“What happened to Gong Isu?”
The unexpected message rattled me for a moment, but we’d talked about Gong Isu beforehand.
“My future self said I could only meet you five times?”
“Technically it was six, but one got erased. Do you have a different take, senior?”
“No. If my future self said so, then that’s that.”
“Then if we meet again right after this rite—does it consume a count? By my math, you’ll also wake up, briefly, in whatever place you recognize as home.”
“My home...? Wherever I get flung, this won’t count. If it did—”
“What are you—ugh, senior, what are you doing?”
“Does that use one of the meetings? I figure my future self tallied by acts that significantly affect causality.”
“I get it—so get down from there.”
Right.
Wherever he jumped to, he’ll be back soon.
Even if he got thrown into another time, Gong Isu can return to this one.
[You are....]
“What? Still not done? Class is over, so—hurry up and say the chaotic future is approaching and wrap it up, okay? I have cram school.”
Not cram school—what’s creeping up is worry for everyone else.
[The One Who Tears the Veil] likely shoved in people who had troubled me—or will trouble me—in the past or future (even Certain has “troubled” me once).
The issue is that among those people are ones I should care about.
“Hyun A, for instance.”
[She is already a monster at a surreal level.]
“Oh, come on, don’t flatter me.”
Our Sinhwa isn’t that bad.
[This time, to serve your purpose, you forced an abyssal being to adopt a new policy of action. You’ve gone well beyond the range humans can reach.]
“...”
[And still, there’s much to regret. You knew a surer method. If you had, for example, converted all the souls gathered there into thrust, you could have traveled much farther.]
“Like hell I’d do that.”
I decided not to cross the line that must not be crossed as a person.
But can I really carry that principle to the end? Honestly, I’m not sure.
[Many worry for you. Some fear you were born with a temperament too mild. But do not worry. Those belonging to the abyss will help you find greater courage.]
“Threatening me again, you lunatic?”
You’ll “instill courage”?
That’s a warning you’ll craft a hell I can’t escape without sacrificing others.
[knock, knock]
Then, a knock at the door.
[creeeak]
Tension surged by reflex. My detection moved faster than my body. Mana primed me for combat in a blink.
“Jang Hyundeok.”
The tension ebbed and my shoulders slackened. Looks like he’d already come to recognize this place as “home,” too.
“Is the mage in?”
“Yeah.”
“May I come in?”
A strangely sunken voice.
At the same time, my detection flashed a warning: “Target is armed and intends to use the weapon.”
Jang Hyundeok... had a pistol in one hand?
So what? No—stay alert; he might shoot his own foot by accident.
[Then please look forward to the chaotic future.]
Yeah, disappear.
And now you can look forward to what I’m going to prepare.
[clack]
Jang Hyundeok leveled the gun at me.
The muzzle pointed squarely at my heart.
That’s not a hypothetical.
The moment I opened the door, what Jang Hyundeok actually did—this is... mm. This is the real thing.
I looked between his furrowed brow and the muzzle.
Grip more stable than I expected.
Right—normally I made light of him, but Jang Hyundeok ran errands for criminals in Paju for six years.
He can handle a pistol.
“...Hands up?”
“No.”
“Want me to show you self-defense?”
Like that trick where I suddenly snatch the gun—pop!
Not with my Agility stat, I can’t.
And that needs the prerequisites: [Combat Reflexes], or [Master of Martial Arts], or maybe [Pickpocket].
“No.”
“Toy gun?”
“This is the gun you gave me!”
“All right then, hostage-taker who’s holding Kim Sinhwa. What are your demands?”
But instead of demands, the hostage-taker blurted something off the wall.
“You said there’d be no problems! At first I thought it was a dream. But—when I woke up there was a gun in my hand!”
“It was like a dream. And in fact there were no prob—”
“How am I supposed to shoot you!”
You’re about to shoot me right now! You idiot!
“Back then, other than you—”
Other than you, no one else had True Sight; other than you, no one would keep their sanity; other than you, I—
But instead of finishing that, I said something else. Not only because the muzzle that had been aimed near my chest rose toward my mask—no, toward my face.
“Hyundeok.”
“Yes.”
“Sorry for dumping something absurd on you.”
“...”
He lowered the gun like all the air went out of him.
“I can’t shoot you, mage.”
“Yeah, you still can’t. Hand it over.”
Silently, he offered the gun. I took it, confirmed the safety was on, and tucked it into my coat.
It’s a keepsake in its own way. The very pistol I picked up in [K-3675 Secret Research Facility].
Empty-handed now, Jang Hyundeok trembled and spoke.
“I... I know what I should have done. I know why you asked me of all people.”
Paju’s driving specialists provide a few add-on services besides driving. I asked for one of those.
“I know. There were people who asked me to shoot them instead, and I did. And sometimes I shot people regardless. I thought I could do it again! But I can’t now! I—I don’t have Hyunji anymore. If I lose anything else...”
“Okay! Got it, Hyundeok! Hey, don’t cry, man!”
He mumbled something in a blurred voice for a moment.
“I’m not crying,” or something like that—but anyway, he bawled for a long time, gulping and heaving.
“This is for me?”
He’d come down from his room and asked me that.
“Ah. That. Hey, don’t open it. And do something about your hair.”
“Isn’t it a present?”
A red box with the exact same design as the one I got. The very same—thump-thump gift box.
Jang Hyundeok thought for a moment, then said:
“Oh, I get it! A small keepsake! The employees get one too?”
“Ugh. Yeah, that’s it. But where’s Sanghyun? Haven’t seen him? Do your hair.”
He set the gift box on the sideboard in the living room and sloppily tied his hair back. Try brushing it first. Still looks like a vagrant.
“Uh... I haven’t seen him. I came straight to you the moment I woke up.”
“Yeah? Where’d Sanghyun go? Guys—”
Doesn’t look like he’s in the living room.
Instead of Heo Sanghyun, Achilles and Doldol came barreling out. And Red.
“Yeah, yeah. You were all scared when everyone vanished, huh? It’s fine. It’s okay. I’m sorry to you guys too. But have you seen Sanghyun?”
But they didn’t know where Heo Sanghyun was either.
“Can’t I open this? Ah, Sanghyun must have one too? Are we opening gifts together? What about the senior? Did you get one, mage?”
“Don’t open it! And the senior—ah! One question at a time! And brush your hair properly!”
“Man, such a nag. My hair suddenly got long and I can’t manage it. Should I just shave it all?”
“It’ll grow back by that much every time you use your ability. You’re synched with your aunt. She wears it long. Kkumul—where’s Sanghyun?”
There were plenty of walls between us, but Kkumul could exert influence across not just the mansion but all of Jangmyeongsan—and sent me the answer I wanted.
[chirrrrrp]
“Huh? Really?”
“What’d it say?”
“In the kitchen... No, you stay here. And don’t open that box.”
What Kkumul told me wasn’t Heo Sanghyun’s location.
Instead, it reported that a [Necromancy-Imbued Object] had appeared in the pantry.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
If it’s home, be home—why spawn there?
I pushed mana and input a simple command, but there was no response.
“This isn’t the kind of problem that should happen.”
It was, of course, something I’d considered before starting the rite.
I’d set up multiple safety layers to prevent exactly this—but despite that, something happened and the necromancy driving his body must have reset.
Which means it really is in the [raw materials for necromancy] state.
“I’m coming too!”
“No! Don’t! You stay here and brush your hair!”
I planted Jang Hyundeok in front of the mirror and headed for the kitchen.
Gong Isu came to in his own home.
“Home?”
“What?”
“Home? Here?”
“Why are you here?”
“It says this is my home.”
“Ah, I remember. You ate pasta and came back?”
“So you went through it too. Did you also get the explanation for why it’s like this?”
“Yeah. At this point in time, you don’t have a place you recognize as home. So you arrived at the home I perceive as of now. From the admin’s perspective, there’s no need to distinguish you from me.”
“Thanks for the lovely bit of info.”
“Sure. You really worked hard doing pointless crap.”
“Haa—”
With a short sigh, Gong Isu unleashed a torrent of curses at his conversational partner.
Curses aimed at the one he knew better than anyone. Which meant he could sort through the vast catalog and arrange them in the most lethal and base order.
Normally you’d be too conscience-stricken to say anything so vile, but no need to worry about that here.
Anyone can be merciless to themselves.
When Gong Isu’s curses ran out, Gong Isu answered in a calm voice.
“Got it. Grab that and get lost.”
It’s a common behavior, just with a slightly unusual presentation.
People are usually harsh with their future selves, but extremely lenient with their past selves.
Gong Isu is the same as anyone. He just happens to let future and past talk at the same time.
“What’s in here?”
“What you think is in there. Now get rid of that corner-riddled object.”
“Thanks to the junior, the penalty’s gone. So for a while I don’t have to worry about corners.”
“I know. Which is why we can exist simultaneously.”
As a rule, you can’t meet yourself from another timeline. But for a while, that rule could be ignored.
Rather than his own words, Gong Isu sensed the information being provided in a surreal manner to himself; he nodded—and, looking at Gong Isu, said:
“I’m really going to do it.”
“I did. That’s why I’m here.”
“I’ll change that future.”
Whether it bothered Gong Isu or not, Gong Isu didn’t care and opened the box. You don’t need your own permission.
He stared down into it in silence for a moment.
“Ah. So that’s what it was?”
Then, looking at Gong Isu, Gong Isu—
curved his mouth into a smile you couldn’t parse by normal means, raised his index finger, and hid where a mouth would conventionally be.
“So. What if all of this was the plan?”
“Cool. In that case—”
“No—stop right there.”
Gong Isu suddenly turned his gaze toward where you are and thought.
Looks like we’re being observed right now.
Hey—you’re watching, aren’t you?
We really are going to do it.
You can look forward to it.
