Chapter 83: The Lonely Extra
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 83: The Lonely Extra
Then again, she might really have an eye problem, so I decided not to dwell on it and sat down.
Poking at someone's sore spot would do no good.
“Since we're out, I’m gonna go for a smoke. You smoke, Domi?”
“No, I don’t, but I can go with you.”
“Someone’s gotta hold down the fort! I’ll be right back!”
With that, Naek headed out for a cigarette.
Her energy wasn’t much different from how she was in the game.
“That one.”
Just then, Baeksan spoke up as if he remembered something.
“What, is she another one of my ex-girlfriends?”
I asked jokingly, but Baeksan’s expression was strange.
Seeing his look, I grew curious. Baeksan stroked his chin for a moment before speaking.
“I remember her because she was a rather unique person.”
“Unique how?”
“She was the type to just suddenly appear out of nowhere, help with something, and then leave.”
What was that supposed to mean?
“Wait, more importantly, don’t tell me Naek is also…”
“She’s probably a returnee.”
I blinked.
My expression slowly began to mirror Baeksan’s strange one.
The coincidence of having returnees in a guild I created could only happen so many times.
Ahyu, Seol-hyang, Kkotbi, and now Naek is a returnee, too?
A coincidence of this magnitude was practically fate.
“…Baeksan, am I the only one who thinks this situation is weird?”
“I’ve thought it was weird for a while now.”
“At this rate, it’s like around me…”
“Yes. It’s as if someone is deliberately planting returnees around you.”
Hearing Baeksan’s words, I fell into thought.
An abnormally large number of returnees around me.
To call this a coincidence was not just strange, but utterly nonsensical.
A chill ran down my spine. I looked at Baeksan and asked.
“…Should I ask Seol-hyang to look into it?”
When it came to matters concerning returnees, Seol-hyang was obviously the expert.
I asked, thinking she might be able to find something, and Baeksan seemed to be weighing his options.
“…I don’t think it would be a bad choice.”
“If someone is intentionally gathering returnees around me, what could their purpose be?”
If someone had planned this, there had to be a reason.
It wasn’t a question I could answer no matter how much I mulled it over. As I racked my brain, Baeksan slowly lifted his head.
“…Kang Ha-chan, are you aware that there are multiple worldlines in this world?”
“You mean the parallel worlds Si-ho talked about?”
“Yes, you can think of it as something similar.”
Parallel worlds.
A single action could create an endless number of branches.
“Let’s say someone has glimpsed all those branching worldlines, and among them, there is one they desire most.”
With a pained expression, Baeksan slowly began to explain.
“If that person wanted to reach their most desired worldline, what would they have to do?”
“They’d have to make sure things proceed along the same branch.”
“Right. But let’s assume that by the time they realized this, too much time had already passed, and reaching that worldline now requires ‘tuning’ the current world to match it.”
“So they’d need a puzzle piece to force that tuning, and don’t tell me that’s…”
“I think it’s you.”
Baeksan’s eyes stared intently at me.
Meeting his gaze, my expression turned to one of confusion.
“…What did you say I was?”
“Just look at the people flocking around you. You can see what kind of puzzle piece you are.”
I opened and closed my mouth for a moment.
Then, I made a face that said I didn’t understand.
“That’s just a hypothesis, right?”
“Yes, a hypothesis.”
“But for you to come up with such a hypothesis, doesn’t that mean something must have happened to make you think that way?”
Hearing my question, Baeksan slowly ran a hand over his forehead.
“Yes, you’re right. In the current world, there is someone who can see all of those worldlines.”
“Then that person is…”
“That’s why I said I don’t understand.”
Who on earth could he be talking about?
“Domi? What are you thinking about so seriously?”
Just then, Naek, having finished her cigarette, returned.
I couldn’t let her see me talking to Baeksan, so I glanced his way, and he nodded.
He probably meant we’d talk later.
“Man, it’s good to see your face, Domi! You’re tall and handsome. You look like you’re in good shape, too. Do you work out?”
“A little, these days. Thanks for the compliment, anyway.”
“What do you mean, thanks? Hasn’t anyone ever told you that you’re good-looking?”
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard that.”
“Huh? You’re lying, right?”
As Naek gave me a strange look, I let out an awkward laugh.
“Well, I went through a period where my social life was completely shattered. So I’m not very good at seeing myself objectively.”
In middle and high school, I didn’t have money for private academies, so I studied all by myself just to get into a university.
Once in university, I did nothing but work part-time jobs and study for scholarships to cover tuition and living expenses.
As a result, my social life throughout middle school, high school, and college was a complete wreck.
“Who would stick around for someone who couldn’t give anything back, no matter what you did for them?”
At first, some people approached me after hearing I had a full scholarship, calling it amazing, but since I had no time to interact with them, we naturally drifted apart.
That’s why I couldn’t see myself objectively.
The cluelessness Baeksan mentioned was probably because of things like this.
My social life was so barren that the only friend I had was Juksim, whom I’d met in the game I played occasionally.
“But things have changed a lot recently. Funnily enough, it was because of that game.”
It was true that I had relearned how to build relationships through a game.
The reason I was here now was also thanks to those five years.
“The problem is, I almost died because of that game.”
“Oh, I heard about that. You didn’t even have money for rent?”
“I blew the money from my occasional part-time jobs on booze and crypto.”
“Wow, I wish I could’ve seen that in person.”
Naek cackled, and I let out a dry laugh along with her.
If it hadn’t been for Kwak Sa-yeon’s curse, things wouldn’t have gotten that bad, but I admit I wasn’t in my right mind back then.
“Alright, then! To forget all that, let’s down a shot!”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I took the shot of soju Naek offered and downed it in one go.
“You drink well!”
“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve had a drink.”
“Huh? Didn’t you say you’re working at a hunter company now? Don’t you have company dinners?”
“Ah, the team I’m managing is made up of two high school students, so we don’t really have dinners with drinks.”
Besides that, I was always running around so much that I needed to recover, so I couldn’t afford to touch alcohol or anything else.
“Holy, they’re minors. They must be so fresh-faced. Are they handsome?”
“They’re both girls.”
“Gasp, high school girls!”
She covered her mouth in shock.
Then, with a laugh like an old man, she asked.
“My, my, Mr. Domi, aren’t you living the dream? High school girls! They’re the most passionate and energetic people, you know.”
“From an adult’s perspective, they’re just kids. What nonsense are you talking about?”
“No, but still. I was a high school girl once, so I’m not completely clueless about what girls that age are thinking, you know?”
Saying those were the good old days, Naek raised her soju glass. I filled it and clinked my glass against hers.
“Ahh, that’s why girls that age are so sensitive to romantic feelings. They especially tend to have fantasies about older, adult men.”
“Even though not much really changes once you become an adult.”
“You don’t know that back then, do you? Anyway, that’s why if you say you’re dating a college guy, it’s a huge deal among the girls. Everyone flocks around you asking all sorts of questions.”
I tried to think about it from a guy’s perspective.
If I had a friend in high school, and he said he was dating a college girl…
“I guess that makes sense.”
I’m sure that friend would seem incredibly cool.
Though in reality, the college girl would be the one who wasn’t normal.
“So, that’s the age when they have the biggest fantasies about older guys. And in that situation, the manager of their team is an older guy! A handsome one at that! You think they can resist falling for him?”
“Is a 26-year-old an ‘oppa’?”
“Then what do they call you?”
I fell silent.
Si-ho didn’t, but Ji-eun did call me oppa.
“Hehe, and I know your personality, Domi. You’re kind and affectionate, plus you’re responsible, so you always try to do more for people and you’re a good listener. It’s the perfect personality for charming people.”
“Why are you treating me like some kind of gumiho?”
“You’re a total fox. A fox.”
I can never keep up with this girl’s energy.
“Alright, alright, so the conclusion is that it’s the perfect situation for at least one of those girls to develop feelings for you.”
“Taking advantage of a minor is a crime.”
“A crime is a crime, and feelings are feelings. It might be different for you, Domi, but it’s not for them, right? Anyway, what grade are they in?”
“…Third year.”
“What? They’ll be adults in three months. That settles it. One of them likes you, right? Honestly, from an adult’s perspective, you should be able to see the signs.”
Is this girl a mind reader?
As I subtly averted my gaze and took a sip of beer, Naek started clapping and laughing.
“Wow, our Domi! Loved by a high school girl! This is crazy, crazy!”
“Hey, hey, keep your voice down! People are staring!”
“But it’s true. So which one is it? Of the two fresh-faced high school girls who will be adults in three months, which one!”
I fell silent once more.
There was no way I could say it was both of them.
She would undoubtedly tease me about it all day.
“Damn it, is this an interrogation? What about you? You’re a college student.”
“Me? I…”
And Naek began to laugh silently.
“Don’t have anyone.”
“You don’t?”
“Nope. Not a soul.”
I clinked my glass against hers.
“My bad.”
“Sniffle. Be careful what you say unless you’re planning on being my boyfriend.”
“Got it.”
I decided to be careful.
“So, is there anything else?”
Anything else.
There was a lot.
I was just debating whether I should talk about it or not.
Naek was a female college student.
Frankly, Baeksan’s advice hadn’t been helpful in the slightest, so I was curious to hear her opinion.
In that case.
Maybe it would be okay to ask for advice, without revealing everything.
“I have something on my mind. Can I ask you about it?”
“Ooh, what is it, what is it?”
As Naek’s eyes sparkled, I slowly began to broach the subject indirectly.
“There’s this person who’s in a tricky situation, making it hard for them to date.”
“Like the relationship between you and those high school girls?”
“Let’s not talk about that. Anyway, someone who likes this person has appeared in their life. This person thinks it’s right to solve their problems first before getting into a relationship or anything, but that’s honestly disrespectful to the other person, isn’t it?”
“I guess so. It could be seen as playing with their feelings.”
“Yeah. So this person is wondering what to do.”
Naek, who had been listening quietly, popped a snack into her mouth, chewed for a moment, and then spoke.
“So, does this person like the person who likes them?”
“Well, probably… not yet, I think.”
“But they don’t dislike them, at least.”
“Right. It’s not that they don’t want to be in a relationship.”
“Hmm, honestly, I think that’s a story that would have a different conclusion for everyone.”
With that, Naek picked up her glass.
“Frankly, if it were me, I’d just date them. It means there’s at least some romantic interest, right? Besides, the person who likes them probably knows their situation. Wouldn’t they be understanding? If it doesn’t work out, you can just break up.”
She shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.
She had a point.
The problem was that the word Baeksan had mentioned—destruction—was tied to it all.
“That’s just my casual take on it, but I won’t say it’s an easy problem. There’s never a right answer when it comes to human relationships.”
“You talk like you’ve lived a full life.”
“Hehe, that’s because you haven’t lived my life. I’m someone who’s experienced the height of complicated human relationships firsthand.”
I didn’t know what she’d been through, but I just took her word for it.
Just then, our food arrived.
A stew and some meat dishes—perfect for drinking.
“By the way, Eva is late, huh? I wonder when she’ll get here.”
“I think she should be here soon.”
At that moment, Naek’s phone started ringing.
Naek was the one who had organized this get-together, so both Eva and I had called her to find the place.
“Oh, she’s here, she’s here.”
Naek picked up her phone with an excited look.
She peeked her head over the back of her chair.