A Fool
Kasugano Yuno’s long-closed eyelids slowly lifted, and she was looking at me.
Where her pupils should have been, there was only blackness.
The sight, like something stolen from a horror film, sent a chill crawling down my spine.
Don’t look over here.
If she was going to open her eyes, I wanted to tell her not to look this way.
But it didn’t seem as if Kasugano Yuno could see my expression.
The feeling that she was staring at something entirely different from me left me with no choice but to wonder whether she was seeing the Black World right now.
It made sense to think that way.
The face of a girl who had suddenly clamped her lips shut and was trembling before me was far too different from before.
Considering that what Kasugano Yuno could see was limited and random, if what she was looking at happened to be what I wanted, then this was a situation I could only feel good about.
Not bad.
For one thing, the fact that she knew Park Deokgu meant my guess had been at least partly right.
I couldn’t confirm how I had lived in the first round before meeting Kasugano Yuno, but thinking about my tendencies, I figured there was a good chance things had played out in a similar way back then too.
When I first got summoned, it was easy to imagine that I had been clinging to Park Deokgu.
It had already happened once in the second round, and among the people who were there at the time, he was the one I’d most likely have thought I could rely on.
He was nothing special now, but if you considered how good his starting stats had been, it was only natural.
Hyunsung probably wouldn’t have been a regressor then, so the odds of him not having come into contact with him were even higher…
I had no way of knowing whether he’d had high potential back then, but it seemed likely that he and Kim Hyunsung had not been glued to each other the way they were now.
If I had nowhere else to cling, then it was a fair assumption that I would have held on tight to Park Deokgu, the one rope within reach.
He must have gone through a lot, but until I met Kasugano Yuno, it was easy enough to infer that I had been moving with Park Deokgu.
Of course, there were plenty of worrying variables left—whether I met him after that, whether we got separated somewhere along the way, whether I stabbed him in the back at some point, and so on.
Still…
At the very least, Park Deokgu wouldn’t have abandoned me first.
I thought that much was undeniable.
That was exactly when Kasugano Yuno suddenly seized my hand.
What the—
When I reflexively looked into those black eyes, I could tell something was reflecting there.
Huh?
Due to outside interference, limited information is being displayed. Confirming activation of the Legendary-grade trait, Mind's Eye.
The player Kasugano Yuno’s trait—the eye that pierces through essence, past, and future—does not resist.
“Wha—”
Before I could make sense of it, my vision was flooded with the black world Kasugano Yuno always spoke to me about.
Only then did I understand why she called this place the black world.
I couldn’t exactly explain what this situation was, but the closest description was probably that I was stealing a glimpse of what she saw.
I had no idea how something like this was possible, but I had stolen a look at her memories before.
Back then it had been the scene of me strangling her by the throat, but the landscape spreading before my eyes now didn’t include her at all.
What kept entering my vision were Park Deokgu and me.
Just as Kasugano Yuno had said before, it looked as though half-edited footage and images had been thrown together in complete disorder.
In any case, the Park Deokgu and I I could see were a little different from now.
Unlike our present selves, draped in luxurious coats and expensive gear, we were miserable beyond all comparison.
It was more like we’d just crawled out of the Slums as third-rate adventurers.
Not only did we look pitiful at a glance, but my own body didn’t even look normal.
“I… I’m sorry…”
“For what?”
“For today’s hunt. I should’ve done better…”
“Don’t worry about it, Deokgu. It was both our first time, and we got paid, didn’t we?”
“It was a good party… but I thought they might not call me again after this…”
“I said you don’t need to worry about that. I’ll handle the rest.”
“Still…”
“Whatever they’re thinking is right there in the palm of my hand. Ah, go on ahead and head in early today.”
“Got another appointment or somethin’?”
“The subordinate captain of the Goma Clan.”
“Dinner with that woman again?”
“Don’t take it too hard. It’s all for our benefit, too.”
“That woman… I’ve heard she doesn’t exactly have a good reputation…”
“That’s not your concern. Just train hard. You know, don’t you? If I do it….”
“……”
“If I do it, then you can do even better.”
“……”
The scene changed again.
I didn’t know where we were, but at the very least, it didn’t feel like Lindel.
As far as I knew, there was no hunting ground shaped like that in Lindel. They also looked a fair bit more like proper adventurers now.
It felt as though we’d shed some of the cheap clothing.
Seeing Park Deokgu dressed like a warrior and me dressed like a mage, it seemed that I in the black world hadn’t fallen for the Commander Parrot’s bait either.
I didn’t know what I’d chosen for my next class, but at the very least, I figured it wasn’t Alchemist.
Since I wouldn’t have gotten Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy from Kim Hyunsung, there was no reason for me to choose Alchemist.
“Hyung-nim!”
“You little pig! Can’t you focus? Didn’t I tell you not to turn around for something trivial? You’ll die if you do, damn it!”
“But, hyung-nim… my mana—”
“Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself.”
“Y-yes, sir.”
His movements weren’t bad either.
If I had to describe it, I was a mage with a spear, and he was an inexperienced vanguard.
Our relationship with the other party members didn’t seem bad either. I didn’t know whether we’d founded a clan or something, but at the very least, it didn’t look as if we belonged to some larger organization.
My own movements, deftly thrusting with a spear while chanting spells, made it seem as if I’d grown quite used to the weapon, but in Park Deokgu’s case, despite his sturdy build, he seemed to make a great many careless mistakes.
It was probably more accurate to say he still hadn’t overcome his trauma, just like when we first entered the Garden of Terror.
In the end, a monster that slipped past the vanguard charged the priest in the rear line, and I could see myself stepping in front of the priest to shield him.
He got hurt badly by a small monster, but the battle ended once I swung my spear.
I was calming down the angry priest while Park Deokgu stood there with his head bowed low.
“I’m sorry…”
“You’ve got the nerve to say sorry now? I trusted you because your endurance stat was high, and you still managed to screw this up…”
“T-that…”
“Hey. Speak properly. Don’t just stammer. This is so annoying, seriously. You know I’m only putting up with this because of Kiyoung, right? Do you even know how many times this has happened already? If you’re going to be like that, why did you even become a tanker? I heard they’re hiring people over in Castle Rock, so maybe go there and do hard labor or something. The water’s gone bad because of those Celia bastards, and now every dog and horse thinks they can go hunting. I’m honestly speechless…”
“Ah… I’ll apologize on his behalf, Ms. Gahui. He’s not usually like this, but he doesn’t seem to be feeling well today.”
“I’m only putting up with it because of Kiyoung. Because of Kiyoung…”
“He’ll probably adjust once some time passes. For now, there’s no problem, so let’s keep going… I’ll buy you a meal later.”
“Lunch? Dinner?”
“Dinner, of course.”
“Then… I’ll try to endure a little longer. Oh, and have you thought about the guild offer, by any chance?”
“I still have other things to take care of… haha… Once that’s done, I’ll give you a proper answer right away.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
The background changed once more.
This time, it looked like we were on the way back after the hunt.
“Hyung-nim….”
“Didn’t I just tell you not to look back and keep your head straight, you damn pig?”
“T-that… I’m sorry…”
“No need to apologize. The hunt wasn’t the real goal anyway… and in the end, we made a pretty decent haul.”
“Where are we going?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Could it be… Jeongjin….”
“Shut up.”
“S-sorry.”
“Just follow me and don’t worry about anything else. I’ll handle the rest. We’ve only got one foot in the door right now, and nothing you’re worried about is going to happen. This is all just part of the process of taking off.”
“Even so… wouldn’t it be better to join a proper guild…?”
“Just shut your mouth and remember one thing. If I do it….”
“I can do even better.”
“That’s right. And… I’ll think a little more about what you said, Deokgu.”
“I… I’m grateful.”
Other things appeared as well.
Nothing particularly useful—drinking with him, shouting at him, kicking him with my foot.
Scenes kept flashing past like photographs. Some of them looked important enough to be a shame.
“Don’t forget it, Deokgu.”
“I know.”
As I kept watching, what I found interesting was that even further into the future, his growth didn’t seem all that impressive.
It was hard to believe, but this bastard hadn’t grown all that much even after some time had passed.
“Don’t forget.”
“I know. If hyung-nim does it….”
“Then that’s enough.”
I wondered how he would grow in the future, but what came into view were useless memories.
“Is it hard?”
“H-how can you be so cold, hyung-nim?”
“If you want to live, you have to be cold. It’s nothing special. This is the kind of place where people kill and get killed. Don’t forget. If I do it….”
“If hyung-nim does it… I can do even better.”
“Exactly.”
After the scenery shifted once more, what appeared was Park Deokgu carrying me on his back and running like his life depended on it.
I was wearing clothes that looked fairly expensive, and blood was spilling from me, while he was also in decent armor.
It felt like a pretty big skip, but it seemed I’d ended up in a rather good place.
It didn’t look like Lindel, but it did seem like things had gone fairly well. If not for the blood, I might even have been satisfied with it.
“Hyung-nim, can you hear my voice?”
“Yeah….”
“If I die….”
“Don’t say shit like that. I’ve got no intention of dying.”
“I’m sorry, hyung-nim. I’m sorry.”
“What are you apologizing for?”
“Because of what I said….”
“Forget it. It’s not as if I really listened to you anyway, so don’t worry about it. It was just a miscalculation. I was the one who was wrong for trusting those hypocritical bastards even a little. That big pig didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Still, because of me… because of me… you should’ve done things the way you thought, hyung-nim….”
“Yeah, you pig bastard. It sure seems like it was your fault, so hurry up and keep moving. Seeing you regret it like this makes me think you might do better next time. Hm?”
All kinds of magic came raining down, while spears and arrows flew everywhere.
Park Deokgu’s figure, running while carrying me, looked truly desperate.
I thought it was only natural for him to look that way.
I didn’t know exactly how things had gone wrong, but judging from the situation, Park Deokgu must have made some kind of proposal to me, and I had accepted it.
In the end, things seemed to have gone sideways… but whether he knew it or not, he had apparently been my brake.
In any case, it looked like this chase had gone on for quite some time.
Park Deokgu kept trying to break out of the encirclement by blocking arrows with his body and smashing the heads of anyone who stood in his way with the sword in one hand.
But there was a limit.
He could block the pursuers, but he couldn’t block the countless spells and volleys of arrows falling from the sky.
“I can’t tell you to leave me behind, pig.”
“I figured hyung-nim would say that.”
“Still, it’d be better to leave me here. My body’s stupidly tough. You’ll be able to live. Well… it’s a little scary, but it’s not exactly a life I’d regret… If you just avenge me, that’d be nice….”
“Are you trying to use sympathy to make me not abandon you?”
“This bastard is….”
“No matter what you say, I’m not leaving you, so quit talking nonsense. I’ll save hyung-nim.”
“Quit blowing hot air and put me down.”
“I’m not bragging, I mean it. I’ll save hyung-nim. Hey, do you remember?”
“Remember what?”
“How many times hyung-nim saved my life. Do you remember or not?”
“I never really moved around trying to save your life. You just looked promising, so I took care of you, that’s all….”
“I don’t think that’s all it was. No matter what hyung-nim says, you still saved me. Mentally and physically, too. Thanks for taking sword after sword in place of a useless little brother like me.”
“You can’t die… then how much have I invested in you… I need to get it back.”
“And thank you for defending me in the dungeon, too. Thank you for choosing me. No matter how hard I try to remember, it feels like all I can recall is being saved by hyung-nim. No matter how hard I try, those are the only memories I can find. No matter how hard I try to remember, it’s all just things I owe you… that’s what I mean. So this time, it’s my turn.”
“We’ll die together….”
“I already told you I’m definitely saving hyung-nim. Don’t forget it, hyung-nim.”
“What.”
“If hyung-nim can do it… I can do even better.”
“……”
“What hyung-nim can do, I can do even better….”
“……”
“If hyung-nim… can do it… I can do even….”
“……”
“I can do better….”
“……”
“If hyung-nim… can do it….”
“……”
“Can do… it….”
“……”
“It….”
“……”
“……”
And then.
Kasugano Yuno’s face, the one that had come to find me, appeared before my eyes.