Chapter 192 – Singer (2)
Doing something together with family felt like it had been an incredibly long time.
Should I just call it… good?
“…Mom.”
“Yes?”
“Hmm… It’s nothing.”
Even when I made a big step forward with Song Sun-young, I felt happy—but this was a slightly bittersweet, gentle kind of happiness…
It felt like finding something I had lost.
“It’s the same, right?”
“Yes.”
From the moment I heard that this dream world was exactly like reality, I had already guessed, but once I actually entered, I didn’t feel like I was in a dream at all.
“We’ll start by learning the technique to hide your appearance first.”
“Why that one?”
“In sci-fi stories with time machines, there’s always the rule that your present self and past self can’t meet, right? It’s the same for us.”
“Hmm… Do we fight if we meet?”
“No. If we did fight, the real us would win for sure. But the dream-world Kang Moon-soo would realize that he and his world are fake, and his mind would collapse. Son, think about the reverse for a moment.”
“…Yeah, that makes sense.”
If all this current happiness turned out to be nothing but a lie created by someone’s imagination, could I accept it calmly?
Probably not.
It would be like those conspiracy theories claiming reality is just a well-made virtual simulation game. Suspicion and certainty are two different things.
If the Kang Moon-soo of this world saw me, that would be certainty.
“There are two main ways to hide your appearance. One is to interfere so that even when people look at you, they don’t notice you. The other is to make yourself completely invisible.”
“The interference one is hypnosis, right?”
“Similar. It’s about interfering with people’s heads so that anyone who enters my domain doesn’t perceive me.”
“Does that work in reality too?”
“Of course. Ranuvela the 7th had the entire capital of the Holy Roman Empire as her domain.”
“……”
“But there’s a condition. If you add all sorts of things to your body like you did, son, it interferes and you can’t expand the domain very widely.”
“Ah!”
In other words, it was a method I couldn’t use.
“The other method is only possible inside a dream. And this one is very easy.”
“What is it?”
“Inside my domain, light passes through all objects without obstruction.”
“…Ah!”
“It’s the principle of invisibility. If you apply it further—say, sound waves generated inside the domain can’t escape outward—then you get perfect soundproofing.”
“I understand the principle.”
“Now try it.”
“……”
I only understood the principle with my scientific brain.
“Then I’ll show you a demonstration.”
“Yes.”
“Like this…”
“…Ah!”
The moment I saw Mother’s demonstration, I was able to copy it immediately.
***
After preparing countermeasures to avoid encountering the dream-world Kang Moon-soo, we began moving in earnest.
Jingle! Jingle! Jingle!
People tossed money toward Mother as they passed by.
“This is also a form of hypnosis. I make them feel extremely sorry for me so they donate.”
“…It feels a bit off.”
I like money, sure, but begging without working for it made me uncomfortable.
“I learned it from Mom too.”
“Ah!”
So the grandmother who passed away in a traffic accident taught Mother some strange things.
“You can operate without paying, but then someone else suffers the consequences. Let me show you the noble way that Ranuvela does it.”
“Yes.”
We headed to a convenience store.
But…
“You must have suffered a lot because of me. Working part-time until dawn.”
“You get used to it after a while.”
Ding-dong~♪
A slightly younger-looking second-year high school Kang Moon-soo greeted us from behind the convenience store counter.
This was Mother’s handiwork.
He could see us, but perceived us as completely ordinary customers—a high-level technique.
“I lived like this the whole time. That’s why everyone except my husband thought I was just an average-looking middle-aged woman.”
“Why exclude Dad?”
“No matter how great a witch I am, I couldn’t concentrate while making a son.”
“Ahem!”
If that was the reason, I understood.
“Light passes through so I don’t show up on security cameras, while everyone around me still perceives that I’m present in the space.”
“Woah…”
There were so many things to handle at once. I could follow along well enough, but doing multiple operations simultaneously was still beyond me.
They say the more you know, the more you see.
Ranuvela the 13th—who managed this at around my age—suddenly looked incredibly impressive.
“Just pick up the item and walk out.”
“…Excuse me?”
“The young son will think we just watched and then left.”
“W-wait a second! If they do an inventory check later, they’ll find out!”
“But they’ll never know it was us. We didn’t show up on the security cameras at all.”
“If they can’t find the culprit, I’ll have to cover the loss with my own paycheck…”
“That’s exactly the noble way of Ranuvela—without begging.”
“……”
I finally understood what Mother was trying to tell me.
Jingle!
“Thank you, come again.”
“Keep it up.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you.”
Mother paid with the money she had collected through begging and handed me a drink.
“Got it now?”
“Yes. My thinking was too narrow.”
I hated begging, but I hated running off without paying even more—because then someone working there would have to bear the loss!
Mother spoke.
“Until you became a shaman, you lived upright even without parents.”
“Well… I was just too busy surviving.”
“You could’ve tricked the convenience store owner for money when you needed it.”
“Seems like thievery just isn’t in my nature.”
“That’s proof you take after your ancestors. Ranuvela the 6th had truly beautiful legs, you know.”
“Cough cough!”
I nearly spat out my drink.
“She’s coming over there.”
“Ah…”
While we were sitting near the convenience store chatting, the patient walked past us.
She looked slightly younger than in reality.
And she was in her school uniform.
She took out a small hand mirror from her bag, fixed her slightly messy hair, and sprayed light perfume all over her body.
Spritz spritz!
“…Ah, right.”
Finally, she hiked up her school uniform skirt just enough to reveal her pure white thighs.
“She really knows your taste well.”
“I’m realizing in real time just how easy of a guy I am.”
“That’s one of your strengths.”
“Haa…”
While I sank into self-loathing, Lee Na-yeon had entered the convenience store and was talking to the younger Kang Moon-soo.
Listening in on their conversation…
–You came again.
–I missed Moon-soo.
She was approaching very openly toward a pure second-year high school boy who had never even held a girl’s hand.
–Uh… yes. Thank you.
–Have you thought about it?
–I’m sorry. I thought it was a joke, so I didn’t take it seriously.
–Oh my! I was being sincere.
–I don’t understand why someone as pretty as you—an actress-level beauty—would ask someone like me to date her.
–If we date, I’ll tell you.
Just like Mother said, the young Kang Moon-soo’s chastity was under serious threat.
–I’m really sorry. I’m too busy with my part-time job to date. I don’t even have money to go out and play.
–I’ll pay for the dates.
–Still no. My shifts are packed even on weekends.
–…Isn’t it hard?
–I’m used to it now.
After that, Lee Na-yeon kept trying to persuade him without giving up, but the young Kang Moon-soo didn’t budge.
“Sniff!”
“…Mom, why are you suddenly crying?”
“I feel so sorry for my son who never even got spoon-fed love, and I feel terrible as his mom.”
“Ah, yes.”
Ding-dong~♪
Although she failed for now, Lee Na-yeon left satisfied after extracting a promise that they would definitely date once he had more free time later.
On the other hand, the young Kang Moon-soo?
–Why is she doing this to me…
He couldn’t understand Lee Na-yeon’s behavior at all.
No parents, no home, no money, no time, average looks at best…
To someone with no visible advantages, when a pretty girl suddenly comes on strong and asks to date, anyone would be suspicious first.
“That’s just your way of thinking.”
“Why?”
“There are plenty of guys who would jump at the chance without a second thought the moment a beautiful woman approaches. Not saying Mom was like that, of course.”
“Hmm…”
In any case, we could only trust that the young Kang Moon-soo would handle himself well.
Of course—even if this was just a dream—I didn’t want my girlfriend dating another guy, so I’d probably end up interfering anyway.
–Is this how Nam Hae-soo felt?
Since he didn’t know it was a dream, his obsession must have been even worse.
“Son~”
“Yes. Let’s go.”
While learning techniques from Mother bit by bit, I began preparing in earnest for the Olympics.
***
My physical body in the dream world inevitably outperforms the one in reality.
So I nerfed it—brought it down to reality level.
“This record is…”
“Monster…”
“Is he even human…?”
Even after the nerf, my overwhelming physical ability still crushed the pros.
Skating, weightlifting, kendo.
Events where being twice as fast and strong gives an advantage? I finished them quickly.
Archery and shooting? Thanks to all the “head-target practice” on handsome guys back in the romance fantasy world of <The Generous Young Lady Who Receives Everything>, those went smoothly too.
“Son, if you don’t want to be treated like an alien, you’ll have to hold back on weightlifting.”
“Well…”
The moment I casually lifted 200 kg with one hand, there was no need for more practice.
Just slightly correcting the posture that would be considered a foul?
The real problem started now.
“Hey~ You don’t need to worry about team events either. Trust Mom~”
“Hmm… Then I’ll give it a try.”
And Mother’s prophecy came true.
***
Using hypnosis to sneak into the national team practice matches, I single-handedly dominated every event.
“Block— Argh?!”
“Body check— Kwek?!”
Hockey.
No one could stop me, even when multiple players piled on in physical fights.
I just had to be careful not to smash people or the ice with the stick.
“Eek?!”
“Urgh…!”
Dodgeball.
If I didn’t control my strength, the ball would become lethal; every athlete trembled in fear.
Catching a ball slower than a bullet was trivial for me—it was pure one-sided slaughter.
“How is he doing that?!”
“His reaction speed…”
Volleyball.
Catching a ball slower than a bullet before it hit the ground was child’s play.
It almost felt better to play alone than with teammates who kept making errors.
“Mom was right, huh?”
“See?”
Calling this a “team event” felt questionable, but it didn’t seem like there would be any major problems.
The remaining Winter Olympic events?
Skiing, equestrian, luge/skeleton.
This was where the real trouble began.
“I’m not sure we can find a good horse and a good dog.”
“Your worry is completely different from mine. I’m bad with animals, so I think that’ll be tough.”
“Don’t worry about that. With hypnosis, we can turn any horse and dog into perfectly obedient ones. The effect is temporary, but it should last through the entire event—no need for even one whip crack.”
“Huh…”
That’s straight-up cheating, isn’t it?!
“Because the Empire has its own national team, we can’t get support for horses or dogs. So this part we have to handle ourselves… As you know, son, this country doesn’t even have a single bronze medal in equestrian or luge/skeleton history.”
“Well… If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to give up.”
“Giving up makes the P-medal razor-thin. You didn’t go all-out in the Summer Olympics either.”
“Why? If I sweep the gold medals, it should be comfortable.”
“That’s only if you think about men’s events. How are you going to block the women’s gold medals?”
“Ah…”
The P-medal is awarded without gender distinction—just one in total.
Even if I sweep every men’s gold, there’s no way to interfere with the women’s side.
“Now you understand?”
“Yes. But it can’t be helped. Back during the Summer Olympics I wasn’t interested in the P-medal…”
“Then shall we let go of equestrian and luge/skeleton, and focus all our remaining time on skiing?”
Skiing.
Because it relies on gravity rather than muscle power, it was pure poison for someone like me who relies on overwhelming strength.
By the way…
“You look like you’re having fun.”
“Of course. It’s been so long since I got to spend time like this with my beloved son. How about you?”
“…Me too.”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, I turned my head and answered quietly.
“Shall we head to the ski resort?”
“Wait a moment.”
While I was tasting and practicing all eleven Winter Olympic events, the young Kang Moon-soo had become a third-year high school student.
And that means?
A few months later, he will take P’s aptitude test—the one that completely changes my fate.
‘I’m worried about Song Sun-young.’
Because of Lee Na-yeon’s interference, the future has changed.
The possibility that the young Kang Moon-soo ends up with Song Sun-young like I did has become extremely low.
In that case?
“Let’s go to the swimming pool.”
“Hmm~ Mom has a pretty good idea what you’re thinking, son.”
“Skiing is less important.”
I absolutely cannot watch the young Song Sun-young date another guy.
“Mom is cheering for you. But are you confident?”
“Of course!”
There is no man in this world who knows Song Sun-young better than I do!
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