“Is that it?”
Liam asked as he looked down. I squinted my eyes, staring at the same spot.
“Please go a little closer to the ground. It’s too small to see.”
Liam and I were currently flying through the sky.
Not just us, but our daughters and son were with us too.
The sensitive age of the twins and little Rohan made them seem completely unfazed despite soaring in the high sky. All thanks to Liam’s magic.
“Hold on a minute.”
Liam didn’t recite spells or use magical tools like ordinary mages. He didn’t need to.
With a simple gesture while keeping his hands in his pocket, he summoned his magic. Such a slack action managed to turn mana into his obedient servant.
Soon, the magic activated, and our bodies began to slowly descend. It was a smoother fall than walking on the ground.
“Impressive as always.”
I didn’t express this outwardly for fear of him getting cocky, but honestly, I was amazed. He was just slacking off all the time, yet his magic skills kept improving.
In fact, our former hero could even use high-level teleportation magic. But that consumed too much mana, so he refrained from using it.
Still, flying was far faster than most means of public transport. In a small country like Korea, you could explore the whole place in just one or two hours.
“What a wasted talent.”
Suddenly, I remembered what the ‘Guardian’, a comrade from my hero party, had said to me.
– I think Liam’s overwhelming talent is just the Goddess’s mischievous prank. What do you think?
I wondered how I answered back then. It was decades ago, so my memory was fuzzy, but I probably replied like this.
– Damn, did you just insult the Goddess? You looking to die here?
“… Those were good times.”
Back in my saint days, I could freely talk back.
My temperament hasn’t changed much since then. It’s just that this annoying speech adjustment made me seem more composed.
Sometimes, I even mistakenly thought that I had genuinely become calmer. But in reality, that wasn’t the case at all.
One thing had changed, though. Just my identity.
“Clitia, look over there.”
The man who completely changed my identity, Liam, pointed below once again.
Following his finger, a neatly constructed building came into view.
A company name sign was stuck at the upper left corner of the building.
[arise]
“Arise.”
It was the name of the game company that developed Apollis Tales and Solar Scepter.
If I recalled correctly, it wasn’t a particularly impressive company before I got possessed.
They were a moderately well-known developer that had made a number of okay games, and that’s all that remained in my memory.
But it seemed like they had grown rapidly in my absence. I’ve heard recently that this sort of thing is called a ‘glow-up’.
Anyway, we had found the place.
“That’s it. Let’s go down.”
“Thanks to me, we got here quickly, but are you going to do nothing?”
“Thank you.”
“Not that. Playing dumb? Do you want to stay up in the sky forever?”
“……”
Looking back, Liam had changed because of me too.
From a lecher who slept with any woman to a man who only had eyes for me. Just that one change made him quite docile.
In a way, we were both living lives transformed by each other.
“Honestly, I can barely stand you.”
Reluctantly, I did what my nemesis wanted. It wasn’t much, just a light kiss on the cheek.
I could do this much easily. It was far better than when he demanded ‘something bigger’.
“Is that enough now?”
“Will you do more if I say it isn’t?”
“… Please let’s just go down.”
It was only after Liam’s reluctant descent that we slowly approached the ground.
As we got closer, people’s eyes were drawn to us. I had expected it, and Liam, being indifferent to others, didn’t particularly care.
Meanwhile, our daughters were busy chatting among themselves.
“Mom! I wanna live in the sky forever!”
“Mom, let’s go down without Erina!”
“Mean!”
“I know.”
“Hate you!”
They were having their cute little arguments. I was smiling happily when we were about to set foot on solid ground.
I shook off the stiffness from flying and looked up.
Right in front of me was the office building of Arise.
“Well then, let’s go in.”
I hadn’t made any solid appointments, but it should be just fine.
‘If you think about it, I belong here too, right?’
Since I hailed from the world created by the development team here, Liam and I were effectively like employees.
*
O Philseong, the director of Solar Scepter, was struggling to contain his surprise at the sudden news.
“Who did you say… has arrived?”
A guest had come. In itself, it wasn’t a big deal.
The issue was the guest’s identity.
“Uh, the Returnee who possessed our game has visited with their family. They wish to meet the head of Solar Scepter….”
“……”
It looks like the unthinkable had finally come to pass. Philseong’s back seized at his subordinate’s words, and he quickly splashed his face with cold water to regain composure.
This was an emergency.
“First, please take them to the conference room. I’ll take care of the materials.”
Philseong ordered swiftly, then rummaged through his desk. He had a good idea of what the Returnee had come to discuss.
‘It must be about how weak things are.’
On the Friday evening the ‘Pope’ broadcasted, Arise had descended into chaos.
It was only natural. The game that the Returnee had possessed was one of Arise’s flagship titles, Apollis Tales.
However, Philseong had somewhat anticipated the situation.
He had grasped it when ‘Liam Erams’ crashed the live news coverage and started a ruckus. He hadn’t mentioned it to other employees, though.
‘Who would have thought such a thing could happen….’
Philseong paused the flurry of movements at his desk and picked up a ragged notebook. It was completely worn out.
At first glance, it looked like trash, but anyone who could read the text on the front would consider it a treasure.
[Setting of Apollis Tales]
About eight years ago. Back then, Philseong, a developer for Apollis Tales, jotted various things down in this notebook.
Included among them were the names and backstories of the people who had recently been making waves in Korea.
He quickly flipped through the notebook to find the desired page.
[Hero Party for the Final Battle]
One of the many hero parties that existed only in setting, made near the end.
To prove they were unimportant characters, all their names and descriptions were crammed onto one page.
‘I never thought I’d get to show the original creator their own setting.’
This was a trump card to persuade the Returnee.
*
In a stylish conference room.
I was seated alone at the head of the table. Or rather, I was with Rohan in my arms.
Liam was in the lobby café with the girls. Since we had to have a long discussion, we had no choice but to separate the children and the childish adult.
“Rohan, I must emphasize this again. Don’t turn out like your dad.”
My son stared up at me with wide eyes. But already, he was beginning to resemble Liam slightly.
‘This isn’t good….’
I hoped he wouldn’t grow up to be a troublemaker like his dad. I just wished he inherited only his good looks.
To soothe my restless heart, I sipped the high-quality green tea brought by the staff. It was far superior to what we had at home.
‘Truly, it’s a big company….’
A successful company knows how to treat their guests right. I was thoroughly impressed.
Honestly, it felt like it was slightly below a large corporation, but I decided to refer to it as one since after all, it was practically my workplace.
“Ta-da, ta!”
“Rohan, be quiet. Mommy has important work to do now.”
“Blaaaah!”
“Excuse me, is that backtalk?”
Just then, the conference room door opened, and a man with a portly build, likely in the late forties, walked in. He matched the description of the person I had researched beforehand.
“You must be Director O Philseong.”
“Ah, yes. I didn’t expect you to recognize me.”
When O Philseong approached me and extended his hand in greeting, I took his hand with a light smile.
“Nice to meet you. As you already know, I’m Clitia Eluke. Just call me Eluke.”
“Uh, yes…”
For some reason, O Philseong appeared a bit flustered. He couldn’t even meet my gaze properly.
Could it be because of my looks? It was a plausible reason. I was used to it and felt no particular emotion.
To ease his discomfort, I sat down first.
“I wish to begin our discussion right away. What do you think?”
“Yes, that would be best. But before that, I would like you to take a look at this.”
The director took out a notebook from his belongings and placed it in front of me. With a bookmark inserted, I quickly flipped through it and saw familiar names and settings written down.
[Hero Liam Erams]
– A lecherous hero who chases after women
– Handsome, but doesn’t live up to his looks
– Becomes stronger than a demon king when awakened but remains oblivious until his dying breath.
[Saint Clitia Eluke]
– Beautiful and demure but weak.
– Only powerful with Sacred Spells.
[Wise Erin]
– A young girl.
– Sister of the Tower Master.
[Guardian Logan de Remerite]
– A noble-born spirit caster.
– The de facto leader substituting for the troublemaker hero.
[Great Warrior Ivar]
– A serious martial artist.
– A heavyweight.
Excessively simple and superficial settings. Yet, one could feel the affection that had gone into writing them. The evidence of scribbles and cross-outs were abundant.
“… What is this?”
“It’s the settings of Pope Eluke and her comrades. I wrote this myself eight years ago.”
“……”
In that instant, the memories of the last twenty years flashed through my mind rapidly.
From the moment I possessed the game until just before my return. Memories accumulated through all those years surged up at once.
How could I articulate the feelings I was experiencing? It was bound to be poignant.
I’d never imagined I would meet the creator of ‘Clitia Eluke’.
“… I didn’t expect to see you here like this.”
With a sincere smile, I raised Rohan and made him look at O Philseong.
I had come to complain, only to meet someone precious.
“Rohan, say hello. He is your grandfather.”
“… Grandfather?”
“Of course, he should be considered my father since he is the one who made me what I am today.”
O Philseong was like my father. The same went for the others too.
“Now that I think about it, he’s also Liam’s father. I never imagined we’d be cousins bringing our family members together.”
“……”
At my witty remark, O Philseong awkwardly smiled at the corners of his mouth. It was clear he was forcing a grin.
‘Should I have been more composed, as per the settings?’
It seemed I had managed to leave quite the shock on him from the get-go by meeting my father-in-law.
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