202 – HGL 202

HGL 202

He didn’t know why, but there must be a reason for coming here secretly like this. Well, he wasn’t sure if it was really secretly… Student Ga-eul pursed her lips and nodded.

“I’ll tell my teacher and come out next period. It’s break time now…”

“Is that okay?”

“It’ll be fine if I make an excuse about the Bureau of Rift Management. Please wait a little bit.”

Eyes hidden under the shade smiled coolly. Eui-jae nodded slightly and raised his voice a little.

“Shall I put it in a carrier? It’ll be hard to carry since there are so many.”

“Yes!”

Friends beyond the fence shouted like screams. He took out a paper carrier that seemed to be used in cafes, skillfully folded and assembled it, and handed it over with the tteokbokki cups and wooden skewers. Ga-eul took the cup and bowed her head. Da-yeon grabbed the fence and shouted.

“Oppa, how long will you be here?”

“Huh? Me?”

Oh, Oppa? Does she even know who that is, right now! Just as Ga-eul was shocked by her friend’s casual address, Eui-jae pointed to himself with a puzzled face. Da-yeon nodded quickly. He rubbed the back of his neck and replied.

“I’m leaving soon.”

“No, you have to do business! I’ll spread the word like crazy. I have a lot of friends.”

“No, you don’t need to spread the word anymore. Many people have already come and gone.”

“Can I come again during lunch break?”

“You should eat school lunch during lunch break.”

“Tteokbokki looks more delicious than school lunch.”

“Eat what the nutritionist worked hard to make. Don’t eat things like tteokbokki.”

Eui-jae waved his hand as if telling her to go quickly. Ga-eul nodded, then passed the carrier over the fence first. And once again, she jumped over the fence.

Checking the time, it was almost the end of break time. Ga-eul urged her friends to return to the classroom. When she looked back for the last time, Eui-jae was getting out of the car and organizing the truck.

In the end, she had to eat the tteokbokki while running up the stairs two steps at a time, but the taste was…

“Hey, isn’t this crazy? It’s so freaking delicious.”

“……”

“Ah, damn it. I should have just asked for 10,000 won worth. Ah, I regret it.”

“I should have given up lunch and eaten this…”

“Will he still be there during lunch break? Ah, please.”

Why is it so delicious?

Is J a superhuman who is good at everything? Ga-eul chewed and swallowed the tteokbokki with a serious face. The tteokbokki made by J himself was the best tteokbokki she had ever eaten.

Ga-eul lowered her body and looked around. Fortunately, she seemed to be the only student skipping class and attempting to escape. Ga-eul jumped over the fence with a whoosh. The truck was closed, but the mouth-watering smell of tteokbokki remained. Now that she knew the taste, it was hard to resist.

Ga-eul squeezed her eyes shut, then knocked on the passenger seat door of the truck. A black cap popped out from behind the window. Eui-jae pulled down his mask to his chin and said with his mouth.

‘Get in.’

Ga-eul opened the truck door and got into the passenger seat. Eui-jae glanced at Ga-eul.

“What did you say?”

“I, I said that there was an urgent call from the Bureau of Rift Management, but I couldn’t tell you the details because it’s confidential. They let me leave early.”

“…Is it okay to do that? Isn’t attendance important? You’re a senior in high school.”

Ga-eul shook her head with a determined face.

“But… if J came all the way here, it must be important.”

“……”

Eui-jae tapped the steering wheel with his fingers, then said in a serious voice.

“If you can’t go to the university you want because of attendance…”

“……”

“I’ll tell Lee Sa-young to scout Student Ga-eul.”

“Ah, no, it’s okay. That’s a bit…”

Ga-eul hurriedly shook her head. The thought of his cold tone and purple eyes sent chills down her spine. She’d rather join the Awakened Management Bureau. Ga-eul hugged her bag and glanced at Eui-jae. He looked quite tired up close. There were dark circles under his eyes.

Unable to overcome the awkwardness, Ga-eul blurted out.

“That, the tteokbokki.”

“Yes.”

“It was really delicious. My friends said it was delicious too.”

“Ah, is that so?”

A smile appeared on his tired face. Eui-jae chuckled softly.

“I succeeded. It’s the first time I’ve made it.”

“Everyone said they wanted to eat it instead of school lunch.”

“That won’t do. You have to eat rice.”

“That’s how delicious it was.”

“That’s a relief. I might open a store when I quit being a Hunter.”

Eui-jae joked and fastened his seat belt. The way he started the engine looked quite familiar. Come to think of it, J’s existence should be confidential. Did he get a license? Did he get it under his real name? Ga-eul, who was also wearing a seat belt, asked.

“When did you get your license?”

“I don’t have one.”

“Pardon?”

A confident answer came back. Ga-eul was shocked. He’s confessing to driving without a license so confidently? Is this okay? Should she contact Jung-bin ajusshi right now? Of course, even if an accident happens, neither J nor Yoon Ga-eul will get hurt. Ga-eul stuck closer to the door for no reason.

“B, but how did you bring the car?”

“A goldfish drove it for me.”

Is he joking? But his face was quite serious. When Eui-jae grabbed the steering wheel, five red goldfish popped out from the center of the steering wheel. The goldfish scattered all over the car, and soon the car began to move on its own. Ga-eul’s mouth dropped open.

“H, how do you do that?”

“I’m not sure either… Mackerel lent me the truck. I think he’s up to something.”

“Wow…”

Self-driving goldfish.

Ga-eul swallowed the joke that had risen to her throat. The familiar scenery of the school and the way to school were reflected in the window and disappeared. Ga-eul opened her mouth only after she was completely away from the school.

“That, what you said. I won’t be able to talk to another me anymore. It’s like I’ve become one with her… I haven’t even been able to talk to myself since that day.”

“Yes.”

“Instead, I can tell you what I saw. I don’t know everything, but… um, the clock is…”

Ga-eul closed her eyes and concentrated. After merging with another version of herself, memories that were not her own often came to mind.

She stretches her thoughts like drawing a mind map. Clock, Destroyed world, Doomsday, J, Lee Sa-young…

Soon, a bright light turned on in her head. Ga-eul opened her eyes. Her hands were shining with iridescent colors. She hurriedly grabbed Eui-jae’s arm. Eui-jae looked at her with a puzzled face, but soon closed his eyes as if he understood. Ga-eul also closed her eyes. Her consciousness began to sink somewhere deep.

‘You want to meet Lee Sa-young?’

A muffled voice echoed in the pure white Shield. After the sound of rustling paper, a sharp voice snapped.

‘Why are you trying to find a guy who’s holed up at home and doesn’t come out? Think of that bastard as dead.’

‘Honeybee.’

‘Why? Am I wrong?’

‘Calm down…’

‘Am I wrong, Bae Won-woo!’

‘Let’s go out. Let’s talk outside.’

A sturdy shadow led the sharp voice away. When she opened her eyes, a dim Shield appeared. It was a spacious room surrounded by books. Someone’s shadow also swayed in the flickering candlelight. The long shadow was grotesquely distorted.

‘……’

‘Well… he may be a bit harsh. Honeybee is right.’

A hoarse and cracked voice was heard. The shadow slammed a book shut. The fallen white hair was messily tangled. Eui-jae raised his head. And his eyes widened.

It was Nam Woo-jin. However, it was not the figure he knew. He was parched. He was almost a living mummy. Ha, Nam Woo-jin, who let out a labored breath, blinked his eyes. Only the white fire burning in his eyes proved that he was him. A hoarse voice muttered.

“I also exclude that guy when I make plans. He’s not an asset.”

“……”

“It might have been a little different if J was here. But…”

Parched fingers pointed to his temple. Soon after, he coughed lightly, and a white liquid flowed from his mouth. A faint smell of blood as well. It was white, but it was blood. He struggled to finish his words.

“…We don’t have J.”

“Are you okay?”

Ga-eul, who was standing next to Eui-jae, asked worriedly. Ga-eul was a little more grown up, in the form of an adult. It was the same figure she had seen in the Fragment. Nam Woo-jin wiped his mouth and replied.

“Not just okay, I’m dying diligently every day.”

Nam Woo-jin leaned back in his chair.

“There’s no need to worry. I’ll try to hold on as much as possible.”

“……”

“If I die, this place will collapse too… I have to hold on. Although it seems that some places have already collapsed.”

Eui-jae looked around. A library full of books. This must be the Seowon Guild, but why is the owner of the library so weakened? And Eui-jae realized.

There’s no way he can heal others without a price.

Nam Woo-jin’s healing ability must be the ability to heal others by cutting down his own life.

Because that is the law of the System.

Yoon Ga-eul was biting her lip so hard that it was bleeding. After hesitating for a long time, she just clenched her fists, then moved her lips.

“What if.”

“……”

“Just what if.”

“……”

“What if we had already experienced Doomsday, and we turned back time right before the Destroyed world… what if we came to this situation?”

Nam Woo-jin muttered with his eyes closed.

“If that were the case…”

“……”

“We’ve already failed.”

A heavy silence fell. Ga-eul said forcefully.

“But, what if we could turn back time one more time?”