[The Constellation 'Sea-Commander' is furious with you.]
"...Huh?"
The Admiral was enraged, and Lee Jihye was flustered by my sudden actions.
I could read so much in her constricted pupils.
Guilt.
Anxiety.
Confusion.
And... self-loathing.
They were all emotions I had felt and seen before.
"Do you remember what I said before I turned Chungmuro upside down?"
"What...?"
"There isn't much time... but I can at least give you a moment to think back on it."
Lee Jihye fell silent.
Her gaze remained fixed on me, and I couldn't tell if she was ignoring me or deep in thought.
A brief silence stretched between us.
She must have remembered.
But she wouldn't say it.
The more she put it into her own words, the more the pain would rush back.
"Back in the subway, when everyone else only saw your killing, I saw something else. Aren't you curious what it was?"
"...Get lost."
"I saw your eyes. The eyes of someone choking her friend, unable to say a word, forced to watch her friend suffer because she knew it was the end."
Lee Jihye had neither the courage to run from her guilt nor the strength to accept it.
"I have a feeling this movie is connected to that friend."
"I said get lost! Why are you doing this to me?!"
"I'm not as kind as Dokja. Don't expect kindness from me."
"That's not what I'm asking!!"
"Say it yourself. Why are you acting like this?"
It had to be agonizing.
I knew that.
And because I knew, I could say it.
Because I knew, I could solve it.
"..."
"I told you before. Wounds don't just scar over; they fester."
"So what?"
"What did you feel when I said that?"
"I felt like you were being nosy."
She was dodging the answer.
Even though she knew the right one.
It is often harder to get a zero than it is to get a perfect score.
Lee Jihye knew this.
The moment she spoke the truth, she would be forced to face it.
That was why she was deliberately choosing only the wrong answers.
"Cheap tricks won't work. A perfect zero is no different from already knowing every answer."
"What is it you're trying to tell me?"
"Your phrasing is wrong. I want to teach you—how to face your guilt."
Sometimes, a person's lived experience is more helpful than simple theory.
Especially when it comes to emotional burdens like 'guilt' or 'love.'
"The friend you killed didn't resist. She sacrificed herself for you. That is exactly why you must face it."
For the sake of the one who gave everything.
"What do you know?!"
"You already know what I know. You figured it out from my words! Say it yourself...!"
"What did you hear in my words?!"
"That it was a personal experience! Happy now?! Will you leave me alone?!"
"No. Because I've been through it... because I know how much it hurts, I can't leave you alone."
In the end, Lee Jihye screamed as if in desperation.
She shook off my hand and collapsed back onto the floor.
[The Constellation 'Sea-Commander' glares at you for cornering 'Lee Jihye'.]
This wasn't a problem that could be solved by external help alone.
It was the kind of issue where the person involved had to accept help and stand up on their own.
"Admiral. If we don't push her now... Jihye will remain broken. If something has collapsed, it must be rebuilt."
[The Constellation 'Sea-Commander' looks at you.]
"I'm trying to make Jihye walk on her own. You don't walk in place of someone who has fallen; you help them stand back up."
[The Constellation 'Sea-Commander' gives a faint nod.]
Ding!
[A Bounty Scenario has arrived.]
<Bounty Scenario - Live and You Shall Die, Die and You Shall Live>
Category: Sub
Difficulty: B+
Clear Condition: 'Sea-Commander' has requested your aid. Encourage the Incarnation of the Admiral, 'Lee Jihye,' and lead the <Battle of Myeongnyang> to victory.
Time Limit: 2 hours
Reward: One of the Admiral's Stigmata.
Failure: —
Since I'm not Dokja, a reward like this is perfectly fine...
I'll decide later whether to hand it over to Dokja or refuse it, depending on the situation.
"Jihye, I don't know exactly how you feel."
"And yet you're going to teach me how to face it? Don't make me laugh...!"
"But I can guess how your friend felt."
"...What?"
I suppose I'll have to talk a bit about my childhood.
Not exactly my favorite topic.
"Dokja and I had to survive alone after a certain incident. Long before the world ended."
"What does that have to do with me?"
"The moment I entered high school, I had to drop out and dive into part-time jobs. At the time, Dokja was only an elementary school student."
It didn't matter if she tried to interrupt or obstruct me.
I could do this all day until she stood up on her own.
"I gave up my dreams and my own life to sacrifice myself for Dokja's sake."
"...And?"
"The intentions of those who sacrifice themselves are all the same. They desire only one thing."
"They want someone better than them to use them as a stepping stone to live a better life."
"..."
"I don't think your friend was any different."
I had entrusted my dreams, my life... everything to Dokja.
"If that friend saw you collapsed like this right now, what do you think she would feel? You know the answer better than I do."
Whoosh!
Ratatatat!
"They're boarding! S-stop them!"
When did the ships get this close?
I suppose taking on hundreds of warships with only three people was too much after all...!
Still, I should be grateful they held out as long as they did.
"What you need to do isn't mourn the friend who sacrificed herself—it's to survive until the very end!"
Thwack!
The axe returned to my hand.
"Survive until the end, become a wrinkled old grandmother, and die of old age according to the laws of nature!!"
"I... I'm disgusting."
Crunch!!
I split the head of an approaching Japanese soldier.
"And when you meet your friend beyond death, you tell her..."
"I... I don't deserve to live..."
We were both just saying what we wanted to say.
I wasn't even sure if my words were reaching her.
No, could she even hear me at all?
"Not an apology drenched in guilt, but a thank you filled with smiles."
Crying, Jihye slowly raised her head and looked me in the eye.
As if responding to her gaze, I simply gave her a smile.
"Tell her that thanks to her, you survived to the end. That you were able to form wonderful bonds. That it was all because of her. That you're grateful."
"..."
"Then! Your friend will smile and say it too!! She'll ask you to tell her every single story from your life, without leaving anything out!"
You don't need 'qualifications' to survive.
Destined to survive?
Then were we destined to survive?
Could those of us who never appeared in 'Ways of Survival' be certain that we were destined to survive?
"Do you think I, or Dokja, survived because we were 'qualified'?"
Who could possibly decide who has the 'right to survive'?
"If you survived through a sacrifice, then keep surviving no matter what, if only to ensure that sacrifice wasn't in vain!"
Lee Jihye lowered her head and began to sob.
Bwoong!
Kwararararang!
"Kyaaaaak!"
"Aaaagh!"
The ships clinging to us sank under the force of the axe I threw.
But I had only sunk a few.
They were swarming again.
"Say it with your own mouth. If your friend saw you now, what would she say...?"
"'Is the great Lee Jihye really going to die here?' She'd say that."
"Then, are you going to die here?"
"..."
Clench.
No verbal answer came, but none was needed.
The strength in her clenched fist was her answer.
"Lee Jihye. You stand here because of someone's sacrifice."
I kicked her fallen sword back to her.
"Now, you must prove to yourself that you are worthy."
"Hhk...!"
Clank.
Wiping her tears, she gripped the sword and stood up.
"But your friend—and we—trust you."
Ching!
As Lee Jihye drew her blade, the sunlight broke through the clouds as if by magic, illuminating her.
The light reflected off the steel, washing over the battlefield.
Now, this was the Lee Jihye we knew.
"I leave the coming naval battle to you. And our lives as well!"
Kwaang!
Jihye drove her sword into the ground.
Then, just as Jung Heewon had, a red aura enveloped Lee Jihye's entire body.
I feel like I've only done something that benefits Yoo Joonghyuk, but I suppose I should be satisfied with having witnessed Lee Jihye's dark history.
「...To this humble servant」
"To this humble servant,"
「there are still twelve ships remaining.」
"there are still twelve ships remaining."
Chwaaaah!
Swaaaaaaah!!
A massive waterspout erupted from the sea.
「If I can avenge this enemy,」
"To repay this grace,"
「I would have no regrets even if I died here.」
"I will absolutely survive and leave this place alive."
"Rise... Sea-Commander, Lee Jihye."
Ching!
She drew her sword and leveled it at the Japanese invaders.
At that moment, our eyes met.
Nod.
This was no longer my stage.
Nor was it Dokja's.
It was a stage for Jihye... by Jihye, and for Jihye's true debut.
Which meant it was time for a supporting actor like me to make my exit.
"Fire!"
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