UGB Chapter 90: A New Encounter (3)
Chapter 90: A New Encounter (3)
Chapter 90: A New Encounter (3)
Was Tang Hwarin the heroine?
The reason I first approached Tang Hwarin after finding her wasn’t due to a purely primal instinct that compels me to chase after the heroine at all costs.
Defier of Heaven.
Should Tang Hwarin inquire about my identity, I would have to respond truthfully, as it’s only proper, unveiling my true identity and abilities, which I must keep secret.
The reason I first approached Tang Hwarin wasn’t because I lacked a girl to hang out with, like the insiders do, but because of my doubts regarding the abilities of the Defier of Heaven.
After all, friends who are insiders might think that way, but a guy like me wouldn’t approach with such a mindset, right?
Suddenly, I was reminded of a friend who’s an insider.
“Yun-ho, I broke up with my girlfriend, and I’m so distressed.”
“Idiot. I’m more distressed having to listen to your drunken complaints after answering your call in the middle of the night.”
“Ah. How can I live without her?”
“I’m living just fine without a girlfriend.”
“I’m envious of you!”
“Are you picking a fight with me now?”
If that friend, who found a new girlfriend just a week after breaking up, was going to call, he might as well not bother. Worrying about his girl problems was a losing battle.
Anyway, if my ability, named the Defier of Heaven, granted me the right to turn all original female characters into heroines, then it might be possible for Tang Hwarin too.
Conversely, if this ability didn’t apply to Tang Hwarin, even if I used my knowledge of the original work to temporarily twist her fate, she might still end up becoming a villainous character later on.
Does the ability of the Defier of Heaven truly apply to the female characters of the original work? Or was the Heavenly Death Star just a special case?
Becoming friends with the original character Tang Hwarin might allow me to find out.
‘The problem is how to get closer.’
Ha-ha, Miss. He-he, Sir. If I approached with a friendly demeanor and gradually engaged in conversation, how many lifetimes would it take to discover if Tang Hwarin is the heroine?
Even at the “Ha-ha, Miss” stage, the relationship could be severed.
It’s similar to a certain college freshman named Kang, who was thrilled to get the phone number of a girl he liked during a group project. He sent her a message with a fluttering heart but received no response that day, and only got a single ‘ᄋ’ the next day. He replied in real-time, only to receive another ‘ᄋ’ the following day, and then he finally understood the other person’s intentions.
I needed a way to quickly advance the relationship.
“I have a prepared scenario.”
The plan I had devised for when I encountered Tang Hwarin again.
My new scenario. My and Tang Hwarin’s point of connection.
Using it, I should be able to forge a relationship with her.
‘The problem is that I have to reveal a shocking truth.’
This time, my life wasn’t at risk, so there’s no need for extreme fabrications. What’s required instead was a concealed truth.
A truth that would astonish and unsettle her. Through that, we must become closer.
There’s no flower that blooms without being shaken, and even the poison butterfly must flutter a bit, right?
Tang Hwarin.
Let’s begin with shock therapy.
“The first thing Miss Hwarin should be curious about is not me, but the identity of the person who taught you the poison skills.”
The starting point should be to undermine the trust in the person she holds most dear.
With a relaxed smile, I diverted her attention towards someone else, suggesting that the person she trusted might not be as they seem.
“Uncle Tang Geoho? It seems there’s a misunderstanding. Uncle Tang Geoho is not a suspicious person. He’s been like a benefactor to me for over ten years.”
Tang Hwarin frowned as if she had heard an unpleasant accusation about her uncle.
Even knowing that she has been poisoned all this while.
Yes, suggesting she doubt someone who was like a father and martial arts teacher to her could upset her. After all, people believe what they want to believe.
That’s good.
To make the butterfly flutter, you have to start by making her distrust the wings she trusts the most.
“There’s an absolutely forbidden experiment in the Sichuan Tang Family. Do you know about it?”
I didn’t counter her opinion directly but smoothly transitioned with a question.
“I wouldn’t know. I carry the blood of the Sichuan Tang Family, but I wasn’t raised by them.”
I know. I threw that out to arouse curiosity.
“Poison human creation. It’s an experiment banned by the Sichuan Tang Family due to the numerous live experiments and victims it produces. Are you familiar with poison humans?”
“Roughly. I’ve been learning the martial arts of the Sichuan Tang Family.”
I observed her in silence.
I could surmise the extent to which the process of becoming a poison human had advanced in Tang Hwarin’s body.
Her skin had not yet been marred. She was likely still in the phase of building resistance to poison and forming a vessel to contain it.
Whether she was the heroine or not, it’s a situation where her tragic fate could still be averted.
I opened my mouth to inform her of the subsequent process.
“Once the vessel is formed, poison humans create a poison core within their bodies. At this stage, the remaining 10% die.”
“What?”
Tang Hwarin’s eyes widened in shock as she looked back at me. 90% die, and then the remaining 10% die. This meant everyone involved in the poison human experiment perished.
“Historically, there have been only a handful of instances where poison humans were successfully created. They are attempting that insane act in hopes of replicating those few miracles.”
Madmen treading a path drenched in blood for a mere illusion.
A scientist claiming to establish a colony on Mars seems more realistic and futuristic in comparison.
“Everyone ends up dying?”
Tang Hwarin whispered in disbelief.
The training in poison skills she underwent to survive and escape pain was, in reality, a journey towards death.
A truth that negated life itself. No one could remain unaffected after hearing it.
Tang Hwarin looked at her body with a pale face, unable to believe it.
I silently watched her until the shock had somewhat diminished.
“What exactly are you? How do you know all this?”
Having regained some of her composure, Tang Hwarin looked at me with furrowed brows and a skeptical gaze.
I was prepared.
Now was the time to harvest the seeds I had planted.
“Do you know what happens when the poison core is formed in the completed vessel?”
I began, with a hint of anger in my gaze.
“I don’t know.”
“The body melts down. The poison core causes constant, excruciating pain as the intestines sever. Poison flows out of the body like dust, disintegrating everything around. You die slowly, in agony.”
Tang Hwarin survived all the processes of becoming a poison human like a miracle, becoming an imperfect poison human.
Her nickname in the original work was Dokjeop (Poison Butterfly).
Wasn’t it ironic? Her skin, disfigured and hideous, and yet she, a villainous character, was given a nickname that implied a beautiful woman using poison.
In the original work, Poison Butterfly was both a nickname and a derogatory term for Tang Hwarin. Like dust fluttering from the wings of a butterfly, poison dust constantly flows out of her body.
“So, how do you know all this?”
Frustrated, she yelled at me.
It’s clear her mental state was shattered.
I looked around the room once more. The messy room and her, with overdue room charges.
I was not sure how things turned out, but it meant she had no one to rely on directly at the moment.
And I told her that the only person she could trust was actually the cause of her misery.
I told her that the martial arts she trained her whole life were, in fact, leading her to misery.
In a situation where she couldn’t trust anyone and her life itself was negated.
What if someone she could rely on suddenly appeared?
“Because you’re not the first.”
A man who knew the truth about poison humans.
“Not the first?”
“I know someone who was deceived by the Sichuan Tang Family, suffered all their life, and then melted away into a handful of poison water.”
A person who empathized and shared her anger.
Someone with a reason to reach out to her.
“Who is that?”
“My Inseparable Friend. The deceased was my closest friend.”
If a man who lost someone just like her appeared before her...
Tang Hwarin, you would want to grasp my hand, wouldn’t you?