Chapter 371: Chapter 371: Black Star (4)

Kang Hyunbyul.

My ex-girlfriend who was four years younger than me.

She confessed first while we were both preparing for job applications, and we dated for about three years.

Well, that wasn’t important right now.

Swoosh.

I looked at her again.

Her gaze was cold.

And I knew why.

“Your eyes are going there in this situation?”

“Ahem…”

Well, what can I do if my eyes are drawn there?

I quickly pulled myself together.

“Don’t misunderstand. I was just checking.”

“Checking?”

“The default outfit here is based on how you see yourself.”

“So… you’re saying this is how I see myself?”

“That’s right.”

You have to buy other clothes with GP.

That’s how I got this tracksuit and t-shirt I was wearing.

The default outfit was a bit uncomfortable—

“What about you?”

“…?”

“What was your default outfit?”

“Uh…”

It was a navy blue suit.

My ex-girlfriend… her, bought it for me to celebrate getting a job.

But…

“This. This is my default outfit.”

…I was too embarrassed to say that.

It would seem like I still had feelings for her if I told her I was wearing the suit she gave me.

“…Hmm, that’s very you.”

Thankfully, Hyunbyul didn’t seem suspicious and easily accepted my explanation.

But that made me curious.

“Very me? What do you mean?”

“Why are you being so sensitive? I just meant you look comfortable.”

“Re, really?”

Damn it, I can’t win against her.

Maybe it’s because I’m guilty?

“By the way… don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“…It’s been a while, Hyunbyul!”

“That’s it?”

“Uh…”

What else should I say?

Ah, I forgot to ask.

“So, how did you end up here?”

Hyunbyul stared at me and then sighed.

“You still haven’t changed, always running away.”

I pretended not to hear her.

“It’s fine. It doesn’t really matter now…”

“Right, why does the past matter? The present is more valuable than gold…”

I felt a chill.

“Why did you stop? Continue.”

“I just… thought I should apologize first.”

“…….”

“I’m sorry about what happened back then. I mean it.”

Hyunbyul looked at me with a surprised expression as I apologized sincerely.

“You’ve… changed, haven’t you?”

“Well, it couldn’t be helped… So, do you accept my apology?”

“It’s fine. Like I said, it doesn’t matter now. And it’s not really something anyone should be apologizing for…”

“That’s… true.”

An awkward silence followed.

Well, it was understandable.

We were exes who had broken up over a year ago, and we had just reunited in another world.

“By the way, I was really surprised. I never thought I would see you here.”

“Really? I thought we would meet someday.”

“…Huh?”

“I’ve been thinking about it since I came here. That you must be somewhere in this world. It made me feel a bit relieved.”

“Relieved…?”

“About your disappearance. I was shocked when I heard about it. I thought you might have done something stupid…”

Ah, I guess that’s understandable.

I felt a sense of gratitude. She was worried about me even though it had been over a year since we broke up.

“So… how did you end up here?”

It was my third time asking.

“You’re not exactly the type to be interested in games…”

Hyunbyul finally answered.

“Well… I became a bit curious after we broke up. How fun that game must be for you to be so obsessed with it.”

It was a strange feeling.

When we were dating, she used to nag me about playing that game on three computers.

Wait a minute.

“So… you cleared the original version?”

“There’s no way I could clear that. I played the cheat version after you disappeared.”

“Then… what difficulty did you clear it on?”

“30x.”

“30x…?”

30x was a high difficulty.

There were countless players who couldn’t even clear the normal difficulty and switched to a higher difficulty.

“You must have played a lot…”

“No, I cleared it after about ten tries. It was easy since I had played the original version. And I learned a few things from watching you play.”

“Ah…”

Come to think of it, I used to brag about finding hidden pieces and explain them to her.

She was smart, so she must have remembered everything.

“Why the gloomy face?”

“…You can tell?”

“Of course. We were together for a long time.”

I hesitated for a moment and then answered honestly.

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking about how you always listened patiently to my ramblings, even though you weren’t interested…”

I trailed off, feeling awkward.

Hyunbyul answered after a brief pause.

“…You’ve really changed, haven’t you?”

“A lot of time has passed.”

“That’s… yes, that’s true…”

The atmosphere almost turned awkward again, but it was short-lived. Hyunbyul told me what she knew about my disappearance.

To summarize:

My company filed a missing person report after a month, and the police came to see her, so she found out about it.

And…

“You… met my mother…?”

“Yes. At the police station.”

“What did that woman say…?”

“She didn’t talk to me directly.”

“But something must have happened.”

“…….”

“It’s okay, tell me.”

Hyunbyul hesitated for a moment and then spoke cautiously.

“She talked about the inheritance for a long time… and then she asked the police if there was a way to file a death certificate before the missing period expired.”

“Ha…”

I expected it, but it still felt disgusting.

How much money did I even have?

I was stupid to even have a glimmer of hope.

Crack.

I clenched my jaw, and Hyunbyul tried to comfort me.

“We, well… you still have five years. It wasn’t an accident, and there’s no evidence that you were a victim of a crime, so they couldn’t process it as a special disappearance.”

“What’s the difference?”

“For special disappearances, inheritance is possible after just one year.”

“I see.”

That was a bit of a relief.

And it was also a bit funny.

Heh.

It was a typical Hyunbyul-style consolation.

She always tried to find a silver lining and comfort me logically instead of offering empty words of sympathy.

She had a significant influence on my current personality.

“So what happened next?”

“I don’t know. I was dragged here three months after you disappeared.”

“What…?”

I was genuinely surprised.

Time was messed up because of the Fragment of Records, but it had been three years and nine months since I became Bjorn Yandel.

And the time ratio was 5:1…

‘Nine months have passed in reality since I disappeared.’

In other words, it meant that Hyunbyul had survived in this world for over two and a half years.

“But why are you only here now?”

“I’m not an explorer. They probably didn’t notice me.”

“You’re not an explorer…?”

“No. Do you think I would fight those monsters in real life just because I played a game? I got a decent job and made money.”

“You’re truly human.”

“Aren’t you?”

I was speechless at her question.

Could I tell her this kind of personal information?

But she sensed my hesitation.

“Right, you don’t want to tell me.”

Hyunbyul’s eyes crinkled at the corners.

____________________

It was a familiar expression.

One I had seen several times when we were dating.

I used to be flustered and try to appease her, but there was no need for that now.

We were strangers.

Hyunbyul, who was always rational, wouldn’t forget that.

“You… drew the line first?”

“Yes.”

“…Okay. I won’t ask again. Happy?”

She accepted it coolly, as expected of Hyunbyul.

But could it be that she was a bit disappointed?

“But don’t expect me to tell you my story. I won’t tell you even if you die.”

Damn it, she’s right.

I nodded, unable to refute her.

Hyunbyul bit her lip.

“You’re really not curious at all?”

“I’ll have to tell you my story if I hear yours.”

I answered honestly instead of making an excuse.

She knew when I was summoned here. If I told her my race, the number of candidates would be drastically reduced.

“…….”

“…….”

We stared at each other in silence.

“…Let’s sit down.”

“…Okay.”

It was a bit awkward to keep standing, so we sat down on the sofa.

But we didn’t have anything to talk about.

So I started with something light.

“This is your first time in the community, right?”

“Yes.”

I was curious how she got an invitation if she had been living a normal life in this world. But I swallowed my curiosity.

“Do you need some GP? You can exchange it for cash or buy things on the exchange.”

“No, thank you. I can earn that much myself. And besides, if I exchange it for cash, there will be a physical transaction, and my identity might be revealed.”

“That’s… true.”

I had just offered it to break the ice, but I was actually planning to stop her if she tried to exchange it for cash.

“You… became an explorer, right?”

“That’s right.”

We had agreed not to reveal our identities, but I admitted it.

I couldn’t refuse even this much.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Just… I can’t imagine you fighting monsters.”

“It just happens.”

“It must have been hard.”

“What about you?”

“I’m doing okay. Work life is actually easier here.”

Well, she was the smartest person I knew.

She must have adapted to this world quickly—

“Seriously. The systems aren’t even digitalized, so it was easy to make some starting capital.”

Starting capital… don’t tell me she embezzled money?

“The market is so inefficient that I’m getting a good return on my investments.”

“…….”

“Oppa.”

“…Yeah?”

“Let’s stop beating around the bush and join forces.”

“Haha, join forces… we already—”

“No, I’m not saying we should get back together, I’m saying we should work together. I’ll support you.”

“Support me?”

“It’s only natural, isn’t it? In exchange, you take me with you when you go back. You want to go back, right?”

“Return…”

Hyunbyul’s expression changed as I trailed off.

“Oppa… don’t tell me you’re going to stay here?”

I didn’t bother denying it.

“There’s nothing waiting for me back home.”

“…What about your mother?!”

“Huh? My mother?”

“If you stay here, she’ll get all your money!”

Ah, so that’s what she meant.

“Oh, that’s a good motivation.”

Hyunbyul raised her voice as I chuckled.

“Don’t try to brush it off! Are you really going to stay here?”

“Why are you so worked up? I mean, it’s not a bad place to live. Did you know? I have more friends here.”

Hyunbyul’s lips tightened at my attempt to lighten the mood.

And then, after a long pause…

“…………Friends? You?”

…she exclaimed in shock.

“…….”

Uh…

Even I felt a bit hurt.