S-Rank is My Side Character - Chapter 62

“Na, Nari-ya. What’s the reason for calling dad?”

‘…… Dammit.’

At a cafe not far from Busan Station, Nari’s haggard-looking father sat in front of her. Why did he have to be in Busan of all places?

Nari looked at her father. He looked skinny and haggard.

Perhaps because she had just seen the photo frame a few hours ago, old memories came to Nari’s mind as she lowered her head and stared only at her fingers fidgeting under the table.

Mom and dad had a really good relationship.

Since they dated from middle school, the album always contained sticker photos from their school days.

The memory of continuously flipping through her mother’s album when she was young because it looked nice was still vivid.

A strong and lively hunter mom and a gentle househusband dad.

Given the times, there were views that didn’t look kindly upon a woman working outside and a man becoming a househusband, but the two didn’t care.

In the first place, they were a couple with such a good relationship, so after mom died, dad’s betrayal was even more shocking.

‘…… What if dad completely forgot about mom?’

Just having such thoughts felt unfair.

The Mago group, which had nothing to do with them, vividly preserved traces of mom, but how could you, as a person, forget mom so quickly?

The person who said he had feelings for mom even became her uncle to protect her, but how could you, who even had a marital relationship with mom, abandon me like this?

Nari, who was having such thoughts, suddenly suppressed the welling up irritation.

Nari, who was biting her lips hard, pondered for a long time on how to bring it up before opening her mouth.

“I came because I have something to ask about mom.”

“…… Mom?”

“Before mom died. It seems she did a lot of work here.”

“…… Your mom did do a lot of work here.”

Dad’s eyes narrowed slightly. Nari knew it was a habit of dad’s when he was angry.

Mom left ties with Mago here, and there were people in Mago who liked mom, so dad hated Mago, was that why?

Nari, who was making guesses based on small changes in expression, hesitated for a moment and then carefully shifted the conversation.

“And… um… I heard mom was… destined for… cheonmyeong? Do you… know what that is?”

At those words, dad’s eyes widened. And he grinned broadly.

Nari couldn’t continue what she was saying after seeing dad looking the happiest in the world.

“Nari-ya! You’re finally taking an interest in mom!”

‘…… Huh?’

Nari’s brows furrowed slightly. Wasn’t intuition the red light pressed by ancestors?

A sharp sense was telling her that something was unusual.

“Ah, dad…? Do you still remember mom?”

“Of course, definitely. She’s your mom, no one else. How could dad have forgotten?”

“But you immediately remarried. Saying you wanted to be with that woman…?”

Nari chose careful words in case the suspicion that had sharply risen would be revealed. Dad nodded his head repeatedly while smiling.

“That was just a smokescreen because you didn’t believe in your mom. Now that you can believe in mom too, I can show you.”

“Not believing, what… do you mean by that?”

A chill ran down Nari’s spine. Something was strange. Really strange.

The appearance filled with anticipation and grinning widely was dad’s appearance that she had never seen before, either when mom was alive or after she died.

Dad spoke to Nari again with a smile.

“Nari-ya, you know your mom was the ruler who managed the three realms, right?”

“…… Are you talking about… the constellations…?”

“Yes! Didn’t our daughter know?”

Dad nodded his head. Mom’s constellation was not well known.

Even Nari, her daughter, didn’t know.

In South Korea 20 years ago, revealing the name of a constellation often led to discovery of a method of destruction and harm to the incarnation, so it was not often mentioned. After stabilization, mentioning mom became taboo due to what happened 10 years ago.

“Do you really think your mom couldn’t close the gate 10 years ago? No, right? No… Your mom is, Nari-ya. She just went to another world for a bit.”

“…… Another… world?”

“Yes, your mother’s calling is clearly to save the world. But now she’s hiding her presence in the present world to avoid evil schemes!”

“Evil schemes, no, dad. What are you talking about now?”

Nari spat out in irritation, but dad didn’t care. Rather, he continued his words in a lengthy manner.

“She’ll appear to save us. Then dad will meet mom again. For that, we need to do well. So I had no choice but to borrow pocket money from you. Right?”

Nari tightly gripped her pants under the table. Certainty was gradually growing in the eerie feeling.

Isn’t that too much of a typical story?

That’s an obvious religious story.

After constellations and incarnations appeared, religions worshipping incarnations increased. And most of them were cults.

Judging from dad’s appearance and behavior so far, it was clear that it was absolutely not a healthy religion.

Moreover, dad’s words made it seem as if the person that religion worshipped was as if…

‘No, no. It can’t be. It has to be.’

Just like in Gunsin, just like when she interfered with Kang Ihyeon.

Nari could never ignore what she knew and pretend not to know.

The long-held distrust of the world turned into suspicion, constantly verifying at every moment whether the object in front of her would attack.

And Nari’s intuition was mostly accurate.

But this time, she wanted to ignore it. It was too scary. But she couldn’t do that.

She felt she would regret it for a long time if she just let this matter pass.

She had to see with her own eyes what they were doing with mom.

And if they did something insulting to the deceased.

[The Ruler of Chaos looks down at you as if to ask, “What if they do such a thing?”]

‘…… I don’t know, what should I do……?’

Her heart was pounding. It was similar to when she had a panic attack. Nari tried to calm her mind as much as possible.

Excessive emotions hinder rational judgment.

Dad said with a smile.

“Let’s go see where mom is. Mom will be happy too. Nari-ya.”

Nari tightly gripped her pants. And spoke in an obedient voice.

Perhaps because the fear of what was to come was weighing on Nari’s shoulders, or because she couldn’t predict how dad would react if she showed sharp skepticism.

“…… Ye, yeah…… Ta, take me. Dad.”

And at Nari’s words, dad stood up from his seat with a bright smile.

[This is the timeline separator]

With dad, taking the subway a few times, taking the bus, to a rundown village with no people, in the basement of a collapsing building’s basement.

Dad, who stopped in front of a green door with a round jade hanging, took out a key from his pocket.

From inside, an ominous tune echoed along with the sound of a gong.

“Dad. Where is this place?”

Nari, who had been suppressing the ominous feeling tightly, looked at the door.

In fact, human intuition can be wrong at times, and even while being half-dragged by dad, Nari tried not to have ominous thoughts.

As dad opened the door with the key, he spoke in a trembling voice.

“Nari-ya, this is where mom is. Mom is here.”

“…… Dad, mom is.”

Dead. Nari, who was about to say that, shut her mouth tight.

Dad was looking down at her with sharp eyes.

Nari, whose spine tingled, simply followed dad’s actions.

Creak, the door opened. As the barrier disappeared, the various sounds, including the gong, could be heard vividly.

In the small room, Nari saw. Speakers blaring sounds reminiscent of a shaman ritual, a jade-colored coffin placed in front, people bowing in front of it.

A woman counting money. And a large golden statue of mom in front of the coffin.

Nari, who felt terror in an instant, tightly gripped dad’s arm. Her mind went blank and no thoughts came to her.

The woman who had been sitting at the desk counting money stood up and approached Nari. Nari blankly looked at the woman.

It was the woman she thought dad had an affair with. The heavily made-up woman grinned and reached out her hand to Nari.

“Hello. Miss Shin Binnari. Long time no see. You really look just like your father.”

At the woman’s words, Nari covered her ears. The loud sound of the gong seemed to paralyze her reason.

Her legs were trembling.

She had no sense at all. She didn’t even know what kind of situation this was.

To protect herself, her brain instinctively separated reality from herself. Seeing Nari looking dazed, dad said with a smile.

“You’re surprised. Our Nari. But Nari-ya. Mom is the person who upholds the order of the three realms, right? Right? She deserves this treatment. Rather, I’m just sorry I can’t do more for her. Mom will definitely come back. To save us.”

At dad’s words, the believers stopped what they were doing and looked at Nari.

But the sound of the gong had not yet faded. The heavily made-up woman grabbed Nari’s shoulder.

The moment her shoulder was grabbed, a momentary violent impulse welled up.

The woman saw Nari’s expression and flinched for a moment, then let go of her hand. Soon she smiled leisurely again and pointed ahead.

“Miss Nari. Inside that coffin is your mother’s body. When we gather more believers, Lady Kang Hana’s soul will return. Then we will be saved, and you can meet your mother again. Would you like to check?”

At those words, the dazed Nari slowly walked towards the coffin.

The surrounding believers all made way for Nari and bowed their heads.

With trembling hands, she removed the lid of the jade coffin.

She didn’t want to check. But she had to check.

If they did something strange to mom, she had to make sure of it, and then.

Nari recalled the Ruler of Chaos asking her a moment ago, “What will you do?”

‘What should I do, should I kill them?’

Nari, lost in such thoughts, completely removed the lid.

Click, Nari looked down into the coffin with the lid removed.

Inside was a mannequin the same height as mom, with long brown curly hair, dressed in a hanbok, and with jade-colored eyes.

Surrounding it was jade, the color that symbolized mom, scattered all over.

They seemed to be trying to create a spiritual atmosphere by reflecting light through the lighting.

But to Nari, who had seen mom’s beautiful genuine jade-colored spiritual power, it only looked cheap.

‘Nari-ya! Mom will be back!’

Mom’s voice echoed in her head.

Nari’s mouth opened on its own. Her lungs filled with air. Black eyes shimmered with anger. Strength tightened in her vocal cords.

The moment she thought she must be screaming now, Nari’s consciousness cut off.