Chapter 360: Choose (3)

"Sir?"

The server's voice brought me out of my daze as I stood at the counter. I searched vainly for any sign of my friend who had seemingly disappeared into thin air. He didn’t leave behind a single item, not even a strand of hair. I strained to make sense of the situation by grappling with disbelief. No matter where I looked, Goh Yoo-Joon was gone.

"Didn’t someone just come here with me from there? Someone who was with me," I asked, my voice tinged with desperation.

The server looked at me, puzzled by my frantic question. "Sorry?"

I ignored his confusion and quickly went back to the room where Goh Yoo-Joon and I had been. It was impossible to think that an adult Goh Yoo-Joon would play such a cruel prank. Also, one had to pass the counter to get to the restrooms.

The realization hit me hard. Goh Yoo-Joon had truly disappeared. As this certainty settled in, I found myself forgetting even how to blink or breathe. An involuntary chill spread through my body, and a wave of anxiety made my hands tremble uncontrollably.

Goh Yoo-Joon was really gone? Just like that?

"No way..." I muttered to myself with a mix of denial and despair.

Could it really be because of me? I began shouting his name in panic and wandering aimlessly. I couldn't recall how I managed to pay the bill, how I found my car, or even how I made it home. Only one phrase echoed in my mind.

[NPC from Event 2 will disappear due to the protagonist's choice.]

My mind raced. Goh Yoo-Joon was the only person who had stuck by me and regarded me as a friend till the end, but he had now been erased from the world only because of me.

Upon entering my darkened home, my legs gave way. I slumped down in the hallway with tears streaming down my face uncontrollably.

"Goh Yoo-Joon..." I whispered into the emptiness.

‘What is this? What's happening?’

I tried calling him, but the phone claimed his number didn't exist. I searched online for any trace of him, but turned up with nothing. There were no news articles, no social media... There was nothing. As if he had never existed.

"What would you do if I suddenly got hurt or died?"

"What kind of question is that? I wouldn’t be able to bear it."

"No, I’m serious. Think about it for a moment."

"That

was

my serious answer. I really wouldn’t be able to bear it."

I felt exactly the same way about him.

‘What if he's really gone forever?’

The thought terrified me, almost to the point of madness.

Ding!

A notification interrupted my thoughts. It sounded far too cheerful given what I was going through. Despite my sobbing, the clarity of the sound made me instinctively look up, only to see another bizarre window pop up in front of me. The text was blurry, so I rubbed my eyes to see it clearer.

A surge of anger washed over me.

[ 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 ]

"Motherfucker."

I had suspected that there might be some sentient entity behind this text window, but I never imagined it would torment me to this extent. This entity had to be the same one that had sent me back in time.

Whoever or whatever it was, it was clear they were enjoying this.

[I said your misery and inferiority complex make quite an entertaining spectacle.]

"Stop messing around and bring Yoo-Joon back. This is your doing, isn't it?"

[It's not my fault you made the choice that led to his removal.]

[But you really are quite slow in grasping what’s going on, aren't you? LOL It has been so long since the status effect was removed and you still haven't remembered?]

[Well, time will eventually jog your memory.]

"Stop talking nonsensical shit and just bring him back. Please. Just stop this, please... Please..."

My voice broke with desperation. I was ready to kneel, to grovel before this cruel system if it meant getting Goh Yoo-Joon back. He was my only friend, the one person who had remained by my side through it all.

I pleaded, but the text window remained unchanged for a long time, as if ignoring me or perhaps getting annoyed by me.

"Please, I’m begging you. Bring Yoo-Joon back."

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

At the peak of my anxiety, the silence in the room was almost deafening when the text finally responded.

[Even if it means erasing Chronos' Goh Yoo-Joon as well?]

I was left speechless once more. How could that be possible? Up to this point, both Goh Yoo-Joon from Chronos and Goh Yoo-Joon from here had been alive and well.

[You wouldn’t like that, would you?]

"..."

I was unable to respond because I was faced with this heart-wrenching choice. I had chosen the companionship of Chronos and its members when I traveled back in time, that was true.

...Wait.

"Hold on, you’re saying that all the members have vanished, not just Yoo-Joon?"

The text window, which had until now responded diligently, suddenly ceased to reply and vanished from my view.

I hurriedly unlocked my phone with trembling hands and started searching for each member, beginning with Joo-Han.

"Damn it..."

What was I supposed to do? What could I do? As I had feared, not only Goh Yoo-Joon, but all of the Elated members had disappeared. This catastrophe was a direct result of me choosing Chronos. Had I chosen otherwise, perhaps it would have been Chronos that faced obliteration.

‘This is fucking insane.’

Though reality felt utterly distant, despair overflowed and my rage hit a breaking point that it oddly numbed my other emotions. It was time to try to cool down and grasp what was happening. I needed to rethink everything from scratch.

Ever since my abrupt return to the present, I’d been haunted by a persistent Choose prompt in a text window. But what was it that I was supposed to be choosing?

At this moment, I couldn't exactly say, but one thing was clear—there were two timelines to consider. One was the current timeline where I resided, and the other was where I existed as a member of Chronos.

The choices seemed to revolve around these timelines, and the text window had framed these dilemmas as events. If I chose to rekindle my friendship with the Goh Yoo-Joon of this timeline, it appeared that Chronos’ Goh Yoo-Joon would vanish. This suggested that making a choice regarding one timeline would inevitably erase elements from the other one. The root cause of this twisted scenario remained shrouded in mystery.

[It has been so long since the status effect was removed and you still haven't remembered?]

This question implied there were gaps in my memory, likely tied directly to my current predicament. They said memories would naturally return over time, so I decided to wait it out for now.

"...Hah. Alright." I exhaled slowly as I tried to calm my nerves.

I understood that I was caught up in an event, which was a situation demanding a choice. Now that I was aware of the options, caution was paramount... But something nagged at me.

I yearned to revisit the previous text windows. How could I bring them up again? I blinked several times and murmured under my breath, "System."

Could it be that the text window would pop up like something from a game?

Ding!

Unbelievably, it worked.

Contractor: Suh Hyun-Woo

Progress:

- Third Condition [Choose]

Status: In progress (25%)

- The contractor's regression condition has not yet been met. Integration will not be fully completed until the contractor's adaptation process is completed.

- This condition has a time limit. (Remaining time: 2 days)

"What in the world is this?"

The system window I had envisioned would merely list previous text windows, but here was a detailed information panel. I was still struggling to make sense of it all.

I swiped through the holographic system window with my hand, and the text windows I had encountered scrolled like a timeline. Included were the first and second conditions, which, unbeknownst to me, had already been completed. It also indicated that I had recently recovered from a period of amnesia.

A shiver ran through me. What kind of bizarre entity had I inadvertently made a deal with?

"If you’re going to be this cryptic, could you at least show me what other events are left? How can any event be orchestrated so obscurely?"

But as expected, there was no response. Who was behind this? Since my time travel, I had met countless individuals. Some were decidedly suspicious, like that man with the bizarrely colored hair, pink or maybe blue.

"If I could live again... I definitely wouldn’t live the same life."

"Alright, let's make a deal."

A strange memory burst forth suddenly. I was sobbing and soaked in blood. It was a scene that seemed familiar as if from a dream, popping up in my mind rapidly before fading.

"Ugh, agh!"

At that moment, I felt an intense burning pain as if I was engulfed in flames. The terrible agony made me writhe and collapse onto the floor.

[Event One has occurred.]

The text window invaded my vision rudely, not caring for my suffering. As the burning sensation intensified and then diminished, I clutched at the burn marks on my skin and gasped for breath. Then, there was a desperate pounding at the door.

"Hyun-Woo!!!"

"Suh Hyun-Woo!! What’s happening? Open the door!"

It was my parents. They were hammering on the door as if to break it down. I was frozen in place and stared at the text window before me.

[Event 1 has occurred.]

[Make your choice.]

"Damn it... Damn it!!!"

This fucking asshole!

I had been puzzled from the moment the event window appeared. Why had Goh Yoo-Joon's appearance been labeled as Event Two?

The pain was excruciating, far more agonizing than any physical burn. I had momentarily forgotten about the brief encounter with my father before Goh Yoo-Joon's visit. If the meeting with my parents had also been orchestrated as an event, then it had been triggered by my choices.

Far off in the distance, I could almost see that wretched figure, gleefully smirking at my suffering. What had I done to deserve this torment? My teeth clenched in anger and frustration.