Chapter 57
Two men entered the Vivienne Information Center, the bell attached to the door ringing. Jurie usually greeted her guests with a lively voice, but she cleaned a brandy glass behind the counter, not even looking at the men.
“It’s been a while, Jurie,” Remy said to his daughter, who had the same blond hair and blue eyes as him.
Jurie put down the brandy glass, still not glancing at Remy, and said coldly, “This is an information center. If you have no business here, please leave.”
“Vivienne Information Center, huh? I can’t say that I have no business here. I’ve come to turn in information about my daughter, Vivienne M—”
Jurie’s mana surged, interrupting Remy’s words. The brandy glass on the counter cracked.
“How dare you... Say her name?”
Jurie finally looked at Remy; her blue eyes were filled with rage, resentment, and hatred toward Remy. Just then, the door behind the counter opened, and a white-haired old man in a tailcoat walked out.
“You’ll hurt your hand, my lady,” the man said as he grabbed the cracked glass and threw it in the trash.
Kang-San had been staring at the old man with great interest since he opened the door. He remarked, “What a surprise. I never expected the infamous White Devil, Gerard d’Armont, to be in a place like this.”
The old man formally bowed and replied, “You flatter me. My infamy is nothing before a World Ranker’s fame.”
Gerard d’Armont? Remy wondered as he frowned. The White Devil, fifteenth in the human ranking?
He had vanished without a trace four years ago, making people wonder if he should be taken off the ranking. However, he could not be forgotten so easily due to the shocking nature of the bloodbath he had left on his trail. Most of all, he was a Black Human on the Union’s wanted list.
Why is such a man with my daughter?
Remy’s eyes glowed blue, and Gerard smiled in response. Just then, Kang-San grabbed Remy’s shoulder.
“Haha! You’re so good with words, but you become an insufferable mute when it involves your family.”
The tense air between Remy and Gerard dissipated.
Kang-San stared at Jurie and asked, “You contacted me through my friend’s Network ID, which I often use, right? The sender’s ID was Vivienne.”
Jurie nodded.
Kang-San continued, “I managed to save my friend’s life because of it. I give you my thanks.”
“I just thought if he were to die, he should die at my hands. That’s all. There is no need to thank me,” Jurie replied.
Kang-San smiled and said, “Is that so? But it doesn’t change the fact that I got your help. I’m here to repay the favor.”
“If that repayment is information about Vivienne, I will respectfully decline. The truth I know is all I need.” Jurie glared at Remy and continued, “That man killed Vivienne—my little sister!”
Remy maintained his silence despite his daughter’s resentful words.
Kang-San slapped Remy’s shoulder and said, “I thought you’d hardened your resolve. This is your last chance.”
Remy closed his eyes momentarily and reopened them. He said with difficulty, “I killed Vivienne... that is true but false.”
“Lies! You said it yourself that you killed Vivienne on the sacrificial altar!”
“Yes, but... it is also a lie.”
“Enough of your wordplay!”
“I am determined to tell you the truth, Jurie. Are you ready to listen to my story?”
“What do you—”
Just then, the voice of the Asian man who performed her tarot card reading rang inside her head.
“And the revelation of a hidden truth.”
Jurie suddenly grew silent, her expression hardened. She then said to Remy, “If you spout stupid excuses... I’ll do whatever it takes to kill you.”
***
Gerard placed a steaming cup of black tea before Remy and moved back, but close enough to protect Jurie at any time. Jurie poured cognac into a new brandy glass and sipped it. She glared at Remy, daring him to speak.
Remy sipped the black tea and began hesitantly, “It’s been seven years, but... I have never forgotten a single moment of that month. As you know, Vivienne and I were Lost on the same day.”
Remy was Lost in the back seat of his car as he was being driven home after finishing his daily tasks. He then met his youngest daughter, Vivienne, who should have been safe in bed at home, in the Dark Forest.
“I initially thought we were kidnapped by people wanting money. I shouted at everyone I saw that I would give them all the money they needed because Vivienne wouldn’t stop coughing. She couldn’t survive for long outside the cleanroom.”
Jurie bit her lip. She had also experienced that hellish mandatory quest. Even though it was in the past, her chest hurt just from thinking about her weak little sister having to experience the same thing.
“There wasn’t even a single tablet of imatinib that Vivienne could take. I ran out of the safe zone because I was terrified her condition would worsen.”
“You ran out of the safe zone?” Jurie asked.
“Yes. At the time, I still believed we were on Earth. I thought there would be a hospital somewhere beyond the forest. I was planning on coming back with a team of doctors.”
Remy ran and ran, but after encountering a black dog the size of a bull not long after leaving the safe zone, he realized he was not on Earth.
“It almost bit off my neck, but I managed to kill it and cleared the First Act of Bravery quest, earning a thousand Karma.”
Jurie nodded. First Act of Bravery was a hidden quest completed by the first person to kill a Chaos in all districts. The survival rate of those who cleared that quest skyrocketed.
“Only after opening a stat cube with that Karma did I become certain that Vivienne needed Karma.”
One obtained superhuman strength by raising the Strength stat and transcended the limits of their five senses by raising the Sense stat. The Health stat boosted recovery speed and endurance, which Vivienne needed.
“But Vivienne couldn’t kill a Black Dog alone. The only way was for me to beat the Black Dogs to the brink of death for Vivienne to finish them off.”
The safe zone was already in disarray, so he and Vivienne left the safe zone and focused on hunting the Chaos. Vivienne had difficulty initially, but slowly got accustomed to it.
“We took it slow. We only targeted lone Chaos monsters, and I always had Vivienne destroy their os.”
“But that would mean...” Jurie mumbled as she frowned.
The Dark Forest was based on competition. They couldn’t earn much Karma doing that. Most of all, it was slow.
“Yes, we fell behind. At the time, we didn’t know that the number of Teleport Rocks was limited, and... Vivienne’s safety was always of utmost importance to me.”
I would have... done the same, Jurie thought.
She would have done nothing different than Remy if she had been in his shoes.
“As expected, Vivienne became much healthier after raising her Health stat. Our hunting speed also quickened after she added points to her D Weapon and Magic stats.”
“What? Why?” Jurie asked.
Remy pointed at the teacup and made it float. The black tea jumped out of the cup and back in like a dolphin. He lowered it back on the table and said, “Telekinesis, the external manipulation ability created from the combination of manipulation and conjuration—and Maestro, its creator.”
“What? Why are you showing off all of a—”
“The credit should not go to me, but to Vivienne. That girl was a genius.”
Jurie’s eyes widened as she thought, What is he talking about? Vivienne created Telekinesis?
Remy continued, “That girl had a good command of Telekinesis since the mandatory quest, with minimal stats and rules, no less.”
Kang-San shook his head, crossing his arms, and added, “I guarantee if that girl were still alive, she could have become a High Ranker—no, even a World Ranker if she was lucky.”
When he first heard about Vivienne from Remy, Kang-San was shocked. Kang-San was interested in Remy and met him because of his Telekinesis, a nearly omnipotent ability if used well. He never expected the ability to have been created and perfected by an eleven-year-old girl within the month she was in the Dark Forest.
Remy continued, “Vivienne taught me Telekinesis. I had difficulty using it, but she did her best to teach me. Those were the happiest days of my life.”
The only thing he liked about the Dark Forest was that he got to spend every second with his youngest daughter. As the head of House Martin, Remy worked until late and could only see his daughter when she was asleep.
His distance from Vivienne got wider once she got leukemia; he became so busy checking the latest data from doctors worldwide, articles related to leukemia, and the results of leukemia research he invested money in. The time he spent with Vivienne in the Dark Forest made him realize that everything he did for his daughter only pushed them apart.
“We talked a lot. It made me realize how little I knew about her. I found out for the first time in the Dark Forest that her dream was to travel the world with her family.” Remy sipped the black tea as he got choked up and continued, “Vivienne created Telekinesis because... she wanted to soar across the skies with her family. How beautiful is that?”
“Ah! Vivienne!” Jurie expressed, gritting her teeth as she recalled her conversation with her little sister.
“Let’s go to New York together once you’re all better.”
“Really? Can we get burgers too?”
“Of course.”
“And fries? And Coke?”
“Of course!”
They lost the chance to go—the airplane of destiny had arrived late.
“Our advance got much faster thanks to Vivienne, but we were already way behind the others. Only four Teleport Rocks were left when we reached the fifth zone.”
“Four,” Jurie mumbled, imagining the despairing situation.
“We frantically searched for Teleport Rocks. Time was about to run out, and the number of Teleport Rocks kept going down.” Remy clenched his fists and continued, “In the end... only one Teleport Rock was left when we found a Fallen Knight and a sacrificial altar. Just one... One.”
Jurie, Gerard, and Kang-San remained silent, feeling the despair in Remy’s voice. There was a father and daughter, but only one Teleport Rock.
“So? Did you kill Vivienne and obtain a Teleport Rock? Even if she agreed to it, how could you?!” Jurie shouted.
Remy stared at the teacup and answered with difficulty, “It’s... the opposite. Once I judged we couldn’t defeat the Fallen Knight, I told Vivienne... to kill me on the sacrificial altar.”
“Then why are you here?!”
“My body... moved on its own.”
“What kind of bullshit excuse is—ah! I-it can’t be!” Jurie shouted as she sprang up from her chair.
If Vivienne created Telekinesis... she pondered.
“Exactly. She was on the sacrificial altar before I had realized it and used Telekinesis... to make me stab her,” Remy said lifelessly.
“She... killed herself?” Jurie mumbled as she collapsed back on her chair.
She had spent all this time resenting the man before her. She was thankful to have a target for her resentment and resented all she liked. However, if what Remy said was true, it would mean he did not necessarily kill Vivienne.
Remy stared at his trembling hands and muttered, “I... killed my baby girl... with these two hands. A father... killed his daughter. I still can’t forget... that red blood.”
He recalled Vivienne’s words to him while she smiled, even with a knife in her heart.
“I don’t have long to live anyway... because of my illness. Daddy... please live in my stead.”
That wasn’t the case. Vivienne was recovering, and even if it was a variant of leukemia, the Mirror World was filled with countless miracles. Her illness could have been cured, but she had used it as an excuse to save Remy’s life. Vivienne handed Remy a white carnation and smiled to the very end.
“Je t’aime, papa (I love you, Daddy).”
Remy pulled out his D Weapon, Youngest Daughter’s Gift, from his pocket. It was a white carnation.
“What’s that?” Jurie asked.
“My D Weapon used to be a fountain pen. This was Vivienne’s D Weapon, but my D Weapon changed to this when she handed me this flower before her death.”
“D Conversion,” Jurie muttered.
D Weapons were decided based on one’s subconscious, trauma, wishes, and more, meaning events that strongly impacted one’s destiny decided one’s D Weapon. Because of this, there were rare occurrences of people’s D Weapons changing. In other words, such individuals developed a new subconscious, trauma, wish, and such that completely changed their destiny.
“This white carnation was... her final gift to me,” Remy said.
“A white carnation,” Jurie mumbled as she stared at it.
She remembered Vivienne asking her to buy her a white carnation one day on Earth. She wondered why and checked the calendar to see the third Sunday of June approaching. It was Father’s Day, when carnations were a popular gift choice. However, red carnations were the right choice for a Father’s Day gift. Hence, Jurie told Vivienne that she was mistaken.
“Is it because it’s Father’s Day soon, Vivienne? Then you should get him a red carnation. A white carnation symbolizes mourning.”
“No, I’m going to give him a white carnation. It has to be white.”
Jurie remembered it clearly because Vivienne was rarely stubborn about anything. Hence, Jurie bought white carnations as Vivienne wanted.
“I remember that day. I didn’t get them directly from her, but white carnations were delivered to my office. I thought it was because Vivienne found white carnations prettier than the red ones.” Remy stared at the white carnation sorrowfully and asked Jurie, “Do you know what a white carnation means?”
“Not at all... other than that they represent mourning.”
The meaning of red carnations was too famous not to know: love for one’s father. However, most people did not know what white carnations meant other than that they had something to do with death.
Remy answered, “In the language of flowers, a white carnation means my love is alive.”
“My love... is alive?” Jurie muttered.
Children usually placed white carnations on their deceased parents’ graves as a symbol that they would never forget them and love them forever. However, if someone on the verge of death gave someone a white carnation, the meaning slightly changed.
Remy looked into Jurie’s shaking eyes and said, “Yes. That girl was... always ready for death. That’s why she could decide so quickly when the time came. She... always had a white carnation in her heart.”
“Ah! Ahhh!” Jurie shouted as she covered her face with her hands.
She couldn’t stop the tears as her poor little sister’s feelings rushed inside her. Vivienne’s family suffered due to her variant leukemia, but Vivienne suffered the most. She had to grow up in a cleanroom, take her medications on time, and undergo several surgeries.
The little girl was closer to death than anyone. Knowing that, she prepared a white carnation for her family who would undoubtedly be heartbroken by her passing, to tell them her love would always be with them. Her D Weapon was proof of that; it meant her thoughts about death had been powerful enough for her to consider it her destiny.
Remy muttered, “I... survived at the cost of my daughter’s life. Then once I arrived at the Mirror World, the world quest appeared like God giving me one last chance.”
“The Path of Life quest.”
“I decided to obtain the Master Stone that granted anything one wanted, no matter what. As long as I have that, I can bring Vivienne back to life!” Remy’s eyes regained their vitality as if his soul was being rejuvenated. “That’s why I aimed to make Martin a powerful clan and started the war to reach the center.” Remy stood up and said, “That is... the story of the pioneering faction Ranker, Remy Martin.”
Jurie stared at the man before her in silence. He looked exhausted and emaciated, but his blue eyes shone with a strong sense of purpose.
“But worry not, the house of Martin will begin anew here.”
“You must also work hard to revive the house.”
“You have no idea about the value of our house. As long as we strengthen the house, we can—”
Jurie understood Remy’s crazed desire to revive House Martin five years ago. In no world would a father who strove only to bring his daughter, whom he killed, back to life, be sane.
“I will not beg you for forgiveness. I understand it is too late. However... please understand just one thing. I just... want to be a father.”
Remy turned around to leave but stopped and said without looking back, “Thank you for giving Kang-San the information. You saved my life.” He glanced at the cognac bottle and remarked, “Try not to drink too much. I once drowned myself in alcohol to forget the sorrow, but... it didn’t help. Try drinking some warm tea instead. It clears the mind.”
Remy left the store, the bell attached to the door chiming. Kang-San, Gerard, and Jurie remained silent due to the revelation of the tragic truth. Jurie stared at the empty teacup with eyes red from crying and bit her lip so hard that she bled.
“My lady,” Gerard called, but couldn’t think of a way to console Jurie.
Tears endlessly flowed down the cheeks of the silent Jurie. Either to shoo away her tears or lighten the heavy air in the store, she joked in the delightful tone she always used to cheer up Vivienne.
“Warm tea, huh? I’m French, not British.”
The joke did not make anyone laugh.