Chapter 96

<What Was Cut Out (2) - Revised>

A lizard crawled up onto the hand gripping the steering wheel. It was the same size as a few days ago, but its color had lightened a bit. Or perhaps, it had a hint of yellow. Just in case, I tried using the leaf skill.

[Fire Spirit ? E Rank]

Its rank had already risen. It was still low, but it had improved quite quickly.

"That spirit seems to have grown a bit, huh?"

"Is that so? It has been eating a lot of different things."

"Does it eat things other than fire?"

"Mainly it eats fire, but it also swallows mana stones and various items. It doesn’t even look at ordinary objects, though."

Does it only eat things from the dungeon? The lizard, which had been circling around Hyun's finger, climbed up his arm and reached his neck. It circled his neck once and then disappeared near his right eye.

"Hey, your eye—"

His right eye had turned red. Sometimes it would have a slightly dark red hue due to the skill, but now it had completely changed.

"It sometimes seeps into the skin like a tattoo, but it seems to prefer entering the eyes."

Hyun said casually. Spirits are quite unique.

I absentmindedly stared at the red eye, and the lizard reappeared. It seemed to be tapping its tail, displeased with something.

"Does it bother you?"

"Huh? Oh, did you make it come out? Can you control it?"

"To some extent."

The red-glowing lizard quickly crawled down and came over to me. Peace, who had been sitting on my lap, blinked and stretched out a paw.

*Growl*

It had shown interest from the egg stage and seemed to really like the fire spirit. However, the lizard soon turned and went back to Hyun. Peace looked at the retreating lizard with a wistful expression.

"…Do you really trust the system creator?"

Hyun asked when the signal came. I turned my gaze from the red fire to my brother.

"I guess. I can't say for sure, but he's definitely involved with the system. He hasn't asked me to do anything strange."

I was shocked when he said to gather 50 S-rank people, but in the end, it was just about using my skills diligently. The time was ample, and monsters counted too. There was no real danger. There was the Noah incident, but if I didn't get greedy and just raised my stats, it would be safe.

'Aside from cheating with the wish stone, he doesn't seem to have done anything else.'

Since regressing has been better in many ways, I have no complaints. The lack of skill descriptions was something they couldn't help, they said. If only they had done something about the deer. Did they really cut off its antlers?

"For now, I just need to do my job. There's nothing else I need to do. At most, it's a bit burdensome? I'm going today because I have something I want to ask. Do you have anything you want to ask?"

I'm not sure if he'll answer, but I'm not sure if he'll be ready to talk like last time. I'm just going to check once.

"…There are too many things I want to ask, it's hard to choose. The same goes for the others."

"Speaking of which, if I tell Seok-hyang, she might come back with a stack of questions that would take three months and ten days to read."

I can imagine the team members cheering and going wild.

"Bro, is your curse resistance L-rank too?"

Hyun suddenly asked. At that time, I hadn't mentioned the rank of anything other than poison resistance.

"Yeah. Don't tell anyone else. You'll handle it well, but if it gets out, it'll be a hassle."

While poison resistance is one thing, if my L-rank curse resistance gets out, it will be a real nuisance. I use curse skills in many places, like my inventory and contracts, and I plan to use them more in the future. If I have L-rank resistance, there's practically no curse skill that can bind me, or anyone else within the skill's range.

"I'll say it's S-rank if it gets out."

Given the environment, it's hard to keep it a secret, and S-rank curse resistance isn't wide enough to cover a person, and I'm just an F-stat, so they probably won't pay much attention. Riet probably knows it's around that level, or maybe even lower. Since her contract is B-rank, it might be because her skill usage is still low or because it's cheaply made.

"At that level, you should be careful when making contracts. As long as you don't tear up S-rank contracts, it shouldn't be noticeable."

Hunter curse skills are low-effect for their rank if the conditions aren't accepted, so it's not a problem. I'm not going to go after monsters with a bunch of offensive curse skills.

"Still, if you need to remove SS-rank or higher curses, I'll help. The saint can only cover up to S-rank."

If it gets out, my peaceful retirement plan will be further delayed. Should I tell Yelim? Since curses are illegal, it might be okay as long as I'm careful with illegal contracts.

"I can block up to SSS-rank contracts."

"Only one rank higher resistance or removal skill can block a curse agreed to by the party. Anyway, there's no SS-rank yet, right?"

"There isn't."

His voice sounds a bit listless. Is there? According to my memory, there isn't, but who knows.

By then, we had arrived at the dungeon building. I stopped in front of the blue gate, and Hyun went in first. We had agreed to wait ten minutes before following.

"…Hyun?"

Hyun came back out of the gate, looking a bit flustered.

"…Did we come to the wrong dungeon?"

"No, it's the right one. If it were a different dungeon, we wouldn't have been able to enter the building."

The serial number on the wall next to the gate matched the one we were supposed to go to. Below it, it said "Desert Environment D-rank." Hyun also looked at it and muttered.

"It's… snowing."

"…Snow?"

"It was a snow-covered forest. No monsters in sight."

…This is the first time I've heard that the dungeon environment has changed. Could it be related to the system people?

"I'll go in too."

"No, it might be dangerous."

"The gate is open. And I have this."

I took out the Shallos' bead and said it had the same effect as the bracelet from last time, and he agreed. Anyway, he's a difficult one. Hyun went in first, and I followed, carrying Peace.

"It really is a winter forest."

A serene, snow-covered forest spread out before us, like a Christmas card. Snowflakes fell softly from the hazy sky, fluttering briefly before stopping.

"It's a bit cold."

"I don't have any cold resistance. It's easy to counteract."

That's something Yelim would grumble about. He took out a coat and put it on me. Then the fire lizard wrapped around my neck, and Peace grew to wrap around me, quickly warming me up. My shoes getting wet from the snow was unavoidable, though.

We went a bit further into the forest, but it was still quiet. A dungeon without monsters? That's definitely strange. Even the welcome message didn't appear.

I was thinking about leaving when—

*Crack!*

"Hyun!"

A sharp ice spear silently flew and pierced Hyun's forearm. It wasn't aimed at his arm; he blocked it with his arm, which was aimed at his head.

Flames wrapped around his arm, melting the ice instantly. At the same time, Hyun kicked the snow on the ground.

*Swish—*

A massive wave of snow surged forward for several meters and then fell back to the ground. But some of it floated in the air. No, it was held by something transparent. A meter-high, human-like shape with a head and shoulders.

"The stealth skill is high. It's definitely not D-rank."

Hyun said quietly while opening a potion bottle. He had already taken out the Shallos' bead. Then he used the leaf skill.

[Toy Soldier 6 ? S-rank

Contractor - □□□□□]

'…A spirit?'

A similar status window appeared when Hyun's fire spirit was around. But S-rank and 6? Does that mean there are 1 to 5? Maybe even more…

I concluded that we should escape through the gate as quickly as possible.

[I'm sorryyyyy~.]

A message window appeared. I hope not.

"…Hyun, wait a moment."

Hyun, who was ready to attack as soon as I used the bead, gave me a puzzled look. Then the message window appeared again, and something bounced toward us from far away.

[I didn't know the kids would attack Honey's brother~.]

A volleyball with eyes, nose, and mouth drawn on it approached. Hyun frowned slightly. I wondered why it was a volleyball, but before that—

"If you're sorry, why did you put a hole in someone's brother's arm?!"

The round eyes on the volleyball turned into ㅠㅠ, and the smiling mouth wrinkled.

[Honey's brother also has a fault…]

"Fault? You suddenly attacked and then tried to shift the blame?"

I grabbed the volleyball and shook it. Where did this ridiculous excuse come from?

[No, you see…]

"Are you a new recruit?"

[I'm Wilson!]

…Wilson? Who's that?

[……I'm a new recruit ㅠ0ㅠ]

Indeed, you are. Anyway, you're not an enemy.

"Hyun, this is a system—"

I turned to tell him it was okay since it was a system, but Hyun was already a few steps back, looking flustered. Peace was also doing the same, scratching the air, as if there was a transparent wall.

[It's awkward to listen to the conversation.]

"Still, you should explain and let us out."

It seems sound doesn't pass through, and my inventory doesn't work. I squatted down and wrote "It's okay" in the snow. My hands were cold. At least the lizard was still around my neck.

"Why did you attack, and what is this place?"

[Well, Honey's brother is related to someone you agreed not to mention. This is a dungeon for Honey. If you knock three times at the gate, you can come in. I worked hard on it!]

"I don't remember knocking."

[At first, you had to come in to be told. The side you can't mention interfered a bit recently, so I could make it.]

I can't mention it, so I can't understand. And related to Hyun… Wait. I suddenly remembered the strange and suspicious things Hyun had said before.

"…Is the 'mention' thing like a cult? Like Confucianism?"

Confucianism isn't a cult, but… The new recruit didn't answer my question. The lack of response means it's true.

[Anyway, I've cleaned this place well, so nothing dangerous will happen. I can't keep it open for long, though. About 30 minutes?]

It feels like ten minutes have already passed. I need to ask quickly.

"Is that cult very dangerous? You haven't explained why you asked me to gather S-rank people yet? There's no one else who can do my job? Can you make a dungeon in Japan that produces stamina potion ingredients appear sooner? And there's a baby bird monster called Piyak, but its status window doesn't show properly. Keywords apply, but taming or my child skills don't. Also—"

[Wait! Dangerous, dangerous… It's fine at this level. If I explain in detail, it will become more dangerous, so I can't. Someone to replace Honey… There isn't one yet. But can Honey find one? That would be great!]

Find one? Someone with a similar special skill?

[Stamina potion ingredients… Oh, I can adjust it to appear in about two weeks. Piyak? Uh… Hmm… Uh…? Keywords apply?]

"Yes."

[……I can't see it [email protected]△@??]

Can't see it? The status window… doesn't open. But Piyak was definitely there. The rank was marked as □.

[That's strange. If you bring it, I'll check and delete it for you.]

…Are you crazy?

"Fine!"

Shit, delete it? Are you really crazy? I will never bring Piyak to the dungeon. It might have some bugs, but deleting it? Crazy.

"Also, the first-time reward for S-rank dungeons has changed recently. Is that normal?"

[Is it a consumable?]

"Yes."

[If it's a consumable, it's because it was used. Everything, including items and other things, like the dead, were cut out. If there are multiple identical things, they are replaced, but if not, other items are put in.]

"…Cut out?"

[Yes. Regression is like that. By the way, Honey doesn't know much. Regression only affects Honey, so everything else remains the same. The world that has passed five years remains, and Honey goes back five years.]

I felt a sudden dizziness. Remains? Everything, remains?

"Remains, then…"

[Of course, you can't just leave it. If you do, it would create two identical worlds. So, everything overlaps with the current world. Since they are basically the same, there's no big problem when they are forced together. It's like adding information about an apple tree to an apple tree, which remains an apple tree. However, dungeons, especially high-level dungeons, are a bit different from Honey's world, so they are affected by the overlap, and their difficulty increases faster. I think I can tell you this much!]

"…Overlap, does that mean they disappeared?"

[You can say they disappeared, like overwriting a file with the same name. In fact, they are combined, but since you can't feel or notice it, it's the same as disappearing. Only extremely sensitive people might feel a sense of disconnection, but usually, no one notices.]

Overwrite. I overwrote the future file onto the past file, and others did the opposite. That's why the titles from things that were supposed to be gone in the future remained.

I am the future file.

"Then, people born after the current point, and… the dead. That, being cut out…"

[If there's no current information but the information of a life that didn't die before regression, it doesn't disappear. This is a bit complicated to explain, but the overlapping effect isn't completely absent, so they are mostly born similarly, and at least some information is available.]

The message window continued.

[On the other hand, if a life has been used and disappeared or died before regression, it is already excluded. For example, if there are people A and B, both exist in the first year. But in the fifth year, A is still there, but B is dead. When the first and fifth years are combined, A from the fifth year exists, but B's information is gone. A from the fifth year will safely combine with A from the first year, but B from the fifth year is treated as deleted information and is cut out from Honey's world. You can't combine deleted information with the intact information from the first year, right?

In the case of the item you mentioned, there's no information from either the first or fifth year, so it doesn't even appear.]

Deleted information. My head was spinning. B from the first year is still B. Maybe only the five years were erased. Despite that, an inevitable regret crept in.

"…I wish I had just saved them."

[What? Oh, it's a bit complicated to explain. It's too much to teach you in detail. 8ㅅ8]

"No, it's fine. It's enough."

I don't want to know more. After saying that, the volleyball said it would return to the original dungeon in about five minutes and disappeared.

"Bro, are you okay?"

*Chirp*

Hyun and Peace came over. I looked up at my brother.

"Of course, I'm fine. We just had a conversation. Oh, it will return to the original dungeon in five minutes."

"…Your expression doesn't look good."

"It's because of the cold. That's why. Can I hug you?"

"You might be warmer with Peace."

He said it as if it was strange but didn't refuse. I reached out and hugged my brother. I felt a definite warmth. Maybe this is enough.

"Don't die before me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Same goes for you, Peace."

This time, I hugged Peace's neck. Indeed, Peace was warmer.

<What Was Cut Out (2) - Revised> End

ⓒ Geunseo