Ch.369Chapter 369 – Beach Cooking Competition – 2

“……yo.”

Ah, seriously, who is it? Can’t you leave me alone when I’m sleeping?

“……seyo.”

No, let me sleep! I need to give my already exhausted body and mind some rest!

“Wake up!”

“Ugh!”

I opened my eyes due to the sudden pain in my abdomen.

When I looked ahead, the sandy beach and shore were gone, replaced by a vast meadow stretching before my eyes.

“Hah… you should have woken up before I had to use force.”

Turning toward the voice, I saw Epitrina looking at me with her cheeks puffed up.

“Epitrina? Where exactly is this place?”

“Don’t worry, it’s a space I created to talk with you.”

With a gesture from Epitrina, a table and chairs formed from the ground.

“Get up and sit down. I have something to talk about.”

“Alright.”

Following Epitrina’s invitation, I sat in the prepared seat. A teapot materialized in mid-air, and teacups appeared on the table.

The spout of the teapot tilted over the teacup, filling it with a steaming light brown liquid.

“Drink it. It was your favorite in your past life.”

“What?”

Wait. Is she saying this light brown liquid is instant coffee mix?

“What’s wrong? Don’t believe me?”

“No, that’s not it.”

I picked up the teacup containing the light brown liquid and brought it to my lips.

In the process, I briefly smelled the liquid in the cup…

‘This really smells like instant coffee mix!’

The taste that I had practically lived on in my past life filled my mouth.

The sweet yet slightly bitter taste of instant coffee mix.

It was the nostalgic taste of home that I hadn’t experienced once since coming to this world.

“It’s a nostalgic flavor.”

“Isn’t it? I thought you might like it, so I prepared it.”

Having instant coffee after so long made me think of home.

I always used to drink instant coffee after finishing lunch.

Back then, I was desperately struggling just to survive.

“Do you want to go back?”

“Where?”

Could she be asking if I want to return to Earth?

“Your home, Earth, I mean.”

“I’m not sure.”

Perhaps because I had lived such a difficult life there, I didn’t have a strong desire to return.

“I don’t have any intention of doing so right now, though maybe after my time in this world ends.”

Regina.

Cheonhyeryeong.

Eterna.

Karen.

Elena.

Mina.

Emelda.

Aisen.

In this world, I have eight people I’m responsible for.

Why would I go back to the world I used to live in, leaving them behind?

“Is that so? So you’re saying you’re not completely against the idea of returning to your previous world?”

“I’m not completely against it, but I have no intention of doing so at least until I’ve lived out my lifespan given to me in this land.”

I emphasized the condition of my time in this land twice to Epitrina.

“Good. So after you’ve spent all the time given to you in this land, you might consider going back to Earth?”

“Um… I guess so?”

“Good. Then let’s talk about that when your lifespan comes to an end.”

“Is that why you called me here?”

Seriously, did she call me here just for this?

“Of course not. That was just a question to satisfy my minor curiosity. The real conversation starts now.”

Epitrina took a sip of tea and looked at me.

“How do you feel about achieving so much in less than five years since coming to this world?”

“How I feel…”

How I feel? I just desperately struggled to live a comfortable life and ended up here.

“I guess I just feel like I’ve lived quite diligently.”

“That’s more ordinary than I expected.”

“What else is there to say?”

Thanks to my cheat-like ability to fix everything, I was able to get here comfortably.

Still, I had to run around on my own two feet.

My power was needed to solve problems, and ultimately, I had to go directly to where all the problems were to resolve them.

That’s why I can sit here now, talking with Epitrina.

“It’s strange. I told you about your past life, but you had no reaction to that part.”

“The past life is the past life, and now is now.”

Even if I was a hero in this world in my past life, how does that affect me now?

It doesn’t.

If I had been waving a holy sword around claiming, “I am the reincarnation of the hero!” I would have died long ago.

Well, I did die once at the hands of those demon cult bastards and came back to life, but still.

“Come to think of it, I’ve already died once and come back to life, so what happens to my lifespan?”

“Hmm, when you reincarnated into this world, your life expectancy was about 70 years?”

70 years… that’s just right. In a fantasy world, living to 70 is considered long-lived.

“Then how long is it now?”

“You’ve gained a completely pure new body without impurities, and you’ve mastered the Heavenly Demon Divine Technique, so I’d say you’ll live at least 200-300 years.”

“Eh?”

200 to 300 years? That seems much longer than I thought.

“You don’t mean I’ll age into an old man and live to 300, do you?”

“Of course not. Just look at your wives, Regina and Cheonhyeryeong—if you only count their age, they’re already old enough to have grandchildren and more.”

Oh, now that I think about it, that’s true.

Regina is at least over 100 years old, and Cheonhyeryeong is several decades older than me.

Yet both of them look like they’re in their late twenties to early thirties.

Judging by appearance alone, you’d never guess they were old enough to be grandmothers.

So, I’ll be like that too?

“You’ll probably maintain this appearance, then take on a middle-aged appearance before your lifespan ends and you return to dust.”

Middle-aged is fine. It’s better than not aging at all.

“What I want to say is this: your life and theirs are not infinite.”

Life is not infinite.

The moment I heard those words, I realized something I hadn’t known until now.

‘My time with them is finite.’

Both I and they live finite lives.

Yet how long will I continue to act as if time is infinite?

“So, focus all your energy on loving them with all your might in every moment you live. That’s what makes you the apostle and saint I chose, isn’t it?”

“That’s… right.”

Reflecting on Epitrina’s words, I wondered if I had been acting too much like a coward, always backing away.

Even though I married Karen, I used the excuse of being busy to avoid having relations with her for over half a year.

Why did I do that?

Partly because I’m a virgin, but more than anything, I was afraid.

I kept putting things off, using the excuse that there was plenty of time.

What was I afraid of? That they might be disappointed in me?

Perhaps I was thinking, “What if I can’t satisfy all of them?”

“Your mindset seems to have changed.”

“It has to change. Because time is not infinite.”

There’s nothing threatening my life anymore. As long as I don’t mess up, I can support them all with my abilities.

So why have I been living like a coward until now?

In this not-so-long time, I should focus on spending happy moments with them.

That should be my mindset now.

“Thank you, Epitrina.”

“No need to thank me. I just did it because you seemed to be hesitating too much.”

“Gratitude is gratitude.”

Thanks to the ability Epitrina gave me, I was able to come this far.

In that sense, Epitrina is probably the greatest benefactor in my life.

“Now, it’s time for you to go back. After this time, I will never call you to this place again.”

“Oh, then if I have something to say…”

“Shh.”

Epitrina raised her finger and gently pressed it against my lips.

“I have many things I want to talk about with you too, but you can’t rely on me forever, can you?”

Since I couldn’t answer, I nodded.

“I’ll listen to what you have to say, and your story, when you return to me after your lifespan ends. So, try to color your life on earth with various colors.”

As she pushed me with her finger, I felt as if something with a strong suction was pulling me in.

“Go now! When we meet next time, I hope you’ll have lots of stories to tell me about that world.”

“W-wait a moment!”

I tried to reach out to Epitrina, but the meadow had already disappeared and…

“Clouds?”

Pure white clouds were greeting me.

Looking down, I could see the sea in the distance, along with a cottage and a sandy beach.

“I’m… falling.”

Only then did I realize I was falling from the sky.

“Help!”

I shouted for help in case someone might hear, but sadly, no one seemed to.

Come on, if you’re going to drop me, at least drop me somewhere safe!

I could see the sandy beach getting closer and closer. Is there really no one around?

“Found you.”

Just then, I heard a voice like a ray of light that could save me.

“My ears can always hear my husband’s voice.”

Then someone caught me and stopped in mid-air.

“For a Heavenly Demon, walking on the sky is an easy feat.”

Cheonhyeryeong was looking at me with a bright smile.

And so, I was narrowly rescued by Cheonhyeryeong before falling to my death.