episode_0065

Episode.65 Bond of melted snow

Time passes.

Time passed.

My body, which had been excessively affected by magical power due to the orc attack, should have broken long ago.

But luckily, he recovered quickly and was discharged from the hospital.

I guess I was lucky, but couldn’t I have been a little more greedy and completely cured my magical power deficiency?

Even on the day I was discharged, the girl with pure white hair who was occupying the hospital bed right in front of me and across from me, who seemed to have been hospitalized before me, was not discharged.

That’s all I remember.

Why…?

It felt like there was something lingering about me.

An unknown regret.

I’m not sure… but I felt like my intuition told me so.

Even though it was only for a short time, I thought it wouldn’t have been okay if we had become a little closer to each other.

Well, honestly…what happens to that girl is none of my business.

The road ahead of me is dark, but I have no loyalty to care about others.

There’s no way that girl is smarter than me, right?

**********

Time passes.

Time passed.

I was in the 3rd year of middle school.

A lot of things have happened since I entered middle school.

In their world, only the grades in the game served as a level of hierarchy in human relationships.

As time passes, things become meaningless…

Anyway, I had a really comfortable middle school life.

why? There is only one reason I think.

Simply because the tier in the game is higher than other kids.

More than half of the kids who approached me were talking about games.

Still, at that time, I thought gaming skills were everything.

When I think about it again, I sometimes think that it is the most useless skill in life unless you are a professional gamer or broadcaster.

As I was playing the game without worrying about anything, I even forgot that my lifespan was short.

I thought it would be easy to live a life like this without change.

But now it’s time to think about where to go to high school.

Every time the word graduation approached during my middle school life, I realized that the level of hierarchy in human relationships had changed.

Tier in the game.

It turned out to be the opposite.

Grades are calculated based on school grades.

During vacation, I never put the game offline even for a single moment.

The thought that those grades would now be divided into ranks throughout my high school life until I graduated from high school filled my head.

A pain I’ve never experienced before.

Stress like you’ve never experienced before.

A feeling of intense anxiety that I have never experienced before.

Something I never felt even when I was sentenced to life indefinitely.

A strong fear that I have never experienced.

They took over my body in an instant.

They made my hands shake.

Naturally, the game didn’t go well.

Has it reached the end of its lifespan?

Like the old batteries rolling around on the floor of my room.

– ‘How much longer must I walk on a sword?’

Will I be able to make new friends in high school when my usefulness has run out?

Although the game has been around for such a long time, it has never once stood at the top.

After entering high school, I play games any way I can.

And if that doesn’t work out…

We’ll have to find a new way.

I calmed down and looked for a high school that I could attend at my level.

In fact, unless my GPA was really high, the only schools left as options were there.

It was a blessing in disguise.

However, I didn’t like it.

I wanted to give something unique.

I didn’t want to go to the humanities high school that everyone else went to.

I know there isn’t much left.

Time to choose which high school to attend, and my life as well.

In that case, I thought that I would be able to experience a turning point in my life, a turning point in my life, at a specialized high school rather than a humanities high school, which was an extension of the activities I did in middle school.

I heard that Si-woo and Jun-seok also chose specialized high schools.

What a coincidence.

The moment I entered a specialized high school, I was prepared to be alone.

Will I be able to stand alone well?

Those worries… were borne by the friends next to me.

Although there have been difficult moments here and there, I dream of a bright high school life again with a mindset full of hope.

…

I dreamed of a shining high school life.

Neither the game nor my studies went well.

As the moment of death approaches, I remember the promise I made to Jun-seok.

The content was nothing special.

– ‘I’m the one who plays the game in Master, do I have to play 1v1 with Ten Thousand Years Bronze? At least go up to platinum.’

– ‘What does it mean to do it one-on-one? It’s okay, I won’t do it… If I go to platinum, will I get a reward?’

A promise that is not a light promise made in a trivial conversation.

That was it.

**********

“-This is the story so far.”

I listened to what Minseong said without saying a word.

I listened to it to the point where I thought I was in a daze.

“Well, a lot of my subjective thoughts went into it. This isn’t what’s important…”

“Since when… why have you been hiding the fact that you have a magical power deficiency? Why are you like that!”

I lay down waiting for the end of my life and grabbed Minseong’s human-looking arm and neck.

Minseong looked at me like that and snorted.

“It’s so stupid, don’t you still understand?”

He lightly pushes my hand away.

“What?”

“At first, it was just… I didn’t know we would become this close, so I just didn’t tell him… As the time we spent together increased and our bond deepened, did I miss the right moment to tell him that I was suffering from a lack of magical power? Maybe it was simply because I didn’t want to worry you… I don’t know anything anymore. It’s not important.”

“Well, like that…”

“Maybe I didn’t want others to see my sick side… Well, I guess this doesn’t matter either.”

I watched him looking out the window without saying a word.

“Even at the very end of my life… watching the snow fall with you is surprisingly special.”

“How much longer can I live in the future?”

I asked Minseong, trying my best to hide my trembling voice.

“How much longer do you think you will live?”

Minseong asked me back.

“… You can graduate, right?”

“It’s a shame, I wish that was the case too…”

I sighed.

“Then, are you able to live as a third year student?”

“… For me, my second year of high school is the end.”

I didn’t shed any tears.

I thought people shed tears when faced with truly hopeless situations.

But when the situation actually happened, not even a single tear fell.

“I’m going to drop out, Siwoo.”

“Why do you drop out?”

“Just. Because I want to go quietly. If you die while still belonging to the school… it won’t make a lot of noise for a while. It is enough for only you and no one other than my family to know about my death.”

“What about Junseok?”

“… Please keep it a secret. Just make an excuse by saying you dropped out and live a quiet life… or that you immigrated to another country.”

“You suddenly think that makes sense?!”

“Siwoo, there is one thing I can say to you… Our friendship will never end. So, don’t worry too much.”

Minseong paused for a moment.

“Because separation… is just a tutorial in the game for new encounters.”

“What is that…”

“Sorry, there isn’t much I can express in words. Who is familiar with this kind of situation…”

– Hook, hook.

The sound of wind is suddenly heard on the hospital broadcast.

– Now, for the safety of hospitalized patients, access to outsiders other than guardians who come to visit will be completely restricted.

And then there’s the announcement.

So much time has already passed.

I guess I’ve been listening to Minseong’s story for a long time.

I adjusted my bag to get out of the hospital room.

“I’ll go now. Bye… If I get a chance… See you next time.”

“… If there is a next time.”

I grabbed the doorknob to open the hospital room door.

“Hey, Minseong.”

“Why are you calling me? I have to go quickly.”

“Perhaps… if, really… if you could turn back ‘time’… what would you do?”

Last, voice.

Lastly, it was the best question to hear lingering regrets like a will.

“To be stupid until the end… If I could turn back time… Even if I could, nothing would change. I would make the same choice.”

But his answer seemed like a person with no regrets left.

There is no need to continue his will.

‘There’s no need to be considerate of me until the end.’

I knew right away that he didn’t leave a comment out of consideration for me because I was with Minseong for a long time.

“Okay, then… bye.”

I said a short goodbye, opened the hospital room door, and came out.

I felt empty, as if there was a hole in my heart.

Just like this, without thinking.

I trudge towards home.

I walked.

**********

This hospital room is quiet after Si-woo leaves.

I always felt comfortable with the silence that flowed when I was alone.

However, at this moment, I feel uncomfortable.

It feels empty and empty, but my heart is not refreshed and something feels frustrating.

“… Siwoo, he’s asking a strange question…”

I also talked to myself in a way that is not typical of me.

‘I can turn back time… la, heh, if only I could…’

Suddenly, something surges deep within my heart.

The regrets buried deep in my heart burst out.

I bit my lip tightly.

Unable to stop tears from flowing, secretions come out of both eyes.

“Sigh, haha… Yes, if I could turn back time… I wouldn’t have wasted time playing games or studying…”

Regret and regret flowed out of my mouth.

Because I didn’t let Siwoo know about this.

‘I’m so glad.’

There is absolutely no need to entrust your family or close friends with these useless regrets.

I look out the window.

There is a window frame there.

Of course.

I can see snow piled up on the window sill.

But those eyes.

The snow melted and became water.