The Obsessive Male Leads Want to Eat Me Alive - Chapter 26

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 26
Well, I’ve imagined meeting my mother and father countless times.
In my past life, I never had a proper family, so I yearned for a life with parents.
That’s why I often fantasized about a touching reunion scene—tears streaming down my face as I called out “Mom! Dad!” and embraced them.
But then a rather trivial problem arose.
‘First, I need to figure out which one is my mother, right?!’
I was flustered, but remembering that I was inside a spicy BL novel, I quickly accepted the situation.
‘Act naturally. If I show surprise, it might hurt my parents’ feelings.’
With solemn resolve, I embraced the man with the delicate, lily-like beauty.
“Mom… I’ve wanted to meet you.”
“…?”
But the delicate man’s reaction was oddly strange.
‘Oh, it’s not this one!’
I must have been biased because of his appearance. Bad Anette, superficial Anette!
With renewed openness, I embraced the muscular, wolf-like wild man.
This time for sure!
“…Mom!!!”
The muscular wolf-mother’s golden eyes flashed, then his brows rose.
“Why would I be your mother…?”
He looked at me with a puzzled expression, then his face shifted to one barely suppressing laughter.
“You misunderstood. We’re not your biological parents—it’s just a figure of speech.”
“We meant we’d be like parents, always protecting you.”
“Oh no!”
My face flushed crimson.
‘I completely overreacted!’
I was far too open-minded, teachers.
I actually thought one of them had conceived me.
“How adorable.”
Seeing my reaction, the two handsome men burst into laughter. My face burned like a roasted sweet potato from embarrassment.
“…Um, so are you two like my guardian spirits?”
“Guardian spirits, your partners, call us whatever you like. What matters is that from now on, you can use our power, Anette.”
‘I can use the power of two men?’
As doubt crept in, the lily-like handsome man spoke.
“You’re a child who has awakened the power of the ‘Origin.'”
…The power of the Origin?
“It means you command the soul of Exordium, the ‘first sorcerer’ who ever existed in this world.”
The first sorcerer!
In this world’s setting, sorcerers were extraordinarily rare.
Precisely because they were rare, there were few proper records about sorcerers, and information was scarce. Thus, people regarded sorcerers as mysterious, sacred, and fearsome beings.
Sorcerers didn’t “awaken” their abilities the way mages or espers did.
They possessed a unique trait: they inherited their abilities solely through the ‘succession’ of souls.
Sorcerers emerged only in numbers equal to the limited count of souls. This was precisely why they were so rare.
‘Throughout the entire history of The Forest, not a single tree has ever become a sorcerer.’
Gulp—
I felt my throat go dry involuntarily.
‘But I summoned the soul of a sorcerer? …And the very first sorcerer’s soul at that?’
What in the world had I done, future bakery owner?
My pupils trembled uncontrollably.
As I stared at that expression, a handsome man with the bearing of a crimson wolf spoke cheerfully, crossing his arms.
“You seem confused, Anette. Why don’t we sit over there and talk?”
“Pardon?”
There’s nothing over there.
Then a beautiful man with the delicate features of a lily made a subtle gesture.
And something extraordinary happened.
As if paint had been spilled everywhere, the surroundings transformed in brilliant hues, the landscape shifting rapidly before my eyes.
A large table and luxurious chairs (though mine was clearly a child’s seat) appeared in a garden blessed with perfect weather, and the table overflowed with delicious desserts and pastries.
The lily-like beautiful man smiled as he poured milk tea into my cup.
I sat down awkwardly.
“…Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
A sweet fragrance rose from the milk tea.
“Child, have you ever read the founding mythology of Eldorado?”
“I only know the first sentence. I heard the rest was mostly lost?”
I answered while seated and sipping the milk tea. Mm, it tastes like honey.
“As expected, you’re quite intelligent. Then shall we recite the first sentence together?”
The refined beautiful man and I spoke simultaneously.
“In the beginning, there was the light of fire!”
“In the beginning, there was the light of fire.”
He smiled with the graceful charm of a lily.
“Precisely correct.”
He began to tell me quite a fascinating story.
The very first sorcerer to exist in this land—his name was Exordium.
He was half-divine, half-human, descended with abilities inherited from the gods when this land had just been created.
The first sorcerer possessed omnipotence, yet he resolved not to use it to dominate, but solely to care for humanity.
After helping civilization flourish for ages, and once Eldorado was founded and a dynasty was born, the sorcerer fell into a new contemplation.
That contemplation was simply this:
‘Humans are not strong enough to endure in this world.’
―it was.
The sorcerer soon sensed that war would break out in this land and that foreign races would invade.
Ultimately, humanity would become their slaves or face annihilation.
And so the sorcerer resolved to sacrifice his own life to cast one final, powerful spell upon the land.
“That spell was one that drew out humanity’s ‘latent potential’ to its absolute maximum.”
As the beautiful man with lily-white features continued his methodical explanation, the wolf-like man with crimson eyes added his voice to the narrative.
“Thanks to that spell, ordinary humans began to awaken their abilities. That’s how mages, ability users, tamers, and so forth came into being.”
“They can actually use their powers through the strength of the spell they received from Exordium.”
“….”
So, in other words.
To summarize—the world originally had no mages or ability users at all?
‘Just like the modern society I lived in during my past life.’
But then, receiving the sorcerer’s power, humans transcended their limits and ability users were born.
This means…
In other words, the awakened sorcerer’s soul that I summoned became the root of all ability users.
Now I finally understood why they said I was a child who awakened the power of the origin.
After all, it meant I had summoned the soul of a sorcerer who rivaled an omnipotent god, didn’t it?
‘…It’s almost unbelievably magnificent.’
Ugh, I’d felt so pathetic all this time.
Suddenly, I remembered that moment when Shasha summoned Chirpy and I could only watch with envious eyes.
And now I, of all people, had summoned the sorcerer’s soul!
I’d lived as a street urchin my whole life, and suddenly a wealthy grandfather appeared saying “Actually, I’m your real grandfather” and gifted me ten buildings. That’s what this felt like.
‘Hehe. This is truly amazing.’
As I rubbed my nose and smiled to myself, the wolf-like handsome man continued his explanation.
“When the sorcerer died after completing the life-risking spell, he divided his soul into two parts.”
The beautiful man with lily-white features took up the thread.
“‘Fire’ and ‘Light.'”
“…!”
I interjected.
“That’s what appeared in the founding mythology, isn’t it?”
So that’s why it was written with a space—’Fire Light’ instead of ‘Firelight.’
It seemed scholars had been divided on this single spacing for over a thousand years.
‘Would it really be okay for a twelve-year-old like me to make such a momentous academic discovery in just one second?’
Even for a model student, that seems like overkill. I wonder if the scholars would feel intellectually robbed.
“Exactly. ‘Sordi,’ who possesses the power of light, and ‘Um,’ who possesses the power of fire, came into being that way. Let me introduce ourselves now—my name is Sordi.”
The beautiful man with lily-white features—no, Sordi—pointed to himself. His palm then turned to the side.
“This one here is Um.”
So when these two combine, they become the soul of Exordium!
I quickly grasped the situation and asked.
“Then when we encountered that monster earlier, was it Sordi’s power that was unleashed?”
I vaguely recalled the brilliant white light that had shone so radiantly.
“You’re quite sharp, little one.”
“Thank you so much for protecting me! Sordi.”
When I greeted them warmly, Sordi’s face lit up with genuine emotion.
“Our little one has such a beautiful heart, Um.”
“Sweet and clever, isn’t she?”
Sordi and Um stretched my cheeks from both sides with a “tug-tug,” pinching and playing with them to their heart’s content.
Hmm, I blinked in bewilderment, my thoughts scattering.
‘…They’re like a couple doting on their youngest child!’
It was no wonder I’d mistaken them for my parents.
As my cheeks continued to stretch longer and longer, I hastily changed the subject to save them.
“That’s r-really impressive strength!” (My words came out slurred until they finally released my cheeks.) “I can’t believe I’m capable of such power!”
“Recognizing the depth of your own abilities is the first mark of a true ‘Successor.’ How gratifying. Most gratifying indeed.”
A deeply satisfied smile bloomed across Um’s face.
“But the core of your power isn’t merely fire and light. Your true strength lies elsewhere.”
A power greater than fire and light?
“…What is it?”
Looking down at Anette’s curious expression, Um’s golden eyes gleamed.
“It is ‘Reclamation’ and ‘Amplification.'”
“Reclamation and Amplification?!”
It seemed I didn’t grasp it at first hearing. Um smiled with satisfaction and explained.
“You are the ‘Origin’ of all Awakened. Therefore, you can amplify their abilities—or strip them away entirely.”
“…!”
To amplify or steal abilities!
Just hearing it, Anette realized how vital this was to the Awakened, and she swallowed quietly.
“That is the very essence of Exordium’s power.”
With that strength, every ‘Successor’ throughout history has shaped the world.
Anette’s future would be no different.
Though this small twelve-year-old child didn’t seem to grasp it yet.
Sordi posed a quiet question to the bewildered Anette.
“If all the Mage Tower Master’s mana were ‘Reclaimed’ tomorrow, what would become of his future?”
“…Then the hierarchy of the Mage Tower would shift. The Master would be replaced.”
‘But that’s not all.’
Anette thought. The Mage Tower was an institution that maintained a delicate balance between the Imperial Court and the Grand Temple’s power struggles.
If the ‘Mage Tower Master’ at its helm were replaced, the Empire’s entire power structure would inevitably collapse in an instant.
Um’s smile turned cruel.
“You’re beginning to understand. That change would alter the fates of countless people. And beyond that—the very ‘fate of the world’ itself.”
“….”
“If you used ‘Amplification,’ you could grant someone with mediocre abilities the power to dominate the world.”
“…Ah.”
Being a clever child, she seemed to grasp it quickly.
“Now do you feel the weight of it?”
Um raised his thick brows and cupped Anette’s small chin in his palm.
He whispered with a devil’s honeyed tongue.
“You possess the power to cradle this entire world in your palm and mold it as you wish, little one.”
“….”
“Some will tremble before your strength as though facing death itself, while others will drool like starving dogs coveting a morsel of drugged meat.”
Anette answered with eyes burning with profound intensity.
“…What truly remarkable power it is.”
Watching Anette fully comprehend her own strength, Um stroked his chin with evident satisfaction.
‘Those eyes ablaze with ambition. Magnificent! Absolutely magnificent!’
Um felt his heart ignite with warmth as he swept back his coarse, rust-colored hair.
‘I’m so eager to see what future this small child will dream of. Kekeke.’
How would she use her abilities? Would she become a formidable kingmaker? Or perhaps it would be equally splendid for her to become the world’s ruler in her own right.
Um lifted the delicate teacup with his thick, muscular forearms and spoke.
“Little one, what do you intend to become?”
Thump-thump.
His red heart pounded with ambition between his muscular chest.
Yet he deliberately suppressed his anticipation, taking a sip of milk tea while observing Anette intently.
Anette’s eyes sparkled like early spring sunlight as she opened her mouth.
“I’m going to become something truly wonderful and magnificent…!”
Um’s heart raced faster.
Thump-thump-thump.
‘Yes, wonderful and magnificent?’
The child finally clenched both fists and declared.
“A bakery owner!”
Pfffft—milk tea erupted like a fountain across poor Sordi’s face.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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