177 – The Returner Wandering (13)
“How have you been?”
“Uh, what am I…” I had a good time. You?”
“I haven’t been doing well. “You were fine without me.”
“… Hey.”
“Ahahahaha, you know it’s a joke, right?”
Choi Ji-won’s voice comes out of the cell phone switched to speaker mode. When I heard that voice, I couldn’t help but smile, but it didn’t really feel like it was the first time I heard it in a long time… It was such a complex and subtle feeling.
To be honest, it was a little awkward.
“You played a lot of games without me?”
“What, how did you know?”
“Last time I was playing a game, I noticed your nickname behind you. “I was curious, so I searched for it.”
However, the longer the conversation continues.
“I was so hungry the other day that I ordered delivery food for 10 people, and it came with 10 chopsticks, right? I felt a little embarrassed… “
“Hey, I eat a lot because I’m a player, so what’s wrong?”
“Still… I feel bad… “
“More than that, please tell me about the clothes we talked about last time.”
The awkwardness and complicated emotions disappeared like melting snow, and only complete joy remained. It was just a simple story about the current situation, but before I knew it, a smile was on my face.
Humans are animals that find comfort in having someone to share their stories with. This is an animal that relieves stress just by chatting about trivial everyday stories. I felt the tension in my body dissipate, and I comfortably sank my back into the chair.
“No, I mean, it was really absurd.”
“You said that? Are you sure?”
“I don’t know. “Because my voice is small.”
Meeting with Korean players… It was a kind of masked meeting. The meeting they were hoping for, playing the role of Kim Jun-ho, a mysterious talent.
He was moderately humble, moderately confident, and moderately humorous, but always had to maintain a certain degree of mystery and distance. That way, they wouldn’t be able to treat me carelessly, rumors about me would spread positively, and I could get more information.
However, the phone call I have with Choi Ji-won now is a phone call with my best friend and lover, without any such pretense. There was no way it wouldn’t be fun.
“No, so what did he say… “
“It’s been a while since I met my friends from high school… “
“Have you seen these shorts? There’s something called Manul Wild Cat… “
“Oh, and I’m planning to change my number soon. “I think I’ll be using this number even after I return, so memorize it in advance.”
A trivial story with no nutritional value. However, the volume of trivial stories that had accumulated over the past five months was enormous, and as the setting sun disappeared, darkness fell outside the window.
“… “I’ll keep talking until tomorrow.”
“That’s right. “My phone is hot.”
Now, it’s really time to say what I wanted to say. I felt regretful, but I felt slightly good because this regret seemed to prove our relationship.
“First of all… “I’ll talk first.”
While maintaining the call, I sent the document on the computer desktop to Choi Ji-won.
“First of all… “This is a list of the most prominent Korean players.”
“Oh, wait a minute. “I’ll read it now.”
Choi Ji-won cracks the keyboard and checks the document I sent. I can clearly picture her sitting in her chair and operating the computer, just like me.
“… Wow.”
Choi Ji-won, who was reading the document, lets out a low exclamation.
“Is this really detailed? “Where did you get this information?”
“Just whatever. “There is a way.”
This document is the result of a synthesis of the information I obtained while working as a member of Madan Bal and the information obtained by ‘Reaper’ Azai Yuuki.
The Shinigami was confident in his own words, ‘I will definitely do the job perfectly this time,’ but it was strange to completely trust a self-confident middle school student.
Therefore, what I carefully reviewed was the information about ‘players I already know’ that Azai Yuuki had collected.
“You said you only wanted certain information, so I wrote down the certain things here and above… Information that cannot be verified as fact is listed below.”
“Ho… “
The result is… It was quite satisfying. The information about Kang Chan, Ahn Kyung-jun, and even Choi Ji-won was quite accurate. There was a lot of nonsense in the ‘information whose authenticity cannot be confirmed,’ but there were also surprisingly correct ones.
“There is a rumor that Choi Ji-won and I are in a romantic relationship… ?”
“It is a rumor that is treated as gossip even on the deep web… “For now, information is information, so I put it in.”
In my opinion, the quality of the information was very good. It’s hard to believe that this is a rumor gathered by a Shinigami who accidentally killed an innocent person.
“Did you collect everything? “The quality of information is quite good.”
“Actually, this is information obtained by threatening a number of professional traders. “Pretending to buy information, they caught Dulmi and threatened him.”
“… “
“They will be grateful to me because I found a way to use their waste. Oh, and they paid us plenty of money.”
Although the method of obtaining information was extremely impure… I decided to skip it for now.
Among the numerous players’ information obtained in this way, only reliable information was filtered out and the information sent to Choi Ji-won was limited to Korean players. Of course, I double-checked it, so only the accurate information is in the refined document. This will be of great help even after regression.
“The players to watch out for in Korea are Kang Chan… Ahn Kyeong-jun… And Ji Hyun-bin? “Who is this person?”
“They say it’s a new face that’s popular these days. “More information follows.”
“Okay. I’ll read it slowly later. “Now is it my turn?”
“Oh, there’s one more thing I want to tell you.”
I sent Choi Ji-won a photo of the ring I received from Archangel Raphael on the second floor.
“This…” “Isn’t this the ring you received on the second floor?”
“Uh. “I wrote the appraisal order form here, and it was usable.”
As a result of using the emotion spell book on the ring according to the old man’s advice… The effectiveness of the ring was very shocking.
-Ring of Purity
From Noble mtl dot com
-If you wish earnestly while destroying the ring, you can delete one characteristic of the desired object.
“… “Can anything just be deleted?”
“I haven’t done any experiments. “But it won’t be deleted as a fake.”
“Wow.”
Choi Ji-won also understood the true efficacy of this ring. This ring… It will be my insurance.
“If this is… “You can rest assured even after clearing the tower.”
One day, the moment I grow old and die… Fear that it might come back because of regression. Fear that I would have to live forever.
This ring had the power to eliminate that fear. This ring had the power to give me a peaceful future.
There was a power that could erase regression.
“… It’s Junho. “I’m really glad.”
“Oh, I think that’s fortunate.”
“Really, I’m really glad… “
Since she had told me about my fears before, she also sniffed her nose and kept repeating that she was glad. When I first read about the effects of this ring, her eyes were red, so I was patient and waited for her to calm down.
“Wait a minute… “I’ll come back after washing my face.”
This time, it is Choi Ji-won’s turn to share the information he obtained. Choi Ji-won, who came back from washing her face, sent me a heavy document just like me.
“This…” Archives collected from Michael Jeter… This is the German side. This is Russia… Is this Yoon Joong-hyun? “I got it from the players’ association.”
“What is all this?”
“A brief description of the player? I don’t have detailed information like you sent, but… The face and estimated floor number are written down. “The association also said it was a valuable asset.”
While I delved deeply into Korean players, Choi Ji-won had a broad and shallow understanding of popular players around the world.
“Players with known abilities are in the front, and players with ambiguous or intentionally hidden abilities are in the back. I think it would be a good idea to take the time later to learn their names and faces. Read it later. “I still have something left to say.”
“There’s more here…” ?”
“Uh. First… Should I say that this is a plan I received from Michael Jeter, the president of the association? Should I call it a blueprint?”
The new document sent by Choi Ji-won contained detailed information on how to reorganize the Players Association in the future. Along with the newly established ‘Academy’, there is even a legal basis for players to replace each country’s defense capabilities.
“They said that if there is a ranking, I will likely be ranked second in S class.”
“Second place? 1St place… “It would be Michael Jeter.”
“That’s right. Actually, I’m a little nervous. “I haven’t climbed the tower in a while, so I don’t feel like I’m being pushed back.”
“… “That’s right.”
What Choi Ji-won just mentioned was an issue that also applied to me. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being pushed out as I was just playing around in real life while others were climbing the tower.
“I said the same thing to Michael Jeter, but he told me to just skip it because rankings are bound to have political intentions. Are you going to determine rankings by having players fight each other directly?”
“… “Can’t we just use the number of tower floors?”
“Then Michael Jeter doesn’t get first place.”
“Aha.”
“Finally… “There was a proposal from the players’ association.”
Choi Ji-won speaks in a hesitant tone.
“What offer? “You just talked about Michael Jeter.”
“No, not Michael Jeter… “A proposal came from the Players Association, which is affiliated with the U.S. Government.”
“… From the U.S. Government?”
“Uh. You also spoke on the phone with the President of the United States? They are conducting research that will change the world… He said he needed my help there. “There are already quite a few players collaborating.”
“… “Now that we’re talking about the president, something doesn’t feel real.”
“You said there is a book that contains all the truth in the world, and that you are currently researching it… It’s just a nuance because we’re still just scratching the surface. “I think I need to find out more details.”
“A. “This much is enough.”
“Really? Thank you. Junho, you worked hard too.”
After the information exchange was over, it was time for small talk again. We confirmed once again that we had enough love for each other, and agreed that there was still a lot of information left to gather.
“There are 5 months left?”
“Should we be afraid that a monster is coming…? Should I like it because I can meet you… “
“If you do both, that’s it. “See you again later.”
“Yes. I’ll wait.”
The information exchange has ended.
Again, time begins to pass.