Ch.410405 – Age Verification

“Actually…”

Once spoken, words can’t be taken back.

I pressed my lips tightly shut like a firmly closed clam.

Unconsciously, I rubbed my lips and carefully observed Saet-byeol’s reaction.

“Actually what?”

Saet-byeol tilted her head curiously.

My hands gripped the blanket tightly.

‘Why did I have to bring this up…’

Because I wanted Adella to know about my past life?

Revealing my past life has only ever left me with wounds.

[You were a man in your past life? Hahaha, then you must know how to satisfy men!]

[You might be under dark magic. We should go to the Papal State for purification…]

Whether someone affirms or denies my past life, I can’t see a future better than what I have now.

For that brief moment of relief from sharing a secret, I’m about to destroy the relationship I’ve carefully built.

How foolish.

A few blinks of time passed.

I hoped Professor Cheon would burst through the door, but unfortunately, he was absent.

While I was hesitating, Saet-byeol came and sat beside me.

“Are you trying to brush it off again like before…?”

Her curious eyes, with vertically slit pupils, watched me intently.

I placed my hand on her flushed cheek.

It was hot. I could feel the hot blood flowing beneath her skin through my palm.

A person. A living person. Cheon Saet-byeol is a person who thinks, dreams, and has emotions.

She impulsively confessed her first love and was still embarrassed about it.

She’ll probably be kicking herself under the covers tonight.

Personally, it might be disadvantageous to me.

Yet why did she share her secret with me?

Because we’re close. That’s all there was to it.

When I sealed Jealousy’s Corrosion, I once arrogantly asked Hiasen:

[Hiasen, I’m curious about something. Why have you never been jealous of me? I was better than you at swordsmanship, magic, everything.]

His answer was simple.

[Because you’re mine.]

[Huh?]

[…Right, because we’re family. We’re in the same circle, so what’s there to be jealous of?]

Now I understand what he meant.

What’s the point of calculating gains and losses between family members?

Looking back, that boy who was mature beyond his years truly deserves admiration.

I smiled gently and said:

“Actually, that was me.”

“Huh? What do you mean…?”

“Saet-byeol, you’re free to believe me or not, but unlike others, I remember my past life. I don’t know why I’m like this. But I just want you to know that the woman who brought you out of the game wasn’t fake.”

Adella’s eyelashes curled upward as she blinked in apparent bewilderment.

Unable to describe this ticklish feeling at the nape of my neck,

I impulsively pressed my lips against Adella’s forehead as she stared blankly.

It was a clumsy, awkward kiss that made my philtrum tingle.

“I’ll tell you on that person’s behalf. Thank you for liking me.”

* * *

Third period, Korean language class.

Cheon Saet-byeol lay on her desk, staring blankly at the bare branches and patches of blue sky between them.

The literature lesson unfolding in Guryong High School’s first-year class 2 didn’t register in her ears.

[Actually, that was me.]

NoName, whose cold had worsened, went back to bed after saying those words.

Actually, some heart-fluttering things happened in between, but Cheon Saet-byeol deliberately chose to ignore them.

‘Past life? Does such a thing really exist?’

This was merely a trivial matter compared to the fact that Name was a reincarnator.

The Korean teacher, noticing Saet-byeol’s drool dripping onto her desk, called her name.

“Saet-byeol, no matter how sleepy you are, you need to stay focused. Can you explain the two desires of escapism?”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

“Cawelti’s theory. We learned it last time. What desires does escapism stem from?”

“Um… The desire to escape from monotonous real life into a world of intense experiences, and the desire to escape from anxiety, pressure, and restlessness in daily life.”

“Ooooh!”

The students of class 1-2 collectively applauded and cheered.

Saet-byeol shyly made a V-sign and scratched her head.

She was an exemplary student who had improved from an average grade of 7 in the first semester to 3 in the second semester.

Perhaps that’s why the Korean teacher couldn’t stay mad at Cheon Saet-byeol, who had become synonymous with diligence.

“If you’re too sleepy, do you want to go wash your face in the bathroom?”

“No! I should listen carefully to every word you say!”

“Alright, Saet-byeol, but wipe your drool before speaking.”

“Hahaha!”

Saet-byeol belatedly opened her textbook.

As luck would have it, today’s lesson was about reincarnation tales.

She bit her fingernail and frowned deeply.

‘If Name is a reincarnator, it actually explains everything perfectly.’

The 7-circle magic that doesn’t exist on Earth, the abnormal understanding and knowledge for a child—everything.

NoName as a human being was more mysterious than Adella’s existence.

For the rest of the class, Cheon Saet-byeol recalled Name’s speech patterns and attitudes one by one.

Every scene felt off somehow.

[Have I ever steered you wrong? I’ll save you and this world. Just trust me no matter what happens.]

[That’s why I told you to keep calling me unnie. What kind of sister would abandon her sibling?]

[You should be grateful to me for the rest of your life.]

[If you say that even as a joke, I might kill you. Got it?]

It wasn’t a matter of intelligence.

Cheon Saet-byeol imagined overlapping the voice with the silhouette of the blonde woman.

‘Somehow it fits perfectly.’

It matched the image of a kind, authoritative, and responsible woman.

The mystery deepened.

Lunchtime arrived.

Cheon Saet-byeol zombie-walked to the cafeteria, swept up in the crowd of students.

Noticing Saet-byeol’s malfunctioning behavior, a classmate asked:

“Got something on your mind? You look like a cat whose owner forgot to feed it.”

Stirring the murky beef soup with her spoon, Saet-byeol replied:

“Yeah. What’s a good way to tell adults and minors apart?”

“W-what? Why do you need to know that?”

“I have my reasons. It’s a serious issue.”

“C-could it be a guy…?”

The friend’s timid question was drowned out by the cafeteria noise.

When Saet-byeol didn’t answer, her friend covered her mouth with a serious expression.

“Oh no! I think Cheon Saet-byeol has a boyfriend!”

Instantly, all eyes in the cafeteria turned to them.

“What? Saet-byeol?”

“Which bastard dared! I’ll kill him!”

“What’s going on? Who confessed? You didn’t confess to someone, did you, OneThousandNewStar? I’ll cry if you did!”

“What are you all talking about! It’s a woman! Just an acquaintance whose age I’m not sure about…!”

While the girls were expressing disappointment, the boys secretly sighed in relief.

“Someone you met in a game and don’t know their age? Just ask them directly!”

“They say they’re older than me, but I can’t really believe it… Any good questions? Someone give me ideas quickly.”

And so began a chaotic discussion.

“Hmm… how about asking them to make a drinking gesture?”

“If they’re a high school student too, it’s normal not to know. Not everyone drinks and smokes like you.”

“For real. What high schooler these days doesn’t drink or smoke?”

“Ask what lip tint or cushion they use. If it’s Etude House, definitely middle school.”

“Nope, my younger sibling is a kid but already uses Dior, Chanel, YSL, stuff like that.”

“Isn’t that crazy?”

“Make a dad joke and see if they laugh? Definitely an adult if they do.”

“Kim Young-ji dies laughing at dad jokes though.”

“Red pill or blue pill?”

“What is this, a quiz show from hell?”

Cheon Saet-byeol sighed deeply at her unhelpful friends.

Her worries continued throughout the day.

* * *

“Why are you still so energetic?”

After supposedly catching my cold.

I said this to Saet-byeol, who was bouncing around perfectly fine.

“You say that like you want me to be sick?”

Maybe it’s because her body is based on my past life’s physique.

Her immunity was world-class.

Someone who could face plague patients directly without issues would find a rhinovirus trivial.

I wrapped myself tightly in a blanket and came to the living room.

I blew on the hot tea and moistened my lips with it.

“Hey, NoName.”

“My shoulders suddenly feel stiff.”

“Unnie, please.”

“Yes?”

“Unnie, have you ever drunk alcohol in your past life?”

Saet-byeol asked about my past life with fire in her eyes.

I slowly placed my cup on the saucer and tucked both legs into the blanket.

“Of course I have.”

“What’s your alcohol tolerance?”

“Tolerance… I’m not sure.”

“Tsk. Then what was your favorite drink? In your past life.”

“Wheat beer from the Black Bull tavern.”

“Are you making this up on the spot? It sounds suspicious.”

Saet-byeol shot me a suspicious look.

My perfect memory ability finally came in handy.

“Ask me anything. I can answer everything from A to Z.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, everything.”

My first five years of memories are a bit hazy, but everything after that is perfectly preserved.

“There must have been a country where you lived in your past life.”

“The Kaizen Empire.”

“Right. Did it have any special culture? Something that doesn’t exist in modern Earth.”

“There were burning ceremonies at Acropolis Square once every fortnight. In an era with few entertainments, commoners would come with their families to watch.”

The empire used burning ceremonies as a kind of show to appease public anger.

Since it takes longer than expected for a person to die by burning, prisoners were given narcotic painkillers and poison before the ceremony.

So the prisoners’ writhing rarely lasted more than 30 seconds.

Herbs were burned along with the bodies to neutralize the rancid smell of burning flesh, but I’m not sure if it worked.

From what I smelled, it was just diversely disgusting.

After hearing my detailed and perfect description, Cheon Saet-byeol was shocked.

The remote control she was holding fell to the floor.

“N-no, not that kind of thing! I meant like music or art! That’s so cruel!”

“I did learn Sylphide from Viscountess Laviere, who taught etiquette. It’s a dance similar to ballet.”

“Can you show me?”

“Here?”

“Yes.”

I’m dying from this cold and she’s asking for this.

“Clap in 3/4 time. Like boom-clap-clap, boom-clap-clap.”

“Are you really going to do this…?”

Saet-byeol began clapping with a doubtful look.

I listened to the monotonous rhythm and lightly lifted one leg.

Throwing off my blanket “dress,” I maximized the sensation in my toes.

Soon my body flowed naturally like a stream, following the rhythm.

I expressed emotions through dance in the waves of the beat.

From my fingertips to my toes, each part of my body completed a moving picture.

I filled the space with harmonious curves like swan wings and straight lines like crane legs.

Finally, I did a split leap and landed softly on the floor.

After all, it’s just a medieval dance.

It’s neither as sophisticated as modern dance nor aesthetically complete.

“This is what the dance is like. Don’t look at me weird.”

Saet-byeol smiled warmly while simultaneously frowning deeply.

I have no idea what emotion that is.

“Our Name unnie isn’t the type to dance like this…”

“I really didn’t want to do it either.”

“Okay, this is really, really, truly the last question.”

“Sigh, what is it?”

Saet-byeol carefully moved behind me.

She gently pushed my hair aside and brought her lips close to my ear.

I heard her swallowing once, then again.

Hearing her embarrassed question, my eyes widened more than I thought possible.

“Have you had your period? What does it feel like?”

My heart sank.

‘How old am I supposed to be again…?’

Thinking about the deadline that was only a few years away, anxiety and tension washed over me, making me dizzy.

This one thing is absolutely sincere.

“It’s fucking awful, I seriously want to rip out my uterus.”

Cheon Saet-byeol flopped face-down on the floor.

She slowly gave me a thumbs up.

“What 9-year-old talks like that! Unnie, I totally get it!”

Is this how adult verification works…?