Chapter 120 Turning Point (2)
The view was dark. First of all, it was proof that the mission was completed safely, but Yoon-seok couldn’t hide his mixed feelings.
‘Was it just a fool’s errand?’
Why did Elle choose him to have a contract? To find out why he challenged the 14th-floor mission. He thought he could tell if she was reliable when he knew the reason. But in the end, he came back empty-handed. No, rather, he had even more questions.
‘I’m sure I was the problem…’
Kanna said if he had any doubts, just take this mission. Then, those doubts would disappear. But they hadn’t. Of course, he didn’t think she lied. He didn’t know what the original scenario was like, but he was sure it didn’t end on day 12. If it had proceeded normally, it might have been possible to find out the truth entangled between Elle, Rick Gerssey, and himself.
But there was nothing he could do about it now.
‘By the way, what does that mean?’
Yoon-seok shifted his attention to erase his lingering feelings.
「The Tower has begun to notice you.」
「Special rewards will be given.」
This was a first for Yoon-seok, and it didn’t look like a normal occurrence. Well, it was unfamiliar, but it didn’t seem like a bad thing. How grand was the reward that it still hadn’t appeared? After staying like that for about a minute…
Hwaaaaa!
His vision regained color suddenly.
‘Where am I…?’
For now, it was not the waiting room. However, he still needed time to figure out where he was after opening his eyes. He tried to turn his head to look around, but he couldn’t move. However, it didn’t mean that his body was frozen. He just couldn’t move on his own.
‘…?’
Regardless of his consciousness and his body, his vision swiveled around. It felt like he was watching someone else play a first-person game, but it was hard to explain everything with that. Sound, smell, touch, sore stomach, and even pain could be felt every time he moved.
‘It seemed like something was rattling, so it’s a carriage.’
Yoon-seok quickly gathered what information he could. He was inside a wagon, completely cut off from the outside world. A chain cuffed his small, pale wrist, and the symbol of the Trejan Cult was painted on the floor. With those few pieces of information, Yoon-seok could come to one guess.
‘Am I in Elle’s body?’
Come to think of it, the embroidery pattern on the sleeves was also very familiar. It was what Elle was wearing when he was on the 8th-floor mission, if he remembered correctly. He would’ve been more certain if the body’s owner checked a mirror, but Yoon-seok was already past doubting it.
‘Anyway, if this is Elle, is it that time?’
It wasn’t difficult to estimate the current time point. He was sure that it was the time when she was kidnapped by the heathens on her way to the port with Kanna and Wellington.
Ba-dump! Ba-dump!
His heart was racing. Somehow, he was scared, anxious, and felt like he was going crazy. It felt unfamiliar to Yoon-seok, who had distanced himself from these types of emotion. It was what Elle felt right now.
‘Can feelings be conveyed even if I can’t read her thoughts?’
Yoon-seok paid more attention to what he saw; that was the only thing he could do. Then, there was a commotion outside. At some point, the wagon stopped running, and silence descended. And, as the door opened, a wounded man appeared.
“That’s a relief. You’re safe. Let’s go back. To the place where the Pontiff is waiting.”
At the end of this, the place changed. The shattered wagon was abandoned in the forest.
“Did something happen to Kanna unnie…?”
“I don’t know, but they’re coming. Let’s hurry up and leave.”
The fragmentary scenes continued. They arrived at a quiet rural village after being chased on and on. It then followed the incidents that happened in their daily lives while staying there for 3 years. But, the expected separation arrived.
“Mister, mister…!”
“Elle! Wait for me!” I’ll go save you!”
Elle was taken away by the heathens in front of Rick. She was trapped in the sacred land and went through the process of expanding her body’s vessel for what felt like a few years. Terrible pain, permeating despair. Elle barely managed to endure by remembering her warm memories of Rick.
“Did Trejan say that?”
“Yes…”
“Useless girl.”
Elle, who became the Lady, begged God for forgiveness as they wished but was rejected. The heathens were furious and driven to war. Even with incomplete divine powers, no enemies dared resist Elle’s power. Her anger materialized and destroyed everything.
Until a mercenary blocked her.
“I’m sorry I’m late. I’ll save you.”
Rick sacrificed himself to purify Elle’s soul.
“Why, for someone like me…”
“An adult must protect a kid like you.”
Elle hugged Rick’s dead body tightly. What she desperately wanted while dying was to get out of here somehow and live her own life…
“But what I wanted is… not something like this.”
Elle had no confidence. The only reason she tried to hold out in hell had disappeared. Elle resigned to reality and began to wait for the end. Then.
“It’s a special guest that’s hard to meet.”
The Tower appeared. It was a little different from when Yoon-seok was dragged in, as a mysterious man in a robe greeted her.
“Do you, perhaps, have a wish?”
“I hope that person will live only for himself in the next life. Without any obligation, as he wishes…”
Looking at Elle, who said her wish, the mysterious man opened the door of the Tower.
“If you desperately wish for it, it will come true.”
Her slight smile was full of affection.
「Move to the waiting room on the 14th floor.」
「Please prepare for the next duel.」
As Elle entered the Tower, a light flashed inside, and when Yoon-seok woke up, the familiar waiting room came into view. Yoon-seok raised his hand blankly and tried to move. Seeing how his body was moving freely, he realized that he’d returned.
“Huu…”
Yoon-seok regained his breath and cleared away Elle’s feelings that had been sitting in his chest. Then, he opened the drawer at the bottom of the stone statue. There was only the equipment looted in the duel with Miller waiting there for him. He made a guess, but he was right.
‘So the reward was what I just saw.’
It was neither an elixir that upgraded his stats, rare equipment, nor a skill that could become his secret weapon. However, Yoon-seok didn’t complain. When he witnessed what Elle saw, he felt the same way she felt. He even heard the wish she made to the unidentified man in front of the Tower at the end.
And thanks to that, all the problems he had were solved.
‘I didn’t know there was such a trap when she said ‘you’…’
The first wish for the contractor was a strong desire that the admin had during their previous lifetime.
—Heavenly Warrior: To become stronger and stronger and to have no enemies in the world. This is all I want from you.
He hoped that the contractor would fulfill his wish on his behalf. That was why Elle knew about it. He thought it was derived from her desire to escape an oppressed life, but that wasn’t the case.
—I don’t want anything from you. I want you to live with no obligations.
Because she wanted to live freely, this wasn’t why Elle made it her wish.
—…Because it’s you. Because I’ve been waiting for you.
From the beginning, it was her only wish for Yoon-seok to live freely, as she said while entering the tower, even in the next life.
‘Reincarnation…’
It was hard to believe, but he did. If it weren’t for that, Elle’s wish would have included someone else’s name instead of ‘you.’
‘Is that why we look similar…?’
Yoon-seok, who grew up in the modern world, naturally learned about religions and myths. Therefore, he knew the basic concept of reincarnation. To lose all memories after life ends and be reborn as a added depending on the religion, including karma, destiny, and whatnot, but this was the basic framework.
There was no talk about the appearance anywhere else, but anyway.
‘What am I supposed to do now?’
The fact that Rick Gerssey was his past life. To be honest, he was still puzzled. Should he say that it still hadn’t hit him? No matter how hard he tried to piece them together, Rick was Rick, and he was himself. He felt a sense of closeness to Elle, but he didn’t feel affectionate enough to risk it all like him.
That was why it was burdensome. Unlike him, Elle identified both of them as one.
‘It would have been better if she had wanted something else…’
Elle’s attitude was always favorable and devoted to the point of being too much that suspicion and anxiety had risen. Now that he knew about her motive, he could trust her with confidence. But, apart from that, Yoon-seok would feel guilty no matter what she did in the future.
‘Because I’m not him.’
Yoon-seok sighed. He hadn’t figured out how to act in front of Elle in the future. But, as he contemplated over it, he finally reached a decision.
「Lady of Liberation is calling you.」
「Would you like to accept?」
To meet her in person first.
“Y-you’re here…?”
As soon as he arrived in the cabin, Elle welcomed him. Her fumbling voice, trembling legs as if she was anxious, and the way she touched her lips and scratched her cheek. He knew as soon as he saw it that she was more nervous than ever.
Thanks to this, Yoon-seok was rather relieved.
“I-I’m sorry. For not telling you in advance… but I thought it would be better. For your sake.”
Did she think Yoon-seok would be angry? While apologizing, Elle trembled like a wet kitten hiding from a thunderstorm. Yoon-seok, feeling exhausted from seeing her appearance alone, sat in the empty seat. In the midst of this, the tea that Yoon-seok liked last time was in the cup, as if she had prepared everything in advance before summoning him.
And, as if she needed time to mentally prepare herself before making the call, the tea had already cooled down a long time ago.
“I understand why you made that choice, so you don’t have to be so sorry.”
“Okay…”
“But I’m still me. In other words, it’s useless to expect something else. Do you understand?”
“… Yes, of course. How can I still want anything from you?”
She seemed more sullen than before, but Yoon-seok decided not to dig deep into that. After drawing the line and organizing their relationship, he felt less burdened. Yoon-seok sipped the tea and asked.
“I want to ask you about one thing. Can you answer honestly?”
“Anything. There’s nothing more to hide.”
“Did you pass the last trial? Is that why you called me to the Tower with your wish?”
Elle, who was listening to Yoon-seok stiffly, shook her head as if it was a misunderstanding.
“No, that can’t be true. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have made that wish. Can I know why you’re asking?”
“On second thought, it was as if you knew I was going to be called to the Tower. Ah…”
Yoon-seok realized something as he spoke. If he had thought about it a little more, he would’ve known the answer.
“Clairvoyance, that’s what you saw.”
Elle smiled gently and nodded. He wouldn’t dare to guess how long it had been, but she looked nonchalant about it. As a result, he felt he burdened her again, but this and that was different.
“Can I…call you Mister once?”
“You can’t.”
Not a chance. Rick or whatever, not until he was at least over 40 years old.
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