Chapter 343
Chapter 343
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 344
Chapter Title: A Morning from the Past
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“Sunwoo? Why aren’t you answering? Are you still asleep?”
A voice kept calling me from beyond the door.
A soft woman’s voice.
It had been so long since I last heard it, yet it felt as familiar as if I’d heard it just yesterday.
Gulp.
I swallowed dryly and slowly walked to the door.
Creak.
Opening the door revealed a small dining table.
On it was a simple meal laid out.
A bowl of rice, stew, fried eggs, Spam, kimchi...
It was food I’d eaten often as a child. And sitting in front of it was a woman beaming a plump smile at me.
Seeing that smile made my heart feel like it stopped again.
“Why didn’t you answer when I called?”
The woman grumbled at me. Then she looked at my face and her expression hardened slightly.
“...Why do you look like that? Did something happen?”
Her face filled with worry, she approached me.
In that moment, the emotions I’d buried deep in my chest felt like they might burst out.
I gritted my teeth, holding them back, and opened my heavy mouth.
“...It’s nothing.”
“Nothing? Your voice is hoarse. Did you fight with a friend or something?”
With those gentle words, she sat down at the table.
“Anyway, come eat. You’ll be late.”
As I stood there motionless, she stared at me steadily.
“Aren’t you going to sit? You’ll be late for school.”
In that instant,
it felt like cold water was poured over the emotions about to erupt hotly from deep in my chest.
“...School?”
...School all of a sudden?
It’s been ages since I graduated.
At the same time, the immersion in the scene broke, and I realized the situation I was in.
This place wasn’t reality.
It was a false world created by my subconscious.
“Aren’t you going to school?”
The woman said to me again.
I blinked dazedly and looked down at my body.
“...What’s this?”
A beige blazer, black vest.
I was wearing a school uniform right now.
But it wasn’t the black blazer uniform from the Magic Academy I usually wore.
Which meant... this was the uniform I’d worn in high school.
Meanwhile, Lee Seo-jun was feeling great confusion about his current situation.
He needed to escape his subconscious for the exam, but he’d turned into a baby and couldn’t do anything.
He was just entrusting his body to Jin Cheon-woo and being carried somewhere.
After some time, Jin Cheon-woo arrived at a place. It was a stark white space reminiscent of a laboratory.
“You’ve arrived?”
“How’s the experiment with the Meteor Clan going?”
“It’s progressing steadily without any rejection reactions. It’ll take more time, though.”
“His name was Kim Chang-hyun, right?”
At Jin Cheon-woo’s words, Lee Seo-jun was slightly surprised.
Kim Chang-hyun?
“Yes, that’s right. But that child is...?”
“The blood kin I mentioned before.”
“Ah, the immortal material you spoke of...”
“Right.”
The mysterious man stared intently at Lee Seo-jun before opening his mouth.
“So, the child Kim Chang-hyun has to save is this one.”
In that moment, Lee Seo-jun felt strong doubt.
The child Kim Chang-hyun has to save.
In other words, Kim Chang-hyun saves me?
Thinking about it, the earlier Jin Cheon-woo had said he’d die upon seeing him.
The nuance seemed like dying not from old age naturally, but for some other reason.
“To be precise, he’s a stepping stone to save this child.”
It was then.
Woooong...
The world began to distort.
And then the space twisted. From within it, someone appeared.
“...Whoa. What’s this?!”
“Shin Young-jun? Why are you here?”
“Lee Hyun-joo. Why are you here?”
Familiar voices rang out. Shin Young-jun and Lee Hyun-joo’s.
They bickered for a moment before turning their gazes to Jin Cheon-woo.
Tension filled their expressions briefly.
“...Jin Cheon-woo?”
“Why’s Jin Cheon-woo here? Hey, Lee Hyun-joo. Is this your subconscious?”
“No. I just won against mine and came out.”
“Huh? Me too.”
“Really? Then...”
Lee Hyun-joo fell into thought for a moment before spotting the baby in Jin Cheon-woo’s arms.
Their eyes met instantly.
“That kid must be Seo-jun, right?”
“...That baby is Lee Seo-jun?”
Shin Young-jun made an absurd face.
Lee Seo-jun felt their gazes and an inexplicable strong embarrassment.
Then Jin Cheon-woo spoke.
“Who are you guys?”
At the question, Lee Hyun-joo turned to Shin Young-jun.
“I think that’s Lee Seo-jun’s ‘subconscious core’.”
“Oh, I get it. Kill that and it’s solved, right?”
Shin Young-jun swung his spear in the air, preparing for battle.
Even if the opponent was Jin Cheon-woo, this was ultimately the world of the subconscious.
Jin Cheon-woo’s strength wouldn’t be fully realized here.
Charging straight ahead, Shin Young-jun thrust his spear at Jin Cheon-woo.
Stab!
“Urk!”
Jin Cheon-woo, stabbed in the chest, staggered backward.
Even as a fake, his response was surprisingly sloppy.
And then.
Woooong.
The world began to blur.
Jin Cheon-woo’s body fragmented into pixels and vanished completely, and the other people disappeared as well.
Shin Young-jun lowered his spear and looked at Lee Seo-jun before him.
No longer in baby form, but as the 19-year-old Lee Seo-jun.
“Lee Seo-jun~ Back to normal.”
Shin Young-jun said with a grin.
“...Yeah. If it weren’t for you guys, I’d have rotted here forever. But how’d you get here?”
“No idea. I killed some worm monster in a cave and ended up here.”
Lee Seo-jun stroked his chin at Shin Young-jun’s words.
“Is this the subconscious overlap phenomenon the teacher mentioned?”
“Probably.”
Lee Seo-jun thought for a moment, then slowly looked around.
The interior of a lab.
It seemed made from his childhood memories, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what place it was.
He searched for any clues he might not have known about, but it was no use.
“...The limits of the subconscious, I guess.”
Lee Hyun-joo stared at Lee Seo-jun steadily before asking.
“Is this your memory?”
“I’m not sure. Whether it’s an experience I don’t remember, or just my imagination.”
The subconscious isn’t always based strictly on experiences.
So he couldn’t be certain that what he’d seen was a ‘past memory.’
“Anyway, how do we get out of here?”
“Once you kill the subconscious core, an exit should appear soon.”
Lee Seo-jun gave her a puzzled look at her words.
“Core?”
“Simply put, each subconscious has a hidden main body maintaining it, and you have to defeat that to escape. That’s what I did.”
“...The main body, huh.”
As such, Lee Seo-jun looked around the lab and found a door.
“Could that be the exit?”
“Huh? Looks like it. Let’s check.”
Creak.
He opened the lab door.
Outside was visible at once. It was pitch-black night.
“...The background’s different from when we arrived.”
The surroundings were quiet, and not far off stood a massive mansion.
“Wow, that’s huge. What mansion is that?”
“That mansion is...”
It was clearly no ordinary mansion. It was the size of a noble family’s estate.
At that moment, a group was seen running toward the mansion.
Lee Seo-jun saw the face of the one in the lead.
His expression hardened instantly.
“...Bert?”
Lee Seo-jun instinctively realized.
That mansion was the Yu family estate, wiped out by Jaun.
I slowly chewed the food on the table.
It was ordinary fare, nothing special,
but I savored the taste more intently than ever.
It had the nostalgic flavor I remembered from before.
I thought a long time had passed and I’d forgotten, but my subconscious still remembered the taste.
...Anyway, what am I doing here right now.
This is a test.
The food before me, my mother sitting across from me—all of it fake.
No time for this.
I need to ignore the fake before me and hurry to find a way out of the subconscious.
“Sunwoo.”
“Yes?”
“Don’t just eat the stew. Eat a bit of everything.”
“Ah, yes.”
At her words, I cut into the fried egg and ate. My butt doesn’t lift as easily as my mind wants.
“Oh, right. Dad’s coming home tonight.”
Dad...
Due to his job, Dad was often away on overseas trips.
So I didn’t see him much, but he always brought gifts when he came, and I always waited.
“Come home early today.”
“...Yeah. I will.”
Time passed like that, and I emptied the rice bowl. Mom looked at me with surprise and said.
“Oh my, you actually finished your rice? You always pick at it in the mornings.”
Instead of answering, I gave an awkward smile and stood.
“Off to school?”
“...Yes. Have to.”
Saying I’m going to school in front of family felt awkward after so long.
It’s been ages since high school graduation...
Come to think of it, the Magic Academy is like high school too. How many uniforms have I worn?
“Then I’ll be off.”
“Sunwoo. Your bag?”
I’d tried to slip out empty-handed, but she caught me.
“Uh... where’s my bag.”
“How can you not find your own stuff? It’s on the sofa.”
“Oh, there it is.”
I slung the bag over my shoulder.
Wow. It’s been forever.
Still light with no books inside.
“I’ll be off.”
“Okay. See you later.”
With that, I opened the front door.
Riding the elevator out of the apartment, a nostalgic scene greeted me once more.
Residents heading to work, students to school, the security guard cleaning around.
Blinking at it all, I stepped forward.
—Ah, so sleepy I could die.
—Me too. Played games all night.
—You not studying for college entrance?
Students’ conversation drifted from somewhere.
Unlike the lively Magic Academy students even in the morning, these seemed weary and drained.
Seeing it, I let out a hollow laugh.
“...This is ridiculous. If I’m back, why this era.”
I stepped forward again.
I briefly thought of going to school for old times’ sake, but realized I had no time for that.
It looks real, but it’s not.
This is my subconscious. In other words, fake.
I must never forget that.
“Get it together.”
I steeled myself once more and headed to the nearby playground. It was the only resting spot I could think of.
Walking there, I spotted the swing and sat.
“This has been a while too.”
Even knowing it’s a fake world made by my subconscious, I couldn’t help sinking into memories.
With a bitter smile, I opened my palm and drew up mana.
Woooong!
A sphere of neutral mana floated up at once.
Even in a world without magic, it manifested properly.
“...Huh. Magic works fine.”
“Wow!”
Then a surprised voice came from nearby.
A child who looked about five stared at me with wide eyes, face full of shock.
I smiled at the kid and manifested an ice sphere.
Crackle.
As ice formed, the kid’s face lit up with even greater surprise.
“Wooow!”
“Cool, right?”
“What’s that? How’d you do it?”
“Magic.”
“...Ma-gic?”
“Yeah, magic.”
Not the real world, and it’s my subconscious, so honesty shouldn’t hurt.
The kid yelled.
“Nuh-uh, liar! I know it’s a trick!”
Sticking out her tongue.
The kid ran off somewhere.
I watched her back and chuckled.
The world I lived in was like this.
Kids who believe in Santa don’t believe in magic.
“Feels weird.”
Thinking that, I activated External Favor this time.
Like with magic, it worked perfectly.
Looking around for hidden spells or magic phenomena, but nothing.
“Hmm... how to escape.”
No hints, just told to escape somehow—no answer in sight.
“Argh...”
I scratched my head.
Just then, a small commotion sounded from somewhere.
—Hey, that uniform’s new. What school?
—Whoa, he looks like an idol anyway.
I turned toward the noise.
A group of students in the same uniform as me were whispering while looking at a girl.
I stared blankly at the girl’s back.
The uniform, the hair—very familiar.
“...Choi Seo-yoon?”