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Since Kim Yuri was young, she often moved houses.

There was a scene, a terribly old memory by her current standard when she became a high school student, of her staring at the boxes of goods to be moved, much bigger than her body.

— Yuri, is there any place you like? Where do you want to move?

It seemed strange because it was as if they were moving for Kim Yuri, but every time that question came out, her answer was exactly the same.

— Somewhere where I can see the sea!

Hearing those words, Kim Yuri's parents' faces darkened and they mumbled something like this:

— Can't it be a place where you can see a river? No, a river may also be dangerous. Because a river also meets with the sea at its mouth…

— How about leaving Korea?

— Without crossing the sea, we can only go to China. However, China has complicated immigration laws. At there too, a similar case to Yuri appeared, so…

— … They will probably inquire about our records before the immigration, huh?

Kim Yuri, who was young, couldn't understand those conversations even a bit.

She simply thought, 'I can't speak Chinese, so I'm glad we're staying in Korea!'.

Kim Yuri, who moved at least once a year, and more than three times a year if she moved a lot, finally settled in the place she was currently living in, Seoul Eungwang District.

— I'm glad, it seems that Eungwang District site is good. Nothing happened since coming here.

— There was no natural superpower wave emission phenomena and no kids around Yuri were hurt…

— Yuri, nothing 'strange' happened recently, right?

Kim Yuri nodded her head a few times.

Even though she couldn't see the sea she saw on TV, she liked Eungwang District.

Even the 'strange things' which continued until recently, suddenly stopped after she moved to the Eungwang District.

Perhaps thanks to that, her parent-nims had very bright faces, and she made a great friend, so she didn't want to move anymore.

— Yes! All class friends are nice and Dain is an especially good child. I don't want to move anymore, and I want to continue to live here!

While she was in the Eungwang District, there was no sudden feeling of chills or the children, who tried to play a prank on Kim Yuri, getting swept into a natural superpower wave emission phenomena.

In particular, when she was at the side of her new friend An Dain, she felt her superpower wave stabilizing.

— Anyhow, perhaps 'they' gave up…

— If this is like the case where superpower disappear when growing up, 'they' may leave Yuri alone.

Kim Yuri's parents breathe a sigh of relief while speaking like this.

Kim Yuri's family settled in Eungwang District and lived happily and comfortably.

Her father, who was a photographer, leisurely took pictures and her mother, who dreamed of a home cafe, decorated their house prettily.

It was different from a dull house interior, which was like this because they had to be prepared to move at any moment, so Kim Yuri was very happy.

That peace and happiness started to break when her Gwangrim seal was released.

[Congratulations on turning 17.]

[Now I don't have to mind Heavenly God, so it seems I'll live!]

[To meet You here, 'Noble Green Lady'.]

[Wait. You grew so much, huh?]

[Ack, Holy Heavenly Mother-nim[2] came by Herself, didn't She?! Even so, I can't yield!]

[… One moment, isn't it a messenger sent by son-nim of Cronus and Rhea?]

[But why even messenger of 'Æsir's Hostage' came here?]

[Hng, I have no particular interest in you, but I have no thoughts of yielding magnolia to other bastards.] [3]

When she was admitted to the Eungwang School and the day turned to the 1st of January.

As if they were waiting, the higher beings appeared and without giving her a chance to reject them, they established a connection with her.

Her parents, who were overwhelmed by the superpower wave outputted in Kim Yuri's surroundings, made dumbstruck faces.

At that moment, for the first time, Kim Yuri understood why strange things happened around her, and why they have to constantly move.

— Yuri, you know about Seogu Elementary incident, right?

The incident 30 years ago, which became a trigger to establish the Youth Gwangrim Limitation law, after three classes were swept away because of the elementary school student's Gwangrim runaway.

There is no way that Kim Yuri didn't know about it as a Player.

But she had no idea that the elementary school student from 30 years ago was her own father.

And that there were numerous cases of relatives in Kim Yuri's direct bloodline solely tied to higher beings.

— The moment I obtained superpowers, I received blessings and Gwangrims of numerous higher beings.

— However, I didn't have even a little bit of physical or mental power to bear the higher beings' blessings and Gwangrims. Probably because there were children, who harassed me, while the superpowers slowly ate away my body and mind…

In a certain secluded village in the Gangwon Province.

Seogu Elementary School, which had no more than three classes.

It was a closed community, where there was nothing to see or play with, and the interpersonal interactions were limited.

In this place, Kim Yuri's father, who was slow to speak because he was crushed under the superpower pressure and got lost in his mind, was an easy prey.

The violence going under the name of pranks and games among children gradually worsened, and the anger of the higher beings that surrounded him grew day by day.

The moment when he was pushed from the roof of the four-story high elementary school with the shout: 'If you have superpowers, then try to fly!', his Gwangrim finally activated on its own and caused the flood.

— God's wrath cannot be comprehended by a human. It's normal for them to flood the city or cause a war over a scratch on a temple pillar they like.

The runaway Gwangrim called an enormous tidal wave and storm, and destroyed and vanquished everything in the Seogu Elementary School.

The survivors were Kim Yuri's father's two friends, who were harassed together with him, on the basis that they were getting along with him.

And there were three others, an old security guard, who took pity on his circumstances and protected him, the teacher, who was approaching his retirement and the student, who just came to school.

Only them were softly swept by waves and carried to the safety.

— After that incident, I lived in a vegetable state for a few years. When I opened my eyes again, it seemed that the superpowers and higher beings disappeared.

— I expected it to end like this, but… I passed it to you.

Kim Yuri was the reason the two people worked so hard, but her parents cried while apologizing to her instead.

"It's okay. Thank you for telling me."

Kim Yuri, whose heart was restless, pretended to be calm and spoke resolutely.

"Even though the Gwangrim is powerful, I'll do my best to control it! My grades are so good I was admitted to Korea's most prestigious Player Highschool, Eungwang School, you know? I'm not as good as Dain, but I'm also a strong one."

While speaking like this, Kim Yuri handed her parents-nim handkerchief and boiled a warm tea, calming them down.

In fact, she had no idea what she should say, and her mind was blank.

She could only do her best to pretend to be calm to calm down her precious family.

"But just in case, to be prepared, I'll first request a Gwangrim Sealing. Don't worry too much! I'll be fine!"

Her parents-nim, who continued to be unstable, even though Kim Yuri repeated that she is fine, made reassured faces at the words about the Sealing Technique.

They trusted the Sealing Technique, which protected Kim Yuri until she grew up.

But her Gwangrim was difficult to suppress with the Association's Sealing Technique and her father, who heard the news that the Sealing Art is impossible to be extended, fainted.

'I don't know what will happen the instant the Gwangrim activates…!'

The video of the Seogu Elementary School incident replayed[4] repeatedly in Kim Yuri's head.

She couldn't get rid of the memory of the existence of waves and storms that crushed the ground and buildings like pieces of paper.

She couldn't control that power by herself even a bit.

[I'll be waiting.]

[Call us anytime~.]

[I don't like to cooperate with heretic gods, but if you ask, I'll think about it.]

Even in her dreams, Kim Yuri covered her ears and curled up her body, against the gods' whispers.

She wanted to think that those voices calling to help her were a simple nightmare or hallucination.

[… You hear us, right? We all know you hear us now.]

At those words, she jumped up, shaking.

When Kim Yuri hurriedly rolled up her sleeve and released the watch to take a look, she realized that the final bastion of protection, which was protecting her before, completely disappeared.

'Mom… dad…!'

She instinctively ran out of her room.

Like a child who looks for their parents-nim's embrace when they wake up from a scary dream, she staggered towards the master bedroom on the 1st floor.

'Dad fainted because of me, and mom is attending to him…!'

When she had this thought, she already walked down all the stairs.

When she felt as if all strength disappeared from her body and she was about to sink on her knees.

Her eyes met with Jo Uisin's who looked at her, sitting on the sofa in the living room.

Only then did Kim Yuri realized she wasn't in her house alone.

***

"How uncommon. Her superpower wave's frequency is unusual. Jin people and higher beings are mixed in it."

The complexion of Hwang Jiho, who looked at Kim Yuri, changed.

It was the first time Hwang Jiho saw Kim Yuri after the Gwangrim Sealing Technique was released.

There was no way he wouldn't notice something.

"The number of connected higher beings seems to be about two digits. How the hell…"

"Let's sit down first."

I spoke, cutting off Hwang Jiho's words.

Kim Yuri staggered like a puppet, whose strings were cut off, and then sat down on the one-person sofa opposite the table, but Hwang Jiho continued to stand and look with wary eyes.

"You also sit down, please."

"… You knew about it?"

Looking at me, who was behaving calmly, Hwang Jiho showed an open doubt.

His words were not wrong, but I ignored him.

After glaring at me, who didn't reply, Hwang Jiho sat down on the sofa between me and Kim Yuri.

"I, it's…. in fact… It's like Jiho said…"

Kim Yuri trembled as she revealed she established connections with numerous higher beings.

And that she had no confidence to control it.

"What should I do? Wouldn't it be better if I give up school and get locked up somewhere? Are there no ways to erase superpowers?"

"Don't do that."

I spoke flatly.

"However… Something like in the Seogu Elementary School may happen to our class…"

"It's fine."

"It's not fine!"

Kim Yuri raised her voice a bit.

"I have no confidence in controlling that Gwangrim! I pretended to be fine, but I'm not fine, I have no confidence to be fine…"

Her voice gradually grew quieter and trembled.

"Sorry for suddenly yelling… It's just, I…"

"I didn't say it's fine because of that."

At those words, Kim Yuri stared at me with suspicious eyes.

"It's not a problem even if your superpower runs wild. With this mindset, it means that it's fine to use Gwangrim."

Her suspiciousness changed to horror.

"What are you talking about?! Our class may die or disappear like the people at my dad school!"

"It's FINE. Do you think that teacher Ham Geunhyeong-nim or our class children are so easy?"

There were no people at Eungwang School who harassed Kim Yuri, like the casualties in the Seogu Elementary incident, and even if there were some bastards caught in it, it would be rare for them to easily die.

"Isn't that right?"

After I asked Hwang Jiho, he, who only quietly observed the situation, nodded his head.

"Yeah. Such Gwangrim is nothing."

His tone of voice was as if he was saying 'Shall I make pizza for dinner myself today?'.

"Such— Gwangrim…"

"It's annoying that there are many higher beings tied to it, eh? We should assume that Gwangrim's runaway would consume your mind and life span… Even so, if you do your best, I think it will turn out fine somehow. Because this place has the most powerful Power of Earth on the Korean Peninsula, and there is a being that was designated, that they can control that Power of Earth."

Hwang Jiho's words probably weren't a bluff.

Because there is a limit to a higher being, a so-called 'god', can interfere in this world.

I was bothered by the keyword 'If you do your best', but anyhow, it's important it can be blocked.

"What is important now is your side. If you continue to reject higher beings, the superpower pressure on your body can continue to grow."

"Jiho…"

As if she was surprised by our class's best lunatic giving such serious advice, Kim Yuri made a surprised face.

I also added a word.

"It's fine, so stop worrying about your surroundings. More than your Gwangrim going into runaway, there are many people who would find it more difficult if you got hurt."

Her family, An Dain, our class children and people from the Student Council…

The people, who cherished Kim Yuri, who was bright and always considerate of other people, were overflowing.

In the middle of Kim Yuri hesitating.

I overheard the voices from the 2nd floor.

It seemed that the children woke up and were searching for us.

"Uh, everyone woke up! Uisin and Jiho aren't in the room, so I guess they went somewhere." [5]

"You didn't sleep at all, what were you doing?"

"In commemoration of appointing senior Kwon Jane-nim as an honorary teacher, the String Club released a new special video! So I was binge-watching it."

"At first I fell asleep for a bit and then woke up."

The hour was close to dawn, so everyone was energetic.

Just with the appearance of the children, the atmosphere in the living room seemed to change.

After seeing children converse with each other, Kim Yuri carefully asked:

"… Then do you want to eat late-night snacks and play board games?"

"Let's do this!" [6]

"Uh, I'll want to do it too."

"Song Daeseok, that fucker is pretending to sleep, but he is awake."

"Ah… Daeseok can't sleep if the pillow changes. We should bring our own pillows next time."

All children agreed to Kim Yuri's suggestion.

Song Daeseok, who was in the worst condition as a person who didn't sleep at all, became the loser[7] of all games.

Around the time when the sun rose.

The face of Kim Yuri, who played games among the children, was much better.

***

On the road heading towards the dormitory.

Hwang Jiho asked.

"What is Kim Yuri's identity?"

Kim Yuri had no connections among the higher beings and Jin people.

But even so, the higher beings troubled themselves to be tied with her.

"'Magnolia' appeared in Kim Yuri's fetus dream."

"… The magnolia because of which the sea god lost his soul?"

They said that the daughter of the Jade Emperor had an unrequited love for the Northern Sea God, and the magnolia bloomed upon her death.

And the magnolia was related to the legend[8] of that Sea God gradually going crazy.

"For many reasons, after the Clash of Different Worlds, specific families were born with different kinds of powerful energies, you know? Kim Yuri's house was born with a strong energy of magnolia."

"There would be many higher beings connected to water that have an interest in the magnolia that turned the Northern Sea God mad, eh?"

"Yeah. As there are many higher beings connected to water, even if only a very few of them are interested, the number would exceed ten."

Hwang Jiho, who heard my words, said as if spitting.

"They say that butterflies are bound to be drawn to flowers, but this is a bit too much."

It was probably some sort of metaphor, but it was as Hwang Jiho said.

The butterflies are bound to be drawn to flowers.

'She probably couldn't approach, as Hwang Jiho was close.'

Even now, there would be a butterfly around the flower.

*~*~*

[1] No title — 'Connection with god (7)' =-=

[2] Holy Heavenly Mother — 天上聖母 Taishang Shengmu

[3] Who are all those mentioned gods? — 'Noble Green Lady' is Chalchiuhtlicue. Her name is usually interpreted as 'She in a green skirt' in English, but I'm following raws here. Holy Heavenly Mother is Mazu. Son of Cornus and Rhea is Poseidon. Æsir's Hostage is Njörðr. Besides the one mentioning Poseidon, all other higher beings, who are calling out names, are using formal tone.

[4] replayed — not the 'replay' word from the title. Don't panic, spoiler guys.

[5] "Uh, everyone woke up! Uisin and Jiho aren't in the room, so I guess they went somewhere." — Sawol Seeum's sentence

[6] "Let's do this!" — Sawol Seeum's sentence

[7] loser — in raws: hogu

[8] legend of the magnolia and sea god — It appears that author may be using a much bloodier version of the legend than I know, but here is the basic story: Jade Emperor's daughter loved the Northern Sea God and sneaked out of her palace to find him. But upon finding the Sea God, she realized that they couldn't get married, because Sea God was already married. Out of sadness and desperation, she committed suicide. Sea God, who learned about the reason for her suicide, when burying her, went crazy and killed his own wife and then himself. After the Jade Emperor found them and learned what happened, he made magnolia flowers bloom on their graves. (But in the legend the author is using, it appears that it was the magnolia that made the Sea God crazy…)

Translator's note: Sir, sir. Can you come back to the part about 'waking up without superpowers', sir? I need to confirm something like really quick.