What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 825

Gemini (8)

That evening.

“Customer, could I see your ID, please?”

“…Ah, yes.”

“Thank you. Please check ‘agree’ for all the required sections here. And please sign once on this page and once on the next page.”

“Okay.”

Visiting the mobile carrier’s direct store, I was signing the tablet screen for the phone change with trembling hands.

Around that time, I really felt like my soul was leaving my body.

I couldn’t even properly remember how I finished my work, packed my things, and left on time with what little spirit I had left today.

But it seemed I hadn’t made any ridiculous mistakes like the first few days after crossing the world line [referring to his time travel/isekai experience].

I diligently spoke at the internal legal team meeting in the afternoon, and I also presented without fail about the draft of the new mold order contract that I had reviewed with my assistant manager for the past few days.

So, until I left work, nothing special happened at the company…

‘Assistant Manager Ye-seo, on your neck…’

‘Yes?’

…No, a big problem almost happened.

‘Here on your neck, there’s something like a feather…’

‘Ah? Gasp!’

As soon as I opened the problematic file, I was so startled that three feathers poked out from my shirt collar.

Three feathers, no less!

‘Thank you. I, I wore a padded jacket last night…’

‘A padded jacket?’

‘…I get cold easily.’

It was already April, and a fist-sized padding feather came out of my shirt, so even if they misunderstood me as someone who didn’t shower yesterday, I had nothing to say.

My assistant manager laughed it off as if he had heard something funny, but my heart was a mess.

I almost spread my wings at work.

It wasn’t the time to nag about phoenix feathers rolling around in Jung Hyun-seo’s room!

Besides, what the heck is that Hangul file [Korean word processing file]?

‘□□ □□□ □□□□ □□□ □.hwp’

…Why is something like that on my phone? Why…

‘「”□□□.”

Crazy, it’s dar□. My shoulders shrink by themsel□□.

Following the soun□, I tur□ my eye□ to see a strange person stan□in□.

“Wh□ are you to be in my house…”

“Did you slee□ well□?”

“Pardon?”

There’s more than on□ perso□….」’

…I’ve only read the first few pages, but the flow was too familiar.

Even though there were many broken characters, it didn’t seem to be a problem to grasp the context. And that is…

‘「”Is there anythin□ uncomfortabl□. The Hwan□ □an knights made this clothin□ to protec□ the roya□ family of Shin□uk.”

“It fits perfectly. It’s okay□.”」’

…Even though it was a while ago, that was definitely a conversation between Benjamin and me.

Of course, I couldn’t have forgotten such a shocking time as the first day of possession [when he first took over the body in the other world].

It’s still as vivid as if it were yesterday.

“Customer, we will prepare the device here.”

…So that’s my record? No, so is that the ‘story’ of that world line?

How did that get into my phone?

If there were traces, they should be left on my brother’s computer, right?

“Customer.”

“…”

Wait a minute, is new content being written there in real time?

Like when my brother was watching our time?

Ah, Jung Ye-seo, you single-celled idiot! You should have checked it on the company computer first.

You were so startled that you almost broke a perfectly good mouse and plucked out wing feathers!

“…Customer?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. What did you say?”

I was so surprised that my shoulders jumped up and I looked up.

Then, a smiling employee handed me a new phone.

“The cloud white color you chose, the device change and activation are complete. We have attached a tempered glass film as a service, along with the purchase freebies.”

“…Yes, thank you. It’s so pretty.”

…I smiled back, fiddling with the unfamiliar machine.

But only one question filled my head.

Can I move that file here?

-Tudung! [Sound effect for an error]

Damn it!

‘Cannot copy file due to unexpected error. If this error persists, use the error code to…’

The error message I saw earlier popped up. My legs gave way and I collapsed on the floor.

Jung Hyun-seo, who had safely finished today’s work, tilted his head with a blunt expression.

“It doesn’t work.”

“I know, it doesn’t work…”

Once again, we were gathered in my brother’s room.

Jung Eun-seo was busy reviewing in her room and had no interest in the uncles’ secret meeting.

She said she was reviewing the content while voice chatting with people who read the same novel, but I don’t know the detailed process. Anyway…

“Computer, laptop, transferring to a new phone all failed… Even if I use the Switch app, the problematic file won’t move and just stays there. What’s the reason why it has to stay here? It’s a relief, but why this phone of all things?”

I glared at the old smartphone and muttered like a crazy person.

After talking to my brother when I got home, all the facts became clear.

The problematic square file, it was originally on my brother’s desktop.

Of course, at the time, everyone didn’t want to overwrite the world line, so it was right not to save it in order to properly protect Toegye [historical Korean figure] or our world.

But the file just jumped over here?

“I remember you said you got help from Prince Dioph.”

“Yes…?”

Sir Johann, sitting on a simple chair, reached out to me.

I grabbed his wrist and lifted myself up.

The Cardinal looked very neat today, with his hair twisted up with a 집게 pin [hair clip].

The man’s blue dragon scale-like eyes seemed to be groping for a certain point in the past.

“You said ‘the phone came back to life’ and you talked about ‘charging’.”

“…Ah!”

Clap! I clapped my hands without realizing it. That’s right! That happened in the royal capital!

“Hyung [older brother], I asked my level 8 wizard friend to charge my phone with electric magic! Electric shock is his specialty. Could that have had a decisive impact?”

“…That’s a plausible theory. Mana is ‘the power left over from the Main God’.”

“The power left over from the Main God, that’s right. Everyone there said that. Our teacher too.”

“Besides, the existence of your world line itself is based on the Main God’s wish… It wouldn’t be strange for the world to take refuge in an object imbued with the energy of God.”

‘I don’t know if the evacuation was done properly.’ Jung Hyun-seo, who had his arms crossed, replied seriously.

I felt like I had gotten an answer for the first time.

A deep sigh poured out from my core.

I turned to Sir Johann with a bright smile for a long time and looked down at my phone.

‘The power left over from the Main God.’ The phone was one of the few belongings that I had with me since I crossed over there, but I never thought it would be a clue in this way.

I was grateful just for the fact that I had a glimmer of hope, even though nothing was certain yet.

I’m so glad I asked him to charge it back then.

Thank you so much, Jibril! The best playboy on the continent!

“Thank you for providing the clue, Sir Johann. Then let’s check that now, Hyung. Whether the scroll is going up. Like when Hyung was watching us, whether my friends’ stories are being written in that file in real time.”

“Okay.”

“I have a feeling that’s the case. I have a feeling. It’s definitely because it’s a living, breathing world that it escaped to my phone.”

Jung Hyun-seo grabbed the mouse to close the error window. At that very moment―

“Huh?”

Wait a minute.

“Why.”

“Hyung, that error message… Was it like that before? After the error code.”

“…”

I stretched out my index finger and pointed to one place on the monitor.

My brother’s gaze, with narrowed eyebrows, followed my fingertip.

We read the letters in silence.

‘Cannot copy file due to unexpected error. If this error persists, use the error code to find help on this issue.’

‘Error 3BOZHENA01:’

“…”

“…”

“…”

‘The requested operation could not be performed due to lack of plausibility.’

Goosebumps ran all over my body.

“…An error about Bozhena?”

“What are you talking about…”

I almost threw up my heart while standing straight.

The chilly night air brushed past our brothers’ necks.

It was only after a few seconds that I realized it was Sir Johann’s power and blinked.

The side of the Cardinal’s face, which I hurriedly looked up at, was also slightly agitated.

I quickly grabbed his elbow and infused him with aether [magical energy]. Please calm down.

“Herit will be fine, Sir. Don’t worry too much. Bozhena was definitely destroyed back then. Jung Hyun-seo, close the window and reopen the file.”

-Click click!

The Hangul program was executed immediately with a short double click.

As soon as the problematic file opened, I hurriedly checked the status of the scroll bar first.

According to my brother, that bar should be shrinking and going up at a scary rate.

Because the situation is constantly progressing and the story is moving forward, the contents of the file should also be increasing…

“Uh…”

Oh my god.

“Uh-oh…”

“It’s moving.”

I felt like I had hearts attached to my right chest, stomach, legs, and even the soles of my feet.

I jumped up and down in place and laughed like a child.

“Wow! It’s moving! Sir Johann, the bar is moving!”

Forgetting that Jung Eun-seo was in the room across the living room, I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Sir Johann, who must have had a hard time without knowing it, also returned a bright smile to our brothers.

Seeing his face of genuine relief, I finally felt like I could breathe.

Like someone who had been drowning and barely made it to land, I took a ragged breath and looked back at the monitor.

“We’ll be able to meet soon. It’s almost here now. Really now…”

It’s here. It’s as good as here.

I still don’t know how to cross over and I don’t have any good ideas, but anyway, my friends are close by.

No one has drifted away into a world line in a fantasy. Rather, it was the opposite.

Everyone has been in my pocket all along…

-Click!

“Wait.”

Jung Hyun-seo, who was grabbing the scroll bar and pulling it down, said.

I paused and looked at the back of his head.

“…This is a bit strange. I think there’s a problem?”

“…What? Why?”

My brother’s voice was excessively subdued. I tensed up and clenched and unclenched my fists.

“Here, until you get stabbed by the scythe and come back home… The content is roughly visible. Even though there are many broken characters.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

Like I briefly checked at the company during the day, about seventy percent of the square file was fine.

If I read it carefully, it might be different, but the broken parts were at a level that I could fill in enough with my and Sir Johann’s memories.

Jung Hyun-seo also read it all night that day, so he probably knows the contents of the file.

No, when you think about it, it wasn’t a big problem even if we didn’t necessarily fill in the blanks.

Because we, the parties involved, just have to remember―

“But then, downwards.”

My brother grabbed the scroll bar and pulled it all the way down. And…

“…”

…

“I can’t see anything. From here on, everything is broken and there’s nothing I can read.”

“…”

“…”

I stood there dumbfounded, at a loss for words. As my brother said, the page in front of me was just…

‘「”Hyung… The noteboo□ I used to writ□ in over ther□ is gone.”‘

‘At □ o’cloc□, I felt the blood drainin□ from my fac□.

*

□ □□. □ □□□□□ □□ □□.

□□□□ □□ □□ □□······.」’

Everything that followed was square.

There wasn’t a single character I could decipher.

Despair swallowed me.