episode_0127

42. The traitor’s name is (1)

After sending the people who were part of the reconnaissance team far away, we returned to the tent and sat down at the table.

Although they had expected it, they didn’t know that they would destroy the body so brutally, so they seemed quite shocked. Ji-sung oppa and Ji-ah unnie just sat at the table, staring into space and letting out a long breath.

Perhaps it was because they were reminded of the time and memories they had spent together, but their expressions were as dark as a dark night without moonlight.

As Hyunseok Oppa started cooking lunch to change the mood a bit, the rich and fragrant aroma tickled my nose and my mouth started watering.

Soon after, a sound began to spread, changing the heavy atmosphere.

When I heard someone’s stomach growling loudly, one by one, people burst into laughter and looked at me in the heavy atmosphere.

Embarrassingly, it was a sound coming from my stomach, so I just lowered my head and rested my forehead on the table and stayed still.

Then Yeonseo, who was sitting next to me, patted my back.

” Were you that hungry? ”

” Huzzmulgurg…. ”

” Phew, this is really funny. How did Hyunseok react right away when he started cooking? ”

I couldn’t even raise my flushed face, so I sat still. Then I heard the sound of plates clanking, so I raised my head.

” If you’re hungry, just tell me. Well, it’s already time, so I’ve prepared some things. ”

” Ugh… Oppa, don’t do that to me… ”

When I saw Hyunseok oppa talking with a sly smile, my heart started racing, but I was embarrassed that he heard my stomach growling, and I didn’t know what to do, when Ji-ah unnie grabbed my hand.

” Thank you, Charlotte. I’m glad you could send them. ”

” Yeah… ”

While eating, in order to avoid creating a heavy atmosphere again, Hyunseok oppa started talking about the food he made and things that happened in the past, and I asked Jisung oppa something that made me curious.

Of course, I’m not just asking because I’m curious. I want to hear the story about the culprit, directly from him.

” Oppa, can you tell me when you hurt your left arm? ”

” Uhm? That story? Why all of a sudden? ”

After finishing my food, I gave him a reasonable explanation as to why I was curious about that story.

” I want to hear a little more detail. You said you found the prototype potion before we even got the suspicious pill. I want to hear about the person you dealt with back then. ”

” Hmm, back then… Actually, back then, that evil aura in my left hand…? Oh, was it called a fragment of the divine? Anyway, when I was hit by it, my consciousness gradually faded away, so I don’t remember the details.

But I remember it to some extent before that. The guy I fought against was a guy who used ‘multiple abilities’. ”

” Multiple… abilities? ”

” To be exact, it’s called ‘an ability stolen from others’. It’s like stealing it and using it as your own ability. I don’t know the conditions, though. ”

” Oh, I see? Do you happen to know that person’s name? ”

” Name… Sorry, I don’t remember that. Oh! Now that I think about it, that guy… was a ‘returner’. ”

” A returnee… was it? If so… he must have used his abilities quite skillfully? ”

” That’s right. He was skilled at using abilities that weren’t his original abilities. Well, after that, he… defeated the guy, but you know the result, right? ”

My brother told me in detail what happened to him.

When he arrived, the returnee was already standing over the corpses of the others and as he entered the battle, he used several abilities.

It seems that using multiple abilities was a bit of a handicap, as he was subdued at a moment when he couldn’t use his abilities properly.

Even though it was subdued, the story was that they tore off at least the arms and legs.

After that, the story goes that someone wearing a robe appeared the moment he grabbed the vial containing the drug from the guy’s arms, and after that, his memory ended.

When my brother finished speaking, I could see how he had lived. He had run to the front lines for everyone.

I was grateful that you told me, but more than anything, I was grateful that you were alive until now.

” Thank you. ” I answered him with a smile.

” Haa, even thinking back on it, he really was a guy I didn’t want to deal with. He was so proud that he said he was some kind of god of a new world, the main character. He just talked nonsense. ”

” Haha… that’s quite a funny story. ”

Listening to the story of what Ji-sung oppa went through, I thought that he really did a good job of defeating a difficult opponent.

If he was a returnee, he would have a perfect understanding of his abilities and would have been able to use them skillfully. He was even using abilities other than his original abilities against an opponent.

But as I listened to the story, I felt like something was missing, so I thought about it slowly and a name came to mind.

” Oh, but Choi Young-wol? Are you close with him? ”

” Yeongwol? Yeah, we’re close. Because we were friends. You too… Oh, no. ”

” Huh? Me too? ”

” Oh, no. Just skip it. ”

Judging from my brother’s reaction… it seems like he was someone I knew before I lost my memories.

‘Honestly, when I returned, I didn’t remember anyone other than my family, so I guess there’s nothing I can do.’

” It’s okay. Were we friends? ”

” Huh? Huh. Right. We’ve been friends since we were kids. We lived next door. But why? ”

” Oh, when we met last time. When my brother got hurt and collapsed, you said you arrived late… or something…? ”

” Why? ”

My brother suddenly came closer to me, asking what was wrong as I stopped talking for a long time, but I didn’t even realize he was coming and was lost in the waves of questions that were floating around in my head.

The wave of doubt that swirls in my head is that ‘the story my brother told me’ and ‘the story Choi Young-wol told me’ are different.

‘Oppa clearly said… he fought against the returnee. And then he lost consciousness because of a man wearing a robe… But according to what Choi Young-wol said…’

” Hey, what’s wrong? All of a sudden? ”

I came to my senses and was about to open my mouth when my brother Ji-seong’s finger poked my cheek, but then I felt a warm hand touching my shoulder.

I turned my head slightly to look up and Hyunseok nodded. He too… seemed to have figured out the discrepancy in the story I had found out.

When I nodded slightly, Hyunseok oppa opened his mouth.

” Brother, actually, when we were at Seoul Station, that bird… Ahem, I heard the story from Choi Young-wol. ”

” Now, wait, what does that mean? Why are you hearing that story from Yeongwol? No, how…? ”

” That’s… he said he was there. ”

When he heard that, Ji-seong tilted his head slightly and started saying that it was nonsense.

” What are you talking about? Yeongwol couldn’t come to that place. ”

” What? ”

What did I just hear?

*****

” Now, wait a minute! What do you mean? That person couldn’t come to that place? ”

” As you said, Yeongwol had already gone to the opposite place for something else. So she couldn’t be where I was. ”

I was so shocked that I felt like I had been hit in the head so hard that I had a hard time believing what my brother was saying.

Choi Young-wol, if it wasn’t that person who saved my brother… who on earth?

” Then who the hell saved you, oppa? Huh? Unnie? Don’t you know anything, unnie? ”

” Sorry, I only heard that my brother collapsed. I didn’t hear that anyone brought him. ”

” When I opened my eyes, I was already back at the settlement. ”

I was standing there in surprise, and then I fell down on the chair with a thud.

A story that suddenly went awry. And new facts that were discovered.

‘Then who on earth brought my brother to the settlement? No one knows him? But how on earth do they know Choi Young-wol?’

It seemed like the puzzle was slowly being completed, but then it started to fall apart again.

But there is just one… completed puzzle.

If Ji-sung oppa’s story is correct, then he is the one who lied.

Because he is the ‘culprit’ who made the reconnaissance team like this.

” Phew, okay. Let’s skip the person who brought Oppa… Oppa, you said Choi Young-wol was your friend, right? ”

” I said we’re friends? How many times do I have to tell you… ”

” Then, why did that person… lie to us? ”

” Wait, what are you trying to say? ”

My brother’s expression turned serious, and he seemed to know what I was going to say.

But the answer contains the meaning of disbelief.

In that answer, I drive a wedge. A wedge that will crack and shatter faith.

” You still don’t know? No, you know but you still can’t believe it. Choi Young-wol, that person is the ‘culprit’ of this situation. ”

My brother stands up and hits the table with a ‘bang! ‘ sound.

” Hey, even so, that’s…! ”

” Brother, calm down. ”

” Really? Hey, you’re calling my friend the culprit… ”

” Honestly, you must have been suspicious right now, so you’re reacting like that, right? ”

” You… ”

She slowly grabbed Ji-seong’s hand and spoke to him as he sat down, suppressing his anger.

” I know you don’t want to believe it. You said we were close friends, right? ”

” That’s right, he was my only remaining… friend. ”

” But think about it carefully. I don’t think he lied. But, if you think about the story he told us, it was completely different. ”

” What’s different…? ”

After taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I looked at my brother calmly and opened my mouth.

It was a ‘different’ story from the start. Completely different from what my brother had told me.

” Choi Young-wol, that man told us this. When he arrived, his brother was fighting. And the opponent… wasn’t the returner that his brother mentioned, but a ‘hybrid’ between a human and a demon. ”

” Soul… what? Hybrid? ”

” Yeah, you’re saying that you’re a hybrid of a human and a demon who drank that potion. And you never said that you used multiple abilities. Not even once. ”

Seeing me speaking calmly and in a cool manner while holding his hand, Ji-sung began to close his eyes for a moment as if he was thinking about something.

My brother opened his eyes and asked me.

How was the story he told different from the story Choi Young-wol told?