The Unraveling of Fate (Part 2)
Drip, drip…
The endless rain that had been pouring down gradually slowed as Oh Dae-ri disappeared.
A while later, the sky began to clear once more.
“…For now, no matter what happens, I’ll go get something to eat.”
I stood up, leaving the two dejected men behind.
“Wait, Senior Seo Eun-hyun. Let me go with you.”
“Y-yes. We might be kidnapped by those strange people if we get separated.”
“…Yeah, that’s right. And…”
I forced a bitter smile and said.
“Strictly speaking, since he took us as disciples or blood relatives, it’s not exactly kidnapping…”
“That’s kidnapping. What? Did those weirdos properly accept us and take us with their permission?”
Manager Kim frowned as he spoke. It was true—abduction was exactly what it was.
We clung to each other and followed me as I gathered herbs and picked fruits in the forest.
“Chew on this grass here. Your body will heat up from the cold.”
I handed fever-reducing herbs to Kim Joo-im and Manager Kim, who were shivering in the cold air after the rain.
“T-thank you, Senior Seo.”
“If it weren’t for you, Senior, we would have been starving since the very first day…”
“Why does the company overlook someone as capable as you…”
I let out another bitter smile.
“That’s all I know how to do. I’m good at surviving a few days in the mountains, but I have no other talents.”
“Don’t be so humble. Thanks to you, we’re still alive. You’re like our lifesaver.”
“Yes, Senior.”
They encouraged me with trembling voices.
Their sincere words made me want to laugh bitterly inside.
‘What I can do is only this.’
Right now, I was basically selling goods to earn Manager Kim’s favor using the knowledge from my future life.
I wasn’t a competent or kind person who could become someone’s benefactor.
I was simply paying the maximum price I could to buy their goodwill.
That was the utmost goodwill I could offer them.
“Have a little of this too. Your head will clear up.”
“This herb helps blood circulation…”
“This fruit has a beauty effect…”
I wandered the forest, feeding countless spiritual herbs and fruits to Manager Kim and Kim Joo-im.
‘I’ve gathered a few more Huangzhou San roots. I also gathered plenty of spiritual herbs that were treasured in my past life. And…’
I had fed both of them until they were full.
“Thank you, Senior Seo. My stomach feels full, so the melancholy is easing a little.”
“Senior… you really… you can’t go anywhere.”
“…Of course. I won’t be kidnapped.”
After gathering herbs and fruits while wandering the forest, it was already evening.
‘Now, it’s about time.’
I removed my upper garment and lit a flame with Manager Kim’s lighter.
“W-what are you doing, Senior Seo?!”
“S-senior!”
The clothes I had been wearing during the rain were still drying nicely inside the cave. They burned beautifully.
I tossed the freshly picked fruits into the fire that was consuming my clothes.
“…Since we couldn’t gather firewood because of the rain, it’ll be night soon. We need a fire.”
“B-but… your clothes…”
“I’m fine. I brought plenty of fever herbs, didn’t I? These are Senior Kim Joo-im’s farewell gifts.”
I left the two flustered people behind and, a moment later, pulled the fruits from the fire using tree branches.
“Kim Joo-im, try one. Manager Kim, have some too.”
“…Thank you, Senior Seo.”
“Really, thank you.”
The sunset had set.
We sat in the cave, gazing at the sunset, and ate the roasted fruits.
This was probably the last meal Kim Joo-im and I would share.
While eating the fruits, we chatted to hide the melancholy of having parted from Oh Jajang, former Manager Jeon, Gang Dae-ri, and Oh Dae-ri.
Sometimes we laughed heartily,
sometimes we chuckled,
sometimes we found Manager Kim’s jokes unfunny.
We laughed and chatted for a long time.
The crimson sunset sky gradually turned purple as the sun was almost about to set below the horizon.
Far away.
In the direction of the Ascension Gate that the numerous cultivators and the Dragon King of the Sea had been heading toward.
Kim Joo-im suddenly turned her head.
“Kim Joo-im, what’s wrong?”
Manager Kim asked her. I watched her lips tremble and guessed that the time had come.
“E-err….”
Her ability had awakened.
“T-this is strange… I suddenly feel everything around me. My senses extend even a few kilometers out… ugh, ugh….”
Kim Joo-im suddenly clutched her head in pain as she sensed the surroundings within a few kilometers, letting out a painful cry.
“Ugh… it hurts…”
“S-senior! What do we do? Do we have any herbs good for headaches…?”
“There are some herbs good for headaches here…”
Probably none would be used.
Fifty years ago.
In my past life as well, I must have been around here at this time.
“A-ah…!”
She let out a low scream while staring in the direction of the Ascension Gate.
“It’s coming! It’s coming! What’s approaching?!”
A small dot appeared in the direction of the Ascension Gate the cultivators had been heading toward.
A while later, the dot rapidly grew larger and, in the blink of an eye, approached us.
Flash!
The object that arrived at the cave ceiling above us in blinding speed was a grotesque puppet shaped like a fierce beast.
Perched on a puppet resembling a Hae-tae but far more sinister was a hunchbacked old man holding a staff.
The hunchbacked old man, boasting about himself, laughed for a moment before asking us.
The old man jumped down from the puppet and approached the complaining Kim Joo-im.
“W-who are you…? Kim Joo-im is our colleague.”
Manager Kim bravely stepped in front of the old man.
However, the old man flicked his chin and Manager Kim flew sideways powerless.
I rushed over and caught Manager Kim in my arms. My back ached, but I managed to receive him safely.
“S-senior, thank you. H-heck! Are you okay?! Your back!”
“I- I’m fine.”
While we were doing that, the hunchbacked old man approached Kim Joo-im and said.
The hunchbacked old man grabbed Kim Joo-im’s chin and lifted her, smiling.
Kim Joo-im’s eyes trembled as she looked at us.
“M-manager… Senior…”
“U-ugh…”
Tears the size of chicken eggs began to fall from her eyes.
She had fallen into this world and, after only a few days, had her male colleagues kidnapped, then worried about being separated again. Thinking she would be separated from us once more, she was terrified.
The hunchbacked old man’s face twisted hideously as he pointed at us.
“K-kuaah!”
“E-eek!”
Kim and I sat down in our seats, screaming.
A suffocating pressure made it hard to breathe squeezed us.
“No! Please! I’ll do anything you ask! Please save them!”
Kim Joo-im clung to the old man’s feet, sobbing.
The hunchbacked old man furrowed his brows and withdrew his hand from us.
The pressure that felt like it would shatter our hearts subsided at last.
“…I… understand.”
<…Since it has come to this, I’ll leave you two here. If left alone, you’ll only harbor regrets. I’ll send the two of you back through a spatial rift to a nation of nearby mortals. Since it sends randomly, I don’t know where you’ll end up either. You won’t meet them again! Forget your foolish worldly connections!>
“W-wait!”
Flash!
Crack!
A dark rift opened behind us.
Kim Joo-im, startled by the sight, tried to run toward the other side, and I hastily gathered the herbs and packets of spiritual herbs I had brought out and hugged them to my chest.
And as the hunchbacked old man waved his hand, we were sucked into the rift again.
“Eun-hyun! Manager Yeon-hun!!! No!”
The last image we saw was Kim Joo-im reaching out desperately toward us with a pleading expression beyond the rift. Then we lost consciousness.
* * *
Blink.
I regained consciousness and sat up.
“This place…”
I looked around while recalling the memories of fifty years ago.
A musty smell.
Noisy voices coming from far away…
“…Eh?”
I rubbed my eyes and looked around.
It was different from the memories.
I had fallen in a place like a narrow alley, and people were passing through the other side of the alley.
“Why… why is this different from last time?”
Then, the hunchbacked old man’s words about connecting randomly with spatial rifts came to mind.
‘…It was random.’
The butterfly effect had caused a slight difference in probability, sending us to a different place than last time.
I turned around.
Behind me, Manager Kim and the herbs I had carried were scattered along the road.
‘…For now, let’s go outside for a moment.’
I arranged the herbs neatly and pushed them into the corner of the alley, then hid them with some rags nearby.
After that, I stepped out into the alley.
The lively sounds struck my ears.
“The highest-grade silk of Yeon Kingdom is here!”
“The scriptures from the Seong Empire today!”
“If we talk about our pharmacy…”
It was a bustling street.
And luckily, the “horses” were familiar to me.
‘I was completely shocked. I thought I would have to learn a whole new language after falling into an entirely different country…’
Luckily, it seemed I had fallen into the Yeon Kingdom where I had lived in my past life.
“Excuse me, I’m a bit confused. What is the name of this place? I just came up from my hometown, so the name of this area is a little confusing…”
I grabbed a passing pedestrian and asked the name of the place.
In my past life, the place where Kim and I had fallen was Yeon Kingdom Yeonsanseong.
A small city located at the border of Yeon Kingdom.
The pedestrian, looking at me as if I were crazy, slapped my hand away and said.
“You look like a madman. Asking where this is in the middle of the capital. Ah, bad luck. Meeting a crazy person from noon…”
“The capital…”
I found out the name of this place and smiled.
“Seogyeong-seong!”
In this life, I had arrived at the capital of Yeon Kingdom.