Elcia, holding onto the severed hand, looked shocked.
But that was just for a moment.
She grabbed the hand that had started to swell red and stared coldly at Hyeji.
“…You must be.”
“The Ear Goblins live in dog houses, not in the Forest of Elves!! Every time I see them, it’s a woof passive!!”
Hyeji screamed with bloodshot eyes.
In contrast, Elcia appeared quite relaxed.
“Do you think you and our husband share any deep connection right now?”
“You crazy b*tch!!!! This is the first time I’ve met you!!!!!!”
“Oh dear~. There’s love at first sight, you know.”
Looking behind Elcia, I saw an Escort Elf smirking.
With the number above Elcia’s head rising, it seemed she had witnessed this scene in the future before her regression.
However, she didn’t seem inclined to intervene.
Rather, she looked as if she was enjoying the show.
“Aren’t you embarrassed to wear a skirt as a man?”
“I’M A WOMAN!!!! Why do these puppies keep saying I’m a man every time they see me?!”
“Is that so? I really thought you were a cross-dressing man with nothing up there.”
At that moment, Elcia crossed her arms.
Showing off her gigantic chest.
Hyeji gritted her teeth at that overwhelming movement.
“Don’t you think it’s disgraceful for you to make advances at your age?”
“…I’m only 89 years old~. Quite young for an elf, actually.”
“You seem to be quite aware of your age~.”
Slightly taken aback, Elcia paused for a moment.
She managed to put on a relaxed smile again.
But her eyes were definitely not smiling.
“What a perfect line. You could make friends with the cliff dwellers of Han, China, and Japan.”
“You’re quite old. What should I call you for elder respect? Granny?”
“…Just call me sister, little one.”
The atmosphere was getting tense.
Rather than decreasing, the fight seemed to escalate.
I tried to mediate, forcing my shaky body to hold up.
Honestly, my physical condition was wrecked, and I couldn’t quite hear their conversation, but seeing the fight intensifying made me think I had to intervene.
Still.
“Uh… Hyeji and Elcia? Aren’t you getting a bit too aggressive? How about we stop for now?”
“Shut up! What a brat who laughs at such an old lady!”
“Husband is out! You’re not getting excited over this little girl again, are you?”
“Yup…..”
My words didn’t even reach them.
Fearing the sparks might fly, I quickly cowered away.
Hyeji and Elcia started fighting without paying me any more mind.
Elcia was the first to act.
“Our little one is so flat, she’s perfect for laying level. We could build a house on her chest.”
“Oh my, isn’t my sister too old to be alive?”
“Even if your chest is small, it has its own charm. Don’t worry too much, pat pat. Ah, I thought this was your back~.”
“……I must be getting old; I can’t even tell the front from the back?”
Hyeji roughly swatted Elcia’s hand away.
But for some reason, it seemed more painful for Hyeji than for Elcia.
Moreover, Elcia’s assault didn’t end there.
“Oh my, when I stamped your chest with a transportation card, it said ‘insufficient chest’, didn’t it?”
“……”
“They say dreams are contained within the chest, and it seems my little one is like a Santa who shares dreams with everyone?”
“Fcking btch.”
Killing intent flowed out of Hyeji.
‘If I’d known like that, I’d be dead, right?’
[Last time, even after being shot like that, you learned nothing, huh.]
Then Hyeji calmed down and grinned at Elcia.
This time, it was Hyeji’s turn.
“If an elf is 189 years old, it seems mystical, but at 89, doesn’t it smell like a chicken coop?”
“……You seem to have an empty head as your chest; I remind you, I’m very young for an elf.”
“Oh, is it rotten wood instead of a chicken coop because you’re an elf? What will you do, sister? I bet you’ve dried up without any water.”
From somewhere, I heard gnashing teeth.
The source was Elcia, who was grinning ear to ear.
Elcia finally regained her composure and spoke.
“……Elves have their unique scent. There’s no smell of wood at all.”
“Well, at that age, you should be giving off some scent.”
“……”
“Our sister has gone from a gold miss to a ‘gnarled miss’.”
Hyeji dealt a fatal blow.
And a pretty deep one.
The two fell silent for a moment.
“……”
“……”
“…Marble-like b*tch.”
“…Stinky gnarled b*tch.”
They shot sharp retorts at each other.
Meanwhile, I was gathering myself and spoke to the voice in my head.
‘It’s a bit strange that an elf wouldn’t be over a hundred years old, right?’
[That’s nonsense, a 6kg dagger sounds way more absurd. If it’s a 200kg dagger, maybe you’d find it interesting.]
‘No. A 6kg dagger is quite reasonable.’
[What nonsensical talk is this!!!!!]
The voice in my head yelled at me.
But a 6kg dagger is not weird at all.
‘It’s for Recon, after all.’
[Then I’ll accept that.]
At that moment, the sharp swords pointed at each other turned towards me simultaneously.
“So Shinwoo! Are you going to stuff tofu into the gnarled b*tch?”
“Husband! You’re not a pedo, are you?”
“Wait. How did the conversation take such a turn?”
“Hurry up and say it!”
“Quickly tell us!”
Really fortunately, right before I had to answer, Professor Miran entered the classroom.
Professor Miran sensed the tense atmosphere and instinctively tried to escape.
But my feet were just faster.
I rushed to grab the professor and half-begged her to continue the class.
In the end, Hyeji and Elcia’s fight ended as an incomplete combustion.
The Escort Elf, showing a satisfied expression, started leaving the classroom with Elcia.
Just before the Escort Elf exited, she looked back at me and smiled.
[Looks like you had an entertaining show.]
‘I hope you pay the admission fee, you little sh*t.’
*
That day, Elcia didn’t show up until the end of the class.
Considering she’s a candidate for the World Tree reception, it’s only natural she would greet everyone.
Fortunately or unfortunately, Elcia was said to not be able to attend classes in the lower tier like Jeong Ahyeon.
The decisive factor was the tier difference.
From Iron to Gold.
Between those ranks exist two grades: Bronze and Silver.
‘Looks like we’re keeping the historical accuracy about not being able to roll the queue here.’
[Why does a brat like you think it’s okay to flex on a golden child?]
Meanwhile, Hyeji was like an emotionless robot the entire day.
With only one emotion left.
Killing intent.
An intent to kill someone.
Especially the sticky and sharp intent to kill that pink elf.
I was too scared to talk, so I merely offered a casual greeting and fled to the library to borrow some books.
And in the library.
“Gongja? What’s going on here?”
“I came to borrow a book.”
I ran into Jeong Ahyeon again.
Her expression showed surprise at my words.
As if she hadn’t expected it at all.
“Did you have the intellect to read books, Gongja?”
“Fcking btch.”
“So what book are you here to see?”
“Well, I finished all of ‘Demon King’s Daughter’ and wanted to look for something else.”
“Oh! I’ve read that!”
Jeong Ahyeon’s face lit up.
Seeing her suddenly rush forward, it seemed she was thrilled to discover our shared interest.
“Of course, it was a masterpiece with absolutely no criticisms!”
“I was deeply moved as well. They say the author got inspired after suddenly burning down an orchard.”
It was truly a brilliant work.
I was lucky to have read it before dying.
“I also enjoyed ‘The Tower of the Sun,’ which was completed around the time ‘Demon King’s Daughter’ was published.”
“You seem to read a wide variety! Have you read ‘Top Management,’ which is quite a different genre?”
“That one really shocked me. I never thought a hiatus announcement would mean a smooth finish and a break.”
When the hiatus notice suddenly came out, I panicked, but it turned out to be a bait.
I felt very happy reading it.
In that moment, Jeong Ahyeon’s expression suddenly darkened.
“But you know, when Harry Potter was completed, the author passed away suddenly, which is quite tragic.”
“Exactly. These days, AI is hacking author messengers and spreading nonsense, but they can’t be punished.”
“That’s so disgusting! We should abolish the AI Anti-Punishment Law!”
[After the author passes, does the AI not ruin every piece of work?]
‘If it weren’t for that AI sh*t, it wouldn’t have fallen apart this much.’
Since Jeong Ahyeon and I shared interests, our conversation flowed smoothly.
I wasn’t sure if it was because of my sister’s influence or if I liked it all along.
But in any case, it wasn’t bad.
In one world, they say there are two brothers of different birds, and it’s truly a pity.
However, among countless completed works,
Hunter x Hunter is still on hiatus.
[Which will finish first, this novel or that manga?]
‘Please, Togashi, just write down something.’
Thus, in the library, I borrowed one of the completed works Jeong Ahyeon recommended.
It was the story of a blind man named Iyer.
*
Returning to the dormitory and reading the book, I recalled the events of the day.
‘It seems Elcia can surely regress from a distant future, right?’
[That’s true. I can’t say for sure, but given how long her number was, it might be so.]
‘But I didn’t expect Hyeji to hit her hand.’
I closed the book, took out paper and pen, and began organizing my thoughts.
Then suddenly, a thought struck me.
‘Come to think of it, Elcia didn’t have a large number of regressions, did she?’
[Considering she’s an elf, she should be long-lived, but even so, two digits are too few.]
‘In contrast, the other Ear Goblin and Hyeji had four-digit regressions.’
One by one, black lines began to be etched onto the white paper.
Countless black paths forming letters on the paper.
From those letters, I picked a few to organize into hypotheses.
[Let’s see what you’ve written.]
‘I feel uncertain about it myself.’
Hypothesis 1) People with large numbers above their heads can regress more frequently than others, but cannot regress from the distant future.
[That’s true. When Hyeji fought with that girl named Ahyeon, it didn’t look like you would catch her from behind.]
‘She looked pretty surprised, actually.’
[However, it seems they often experience events in the short future.]
‘Definitely, the Ear Goblin and Hyeji had their numbers rising too frequently.’
I wrote down Lucian and Hyeji’s names below the first hypothesis.
Continuing to the second hypothesis.
Hypothesis 2) People with small numbers above their heads can regress from the distant future, but not as frequently.
[This does explain Elcia, an elf, somewhat, but.]
‘But?’
I questioned the voice in my head.
After a brief silence, the voice continued.
[That gold miss you had a prosthetic arm on must have regressed three years and once more during the professor meeting.]
‘Sigh, that’s right. But even then, she couldn’t get married.’
[Poor thing.]
I noted Elcia’s name under the second hypothesis.
Finally, the third hypothesis.
Hypothesis 3) The requirements for regressing and the conditions for reuse vary for each person.
[Didn’t that guy Ryu Kang-hyuk, who beat you up so badly at first, say he had an hour’s cooldown?]
“Yes, he said it can only be done once and is only possible for a maximum of 30 minutes.”
If Kang-hyuk’s words were true, that is.
[In that case, if the kid Hyeji can only experience up to 3 minutes into the future before regressing, how about multiple uses?]
‘Perhaps…it’s rechargeable?’
[Like Teemo R?]
That was a very intuitive term.
Of course, it was correct as well.
‘…..You seem to know more than me now. Which tier are you at?’
[Normally, I wouldn’t even share a meal with a brat like you. You’d better appreciate it.]
‘F*ck.’
I wrote down the words “single-use” and “rechargeable” under the third hypothesis.
[Then do you think the time required for recharging is longer than the time regressed?]
‘For now, that’s what I think. If not, the world would have fallen apart by now, wouldn’t it?’
[You’ve figured it out well.]
It’s a pretty convenient world.
However, the opinion of the voice in my head seemed a bit different.
[Everything has its reasons. The reasons why it cannot happen, that is.]
‘Really? Tell me later.’
I gave up as my brain couldn’t process anymore.
In the end, I’d see this all as expanded knowledge.
Probably.
