Chapter 102.

While Chae Nayun and Shin Jonghak left to get water and Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan were busy cutting up the pig, Yoo Yeonha asked if I had a broom .

I gave her the one that came with my camping set, and she began to sweep the nearby floor .

Thanks to her, the shelter that was once full of spiderwebs, dirt, and rocks became a decent camping ground .

“Not bad . ”

Yoo Yeonha looked around the place and made a satisfied smile .

Meanwhile, I took out a burner and grill, then sat down on a camping chair .

“Huaam~ oh right, um, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask . Why can’t I use magic power? It took 30 minutes to clean this place when it should have only taken 3 . ”

Yoo Yeonha asked as she stretched .

“You can’t use magic power that you brought from the present . Usable magic power starts accumulating inside you after two days, but you’ll have to wait at least a week to get used to it . ”

It was the same in the original story .

The post-Outcall mana of the past was vastly different from the more stable mana of the present . While the former was more rich and dense, it was more stubborn and difficult to wield .

Everyone would have to suffer for at least a week until they get used to it .

However, this would become a valuable experience for the future .

“Ah~ so that’s why . ”

This voice wasn’t Yoo Yeonha’s, but Kim Suho’s .

Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan came back and sat down next to me .

“Are you done?”

“Yep, we have it split into different parts . ”

“Yo, we’re back . ”

Chae Nayun and Shin Jonghak appeared at the entrance . They put the filled buckets down on the ground .

Yoo Yeonha glanced at the scene and let out a dry cough .

“Kuhum, then should we eat now~?”

Yoo Yeonha sounded happy thanks to being able to eat ramen .

Now it was my turn .

I lit the grill, poured water on the pot, then placed it on the burner .

Today’s menu was pork belly and ramen .

First, I put the pork belly on the heated grill .

Tssss—

The meat made a pleasant sizzling sound .

When the water began to boil, I put several bags of ramen inside .

“Hehe… . ”

Yoo Yeonha looked back and forth between the pork belly and ramen with the happiest face in the world .

Four minutes later, we sat around the food and shared a friendly talk .

Pork belly and ramen .

Although Kim Suho and Yi Yeonghan were used to eating them, this wasn’t the case for the other three who grew up in luxury .

Shin Jonghak and Chae Nayun only stared at the food even though they were hungry . Yoo Yeonha was clearly holding back because of them .

“Your mana will be replenished quicker if you eat . Animals around here have high mana content . ”

When I said that, Shin Jonghak finally picked up his chopstick . Seeing Shin Jonghak begin to eat, Yoo Yeonha sighed and filled her bowl with ramen .

She carefully slurped up a few strands of noodles .

I also filled my bowl with ramen and ate it with the pork belly .

“…Hm?”

Yoo Yeonha, who was watching me, also picked up a pork belly and put it in her bowl . Then, she ate it with ramen like I did .

Nom, nom .

Her small mouth moved busily, and then her head drooped down . Her clenched fists trembled .

Was it that delicious? She sure made it seem so .

“Ah, I’m going to feel queasy if I eat this… . ”

With Shin Jonghak and Yoo Yeonha eating, Chae Nayun also slowly challenged a pork belly .

A greasy piece of meat entered her mouth .

“…Eh? Why is it so tasty?”

But after chewing on it a few times, she murmured with a surprised face .

I explained with a small smile .

“It’s a pig that grew up by eating mana . ”

“What?”

“This pig lived in an area where the concentration of mana is higher than Baekdu Mountain . ”

Animals that grew up in high-mana-concentration area were much more delicious than ordinary livestock . But because such areas were mostly private properties, such animals were precious and expensive . In other words, this place’s pig was ‘high-class’, even for Chae Nayun’s taste .

“Wow, really? That’s amazing!”

Chae Nayun began to move her chopsticks energetically .

Feeling threatened by her speed, Yoo Yeonha also quickened her pace .

We ate for the next thirty minutes without talking .

Around the time the meal was over, Chae Nayun pointed at me with her chopsticks .

“By the way, that surprisingly looks good on you . ”

“Hm? What does?”

“That hair and beard . You look like someone from a historical drama . You know, like one of those warriors who act cool . ”

Kim Suho, who was listening in from next to me, also chimed in .

“She’s right . Hajin, your beard grows like a Westerner . ”

“…Like a Western model?”

“No, not a model . ”

A Western model… . I shrugged proudly without speaking . It may not look like it, but I actually spent some time styling my facial hair .

But at that moment, Yoo Yeonha muttered in a small voice .

“…Yeah, I guess you look better the more your face is covered . ”

“What? Care to repeat that?”

“W-Where’s the water~?”

She seemed to have said it subconsciously as she averted my gaze .

“By the way, are you taking baths? You look really dirty . ”

“I do . At least once every two days at a stream nearby . ”

“What!? Hey, is the water we just drank… . ”

“It’s a different stream . Plus, we boiled it . ”

“But still… . ”

Chae Nayun still sounded a bit displeased .

“Beard… . ”

Meanwhile, Shin Jonghak was rubbing his chin next to Chae Nayun . After a week or so, I felt like I could see Shin Jonghak with a beard .

Anyways, this was enough playing around .

I clapped my hands .

“Gather up . I’ll explain the current situation . ”

**

This time travel was caused by a ghost . But no matter how strong the soul of a ghost was, it would normally never be able to send humans back to the past . This was because time travel was a mystical phenomenon that had never been observed before . It was nothing short of a ‘miracle’ .

However, this ghost was able to produce a part of this miracle .

“It used a Tower Remnant . ”

I took out a purple crystal from my pocket .

Then, I asked Shin Jonghak .

“Tower of Time was inside Wind Mountain, right?”

“…Yeah . My grandfather conquered it more than 20 years ago . ”

When a Tower was conquered, it would condense into an unimaginably grand lump of magic power and be left behind in the world . These so-called ‘Tower Crystals’ had different functions depending on the Towers they came from . The buoyancy stone used to keep Clancy Islet afloat was also a Tower Crystal, as was the ocean stone and the information stone . [1]

“When the Tower of Time condensed into a Tower Crystal, some of its magic power was left out . Over a long time, they came together and formed this remnant . ”

I showed them a fingernail-sized purple crystal . This small thing was a Tower Remnant .

“So the ghost borrowed this crystal’s power and pulled us into a recorded world . ”

A recorded world .

According to my settings, it was conceptually similar to a parallel world, but a little bit different .

Yoo Yeonha seemed to vaguely understand what I was saying, but Kim Suho seemed confused as he tilted his head and asked .

“A recorded world?”

“Yeah . It’s a form of magical space that reproduces the past . It’s not that different from the real world since it operates with the same laws of physics . But, it can’t affect the real world in any way . ”

“Oh… . ”

I continued my explanation .

The next topic was on the enemy we had to defeat .

“And in this place, there is a Djinn who goes by the name Asura . Just like us, he was pulled into this world by the ghost . By the way, he’s not the real Asura, so don’t worry too much . ”

I was flabbergasted when I first found out . I even gave him a pretty name like Cheonhwa[2] I didn’t know why he changed it to Asura . What if the real Asura found out!?

“He’s using ‘mana crystals’ to grow stronger . ”

Mana crystals were naturally created when mana condensed into a solid state .

“Um, I have a question . ”

At that moment, Yoo Yeonha raised her hand .

“How can he grow stronger using mana crystals? It wasn’t until the 2000’s that scientists found out how to use them . ”

“By eating them . ”

“…Eh?”

Most people would instantly die upon consuming mana crystals . Even if they managed to survive, they would suffer huge internal injuries as the magic power in their bodies fought the crystal’s condensed mana .

However, this Djinn was different .

“It looks like he gained a special power by uniting with the ghost . He can swallow and digest mana crystals without any repercussions . ”

“Then… . ”

The kids’ expressions turned serious .

Asura was a bit stronger than in the original story .

However, it wasn’t to a worrying degree .

I couldn’t say the same about other antagonists, but I was the perfect counter for this self-proclaimed Asura .

“So this Asura is our only enemy?”

Shin Jonghak asked, and I shook my head .

“No, there’s more . But before I talk about that, I need to explain how we can get back to the present . ”

I placed the purple crystal on my palm .

“Like I said before, this Tower Remnant is what’s holding this world of the past together . Asura has these crystals placed around this world . Without them, he can’t materialize the past . ”

“So we have to steal them?”

“Right . ”

I opened a map I made .

“There’s one in Gwangmyeong City Hall, one in a water tower to the northeast, one in an armory to the west, one in a steel tower to the south…”

There were six crystals we needed to steal .

Once we had them, we just had to gather them in the same place and crush them at the same time . The past would then crumble, and we would be able to return to the present .

Of course, Asura would use Gwangmyeong City Hall’s 5000 residents to try to stop us .

“Asura has five subordinates guarding each of the locations other than Gwangmyeong City Hall . ”

Asura’s five subordinates .

To be completely honest, I wouldn’t be able to win against them no matter what trick I pulled .

It was a matter of suitability .

Interestingly, I could beat their leader, but I couldn’t beat his lackeys .

“So… it’s clear what we need to do . ”

Those were Kim Suho’s words .

I nodded as I yawned .

Currently, it was 1 A . M . It was time to sleep .

“It’s late . We’re going to rest for five hours . It’ll help you replenish your mana . First… let’s start with choosing who’s going to be on night watch . ”

**

Dawn . I opened my eyes, feeling the cold morning wind .

Staying here for 40 days, I developed a short sleep habit .

During the six weeks that I was here alone, I divided up my sleep into one hour time frames not knowing when enemies would arrive . There was even a time where I spent the entire day sitting on a tree because they were patrolling the area .

“Hmm . ”

But perhaps because I was feeling well, the morning air felt refreshing .

I went out of the tent for a morning stretch .

When I went out to the entrance of the partially destroyed abandoned building, I saw Chae Nayun standing watch . The twilight’s blue hue shone down on her thinly .

She seemed to have felt my presence as she turned toward me slightly .

“…You’re up?”

When she saw me, she smiled lightly .

“Yeah . I see that you’re on night watch . ”

“It’s a piece of cake . ”

“Is it?”

Noticing that my shoulder-length hair was down, I tied it back up . Meanwhile, Chae Nayun was looking at me with eyes full of curiosity .

“Hey, isn’t it uncomfortable having long hair? Yours is almost as long as mine . ”

“It is . But I can’t cut it because I might get cursed by a curse magician . ”

“…They even have a curse magician?”

“Yeah . He’s walking around with a voodoo doll . ”

I trudged up to Chae Nayun . Then, I shooed her away as she was sitting on my bike .

“…Tsk . ”

Chae Nayun clicked her tongue and moved over to the night watch chair .

Sitting down, she looked forward . I followed her line of sight .

A world of dawn was spread over the horizon . The sky was shining with stars and the earth was filled with lush vegetation .

I suddenly grew curious what Chae Nayun was thinking about looking at this scene of the past .

“What are you thinking about?”

“Huh? Mm… I was wondering why the ghost couldn’t have brought me to 2000 instead of 1972 . ”

“… . ”

I wasn’t so dense as to not know what she meant .

2000 was when Chae Nayun’s mother was at the prime of her life .

I silently looked out into the forest .

But suddenly, Chae Nayun said something I couldn’t understand .

“Well, I’m sure you thought about it too . ”

“…?”

I turned to Chae Nayun . She spoke quietly, still facing the forest .

“Sorry, I shouldn’t complain in front of you . Just ignore it . ”

Hearing her, I suddenly remembered my parents . However, I didn’t continue thinking about it for long as it was too painful .

Chae Nayun, who was sneaking peeks at me, suddenly spoke in a cheerful voice .

“Oh, by the way, my mom was born in 1972 . ”

“So she had you when she was fairly old . ”

“That’s just how it was back then . She was super busy . I’m sure she didn’t have the time and ease of mind to make a child when she was young . ”

Chae Nayun muttered as she stared at my bike .

Then, she repeated what she said before .

“…My mom was born in 1972 . In Sungmo Hospital . ”

Sungmo Hospital .

It was only thirty minutes away from here on a motorbike .

If this was the real world, that is .

“We can’t go into central Seoul . This world is restricted to this area only . ”

“…Oh~ I see . ”

Hiding her disappointment with a silent sigh, Chae Nayun smiled brightly .

“How unfortunate~”

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