episode_0021

21. Empathizing with Her.

Yohan felt his head go blank. For a moment, the strength drained from his calves.

‘This… crazy woman?’

In fact, it was a good thing for him. Yohan was secretly hoping she would kill herself.

Maximum growth, acquisition of vast information. Continuous regression is essential for this.

But he couldn’t agree rashly.

‘Don’t show her too much that I like it. Let’s deny it for now.’

“Regression… I am aware of it. But I am against it.”

“Why?”

“Don’t you, Ms. Sara, feel pain? And you never know. There might be a limit to the number of times.”

“……”

Sara quietly shut her mouth. Did the persuasion work? It shouldn’t have.

But the die is already cast. Rather than stopping halfway, let’s talk until the end.

“If possible, let’s save the regression. I’ve been thinking about it carefully, and isn’t it a superpower that was suddenly given to you one day? It could suddenly disappear one day.”

“Hmm……”

As he spoke, Yohan felt like he was being persuaded by his own words. There was a possibility in its own way.

What if the regression ability given to her suddenly disappeared? Life has many variables, and it is not easy for humans to predict them.

Yohan reflexively broke out in a cold sweat.

‘Dangerous. I was unknowingly thinking that her regression was unlimited. It’s too much of a convenient thought.’

At that moment, Sara said briefly.

“I understand. It makes sense in its own way. Actually, I too……”

“Actually?”

A faint blush rose on her face.

“……It’s nothing. Let’s stop now and go.”

Yohan was suspicious for a moment, but nodded, thinking that was probably the case.

“Yes. I will provide cover.”

She took the lead, and Yohan followed behind. Little by little, they began to leave Marim.

***

It wasn’t long before they escaped the dense forest area, and soon the outer wall of the city came into view.

Sara took her eyes off the outer wall and looked back. So secretly that Yohan wouldn’t notice.

He was vigilantly surveying his surroundings with a calm expression. His eyes were constantly moving.

‘I didn’t expect him to say that.’

She recalled the conversation from earlier. When she said she was going to kill herself, Yohan stopped her with a plausible excuse.

He was the first to tell her about regression like that. In the first place, he was the first person to even recognize the concept.

‘I’ve never thought about that before, he’s smart after all.’

The way he talks and all, it seems like he studied a bit in society. But it could just be that he’s naturally smart.

Sara’s lips curled up without her even realizing it. In fact, she doesn’t like regression itself. It was natural. The same scenery, the expressions of people who look exactly alike, the same place…… and so on.

The sense of alienation that arose in between was disgusting, and it gnawed at her little by little.

And above all……

‘I don’t want to regress. What if Yohan doesn’t remember me?’

Just thinking about it gave her goosebumps. That’s how huge Yohan’s presence was to her.

‘Okay. Let’s refrain from regressing as much as possible. Later, when Yohan’s characteristic gets stronger and he can remember everything, then we’ll actively use it.’

If Yohan’s characteristic was telepathy instead of perfect recall, she would have confessed her secret to him right away. That she actually remembers everything.

‘But it’s a bit of a shame that I can’t learn all the skills. I was going to keep using regression to get everything I could get on the first floor.’

She kept those words, which Yohan would have loved to hear, to herself.

“Stop! Stop! Hands up! What’s your business!”

Before they knew it, Yohan and Sara had arrived at the outer wall.

It was the moment when today’s work was coming to an end.

***

Unfortunately, they couldn’t take a break right away. There was still work to be done.

Buy skills with the gold from selling the skeleton’s by-products and the strong men’s equipment, and equip new weapons. Steadily upgrading your stats is not an option, but a necessity.

Squeak.

The sound coming from the old hinges is now almost endearing. The landlady with a huge build catches your eye.

“Shall I give you the best-selling one?”

“Yes. Please.”

“Okay.”

He places his order familiarly and sits down. Yohan glanced at Sara.

‘She looks strangely happy. What is it?’

She probably thinks Yohan didn’t notice, but Yohan was recognizing it too easily.

He was just pretending not to notice in case she felt awkward.

‘She keeps looking back and grinning. I don’t understand at all.’

Well, she’s always had a strange mental world. Yohan decided to roughly ignore it and bring up the main point.

“Isn’t it already the 5th day tomorrow?”

She paused for about 3 seconds at Yohan’s words before answering. She somehow looked like her mind was in another country.

“……Yes. That’s right.”

“It’s about time something happened. The modern people who go out hunting have gradually stabilized.”

As he said, the location of modern people in the city was now largely divided into two categories.

First. Those who have found employment by utilizing the characteristics of their jobs or the abilities they had in reality.

Second……

‘Those who go out hunting like us. The ratio is about 6 to 4?’

The number of people heading to Marim was quite high. 40% is a pretty big number.

It seems to be due to the influence of the tutorial. It made them realize that if they stay still, they will be taken advantage of.

‘But half of them died as a result.’

“The area near the entrance of Marim is gradually becoming saturated. How about going further inside?”

“Also, to investigate the 1st floor?”

“Yes. The amount of karma acquired is also decreasing, and hunting spots are overlapping.”

Fights occasionally broke out. That evil hand didn’t reach Yohan and Sara, but it was touch-and-go.

“Let’s go efficiently. Let’s extract as much karma as possible from the depths.”

She was silent for a moment. Her neat eyebrows came together. She must be thinking.

“Okay. Today’s harvest was pretty big too, so it’s definitely possible.”

“I understand.”

After that, they only had a brief conversation. The two ended their meal and went to their respective rooms.

A bed that is so terrible that it’s embarrassing to compare it to the modern era. He roughly lay down and summoned the status window.

Soon, the familiar blue hologram appeared, and it seemed like it had been a while since he had seen it.

———————–

[Name – Shin Yohan]

[Age – 20]

[Disposition – Cold-hearted Egoist]

[Job – Magician]

[Stats]

[Strength – 15]

[Sense – 15]

[Durability – 15]

[Stamina – 15]

[Mana – 16]

[Characteristic]

[Perfect Recall Ability]

[Skills]

Magic Missile. Lv 2

Shield. Lv 1

Dig. Lv 1

Fire Arrow. Lv1

[Karma – 1]

[Gold – 3211]

———————–

‘Oh……’

Yohan felt proud without realizing it. Of course, he was remembering it in his head, but the feeling was different from seeing it directly.

He killed the invaders and also caught skeletons in the relatively deep Marim.

The karma earned from that was enormous.

What is Yohan’s current level of power? If we just look at the simple numbers……

‘The top players in each tutorial. A little short or similar.’

It could even be lower than Yohan. The delinquent in the tutorial might be a special case.

It was possible to take first place by catching about five of them. In fact, there would be quite a few situations like that.

‘On the other hand, there may be people who monopolized even more than that delinquent.’

Goosebumps rose like hives. This is not a game.

Just because you’re a beginner doesn’t mean the game company will support you. You’ll just be left behind.

‘The early spurt is important. I have to work harder.’

The bigger the initial snowball, the more snowflakes you can gather.

On the other hand, a weak snowball will continue to roll its shabby body.

The gap will widen more and more, and latecomers will be overwhelmingly disadvantaged.

‘Tsk. Let’s just sleep. Nothing will change if I think about it now.’

Yohan gently closed his eyes and tossed and turned. Instinctively looking for a comfortable place to sleep.

“……”

And so, the eventful day comes to an end.

***

The next day.

Early dawn when even the sunlight is not properly visible yet. What wakes Yohan up is not simple noise or light.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeh!

A violent siren sound. Yohan was startled and opened his eyes.

“What, what!”

He forcibly lifted his stiff eyelids and headed for the window. At that moment, a thunderous voice echoed throughout the city.

[All residents within the territory!!! Equip yourselves!!!!]

A reverberation that seemed to tug at his ears.

‘What on earth is this……’

Yohan could instinctively tell. That his plan had been completely ruined.

The residents were not specifically told anything. In other words, it’s a sudden event.