Nepira's Surprise Delivery
***
Bang!
"Even Imir should be satisfied with this, right?"
Before heading to Imir, Cheon Seong teleported after placing the enormous, glittering object he had discovered in the future.
The lab's familiar scenery was now commonplace.
It was not stuffy, but fragrant...
"Hm? Fragrant, you say?"
His nose, which had always suspected the familiar-yet-unfamiliar scent of fragrant flowers drifting from this place where it should never linger, was once again in doubt.
Imir, who lived worlds away from the ordinary, paid no mind to the surrounding scents.
That was precisely why Imir's personality, focused solely on research, never bothered with cleaning.
It had been the same in his previous life, and it remained unchanged even after regression.
"Yet it's fragrant..."
No matter how often he doubted it, the sweet floral scent brushed against his nose and refused to vanish.
"Imir! Where are you?"
He had teleported to the lab every single time Imir was supposed to be there, yet Imir was nowhere to be found.
The protective wards around Imir's lab had grown stronger with time; even his detection could barely locate the place from afar.
He could only rely on teleportation, which Imir had personally allowed, but even that option had dwindled to little more than Beatrice's teleportation range.
"There, then?"
Calling out to Imir as he searched the lab, he found the room emitting light and stepped inside.
"Imir, are you here...? Yeah?"
What he saw in the room he had entered left even his doubting nose in disbelief.
"Nepira! Good morning, everyone~!! Your lovely queen, Nabi. Nabi is here~! Come on, naha naha!"
— F*ck! The queen is finally here!!!
— Kiiieeeek! Nabi-chan is so cute!!!
— Naha naha! Nabi's name means cute!!!
— Onee!
— Nnn, I am the onee!
"AHAHA! Papuyong, you've come to shower love on Nabi again today?"
Nepira, wearing a white shirt that left her cleavage fully exposed and pink dolphin pants, waved her hand while staring at the monitor, wearing a pink headset.
The flood of messages from her greeting overflowed, and the chat window lagged.
"Eh~? You're here? What's up today?"
Right as he was staring in confusion, a familiar voice rang out.
"Uh, yeah. Nice to see you, Imir."
"Hm? You seem a little different... well, not bad at all. So, what's the matter?"
"I came to ask a favor... but what are you doing?"
Since the favor was sure to be quick with Imir, there was no rush, so he asked why Nepira was acting like that.
"Ah~~ Nabi's hobby is just living a normal life. You told me not to cook, so I started watching videos more often, and while watching, I thought I'd try broadcasting."
"Compared to cooking, it does seem better... but it looks like you've put in some real effort."
Even though the research lab was underground, the view outside the window looked like a meadow where flowers danced as if in the open air.
All the broadcasting equipment Nepira was using wasn't something available on the market.
They were all devices crafted by Imir, created entirely by his own hands.
The Thousand-Face Weapon he possessed.
Its performance might not match the items named "Clear Eyesight," but as a weapon-type artifact that could transform into any weapon the user desired.
Of course, due to its nature, only Imir could repair it, and its durability depended entirely on the user's capability.
The higher the user's capability, the greater the durability; the lower, the lesser.
Yet despite that drawback, the Thousand-Face Weapon was an artifact anyone could desire.
It could change into any weapon at will, and its feel would adapt to the user, never breaking even if the user's capability was high.
Such a Thousand-Face Weapon was an artifact passed down from Imir's hands.
So then, what kind of broadcasting equipment was Nepira using right now?
Starting with anti-hacking programs, to apps that could hack national security codes with just a few clicks of the mouse.
Programs that kept relocating to prevent IP tracking.
Apart from Imir and a few others, every function imaginable was embedded in Nepira's broadcasting equipment.
If the government tried to seize them, it would expend every resource just to steal the technology.
Even the computers capable of meeting the government's demands were being used solely for broadcasting.
"Hah, you really are that thorough."
"What? I just made it because I had nothing better to do."
Imir denied it, but the blush on his cheeks negated his denial.
"Tsk, so what is the favor? Just say it already. I'm busy."
While claiming to be busy, Imir took priority and heard the request first out of consideration.
"Pfft, sure. Busy Mr. Imir can't have his time stolen. Come with me for now."
Whether Imir liked his attitude or not, Cheon Seong didn't know.
Despite the past he had lived through, he respected Imir's patience that showed care toward him.
That was why he didn't know why he was looking for Imir.
"What? Why are you sulking today? What did you eat wrong today?"
"Well... I didn't eat anything... wait, I did eat."
"Hm? Why is he acting like this today?"
"Well, anyway, the favor isn't much. I just need you to investigate a few people for me."
As they talked, Imir, chasing him with his short legs, relayed the request.
"That should be simple. How many do you need investigated?"
"I need quite a few. From their birth, everywhere they lived, even the hospital diagnosis and all the fine details."
"Tsk! That's such a pain. Do you know how long it takes me to do that?"
"Do you know how long it takes?" Imir asked, but how could he not know?
"For one person, three to five minutes. For an adult, one and a half times that. For middle-aged or elderly, ten minutes each. For newborns, two minutes. Anything wrong?"
"How do you know about diseases?"
Shrugging at the question, Imir puffed out his chest.
Yet even as he refused to do it, the sight of Imir's determined figure made Cheon Seong smile.
"Go ahead and call the names. And start from the important ones."
Cheon Seong fell silent for a moment at the order to start with the important names.
After waiting for him, Imir heard a name from Cheon Seong's mouth.
"The name is male. Kim Deok-bae. Current age, forty-eight. Current level... probably highest."
It was Deok-bae uncle who had lost his family first.
Cheon Seong and his comrades had all lost loved ones to monsters in their previous lives.
Among them, Deok-bae uncle had lost his daughter and wife during a dungeon gate accident while he was away from his post.
Deok-bae uncle had always blamed himself, saying that if he had been there, he could have saved them.
This time, he wanted to save Deok-bae uncle so that he would never blame himself again.
He wanted to change the past with his own hands.
But...
"Hm? Why are you investigating the head of the first department of the Yeomwang Guild?"
"...Huh?"
Deok-bae uncle had been the head of the first department of the Yeomwang Guild.
"That's just crazy talk."
Of course, Cheon Seong didn't know that.
The blood-soaked middle-aged man walked into the Yeomwang Guild building.
"Hm? Whoa!! Who's this!"
The man spotted a woman with long red hair and red eyes inside the guild and greeted her as he approached.
"Sis! Long time no see! What's the matter with the guild?"
"Hm? Whoa! Who is this? Deok-bae? Long time no see. It's the academy weekend, and there was nothing to do, so I came to play."
"Aigoo! Team leader calling me 'aijae'!"
At the word "aijae," Lee Gang-hun, the head of the fourth department, scolded Hwa-young.
"Hahaha! What's wrong? It's not wrong, right?"
"That's right! Even Deok-bae says it's fine, so why are you acting like this!"
"No, senior, don't say that! This is exactly what the guild master will hear!"
"Ah~! Anyway, our little miss will stop it, right?"
"That's right! I'll stop it!"
With those words, Hwa-young puffed out her chest in confidence.
Gang-hun internally exploded.
'If you say that, we'll be scolded even more, you little miss!!'
He had already told her many times not to scold her father, the guild master, who was also his superior.
And that little miss's words had come back as the guild master's rage.
-It's all because of you kids that I got scolded by my daughter!!!
Now everyone knew, and those who knew the Yeomwang best of all knew her name as well: Lee Hwa-young, daughter of Shin-yeom, Yoo Han-jin.
The extreme daughter-fool Shin-yeom had judged Hwa-young's words to be an order for him to scold her himself, and the result was... something he didn't want to remember.
"Haa... and senior, please, if you come back from the dungeon, clean up before entering. What will people think when they see you covered in blood and walking into the guild?"
"What? It doesn't matter! The Yeomwang's image is already ruined there anyway!"
As Deok-bae said, the image the world knew of the Yeomwang was this:
A guild with a daughter-fool Shin-yeom and a first department team leader who went crazy for blood.
"No, so that's exactly why the senior came back covered in blood!!!"
"Hahahaha!!"
At Gang-hun's sincere outburst, Deok-bae clutched his stomach and laughed loudly. The Yeomwang employee who had been entering the building spotted the sight and thought the same thing.
'Again...'
Since it was a daily occurrence in the Yeomwang, everyone just passed by with a sigh, and Deok-bae, who had thoroughly tormented Gang-hun, wiped his eyes and said.
"Ah~~ I get it, I get it. Next time, we'll do that."
"Haa... please say that..."
"Ah~~ Got it. Ah! By the way, Gang-hun."
"Yes..."
At the call, Gang-hun sighed and answered.
"I happened to remember that I can't come to the guild until next week's weekend, so please tell the guild master for me."
"Yes... got it... wait! What?!!"
Gang-hun blinked, unsure if he had heard correctly, then stared at Deok-bae in shock, only to find him gone.
When he looked at the one beside him, all he saw was Hwa-young shrugging her shoulders.
"Kuaaaaaaaa!!! What do you want from me again!!!"
Thinking he would be scolded by Shin-yeom once more, Gang-hun dropped to his knees on the floor in despair.
'Again...'
And that too was a daily occurrence in the Yeomwang.
"At least give me a reason!!!!"
The fact that Deok-bae uncle was the head of the first department was surprising, but it wasn't the important part, so he patiently waited for Imir's investigation.
After exactly ten minutes, Imir handed over a large bundle of papers.
"Uuuut!! Hah... As expected, the security of the Yeomwang is tighter than I thought. Here, this is what you asked for."
Receiving the papers from Imir, he flipped through them. Every piece of information about Deok-bae uncle that he already knew, as well as information he had never heard, was all written there.
He wouldn't have trusted the information of others, but with Imir, he could trust it completely.
"Thanks. I'll write the rest on paper. I'll come again tomorrow, so I'll ask then."
"Damn it. I'm your servant now. Your servant."
Arms crossed, Imir glared at him, and Cheon Seong smiled faintly while pulling out what he had brought with him when he arrived here and placing it before Imir.
A transparent crystal-like jewel where blue and red light intertwined perfectly.
Imir's eyes grew wide like saucers, blinking dozens of times in a second.
"It's an upper-grade mana crystal. I brought it for you. When I write the list of things I'll ask later, I'll add the location of the mine too."
The upper-grade mana crystal mine that Cheon Yu-seong was supposed to discover in the future.
In other words, the opportunity Cheon Yu-seong should have had.
That was the gift Cheon Seong was giving Imir.