Chapter 45
Remy Martin, the five teachers of each D Weapon category, and the leader of the Bronze Cross Knights gathered in one of Edu's offices.
“How is the 2031-1-1 season?” Remy asked, referring to the people Lost on January 1, 2031.
Jaza Garlin, the black young man in charge of the enhancers, shrugged and said, “It has only been a week, but they’re quite capable. A Korean named Park Ho-Geun is the strongest of the enhancers, but Shin Jun continues to grab my attention. He is also Korean.”
The Korean-Japanese Ryu Daisuke, in charge of the conjurers, remarked, “Korea! I miss it. Who was your favorite K-pop group? Hotpink? Thrice?”
“I have no interest in music, Ryu.”
“What? A black man who doesn’t like music? How can your DNA allow that?”
“Then why are you bad at math when you’re Asian?” Jaza asked exasperatedly.
Daisuke laughed and remarked, “Hahaha! You got me there. A few of the conjurers are quite the standouts, too. Three of them have established rules in the Dark Forest.”
Remy nodded and turned to Marie, petting her Greyhound D Weapon, to ask, “How are the transformers, Marie?”
“Hmm, they’re average. No mythical beasts,” Marie answered.
Remy asked a Middle Eastern man, “How about the emitters, Ali?”
“A few stood out, but... not worth recruiting to Clan Martin.”
Franky, the man in charge of the manipulators, added, “Same for the manipulators, but a Korean named Han Ye-Ji has already accessed the Network and is gathering information.”
Remy turned to the man standing unmovingly in bronze armor and said, “I ask the Bronze Cross Knights to pay extra attention to security. It’s not right for clans to disregard the oath they made with the Union and make contact with the newbies before they graduate from Edu.”
“There is nothing to worry about. Our security is air-tight,” the captain of the Bronze Cross Knights replied.
“Good. Thank you all. Let’s keep pushing for three more weeks. I want out of this awkward position as soon as possible, too.”
The six people each replied to Remy and left the office.
Korea, huh? Lee Kang-San’s country, Remy momentarily thought about his friend on the front lines.
He opened each document envelope on the desk to read through each. They contained information about the D Weapons of the students of each category, their personal information, sketches, and a plethora of other information to be submitted to the Union.
Others would die to become the dean for access to information like this, but... I just want to return to the front lines.
Remy’s eyes stopped as he was reading through a document.
1,186 people this season. Twelve people have already committed suicide in just a week. The cause of suicide is PTSD.
Many active-duty soldiers suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing shocking events. They endlessly consumed both physical and mental power to escape the trauma. The experience in the Dark Forest often triggered PTSD, especially in the fifth zone when trying to obtain Teleport Rocks.
The sacrificial altar... Vivienne...
Remy recalled the Teleport Rock covered in blood as he thought about the Dark Forest. He could see his hands stained with the blood of his daughter. Various objects in the room suddenly floated in the air like a poltergeist.
“Huuu,” Remy took deep breaths after noticing his emotions were in flux, and the objects stopped floating.
He returned to reading the documents as if nothing had happened. Just then, a white letter envelope fell from between the documents. Remy looked at it, and the envelope floated and opened by itself. He slowly read through the contents.
“Keh! Why is everyone making such vulgar requests?!” The letter was torn so finely that it became powder. Remy’s eyes shone coldly as he mumbled, “The current Union is... rotten to the core.”
***
“Age?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Blood type?”
“B.”
“Nationality?”
“France.”
“Name?”
“How many questions are you going to ask? You’re not gonna abuse this and ask for my three sizes, are you?” Jurie asked, irritated by Seong-Hwi’s continuous questions.
Seong-Hwi replied, “I don’t need that information. Name?”
“Hmph, Jurie.”
Seong-Hwi began to shuffle his Tarot Deck of Destiny and said, “Think about the problem that’s on your mind the most.”
“The problem that’s on my mind, huh?” Jurie frowned momentarily and answered, “Done.”
The tarot cards glowed gold as they moved fluidly, and five cards floated out of the deck. The five cards were flipped in order: Two of Swords, No.11 Justice, Two of Wands, No.16 The Tower, and Three of Cups.
Seong-Hwi grabbed the Two of Swords card. “Two of Swords. You are conflicted about that problem. You may even decide prematurely.”
He then grabbed the No.11 Justice card. “Justice. However, you will ultimately choose because you believe in responsibility and fair judgment.”
He grabbed the Two of Wands card. “Two of Wands. You will achieve your goal, but will be left with a void that will never fill as a result.”
He grabbed the No.16 The Tower card. “The Tower. It is because of a sudden farewell and the revelation of a hidden truth. It seems you will fall into physical or psychological danger because of it.”
Lastly, he grabbed the Three of Cups card. “Three of Cups. There is only one way to stop this tragedy—reconciliation. It will solve all your problems, and you will be eternally free from your long agony.”
The cards returned to the deck once Seong-Hwi finished talking, and the deck disappeared. Jurie’s face was as pale as a sheet, as if she had seen a ghost, possibly because the golden light from the Tarot Deck of Destiny disappeared.
He asked, “What do you think? Did that ring any bells?”
“D-don’t screw with me! Why the hell would I reconcile with him?!” Jurie sprang up and slammed her fist on the wooden counter, smashing it into smithereens. She glared at Seong-Hwi and shouted, “Huff, huff... A void? Farewell? A hidden truth? I was the idiot for believing in you for even a second! I knew you were a fraud!”
Seong-Hwi stood up and replied, “I don’t know what it’s about, but you should keep my words to heart. From my reading, if you do as you’ve already decided... you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Just as you had in your past life, Seong-Hwi said inwardly.
“Get out, damn fraud!” Jurie screamed.
“I will, as soon as you pay the price for peeking into your destiny.”
“Hah!” Jurie rapidly tapped on her smartphone screen. “There’s an iron mine west of the Capital. Hunt the Metal Warriors that appear there. They’re Invasive Chaos of the dwarves.”
“Metal Warriors? They’re Armed Chaos at the very least. From my understanding, they’re not worth the Karma they give because their steel armor makes them difficult to hunt.”
“The dwarven clan Blue Anvil is buying the os of Metal Warriors, so you’ll earn tons of Coins for at least a month. If you’re not up to it, just forget it.”
Seong-Hwi’s eyes shone. “Thanks for the information. It satisfies the cost of the reading. Let’s go, Chaya.”
Seong-Hwi left the store with Chaya and closed the door behind him. Jurie collapsed back into her chair once she heard the bell attached to the door ring. She closed her eyes and waited as the minutes continued to pass. A white-haired old man in a tailcoat walked out of the wooden door behind the counter after about thirty minutes.
He said, “I lost them, my lady.”
“What?”
“The boy accompanying that man has a stealth ability.”
“It must be F-rank at best, but it managed to fool you?”
“Well... it was rather well-made for an F-rank ability. On top of that, they melded with the crowd at Broadway in Middle Earth, so I couldn’t keep my eyes on them.”
Jurie frowned and asked, “You didn’t... lose them on purpose because that man gave me the answer you wanted, did you?”
“Of course not. However, I believe that man is correct. You already know that reconciliation is the answer, my lady. I am sure he also had an unavoidable circumstance.”
“Circumstance?” Jurie said with a cold smile. “I don’t want to know the circumstances of a man who killed his daughter.”
The fraud’s words continued to echo in Jurie’s head.
“Reconciliation. It will solve all your problems, and you will be eternally free from your long agony.”
***
[Activating Unique Skill: Symbol Embodiment.]
[Observer's Earring, one of the symbols of No.9 The Hermit]
Seong-Hwi used the third-person view to comb through the area and said, “It looks like we lost him. You can cancel it.”
“Okay.”
Seong-Hwi and Chaya appeared in an alley of Middle Earth.
“Good work,” Seong-Hwi praised.
“I... didn’t do much.”
Chaya bit his lip as he recalled being pathetically overwhelmed by the woman’s aura in what looked like an ordinary store.
I’m still too weak! Forget being helpful, I’m getting in the way! Mercenary, my ass! Chaya reprimanded himself.
Seong-Hwi said, “No, you did well just for trying to attack her in that situation. I would have been disappointed if you shrank from the bloodlust.”
He was being serious. Jurie was in the Mirror World for approximately five years. Although she was not specialized in combat, a brat who had only been in the Mirror World for three days normally couldn’t handle her bloodlust.
Not many have the guts to attack in that situation, Seong-Hwi thought.
Chaya asked, “Who was that woman? It seemed like your first time meeting each other.”
“I suppose so,” Seong-Hwi replied as he thought about Jurie.
His emotions were also in flux since she was the first past-life comrade he had met since his return.
I know her, but she doesn’t know me. It feels more like shit than I thought it would.
The friendships he had made in Clan Calasanz as they worked together to better the human race had become a memory only he remembered. Jurie had been the one who came up with all the ideas and methods as Clan Calasanz advocated for the release and standardization of all monopolized information, but only he would remember it. Solitude swept over him like a black wave.
Can I... form a genuine bond with my former comrades again while keeping this massive secret?
Seong-Hwi still had no idea, but was at least sure of what to do.
I have to get stronger. And to do that, I need Jurie. No matter what anyone says, Jurie is the Database.
There was only one Database in the Mirror World—the creator of the Network, which any smartphone D Weapon user could access. The Network was Jurie’s masterpiece, created by an ingenious combination of the categories manipulation, conjuration, and emission. If an individual accessed the Network and inputted information, they earned points corresponding to its value, which they could then use to open information inputted by others.
This system allowed for a virtuous cycle of information, and the Network became a sea of information because even the most trivial information rewarded the inputter with points. Thanks to that, smartphone D Weapon users became a hot commodity, resulting in all clans having at least one smartphone D Weapon user.
Jurie was the only one who could browse all the information in the Network without points. She was also capable of handling all administrative affairs of Clan Calasanz alone in her past life, to the extent that Seong-Hwi even considered passing the position of clan leader to her.
That’s why I came to see her. I need her help to execute my plan going forward.
Edu would be attacked by unknown assailants in three weeks, resulting in the deaths of many newbies. Seong-Hwi survived the attack in his past life, but witnessed the deaths and disappearances of many he had met there.
Most of all, the Maestro, Remy Martin, twenty-third in the human ranking, will die in the attack.
The death of a Ranker in the Capital, the main home of humans, and in Middle Earth where the Union headquarters was, caused an enormous wave. Some believed it was conspired by another race, some claimed it was a battle between the several factions of the Union, and some even thought Clan Martin planned the whole thing. As a result of the Ranker Remy Martin’s death, Clan Martin was disbanded, and one woman’s heart was forever scarred.
Jurie, you probably have the full picture of the planned attack on Edu by now and are considering whether or not to give that information to Clan Martin.
Jurie kept the information to herself in her past life, and that decision ate her alive to her last breath.
“Seong-Hwi. If I had known the whole truth about my dad back then... if I had given him information about the planned attack on Edu... what do you think would have happened? Do you think we could have reconciled? Could our destinies have changed?”
Seong-Hwi visited Jurie partly to use the Network through her, but he would have come to her even without that. She was one of his comrades who had given Seong-Hwi, who had no family, connections, roots, or anything to protect, everything she had. He wanted to lessen the eternal burden of his cherished comrade, who had been with him right up until Dragon King Regnator killed her.
Destiny can change, Jurie Martin. Destiny is weak to the brave—immensely so.
Seong-Hwi was willing to do anything to lessen his comrade’s burden—he could become Pinocchio and lie to her, give her a bullshit tarot card reading, or even become a prophet to twist her destiny.
***
Even in lies, there is truth.
Robert Browning