80th Episode: Coming Out
[The point of reincarnation has been updated.]
[Time – Continental Year 1108, January 12, 11:30 AM]
[Location – Markeuteuriseu, the Upper Region of the Promised Plains, Residential District of Kern]
“Hold it right there! Stop!”
The screen appeared late, and only then did I open my eyes wide and chase after the red-haired vagrant.
The vagrant briefly glanced back at me before swiftly turning into a quiet alley.
I clicked my tongue, ready to immediately give chase. But then,
“Hero! Stop, Herooo!!”
I abruptly halted as the Demon King stepped in front of me and shouted at the top of her lungs.
It was as though she had boiled the steam whistle of a train. Her incredible volume drew all the surrounding gazes toward her and me.
“What the…!”
Of course, I was flabbergasted.
I mean, what’s she so happy about drawing attention like that all of a sudden? Does she still not understand her situation?
I hastily grabbed her over my shoulder and hurriedly fled the scene. Seop Baek, who had been following me from afar, quickly retraced her steps to join us.
“Hey, Ruci. What’s with all this? Did you eat poisoned rat bait or something?”
“…”
Arriving at a deserted road, I immediately grilled the Demon King, but Ruci remained silent, not answering my question.
She simply stared blankly at the sky, lost in deep thought.
Occasionally, she muttered something under her breath, showing that she was absorbed deeply in contemplation.
“Hey. What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“Yes. It makes sense now. The familiar sensation I felt from those bastards’ magical formations…”
“Will you answer already? I’ve asked twice.”
“No. But she must have died already… Without a medium, this shouldn’t be possible… Did I truly see correctly?”
This girl has been in ‘Detective Conan mode’ from the get-go. Do I look like I’m famous?
“There are two ways to irritate someone. One is to trail off mid-sentence, and the other is…”
What does that mean? It means if you call someone over and then stop talking, it irritates them.
“Ugh, you moron!”
Out of sheer reflex, I pulled her cheeks, and she snapped out of her thoughts, startled, and began rubbing her face.
Soon enough, her eyebrows furrowed in anger, and she snapped at me.
“Hey, what are you doing? Can’t you see I’m in deep thought?”
“I can see it. That’s why I’ve been asking what’s wrong since a while ago.”
“…Ah.”
Ruci finally looked me straight in the eye and exhaled in surprise.
She seemed to ponder for a moment. Tapping her foot, crossing her arms, hesitating.
Then she glanced at me and Seop Baek alternately before finally speaking.
“Listen up, Hero.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Spill all the truth to her.”
“…”
Did I just hear that correctly? I immediately questioned my senses.
Since the only women in our party are the Demon King and Seop Baek, “her” undoubtedly refers to Seop Baek. And the only truth significant enough in this situation could only be one thing:
“…The truth about the temporal reincarnation to Seop Baek?”
And beyond that, she’s suggesting I reveal the true nature of my relationship with the Demon King to Seop Baek.
“Me? Me, Ruci? Do I have a message for me?”
“Not from me, no. The Hero has something to say to you.”
“Jung Yong?”
Seop Baek looked utterly bewildered as she stared at me, standing beside the Demon King, eyes burning with intensity.
Of course, I was speechless and immediately began protesting.
“Hey… Seriously, are you crazy? Why involve Seop Baek all of a sudden?”
“Because this opponent is beyond what you alone can handle now. We need all the help we can get.”
“What opponent? Are you sleepwalking while talking nonsense?”
By this point, I had no idea what she was even talking about.
I absentmindedly scratched my head while the Demon King watched with a mixture of pity and exasperation before finally sighing and turning her back on me.
“There’s no point in explaining. Seeing it yourself will make more sense. If you don’t want to follow my orders, then simply keep up quietly. You’ll want to reveal the truth yourself soon enough.”
With those words, the Demon King walked past Seop Baek and me without another glance and continued forward.
Clomp, clomp. Her small shoulders were unusually tense.
“Hmph…”
Seop Baek and I exchanged a glance, but her expression mirrored my own confusion. Clearly, it wasn’t anything we were prepared for.
With no other choice, I had to follow Ruci.
“Hey, Ruci! Where are you going?”
“To the inn. The inn where you and that woman have died countless times.”
“Die…”
Ruci’s joke was unusually unsettling, almost like she was stating a fact. I forced a nervous laugh.
And only moments after that chuckle did I realize it was indeed a fact.
“…Damn.”
The eerie luminescent lantern at my waist, Izanami’s Heart, glowed an ominous purple. Out of curiosity, I activated it, and it turned on effortlessly.
I had died. And apparently, I had resurrected without even realizing it.
And since the Box of the Dead hadn’t activated…
The situation I experienced in my previous life must have been incredibly urgent, causing me to forget its importance.
“What the hell?”
By now, any thought of confronting Ruci’s unexpected behavior had disappeared. Instead, a growing sense of confusion filled me.
But this wasn’t about questioning why I had to reveal the truth of the temporal reincarnation to Seop Baek. Rather, it was about…
“….What the hell did she see in my previous life to act like this?”
What exactly had the Demon King witnessed in my past life? That was what I wanted to know.
Ruci’s hardened expression was something I had never seen before, from the day she was born.
How long did we walk? Finally, we arrived at the inn perched at the edge of the residential district.
“Hmm, here we are.”
“The Promised Shelter?”
“That’s right. The name fit its purpose. How could I ever forget after so many repetitions?”
“…”
The tone of her voice conveyed how painfully familiar this place had become.
The Demon King easily swung open the saloon-style door. With practiced ease, she approached the counter, retrieved key number 403, and returned.
It was as though she had stayed here countless times before — the actions of a seasoned regular.
I eventually broke the silence.
“So… Is this inn supposed to show me something?”
“It’s not me showing it to you.”
“…”
She twisted the doorknob to re-enter, turning to look at me as she did so.
Her frigid gaze pierced directly into me.
“You, who died, will show this version of you. Explain why you need to tell her everything.”
“…”
“What are you waiting for? Use the damn cursed artifact of the Goddess of Death. Isn’t that always the first thing you do after resurrecting?”
I finally realized what Ruci meant with her piercing gaze toward the lantern at my waist.
Slowly, I lifted it. The light had already intensified so much that it was blinding.
There’s a corpse nearby. Judging from the brightness… within a hundred steps.
“…There.”
Scanning my surroundings, it was easy to spot the residual memory.
Of course, it stood out. A fully clothed person lying down in the middle of the bustling main street? And not just that — with a massive hole through the chest, clutching their crushed heart in their mouth?
It wasn’t hard to notice.
Others might be thankful not to have to see such a ghastly corpse.
“Ugh…!”
I nearly screamed out loud. But I managed to stop myself. It wasn’t out of consideration for the nearby pedestrians. The reason I suppressed the scream wasn’t that.
“Mr. Jung Yong? You don’t look well. Is there something wrong?”
“Uh, uh?”
Seop Baek had been looking worriedly at me for some time now.
For some reason, it felt extremely awkward to make her concerned. Even more so than seeing my own past corpse. A strange wave of nausea washed over me, though I couldn’t explain why.
It took at least 30 seconds for me to swallow my fear and finally speak, my trembling lips barely forming words.
“…I need to poop.”
Even as I said it, I knew how absurd it sounded. And judging by Seop Baek’s wrinkled face, she felt the same.
“Mr. Jung Yong?”
“…”
I couldn’t afford to pay her any more attention. My gaze was completely fixed on my past self’s mangled corpse.
She probably just sees me lost in thought, staring absentmindedly at the ground.
“Tch. Hey, girl, come with me.”
Perhaps Ruci found my呆滞 look irksome. She grabbed Seop Baek’s arm and turned back toward the inn.
Naturally, Seop Baek was surprised and repeatedly glanced between me and Ruci in confusion.
“Eh? But Mr. Jung Yong is…”
“Needs to poop, doesn’t he? Just let him have his happy time in the restroom. We’ll just head to the inn and relax.”
“Ruci, how can you trust such nonsense?!”
“We all become new people after defecating. You’ll see, he’ll come back after dealing with his concerns. Don’t underestimate the restroom.”
“But now is not the time for wordplay!”
The last remark wasn’t directed at Seop Baek but at me.
After realizing everything about my past life, become a new man and come find us later. That was the gist.
I nodded faintly as Ruci glanced back at me. She smirked slightly before walking casually into the inn with Seop Baek in tow.
“Phew…”
I stood before the corpse, breathing deeply for a moment.
When did recalling past life memories ever feel this daunting? Probably never.
But I have to know. Why did this happen, resulting in me kissing my own heart in death? I’m obligated to know.
“Whatever. Die once, not twice!”
With determination, I tightened my gaze and aimed the lantern directly at the corpse.
Powder. The corpse that had lain scattered like garbage on the street dissolved into fine particles and ascended into the air.
Simultaneously, I…
“Aaaahh!!!”
For the first time, I screamed not from pain but sheer terror as the flood of memories overwhelmed me.
And I realized.
I hadn’t died once or even twice. No, here alone, I’d already encountered death 34 times.
