Extra. # 5
Extra. # 5
After I ate the jjamppong, my head instantly cleared.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
I threw my head back and screamed.
"Aaaah, aaaaack! Aaaaaaaack!"
Maybe it was from screaming, but it felt like every emotion that had been churning inside me was just blasting right out.
And what came next was pure liberation.
The suffocating tightness in my chest finally let go.
Behind the jjamppong place, they had a legal scream zone set up. In that spot, together with my comrades whose lips had gone bright red and tears were streaming down their faces, I screamed my lungs out and emptied everything I'd been holding in.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!"
"Aaaaaaaack!"
"Save meeeeeeeee!"
Only after I'd wrung out every last tear and drop of snot could I finally go back to where Leona was waiting.
"Feeling a little better now?"
Leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, Leona looked at me and said.
"Yeah. Totally better. My insides feel completely cleared out."
She really rammed a plunger right through my heart.
"Huhuhu, good. Ah, the break is almost over. Now that you've let off some steam, you've got to work hard when the new semester starts, right?"
"Leona. Is just working hard gonna cut it?"
"Huh?"
"I'm gonna pour everything into it. Just trying hard isn't enough... Right now, the timing calls for more than that. You know?"
"Now you're talking!"
Leona shouted energetically.
"Honestly, things are really unstable these days, and when it's like this, the only answer is to get stronger! Even if something happens, if you've got the strength, you can push through!"
"That's a damn good saying...!"
"It's the Kainus Family motto! Memorize it!"
"Where's some paper! I'm writing this down and hanging it in my house!"
"I'll send you a frame!"
We chattered on like that for a while.
"See you next time!"
And parted ways.
Leona's flying limousine had come to pick her up.
She offered me a ride, but it was already late. Darkness had fallen, and if I rolled up in a flying limousine at this hour, the dormitory inspector would catch me for sure.
"Arch Angel."
She really is an angel, I'm telling you.
Even fed me jjamppong just to perk me up.
"Fwoo."
I let out a breath and walked through the dark night streets.
"Alright."
My head was perfectly clear.
All the countless thoughts and anxieties that had been gnawing at my mind lately, that suffocating feeling—completely swept away.
And in that totally refreshed state, I thought again.
"Fucking hell."
The first memory was a memory of annihilation.
A memory of being born and raised in this world, enrolling in the academy, scraping by somehow, and then fighting the destruction that came—and getting absolutely crushed.
It's similar to the game story I knew. The destruction comes, that's the plot. In the story, the protagonist Si-hoo supposedly stops it, but I'll believe it when I see it.
Why was Si-hoo treated as so important in the game? I basically get that she's the protagonist, but I don't know why things went that way. In my memories, Si-hoo was definitely fighting hard... Would a Si-hoo who'd grown even stronger than she is now have been able to take down the destruction?
"But according to my memories, no."
Everybody got totally wiped out.
Right now, in my head, the rough story of that game is surfacing—vague and hazy, like something I experienced myself.
Si-hoo fought very well. But given the circumstances, she lost. Was it because she hadn't grown enough?
"That could be it."
There's something about Si-hoo.
Something even he probably doesn't know about.
Si-hoo's unrevealed power. That's what's needed. I don't know for sure, but right now that feels like the hope. Maybe Si-hoo is someone so important that she had to be seen as the 'protagonist'—no, someone who had to be recognized as that important.
"My old memories."
I don't think these are memories automatically injected when I was pulled into the game.
In the first place, the idea that a mere game could construct this whole world doesn't make any sense, and a person getting sucked into a game makes even less sense.
When you think about it, there's a whole pile of nonsense, but the point is this.
It was just a game made by humans.
If you go inside it, you'd have to accept that some godlike being, for some absurd reason, got infatuated with a human-made game, decided to create that world for real, actually made it, and then shoved some poor human inside.
"No matter how I think about it, that just doesn't add up."
That's impossible.
"Isn't it way more plausible that a person got flung into a parallel world or something?"
Okay, it's all nonsense either way, but that's what I think.
Anyway, the old memories.
To recover them—yeah. I need that 'Fragment.' That's what awakened my old memories. So if I collect a few more, things should get clearer, right?
"Void Princess."
What was my relationship with Void Princess?
What's her goal?
She definitely existed in my memories. We probably crossed paths multiple times. And she knows the current me.
Enemy?
Or ally?
To figure that out, I've got no choice but to make contact and talk things out. It might be tough, but didn't she promise to meet me if I just find the Fragment? So that makes it simple.
I have to find the Fragment.
I have to work to find it.
But.
"Do I really need to do that?"
I'm the one it's all about.
Do I have to go out of my way to work to find the Fragment? Just yesterday, I was randomly running around, suddenly encountered it, and got whisked off to Zora.
Which means, since I'm the one involved,
I'm probably drawing it toward me.
"Cry, main quest."
Present me with that Fragment right this instant.
—Ding.
As soon as the thought formed, a notification sounded.
[Main Quest Complete.]
[#$%#$^$%&^]
[Fragment detected.]
—Ding.
[Fragment emerging.]
"Heh heh heh, you bastard. So your code was all tangled up?"
I'd been thinking the status window seemed a little broken lately, and now I see it clearly.
This thing got screwed up somehow. It's all twisted around and can't function properly, but every now and then something pops through.
Who made this piece of shit?
And who planted it in me? I can't know that.
But what's certain is, I've got something to do.
[Busted]
[Run away]
"Cut the bullshit."
What's a damn quest window think it's doing, throwing out warnings? And if you're gonna warn, do it right. The fact you can't probably means there's a reason, but,
I don't really care.
"You said the Fragment appeared? Pull up the window."
—Ding.
[Fragment emergence location - 3,459 m]
[Fragment emergence time - 00:25:31.17]
A window popped up in front of me.
"Now I'm starting to get the hang of using you."
I've got plenty of time. Let's just jog on over. I happen to have all my gear perfectly packed, too. Just grab some water and chocolate bars from a convenience store on the way and there'll be no problem.
"The goal is clear."
The answer lies inside that goal.
This status window is ultimately just a tool that steers me toward fulfilling that objective. If I do this the way I've been thinking, someday every question will be answered.
"And I'll smash that fucking something to bits."
Is that so hard?
When you really think about it, it kind of feels like I'm doing something I've already done before, you know? I'll pull it off better than the first time.
—Fwaat!
I kicked off the ground.
[Fragment emergence location - 3,471 m]
Jogging lightly while checking the position and direction.
[Fragment emergence location - 3,321 m]
I sprinted in the right direction.
"You bastard."
I'm a superhuman. Low buildings can't block my path. I ran up walls, grabbed railings, and launched myself over obstacles, conquering the terrain.
And stopping at a convenience store on the way was a must.
But.
"What the? Boss? What's all this?"
Shockingly, the convenience store was on full alert like some kind of military installation. Its exterior walls had been reinforced, and inside, two armed part-timers and the owner were guarding the store in special armor with automatic rifles.
"Ah, customer. A travel advisory just went out. Monsters might appear, so we've beefed up our armament."
"Really?"
It's not that strange.
When you think about it compared to Earth, this place has a slightly sci-fi side.
"Please double-check the price tags. We've switched to armed convenience store mode, so there's a price surcharge applied. Ah, in an emergency we'll protect you inside the store. With the protection fee and temporary insurance, it all adds up—it's expensive."
"You've gotta be kidding me..."
After hearing the explanation, it turned out that during an emergency, customers would be taken into the bomb shelter under the store for protection, and the corresponding protection fee and insurance premium were tacked onto the item prices.
"But boss. If it's like this, won't people stop using convenience stores?"
"If you need something, what choice do you have? The travel advisory just hit, so regular supermarkets and big-box stores are all closed."
Ah, right.
I nodded, then grabbed a bag, water, high-calorie chocolate bars, protein drinks, toilet paper, vitamins—all of it—and paid.
"Have a safe night."
"Yeah."
Alright.
Gear all packed.
—Fwaat!
I tore through the nighttime streets again.
[Fragment emergence location - 3 m]
[Fragment emergence time - 00:01:32.89]
Since I'd taken it easy on the way over, I had a little time left. I stood there and waited for the Fragment to appear.
"Bring it."
This place was just some empty roadside. No CCTV either, so I won't get sucked into any annoying trouble.
I don't know what's coming. But right now, I had a crystal-clear conviction.
Whatever shows up, I'll crush it all and grab that Fragment.
[Fragment emergence time - 00:00:05.89]
And then.
Time was up.
—Flash!
A blinding flash swallowed me whole.
"Bring it!"
I did it once—can't I do it twice?
"I'll Mun-Min-Woong-cheol every last one of you!"