*
As I opened the door and stepped inside, gloomy smoke billowed out.
Sizzling ash dust filled the air. The concrete walls and ceiling were charred black.
And a sensation like my face was on fire. Familiar.
“There are still people upstairs!!”
It was a fire scene. The urgent voices of firefighters blended with the sound of sirens.
The flames on the stairs below raged like they wanted to swallow someone. That must be why nobody could come up.
Looking outside, several red fire trucks were spraying water endlessly, but the streams couldn’t reach.
People looked so small, like ants. It was a high-rise building fire.
‘..I need to go save them.’
There was no time to think. My body moved before my mind did. The fear of fire was long gone.
I had been saved because of Pina.
I regretted not being able to use a skill like Wolf Fang, but I dashed up to the upper floors through the fire flames.
The heat choked my throat. Even breathing was hard.
This was why I couldn’t eat what I wrote. I regretted this long-remembered fact again.
“Please… save.. me.”
Then, I heard a child’s voice. It sounded like they were choking on their breath.
Not wanting to miss the faint rescue signal, I rushed through the heat that felt like it could melt my body.
I couldn’t be late even a little. I had to move my legs faster.
“I’m here to save you!!”
Bang─. I checked that the doorknob wasn’t hot, then kicked it open.
“Where are you!!”
The wreckage of the collapsed building. The room I entered was in shambles after hearing the child’s voice.
Had gas exploded? The shoes at the entrance had invaded the house, and sharp shards of glass were scattered everywhere.
“Help… me..”
A small voice came from right beside me. It was the same child’s voice I had heard earlier.
Beneath the wreckage, only a small hand was sticking out, fingers wiggling in a struggle.
“Just a little.. hang on..!”
I pushed away the crumbled concrete with strength. Even without skills or magic, I had been training in swordsmanship for a long time.
Swinging my sword until I collapsed, then repeating it every day. I couldn’t even remember the last time I overslept.
Thanks to my tangled mana circuits. My body was pretty muscular now.
“It’s okay now.. kid!”
I pulled the dust-covered child from the pile of concrete debris. The little one started to cry as soon as they saw me, fearful and in pain.
I carried the child on my back and stepped out the door. The flames had now spread all the way here, unlike when I came in.
I was cornered. Fire surrounded me like a giant wall on both sides. How was I going to get out of here? What should I do…?
Ah, that’s right.
“Belief, Wish for Rain.”
As I uttered the incantation, a blue sword materialized in my grasp. Now I could gauge the timing somewhat.
As soon as I summoned the Holy Sword, the clear sky from earlier was nowhere to be found, and, like a lie, it started to rain.
Fsssh, the sound of the fire began to extinguish around me. I let out a sigh of relief as the flames gradually faded away.
What a relief. If this method hadn’t worked, it would have been a disaster. I was able to summon the Mind Sword even when fighting the Apostle of Gluttony.
“I’m coming through!! ..Huh?”
“There are two people! This is different from what we heard…?”
Not long after, I was face to face with a familiar face.
A name tag that read Lee Dae Hyun. A middle-aged man with an entirely charred face.
“….”
A wave of dizziness hit me. Someone I thought I’d never see again stood right in front of me.
“Did you just save the child…?”
It was the father who had died saving someone in his youth, never able to be honest with his child.
“…Yes, firefighter.”
He looked at me with a flustered expression.
*
The fire scene was nearing its end. The child found their family, and thankfully, I heard there were no casualties.
“Here, drink this.”
“Ah, thank you.”
An instant coffee in a paper cup was handed to me.
“..That’s amazing. Should I call it luck? To think the rain would put out the fire.”
“Indeed.”
My father gazed at the clear sky, and he started speaking. A faint rainbow adorned the horizon, making it beautiful.
“It’s also amazing that a young student like you saved a child. Thank you so much.”
Ha ha, my father erupted into laughter. It felt like ages since I had seen that smile.
“I just did what I had to do, firefighter.”
The sweet taste of mixed coffee lingered on my tongue.
Even though I had been reincarnated into the game, the nostalgia of flavors from someone else’s past was irritatingly real.
‘The fantasy I desired…’
Actually, wasn’t Pina from earlier genuine? Or perhaps the Status Window had meddled with my perception.
“Excuse me, what’s your name? Do you live around here?”
My father looked at me carefully, asking for my name. Did he sense I was his son?
“It’s, uh, Licht.”
I said the name Licht instead of my real name. Only then did my father seem to ease off his suspicions.
“..That’s a unique name.”
It seemed it was okay to suddenly throw out such a name. This fantasy probably stemmed from my memories.
“By the way, have you seen a woman with white hair and… a wolf ears headband around here?”
As if Pina Grancia had stepped out of a fairy tale world. I needed to find her and escape quickly.
“Hmm, I haven’t seen anyone like that….”
“Is that so?”
My father shook his head. I clearly saw on screen earlier that she was at our house.
What on earth was happening? Information wouldn’t stick in my head.
Reuniting with my dead father, and imagining my childhood self reading a book with Pina at home… It felt like time travel.
Wait, time travel? Time paradox..?
If time was twisted not once but twice…
‘..That makes enough sense.’
The Pina I saw a moment ago looked like she had been caught in the rain and changed clothes.
The girl in a white box tee, not her usual Academy uniform, was striking enough to stick in my memory.
I should have activated Wish for Rain and gotten caught in the downpour.
The scenes I glimpsed earlier might be from the future, and when I chased after Pina and opened the door, I had stepped into a past timeline.
I was nearly certain. If I follow from here, wouldn’t I be able to meet Pina?
“What kind of person are you searching for? Could it be someone who hasn’t made it out of the fire…?”
“No, it’s not that.”
As soon as I mentioned Pina, my father’s demeanor changed to one of worry. Perhaps he was overly dedicated to his job.
“I’m looking for someone I know….”
I hesitated, remembering what the Status Window had just advised me.
[Look at your past self. You’re boldly expressing your feelings for Pina Grancia, aren’t you?]
[Isn’t it enough to be happy? That’s pure love. ⸜(ˊᗜˋ)]
“No, she’s… someone I love.”
That must be right. People often easily say that pure love is just being happy, but I know how fragile that happiness can be.
My father had also perished while trying to save someone, alone after losing my mother.
As a child, that terrified me. The thought that the moment I grasped a small happiness, it could be shattered brutally.
If a game hadn’t been a pillar of my life, what would I be today?
“It’s a nice time.”
The firefighter said, sipping his coffee, a faint smile gracing his lips.
Now that I looked, I finally understood who I resembled. That sly grin was undoubtedly my father’s.
“Are you in unrequited love? You don’t seem to have a girlfriend from how you speak.”
How did he know? He instantly pinpointed that I wasn’t in a relationship with Pina.
“Unrequited love… I guess. It’s been over ten years of one-sided affection.”
“What have you been doing all this time without confessing? It must’ve been tough.”
I just wanted to share this with someone. I was afraid my status as a player would harm Pina.
After all, she was just a game character. If I completed the Grand Route and returned home, I’d leave her alone.
“If… well, to be honest, if it works out, great! If not, I’d probably give up.”
I was scared. I felt like I would shock her if I ever revealed my true nature. It felt like standing on the edge of a thin, cracking ice.
“Why give up?”
My father tilted his head in confusion at my words. He seemed puzzled.
“Because I’m… an ugly man with burn scars..?”
I looked down at the ground. It was sad to have to lie to the person I loved. What if I had never been reincarnated?
“Hey, you’re perfectly fine! Don’t think so negatively. A man should have confidence!”
“….”
Thud, my father sat next to me, patting my back encouragingly.
“I’ve been telling my son something these days. Wanna hear it?”
His hunched back and narrow shoulders were noticeable. The father I saw in childhood always felt like a giant compared to me.
The sirens faded like time had stopped. My father’s voice was the only thing clear.
“If you’re going to do it, do your best.”
It was always the advice my father gave me. That was why I told Kainel and Pina to do their best.
“How’s that? Pretty insightful, right? It’s better to try your best and regret it, rather than to look back later and say ‘Ah! I should’ve done that!’”
Hearing my father’s advice again. It was a phrase always etched into my heart, not in my head.
“..That’s true.”
“I’m just a bumbling father who can’t spend enough time with my only son, but I at least want to properly be a mentor in life.”
The coffee held in my hand had grown cold, yet a warm sensation spread through my entire body.
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