Chapter 107.

March 13th, 2013 .

It was a piece of memory from a long time ago, a childhood story .

I still longed for it, because it was the only birthday I had where everyone was present .

Grandpa, Dad, Oppa, and even Mom . I wanted to see what happened on that day once more . I wanted to engrave it into my head, so that I could remember it for the rest of my life .

[03/13/2013]

Would it work?

I wasn’t sure at first, but when I adjusted the time capsule’s clock next to Kim Hajin…

Woong—

I was suddenly engulfed by white light .

“…?”

Before I noticed, I had become my younger self and was staring at a familiar garden, where a birthday party was happening . There were balloons anchored to the ground, and on top of a big table was a cake with cartoon characters and all sorts of delicious food .

“Nayun . ”

At that moment, a large hand touched my shoulder . Startled by the weight of the hand, my body became stiff . Then, the kind voice rang out once again .

“Nayun?”

It was the voice of a man who had yet to pass through puberty .

But I knew all too well whose voice it was . I barely managed to hold back my tears .

Today was a good day . I didn’t need to cry .

“…Un, Oppa . You’re here?”

My tongue didn’t move as well as I wanted it to, but I decided to ignore it .

Oppa kneeled down and snickered .

“Guess what present I got for you . ”

“A scooter . ”

“…Eh?”

Oppa made a flustered face .

An electronic car for children .

I knew he spent three months’ worth of his allowance to buy it .

“Uh… did someone tell you?”

Taken aback, he smiled wryly . I ran into his embrace .

“Thank you . ”

He looked a bit disappointed that I found out about his present, but he smiled and lifted me up .

“I’m the one who should be thankful . ”

Then, the front door became noisy .

Still nestled in his arms, I looked past his shoulder . Dad came with Grandpa .

“Aiya, my little babies . ”

Grandpa approached us, smiling kindly . Oppa handed me to Grandpa . Grandpa’s chest was harder and heavier than Oppa’s .

“Happy birthday, Nayun . ”

“Thank you, Grandpa . ”

“Oho?”

Grandpa looked a bit surprised . It was probably because I was scared of him when I was young .

Grandpa stroked my head and put me down .

Standing on the grass, I looked ahead .

My heart trembled and my hands were sweating .

Along with a light breeze… that person finally appeared .

With a white jade-like skin and brown hair that was long and feminine unlike mine… Mom was walking in from the front door .

“Mom . ”

I called her for the first time in a long, long time .

I could feel my face contorting . My lips were probably bulging out unattractively, and my eyes were probably half-distorted . But just calling her name wasn’t enough . I ran with all the power I could muster and leaped into her embrace .

A delicate fragrance seeped into my body .

A voice I had long forgotten permeated my ears .

I cried and cried again, so much so that I couldn’t open my eyes .

I sat down at the head of the table still in Mom’s embrace .

Dad spoke worriedly .

“Nayun, why are you crying? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Leave her be . She’s still a child . ”

I barely managed to stop crying after about 5 minutes . That was how long it took me to realize that this wasn’t reality .

It was too precious of a time to waste away crying . I wiped away the tears in my eyes and looked at the cake in front of me .

Grandpa waved his hand, lighting the candles on the cake .

Mom laughed .

“Nayun, blow on it and make a wish . ”

“…Wish?”

“Yeah . When you close your eyes and make a wish as you blow your birthday cake candles, your wish will come true . ”

I closed my eyes .

I didn’t wish for anything excessive, just that I would remember this moment for the rest of my life .

I blew on the candles, then opened my eyes .

Clap, clap, clap—

Everyone clapped and wished me happy birthday . Inside Mom’s embrace, I held onto her hands and smiled brightly .

“Here you go, a scooter!”

“Oh? When did my grandson get so much?”

“…It’s because you give him too much allowance, Father . You shouldn’t spoil him so much . ”

“Ha, are you complaining because I didn’t give you as much when you were his age? What do you think, Daughter?”

“I… Here, Nayun! It’s the penguin with glasses~”

Mom changed the subject and gave me a Pororo plushie . I remembered reminding Mom that this penguin was called Pororo .

But now, I couldn’t say anything because I had a lump in my throat .

The surroundings were already turning white, almost as though ink was coming off a painting .

Time was up .

My heart felt like it would burst, and the tears I held back were beginning to flow .

Still hearing the loving voices of Mom and Oppa, I closed my eyes .

…Soon, the world became silent .

Chwaa— Then leaves rustled .

When I opened my eyes, I was inside a mountain .

I stretched, unable to think about anything .

Now, it was time to go find Kim Hajin .

**

Chae Nayun reached her hand out to me, and I stared back at it . Was she trying to help me up? I took her offer .

“Thanks . ”

When I got up, Chae Nayun gave me a renewed look .

“Hey . ”

“Yeah?”

Chae Nayun handed me the time capsule .

“The time capsule?”

“I used it once, but it looks like it’s still here . ”

“Really?”

I checked my smartwatch to find out why .

“…You take it . ”

“Huh? Why? You should use it this time . ”

Perhaps because it was brought to the present from the past or perhaps because it was already used once before, the time capsule had something called a ‘required magic power amount’ .

15,000 units of magic power were needed to fully charge it, meaning that one’s magic power stat needed to be 15 to use it once . Afterwards, the required amount would double, making it practically impossible to be reused .

It went without saying that it needed to be charged in one go by one person .

“No, you should use it later when you want to see them again . ”

“No, I can’t . It’s your turn to—”

“I told you . ”

I interrupted her .

“I’ve never met them before . ”

Immediately, Chae Nayun shut her mouth .

“So you use it, okay?”

“…Okay . ”

Chae Nayun retorted half-reluctantly, half-gladly .

With a grin, I turned around and started going down the mountain .

“Ah, hey, where are you going?”

“I’m tired . I’m going back home . ”

“What?”

Chae Nayun ran up to me and grabbed onto my sleeve . When I looked down at my sleeve, she pulled her hand back .

“W-Why? Why are you going back now?”

“Because I’m tired . Aren’t you? Because I sure am . ”

“But still…”

“I’m not coming . I’m going back home . ”

“…Fine . ”

At my resolute refusal, Chae Nayun turned around pouting .

At that moment, my smartwatch rang .

[Here’s my account number . I’ll pay you back as soon as possible . ]

It was Tomer .

Before I came here, I wrote a promissory note for Tomer . I even added the fearsome ‘magic power contract’ on top of it .

Using my smartwatch, I transferred money to Tomer’s account .

“Hey . ”

Then, I called Chae Nayun . She suddenly turned back around with a mischievous smile on her face .

“Yeah~? You’re coming~?”

“No, tell the other guys that I’m going back . ”

“… . ”

Her face contorted like an ugly newspaper .

“See you later . ”

The moment I turned around, I got an alert from Violet Banquet .

Tomer had transferred the fee, which would be converted into points for Violet Banquet and transferred to me when I gave the information .

I sent the information to Tomer .

[Fernin Jesus changed his name to Agus Benjamin…]

I descended the mountain as I wrote the reply .

When I arrived at the foot of the mountain and was about to take out my bike, I received another message .

[Thank you so much for today . ㅋ]

[It feels like I received something precious ㅋㅋ]

[I’ll treat you to something good later ㅋㅋㅋㅋ ^-^]

It was a message from Chae Nayun .

“…She sure sounds affectionate . ”

What past did she see? I wrote the reply with a smile on my face .

[Yeah . ]

**

7 P . M .

I returned to Cube . Although I experienced 90 days in the past, only 7 hours had passed by in reality .

“Uuk . ”

Standing in Cube’s central park, I stretched and took in the ocean breeze .

For some reason, I felt relaxed . This place seemed to have become my home .

I turned on my smartwatch as I walked back to the dorm .

[Blessing in Disguise increases your stats by 0 . 005 points!]

[Blessing in Disguise increases your stats by 0 . 005 points!]

[Blessing in Disguise increases your stats by 0 . 005 points!]

[Your luck activates! By consuming food rich in mana, all stats increase by 0 . 01 points!]

I went through the backlog of alerts from the past 90 days .

Afterwards, I checked my stats .

===

[Strength 2 . 970 (+2 . 970)]

[Stamina 2 . 980 (+2 . 980)]

[Speed 4 . 685 (+4 . 685)]

[Perception 5 . 620 (+5 . 620)]

[Vitality 3 . 070 (+3 . 070)]

[Magic power 2 . 005]

===

“Oh, I’m at full power . ”

The numbers in parenthesis were temporary stats gained from Energy Conversion . Thanks to staying in a mana-rich area for a long time, it had filled up to 100% .

Just looking at it put a smile on my face .

“…Hm?”

At that moment, I saw someone running toward me from the distance . A blonde girl wearing headphones, a sweatshirt, and sweatpants .

It was Rachel .

But I couldn’t help but doubt my eyes when I saw her .

“…What’s up with the color of the sweats?”

Her sweatpants were spinach-colored, while her sweatshirt was bright blue . She was well-dressed for the karaoke, so did she just put on whatever for running?

I didn’t make such a detailed setting, so I had no way of knowing . I remembered writing that she grew up in a sheltered environment, but that was obvious as she was a princess .

Soon, Rachel’s running speed slowed down . It seemed she discovered me .

“Hello . ”

I bowed lightly when she came close . She took off her headphones and smiled .

“It’s been a while, Rachel-ssi . ”

“Yes . ”

“Did you come back from England?”

“Yes . ”

“Ah~”

I planned to head off since I didn’t have much to say, but her sweats kept bugging me .

I let out a dry cough and asked carefully .

“…Do you usually wear sweats when you run?”

“Yes? Ah . ”

Rachel made an embarrassed face and asked shyly .

“Are they okay?”

“…Yes?”

“Well, um, this is a bit embarrassing, but I’ve never chosen my own clothes before… my attendant usually picks out my clothes . ”

Rachel spun as if to show off her clothes . But it was just too unfashionable .

“Since I’ll be an adult soon, I’m putting more effort in choosing my clothes . ”

She sounded unconfident in her fashion sense, and rightly so .

I scratched my neck and muttered .

“Um, I think you should just wear what your attendant picks out… . ”

“…Does it stand out . ”

“Yes, a lot . ”

“Ah… . ”

She scanned her clothes, then nodded as though she came to a decision .

What was she planning to do?

I watched her with interest .

“Ah~”

Almost as if she thought up a brilliant idea, Rachel suddenly bent down and pulled up one leg of her sweatpants . Then, she looked at me asking for confirmation .

“How about now?”

“… . ”

It seemed she misunderstood what I meant by standing out . Perhaps it was a problem with her Korean .

“Just wear what your attendant suggests . ”

“…Mm . ”

Rachel looked a bit disappointed at my reaction, as she glanced at her legs for a moment, then pulled up the other leg of the sweatpants .

“How about…”

“Pull them both down . ”

“Oh . ”

Rachel pulled her sweatpants back down .

I breathed a sigh of relief and asked .

“Are you out on a run?”

“Yes . Hajin-ssi must have… come back from a barbershop . You have a beard now . ”

“Yes? Ah, well, yeah . I’m going to buy some fried chicken and go back . ”

“Fried chicken?”

Rachel tilted her head .

I gave a brief explanation .

“I eat a lot . ”

“I see . ”

‘Me too…’ Rachel murmured softly to herself and smiled .

“Then I’m going to go run some more . ”

“Yes, good night . ”

With that, Rachel went off running, and I watched her for a moment before walking to the cafeteria .

*

I returned home with both hands full of food .

But when I opened the door, Evandel didn’t run up to me as I expected her to .

“Evandel?”

Feeling somewhat odd, I walked into the living room . Then, I was slightly startled .

“…The heck . ”

I was met with quite a strange scene .

Hayang was staring at me from the highest point in her cat tower, and Evandel was sleeping hugging the tower’s pillar .

By the looks of it, she was trying to get Hayang to come down and fell asleep after exhausting herself out . Judging by the mess on the floor, there seemed to have been quite a chase between the two .

“They’re still fighting, huh . ”

I approached Evandel laughing, then took a fried chicken leg up against her nose .

Sniff, sniff .

Evandel’s nose wiggled .

Then, she opened her mouth wide .

Haap—

And bit down on empty air .

Nyam, nyam . When she couldn’t taste anything after chewing over and over again, Evandel frowned strongly .

At that moment, Hayang jumped down from the cat tower .

Pabat!

Hayang’s paws struck Evandel’s head, and Evandel’s eyes shot open .

“Ah, aaang… . ”

She grabbed onto her head and groaned .

“Ah!”

She then discovered me and scurried back to the wall .

“W-What!?”

“What do you mean . ”

“Who, who is it!?”

“…It’s me . Hajin . ”

“…Eh?”

Evandel began to dissect my face with her sleepy eyes .

“…Hajin?”

“Yeah, I had my hair cut . Come here, I brought fried chicken . ”

“Fried chicken…?”

“Bossam and jokbal too . ”

“Bossam… jokbal… . ”

Evandel muttered in a daze as she approached me . I knelt down and held my hands out . A small child waddled into my embrace .

I smiled .

There was something I always wanted to do .

I rubbed my beard against Evandel’s cheek .

“Ah, aak! What is it? No!”

Startled, Evandel tried to run away, but it was too late . I was seeing her for the first time in 90 days . Without a doubt, I missed her a lot .

I continued to rub my beard against her . Her soft skin felt nice against my prickly beard . Evandel resisted, even trying to shove her hand into my mouth and nose, but I didn’t stop .

Then, Hayang approached us .

She sent us a weird look, so I stopped rubbing my face against Evandel .

“…?”

Hayang stared at the back of Evandel’s head and raised her paw .

Just when I was wondering what she was up to…

Thwack!

Hayang smacked Evandel’s head and ran away .

“Ahhk! Uuu… Kim Hayang! You get back here!”

Evandel began to chase Hayang furiously . However, Hayang had reached the peak of the cat tower in the blink of an eye .

“Uuu! Y-You…!”

Evandel began to shake the tower with all the strength she could muster .

“Get down, get down, get dooooown here—!”

“… . ”

I finally understood what I saw when I got home .

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