Chapter 365
Chapter 365
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 365
Chapter Title: Headache-Inducing Story
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The moment the meal began,
I understood why Gong Isu had been reluctant about the dinner invitation.
“Oh, this is really delicious.”
“Really?”
“No lie. It’s my first time trying this one—talk about variety in cooking.”
He said that as he—
...
Used his left hand to poke at the food—
[Left Hand of the God of Destruction]
Pzzzzzt!!
The food decomposed in an instant and was absorbed straight into Gong Isu’s fingertips.
“You can... taste it?”
“Junior, that’s rude. I know my eating method looks bizarre, but I can taste everything. It’s sweet yet savory, with a perfect chewy texture. Excellent flavor. The best thing I’ve eaten lately.”
That was Gong Isu’s verdict on the barbecued pork belly glazed with sweet sauce.
They called it Chinese style, and proper Chinese dishes had been prepared.
Sweet and sour pork made in a slightly different way from the usual.
“Wow, these dumplings are amazing.”
They’d prepared three kinds of dim sum... And super oily stir-fried noodles that seemed made just for Jang Hyun-deok.
Spicy eggplant stir-fry with an intoxicating aroma. A stir-fry dish using smoked duck that I’d never seen before.
Oh, this one has some unusual spices too.
But Chinese food...
“It’s just an imitation. Truth is, I thought Gwang-rim would be coming today too.”
Apparently, during the time Park Gwang-rim was staying here, they’d promised to make stuff like this next time he visited.
“Ah, I see. Park Gwang-rim will be in the hospital for a while—if he comes, I’ll let you know ahead of time.”
“Got it.”
While Heo Sang-hyeon and I talked, Jang Hyun-deok spoke up to Gong Isu.
“Uh... Mage-nim’s senior...?”
“Gong Isu. When I was a fixer, I went by Bubble Head.”
“Ah, so you were a fixer senior! Then that head—”
Orbs and Panis have their heads connected to their bodies.
So you could argue he was just wearing a mask somehow, but Gong Isu’s head wasn’t like that.
A headless body with a large camera floating above it right now.
“Hmm—which structure is that? Why’s it floating in the air?”
‘Good question. I was curious about that too.’
Dealing with oblivious guys isn’t easy.
In that sense, Jang Hyun-deok was top-tier.
Come on, Gong Isu, how do you respond?
“Head? Watch this. I can do stuff like this too.”
Whirrr—
The camera above Gong Isu’s head spun around.
“Cool, right?”
“Yeah! Super cool!”
“Pass me some of those stir-fried noodles.”
“Oh, here! I’ll scoop some for you.”
“Thanks.”
That’s it? That’s it?
Cool, right? Yeah! And that’s the end?
In the end, I had to speak up.
“Senior, what ability is that exactly? How’d you do it? Doesn’t seem like magic.”
“Nope, not magic. Oh, this matsutake mushroom is fantastic too.”
“Thank you. It’s wild matsutake I got as a gift from someone I know.”
“Ahh—nice.”
The Blood Lord had sent over an insane amount of matsutake mushrooms.
No, that’s not the point—
“If it’s not magic, then what is it?”
“You’ll find out in time.”
“How much time?”
“Depends on your choices, Junior.”
“Ugh—hate those Zen answers.”
“It’s not Zen—it’s just, could you explain to someone here how you learned magic?”
...Yeah, no words for that.
“Huh?! Mage-nim learned differently?”
“Huh? Well... no. Similar to you.”
“Who taught you? Did Mage-nim have a master too?”
Ugh...
Gotta bullshit my way through this.
“Well—there was this crazy bastard somewhere, and that lunatic forced magic on me. Side effect was my body got weaker—”
“Oh, that’s kinda like me.”
“...”
“So Mage-nim, did you shove something into your body like you did to me back then?”
“Shove what?”
Gong Isu reacting to the weird part.
“Oh, I get it. You’re the one who drilled a hole in his head, Junior? You lost your mind?”
“No, no, our Mage-nim did lose his mind, but the hole in my head—that’s from an accident—”
“He’s defending you, Junior—say something.”
Oh, this is driving me nuts.
* * *
After the meal, Jang Hyun-deok headed out, saying he had a reservation.
While Heo Sang-hyeon cleaned the kitchen—
Gong Isu and I worked on repairing the wrecked interior of the mansion.
“See? Easy, right?”
“Honestly, it’s pretty amazing.”
Thanks to Gong Isu, the major structural parts of the building were fixed in no time.
Of course, the living room still had mountains of trash, furniture spilled from the second floor, and debris from smashed pieces.
“Guys, clean this up.”
I sighed for a moment and asked the lich golems to handle the cleanup.
“Oh, collect all that fluid.”
Strange liquid emitting a bluish glow was splattered all over the mansion.
Body fluids from the [Hounds of Tindalos].
“Junior, you should handle that stuff carefully.”
“Got it? Carefully~”
That fluid was a hazardous material managed under the code [IPE-1786-4] even at Paju Central Hospital.
“There are tons of sealed jars in the basement—put it in those. You two, go fetch them all.”
Kiriirik—
‘Drink this and gain abilities.’
More precisely, lose your human body and turn into a monster called a [Resident of Tindalos].
Obviously, no one wants that.
But for me, who needed to solve dimensional travel issues, it’d be valuable research material.
Pang—click!
Gong Isu photographing the lich golems with his camera head.
“You can develop the photos too?”
“Nah. This is just for precise observation and data analysis.”
“So the head’s form changes the abilities?”
“Yep. But I’m limited on how many times I can switch per day.”
“Looks like the material making up that head is special too.”
“Why ask...? Oh, right—this must be info I taught the current you?”
Classic time traveler phrasing.
“So future me already knew?”
“Yeah. The future Kim Shin-hwa I met after leaving Paju Central Hospital knew. Stole it from [The Veil Ripper]. It’s a metal that stores specific data. Idian called it [Wise Metal].”
“I see. Hmm...”
But something’s off.
Not the head—the time concept Gong Isu mentioned is weird.
The Gong Isu who’d been at Paju Central Hospital (let’s call him Gong 1) went to the future to verify who I was.
But now that I’d learned about his head—
The Gong Isu who’d resume time travel to meet me first (future Kim Shin-hwa, timeline unknown—call him Gong 2) would...
Face a future Kim Shin-hwa who knew about his head.
Wait—but wouldn’t that cause a time paradox?
Doesn’t the future change because I just learned this?
So the future Kim Shin-hwa that Gong 2 first met—
Was the version of me who met the Gong Isu in front of me now (Gong 3?)?
What the hell does that mean?
It’s not just confusing—the settings contradict.
It’s sloppy.
A contradiction.
‘Then why did the Gong Isu stuck back at Paju Central Hospital say the future vanished?’
I couldn’t hold back and asked the Gong Isu in front of me, but—
“So there are futures that change via time travel and ones that don’t?”
“It matters to me, not to you, Junior. Just gloss over it.”
“What the hell?”
As I voiced my complaint, Gong Isu adjusted his camera lens focus with a whir and said,
“Hmm, Kim Shin-hwa told me.”
“Future me?”
“Yeah. Future Kim Shin-hwa. Said your madness activates in a somewhat contrived way?”
That’s true.
By game logic, the madness entering my head should be totally random.
But so far, it hadn’t been.
Plus, I’d suspected the disruptions felt a bit artificial.
The most obvious was Triskaidekaphobia.
Back then, my mental strength was low, no other personalities—yet I could ignore the number 13 in daily life.
I’d chalked it up to good behavior during that chaotic time, but really?
It triggered specifically when I found 13 statues in the most dangerous spot?
Suspicious, right?
Could’ve bumped into 13 people on the street instead.
“There’s a manager, right?”
Gong Isu tapped his head (the camera) and said,
“No point chasing rules or laws. It’ll just give you a headache. Gloss over it.”
“Gloss over it?”
Gong Isu leaned in, shoulder on mine, whispering in my ear.
“Rules, exceptions—all decided by that guy. The moment you’re sure of a rule, he’ll shove an exception in and trap you, Junior.”
Suddenly—
I pictured a certain surreal being high above smirking, and felt an indescribable disgust.
* * *
“Alright. Shall we have a more serious talk now?”
After finishing up the mansion cleanup, we headed to the basement.
“You said that was a first for Jang Hyun-deok’s state.”
“Yeah.”
“What state did you see?”
“Which point in time should I use as reference?”
Oh, this is tricky too.
“Should’ve asked this first. How many loops is this for you, Senior?”
Gong Isu stared silently at me for a moment before saying,
“Based on meeting Kim Shin-hwa—I’ve rewound time three times.”
Met future Kim Shin-hwa—did something—
For some reason, went back to the past to change the future.
Met a new Kim Shin-hwa—did something—
Back to the past again. And once more.
This was the third.
“Why come back? You treated Sang-hyeon like it was a first meeting earlier. What happened after? What did you want to change?”
“The most recent Kim Shin-hwa I met—”
Gong Isu slowly turned his gaze—no, camera lens—in a strange direction and said,
“Was the one who tried escaping this world with a Golden Hairpin and ended up wrecking half of Gyeonggi Province.”
“Huh?”
“Paju was definitely obliterated, and Incheon became sea.”
Gong Isu chuckled lowly for a moment before continuing.
“Well, the real problem was the Great Wall collapsing because of it.”
“You caused that much destruction to Incheon and the Great Wall—and I survived?”
“Yeah. Not in one piece, though. Rode around in some weirdly modded magic wheelchair for about half a year? Did all sorts of crap with me. All talk, no—”
Gong Isu giggled in a strangely nostalgic tone.
Reading the nuance in his voice and words, I asked cautiously,
“She died, huh?”
The future Kim Shin-hwa who’d been with Gong Isu lived about half a year longer before dying.
“Right. That mask has serious side effects. I’d advise against using it if possible.”
I had no intention of relying on this thing anyway.
The [Mask of Nine Lives] could pull the wearer back from death, but it came with equal backlash.
“You’re not surprised?”
“Kinda expected it.”
“How?”
“Dog.”
“Dog?”
“Yeah. If future me was fine, why ask current me for a dog?”
And I wouldn’t have just handed over the [Wings of the Night Veil] either.
“Smart. So now you get why I came to change this future?”
“Too bad. Thought I’d get some help—”
Now I knew why the guy beyond the message window was mocking me.
This Gong Isu came here to stop me from using the Golden Hairpin.
“Hold on—whatever you’re thinking, Junior, I’m using a different method, so don’t prep attack spells. I can see them.”
Even as he said that, I kept my constructed ritual ready and asked,
“Different method?”
“You’d do it anyway, even if I said not to? Stubborn, creepy trash bastard.”
“Hmm.”
“I came to teach you how to use the Golden Hairpin ‘properly.’”
Finally, something I liked.
“There’s a required step before using the Golden Hairpin. Skipping it caused the problem.”
“What is it?”
Gong Isu drew close, speaking in a meaningful tone.
“Summoning an abyssal being.”