Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 214
Chapter Title: Portal (2)
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Simon gave a detailed account of what had happened back then.
She was a beautiful woman, but her words never reached him. It felt like sound couldn't penetrate. He hadn't heard her voice.
The reason he realized she had failed to die was because she kept falling from high piles of rubble only to get back up unscathed, repeating the process endlessly.
She had helped him in small ways too. She silently pulled him out from where he was grotesquely stuck in the ruins and vanished, or turned him in the right direction when he was heading the wrong way and disappeared.
Eventually, Simon found the exit.
When he emerged, he had forgotten parts of his memory.
"I couldn't even recognize my own daughter. Me... my precious girl I wouldn't mind poking my eye out for..."
"That's just because I dyed it and let it grow out so much you didn't recognize it."
So firm.
Shu turned her head away from her dejected father.
"You should have realized this was your case. Dad hadn't forgotten all his memories, especially not that he wandered inside a portal before coming out. That's what made me think of it late."
"Thank you for telling me now. This seems right."
The problem was why I had entered the portal. And how long I had wandered there.
My stomach churned at the thought that the woman in the description was the same as Cecil.
If she really was Cecil, how long had she been trapped in those ruins?
Where were those ruins? Were they my hometown burned to ashes, or somewhere between that world and Earth?
My head hurt.
"You're breaking out in cold sweat."
"Looks like it."
Simon pointed it out bluntly. Shu handed me a tissue as I pressed my thumb to the bridge of my nose.
"Dad said his head hurt every time he tried to recall the memories he'd forgotten."
That was all the diamond father-daughter duo could offer. They didn't have any scientific knowledge about portals either, so they knew nothing about how they worked or why.
Scientists had dismissed it as nonsense, so no research had been done.
I thanked them and parted ways.
"Coming to the event?"
Shu asked before we separated.
"Founder's Day event. Rookies usually get pulled in as security."
Right.
I hadn't known, but two weeks later, I was assigned as security for the Founder's Day event. With crowds pouring in, multiple Badgers were deployed. But the risk level was negligible, so the mission was called a "sweet gig."
That's why it went to rookies every year.
"I'm off duty that day, so I'll swing by to watch. See you then."
It would be great if I could catch Yao before the event.
I bowed my head and parted ways with the two-tone-haired senior, clutching my throbbing head that ached every time I tried to recall the past.
***
I reported to Yoon.
I expected him to dismiss it as nonsense, but surprisingly, Yoon took Shu's words seriously.
He immediately reported to the command staff and headed to the science wing.
From that day on, the portal team couldn't go home. Shu's concerns were proven by objective data. Since the reclamation battle, spatial rifts had increased in frequency inside the core.
Yoon dropped field duties too.
"Contact me when you've caught your crazy kin."
He wouldn't take any other calls.
"Supply duty, then pulled for security? All easy gigs."
Task Force ops ran on a monthly cycle. TF was scheduled for search ops from B Zone to A Zone, and search missions were issued at set intervals.
So I had some time.
Seizing the chance, I quickly contacted Ricardo.
I'd arranged for him to unlock the From I easter egg.
That brute Igor.
At first, I wondered what kind of game this guy made. But the more I played, the more Igor shone through. The simple fool had made the game brutally difficult.
It was already infamous online.
Balance patches were a disaster. Not meant to be beaten.
So hard even I had to attempt bosses dozens of times. People griped that even the easter egg-looking stuff was unbeatable.
Right. Igor hadn't even tried to hide the easter egg.
In the room after beating the boss, a bold question sat there.
'Emperor's birthday.'
I can't say how much I laughed seeing those words.
Not "What is the emperor's birthday?" or anything refined—just crudely "Emperor's birthday." So very him.
Making a combat game brutally hard was also so him.
Yeah. Only his kin would know the answer.
Ricardo promptly gave me the date.
This time, I went to his place right on time.
Feeling bad about visiting so often, I brought a bottle of wine.
"Come on in~..."
The man, clearly just woken up, greeted me lazily.
"You solved it pretty fast this time..."
Thanks for always looking out for me.
I handed over the paper bag with the wine and entered the tidy house. Always impeccably organized. It smelled of cool wood, like Ricardo's cologne.
I showered quick and plopped down. Now that I knew Igor was somewhere in the Center Core, I wasn't too worried, but I still wanted to read the message ASAP.
Ricardo came over to the sofa without a word and sat beside me.
[Emperor's birthday]
The senior snorted at the question floating on the screen.
"Crude..."
"That's him."
I chuckled softly and entered the answer.
"Who even thinks to make a game like this."
I input the last digit.
[Captain.]
The moment the answer registered, everything cleared, and white text appeared.
[Come back. My sword is yours alone.
I beseech you, accept my loyalty once more.]
And that was it.
The end. No more message.
I let out a hollow laugh, staring at the screen.
Only after the silent senior spoke did I snap out of it.
"Subordinate?"
I smiled bitterly.
"Yeah. Knight under my command."
"Alive?"
"Yeah."
I set down the game console and rubbed my dry face.
"Says he's in the core. No idea where or what he's doing..."
So Igor.
Good subordinate. Few words, gruff, but more knightly than anyone. The more battlefields we crossed, the more people around liked him.
Talented too. Loved fighting, so probably not living peacefully here.
"Thanks for watching over it."
As I packed up the game, Ricardo stood abruptly.
I greeted him as he headed to the kitchen.
Ricardo paused and stared down at me.
"But I'm good now. Knowing my kin are alive."
"Two left, right..."
He remembered that chillingly.
I nodded, pocketed the game pack, and stood.
"Yeah. Haven't got the last one yet. But Kairos said the guy who made the game we have is alive too."
"You never complained till now..."
Ricardo smirked, narrowing his eyes.
A chill of unknown origin made me blink, and the green-eyed senior strode to the kitchen.
Without turning, he said,
"Seeing the dev's name, looks like it'd trigger a meltdown~?"
Whoa.
This guy.
"No interest in the message, just call before opening it~. Can't watch my cute junior have a pathetic meltdown in that cramped shack~?"
"...When I find the game."
Scary guy, I thought gloomily as I followed him.
In the kitchen, I meekly took the plate and utensils he offered.
"Haven't got the last one yet... Wait, is this nyoki?"
"You asked me to make it again~?"
"Yes."
I answered promptly.
And as Ricardo snorted, I beamed and helped prep dinner. Lost my Lexic sisters, but looking forward to tasty food after so long.
Gotta remember to be grateful.
***
The explosion was massive.
Disgustingly precise, again.
Kyle sneered, spitting out a shard from his mouth.
Supreme Commander Lee Ye-hyeon.
He must have implanted something in him during the reclamation battle. Ever since, periodic barrages targeted him. No matter how many times he cleansed his body, the pursuit didn't stop—something was embedded inside.
Took a solid hit.
Not Hilde's doing. He couldn't pinpoint kin locations this precisely.
And Hildebert would want to kill him personally with his own sword.
Kyle shoved aside the debris pinning his lower body and burst into venomous laughter. He turned and rose from his spot. Sensing the presences of kin who dodged the attack and those who couldn't, he cursed Ye-hyeon.
Why show his face on the front lines?
He had a target.
Ray's killer.
"Kyle!"
Kin leaped from the debris.
"You okay? Need nourishment?"
"Fine."
He roughly swept his long hair behind his shoulder and moved.
"Good work. Casualties?"
Fucking humans.
They still feared them. Precisely, they feared the World Tree's children—those who could control intake for long.
Feared Ray's return.
Ray's rampage that shifted the first war.
Unless reaching swordmaster level, World Tree children's rampages didn't last. They inhaled madly until turning to ash.
But Ray sustained his long.
He'd burn out eventually, but still.
If humans had nukes, they had this.
So they kept trying to kill him.
"Bring wounded to me."
Rolling up sleeves for intake and transfer, Kyle said,
"Mages too, Jin Silver."
"Jin?"
"Op day soon."
Something like a pre-game test, in a way.
But Kyle was betting on this op. No reason not to go all in. Prep was incomplete but ready, results tempting enough to try.
They hadn't idled during reclamation either.
"Recheck Supreme Commander's route on event day."
Truth was, he wanted to lure Hildebert out of the core.
But after refining everything. After trial and error boosted success rate.
That one, he'd kill with his own hands.
No matter what, that one for sure.
***
"Hilde!"
I turned at Hesi's call.
"Meet after the event!"
Clear blue sky, surging crowds.
Bursting camera flashes.
I grinned seeing Hesi in uniform blending into the crowd.
The day the "sweet gig" mission was assigned.
Today was Founder's Day.