Destiny Record (1)
Three in the morning, in Kang Seojun's dorm room.
"Th-this is...!"
His eyes shot wide. The documents Jin Serin had handed him were a sheaf of papers and a single sheet of aged parchment.
The sheaf was a research report bearing a title:
Joint Records of the World Hunter Federation 'Union' and the Seongjin Group
And the aged parchment was—
◈ A parchment on which fragments of memories from previous cycles are recorded. Using it allows you to view the previous-cycle memories inscribed upon it. Consumes mana upon use.
◈ If used by an NPC, the NPC may only view memories related to themselves.
It was an item he had never seen before. But Kang Seojun knew what it was at a glance.
It's an omake.
An omake: a feature that saved events you'd unlocked in a previous playthrough so you could rewatch them whenever you liked.
So it's an item they added as DLC.
There was no menu here for opening omake files, so this was apparently how they provided the replay function.
A parchment on which fragments of memories from previous cycles are recorded.
The fact that only some of those memories were recorded made it look like a collectible.
So these things are scattered all over the place...?
The thought that an item capable of introducing major variables was lying around out there complicated Kang Seojun's feelings, if only a little.
The uneasy thought died in less than two seconds.
Doesn't matter. No matter what variables show up, as long as I get stronger, I can handle any situation.
Besides, as long as his Luck stat—which had reached the realm of the Transcendent—remained intact, the odds of a variable breaking against him were slim.
What matters right now isn't some future variable. It's getting a handle on the situation in front of me.
He had a great deal to ask Jin Serin. Kang Seojun gave the parchment a light flutter.
"Can you explain what you saw with this parchment?"
"I knew it... You already knew what this was."
Jin Serin nodded as if she had expected as much. Kang Seojun didn't bother correcting the misconception.
"The memory I saw was..."
Jin Serin dropped her gaze, as if trying to call it back.
"That's..."
Then her lips started to falter, and color crept steadily into her face.
"I-I think it'd be better if you just saw it yourself!"
"......"
Her face had flushed so red it looked ready to burst, and even Kang Seojun couldn't bring himself to press her further.
What kind of memory did she see to react like that?
Given everything that had happened with Jin Serin in the previous cycle, Kang Seojun found himself growing uneasy right along with her.
"Well, we'll go with that, then. But I need you to tell me this."
As she'd said, he could check the parchment himself, so that much was fine. This, however, he had to ask.
"Where did you find it?"
Where she had obtained an item added as hidden DLC. If he knew where she'd farmed it, that would be a solid lead when it came time to hunt down other Destiny Records.
"I got it from Eunha unnie. She said it was in our company's archives."
"Hmm."
Seongjin Group's Level-1 security archives, then. The access requirements were so strict that unless you were playing as Seo Eunha or Jin Serin, you couldn't get in until the mid-game at the earliest.
Then hunting down other Destiny Records right away is going to be tough.
Getting clearance to enter places like the Taesan Group's archives, or the records vault of the World Hunter Federation Union, would take considerable time. He decided to put the search for other Destiny Records on hold.
No. More importantly—
"Ms. Eunha stopped by?"
"Yeah. She's waiting outside right now."
"Outside?"
He hadn't expected her to be anywhere near here.
"Then why'd you come in alone?"
"I wanted to ask you when it was just the two of us."
"Hmm."
Kang Seojun raked back what little hair he had and thought it over. Then Seo Eunha must have seen this Destiny Record as well. What memory had she seen?
No. Before that—what about the favor he'd asked of her? Had she properly recovered the Demon's Necklace and brought it back?
"I'll call her in. I've got a lot to ask Ms. Eunha too."
Kang Seojun waddled toward the front door.
"W-wait!"
Just then, Jin Serin grabbed his hand as he passed her.
"Huh?"
Caught completely off guard, Kang Seojun's eyes went round as he looked at her. She kept her gaze downcast, fidgeting with his hand in both of hers.
"Promise me right now... Never again..."
Jin Serin mumbled in a voice so quiet it was barely there. Then a little strength entered their joined hands. She slowly lifted her eyes and met Kang Seojun's gaze.
"Promise you'll never sacrifice yourself to turn back time again...! Really..."
Her eyes were still wet. Those tear-soaked pupils flickered like flames.
"If you really love me...!"
Kang Seojun's eyes flew wide.
Hers shone with nothing but certainty, not a shred of doubt. There was no question. She had seen the memories from Jin Serin's heroine route. That was why she believed, without a hint of hesitation, that Kang Seojun loved her.
Kang Seojun did not look away. He met her gaze head-on.
Surprisingly, her belief was not a misconception.
"Of course..."
Kang Seojun swore it in a heavy, solemn voice. This was a game he had played for over ten thousand hours. He would never have poured that much time into it if he hadn't truly loved the heroines who appeared in it. He had laughed with them, cried with them, grown with them, lived with them. Every one of those moments had been happiness, had been love, had been life itself. And so Kang Seojun swore it from the heart.
"This time, I will never fail."
Kang Seojun had not forgotten the warning window he had seen when he transferred into this world.
The player is granted only a single life, and cannot come back if they die.
A single life. A single chance. No matter what happened, Kang Seojun could never sacrifice this cycle. Dying in this one would be tantamount to the annihilation of Kang Seojun's very existence.
"The same tragedy will never repeat itself."
Jin Serin barely swallowed back the sob welling up in her throat.
"Mmh..."
A single glittering tear slipped down Jin Serin's cheek in the moonlight. A bright smile bloomed across the lips that had been trembling.
"I'll believe you..."
Jin Serin took a bold step closer. When Kang Seojun retreated half a step, she closed the distance with an even larger one.
"Uh..."
Jin Serin's lips bumped into Kang Seojun's.
The Constellation Golden Fox of the Sun and Moon Palace looks forward to the events about to unfold.
The Constellation Tree That Tends the Flower World looks forward to the events about to unfold.
The Constellation Queen of the Deepest Abyss looks forward to the events about to unfold.
The Constellation Tree That Tends the Flower World has sponsored you with dimensional currency.
The Constellation The Brightly Shining One has sponsored you with dimensional currency.
There was, however, one thing Jin Serin had wrong.
Truly... I won't give up on a single thing.
It was that he was not in love with just one woman. He was sincerely in love with several at once. Lim Chaewon. Kim Joohee. Seo Eunha. Park Seoyun. Even the heroines who had yet to appear.
I won't give up on any of them.
Kang Seojun's eyes blazed with will.
What shattered the mood of the two who had been sharing a kiss was a knock at the door.
"Ah. Eunha unnie..."
Only then did Jin Serin laugh in embarrassment and pull away.
"You said you had things to ask, right? I'll go get her."
She pattered over and opened the front door.
"We're done talking, unnie."
"If I was interrupting, I apologi— Have you been crying?"
Seo Eunha's piercing gaze settled on him from beyond the doorway. Kang Seojun received it calmly and approached her.
"I know it's late, but there's a great deal to discuss. Could we talk inside?"
He still needed to receive the Demon's Necklace from Seo Eunha, and he had plenty of questions about the Destiny Record as well. Seo Eunha glanced at Jin Serin for a moment, then spoke.
"Of course. I also need to deliver what you asked for."
Seo Eunha stepped inside, her guard far more relaxed than it had been at their first meeting. She showed no wariness whatsoever, as if she trusted Kang Seojun completely. She had almost certainly seen something through the Destiny Record as well.
"I had my suspicions ever since I saw you as the chairman of Seongjin Group through the parchment..."
Seo Eunha nodded as if it all made sense.
"And seeing the young lady like this... I suppose there's nothing more to ask regarding the two of you."
Seo Eunha seemed to have seen the Seongjin Group faction route. Had she perhaps seen the memories from when he'd played as Jin Serin?
Of course, even when playing as a playable character, you could change the default name at character select, and you could alter your appearance however you liked through plastic surgery after the game started. So even if Seo Eunha had seen memories of him playing as Jin Serin, that figure would have been an East Asian man named Kang Seojun.
Jin Serin squirmed, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
"I-I'll go get us something to drink!"
"No. You should go in and rest."
Kang Seojun stopped Jin Serin as she started to fetch something from her room.
"Huh?"
"I need to send Ms. Eunha off soon too. This won't take long."
"Ah. Right. The time..."
Jin Serin chewed her lower lip, looking embarrassed, and fidgeted where she stood. If he left her like that she would keep standing there, so Kang Seojun quickly added,
"Get some rest today. I'm planning to do physical training tomorrow afternoon—think you could help me out?"
Jin Serin nodded vigorously.
"Of course. Then I'll head in first. Contact me anytime tomorrow!"
Jin Serin waved and walked away.
"Well... then."
"I'm sorry..."
"Pardon?"
The moment Jin Serin vanished into the darkness of the hallway, Seo Eunha apologized out of nowhere. This was no light apology for imposing at a late hour. As if the relaxed expression from moments ago had been a lie, her face was filled with self-loathing and self-reproach.
"That you left me... that you ended up looking like this... I'm sorry..."
"Pardon?"
Kang Seojun's eyes went round at the sudden shift in atmosphere. Seo Eunha gazed at him with eyes trembling with sorrow and regret.
"Everything began with my mistake... It's late, but I will take responsibility starting now."
From Seo Eunha's eyes, Kang Seojun could read a certain truth.
Ah. She didn't just see the Seongjin Group faction route.
She saw Seo Eunha's heroine route too.
A vicious bloodbath had just been thrown open.