Side Story 7, Swamp (7-8)

Yu-wan grabbed one of the students passing by in gym clothes. The male student who turned around startled by his arm being suddenly grabbed became bewildered when his eyes met with the tall person in another school's uniform.

"Who are you?"

"...Kendo club."

At the abrupt mention of the kendo club, the male student's expression became even stranger.

"What?"

"I want to go to the kendo club, do you know where it is?"

The male student who heard Yu-wan's question, which he had tried his best to ask properly, rolled his eyes as if trying to recall something before suddenly making a strange expression.

"Um, the kendo club isn't meeting now. You didn't know?"

"...Why?"

Yu-wan's eyebrows twisted at hearing the kendo club wasn't meeting after he had come all this way.

"Why? After that kendo competition or whatever ended, both of the guys who won awards got into a traffic accident, so they say they can't come to school anymore. There's chaos because of that so they can't meet. You came looking for the kendo club and don't even know that?"

For a moment, Yu-wan doubted his ears at such unexpected news. Though he wondered if he had heard wrong, the male student's expression of looking at a strange person remained unchanged.

"Why..."

"If you want to know more, just go to the faculty office. I'm busy, so I'll be going."

The male student pulled his arm free and disappeared without looking back. Yu-wan suddenly touched his chest. Until just now he hadn't realized, but it seemed he had actually been very expectant or excited.

Yu-wan's impulsive action ended there that day. He graduated and became an adult without ever knowing where those two boys had gone or what happened to them afterward. And his memories of them, whose faces he had never even seen, were forgotten just like that.

But how strange fate can sometimes be.

Three years later, Yu-wan was facing Jin Seo-hwan's video call that had come after a long time.

[ ...So, I want you to play Saturn's new game and look into game-related information. If you're willing to do it, we'll provide support from our end. ]

Yu-wan vaguely recalled the information about Saturn's new VT game he had seen recently. There had been much debate about whether the announcement that it would be the first real VT game was exaggerated or not, but for Jin Seo-hwan to contact him directly about it like this, there must be something amazing about it.

While considering what to do, he looked at the schedule posted beside him and saw he had no assigned work for about a month. He had originally planned to travel abroad during that time, but somehow he had the impulsive thought that trying the game once might not be bad.

Impulse. It was quite an old word for him.

"...Alright."

[ Good. The game's name is THE MIST. I heard the open date is April 10th. Until then, we'll send the access device to you, and it would be better if you look up the preliminary information yourself, right? Contact me if you need anything else. ]

When Yu-wan slowly nodded at those words, Jin Seo-hwan ended the connection with a satisfied expression. Looking at the darkened monitor, he wondered if his sudden decision had been the right one, but decided he would quit early if he tried it and didn't like it.

About two months had passed since starting Saturn's new game. Yu-wan was very surprised at himself for continuing the same game for two whole months. In fact, he thought that if he hadn't been in the position of accepting Jin Seo-hwan's proposal, he might have genuinely enjoyed Saturn's game comfortably - that's how amazing this game was.

Who would have thought someone would actually try to make a game that felt no different from reality by connecting brain and computer, and manage to implement it like this? While criticism poured from one side saying they had used incomprehensible new technology that others couldn't even properly understand the principles of just to make a mere game, Yu-wan personally thought this wouldn't remain just a game.

While playing a realistic game was interesting, Yu-wan had recently discovered that a sword with good stats he had obtained by chance was actually connected to some difficult quest, and he was wondering what to do. Though he had joined a party that could go there to solve the related quest and was waiting, he found it difficult to decide whether this quest would be a burden or benefit to him as he needed to continue investigating the game's information.

It was while he was waiting for the party to fill up while leaning against a wall, barely noticeable.

"Um... are you joining the party?"

When he raised his head wondering who would be someone the noisy party leader and his group would ask so timidly, he saw a gloomy man with his hood pulled down darkly. He looked believable enough to be a legendary dark mage.

"What level are you?"

"32."

Though his voice that gave only necessary answers wasn't cold, it had a unique atmosphere that made it difficult to speak further.

"What's your job?"

"Mage."

He could feel everyone stirring in surprise at those words. Though Yu-wan didn't say anything either, it was his first time seeing a real mage user.

"How far can you use?"

"3rd Circle Master."

And a 3rd Circle Master at that. It was skill that could be called unrivaled among current mage users.

"Ah... yes. That's really amazing. With such skill, you're more than welcome. What is your name?"

When the party leader who had lost words asked stammering, Yu-wan also looked up at the other's face for the first time. Though he could only see the nose and mouth because of the black robe covering the face, he had a strange sense of déjà vu as if he had seen that covered face somewhere before.

The man opened his mouth while coming closer for the party joining procedure. At that moment, Yu-wan frowned at another déjà vu, wondering if he hadn't had this thought before about how the movement visible under the long robe showed quite controlled and proper walking. It was a very strange feeling.

"Kap."

Yu-wan didn't know at that moment that a connection he had almost made at some point in the past was being linked again by chance. Nor that the gloomy man before him would capture his gaze into the swamp once again in barely a month. That this situation would continue afterward as well - everything was just an unknowable future at this point.

[To be continued in the next volume.]