Chapter 583 – The Calm Before the Storm – The Girl in a Strange World (2)
—
– Han Kain
I float in the boundary between reality and unreality, awakening and dreams, pondering.
What date is it now?
The sight of my comrades—am I seeing the present or is the Owl just showing me a dramatized version of the past?
I have no idea.
Anyway, watching Eunsol unnie struggle to open her mouth was quite interesting.
*
“S-Sophia! Long time no see. I heard the news… the Administration Bureau made you a new body, right?”
Sophia resembled a classic beauty from a 1970s American movie, in her early twenties. Her entire demeanor, from her outfit to her hair and makeup, exuded that vibe.
Of course, given that she was born in the medieval era, it might just be ‘the latest trend’ in Sophia’s opinion.
“Yes. Want to see?”
Sophia lightly smiled and spun around as if she were on a fashion show runway.
“Wow~! Sophia, you look beautiful!”
For this, I could genuinely feel Eunsol unnie’s sincerity.
Unfortunately, the next part wasn’t quite the same.
“Um, how about we eat? Remember that beef stew I made for you before?”
“… I’m sorry. I don’t quite remember.”
The beef stew that unnie had made for young Sophia. It was only about half a year for unnie, but for Sophia, that was like 500 years ago.
I wonder if Eunsol unnie actually remembers that stew accurately?
I think she just hurriedly thought of it since Sophia was coming.
“When I saw you as a kid, I always wondered how you’d grow up… I never expected this kind of look.”
“Seeing you again, I’m having similar thoughts.”
“Similar thoughts?”
“I didn’t think you’d look like this. I thought I’d never forget my mother’s appearance, but I guess I was wrong.”
It seems that Sophia’s memory of unnie didn’t match her actual appearance.
With a gap of hundreds of years, that’s not weird at all.
In Room 207, she played a downtrodden medieval widow, while in reality, she’s a successful entrepreneur. Two totally different personas.
“Um, is it that different? Hmm… Was I prettier back then? After all, I was younger by six months!”
Eunsol unnie took the joke lightly, while Sophia remained serious.
“You were smaller than I expected. I remember thinking you were really tall when I was little.”
“… Really?”
To a young girl, her mother can certainly feel much larger than she really is.
Currently, Sophia is taller than Eunsol unnie.
“You also look different. The image I remembered mixed your actual appearance with my own reflection.”
As time flows, memories of one’s mother also tend to blur.
It seems Sophia filled that gap with her own face reflected in the mirror.
“Well, I might be a little disappointing then. After all, you’re incredibly beautiful—”
“That’s not what I meant.”
The conversation drifted somewhat after that.
“They asked me to work as a researcher in exchange for making my body.”
“Sounds like you accepted.”
“Considering the circumstances, it doesn’t seem like you and the Administration Bureau are at odds…”
“True. I’ve never had a real mission, but I am technically an agent, after all. No need to worry. By the way, you’re a researcher, not an agent?”
“The Bureau said they aren’t sure if I can withstand the loop.”
“Gotcha.”
I heard there’s no foolproof way to know who can endure the loop.
The information that hotel escapees can handle it is only an inductive conclusion based on experiences from past escapees.
“By the way, now that you’re independent, Seungyub’s ship must be empty.”
“They said he’s currently housing his own soul.”
“Oh ~ So will he reincarnate even if he dies like in Room 207?”
“Hmmm… Speaking of that boy, I was shocked more by Fortuna than by your mother.”
“R-really?”
“It was quite a shocker. The Fortuna I knew was a great evil who ascended from Hell, but seeing him in reality….”
“What was it like?”
“There was a kid proudly claiming to be the ‘top dog’ of Bangbae Middle School.”
“…”
Seungyub, regaining his ‘pure’ self, good or bad.
He once split a body in half with a sword under Ija’s teachings and parted the sky… but now, he just remains as the top ranker in Bangbae Middle School.
He has mastered martial arts yet is still a bit lacking in his game score?
He’s too busy fighting with kids while throwing around curse words instead of focusing on his skills!
Wait, I mean he’s my comrade, but does this even make sense?
“Thanks to you then.”
“Th-thanks? For what?”
“Because of that kid’s shocking tactics, I quickly adapted to reality. Ah~ You guys aren’t the same as I remember—180 degrees different!”
“No…! Even so, Seungyub is a bit extreme!”
“Your mother might also have a different appearance from my memories.”
“Not as much as Seungyub!”
“Ha! But he’s still a comrade; isn’t it too harsh to attack him like that?”
The two burst into cheerful laughter.
I can feel them growing closer and becoming more natural with each other.
This is definitely Seungyub’s influence.
Perhaps the lucky boy takes it upon himself to play the villain just to make everyone happy?
He’s just acting the villain, right?
“At first, it was honestly shocking. You could say it’s an identity crisis by today’s standards?”
“Sophia….”
“My life felt like a mirage. It was almost like a movie screening set in a true world, right?”
“…”
Eunsol unnie and I were both left speechless, just like the past when the otherworldly being reacted similarly, crumbling mentally!
“As time passed, I started to think…”
— Ding!
Sophia suddenly dropped a teacup into the stew pot.
“The cup in the bowl. That’s the phenomenon we see, right?”
“The bowl is reality, and the cup is Room 207?”
“Yes.”
The tea cup in the bowl.
The hotel in reality.
“For the one living in the bowl, Room 207 may seem like an illusion.”
“…”
“But look outside the bowl.”
“Outside the bowl?”
“Can you see the table?”
The teacup is outside the bowl.
The bowl is outside the table.
In fact, the table isn’t the end either.
“It’s like a cursed room; reality also repeats the loop. In the hotel, we can even paint over reality with the power of dreams.”
Eunsol unnie fell into a serious thought.
“Is the hotel the table then?”
“Well, who knows? But this thought is possible. From the perspective of a truly exalted existence, there may be no difference between the cursed room or reality.”
“…”
For the being in the highest place of the hotel – does it make any difference from the Buddha’s viewpoint between reality and the cursed room?
Both are mere pictures that can be turned upside down with just a brush stroke.
… Even such a great being couldn’t sculpt Heaven, huh.
“Thinking this way makes me feel at ease. Maybe the concept of immutable reality is itself an illusion.”
If everything is an illusion, then Sophia, born in that illusion, is no less capable than the people of reality.
“I’m glad to hear that your mind is at ease.”
As the conversation concluded, Sophia took Eunsol unnie’s hand and asked.
“Please, be honest with me about this.”
“Okay.”
“Do I feel like a daughter to you?”
Unnie fell into silence for nearly a minute, then with a heavy expression, said.
“Sorry. I don’t think so.”
“I understand.”
“But… it’s not necessary for a precious relationship to be that of mother and daughter. I want to see you as a comrade.”
“…”
“What do you think?”
Sophia turned without answering and walked towards the door.
When Eunsol unnie waved her hand with a resigned expression, Sophia smiled brightly.
“I’ll do my best.”
Looks like things are working out somehow.
Their issue isn’t something I should intermingle with.
My consciousness gradually grows hazy again.
Having seen my comrades once more, it seems this bizarre dream is about to end—
Oh?
Suddenly, a firm pressure yanked on my consciousness roughly!
Earlier, I was floating comfortably, but now it feels completely different.
It’s like the grip of a ‘different existence’ pulling me in roughly!
My consciousness is flying far, far away—endlessly distant.
Not just speed; the flow of time feels accelerated, creating a bizarre sensation.
Suddenly, a mystical realization seeped into my mind.
The presence that guided my mind just earlier—the Owl—now feels entirely different!
Is it you, Secret?
As if waiting for me, a vision of a man in a suit brushed by.
Though no words were exchanged, this situation perfectly embodies ‘thought without speech.’
He requested me to “save Ahri.”
— Paaah!
In an instant, my vision cleared, and my surroundings came into focus.
If I had to describe it, it looked like a city destroyed by nuclear war.
*
The first thing I discovered was a beautiful girl wandering through the ruins.
Ah, hello?
I reflexively greeted her, but obviously, there was no response.
It’s unclear whether the scene I’m witnessing is present or past.
— Crackle!
Grotesque, insect-like creatures emerged, screeching with sharp teeth poised to attack.
Ahri evaded them, soaring away with the power of her wing boots.
Next, we dive deeper into the ruins.
Wires were exposed everywhere, and Ahri was trying to connect them to operate a machine.
What is this place, and what is Ahri doing here?
Why can’t my status window find this place and remains stuck on ‘searching’?
— Boom!
An immense vibration shook the whole world!
As dirt flew from the ruins, Ahri smoothly floated up, hiding in what looked like a previously prepared refuge.
She had adapted to this situation already.
— Whoooosh!
By the time the vibrations ended, shadowy figures began to “break through” the concrete walls!
Feeling the nerves kick in as these fearsome foes approached—
Ahri pulled a camera out from her pocket, as if she had been waiting for this moment.
— Click!
With a single snap of her finger, the unseen chaos vanished in an instant.
Seeing such performance, I understood why Ahri referred to her camera as a treasure.
“Phew….”
A long sigh escaped.
She looked exhausted from giving her all just to survive day by day.
Right now, she appears to persevere thanks to her own strength and useful tools, but it looks like it’s only a matter of time.
If this state continues, survival seems impossible.
“Haah… Buddha. Since you’ve saved me, couldn’t you have done a better job? I’m not empty-handed here; I’ve used dreams, you know?”
She escaped using dreams before, huh?
“Sure, it’s great you sent me to a place the Bureau’s hands can’t reach, but this is pushing it.”
A place untouched by the Bureau’s hands.
“If it continues like this, at most two months—huh?”
Right at that moment, a feather fluttered in the air.
Completely out of place in this locale, it slowly drifted towards Ahri’s face and landed on her nose.
“…”
Her expression looks like she’s deep in thought.
Shortly after, she seemed to feel an unnameable hope and murmured while gazing at the sky.
As if to be heard by someone.
“This is the fallen realm of the gods.”
…
“We all forged it to escape the end, yet we cast away the great ones with our own hands.”
…
“Essentially, she is a being similar to what Eunsol saw in the other world.”
— Paaah!
With this, my consciousness began to soar upwards.
In a flash, Ahri shrank to the size of a fingernail, and the hideout became smaller than my palm!
When my gaze shifted to the ruins where Ahri had been hiding, the entire city came into view from a dizzying height—
I met an unimaginably gigantic eye, beyond comprehension.
An unfathomable being.
A neglected god who lost even its intellect at the end of its abandonment.
Ah…
I silently screamed, unable to be heard by anyone.
Ahri is currently atop the body of a colossal creature!
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