Kang Hyun-byeol.
My ex-girlfriend, four years younger than me.
We dated for about three years after she confessed her feelings while we were both preparing for employment.
Well, that’s not important right now.
*Swoosh.*
I raise my gaze again to meet Hyun-byeol’s eyes.
For some reason, her gaze towards me is cold.
Perhaps the reason is…….
“In this situation, that’s what you’re looking at?”
“Ahem…….”
No, what am I supposed to do about where my eyes go?
I quickly pulled myself together and started to deal with the situation.
“Don’t misunderstand. I was just checking.”
“Checking?”
“Here, the default outfit matches the image you have of yourself.”
“So… this is the image I have of myself?”
“That’s right.”
If you want a different outfit, you have to buy it with GP [Game Points, a form of in-game currency].
The workout clothes and short-sleeved t-shirt I’m wearing now were also obtained that way.
“What was your default outfit, oppa [older brother]?”
“Uh…….”
It was a navy blue suit that fit snugly on my body.
It was a suit that my ex-girlfriend… that is, she bought for me to celebrate getting a job.
But…….
“This is what I’m wearing now. This was my default outfit.”
It’s kind of embarrassing to say that.
If I said I was wearing that even though we broke up a long time ago, it would look like I still had feelings, wouldn’t it?
“…Hmm, that’s very like you.”
Fortunately, Hyun-byeol easily accepted it without showing any suspicion.
However, a small question arose here.
“Like me? What’s so like me about it?”
“Why are you so sensitive and asking back? I just meant it looks comfortable.”
“Oh, is that so?”
Ugh, I can’t seem to assert myself in front of her.
Is it because I have so many sins?
“Anyway… don’t you have anything to say to me?”
“…It’s been a while, Hyun-byeol!”
“Is that it?”
“Uh…….”
What else should there be?
Ah, I didn’t ask that.
“So, how did you end up here?”
At my question, Hyun-byeol quietly glared at me, then sighed as if giving up.
“You still haven’t fixed that habit of running away.”
I just pretended not to hear it.
“It’s okay. Now that it’s come to this, I don’t think any of that matters…….”
“That’s right. What does the past matter? The most precious thing is the present…….”
I felt a chill somewhere.
“Why did you stop? Why don’t you continue?”
“Just. I think it’s better to apologize first.”
“…….”
“I’m sorry about what happened back then. I mean it.”
When I apologized, completely removing the playfulness from my voice, Hyun-byeol looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.
“You’ve… changed a bit, oppa.”
“Well, it’s inevitable…… But so, do you accept my apology?”
“If it’s an apology, it’s fine. Like I said before, what does it matter now? It’s not like it’s something that anyone needs to apologize for…….”
“That’s… true.”
After exchanging a few words, an awkward silence fell.
Well, it’s understandable.
It’s like reuniting with my ex-girlfriend, whom I broke up with a year ago in real time, in a distant other world.
“Anyway, I was really surprised. I never dreamed I’d see you here.”
“Really? I thought we’d meet someday.”
“…Huh?”
“After I opened my eyes here, I kept thinking. That oppa must be somewhere in this world too. I even felt a little relieved.”
“Relieved……?”
“The missing person story. I was so surprised when I heard it. I wondered if you had thought of something bad…….”
Ah, it could have looked that way.
It’s been over a year since we broke up, but she was worried about me, so I feel grateful somehow.
“So… how did you end up here?”
Because the conversation keeps going off on tangents, this is the third time I’m asking the question.
“No matter how I look at it, you’re far from being a gamer…….”
Fortunately, this time Hyun-byeol gave me a proper answer.
“Well… after breaking up with oppa, I became a little interested. I wondered how fun it was that oppa was so into it.”
It’s somewhat poignant.
When we were dating, she used to nag me about playing those games, even running three computers at once.
No, wait a minute.
“Then… did you clear the original version?”
“Oh, how could I clear that? After oppa went missing, I accidentally found out there was a cheat version and played that.”
“Then… how many times did you clear it?”
“30 times.”
“30 times……?”
30 times is a relatively high multiplier.
Especially since there are so many people who can’t clear it and move on to playing at high multipliers.
“You must have worked pretty hard…….”
“No, I cleared it after playing about ten rounds? It was easy because I had played the original version. And I also learned some things from watching oppa play the game before.”
“Ah…….”
Come to think of it, I often explained and bragged to Hyun-byeol when I discovered hidden pieces.
She’s so smart, she must have remembered everything.
“Why is your expression suddenly dark?”
“…Can you see that?”
“Of course. How much time have we spent together?”
I hesitated for a moment, then just answered honestly.
“It’s nothing much. I just thought that when I think about it now, you listened to things I wasn’t interested in every time without complaining…….”
I trailed off, feeling awkward even as I spoke.
Hyun-byeol’s reply came after a short pause.
“……Oppa, you’ve really changed a lot.”
“A lot of time has passed.”
“That’s… yes, that’s right…….”
Another awkward atmosphere was about to settle, but it was short-lived. When I asked if she knew what happened after I went missing, Hyun-byeol told me what she knew.
To summarize briefly, it’s like this.
After a month, the company filed a missing person report, and the police came to find you, and she also learned about it.
And…….
“You met my mother……?”
“Yes. At the police station.”
“What did that woman say……?”
“I didn’t have a direct conversation with her.”
“But something must have happened.”
“…….”
“It’s okay, tell me.”
At my words, Hyun-byeol seemed to hesitate, then carefully opened her mouth.
“She talked about the inheritance for a long time… and asked the police if there was a way to file a death certificate before the missing period expired.”
“Ha…….”
I roughly expected it, but it feels really dirty.
How much money could I have saved up?
I was a fool for even hoping.
*Clack.*
As I unconsciously clenched my jaw, Hyun-byeol offered words of comfort.
“Well, you still have five years. It wasn’t treated as a special missing person case because there was no evidence that you had an accident or were the target of a crime.”
“What’s the difference?”
“With a special missing person case, inheritance is possible after only one year.”
“I see.”
That’s a bit of a relief.
Even as I thought that, it was somewhat funny.
*Pfft.*
I guess you could call it a very Hyun-byeol-like comfort?
Come to think of it, even in the past, she used to find the positive aspects and comfort me logically rather than just offering empty sympathy.
She has a considerable influence on how my current personality was formed.
“So, what happened next?”
“I don’t know either. I was dragged into this place three months after oppa went missing.”
“What……?”
I was genuinely surprised.
Although time was twisted by the fragments of records, if you just calculate the simple time, it’s been 4 years and 1 month since I became Bjorn Yandel.
And since the time ratio was 5:1…….
‘It’s been almost ten months in reality since I went missing.’
In other words, Hyun-byeol was summoned to this world around the summer of the 154th year of the Cataclysm.
It was a summer with all sorts of events in many ways.
The time when the pillar of fire erupted in the dimensional plaza was also around that time.
Thinking about it, one thing became curious.
“But why did you only come to the community now? If you were summoned back then, you’ve been in this city for almost three years.”
“I’m not an explorer. I guess I didn’t catch your eye.”
“Not an explorer……?”
“Yes. Does it make sense to fight monsters in real life just because I played a few games? I just got a normal job in a decent place and made money.”
“Hearing you say that, I guess you’re human.”
“Looks like oppa isn’t?”
I was speechless at Hyun-byeol’s question.
It was because I was worried about whether I should reveal this personal information.
But, did she sense that hesitation in that short moment?
“Okay, I guess you don’t want to tell me.”
Hyun-byeol’s eyes curved into a long smile.
***
A look I had seen a few times when we were dating.
I used to be flustered by that look and had to do anything to cheer her up, but now I didn’t have to.
Frankly speaking, we’re strangers now, right?
There’s no way that Hyun-byeol, who was always rational, wouldn’t know that.
“So, oppa, you drew the line first?”
“Yeah.”
“…Okay. I won’t ask about that anymore. Is that okay?”
As expected of Hyun-byeol, she coolly accepted it.
However, was she still a little disappointed?
“Instead, don’t even think about listening to my story, oppa. I won’t tell you no matter what.”
Well, yeah, that’s right.
Since there was no room for rebuttal, I nodded without any regrets.
At this, Hyun-byeol bit her lip.
“Looks like you’re really not curious at all.”
“If I hear it, I’ll have to tell you too.”
Instead of vaguely glossing over it, I answered honestly.
After all, she knows exactly when I entered, right? Just telling her my race would narrow down the candidates.
“…….”
“…….”
We just looked at each other in silence.
“…Let’s sit down for a bit.”
“…Yes, that would be better.”
It was a bit awkward to keep standing, so we sat down on the sofa provided.
But once we sat down, there wasn’t much to talk about.
So, I started with something light.
“This is your first time in the community, right?”
“Yes.”
If she lived a normal working life in this world, how could she have received an invitation? I suddenly became curious, but I swallowed my curiosity.
“Should I give you some GP if you need it? You can also exchange it for cash at the exchange.”
“It’s okay. I can earn that much on my own. Besides, if you try to cash it out, the physical money will have to move, and then my identity might be revealed, right?”
“That’s… true.”
Actually, I only said that to start a conversation, and I was planning to stop her if she tried to cash out GP.
“Oppa… you must have become an explorer, right?”
“I did.”
We decided not to say anything that could reveal each other’s identities, but I readily admitted it.
If I refused even this much, the conversation wouldn’t continue.
“But why are you laughing?”
“It’s nothing. I just can’t imagine oppa fighting monsters with blood splattering everywhere.”
“I just did it as I went along.”
“It must have been hard.”
“What about you?”
“I’m just so-so. Actually, working here is more comfortable.”
Well, she’s the smartest person I’ve ever met.
She must have adapted quickly to this world—
“Really. The computerization isn’t even properly done, so it was easy to make initial capital.”
If it’s capital, does that mean she’s embezzling now?
“The market itself is so sloppy that the rate of return was quite good when I started to manage money in earnest.”
“…….”
“Oppa.”
“…Yeah?”
“In that sense, how about we stop testing each other and just join forces?”
“Haha, join forces… we already—”
“No, I’m not saying let’s start over, I’m saying let’s join forces. I’ll support you in every way from behind.”
“Support me?”
“After becoming financially free, my goal was to gain power. And recently, I’ve gotten in with a pretty high-ranking person. I’ll use that power to push you forward.”
“What’s the price?”
“Isn’t it obvious? In return, when we go back later, you’ll include me too. Going back is your goal too, right?”
“Returning…….”
When I trailed off, Hyun-byeol changed her expression again, as if she had sensed something.
“Oppa… are you perhaps planning to live here forever?”
I couldn’t find a reason to deny it.
“After going through all that hardship, there’s nothing waiting for me when I go back.”
“……What about your mother!”
“Huh? My mom?”
“If oppa stays here, all the deposit money will go there!”
Ah, that’s what she was talking about.
“Oh, that’s definitely a bit of motivation.”
When I said that with a smirk, Hyun-byeol raised her voice.
“Don’t try to gloss over it like that! Oppa, are you really going to live here?”
“Why are you getting so worked up? It’s not like I can’t live here. You know what? I have more friends here?”
At my attempt to lighten the mood, Hyun-byeol’s lips hardened.
And after a long pause.
“…………Friends? Oppa has?”
Hyun-byeol shouted with a shocked expression.
“…….”
Uh…….
Even for me, that kind of reaction is a bit hurtful.