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After escorting me to the front of my residence, Kim Sangyoon asked if I’d like to have lunch with him, but none of the Red Lotus guys seemed to readily agree.
“Let’s…eat together next time…” In the end, after some hesitation, I had to refuse him. Fortunately, Kim Sangyoon didn’t look too sad, and, with the promise to eat together next time, returned. My conscience was pricked–somehow it felt like he expected my reply. Usually if one person gives another a ride in their car, they probably expected a meal in return.
However…
“Sangyoon-ie is incredibly friendly these days,” Seo Dawon muttered.
I thought it was probably for Kim Sangyoon’s benefit that I rejected him first… Additionally, since it was time to resurrect a new guild member, I understood why the servants were so hasty–even time spent eating would be a waste.
So, as soon as we entered the house, I thought they would immediately ask to call forth the magic circle straight away…
“….Huh? W-What? You want to eat lunch first? I thought you’d want to settle the contract first…” I said.
“You look like you’re starving–why are you in such a hurry?”
“Choi Lee-kyung, if you neglect to eat, you’ll eventually cultivate poor muscle mass.”
“You didn’t go and secretly munch on some monsters, right?”
Everyone, as if they had never entertained another thought, sat me at the table.
With a spoon in hand, I ended up eating lunch, but, if I was going to eat anyway, why did they even send Kim Sangyoon away in the first place…? In any case, I ate quite a delicious lunch in the midst of the three servants’ burdensome watchful gazes.
They didn’t rush me even after I finished my meal, but I didn’t want to drag the situation for no reason. I immediately pulled out a dagger with a blue blade. It was the fourth time I’d done this now, so I’d like to believe my fear had decreased, but…
“Does it hurt that much?” Seo Dawon asked.
“What?” I said.
“You keep on biting your lips.”
Seo Dawon, who had crafted the magic circle with an indifferent expression, made a comment after he turned back to look at me for a moment. I felt slightly embarrassed. Whenever I felt stressed, I’d nibble at my lips until I drew blood; it seemed that, subconsciously, I fell back into that old habit.
To be honest, as a man, I didn’t want to make such a fuss about a scratch, but… Everytime I did this ‘ritual,’ I was brought into someone else’s consciousness, shouldering their hurt. To be honest, rather than adapting to the pain, I felt like each reiteration brought more agony.
Should I say that, as soon as I gripped the dagger with my hand, I felt like all my energy seeped out through the scar on my palm? It felt like the energy flowed, disappearing into the Magic Circle through my blood; that sensation–that feel of something against my palm–was so unpleasant…
Still, it was honestly embarrassing to show my fear of a mere scar like that. I deliberately relaxed my lips and breathed deeply.
“If you’re too exhausted, do it later,” the mage said.
“No. It’s just…better to summon him faster.”
“……”
I refused–for my own selfish reasons, but, for some reason, Seo Dawon slightly frowned at my answer. However, as I approached the magic circle’s center, Seo Dawon pointedly stared at me before eventually activating the circle.
Layered lines–laced into flowery designs–slowly tinged gold. I stared, captivated, by the lights dancing like fireworks in Seo Dawon’s eyes before lowering my head.
“…..Ngh.” And then, in front of the mage, I cut a line across both palms. At the same time, severe vertigo overtook me. I had to sit down and place my hands against the magic circle anyway, so I ignored how the world spun around me. I just needed to endure for a little bit.
[You have fulfilled the conditions for summoning a vengeful ghost.]
However, after the [system message] that informed the conditions had been fulfilled had popped up, the vertigo did not vanish as it had earlier. Instead, I was overcome by an indescribable pain. The severe headache and dizziness did not subside; my insides wriggled, as if I were seasick.
“Urgh…”
At first, I thought I threw up my recent meal, but…I spat blood out of my mouth instead. As soon as he saw that I threw up blood, Seo Dawon immediately knelt beside me and drew me into his arms.
“Choi Lee-kyung!”
“What happened!?”
“First, take out a potion!”
Lackey, who had been crouching a little ways away from the living room, ran over and hugged me with its skinny arms.
I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t stop vomiting blood. I felt something–Seo Dawon using some skills on me?–but it was no use.
Rather, whenever Seo Dawon tried to do something, I felt severe pain, and my entire body cramped. He desperately tried to tell me something, but, at that moment, I smelled something fishy from my nose.
“Stop it!”
Simultaneously, I heard Kim Olim cry–a loud roar. No way… was my nose bleeding too? I wanted to raise my hand to block the flow from my nose, but I couldn’t do anything.
However, when I barely managed to raise my eyelids, I thought that Seo Dawon’s face was far too close to mine. Furthermore, the gleam in his eyes was a little terrifying.
Emotionlessly, he said, “We’re going to give up on summoning Woo Ragi. Don’t just endure; press the summon cancel button.”
“Haah…”
“Choi Lee-kyung, do you hear me? Lee-kyung-ah…”
[Replaying the memory of the deceased: ‘Woo Ragi.’]
However, Seo Dawon’s voice seemed to grow more and more distant; at some point, I could no longer hear him. Simultaneously, my view of the clearly visible living room cut off, as if someone had turned off the light.
It was then that my stomach, which had been continuously vomiting blood, finally settled. The suffocating pain subsided in an instant. It felt like I had swallowed some painkillers and, finally, fell into deep sleep.
* * *
“……Choi Lee-kyung, no way, are you sleeping?” Someone called to me, cautiously. I felt a delicate patting on my back.
Opening my eyes, I reflexively jumped up from my seat. I stood up with such force, the textbooks and ballpoint pens on the desk fell, clattering, to the floor.
“If you’re feeling sick, go to the infirmary. Don’t lie down and pretend as if you’re attending class.”
… Infirmary? Class?
Unable to understand what was happening, I looked blankly around at my surroundings. My homeroom teacher from my 3rd year of highschool stared back at me, clicking her tongue 1.
Hushed giggling noises; indifferent gazes glancing at me for a moment before falling away. The homeroom teacher continued class, as if she hadn’t been interrupted, explaining concepts on the electronic blackboard.
And then, a familiar voice whispered from behind, “Why did you suddenly stand up from your seat?”
“You…”
As soon as I turned around, I was struck speechless, bewildered. ‘Seo Dawon’, smiling playfully and tilting his head…was wearing a school uniform. The same uniform as me.
“You…what are you… No, but here…”
“Hey, look forward. Homeroom Teach is glaring at me too.”
“…..What?” I corrected my posture and started listening to the lesson again, but my confusion didn’t go away.
Something absurd just happened; what on earth was this bizarre reality? I had definitely been in my living room, atop a magic circle, about to summon Woo Ragi. However, after cutting my palms, I had no memory of how I ended up back in high school.
""
‘Furthermore, Seo Dawon is sitting behind me?’
I didn’t go to the same highschool as Seo Dawon. Seo Dawon wasn’t the one who sat behind me…
‘Huh……? Who was it that sat behind me?’
However, no matter how much I traced my memory… I could remember the face of my former classmate that sat behind me, but I couldn’t recall his name. It was as if that knowledge had been blocked.
Soon, though, the bell rang, signaling the end of class. Seo Dawon naturally stood up, sat on my desk, and played games on my cell phone. Too naturally. He didn’t turn to look at me, but it was as if he had done this for at least one year.
“Seo Dawon.”
“Yeah,” Seo Dawon responded, but he still didn’t look my way. Looking at that cheeky attitude, he was unmistakably Seo Dawon. Furthermore–now that I took a closer look–his face looked a little younger, and his voice was higher than usual… I felt uneasy; it really did feel like the mage’s younger self.
So, I was struck speechless for a while; Seo Dawon unglued his eyes from the cell phone screen and turned to look at me. When faced directly with not his red eyes but more auburn irises, the words died in my throat. Was that the color of his eyes before he died…?
“Why’d you stop speaking?”
“N-nothing… Anyway, you. Are you also in the Vengeful Ghost memory too?” I soon returned to my senses and asked the other. I had thought he might have intervened and changed something.
However, Seo Dawon made a subtly strange expression and responded, “What?”
“I asked if you also entered the Vengeful Ghost memory playback.”
""
“What’s that?”
“……Huh?”
When I opened my eyes wide at his absurd words, Seo Dawon frowned and placed his hand on my forehead. It was as if he was checking me for a fever.
“Are you really sick? You’ve been saying weird things since morning.”
“No, I’m not saying anything weird…”
“You’re boiling up.” Then, he dragged me along by the arm with brutal force and took me to the nurse’s office. At the very least, he had wanted me to take a fever reducer.
TL: The angst! Summoning these ghosts is truly putting a toll on Lee-kyung. I saw a fancomic depiction of this scene a while back, which made me want to read this novel! What do you think is going on? Why is he back in high school?
Footnotes
For now, I’ve made her a woman, but there are no gendered pronouns here, as is common for most Korean texts.