All that remained to him were a little over a hundred demonic beasts, and one other companion coiled within his heart.
In that instant, his heart beat.
The specter inside his heart seemed to be telling him something.
Asura shook his head.
But soon his body twisted grotesquely, and the specter burst out from his heart.
Asura’s unconscious body vanished from the past before we could do anything. It was probably the specter’s doing.
─······.
The dark specter floated silently in midair. Kieek, kieek─ with a terrifying expression, it threatened us savagely.
But a formless thing was no threat at all.
Kim Suho swung his sword and cut the specter down. The moment the specter touched the divine weapon “Mistilteinn,” it was sucked into it. Mistilteinn had the trait of gathering spirits and growing stronger. That specter would now accompany Kim Suho within Mistilteinn.
A heavy silence settled for a moment.
Within it, Kim Hajin’s voice rang out clearly.
“Hey, hey. Thanks to you, I lived.”
Everyone’s gazes focused on him. Kim Suho looked at him with trust, while the others stared in shock.
“······What?”
Kim Hajin did not understand the meaning behind their eyes, but soon realized.
In front of him, demonic beast corpses were piled up like a mountain.
“Ah······ this? Oh, this. They’ll disappear soon.”
Since their magic power connection had been severed, they would probably vanish in two minutes.
However, the awestruck gazes of the onlookers did not easily fade.
* * *
I didn’t ask how Kim Suho persuaded the people of the past. The situation had changed from the original, but the ending was more or less similar.
That was enough.
I simply plopped down on the ground.
My whole body felt drained and dazed.
After firing all 900 rounds, I wasn’t physically all that exhausted, but the mental fatigue was considerable.
I turned on my smartwatch to comfort my weary body.
[You have massacred a large number of enemies. “Sharpshooter” proficiency grade has risen to grade 5.]
[Luck activates! By killing thousands of dark-attribute demonic beasts, your armament “Aether” has newly gained dark-attribute comprehension!]
[You have acquired 330 SP!]
Sharpshooter had reached grade 5, but the best thing was still dark-attribute comprehension.
Here, “attribute comprehension” was quite a good reward. Especially when attached to Aether.
If I combined Aether with the Desert Eagle, the Desert Eagle would inherit the attribute comprehension that Aether possessed. That was also the reason my bullets had been glowing with white light until now.
Of course, compared to attribute bullets made with SP, their power would be far, truly far inferior······.
“······Ah, what? Why?”
But I couldn’t think in peace because I was too conscious of my surroundings. Chae Nayun, Shin Jonghak, and Lee Yeonghan had been looking at me suspiciously for a while now.
“No, hey. Does that even make sense?”
“What does?”
At Chae Nayun’s question, I shrugged.
“······Don’t joke around.”
But Chae Nayun was serious. She looked somehow aggrieved.
I chuckled and took out the assault rifle version of the Desert Eagle. Chae Nayun’s eyes, along with Shin Jonghak’s and Lee Yeonghan’s, widened. Their expressions said, Where did that come from?
“I told you. It’s a gun-related talent. The compatibility was just extremely one-sided.”
“Compatibility?”
“Yeah. Compared to swinging a spear two thousand times or a sword two thousand times, pulling a trigger two thousand times is easier when dealing with a large number of weak enemies. But more importantly.”
I asked Kim Suho, who was resting quietly near me.
“Did you bring the crystals?”
“Ah, yeah.”
Kim Suho held out three crystals.
“Are we going back now?”
I shook my head with a smile at that question.
“No. Put these crystals back where they originally were.”
“······Hm?”
“It’d be a waste. This is a blessed training ground. We should stay for another two weeks.”
In other words, a degraded version of the Room of Spirit and Time.
Here, we could grow even stronger.
Besides, right now—
“There are a lot more people who can spar with us, aren’t there?”
I pointed at Asura’s former close aides, who were standing hesitantly behind them.
End
We returned the crystals to their original places and headed to Gwangmyeong City Hall.
There, we received a rather unexpected welcome. Asura must have committed quite a bit of tyranny in the meantime, because the residents actually welcomed us.
In truth, after listening to their stories, it seemed Asura had been so obsessed with something called mana crystals that he had driven numerous residents to their deaths.
In any case, on the night Asura disappeared.
We gathered in an abandoned building and held a party.
The residents brought rice, meat, and other food from City Hall, and sat around a large bonfire with us in a friendly circle. They shared food with one another and conversed happily.
Of course, I only ate and slipped away.
It didn’t feel like a place where I belonged.
“······Here. Kim Hajin. Take this.”
But Lee Yeonghan held out a bowl of porridge to me.
“What’s this?”
“It’s for Yoo Yeonha.”
Although the curse had been lifted, Yoo Yeonha still hadn’t fully recovered her weakened energy and health. So she was still sleeping soundly inside the tent.
“······Why are you giving it to me?”
“They’re busy talking over there.”
Where Lee Yeonghan pointed, our group and Asura’s former close aides were gathered together and conversing. Their conversation must have been quite interesting, because even the great Shin Jonghak had his ears perked up and was chuckling.
“Ah, we know about Seoul too. Right now, Seoul is divided into several factions. Gangnam is split between Shin Myeongcheol and Chae Joochul, and Gangbuk is······”
“What is Shin Myeongcheol’s reputation like?”
Shin Jonghak’s manner of speech had already reverted to that of the past.
“He’s a good man. He brought peace to the Gwanak area right away.”
“Haha. I see.”
It seemed he enjoyed hearing praise for his own grandfather in person.
At that, Chae Nayun also asked energetically.
“Then, Chae Joochul. What about Chae Joochul?”
The Immortal Chae Joochul. Chae Nayun’s grandfather, and a candidate for the current strongest in the world.
However, contrary to Chae Nayun’s expectations, the man from the past gave a very negative answer.
“That man can’t be trusted. I was in Seoul for a while, so I know. There’s something sinister about him. Like a snake, you could say. He’s the kind of man who’ll cause a major incident someday.”
“······.”
Chae Nayun’s face stiffened.
Certainly, Chae Joochul wasn’t exactly set up to be purely good.
I took the bowl of porridge and went into the tent.
“Hey. Food’s here.”
Then Yoo Yeonha, who had been lying motionless, groaned and raised her upper body. When she saw my face, she looked slightly disappointed, but did not show it openly.
“You’re pretending to be sick, aren’t you?”
“Pardon? No. My body still has no strength······ Mm.”
I shoved a spoonful of porridge into her open mouth as she tried to speak. Yoo Yeonha chewed the porridge with a flustered look.
She was chewing it absentmindedly, but she chewed every bite thoroughly, just like a real baby. After moving her jaw about ten times and swallowing, she looked at me and furrowed her brow.
“Ah, what?”
“What?”
“······Why are you suddenly doing this?”
Yoo Yeonha’s lips jutted out in a pout.
“You said you didn’t even have the strength to lift your hands. So I’m feeding you.”
“No, that’s······.”
It was probably a ploy to draw Shin Jonghak in. I chuckled and scooped up more porridge.
─Kyahaha.
Just then, Chae Nayun’s laughter rang out from outside the tent. What was that all of a sudden? I looked in that direction and held out the spoon.
“Ah, wait, wait. Ah, seriously!”
But when a loud shout came, I looked forward and, what do you know, porridge was smeared around Yoo Yeonha’s mouth.
Ah. She hadn’t opened her mouth.
“Couldn’t you open your mouth?”
“What? So this is my fault?”
“······.”
I used the spoon to scrape the porridge from around Yoo Yeonha’s lips and chin and brought it back to her mouth. Yoo Yeonha simply glared at me with her mouth firmly shut and did not take it in.
“You’re not eating? Planning to starve?”
“······That’s not it. It just doesn’t taste good. Is there nothing besides porridge?”
“There’s one pack of ramyeon left.”
At that moment, Yoo Yeonha’s throat bobbed. But soon, pretending otherwise, pretending she didn’t want to eat it, she put on a sullen expression and said,
“······Then at least that. This is too bland to eat.”
“I’ll give it to you if you eat this first.”
At that, Yoo Yeonha flicked her tongue out and ate the porridge.
“Instead of staying like this, why don’t you just come outside and chat?”
“I don’t have the energy for that~”
Yoo Yeonha lay down again and pulled the blanket over herself.
Having no choice, I tried to leave.
But at that moment, Yoo Yeonha’s quiet voice reached me.
“······Excuse me.”
“Yeah?”
“······Thank you.”
A careful whisper, but with sincere gratitude.
I simply nodded.
“As long as you know.”
“I’m always only receiving help from you.”
“Yeah. When are you planning to pay me back?”
Yoo Yeonha smiled faintly and spoke gently.
“You know. Don’t you think we could become pretty good companions?”
Companions, huh······.
Yoo Yeonha’s companion. That was certainly a shortcut to an easier life. In the future, she would become a top-tier CEO who built a grand enterprise across multiple fields, including magic engineering, pharmaceuticals, guilds, auctions, weapons, and more.
“I could even help you get together with Nayun.”
“······What are you talking about? I don’t need that kind of thing.”
“Huh? Did you really switch over?”
All of a sudden, Yoo Yeonha sprang her upper body up again.
“Switch what?”
“From Nayun to Rachel.”
“What are you saying? It’s neither of them. I don’t have the leisure to like anyone right now, you know?”
“Ay. You’re lying.”
She looked at me with sly eyes, as if she knew everything. I met that gaze, then nodded.
“······There’s no ramyeon.”
“Huh? W-wait a second!”
Ignoring her, I came outside.
Then I went to Lee Yeonghan and said,
“Hey. She says she’s not eating the porridge.”
“Huh? Really?”
Lee Yeonghan tilted his head, then opened the tent flap and went inside.
─Yoo Yeonha. Why aren’t you eating? Have no appetite?
─Uh, huh? Ah······ well. That······ ramyeon? Ra~myeon?
─Ramyeon? Ah. Did Kim Hajin say he’d cook you ramyeon instead of porridge? But you don’t eat things like that.
─Uh······? Ah······ that’s true······.
─Then just keep resting today. Don’t eat anything.
─······Lee Yeonghan, I don’t like you these days. I really mean it.
─Huh? What, why?
─Get out. Just get out.
Listening to their conversation with one ear, I placed a pot on the burner and filled it with water.
Just then, Lee Yeonghan came out of the tent and said,
“Huh? Hey, Kim Hajin. Why are you cooking ramyeon? Yoo Yeonha says she won’t eat it.”
“Is that so?”
At that moment, Yoo Yeonha poked only her head out of the tent and snapped with a somewhat angry expression.
“Just leave him be. I can’t ignore his sincerity, you blockhead. He’s my lifesaver.”
“······What the. What’s with her?”
Lee Yeonghan eventually backed off, and I finished cooking the ramyeon and put it into the tent along with the pot.
“Eat it yourself.”
“Yes, sir.”
With a face full of happiness, Yoo Yeonha took the ramyeon and slipped back into the tent.
I glanced around, then got on my bike. Kim Suho spotted me.
“Hajin, where are you going?”
“Ah, I’ve got a few things to bring back.”
In this past, there were a few settings I hadn’t used. Several settings I had only written in the setting book but hadn’t actually used when writing the main story.
Some of them would be quite helpful, so I planned to bring them back.
* * *
In the past of 1972, the group continued to train and spar in order to grow stronger. There was no need to stay uncomfortably in an abandoned building; they moved to Gwangmyeong City Hall and lived together with the people of the past.
During the two weeks they stayed there, magic power explosions occasionally occurred, and monsters also invaded. However, we joined forces with the residents and resolved them together.
Ah, right, it wasn’t everyone’s strength combined. We had voted to drive out a few especially vicious people who had used Asura’s backing to commit all sorts of atrocities.
In any case, as we spent each day together like that, the group rapidly grew close to the people of the past.
Yoo Yeonha scurried around, searching to see if there was anyone who might become the ancestor of a famous person in the future; Chae Nayun played with the children every day; and Shin Jonghak, even there, found people who looked rather impressive and formed a clique with them.
And Kim Suho, as expected, helped the residents build various facilities and renovate the existing ones.
The days were filled with endless laughter.
But I, for my part, couldn’t simply enjoy it. Some of the people of the past I had killed remained dead, just as they were.
Whether the people at city hall didn’t know, or knew and were pretending not to, they treated me warmly all the same.
“Whew.”
Time flew by like an arrow, and at last, today arrived.
I was now sitting in a barber’s chair, surrounded by a large crowd.
“Ah, this is for the best. Your hair looked so stifling that my hands itched every time I saw it.”
“Yeah. You really need to cut it now. Two weeks ago would’ve been perfect, but lately it’s gotten way too long.”
That was Chae Nayun speaking.
I chuckled and nodded.
But was it really okay for a barbershop to be set up right in the middle of the street like this? Feeling a small discomfort, I glanced around. Kim Suho and Lee Yeonghan, Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha, Shin Jonghak with his arms crossed, pretending not to look while stealing glances, and countless people of the past as well.
“But can you leave a little bit of his beard?”
Just then, Chae Nayun spoke up on her own.
“Hm? Why? I think it all needs to go.”
I replied, stroking my beard. If I went home like this, Evandel would probably be startled.
“No, I think leaving a little would look better.”
“Nayun.”
At that moment, Yoo Yeonha smiled brightly and said to Chae Nayun,
“What does that have to do with you?”
“······Huh?”
Chae Nayun was momentarily dumbfounded. Yoo Yeonha continued with a smile.
“I’m genuinely curious. What does whether it suits this man or not have to do with you?”
“No, what. I’m just recommending the least bad option for him.”
“Mmm~ I see~ So that’s why you got a ride on his motorcycle and went for a drive last week~”
“······What?”
In that instant, a strange light flickered in Shin Jonghak’s eyes.
“Ah, that was because we decided to take charge of the food supplies together! You, what are you trying to say, you bitch!”
Unable to hold back, Chae Nayun shrieked. Yoo Yeonha, however, merely waggled her eyebrows slyly and stepped back. At that, the people around them smiled.
“I’ll begin~”
The barber began cutting my hair. The scissors brushed past my head, and as the hair that had reached down to my armpits was cut away, my head grew lighter.
I quietly savored this moment.
The innocent laughter of the residents, the passing breeze, the blazing sunlight, and when I opened my eyes, what I could see was······
“This fellow had some looks after all, didn’t he?”
“Of course. Still, he’s the man who completely tore that tyrant apart, isn’t he?”
“But what did he use to defeat that tyrant? Even Dongseok didn’t dare stand up to him.”
Traces of the past that would soon disappear.
“There, done. Now for the shave.”
The barber quickly finished cutting my hair and brought out a razor. The moment it came right at me without even shaving foam, I was startled.
Sharak, sharak—however, the barber’s mana cut away my beard so gently that I soon calmed down.
Before long, even the shave was finished, and the barber showed me a mirror.
“······Oh?”
The moment I saw that mirror, I was shocked.
To the point that I wondered if this was really me.
And it wasn’t just me. Chae Nayun and Yoo Yeonha, and for some reason even Kim Suho, were staring at me with eyes full of admiration.
My hair was swept up in a neat pomade style, and a suitably trimmed beard remained, like some Western model.
I unconsciously checked my smartwatch.
[Buff—Master Barber’s Touch.]
[Immutable stat Charm temporarily increases by 0.5.]
[Duration—4 weeks.]
Hurk.
The moment I saw that notification, I sprang to my feet and respectfully asked the elderly barber,
“······Excuse me, may I ask your name?”
“Haha. You like it that much? I’m called Kim Useok.”
“Kim Useok······. Do you perhaps have a son?”
“An eight-year-old. Kim Hojin.”
Kim Hojin. If he existed in the present as well, I would only go there whenever I got my hair cut. Talent was usually hereditary, after all.
I took the hand of the barber, Kim Useok, and bowed.
Then I looked around me.
Holding a child in her arms, waving her hand