The atmosphere became heavy, and for some reason, it was getting harder to breathe. Even though there wasn’t any magic or anything threatening, there was this indescribable oppression boring down on me.

‘Shit…’

Jung Ha-Yan wasn’t doing anything threatening, but I could only pray that she wouldn’t antagonize Cha Hee-Ra. However, her behavior was kind of strange, and although I couldn’t describe it in words, it was as if she was trying to climb up to Cha Hee-Ra’s level. Of course, Cha Hee-Ra wasn’t Jung Ha-Yan’s superior, but it’s true that she had the upper hand. The red-haired man woman was the only anger management disorder therapist in Lindel, and the treatment was effective for Jung Ha-Yan in many ways. Since there was a gap that couldn’t be filled between them, Jung Ha-Yan chose to bow first, but the reason why she suddenly started behaving this way was simple…

‘Her magic stat has reached 99.’

She believed she was stronger now...

‘Is this the animal kingdom or something?’

When Jung Ha-Yan was done sizing Cha Hee-Ra up, she immediately started rebelling when she thought that she could go up against the latter. You could say it was a small struggle that started from within Jung Ha-Yan. Maybe she was ruminating about the revolution that happened in the Holy Empire, but she was like a young challenger standing up against a male hogging all the females. Naturally, I thought they would get into an intense physical fight.

Although the genders were switched, I was undeniably in the same situation as what I had just described, and it was ridiculous to see them carefully conversing in this situation that was becoming more and more uncomfortable. I was sure that if these two weren’t related to me in any way, they would have already left, just like Han Sora, who was now standing far away.

“What did you say?” Cha Hee-Ra questioned.

“Oppa… s-seems uncomfortable… T-That’s all…” Jung Ha-Yan stuttered.

“...”

“...”

“I think there’s a different reason…” Cha Hee-Ra pointed out.

“Y-You’re… misunderstanding it…” Jung Ha-Yan replied.

“...”

“...”

“Bullshit…” Cha Hee-Ra remarked.

“I-It’s true… I’m telling the truth. There’s really no other reason. As I said, oppa just looked u-uncomfortable…” Jung Ha-Yan repeated.

“Hey, do I look like an idiot to you?” Cha Hee-Ra asked.

The atmosphere instantly changed, and I thought about stepping in, but Cha Hee-Ra blocked me as if she were telling me to stay quiet.

Cha Hee-Ra immediately walked toward Jung Ha-Yan. Due to the slight difference between their height, Cha Hee-Ra was looking down at Jung Ha-Yan while Jung Ha-Yan was looking up, and the way Jung Ha-Yan looked up at Cha Hee-Ra without fear was pretty clear.

“You do realize that you’re starting to annoy me, right?” Cha Hee-Ra asked.

“I don’t know…” Jung Ha-Yan mumbled.

“...”

“...”

“Now you’re talking casually to me.” Cha Hee-Ra pointed out.

“I don’t know, ma’am…” Jung Ha-Yan corrected.

“But why are you looking up at me like that?” Cha Hee-Ra questioned.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. I-I’m looking at you like how I usually do… Y-You’re the one looking at me in a disgusting way, unnie… Y-You don’t like me, right?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.

“...”

“You must be out of your mind,” Cha Hee-Ra commented.

“...”

“I think I know why you’re talking all this nonsense, but if you don’t want to die, you better look down,” Cha Hee-Ra threatened.

“What?” Jung Ha-Yan muttered.

“I’m not going to repeat myself, little girl. If you don’t want me to twist that pretty head of yours, you better look down,” Cha Hee-Ra ordered.

The situation had been suffocating up until now, but I suddenly felt like something was stuck in my throat. Cha Hee-Ra mustered her energy and threatened Jung Ha-Yan. It didn’t matter whether that energy was her killing intent, mana, or whatever—all I could think about was leaving this place. Since I could feel Cha Hee-Ra’s energy all the way from where she was standing, I couldn’t even imagine how oppressed Jung Ha-Yan had to be feeling right now.

‘Shit…’

Naturally, I used Mind’s Eye to look at Cha Hee-Ra, and I noticed her intelligence stat decreasing little by little while her strength stat was increasing. This meant she was using her unique habit, which increased her strength but decreased her intelligence.

I unknowingly started moving before I could feel like a fight would break out. I thought that Cha Hee-Ra was the reasonable one, but when I recalled her titles: Madwoman Crazy About Blood and the Holy Empire’s Red Madwoman, I realized that her nature was nowhere near reasonable. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that her leadership positions had been helping her cosplay as a normal person. However, if I had to describe Cha Hee-Ra, I would say she was a lioness who had voluntarily restricted herself with an iron ball and chain, as well as a rabid dog who had been suppressing her temper.

Basically, a young challenger was making her lose her temper.

‘Stop it, Ha-Yan…’

There was a reason why Cha Hee-Ra had been reigning over Lindel as the queen for several years and counting.

I had an inkling about what Jung Ha-Yan was thinking right now. Her magic stat was 99, and she had grown beyond comparison. I was sure those considered strong, like Galoshik of Garosh, Cash, and Lim Ri-Dan, were no match for her, but it was a different story when it came to Cha Hee-Ra.

‘Her strength is 98…’

Moreover, Cha Hee-Ra could move points from her intelligence stat to her strength stat.

‘Her strength is at 101… 103… 106…’

Cha Hee-Ra’s strength continued to increase as her intelligence decreased. I was worried that the incident from last time would happen again, but I couldn’t help but look forward to what Jung Ha-Yan was going to do. If Jung Ha-Yan was wearing the Scouter in Dragonball, I was sure she would be shocked to see Cha Hee-Ra’s strength steadily increasing. Actually, even without an item like that, I was sure she could feel it.

Cha Hee-Ra bit her lips, and her eyes were filled with spite, making her look even angrier. It felt like this was going to turn into a bloody battle rather than a catfight. Jung Ha-Yan had indirectly challenged her, and the red-haired madwoman was trying to oppress the new challenger. I was sure that if Jung Ha-Yan and I weren’t related in any way, something would have already happened.

‘Does she think she’s stronger than Cha Hee-Ra?’

Jung Ha-Yan may have thought she had a chance, but that wasn’t the case. I didn’t question the fact that Jung Ha-Yan was strong, and I believed that she had a chance against Cha Hee-Ra, but the reality was that there was a difference in their experience.

‘Cha Hee-Ra is much stronger than she thinks...’

That was even more true because Cha Hee-Ra wasn’t wielding a weapon, even though her class was Mercenary Queen.

“...”

“...”

After some time passed, one side backed down, and the winner of this war of nerves was obviously the red-haired madwoman. Jung Ha-Yan obeyed and started lowering her head.

‘Yeah… just do as she says.’

Still, she had to have wanted to maintain her pride because she looked away. Jung Ha-Yan started crying, and her hands were shaking as if she had been wronged. She had to be feeling this way because when she believed the world finally belonged to her, the wall she thought she could already overcome was blocking her path again.

“Kghhhh…”

“If you acted like this from the start, it wouldn’t have been awkward between us. I told you when we first met…” Cha Hee-Ra started.

“Hiccup…”

“I don’t remember exactly what I said, but… I think I told you to learn how to suppress that bloodthirstiness of yours. Right, darling? I’ll teach you one more thing today, little sis,” she continued.

“Hiccup…”

“If you’re not sure, don’t even try. Don’t challenge people, do you understand?”

The situation ended with her patting Jung Ha-Yan’s shoulder, and although it quickly ended, it felt like a long time had passed to the point that my shirt was now wet from my sweat.

Cha Hee-Ra patted Jung Ha-Yan’s head as if nothing had happened, but if the challenger thought the same, she wouldn’t have overreacted and cried like that. Jung Ha-Yan reacted that way because she felt threatened.

“Come talk to her, darling. You can comfort her and explain so she understands…” Cha Hee-Ra requested.

“Ah, okay, noona,” I replied.

“I’m saying this ahead of time just in case, but if something like this happens again, I won’t go easy. Do you understand?” Cha Hee-Ra warned.

I completely understood. The atmosphere was a bit heavy for it to be considered a war of nerves, but I was sure she had considered the possibility of another incident breaking out later.

Cha Hee-Ra had acknowledged Jung Ha-Yan’s growth, and she was taking the latter’s growth into account.

‘I’m sure of it.’

If the two were overtaken by their emotions, I could end up in a situation where there would be nothing I could do.

‘Do we need to film an episode of Please Become Close?’[1]

No matter how much I thought about it, that was impossible.

Anyway, after saying that her mood was ruined, Cha Hee-Ra got in the carriage while Jung Ha-Yan was trying to read my expression, afraid that I would scold her, but to be honest, she was trying to look innocent.

When I waved to Jung Ha-Yan, she ran toward me and even though she continued hiccuping and sniffling, I didn’t really know what to say to her. It wasn’t like she cursed at Cha Hee-Ra or directly started a fight, and aside from the fact that she had been kind of rude, there weren’t any other issues. Actually, the way Cha Hee-Ra treated her had been a bit excessive. Of course, the situation would change when taking into account the hidden meaning behind her words, but it was difficult for me to fix this situation.

‘I have to deal with this first.’

Naturally, I considered the fact that Jung Ha-Yan had a lot to complain about, but I had to stop her from creating conflict with Cha Hee-Ra during this trip; no, even after the trip. I couldn’t let her think that I cared about Cha Hee-Ra more than her, so I had to use the carrot and whip appropriately.

When I looked at Jung Ha-Yan after sending Park Deok-Gu and the scared Han Sora into the carriage, she looked at me as if she was telling me, “I’m sad right now. Can you hug me?”

I had to scold her first, then I would hug her.

‘I’m jealous of Kim Hyun-Sung. Shit…’

What he was going through was incomparable to what I was going through. I even witnessed Jo Hye-Jin, the kid, and even Park Yeon-Joo eating and shopping together while laughing. I was certain that the women around me would never do something like that, even in my dreams.

‘They would backstab each other if they could…’

The more I thought about it, the more envious I became of Kim Hyun-Sung.

‘I’m sure he saved a country in his past life...’

And I had definitely sinned a lot in my past life.

1. There was an episode of a Korean variety show called "Infinite Challenge" where two awkward members of the show spent time together without the rest of the members ☜