Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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>Translator: Lord First
>Chapter: 27
>Chapter Title: A Night of Counting Stars (1)
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*
There’s a saying that when something strange happens in world history, you can usually blame the British.
Kim Seon-woo had studied internet memes more diligently than world history, so while he didn't know the specific reasons, he knew the meme itself.
From Ivan's perspective, he was aware that a similar meme was widespread in this pre-modern world.
When something strange happens in world history, you can usually blame the elves.
Elves are a race fundamentally filled with a superiority complex, arrogant, proud, and consider racism to be common sense.
The only reason the elves were able to join the United Kingdom was that, from their perspective, demons were even more loathsome than humans. (The dwarves, unfortunately, were an unbiased race and thus sided with the demons.)
“There’s a theory in academia that humans might be evolved monkeys. In most cases, they’re not much different from monkeys, but humans at least show a glimmer of intelligence, don’t they? Don’t think too negatively. It’s a compliment.”
“What, a human is talking back? Oh my, what is the world coming to…”
“Magic…? You’re giving too grand a name to playing with dirt using mana. Human. Isn’t your kind too young to wield magic?”
The above quotes were words spoken directly to Ivan by Veolgrin, who was reputed to be the most virtuous of all elves.
Ivan still remembered that moment vividly.
Every member of the Hero's Party was a madman, but Veolgrin was a particularly high-quality madman.
What was even more surprising was that Veolgrin actually had no ill intent.
>In other words, from his point of view, those words were simply a natural expression of his opinion.
Even now, at a time when their already small population had been decimated by the war with the demons, and the moment had come to open their borders to preserve their nation.
Elves are, fundamentally, rotten to the core.
“A ‘volunteer club’?”
“Yes.”
“Me?”
“Mm.”
“Why?”
The Saintess of the Hero's Party and the Thief—that is, the Head of the Theology Department and a tenured professor in the Knight Department.
And the Head of the Magic Department had also approved it. It wasn't mandatory, but he could have tried to persuade them to at least spare some time out of respect for their positions.
Instead, Ivan caressed the handle of his axe and pondered. After all, it was a historical truth acknowledged even by the Demon King that it was faster to kill an elf than to persuade one.
“Hyung-nim, I’ll take care of it!”
Just then, a young man who had stood up resolutely beside Ivan shouted.
This is the story of how he suddenly gained a younger brother.
Ep. 8. A Night of Counting Stars
“I’m Korean. Man, it’d be great if you were Korean too, sir. It’s nice to meet someone from the same hometown, right? Uh, sir? Is there any reason for us to get on each other’s bad side? You know what? It’s even written in the Bible that there’s no problem in the world that can’t be solved with words.”
This was the kind of thing the possessor, kidnapped from the Theology Department grounds, spouted as soon as he came to his senses.
Ivan was somewhat taken aback. Not only had the man revealed his identity too easily, but he was also surprisingly personable.
“Your name is Ivan Petrovich, right? Wow, what a cool name. Yevgeny. How about it? For a Korean, it’s hard to pronounce and annoying to remember. My goodness, the only thing I know about Russia is Stalin, so why on earth did I end up in a world like this? Oh, you are from the post-Stalin era, right? Actually, the Soviet Union collapsed.”
The man spewed out unsolicited information in a flash.
Ivan stroked his chin, listening to Yujin's tirade, then suddenly stopped.
“How did you know I was Korean?”
“Well, you were speculating about the status window, weren’t you? The concept of a status window is really only a thing in Northeast Asia. Having a character sheet in the narrative is pretty much exclusive to Korean web novels and Japanese light novels! It’s still a pretty unfamiliar concept in other countries, you know? Though you see it a little more these days…”
“And?”
“The only countries that pronounce the name ‘Yujin’ exactly like that are Korea and English-speaking countries! So the common denominator is Korea. I took a shot in the dark! Hehe.”
The three nations of Northeast Asia are all part of the Chinese character cultural sphere, but their readings differ. This means the same character is pronounced differently.
Japanese has long vowels, and Chinese has tones. Pronouncing it crisply as ‘Yujin’ is the Korean way.
To think he had deduced all that while being dragged here. Was it survival instinct, or did he have help from a status window?
Even considering those possibilities,
‘This guy is more competent than I thought…?’
Ivan nodded his head.
“So, you can see a status window?”
“Yes, of course! Can you see one too, sir? Man, the moment it popped up right in front of my eyes, I thought, this is it, my life is set, you know? But it doesn’t give me anything, I don’t get anything, and it just randomly gives me quests and then cancels them. It’s not a status window, it’s a shitty window. Is yours like that too?”
“I don’t have one.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, I envy you, sir! You might not believe me, but in the four years I’ve been here, the status window has never once been helpful! Man, every time I try to do something, it’s just Warning! Warning!”
Yujin was not only competent but also incredibly talkative.
“Oh, by the way, sir, how many years have you lived here?”
“Thirty years.”
“Oof…”
At Ivan’s words, Yujin pursed his lips and fell silent.
Thirty years without a status window…? Wait, that period is from before the demon war, isn’t it…?
“By any chance, what year was it when you came over from Korea?”
“It was 2021.”
“Oh! I came in ‘22! My goodness, could a one-year difference in our hometown be a thirty-year difference here? Then since I’ve been here for four years… not even a few months would have passed for you back home!”
“It’s hard to think of it that way.”
Among the stories the Saintess had told him about ‘possessors from the distant past,’ there were things that could only be considered artifacts of the modern world.
It was difficult to assume that time on Earth and in this world were perfectly proportional. It was possible that someone from further in the future had been possessed into a time further in the past than himself.
Was there some kind of standard? Were there conditions for possession?
“Oh, by the way, sir, what did you do before you came here? I was thinking there might be something in common between us.”
“I was a university student.”
“Oh, I was an office worker. Well, well, that makes me the older brother! How about you call me ‘big bro’?”
“…??”
Ivan fell silent and stared at the madman before him.
Yujin, who had been chattering away energetically, flinched under Ivan’s gaze. He quickly continued.
“Buuut of course, age isn’t what’s important, right? In terms of years lived, you’d be at least fifty by now, sir…? Twenty years on Earth, thirty years here… right?”
“…?”
Ivan paused to think.
He had never given his own age much thought.
But that somehow sounded like a jab.
“Sooo… uh! Would it be alright if I called you ‘Boss’?”
I’m so screwed.
Yujin cursed his own mouth and lamented the awkward silence.
Why on earth did I say that? Have I lost my mind?
Ivan looked at Yujin and thought.
This guy’s pretty interesting.
He has talent in swordsmanship enough to use Death-Line Perception, he’s in the official theology program, he has a status window, and he’s a smooth talker…?
He could be useful. More so than Dmitry, at least.
“Uhm… if that’s not okay, that’s fine too! Instead of ‘Boss,’ should we stick with ‘sir’? If that’s more comfortable for you…”
“I don’t mind.”
“…Yes, Boss!”
Ivan nodded, looking at Yujin, who was grinning like a sycophant.
“You’re going to work with me on something.”
At that point, he had analyzed the profiles of every student at Saint Yansk University.
There were a total of three suspected possessors. Yujin, Yuri, and an elf named Oswald.
It was possible that this man was the only one, and the others were just ordinary residents of this world who were unlucky enough to fall under suspicion.
But it was always better to be certain. And since the Saintess had approved, there was no room for problems.
If he gathered all possible possessors, sorted them out, and then analyzed their commonalities.
‘What my story is. And what story remains in this world.’
There might be some commonality from which he could at least draw a conclusion.
The conditions for being a possessor, the commonalities of possession, and the existence of an ‘ending.’
After all, an experiment guarantees meaningful results only when the control group is large.
“Yes, Boss! Just leave it to me!!”
*
Isabelle, Yuri, and Esidis had been eating together every day since the semester began.
This was the result of several intertwined interests.
First, Isabelle. She was instinctively conscious of the gazes of those around her, a skill honed after a long life in the royal court. She could perceive the ‘insincerity’ in others.
The fact that she was the Hero’s daughter was so famous that everyone who approached her was inevitably aware of her background. Since that was one of the things Isabelle hated most, she had become a voluntary outcast.
Esidis’s case was a little different. As she had once recalled, she was attending the university with her uncle.
The arts students were far too delicate and sensitive to readily befriend Esidis, who was being closely marked by her muscular uncle, so she had become an unintentional outcast.
As for Yuri, there was even less to say. She was an orphan, and no matter how much times had improved, most of those who could afford the university tuition were, naturally, nobles.
A war orphan with skills that far surpassed the nobles.
Her very existence was an affront to the pride of the nobility. Thus, she too had become an outcast.
Just as these three loners were comforting each other’s wounds and writing their own teen drama together.
“Oh! Mister!”
Isabelle put down the sandwich she was eating and waved happily toward someone.
Yuri, who had been munching on her own sandwich, turned her head and, with a thud, dropped the food she was holding.
Walking straight toward her was the gardener, a towel draped around his neck.
‘A golden-haired stud was added to the mix…?!’
And he was accompanied by a young nobleman smiling sycophantically beside him.
*