What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 826

Gemini (9)

I don’t know how I slept last night.

-12th floor.

“Our piggy bank is full, this time little brother’s deal, big brother.”

“······.”

No, actually, I couldn’t sleep at all.

I forced myself to close my eyes because I was worried about Sir Johan, but my mind was awake the whole time.

The shocked heart kept pounding, and the rollercoaster of emotions surged, depressed, and sucked into a dark cave countless times.

The drawers in my head were a mess, as if someone had made a mess of them, revealing their insides and collapsing.

Since my mind was abnormal, my body naturally became uncomfortable, and my stiff limbs kept fidgeting under the blanket.

When I lost consciousness for a few minutes and opened my eyes, the room was already filled with blue energy.

I just moved my mouth silently like a saltwater fish trapped in a tank.

My eyes were filled with square bubbles.

······What should I do now? I can’t give up, even for Sir Johan’s sake.

-The door is opening.

What should I do? I can’t see any clues······.

“Jeong-ye, aren’t you getting on? Did you leave something behind?”

“······.”

Oh, I left my friends behind······. What should I do.

“Jeong-ye!”

Startled!

“Oh, I’m going, going. I’ve been so busy at work these past few days that I’m losing my mind even at home.”

I hurriedly got on the apartment elevator, making excuses that Jeong Eun-seo didn’t even ask.

It was a normal commute to work with my younger sibling going to school.

The youngest was wearing a jumper with the university initial embroidered over a fleece hoodie.

I was wearing a trench coat that my older brother had thrown away because it was too small for him.

Eun-seo stared at me and chose her words carefully, unlike her usual self.

“Won’t people at work say you look pretty if you wear that coat?”

“Oh, they praise my clothes for being pretty. They ask me where I bought them.”

“Hmm.”

“Because you and hyung [older brother] dress me so well, always.”

“That’s true.”

The little one nodded. Then she awkwardly changed the subject again.

“Our piggy bank is full, and Jeong Hyeon-seo wants to give it to little brother this time. She wants you to pay your phone bill with it.”

“Ah. That’s nice. That’ll be a big help.”

I chuckled and replied.

Jeong Eun-seo took advantage of the break to look at my new phone one more time and promised to buy me a new pretty case and doll ring.

I knew her allowance situation well, but I wanted to let her do what she wanted, so I said I would look forward to it.

Around that time, the elevator dropped us off on the first floor.

My youngest sibling and I continued to chat as we left the apartment complex.

Just thinking about the lost friends and world line made me feel nauseous and like my feet were sinking even when I was sleeping.

But when I was walking like this with my sibling, I felt like my feet were firmly planted on the ground.

It was the same when I ate the food hyung made or received his sincere advice.

Now, only the two of them were my support.

I couldn’t bring myself to rely on Sir Johan because I felt sorry.

The place where I could feel stable was getting narrower and narrower.

“Come this way.”

“Oh, I actually have something to say······. You know how the older brothers and Johan Uncle were having a meeting in the room last night, at night? They said they were talking about something important.”

“······Uh-huh.”

I awkwardly replied, guiding my sibling to walk inside the sidewalk.

Only then did I realize that my voice was too loud last night.

Looking back, my sibling had been strangely looking at me since earlier.

I was worried about how much my youngest had heard, and my heart started pounding belatedly.

Where was Jeong Eun-seo when we finished talking and came out? Was she sitting in her room?

Or had she come out to the living room? I didn’t have many clear memories these days.

Rather, there were more times when I didn’t realize how I was dressing, eating, and sleeping.

“I was voice chatting in my room at that time? With people who also stan [are fans of] Toegye Gong.”

“Yeah.”

“They’ve all been friends since the beginning of the serialization. Our tastes match well, and above all, we’re a prince-biased group.”

“Yeah.”

“But······.”

The subway station was very close to our complex.

I habitually stepped onto the escalator stairs one step ahead of her.

This was because I could always support my younger sibling from below if she staggered or fell.

Holding the handrail, the youngest carefully continued.

“I told you about the contents of my dream these days, right? I keep having the same dream, and it’s getting clearer and clearer. Recently, our baby prince even came out······. And I’m like the god of the world.”

“Yeah.”

Eun-seo looked around for a moment and wet her lips with her tongue.

The sunken black eyes were giving off an unusual atmosphere.

What is she trying to say?

“My friends had similar dreams.”

“······What?”

What? I blinked in surprise. This was another unexpected turn of events.

What?

“No, really. No lie, really. Yesterday, while we were talking, the topic of dreams came up by chance, and everyone said that. They said they’ve been having the same dream these past few days.”

“······Huh?”

What are you talking about? The concerns I had just been worrying about were completely forgotten.

Eun-seo was widening her eyes just like me.

“I thought they were joking at first, you know? How could that be possible. But it was the same as me, this. Even the background matched. They all said they were sitting alone in a place like space. And they’re like divine beings there. Crazy.”

“······.”

I got goosebumps.

“What is it, it’s a bit much to call it a symptom······.”

Eun-seo lowered her voice and whispered.

Only then did I realize why she had been beating around the bush and only talking about other topics since the apartment.

My youngest sibling couldn’t easily bring it up because she was worried that I would be concerned about her mental health.

She probably wouldn’t even dare to open her mouth to Jeong Hyeon-seo, who is like a father figure.

“······Anyway, everyone’s similar. Besides, the dream is getting more and more concrete.”

“······.”

Oh my god······. What kind of harmony is this?

It’s our world line, but what the heck is going on?

“Isn’t it a bit strange? No matter how much we’re enjoying the same work together, it’s too much to have the same dreams.”

-Beep!

Jeong Eun-seo said, tapping her phone on the subway gate.

I was amazed by the new payment app and received the words while stuttering.

So this is what you call new civilization······.

“That’s······. Isn’t it? There is such an aspect······.”

“Is this some kind of collective PTSD [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder]? Then shouldn’t the writer pay for our hospital bills? No, I don’t really mean I have to go to the hospital. You know what I mean.”

“Uh-huh, I know, I know······.”

I don’t know at all. What principle is that possible with?

If it’s just Jeong Eun-seo, the biggest fragment of the main god, then maybe, but all the main gods who wished for the resurrection of Prince Yeseo are having the same dream?

Is that what it boils down to, right now?

What’s going to happen to the world line like this?

“Oh, jackpot. I just had a crazy thought. If we file a group lawsuit for mental damages, wouldn’t the writer come to the courthouse to meet us? Then we’ll make a dramatic agreement on the spot on the condition that they serialize an AU [Alternate Universe] that revives Prince Yeseo······.”

“A lawsuit for damages is a procedure to hold someone accountable for liability arising from illegal or unlawful acts, but the writer is merely serializing a novel according to the freedom of publication and has not committed any illegal or unlawful acts. After all, Toegye Gong, which is for all ages, would not contain content that harms public order and morals. In other words, the claim for damages for mental distress itself does not meet the requirements for a lawsuit, so it will be dismissed before the merits are judged······.”

“Are you a T [Thinking type in MBTI personality test]?”

Jeong Eun-seo glared at me as she went down the stairs.

Oops, I swallowed the rest of my words and quickly returned to the main point. I don’t know what a T is, though.

“Jeong Eun, what you’re dreaming about these days······. Does that mean you’re seeing more and more?”

One of the two bowls remains on the other side, and I know that time is passing there, but I can’t look into anything.

I don’t want to drag my sibling in, but I wanted to get a hint, even if it’s just a straw.

“Huh?”

“······Just, I was curious.”

Anything is fine.

It seems too hard to endure like this for the rest of my life.

-Tap, tap, tap!

『Silence! Silence, silence!』

At the cry of a cardinal in the chair of the speaker, the voices of the priests arguing while pointing fingers subsided for a moment.

The one who tapped the gavel sighed, rubbing his wrinkled forehead as if he had a headache.

This place, where a fierce civil war was taking place among high-ranking clerics, was none other than the Temple of the Boundary.

『The right to speak currently belongs to Vice-Chancellor Ronald Lüpert. Those who serve the Lord with patience, please close your mouths and listen. Your Highness.』

“What are they saying?”

“Well. It seems they’re telling him to yield the opportunity to speak to the Vice-Chancellor.”

『That shameless old man. He’s been doing nothing while the war is going on right in front of us, and now he’s crawling out of his tunnel to avoid losing his rice bowl?』

『That’s why the election of the Pope is being delayed day after day. At this rate, the chimney of the Vatican will rot first.』

“Ah, what am I supposed to do if I can’t hear anything even if I listen?”

“Look here, there’s a time it takes for sign language interpretation! We were just refuting when we should have refuted!”

The archbishops who came from the Empire protested once again, and the archbishops who had abandoned the Divine Nation early on were disgusted by the inhumane aspects of the Vatican.

The old man in the chair of the speaker waved the gavel with a tired face.

Then, the butler of the Vatican, who was standing on the podium, bowed almost imperceptibly and looked around the hall.

The clerics gathered in the high meeting hall were all dressed in uniforms, and all wore pointed miters [tall, pointed hats]. Lüpert’s sharp eyes slowly passed over them and went up to the sky.

The golden mechanical device that decorated the center of the distant ceiling was moving silently, showing the phases of the moon. But······.

『······But now there is no moon.』

“······.”

The imperial priests who did not understand the meaning of his words turned to the sign language interpreter.

The interpreters were sweating profusely and moving their hands and facial muscles diligently.

Vice-Chancellor Lüpert continued to speak.

『Since the bishops of the Empire and some bishops of the Divine Nation have raised legitimate suspicions······. I will humbly admit it here. It is true that the divine object ‘Holy Grail of Wishes’ has been destroyed.』

“······.”

The faces of those who were diligently gesturing were turning pale every moment.

『However, this is not the fault of the Vatican, but rather······.』

“Shut your mouth!”

-Thang!

A bishop who quickly read the interpreter’s hand movements slammed the table, raised her voice, and lifted her growth.

Then, with a furious face, she fired off sentences.

“The angel of the Lord! If the Archangel descended on the royal capital of Venetian and took the moon, and at the same time the Holy Grail here was destroyed, isn’t the will of God clear? The One who was deeply disappointed has abandoned the Vatican!”

“That’s right!”

『I don’t know what you’re saying, but it must be right. I second that.』

『The Riester people are really emotional. Sometimes it’s refreshing just to watch them.』

“What has the Vice-Chancellor and the Vatican done until the war broke out and ended? While watching the tragic sight of thousands and tens of thousands of innocent people dying, what has the temple been doing until now!”

“That’s right, that’s right!”

“I second that!”

The priests responded loudly, nodding their chins.

Lüpert quietly turned his eyes and looked around the audience.

Cardinal Aurelie Boutier of Riester did not attend today.

However, there was an old man who had been guarding the front seat in her place.

He had never spoken publicly even once, but the Vice-Chancellor felt his presence most strongly.

『······.』

Neutral Cardinal Ari Schött.

Surely a man who received secret orders from Frederick Riester and Boutier.

“As the head of the Vatican, the Vice-Chancellor must take responsibility for this situation!”

“That’s right!”