Chapter 162. A Tiresome Bond
I sat blankly on top of Flying Fish’s head, staring down at the endless sea of mist below, so deep that I couldn’t see what lay beneath it.
Maybe because Angel-noona and Jayeon had already embarrassed me once this morning, my mind still hadn’t fully recovered.
More importantly....
[You have entered a romantic relationship with one who has awakened the Mind Power of Love! The two of you are now connected by a Red Thread and will share many things!]
Things like increased stamina.
A certain boost to our stats.
Or one of us dying in place of the other at a decisive moment.
Benefits along those lines.
My stats had already increased whenever Pie was beside me, but now the increase had become larger.
The number of skills we could share had increased too.
Still...
It felt like the system had placed my emotions on a scale, measured them, calculated the result, and spat out a reward.
I didn’t particularly like that.
“Do you think your other half and my Hayangi got connected too?”
“Maybe....”
Pie thought for a moment.
“I don’t know about my other half, but isn’t your other half capable of making decisions independently?”
Hmm.
Well...
That was true.
She seemed to have different tastes from me too.
We had spent twenty years apart.
Whatever she had been like before, plenty of things could have changed by now.
Even Modak, who had picked up Pie’s somewhat prickly way of speaking, had suddenly become childish after twenty years.
So it was certainly possible.
...
It would be funny if Hayangi had changed like Modak too.
“We’ll know when we see her.”
Pie pointed ahead.
“There. I can see it.”
Had it already been more than a year?
I spent so much time shut inside my house that my sense of time had become a little broken.
Anyway.
About a year.
Only after all that time had passed in the blink of an eye did I finally return here.
A lot had changed compared to back then.
At the time, I had simply been some poor, pitiful guy living in poverty.
Now, well....
“You’re not planning to descend the same way as last time, are you?”
“Of course not.”
This time, we had plenty of time.
What if I dove straight down like last time and Pastien got offended and threw me out again?
Flying Fish slowly reduced its speed and lowered its altitude.
Soon, we entered the dense sea of mist surrounding the Demonic Realm.
The instant we entered its territory, all kinds of roars and animal cries rang out.
Infinite gratitude to Flying Fish for coming back to carry us again....
[You have arrived at the resting place of the Great Hero of Patience! Overcome her trials and reach her!]
In the Deep Sea was the Great Hero of Hope.
In the Hall was Asset.
And in the Demonic Realm was Pastien.
The three of them had once traveled together as close companions.
Yet after enough time passed, they had ended up imprisoned in places where they couldn’t even hear news of one another.
If they weren’t even going to recreate actual history faithfully, why bother separating the three of them?
Did the Chairman just hate seeing them together?
Hmm.
Maybe the three had been separated because, even in the original world, that combination ultimately lost to Ruin.
“This is my first time arriving normally, so it feels a little strange.”
Pie gave me a sharp look.
“Last time, someone said he was in a hurry and just crashed straight down.”
Her gaze was fierce.
Apparently, she still hadn’t completely gotten over that day.
I should have told her the truth from the beginning.
Instead, I kept my mouth shut without thinking and created this mess.
She was probably going to nag me about that forever, wasn’t she?
Forever....
“Why the hell are you smiling?! I’ll tear your mouth open!”
“Hahaha! All right! I won’t smile!”
I quickly cleared my throat under Pie’s murderous gaze.
Then I hurried the others along and brought everyone toward the tree where Pastien should be waiting.
Once the entire party gathered...
The underground wooden door I had seen during the Corruption Battle slowly emerged from within the tree.
“If this is the tree where Pastien is sleeping...”
I stared at the door.
“Does that mean Pastien is the one who brought the door out for us just now?”
“Maybe?”
If so...
Maybe crashing down from above back then had actually been the right choice.
“All right.”
I put my hand against the enormous wooden door.
“Opening it.”
Rumble....
BOOM!
I pushed.
The massive door slowly opened with a deep roar.
The familiar passage beyond came into view.
I didn’t know about everyone else...
But my chest filled with excitement.
Once Hayangi returned, I would regain Madness.
Managing my character overall would also become much easier.
It would basically be like having two brains.
Even if Hayangi refused to enter me again...
Simply gaining Hayangi as another companion would be a massive benefit to us.
No matter how I looked at it, this was profitable.
I planned to enjoy the game.
‘...But if Hayangi refuses to go back inside me, do I need to make her a body?’
‘I guess I can ask the Undertaker to make one.’
Seriously.
Compared to the past, so much had changed.
I had a bunch of useful and varied people working under me.
I owned an arena that basically printed money.
I even owned land under my own name.
Sure, it was crawling with monsters and called the Abandoned District....
But still.
Kim Ingwang.
You bastard.
You actually made it.
[First, you must endure.]
As we walked farther inside the door, Pastien’s voice quietly echoed through the passage.
It had been a long time since I heard it.
When I met the Great Hero of Hope in the Black-and-White World, I had heard something similar.
Back then, I had seen something the Great Hero of Hope had actually experienced.
Then this time...
Was it Pastien’s story?
“Endure what exactly?”
Squeeze.
Something grabbed my hand.
The trembling hand held onto me with strength I couldn’t shake off.
Familiar noise surrounded me.
A familiar smell brushed past my nose.
I could feel the heat of people against my skin...
Yet the place felt strangely cold.
At the edge of my vision...
A white hospital bed and curtain came into view.
Red stains were spreading across them.
A hospital.
A sight I could never forget.
I slowly lowered my gaze toward the hands clutching mine.
Covered in blood...
With trembling eyes that looked ready to close at any moment...
That person stared directly at me.
Their lips shook weakly.
With a fading breath, they barely forced out the words.
“I’m... sorry....”
“...Wow.”
At this point, I wasn’t surprised anymore when the game knew my past.
Or when NPCs spoke as if they knew it.
The Chairman knew every single detail of my life.
He had controlled every single thing I did.
That bastard was sitting way above all of this.
Of course this kind of thing could happen.
Still...
This crossed the line a little.
“...Haa....”
I let out a short breath filled with emotions boiling up from deep inside me.
Everything outside the space immediately around me was completely black.
Black water covered the floor up to my ankles.
And from that dark water...
Faces I had forgotten...
