Chapter 83
Chapter 83
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 83
Chapter Title: A Changed History
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If this were a comic-book world where question marks actually popped up whenever someone was baffled, there'd be well over a hundred of them floating beside Se-jin right now.
A guy who ought to be laid up in the hospital suddenly shows up out of nowhere, yammering on about some Shin Jin-seong—what the hell?
After Lee Young-gil had broken in and swiped the entire blue tissue pack, now Tae-jun jumps out and starts kicking up a fuss. Se-jin could barely keep his wits about him.
Se-jin couldn't wipe the stunned look off his face.
"So, Squad Leader! Where the hell is this Shin Jin-seong guy?!"
"Ah, no—I don't even know who Shin Jin-seong is... More importantly, what are you doing here, Tae-jun?!"
"Squad Leader, that's not the point right now. We need to find Shin Jin-seong—"
"I told you, I don't know!"
"You don't know?"
"Yeah!"
When Se-jin had passed out and come to, Tae-jun—who'd been lost in his own turmoil—hadn't heard the full story of what happened.
And now he was paying the price with this total confusion crashing over him.
He'd rushed to the Bureau clinging to the one hope that Se-jin would know about Shin Jin-seong.
When Tae-jun had woken up, Aram had been there alone, sobbing at his side.
The fortune teller had vanished abruptly after Tae-jun got sucked into the crystal orb—that was her explanation.
After filling her in on everything, he'd come straight to the Bureau, so his disappointment ran deep.
"Sigh... Fine. Why are you looking for Shin Jin-seong, anyway?"
"...Forget it."
That nagging feeling that he just shouldn't talk about it hadn't gone away.
But it wasn't enough to hold back Se-jin's rising anger, either.
"Ow! Squad Leader, why'd you hit me?!"
Se-jin was convinced Tae-jun's personality had shifted a bit.
He used to be the mechanical type, like Do-hyun. Now he seemed more alive with emotion.
For a split second, Se-jin wondered if this was someone else masquerading as Tae-jun, like that Merchant incident before.
Hell, that explanation actually made more sense.
"...Tae-jun, hold on a sec."
Se-jin immediately called the hospital where Tae-jun had been admitted and learned that he'd bolted from there.
They would've checked the security cams anyway, so kidnapping was off the table.
"Tae-jun."
"Yes?"
"You've really lost it, haven't you."
Se-jin expressed his regret to the subordinate whose mind had snapped from injury aftereffects.
Tae-jun, flustered, spilled everything except what he didn't want to say.
"Look, if even after dying and coming back you don't wanna talk, I can't force you."
At some point, the polite "Tae-jun-ssi" had vanished, replaced by the more casual "you."
"But I need to know this much: Is your reason for hunting Shin Jin-seong actually for the public good?"
"...Yes. At least, that's what I think."
Se-jin fell silent for a long stretch after hearing Tae-jun's answer.
Even if it wasn't someone impersonating him, could he really trust Tae-jun?
Thinking about it, Tae-jun had only joined the New Tale Investigation Squad less than a month ago. Building trust beyond a certain level wasn't easy.
And when he recalled what happened to Yoon Seo-yeon—his old friend—it only made him hesitate more.
The longer Se-jin's silence dragged on, the more an inexplicable anxiety gnawed at Tae-jun.
"Um... Squad Leader?"
"Ha... If I can't trust my own team member, who can I trust?"
"Pardon?"
Se-jin began laying out every bit of intel he'd gathered lately, holding nothing back.
Tae-jun, who'd been listening mostly stone-faced, finally reacted when the words "Outer God" slipped from Se-jin's mouth.
It was anything but a normal reaction.
His breathing quickened. Cold sweat beaded across his forehead.
Soon it trickled down his brow, across his cheek, and dripped off with a splat. That's when Tae-jun realized his face was horribly contorted.
"Haha..."
What else could you call this if not fear?
Whatever had happened inside that crystal orb must've left a deep mark on him.
Se-jin's eyes weren't just for show—he instantly clocked how weird Tae-jun got the moment "Outer God" came up.
And this was the first time Tae-jun had shown fear so openly, making the change stand out even more.
Se-jin pieced it together like this:
After getting stabbed by Lee Young-gil, Tae-jun must've gone through some tale-related incident and laid eyes on an Outer God.
There, he figured out Shin Jin-seong was the mastermind—but the Outer God's pressure kept him from spilling.
Of course, he had it all wrong, but Se-jin had no way of knowing that.
"Anyway, sorry to disappoint, but I don't know who Shin Jin-seong is. I just... remember that I did know."
Se-jin had to chuckle at how absurd it sounded, even coming from him.
She had no clue history had shifted once already, so all she could do was puzzle over this contradictory mess.
Tae-jun felt a pang of regret at the reality that he couldn't tell Se-jin everything.
If he could just speak up, it'd be a huge help to Se-jin, Do-hyun, and most of the Bureau.
Hell, it'd benefit humanity itself—which made it frustrating that he could only tell Aram.
In that moment, Tae-jun spotted a tiny contradiction.
'It's not like I physically can't say it.'
Thinking back, it was just a psychological revulsion—like he shouldn't say it. No actual restriction.
Sure, there was some reason he felt that way, but no matter how he turned it over, just blurting it out seemed like it'd lead to better results.
Plus, investigating solo with just Aram had its limits. Dragging his feet might let that hellish scene become reality.
Tae-jun swallowed down the surging nausea and forced his mouth open.
His whole body rebelled, but he couldn't keep lying to Se-jin forever—not after she'd put her faith in him.
"Squad Leader, this world's history has already changed once."
"Huh? Yeah, I know—that's why we used the blue tissue to rewind it."
"No, that's not what I mean."
Se-jin tilted her head, clearly lost.
"Sigh..."
Tae-jun muscled past the physiological block on his words and explained what he'd been through.
Se-jin couldn't stop the words tumbling out of her own mouth in response.
"You sure you haven't actually lost your mind?"
Her expression was dead serious as she said it, so Tae-jun spent quite a while convincing her.
"...Honestly, it's hard to buy. But if what you're saying is true, it does explain most of the questions I've had."
Se-jin added that it also accounted for why he'd been acting so off lately.
"Alright... Let's go see Woo-seok first."
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ I remember hating puzzle games with a passion.
I never really enjoyed racking my brain anyway, and I just couldn't get into the whole puzzle concept.
Point is, the last few days have been pure hell for me.
And knowing it'll drag on makes my head throb.
"Ugh... Where the hell am I supposed to find a clock now?"
The record mentioned a clock as a "hint," saying the protagonist has it.
But it left out the crucial part.
"Who the heck even is the protagonist?!"
I don't know what I originally was, but right now, I'm just a lowly merchant.
So for a guy like me to have dug up secrets and made it this far? Pretty impressive, if I do say so myself.
Someone might mistake me for a detective.
I'm probably the only one who knows history's already been warped.
Can't you mix in those weird bits of knowledge you have into something useful?
I figure if I just do what I've always done, that'll be enough.
I know exactly what the Shop's trying to say.
But if it were that easy, I'd have acted already.
Think about it—what info have I actually gathered so far?
"All it says is the protagonist has the clock. That's it."
And here's the big problem.
Zero details on the protagonist's identity or where the clock even is.
You need at least one solid clue to find anything.
If a puzzle game pulled this crap, it'd get slammed with negative reviews and vanish into obscurity.
Fine then, hope that cup you chug every day succeeds for once.
"I told you not to bring up the cup."
Who are you gonna blame when your luck hits rock bottom?
Days of straight failures have me on edge, so I shoved it aside.
Now I just sip once before bed, let the buzz lull me to sleep, and repeat.
"Haven't had any today yet, so maybe there's a shot."
Truth is, ever since learning some apocalyptic shit's coming down the line, I can't afford to slack.
No clue when exactly, so it could be ten years off—or next week.
Every minute counts, so I gotta lean on luck if nothing else.
"Ha... Fine, one shot it is."
I grabbed the cup from the shelf—the dustiest spot where I'd left it.
Dumped it in my mouth with zero expectations.
...
...
"Ah, for fu—" ⚙ HINT UNLOCKED ⚙ Visit the National Central Library. Gacha success.
"Whoa, no way—this actually worked."
But why the National Central Library, of all places?
Ah, wait.
Come to think of it, there's one book that'd be pretty damn useful in a situation like this.