The moment I felt I was being bounced off somewhere, I couldn’t help but jump up. I realized that I had returned to reality when the dark landscape around me had disappeared. As soon as I came back to my senses, I felt immense pain, and it was so painful that I couldn’t even scream. Despite wanting to scream, it felt like my brain wasn’t allowing it, so I had no choice but to open my mouth and grab my face.

‘Ah… shit…’

This must be a side-effect of seeing the Dark World that Kasugano Yuno had seen. I felt like my eyes were going to burst, so as I suppressed my scream, I pressed my palms on my eyelids. I didn’t even know this was possible, so this kind of side-effect was probably normal; however, the part that was kind of heartbreaking was that I wasn’t intentionally trying to look into the Dark World. I wasn’t sure if I was crying because of the pain, but tears started to pour down regardless of my will. This body of mine didn’t seem like it had remembered its past life, but anyway, tears continued to flow out.

‘What kind of… shitty situation is this?’

If someone asked if I was impressed, I would say yes. However, I wasn’t really interested in how the Dark World version of me lived in that world. All I wanted to know was when, where, and how I died. It was natural for me to think this way because the Lee Ki-Young in the Dark World wasn’t me, and I just wanted to know how long the present me would live.

I came here to find a way to strengthen Park Deok-Gu, but I had seen many different things instead. I had seen what happened to Kasugano Yuno, so I couldn’t help but gulp upon recalling it. I had also seen what happened after that. I couldn’t remember it clearly, but I swore I caught a glimpse of the winter in the Dark World. No matter how hard I tried to remember it, I couldn’t remember anything. As such, I couldn’t help but feel that whatever happened after that incident was irrelevant.

I had no choice but to get back on topic. I had an inkling about Kasugano Yuno’s story because she told me, but I had never imagined that I would see the details of it. What I saw was ridiculously catastrophic. Park Deok-Gu died protecting me, and I betrayed Kasugano Yuno.

‘Tenacious piece of shit.’

If she wanted to kill me there, I certainly would have died. I was sure the piece of shit in the Dark World was certain she wasn’t going to kill him, but it’s undeniable that he had been gambling. For some reason, I recalled Kasugano Yuno’s face as she cried while looking at me.

‘How did she die?’

Kasugano Yuno had mentioned that she had died before me. I wasn’t the Lee Ki-Young of the Dark World, so I had no idea what was going through that bastard’s head, but I believe he didn’t kill her himself.

‘Because I said I was going to keep her by my side.’

That was most likely it. Based on the stories she had told me, it seemed like the other me had spent a really long time with the other Kasugano Yuno, and since she was really useful, the other me probably hadn’t done something dumb like kill her. In that case, I could assume that she died thanks to an incident.

I grabbed my face again when I felt the throbbing pain.

I kept thinking about Park Deok-Gu as well, not just Kasugano Yuno.

‘Idiot...’

When she told me that I was the only one she had discovered, I thought that Park Deok-Gu must have died, but I had never imagined he would have such a heroic ending. My eyes did water a bit, but I felt like I was being too emotional, so I shook my head. The Park Deok-Gu in this life was still alive, after all. I thought that I had also gotten a good hint on how to help him grow… However, the situation would’ve been perfect if it wasn’t for this throbbing pain.

“No… not that…” I mumbled.

I still had one question.

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

What did it mean by outside intervention? I had never read that kind of text while using Mind’s Eye, and considering the fact that I had never activated it before, there had to be someone I didn’t know who wanted to show that to me. If common sense was used, it was unrealistic to intervene with the Mind’s Eye and the eyes that can see the essence, future, and past when they were activated since they were legendary-ranked attributes, so a human being couldn’t have done this. A transcendent being must have done it.

‘But why?’

To let me know that Kasugano and Park Deok-Gu were that important to me?

It wasn’t a bad assumption because it felt like the two had destroyed that piece of the shit in the Dark World.

Maybe…

“This could be considered as encouragement?” I questioned.

I wasn’t the only one that didn’t want Park Deok-Gu to die.

“Because that fool was preventing me from doing certain things?” I questioned again.

Maybe, that was the answer. One thing I was sure of was that this being that had intervened didn’t want me to face the same horrible situation I had faced in my past life. That was the only thing that transcendent being and I were in agreement with.

I visited Kasugano Yuno with a light heart, but I witnessed incredible scenes.

When I slightly turned my head to the side.

“Uh… ugh…”

“Ah…”

I noticed Kasugano Yuno lying beside me.

“Uh…”

It was a surprise to see her naked.

‘What the…’

When I looked toward the window, the sun was already up. I knew I had spent a long time in the Dark World, but I had never imagined I would stay up all night, and I definitely didn’t think I would be in this kind of situation.

‘Shit.’

No way. When I raised the blanket, there was proof that she and I had made love. Kasugano Yuno looked happy, but I felt bad when I saw her body. I wasn’t sure if the last scene I saw made me lose my mind, but we had undeniably explored each other. When I shook my head violently to prevent myself from thinking deeply about it, Kasugano Yuno woke up.

“Oh… master.”

“You’re awake,” I said.

“I-I am…” she stuttered.

She was blushing, and she looked happy. The look on her face in the Dark World differed from her current expression, but it wasn't bad as long as she was happy. I had been neglecting her because she was living in Celia, and I had no idea if it was because of what I had seen yesterday, but she was cute. More than that, I had ruined the life of Kasugano Yuno in this life, so I was partly responsible for her. Moreover, I was the reason why she had a completely different personality from the Yuno in the Dark World.

She seemed embarrassed by the fact that she had made a move on me first.

I was really curious about something, so I asked while stroking her head.

“I have a question…”

“Please ask,” Yuno responded.

“Were you the one who showed me the Dark World?” I asked.

“I-I didn’t, Master. I had also never imagined you would enter inside me and see the Dark World. You entered inside before I could even resist…” she mumbled a reply.

It sounded strange, but I had no choice but to nod.

“I see…”

“An unknown restraint suddenly came flooding in. I’m not sure if it’s because of that or you, but that was my first time staying in the Dark World for that long,” she added.

“Is that so?”

“Yes. It’s embarrassing for me to say this, but I usually see the scenes in pieces. Of course, I’m sure I’ll be able to see more if I develop a bit more, but… so far… Oh! Do you happen to know something, Master?” she asked.

“No, I have never heard of something like this. One thing I’m sure of is that I didn’t activate Mind’s Eye. Before I could look into you with my attribute, it was already activated, but nothing else changed other than that… Anyway, it was kind of a new experience. Seeing the world you had seen is already a great achievement,” I explained.

“Have you gained anything?” she asked.

“Quite a lot. Thanks,” I replied.

“Ah…”

“And thanks for what you had done in the Dark World,” I added.

“M-Master,” she muttered.

“I have another question,” I started.

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing serious, but… was the future you saw in the Dark World really a future where we were together?” I asked.

“I can’t confirm that, but I believe the dumb Kasugano in the Dark World had probably lied to stop you from leaving,” she answered.

“Really?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it. She probably wasn’t aware of your wrath, though. Oh, it could’ve been intentional,” she added.

“What?” I asked.

“It was probably because she wanted to be with you. The Dark World version of me—”

“I understand,” I said, interrupting her.

Basically, the lie she had told Lee Ki-Young to make him stay had made him unleash his wrath on her. As she had mentioned, the Dark World version of Kasugano Yuno could have intentionally turned on that switch to stop me from leaving, but I couldn’t help but think that her former assumption suited the situation more.

Anyway, the current situation wasn’t that bad.

When I nodded quietly and recalled the past events again, the feeling that I had forgotten something started to creep up on me.

‘Shit…’

The moment I recalled what I had forgotten, I heard a voice outside, confirming that I had guessed right.

“Oppa! Oppa!” Jung Ha-Yan cried out.

‘That crazy…’

I had forgotten about Jung Ha-Yan’s existence.

“You mustn't do this,” the guard told her.

“Let… me… go!” Jung Ha-Yan screamed.

Crack! Craaaack!

Those sounds confirmed that Jung Ha-Yan was approaching us with her magic. I wasn’t sure if she was reacting that way because she thought I was in danger or because I made contact with someone, but regardless of the reason, anyone could see that I wasn’t in the best situation.

“Yuno,” I called out.

“Yes, Master,” she replied.

Before I could suggest how to handle this situation, the wall next to us was destroyed, and I saw a familiar face. An absurd amount of mana enveloped her body, and I saw the madness in her eyes as she extended her hand out. She must have cried a lot because her eyes were swollen. Her hair was a mess, and it seemed like she was glaring at Kasugano Yuno. I couldn’t help but flinch at her expression because I felt bad for her.

‘Holy shit…’

I wasn’t really interested in Taoist philosophy, but I was nodding just a few minutes ago while thinking that having Kasugano Yuno by my side could be considered karma, and it was the same for Park Deok-Gu. Considering the fact that I was getting harassed by Jung Ha-Yan like this, I started questioning whether I had done something wrong to her, too. I was sure that wasn’t the case, but I still couldn’t help but think about it.

“Eeeeeeek!”

Blood flowed from Jung Ha-Yan’s fist and lip as she bit on it. I felt kind of scared to look straight at Jung Ha-Yan because her face was quivering, and before I could even think about how to handle this situation, I suddenly said…

“Nothing happened.”

“Ah…”

It was bullshit, but my voice sounded so innocent it couldn’t be a lie.