episode_0044

“Are we friends now?”

I asked, and she responded sharply, still a bit wary.

“Heh. Just because you say so doesn’t mean we’re friends. If I can benefit from your goodwill, then think whatever you want.”

Although she didn’t seem completely open to me yet, we had become quite close, allowing me to ask her the question that had been on my mind.

“So why are you here alone? It doesn’t seem like a place where people live.”

“Do you think I want to be here? I’m not here because I want to be, I’m here because I’m trapped.”

“Trapped?”

“Yes.”

Trapped? It finally made sense to me why she was in this dilapidated building.

After all, no one would choose to live in a crumbling house like this.

So why?

I knew she had a complicated backstory, but I could now guess that it was even more complex than I had thought.

“No, it’s you. If you’ve come this far, you must know. The presence of Jin surrounding this area.”

Come to think of it, I remembered her mentioning Jin when she attacked me during our first meeting.

I didn’t know what Jin was, but I had to ask.

“What exactly is Jin?”

“Do you really not know what Jin is? It refers to the mountain that harbors a mysterious aura surrounding this area. Unless you’re a skilled practitioner or designer who can break through Jin, you can’t climb up or down the mountain.”

“I see…”

As I observed her expression, she spoke again.

“You really don’t know what Jin is. How peculiar. Then how did you end up here? I thought you were one of the sect’s lackeys, freely roaming around here.”

“No, I…”

Before I could deny it, she interrupted me.

“You did. I don’t see you as one of their lackeys now… If you were, you wouldn’t be trying to save me.”

Thankfully, she didn’t misunderstand me.

“If you were really one of the sect’s lackeys, you wouldn’t have approached me so carelessly.”

I felt a bit embarrassed, but I still had more questions.

“So why are you trapped here?”

She sighed heavily before explaining her situation.

“I was betrayed by those I thought were my allies. After a fierce battle with the demon that caused chaos in the martial arts world, I managed to defeat him. But right after that, exhausted, they attacked me, sealed my powers, and left me here to die. You must have heard the rumors about me hiding here after the battle with the demon.”

I had never heard such rumors before.

Well, I wasn’t exactly from this world.

“Ridiculous. I’ve heard people passing by talk about it. Some even said I left my mark here on the mountain.”

I understood that part.

But…

“Why didn’t your former allies kill you?”

“I don’t know either. Maybe they still had a shred of conscience as part of the so-called sect. And with the destruction of the seal, there was no need for them to kill me. And if it weren’t for you, I might have died sooner…”

She averted her gaze slightly, but her voice couldn’t hide the underlying gloominess.

“Alright, have all your questions been answered? What a pitiful role. Betrayed by those you trusted and pouring out your story to a man whose identity you don’t even know by my side. I vowed to never trust anyone again and to stand up for myself, but here I am again. Your seemingly indifferent yet meticulous kindness has softened me once more. Truly, I am a disgustingly weak woman.”

“….I don’t really think that way.”

She said it as if in self-pity, but she didn’t really think that way.

Anyone would lose their mind after experiencing such things. Even I wouldn’t have been able to keep my sanity.

I pondered her words for a moment and then asked about the thing that concerned me the most.

“By the way, how do you eat then?”

“Eat? You mean meals? Can you see any signs of domestic life here? I just wake up at dawn, drink dew, dig up roots, and survive.”

And I was shocked by her words.

What? Drinking dew and eating roots in the morning?

So, she lives like she’s in a comprehensive hospital, carrying various diseases….!

Even Alia, an elf who is nature-friendly and mainly eats a vegetarian diet, would be horrified by such a diet.

Honestly, the more I listened to her, the more pitiful and heartbreaking she seemed. If I had known she was living like that, I would have asked sooner.

If I had known, I would have invited her to my world long ago and treated her to a meal.

I asked her what she would do if she could leave this mountain.

“Um…. if there was a way to leave this mountain, what would you do?”

“Huh…. Do you really think I can’t leave this mountain and that’s why I’m not leaving? If it were me, I could push myself a little and dig a path out of this mountain after taking the medicine you gave me and recovering somewhat. But this mountain is the last mercy of my former comrades. If I leave this mountain, they will know. To get revenge on them….”

“If there was a place where they would never find out?”

“What. Do you think such a good place exists….”

Because it does.

.

.

.

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– Matching time has ended. Returning to the original world.

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That’s how I chatted with her a bit more and was able to return to my original world.

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– expresses (★★★☆☆) satisfaction with your meeting.

– 75 points credited to app user Lee Soo-hyun.

– The interdimensional blind date app is dedicated to helping users establish perfect ideal types with all their matching partners.

Please have good relationships with more people.

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Upon returning to the original world, I checked the notification that her satisfaction score had increased by 1 point and that I had five more chances.

Without thinking further, I called her to my world.

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– Summoning the former world’s greatest, Juhwaryeon (C(S)), to Earth.

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And there she appeared in front of me with a frown on her face.

She said, “Why do you keep disappearing in front of me like that?”

“By the way, where are we….”

And then, looking around at the changed surroundings, she said, “….Who are you really? Are you a god or something? No, if you were a god….”

I pushed the hastily prepared meal towards her and said, “Let’s eat first.”

She paused for a moment, as if frozen in place, and focused on the table, saying, “….I won’t refuse.”

Do as you please.

.

.

.

“Um, ah, hoo, ahem…. um.”

“….Is it delicious?”

“Hmm, this is delicious. This one is tasty, and that one too. Why didn’t I appreciate the simple pleasures like this before…”

She suddenly stopped bringing the spoon to her mouth as if possessed, tears welling up in her eyes.

“What did I do wrong to deserve this? I’ve just been trying my best to live, so what did I do wrong?”

Oh, it seemed like her pent-up sorrow was finally bursting out.

Despite enduring such a harsh ordeal, she had persevered with a fierce determination to seek revenge.

But now, in a more relaxed environment, her tension seemed to melt away as she relaxed.

She glared with vengeance in her eyes, sharpening her resolve.

“I will have my revenge. Yes, those who made me like this… I will make them pay a fair price.”

However, even such resolute words did not match the act of eating, making her seem completely devoid of any form.

Where had the formidable aura that had overwhelmed me when I first saw her gone? As she put the spoon in her mouth and reached for the next side dish, the woman possessed by a strange spirit was the only one present.

I found myself refilling the empty side dishes and asked, “Would you like more?”

“Yes, is there more?!”

“Yes, there’s plenty, so take your time.”

“Alright, I’ll eat slowly, so bring me more. No, bring it all.”

Wait, who is this woman?

As she focused on eating and forgot to ask where she was, I realized that even the most skilled individuals could not escape hunger and the reality of having nothing in front of them.