Chapter 185 : Chapter 185

Chapter 185 - The Past (3)

“Why does everyone have such dark expressions.”

The heavy silence that had settled nearby was enough for such words to come out automatically.

Everyone was fidgeting, unable to say anything, looking as if they were reflecting on having committed some great discourtesy.

“It’s alright. It’s nothing to worry about.”

Saying that, I scanned the interior of the house with my eyes once more.

It was just as I remembered.

Although time has piled up a bit, this was definitely the place I had lived in for years.

The fact that ‘my past’ had been superimposed onto the game was now almost a certainty.

That means, well.

“...”

It also means that I have a clear grasp of how things will unfold after the ‘ending’.

“That person, Ms. Sojin...”

While everyone had been quietly exchanging glances, Ms. Seo Hye-in cautiously opened her mouth.

There's no need to speak so cautiously. I replied with a bitter smile.

“Well. To me, she was a bit of a... benefactor.”

“...A benefactor, you say?”

“She made me human.”

A long time ago.

In a certain era where only the faint outlines remain in my memory.

There was a stray kid in the slums who lived no differently from a beast.

A boy who sold tomorrow to buy today, who knew only the skills for survival rather than how to live life, a life that could hardly be called human.

And, there was a girl from a wealthy family who had been diagnosed at birth with not long to live.

She was intelligent, bright, and had the quick-wittedness and courage to think on her feet.

But she was also an incorrigible eccentric.

“...An eccentric?”

“She said she wanted to make her own game before she died.”

“...”

I smirked at the party, who fell silent with expressions of incomprehension.

“Well, because of her physical condition, all her activities were limited to what she could do at a desk. So she really liked things like games.”

And the girl said.

That she wanted to leave a trace of her existence in this world.

I remember that.

“...”

Along with that memory, scenes that crumble and fade come to mind one by one.

The first meeting. Rummaging through the mansion's trash can, I met eyes with the girl who was looking out the window.

The second meeting. Climbing over the wall to steal, I reluctantly accepted a lunchbox prepared by the girl who was waiting for me in advance.

The third meeting. I came face to face with the girl who personally came to the slums, accompanied by her servant.

“...She said she didn't have any friends.”

I continued with a smirk.

“It was her first time ever talking to a child her age, so her curiosity must have been extraordinary.”

So, the girl wanted to hear the boy’s story.

She wanted to spend a little more time with the boy.

The boy, who had pushed her away fiercely at first, grew tired of the relentlessly approaching girl and at some point, came to naturally accept her presence by his side as part of his daily life.

Like a cliff being eroded by the constantly crashing waves.

As naturally as water seeping into a rock.

“How to read letters, how to talk to people, how to count numbers, and other than that. I learned everything about how to live life from her.”

I continued to speak calmly.

The girl would often cross her arms and lecture the boy.

‘Living like that isn’t a human way to live,’ she used to say all the time.

As if she wanted to give something more to the first friend she ever had in her life.

-I... even if I receive something like this. I can’t give anything back.

To the beggar boy who spouted such words, I also remember the girl smiling brightly and answering cheerfully.

-When you become smart enough. Help me make my game!

Yes. That’s how it was.

And one day, when the boy became a young man, and the girl became a young woman.

A person named Kim Sojin died.

It was due to the chronic illness that had tormented her throughout her life.

“...Well, that’s the story. That’s all there is to it.”

I sighed and let a few images float away.

Her pale face asking if I would be sad if she died.

The warmth that embraced a certain clueless fool, saying this would put her at ease.

Yeah, well.

It’s all in the past now.

Of course, the story of a certain fool who endlessly played the game she created and left behind, memorizing it from A to Z, is still ongoing, but.

“...”

“...”

Expressions of not knowing what to say were still floating all around.

So, I smirked and snapped my fingers very loudly.

“So, I told you not to make those faces.”

“...Mr. Kim Gyu-sik. Are you really, alright.”

Ms. Seo Hye-in said in a very cautious tone.

“Why. Do I not look alright?”

“...”

Ms. Seo Hye-in flinched and shut her mouth.

Well, I can see why it might look that way, but.

Time is certainly the most powerful anesthetic in the world.

Because no matter how severe the pain that makes a person suffer, it eventually erodes slowly, little by little.

So, now it just ends with an occasional throb. That's all.

In the first place, she herself had spouted nonsense about killing me if I was sad when she died.

It means that no one would be happy if I kept holding onto it.

“...So. That aside. What is she doing now?”

Saying that, I pointed my finger at Seo Ah-in, who had put her knees on a chair and buried her face in them.

The way she was constantly sniffling was unusual.

“...That, how should I put it. I’d appreciate it if you could think of it as her being in deep reflection...”

While Ms. Seo Hye-in was sweating profusely and answering like that, Seo Ah-in, who had been burying her head, lifted it.

Hmm.

Right.

“...Hey, no. You need to sort that out.”

Even for me, who usually doesn't comment on whatever this girl does, her appearance was so wrecked that it was startling.

Disheveled bangs, a face messy with tears and snot. A face swollen from how much she had cried.

And with that face, she walked steadily towards me.

With an unhesitating air, as if she had something to say.

So much so that even I was pressed by her spirit and took a step back.

“...”

And in that state, Seo Ah-in, who had been staring at me for a while.

She threw herself into my arms.

“...Excuse me?”

As I was unconsciously letting out such a question, a sound of “Uwaaaah-” echoed from within my embrace, almost like a siren.

It was a noise of such intensity that it made me realize a person could cry at such a high decibel.

“I, I didn't even know it was something like thaaat... I'm sorry, I'm sor...”

“...”

Man, she really.

I told her it was okay so many times, yet I didn't expect her to reflect by bawling her eyes out like a storm.

Well, I can overlook that much.

As I was bringing my hand up with a benevolent touch to pat her head.

“To think, to think that Mr. Kim Gyu-sik, the king of insensitivity, the impenetrable wall, the block of wood, the piece of trash who boasted an intelligence as if his brain had been completely boiled when it came to romance, was such a pure and devoted man, this, this is really... I’m sorry, for misunderstanding you all this time... sob, heuk, heuk.”

“...”

Hmm.

Ms. Seo Ah-in.

Could you please make it clear whether you are apologizing or insulting me.

As I was thinking that and holding my hand, which was about to pat her, frozen in mid-air, she continued to speak while still staining the front of my shirt.

“It wasn't that you were just being clueless all this time, but that you were putting on a gesture of pushing everyone away because you couldn't forget such a precious person. Rather, I'm the foolish one. I should have realized sooner that there was no way a person could be that stupid...”

“...Uh, um, Ah-in? I think Mr. Kim Gyu-sik has heard enough by now...”

“No, sister. There must have been a reason why a person whose head works so well in other areas had his intelligence so shattered in that particular area. At the very least, if he had normal intelligence, he would never have been able to do such a thing. It’s my fault for not thinking that there must have been a reason for it. I’m sorry, Mr. Kim Gyu-sik...”

“...”

Is she actually dissing me?

I thought so and narrowed my eyes to look at her, but at least every word she spoke was sincere.

She wasn't being sarcastic, but genuinely felt sorry for me.

Alright, then I should also be a little honest.

“...But, there is one thing I need to correct.”

I scratched my head and continued.

“It's not that I avoided dating specifically because of that. In the first place, did I ever have such an opportunity?”

“...”

“...”

“...”

Huh.

Did I say something wrong?

I feel like I heard something crack nearby.

Still, I stubbornly continued to speak.

“She also used to say as a habit not to be needlessly resentful and to be sure to meet a good woman and live well. So if I ever get the chance, I'm thinking of starting over anytime. It's just that I haven't been lucky enough for that to happen...”

I shut my mouth.

It was partly because an unusual amount of strength began to enter Seo Ah-in’s arms, which were hugging me.

But also because the pressure of the gazes from nearby, which felt like my whole body would explode, was getting stronger and stronger.

“...”

What's wrong, everyone.

Did I really say something wrong?

***

“...Hoo.”

The Guardian let out a deep sigh and pressed her eyes.

She had just finished writing the formula to activate the ‘Elevation’ to send Kim Gyu-sik to the top floor of the Tower.

It was such an advanced formula that even she had to pour all her capabilities to complete it, so she hadn't been able to pay attention to anything else.

I wonder how much work has piled up in the meantime.

“...Hmm.”

She opened the System's ‘console window’ with a bitter smile.

The first thing to do was, of course, to check the status of the person who would be using this formula.

It was unlikely, but it would be bad if something major had happened while her attention was focused here.

“...”

Actually, to be a bit more honest, a considerable part of her desire was to quickly check on the target she had been constantly peeping on, as she hadn't been able to for a while.

Anyway, the desire to see Kim Gyu-sik right now was a definite one.

And so, when she transmitted the ‘image’ of the place where Kim Gyu-sik was, what appeared was a dilapidated, crumbling house.

It was a house that she was definitely seeing for the first time.

Yes.

It had to be.

“...Huh?”

The Guardian suddenly felt a throbbing in her temples and clutched her head.

Wait a minute.

A headache?

It was a sensation she had never experienced even once after her existence as an Administrator had been ‘elevated’.

As if she had returned to being a human.

What, on earth, was the cause?

[ Kim Sojin ]

And, as soon as she saw the nameplate with those words hanging in the house.

The Guardian clutched her head and let out a groan from the even more severe headache.

‘...What, the hell?’

Within the splitting pain, such a thought floated blankly in the Guardian's mind.

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