Chapter 109

Chapter 109

“I’m going to go wash my hands for a bit. They’re sticky, probably from the sugar.”

“Sure, hurry back. We still have questions to ask you!”

“That’s right, we haven’t gotten to ask you everything about Hunter Jeong Seojin yet~”

“…All of a sudden, I don’t feel like coming back anymore……”

“Ahaha!”

Jimin and Soyeon burst into laughter again, just between themselves. They must have found teasing me pretty amusing. Well… in this tough life, having one more thing to laugh about is a good thing, right? I forced myself to think positively and trudged toward the restroom.

‘Still, though… the weather’s nice.’

Whether it was perfect timing or just bad luck, it had rained nonstop for the entire week I’d been holed up in the workshop. So I’d been secretly worried it might rain on the day of our meeting too, but what do you know? When the day came, it wasn’t just rain-free—the sky was clear without a single cloud.

‘Even aside from this meeting, I’ve got quite a bit to do over these three days… it’s really a relief.’

For someone like me, who often had rain on days I made plans, or got injured on days I promised to hang out with friends, this was a truly rare stroke of luck in my life.

I forced a bright smile, afraid that this rare bit of fortune might slip through my fingers. After all, if you don’t properly enjoy luck when it comes, you end up regretting it later.

—That’s right, luck is something you have to savor properly when it arrives.

‘Right, right, of course you—huh?’

My footsteps, which had been heading toward the restroom, came to an abrupt halt. I stood frozen in place like a bewildered person, lifting my head to look around.

And I witnessed it.

—Hello, people of humanity! Have you been doing well?

The misfortune that completely shattered my rare stroke of luck.

—It’s been quite a while since the last Tutorial Quest, hasn’t it? You’ve all been living peacefully, right? So I’ve come to visit!

Messy brown hair floating in the air, old glasses perched on the bridge of her nose, and a worn hardcover book in her hand. I—and everyone else here—recognized who the woman was, appearing as a hologram in the center of the café.

“Th-the Administrator!”

“The Librarian…?!”

The Administrator, the Librarian, or ‘Nostalgia.’

The woman, who went by three names in total, smiled as if she might melt away.

—To personally help you people of humanity grow, I’ve brought a new quest!

Right, come to think of it, I’d never really had good luck in my life.

When I made plans to meet a friend, it would rain that day. When I found something I really liked and saved up to buy it, it would suddenly go out of stock. When I was in a good mood because my condition was great, some incident would always break out just as the day was winding down.

So in a way, having a sudden misfortune strike on the very day I was happily meeting acquaintances was, for me, an utterly routine kind of thing.

—Actually, I thought quite a bit about this quest! I mean, we already did fostering cooperation among humanity in the first one, and we also did developing abilities outside of combat last time.

Beyond the hologram, the woman adjusted her slipping glasses on the bridge of her nose and smiled with utmost cheerfulness. But no one present believed her smile was genuine. More precisely, no one thought her smile came from goodwill.

And that made sense—humanity had suffered far too many tragedies in the face of that smile.

—So, what should I do this time? How can I torment—no, help you grow more effectively? After pondering for a long time.

The Librarian’s impatient hand flipped open the hardcover book. Inside, as before, were letters that seemed to spell out the name of this ‘Tutorial Quest.’

[Tutorial 3. The Strong Prey on the Weak]

The letters written on the pure white paper were clearer than ever. Nostalgia, using some trick, floated the open book in the air, leaned her face close toward this side, and began explaining the quest’s content.

—The original meaning of that phrase is to act weak toward the strong and strong toward the weak, right? But I used it with a slightly different meaning.

A wicked grin spread across the Librarian’s face.

—The strong shall grow weak, and the weak shall grow strong.

“Aaaagh?!”

With the Librarian’s words, screams began erupting from inside the café, outside the café, and from the distant streets. Instinctively, the incident from five years ago flashed through my mind, and I urgently scanned my surroundings. But unlike five years ago, no monsters suddenly appeared on the streets to harm people.

Right, nothing appeared. Instead, what was happening now was the exact opposite.

“Wh-what is this, Yujin! Kyaaah!”

“Dad! Dad, where did you go!”

In an instant, a blue light flickered. Then, a middle-aged woman who had been flustered by the sudden appearance of the Librarian just moments ago, and a man who had reflexively hugged his daughter at the Librarian’s entrance, both vanished. That wasn’t all. The same thing was happening outside the café and on the streets.

Screams of panic and bewildered sighs burst out everywhere. The Librarian watched it all with a constant smile on her face and added her next words.

—This time, I don’t plan to explain the quest details in tedious length, so all quest participants, please try to understand the quest content by experiencing it firsthand.

Now then, everyone, fighting! With the Librarian’s refreshingly vigorous shout, a blue light began to flicker around me as well. I reflexively grabbed the small scissors in my pocket, gritted my teeth in frustration, and shouted.

“Hey, you son of a—!”

“Seohee!!”

“Seohee! Ji, Jimin, contact us quickly—!”

And annoyingly enough, my memory cut off right there. The blue light enveloping me intensified for a moment, then my vision abruptly plunged into blackness. A brief silence and darkness, then severance.

A black curtain fell over my consciousness.

* * *

CONNECTING…….

…….

Error occurred.

Repairing error.

…….

Additional connection error occurred.

Connection with [Seth] currently unavailable.

…….

Attempting to restore connection with [Seth].

Please wait a moment.

…….

Connection restoration attempt failed.

Please send inquiries regarding this error to the information author.

…….

▶MENU

…….

Activating menu tab.

Currently activated functions are ‘View Previous Records’ and ‘Interworld Connection’.

…

▶View Previous Records

…….

Viewing previous records.

…….

Saved records exist.

Would you like to view them?

…….

▶YES / NO

…….

Playing saved records.

…….

…….

It

was

a mere creature.

…….

It was…….

…….

It was, a human…….

…….

…….

It was…….

What was ‘it’?

It was alive yet dead, and dead yet alive.

It lived in the past and saw the future, and lived in the future and saw the present.

Some called it a god, others named it a transcendent, and non-humans defined it as an Administrator. Beings from an age now faded and erased called it the Key, and external beings called it the Guardian.

Is it a name that defines existence, or memory?

If it’s a name, it will continue;

if it’s memory, it will likewise persist.

But…….

“Seth is dead.”

The playing video stops, and the sound transforms into meaningless noise. Above the record and memory of someone reflecting on an existence that was nothing yet something, a brown-haired woman stands alone.

The woman fixes her brown gaze on the reader who brazenly tries to dig into the world beneath the paper.

“God will still exist through faith, the transcendent called the Key will appear again, and the Administrator’s seat will continue. Also, since there have always been those who try to protect the world, someone will take on the Guardian’s seat as well.”

Rustle.

The sound of paper crumpling is heard.

“But not ‘Princeps.’”

Black things warp, white things crumple. The woman smiles.

“Princeps, my one and only Ruler, no longer exists. So…….”

Soon, the fragments of memory that had been clumsily patched together sink beneath the sea of oblivion.

“I cannot allow an uninvited one who doesn’t even follow proper order to see that person.”

Who was that remark directed at?

It feels like I had a truly terrible nightmare.

“…nim.”

I don’t remember the content or shape of the dream at all, but I’m certain it was extremely unpleasant.

“…nim!”

It’s like when I saw Nostalgia standing atop humanity and mocking them — humiliation, bitter defeat, anger, and sorrow all tangled together messily. I can’t let this happen. This isn’t right. Just as I’m about to scream out as if desperately protesting—

“Master!”

As if finally releasing a breath held for too long, my consciousness suddenly surges up beyond reality in an instant.

“…Ah…?”

“Master, are you coming to your senses?”

A familiar hand, calloused and rough, grips mine. I blink blankly and try to see who’s holding my hand, but for some reason, even with my eyes open, I can’t see anything at all. Did I go blind without realizing it? Just as I’m suddenly struck with fear, Avan’s voice reaches me, impossibly calm.

“It’s dark around us. You must be careful, Master.”

Avan’s hand grips mine firmly. Maybe it’s because of the warmth of another person enveloping my hand. The anxiety and fear that surged in the face of this sudden situation melt away like snow. Holding his hand, I take a deep breath, then slowly rise to my feet.