Chapter 126

Episode 126: That’s Me, Umbiduba

I was so dumbfounded by the sudden reality laid before my eyes that I just stared blankly at Adrang for a while.

At some point, I snapped out of it and frantically searched my pouch. In my hand, I found the Box of the Dead.

“T-this, I need to renew it first.”

The item within the Box of the Dead needs replacement. Following the instinctive guideline ingrained within me, I brought the box right in front of my eyes.

Wooom… wooom… The Box of the Dead emitted a sinister purple glow.

[Item Information]

[Notice: Item Renewed – The storage item from your previous life known as the Box of the Dead has been updated.]

For a moment, it felt like time had stopped.

“Wow, this is crazy.”

This moment, without a doubt, is impossible to adapt to. Still disoriented, I put the box back into my pouch, only for countless thoughts to swirl in my mind and then fade into nothing.

“…”

After a long while, I finally managed to compose myself and opened the Box of the Dead. Along with the Challenger’s Permit that I placed inside before resetting, there was a note.

[Death Count: 1]

On the note was just one word: “Be careful.” I chuckled hollowly. The content and intention of the note were exactly the same as what I had just planned to write.

It felt like my thoughts had been read, sending a chill down my spine.

[Death Count: yee (means 2)]

I made a new note and placed it inside the Box of the Dead. To loosen up what must be another person feeling as wrecked as I am right now, I threw in a light gag. They probably won’t laugh and more likely will yell at me, but this is how it is.

Adrang noticed my off behavior and raised an eyebrow.

“Are you alright, friend?”

“Huh? Oh, ah yes… Mm… Yes, I think so.”

Of course, at the point when I gave such an indecisive answer, it was obvious I wasn’t alright.

Given my already complicated situation, I didn’t need this kind of concern. I quickly came up with an excuse.

“W-w-well, I got too absorbed in the excitement. The atmosphere here was just so intense I lost track of myself.”

“You haven’t even glanced at the arena this entire time.”

A sharp rebuttal hit me. I hate perceptive middle-aged people like you.

All the while my thoughts were swirling, I spat out any excuse that came to mind.

“Oh! Watching people! The energy from the spectators cheering got to me…?”

“…”

My suspicion only grew with a dubious glare.

In order to avoid it, I turned my gaze toward the arena, pretending to watch the match as attentively as possible.

At some point, I furrowed my brows and clicked my tongue.

“What’s that?”

Seseona somehow sensed my reaction and quickly asked.

“What’s wrong?”

“That one. Isn’t it Arena 33? There’s a body lying there being ignored.”

“Huh? Where?”

The area I was looking at was Arena 33.

There was a corpse grotesquely sprawled out, its head severed and bleeding profusely in the middle of the arena. The referee completely ignored it.

“The next match is about to start…”

Even as the participants for the next match entered, the situation remained unchanged. Was the staff so distracted due to the end of today’s competition?

While I was thinking this, I sighed. Beside me, Seseona tilted her head.

“Corpse? Could you specify what you’re referring to?”

“Arena 33, can’t you see it?”

“No, I see the arena clearly, but there’s no corpse as far as I can tell.”

“…”

The response made my eyebrows twitch, and I scratched the back of my head, turning back to the arena.

“Start of Arena 33 match!”

Lo and behold. The challengers on the field paid no mind to the body and proceeded with the match.

Thump! As their intense battle continued, the body got tripped by their feet and rolled helplessly out of bounds. What then came into view, previously concealed by the corpse, caught my eye.

A blood-red magic circle glowing ominously with rising black vapor.

… Residual Memory.

“Ah.”

Only then did I turn my head away from the body and toward the severed neck.

It was the face smeared with blood, tongue sticking out, and dead—so hauntingly familiar from countless glances in the mirror.

“Fck! That’s me!!”

“…This is troubling.”

That night, after all the matches of the first day had ended and I returned to Adrang’s mansion, I sat on the bed, reflecting deeply on the matter at hand.

“I have died once.”

That much is certain for now. Likely, I died during a match.

Since I was dead in the arena, it’s reasonable to assume I was killed by an opponent in the middle of the fight.

“The problem is…”

I don’t have any memory of it.

I don’t even know who killed me or whether this was in the preliminaries or the main tournament. To retrieve the lost memory, I’d need to recover the Residual Memory, but I can’t even get close to the arena.

“The arena is under tight security…”

According to Carhalas, during the Godless Festival period, access to the arenas is tightly controlled day and night.

Even with a challenger’s qualification, you cannot access the arena arbitrarily unless there is a major reason. This is to prevent foul play, like tampering with the arena before matches.

“So, I have to wait until they reuse Arena 33…”

Here’s the problem:

The arenas for the Godless Festival matches are chosen by random lottery.

Completely at the mercy of random factors.

An unpredictable future.

Which means, after returning through the Spatiotemporal Regression, anything could change.

“Plus, in the preliminaries, opponents are also chosen by lottery…”

Even if it was someone in Arena 33 that I fought before, whether it was in the main or the preliminary stages, there’s no guarantee I’ll face the same person in the same round this time around.

No, the odds of it happening are incredibly low, with 2,500 remaining challengers.

“Seriously, I’m going insane.”

I scratched my head vigorously with both hands while repeatedly groaning.

Apparently, this was quite ungraceful, as the Vestark leaning beside my bed suddenly vibrated.

-Hey, are you watching porn? Why are you groaning like that?

“Ah, Older Brother…”

I suddenly turned to the presence I had forgotten about and decided to ask him a question.

“Speaking of which, Brother, do you know how many times I’ve died?”

-Um? Isn’t it 143 times?

Soo-ho Brother’s calm reply suddenly trailed off. Soon, a voice tinged with embarrassment rang out.

-No, it’s 144 times? When did you die again?

“… That reaction… It seems you don’t remember what happened.”

I nodded to myself, confirming my suspicion.

What I wanted to know was whether Soo-ho Brother, like Ruci, “remembered the lost times.” However, by his response, it was clear he did not.

Soo-ho Brother can only gauge how many times I’ve died through the accumulated dark aura in him. There’s no overlap of memory, so he’s better at death counting compared to Ruci.

“…Ultimately, in the current situation, there isn’t much help available.”

At this point, the answer is straightforward: I made a firm decision.

“I’m dragging Ruci along tomorrow, no matter what.”

Even if Ruci puts on a pained face and refuses, I’ll make her come one way or another.

If I end up dying mid-match, Ruci is the only one who’ll remember me.

“Ruci must have fallen asleep exhausted by now…”

No worries, as there are countless ways to drag her along.

She’ll probably wake up confused, finding me instead. From her perspective, it will feel like time has rewound after a good night’s sleep.

Certainly, if she comes looking for me, there isn’t much I can do except tell her I know nothing.

“I should tell her now.”

To bring Ruci smoothly to the Godless Festival, some preliminary groundwork is necessary.

I smirked faintly and immediately rose from my seat.

“I’ll be going to Ruci’s room for a moment, Lord.”

-Melon upon your return.

“I need to sell them first.”

I heard that the flow of time here and on Earth differs.

Considering that Soo-ho Brother who appeared in the history of this world centuries ago knows Earth jokes, the time difference must be considerable.

“Maybe in Earth terms, the summoning periods aren’t so far apart?”

With that thought lingering in my mind, I opened the door.

“Ho.”

“Ah.”

My steps paused at the sight of Carhalas standing outside.

She looked at me with a startled expression, and upon catching my gaze, quickly averted her eyes.

“Sorry. I was just going to have a bit of chat… but I guess I’ll just go. I need to prepare for tomorrow’s tournament…”

Finishing her words, Carhalas started to hastily leave.

What’s her deal? She was perfectly timed, and I do have things to discuss with her.

“Plan change.”

Instead, I flung the door wide open and grabbed the wrist of Carhalas, who was trying to escape. She gasped sharply and looked back at me.

Facing the cautiously upward-gazing Carhalas, I smiled.

“Why so quick to leave? If you have something to say, say it before you go.”

Keeping a firm grip on her wrist, I returned to the bed and tapped the spot beside me.

With sleep-heavy eyes, I openly scanned her.

“Sit down. You know better than I why you were hesitating.”

“…Alright.”

Carhalas quickly approached and sat next to me. After confirming her sitting down, I dove straight into the main topic.

The first revision of the Betrayer’s Hearing.

“Carhalas, you were awfully quiet with me, but you chattered a lot elsewhere, didn’t you?”

“…Yes. I-I’m sorry… I couldn’t help it.”

“What’s there to be sorry for? Do you even know what you did wrong?”

“Yes. Even if I had ten mouths, there’d be no excuse…”

I almost said “You’re always like this!” but reined myself in.

Somehow, I felt like I’d turned into an unnecessarily angry girlfriend. Since I dislike such meaningless squabbles, I cut the conversation short.

Instead, I voiced the nagging question that had been troubling me.

“This Godless Festival. There’s an unbelievably strong person mixed in, isn’t there?”

“!!”

It was partially a probing question.

If it’s enough to kill me, then at least a current Cavalier-level powerhouse must be involved.

If the guy who killed me has anything to do with Carhalas inviting me to participate, she’d definitely react.

“…You’ve noticed, haven’t you. Someone of your caliber would.”

And the reaction exceeded my expectations.

Carhalas’ body stiffened as if struck by lightning, and immediately afterwards, she became visibly restless.

“Lord Adrang, why do you let your daughter level up so much?”

How can she not have a poker face like this? How does she plan to function in society?

After a moment’s bitter smirk, I leaned close to Carhalas and asked.

“Why did you make me participate? I need to know the reason now.”

“…”

But Carhalas wouldn’t meet my eyes.

I can’t afford any more escapes. My life is at stake, after all. Grabbing her chin firmly, I turned her face toward me.

A low sigh escaped her lips as her wide eyes made contact with mine.

“Speak. Now.”

Facing Carhalas’ trembling eyes filled with fear, fluster, and awkwardness, I whispered without any trace of a smile.

After a long silence, Carhalas finally parted her lips.

“I… I wanted to protect Father…”