Kasugano Yuno opened her eyes and looked at me. I saw darkness where her eyes were supposed to be. I felt a shiver down my spine, as this was something you would usually only see in horror movies.

‘Don’t look at me…’

If I knew she would open her eyes, I would’ve told her not to look at me, but it seemed like she couldn’t see my expression. She looked as if she was looking at something else that wasn’t me, so I thought maybe she was looking into the Dark World right now. When she suddenly closed her mouth and started shaking, she became completely different. Since Kasugano Yuno’s visions were limited and random, I would be happy if she saw the part of the future I wanted her to see.

‘Not bad...’

The fact that she knew Park Deok-Gu meant my assumption was correct. She couldn’t check what my past life was like before meeting her, but based on my nature, it was highly likely that I had lived a similar lifestyle in my past life. When I was first summoned, it was easy to guess that I stuck with Park Deok-Gu at the time, and it happened again in my second life, as out of all the people there, he looked the most reliable. He might not be that strong right now, but I remembered thinking how great his initial stats were.

‘It’s highly likely that I didn’t make contact with Hyun-Sung since he wasn’t a regressor…’

I didn’t know whether his potential stats had been high or not in the past life, but I probably hadn’t stuck with him the way I was doing right now. If I didn’t have anyone to rely on, then it was safe to assume that I must have held onto Park Deok-Gu like he was my lifeline. I was sure I had experienced many things, but I could easily conclude that I had stayed with Park Deok-Gu until I met Kasugano Yuno. There were a few variables I was worried about: if I had met him after meeting Yuno, if our relationship had soured, if I had backstabbed him, and so on.

‘I’m sure Park Deok-Gu didn't abandon me first.’

That was undeniable…

All of a sudden, Kasugano Yuno grabbed my hand.

‘She scared me!’

When I unknowingly looked at her black eyes, I realized something was shining.

‘Huh?’

[Viewing limited information due to outside intervention. Confirming the activation of Mind’s Eye, a legendary-ranked attribute.]

‘Huh?’

[The eye that can see Player Kasugano Yuno’s attributes, essence, past, and future is not resisting.]

“What…”

Before I could do anything, I saw the Dark World that Kasugano Yuno had been telling me about, and I finally realized how it got that name. I couldn’t describe it in words, but I had managed to get a glimpse of her memories before. At the time, I had seen myself choking her, but she was missing in the scene I was looking at right now. All I saw was Park Deok-Gu and myself. Similar to what she had mentioned, the scene was like an unedited video or a collage.

Anyway, the Park Deok-Gu and the other me I was seeing were kind of different from what we currently looked like. Our present selves were wearing luxurious coats and expensive equipment, but this version of Park Deok-Gu and me looked shabby. We could be perfectly described as third-rate adventurers that had just come out of the slums. We looked miserable, but more importantly, my body looked abnormal.

‘Hey… I’m sorry…’ Park Deok-Gu said.

‘For what?’ the other me asked.

‘About today’s hunt. I should’ve done better…’ he replied.

‘Don’t worry about it, Deok-Gu. It was our first time, and we got paid anyway,’ the other me said, comforting him.

‘They were a good party, but… I don’t think they’ll call for us anymore…’ he muttered.

‘I told you not to worry about that. I’ll take care of the rest,’ the other me reassured him.

‘But still…’ he said.

‘It’s obvious what those guys are thinking anyway. Oh, you can head home first,’ the other me told him.

‘Do you have plans today too?’ he asked.

‘The vice-captain of the Golden Horse Clan,’ the other me answered.

‘You’re having dinner with her again?’ Park Deok-Gu asked.

‘Hey, don’t be so sad. This will help us,’ the other me said.

‘That woman… I’ve heard bad things about her…’ he commented.

‘That’s none of your concern. You just focus on your training and remember. If I can do it…’

‘...’

‘If I can do it, you can do even better,’ the other me said, finishing my sentence.

‘...’

The scene changed once again. I didn’t know where I was, but I didn’t think I was in Lindel, as from what I knew, Lindel didn’t have a hunting ground like this. Park Deok-Gu and I actually looked like adventurers, and it seemed like we were able to get rid of the shabby clothing from earlier. Park Deok-Gu looked like a warrior now, and I looked like a mage, so even in the Dark World, I guess I hadn’t taken the Leader path. I didn’t know which job I had chosen next, but I probably hadn’t picked alchemist, as I didn’t receive Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy from Kim Hyun-Sung, so there would have been no reason for me to pick that job.

‘Hyung-nim!’ Park Deok-Gu called out.

‘Pay attention, you pig! Didn’t I tell you that I’ll kill you if you turn around for something stupid?’ the other me scolded.

‘But hyung-nim… magic…’ he pointed out.

‘Don’t worry about me, just look out for yourself,’ the other me told him.

‘O-Okay,’ he stuttered.

His movement wasn’t that bad, but if I had to describe it, I was like a mage wielding a spear while Park Deok-Gu was like a naive vanguard. It looked like we had a good relationship with the other party members. I wasn’t sure if we had started a guild, but we didn’t seem to be part of any group.

I guess I was pretty skilled with the spear from the way I was casting spells while using it, but Park Deok-Gu looked like he was making a lot of mistakes despite his strong appearance. It was like the time when he couldn’t overcome the trauma he had received when we had entered the Garden of Horror. In the end, a monster that the vanguard had missed ambushed a priest in the back, and I saw myself jumping in front of the priest. The small monster did injure me, but the battle ended when I swung my spear. I comforted the furious priest, and Park Deok-Gu lowered his head.

‘I’m sorry…’ he apologized.

‘Do you think apologizing will fix everything? I followed you because I trusted your endurance, but geez…’ the priest complained.

‘Y-You see…’

‘Hey, stop being hesitant and speak properly. I’m so annoyed right now. Just know that I’m letting it go because of Mr. Ki-Young. Do you know how many times this has happened? I don’t understand why you changed your job to a tank if you’re going to act that way. I think Castle Rock has been hiring people… so why not run over and do some labor work? Things have been bad because of the bastards from Celia, and everyone has been going on hunts these days… How ridiculous…’ the priest continued.

‘Let me apologize in his place, Miss Ga-Hee. I guess he’s not in his best condition today because he’s usually not like this,’ the other me explained.

‘I’m letting this go because of you, Mr. Ki-Young…’ she emphasized.

‘I’m sure he’ll get used to it once time passes. Since the issue has been resolved now, why don’t we… I’ll buy you food later,’ the other me offered.

‘Lunch or dinner?’ she asked.

‘Dinner, of course,’ the other me replied.

‘Then… I guess I can keep going. By the way, have you thought about the guild’s offer?’ she asked.

‘I still have other business to take care of, so I haven’t… haha… I’ll give you my answer once I’m done taking care of my business,’ the other me answered.

‘I’ll be waiting,’ she said.

The background changed once again. This time, we were probably heading back from a hunt.

‘Hyung-nim…’ Park Deok-Gu called out.

‘I told you to stop looking back and focus, you pig!’ the other me scolded him.

‘W-Well… I’m sorry…’ he apologized.

‘There’s no need to apologize since hunting wasn’t our real objective anyway… In the end, we got paid pretty well,’ the other me told him.

‘Where are you going?’ he asked.

‘That’s none of your business,’ the other me answered.

‘Is it regarding…’

‘Shut up!’ the other me ordered him.

‘I-I’m sorry,’ he apologized once again.

‘You don’t have to worry about anything else and just follow me. I’ll do the rest. We got our foot in the door, and the thing you’re worried about won’t happen. This is part of the climbing up process,’ the other me explained.

‘Still… wouldn’t joining a decent guild…’ he suggested.

‘You just need to shut up and remember one thing. If I can do it…’

‘I can do better,’ Park Deok-Gu finished the other me’s sentence.

‘That’s right. Also… I’ll think more about what you said, Deok-Gu,’ the other me added.

‘Thanks…’ he mumbled.

I saw many other scenes aside from this, and even though they weren’t exactly useful, I saw myself drinking with him, yelling at him, and kicking him. Different scenes quickly flashed before me, and I felt sad whenever I saw an important scene.

‘Don’t forget, Deok-Gu,’ the other me said.

‘I know,’ he replied.

As I continued watching the scenes, I found it interesting how Park Deok-Gu’s stats never increased that much despite the scenes being in a future way later than the present. I was a bit skeptical, but the guy really didn’t grow even after such a long time.

‘Don’t forget,’ the other me reminded him.

‘I know. If you can do it…’ Park Deok-Gu started.

‘As long as you remember,’ the other me said, interrupting him.

I was curious about how he grew in the future, but the scenes I saw were all useless memories.

‘Are you tired?’ the other me asked.

‘H-How could you be so cold, hyung-nim?’ he asked.

‘It’s because you need to kill to live. I don’t think it’s a big deal because, in this place, all you do is kill. Don’t forget. If I can do it…’ the other me said.

‘If you can do it… I can do even better,” Park Deok-Gu replied.

‘That’s it,’  the other me said, nodding.

When the scene changed again, I saw Park Deok-Gu running around frantically while carrying me on his back. I thought there was a time skip, but this part wasn’t so bad. I didn’t think we were in Lindel, but it seemed like we had become somewhat successful. I would’ve been more satisfied with this if I wasn’t bleeding on Park Deok-Gu’s back.

‘Hyung-nim, can you hear me?’ Park Deok-Gu asked.

‘Yeah…’ the other me replied weakly.

‘If you die…’

‘Stop talking nonsense. I don’t plan on dying,’ the other me interrupted him.

‘I’m sorry, hyung-nim. I’m sorry,’ he apologized.

‘What are you apologizing for?’ the other me asked.

‘It’s because of what I said…’ he replied.

‘It’s fine. I wasn’t really listening to what you were saying, so don’t worry about it. There was just a miscalculation. It was my fault for trusting those hypocrites. You didn't do anything wrong, you big pig,’ the other me reassured him.

‘But still, it’s because of me… because of me… w-we should’ve followed… your plan…’ he stuttered.

‘That’s right, you pig. It’s all because of you, so keep running. Reflecting like this will probably help you do better next time, right?’ the other me asked.

There were a lot of spells, spears and arrows flying all over the place. The way Park Deok-Gu was running while carrying me made him look desperate, and I could understand his desperation. I had no idea what was going on, but based on our conversation, Park Deok-Gu had probably made a suggestion and I had accepted it. In the end, things hadn’t worked out, but he must have helped me escape the problem. Anyway, it seemed like this chase had lasted for a while. Park Deok-Gu tried to escape while blocking the arrows with his body, and he crushed those in his way with his sword. However, there was a limit to everything. He may have been able to stop the pursuers, but he couldn’t block all the magic and arrows falling from the sky.

‘I can’t ask you to abandon me, you pig,’ the other me said.

‘I thought you would tell me to do that, hyung-nim,’ he commented.

‘Still, you should leave me. Since your body is strong, I’m sure you’ll survive. Well… I am kind of scared, but I don’t regret my life… I think it’ll be great if you could avenge my death…’

‘Are you trying to be sentimental so that I won’t abandon you?’ he asked.

‘You bastard…’ the other me cursed.

‘No matter what you say, I won’t abandon you, so stop with the nonsense. I’m going to save you, hyung-nim,’ he said with determination.

‘Stop arguing and let me go,’ the other me ordered.

‘I’m not bluffing. I’m really going to save you, hyung-nim. D-Do you remember?’ Park Deok-Gu asked.

‘About what?’ the other me asked.

‘Do you remember how many times you saved me?’ he asked.

‘I wasn’t intentionally trying to save you. You showed promise, and that’s why I cared for you…’ the other me replied.

‘I don’t think that’s the case. No matter what you say, you basically saved my life, both physically and mentally. Thank you for getting hurt because of this stupid brother of yours,’ he said.

‘I can’t let you die… Do you know how much I invested in you? I need to get all that back…’

‘Thank you for defending me back at the dungeon and thank you for choosing me. No matter how much I try to remember, it seems like I was being constantly saved by you, hyung-nim. That’s honestly all I can remember. What I’m trying to say is… I owe you a lot, so it’s my turn now…’

‘We’re going to end up dying together,’ the other me warned him.

‘I told you that I’m going to save you, hyung-nim. Don’t forget,’ he repeated.

‘Forget what?’

‘If you can do it… I can do even better,’ 

‘...’

‘If you can do it, I can do… even better,’ he repeated.

‘...’

‘If you can… do it… I can do…,’ he said once again.

‘...’

‘I can do… even better…,’

‘...’

‘If you… can do it…’

‘...’

‘Do… bet…ter…’

‘...’

‘I… can…’

‘...’

‘...’

Then I saw Kasugano Yuno looking for me.