Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Not Exactly a Loss
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Not exactly a loss.
Light burst forth, and for an instant, the world shattered into pure white.
Weight vanished.
Sound, smell, sensation.
Everything faded.
It felt as though I were suspended in midair.
And soon after—
My body began to slowly sink.
The piercing light faded from my eyes.
Blurred shapes gradually regained their forms.
In my opened vision:
The gun I had gripped in my hand,
The chess table before me,
The golden dust filling the space,
The power burning through my veins—
All of it was gone.
White walls.
A worn concrete ceiling.
A corridor with flickering yellow lights.
……I was back.
Suddenly, I felt a texture at my fingertips.
Reflexively lifting my hand, I found something familiar clutched within.
A yellow flyer.
The invitation that had first drawn me there.
At that moment, the flyer's surface rippled faintly.
Light seeped along the paper's grain, slowly spreading—into gold.
The paper swelled as if exhaling, then scattered into slender shards of light.
Those shards swirled in the air for a moment.
Then,
As if forgetting gravity, they slowly rose toward the window.
The light flowed out through the open window.
Melting into the dawn air.
One by one, mingling with starlight, scattering over the city lights.
The light brushed against glass windows, shattering, carried away by the wind.
What remained—
Was only the warm afterglow on my fingertips.
Reality crashed in belatedly.
'It's... really over.'
I stared blankly at the scene for a moment before turning my head.
Even in summer, nights grew chilly.
I opened the door and stepped inside.
As I touched my collar to undress for a shower, a strange sensation struck me.
The texture under my fingertips felt unfamiliar.
Soft and smooth.
Like the feel of new clothing.
My hand froze.
A subtle warmth transmitted through.
And soon.
A smile crept onto my lips unbidden.
Not everything was gone.
[Black Suit]
[Description: A suit infused with warmth]
[Ability: Temperature regulation and self-repair capabilities are imbued within.]
A one-of-a-kind—
Special suit that couldn't be obtained anywhere else.
***
Every place had its 'etiquette.'
In a restaurant, you eat at a table matching your group's size.
On a bus, you keep calls short or send texts.
The same held true here.
Just moments ago, the broadcast window had been filled with gallery users calculating the newbie's entry time down to the second.
But the moment they entered the gamble hall,
And their eyes opened,
The newbie's demeanor shifted in an instant.
The expression that had been assessing the situation moments before.
Swept the surroundings once, and changed; a small but distinct smile formed on their lips.
Just that one smile—
But the gallery users sensed it instinctively.
Something was coming.
Specialists in anomalies, each one.
Their senses and judgment transcended ordinary human limits.
Breaking the brief silence, a veteran posted in chat.
[Veteran]: I assume everyone knows basic etiquette.
After the newbie headed to the pawn shop, the real gamble began.
***
Information Junkie moved frantically.
He couldn't afford even a moment's delay.
When he encountered the newbie in the casino, his first emotion had been delight.
The next... was urgency.
'Of all times! Why when I'm here! Why now!'
His breath caught in his throat.
The instant the newbie left his sight, Information Junkie sprinted up to the second floor.
He arrived quickly on the second floor and sat at a card table, jiggling his leg wildly.
The cards in his hand didn't register.
His opponent interpreted it oppositely and acted accordingly.
"Raise!!"
Thanks to that, he racked up a lot of chips.
But still short of his quota.
He needed at least another hour to barely meet it.
The hand ended, and Information Junkie stood decisively.
'No good.'
His anomaly coins for the month were tight—
But if the dealer grabbed him, he was willing to use a Rule Ignore Paper.
However, even after standing, the dealer didn't try to stop him.
It was odd, but.
He had no time to dwell on such trivialities now.
He hurriedly paid the entry fee.
A golden gate opened before him.
Of course.
'If I leave like this, the lab director will chew me out.'
Short in stature, with the temperament of an angry hamster.
The type to cling and nag relentlessly.
No direct contact, but.
She'd definitely overfill his coffee with water on purpose.
Or crank down the AC temperature for petty revenge.
And she was even the Anomalous Tale Gallery moderator.
She'd spot his mission deviation in no time.
But his feet didn't stop.
No, he practically leaped through the door.
That was future me's problem.
Right now, Information Junkie's mind held one thought.
Hurry back and turn on the broadcast.
The moment he emerged, Information Junkie frantically scanned the access logs.
[1523] [52411] [3] [76353] [120053] [4217] [99324] [14] [67012] [118337]
It took a full 10 seconds to find it.
He barely connected to the broadcast.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Anomaly Broadcast: Code 120053]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The screen appeared.
The location of Newb 120053 looked familiar.
It had to be.
Just minutes ago, Information Junkie himself had been there.
'Already on the second floor?!'
His jaw dropped.
"Just how much did I miss?"
It wouldn't be strange to say they'd skipped the entire first floor.
To recover the anomaly coins spent this month, he'd need at least...
Three or four repeated neutralizations of established anomalies.
Information Junkie hammered the keyboard frantically.
Typos everywhere, a mess, but he ignored it.
No time to fix them one by one now.
[Information Junkie] : Zig?! What happened on 1st flr??ㅃㄹㄹㄹㄹㄹ
He hit enter, and only then noticed how eerily quiet the chat was.
But soon, someone posted.
[Crazy Woman] : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
[Crazy Woman] : Check this out. Seriously.
[Crazy Woman] : You just got here?
ㄴ[Information Junkie] : Just arrived. Nothing on 1st floor, right?
He typed it.
And in 5 seconds, followed up.
ㄴ[Information Junkie] : Nothing happened, right?
ㄴ[Crazy Woman] : Yeah. Nothing happened.
No one would take that chat at face value and move on.
Especially not from veteran 'Crazy Woman.'
People he'd never meet anyway.
Excitement blinded Information Junkie now.
ㄴ[Information Junkie] : Don't bullshit me.
ㄴ[Crazy Woman] : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋyou madman ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴ[Information Junkie] : There was definitely something insane!
His usual reticence vanished.
It didn't add up from the start.
The broadcast timestamps showed the time to go from first to second floor.
Short.
No, too short.
But a newbie could've done plenty in that time.
Something had definitely happened.
But no matter how he thought, he couldn't deduce it.
'What the hell did they do.'
The one thing he remembered—
Was when he met the newbie in the casino, and they said they had "business."
The newbie's image resurfaced.
That had been their first real encounter.
Back then, he'd been too flustered to respond properly.
No dissuading or alternative offers.
No helping it.
Anyone would've been the same.
The newbie's presence was unnatural.
Even now, it gave him chills.
The illusion of hundreds standing before him.
Their steps, gaze, voice—all laced with eerie power.
Yeah.
Like the pressure of a giant.
That's why.
When the newbie urged him to leave the casino quickly, he hadn't asked more.
No, he couldn't.
The senses that had kept him alive screamed louder than ever.
'This isn't the time to ask.'
Somehow, it felt like the newbie was right.
A premonition that a reason to flee would soon arise.
Lost in thought, the broadcast screen shifted.
The gamble was starting.
The game: poker.
Skilled-looking players ended up at the newbie's table.
But he wasn't worried.
The presence he'd felt then didn't mesh with the newbie losing.
Information Junkie stopped chatting.
He knew what etiquette meant.
Reactions first.
Complaints or questions later.
The newbie plays their cards.
—Fold.
Time passes.
No special feelings about defeat.
'You can't always get strong hands.'
Gambling was a game where the last one standing wins.
But even so—
Something else glued Information Junkie's eyes to the screen.
Not once.
In any fight that started, the newbie never lost a single one.
Good hand or bad.
It didn't matter.
The moment 'raise' left the newbie's lips.
That hand's outcome seemed already decided.
As fights continued, opponents felt pressure from the newbie's words before even starting.
The assumption 'I can't win' took root like cancer before the fight began.
Mouth agape.
Breath stifled.
By the time they snapped out of it—
The hand was over.
Unable to breathe, a ragged exhale escaped.
Hands revealed.
But no one looked.
The middle-aged man clutched his dog tag.
The young woman swallowed sobs.
The elderly man asked if he could take his watch too.
As if foreseen.
On the table, at each seat, a single chip was placed.
Almost considerately.
The newbie stood.
A thrilling current raced through his body.
Had he left too soon?
Missed a chance to intuit by walking out himself?
Information Junkie thought the newbie would head straight to the next floor.
But—
The newbie's steps turned.
Toward the pawn shop.
And he sensed something off.
"..What?"
The newbie followed, and surrounding people stood too.
Naturally grabbing bags and chips, silently trailing behind.
Like a massive wave.
Not just one or two.
Even knowing etiquette, Information Junkie's eyes bloodshot.
'What the hell happened on the first floor.'
His hand moved.
The reason his ID was Information Junkie.
[Information Junkie] : …Hey, anyone summarize what happened on 1st floor…
The chat flickered.
The newbie's gaze briefly turned to it.
ㄴ[Veteran]: Ah. Manners on point, huh.
ㄴ[Cream Bun]: What worldline you from? Asshole?
ㄴ[Human Centipede]: Look at this guy's manners. Fucker. Ruining the focus.
The chat turned into a furnace in seconds.
No one helped Information Junkie this time.
ㄴ[Crazy Woman] : Killhimkillhimkillhim
***
Out of the shower, I turned on the TV and flopped onto the living room sofa.
I left some random channel on like ASMR.
Probably because I hadn't recovered from the mental fatigue.
My head felt heavy.
I plugged my phone into the charger beside me and collapsed.
Thought about logging into the Anomalous Tale Gallery but—
"Bedtime."
No way.
No strength left.
Lately, coming home meant sleep becoming habit.
'Getting healthier, I guess?'
My eyes slowly closed.
Some time passed, shallow breaths continuing, when.
The program switched to news.
[Breaking news.]
[Across the world, long-missing people are being found in groups— authorities are classifying this as the 'Mass Return of the Missing' phe— ]
[Relatives— experts say memories are gone, making it difficult to pinpoint the exact cause— ]