Chapter 30: Traveller
Dan Woo couldn’t help but feel mentally exhausted. It had been a very, very long night. From being trapped in an instance where he had to play a shaman, to eventually incorporating a female side that was brash, violent, and full of fire, to playing the student of a powerful anomaly, and then suddenly playing a powerful Ascendant before a group of government Ascendants.
That last one deeply embarrassed him whenever he looked back on it.
It was lucky for him that the domain had finished syncing just in time, granting him an almost instantaneous means of travel between his three domains. Now the problem was, how was he going to get himself into the Bureau of Anomaly Affairs when such a huge misunderstanding had just occurred between him and its people?
Maybe he should look for another identity.
He sighed as he looked at the two unconscious teenage girls in his arms.
How was he going to deal with them?
For Im Nari, it was easy. He could just take her home or contact her parents once he was back at his house.
But for Cha Ha Rin...
How was he going to take care of her?
There was so much to unload there, including the reason why she had taken her older sister’s name.
As he looked at her, a familiar feeling started to creep up on him—one similar to what he felt whenever he looked at Kim Soo Won.
Guess he had to accept this new little sister.
He turned back toward the vast expanse of mist as a familiar scene, just like the one from the dream realm, washed over him. An illusory attractor in the far distance seemed to be calling to him, and before he knew it, he intuitively understood that he had arrived.
Yet the moment he tried to enter his apartment—
[Ding]
[To enter your domain, you need to present your sacrifice.]
[Do you offer this sacrifice?]
[Y/N]
"Sacrifice?"
Dan Woo was confused as to why this was happening.
Wasn’t Hanseoung Academy also his domain? Why hadn’t he received this message there?
And what about the real Cha Hwa Rim...?
Would she disappear if he said yes?
That was a living, breathing person.
And what about Cha Ha Rin? She would just lose a family member. Worse still, she was Eerie-adjacent, meaning the antimemetic fallout wouldn’t affect her.
Wouldn’t that be too cruel?
As Dan Woo wrestled with the problem, a small, shaky, delicate hand slowly reached out and grasped Cha Hwa Rim’s hand.
"Unnie..."
Dan Woo turned to look at Cha Ha Rin.
The effects of devouring Cha Hwa Rim had sunk deep into her, her emotions churning violently within her.
Yet...
Her face.
The pure wash of disbelief as her groggy eyes became more and more vigilant.
"Unnie... what’s happening to you?" she asked, pointing toward Cha Hwa Rim’s skin.
Dan Woo was confused, then remembered they were deep within the misty expanse, so maybe that was it.
But when he looked down at his own skin, he could see afterimages of it shifting between different forms—between her tattooed skin and her clean skin, her height bouncing between taller and shorter.
As he became more aware of it, he felt a familiar sensation, like what he had experienced while sinking into the Land of Cha Hwa Rim.
Yet this was very different.
It didn’t feel like he was being eroded.
It felt like he was being given an overview of the different versions of Cha Hwa Rim—from the fictional projection Cha Ha Rin had written, to the true Cha Hwa Rim who was dead, to her innocent self, her more arrogant, brash self, and even her ghost self.
It was an incredible feeling.
He felt that he truly was Cha Hwa Rim.
Then, when his hand brushed against hers, there was a sudden flow of energy as a book emerged from Cha Hwa Rim, its pages opening on their own.
[Ding]
[Core Concept under development — 5%]
Before suddenly...
Everything stopped.
Two low bell thuds vibrated throughout the entire space.
Then time itself seemed to begin rewinding.
Everything within the misty expanse started disappearing as the sea of mist engulfing Cha Hwa Rim vanished. Dan Woo felt his entire night rewind as he was catapulted backward through the events—from his meeting with the Ascendants, to his lesson with the Butterfly Anomaly, to his time within the instance.
It all moved so fast, like he was watching everything in reverse.
Then the turning clock suddenly stopped.
Three medium-pitched bell rings echoed through the world.
When Dan Woo opened his eyes, he was met by the golden hues of the setting sun.
He watched the familiar scene of the students of Hanseoung Academy moving about their day, each of them leaving school—some heading home while others made their way toward their hagwons.
Then he saw a familiar face in the crowd.
It was a face he woke up to every day.
That hurried stride.
That desperation.
That was him...
Just a few hours ago.
"Unnie! It has begun again!"
The words startled Dan Woo as he turned to see Cha Ha Rin, her face vacant, her messy brown hair hanging over her eyes, her clothes a tangled mess.
"Begun?" Dan Woo, in the body of Cha Hwa Rim, asked.
"Yes... I can hear the whispers again."
"What whispers?"
"The numbers... two and three."
"Two and three?"
"Unnie... is it time?"
"Time?"
"Yeah... to join you. I no longer have anyone in this world to care for. But if I join you..."
Then it suddenly clicked for Dan Woo.
"Join me? Do you mean... dying?"
"Yes. Death is inevitable, and I no longer have anything to live for..."
"What about Im Nari?" Dan Woo suddenly blurted out as he moved closer to touch Cha Ha Rin’s shoulders, only for his hands to slip straight through them.
He looked back at his own body and realized it was illusory.
"Unnie... did you just forget what I said?"
"It doesn’t matter. I will always be here."
"But didn’t you say you would disappear today?"
"Disappear?"
"Yes. You told me there was a possibility that everyone apart from me would forget that you ever existed."
Dan Woo felt a faint twinge as he watched his illusory body flicker.
"Listen... I won’t disappear. I will come back to you once you meet the Man of a Thousand Faces."
"That again? You always tell me you’ll come back when I meet the Man of a Thousand Faces, but where is he...?"
Just as Cha Ha Rin asked that question, Cha Hwa Rim turned to look toward the direction of the roof entrance.
There, on the other side...
...stood himself.
"Soon," Cha Hwa Rim uttered before disappearing.
Only Cha Ha Rin remained once again.
Dan Woo was confused as to what had just happened when, suddenly, an overwhelming urge to embrace Cha Ha Rin washed over him.
It was a strong feeling, one similar to what he felt whenever he saw Kim Soo Won, his body following the impulse before he could even think.
As the fog continued to churn around them—
"I am here for you, Cha Ha Rin. I will never disappear."
The words left her mouth almost instinctively.
[Ding]
[First Story Point Completed]
[Character: Cha Hwa Rim has acquired Character Transmedial Persistence.]
[3 days added to timer.]
When he blinked, the timer appeared before him once more.
He was left speechless.
He only had six days left from his initial seven.
Wasn’t he supposed to have ten days now?
He could only sigh as the timer slowly faded away.
Then, once it finally disappeared, the prompt appeared again.
[Do you offer this sacrifice?]
[Y/N]
He stared at the choice before him.
Then...
He finally clicked Yes.
[Congratulations on your devouring.]