Chapter 64

Although they became a bit busier, Soram and Tae-un continued to go to the office. That day, Tae-un was working on reports, and Soram was lying down covered with a blanket. Then, Tae-un, who checked the time, got up from his seat.

"Filming?"

Soram raised his head and asked. Tae-un and Soram still had two CF filming schedules left each. If it was a dispatch, the pager would have rung before he got up, so it was probably a broadcast schedule.

"Yes [Formal]."

"What, I thought you said you'd speak casually."

"We're at work."

Ha, that FM. The words he said on the hospital rooftop were clearly just being petty to anyone's eyes, and even if he pretended not to know, it would have been understandable.

"Forget it. Just speak casually."

As Tae-un stared at Soram while hanging his jacket on his arm, he lowered his gaze.

"No. If I get too comfortable, I think I'll make a mistake at least once."

Huh? What does that mean? Tae-un slightly tilted his head and added to Soram, who was confused.

"I will."

Soram was left alone in the office after Tae-un left.

"Ugh, that sti... no, except for the sti-, ugh, that nerd."

He thought he had softened up a bit recently, but as expected, a person's core doesn't change easily. Seeing him like that, the stiff image of Han Tae-un from his previous life was seen again.

The office where Tae-un left was quiet. After the last 1st-grade dungeon, no large dungeons had occurred. Also, perhaps as consideration for the remaining injuries, the number of dispatches coming to Soram had decreased a bit after the "Let's Go to Work!" filming.

The weather was neither hot nor cold. For a change, the office had the windows wide open. It was also the weather when the flight team used the windows more than the front door. If it got hotter than now, it would be difficult to fly around due to the blazing sunlight, so they had to fully enjoy it.

Peaceful.

How long had it been since he had such a thought?

Soram opened the laptop he had covered in front of him. The video playing was the public training video of the two of them received from the PR department. The goal was to analyze his own power, but as he watched, he was staring at Han Tae-un.

Han Tae-un was tremendously strong even now, less than half a year after awakening, and his growth rate was also steep. He even improved his skills in the public training and 1st-grade dungeon that took place on the same day.

So, the 28-year-old Han Tae-un he last saw in front of the Great Rift in his previous life must have been even stronger.

In the video, Tae-un grabbed the tip of his sword and blocked Soram's attack. That's where the era of suffering for Han Tae-un's left hand began. And on Soram's face, who clashed swords with him, a clear bewilderment was seen.

He wondered how Tae-un followed the team leader who rushed with such power without any certainty without saying a word. Even though their relationship was distant in the previous life, he had never once refused Soram's orders at the scene.

Indeed, the more he recalled, the more reckless Jin Soram from his previous life was. He put up walls against everyone and did whatever he wanted... as if he had regressed not just twice but ten times, he went solo as if he knew everything. There was opposition, but he just pushed through.

If that's the case, he should have just revealed that he was a regressor.

If he had revealed it... uh...

"..."

It will definitely fail.

With that thought, a chill came over him as if cold water had been poured into his head. If he reveals the fact of regression to everyone, he will fail no matter how he moves. The sudden chill made his stomach churn as well. The blue mist that came out of Soram's hand closed the window. Even though everything was tightly blocked, the strange feeling of falling didn't disappear.

What is it, why do I feel so much rejection?

After pondering for a moment, Soram could guess the reason. It was the same principle as Soram, Tae-un, and the 1st-grade hunters like Kim Ga-eul, who had made a big contribution in this 1st-grade dungeon, revealing their appearances on broadcasts these days.

The ability to regress cannot be found anywhere in the world, not just in the headquarters. If he reveals the truth, to some, he will become a savior with a mission, and to others, he will be treated as a madman. He will have to bear the burden of those who want to see the uniqueness of the regressor, suppress those who don't believe and oppose, and take responsibility for both success and failure.

Soram couldn't do that. So until now, even in his previous life, he didn't tell anyone that he had regressed. It seems that even when he was living his second and third lives, he made such a choice, but in the end, there was fear in his heart even then.

Still, the regressor's instinct was quite admirable in its own way. Just now, it was as if it had stopped Soram, saying, "You can't do that!" Thanks to not revealing that he was a regressor, he somehow lived according to that time period.

The first was a brat.

The second was an ascetic with a mission of his own.

The third was a tyrant obsessed with utopia.

And the fourth is.

"A slacker."

A slacker who is so lazy that many people around him take care of him.

Soram doesn't know how the end of this life will turn out. At first, it was true that he lived roughly with the thought that if he died, he would go back again. And that's how he got here.

And now, it was true that he wanted to continue this ruined game a little longer.

Even if the next life begins and he learns that living as a tyrant is the right choice and ends up building walls with others and living again.

Wouldn't he be able to recall the memories of now then?

No matter what happens, he was determined to keep Han Tae-un alive in this life. To do that, it wouldn't be bad to be close like now. It was also unexpectedly fun to be with Han Tae-un. A smile rose on Soram's lips.

However, despite thinking that way, Soram found it difficult to properly face Tae-un for the next few days.

"...What is it?"

They went to work together. Ten minutes before work, when Soram knocked on the next room's door, the door that had become a manual sliding door due to an unexpected accident slid to the side. That's how the two met and came down to the office together. However, Tae-un left his seat in less than an hour.

Today, as the rest period was long, a schedule was set for each of them to be called to the research lab once to have their physical condition checked. Because of that, their lunch times were misaligned, so they ate separately. When Soram brought his meal, Tae-un, who had already arrived at the cafeteria earlier, only had one or two spoonfuls of rice left.

"Did the examination go well?"

When Soram put down the tray in front of him, Tae-un asked. He kept telling him to speak casually, but since he was being like an iron wall, Soram also decided to speak casually only outside of work hours.

"Yes. Did you finish well and come back, Han Tae-un ssi?"

"I will continue after the meal."

"Are you going right away? Without stopping by the office?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll be alone again."

Sometimes it was filming, other times it was eating out after going out for dispatch, and by the time Ayoung returned, he finally sat in the office chair with his back against it. It seemed strange, but seeing him waiting together for Ayoung's work to end at 10, it also seemed like nothing was wrong...

There was nothing he could do if the schedule kept turning out that way... but it felt like it had been a really long time since the two of them were alone in the office.

"I'll get going first. I'll see you in the evening."

Han Tae-un scooped up the remaining two spoonfuls at once and got up from his seat without even swallowing. Like this, the time Tae-un and Soram faced each other again was less than 5 minutes. The distinctively large back in the headquarters walked away in big strides without even looking back.

Soram, who returned to the office, spent another lazy day and raised his head to look at the door around 2 o'clock. No matter how thoroughly they examined him at the research lab, if they started in the morning, it should be over by now. But Tae-un didn't return.

Soram turned on the dispatch history on his cell phone. If Tae-un had really been called to the research lab, that share would have been passed down to him. But there was no contact to Soram either, so naturally... As expected, there were no calls assigned to the two of them after 12 o'clock today.

Then why isn't he coming back to the office?

"..."

In the past, he wouldn't have cared how Tae-un acted, but now it bothered him and caught his eye.

Still, he was trying to get a little closer.

Soram abruptly got up from his seat. Let's go find him, whatever. He clenched his two hands, shouting. In this life, Tae-un showed goodwill to him first, and they had become somewhat close, so he wanted to maintain this relationship. Then, as Soram, he should also show this level of sincerity in approaching him.

The first place he went to find him was the research lab.

"Chief Jin, did you forget something?"

Among the people hurriedly passing by in white gowns, the person who assisted Soram's measurement in the morning spotted him.

"Ah, I came to hear the results of what I measured earlier... Is Chief Han here?"

"Chief Han finished a long time ago. He left before 1 o'clock? I'll show you the results here. As expected, probably because you've been active for a long time, your condition was good even after resting for a few days."

Except for one sentence, the words he heard flowed out of Soram's ears. He finished before 1 o'clock? It's almost 2:30 now? Then where did he go?

"Right. I think Chief Han went to the training room. Someone who rode the elevator together earlier said he went to the 10th floor."

"Really?"

"Yes. He seems to be working hard. Chief Jin, what kind of results do you want to see?"

"...Ah, I'll look at it later. I suddenly remembered something I had to do."

Leaving the researcher he was walking with, Soram turned around and ran out of the research lab.

He said he went to the training room... It was a move that was sufficiently understandable for the diligent Han Tae-un. Well, he must have seen the difference in strength with other 1st-grades in the public training, experienced a serious dungeon, and it was a natural course of action to want to become stronger.

But why didn't he say anything to me about that? I may not play a big role, but I'm the team leader and a senior by far, so isn't this something he should ask for my opinion and request help with?

If Tae-un asked him to spar or something, he would... not readily agree, but grumble and refuse a couple of times before doing it. He was pretty good at analyzing combat abilities, if he did say so himself. Wasn't he the one who found Tae-un's ability? His finger pressed the 10th floor button of the elevator as if stamping it, clearly displeased.