The icy night breeze brushed against my cheeks, sending a chill deep into my skin that made me shiver.
I stepped outside the banquet hall into the park, dragged along by Baek Ahrin.
The sunlight had already disappeared, leaving an almost gloomy atmosphere. The only light sources nearby were the streetlights and the glowing stones embedded along the walking path.
“It’s already night,” I thought.
I had been so busy being tugged around everywhere that I had lost track of time. How many hours had gone by?
Our original plan to just say hello and leave was utterly trashed.
Baek Ahrin grabbed my sleeve and strolled along the park’s walking path. It was the same park we had crossed upon entering.
“Ah, refreshing! Now I can breathe a little,” she exclaimed, while I was still shivering from the cold.
“Inside was way too hot! I was practically drenched in sweat! Didn’t you feel hot, Ha-yul? I was so hot I felt dizzy,” she complained, fluttering the fabric of her dress around her chest for emphasis.
For a brief moment, I was taken aback by her display, but then I remembered her unique constitution; it made sense she would feel hot.
Honestly, I felt quite warm inside the banquet hall too, without realizing it until I stepped outside and was hit by the cold air.
I preferred the warmth, so I wasn’t complaining, but Baek Ahrin was definitely not enjoying it.
She was naturally specialized for absorbing heat and cold, given her unique ability, and the steamy atmosphere inside must have been uncomfortable for her.
After a few grumbles, she sat me down on a bench along the walking path, then plopped herself next to me.
The streetlight beside the bench cast a gentle light, creating a charming ambiance, almost like one of those artsy photos you see on the internet.
“Phew…”
I realized we had only been outside for a little while, maybe just ten minutes.
Though it was a short time, it felt sufficient to cool down my warm body with the night breeze; however, Baek Ahrin still fidgeted with her clothes, desperately seeking relief.
“Is it really that bad?” she asked.
“Yes, it feels like I’m about to melt from all the accumulated heat…” she said, leaning back against the bench’s backrest with a vulnerable whine.
Was it really that hot inside? I knew it was warm, but was it enough to make her feel like that?
Given that I lacked the ability, I wouldn’t know. Though, Gop-hwa users like Gop-hwa generally feel hot due to their power.
This made me think of Hong Yeon-hwa; her embrace was always warm… Why was I suddenly thinking about this?
I shook my head to clear the bizarre thoughts. While my head was spinning, I managed to shut down that line of inquiry.
I slapped my cheeks, returning myself to reality, and fiddled with my smartwatch, recalling a question I had forgotten.
“Where did Hong Yeon-hwa go?” I asked.
“Oh, she’s taking it easy because of the burden of Gop-hwa. Looks like she’ll be out for a few days,” Baek Ahrin replied.
Ah, I remembered the side effects of Gop-hwa. I had seen Hong Yeon-hwa looking unwell since the final day of the tower.
Nodding at her response, I pondered, “Is the side effect that severe?”
I rifled through my memories from the original story.
From the first chapter to the twelfth, early on the butterfly effects caused by the player’s actions were not significant. It merely sowed the seeds that would later grow into massive storms.
During the first entry into the tower, players couldn’t cause any grand events; everything tended to unfold fairly normally.
Hong Yeon-hwa had experienced the changes from Gop-hwa each chapter, but it never struck me as a big deal.
Aside from the fact that her already potent Gop-hwa power had gotten more intense, there wasn’t really anything noteworthy about it.
“…Would she be alright?”
As I mulled over this, worries emerged.
I had asked Hong Yeon-hwa repeatedly if she was okay when she seemed off, but she always assured me she was fine.
Perhaps she really was just a bit under the weather, but could the side effects have worsened to the point she couldn’t attend the gathering?
I had no clue how Hong Yeon-hwa overcame the side effects in the original story.
When you finally meet her after the first tower entry, she was stronger than before, but I had no idea how difficult that process had been.
“Is Hong Yeon-hwa doing okay?” I asked.
“She says she’s fine, but… the side effects seem particularly bad this time around,” Baek Ahrin answered, shaking her head.
Her words only deepened my concerns.
Suddenly, I recalled a memory from the eleventh chapter.
While rummaging through the Gop-hwa clan records, I found a note that mentioned a few Gop-hwa users had died due to the side effects.
That thought both troubled and unsettled me.
“Try not to worry too much. She may look reckless, but she knows her limits. If she really gets into trouble, she’ll call someone from the clan for help,” Baek Ahrin reassured me, noticing my worried expression.
Even so, her comfort didn’t alleviate my anxiety. She forced a smile, continuing, “If you’re really worried, you could visit her. She would surely appreciate it…”
But before she could finish, her words trailed off and scattered into the air. Baek Ahrin blinked in surprise.
“Hmm…?” she made a strange sound with her mouth, seeming to ponder something deeply.
Curiosity took hold of me, and I decided to give her the time she needed.
After a brief moment lost in thought, Baek Ahrin wore a mischievous smile.
“Ha-yul,” she said.
“Yes?” I responded.
With a cheeky smile, she continued, “Shall we take a picture together?”
The way she whispered felt as if it were a top-secret discussion, even though no one else was around.
“Out of the blue?”
It was such a random suggestion, yet I nodded, assuming she must have something in mind after her stuttered sentence earlier.
“Why are we taking a picture?” I asked.
“Taking a plain photo would be boring! We all strike a pose for pictures, right?” she replied.
Her breath tickled my ear, making me flinch despite my attempts to keep calm.
If my heightened senses were on overdrive as in the tower, I would’ve jumped up in shock.
In this current setting, I sat on the bench with Baek Ahrin, who had snuggled up close with her arm draped over my shoulder.
When I asked why we needed the picture, she replied it was for Hong Yeon-hwa.
She explained that Hong Yeon-hwa couldn’t join us due to her condition, but she had asked Baek Ahrin to keep an eye on me.
Understanding the underlying connection, I nodded internally.
It made sense that Baek Ahrin had been paying particular attention to me since I’d arrived.
Amid my hazy thoughts about Hong Yeon-hwa worrying for me, Baek Ahrin’s intent to send her a photo showing she was looking after me made me feel a little warmth.
“Alright, we’re taking it now~” she said, preparing to snap the picture.
– Click!
Baek Ahrin’s smartwatch projected a hologram.
The camera shutter sound echoed, and in that hologram, both Baek Ahrin and I appeared.
“Done!”
As Baek Ahrin relaxed, she fiddled with her smartwatch, apparently sending the picture to Hong Yeon-hwa.
– Ding!
A moment later, an alert chimed. It seemed the photo had been successfully sent.
“Should we head back now?”
With the photo taken and my body cooling down quite a bit, my head felt clearer.
Just as I stood up to go back, however, the smartwatch suddenly erupted with notifications.
– Ding!
– Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Baek Ahrin’s smartwatch was ringing like a madman! Startled by the sudden alarm, I turned to her.
“Hahaha!”
She burst into such laughter it echoed everywhere, tickled by whatever was going on.
“Baek Ahrin?” I called out, puzzled.
“Ahahaha! It’s nothing serious! Hong Yeon-hwa just said thanks for the photo!” she managed through her fits of giggles.
As Baek Ahrin wiped the tears from her eyes, I felt confused.
Was that really a reason to send that many messages? But since that was her response, I had no comebacks.
Sure, I could check the message history, but I suppressed my curiosity for the sake of privacy.
I nodded but remained puzzled.
I didn’t know what had sparked her intense delight, but Baek Ahrin looked ecstatic, still chuckling over the hologram.
This was a side of her I hadn’t often seen—an energetic version bursting forth from her usual soft demeanor.
People were not one-dimensional; it wasn’t possible for them to maintain the same face all the time.
One could not simply dissect human behavior as though it were an NPC programmed to act in certain ways.
In a crumbling world, she was the Baek Ahrin who stood faithfully by the player in the first run.
She was also the Baek Ahrin who stabbed players in the back in the eighth run.
She had her quirks: she hated the heat but loved strange vintage candies.
All of this like data from a game, in a world that echoed the game’s storyline.
As I absorbed this thought, I couldn’t help reflecting on how complex people could be.
*
– Ding!
[Player Enhancement System: Affection Level]
Lee Ha-yul → Baek Ahrin
●●●●●○○○○○(50/100)
‘Affection’, ‘Curiosity’, ‘Confusion’
[Failed to meet the conditions for ‘Curse of Silence’ to be lifted.]
[Failed to meet the conditions for ‘Curse of Loneliness’ to be lifted.]
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