Chapter 86 – Night at the Museum

When the clock struck midnight on the east coast, the Chameleon Troupe moved out... or at least three of its members.

Usually, they operated under the utmost secrecy. The boogeymen of the underworld, a criminal syndicate and true eminence in the shadows.

But tonight, with the recruitment of their newest and strongest(?) member, they acted in utter disregard for secrecy.

===

The nightguard at the Smithsonian was a middle-aged man slightly overweight and mostly there just for the benefits. And like usual, he was out on patrol, a flashlight in hand and his trusty pistol at his side.

It was an easy job.

Although Heroes and Villains existed in America, most of their activity revolved around key resources and artifacts gained from Dungeons and Towers.

And while the Smithsonian had various warehouses with historic artifacts, they were artifacts in the colloquial sense, not the legal sense that granted magical powers.

So the nightguard was expecting a usual lazy and boring night.

And then the front doors slid open and a man walked in.

No.

Not a man.

That was what the nightguard thought at first from the suit.

But...

A completely pale face without any visible features. A black suit. And space itself, seeming to ripple like oil around him.

At the same time, the sound of static slowly filled the air.

The nightguard froze and pointed his flashlight at the man... thing. "S-Sir. The museum i-i-is closed for the night. P-Please come back in the morning."

The man-

No.

The entity tilted its head and looked at the nightguard.

The nightguard swallowed, his throat feeling like sandpaper. "S-Sir. I-I am warning you. I am authorized to shoot if-"

The entity slowly walked forward.

And then the nightguard realized it wasn't walking on the ground.

It was floating.

And it also wasn't making any sound.

"Sweet Jesus... Y-You aren't real. R-Right? Maybe I'm just hallucinating things because-"

*CRACK*

As the entity approached, the tiled ground beneath its feet began to dissolve and decay. At the same time, the security cameras nearby started to melt into slag.

All while the sound of static grew louder.

Out of panic, the nightguard drew his gun to fire. But-

*click*

-It didn't fire. No matter how much he pulled the trigger.

On realizing that...

The nightguard fainted.

===

Lee watched as the nightguard's eyes rolled up in his head before he crumpled to the floor.

Well, almost crumpled.

Lee made sure that the poor nightguard didn't slam his head. It was just bad luck the guy was out tonight of all nights, after all.

But after that, he slowly took a look around and played up the role of a complete creepypasta cryptid.

'This is pretty fun.'

As expected of the American government, they had stubbornly insisted on using legacy technology. There wasn't a single bit of mana-infused tech anywhere in sight. Just old-fashioned analogue technology and radio tech.

Also wi-fi and the stuff Lee was familiar with.

But because it was that stuff, he could mess with it.

In the age of mana following the Outcall, most developers used the mana engineering infrastructure and things like that, leaving basic knowledge on how routers and things worked up in the air.

After all, why program it when you could just magic it to work, right?

But either way, it meant that Lee could do fun things. Like stare pointedly at the security camera to make whoever was watching panic.

And after just a few seconds, the metal security grates crashed down while an alarm blared.

'Perfect.'

Lee's role in this heist was simple and clean: make as big of a splash as he could.

Meanwhile, Boss and Khalifa would go sweep up useful things like the entire armory of civil war guns and weaponry.

And the first step to that...

> Mana Manipulation activates!

...Was making sure the people knew who was here.

So, while calmly heading towards the National Museum of Natural History where the Hope Diamond was being displayed, Lee used his mana to etch the Chameleon Troupe's logo into the floor of the lobby.

===

Back at Seoul. 1 PM local time.

Hajin plopped onto Yeonha's bed, his body sore after being put through the wringer by each of Yeonha's "aunts" and "uncles" from the Essence of Strait. Not to mention her dad too...

'Ugh. Why did I have to make him so overpowered...?'

It had been an excuse for someone like Yeonha to have strong backing in the novel... and Hajin was happy for it now that it had become reality since it meant that he didn't have to worry too much about his wife lacking in powerful allies.

But it also meant that Hajin had to be on the other end of said powerful ally.

'...I really do owe Lee.'

<Observation> had told Hajin that Yeonha's father, his father-in-law now, was exhausted. But even then, Yoo Jinwoong was ridiculously strong and fast.

'How the heck did Lee even survive fighting against that guy?'

Hajin sighed and closed his eyes for a quick rest.

But shortly after, the door opened and then someone plopped into the bed next to him. Yeonha, of course.

Yeonha sighed and then snuggled up with Hajin. "...I'm tired."

"Me too."

Yeonha chuckled and said, "You did good though, Hajin." She smiled and leaned up to gently kiss his cheek. "They don't hate you. Despite everything, they have to acknowledge you now."

"They'd better." Hajin rested his head against Yeonha's chest and said, "Lee might have fought off a hundred Cube Cadets at once, but I had to deal with thirty elite Heroes from the Essence of Strait..."

"And you won."

"Barely." Hajin sighed. "...I don't even want to think about it."

He felt tired just at the thought of how much he had to push himself.

Yeonha smiled and idly played with Hajin's hair. "Mm... Mom and Dad are still grumpy. But I think they're coming around to you." She placed a kiss on Hajin's forehead and said, "They think we're too young for this. But they trust me. And apparently, they trust Lee. Since he talked you up and since you've done well, it should be fine."

Hajin chuckled. "Yeah. I really do owe that guy a lot."

In more ways than one, since it was really starting to seem as if Lee was secretly a fan who wanted to pay Hajin back. Someone who believed that Hajin could be better.

That thought fired Hajin up some more.

Yeonha noticed and then lazily traced circles on Hajin's chest. "Someone's excited. Are you happy at the thought of being a father?"

"It's still overwhelming. But I'll make it work." Hajin paused to think and said, "...And I'll need to do a lot of work soon."

Although a lot of plot points and threads had been snipped or tossed around due to the ripples that was, well, Lee.

There were overarching events that were definitely still bound to occur.

Jin Sahyuk was designed to be the growing final boss to clash against Kim Suho at the end of the story.

But Hajin had, obviously, never finished The Returnee Hero, so it was possible the co-author had something else in mind.

Either way, he was someone that-

> Modified setting: Jin Sahyuk's gender has been changed to female to provide for better story tension.

'This freaking co-author...!'

"Hajin?" Yeonha gently cupped Hajin's face and said, "What's wrong?"

"...Just thinking about the future a bit, Yeonha."

"...About us?" Yeonha's expression dimmed a bit.

"No, no." Hajin gave a reassuring smile and said, "I'm just thinking about anything that might cause an issue overall in the future. Not about our family."

"Oh. In that case..." Yeonha shifted around the bed so that she could look into Hajin's eyes. "...Do you want to talk about it?" She caressed Hajin's cheek and said, "...I know you said you have a lot of secrets you can't tell me. But... I want you to know." She rested her forehead against his and said, "...I'm yours, Hajin. I choose you. No matter what you do or say, that will never change." She let out a warm smile and said, "...I trust you. Remember?"

Hajin's eyes trembled as he stared into Yeonha's-

No.

Into his wife's eyes.

It was clear.

Yeonha meant those words.

And for the girl who had started as Yoo Yeonha, the one who had been destined to harden her heart and trust no one but her logic and rationale... Who had already been picky about who she let in her life.

For her to say that she trusted him...

Hajin was quiet. Then he looked into Yeonha's loving eyes and slowly said, "...I created this world, Yeonha. All of it."

Yeonha blinked. She looked like she wanted to say something, to reject or tease what Hajin had confessed. But instead, she kept quiet and said, "I'm listening."

Seeing that she didn't reject him out of hand. And seeing that Yeonha genuinely was listening to him, trusting him...

Hajin leaned against her and quietly confessed everything.

And when it was over...

Yeonha was quiet.

Hajin wiped away the tears that had unconsciously fallen while he was confessing everything before saying, "...That's it. That's my secret. All of it." He stared at Yeonha's face, terrified at her reaction. But...

"Hajin." Yeonha tilted her head. "...I don't mean to belittle what you told me or downplay it in any way. So please do not take what I say the wrong way."

Hajin blinked and realized Yeonha wasn't mad or even upset. But then he processed what she said and he furrowed his brow. "...Okay. I promise."

"...As your wife, I value candid discussions and honesty. And I am grateful that you were honest about your situation with me." Yeonha placed her hand on his cheek and said, "Know that I will always be honest with you."

"...I understand. And I promise to always be honest." Hajin frowned, confused. "...But what do you want to say, Yeonha?"

"...Quite frankly, you are not intelligent enough to create this world. If this truly is the design of an author, you are not it. And if there is a co-author like you say, then that person is also not intelligent enough to create a world like this if he pulled you into it. Instead..." Yeonha tilted her head to look at Hajin and said, "...Don't you think it is more likely that you were a seer in your world that happened to peer into this one?"

Hajin's eyes widened.