11
After rushing forward expecting the worst, the first scene that caught my eye upon arrival was three idiots trembling in fear, surrounded by Living Woods.
Judging by the quality of their equipment, they should have been more than capable of fighting back, yet here they were, completely terrified and doing nothing but screaming.
If I had seen that sight just a little earlier, I would have turned back right away, but my body, carrying too much momentum, was already hurtling past the bushes.
So the moment my feet touched the ground, I revised my plan to immediately turn and escape. People like that were the type who created negative variables just by being around.
Jang Jisoo!!
However, a woman's desperate cry from beside me overturned Baek Woojin's thoughts once again.
Surrounded by the corpses of Living Woods littering the area and still trapped among the remaining ones, the presence of a woman wielding a hammer and a large shield ignited a spark of rebound in Baek Woojin's plummeting hopes.
'At least D-rank!!'
Even while keeping an eye on the three pathetic cowards, her skill in not just blocking the Living Woods' attacks but even counterattacking contained a level of experience that an E-rank could never demonstrate.
Having quickly finished his calculations, Baek Woojin felt his legs clear the bushes and touch the muddy swamp ground, then the muscles in his calves and thighs expanded once more as he leaped toward the three idiots surrounded by Living Woods.
Due to the boss awakening, their movements had become even more vicious, appearing nearly twice as fast as before.
'Still slower than a rabbit with horns on its head though.'
Closing the distance in an instant, Baek Woojin swung the sword in his hand with all his might.
A sensation far too light to say he had cut something.
Yet the swung sword traced a vivid trajectory, precisely slashing along the red line drawn at the base.
'I can do this.'
This was a different situation from the goblins, where he could see their weakness but couldn't target it.
With each swing, the empty upper bodies of the creatures whose bases were cut in different directions toppled over.
'Over there... no need to help.'
The woman, whose armor had looked unusual from the start, slammed down the roots of a Living Wood that were thrusting to pierce her body with her shield, then swung her hammer at the nearest one. The power was so tremendous that the Living Wood struck by the hammer had not just that part but its entire upper body torn away.
It was a power that involuntarily raised the survival probability.
To further solidify that increased probability, Baek Woojin approached the three idiots who still hadn't come to their senses. Then he slapped the nearest one's cheek with all his might.
"……??"
The guy rolled on the ground, his body getting covered in mud, and looked up with a dumbfounded expression. The saying that you should knock out a drowning person first before rescuing them didn't come from nowhere.
For the same reason, when encountering a hunter in panic in a dungeon, inflicting shock is the first priority even for one's own safety. If they pass out, that's even better, but if not, at least they'll come to their senses.
Baek Woojin grabbed the man who had regained his senses by the collar and pulled him up. Then, to the man whose pupils were still trembling slightly as if confused though out of panic, he said forcefully.
"If you have any mana stones, hand them over right now."
Even as he spat out those words, he wasn't really expecting much.
Just looking at their pathetic mental fortitude compared to their equipment level, it was obvious that the three before him were passengers on a bus driven by the woman fighting hard over there.
"M-mana stone?"
"Mana stone... m-ma, a-ah! Th-that thing!!"
They say life rarely goes as you think it will. But this time, it seemed to be flowing in a rather pleasant direction.
"H-here, r-right here!!"
Not the one grabbed by the collar, but the guy with glasses next to him quickly shoved his hand into the small bag strapped to his thigh, and on his palm lay three pitch-black stones.
'Please be full, please...'
Baek Woojin placed his ring-bearing right hand over the mana stones, and the three stones immediately melted like powder and were absorbed into the ring.
Setting aside the price, having consumed mana stones that others would be lucky to see even ten times, even if it wasn't full, it would only be polite to say it was full.
'It's full──'
But before he could even confirm that fact, Baek Woojin lost consciousness.
**
"Gasp?!"
Like a switch being flipped down and back up again, Baek Woojin's consciousness connected and he sprang up like a coil.
His rapidly moving eyes surveyed the surroundings. And at the scenery with that warm color scheme he could never forget even if he tried, his tightly wound tension loosened slightly.
"Heh heh, unlike last time, you're quite energetic this time."
"Ah."
His relief was brief.
Baek Woojin turned his head toward the source of the voice and stepped down from the sofa. Then he bowed his head to the white-haired old man, just as he remembered him.
"My name is Baek Woojin."
"So you did remember."
"Yes, well... The situation back then was so chaotic that...?"
Feeling awkward at the old man's words, Baek Woojin raised his head and was about to scratch his cheek when he noticed something strange.
'Why is it like this again?'
His body was flickering with blue flames. Just like a soul that had slipped out of its physical body.
"Your body feels strange, doesn't it? But there's no need to worry too much about it."
The old man, who had been sitting at the desk reading a book just like before, just as he had last seen him before they parted, closed the book and stood up.
"When you first came here, your body's lifespan had little time left, so you were able to cross over completely without any restrictions."
Lifespan and restrictions.
The old man sat on the sofa as if it were nothing, and while not perfect, Baek Woojin felt he roughly understood what the old man was trying to say, so he also sat back down on the sofa.
"Right. So the young man's name is Baek Woojin?"
"That's correct."
"By any chance, does your name carry a special meaning?"
At the old man's question, Baek Woojin paused for a moment.
He clearly remembered hearing it from his father during middle school, but the important core of it wouldn't come to mind at all.
"There is a meaning, but I can't remember it well."
"Heh heh."
This time too.
The old man showed an incomprehensible smile and continued speaking.
"Treasure your name."
"I'll tell you the meaning next time I come."
"Hoho, there's no need to tell me. Your parents would have surely given you a name with a good meaning."
With that answer, Baek Woojin thought he understood why the old man before him felt somewhat uncomfortable to be around.
'Those eyes...'
They were having a normal conversation, but even with the same words, the old man's gaze seemed to see right through to his inner thoughts that he hadn't voiced.
"So then."
The old man gently stroked his snow-white beard, crossed his legs, and asked.
"Will you tell me the story you didn't share last time?"
"I will."
His memories from before the regression were still a shameful part he didn't want to recall. But if revealing that shame to others could protect his present, he could expose such petty disgrace any number of times.
"But how should I address you?"
"Call me Schrodin."
"Schrodin-nim."
"I'm listening."
Under the old man's gaze that seemed to know what story he would tell, Baek Woojin let out a short breath and opened his mouth.
"Like last time, my situation this time is a little... no, quite a difficult position."
"Heh heh, from the way you woke up in a startle alone, I could easily guess that much."
"Yes. So I'd like to ask for your help."
"Help, you say."
The old man, Schrodin, stared intently at Baek Woojin with an interested gaze and stroked his beard.
"Didn't I tell you? A transaction must be fair."
"I remember. So I'll ask. I don't know what I can do for you, Schrodin-nim. So please tell me directly."
"What would an old man expect from a young lad? It would be enough if you just dropped by occasionally and kept me company. Of course, the value of the conversation will vary depending on how much your story interests this old man."
"I understand."
"Do you accept it?"
At Schrodin's question, Baek Woojin nodded his head once.
"If I can receive Schrodin-nim's help just by moving my lips a bit, there's no reason for me not to accept."
And even if there were a reason, considering the difference in their positions, he would still have to accept. The one with fire on their feet right now was none other than me.
"Do you have enough time?"
"More than last time."
Schrodin, who had been stroking his beard, gently reached out his hand and said.
"For the sake of future enjoyment, I'll make a small exception this time."
"Does that mean..."
"Tell me what you desire."
Even with the problem being solved much more easily than expected, Baek Woojin couldn't easily let go of his remaining tension.
"Please make it so I can handle mana."
"Heh heh, I see. Mana... hmm?"
Schrodin, who had been laughing heartily, opened his eyes wide and blinked his large eyes as he looked at Baek Woojin.
"You already possess mana, and you want help to handle it?"
Baek Woojin felt it.
From Schrodin's gaze directed at him, he sensed the meaning, 'Did I misjudge this person?'
"I can sense external mana. But no matter how hard I try, I can't feel the mana within my own body."
"Then your effort must have been insufficient."
"……."
When put that way, he had nothing to say.
"Hohum. Well, I was a bit surprised, but if that's the case."
Schrodin slightly raised the hand that had been stroking his beard, then lightly flicked his thick fingers that seemed to contain his life's worth.
'Crazy.'
Baek Woojin cursed inwardly at the massive golden energy gathering right before his nose.
"They babble about how you need to be born with talent to sense mana, but that's all nonsense to inflate their own worth. Can a newborn baby learn to walk without parents? Letters? How to speak? No. They can't. Magic is the same."
The golden energy that had become a sphere far exceeding Baek Woojin's height—Schrodin's mana—flowed out like a thin thread.
"If you can't do it, then just teach them until they can. Can't learn because you lack talent? Heh heh, that's the sound of a passing knight getting beaten up by goblins."
From the old man's clenched fist, his index finger rose up prominently and pointed at the ceiling.
"It's just that the ones teaching lack talent. If they had real talent, they would have weeded out those who couldn't learn from the start. Isn't that right?"
And the prominently raised index finger moved with a slight crook, pointing directly at Baek Woojin.
"Keuk?!"
The thin strand of Schrodin's mana that had flowed out stuck to Baek Woojin and slowly crept into his soul.