00773 The Final Omen Slowly Stirring
“Do you think oppa’s… you know, is big? I feel like it must be.”
“But Da-eun unnie’s lips are so small.”
“Then, if those small, pretty lips opened wide and gently took the tip in… ah!”
“How do you move your tongue? Should you wrap it around the shaft and suck? Or lick softly up and down?”
Yu-jeong Lee’s mind was spinning with all sorts of fantasies as she made her way to the underground of the castle. The reason she was heading there so late was because that’s where the communal bathhouse was located. After moving the storage upstairs, the basement had become an empty space, but during renovations, the entire underground was converted into a bathhouse. Su-hyun Kim had been skeptical—after all, each dorm already had showers, so why the need for a bathhouse? But he couldn’t refuse Yeon-ju Ko’s earnest pleas, so he gave the green light.
Of course, not everyone looked on it kindly. Once, when Jo Seung-woo saw the bathhouse construction costs, he was shocked and came to confront Yeon-ju, fully prepared to make a fuss (though he knew he might make an enemy). But after Yeon-ju showed him around, he quietly withdrew his proposal to shut it down. While he couldn’t deny it was a bit extravagant, he recognized the bathhouse’s value in improving clan members’ welfare. From a man’s perspective, the socializing among women there was hard to understand, but the medicinal herbs in the water and the steam baths that helped relieve fatigue made sense.
So, after some ups and downs, the underground bathhouse was completed and had become especially popular among the women. Yu-jeong was one of them.
“I wonder if it’s okay to swallow the semen… feeling it wriggle like tadpoles in my mouth… huh?”
Lost in her fantasies and squealing softly, Yu-jeong suddenly stopped in her tracks.
“Uh…”
Someone else was there. Kim Han-byul, who had just arrived and was about to take off her robe, froze and stared at Yu-jeong. But their eye contact lasted only a moment before both women quickly looked away and went about their business. The already quiet basement was filled with an awkward silence.
“……”
Yu-jeong stripped off her sweat-soaked clothes with quick, almost tearing motions.
“……”
Han-byul quietly but swiftly peeled off her robe.
Finally, as Yu-jeong shook off her drenched underwear from her legs, both women stood completely naked and turned away from each other. Neither rushed, but Yu-jeong reached the entrance first. As she slid the door open and stepped inside, Han-byul stopped just short of following. Given Yu-jeong’s foul temper, Han-byul expected her to slam the door shut the moment she entered.
In the past, Yu-jeong probably would have done exactly that.
“What are you doing?”
“…Huh?”
But the Yu-jeong of today didn’t.
“Not coming in?”
Instead, she left the door wide open, waiting for Han-byul to enter. Han-byul almost blurted out, “Who are you?” but held back. She inhaled the warm, steamy air and stepped inside, sneaking glances at Yu-jeong along the way.
Splash!
“Ah, this feels good.”
Yu-jeong dove into the hot bath like a splash, causing Han-byul to frown. She was sweating all over, and it wasn’t polite to jump in without showering first. But not wanting to start an argument, Han-byul simply moved to the opposite side of the pool.
After a while, silence returned. The awkwardness born from their chance meeting lingered. Yu-jeong kept dipping her face into the reddish herbal water, while Han-byul stared quietly to her left. As the uncomfortable moment stretched on, the pale skin of the two women flushed a soft pink. Yu-jeong’s perky breasts took on a deep rosy hue, resembling ripe peaches just begging to be bitten into.
“…?”
At that moment, Yu-jeong, idly glancing around, noticed Han-byul’s fixed gaze in one direction. Following her line of sight, she saw a woman in the bath, surrounded by a faint chill in the air. The visitor was there.
The woman with flowing blue hair had her eyes closed, and an indescribable solemn aura surrounded her.
“Ha-yeon…”
Just as Yu-jeong was about to call out happily,
“It’s better not to disturb her,” Han-byul quickly interrupted. Surprised, Yu-jeong looked puzzled, and Han-byul lowered her voice further.
“Ha-yeon unnie is training right now.”
“Training? What kind of training?”
“She’s received the Water’s Blessing.”
“The Water’s Blessing…? Oh, that. But why train? Isn’t it just a matter of inheriting it?”
“It seems a bit different from the usual. She said affinity is necessary… Honestly, I don’t know much either.”
“Hmm. Then maybe Sara received the Fire’s Blessing?”
Han-byul nodded quietly. Yu-jeong, who had been too busy with missions to know the details, shrugged as if pleased to learn something new.
“……”
“……”
Their conversation, resumed after thirty minutes, ended within thirty seconds. Silence quietly settled between them again. Silence, stillness, calm, emptiness…
Feeling all sorts of uncomfortable emotions, Yu-jeong scratched her head. Thinking back, she and Han-byul hadn’t been on such bad terms during the initiation ceremony. They had disagreements, but she’d chalked it up to personality differences.
The real rift came after graduating from the User Academy.
At first, Yu-jeong thought Han-byul was a traitor looking out only for herself. When the Golden Lion clan was destroyed and Han-byul followed Su-hyun Kim, Yu-jeong cursed her silently. She thought Han-byul had no shame for leaving as she pleased. And once betrayed, there was no reason she wouldn’t betray again.
The gap between them deepened, and soon they snarled at each other on sight. Eventually, they ignored each other completely. That was just a few months ago.
But recently, Yu-jeong felt her perspective shifting. It was a change she noticed as she grew as a user. From the standpoint of a ‘user’ rather than a ‘person,’ she found herself more understanding.
To be blunt, Yu-jeong still disliked Han-byul. She didn’t like her. But at the same time, she didn’t think she was entirely in the right either. Above all, Han-byul had stayed since returning from the Golden Lion clan.
“Phew…”
A sigh escaped her as countless thoughts and feelings tangled inside her. She hated complicated thoughts and hated worrying. She just wanted to act on impulse.
With that in mind, Yu-jeong pushed herself up. Splashing through the bath, she startled Han-byul, who had been quietly closing her eyes. Han-byul instinctively tensed, wondering if Yu-jeong was about to cause trouble.
“Hey, um…”
But Yu-jeong wasn’t there to cause trouble.
“Maybe…”
Han-byul looked up, puzzled. Yu-jeong, standing right in front of her, seemed terribly shy. She avoided eye contact, fiddled with her chin, and the occasional drip of water from her flushed skin sounded louder than it should. The strange atmosphere suddenly felt subtly charged.
“W-what is it? U-unnie?”
Unable to hold back the odd feeling, Han-byul blurted out, calling her ‘unnie’ without realizing it.
Clearing her throat awkwardly, Yu-jeong finally spoke, her voice slow and hesitant.
“D-do you want to… talk about what’s on your mind?”
Seon Yu-woon felt a strange sensation. More precisely, looking at the girl in front of him, barely reaching his waist, he felt something indescribable. Of course, Ma-reu wasn’t throwing a tantrum or anything; she just sat quietly with a bright smile. But that calmness felt oddly unnatural to Yu-woon. There was something unchildlike about her.
He pondered deeply. He understood why the clan lord’s precious daughter was here. She had just come out for breakfast and training as usual, when suddenly user Jo Seung-woo appeared and asked him to take care of Ma-reu. Along with a sudden request to test her talent as an archer.
At first, Yu-woon had planned to politely decline, saying she needed to get used to her new class. But when he heard it was the clan lord’s request, he had no choice but to accept.
The problem was what came next. He had no idea how to test her talent.
After much thought, Yu-woon cautiously concluded that an archer just needed to shoot well and hit the target. So he decided to have her shoot a few times and call it a day.
With that clear plan, Yu-woon suddenly held out the bow, Cheongung, in his hand. Then he quickly pulled it back, realizing it was absurd to give such a large bow to a tiny fairy child.
“Please wait a moment.”
Saying that, Yu-woon soon returned with a smaller bow and handed it to Ma-reu. It was the bow she always carried before receiving Cheongung. Watching Ma-reu eagerly examine it with wonder, Yu-woon spoke softly.
“Now, let me explain it to you briefly.”
“Wow… it’s beautiful…”
“Ah, please be careful. It may look like a toy on the outside, but this weapon—”
“Wow, so this is Pasa’s bow.”
At that moment, Mar smiled brightly and said,
“?!”
Seon Yuwon was utterly stunned. But Mar, completely unfazed, lifted Pasa’s bow high with her small arms, clearly pleased.
“That’s the first wing, right?”
“Oh, you knew that?”
“Yes! Pasa’s fragments are divided into seven parts, and the first wing—the bow of Pasa—has a mysterious power that shatters evil and corrupt energy. Wow, you have a really good bow.”
“Uh…”
Whose daughter is this, to be so sharp? And seven fragments, you say?
Seon Yuwon had intended to at least show some courtesy by explaining the basics, but Mar ended up telling him things he didn’t even know himself, throwing him into instant confusion.
Seeing Seon Yuwon at a loss for words, Mar tilted her head.
“Uh, did you not know? Then shall I teach you?”
“Ah, no, it’s just—”
“As I said earlier, Pasa’s fragments total seven. Starting with Pasa, then Wisdom, Warrior, Jincheon, Collapse…”
“……”
Is teaching really that much fun? Mar stood with her hands behind her back, counting off each fragment on her fingers as she spoke.
Before long, Seon Yuwon’s jaw had dropped so far it wouldn’t close. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the roles had reversed somehow. But once your mind falls into confusion, it’s not easy to recover. All he could focus on were those sharp ears twitching up and down, and the thirteen pairs of wings moving in sync—somehow, they caught his eye.
Meanwhile, at the same time—
“Let’s begin the morning briefing.”
In the fourth-floor office of the castle, a neatly dressed man stood upright, flipping through several documents. When the young man seated at the desk nodded, the man—Jo Seungwoo—immediately began his report.
“The User Academy has opened. Once the prospective users arrive, formal training will commence.”
“How about the instructors?”
“As I mentioned before, the Mercenary Clan has been assigned two training instructors and two lifestyle instructors.”
“Training instructors are Park Hyunwoo and Go Yeonju. Lifestyle instructors are Kim Dongseok and Pyo Hyemi… right?”
“Exactly. Additionally, user Park Hyunwoo will serve as the chief instructor this time.”
“Huh? Not Go Yeonju?”
“Yes. The Shadow Queen was originally offered the position first, but she declined, saying it was a hassle…”
“Well, Park Hyunwoo might actually be the better fit. He was a senior officer in the Golden Lion Clan, after all.”
Kim Suhyun nodded calmly and gestured lightly, signaling to move on.
“News from the Shin Koran Alliance: they’re planning to open the Night Market soon. The Merchant Guild Lord will be visiting shortly.”
“Already?”
“Yes. It seems preparations have been underway since the city’s restoration. They likely sought permission after making adequate arrangements.”
“Since the city’s restoration… how do you know that?”
Jo Seungwoo smiled wryly.
“The Shadow Queen gave me a hint.”
“If Go Yeonju said so, it must be true. …Honestly, Seo Jihwan is quite the user, too. Anyway, what else?”
“Since we’re on the User Academy, I’ll update you on the Mercenary Academy as well. Construction is ongoing, but it should be completed around the fifth week of training.”
“So about forty days… that’s reasonable. How’s Mar’s talent test coming along?”
“Almost finished. You should receive the report by tomorrow.”
“Good.”
Kim Suhyun spoke casually, then looked at Jo Seungwoo as if asking if there was anything more. Jo Seungwoo bowed slightly.
“That concludes the morning briefing.”
“Thank you for your hard work. You may leave now.”
It was a clear dismissal. Though Jo Seungwoo still had things to say, he left the room promptly.
Jo Seungwoo is a user with a keen sense for reading others’ moods. Today, he noticed Kim Suhyun’s mood had subtly darkened—ever since Hamill Road’s Kim Yuhyun visited. Whatever they discussed remains a mystery…
“The atmosphere changed all of a sudden… It’s awkward to complain about when the administrative duties will be divided… hmm.”
Resigned, Jo Seungwoo braced himself and strode forward energetically. No doubt, a mountain of paperwork awaited him back in his office.
And—
“……”
In the now-empty fourth-floor office, Kim Suhyun sat at the desk with arms crossed. Deep in thought, her lips were tightly pressed, and faint wrinkles creased her brow. Her expression was far from reassuring.
‘It’s about time to start preparing to leave.’
A voice flickered through her mind. Kim Suhyun closed her eyes gently, exhaling a breath she’d been holding, then slowly began to sift through her thoughts.
Memories of entering the mountain range where the dragon sleeps.
‘I… in this world…’
No, to be more precise,
‘I want to erase the demons and the demon race.’
Her conversation with Ganesha.
---------------------------= Author’s Note =---------------------------
I didn’t even realize it, but my work was selected for the highest viewership award at the second awards ceremony. I only found out after receiving a call from Joara. It feels like a consolation prize for cutting myself while shaving and humming in the shower. Haha.
Thank you to all the readers who have loved Memorize throughout this year. Next year, I will do my best to make this novel a brief but refreshing escape for your leisure time, and to bring you joy as well. And one more promise: I will never rush the ending. As I originally planned, I will steadily and slowly move toward a proper conclusion.
Thank you sincerely. (__)