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Chapter 16: The Surprise and Confusion

“Yuri!”

“Dad!”

Everyone present quietly applauded, celebrating the reunion of the father and daughter.

It was a heartwarming reunion, a scene that could bring a tear to anyone’s eye.

Seeing that moment made my emotions explode to 100%, and I suddenly reminisced about my late parents.

Is it raining outside? The window looks sunny.

Seems like it’s just a passing shower.

“What’s going on here? What’s the deal?”

In the gathering, Dayoung leaned in and whispered in my ear.

Even though she was moved by the touching reunion, she couldn’t hide her awkward expression as she approached me.

“Yuri’s dad.”

“Wait, you came all the way here? Wow. What do we do?”

“Let’s just stay calm for now.”

“But Yuri can’t pull away right now. What parent can keep a level head seeing their daughter transform into a son?”

“That’s a stereotype.”

“I don’t think you’re in a position to say that.”

Oh come on, what are you talking about? What parents would reject their child just because they transformed from daughter to son or vice versa?

Even if my parents were gone, I know they would be proud of me if they were here. Yep, yep!

After finally shaking off the bottled-up emotions, the two of them stepped back from each other.

Yuri wasn’t the refined girl we’d seen before now; her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

It was an impression that was hard to imagine on her—I found it oddly cute and different. If only circumstances allowed, I would have snapped a picture with my phone.

“See, Yuri? I knew I wasn’t wrong. How’s your health? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ve really been doing well thanks to these guys.”

“Phew, that’s good. Thank you so much for being healthy, our girl.”

Oh, the mood is wonderful.

Good vibes mean we’ve wrapped up something important, and it’s time to shift to the next topic.

Now that they know they’re both healthy, there’s only one story they can share, right?

“Alright, let’s go home. Mom’s healthy too. If I had known, I would have told you earlier. I just came alone, wondering what if it were otherwise. Haha.”

“Oh, uh, really?”

An awkward expression unlike her usual self.

She desperately conveyed that this wasn’t a good situation through her whole body.

‘This is where it gets serious.’

The biggest obstacle was the awkwardness of having me and others intruding at this moment.

If Yuri is as sharp as I think, she probably knows she’s the only one who can convince her dad right now.

Feeling the gravity of the situation, Dayoung hurriedly spoke up.

“It’s not something we normally plan, but even for Yuri…”

“But you can’t just let Yuri transform into a boy and walk away. I trust Yuri.”

It seemed like there was a glimmer of hope that we could smoothly transition without issue.

Somewhere, my happiness circuit was about to overload with excitement, but what could I do?

I just hoped this emotional moment could last and that whatever excuse Yuri came up with would be understood, and everyone would go home safe.

Yuri’s eyes darted nervously as she cautiously looked our way.

Then, as if she had made up her mind, Yuri rose with determination and boldly declared, “I’m sorry, Dad. I can’t leave here.”

Whoa! Starting with a blunt statement?!

We all had wide eyes and couldn’t contain our disbelief, while Yuri’s dad fell into a panic.

“What? What do you mean? Is there a problem?”

“No, it’s not that kind of problem.”

“Your mom is waiting too. I’ve been keeping my spirits up and running the store hard since I believed you’d definitely come back. We even opened a third one already. Don’t you want to eat the pasta I made?”

“Yeah, I really want to. But not right now.”

What a thrilling twist.

The scene unfolding before us was surpassing even the wildest drama with epic plot twists.

For a moment, the resolve she had just shown faded as she hesitated; it seemed like a lot of courage was needed.

Indeed, it’s not easy to share your troubles with your parents.

A moment of awkward silence filled the room with an eerie stillness.

Yuri looked into her dad’s eyes and took a deep breath.

And then….

“I actually received a divine calling!”

“Good heavens….”

I couldn’t help but gasp in amazement.

Yuri just dropped a massive bombshell.

How was she going to convince anyone with that statement?

‘Divine calling…’

What’s the point of creating happy circuits now? Whatever.

*

*

*

Everyone was shocked by the absurdity of her claim, but the most stunned was Yuri’s dad.

The word he never thought he’d hear from his missing daughter stunned him deeply.

“D-Divine calling?”

Finally collecting himself, Yuri’s dad stammered out a response.

He just met his missing daughter, and she claims she has received a divine calling?

He quickly grabbed Yuri’s shoulders tightly, questioning like a detective.

The notion of having a shaman involved sent a wave of anxiety through him: Was she a victim of some sinister crime?

“What on earth has been happening to you all this time?”

“Uh, well. I suddenly found myself possessed by a spirit and ended up in a weird place, but when I came back, a whole year had passed. The problem is that I received a divine calling in the meantime and can’t leave this house.”

What kind of nonsense is that?

He looked utterly bewildered.

But maybe sensing that this was a chance, Yuri unleashed her story like a machine gun.

She wove a tale about getting possessed by a spirit while walking down the street, falling into a strange place, and receiving a divine calling from that spirit.

She barely managed to escape, but by then a year had gone by, and due to the divine calling, she was unable to return home and ended up living at her sister’s house.

Forget the plausibility—this was downright unbelievable. However, knowing Yuri had no way back, she had no hesitation.

If not now, she would risk missing the timing to convince her dad.

Now that they had just reunited and emotions were running high was the perfect opportunity.

“So, yeah! This place is special! Since I received the divine calling, I’ve opened my eyes to see spirits. Thanks to this land, I was able to avoid bad fortune.”

“?!”

Her tear-filled eyes during the reunion were now bright and filled with determination.

As I recalled, she often made that expression whenever there were strong feelings of innocence or desperation.

But….

“Still, let’s go! We need to talk at home.”

It was more sensible to have a quiet conversation at home. He was convinced that was the right thing to do.

Struggling against her father’s grip as he tried to force her out, Yuri fought back, but it was no use.

It was easy to push him away, but if she wasn’t careful, his arm might get dislocated, and she’d end up becoming the villain in a tragedy.

It was a dire situation where she couldn’t go forward or backward.

Seeing this, Sehee stepped in.

“Um, Dad, maybe we should listen to what Yuri has to say….”

While she had no strong argument, she hoped that if they could sit and discuss calmly, they might find a way out of the situation.

But….

“Ah, this is a family matter, so we’ll handle it ourselves. Thank you for taking care of my daughter. I’ll be sure to repay you later.”

Ah, that’s not it…

Jisehee faces defeat!

With all the other heroes— even Sehee was pushed aside—Yuri started to panic.

If this continued, she might get dragged out and end up in the worst case scenario.

‘That would be unimaginable.’

Oh no, this is something I really don’t want to show.

With her eyes tightly shut, Yuri ultimately resigned to reality.

“I’ll show you!”

“What? Show me what?”

“I’ll show you why I can’t leave this house. Come on, Dad.”

“Uh? Uh oh….”

As if determined, Yuri grabbed her dad’s arm and led him out, with everyone following closely behind.

The chaotic atmosphere from moments ago changed to deceptive calm, filling the room with an eerie silence.

Only the gangly leftover snacks remained on the floor as they prepared to snack away without a care.

“These idiots are really going off the rails.”

Should I watch from afar?

* * *

“Do you think she’ll like it?”

Holding a handful of wrapped papers, Eunha couldn’t wipe the grin off her face.

The regular season of Soul Warfare, specifically the opening match featuring the STK Team.

While tickets were already sold out and scalping for ridiculously high prices, Eunha had miraculously secured five beautifully wrapped tickets.

It wasn’t easy to convince them since they weren’t family, but thankfully, with the strong support of the marketing team leader, she managed to get them.

Eunha took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart as she hurried her steps.

She intentionally didn’t say anything to let the surprise reveal its worth.

Not just her sister, but also Park Dayoung, Ryu Ahjin, and up to five others could be invited.

And these were S-class seats, where scalped tickets could go for hundreds of thousands of won.

With these tickets, she’d have access to popcorn and drinks and could freely use the food stalls inside the stadium during the match.

Since they were exclusive STK Team fan seats, if they won, she could invite her sister to the priority fan meeting.

‘This is truly a worthy purchase.’

Really, what a brilliant idea I came up with. Am I a genius?

In the midst of her self-praise, Eunha finally spotted her sister’s house.

Just around the corner, and the door will be right there…

“Huh?”

As the front gate came into view, Eunha’s steps abruptly halted.

There stood five girls, including her sister, and a guy who must be a stranger.

Instinctively realizing that the five girls lived in that house, she felt a moment of joy now that the ticket numbers matched perfectly.

But then, the cute girl who stepped out from beyond the gate…

“What?!”

The cute girl was gone, and in her place, a towering figure of 180 cm stood right there.

A rapid transformation that felt like magic left Eunha shocked, her mind momentarily blank.

In the midst of dropping her handbag, she clung desperately to the precious tickets in her hand.

 

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