Ch.199199 – When We Call Your Name 2

# 199 – When We Call Your Name # 2

Swoooooooosh-.

That infinite time surged like crashing waves, and children who had not yet become adults surrendered themselves to its flow. Of course, this time they didn’t lose consciousness like before.

[We have to go!]

Yang Juhui and Yu Dahui, the best swimmers, swam through the infinite sea of time and finally made contact with the object sunk deep in that bright ocean.

When they placed their hands on the giant clock, it pulsated like a living person.

Knowledge beyond comprehension began to swirl in the girls’ minds, and they realized their will was being tested.

This clock was an object that allowed those who touched it to live in the “time they desired.” Desires the girls didn’t even know they had bubbled up in Yang Juhui and Yu Dahui’s minds.

‘I want to be more feminine and gentle.’

‘I wish my breasts were just a bit bigger.’

‘I want lots of designer bags.’

‘I wish animals would like me.’

Among the uncoordinated bubbles of thoughts, the girls found the image of a common male student. The bubble containing the boy was very large and bright, making it easy to spot.

[We need to go there!]

As the girls swam toward it, undeniable wishes appeared before them.

‘Big sister. Mom. Dad.’

Yang Juhui’s family.

In front of Yu Dahui too, her mom, dad, and a new little sister smiled brightly in the bubble.

—Sis! Look at this! It’s a Tyrannosaurus!

If there is something to gain, there is also something to lose.

The clock seemed to be asking if their wishes were worth sacrificing these things.

While they hesitated, Jeongseok and Kwon Sua also slowly swam up and arrived at the clock. Their breath was reaching its limit after being submerged for so long.

Jeongseok reached out to the clock.

Countless timelines spread before him. Himself as president. Himself having achieved the love he wanted and formed a family.

If he reached out, his consciousness would fly to such a time.

Kwon Sua was also looking at similar scenes. Becoming a famous idol, becoming a famous game broadcaster. Receiving cheers from countless people.

But the future Kwon Sua truly desired didn’t exist in the bubbles.

While the true wishes of the boys and girls remained unaligned, a dazzling light began to shine from deep within the sea.

Their consciousness was rising. They all felt it.

Thinking they would wake from the dream if they stayed like this, Jeongseok, carrying the burden of leadership, shouted toward Yeongwon.

“O broken clock!”

Who should grant the wishes of a wish-granting Santa Claus?

“We wish! For your wish to come true!”

Jeongseok wished for the clock’s own wish to come true. What would a mechanical device sunk deep in the ocean wish for? Perhaps it wished to escape this tedious eternal sea.

Even if it meant being born as the son of a woman with an impossible wish, and self-destructing after making foolish choices, it probably wished to become human more than anything else.

Of course, he might return to this sea like a salmon, repeating the same thing. Perhaps this was just one iteration in an infinite loop.

It was possible everyone had already repeated this many times.

Nevertheless, the boys and girls wished strongly.

Tick-.

The stopped clock began to move forward, and the calm sea flowed like a river. For better or worse, the broken clock’s error rate broke the accurate and infinite repetition, pointing to a new time.

# # #

Since I was young, I often had strange dreams.

Dreams where I sank to the bottom of the sea and looked up at the sun shining from far away.

It was strange.

I couldn’t swim at all.

If I went into water, I would just sink endlessly.

Perhaps that’s why in my dreams, I longed for that distant shining sun. I wanted to escape this tedious sea and live under the turbulent sunlight.

If only I could leave this boring sea, like a pirate navigating through waves under summer clouds!

Something cool touched my face.

When I came to my senses, I realized I was lying in a room with yellowed linoleum and wallpaper stained with mold.

—Garigekkek-.

Hearing a strange sound, I looked and saw a lizard larger than my palm clinging to my face. It seems this fellow woke me up.

“Giganoto.”

—Gekko-.

Why did Giganoto escape from his tank? Feeling puzzled, I went to the living room. There, my mom, frying eggs early in the morning, said:

“Boomboom, did Yeongwon wake you up? If he did, do the boombooboompow.”

—Boombooboompow.

Mom must have taken Giganoto out of his tank to wake me up. I sat at the table and had breakfast with Mom after a long time. It’s morning but 29 degrees.

What a hot summer it was.

“You need to get back into the habit of eating breakfast. The second semester starts soon, right?”

At Mom’s words, I looked at the calendar.

Second semester?

Does it matter? The world should be broken after I opened the door on the fourth floor. Wasn’t Gaeryong City submerged in an eternal sea where night never comes and time doesn’t flow?

“Wait…”

Something was strange.

I definitely made a wish to the clock to return everything to normal. Why am I here? Many things felt unfamiliar.

“…Mom. Why am I here? Why was I born into this world?”

“What strange things you’re saying. I gave birth to you, that’s why you were born! Not fully awake yet? Come here! Mom will give you a hug!”

Whoosh-.

Saying that, Mom hugged my head. Even though I’m in high school, Mom still seemed to think of me as a young elementary school student.

“Mom’s dream was to have a family. So I made a wish and met your dad and you. Even if Mom and Dad could go back to that time, we’d make the same choice. Because you’re our son.”

“Okay. I can’t breathe!”

Struggle struggle-.

I escaped from Mom’s embrace and went out to the street.

The street was still chaotic.

Dead people were mixed with the living, wailing, and people’s faces lacked vitality.

‘Did I fail?’

I wondered why everything hadn’t returned to normal.

Deciding to go to the pirate crew’s secret base, I headed to the Yeongji Foundation Human Resources Development Center and arrived at the room with the round table.

Many people were already seated there. Seeing the familiar faces of the boys and girls, I suddenly felt both amused and embarrassed.

“…I tried to fix this world somehow. Looks like it didn’t work well.”

As I was scratching the back of my head, feeling itchy for no reason, something sparkled. I thought a star had appeared in broad daylight, but it was Yang Juhui’s hand hitting my face.

“Guak!”

I screamed and fell at the sudden violence.

Soon Jeongseok shouted.

“Beat that bastard up!”

“Beat him up!”

Dudududududududu-.

“Aaaack~”

I was really beaten up badly. I don’t know why I’m suddenly being beaten, but everyone was hitting me with one heart and mind. Is this some kind of April Fool’s joke?

It hurt.

Ironically, that pain made me strongly feel that I was alive. I’m alive even in this kind of world!

“Ah, it fucking hurts!”

But it hurt so much that I had to beg everyone to stop. Soon my friends hugged my neck and cried profusely.

I don’t know what happened, but the sight of people crying so much was a bit funny. And these crying sounds weren’t unfamiliar.

Haven’t I seen people crying like this before? When was that? It seemed like a pretty old memory.

The important thing was that after I opened the door on the fourth floor, the world was still broken, and Yu Dahui kept dying. But now I noticed Dahui was still alive.

“Dahui is alive?”

“We’ve passed the timeline where Dahui dies.”

Jeongseok rubbed his nose with his finger.

Timeline?

I don’t know what he’s talking about.

But I could tell they had done something incredible while I was unaware.

“When you find out what we did, you’ll probably be shocked. We made tremendous sacrifices! You have to take responsibility. We’ve lost too much. You’ll have to work hard to get it all back.”

“Me?”

“Yes. We all had to lose and give up many things to return to a time where you’re alive.”

I wonder what they all lost.

While I was pondering this, Yang Juhui and Yu Dahui’s expressions looked particularly bad. Of course, their faces soon filled with hope.

“You have to take responsibility!”

“I think so too.”

Yang Juhui and Yu Dahui agreeing.

That’s quite unusual.

Anyway, I was glad Dahui was alive. Though there were still mountains of problems, I felt that if we were all together, we could somehow manage.

“No, it’s too early to feel relieved.”

The monstrous Pastor Cheon Aesu had tried to kill Dahui. I looked at Pastor Cheon Aesu’s nameplate placed in the secret base.

The blood-soaked “Cheon” character looked particularly ominous. The “sky” in “beware of the sky” that Mr. Kang Bada mentioned referred to Pastor Cheon Aesu.

“Pastor Cheon Aesu will try to kill Dahui to restore everything back to normal.”

I asked my friends honestly what we should do next. Then Jeongseok said something incomprehensible.

“In the timeline that returned to normal, Pastor Cheon Aesu was a person who didn’t exist. I investigated in various ways, but there was no trace of him at all. He only exists in this world.”

Timeline. World.

Jeongseok kept saying strange things. Did he develop chuunibyou late?

“I think he might be like a vaccine to fix a world infected with the Ha Yeongwon virus. If we’re the villains, he’s probably the hero. He’s an existence created by the world itself to correct the error rate.”

Everyone’s expression was serious as they listened to Jeongseok’s story.

I didn’t understand, but I decided to listen seriously too.

“So what should we do?”

“You figure that out yourself. You’re the captain. I’m tired now. I don’t want to think about anything. It’s been long. I…”

Jeongseok was a strange guy. But he was right.

I’m the captain, and these were my actions.

I can’t just rely on others.

“We need to defeat Pastor Cheon Aesu.”