Vol 3 Chapter 47

'When did he realize that there was reality outside of 'here'? Did he regret it a little like we did?'

Seeing him ask for the number now, Kapros felt that the feeling of betrayal that had kept him up at night was slowly fading away. But even though he had beaten Yu-wan up thoroughly and somewhat cleared his mind, there was still a bit of resentment left.

'What should I do...'

Kapros thought about playing a prank, but Yu-wan's expression looked truly serious and desperate. As he was deliberating, Yu-wan whispered his final words in a voice so low it was almost inaudible.

"...Please."

"You..."

Kapros couldn't see his own face, but he must have had quite an expression due to his surprise.

This guy who seemed like he would never utter 'please'... Whatever it was, it didn't seem right to refuse as a joke.

'I guess I have no choice.'

Kion-hyung, Palton-hyung, and Kran all knew his number, so it wouldn't make sense if only Yu-wan didn't know it.

When he had given his number to others in Zagreb, Kapros had decided to abandon the desire to reject others first out of a reluctance to be involved with people. And it was because of none other than this guy...

"...03B."

As Kapros quietly called out the first digits of his home video phone number, he saw Yu-wan's frozen gaze change dramatically in an instant. The change was so dramatic that even Kapros, who had spoken, was surprised. As he unconsciously closed his mouth, Yu-wan, without taking his eyes off Kapros, moved his lips as if whispering.

"...Next?"

"348."

"And then?"

"S267KA."

The moment Kapros finished, a smile like a blush spreading appeared for the first time on Yu-wan's expressionless, statue-like face that had only been blinking. As Kapros stared, at a loss for words, at that expression which seemed to radiate indescribable joy from within, Yu-wan, who had conveniently started to become translucent again, nodded and left his final words.

"I'll definitely contact you."

***

"Kap! If you were any later, I was about to go looking for you! But why did you take off your mask?!"

"...Did something happen?"

"..."

As soon as Kapros entered the inn, Kran, who had been pacing anxiously, clung to him like a puppy finding its mother. Even Un-o rarely showed a worried look. Perhaps because he had experienced so much in such a short time, all of this seemed peaceful to Kapros.

After exhaling softly, Kapros raised his palm upwards towards the clinging Kran as if he was about to use magic, and Kran reflexively backed away quickly.

"Kran."

"Yeah?"

"Why does someone you're talking to become translucent and silvery? It didn't seem like logging out."

Kran, who had somehow already changed back to his original hair and clothes, tilted his head at Kapros's question for a moment before answering as if it was nothing to think about.

"That? It's when someone outside the capsule calls a user playing THE MIST inside the capsule. It's like a kind of video call. Most users except minors keep it turned off, but... Why do you ask?"

"Ah... I see."

Nodding and turning back around, Kapros recalled Yu-wan's appearance from earlier. So, did that mean someone outside the capsule had called Yu-wan to end the game? The only people who came to mind who might do that were parents, but judging from Yu-wan's hardened expression, it didn't seem like that was the case.

'I'm not sure what's what, but... anyway, so that's what it was.'

While inwardly acknowledging this, Kapros spoke to Kran again.

"I met Caesar earlier."

"Caesar? Hmm, yeah, Caesar... ...Wait a minute. Who did you say?!"

"You don't mean the Knight of the Demon God user, do you?!"

For a moment, Kran, who had nodded nonchalantly, immediately jumped up in shock. Looking at Un-o, who was asking with a sharp expression, Kapros nodded, thinking that guy knew Caesar too.

"And then after that, I met Yu-wan."

"Why is that Caesar bastard here! No, before that, how did you come back, Kap? Wait, who else? You said Yu-wan!"

"Who's that?"

To Kran, who was screaming from the successive shocks, and Un-o, who was puzzled this time, Kapros smiled slightly and answered.

"You should have seen him before too. The user from the Dark Knight video."

***

As Kapros placed his hands on the wireless keyboard in front of him after a long time, an unfamiliar sensation was transmitted through his fingertips. Although he usually used the voice recognition hologram mode for his computer, he was currently using the compact manual mode with a relatively small screen floating right in front of him and a keyboard connection, which he used for web surfing or work.

In his case, he had only used voice recognition mode even for web surfing because manual mode was bothersome, but today he had no choice but to switch because he needed the keyboard. Fortunately, typing on a keyboard wasn't the kind of skill that was easily forgotten.

Let's see. The address Kran gave him was...

With the unfamiliar sound of tap-tap-tap, click, he pressed enter, and he saw it connect with a click.

[ Another world for you. Welcome to MIST BAY WORLD COMMUNITY! ]

Along with the flashing welcome message, a massive web page appeared.

'What's this? Why is it so big?'

Kapros stopped in surprise at the sight of the enormous number of menus filling the space, the numerous simultaneous user counts displayed on the side, and the new posts constantly being uploaded. Even just looking at the larger visible sections, there were free boards, information boards, video/screenshot boards, auction/market boards, city-specific boards, and below them, many smaller boards, making it hard to know where to start looking.

For a moment, Kapros was busy looking around, wondering where to look first, and moved his index finger over the touchpad on the side of the keyboard to enter the largest free board. Soon, an enormous number of posts appeared on the screen.

[ Blante's best costume editing shop, ! ☆Also working offline☆ ] [23]

└ [ Re :: Please post shop promotions on the promotion board.. ] [89]