“Doesn’t seem like you’re too surprised.”
“…I knew.”
The memory that flowed in when I first grasped the sword of Cartia. I had been thinking about it to some extent thanks to that memory. After going through the trial, I had my doubts, but after seeing Sirin’s memories, I was certain.
‘I’…
In Ursphere, I—subjugated Tylant.
The ‘me’ from the previous round.
The concept of the end.
“Still, isn’t it surprising? There’s a person right in front of you who’s exactly like you. Of course, the height is different.”
With a bitter smile, ‘I’… no, Jong-eon plopped down onto the ground.
“Anyway, let’s talk. I have a lot to say to you from before. I’ve been bored without someone to chat with.”
Jong-eon’s speech, tone, and personality were completely different from mine. The only thing in common was everything invisible to my eyes, and Jong-eon tilted their head.
“Can’t believe it?”
“…No.”
“Right?”
Tuk-tuk—Despite being seated, Jong-eon smiled while tapping the weed-covered ground.
“Come here.”
I nodded and moved my heavy steps. Pat-pat—After stepping over the grains of sand and stopping where the soft grass was, I sat down just a little away from where Jong-eon was tapping.
“But, by any chance.”
“…Yes?”
“Um…”
After folding their arms and hesitating for a while, Jong-eon finally parted their lips with difficulty.
“Got any jelly?”
“J-jelly…?”
“Yeah. Jelly.”
Taken aback by her unexpected request for jelly, I was momentarily dazed. But just for a moment.
“Don’t have any?”
Jong-eon’s voice, tinged with disappointment, made my hand automatically reach for the bag at my waist.
“Whew…”
I thought the jelly bag had fallen off, but it was still right there on my waist. After hesitating for a second with my hand resting on it…
I sighed and click—opened the bag. I reached in and felt the soft, chewy jellies wrap around my hand squish-squish.
So, I grabbed a handful. My hand was small, so I couldn’t grab much, but still, I squeezed as much as I could and held it out.
Thud-thud—Some jelly leaked out, and I felt bad for what dropped from my hand, but I held it back and offered it to Jong-eon.
“I-I have some…”
Gasp—The surprised breath from Jong-eon had them closer to me in an instant.
“You… gonna give it to me?”
I nodded.
With arms stretching out in a clear and rapid motion almost at a speed that defied comprehension, her hands reached out towards mine.
I carefully placed the jellies in her hands.
“Oof, only the tasteless jellies got stuck.”
“J-jelly is delicious.”
“Ah-ha! That’s true.”
Beaming, Jong-eon crammed the jelly into her mouth in one go.
And then, munch-munch—
As she chewed the jelly to the point her cheeks looked like they might burst, Jong-eon’s expression gradually brightened. She shook her head as she alternated her gaze between my face and the jelly bag.
I… nodded to that question and grabbed a handful of jelly from the bag, shoving it into my mouth.
Then, munch-munch—
With eight jellies in my mouth at once, it was hard to differentiate the flavors, but I could distinctly taste the peach.
It was delicious.
Gulp-gulp—
Jong-eon and I swallowed the jelly at the same time.
“…Huh.”
As if savoring the aftertaste left in her mouth, she shook her head left and right for a while before adjusting her posture.
Her position was slightly more relaxed than before. With a slight smile, Jong-eon opened her mouth.
“Ask me anything. Now I can answer it all. You have the right to know.”
I lingered for a moment over those words.
What should I ask first? How should I phrase it?
In that instant, my mind got tangled up, I found a brilliant question to spit out.
“…What are you—”
“Ah, wait. You can’t ask that.”
“How did you know what I was going to ask?”
“You’re going to ask about what kind of life I lived, right? I know you better than yourself.”
“…You said you’d tell me everything.”
Giggle-giggle—She shook her head.
“Now that you’ve come this far, my story isn’t necessary. It wouldn’t be fun or helpful.”
Jong-eon was still smiling.
But that laugh was completely different from when she was eating jelly.
It was bitter, thick, and seemed to sting.
I mulled over the emotions hidden within that laughter.
After a while, Jong-eon’s lips, which had been silently staring at me, opened.
“By the way… that bag. It’s made of Tylant leather, isn’t it?”
“This—this?”
“Yeah.”
“…Right.”
Jong-eon tilted her head.
“Didn’t Sonia say anything about that?”
I tilted my head in the same way.
“…Sonia?”
“Oh…”
Jong-eon raised her head and crossed her arms.
For a moment, the corners of her mouth lifted mischievously.
“Jong-eon’s minions… Hmm, so you don’t know the true names of the ancient heroes.”
“True names…”
Hearing Laila and Primavera’s true names, I was curious. Carpen, Tylant, Valoran, and Brunhilde must have true names as well… but I couldn’t ask anymore, so I held it in.
“I know them,” Jong-eon said, knowing their true names.
…But why is she being so annoying about it?
“Are you curious?”
“…I-I am curious.”
“Hehe, then.”
Again, in an unfathomable speed, Jong-eon’s hands reached out towards me.
“You have to pay a toll.”
I stared at those hands for a while… and finally placed a handful of jelly—seven pieces—on them.
It seemed too annoying to give a full hand.
Though it was just one piece less.
Perhaps realizing that, Jong-eon narrowed her eyes and shot me a sulky glare before grinning and cramming the jellies in her hand into her mouth all at once.
And after munch-munch-ing happily, she opened her mouth.
“Hmm, I should tell you in order, right? Since you already know Primavera, let’s skip her… First—”
Scratch-scratch—
She began to draw in the dirt revealed by clearing the weeds.
The picture was terribly crooked and oddly formed, but I understood what it was.
Dog paw prints, ice, feathers, flames.
Carpen, Tylant, Valoran, Brunhilde.
“Carpen. Carpen is Carpen. Its name hasn’t been erased. I don’t know why, but maybe the power of Cartia has something to do with it. As for appearance… um… he has bright red hair, sharp fangs sticking out, and a face resembling a sharp wolf? As for the rest, you could probably sense it with your own ‘perception’?”
Before finger pointing at Carpen could drift apart, it returned to Carpen again.
“This is a secret only I know.”
Smirk—Jong-eon laughed.
“Carpen was afraid of blood.”
“…Huh?”
Carpen was… afraid of blood?
After all, his Blood Aura was made of blood, wasn’t it?
Plus… his ability constantly needed to absorb blood to be maintained.
“When he was little, he was so scared of blood that he would faint at the sight of it.”
“That… that can’t be true…”
“That’s why he was bullied. He went through a lot because of it.”
“…I haven’t seen that in Sirin’s memories…”
“Of course. Even with the ‘Regulation’s Eyes’, I can’t observe every detail. How about it? Don’t you want to know other secrets?”
Slowly, I nodded.
At the same time, Jong-eon’s hand reached out towards me.
I quietly set nine jellies on her hand.
Looking at that, Jong-eon smiled satisfactorily, popping the jellies into her mouth one by one as she started to speak.
“Tylant is, as I said, Sonia. She has white hair, and as for her face… she doesn’t look like a polar bear but rather has a round and cute look. Her personality is similar to yours—a bit of a nerd. Didn’t you sense that connection?”
“…I didn’t feel that at all.”
“Really? I did.”
“Uh… actually, I did, too.”
“Actually, I’m lying.”
“W-what…?”
Giggle-giggle—With that mischievous laugh, Jong-eon extended her hand. I placed two jellies on it without hesitation.
After tossing them into her mouth in one go, she began to move her fingers slowly.
Feathers. Valoran.
“Uncle Valoran is Luisar. I couldn’t memorize his really long last name, which had about seventeen or eighteen letters, so I just called him Luisar. His height is so hard to gauge; he must be over 190 cm. His hair is a deep brown, and just by looking at him, you can tell that he has a blunt look. You wouldn’t get a drop of blood even if you poked him. And here’s the secret…”
Jong-eon leaned towards me.
I slightly leaned toward Jong-eon as well.
“That guy has acrophobia.”
“…What?”
“He’s a sky clan, and he can fly, but he’s afraid of heights.”
“…That doesn’t make sense.”
“Isn’t it just plain foolish?”
“…Uh, oh. Gah… no, no. You shouldn’t call adults foolish.”
Jong-eon’s hand extended again. This time, just got to give her one jelly.
“Next is Brunhilde. Her true name is… Bo-hwe-hee.”
Hehe… Ahem… “W-what did you say her true name was?”
“Bo-hwe-hee.”
“H-her name is Bokhee…?”
Jong-eon shook her head.
“The pronunciation isn’t that. As a demon race specialized in magic, they’re built for easy spellcasting with oral structure. So, the pronunciation is a bit tricky, but I’ll teach you. Just repeat after me. ‘Bo’—lay your tongue down and while saying ‘hwe’, sound as if you’re slightly grinding your throat… Bo-hwe-hee.”
“Bo… Bo-hwe-hee…!”
“Yes, that’s it. Good job. Anyway, Bo-hwe-hee’s appearance is, um, do you remember the person who extorted you at the movie theater when you were fifteen?”
Fifteen, movie theater…
“Ugh… I remember…”
The moment that memory popped up, my shoulders involuntarily hunched.
“That time, the girl with a ton of piercings looked pitiful, so we sent her away.”
“But she still took 7,800 won from us…”
“Ah, but she left a thousand won to cover the fare. That’s fair, right?”
“Uh… I guess so…”
“Anyway, she looks like that person. Just with a slightly more westernized face from that.”
“I guess her personality must be the same.”
Jong-eon, nodding her head, extended her hand.
Three jellies were placed on it.
“As for personality… no, actually, she’s quite delicate.”
“Uh…?”
“She loves dolls and sleeps with one every night. Sometimes, she even talks to them. One day, she hugged her favorite doll too tightly while sleeping, and it ripped. She secretly sobbed for four hours because of that.”
“…She cried over a torn doll?”
Crying over a torn doll…
Even I… back when Rubia was gone, I would hug the Great Sword while sleeping, but I’ve never cried because it snapped…
Crying… I guess it could happen…
“Can you relate?”
Giggle-giggle—Jong-eon stuffed half of the jellies held in both hands into her mouth.
After chewing for quite some time and swallowing, she seemed disappointed as she licked her lips.
“And lastly, the secret of Primavera? Ahaha! It’s hilarious, really. This elf has a pollen allergy. She holds a stiff face in front of others to bear her sneezes, but when she’s alone, she’s a mess with tears and snot flowing everywhere!”
“P-pollen allergy…?!”
“Isn’t it absurd? That’s why she keeps speaking in a low tone. She’s afraid she’ll sneeze if she talks normally.”
“I didn’t realize there was a deeper meaning to it…”
“Totally doesn’t suit her!”
After a while of giggling, she let out a light sigh and caught her breath.
Once she composed herself completely…
“Though they looked fine and perfect on the outside, they weren’t. They were ordinary beings carrying faults and hiding secrets they couldn’t share with others.”
Looking up, I gazed at the pitch-black sun hanging in the sky.
“Those beings in the game weren’t just artificial creations.”
A slight sigh escaped her slightly parted lips.
When that sigh dispersed without a trace…
“When I figured it out, it was all over.”
Jong-eon’s head tilted down towards me.
Her face was filled with dark emotions. Perhaps sensing it herself, she quickly swallowed all the remaining jelly in her hand and chewed it down.
Then, back to her calm expression, I threw out the question that had popped into my mind.
“How did you know all those things… that even Sirin’s eyes couldn’t see?”
“My ability. The abilities of those I pierced their hearts with my own hand flow into me along with their memories.”
Jong-eon smiled.
“That’s why I know everything.”
That smile, while light, felt—
“I know all the people you knew.”
Was chillingly desperate and painful.
“Even Rubia.”
