Nothing Happened
The moment I felt as if I’d been flung somewhere else, I shot upright without even thinking.
I was back in reality.
I didn’t even need to look around to know it. What met my eyes wasn’t the black landscape anymore.
The instant I came to, agony slammed through my body. It was pain so fierce I could barely even scream.
Even though I wanted to cry out, it felt as if my own brain refused to allow it, and I could only gape wordlessly while clutching at my face.
Fuck… shit….
It must have been a side effect of seeing the Black World that Kasugano Yuno had been looking at through my own eyes.
My eyes felt as if they were about to shatter, so I swallowed back the scream that tried to claw its way out and kept gripping the area around them.
Even I hadn’t known I could do something like that, so some degree of backlash was only natural.
If there was one mildly painful part of it, it was that I hadn’t looked because I wanted to. I wasn’t sure whether the tears spilling down my face were from pain or something else, but they just kept flowing regardless of my will.
This body didn’t seem to remember the first round at all, and yet the tears still wouldn’t stop.
What the hell kind of… bullshit situation is this.
Of course, if you asked whether it had left an impression on me, the answer would be yes.
In truth, I hadn’t cared all that much about how I’d survived in the Black World.
What I’d wanted to know was when and where I died, and what the hell I’d been doing while I ran around fighting.
What mattered wasn’t the me of the Black World. It was how far the present me could survive.
I’d come here to strengthen Park Deokgu, and instead I’d ended up seeing all sorts of things, which left me swallowing hard for no reason.
And then there was what I’d learned about Kasugano Yuno. No, to be honest, I had a feeling I’d seen what came after that too.
The problem was that I couldn’t remember it, but I was certain I’d taken a brief look into the winter of the Black World.
That was the feeling I had.
No matter how hard I tried to remember, nothing came back, so whatever happened after that day had to remain out of bounds for now.
I had no choice but to return to the beginning of the story.
I’d already heard some of Kasugano Yuno’s story from her, but I hadn’t expected to see it in such detail.
What unfolded was a disaster so absurd it was almost laughable. Park Deokgu died protecting me, and I betrayed Kasugano Yuno.
What a stubborn little piece of trash.
If Kasugano Yuno had truly decided to kill me there, I would have died without question.
The trash of the Black World must have been convinced Yuno wouldn’t kill him, but even so, the fact remained that he’d chosen to gamble.
Her face, tear-streaked as she looked at me, kept drifting back into my mind for no reason.
So how does this one die?
Kasugano Yuno had said with complete certainty that she would die. And before me, no less.
I hadn’t been her, so I couldn’t know exactly what the Black World trash had been thinking, but at the very least, I didn’t think he would have killed Yuno himself.
He said he’d keep her by his side and watch over her.
That was probably more likely.
From what I’d heard, he’d apparently spent quite a long time with the real Kasugano Yuno, and since she was useful in so many ways, I wouldn’t have made the stupid decision to kill her either.
Something must have happened, and it was probably because of that that Kasugano Yuno died.
The throbbing pain made me clutch my face again, which was only natural.
And it wasn’t just Yuno.
That bastard’s back kept circling through my head too.
Idiot.
I’d thought Park Deokgu might have died the moment I heard Kasugano Yuno say she’d found me alone, but who would have guessed he’d meet such a heroic end?
My eyes had gone a little red, but I shook my head, feeling as if I were getting needlessly emotional.
Park Deokgu in the second round was alive.
I’d even found a hint about growth, maybe… and if it weren’t for this splitting pain, I could have said everything was perfect.
“No… that’s not it….”
There was still one more question.
Limited information is being displayed due to outside interference. Confirming the activation of the Legendary-grade trait, Mind's Eye.
Outside interference?
What was that supposed to mean?
I’d never heard or seen wording like that while using a trait before.
And if I considered the fact that I hadn’t even activated Mind’s Eye myself, it meant there was someone out there—though I had no idea who—who wanted to show me that scene just now.
Logically speaking, meddling with Mind's Eye, a Legendary-grade trait, and with the exercise of an eye that pierced essence, future, and past was beyond unreal.
This was no longer something I could even call human territory.
It was more reasonable to think some transcendent being had shown me that scene.
Why?
Because it wanted to tell me how important Kasugano Yuno and Park Deokgu were to me?
Not a bad hypothesis.
The trash in the Black World had been badly broken by those two, after all.
This was…
“Should I take that as encouragement?”
I wasn’t the only one who didn’t want Park Deokgu to die.
“Because that idiot is acting as my brake?”
That might be right too.
What I could say for certain was that whatever being had interfered here didn’t want the situation to go completely off the rails the way it had in the first round.
That much, at least, was a shared interest.
I’d come here with a light heart.
I’d witnessed an absolutely extraordinary scene.
And then, when I casually turned my head to the side—
“Mm… ngh….”
“Ah….”
What I saw was Kasugano Yuno lying right beside me.
What shocked me was that she was naked.
What…?
I glanced toward the window. The sun was already up.
I’d thought we’d spent a long time in the Black World, but I hadn’t expected to stay there all night.
And I definitely hadn’t expected this to happen.
Shit.
No, wait.
I lifted the blanket a little, and the evidence of what had happened between us began to reveal itself one piece at a time.
Kasugano Yuno looked happy, but her appearance was so worn-out it was almost pitiable.
I didn’t know whether the thing I’d seen at the end had been some kind of possession or what, but in any case, there was no denying that she and I had explored each other.
I didn’t particularly recommend thinking too deeply about it, so I shook my head hard—and then I saw Kasugano stirring awake in silence.
“Ah… Master.”
“You’re awake.”
“Y-yes….”
Her face was strangely flushed.
And yet she looked happy.
It was a face oddly at odds with the one I’d seen in the Black World, but if she was happy, then this wasn’t a bad situation.
I’d been overwhelmingly negligent toward her here in Celia, and whether it was because of what I’d seen last night or not, she’d somehow started to look a little cute to me.
More importantly, the Kasugano Yuno of the second round had also had her life twisted because of me, so I did have some responsibility for her.
The fact that the present Yuno, who’d become a completely different person from the Yuno of the Black World, had become who she was now couldn’t be said to have nothing to do with me at all.
Thinking back to how she’d clung to me at the beginning, she seemed rather embarrassed.
I reached out and lightly patted her head before speaking. There was still something I needed to ask.
For now, I started with the thing I was most curious about.
“Just in case, let me ask you this….”
“Y-yes. Please ask.”
“Was it you who showed me the Black World?”
“Ah, n-no, Master. I never imagined that you would enter me and see the Black World. Before I could even resist, you entered into me, Master.”
Her wording was a little strange, but I could only nod for now.
“I see.”
“An incomprehensible restraint suddenly came surging over me as well. I do not know whether it was because of that or because of you, Master, but I have never remained in the Black World for so long before.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It is shameful to admit, but normally I can only glimpse one fragment at a time, one scene at a time, torn apart. Of course, if my ability grew a little more, I might have been able to peer deeper, but… until now… Ah! Perhaps you already know something, Master?”
“No. I’ve never heard or seen anything like this either. One thing’s certain: it wasn’t me who activated Mind’s Eye. Before I even looked at you through that eye, the trait was already active. Nothing else changed besides that, but… still, it was a rather fresh experience. It was the biggest gain I got from finally understanding what world you see.”
“Did you gain something, then?”
“Enough. Thank you.”
“Ah….”
“And thank you for what happened in the Black World too.”
“M-Master….”
“There was one more thing I wanted to ask.”
“Yes.”
“This isn’t especially important, but… the future you saw in the Black World—was it really a future in which you and I were together?”
“I cannot confirm it. However, I think the foolish Kasugano of the Black World would have lied to keep you, Master.”
“I see.”
“Yes. I am certain of it. Perhaps he didn’t know he was touching your reverse scale. Ah, or maybe it was intentional.”
“Hm?”
“He must have wanted to be with you, Master. The me of the Black World….”
“I understand what you mean.”
To put it simply, the lie she’d thrown out in order to keep Lee Kiyoung had apparently flipped some sort of switch.
As Kasugano Yuno said, the Black World version of me might have deliberately pushed that switch because he didn’t want to part with Yuno—but personally, I had no choice but to think the former explanation fit the circumstances better.
In any case, it wasn’t a bad situation at all.
I nodded quietly, and just as I was thinking back over what had happened before, a forgotten fact began rising to the surface, as though I’d left something important behind.
I tilted my head, feeling as if I’d forgotten something crucial—and then there was a massive explosion.
Shit….
Realizing what I’d forgotten happened in an instant, and as if to prove my hunch right, voices began ringing out from outside too.
“Oppa! Oppa!”
Fuck!
What I’d forgotten was Jung Hayan, whom I’d left sleeping in the room.
“You can’t do this.”
“Let go of me!!”
With the sounds of crashing and splintering coming from right next door, it was obvious Jung Hayan was blasting her way over here with magic.
I had no idea whether she was reacting like that because she thought I was in danger or because she’d realized I’d been in contact with someone else, but whatever the reason, even a stray dog could tell this was not a situation that should be seen by anyone.
“Yuno.”
“Yes, Master.”
Before I could even try to say how we should clean this up, the wall beside us collapsed, and a familiar face came into view.
Jung Hayan was wrapped head to toe in an absurd amount of mana, one hand thrust forward, and her eyes held a madness that defied description.
Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, clearly from crying her heart out, and the sight of her was something else entirely.
Her hair was in disarray, and though she seemed to be glaring at Kasugano Yuno, I was the one who had something to feel guilty about, so I flinched at her expression all the same.
Fuck, shit….
I wasn’t particularly interested in that whole school of thought, but just a few minutes ago I’d been nodding along to the idea that Kasugano Yuno clinging to me like this was, in a way, karma.
Park Deokgu was the same.
Just thinking about how he’d have to endure this sort of treatment from Jung Hayan made me wonder whether I’d done something wrong to her too.
Of course that wasn’t likely, but I couldn’t help thinking along those lines for no good reason.
“I-I-I…!”
Blood was leaking from the hand clenched into a fist, and blood was also streaming from the corner of her mouth, where she’d bitten down hard.
Jung Hayan’s trembling face was frightening enough that I didn’t even want to meet it straight on.
Before I could even think about how to get through this, the words slipped out of my mouth.
“Nothing happened.”
“Ah….”
Utter nonsense.
But even I had to admit it sounded transparent, with not a shred of lie in it.