02. Visitor from the future (10)

“I was waiting for you.”

“Me?”

A humming noise. She felt the astonished gazes of the students around her focus all at once.

“… ….”

There are too many people at the entrance to the classroom. I felt the need to move because the gaze around me was uncomfortable.

Suddenly, looking around the classroom, I could see Yoon Seo-hee pretending not to be there and glancing this way.

“For now, come here.”

“… ? Yes.”

I led Baek Ji-soo to the corner of the hallway.

At this time, if you avoid the hallway in front of the classroom, the corner is relatively quiet.

Occasionally, I felt curious glances from a distance, but it was much better than before.

“What’s up?”

“I want to give you something.”

“To me?”

“Yes. Would you like to hold out your hand?”

Even though I felt her doubt, I obediently held out her hand as she told me to.

Baek Ji-soo took something out of his pocket and carefully placed it on my palm.

That was a ring. A small women’s ring that barely fits on the pinky finger.

It had a luxurious design and was made of gold, and even subtly possessed magic power.

“What is this?”

“Because I owe you. In return.”

Baek Ji-soo said in a calm tone.

“A single-use ring of mid-range teleportation.”

“… What?”

I was shocked and my jaw dropped.

A magical item. If it’s even space transfer, isn’t it high-level magic?

There is a restriction that it is a one-time use at medium range, but even so, if you can use that much magic with just one small ring like this, the value is enormous.

I can’t even imagine how expensive this ring would be.

I remembered the words of Baek Ji-soo, who left a few days ago saying that he would definitely pay off his debt.

“Haa….”

I shook my head.

I know the circumstances of her who went to the dormitory on a scholarship and hurriedly swallowed vegetable porridge like a person who couldn’t eat proper food, but she couldn’t accept such an expensive-looking ring.

“Take it. This is not what I was hoping for.”

She tried to put her ring on her hand again, but Baek Ji-soo jumped behind her as if she didn’t want to touch me.

… I was slightly hurt.

“Accept me. Because this is still the first.”

“First?”

Come to think of it, she said she owed her three times.

But I’m sure my conscience will be pricked if I receive this a second time.

“You persuaded Yoon Seo-hee. It also served as a reward for that.”

“Hmm?”

If it’s persuasion, are you talking about the story of the end of that world?

As expected, it was a story related to Baek Ji-soo.

“I didn’t convince you. That was decided by Seo-hee herself.”

“… ? Yoon Seo-hee, she said it was thanks to you.”

You said that?

I felt a bit strange. It was a really trivial conversation that could hardly be called counseling.

Baek Ji-soo shook her head as if she liked it.

“It doesn’t matter. Because I just want to repay you.”

Baek Ji-soo was talking about this ring as if it were something of great importance.

It seemed that it was no longer polite to show her modesty. I can’t help it.

“Okay. I will use this well.”

“Yes.”

I don’t know if there will be a need to suddenly use space transfer, but there’s nothing wrong with having it. She carefully put the ring, expected to cost a billion, into her pocket.

“Enough then.”

As soon as I confirmed receiving the ring, Baek Ji-soo turned his back without hesitation as if the business was over.

He called her, a little taken aback by her knife-like attitude. It was because there was something I was worried about all weekend.

“Wait, Baek Ji-soo.”

“… ?”

Baek Ji-soo quietly turned her head and looked at me without a word.

“The sword you left behind. That’s a death knell, right?”

I already know, but the reason I asked was to check with the person himself.

As expected, Baek Ji-soo nodded in affirmation.

“Right. How did you know?”

“I tried restoring it on the day you left it.”

“Restore… ? Could it be that you fixed it?”

Baek Ji-soo tilted his chin as if wondering. I felt the need to correct her misunderstanding.

“Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t repair her, I just stripped her of the rust. I tried to fix it well, but there was only half a blade left, so it couldn’t be done.”

“… So? It wouldn’t have been easy either. Awesome.”

It certainly wasn’t easy. It was because the mana clinging to the rust was too persistent. It would have been really difficult if it had not been purified with Yoon Seo-hee’s aura.

When I asked why the sword had rusted the other day, Baek Ji-soo drew the line that it was a story I couldn’t tell.

If you ask who made a relic like the Death Sword, they probably wouldn’t answer.

So I decided to ask another question.

“Why did you need that sword?”

The intact Death Sword is a treasure worthy of S-class equipment.

Even if it’s one step lower than master piece-level equipment whose grade cannot be measured, S-grade items aren’t something you can have with money.

It’s not like you keep such equipment in a safe somewhere, and if you were holding it in your hand, you guessed that there must be a story like that.

For example, there was something that required the use of the death knell.

“… ….”

Baek Ji-soo keeps his mouth shut without answering my question.

There was no change in his expression, but somehow he seemed hesitant.

I read her hesitation, so I didn’t rush her and waited for her answer.

In the end, Baek Ji-soo carefully opened her mouth with an expression of wanting to be okay at this level.

“I have something to write about soon.”

A short sentence that is not worth the wait.

I continued with some more questions.

“The sword is like that, are you okay?”

“It’s okay. Now the adversary… No, because Yoon Seo-hee is there.”

“Seohee?”

“Yes.”

Baek Ji-soo seemed somewhat relieved. Still, there was no change in expression.

I wonder if Yoon Seo-hee was that important to Baek Ji-soo?

“Okay. The question is now over.”

“Yes. Okay.”

After those words, Baek Ji-soo really turned his back and went back to my classroom. He leaves immediately when he thinks his business is over, and he has a very knife-like personality.

I couldn’t stand still in the hallway either, so I returned to the classroom.

“… ?”

It’s strange. Strangely, I think the kids are looking at me.

No, it’s not because of my mood. I could actually feel the classmates whispering while looking at me.

“Hey, Kim Yi-jin! What the hell are you doing?”

Lee Byung-jun in the seat next to him talked to me while making a fuss.

“? What?”

“Baek Ji-soo. Baeksoo! What were you talking about?”

“Ah. It.”

It wasn’t something I could share with others, so I evaded it appropriately.

“I just had something to say.”

After saying that, I felt goosebumps running through my forearms.

Huh? What? What?

Intense gaze, as if staring at a wild beast.

I looked forward just in case, and I saw Yoon Seo-hee opening her eyes and looking at me.

As soon as our eyes met, she quickly turned her head with her fresh expression.

‘What is this… ?’

Without knowing my feelings at all, Lee Byung-jun opened his mouth in a loud voice.

“Amazing, really. When I found out that Baek Ji-soo was waiting for you in front of the classroom, I thought I was mistaken.”

“Is that such a surprise?”

“Of course not! Baek Ji-soo, isn’t she famous for not talking to men? There are so many battles and boys who were seduced by that doll-like appearance and then frustrated.”

“Including you?”

“What? No, I am that.”

You’re right. I laughed out loud at the sight of Lee Byung-jun, who seemed to have lost his language function while his father was speechless.

I don’t know if you don’t talk to men, but I definitely felt a reluctance to make contact.

Because when I was giving the ring earlier, I deliberately asked her to hold out her hand, because it seemed like she was being careful not to touch each other’s skin.

“… Oh, anyway, it’s Baeksu. You don’t talk to the boy and you don’t know what he’s thinking, right? But why is he interested in you?”

“The interest is an exaggeration. I just happened to have something to help.”

Anyway, he has an expressionless expression that doesn’t know what he’s thinking.

I don’t think so.

Of course, the change in expression was faint, but it didn’t feel like there was none at all.

Where does this difference come from? After thinking about it for a while, I quickly figured it out.

Thanks to my analytical skills, I am more observant than most. Maybe that’s why I can read Baek Ji-soo’s expression more easily than others.

“You said you helped Baek Ji-soo?”

Lee Byung-jun wanted to ask something more if he was interested in the story, but just as the meeting time approached, teacher Song-ha opened the classroom door and entered.

Then the bustling atmosphere in the classroom was sorted out to some extent and interest in me faded.

–

Crunchy.

Morning class. Baek Ji-soo stopped taking notes for a while as he continued his self-study.

I can’t concentrate strangely these days. But it doesn’t matter. After all, it was something I had already studied 10 years ago.

Baek Ji-soo neatly gave up his self-study and briefly recalled what happened this morning.

Ijin Kim. A mysterious boy who restored the sword of the dead.

Although she did not show her expression, she was deeply surprised when she said that she had removed the decayed corrosion with the power of the devil.

But after thinking about it for a while, she could easily guess that she must have been helped by Yoon Seo-hee.

The aura of her anti-demon nature that she possesses saved countless people even in the future.

“… ….”

Yoon Seo-hee. The last Aura user who stood against the demons until the end in the future 10 years later.

Fortunately, I was able to get her cooperation.

If not, it would have been next to impossible to prepare for the approaching destruction now that Baek Ji-soo’s skills and items were sealed.

To be honest, the most difficult thing she expected in persuading Yoon Seo-hee was convincing her that she was a regressor from the future.

However, when she revealed the secret of Yoon Seo-hee and the information about her future, she was doubtful at first, but later showed a clear understanding to the extent that Baek Ji-soo was embarrassed.

It was even more difficult to convince her that she should rather fight her demons. When she asked to be with her in an upcoming incident, Yoon Seo-hee showed her disapproval as if it was a task that was too much for her.

She found it odd.

She is definitely the Yoon Seo-hee she knew.

[Not even one… I will not leave.]

Burning her intense hatred for her demons.

[I will kill them all, without leaving anything behind.]

Because it was the appearance of a vengeance demon desperately wielding an old and worn-out sword.

‘It’s a big deal. There’s a gap in her memory.’

I couldn’t remember the details of the future, whether it was because of an incomplete regression, or if even her memories disappeared when her demons sealed her powers.

I remember the last appearance of mankind and the rough context that led to it, but how the hell did it come to such destruction is like a puzzle piece missing.

The future Yoon Seo-hee that Baek Ji-soo remembers had her hatred for the devil from beginning to end.

That’s why I thought she was still the same personality at the time of her regression, but when I met her in person, it was her own illusion.

Then there must have been an incident like that.

“… ….”

Baek Ji-soo suddenly thought.

Even if the memory was perfect, would it be right to block it?

From the point of view of mankind, it is better for Yoon Seo-hee to harbor hatred for her demon. As much as she is, she will fight without sacrificing herself on the front line against the demons.

But that also means that she is sitting by the sidelines of someone’s upcoming tragedy.

Would you let Yoon Seo-hee become a vengeful demon for the sake of mankind?

Or should she move to prevent innocent victims?

“Ugh….”

Master, sister-in-law.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

Baek Ji-soo felt a terrible headache and quietly hugged his head.