Translator: Wan ED/PR: Personal Ghost
26. Chess Player (6)
After Kwon Jane dropped one tear, she didn’t cry anymore beyond that.
She spoke with a tranquil voice, just like when we first met.
“You probably know what kind of people Lena’s adoptive parents are, huh?”
The day it rained.
I recalled the middle aged couple who begged me on the rooftop of the sole skyscraper in Eungwang district, Hwang Myeong Tower, as I nodded.
“Those people’s social reputation and popularity were perfect. They were raising one daughter and their performance as Players wasn’t bad. In particular, the fact that they were Jared Lee’s relatives was the biggest selling point, so I trusted them.”
I thought about a very neat photo of two people which appeared on the Fantasy List.
Seeing only that picture, it would be difficult to think they had a hand in all kinds of atrocities tied to the Fantasy Controversy.
They said they were reflecting and begged to let them atone in a different way with a pleading voice that aroused sympathy in the person listening.
There were many cases when dog bastards who transcended imagination looked clean in the eyes of other people.
“Lena even went to Eungwang School, and they sometimes sent pictures of her, always in nice clothes. So I couldn’t suspect it.”
Rage and sorrow raised in Kwon Jane’s blue eyes for a second and then disappeared.
“However, Lena didn’t receive any support at all. And when she was wearing good clothes, it was when she was dragged to places like the Fantasy Auction. Besides obligatory education received at public school, there is not even a trace of Lena receiving any other education.”
If so, then what happened to the 30 billions sent by Kwon Jane?
I didn’t even think deeply, as they were Choe Pyeondeuk’s VIP Club members, I guessed it was blown away as entertainment and gambling costs.
“We investigated and interrogated those people borrowing the power of the Divine Creature that helped us in the past. Because I wanted to know why they treated Lena so cruelly.”
The Divine Creature that helped us?
If it was a Divine Creature that helped the Eternal Lake, I heard about it once before.
When Hwang Jiho passed me on the conversation he had with Kwon Jane in the Silver Light Building, he mentioned they caught a clue thanks to receiving help when interrogating the Ung.
“They had a deep inferiority complex against Jared Lee. I guess they thought Lena is Jared’s illegitimate child. They said that even if they were caught being harsh, Lena’s existence was Jared’s weakness so they thought there wouldn’t be any problems even if they spent all the money they received.”
Jared Lee was a genius who joined one of the world’s top 10 guilds, ‘Pledge of Three Knights’ at a young age.
Currently, he was receiving a treatment of honorary blond-haired Korean committed to supporting Kwon Jane, but the fact that he was an amazing Player didn’t change.
I guess Kwon Lena’s adoptive parents had an inferiority complex towards such Jared Lee and relieved it on Kwon Lena.
“During the process of interrogation, we also confiscated the main PC they owned, and among the backup data we looked through… I tried to read all the messages they sent to Lena.”
I guess Kwon Jane tried to check all message records containing all sorts of curses.
Even though I didn’t check them besides that one day, my mind boiled.
“Why did I make such a choice?”
Kwon Jane calmly told the story, but her blue eyes filled with water again.
‘Kwon Jane had to do it to protect Kwon Lena, right?’
After the Manchester Great Otherworld Conquest, that Kwon Lena was Kwon Jane’s only remaining relative.
Knowing that the Jeop wants to use her for something, she couldn’t think of leaving her by her side.
So I guess she left Kwon Lena to the Korean relative of the most trustworthy teammate, Jared Lee, while she devoted herself to searching for the Butterfly in England.
Was that the reason why in the past 10 years Kwon Jane’s concerts outside of England’s area had noticeably decreased?
And even though she was so active in England, the reason why she refused England citizenship was probably Kwon Lena.
“At first, when the Fantasy Controversy incident broke out, I looked into it a bit. However, because of Korean criminal human rights protection system, there is a limit to how much one can access legally. And their names weren’t on the Fantasy List that was spread illegally, so I was relieved.”
Kwon Lena’s adoptive parents came up on the Fantasy List after Choe Pyeondeuk’s birthday party.
If she checked it before that, she wouldn’t find them.
Because in Korea the criminal’s personal details are perfectly protected.
“That child… So Lena made such a choice on the first day of school. I…”
Kwon Jane closed her mouth at the end of those words.
The blue-eyed violinist, who had stood unnerved in front of the numerous audience, currently looked very unstable.
‘Should I talk about that?’
I was a bit worried about informing Kwon Jane about those matters without Kwon Lena’s approval.
Kwon Lena’s personality and actions in the game.
Kwon Jane’s situation.
Relationship between two people.
I organized things in my head one after another.
‘In the game, the Eternal Lake only appeared in the background until the end. Wasn’t the reason why they didn’t appear in the main story that they learned about those facts too late when investigating just after Kwon Lena died? She is like this with just a report about the child that is still living… Kwon Jane in the game had to have fallen into a state beyond recovery.’
In such a case, Kwon Jane would crumble under the sense of guilt.
Kwon Jane wasn’t Kwon Lena’s only real family relative but also a violinist she admired.
I couldn’t leave it alone, at least for Kwon Lena’s sake.
‘It would be good to speak for two people.’
I had to pass on those stories, even if I’d hear resentment from Kwon Lena later.
“After that incident during the first day of school, Kwon Lena refused to come to school and stayed in her dormitory room for a while.”
The day I returned Kwon Lena her ribbon.
I recalled that child who told me that story while smiling brightly under the moonlight as I spoke.
“An opportunity for this child to go to school was ‘for LENA’ which came out as a class bell.”
After that, I passed on the stories Kwon Lena told me and the events I witnessed.
Kwon Lena who wanted to learn violin before she discovered her Player abilities.
About how she received help from Ham Geun-hyeong and the String Club advisor to join the String Club and start learning violin.
About Kwon Lena who asked the class children for help with the ticketing for Kwon Jane’s domestic performance.
About how after ticketing failed, she devoted herself into looking for cancellation tickets, while losing sleep every day until she was introduced to one-day staff.
Kwon Lena who was moved to tears when listening to ‘for Lena’ as the encore song of the performance.
Perfectly played chords of ‘괴향(Homecoming)’ pizzicato, performed on the supernatural violin Kwon Jane gifted to her.
I passed on every story of that child which would be difficult to know with the Divine Creature’s investigation.
“That child is still under two ‘Oaths of Silence’. In order to remove the oath without her permanently losing a tongue, two SSR rank support[1] items are necessary, correct?”
And one of the biggest reasons I came to this place today.
When I checked Kwon Lena’s status window on the first day, she still had two Oaths of Silence.
I continued to worry about how to lift them.
“Hwang Myeong Foundation’s side offered support, but I heard she refused. However, if senior-nim talks about it, she may accept it.”
Like when a supernatural violin was pushed onto her, it seemed that if Kwon Jane insists, she will accept it.
“You accepted the interview from the Newspaper Club, correct? During the interview, I will offer Kwon Lena to come with me. Please show a healthy appearance at that time.”
Those words finished, I stood up from my seat, but Kwon Jane didn’t follow me to stand up.
“Thanks, Uisin.”
Instead, I barely heard her thank me with a hoarse voice.
***
After seeing Jo Uisin off to school and returning to the team building.
Jared Lee thought with a tired face[2].
‘In the end, she didn’t eat anything, huh?’
Inside the limousine he tried to speak with Jo Uisin, but he received a reply ‘I wasn’t able to see her eat’.
After the Seokcheon Lake Incident, Kwon Lena’s adoptive parents’ involvement in the Fantasy Controversy was revealed and the size of Kwon Jane’s meals gradually decreased.
After the Divine Creature’s investigation ended, Kwon Jane, who learned what her niece lived through, fell into despair.
Recalling that those were relatives he shared his blood with, Jared Lee felt the blood in his entire body freeze.
‘Dealing with those dog bastards is important, but currently Jane is more important.’
When he was worried about what he had to do so Kwon Jane could eat at least just one meal.
The door from otherworld metal engraved with a blue violin opened.
Kwon Jane stood there.
As she didn’t come out from her room for an extremely long time, Jared Lee couldn’t react straight away and just stared at her blankly.
The first to open her mouth was Kwon Jane.
“… Sorry.”
Hearing those words, Jared Lee immediately fell to his knees and shouted:
“Janeeeee! Please, no apologies! I, every time Jane apologizes to me, I’m just very…”
“No, that’s not it.”
Kwon Jane grabbed Jared Lee’s shoulder to make him stand up.
Kwon Jane looked at Jared Lee who was much taller than her and just followed her hand to quietly stand up as she spoke:
“I dropped the bowl of blueberry jelly. Is there no more?”
Jared Lee felt as if his blood that had frozen before was boiling all at once.
“Of course! Jane, is there nothing more that you want to eat more of!?”
“Not really… My body is a bit weak, so I want to use a recovery item.”
At Kwon Jane’s words, the Eternal Lake teammates, who were observing the two people while holding their breaths, cheered.
“At last, Kwon Jane-nim’s meal…! Usable recovery item…!”
“Call the team doctor!”
“I’ll search for a company specializing in blueberry desserts.”
“Let’s serve all the berry puddings and jellies we have.”
Before Jared Lee ran into a portal, he shouted towards Kwon Jane.
“Jane, wait! Don’t change your mind!”
“Ok.”
Hearing Kwon Jane’s reply, Jared Lee smiled brightly.
Leaving behind the teammates who were busy moving, Kwon Jane returned to her room.
Kwon Jane picked up a blue violin and started a performance.
The performed piece was ‘for LENA’.
Sweet violin melody filled the room.
One corner of that room.
While leaning his ears for Kwon Jane’s performance, someone mumbled.
“As I expected before, that is very good.”
***
Next day, morning.
The device full of messages sent by Jared Lee caught my eyes.
‘Does his Korean abilities fall when he is overjoyed?’
The content written in strange Korean was roughly: thank you, is there something you need, come to play in team building often and things like that.
I may not know the details of the situation, but it seemed that Kwon Jane regained her spirit, so that was hopeful.
‘When will Kwon Lena learn the secret of her birth?’
It was something Kwon Jane had to do personally.
It would be an act crossing the line if I was the one to pass it on.
‘If they are slow, I should push their backs, right?’
Playable Character Lee Lena wanted to be recognized by her parents until the moment she died.
I hoped that one day[3] she could become Kwon Lena and live happily with her real family, Kwon Jane.
“Shall we use the support phrase as it is?”
“Ok! It seemed good on the first day as it is.”
1st year class 0’s classroom.
I saw Kwon Lena, who didn’t know anything, talking with children.
It looked like today’s morning conversation topic was cheering for me during the chess tournament.
⟨Reading ‘Lee Lena’ character data.⟩
I tried to check the status window for the changes after I obtained the conviction that Kwon Lena was her real name.
However, she was still registered as Lee Lena.
It may be like that because she was still ‘Lee Lena’ in the family register, and the majority of people in this world recognized her as such.
‘How should I speak up about bringing her along to the Newspaper Club interview?’
It didn’t seem too bad to go to the Eternal Lake’s team building with all of our class kids.
Because both Kwon Jane and the Eternal Lake’s team members would be curious what kind of children their niece[4] had as class friends.
When I was organizing my thoughts about having to ask Kwon Jane and Jared Lee for permission and how to make an offer to the class children.
Hwang Jiho spoke up to me.
“You, where did you go last night or today’s morning and then come back?”
A golden light skimmed through Hwang Jiho’s pupils and then disappeared.
“Somehow I sense the very faint traces of a very annoying Jin bastard.”
Very annoying Jin bastard?
I had a memory of hearing that descriptor before.
Hwang Jiho said something like that before:
— Right. Hong Gyubin received a blessing from a very annoying Jin bastard, so I observed him a few times. And that snot’s[5] chance to become a Player was interesting.
“Are you perhaps talking about the Jin that was said to bestow a blessing on team leader Hong Gyubin-nim?”
“Correct.”
Hwang Jiho nodded his head.
‘I should ask Kwon Jane when she stabilizes a bit.’
One more thing to ask.
The supernatural violin which had a very similar description to ‘Unknown Fate’ I possessed.
That item maker, the only artisan in the whole world who makes supernatural violins.
I wanted to hear the story from that artisan.
‘But before that, I have a mountain to overcome.’
Today was the last day of the chess tournament and one day before the boat party.
*~*~*
[1] Support items – the word in raws means ‘do something for someone else’. They may refer to items which take damage for its user?
[2] tired face – without spirit. Unhealthy or worried.
[3] I hoped that one day – the grammar form used here doesn’t explicitly mean it’s Jo Uisin who hopes for it… It may be expressing the hopes of somebody else. Though, it’s safe to assume Jo Uisin does wish for it.
[4] their niece – ‘their’ is this translator’s addition to make the sentence smoother, but this translator firmly believes it’s not strange for the entire Eternal Lake to call Kwon Lena ‘their niece’.
[5] snot – slightly impolite word for man, describing someone who is immature.
Translator’s note:
*continues to shove Kwon Lena’s adoptive excuse of parents down the meat grinder*
Ah, Author, don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing there. You don’t show us Kwon Lena’s status window, because you don’t want us to remember that she has Hariti blessing, but it’s really important, isn’t it? A thunderbolt that has yet to strike, huh?
*~*~*
Oh, right. Thanks for reading another 50 chapters! *leaves the meat grinder alone for a moment*
It’s been a bit more than a half a year since we started it~ This translator got better at translating and understanding what the hell they’re reading once again! Is that the moment when I can go back and revise early chapters so they show signs of quality? *recalls chapter 8 and 9* … No! But someday, surely, I’ll conquer those comment sections…
Once again, thanks to Jas and novio for editing~ Love for them is always appreciated.
Thanks for all comments, support, discord discussions and help in catching typos and this translator’s lack of knowledge about worldly affairs~
So here! I have prepared some gifts for you!
‘Timeline’ subpage was added. For now it contains only the list of past events, which happened before ‘Tutorial of Unnamed Supporting Character’. I’ll be considering if and how to deal with events after that and maybe with PMH’s events (spoiler people will know what I’m talking about).
Second, we have higher quality images of the covers in the ‘Cover’ subpage, and also covers without the title for your full appreciation.
Third, I made you metaphorical rice cakes. Here, please take those virtual rice cakes as my thanks to you as a reader and enjoyer of this story. Thank you so much for reading, eat well~
Did you see a mistake? 🐞
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