44-3. The black room.
***
As I opened the door and entered, acrid smoke billowed out.
Bitter ashes fly. Concrete walls and ceilings scorched black.
And the feeling that your face is on fire. Be used to.
“There are still people upstairs!!”
Fire scene. The voices of firefighters who seem urgent and the sound of sirens are heard overlapping.
The downstairs stairs are on fire as if they are going to devour someone. Maybe that’s why I can’t come up.
I looked outside and saw several red fire trucks spraying water over and over again, but no water was reaching me.
A height that makes a person appear to be the size of an ant. A fire in a high-rise building
‘..I have to go get it.’
I didn’t even have time to think. Body moved first. The fear of fire has long since disappeared.
I was saved thanks to Fine.
It was unfortunate that I couldn’t use skills like Wolffang, but I ran through the fire and ran upstairs.
My throat hurts from the heat. It’s hard to even breathe.
I couldn’t eat anything bitter because of this. The fact that I realized after a long time is just savage.
“Please help me.. Please..”
At that time, a child’s voice was heard. A voice that clamors as if it would stop breathing at any moment.
In order not to miss the faintly audible rescue signal, I ran across the heat that seemed like my body would melt at any moment.
You shouldn’t be even a little late. You have to move your legs a little faster.
“I’m here to save you!!”
Kwaang─. I checked that the doorknob was not hot and kicked open the locked door.
“Where are you!!”
Remnants of a collapsed building. Upon hearing the child’s voice, the house that entered the house was stunned.
Perhaps the gas exploded, and the shoes in the front door invaded the house, and the glass was splattered with sharp fragments.
“People.. Save..”
A small voice coming from just to the right. A child’s voice that I had heard before.
Bucked under rubble, only a small hand sticks out, wiggling and struggling.
“Just a little bit.. Hold on..!”
I pushed the collapsed concrete away with force. Even if I don’t have any skills or magic, I have a period of training in swordsmanship.
A day where you swing your sword until you collapse from exhaustion, and repeat it again. I can’t even remember how many years ago I slept late in the morning.
Should I say it’s because of the twisted mana circuit? My body right now is pretty muscular.
“Now… it’s okay… kid!”
I took out a child covered in dust from among the concrete powder. The kid who burst into tears as soon as he saw me was scared and tired.
I went out to visit with the child on my back. Unlike before coming in, the fire is filling up here.
It’s a single pass. Flames surrounded on both sides like a huge barrier. How can I get out of here? What should I do….
Ah, that was it.
“Faith (信念), rain ((冀雨)).”
From noble mtl dot com
As soon as I shouted the chant, the blue sword caught in my hand. Now you can measure the timing to some extent.
As soon as I summon the holy sword, it rains like a lie.
Chiik made a noise and the surrounding lights started to go out. He let out a sigh of relief as the embers gradually caught on.
That’s good. If this method didn’t work, I would have been in big trouble. Even when fighting the Apostle of Gluttony, I was able to summon the Heart Sword.
“Enter!! ..What?”
“There are two people! It’s different from what I’ve heard…?”
It wasn’t long before I bumped into a familiar face.
A name tag with Lee Dae-hyun written on it. A middle-aged man with a charcoal-black face that is characterized by not being tanned.
“….”
A momentary dizziness sets in. The person I thought I would never see again is right in front of my eyes.
“You…. Did you save the child..?”
A father who died while saving people when he was young and was not honest with his children.
“..Yes. Fireman.”
He looked at me with a bewildered face.
***
Firefighting is coming to an end. The child found his family, and fortunately was informed that there were no casualties.
“Now, drink this.”
“Ah, thank you.”
Instant coffee in a paper cup is thrust into me.
“..It’s amazing. Should I say luck? I thought it would rain and put out the fire.”
“I will.”
His father opened his mouth as he looked at the sky clear of dark clouds. It is pretty with a light rainbow hanging on it.
“It is also the case that a young man like a student saved a child. Thank you so much.”
Huh-huh, my father laughed. How long has it been since I saw that smile?
“I just did my job. Fireman.”
In coffee, you can feel the unique sweet taste of the mix.
No matter how much you possess a game, it’s kind of disgusting that you can recreate the taste while touching someone else’s past memories.
‘The fantasy I want….’
To be honest, I wonder if Fine was real, not fake. Or maybe the status bar was messed up.
“Student, what is your name? Do you live around here?”
My father looks at me carefully and asks for my name. Do you notice that he is a son?
“Lee, this is Licht.”
I said the name Richt instead of my real name. Only then did my father dispel his doubts.
“..Your name is unusual.”
Looks like it doesn’t matter if I suddenly give you a name like this. My current fantasy is probably based on my memories.
“Hey, maybe your hair is white here…. Have you not seen the woman with the wolf ear headband?”
It is also like the fairy tale world where Fine Grancia has arrived. Hurry up and get out
“Hmm, I haven’t seen anyone like that….”
“Is that so?”
My father shook his head. Apparently, he was at my house in the screen I saw earlier.
What the hell happened? Information does not enter the mind.
Reuniting with my dead father, fine and me from childhood reading together at home…. This is like time travel.
Wait, time travel? Time Paradox..?
If time was twisted twice instead of once.
‘..That makes enough sense.’
Fine, just now, was changing her clothes like someone caught in the rain.
A girl in a white boxy tee. The plain clothes, not the usual academy clothes, were intense and left a lasting impression in my memory.
Perhaps it was raining because I triggered rain.
The scene I saw earlier is a scene from the future, and when I followed Fine and opened her door, she came into her past rather than herself.
Heart disease is almost certain. If I follow him here, I wonder if I can meet Fine.
“Who are you looking for? Perhaps there are more people who couldn’t get out of the scene of the fire….”
“No, not that.”
As soon as he hears Fine’s story, his father begins to worry. Do I have to say that I have a very strong work ethic?
“Someone I know….”
I stopped when I was about to finish. It reminded me of what the status window had just told me.
[Look at the past you now. Aren’t you boldly expressing your love for Fine Grancia without ignoring it?]
[Isn’t it enough to be happy? That’s pure love ⸜(*ˊᗜˋ*]
“No, I am… The person I love.”
This must be the right one. People say it’s pure love when you’re happy, but I know how easily that happiness can be broken.
Because my father, who lost his mother and was left alone, also died while saving people in the fire.
When I was young, that was the scariest thing for me. The moment you get a little happiness, it’s the thing that breaks down terribly.
If one game hadn’t been the support of my life, what would I be like now?
“..It’s a good time.”
The fireman sipped his coffee and said. A thin smile hovers over his lips.
Looking at it like this, you can see who I look like. That smirk unconditionally belongs to my father.
“Are you in love? From what you’re saying, I don’t think she’s a girlfriend.”
How did you know? He points out right away that I am not in a romantic relationship with Fine.
“Unrequited love…. That’s right. It’s a single love that has been going on for over 10 years.”
“Until now, I didn’t even confess, what did I do? It must have been a lot of heartache.”
I just wanted to tell someone. I’m afraid of harming Fine because of the fact that I’m a player.
After all, she is a game character. If I complete the grand route and return home, I will be left alone.
“It’s a confession… To be honest, I think it’s good if it works, and if it doesn’t, I think I’ll give up.”
I was scared. I feel like if she reveals my identity someday, it will shock her. I felt like a person standing on an ice sheet about to break.
“Why are you giving up?”
My father tilted his head and questioned my words. I see you don’t understand
“Because I am an ugly man with burn marks..?”
His eyes were on the ground. She is saddened by the unfortunate circumstances of having to lie to her loved ones. What if it hadn’t been for possession?
“Ah, you’re handsome enough? Don’t think so negatively. A man must be confident.”
“….”
Suddenly, my father sat down next to me and patted me on the back as if to cheer me up.
“There is something I say to my son these days. Would you like to hear it?”
A curved waist and narrow shoulders stand out. My father, whom I saw as a child, always seemed like a bigger man than me.
The sound of sirens fades as if time has stopped. Only the father’s voice is heard clearly.
“If you’re going to do it, do your best.”
A story my father always told me. It was for this reason that I advised Kynell and Fine to do their best.
“How are you? Pretty beneficial right? It’s good to do your best and regret it. Go later and say ‘Oh! I’ll try this at this time!’ Don’t.”
A father’s advice to listen to again. It was a sentence that was always engraved in my heart, not in my head.
“..You are right.”
“I’m an ugly father who can’t even play with my one and only son much, but at least I want to be a senior in his life.”
The coffee in his hand was cold, but a warm sensation spread throughout his body.