Chapter 371: Black Star (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 371: Black Star (4)
Hyeonbyeol Kang was four years my junior, and my ex-girlfriend. She confessed to me first while we were both struggling in our job search, and we dated for about three years. Well, none of that was important right now.
Slide.
I lifted my gaze again and faced Hyeonbyeol head-on. For some reason, she had a cold look in her eyes. The reason for that was probably...
"You're really going to look down there in this situation?"
"Ahem..."
It was a reflex, what can you do?
I quickly came to my senses and rushed to set the record straight. "Don't get me wrong. I was just checking."
"Checking?"
"The default clothing here is based on how you picture yourself."
"Then... are you saying this is how I think of myself?"
"Yeah."
If you wanted to put on different clothing, you had to purchase it with GP. That was how I purchased the athletic wear and short-sleeved shirt I was wearing right now. The default clothing had been a bit uncomfortable.
"Then what about you? What was your basic outfit?"
"Uh..."
It had been a tight-fitting navy suit, clothes that my ex-girlfriend—so, Hyeonbyeol—bought me.
"What I'm wearing right now. This was my default outfit." It would be kind of embarrassing to tell her the truth. If I told her I was wearing that suit even though we had broken up a long time ago, it would seem like I still had feelings for her.
"...Hmm, that's very like you." Thankfully, Hyeonbyeol didn't doubt me and easily accepted my answer. But that raised more questions.
"Like me? What about it is like me?"
"Why are you being so sensitive? I just meant you look comfortable."
"R-Really?"
Ugh, I can't relax around her. Is it because of my past sins?
"Anyway... don't you have something to say to me?"
"...It's been a while, Hyeonbyeol!"
"That's it?"
"Uh..."
What more could there be? Ah, wait, I didn't ask her about that.
"So, how did you end up here?"
Hyeonbyeol glared silently at my question before sighing in resignation. "You still haven't fixed your habit of running away." I just pretended not to hear that. "It's fine. None of that is important now..."
"Right. The past isn't important. I think there's even a saying that says the present is more precious than gold—" The air in the room seemed to get colder and I shut my mouth.
"Why did you stop? Keep going."
"I just... think I should apologize first. I'm sorry about back then. Truly."
When I apologized, erasing all traces of humor from my tone, Hyeonbyeol looked slightly surprised. "You've... kind of changed."
"Well, yeah... So, are you going to accept my apology?"
"I don't need an apology. Like I said earlier, none of that is important now. It's not something either of us need to apologize for, either..."
"That's...true."
After that brief exchange, an awkward silence fell between us. I mean, it made sense considering I'd been reunited with my ex-girlfriend, who I broke up with over a year ago in the real world, in this faraway one.
"But I'm really surprised. I never dreamed of seeing you here."
"Really? I always thought we would run into each other someday."
"...Huh?"
"I've been thinking about it ever since I woke up here. That you must be somewhere in this world too. It was a bit of a relief."
"A relief...?"
"Because of the news about your disappearance. I was really surprised when I heard you were gone. I wondered whether you had gotten a bad idea stuck in your head..."
Ah, I could see how it could have seemed that way. But I was kind of touched that she worried about me even though we had been broken up for over a year at that point.
"So... how did you end up here?" This was already my third time asking this because the conversation kept going off the rails. "You're the furthest thing from a gamer..."
Fortunately, Hyeonbyeol answered properly this time. "Um... I started to get interested after we broke up. I was wondering how good this game could possibly be that you were so obsessed with it."
That was new. Back when we were dating, she used to scold me for using three monitors to play the game.
No, wait.
"Then... you beat the original?"
"Come on, how could I beat that thing? After you went missing, I found the modded version and played that."
"Then... what version did you beat?"
"Thirty times."
"Thirty times...?" That was considered first-rate. There were plenty of people in this world who couldn't even beat that. "Looks like you worked pretty hard on it..."
"Oh, no, I think I beat it after ten tries. Maybe because I switched over from playing the original version. I learned a lot watching you play in the past too."
"Ah..." Come to think of it, I always bragged to her when I found a hidden feature. Since she was a smart girl, she would have remembered it all.
"Why did your face darken all of a sudden?"
"...You can tell?"
"Of course. We were together for a long time."
I thought it over for a moment before deciding to be honest. "It's nothing. It's just that now that I think about it, you constantly listened to me talk about something you wouldn't have been interested in and you never complained..." I trailed off awkwardly.
It was only after a short pause that Hyeonbyeol answered. "...You've really changed a lot."
"It's been a long time."
"That's... yeah, true..."
There was another beat of awkward silence, but it was short-lived. When I asked if she knew what happened after I went missing, Hyeonbyeol filled me in. To give a brief summary, it was like this: a month in, my company reported me as missing and the police came to talk to her, which was how she found out.
"You met my mom?"
"Yes. At the police station."
"What did that woman say...?"
"I didn't speak to her directly."
"But something happened. It's okay, tell me."
Hyeonbyeol seemed to consider her words carefully before hesitantly opening her mouth. "She talked about the inheritance for a while... then she asked the police if there was a way to report someone as dead before the missing persons report expired."
After that brief exchange, an awkward silence fell between us. I mean, it made sense considering I'd been reunited with my ex-girlfriend, who I broke up with over a year ago in the real world, in this faraway one.
"But I'm really surprised. I never dreamed of seeing you here."
"Really? I always thought we would run into each other someday."
"...Huh?"
"I've been thinking about it ever since I woke up here. That you must be somewhere in this world too. It was a bit of a relief."
"A relief...?"
"Because of the news about your disappearance. I was really surprised when I heard you were gone. I wondered whether you had gotten a bad idea stuck in your head..."
Ah, I could see how it could have seemed that way. But I was kind of touched that she worried about me even though we had been broken up for over a year at that point.
"So... how did you end up here?" This was already my third time asking this because the conversation kept going off the rails. "You're the furthest thing from a gamer..."
Fortunately, Hyeonbyeol answered properly this time. "Um... I started to get interested after we broke up. I was wondering how good this game could possibly be that you were so obsessed with it."
That was new. Back when we were dating, she used to scold me for using three monitors to play the game.
No, wait.
"Then... you beat the original?"
"Come on, how could I beat that thing? After you went missing, I found the modded version and played that."
"Then... what version did you beat?"
"Thirty times."
"Thirty times...?" That was considered first-rate. There were plenty of people in this world who couldn't even beat that. "Looks like you worked pretty hard on it..."
"Oh, no, I think I beat it after ten tries. Maybe because I switched over from playing the original version. I learned a lot watching you play in the past too."
"Ah..." Come to think of it, I always bragged to her when I found a hidden feature. Since she was a smart girl, she would have remembered it all.
"Why did your face darken all of a sudden?"
"...You can tell?"
"Of course. We were together for a long time."
I thought it over for a moment before deciding to be honest. "It's nothing. It's just that now that I think about it, you constantly listened to me talk about something you wouldn't have been interested in and you never complained..." I trailed off awkwardly.
It was only after a short pause that Hyeonbyeol answered. "...You've really changed a lot."
"It's been a long time."
"That's... yeah, true..."
There was another beat of awkward silence, but it was short-lived. When I asked if she knew what happened after I went missing, Hyeonbyeol filled me in. To give a brief summary, it was like this: a month in, my company reported me as missing and the police came to talk to her, which was how she found out.
"You met my mom?"
"Yes. At the police station."
"What did that woman say...?"
"I didn't speak to her directly."
"But something happened. It's okay, tell me."
Hyeonbyeol seemed to consider her words carefully before hesitantly opening her mouth. "She talked about the inheritance for a while... then she asked the police if there was a way to report someone as dead before the missing persons report expired."
"Ha..." I had pretty much expected that, but it still felt shitty. It wasn't like I had that much money saved up anyway. This was probably my own fault for getting my hopes up.
Grit.
As I tensed my jaw without realizing it, Hyeonbyeol offered words of comfort. "S-Still, you have five years. Since it wasn't an accident and there was no evidence of a crime, it wasn't classified as a special disappearance."
"What's the difference?"
"In a special disappearance case, the inheritance can be transferred after one year."
"I see." That did comfort me a little. And as soon as I had the thought, I was struck by how funny this was.
Chuckle.
This kind of reassurance was very like Hyeonbyeol. Come to think of it, she always comforted me by pointing out the concrete positives in a situation rather than just expressing words of sympathy. She played a significant role in shaping my current personality.
"So what next?"
"I don't know. After you went missing, I was brought here three months later."
"What...?"
I was genuinely surprised. Though the Fragment of Records Stone had complicated things in my own personal timeline, if you ignored that and looked solely at the calendar, it had been four years and one month since I became Bjorn Yandel.
Since the time ratio is five to one... that means nearly ten Earth months have passed since I went missing.
In other words, Hyeonbyeol would have been summoned here around the year New World 154. That summer was eventful in many ways. For one thing, it was around the time those pillars of fire exploded in Dimension Square.
As I took this in, a thought occurred to me. "But why did you only join the community now? If you were summoned back then, that means you've been in the city for almost three years."
"I'm not an adventurer. I guess I wasn't noticeable."
"You're not an adventurer...?"
"Yes. How can I fight monsters like that in real life just because I beat a game? I found a job at a decent place to make money."
"If you're saying that, that must mean you're human."
"I guess that means you're not?"
I was rendered mute by Hyeonbyeol's question. I was worried about sharing personal information like this.
It seemed she sensed my brief hesitation. "So, you don't want to tell me."
Hyeonbyeol's eyes creased. This was a look I had seen several times when we were dating. Whenever it appeared, that meant I had to do whatever I could to soothe her anger, but there was no need for that anymore. Strictly speaking, we were strangers now. There was no way Hyeonbyeol, who had always been a logical person, wouldn't be aware of that.
"For the record, you drew the line first, okay?"
"Okay."
"...Fine. I won't ask you anything like that from now on. Okay?" Hyeonbyeol accepted my refusal with her usual cool. But it seemed she was still kind of disappointed. "In exchange, don't even think about asking about me. I won't tell you anything."
Welp, yeah, that's fair.
I couldn't argue with that so I nodded without hesitation. Hyeonbyeol pursed her lips at that. "I guess you really aren't curious, then."
"If you tell me, I'd have to tell you mine too." Instead of trying to sidestep, I gave her an honest explanation. The fact was, she knew my exact date of entry. If I told her even just my race, she'd be able to narrow down the list of people I could be drastically.
Silence stretched between us as we stared at each other.
"...Let's sit for a bit."
"...Yes, that's a good idea."
It was awkward to keep standing so we sat on the nearby sofa. Once we sat, there was nothing for us to really talk about, so I just started with something light.
"This is your first time in the community, right?"
"Yes."
If she lived a normal working life in this world, how had she received an invitation? I was curious about that but I swallowed down the urge to ask. "I can give you some GP if you need it. You can exchange it for cash if you want."
"It's fine. I can earn enough on my own. Besides, if I cash it out, real-world money will be moved. That runs the risk of my identity being revealed, no?"
"That's... true." To be honest, I only said that as an icebreaker—if she actually agreed and expressed a desire to cash it out, I would have stopped her from doing so immediately.
"You... must be an adventurer, then."
"I am." Though we decided not to say anything that could reveal our identities to each other, I confirmed it. If I refused even a vague question like that, we wouldn't be able to have a conversation at all. "But why are you smiling?"
"Just 'cause. I... can't imagine you in a bloody fight against monsters."
"You get used to it."
"It must have been tough."
"And you?"
"I'm all right. Work is easier here, actually."
True, she was the smartest person I'd ever met. She must have adapted quickly.
"Really. Since they're not properly digitized, it was easy to raise capital in the early days." By 'raise capital,' did she mean embezzlement? "Maybe it's because the market itself is poorly designed, but when I officially started investing money, the rate of return was pretty good. Wait."
"...Huh?"
"Now that I think about it, why don't we stop beating around the bush and just get together?"
"Haha, get together...? We already—"
"No, not get back together—let's join forces. I can give you both material and emotional support."
"You'll help me?"
"My next goal after ensuring my financial freedom was to gain power. And recently, I've made a connection with a powerful person. I can use that to support you."
"What do you want in return?"
"Isn't that obvious? When you figure out a way to return, I want in on it. I'm sure your goal is to get home too, right?"
"Return, huh...?"
When I trailed off, Hyeonbyeol's expression shifted as she picked up on the fact that something was off. "...Are you thinking of staying here?"
I saw no reason to deny it. "Even if I go through hell and back to return, there's nothing waiting for me there."
"What about your mother?" she demanded.
"Huh? My mom?"
"If you stay here, all the deposit money for your apartment will go to her!"
Oh, that's what you meant.
"Woah, that's actually kind of motivating."
When I laughed, Hyeonbyeol raised her voice. "Don't try to make a joke out of this! Are you really going to live here?"
"Why are you getting so worked up? It's not like I can't live here. You know something? I've made more friends here than I ever did in that world."
I was only trying to lighten the mood, but Hyeonbyeol's mouth snapped shut and all she did was stare at me in shock. Then, after a long pause, she finally pried it back open to shout, "Friends? You?"
Uh... That reaction is hurtful even by my standards.
"Ha..." I had pretty much expected that, but it still felt shitty. It wasn't like I had that much money saved up anyway. This was probably my own fault for getting my hopes up.
Grit.
As I tensed my jaw without realizing it, Hyeonbyeol offered words of comfort. "S-Still, you have five years. Since it wasn't an accident and there was no evidence of a crime, it wasn't classified as a special disappearance."
"What's the difference?"
"In a special disappearance case, the inheritance can be transferred after one year."
"I see." That did comfort me a little. And as soon as I had the thought, I was struck by how funny this was.
Chuckle.
This kind of reassurance was very like Hyeonbyeol. Come to think of it, she always comforted me by pointing out the concrete positives in a situation rather than just expressing words of sympathy. She played a significant role in shaping my current personality.
"So what next?"
"I don't know. After you went missing, I was brought here three months later."
"What...?"
I was genuinely surprised. Though the Fragment of Records Stone had complicated things in my own personal timeline, if you ignored that and looked solely at the calendar, it had been four years and one month since I became Bjorn Yandel.
Since the time ratio is five to one... that means nearly ten Earth months have passed since I went missing.
In other words, Hyeonbyeol would have been summoned here around the year New World 154. That summer was eventful in many ways. For one thing, it was around the time those pillars of fire exploded in Dimension Square.
As I took this in, a thought occurred to me. "But why did you only join the community now? If you were summoned back then, that means you've been in the city for almost three years."
"I'm not an adventurer. I guess I wasn't noticeable."
"You're not an adventurer...?"
"Yes. How can I fight monsters like that in real life just because I beat a game? I found a job at a decent place to make money."
"If you're saying that, that must mean you're human."
"I guess that means you're not?"
I was rendered mute by Hyeonbyeol's question. I was worried about sharing personal information like this.
It seemed she sensed my brief hesitation. "So, you don't want to tell me."
Hyeonbyeol's eyes creased. This was a look I had seen several times when we were dating. Whenever it appeared, that meant I had to do whatever I could to soothe her anger, but there was no need for that anymore. Strictly speaking, we were strangers now. There was no way Hyeonbyeol, who had always been a logical person, wouldn't be aware of that.
"For the record, you drew the line first, okay?"
"Okay."
"...Fine. I won't ask you anything like that from now on. Okay?" Hyeonbyeol accepted my refusal with her usual cool. But it seemed she was still kind of disappointed. "In exchange, don't even think about asking about me. I won't tell you anything."
Welp, yeah, that's fair.
I couldn't argue with that so I nodded without hesitation. Hyeonbyeol pursed her lips at that. "I guess you really aren't curious, then."
"If you tell me, I'd have to tell you mine too." Instead of trying to sidestep, I gave her an honest explanation. The fact was, she knew my exact date of entry. If I told her even just my race, she'd be able to narrow down the list of people I could be drastically.
Silence stretched between us as we stared at each other.
"...Let's sit for a bit."
"...Yes, that's a good idea."
It was awkward to keep standing so we sat on the nearby sofa. Once we sat, there was nothing for us to really talk about, so I just started with something light.
"This is your first time in the community, right?"
"Yes."
If she lived a normal working life in this world, how had she received an invitation? I was curious about that but I swallowed down the urge to ask. "I can give you some GP if you need it. You can exchange it for cash if you want."
"It's fine. I can earn enough on my own. Besides, if I cash it out, real-world money will be moved. That runs the risk of my identity being revealed, no?"
"That's... true." To be honest, I only said that as an icebreaker—if she actually agreed and expressed a desire to cash it out, I would have stopped her from doing so immediately.
"You... must be an adventurer, then."
"I am." Though we decided not to say anything that could reveal our identities to each other, I confirmed it. If I refused even a vague question like that, we wouldn't be able to have a conversation at all. "But why are you smiling?"
"Just 'cause. I... can't imagine you in a bloody fight against monsters."
"You get used to it."
"It must have been tough."
"And you?"
"I'm all right. Work is easier here, actually."
True, she was the smartest person I'd ever met. She must have adapted quickly.
"Really. Since they're not properly digitized, it was easy to raise capital in the early days." By 'raise capital,' did she mean embezzlement? "Maybe it's because the market itself is poorly designed, but when I officially started investing money, the rate of return was pretty good. Wait."
"...Huh?"
"Now that I think about it, why don't we stop beating around the bush and just get together?"
"Haha, get together...? We already—"
"No, not get back together—let's join forces. I can give you both material and emotional support."
"You'll help me?"
"My next goal after ensuring my financial freedom was to gain power. And recently, I've made a connection with a powerful person. I can use that to support you."
"What do you want in return?"
"Isn't that obvious? When you figure out a way to return, I want in on it. I'm sure your goal is to get home too, right?"
"Return, huh...?"
When I trailed off, Hyeonbyeol's expression shifted as she picked up on the fact that something was off. "...Are you thinking of staying here?"
I saw no reason to deny it. "Even if I go through hell and back to return, there's nothing waiting for me there."
"What about your mother?" she demanded.
"Huh? My mom?"
"If you stay here, all the deposit money for your apartment will go to her!"
Oh, that's what you meant.
"Woah, that's actually kind of motivating."
When I laughed, Hyeonbyeol raised her voice. "Don't try to make a joke out of this! Are you really going to live here?"
"Why are you getting so worked up? It's not like I can't live here. You know something? I've made more friends here than I ever did in that world."
I was only trying to lighten the mood, but Hyeonbyeol's mouth snapped shut and all she did was stare at me in shock. Then, after a long pause, she finally pried it back open to shout, "Friends? You?"
Uh... That reaction is hurtful even by my standards.