Maybe I Want to Go Back to the Old Days (3)
In truth, he'd already seen it while riding the bike.
At the time, he'd brushed it off as just another piece of random chat spam.
Ever since he'd killed Kang Hae-il's father twice, the chat had been flooded with all sorts of weird messages anyway.
Among the Constellations, there were plenty who hurled endless curses at him and spread baseless rumors.
So he'd assumed this was more of the same nonsense, but...
The oddly familiar tone. Seeing even that guy write something like this made him certain.
'There's something going on.'
He didn't know exactly what was being suspected.
But the suspicion was real.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind.
'Did Suyeon say something?'
Junil shook his head.
'No, that's not it.'
If she'd actually mentioned the Fourth Line incident, the chat would have been on fire.
Suspecting a mere porter was one thing. Suspecting that the porter was Sagosul was something else entirely.
The Constellations wouldn't have stayed quiet.
Right now, Yu Jihun's suspicion was probably still at a fairly basic level.
'He must have figured out I don't use any Narrative Trick items.'
The kind of tricks he was forced to use whenever he played the porter role.
'Figures. Guy who tried to stick me next to Kang Hae-il has a decent head on his shoulders.'
Yu Jihun really was sharp.
'This is getting annoying. Time to move separately for a while.'
Junil decided the moment had come to part ways with Kang Hae-il.
If things continued like this, he'd be under constant surveillance and would never reach level 30.
So he brought it up.
“Um… Hyung. I’m a porter, right?”
“Don’t say weird shit.”
“……”
But Kang Hae-il wasn’t listening.
He was dead set on raising him to level 30.
“What are you staring at? A little more and you’ll hit 20. Keep going and you’ll reach 25. We can get you to 30.”
“No, fuck, that’s not what I’m saying! Just listen for a second!”
Only after he practically shouted did Kang Hae-il finally pause.
And then Junil confessed the “truth” he needed the man to believe.
“I don’t actually need to level up by hunting.”
“What…?”
He was talking about the porter’s experience system.
Or rather, he was making it up.
Why?
'Above all, I’ll need an excuse later when I actually hit level 30.'
Because Junil fully intended to reach level 30 no matter what.
So he needed an explanation ready.
After going this far and still not reaching it, only to suddenly surpass level 30, survive Chapter 3, and keep working as a carefree porter?
That would be beyond suspicious.
Even a thick-skulled manly man like Kang Hae-il would find that strange.
So he crafted a story.
About how porters gained experience.
“…What? You don’t need to hunt? Then how do you level?”
“I’m basically a production class, right? Like a non-combat delivery guy. Haven’t you ever thought that was weird?”
“!”
Kang Hae-il’s eyes wavered.
It was a convincing argument.
All E-rankers without combat ability leveled up through production work.
It would be strange if an F-ranker couldn’t do the same.
“I just carry luggage, put items in and out, sell stuff, trade… that’s how I level.”
“…You don’t need to enter gates?”
“Nope. Not required.”
“Why are you only telling me this now?”
Kang Hae-il looked dumbfounded.
If he’d known earlier, he could have won that argument with Yu Jihun today. He’d lost because he didn’t know!
Junil’s explanation continued.
“Because I only just ran the numbers myself. I thought getting carried would level me faster, but it barely moves. Guess a porter’s life is all about carrying loads.”
He’d assumed that with an S-ranker like Kang Hae-il helping, hunting would be more efficient.
But it wasn’t.
So he was going back to the porter’s original method.
…Or so the story went.
“Sigh.”
Kang Hae-il lowered his head, staring at the bike with a hollow expression.
“I see.”
Just as he had his own way, the porter had the porter’s path.
Had he pushed too hard?
Regret washed over him.
“Yeah. So I’ll just head to the mountains and grind goblin items. I’ll do as much as I can before the World Boss is taken down.”
“Then should we head to the mountains?”
Junil held up a hand.
“No. I’ll go alone. Hyung, you have more important things to do. I already feel bad for being such a burden.”
“What are you talking about? You saved my life. This is me repaying that debt.”
“Haa… Hyung…”
Junil pulled out the prepared logic.
The one thing Kang Hae-il couldn’t refuse.
“You really want to repay me? You want to make sure I don’t get eliminated from the Awakening?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t kill the World Boss.”
“!”
“Wouldn’t that solve everything? Why are you forcing me into your schedule?”
“……”
Hae-il couldn’t answer.
“I know why. That World Boss is going to cause massive damage. You can’t put it off just for me, right? I wouldn’t want that either. So I want to prove it. That I’m someone who can stand beside you. Give me that chance.”
Kang Hae-il’s eyes were shaking hard.
For a man like him, words like these were impossible to refuse.
Refusing would mean trampling on the other person’s pride.
The pride of a man who wanted to prove himself without help.
“…Alright.”
The silence stretched for a moment.
But Hae-il accepted it.
“Good luck.”
“Yeah.”
“Then… see you at level 30.”
Kang Hae-il mounted the bike and started the engine.
Vrooooom!
“?”
He just left.
“Hey, wait! Hyung! Fuck! Hae-il hyung! At least drop me off at home?!”
“What the hell… Is he sulking?!”
Junil scratched his head in disbelief.
Something brushed against his hand.
'Huh?'
There was one more thing Kang Hae-il had left behind.
“The goggles.”
The detector that could locate where gates would appear.
“Jackpot.”
With a quick motion, Junil tossed them into his inventory.
He decided not to return them.
* * *
Thud!
Late at night, on the rooftop of an officetel building.
A man wearing a cat mask landed there.
It was Junil.
“Ugh… fuck…”
He’d flown the whole way and worn the mask just in case someone spotted him.
'What a waste of effort.'
He hadn’t landed at his own officetel, but two subway stops away.
Junil was being extra cautious today.
'From now on, I’ll have to keep doing this.'
Someone had started suspecting him.
It hadn’t connected to Sagosul yet, but he had to be thorough.
If Kang Hae-il ever found out that Sagosul and Moon Junil were the same person, completing his missions would become extremely difficult.
He’d be stuck playing only the villain who had to be killed.
Current Viewers: 2,832
The number of Constellations was slowly increasing.
'Let’s keep this pace a little longer.'
At least seven thousand.
He couldn’t be discovered until he reached at least that number and had the angle to meet Kang Hae-il and Golden Cross.
Among the Constellations’ messages, the ones about Yu Jihun caught his eye.
'Yu Jihun is building up his suspicion…'
It didn’t look like it would be easy to shake off.
He was different from Kang Hae-il.
He didn’t move purely on belief and loyalty. He was the type who could stand back and use his head.
'Turns out the wolf was actually a fox.'
Tsk.
Junil clicked his tongue and removed the mask.
'Is this not enough?'
He couldn’t keep acting recklessly while relying only on the Narrative Trick Mask.
He had to be more thorough.
So he put the mask into his inventory and took something else out.
Whoosh.
“Let’s see how full it is.”
◈ A perfume bottle containing the essence of the high-ranking demon Belzerack.
◈ Inflicts great suffering on others to fill with "Belzerack's Tears."
◈ Consuming the tears allows use of her powers. The more consumed, the stronger the effect.
It was a perfume bottle with a rather grandiose name.
However, the bottle was quite empty.
It was a perfume that allowed him to use Belzerack’s abilities.
There wasn’t a very detailed explanation, but...
'Allows use of Belzerack’s abilities.'
That alone was enough for Junil to understand.
After all, he had fought Belzerack three times in his first round and once in the last gate—for a total of four battles.
He knew exactly what “being able to use her abilities” meant.
'The fact that this fell into my hands… is a tremendous stroke of luck.'
It was an item that could completely flip the board at least once.
If it had gone to Kang Hae-il, it would have been a disaster.
Swish—
Junil shook the perfume bottle.
“……”
His own eyes reflected in the black liquid stared back at him.
They looked a little sad.
Was he remembering the moment the tears had been collected?
「Why do you say it like you regret it?」
Suyeon’s voice echoed in his ears.
'…No.'
I regret saving you.
He hadn’t wanted to say something like that.
「It’s me! Julian!」
It was Meyrin, whom he hadn’t seen in decades. He hadn’t wanted to spit out such words in front of her.
「I know your name just ‘happens’ to be Julian. Hero.」
He hadn’t wanted their last conversation to be anything like this.
'That’s not what I meant…'
Yet he couldn’t tell the truth.
Even less could he speak his true feelings.
'Damn it.'
Junil closed his eyes.
The hallucination stopped.
But the lingering aftertaste didn’t fade so easily.
“Haa… fuck…”
He realized it anew.
'This request is really no joke.'
The eighth request.
It was on a completely different level of mental anguish compared to the previous ones.
It was the first time Junil had experienced anything like this.
'Have I ever told this many lies before?'
An identity crisis.
Living as something other than himself.
It wasn’t easy.
'Maybe… the old days were better.'
He even felt like his first round had been preferable.
Everything had been clumsy and brutal, but it had been an honest life.
What about now?
Something was slowly gnawing away at his insides.
It hurt more than he had expected.
Thanks to that, he learned one thing.
Swish—
Belzerack's Tears have increased.
Crunch.
The Junil reflected in the black liquid bit his lip.
'I will succeed. No matter what.'
The eighth request.
The harder it was, the more he had to accomplish it.
He would stand proudly as the protagonist of this world and seize control.
Then everything would be resolved.
Everything.