Episode 71. another victim (1)
“Um… .”
Time goes by fast and it’s already been a week. Seven days have passed, which the health nurse who examined me, who had passed out, had set as the minimum.
In three days from now, the Meteor Shower national team selection match will begin. To prepare for that, I decided to raise my form little by little from now on.
‘Is it because it’s the minimum period? My head tingles every time I use it.’
What is a good nature to display in a line that is not overdoing it? After much thought, I was demonstrating 『Memory Reading』.
Ever since I learned memory reading for the first time in the past and realized that my past was manipulated, I have been consistently using memory reading whenever I have a chance to look back on the past.
‘Is Min Seo-eun the only student who suffered damage because of me?’
Somehow it didn’t seem like it. So, just in case, I decided to look into my entire past.
First of all, the period of attending college was not different from my memory. The point of problem was after I graduated from the university.
Originally, I got a job at the office right after graduation at the recommendation of my university senior, but for some reason, I was a completely different person after graduating from college in Memory Reading.
Exactly what kind of person he was.
‘To sum it up in one word, should I call it a pickup artist?’
Dealing with gullible young men, he asks for money to teach them how to seduce women. In the fabricated memories of the past, I was that kind of guy.
Of course, that’s the typical job, and other than that, I’ve done all sorts of low-quality things.
Like running a prostitution business by educating young women who look smooth but have nowhere else to go. Utilizing this, he catches the men of Hogu mentioned above and connects them with the women he educated to engage in fraudulent acts.
The existence of Psychic Age’s Kim Do-yoon was stained with a past where only ghost stories came out the more you dig into it.
why did this change I was guessing about this as well.
I have arbitrarily given this phenomenon the name ‘optimization’.
Yooseong has the nature of being a “hero”. When there is an ordeal to overcome, the strength to overcome the ordeal is given step by step.
In order to increase the power of this nature, you must always have a righteous heart, and under the influence of that, Yooseong has a heroic personality in everything.
Let’s take Nayeon Eom as an example. She has the nature of being a 『Guardian』. All of her powers are specialized in protecting others, and she has the ability to not easily collapse in order to protect others.
In this process, she liked to protect and encourage someone, and on the contrary, she would never tolerate seeing someone hurt or struggling.
‘It means that the characters in Psychic Age each have a personality and background that suits their nature.’
I, too, have undergone changes in the past to fit into that framework… … I was guessing at this point.
The question is, why did it lean towards the bad side? It was unfair for me, the person involved, but it was not productive at all to think about it in this way.
I remembered my life creed.
‘Let’s think about how to do what we can do better, rather than trying to do what we can’t do.’
That’s why I was retracing my entire past. I was thinking of preparing countermeasures and preparations at a time when I would complain about why the past had become like this.
It wasn’t such a waste of time. While I was looking for it, I was able to raise my memory reading proficiency.
「Bad. I’m sorry! sorry.”
“Tsk! Who dares to betray me!”
“I won’t do that again! I didn’t mean to betray you! Please look at me just once, just once… .”
And finally.
I am another fabricated past. I was able to excavate one more so-called dark history.
“Feed me as much as possible! let me sleep! decorate it! teach! The first time I met him, he made me look like a human being… … . what? You, repeat what you said earlier.”
“that that… . I was so scared to lie down in bed… . When a stranger puts his hand on me, I stop without realizing it… … .”
An alleyway in the rain. A woman collapsed on the floor and was hugging my leg, which had been using an umbrella.
「Echo, are you truly invincible? You said you could do it in the first place? But why are you running away? Did you lie to me?”
「Huh. Black! sorry. Really next time… . Oh or! At least, if you practice with your brother for the first time… … .”
“Tell me how many times! why can’t you understand me? That first one is important! Tell me how many times that at least two zero digits change depending on whether you have experience or not!”
“Ha, but… … .”
The gap between the brows was narrowed.
Min Seo-eun also said that it was not an ordinary issue and was very serious.
“and! You were calm when I practiced, but why are you afraid of others? uh?”
“Do-doyun oppa is, well, cool… … .”
“Ah~ I’m tired of that sound, really~ Ehh. It’s my fault for entrusting this kind of stupidity to an important guest. I’m tired, I’m tired.”
「Wow!」
He violently kicks the woman who was hanging on and pushes her away.
“away. It’s my fault for trusting an orphan like you. Now that my money bag is getting thicker, my words don’t sound the same anymore, do they?”
「Ah, no, Doyoon oppa! I didn’t mean that… … !”
Damn!
My arm slaps the woman’s cheek as hard as I can. Shocked by the impact, the woman collided with the wall of the alleyway and collapsed as if collapsing.
At first, it was someone, but when I looked closely at the face, I realized that it was a very familiar face.
“eco. Don’t put your face in front of me again. It will take me a year to make up for the fact that my credit was ruined because of you.”
pouring rain. Leaving behind a woman whose hair was clinging to her face and drooping. The me of the past brushed my bangs up and slowly walked away from the spot.
[Quit ‘Memory Reading’.]
“… … .”
I am.
He rubbed his face with both hands and washed his face dry.
‘The past related to Min Seo-eun was in medicine.’
In the fabricated past, I was trash beyond imagination.
If not, will there be smoke in the chimney? The notoriety that did not change easily even though I tried to be as quiet as possible in Signal and improved the image several times through various happenings.
The root of it, the root of the rumor that continued to grow even after cutting off the stem, was right here.
If it was just this, it could have ended by saying ‘Let’s make up for it from now on’.
‘Min Seo-eun is the same, and at this point, I really feel some malice.’
The woman I saw through memory reading was by no means an extra-A girl.
Sora Shin.
One of the sub-heroes of Psychic Age, and a character that can be captured as an ally.
going further.
‘One of the two candidates for the tank position that Seol Chae-hwa has been eyeing.’
It was the same student who said he had no intention of participating in the Meteor shower.
***
“Are you feeling okay?”
Maybe it’s because of the back party the other day? When I returned to the classroom after a week-long break, Yu-rim Pyo greeted me as usual.
“I took a good rest and felt better.”
“Aren’t you secretly going to make an appointment again or working part-time because you’re forced to?”
“I didn’t, so don’t worry.”
“If you need money, tell me. I’ll give it to you. Money means nothing to me anyway.”
It was a very burdensome consideration.
“no. It’s really fine, so you don’t have to worry about it that much.”
Humans are animals of adaptation. If you receive consideration once, you will think, ‘Since you received it last time, wouldn’t it be okay to receive it again this time?’
I don’t know if it’s really an emergency. I didn’t like a one-sided relationship. Only when the exchange is clear can you last a long time and look broadly. I thought so.
“ah! I’ll give you this again while you’re here.”
“This… … .”
“That ring then. It seemed to have some flaws, so I thought I’d improve it.”
Last time No.45… … . Oops. It’s not this name anymore. It was the Pyo Yu-rim summoning ring that I had given to Do-rim.
I said as I accepted the ring she handed me.
“I was distracted and forgot. It must have been flawed.”
“There was no particular problem with the function of specifying coordinates and detecting aura.”
“huh? Then what was the fault?”
“that… … .”
Pyo Yu-rim blurted out his words.
Is it because you’re ashamed? It was made with great care, but if the shortcomings were discovered later, it was certainly worth it.
“No, it’s okay. I must have made it well. From now on, if I need your help, I will use it unconditionally.”
“From now on, please don’t hand it over to others. I gave it to Kim Do-yoon.”
“okay.”
I said that and put the ring on my finger.
“ah… .”
The pyoyurim let out a small sigh.
why do you do that
‘right.’
I put it on any finger without thinking about it.
“Ugh. There’s something wrong with this finger.”
I muttered as if I could hear it, took off the ring, and put it back on the finger Pyo Yu-rim picked out the other day.
“… … !”
The gloomy face seemed to brighten up in an instant.
A subtle facial expression change that makes people tilt their heads at what has changed in the eyes of others. I was a bit nervous at first too, but lately I’ve become more aware of her feelings.
‘I guess I’m getting to know you more and more.’
Not the mistakes I made in the fabricated past, but the mistakes I made myself. Whenever I looked at Pyo Yu-rim, I always seemed to overlap with the first client I was in charge of.
I know her heart She is trying in various ways to convey that feeling to me.
‘Now I’m turning away with a plausible excuse to save the world… … .’
Someday in the far future, when all the episodes of Psychic Age are over. I will definitely answer her heart.
However, as of now, I couldn’t be sure what direction it would be.
Because I’ll have to survive well and not die until then. We have to save the world safely before we can talk about the future.
“Do-yoon Kim?”
As I am absent-mindedly, Yu-rim Pyo asks why.
“never mind.”
He shook his head and sat down.
This is the end of vague worries that don’t even feel real. Now it’s time to get back to reality and face the problem that lies in front of me.
The problem of the false mistakes I have committed.
‘Let’s see. for now.’
I’ll have to go and see how she’s doing now.
***
Sora Shin.
She is the same tank character as Nayeon Eom, but there was a clear difference in each other’s roles.
‘If Nayeon Eom is a tanker who stays by her teammates and plays with Drew, Shin Sora is the exact opposite. He was a tank of the style that clings to the enemy while trying to move and binds his movements.’
Older players who enjoy Time Attack tend to prefer Shin So-ra over Eom Na-yeon. As an infighter-type tanker, I was able to use it more flexibly than Nayeon Eom, who is an outboxer.
The key point here is that Shin So-ra was compared to Eom Na-yeon. It was no exaggeration to say that Shin So-ra’s talent was already guaranteed from this point on.
The main heroine is not ‘main’ for nothing. Their potential and growth potential are basically superior to that of sub-heroes. Still, being able to compare means Shin So-ra is that strong.
That’s why I wanted Shin So-ra to take the last tank position in Meteor Shower. I thought about contacting her about it and conciliating her.
‘But of course.’
Would you say that this is a game of fate? To say that it was a mere coincidence was Min Seo-eun, and there were not one or two awkward corners.
perhaps.
‘Before the reality was overwritten by the Psychic Age, there was definitely such a notification window on the monitor.’
[DLC for Psychic Age. Run ‘New layers’.]
[The DLC participates in the story as an original character optimized for the player’s propensity.]
One thing to note here is the word ‘DLC’. Gamers who like games will know what this DLC means.
New characters are added, or new routes are opened that did not exist before, and so on.
If the concept is applied to this reality overlaid with games, it is inevitably necessary to intertwine with other characters in order to incorporate a new route into the existing one.
Right now, I become that new DLC character and experience the situation of being incorporated into the existing route. Understanding this explains why my past is so bizarrely intertwined.
‘Class 1, Class 5. It must have been Shin So-ra’s class.’
I used the intermission to go to her classroom. When I peered through the back door that was open so as not to be seen, I immediately found it.
It is completely different from the fabricated memories of the past.
‘It’s a bit different to say it’s different. Because the Shinsora I know was originally that way.’
suddenly comes to mind
In the original work, very unique conditions had to be met to recruit Shin So-ra as a colleague.
so-called popularity.
She doesn’t talk to anyone. Like Eom Na-yeon and Seol Chae-hwa, who are talented and go out with many friends, commonly referred to as ‘insiders’, are friendly.
Because of that, in order to recruit her as a colleague, she had to be approached after satisfying an undisclosed figure called ‘popularity’, and even after she was recruited as a colleague, she often caused discord with people who deviated from her standard of ‘inside’.
‘I didn’t think it was a big deal, thinking it would be the concept of a Japanese gyaru girl or something… … .’
what is this As I was incorporated into the story, that kind of past was born, so I can see Shin So-ra again.
The Shin So-ra I saw in my memory had long, tousled, curly hair and wide eyes. He had a plain face with black horn-rimmed glasses.
What about Shinsora in front of me right now? She has dyed her hair pink and wears colored contact lenses.
Other than that, colorfully painted nail art, a cardigan wrapped around the waist, etc. To put it in Korean terms, it was literally a typical Iljin scene.
‘But this. Is it right for me, the perpetrator, to approach a child with such a past?’
Min Seo-eun is a character who takes a large part in the main episode, so I had to approach it even if it was unreasonable. He was the kind of person who had to ask for forgiveness somehow, even if he was prepared to hate the other person.
Shin So-ra is not like that. It’s good if you have me as an ally, but it’s fine if you don’t. But that didn’t mean he didn’t care about her at all.
Even if it wasn’t my fault, if I approached a girl who might have gone through that kind of past with me, wouldn’t that alone put a lot of pressure on me? Sometimes keeping distance is an action for that person.
‘It’s better to keep your distance than to come close to me and remind me of bad memories.’
A small sigh came out.
It’s a pity, but the rest of the tank position has no choice but to go to the person Seol Chae-hwa considered.
“… … !”
The moment I just woke up from my thoughts, I unintentionally met Shin So-ra’s gaze in the class.
‘this.’
As if you didn’t see it naturally.
I took my eyes off her and pretended to look around as if looking for someone else. Then, as if nothing had happened, he turned around and tried to get away from Class 5.
“Wait!”
That moment.
Shin So-ra’s cry was heard over his back. It was a voice that called out to me no matter how I looked at it.
‘What should I do with this?’