episode_0056

Currently, I was in Hyeji’s room.

Originally he was in the guest room, but Hyeji came over because she had something important to talk about.

[Why do you think I called you?]

‘Well, I don’t know either.’

So I was kneeling on the floor in front of Hyeji.

Because Hyeji’s appearance a little while ago was so intense, I acted according to my instincts and this is the result now.

Hyeji told me to sit comfortably.

“Shinwoo, sit comfortably.”

“I like this.”

“You can’t be comfortable on your knees. Sit comfortably.”

“No, I’m really comfortable with this.”

I was really comfortable.

There is nothing inconvenient at all.

However, Hyeji was worried about me and tried to persuade me a little.

– Bam!

“It looks a little more comfortable now.”

“……Thank you.”

‘It’s comfortable.’

[……My legs won’t move.]

I was moved by Hyeji’s persuasion and sat down quietly.

My legs feel like they’re shaking, but it’s probably an optical illusion.

When Hyeji saw me sitting down, she brought a small table and sat down across from me.

Another face-to-face encounter.

Maybe that’s why a little awkwardness started to creep in.

‘It’s awkward because it’s not even my room.’

[Aren’t you feeling nervous?]

‘My heart is pounding. My heart rate is increasing because of the fear.’

The one who broke the silence was Hyeji.

Hyeji took a few deep breaths and then opened her mouth.

“Shinwoo, tell me honestly.”

“Okay. Instead, you do that too.”

Another silence.

But this time it didn’t last long.

“Shinwoo, do you know what regression is?”

“Are you talking about returning to the past from the future with only that memory?”

“Right. Then.”

Hyeji hesitated for a moment.

That was for a while.

Hyeji, who finally speaks out her purpose.

“Are you able to regress?”

“No.”

“Oh, really?”

“Instead.”

“Instead?”

[Are you going to tell everything?]

‘No, just some.’

It would be quite dangerous to even bring up the word regression, but Hyeji is talking about it because she trusted me.

I, too, decided to live up to Hyeji’s faith.

“I know who is regressing.”

“Huh?”

“And Hyeji. Just know that you can regress too.”

“…Really?”

Hyeji gives me a suspicious look.

Then, Hyeji, who sensed something odd in what I said, spoke to me urgently.

“Wait a minute? ‘You too?’ What do you mean?”

“That’s literally true. It means that everyone else can regress, not just you.”

“Don’t lie.”

“If you don’t want to believe it, don’t believe it. I’m just telling you the truth.”

“…I thought I was the only one who was special.”

Hyeji looked quite gloomy.

It seems like he thought it was his own special privilege.

“Even the beef we fought last time regressed. What a piece of shit.”

“….I see. That’s why you said that back then.”

Only then did Hyeji begin to understand what I was saying.

But Hyeji’s gloominess grew worse.

That’s probably because they knew that not only people but even monsters regress.

He said all sorts of things to comfort Hyeji, who was becoming increasingly depressed in real time.

“Still, among the people around me, except for you, there is no one who can regress often.”

“……How do you know?”

“Just regress and a mark will appear. You can tell by looking at it.”

“By any chance, Jeong A-yeon or Gwijaeng-nyeon?”

Hyeji immediately asks me to what extent I was aware of the two.

It would be difficult to explain in detail, so I decided to just explain briefly.

“Compared to you, Jeong Ah-yeon regresses less frequently, and Elsia seems to have only a few regresses.”

“Really? But the nobleman won.”

[How far into the future will we return?]

‘That’ll come later. Shock therapy should be administered in moderation.’

Hyeji expressed a small joy.

It seems like he feels better because he said he’s better than Elsia.

I didn’t have any intention of destroying that joy, so I just stayed quiet.

Before she knew it, Hyeji had a relieved expression on her face.

As if there were no more foolishness.

“So Shinwoo, you can’t even regress, so why did you fight so ignorantly?”

“……Your tics are a bit too much.”

“Anyway, let’s keep this our secret.”

But then I remembered.

It was clear that Jeong A-yeon was also there.

“Didn’t Jeong A-yeon hear it at that time too?”

“If you just gloss over it, you won’t be able to dig any further.”

“Yeah, well.”

That ended our conversation.

I had no more business in this room, so I decided to leave.

Because in the first place, it was a little embarrassing to stay in a girl’s room all the time.

Then Hyeji grabbed me and started showing me a picture.

“Shinwoo, do you want to see this?”

“What is it?”

That’s a picture of an adult woman holding a child.

Although their hair color was the same, bright red, there was a difference.

pupil.

The child held by the adult woman had golden eyes.

Meanwhile, an adult woman was looking at us from beyond the photo with eyes that sparkled like lapis lazuli.

Hyeji said, pointing at an adult female.

In a faint voice somewhere.

“My mom. I’m here.”

I nodded in response and began examining the photos closely.

A very young-looking figure. A single sword decorated with a red rose on his waist.

And the chest.

‘I didn’t inherit a single breast gene.’

[If you say that, you’ll die.]

It was different from Hyeji.

That’s a bit harsh too.

At that moment, Hyeji noticed my gaze and started speaking ominously.

” Hey, where do you have a fuck? ◦ ◦ ◦

“……I was looking at the picture. Seriously.”

Even though it was clearly an angle where she couldn’t see my gaze, Hyeji intuitively sensed my actions.

I still had a lot of regrets about life, so I denied them to some extent.

“So what?”

“You’re beautiful. You’re exactly like me.”

“……Yeah. They do look alike.”

Hyeji, who felt a pang for no reason, put her hand on her chest.

But that’s impossible.

Because you have to have a heart to raise your hand in order to raise it.

Eventually, the hand, which had nowhere to go, flailed around in the air and came back down.

[What on earth is with that chest?]

‘It’s nothing. It’s everything.’

Then, Hyeji suddenly came closer to me with a serious expression on her face.

Shaking hands and mouth. Rapid breathing. Shaking pupils.

You could tell right away that he was nervous.

But instead of moving away, Hyeji chose to come closer to me.

“Shinwoo. I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

At that moment, the numbers above Hyeji’s head started to rise and a shard of mirror appeared.

[Want to see?]

‘Not right now.’

Did you gain confidence through regression?

Hyeji’s trembling mouth finally began to open.

“I actually you-”

“Kids, have a snack.”

With perfect timing, Baekhong Kim burst in, swinging the door open.

Still, it seemed true that he was trying to deliver snacks, as there were delicious-looking cookies and a cold, steamy drink on the tray.

“I brought snacks in case you were hungry.”

“……Dad, put that down and come out.”

“……Hyeji? What did Dad do wrong this time?”

“Quickly.”

Kim Baek-hong was dragged away with a look of resignation on his face, bewildered.

As Hyeji moved away from me, the mirror shards naturally melted and disappeared.

The red number on top of Hyeji’s head is a bonus.

A sudden curiosity arose in me to look through other people’s rooms.

But the fact that the owner of that room is Hyeji.

The feeling of fear that arose from that fact ravenously consumed my curiosity.

I’m trying to shake off my discouraged feelings, grab a few snacks, and quietly head back to the guest room.

A small noise similar to that heard earlier was heard at the training ground.

“Fuck!! Are you really saying that your timing is so fucking perfect!!!”

“Hyeji!! I’m sorry!!”

‘It’s nice to see family members showing their love for each other.’

[Now that I look at it, it wasn’t such a bad scene.]

Once you get used to drugs, you no longer feel the stimulation of regular drugs.

Because the threshold for stimulation has increased.

We too, thanks to the great stimulation from earlier, have now taken it for granted.

***

I was on my way back home after eating dinner at Hyeji’s house.

Hyeji told him to sleep in the guest room.

‘I didn’t know you would fight so desperately.’

[I was more beastly than you.]

As if he wanted to show off his three-star general’s authority this time, Kim Baek-hong firmly stated that it was absolutely not possible.

His will was so strong that his eyes were bloodshot and his voice was so desperate that it sounded like he was spitting out blood.

In the end, I had no choice but to leave as if I was being kicked out right after dinner.

Just before closing the front door.

The last thing I saw was the figure of the little boy being dragged to the training room by Hyeji once again.

‘Still, we are really close as a family.’

[That’s right. Compared to your family, you really do have a lot of skinship.]

Since the distance to home wasn’t that far, I arrived quickly.

I tried to wash up quickly and go to sleep.

[……Your parents are truly amazing in so many ways.]

‘……How many younger siblings will I have when this piece ends?’

I couldn’t sleep because I kept hearing the sound of my little brother making noise in the bedroom.

Sleep is over.

Instead, I asked Peace something I had been curious about for a long time.

‘Peace, I told you that I can read other people’s regressions.’

[Yes. You can read others’ futures before their regression, but only for a short period of time.]

‘But why are there so many people who want to act exactly like they did before the regression?’

Something I’ve always wondered about.

In the novels I know, the regressors usually experience an accident that happens in the future and then regress.

And it is common to take action to deal with it.

Or, he may have made thorough preparations from the beginning to monopolize the future profits for himself.

There were even many cases where they killed someone without hesitation.

For a completely different future.

However, the regressors I met in person were a little different from the regressors in those novels.

Jeong Ah-yeon, who experienced a future where she won and returned, was convinced of the outcome.

A Chinese person who experienced a future where he overcame my attacks by memorizing them and followed suit.

Even the beef that tried to do the same thing over and over again, following the future before regression, even though it was blocked many times.

‘Rather, the last beef was more intense when I didn’t turn back and just rushed forward without thinking.’

[Do you feel anything when you see this?]

‘Well, it’s a bit different from what I’ve seen in the original work?’

[Haha. It’s definitely different from what you thought.]

Although he clearly couldn’t be seen, it seemed like Peace was putting his hand to his mouth and laughing.

As the laughter died down, Peace’s voice rang clearly in my head.

[You must keep this in mind.]

‘What kind?’

A moment of silence.

The voice of the following piece was clearer than before.

[Regression is by no means a panacea.]