Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Thinking back on my experience with Mr. Yoon Juyeong, I was now clearly in the past, not inside an illusion or simulation. And Mr. Yoon Juyeong distinctly remembered what the “future” me had said to the “past” him.

But Jeong Seojin was different. Jeong Seojin had never mentioned my resemblance to Princeps when we met in the future, nor had he ever brought up this situation happening right now. Even if he was blind at this moment, that was strange.

‘Even if he couldn’t see my face, he heard my voice. So when he met me in the future, he should have recognized my voice right away.’

Yet from the very first time we met, Jeong Seojin had never once mentioned the “past.” No matter how I thought about it, it was odd. Why did Mr. Yoon Juyeong remember, but Jeong Seojin didn’t?

‘…Could it be because this was a situation that ‘never happened’?’

Mr. Yoon Juyeong’s memory stopped right at the point where I affirmed him. In other words, he didn’t remember the words I said afterward about my efforts for our relationship. I guessed it might be because I had additionally done something that ‘never happened in the past.’

“Then that means everything happening right now is… all ‘things that never happened in the past.’”

I suddenly recalled the stone that Juyun had given me, now sleeping in my Inventory, and what the Taoist Master had said.

“They definitely said I’d be able to walk the ‘path I was originally meant to take.’”

The path originally meant to be taken was, in other words, a ‘predetermined’ path. In that sense, my meeting with Mr. Yoon Juyeong was clearly close to a predetermined path.

Also, being assimilated into Princeps’s body was, in a way, a predetermined path. Because Princeps was someone closely tied to the very foundation of my existence.

But this situation right now wasn’t.

‘A newly added past that shouldn’t have happened in the first place… It feels as awkward and forced as if someone arbitrarily intervened and twisted it.’

Why on earth did it turn out like this?

“When someone asks you a question, how about answering? I asked what your name is—”

While I was casually ignoring Jeong Seojin’s words and pondering the situation, a very familiar translucent blue window suddenly appeared before my eyes.

[Tutorial 3. The Strong Prey on the Weak]

Quest Progress (2/3)

Save your ‘strong one,’ ‘Jeong Seojin.’

*Hint!

He remembered what a human body should not remember, and saw what a human body should not see.

The price for containing something too ‘precious’ in a mere human body is harsh.

An ancient, long-abandoned thing, the ‘Beggar Who Devours Memories,’ is targeting him. Before he loses all his memories and his existence is erased, let’s find a way to fill the beggar’s belly and send it back.

On success: Jeong Seojin’s safety

On failure: Jeong Seojin’s existence erasure

Time limit: Within one week

“……”

What the hell was this? I stared blankly at the quest window, having completely forgotten that I was even walking. The content of the quest window, which looked like it was written directly by the Administrator, was nothing short of a cauldron of shock and horror no matter how I thought about it.

‘Whose existence… is being erased?’

On failure, Jeong Seojin’s existence erasure.

I gritted my teeth and read the words written at the very bottom of the quest window over and over. Existence erasure. It said existence erasure, no less. Not just dying, but his entire existence vanishing.

Hah.

Haaah.

“Mr. Jeong Seojin.”

“You don’t react when I call you for ages, and now what?”

“What the hell do you normally do while wandering around to end up like this?”

“What?”

With an utterly dazed expression, I kept staring at the quest window. He remembered what a human body should not remember, and saw what a human body should not see… No matter how I thought about it, what it was saying was clear.

‘The thing he shouldn’t remember is a hundred percent about Princeps, and the thing he shouldn’t have seen is probably whatever he saw even at the cost of his eyesight.’

Once I thought that far, the situation felt so utterly miserable that I couldn’t hold back and grabbed him by the collar again.

“What the hell?! Fine, the memory thing, I’ll let that slide, but seeing something you shouldn’t have seen—that’s obviously that thing! The thing that made you go blind!”

“What… why are you suddenly like this again?!”

“What the hell do you do to end up like this, huh?! Take better care of yourself! Why do you go around doing things bad enough to make you go blind, huh?!”

Naturally, Jeong Seojin, seemingly unable to accept my sudden behavior, also started shouting back at me. What business do you have with me anyway, you’re not even my parent to be scolding me like that, mind your own business, I’ll handle my own affairs, and so on.

And naturally, I shot back just the same.

“I’m worried, how am I supposed to mind my own business?! Just act a little more modestly, huh?! Be more careful when you go around!”

After I blurted it out, I thought it sounded a bit strange, but what’s said is said. So I grabbed him by the collar, shook him back and forth, and kept venting my anger that was closer to worry. Please don’t go somewhere and come back hurt, think seriously about hurting your own body, learn to stay away from dangerous things, and so on.

In the end, what finally cut off my nagging, which seemed like it would go on forever, was Guild Master Kang Mujin, who awkwardly slipped in a word.

“Um, Seojin, and you as well, please calm down first. I’m sure you always have reasons to be angry at Seojin, but we still have a long way to go, don’t we?”

“Kang Mujin, are you on this woman’s side even in a situation like this?!”

“Seojin, you need to look back at how you usually are.”

“Ugh, cough, hooooo… I finally feel a bit settled inside… ugh?!”

On one side, a woman was grabbing a man by the collar and shouting furiously, and on the other side, a woman was continuously vomiting stomach acid while a man supported her.

Thinking about it now, after quite some time has passed, it was truly a mess that I couldn’t imagine being any more chaotic.

* * *

After the chaos that had dragged on for a while was somehow resolved, we were able to safely arrive at the shelter under the guidance of Guild Master Kang Mujin.

“For now, I’ll take Miss Han Sohee here to the civilian zone.”

Guild Master Kang Mujin said the name of the woman we had heard during the long yet short journey to the shelter and said he would take her to a safe place. Seojin and I naturally told him to go ahead and saw the two of them off.

Ah, and for the record, even as Guild Master Kang Mujin was leaving—

“Seojin, don’t snap at Yoon Seohee for no reason.”

“I’ve told you several times, stop with that damn lecturing.”

—he left a scolding for Jeong Seojin. Truly, he was a person consistent both in the past and the future. I thought that as I watched the two figures depart under the black night sky, which held only the shadows of sunlight.

“You’re going to the Awakener zone for now.”

I turned my gaze away from the now-distant two figures and looked at Jeong Seojin.

“The Awakener zone?”

“Yeah. It’s not mandatory, but there’s an area where Awakeners who directly participate in or cooperate with combat gather and live.”

After saying that, Jeong Seojin held out his hand to me, as if to guide me to that ‘Awakener zone.’ Without much thought, I grabbed his outstretched hand. Ridiculously enough, even though he was the one who had offered his hand to me, the moment I took it, he showed a brief hint of fluster.

Of course, as if trying to erase that momentary fluster, he returned to his usual expressionless face and immediately began leading me to that so-called ‘Awakener zone.’

“In case monsters try to invade from outside, it’s easier for Awakeners or soldiers like us to respond if we’re in the outer zone.”

“Ah, so that’s the meaning behind the Awakener zone.”

For me, it was rather fortunate. Honestly, I had been secretly worried about what would happen if I got completely separated from Jeong Seojin after arriving at the shelter.

‘Of course, on the other hand, I also thought there was no way Jeong Seojin would easily let go of me, since I’m connected to ‘Princeps’.’

Still, since there’s always a possibility of the unexpected, it’s hard to let my guard down easily. I glanced at the translucent window still floating in the air.

[Tutorial 3. The Strong Prey on the Weak]

Quest Progress (2/3)

Save your ‘strong one,’ ‘Jeong Seojin.’

*Hint!

He remembered what a human body should not remember, and saw what it should not see.

The price for containing something too ‘precious’ in a mere human body is harsh.

An ancient abandoned thing that has existed since olden times, the ‘Beggar Who Devours Memories,’ is targeting him. So that he is not robbed of all his memories and his existence annihilated, let us find a way to fill the beggar’s belly and make it go back.

Success: Jeong Seojin’s safety

Failure: Annihilation of Jeong Seojin’s existence

Time limit: Within one week

As expected, this bewildering quest was still the same. I looked at the quest window, which hadn’t changed a single word, with a tired expression.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do about this.’

The Administrator — no, to be precise, Nostalgier — had made its demand clear to me. Protect Jeong Seojin from the abandoned thing called the ‘Beggar Who Devours Memories.’ But the problem was that I had no idea what that ‘protecting’ method was.

‘Nostalgier must know my level of combat ability, so there’s no way it gave me a quest like this expecting me to protect Jeong Seojin through sheer force. So that last paragraph, the part about ‘filling the beggar’s belly,’ has to be the key point.’

I had no clue what exactly I was supposed to do to fill the beggar’s belly. Could it really be that? That I should let myself be eaten by the beggar and get digested? No, even if Nostalgier was the worst kind of bastard who could laugh while watching people die, I didn’t think it would directly demand something like that. That brought the problem right back to square one. What method was I supposed to use to ‘fill the beggar’s belly’?

“Yoon Seohee.”

“…Ah, yes?”