I could only believe that something impossible had happened.
“...”
“Huh?”
“...”
Having spoken with her just hours ago made it all the more disorienting. Had it been anyone else, I wouldn’t have spared it a thought. No need to be shaken, no need to falter.
However, the person before me was Jung Ha-Yan. Though First Life Jung Ha-Yan and Second Life Jung Ha-Yan were clearly not the same people, my mind still went blank as I stared at her, and then—
“Uuugh. Bleeeck!”
“...”
“Uuugh.”
It was hard to suppress the vomit rising up my throat. I felt the urge to vomit everything inside me right then and there. It was strange. This wasn’t the first time I saw someone die, and I had seen mutilated corpses countless times before, yet I still found it almost unbearable to look at her properly.
Jung Ha-Yan looked exactly the same as before.
Inside the room, torn scraps of paper were scattered everywhere. The room was in chaos as if a bomb had gone off. There were stacks of books piled up like mountains and garbage left untouched as if the room had been abandoned a long time ago.
The room emanated the faint smell of chemicals; I also saw the products of her research, some leftover food in bowls, and even strands of hair that looked as though she had pulled them out herself.
It was almost impossible to find a place to set my foot on.
How had anyone let her fall this far? The sight was unlike the Jung Ha-Yan who once smiled so brightly... the Jung Ha-Yan who comforted me. I knew she struggled with some things, but this had clearly gone far beyond that.
“U-Unni...” Kim Ah-Young stammered.
The only explanation was that she suffered from some kind of mental breakdown. It was like this room was her entire world... like this room was her only escape; her one and only space. She had piled all of herself into it.
As I stood there in a daze, staring at her, Kim Ah-Young’s voice tore through the air.
“Unni... UNNIE!”
A cacophony of noises erupted immediately afterward.
“...”
“Get a priest. Someone call a priest!”
“M-Miss Jung Ha-Yan... this... can’t be...”
“What the hell are you standing around for, just watching?! I said get a priest, damn it!”
Kim Ah-Young’s agitated voice filled the corridor. Before long, mages of the tower began gathering in front of Jung Ha-Yan’s room. Their expressions twisted in disbelief as they peered inside. They all understood what had happened.
Jung Ha-Yan was dead.
“Miss Jung Ha-Yan... Miss Jung Ha-Yan...”
“N-No!”
Those kinds of cries echoed everywhere. After lowering the limp Jung Ha-Yan to the ground, Kim Ah-Young began forcing a potion down her throat. After pressing her ear to Jung Ha-Yan’s chest to confirm whether her heart had stopped, she began pressing hard on it with the heel of her hand.
The priests who arrived late poured holy power into her, but Jung Ha-Yan remained frozen.
“U-Unni... heuk... heuuuk... unni... please... please...” Kim Ah-Young pleaded.
“...”
“Th-This is a dream. Heuk... It can’t be. This... can’t be...” Kim Ah-Young mumbled.
“...”
“What are you doing?! Cast the holy spell already!” Kim Ah-Young shouted.
Of course, Kim Ah-Young herself knew that it was already useless. Tears streamed down her face as she grabbed a priest by the collar like a madwoman.
“Didn’t you hear me?! Cast it!” she shouted at the priest.
“...”
“...”
“Heuuuuung... The spell... Cast the spell already! Damn it!” she yelled.
“M-Miss Jung Ha-Yan has already—”
“Shut up!” she interrupted the priest.
“...”
“Miss Kim Ah-Young, I understand how you feel, but this...” The priest paused.
“...”
“This is the tower’s business. Outsiders—”
“Outside? How am I an outsider?! You crazy bastards! I cared about her more than anyone!” Kim Ah-Young argued.
“That’s enough, Miss Kim Ah-Young!” the priest shouted.
“Wh-What?!”
“We’re inside the Magic Tower! Miss Jung Ha-Yan belonged to the Devil’s Guild and the Magic Tower, and it’s our duty to investigate and handle her death. It’s not yours,” they said.
“What? What the hell are you talking about?!” Kim Ah-Young shouted.
“Do you really not understand what I’m saying? Not naming you as the suspect is the least—”
“A suspect?! You’re saying I killed her? Me?! You bastards! It was you! You’re the ones who killed her! You jerks! No... maybe you didn’t kill her yourselves, but it was you who pushed her to this end! You filthy, bloodthirsty warmongers!” Kim Ah-Young shouted.
“...”
“It was your filthy greed that killed her!” Kim Ah-Young added.
Thanks to Kim Ah-Young’s outburst, the chaotic situation grew more chaotic. In truth, the words of the nameless mage from the tower weren’t wrong. It was just that Kim Ah-Young couldn’t bring herself to accept it.
She simply couldn’t acknowledge it, and she needed to direct her rage somewhere.
Her fury subsided when Grandma Giena appeared. Not only her, but everyone seemed to calm a little, as if her presence eased the tense air on the verge of explosion.
With a look of disbelief, the elderly woman slowly approached Jung Ha-Yan and pulled her into a tight embrace. Then, her shoulders trembled.
“Heu... heuuuk...”
Only the sound of weeping filled the room. Jung Ha-Yan was beloved. Whatever she thought of herself, I believed she was many people's beloved. Hearing Grandma Giena’s sobs, Kim Ah-Young squeezed her eyes shut.
“Kim Hyun-Sung...” Kim Ah-Young said.
“...”
“Kim Hyun-Sung, that bastard. It’s all because of that bastard,” she mumbled.
“...”
“It’s all because of him...”
After uttering those words, she quietly disappeared. Grandma Giena’s disciple, Park Joo-Hwa, came over to ask what happened, and after I roughly explained the situation, it seemed I was no longer under suspicion.
However, the whole thing felt more like a formality. Well...
‘It wasn’t murder.’
Whether a highly skilled ranger or a mage specializing in forensic magic, it would be pretty difficult to find any evidence of foul play here. No, it would actually be impossible. The signs clearly pointed to her taking her own life.
The key figures of the tower and the Devil's Guild gathered, staring silently into Jung Ha-Yan’s room. Even after their investigation, they could only sigh, having found nothing.
Just then, I finally understood why my future self told Jo Hye-Jin that Jung Ha-Yan had to be saved. Her exit from the stage had come far too soon.
‘What on earth was he thinking?’
No matter how I tried, I couldn’t understand.
‘Why... why did she die? Why now, of all times...’
Everything felt twisted beyond repair. All the assumptions I’d built until now were crumbling apart. What shook me even more was that I had never imagined First Ki-Young would cast Jung Ha-Yan aside so early. As I had said many times before, she was important to him. She wasn’t a card he could simply discard at a mere whim.
‘Wait... was it really First Ki-Young’s doing?’
At this point in time, had First Ki-Young and Jung Ha-Yan ever even been in contact? Had their relationship progressed that far? The Outer Gods War hadn’t even started yet.
‘The Outer Gods War is long. Very long.’
Unlike the second life, where things ended rather quickly, this war would drag on for years. At this point, there was no certainty that Jung Ha-Yan had even made contact with First Ki-Young, much less formed a deep relationship with him.
If anything, the most logical timing for such a bond to develop would have been now, as Jung Ha-Yan seemed to have driven to her limits. Perhaps this had nothing to do with First Ki-Young at all. Perhaps Jung Ha-Yan had simply chosen death on her own.
The pressure coming from the people around her, the hardships she endured, the fear of the upcoming war, her crumbling self-esteem, and the gulf between reality and her ideals... any of these could have driven her to take her life.
The speech she gave on the stage today was probably her final cry to the Magic Tower... her farewell. Whatever the case, as a fellow human being, I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her.
Since she was Jung Ha-Yan, that sympathy pierced even deeper into my heart. It wasn’t just empty words of pity. Just as she had empathized with me, I, too, found myself empathizing with her.
‘It’s not over yet.’
Of course, this wasn’t the end. Just as the future Ki-Young had spoken to Jo Hye-Jin in an attempt to alter the past and future, I, too, could change things.
‘This isn’t because I pity her.’
It was only because her exit from the stage had come at the wrong time, and I intended to set that right. Naturally, my next step was to head straight to the hexagram.
“...”
“...”
“Whoo...”
“...”
I was almost out of catalysts from the Six Star’s tentacled creatures, but I was certain that I could still go to the second life. If those things truly controlled this dimensional gate, and if they acknowledged that there had been an error in the first life, they would definitely send me to the second life.
No, I had already visited the second life.
After all, I told Jo Hye-Jin to head for Lindel.
‘I can go. And I can change it.’
With that thought in mind, I placed my hand on the hexagram.
“...”
In an instant, faint light washed over me, and my vision changed.
***.
“Wh-Where did oppa go?” Jung Ha-Yan asked.
“E-Eh? Miss Jung Ha-Yan. So, the sub guild master...” Han Sora mumbled.
“Wh-Where did he go? Oppa...” Jung Ha-Yan asked.
“I-I’m not sure either. He suddenly disappeared...” she replied.
‘I’m here.’
I could hear Han Sora’s panicked voice, and Jung Ha-Yan’s voice teetering on the edge of a breakdown.
“I-I can’t feel him. I-I can’t feel oppa! O-Oppa!” Jung Ha-Yan shouted.
“H-He’ll be back soon, so let’s just wait...”
When I opened my eyes again, I saw Jung Ha-Yan clenching her fists tight, with Han Sora trying to calm her down. She was different from First Life Ha-Yan. Though she looked a little upset, she was still the same petite, cute, and stubborn Jung Ha-Yan.
“Ah? Ah? M-Miss Jung Ha-Yan!” Han Sora called out.
“Huh?!”
“I-It’s him! The sub guild master is here!” Han Sora shouted.
“O-Oppa! Oppa!” Jung Ha-Yan shouted.
The moment I saw her, I instinctively pulled her into a tight embrace. Though in truth, it looked more like she was the one who spread her arms and hurled herself into my arms with a joyful smile.
‘I-It hurts...’
“Heh... hehehe... he... hehehe... Sniff, sniff, sniff!” Jung Ha-Yan giggled.
‘Why is she sniffing me so much?’
Honestly, I wasn’t annoyed.
“O-O-Oppa... he... hehehe...” Jung Ha-Yan giggled again.
“...”
“Heh... hehehehe... M-My oppa is so cute. Hehe...” Jung Ha-Yan commented.
Jung Ha-Yan smiled brightly and hugged me tightly, saying, “Hehe... hehehe... It’s okay."
‘Don’t comfort me. I didn’t hug you to be comforted. Don’t suddenly act like some older sister trying to console her younger brother just because you've seen an opening to do something like that. That doesn’t suit you at all.’
“It’s okay, oppa. I-I-I’m right here,” Jung Ha-Yan said.
At that moment, I saw First Life Ha-Yan being reflected in her eyes.