”

Lee Shinwoo smiled bitterly once more.

Lee Rowoon, who was sleeping peacefully, wasn’t even sweating a drop.

Still, just.

Squeezed.

Hoping it would be of some help, Lee Shinwoo was pouring his magic power into him, which was the only thing he could do.

Lee Shinwoo had the ability to interfere with and control players, but.

Squeezed.

His ability didn’t work on Lee Rowoon.

Still, Lee Shinwoo could only wish and try his best.

“Haa.”

Lee Shinwoo let out a rough breath.

He pushed up his glasses.

“I’m sorry.”

His younger brother.

His own younger brother.

His only blood relative in this world.

Once already.

-I was waiting. Why didn’t you come to save me?

The younger brother he had hurt.

That was why.

This time.

“No matter what, I’ll stay by your side.”

He had no intention of ever leaving Lee Rowoon’s side.

No matter what happened, no matter what it was, he would put everything aside and protect Lee Rowoon.

That was his atonement and the only thing he could do.

“So….”

Clench.

Lee Shinwoo clenched his fist.

“Wake up.”

If Lee Rowoon woke up, he could give everything.

He could even give his life to wake him up.

For him.

“I can even quit the militia you hate so much.”

He was prepared to abandon even his beliefs.

So.

“Wake up.”

He repeated the same words.

That was Lee Shinwoo’s daily life.

Moving from place to place, quietly attending to Lee Rowoon.

Every time.

“Wake up.”

He prayed.

If there was a god, he prayed to that god.

If there was a devil, he prayed to that devil.

Please.

“Wake up.”

He prayed that his younger brother would wake up.

Lee Shinwoo calmly and quietly prayed and prayed.

Because that was the only thing he could do.

“I don’t care what you are.”

Even if.

“Even if you’re a mass murderer.”

Lee Shinwoo didn’t care.

“Just one more time….”

One day.

“Give me a chance.”

Lee Shinwoo finally let out what he had been holding back.

He thought he had become accustomed to losing, but he had just been suppressing it.

He could accept it if his head was cut off in front of his eyes.

However, Lee Shinwoo was realizing how painful it was to just lie there without any hope.

“Ha.”

Lee Shinwoo stood up, thinking he had shown a pathetic side of himself.

“I’ll go get some food.”

That day was the same as any other day.

He took care of Lee Rowoon and went out to get food.

And on his way back.

“…….”

Lee Shinwoo stopped.

And slowly, he smiled and said.

“Let’s eat.”

Lee Rowoon was sitting on the bed.

* * *

“How long was I out?”

Lee Rowoon said with a dry mouth.

“Eat first.”

The food he had brought back.

It was white rice porridge that looked like it had been carefully cooked.

“I’m not hungry.”

“Don’t say such nonsense.”

At Lee Shinwoo’s stern tone, Lee Rowoon finally picked up his spoon.

“Salty.”

The white rice porridge was so salty that it could be said to be full of salt.

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Lee Shinwoo tried to take the bowl back, but.

“It’s okay.”

Lee Rowoon didn’t let go and continued to eat.

“49 days.”

Lee Shinwoo’s voice was heard.

“You asked how long you were out.”

Today was the 49th day.

“I slept for a long time.”

“You slept for a long time.”

Lee Shinwoo said with a smile.

“Where is this?”

The white rice porridge was now completely empty.

Lee Shinwoo didn’t answer.

Lee Rowoon slowly began to get up.

“You….”

Lee Shinwoo, who was watching him anxiously, tried to grab him, but soon stopped.

It was Lee Rowoon.

-Leave him alone.

His younger brother, who didn’t try to rely on anything even when he was young.

Sway.

Lee Rowoon, who was getting up, staggered.

Trying to move a body that hadn’t moved for 49 days, he had lost his sense of balance.

Lee Rowoon, who seemed to be on the verge of falling, was now standing straight.

Thud.

He took a step forward.

Lee Rowoon staggered once more.

This time, it seemed like he was really going to fall.

But again, Lee Rowoon regained his balance.

Thud.

Another step.

Thud.

He took another step.

Heh.

Lee Shinwoo smiled at the sight.

He stood straight.

He walked straight.

The Lee Rowoon standing now was the Lee Rowoon he remembered.

“He’s not making me worry anymore.”

As Lee Shinwoo said, Lee Rowoon stood upright and walked towards the door.

Clench.

The coldness felt from grabbing the doorknob.

Lee Rowoon slowly opened the door.

It was a pure white world.

A world covered in white snow.

“It’s Antarctica.”

This was Antarctica.

* * *

“Do you remember when we were kids?”

Lee Shinwoo said while drinking coffee.

“When I got beaten up by Kim Minsoo and got bruises.”

At Lee Shinwoo’s words, Lee Rowoon nodded.

“I made him the same way.”

“Is that all you remember?”

When they were young, Lee Rowoon was a mature younger brother.

Rather, Lee Shinwoo, the older brother, relied on him.

It was always Lee Shinwoo or other kids who caused trouble.

Lee Rowoon.

-I’ll do it.

He would step forward and help them.

Everyone liked Lee Rowoon.

Some were jealous, some hated him, but most people liked Lee Rowoon.

“Choi Minhae. Do you remember her?”

When Lee Shinwoo said that.

“Why are you talking about that?”

Lee Rowoon answered irritably.

“Why, you liked her, so she made you a bracelet by weaving grass from the garden.”

“That’s why. Why are you talking about that?”

Lee Shinwoo laughed at Lee Rowoon’s annoyed face.

Heh.

Lee Rowoon also laughed.

He had changed.

The Lee Rowoon he had met again gave off a feeling similar to a burning flame.

It felt like the burnt ashes were making a last struggle, burning up all the remaining energy.

But the current Lee Rowoon was.

“It’s good to see.”

He was the Lee Rowoon that Lee Shinwoo remembered from before.

The Lee Rowoon before going to the volcanic waste disposal site.

The Lee Rowoon before the Dank members betrayed him.

“Nonsense.”

Lee Rowoon said that and drank his coffee.

The dark circles that had been under his eyes had disappeared.

“How long has it been? Since we’ve been like this.”

“It’s the first time since we left the orphanage.”

“Is that so?”

The years that had passed.

There was so much that had been missed.

Clunk.

Lee Shinwoo put down his coffee cup.

“At first, I thought about taking you to Korea. My base is there, and so is yours.”

He slowly began to speak.

“But I couldn’t figure out who I could trust.”

He thought everyone was an enemy.

At least, that’s how it looked in Lee Shinwoo’s eyes.

He couldn’t trust Einheart, Eun, or anyone who belonged to any faction.

The militia was the same.

Rather, the militia was where the most betrayals and deceptions occurred, so Lee Shinwoo didn’t take Lee Rowoon there.

“I kept moving around.”

49 days.

Lee Shinwoo had never stayed in one place for long.

He kept moving with Lee Rowoon.

Fortunately, the power and influence he had built as a Cheongwi [Blue Guard] made it possible, at least.

At some point, Lee Shinwoo had also cut off contact with the Cheongui Army [Blue Guard Army].

“A place where no one is, the safest place for you.”

“That’s Antarctica?”

“Yeah.”

Lee Shinwoo said.

“Because there’s no one here.”

Indeed, this was a pure white world where no one existed.

The days were long, and the nights were short.

If humans were afraid, it was right to run away to this place.

“If you want….”

Lee Shinwoo said.

“We can keep living together here.”

Words he had been pondering for a long time.

He had now brought them up.

“…….”

Lee Rowoon looked at Lee Shinwoo.

He knew what Lee Shinwoo had just said.

-I’ll quit the militia.

Lee Shinwoo had said that he would give up his beliefs if Lee Rowoon wanted him to.

“If we live here, no one will find us. It might be a bit lonely for two guys, but what does it matter?”

Already.

“We’ve been through so much in the world. Isn’t it time to rest a little?”

Lee Shinwoo smiled.

“It’s okay.”

Lee Rowoon said.

It was what he had wanted the most since he was young, and what he had repeatedly said.

-Quit it.

Stop doing such foolish things now.

There was nothing that could be changed by being in the militia.

It was just hastening death.

That had become anger, and the two had become estranged.

But the essence of that emotion was worry.

He was worried that Lee Shinwoo would be in danger and disappear.

That was why.

He had to grow stronger.

“As you know, I was betrayed.”

Lee Rowoon said.

Calmly and quietly.

“By the friends I trusted the most, the ones I thought I could share everything with.”

“…….”

“It was infuriating and resentful, and I wanted to give up everything.”

Burnt ashes.

He had burned everything and stepped forward, but all that was left was ashes.

“Are you curious about what happened?”

Lee Rowoon asked.

“Yeah.”

Lee Shinwoo answered.

“Everything.”

He was curious about everything.

“What my younger brother went through, what he was thinking.”

“It’s unpleasant to hear.”

“He’s my younger brother who almost died. I don’t even know if he died once.”

“I guess so.”

That’s how the story began.

One day, two days.

Saaah.

The snow outside the house piled up even more, reaching up to their knees.

Three days, four days, a week.

It was a boring story.

The starting point of the story was from when the two were separated.

And up to when he met his master.

Lee Shinwoo just listened to the boring story calmly.

And two weeks.

“Now, tell me your story.”

Lee Rowoon said.

“Okay. It might be more boring than your story.”

“I don’t care.”

That’s how Lee Shinwoo’s story began.

Again, a similar amount of time passed.

No, it could be said that even more time had passed.

“It’s terribly boring.”

Lee Shinwoo didn’t have a way with words.

There was nothing in his story that could be said to be interesting.

“I told you.”

But that’s why.

“It’s not bad.”

He understood why he was able to become a Cheongwi and lead the Cheongui Army.

He didn’t have a way with words.

But he was honest.

He was straightforward.

You could feel the sincerity in his story.

-Brother.

That was why.

The young Lee Rowoon had followed Lee Shinwoo.

-I’ll do it.

When Lee Rowoon was struggling, his older brother, who didn’t have the ability, had stepped forward.

Even though he knew it was dangerous, even though he knew it was painful, he had stepped forward.

Lee Shinwoo was.

“He was that kind of person.”

He remembered.

The things he had buried in the past were coming back to him one by one.

“Yeah. That’s how it was.”

Lee Rowoon smiled.

It wasn’t a bitter smile on a languid face, but his original, easygoing smile.

But soon, fatigue began to creep into his face.

There had been signs of it for a long time.

He just hadn’t shown it.

“Now….”

The usual Lee Rowoon.

The Lee Rowoon who had returned, not the past one, stood there and said.

“Tell me. What happened in France?”