Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Traveling Together
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I examined the message window floating in front of me.
It was informing me that there was an existence bearing an engraving in Frantia, where I planned to go.
This wasn't a predetermined path.
After obtaining the magic stone for the first time and leveling up.
Honestly, I'd felt lost.
Even though the tutorial had ended, nothing had appeared.
I had no idea what engraving I needed to unlock next or how to even go about finding it.
The engravings I needed to unlock weren't set in stone.
Fate of the Engraver simply served to notify me of the engraving on the path I chose to take.
Now I could finally grasp a bit of what that skill did.
It wasn't showing a fixed path but one that changed based on my choices.
My fate rested in my hands.
"Debi."
"Ah... Yes!"
Debi's eyes widened after I'd been ignoring her chatter and finally called her name.
A strange smile crept onto Debi's lips.
"You called my name for the first time. Why?"
I realized I hadn't even used her name until now.
"How long has it been since you left Frantia?"
Debi looked up at the ceiling as if recalling her memories.
"About two years, I think."
I didn't know Frantians' age of adulthood, but in Korean terms, she'd left her home at 18.
"Was there a reason you became an immigrant?"
From what she'd told me so far, Debi deeply loved Frantia, the world where she was born.
Yet she'd left it to become an immigrant.
In hindsight, she'd nearly lost her life today as the price for leaving that peaceful world.
"I'm... looking for a way."
"A way?"
Debi's demeanor shifted slightly.
Even after brushing with death, she hadn't lost her cheerfulness.
But now, her face held a bittersweet expression for some reason.
"They say Kalderon merged multiple worlds with Earth."
I nodded at the story I'd heard several times.
"There's a reason worlds merged with Earth."
Debi picked up a piece of sundae with her chopsticks from the plate in front of her.
"Let's say this is Earth."
She sliced bits of the liver beside it and attached them to the sundae.
With half the liver stuck to one sundae, Debi looked up.
"Not all worlds are like this, but only a portion of Frantia came to Earth."
It was a simple example, but it made perfect sense.
Earth remained intact, but some other worlds summoned by Kalderon hadn't arrived whole.
"I was heading to the distant snow mountains for an errand, far from home."
She said a Kalderon message window had appeared before her eyes while traveling.
It wasn't a question but a one-sided notice that she'd be transferred to another world, Debi explained.
"I arrived on Earth in a daze like that. Then a window popped up asking me to choose a class."
It all happened in an instant, she said.
No time to prepare, so she parted from her family without goodbyes.
Her family hadn't come with her.
That was why Debi wore a bittersweet expression.
She was probably thinking of the family she'd been separated from.
An emotion hard for me to understand.
From the moment I opened my eyes, family had never existed for me.
Looking back, it was quite bold of me.
Growing up, I'd accepted my reality without ever wishing to see or find family.
....
Hm.
No, that's not right.
It was embarrassing, but upon reflection, I could somewhat relate.
- I'll teach you everything!
The master who'd boldly promised to teach me all upon our first meeting, telling me to trust only him.
In the 25 years I'd lived, he was my one cherished memory and person, so he crossed my mind often.
Slurp!
...?
Debi, who'd been gloomy for a moment, scooped a spoonful of her gukbap.
"That's why I'm searching. For a way back! Or maybe the part of Frantia that couldn't come is attached somewhere on Earth."
Kalderon was a system beyond human knowledge.
As Debi said, the separated Frantia might be fused elsewhere on Earth.
This was a world where all possibilities existed.
"Mr. Kang Hyuk, you were in a coma for 15 years, right? That's a lie, isn't it?"
Anyone not an idiot could tell it was a lie.
A guy waking after 15 years causing that chaos on a skyscraper?
"I..."
I paused briefly before giving Debi a concise rundown of what had happened.
There was no reason to hide it.
....
When I finished, Debi stared at me blankly.
"You moved from Seoul to Katabi, then back to Seoul...? And 15 years ago was even before Kalderon appeared."
She must have seen hope in my story.
Though circumstances differed, I'd crossed worlds twice.
"Sorry, but I don't know how it was possible either. No idea what conditions were involved."
"Ah... Yeah, of course. You returned after 15 years, so everything must be confusing for you too."
"This is the most confusing part yet."
"Huh?"
Sharing my story with someone I'd just met.
The most astonishing thing besides returning from Katabi to Seoul.
I'd never sat across from anyone but Master in Katabi to talk like this.
"What are you planning to do now?"
"Hm... I haven't decided for sure yet."
Debi pondered with her head down for a moment before speaking.
"For now, I think I'll go back to Frantia. My family didn't come, but lots of people there know the real me."
It was an understandable choice.
Even if she acted nonchalant, nearly dying young warranted time to recover in a familiar place.
She needed somewhere safe to regroup.
Smooth.
Debi looked up at my empty bowl and asked.
"Where are you headed now, Mr. Kang Hyuk?"
It was just like any other day.
"Kuaaaah!!"
I'd finished my hellish training and was stretching.
"Quiet down! Every damn day you finish and act all showy."
"You just sit there all day."
Thwack!
If I talked back like that, Master's wooden stick would fly at my head.
It seemed light, but from the pinnacle assassin, it made my brain ring.
"Argh, seriously...!"
"Seriously what, you punk!"
Knowing more words meant more beatings, I'd rub my throbbing head and glare lightly to end it.
"Look at those snake eyes. I'm raising a tiger cub here."
Master clicked his tongue and turned away.
Step.
I followed behind Master as he rose and walked.
Not to sneak attack, but because our daily routine wasn't over.
"Come sit here."
"I'll sit."
"This punk...?"
At my defiant reply, Master set down his stick with a 'just this once' look.
Like any day, we sat on the cliff overlooking the mountain vista.
"What story today? If it's your pinnacle days brag, I'm off to sleep."
Master shook his head at me and gazed at the setting sun.
"What do you think of me?"
At the sudden question, I stared at Master briefly.
"Your clothes are ragged and dirty, hair's white and about to fall out."
"...."
Conflict flickered on Master's turned face.
Should he kill or spare this punk?
"Besides that, what do you think of a guy my age holed up alone in the mountains?"
"Looks leisurely and nice. Doesn't it?"
"Living alone in the mountains is fine. But don't I look lonely?"
"Lonely? Shall I fetch a grandma from the village below...?"
Thwack!
"Kugh!"
"Can't endure without beating you."
Master sighed and continued.
"Maybe it's age, but I regret one thing I never had."
I looked at him puzzled.
Master, who'd spent ages at Katabi's pinnacle, had enjoyed all the world offered, becoming legend.
What could he lack?
"Normally at this age, you'd share drinks with old friends, admiring views. That's joy."
A rare light shone on Master's face.
"But I don't even have a friend to share a drink with."
I'd heard it once before.
Stories of Master's old friends.
Born together in a remote village, they'd shared joys and sorrows for years.
- I killed them myself.
That time, I couldn't joke.
Master's face, speaking of killing friends, brimmed with inexpressible sorrow.
It was a situation where he had no choice.
What did a kid like me know?
That was my conclusion from the tale.
Master wasn't bad.
The fault lay in encountering them as enemies on the path to the pinnacle.
Tap tap.
As I recalled the old memory, Master poked me from the side.
"Foolish disciple, seeing your master like this, feel nothing?"
"My future self...?"
"...."
Maybe too honest.
Despair washed over Master's face.
"Haa."
Master sighed and looked skyward.
Better than his foolish disciple's face, now the rising moon.
"Hyuk, it's unfair to ask you to do what I couldn't, but."
"Yes."
"Try making a friend."
"A friend...?"
It was too sudden.
Make friends out of nowhere.
Opposite his teachings of trusting no one.
"The path you're on in Katabi is the path of slaughter. Trusting none makes it near impossible. But."
Master, gazing at the moon, turned to meet my eyes.
It was an ordinary day, but his eyes differed.
Filled with worry for his cherished disciple.
"If opportunity arises, make one. I never did, but surely."
A faint smile drew on Master's lips.
"It'll be far more enjoyable."
If opportunity arises.
I looked at Debi asking where I'd go.
I couldn't tell if this was the chance Master meant.
But unlike blood-and-foes-only Katabi, options existed here.
Smooth.
I opened my mouth to Debi awaiting my answer.
"I'm thinking of going to Frantia."
"Yes!?"
Debi's eyes widened in surprise at heading the same way.
Excited to speak, she hesitated and closed her mouth.
"Hm."
I broached to such Debi.
Scratched my cheek.
Why was saying this so hard?
Sighing inwardly at myself.
I spoke again.
"Want to come together?"
Debi, who'd hesitated and shut her mouth moments ago.
A blooming smile lit her briefly downcast face.