Chapter 328: Us in the Black World (1)
In fact, it was Lee Jihye’s words that made me doubt.
‘I am not sure about the relationship between the two of you, but think carefully if she’s someone you could really trust. No matter how I think about it, it’s a minus that she helped others in a crucial situation. And it was none other than Jin Qing, the demon summoner. I’m not saying this just to reduce our rivals. I’m just really worried. People who are good at backstabbing get backstabbed in strange situations. That’s a common cliché.’
She said that right after I said that it was Yuno Kasugano who had let Jin Qing go.
Of course, she was not wrong.
However, I couldn’t agree with the saying that the one who was good at backstabbing would be backstabbed, but in Yuno Kasugano’s case, I couldn’t help but mull this over.
No matter how I was to think about it, it was true that meeting with her was arbitrary.
Of course, there was an inaccessible safety device between Kasugano and me. However, even so, I had to avoid letting my guard down.
It was a bit different, but like the famous line that was popular somewhere, if you didn’t believe it in the first place, you wouldn’t be betrayed.
Probably, Yuno Kasugano was also anxious because she could tell the suspicion in my face.
There was no way that Yuno Kasugano, who was more sensitive to the atmosphere than others, couldn’t notice the temperature difference.
As I set the mood and looked straight ahead, she continued to speak again with a visibly nervous face.
“I didn’t have time to explain because the master was down at the time. It’s hard to understand, but at least my actions… please know that it was for you.”
I already knew that.
However, the problem was that she couldn’t explain what kind of future she saw.
If it were a convincing story, I would be able to nod…
“I can’t remember anything. I must have seen the future with my own eyes, but I can’t remember it as if there’s a haze. Really. Please believe me.”
This situation was a problem.
Of course, I wanted to give more credit to the possibility that her words were true.
She was also the one who had confessed her sins right after I woke up, and she even said she would take any punishment sweetly. It made no sense for her to plot something like this and still accept punishment.
If I looked at Yuno Kasugano, who came every day before I could organize my own thoughts and said that she had made a mistake, the probability of thinking something different seemed to be infinitely close to zero.
However…
‘No. There is no need to doubt. If I don’t believe in her, nothing can be solved anyway.’
Although there were risks, it was also true that this problem could not be solved without trusting Kasugano.
It would be natural to hold on to a string of suspicion, but for now, it would not be bad to think about the premise that Kasugano’s words were true.
“Are you sure you have seen the future?”
“Yes. It’s not the black world. Neither is it the past. That’s for sure. What I saw must have happened in the future. It seemed to be after a lot of time passed from now…”
“What exactly does it mean to be in danger…?”
“I don’t know what to explain. Should I say that your life is in danger? Or should I express that the position or situation of the master is in danger… I’m not even sure about that. Shortly after seeing that future with my own eyes, I tried several times to check it out, but it didn’t seem like a lie. I’m really, really sorry.”
It was a sight to see her prostrate herself. Now I felt embarrassed.
“Is there any probability that you could not remember or recall because the future has changed?”
“It doesn’t work that way. As the future I mentioned recently has not been realized, the future change has nothing to do with my inability to recall the scene. Please talk to me more comfortably before that. Please… please speak informally. Sniff.”
She looked significantly anxious. In fact, at times like this, I thought that she resembled Jung Hayan.
It seemed that me talking formally was a harbinger of not accepting her as a servant.
I thought I didn’t have to be distinct since I spoke respectfully when we were with others, but it seemed very important to her.
‘Didn’t I talk formally last time?’
In fact, I didn’t even remember it well.
However, unlike then, it would be natural for her to be anxious since I was talking as if I were treating a stranger in this atmosphere.
Of course, the way I speak didn’t matter.
At the moment, I wasn’t happy with Yuno Kasugano, so I spoke with honorifics, but her frustration made my annoyance soar, and the informal way of speaking popped out.
“Isn’t Yuno Kasugano the one who knows best that the future could change? Again, the city was not in ruins.”
“Yes. Of course. But… for some reason, I thought I should do that. The feeling like I had to let him go right away… I felt that way. I can’t explain it, but I’m sure of that.”
“In other words, does it mean you let him go because of a simple feeling? Even knowing that I’ll be in an awkward position?”
“Although a little different… yes. Maybe… Please kill me. Sniff.”
“In fact, it’s not that I don’t believe in you, but… I still don’t understand.”
“I am also confused. Sniff… I’ve seen so many things, but it’s the first time I didn’t remember it, and it didn’t look like fog. As if someone from outside intervened… Yes. I feel like someone disturbed it.”
“Intervention from outside…”
“Yes. Yes, it is. This never happened before… Please kill me.”
In fact, Yuno Kasugano had been making the same excuses over the last days, but the word of external intervention comes anew.
‘This…’
There were some things that I had some doubts about.
‘Is it the system?’
It was not entirely impossible.
I had concluded that transcendental beings did not directly intervene in mortal affairs, but there was still room for intervention in this area.
If the future that Yuno Kasugano saw was a future it didn’t want, or a future it didn’t want to show, the phenomenon of fogging her head could be explained.
‘It’s pretty convincing.’
Considering that Yuno didn’t intend to backstab me, it was indeed pretty convincing.
One question was why the transcendent existence prevented her from remembering the future. It might not be the system because I was friendly enough to it.
In fact, it also invested a lot in me, and it cursed me, but as a result, it was always kind to me.
Of course, it was obvious as to why we had a good relationship. It was because I was being submissive to the lovely returner. I finally got a semi-mythic-grade class and even became someone capable of using divine power.
This achievement was perfect, and I was able to send the demon away.
In any way, I could only be seen as an ally of the transcendental being. Judging from that, there were two possible hypotheses.
The first was that there was not only one transcendent being watching me.
This was a pretty convincing deduction. One might feel that it was forced to drag me, while the other may not like me.
Maybe it didn’t let Kasugano recall the future that I was in danger considering that I could avoid the danger.
In other words, it may be hoping for me to be in danger or, worse, to die. Aside from this case, there was one other thing I could think of…
I mean, if the transcendental beings didn’t plan on antagonizing me, the rest I can think of…
‘Is it because of Hyunsung?’
I knew that the danger I was in some way related to Kim Hyunsung. It was sudden, but I felt like it was something I could think of.
The system and the transcendental existence had nurtured Kim Hyunsung, the protagonist of the worldview, and were actually watching him with interest.
That was the reason why I received so many benefits. If I had started as an enemy of Kim Hyunsung, I would never have received gifts like this.
For example, in an extreme case, the scene that Yuno Kasugano saw was a scene where Kim Hyunsung was hostile to me, and if I were to find out that fact…
‘Will I backstab him?’
Transcendental beings may be on the lookout for a future where I will backstab the lovely returner.
‘But I got very fond of him. I’m not so trash…’
Of course, I couldn’t guarantee how I would move when the actual situation came.
‘It’s just a deduction anyway. I don’t have to think deeply.’
It was interesting, but unfortunately, these two hypotheses were impossible to hold.
Both stories had nothing to do with the demon summoner Jin Qing. Even if one of the two was true, it was not a reason for Yuno Kasugano to save the demon summoner.
It was a hypothesis that struck my head hearing about an external intervention, but it was still a trashy deduction.
The puzzle pieces seemed to be gathered, but it felt like they weren’t connected.
‘Maybe it is related to the first round?’
I think this might have gone too far. Of course, there was nothing bad about finding out about it.
However…
‘The problem is that it can’t be seen just because she wants to.’
Although she had tried several times, Kasugano had never succeeded in connecting with me since Park Deokgu’s day.
Kasugano, who always said sorry with her head down, looked like a middle-aged man suffering from erectile dysfunction.
She failed every time she tried, so she rarely called me to meet her as if she had lost her confidence. She was afraid to see my disappointed and annoyed face.
“The black world…”
Kasugano got startled by my self-talk. In an instant, a sense of urgency filled her face.
“I-I will try. As it may be a hint, this time I’ll certainly…”
“Can you do it?”
“I am in good shape today. Yes. I think I can do it.”
I made an expectant look. As she looked straight ahead, Kasugano slowly opened her closed eyes and began whining.
Somehow, she was trying her best to see the future or the black world, but she started sweating as if it wasn’t going well. She looked worried as if asking herself, ‘What if it doesn’t go well this time as well?’
It didn’t mean that she could see it just because she wanted to, in the first place, nor could she connect just because she wanted to connect.
However, deep inside, disappointment rose in her like water.
‘I guess she can’t do this again.’
I had been through this situation so much that now I could sense it.
It seemed like she was doing her best while whining, but she looked like Tol To-ri with her head down this time. Eventually, she slowly closed her eyes and started turning her head in my direction.
In that desperate face, there was a feeling that she had to succeed at all costs this time.
“I have an absurd request…”
“…”
“Er… D-Do you remember that the last time you and I were connected, our bodies were also connected?”
“I do, but…”
“It’s unlikely, but I’d like to give it a try. Maybe a kiss or a corresponding act might create a possibility to connect. It’s only speculation, but…”
‘What is she talking about again?’
But for now, it wouldn’t be bad to nod.
It was not without an anxious mind, but I grabbed her hand and kissed her lightly in an instant. Magic power started to rise as much as a very red face.
However, the anxiety in her eyes refused to disappear. She still looked like Tol Tori with a bowed head.
‘That’s so frustrating…’
What she was thinking was obvious.
‘What should I do if it doesn’t work well this time?’
Or…
‘I’ll be abandoned. If it fails, I’ll be abandoned.’
It was a matter of confidence rather than a matter of method.
I let her be for a while, but it didn’t seem that bad to give confidence as the issue was important.
“You can do well.”
“Ah…”
“You can do well this time. Slowly. You can be comfortable. Right. Like that. Slowly. Now, you just need to be comfortable and trust your body to me. I’ll do it all on my own.”
There was nothing I could do, but when I tried to do physical contact while gently stroking her hair actively, I felt a reaction coming.
Not only did she shake her body softly, but she also puffed her mouth in the air like a goldfish.
“Ahhh… Ahh.”
“You don’t have to worry. Actually, I never doubted you, Kasugano. I just complained. I think you know that I care for you. It will be this time, too. Do not try to do it in a rush; do it slowly. It doesn’t have to be today. Relax and slowly. Right. Okay. Right…”
I just tried it to try it out, but as I whispered sweet words and breathed in, Kasugano, who was wearing Tol Tori’s expression with a bowed head, gradually raised her head.
She looked solid as if she burped on purpose.
I thought, ‘Would it work with this?’, but immediately afterward, I had to shout at the sense of being sucked somewhere.
‘Nice!’
I had solved the inner erectile dysfunction of Kasugano.