“Do you rember that? The cigarette?”
“You an the one that got tossed into the oven?”
“Yeah, that one.”
At Seo Seo-Нee’s words, Dan Haera tilted her head.
“That’s a surprise. Isn’t this the first ti you’ve brought that up yourself?”
“I’ve just been tracing back so mories lately.”
“That doesn’t really count as a mory worth reminiscing about.”
“Then let’s just call it an old recollection.”
Around that mont, a man entered the room.
“What are you two talking about?”
“Oh, Jeong Hae-Woon.”
Seo Seo-Нee called out to the middle-aged-looking man.
“You’re late.”
“The fuck, are you saying that because you think the gardens are a fucking ss lately? Huh? I told you to think at least thirty tis before you talk.”
“I don’t know why this bastard starts cursing the mont he walks in.”
“Then you try being a gardener. Bastards with shitty tempers, they don’t listen to a single damn word. Anyway, what were you talking about?”
“Cigarettes.”
“...What? Were you day drinking?”
Jeong Hae-Woon stared at Seo Seo-Нee with an odd expression as he sat down.
“We get together to eat after so long and you’re killing the mood.”
“I’ve just been reminiscing about the past.”
“That’s how you end up screwing over the promises we made. If you’re not the one cleaning up the ss, just live forgetting it.”
“Maybe I’m getting sentintal because I’ve run into a forgotten connection.”
“......”
Jeong Hae-Woon leaned back in his chair and asked,
“Hunter Sergio?”
“Yeah, him.”
“He’s been getting those lunchboxes, right?”
“They’re good.”
“Crazy bastard.”
Seo Seo-Нee nodded with a faint smile.
“Make sure you say that in front of your followers too.”
“They’re not followers, asshole. Clients. Don’t call our precious investors that.”
Jeong Hae-Woon raised his middle finger and looked at Dan Haera.
“Eunhye?”
“She’s running late today.”
“Makes sense. This country’s in a pretty ssed-up state lately.”
“Oh my, saying that in front of the Association President?”
“Give a bit more capital and I could run things better.”
“Shall we continue this conversation in docunts, then?”
“You’re all so heartless, my only hope is Eunhye.”
“Date her, then.”
“Why do you talk like that?”
Jeong Hae-Woon raised both middle fingers.
“Just kill instead.”
“Haewoon, when are you going to grow up?”
“How would I know?”
Clicking his tongue, Jeong Hae-Woon finally lowered his hands and crossed his arms.
“Not just you, but the fact that even Haera and Kang Eunseong seem fine with this Sergio guy... tells he’s probably decent. Still, let’s be careful not to end up breaking our promise.”
“That’s part of why I’ve been retracing things.”
“......”
Jeong Hae-Woon looked at Seo Seo-Нee.
“...You’re not saying it’s really him?”
“I thought there was a possibility.”
“We built the system based on the mory of one person? Just one? Is that even possible?”
Long ago, they committed an act called the “Promise of Eternity.” They created Earth’s system. The cost of that promise was their humanity—they lost it and beca immortal. It ca with side effects, too.
That ant there had to be a central mory given as the price for that promise. But once forgotten, that mory could never be recalled. They’d tried to uncover the identity of that sacrificed mory before—only to fail.
“He was twenty-nine, wasn’t he?”
“And died... and ca back.”
“Fuck’s sake, did you all have this whole conversation without while I was out checking the gardens? You all did your little dance behind my back, huh?”
“We’re going to be staring at these sa faces for a long ti. Let’s try to make it less unbearable...”
Seo Seo-Нee looked exhausted.
“I thought you’d been inford.”
“It’s been so noisy lately, I haven’t even had ti to receive reports.”
“Then listen with Eunhye later. Anyway, what I’m guessing is that Hunter Sergio is soone from right before or after the Catastrophe. And I heard he was our teacher.”
“Teacher? Fuck’s sake, don’t tell that scamr just smooth-talked his way in again?”
Jeong Hae-Woon grimaced.
“I’ve never had a good teacher in my entire life. And now a teacher? Back when we were students? Teacher and student, adult and minor, guardian and dependent. Yeah, that’s all just perfect.”
He’d been soone they desperately needed at the ti. Which only made Jeong Hae-Woon more suspicious. The world hadn’t been that kind to them.
“It’s too ideal. Too perfect—it’s bullshit.”
“Nothing I say here will convince you anyway. Live however you want.”
“Just setting yourself up to get betrayed again.”
“Honestly, if I’ve been fooled again this ti, I think I’m fine with that.”
“...You’re fucking hopeless...”
Jeong Hae-Woon let out a deep sigh and raised his glass.
“Why’s no one else got a drink yet?”
“Eunhye’s not even here yet and you’re already drinking?”
“She can’t handle liquor anyway, her liver’s pathetic.”
“You’ve got such a charming way with words, asshole.”
“I swear, her alcohol tolerance gets worse every day.”
“Well, she is a C-rank hunter...”
Seo Seo-Нee shrugged as she snatched the bottle and filled the glasses for Jeong Hae-Woon and Dan Haera. They’d seen each other at their worst, but pouring your own drink still felt wrong.
“Anyway, the timing does line up.”
“And he’s also one of the Black Cloak’s apostles.”
Dan Haera nodded as if half-convinced.
“So don’t be too defensive, Haewoon.”
“You guys aren’t, so I have to be.”
“You know I’ve got too many holes in my mory. I’ve only started patching things together recently. Honestly, I can’t be your ‘standard’ anymore.”
“...Why the hell are you saying stuff like that...”
“That’s why I want you to get closer with Seohee.”
Dan Haera smiled and raised her glass.
“Shall we toast?”
“...Sure.”
The three lightly clinked their glasses.
“Eunhye’s going to feel left out.”
“She only drinks orange juice anyway.”
“No, she’s on kale juice lately for detox.”
“Fuck, what’s the difference. That’s hilarious.”
Jeong Hae-Woon shook his glass in irritation.
“But seriously, why bring up cigarettes on such a nice day, Seo Seo-Нee? This bastard really has no sense of atmosphere. Maybe if you live another fifty years, you’ll grow out of it?”
“No, I just... rembered it suddenly.”
“And what’s the point of thinking about those shitty bastards again?”
“They were shitty, yeah.”
Seo Seo-Нee chuckled.
“To open a working oven just to throw a cigarette in... Even now, that’s insane.”
“Thanks to them, the cookies you and Eunhye were baking turned to ash.”
Dan Haera shrugged.
“It really was a sha. You said those were for .”
“You were going through a hard ti back then.”
“You’re such a kind soul, Seohee.”
“Well, Eunhye’s the one who suggested we bake them.”
Seo Seo-Нee laughed helplessly.
“After the oven exploded, everything was chaos. When I ca to, it was a sea of fire.”
“Yeah. It spread faster because it was the ho ec room—there was oil, gas... You said escaping was tough too.”
“How did we even get out?”
“......”
“You rember the back door of the ho ec room was locked.”
The school had two exits on the first floor: front and back. The back door, closest to the ho ec room, was always locked and cramd with junk. They blocked it to stop students from sneaking out.
The front door was far, and the windows weren’t an option either. The old windows barely opened, and the cooking oil by them had already caught fire and spread.
“Haewoon, your leg was broken...”
“You carried out.”
“I just thought we’d be too slow otherwise.”
Seo Seo-Нee shrugged.
“Don’t know if you rember, but we were completely out of it. The oven exploded in a chain reaction, Eunhye and I got seriously hurt, and those bastards shoved us aside trying to escape... We got stabbed by shards, the smoke was thick, and it hurt like hell.”
The school had been poorly maintained. If it had been repaired and inspected regularly, things might not have gone that far. At least the fire would’ve spread slower.
And back then, they weren’t mature enough to evacuate calmly under pressure.
“I wondered... if soone might’ve helped us.”
“Who?”
Jeong Hae-Woon tilted his head.
“Hunter Sergio?”
“Maybe?”
“Isn’t that a little ridiculous?”
“It might be.”
“‘Might be,’ my ass...”
Jeong Hae-Woon’s face twisted.
“It was the first floor. Even if the front door was far, how far could it have been? Even if the fire spread fast, we could’ve run faster. Sure, we lost ti yelling about the fire, but still...”
Muttering, Jeong Hae-Woon glanced at Dan Haera.
“...Where were you then?”
“The music room.”
“How did you get out?”
“I think I walked out.”
“Did you say ‘think’?”
“Hmm, let see... I was out of it too, back then.”
She’d never thought of it as sothing important. Then and now, the real issue for them was all the disasters they had to endure after escaping school. A dumb fire caused by so idiots didn’t matter.
Surviving alone had been overwhelming—they hadn’t been able to recall even the past they’d endured.
“...Right, I walked out. I rember you two greeting at the front door.”
“...Not out the window, but through the front? Wait, was it?”
“That’s how I rember it.”
“You were in the music room on the top floor. How’d you walk out the front?”
“Now that you ntion it...”
Dan Haera tilted her head.
“But I awakened that day. I figured it was thanks to that. My skills activated, and my body got stronger, so I thought # Nоvеlight # I just walked out of the fire.”
“Skills... Right, you said you used your skill then. That’s how you got out...”
Jeong Hae-Woon frowned as if sothing still felt off.
“...How did we even get close?”
“...I don’t really rember.”
“But even with that, it’s hard to prove a connection with Hunter Sergio.”
“True. Most ordinary friends can’t even recall when they first t.”
“......”
Jeong Hae-Woon sighed.
“...Hey, when’s Eunhye coming?”
“Oh my, going to ask her?”
“She’s the only one who might rember.”
“If she’s involved in the promise, maybe it’s better not to.”
“Yeah, no shit. I just said it. This whole thing is fucked.”
Their “promise” would be nullified the mont the price was returned. If Hunter Sergio was really tied to the Promise of Eternity, it was better not to rember.
And the price, once paid, didn’t disappear forever. If a trigger ca, it could resurface. And the one acting as that “trigger” now... was one of their own: Cha Eun-Hye.
“......”
They carried a weight too heavy to act on whims.
“...Still, he’s a good person. The teacher.”
“...Since when do you call him teacher, fuck.”
“I just decided to.”
“He’s not even human anymore, that thing’s a monster.”
“How can a gardener say sothing so ignorant?”
“Shit, he’s getting sharp-tongued. I’m scared now.”
Jeong Hae-Woon chuckled like he spat it out and downed his drink.
“Why is this booze so bland?”
“The bland part is your personality, Jeong Hae-Woon.”
“Fuck off, bastard.”
Clicking his tongue, Jeong Hae-Woon set his glass down.
“...Yeah, let’s just live like we don’t know. I don’t know what his intention is, but it looks like he doesn’t want to talk either.”
That guy—“Hunter Sergio”—had made his na known so ti ago. If he wanted to reveal the truth, he’d had plenty of chances. The fact that he hadn’t ant he was respecting the weight they bore.
“Cha Eun-Hye’s good at acting, but that bastard rembers everything alone. If it really is an important mory and Eunhye cracks under pressure... Earth could be fucked.”
“Eunhye’s not that inexperienced.”
“Even if she’s skilled, the pressure’s still there. We don’t rember a thing—lucky us. But if he was really that important? If he was genuinely good? That’s a cruel burden to put on her.”
A beat later, Jeong Hae-Woon added,
“...And on Hunter Sergio too.”
Besides, they said he had already died.
“This is grave desecration.”
“You’re talking out of your ass again.”
“Feels like I’m digging up a grave with a shovel. Fuck. It’s sickening.”
At this rate, Sergio had died, been forgotten, and beco Earth’s compost—only to return as a ghost. Jeong Hae-Woon suddenly felt exhausted. His stomach churned like he might puke.
He hadn’t died human. He’d beco a wraith, bound to the Origin.
“Fucked up.”
It left a bitter taste.
“......”
“Every ti you feel guilty, your face twists like that.”
“...Because I feel like shit. It’s proof my inside and outside match. So what.”
“That’s just self-defense, you petty bastard.”
“Fuck you, man. You think I’ve got the bandwidth to care about your drama?”
“I’m barely handling Korea, and now I’ve gotta deal with you too?”
“You... you should at least respect your gardener...”
Jeong Hae-Woon dragged a hand down his face.
“God, I hate this feeling.”
“You think any of us like it?”
“When do we finally get to train our successors?”
“You think it’s happening soon? Try another hundred years.”
“Fucking hell.”
Only when Earth stabilized could they begin living their own lives. Only then could they handle their guilt and grief toward those they’d forgotten. But not now. Definitely not now.
Just then, the door opened and soone entered.
“What the hell...”
“......”
“You already started drinking?”
It was Cha Eun-Hye, the so-called puppet president of Korea.
“What’s with the mood? Did soone die?”
“Soone did.”
“Alright, let guess. Basil? Fluffy? Dory? Cyanide? Ragnarok the Third?”
“No, not the guild pets...”
“Then a cat? But all the Justitia owners are alive and well.”
“It was just soone who died years ago.”
“And the mood got like this just for that?”
Cha Eun-Hye sat down awkwardly.
“What’s with Haewoon’s face?”
Dan Haera called out to her.
“Eunhye.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ve got a question.”
Dan Haera poured her a drink and asked,
“Do you know soone nad Sergio?”
“Huh? Yeah... I know him.”
Cha Eun-Hye picked up her glass and shrugged.
“He’s a famous hunter.”
Looking at her hand, Dan Haera smiled.
“He seems like a good person.”
“I think so too.”
“I heard he brings Seohee als. I’m jealous.”
“Aha...”
“Eunhye.”
“......”
“Should I not have asked?”
Cha Eun-Hye smiled as she replied.
“Who knows.”
It was a peaceful drinking party.
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