Have a Meal Before You Go

Jeongju didn't say anything. Seeing that there's nothing to talk about, I don't think he likes it.

“I see.”

Park shrugged his shoulders beautifully.

However, Chulho knew right away. That kind of panic, it's usually a fire zone.

‘Firefighter.’

Most firefighters live with post-traumatic stress syndrome. After experiencing a serious accident, they are terrified of those associated with it.

Most of the reasons are the agony of the fire site, and the memory of those who did not save it.

The death of a colleague.

And the pain that keeps coming.

Now it fits back and forth.

Chulho sat still and turned his eyes to the newspaper.

Despite this era, firefighters still exist. They will always need it, and they will always need it. Fire is always nearby.

I have a doctor and a nurse.

Masscom exists.

Civilizations in which people live are essentially the same. The only thing that's changed is that there's a lot of people with special abilities.

Jungju, who has mastered the magic class of water, would have lived as a firefighter.

It is unfair.

The job you sacrifice, it's always unfair. But they do their best to do their job. Risk your life, save others, risk your own.

What's the matter with you?

Chulho added his own experience to the question. When you save someone, when you save them. So much for that. Reward. Joy.

The relief I felt when I saved my loved one, and to the one who saved me, I thank you. Somehow, when I heard that, I thought that Cheolho would cry.

They move them in extreme situations.

“I was a firefighter. ”

Lee Jung-joo opened his mouth, thinking for a long time.

“Hmm?"

Park turned his head.

“It was no big deal to begin with. I graduated from Cipher School and was reluctant to deal with monsters. And then I found another job, and I got in the way. ”

Jeongju took off the hat she was always wearing. Skin full of scars with little hair was revealed.

No one was surprised by it.

“I thought you might. ”

Jungju nodded at Park's words.

“At first, the fire didn't seem to be a big deal. I was a grade four Awakener, and I used the magic of water. So I was able to take on a fireplace by myself. ”

He smiled and drank a sip of Plum. There was a fragrant sycamore floating around.

“But then I got a sense of mission. to have a proper awareness of the work. It's rewarding, it's joyful, it's proud to work for someone. ”

His eyes slowly closed.

“I regret it again. Do your best not to regret it. ”

Park listened to his story while placing the glass. The restaurant became quiet.

“I thought I did my best, but I have regrets. ”

“There is no one perfect in the world. ”

Park just put the glass in his mouth.

“Everyone lives by past mistakes. ”

“Of course.”

Lee Jeongju smiled bitterly. The cup clatters. After putting it in one mouth, I sighed for a long time.

“My mind does, but I can't help but remember what's in my brain. ”

“What happened? ”

“....... ”

Jungjoo folded his arms and closed his eyes, thinking again for a long time. Then I opened my mouth.

“About 10 years ago, there was an ambush on Flame Road. It was only a few moments after the monster invasion. The security was unstable, followed by an irregular monster attack. ”

“Yes, it was terrible. ”

“At the time, we were deployed to eradicate the fire in the Central Building. I rescued most of them, but I couldn't save only one. ”

Just one.

There are those who have saved so many people, but there are those who live with their whole lives who have not saved only one person.

It's strange.

I don't remember anything I did well, only what I did wrong left a bruise on my chest.

Chulho sat still and listened to him.

“It was right in front of me. Hey, like this. He was wearing a blanket, waiting for me. He was like five years old or something. ”

He raises his hand. Reach out your hands. I saw two fingers tangled by the burn.

Bloop!

It was good to see the flames blazing from everywhere. He mutters desperately.

“It was a touching distance when I reached out. Just a little more, just two more steps. I could almost reach it if I walked. ”

His voice grew louder and louder.

“It was right there! ”

- Krrrrrrrrr!

- Oh, no!

I thought I heard voices in my ears.

As soon as I opened the iron door, the ceiling of the room sank. A spark poured out from him. At that time, the new protective clothing made from horse and stone engineering was no longer able to stop it from blowing.

The magic of the nearly depleted water did not protect him either.

At that time, Jeongju was unconscious, covered in fire.

When I came to my senses, half of my body was burned to death.

He needed first aid and then healing classes, but he refused. I feel like I'm sinning. I felt skeptical of myself who could not save a child.

If I had been a little stronger, if I had not been lazy, if I had tried a little harder, if I had found it a little faster. Such blame began to eat away at him.

From then on, he became afraid of fire. The burning flame made my whole body tremble, and my head turned white. You hear a scream.

I have been advised by many colleagues, but post-traumatic stress syndrome did not improve. The fact that he couldn't save him in front of his eyes tormented his heart.

- It's time to get used to death. A lot of people died in the Great Invasion. Is that your fault, too? We can't save everyone. Wake up!

- There are more people you can save!

Thanks to his colleagues, he never got over it. So that year, I quit my job as a firefighter.

“I always walk down the halls of my past when I close my eyes. In the burning corridor, at that point in the past, I can see the face of a child who was unable to save it. ”

“....... ”

“I think you're grumbling. Help me, he's got a little voice in his ear. Always. Even in a dream -”

He whispers small.

“Once in a dream, if only I could save it. That would be nice…..”

Jeongju Lee, who had been talking like a bot for a long time, suddenly put his hat back on.

“This story is not funny. I don't think I killed the mood. ”

“Hmmm…"

Sometimes I can't say anything good. When Park was thinking about how to talk.

Jeongju gets up on his feet.

The rough pressed hat falls to the ground. I need to reach out and grab my hat, but my two sticky fingers won't listen.

Iron stood up slowly, bent at the waist and grabbed the hat.

“Go, thank you. I want to do some calculations. ”

“You can do the math later. ”

Cheolho smiled.

“Come back later. ”

As he left the store like he was running away, Park also stood up. Trying to get the money out of my pocket, I shake my head.

“Next time, finish your dinner. I'll accept the fee then. ”

“....... isn't this expensive? ”

“Other than a little red flesh, I haven't defrosted yet. It doesn't matter.”

“Sorry.”

Park also rushed out.

.

“Qasim.”

In an empty rice coop, Chulho opened the subspace. Qasim shrugs.

“Do you have a vision? ”

“A vision?”

Qasim's eyes open wide.

“Steelho, you've been sober a while, haven't you? ”

“I quit. I'm going to use it as medicine. Is there anything left? ”

“Wait a minute…… about six years ago, he told me to throw it all away…… just in case. ”

Qasim, who was looking for a long time to enter the sub-space, lifts his head again.

“There was one root left. You're using it as medicine?”

“Yes, that's what drugs are for. ”

“Well, he who abuses everything is the problem. Then I'll dry it and grind it. ”

“I see.”

Chulho nodded lightly and went out for a cup of coffee.

In the past, there were people who claimed to have regrets. From con men to cult men. There were many different kinds of self-proclaimed ‘regretters’, but most of the reason is because of this herb.

The Secret Service.

Drugs that make everything you imagine come true in your dreams.

The original use is therapeutic.

The treatment of the Espan continent is not even comparable to the past. The presence of magic makes it possible to heal abnormally.

Well, of course that's true of this world now.

But mental damage cannot be treated, for example, by trauma.

Because of this, psychotherapy with a vision has developed quite well.

The problem is to abuse it, and the attraction of imagination to be achieved has given birth to many addicts. In the end, in the continent, the secret outpost was classified as narcotics and was strictly regulated.

Everyone dreams of regression.

If you go back in time, if you go back in time, there are so many things you want to change. The memory of regret, the memory of happiness, and the memory of wanting to forget.

Unfortunately, Chulho was the continent's greatest master of six classes, but he didn't know how to turn back time.

So ironically, Chulho was once also a nonstarter addict.

To see Aramir Lantero in hibernation, to see his parents in the past, to see his old friends, to hear the voices of his dead colleagues.

After using the Vision for a variety of reasons, I was addicted to it, so I was obsessed with the Vision to forget the reality. Furthermore, the realities disappear.

You live in your delusions of the past. So the regretters themselves were also sad people.

I don't think this is it. I got cut off about six years ago.

The Secret Post was only produced in the Empire's longest reflection of the sun, in the mountainous hills, which I had never seen in this world.

“Here!”

Qasim grinds out the finely ground Secret Sentry Powder. You can just eat this. Chulho, holding the powder bag, stares at it.

I wouldn't have been able to resist the temptation of this before. I'll open the bag and eat it all right away.

But...

Chulho doesn't need this anymore. If you use very little of this, it can also be a great cure.

“Oh, what is that? ”

Echo, who was going to the bathroom, pointed to the bag that Chulho had in his hand and asked.

“Ah, the Secret Herald. ”

“The Secret Service?”

Echo's face crumples.

“That's a very annoying herb. ”

Cheolho smiles bloody.

“I don't know about you, but how many humans have come at this body screaming crazy things like they're regretters? Huh? He was the legendary warrior who was going to defeat the Demon King. ”

“....... Yes. ”

“But they were all so delusional about sucking it up and trying to get rid of this body. You think this body is going to die by some miserable mortal? ”

“Shut up.”

Cheolho tapped Echo's scrawny head.

"Don't talk nonsense."

Echo pounces.

The End

chordaria #