9 – World 11. Regressor’s Melancholy (3)
Karina felt a shock as if she had been hit in the back of the head very hard.
It was a truly terrifying shock.
‘No, why…?’
It hasn’t even been 24 hours since I returned.
To be sure, his actions were no different from the previous rounds.
Winning credit power, purchasing food ingredients with the winning money, and going to Hayden.
‘Is it because I upgraded Wena?’
In the previous round, I upgraded Wena after recruiting Hayden and becoming more familiar with him.
Now, only one process has been accelerated.
‘I purposely left early and made it to the time. Just that one thing can change the decision?’
I couldn’t give up just like that.
“Is it because you don’t have enough credit?”
“That’s not it. 10,000 credits is a lot of money. But I’ve already died twice, so I have no intention of connecting anymore.”
It was a fact Karina was well aware of.
Currently, Hayden has died twice in another dimension.
If you die here for the third time, your soul will be torn to shreds in this reality as well.
Heiden could now say that death in another dimension leads to death in reality, so it can be said that it is a theorem.
‘But I accepted it in the previous episode…’
Naturally, Karina, who couldn’t bring that fact out, stomped her feet and worked hard to come up with a solution.
at that time.
“Mr Hayden. Are the water pipes on the 3rd floor locked? I filled the place you said with water, but it didn’t come out.”
“Oh, I forgot. It reminds me of the fact that it was locked.”
“Where are the water pipes?”
“It will be difficult to find even if you tell me, so I will fix it later.”
From the stairs I saw a rather tall and plain handsome man coming down.
“…?”
Karina blinked and stared blankly at the man.
Who is he?
* * *
After spending the night in Hayden’s building, as soon as I woke up, I filled up the empty water tank and checked the bathroom on the third floor.
There was no water coming out because it was a pipe problem.
So I came down to the first floor and asked Hayden, but for some reason, there were two women standing in front of him who I didn’t know who they were.
‘Are you a guest?’
Hayden seemed to be making a deal with people in exchange for delicious food, so it was no surprise that guests came.
I thought so and slowly looked at the two women.
One was a woman with long, straight black hair with a hint of blue.
He was just looking at me with very surprised eyes.
Well.
‘Who does my face look like?’
There was no way the woman knew me, so I made the best possible guess.
Also, apart from speculation, the woman was an impressive beauty with raised eyebrows like a ferocious cat and dark circles underneath.
I wondered if that was the impression that he had become nervous due to lack of sleep.
And next to him stood a woman with pink hair smiling brightly.
“…”
She looked at me and always gave me a bright smile, but for some reason I felt a sense of difference.
To be precise, it doesn’t feel like a human?
Hayden said as I stared at the pink-haired woman.
“He’s a guest from early morning. You should come and eat too.”
It must have been a guest, as expected.
In addition, fried food was placed in front of Hayden.
“Is it croquettes?”
“What is croquettes?”
“It’s a fried dish with meat, potatoes, vegetables, etc. inside and wrapped in flour batter.”
“I guess you call it croquettes.”
In other words, croquettes.
Anyway, Hayden nodded in understanding and handed me a croquette.
“Try it.”
I took the croquettes Hayden gave me and took a bite.
Contrary to what I thought the cuisine in this world would be terrible, the taste was quite good.
“It’s fine.”
“Compared to the dish you cooked yesterday, it’s not good enough, but it’s okay.”
Hayden didn’t deny it either.
‘by the way.’
Why does that blue-black haired woman keep looking at me?
From the moment I came down the stairs until now, I felt a sense of wonder at the woman who had been staring at me without taking my eyes off of her.
In addition, even now, the eyes looking at him were full of surprise and doubt.
Hayden asked me softly if he had seen her gaze.
“Do you two know each other?”
“No way.”
“I also asked just in case. Because no one knows you.”
Hayden, who knew that I had come from another dimension, said calmly.
However, the words seemed to deepen the woman’s doubts.
“Mr Hayden. Who is that man?”
“You are my guest.”
“No, don’t say ‘guest’…”
“A guest. What other answer do you want?”
Apparently, that woman wanted to ask about my identity.
‘But you’re not going to have a one-on-one meeting with me, so you’re asking about my identity?’
Hayden also nailed it as a guest, perhaps noticing the woman’s intentions, but that didn’t lead to a solution.
The woman seemed to think similarly, so she talked to me instead of Hayden.
“The man over there. If it’s okay, can we talk separately?”
“A story?”
“I’ll give you 1,000 credits if you share your story wholeheartedly.”
1,000 credits.
In terms of Korean currency, it would be 1 million won.
‘Do you have a lot of money? or not······.’
I looked into the eyes of the woman who offered the 1,000 credits.
I don’t know if it’s my imagination, but it seemed that I felt very faint feelings of anxiety, nervousness, and urgency.
Thanks to that, I also nodded my head in curious curiosity.
“I see.”
After I obediently agreed, Hayden, who had been watching, slowly rose from his seat.
“I’m coming to fix the water pipes, so let’s talk.”
I didn’t think it would take too long to fix the water pipe, but I nodded my head.
As soon as Hayden went up, the woman immediately opened her mouth.
“Excuse me, but where are you from?”
It was a sharp question from the start.
I could have answered honestly, as I did with Hayden.
However, wanting to know the woman’s intentions, I answered pretending not to know.
“I came from afar. It’s hard to say where.”
“You mean you came through the fog of death?”
“It’s up to you to think about it.”
The woman frowned.
It seemed that he didn’t like my answer.
“Rather than that, why do you ask?”
“…the Mr. Hayden I investigated doesn’t have anyone around.”
“You are proud to say that you investigated behind the scenes.”
“I will not deny it.”
I felt that the woman in front of me was also turning around, just as I deliberately turned around.
It’s like they’re just looking at each other.
‘Only like this, we’ll only exchange meaningless words.’
What should I do?
Actually, I wasn’t the type to use my brain.
It was the side that confronted me head-on with the ability I possessed.
It was no different in this world, so I asked openly.
“Why have you been staring at me ever since I came down?”
“Because I never thought there would be anyone other than Mr. Hayden.”
“It looks like a lie.”
“Why would I lie?”
Bubbly-
Just then, I heard small footsteps on the stairs.
I turned my head to see Ren, who had just woken up, rubbing his sleepy eyes and coming down the stairs.
“…”
At the same time, the woman’s expression as she looked at Ren hardened terribly.
Whether it was or not, Len, who was rubbing his sleepy eyes, came to me and said.
“Water pipes. They said it was open.”
“okay. Mr. Hayden?”
“To the second floor.”
If it was on the second floor, it seemed like he had entered his room.
Are you going to rest while I talk?
After nodding in agreement, Ren noticed the remaining croquettes on his plate and began to stare at them.
‘Well.’
I thought I knew what it meant, but Crockett was made for Hayden by a woman whose name I didn’t know yet.
So I couldn’t just tell Ren to eat.
“I’ll make you something delicious later. If Mr. Hayden approves, you can eat it then.”
“Yes······.”
At first glance, it was Ren who was disappointed.
If it were me, I’d go upstairs and ask Hayden.
Maybe he thought it wouldn’t do any good to ask Hayden.
But aside from the croquettes, the woman’s eyes were not serious right away.
“You look at Ren too much this time. Are there any problems?”
“…”
There was no answer.
The woman just looked at Ren quietly, but unlike her eyes looking at me, she seemed to know him.
“Ren, do you know that girl over there?”
“I don’t know.”
In contrast, there was not an inch of hesitation in Ren’s answer.
It seemed like he really didn’t know.
On the contrary, the woman directly asked if he knew about Ren.
“Is the child here too?”
“Yes. Because I brought it.”
i brought
At that word, the woman gradually showed a wavering look in her eyes, and showed that she couldn’t do anything.
It was as if Ren wasn’t supposed to be here.
‘Come to think of it······.’
I think I’ve been through this situation before.
‘When was it?’
I pondered over my memory.
‘ah.’
Fortunately, I was able to recall it easily.
The guy who questioned me just because I was in a certain place.
Realizing that the reaction of that guy then and the woman now was similar, I asked just in case.
“Are you a regressor?”
“…!?”
Moment.
The woman opened her eyes wide and showed a rather surprised face.
Judging by the reaction, it seems I got it right.