Chapter 68: Possessions, Plots, and the Price of Identity

Even if you only passed out for about seven hours, shouldn’t you get some rest? It’s best to take it easy for now.

Lara Schmord nodded and lay back on the bed. Yet the vivid last image of Elina II falling from the human carriage kept her from falling asleep.

* * *

Elina II only opened her eyes a week later. As soon as Lara heard the news, she immediately rode the carriage to the Duke Liniat estate.

At her arrival, Creon greeted Lara, appearing right on schedule. With a courteous bow, he pressed his lips to her hand and led her inside.

They reached a certain room. Creon scratched at the door with his fingernails until he finally found the doorknob, then tapped on it steadily. The knocking made the knob tilt slightly, and the door swung open.

“Please, come in.”

Lara almost wanted to exclaim, “Good boy!” in praise of his cleverness, but she quietly passed by Creon and stepped into the room.

There on the bed, appearing somewhat late, lay Elina II, prostrate and reading a book—albeit a comic book. Immersed in her reading, she only glanced over her shoulder when she sensed someone nearby.

“Hiya.”

“…Hi, what?”

Lara, who had meant to ask if she was alright, found herself at a loss for words in embarrassment.

“Don’t you know ‘Hiya’? Oh, aren’t we friends? So nice to see you! And you’re on first-name terms, too? Besides, who would have thought this world even had comic books—so incredibly entertaining!”

“……”

Lara quietly left the room once more. It was clear that things were quite serious.

“Hey, Creon, what on earth happened to Elina II…?”

Creon replied, “So you’ve noticed? Ever since she woke, she’s been saying she’s not Lady Elina II anymore, but just an ordinary college student named Kim Bing-ui from Korea…”

“Ordinary…? But her name sounds anything but ordinary…”

“That might not be the issue. To explain more about her state…”

According to him, Elina II had lost all her memories. Just as Lara’s face turned grim with concern, a surprisingly bright voice broke through the tension.

‘He’s the God, but… What exactly is dimensional travel possession?’

God’s words suggested that another soul had indeed taken over the body of Lady Elina II.

‘Oh dear… Does that mean an exorcism is next?ʼ

A thunderous rebuke followed. As Lara stood dumbfounded, God’s gentle yet firm voice resumed.

‘Strictly speaking, it was a human carriage accident…’

‘I can’t see much difference in her personality aside from the way she talks…’

Perhaps it was the lively spirit inhabiting Elina II’s vivacious body, but the change wasn’t all that evident.

‘That’s too much! Elina II is my friend. Sure, she’s clueless, causes trouble for no reason, and isn’t even trying to get close to the male lead, making her an exasperating nuisance—but she’s still my dear friend!’

Lara said nothing in return, feeling a small sense of relief.

‘The beginning?’

‘I’ve always thought the Lord is really fed up with capitalism.’

God’s rambling about finances made Him seem hardly divine, but regardless, Lara listened intently to His next words.

‘Ah, so there are various scenarios.’

The so-called death of ordinary Korean college student Kim Bing-ui unfolded like this.

Prologue

Late one night, as Kim Bing-ui was preparing a bowl of instant noodles, her lover’s call came unexpectedly.

‘Bing-ui, I need to talk to you. Can you come out for a minute?’

She couldn’t fathom what was happening. Perhaps her lover simply missed her. Although puzzled, Bing-ui left her noodles behind and stepped outside, thinking of her waiting partner.

Walking alone through the desolate streets, she noticed someone standing beneath a streetlamp. Just as she was about to run over in greeting, the figure under the lamp moved.

In the flickering light, the figure revealed a grotesque visage—charred, melted skin, eerily writhing fingers, and eyes from which blood oozed. Locking eyes with the monstrous figure, Kim Bing-ui knew she had to run for her life.

“Huff… Huff…”

In a desperate dash, she even left behind her sandals as she bolted from the alley.

BRAAAAM―

Startled by the blaring car horn, Kim Bing-ui froze. A car was speeding straight towards her. Even more shocking, the driver wasn’t human. With pure white wings spread wide across the passenger side and out the window, the figure looked unmistakably angelic…

“Girl, I’ve come to pick you up on God’s command!”

The archangel, gripping the wheel with a wild look in His eyes, rammed the car into Kim Bing-ui. Her light body was hurled into the air, and the car soon plunged off the bridge into the river below.

‘…So this is how I die.’

Kim Bing-ui felt her body sinking slowly toward the riverbed. All hope seemed lost as memories of family, childhood, and the promise made to meet her lover flashed through her mind…

Then, the ringing of the phone in her pocket jolted her fully awake. Desperation drove her to thrash her arms vigorously, and slowly, she began to rise toward the surface.

“Haah! Haah…”

The moment she raised her face above the water, a huge hand reached out before her.

“Bing-ui, grab on quickly!”

There, the face of the lover she’d longed to see appeared. Clinging to her lover’s arm, Kim Bing-ui managed to haul herself onto the bridge. Soon, the other arm wrapped around her, and she could hear the steady beat of a heart close to her ear.

“Are you hurt?”

“Thank you. I really thought I was done for…”

“Well, you can’t die that way. After all, I’m the one who should have killed you!”

Staring vacantly at the two arms that had pushed her away, Kim Bing-ui felt herself sinking back into the icy river. It was beyond belief—that the one she trusted most secretly despised her. Perhaps it was because she once asked him to guarantee a debt of 4.7 billion.

Just as Kim Bing-ui tried to swim back to the surface, a hand reached up from beneath and grabbed her foot. Despite the eerie blue tint of the skin, she recognized his face instantly.

It was the man who had obsessively stalked Kim Bing-ui for two months. She had even reported him, but the penalty was only a fine; since then, his behavior had worsened. With murderous intent, the intruder drew a knife from his pocket.

“Ughhhhhh!”

Though his words were muffled by the water, his lip movements clearly mouthed ‘Die!’ as he swung the knife, plunging it into Kim Bing-ui’s abdomen. It felt as though her skin was being scorched. While her body sank slowly, the assailant began to rise.

‘…So this is how I die—so disappointingly.’

Just as the thought of an unavenged, unjust death made her heart ache, Kim Bing-ui suddenly felt a boiling heat rising from her dantian. In an instant, red lasers erupted from her bloodshot eyes.

Indeed, the world-renowned scientist Kim Bing-ui’s parents had installed a laser-trigger device inside her, fearing any attack might harm her. The assailant’s knife had precisely struck this switch.

The red laser shot upward, striking the underside of the concrete bridge. Gradually, the bridge began to crumble. The assailant, scrambling up the bridge, screamed as the shaking structure collapsed on him, sending him sinking into the riverbed.

Kim Bing-ui wasn’t spared from the catastrophe either.

‘I’m sorry if you’re enjoying this, but it’s really terrible…’

Lara, honest in her critique, bowed her head slightly. Then, with determination, she let the pent-up words spill out.

“Even if you root for the possessed heroine, I just can’t stand this plot. Elina II is Elina II! There’s no way we can let another soul steal who she is now!”

With that declaration, Lara dashed down the corridor, leaving Creon behind, watching her vanish with a bitter, questioning glance.