Shin Jonghak was stroking his chin beside Chae Nayun. In about a week, I had a feeling I’d be seeing Shin Jonghak with a beard.
In any case, playtime was over.
I clapped my hands once.
“Gather around first. I’ll start by explaining what kind of situation this is.”
* * *
The regression into the past was the work of a wraith. However, ordinarily, no mere wraith could send a human back into the past, no matter how powerful its soul might be. After all, regression was a highest-order mystery—namely, a “miracle”—with an infinitesimal probability of occurring, and one that had never once been observed.
But the wraith here had partially reproduced that miracle.
“It used the ‘Tower’s Remnants.’”
I took a shard of purple crystal from my pocket.
Then I asked Shin Jonghak.
“There was a ‘Tower of Time’ on Baramsan, right?”
“……Yes. My grandfather conquered it in 2010.”
Only the rewards of a Tower could accomplish even a wonder, the rank just beneath a miracle.
The moment a Tower was conquered to the very end, it condensed into a vast mass of magic power beyond the imagination of ordinary people and remained in the present world. That was what “Tower crystals” like Floating Stones and Information Stones were.
“When the Tower condensed, some of the magic power it released wasn’t gathered up and scattered into the surroundings. Over long years, that power took on the form of crystals. That’s what these Tower’s Remnants are.”
A purple crystal shard the size of a fingernail.
This tiny thing was a Tower’s Remnant.
“In other words, the wraith borrowed the power of these remnants and dragged us into a ‘recorded world.’”
A recorded world.
In my setting, it was a concept similar to a parallel world, but subtly different.
Yoo Yeonha seemed to have understood well enough, but Kim Suho tilted his head and asked.
“A recorded world?”
“Yeah. It’s a kind of magical space that recreates the past of a certain area. It operates like reality, and there really isn’t much different from reality, but it can never affect reality.”
“Aha……”
I continued the explanation.
Next was information about the enemy we had to crush above all else: the Djinn.
“And in this place, there’s also a Djinn who got caught by the wraith like us, and who calls himself ‘Asura.’ Oh, don’t worry—just because he calls himself Asura doesn’t mean he’s the real Asura.”
The self-proclaimed “Asura.”
What an absurd alias. In the original, I’d given him the pretty name “Cheonhwa,” so what was he thinking, changing it on his own? What if the real Asura found out?
“He’s using ‘mana crystals’ to increase his power.”
Mana crystals.
A substance formed when naturally condensed mana takes on a solid form.
“Um, question.”
Just then, Yoo Yeonha raised her hand high.
“How does one grow stronger with mana crystals? The method of utilizing them wasn’t developed until the 2000s.”
“You eat them.”
“……Pardon?”
An ordinary human would die the moment they ate one. Even if they didn’t die, the mana condensed inside the crystal would clash with the magic power in their body and cause severe internal injuries.
But this Djinn was different.
“It seems he gained some kind of special power by joining forces with the wraith. He can swallow and digest mana crystals without any side effects.”
“Then……”
The kids’ faces turned serious.
Indeed, this Asura had become a little stronger than he had been in the original.
But I had no worries at all.
I didn’t know about anyone else, but as for this “self-proclaimed Asura,” I could definitely beat him.
“Is that Asura the only enemy?”
At Shin Jonghak’s question, I shook my head.
“No. There are more. But before I explain that, we first need to know how we can return to the present.”
I placed the purple crystal on my palm.
“As I said, the medium maintaining the past is this ‘Tower’s Remnant.’ The Djinn placed these crystals in several locations, including Gwangmyeong City Hall. Without these crystals, the past can’t be realized.”
“So we just need to take them?”
“Right.”
I unfolded the map I had made in advance.
“One of these crystals is at Gwangmyeong City Hall. One is at the water tower to the northeast. One is at the armory to the northwest. One is at the electric tower to the south……”
There were a total of six crystals.
We had to seize all of them, gather them in one place, and shatter them. Then the past would collapse as it was, and we would escape. Asura would try to stop us by mobilizing the five thousand residents of Gwangmyeong City Hall, though.
“However, excluding Gwangmyeong City Hall, each of the other five locations has one of Asura’s closest aides stationed there.”
Asura’s five closest aides.
To be honest, no matter what tricks I pulled, I couldn’t beat those five.
It was an extremely clear matter of compatibility.
I could beat the boss, but not the boss’s underlings.
“Then…… what we have to do is clear.”
Those were Kim Suho’s words.
I nodded and yawned.
The current time was 1 a.m. It was about time to sleep.
“It’s late, and you guys need to replenish your mana, so we’ll rest for the next five hours…… but let’s decide on the night watch first.”
* * *
At dawn, when the cold night air brushed past, I opened my eyes.
Short sleep had become a habit I’d developed during the forty days I’d spent here.
Since I never knew when the enemy might come, I slept in one-hour intervals each day, and on days when they went on patrol, I had even spent entire days enduring it up in a tree.
“Ugh.”
Still, maybe because my mind was at ease, dawn felt refreshing for the first time in a while.
I stepped out of the tent to do some morning exercise.
Near the entrance of the half-destroyed abandoned building, I saw Chae Nayun, the night watch, sitting on the seat of my bike. The blue light of daybreak faintly illuminated her.
Soon, as if she had sensed my presence, she turned her head slightly.
“……You’re up?”
Chae Nayun smiled faintly when she saw me.
“Yeah. You’re doing a good job on watch.”
“This much is a piece of cake.”
“Is it?”
I twisted up my long hair, which now reached down to my shoulders. Chae Nayun looked at me with eyes full of curiosity.
“Hey. Isn’t it uncomfortable with your hair that long? It’s about the same length as mine.”
“It is uncomfortable. But what if I cut it wrong and get caught by a curse practitioner?”
“……There are curse practitioners here too?”
“Yeah. There are. They carry dolls around.”
I trudged over and stood in front of Chae Nayun. Then I waved my hand. Get off my bike.
“……Tch.”
Chae Nayun clicked her tongue and moved her butt over to the dedicated night-watch chair.
Sitting in the chair, she stared ahead. I followed her gaze.
The world of dawn spread across the horizon. The sky shone with countless stars, and the ground was thick with grass and trees.
As she looked at the scenery of the past, so like the present and yet clearly different, what was Chae Nayun thinking?
I suddenly grew curious.
“What were you thinking about?”
“Huh? Mm…… Just, well, if we were going to come to the past anyway, we might as well have come to the year 2000. Something like that?”
“……”
I wasn’t so dense that I couldn’t understand what she meant.
The year 2000 was when Chae Nayun’s mother had still been alive.
I silently looked out at the forest.
Then, all of a sudden, Chae Nayun said something I didn’t quite understand.
“Well, it can’t be worse than you, I guess.”
“……?”
I looked at Chae Nayun. She simply gazed at the forest and spoke quietly.
“Sorry. I went and showed off my wrinkles in front of a chrysalis. Just ignore it.”
Her words suddenly made me think of my own parents as well, but I didn’t bother continuing that thought. It would only hurt and torment me.
Chae Nayun glanced at me, then spoke in a rather cheerful voice.
“Hey, but my mom was born in ’72, you know?”
“She had you pretty late.”
“That’s how it was back then. My mom was so busy—how would she have had the energy to make a baby?”
Chae Nayun muttered that, then looked at my bike.
And she said the same thing as before.
“……She was born in ’72. They said she was born at St. Mary’s Hospital.”
St. Mary’s Hospital.
If I rode my bike, I could get there in thirty minutes.
If this were reality, that is.
“What’s been realized is only up to this area. We can’t enter central Seoul.”
“……Hmm. Really?”
Hiding her disappointment with a low sigh, Chae Nayun put on a deliberately bright smile.
“What a shame~”
End
For a week, the group devoted themselves to training their bodies.
From barehanded exercise to sparring with weapons. They moved as much as possible and diligently consumed their magic power. It was training meant to help them adapt to the past, and in the original, it had also been carried out under Yoo Yeonha’s guidance.
“……Hup!”
With a gritted shout, a semicircular flash of swordlight gleamed.
Clang!
The sharp metallic sound of sword meeting sword rang out.
The hand gripping her sword felt as though it might burst, but Chae Nayun did not lose focus. However, Kim Suho’s horizontal slash immediately followed. It was a clean strike that curved as though sweeping across.
“Ugh!”
Chae Nayun failed to receive the attack and was sent flying backward.
“Ahhh…… I lost, I lost.”
Chae Nayun, sprawled on the ground, raised her hand high.
Yoo Yeonha, who had been watching the spar, wrote something on her record sheet.
“Kim Suho, 12 wins and 0 losses. Chae Nayun, 0 wins and 12 losses.”
“……Do you really have to write that down?”
Chae Nayun grumbled as she stood up. As she brushed the dirt from her knees and backside, Shin Jonghak glanced sideways at her with half-lidded eyes.
The weather was quite hot, so Chae Nayun had cut her long jeans down until they were practically hot pants.
Yoo Yeonha, suddenly feeling spiteful, shouted loudly.
“Shin Jonghak also has 4 wins and 8 losses!”
“What? I told you, I’m 6 wins and 6 losses.”
Vrooom—
Just then, the faint sound of a bike engine reached them. Kim Suho, who had been drinking water, said,
“Looks like Hajin’s back.”
“Yeah. Hup. Guess the food manager has arrived.”
Ever since they had fallen into the past, Kim Hajin had been in charge of food.
Yoo Yeonha suddenly despised herself for the way her mouth watered at the mere sound of the engine. Since he always came back with something delicious, it had at some point become an unconditional reflex……
“Hey, Kim Hajin! What did you bring today~?!”
Chae Nayun shouted.
At the entrance to the abandoned building, the bike appeared. An icebox was sitting reliably on the bike.
Kim Hajin parked the bike against the wall and took off his helmet.
They had now grown somewhat used to his long hair and beard. Like a puppy waiting for its owner, Chae Nayun ran over, picked up the icebox, and set it down on the ground.
“……Ahem.”
Yoo Yeonha and Shin Jonghak also quietly stood up and approached.
Inside the icebox were pork and chicken, along with some drinks.
“What is this? Isn’t this cola?”
“Co-Cola?”
At that moment, a dark greed clearly settled in Yoo Yeonha’s eyes.
“So they had cola in the ’70s too……”
Shin Jonghak muttered as he stroked his patchy beard. Chae Nayun turned her head toward him. Sensing her gaze, Shin Jonghak pointlessly lifted his chin, emphasizing himself.
Chae Nayun silently watched him for a moment before finally saying one thing.
“Didn’t you bring a razor?”
* * *
Kim Suho and Lee Yeonghan took charge of the cooking. I had several kinds of spices and seasonings in my magic bag, and Kim Suho made an appetizing spicy braised chicken stew and grilled pork belly.
In truth, even ordinary stream water in the 1970s contained more densely concentrated spiritual energy and mana than the water of Cheonji on Baekdusan, so the group ate everything without being picky. Here, even if one merely ate and slept, their magic power capacity would probably rise by 10% in half a year.
Of course, one would have to move their body after eating for it to be assimilated.
“Ah, what are we going to do when we go back? I don’t think normal food will suit my taste anymore.”
Chae Nayun muttered as she looked at the empty pot. As I cleared away the dishes, I said,
“More importantly, hurry up and get up. Go spar.”
“……Ah, but my body really hurts so much. Every time I use magic power, I’m not lying, my heart hurts. My heart.”
“That’s because magic power is clumping around your heart. You have to use magic power for it to loosen up.”
I lightly ignored her exaggeration.
Chae Nayun pouted and grumbled.
“……Hey. Then why aren’t you doing it?”
“Because I don’t need to.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Training was one thing, but I didn’t need to go as far as sparring.
That much was easy to tell just by looking at the alerts currently displayed on my smartwatch.
[Due to Physique—Mana Incompatibility, accumulated magic power is being permanently absorbed! Strength has increased by 0.002.]
[Due to Physique—Mana Incompatibility……]
Perhaps thanks to the ridiculously high mana concentration here, I had gained a whopping 0.05 in additional stats over fifty days. It was unearned income obtained without any effort at all.
Moreover, this place was separated from the current flow of time, so there was no pressure regarding time. Even if I stayed here for a year, only about an hour would have passed in the present.
But I couldn't stay too long, either.
In the original story, the party only remained here for about four weeks. Because from the fourth week onward, the encroachment of the past would gradually begin.
"Alright, kids. First things first."
Clap, clap.
I clapped my hands.
"In three days, we're going to go stir things up in earnest. We can't stay here forever, after all. So I've drawn up a plan, okay?"
The plan was the same as the original, yet different.
We would strike the weakest side first and obtain two crystals simultaneously.
"Kim Min-gyo of the northwest water tower, Ju Parang of the southern iron tower. We'll split into two teams and launch a night raid......"
* * *
Three days later, on a late night with a pale waning moon.
The day of action had arrived.
The team was divided into groups of two and four.
Shin Jong-hak and I were one team; the remaining four were the other.
Of course, Shin Jong-hak had been vehemently opposed. He had opposed it fiercely enough to actually want to kill me, but I had been stubborn. Because teaming up with Shin Jong-hak seemed less burdensome.
"We're heading out first, so if you can't clear it within two hours, just run back to the hideout."
"Tch."
I got on the bike. Shin Jong-hak sat hesitantly behind my saddle. His hand, trying to find the handle, touched my buttocks. In that instant, his body trembled.
"Damn, what the hell. Where the fuck am I supposed to hold?"
"Not the front. The side."
"......."
Only then did Shin Jong-hak look at the side of the saddle. There was a separate protruding handle.
"I want to ride the motorcycle too......."
As Chae Na-yoon watched with somewhat envious eyes, I gripped the throttle.
Its performance was truly monstrous—zero to a hundred in less than a second even on a mountain path, and with minimal noise to boot. The bike shot forth like a flash of lightning and reached our destination.
I transformed the bike into a suitcase form and slipped into the forest.
Just then, Shin Jong-hak asked out of the blue.
"Was there really any reason I had to go with you?"
"......No, not really."
The reason was simple.
No matter how much this was a recreated past, Kim Su-ho wouldn't try to kill people.
"I asked if there was a reason."
"Shh. Look ahead."
The guards at the water tower visible before us numbered only twenty.
The people of the past didn't know how to handle mana properly and were clumsy. Among them, excluding Kim Min-gyo, I could take care of all of them by myself.
However, at least Kim Min-gyo was comparable to a mid-low tier hero, so a joint attack was absolutely necessary.
"Kim Min-gyo should be resting inside the water tower. I'll take care of the outside goons, so you just capture Kim Min-gyo. I'll cover you."
Shin Jong-hak drew his spear. Then, whoosh—he suddenly spun it, kicking up a cloud of useless dust.
"Ptoo. Ah, damn, it's getting in my mouth."
"Noisy."
"It got in your mouth too just now."
"......Cut the crap."
Even as he said that, he ran his tongue over his teeth and spat something out.
That was when.
From below the mountain, a low voice rose.
"Who goes there?"
Both of us looked that way.
A solidly built young man stood there. He seemed to be part of a patrol unit.
"This is Lord Asura's land. Outsiders may not approach, so withdraw at once."
At that, Shin Jong-hak stepped forward with a smirk.
"And if we refuse?"
"......Then I'll have to educate you."
The guy drew nunchaku from his waist. However, the magical power imbued in those nunchaku was no joke.
Whirl— Whirl— Whirl—
The young man twirled the nunchaku this way and that.
"Do you see?! This wind's! Movement!"
A fierce wind rose from it, threatening us. Ahahaha—maniacal laughter intoxicated with his own grandeur echoed out.
Truly, it was an amazing display of skill.
Click.
I transformed the Desert Eagle into shotgun mode and pulled the trigger.
"This is what you call— ugh!"
The guy collapsed, shot in the abdomen.
"......What a funny guy."