Chapter 132: Memoir

In the afternoon, Ion headed to the meeting place with the Hahoe Mask group. Jin Seong-ha and Ade Tuna were already waiting. Jin Seong-ha had his face covered with glasses, a mask, and a hat, but his handsome features still radiated through, drawing everyone’s gaze. Passersby stole glances, but because both men were large and exuded an intimidating aura, no one dared to approach.

“Commander, you’re dressed too lightly. I saw a padded jacket at your house; why didn’t you wear it?”

“You say it so proudly—the fact that you sneaked into my house.”

“Looks like you didn’t sleep either. Your lips are all chapped.”

“Yeah. I was trying to turn in early yesterday when someone caught me and insisted on performing emergency first aid.”

“But it was worth it, wasn’t it? Saving lives is more interesting than killing, after all.”

“I’m not sure. They’re all our enemies, so I don’t know how saving them will come back to haunt us… More importantly, Mr. Ade Tuna, how is Hunter Shin Sae-mi?”

Shin Sae-mi hadn’t been hospitalized. Her external wounds were completely healed, and her internal injuries were fine, aside from the significant blood loss. The was essentially a resurrection potion. He asked out of politeness, knowing she’d be healthy, but Ade Tuna’s expression turned surprisingly bitter.

“Her body is fine, but her mind probably isn’t.”

What did that mean? Was she suffering from trauma? Ion thought that was unlikely given Shin Sae-mi’s personality. Feeling puzzled, he followed them.

They arrived at a home in a large apartment complex. In front of the front door, none of the three could bring themselves to press the doorbell because of the noise coming from inside.

“You! You came home at dawn yesterday, didn’t you? Where on earth have you been wandering around? And what’s with these clothes? Is this blood? Huh? …Is this real blood?!”

“Ah, Mom! I just wore some makeup for a party with friends. And it’s not like I stayed out all night; I came home… why are you so angry?”

Shin Sae-mi was in the middle of being scolded by her mother.

“What kind of party makes you run a fever like this? You didn’t do anything strange, did you? Just because you’re an Awakened doesn’t mean you’re invincible; if you do drugs, we’re both finished!”

“I told you, it’s absolutely not that! Just go, hurry. It’s time. Are you going to miss your flight back to your hometown after all this time? And I’m fine, my friends are coming over to nurse me.”

“Are those the same bad friends you partied with yesterday?”

“They’re very pure. One is a humanist who loves people, one loves animals, and the other loves plants.”

It wasn’t a lie.

“Ugh, fine. I’ll believe you just this once. My only daughter is so immature, always making me worry.”

“Mom, you know I’m twenty-six, right?”

“What does that matter? You look sixteen.”

Because her cells became younger during the time she spent as a bee, Shin Sae-mi had the appearance of a young girl.

“Why do you keep getting younger by the day? I told you not to transform as a punishment!”

“I—I didn’t! I only used other skills, so why do you keep doubting me? Mom, go now. Your family and friends are waiting for you back home~”

Her mother poured out another ten minutes of nagging after that. Ion’s party retreated down the stairs to avoid being caught as the “bad friends,” only returning after the mother had left via the elevator. When they pressed the bell, Shin Sae-mi greeted them with a weary, exhausted face.

Sitting around the table, before they could get to the main point, Shin Sae-mi spoke.

“When I escaped from the Breeder and returned home, my mom was waiting for me all alone.”

“…….”

“Not long after I was kidnapped, that old man died in a car accident while chasing Mom to hit her. Even though a decent amount of insurance money came in, Mom didn’t go back to her hometown. She waited for me in that tiny house by herself.”

Her mother had made missing person flyers, posted on the internet in broken Korean, and never stopped searching for her daughter. She couldn’t even move, fearing her daughter might come back to an empty house.

“That’s why I decided to save people whose deaths were predetermined. When I think about their families, I just can’t let them die.”

After a moment of silence, Jin Seong-ha summarized cleanly.

“Right. I well understand now why you live under your mother’s thumb. Now, let’s get to business.”

“Ha, jeez…” Shin Sae-mi’s face turned bright red.

The Memoirs were heavily damaged. It wasn’t a matter of a poor copy; the original text was damaged as well. There were pages with only dates and keywords, and parts where prose had been handwritten but was completely illegible. Ion first gathered the intact portions, including the pages the Hahoe Mask leader had stolen.

[49.02.05 Cataclysm] [49.02.10 D-NATE] [50.08.23 Human-Demon Alliance] [51.01.03 Return of the Heaven Realm’s Lost Child] [51.04.18 Descent] [49.02.05 Cataclysm] [49.06.10 Extinction of Giants] [50.04.13 Extinction of Demons] [50.04.13 Disciples ■■] [50.11.17 Collapse of the Demon Realm] [51.06.01 Collapse of the Heaven Realm] [52.01.21 Unification of Idea and Earth] [52.08.24 Resurrection of the Demon King] [53.11.30 Finale]

Looking at them all together, many things were strange. Regression aside… the collapse of the Demon Realm… and Idea and Earth unifying? Furthermore, what was with the year-long gap between the Resurrection of the Demon King and the Finale? Usually, the Demon King is destroyed by the protagonists as soon as he is resurrected. He checked for signs of missing pages in between, but there were none.

“I don’t understand this time reversal from Year 51 back to Year 49. Do they invent a time machine or something?”

“It’s regression. The Breeder who taught us was a regressor, so it’s entirely possible. What bothers me more is the expression ‘Finale.’ If they defeated the Demon King, they would have written ‘Demise of the Demon King’ or ‘Death of the Demon King.’ Why write ‘Finale’?”

“The final chapter. You’re right, it’s an odd expression. It’s the kind of word used in a novel or a play.”

To Ion, who knew this was all a play by [Pleasure], the word “Finale” felt natural, but to those without that knowledge, it seemed suspicious.

“The ‘disciples’ written here must refer to you all. The orphans, Hahoe Mask, and Butterfly Mask.”

“You should leave us out. We ran away in the middle. It refers to the orphans and Butterfly Mask.”

“Right. Regardless… we need to figure out these next characters. I find these two letters more ominous than the word ‘Finale.’ Especially since it falls on the same date as the Extinction of Demons…”

Jin Seong-ha tapped his finger rhythmically on the table.

Purrung?

Seeing Jin Seong-ha looking displeased, Purre flattened his ears and rubbed his body against the back of his hand. Jin Seong-ha stroked Purre with his large hand, but his mind was still on the Memoirs.

“And you all speak as if I’m the protagonist, but looking at these Memoirs, I can’t tell at all. There’s no mention of me or Sarah Harundas; instead, only the disciples are mentioned.”

That was another strange point.

“There might be mentions of you in these prose pages that we can’t read. Don’t worry. If regression truly happens, the subjects won’t be the orphans, but you and Sarah. You two are the protagonists.”

“That’s not the concern I meant…”

Jin Seong-ha met Ion’s eyes and sighed. Then, as if realizing there was no point in further discussion, he shut his mouth.

‘What? Is he offended?’

Ion was puzzled, unable to fathom the reason.

“How did the handwriting check go?”

“I had an expert check it; they said it appears to be the same person.”

Hearing Jin Seong-ha’s calm voice as he answered Shin Sae-mi’s follow-up question, Ion decided he must have been mistaken.

“So the Breeder has time-regression abilities and can create clones. Disgusting bastard. Why on earth would he come back to the past just to torment people?”

An Awakened with regression and cloning skills. That was how Shin Sae-mi defined the Breeder. Even Jin Seong-ha seemed to find this more believable than the world being inside a novel. The group discussed the Memoirs and their future schedule a bit more before getting up to leave. Jin Seong-ha placed Purre, who had been playing alone by sliding down Sansevieria’s long leaves, onto his shoulder. Ion cradled Sanse in his arms.

As they left the entrance, Jin Seong-ha spoke.

“If they find out you’re alive, they won’t leave you alone. Horizon can provide a safe house for you.”

“No need. Mom went back home, and Tuna will be with me. If I’m careful for about a week, they’ll give up after that.”

Ion didn’t bother asking why she wasn’t calling the leader. If the leader was Shin Min-ji, she would be in Idea right now. They seemed to communicate through their own methods, but teleportation would be impossible. Ion and Jin Seong-ha left Shin Sae-mi’s house. While descending in the elevator, Jin Seong-ha whispered.

“The leader of Hahoe Mask is likely Team Leader Lee Jin-ah.”

“Pardon? I thought it was Hunter Shin Min-ji.”

“Hmm, want to bet?”

Ion was confident and answered.

“If you want.”

“Fine. Let’s bet ten cafeteria meal tickets.”

Thinking he’d give the tickets to Hong In-soo if he won, Ion nodded. Having already decided on their destination, the two immediately got into the car. It was now time to go meet Dam Sa-on and Dam Se-on.

They met the orphans at Dam Da-on’s villa, where the last orphan gathering had taken place. Seeing Ion familiarly punch in the keypad code, Jin Seong-ha asked:

“Is it okay to just walk into a villa when the owner isn’t here?”

“It’s fine. Da-on gave me permission this morning.”

Soon after, Sa-on and Se-on arrived. Ion shared everything that had happened, and both reacted exactly as he had expected.

“Gloomy bastard. I knew he’d cause trouble.”

“I-it finally turned out that way…”

Se-on spoke while clenching his fists.

“B-but the world Ye-on wants is f-fundamentally different from System Age. He only joined them because they both want a world without conflict… If we promise the s-same kind of world, he m-might surely come back to us…”

“How are you going to make a world without conflict? Brainwash the masses? If you’re going to talk nonsense, shut your mouth, Nun-se-on.”

“……!”

“Our On-on must have been shocked. Still, seeing that he didn’t hurt you, it seems he hasn’t completely lost his mind.”

As usual, Sa-on’s voice was worlds apart when addressing Se-on versus Ion.

“He probably awakened recently.”

“Likely.”

Despite possessing the overwhelming skill of psychokinesis, he hadn’t appeared until now. From Dam Ye-on’s words, it was also clear that Udumbara had approached him first. They had taken Wendy Lowell to find a method for awakening and used that method to awaken Ye-on. Given they hadn’t announced the existence of an awakening method, it was surely still unstable.

Next, Ion showed the orphans the copies of the Memoirs. Se-on was confused, but Sa-on remained calm. He didn’t feel any dissonance with the expression “Finale,” either.

“So it was a regression story.”

“Hahoe Mask called it a regression skill.”

“Same difference.”

Sa-on shrugged at Jin Seong-ha’s remark.

“Now, let’s study this. What is this time reversal and what are these damaged characters?”

“Wait. There’s one more thing to discuss.”

Ion pulled a notebook out of his subspace pocket. The Teacher’s diary. Using the memo about [Pleasure] in this diary as a focal point, Ion intended to extract as much progress as possible from them today. It meant he planned to let them know that everything was a play by the Apostles.

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