Chapter 60: Shadows She Left Behind

I returned to my house.

I felt disappointed because I couldn’t continue following Helena’s trail.

But maybe this was for the best. Right now, there was no guarantee that I could actually fight Helena and win.

I walked into the living room.

Sat down on my sofa and slowly removed my black mask.

Then I leaned back, letting my body sink into the soft cushions.

“Hah…”

Helena.

The only character who was supposed to appear at the very end of the story.

And also the only character whose information I barely knew anything about.

She was truly mysterious.

In the webtoon, Helena was described as a villain of unknown rank.

Possessing immense dark powers.

Not only that, she was even capable of covering the entire Earth in her darkness.

Well… that was eventually stopped by Lightnova.

An overwhelming power… Even I once considered her an angel.

No… not an angel.

A human with the power of a goddess.

That was how I used to see her.

Her strength was absurdly terrifying.

She was defeated by Lightnova only after Lightnova achieved her second awakening.

But…

That was all the information there was.

No backstory.

No arc.

No explanation.

There was no story about who Helena really was.

Why she looked so similar to Lightnova.

Why she became evil.

And why she committed all these crimes.

The webtoon never explained any of that.

She just suddenly appeared.

Showed off her absurd power.

And then lost.

It was ridiculous.

But at the same time, it made me wonder.

Why was she the only character who never received any explanation?

Was she…?

Just as that thought crossed my mind—

Lee Donghyun walked in, carrying a plate. On the plate were several skewers of grilled sausages.

“Eat, hyung. You’ve done too much this week. You need to rest for a bit.”

Ah… right.

This week, I really had been pushing myself too hard.

And the scary part was, I didn’t even realize it.

Looks like my bad habits were coming back again.

Hah…

I took one skewer and bit into it.

It was delicious.

“Oh! This is really good. Did you add some special seasoning or something?”

“Yep! I added a few spices so it would taste better.”

Well, I could also use seasoning, but the texture of this sausage was especially soft.

It tasted like something made by a professional home chef.

Just as I was enjoying the grilled sausage—

Lee Mira and Kim Gae-in walked in.

“Woah! Sausages!”

Lee Mira immediately grabbed one and started eating.

Kim Gae-in was literally drooling just by looking at them.

I glanced at Kim Gae-in and extended my hand, offering my skewer.

“Want one? Just take it.”

“Really!? Then, thank you!!”

She happily took it and started eating too.

Both of them were eating like they hadn’t eaten all day.

“By the way… where are Min-seo, So-ah, and Elvera?”

I asked Kim Gae-in.

“Them? Oh, they went to the mall. They said they wanted to shop. They invited me too, but I refused because I wanted to train.”

…Wait.

Mall.

Shopping.

Money.

Don’t tell me—

They used my money.

*At a Large Mall*

So-ah, Elvera, and Min-seo were walking around happily.

In their hands were several shopping bags.

They had already bought a lot of things.

“Haha, I can’t wait to use this at home later!”

So-ah said excitedly.

Elvera smiled when she heard that.

“Same here. These things were expensive, but the quality is really good.”

“I agree! Thanks to Noona Elvera, we can buy such cute clothes!”

Min-seo said, her eyes sparkling.

*One Hour Earlier*

The three of them entered a clothing store that looked extremely expensive.

So-ah was visibly nervous. This was her first time entering a high-end clothing store.

“Relax, So-ah~ no one’s going to eat you here,”

Elvera said gently.

“Yeah, just calm down,”

Min-seo added, even though her own legs were trembling.

Min-seo had never been to a place like this before. After all, she used to live in a forest.

So-ah looked at Min-seo with a weird expression.

“Aren’t you just as nervous as me?”

“…Shut up.”

So-ah and Min-seo followed behind Elvera.

Elvera walked calmly, already used to places like this.

She examined each piece of clothing one by one.

So-ah watched her with curiosity.

“Noona Elvera… why do you look so calm? Are you used to this kind of place?”

Elvera answered softly.

“Of course. Back when I was still a hero, I often went shopping alone using the money I earned from missions.”

So-ah’s eyes sparkled.

Meanwhile, Min-seo was busy staring at beautiful dresses.

“Then… do you have a lot of money now!?”

So-ah asked.

“Uhm… not really,”

Elvera answered awkwardly.

In reality, Elvera had no money at all.

She had been betrayed by her own teammates.

Not only framed, but all of her savings and allowance were taken from her.

So-ah froze.

“T-then… why are we here if we don’t have money!?”

“Ah… about that…”

Elvera recalled something from a few days ago.

Yoo Jinhoo had once lent her his ATM card.

At that time, he said:

“Use the money in here to make everyone happy. You’re the oldest one here.”

Later, Elvera secretly checked the balance.

And she almost fainted.

There were around 3 million won inside.

She was completely shocked.

That amount was even more than what she used to have back when she was an active hero.

She couldn’t understand how Yoo Jinhoo had that much money.

What she didn’t know…

Was that all of it came from Lee Donghyun.

Because Lee Donghyun was extremely skilled in hacking.

He stole money from corrupt officials and transferred it into Yoo Jinhoo’s account, since he himself was underage and couldn’t make a bank account.

And the worst part?

Yoo Jinhoo had absolutely no idea that his balance kept increasing.

He thought he only had around 200,000 won left.

That was why he panicked earlier.

Back to Elvera.

“Mr. Yoo Jinhoo gave me his ATM card. And luckily, the balance is pretty high. Enough for us to shop.”

She said that with a sweet smile.

Hearing that, So-ah finally relaxed.

Meanwhile, Min-seo stared at the clothes with shining eyes.

“Woah!”

So-ah turned toward her.

“Hey! Don’t touch things we haven’t bought yet! You might damage them!”

But Min-seo ignored her and kept touching the beautiful clothes anyway.

*Back at Home*

I suddenly felt a strong sense of unease.

“…They’re definitely using my money.”

Somewhere in the city, my bank account was probably crying.

But honestly…

If they were happy, then fine.

I leaned back again on the sofa.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep