< Episode 234 Return (1) >
“······Is this true?”
I was looking at the unchanging scenery and letting out a hollow laugh.
[Return on hold.]
I feel like a space refugee, stranded in space.
In fact, the surrounding scenery looks like space.
[Return on hold.]
That twisted space looks like a black hole, and those glowing things look like planets.
[Unable to analyze data.]
[Temporarily storing unconfirmed data.]
What do space refugees usually say in movies?
I think it was a bad ending.
[Unknown data······.]
“Ah, okay! Just do it moderately!”
I shouted, staring at the constantly updating system messages.
I'm already upset, but you're making me even more upset.
[Return on hold.]
Of course, despite my annoyed cries, the system messages continued to update.
“······Ao.”
I was so frustrated and annoyed that I scratched my head.
Then he lay back down in that position.
“I······. Am I really left alone in a rift in time?”
About two more hours had passed since Ai, Geumho, and Baekho disappeared.
I've long since passed the point where I can escape reality by saying, "If I just wait, it'll come back."
“······This is driving me crazy.”
Is it because my existence is a 'heretic' that is not registered in the system?
That's probably highly likely.
[Unknown data confirmed.]
[Check for unconfirmed data.]
As far as I can see from the system messages that are still being updated, it seems like it's probably true.
“Evande.”
No matter what, this isn't right.
If you're going to stop it, why not stop all time travel? You can go to the past, but not the future?
What kind of Tang Dynasty law is this?
“This is driving me crazy.”
I lay down on the floor and rolled around. It was a pitch-black space, so I couldn't tell where the floor was and where the sky was, but I felt like I was lying down.
There really is no answer to this.
There is no clue to the solution. There is nothing I can do.
“No matter how much I walk, the scenery is the same. The magic doesn’t work properly either······.”
Even artifacts can't be used.
The subspace is blocked, and the artifacts in the water are not usable.
'The stigmata of the Celestials and the stigmata of the Dragons have not been activated yet.'
So, there were two artifacts that were originally in my possession.
Neither the Celestial Artifact [The Holy Sword of the True Demon] nor the Dragon Artifact [Cronus] can be used.
[Return on hold.]
“······Ah. I’m going to get neurotic.”
No matter where I lay, system messages would pop up before my eyes.
I'm so angry I could die.
If you don't want to see it, why don't you just close your eyes?
I tried it.
however.
-Return is on hold.
Then he told me through a voice. It sounded twice as bad when I heard it through a voice, so I decided to just watch.
“Ah. God, I want to kill you.”
I'm suddenly getting angry.
No, should I just leave it to you?
Should I leave it and return to plan for the future?
'You foolishly do it on your own? Ha.'
Is that what the person who trapped me in a rift in time would say?
Of course, it may be unfair from Shin's perspective.
There's no way I could have predicted the variable of me flying into the past.
So, of course, I couldn't have predicted that there would be problems when I returned to the present.
I understand.
I understand······.
“You, the so-called Creator God, couldn’t you have predicted something like this?”
no.
I don't understand.
You couldn't predict something like this, even though you were acting all 'trust me'?
“What the hell is a creator god? It must be a god of creation.”
It was when I was gritting my teeth because my irritation was rising to the top of my head.
“······I understand that you’re calling me President Pants, but isn’t that title too much?”
A familiar male face appeared above my head as I lay there.
I quietly raised my upper body.
“I don’t remember raising you to be such a foul-mouthed child······ Whoa!”
And then, avoiding the bent knees, he threw a punch in the same position as he was getting up. It was a deadly punch that used all of his body's strength to the limit.
but.
“Wow. I almost got hit.”
“······Tsk.”
My fist failed to kiss the god brother's agulchang.
Unfortunately, it only pierced the air.
“Seo-yul, you. Why did you become so violent?”
“Whose fault is it all······.”
I was annoyed by the way he was talking, so I tried to hit him again.
“Phew. Okay.”
I barely managed to hold it in.
There are more important things than beating up that guy right now.
“Explain.”
“Huh? What?”
“This situation right now.”
Is there anything left to clarify in this situation?
“Explain to me why I am trapped in a rift in time.”
“Ah, that?”
My brother smiled faintly.
"I don't know either."
It was a very refreshing laugh.
Because it is as fresh as a flower in full bloom under the sunlight.
I felt like breaking it without realizing it.
Hooooooooooo!
I swung my fist again.
Shin-i Hyung dodged lightly again.
“Oh, you know that’s blasphemy?”
“······Yes. God is God, right?”
Oh, I'm so pissed.
My fist is really crying, crying.
“Well, I’m just joking when I say I don’t know.”
“······Is this a joke in this situation?”
ah.
If I just hit one real bread, my wishes will be gone.
No, while I'm at it, I might as well kick him. If I just hit the back of his head, I think his anger will go down.
“Sorry. I’m just too excited. I’ll explain right away.”
Shin said with a serious face.
“The reason things turned out like this is because your powers evolved.”
“Evolution······. Are you talking about the evolution of stigmata?”
“That’s right. It evolved from a trait acquisition type to a level-up type.”
It was about how modern stigmata changed as they came back into the past.
“Why is that?”
“Um. So······. Where should I start explaining this?”
My brother was lost in thought for a moment.
“First, let me check. Do you know why your stigmata evolved?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
There were just a few things I expected.
“Then I guess I’ll have to explain from almost the beginning.”
My brother cleared his throat loudly.
“First of all, the evolution of your stigmata was set to happen automatically when Eve opened her eyes in the main system.”
"hmm······.
I chewed over my brother's words.
The main system and automatic evolution.
“So. My abilities evolved automatically when I moved to the past where the main system was functioning normally. Is that it?”
“Oh. That’s right. As expected from my little brother. He understands quickly.”
That's what it was.
I thought it might be the contact with the unknown.
“But why did you have to go through all that trouble? If you were going to give me abilities anyway, why not give me evolved abilities from the start? You didn’t have to wait for the main system to activate······.”
“That couldn’t be possible. The power of the evolved stigmata was a system created by taking some of the functions of the main system.”
"ah······."
That's the structure.
“But what does that have to do with me not being able to return to the present?”
“Hmm. What should I say? I wonder if it’ll make sense if I explain it like this?”
My brother looked at me and said.
“Your power is the latest version of SAVE data. The present you are trying to return to is the old version.”
"······huh?"
The metaphor is somewhat mysterious.
I think I know, but I don't.
“That’s right. What I’m saying is that the latest version of SAVE data cannot be loaded from an older version.”
"ah!"
I knew exactly what you meant.
“So, in short, my power is not yet compatible with the modern era?”
“That's correct.”
That's what it was.
“Then what’s the solution? Does this mean we have to stay stuck in the time gap forever?”
“Of course not.”
I cleared my mind.
Fortunately, it seems there is a way.
“What should I do?”
“You don’t have to do anything.”
“······I don’t have to do anything?”
“Yeah. If you wait about 30 minutes, the gap in time will take care of sending it back.”
“Is it really true that I just have to wait?”
Was the solution that easy?
“Yeah. By then, the main system in Hyundai will have woken up. It will naturally return.”
For a moment, my shoulders flinched.
“Wait a minute. Did I hear that wrong? The main system is waking up?”
“Did you hear it well?”
I pressed my eyebrows together.
“······If I remember correctly, the main system started to open its eyes about 2 months before the start of the original second episode, ‘Revolution’. It’s already opened its eyes? Why?”
The time when the main system opens its eyes is based on the original work.
This was when Kang Seo-yool was a third-year student at the military academy.
There's no way I can open my eyes already.
“Hmm? Oh. I haven’t even mentioned that yet.”
My brother made a face as if he had forgotten.
“In the rift of time, time passes faster than outside.”
“It flows quickly······?”
“Uh. Roughly, two and a half hours in the gap of time······.”
My brother raised his index finger.
“It’s one year in modern times.”
“1···year?”
“And as you said, one year from now, the main system will wake up. As long as the main system is activated, there will be no problem with your return. Do you understand?”
I looked at my brother who was speaking confidently, my mouth half open.
For a moment, my thoughts stopped.
“Swoop.”
Then, I came to my senses around the time when saliva started flowing out.
“So······ a year has passed already?”
"uh."
“While I was doing nothing like this?”
"huh."
“You’re saying that you just threw away a year?”
All I could do was laugh out loud.
Based on the information I had finally obtained from the past, I was planning to gradually prepare to defeat the demon.
I never thought I'd end up in such a shitty situation.
“I didn’t throw it away. Think about the power you gained.”
My brother pointed to my chest.
It refers to the stigmata of the celestial race.
“If you were to spend your time in modern times normally, how much time do you think it would take to raise your stigmata to transcendent level?”
"that······."
“I would estimate that it would take at least 3 to 6 months, starting immediately after the main system fully awakens.”
“······.”
That's right.
Even if I had prepared a lot, it would have taken at least three months to raise the Celestial Stigmata to the transcendent level.
“In addition to the artifacts you’ve obtained, including the newly obtained information······.”
God, Hyung, stuck out his tongue.
“I think I have gained so much that it is incomparable to a year in modern times.”
“······.”
“What do you think? No?”
"······that's right."
All of these are correct.
There is no room for refutation.
“Think positively. Since the stigmata evolved, it was destined to turn out this way.”
"······huh."
It's all true, but I couldn't help feeling bitter.
It's true that I benefited now, but I couldn't help but smile because I thought I could have benefited even more.
'If I had returned to the present quickly, I could have prepared for the future, even if I could not increase my power.'
Like laying the ground.
Strengthening the colleagues around you, or recruiting people who will become your colleagues.
'If I had known in advance, there might have been a way to last a little longer in the past······.'
Even though time passes in the past, I learned through Lena that time flows in the present.
There was also a way to gain more time in the past, strengthening your abilities, and then returning to the present day when one year had passed.
This was probably the best.
'Of course, it's meaningless if you assume that you knew······.'
If you don't know, you'll suffer.
I learned that this is the truth of life.
I sighed softly.
Then I took a couple of deep breaths and let the thoughts out.
“Hoooo······ haaaaa······.”
If you regret it, it's already in the past.
As God said, I have gained more from you. Let's think positively.
“You have a nice expression.”
“······What is this all of a sudden?”
My brother smiled with a mysterious expression.
“No. It’s just that I’m so moved by my little brother’s growth.”
“······Do you know who caused this to happen to me?”
“Ah. Is it because of me? Hahaha!”
My brother laughed heartily.
It was meant to be sarcastic, but I actually like it.
He seems happy that he is the cause of my growth.
I was annoyed for no reason and wanted to say something in rebuttal, but I held it in.
What's the point of saying more than this?
Only my mouth hurts.
“Okay. We don’t have much time. Let’s move on to the next topic.”
30 minutes is short.
“I’m curious about a lot of things. Like the power of destiny. I’m also curious about what happened to Masin after I disappeared······.”
God, my brother cut me off.
“Hmm. I don’t think there’s enough time to explain everything.”
For a moment, I felt annoyed.
“Again? Another excuse about time······.”
"instead."
I was about to say something, but Shin-hyung cut me off again.
“I’ll open one of the arrangements forcibly.”
“······Arrangements?”
“Yes. You currently meet the conditions. Once this is released, most of your questions will be answered.”
My brother suddenly put his hand on my head.
“What are you going to do······.”
“Stay still.”
My brother closed his eyes and muttered:
“SYSTEM COMMAND.”
“SUMMON. TGJ-48DS-0294.”
At the same time, a small book popped up in the corner of my mind.
An old book that radiates a vivid luster.
“From now on, I will release the seal on your memories.”
The book opened wide and slowly descended toward my head.
“Ugh!”
At the same time, I became confused.
It was a split second.
My body is shaking as if I've been shot with an anesthetic gun, and my mind is dizzy. I feel like I'm going to fall asleep at any moment.
“It was nice to see you after so long. Bye.”
With those words, my mind snapped like a filament in a light bulb.
.
.
.
And the next moment.
I was sitting at a table in a familiar neighborhood bar.
“Seo-yul. What do you think are the strengths of my novel?”
I am not Kang Seo-yool of [S-class status window].
“If you don’t have any readers, you can only meet the two of you if you hold a fan meeting?”
An ordinary office worker,
I was Kang Seo-yool, a web novel reader.
< Episode 234 Return (1) > End
