Chapter 121

“Master, wake up.”

The voice of someone who shouldn’t be heard sent chills down my spine for a moment.

Sleep fled in an instant, and I immediately sat up. Just as I was about to cast a spell and channel mana into the ring I was wearing…

“Do you not remember me?”

‘Huh?’

I stopped the mana I was about to release because the intruder’s words were strange.

“What…?”

“…..”

“You… who are you? What do you mean, do I not remember you?”

“…Is it because of the hood?”

The intruder suddenly removed the hood. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Because…

“What the…?”

Their appearance wasn’t of this world, and their ears weren’t human.

Long black hair like obsidian, eyes that seemed to enchant anyone who looked at them, and ears that were distinctly different from a human’s.

“Clearly… those ears… an elf?”

I remember reading about elves in books.

There are various races on this continent, like beastmen, fairies, and dwarves, but among them, elves are said to have gone extinct over 100 years ago.

‘And the skin color…’

The woman’s skin color was different from the commonly known elf skin color. If elves have skin as white as snow, hers looked like it had been tanned.

The intruder frowned at my bewildered reaction and spoke.

“Didn’t you see it in the Library of Records? I heard you definitely visited the Library of Records…”

“…What?”

“This is a bit of a misunderstanding. Master, no, should I call you ‘you’ now? Do you really not remember me?”

Something desperate was visible in the intruder’s expression.

Her words naturally led me to one thought.

‘…Did I know this woman in my first life?’

My brain froze in this sudden situation, making it hard to think, but since it seemed like she had no intention of attacking me, I opened her status window.

[ Name: Ruska ]

[ Age: 292 ]

[ Job: War Chief (Legend Grade), Shadow King (Legend Grade) ]

[ Titles: Returner, The One Who Starts the Second Round, Youngest Elf War Chief, Traitor of the Clan ]

[ Unique Traits ]

King of Arms (Legend Grade) – Receives significant bonuses when using any type of weapon.

Assimilation (Legend Grade) – Assimilates with the surroundings. Presence is greatly reduced, and noise from movement is significantly decreased. Additionally, agility is permanently increased by 4.

[ Traits ]

Sword Unity (Legend Grade) – Greatly increases understanding of swordsmanship.

Master Archer (Hero Grade) – Significantly increases understanding of archery.

Master of Combat (Hero Grade) – Significantly increases understanding of combat skills.

[ Stats ]

Strength – 96 Agility – 99

Stamina – 97 Luck – 40

Magic – 93 Resistance – 84

‘What the…’

Whether she was an elf or not, unbelievable words entered my eyes.

‘A Returner? There are multiple Returners?’

Yes, thinking about it, it’s strange.

Even if I knew this woman in my first life, how could she remember and come looking for me?

When I first saw Yoo Ju, I thought the term ‘Returner’ referred only to her.

Because it was unimaginable that multiple people could experience regression.

‘What the hell is going on? Why… why are there Returners other than Yoo Ju? And who is this elf?’

“Who… are you?”

“…Before that, let me ask you one thing. Do you remember your first life? Or do you know that this is your second life?”

“…I do.”

‘Damn, what the hell is going on?’

“Then why… why don’t you recognize me?”

“…First, answer my question. Who are you? What was our relationship in the first life?”

“I am…”

Just as the woman was about to answer my question, she suddenly stopped and started saying something else.

“…No, let’s talk about this later. It seems you have good instincts, as expected of the human you chose.”

“What are you talking about…”

“I’ll come to you in a week. I know it’s been six months since you visited the Library of Records, so visit it again.”

“What are you…”

As soon as she finished speaking, she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Just as I was panicking over her sudden disappearance, someone knocked on my door.

Bang bang!

“Yoon Seong!”

‘Yoo Ju?’

Thud!

Yoo Ju entered my room without waiting for an answer and looked around.

‘Was she awake at this hour?’

“Yoo Ju?”

“…What? Was I mistaken? I definitely felt something…”

For a moment, I considered telling Yoo Ju about what just happened, but I held back.

“Yoo Ju, what’s the matter?”

“…Did something happen?”

“…What do you mean?”

‘Did she sense the woman’s presence?’

“I definitely… felt something on my instincts…”

“…..”

“…Never mind. Sorry, I must have been mistaken.”

Judging by Yoo Ju’s attitude and words, it seemed she didn’t clearly sense the woman’s presence either.

‘If someone had clearly detected an intruder in my bedroom, they wouldn’t react like this.’

“But… Yoon Seong, what are you doing awake at this hour?”

“Ah…”

Yoo Ju asked me with a slightly suspicious look. It was understandable that she found it strange for me to be awake at this hour.

“Well… I just couldn’t sleep.”

“You shouldn’t lose sleep… Get some rest. It’s good for your health.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Anyway… I’m sorry for barging in like this. I thought I felt something strange…”

“It’s alright, Yoo Ju. Thank you for caring about my safety.”

“Alright, I’ll head back to my room now.”

After Yoo Ju left my room, I sighed in relief.





I could finally let out a sigh.

“Phew… Damn it, what the hell is going on?”

If it had just been an ordinary intruder in my room, I would have told Yoo Ju about it.

But there was one peculiar thing that made me hesitate to tell her.

‘Two Returners. If that woman and Yoo Ju meet… who knows what might happen.’

Before Yoo Ju barged into my room, that strange woman had mentioned her.

‘She said I was the human she chose, what does that even mean?’

The things that woman said were all beyond my understanding.

‘She said she’d come back in a week.’

Well, then I’ll find out everything in a week.

But before that…

‘I need to visit the Library of Records.’

******

“It’s been a while.”

“……”

“You’re the first to revisit. Of course, I’m only talking about this world.”

“…. Can I see the records again?”

She said she’d come back in a week.

I hadn’t planned to revisit so urgently, but to figure out what my relationship with that dark elf was, why there were two Returners, and what it meant that I had chosen Yoo Ju, I needed to carefully review the records from the first round.

Fortunately, Ute’s answer was positive.

“Of course. I can’t stop you from viewing your own records. But there’s no reward this time, just like the first visit.”

“… I wasn’t expecting one.”

I didn’t even hope to get a reward multiple times. Just being able to see the records again was more than enough for me.

“Then, let’s enter the Record Room.”

The moment I opened the book, the same phenomenon as before.

‘What the…’

The scene I wanted to see was from the first round, but what appeared before my eyes was a memory from Earth.

“Hey, mister, you should carry more money. What’s this?”

“Why, why are you doing this to me…?”

‘Damn it…’

It wasn’t a memory I particularly wanted to recall.

A younger version of myself, sitting down to match eye level with a man clutching his leg.

“Let’s just get along, okay? It’s not like this is clean money anyway.”

“You, you little brat… You think you can get away with this…?”

“Then what, you gonna complain somewhere that you got beat by kids?”

“What?!”

“You’ve done some pretty messed up stuff, and even messed with girls way younger than you. Wanna try explaining this? I see you have a family, you sure you’re okay with this?”

The man’s face turned pale.

“You… you, how…?”

“Just give us the money cleanly, it’s better for both of us, right? I’m not asking for your entire fortune, just enough to feed me and my friends.”

“You think… this is the last time you’ll do this?”

I laughed at the man’s words.

“You’re quick. I guess words won’t work. Right?”

“What… what are you…?”

I stood up and spoke to the kids behind me, who looked about my age.

“Hey, I think we gotta break one of his legs.”

“Right now?”

At my words, one of them, holding a wooden stick, approached the man.

“W-wait! I’ll give it, I’ll give it!”

“Should’ve done that earlier.”

After receiving a hefty wad of cash from the man, me and my friends started to leave.

Before leaving, I turned back to the man and spoke.

“I’ll be back. And I trust you won’t do anything stupid. If you do, your secrets will spread to your family and workplace. And…”

“Th-then…”

“Your son, he’s the CEO of Unsang Logistics, right? He’s done some stuff too, so I hope you make a wise choice.”

The man nodded vigorously, looking like he’d seen a ghost.

Once we were away from the scene, one of the guys next to me spoke up.

“Damn… how much is this? This is insane.”

“Look at this crazy money, man. It’s all thanks to Yoon Seong.”

Big money that teenagers shouldn’t be able to touch. The kids who got the money couldn’t help but grin with joy.

“Hey, Yoon Seong! Now that we’ve got money, wanna go hang out with some girls? They’ve been asking for you.”

“Nah… I don’t do that kind of stuff.”

“Hehe… Well, if you don’t go, it’s better for us.”

“Anyway, take care of the kids. Don’t go around blabbing, or everyone’s share will shrink. Got it?”

“Got it, don’t worry. We’ve been doing this for months, we know how to keep it quiet. Damn, being young is great. Even the adults can’t do anything.”

“I’m out. You guys have fun.”

Leaving my friends behind, I headed to a shabby basement. It was the place we settled after the orphanage burned down.

“… Sis, I’m back.”

“… You’re back?”

‘… Sigh.’

Back then, my sister seemed anxious. She spoke to me cautiously.

“Yoon Seong, sit down for a bit.”

“… Why? What’s up?”

My sister hesitated, then asked me.

“Yoon Seong… are you hanging out with bad kids?”

“… What are you talking about?”

“You… what’s going on? Where are you getting all this money? I told you I’m working part-time, so we’re fine. Where’s all this money coming from?”

At my sister’s question, I closed my eyes tightly.