Chapter 419: Reunion - Kang Joo-Han and Goh Yoo-Joon’s story (5)

[Are you ready to sacrifice?]

When they requested more hints, the response they received was far from helpful. It only pressured them to make a choice instead.

Kang Joo-Han suppressed his rising irritation and conceded. "Alright."

It seemed that the entity delivering these cryptic messages had no intention of providing any further clues. The possibility that their choice might harm Suh Hyun-Woo, or needlessly torment someone who had finally found peace, filled Kang Joo-Han with countless worries.

Time was passing. How much time had gone by? Did they even have enough time to deliberate like this?

Kang Joo-Han suddenly snapped back to reality. If this really was an opportunity, he knew well that the time to act wouldn't be ample. He was all too familiar with the bitter regrets of hesitating when faced with a chance.

'Sacrifice is a selfless act.'

With only limited information available, Kang Joo-Han resolved to stake his decision on the notion of sacrifice.

“Yoo-Joon, I’ve made my choice."

“What are you planning to do, hyung?"

“Let's try to bring Hyun-Woo back."

This was truly akin to a miracle, a chance that might never come again. They had to act now and not fall into a cycle of hesitation and regret.

The two men faced each other. No words were spoken, but it seemed they could both sense a determined resolve settling between them.

“Let’s have no regrets."

“Agreed."

Both stared at the blue text window.

“We’re ready."

At that moment, the floating text window flickered and displayed a new message.

[First Condition: Be Ready to Sacrifice] Completion Progress! (2/3)

The text was accompanied by the ticking sound of a clock, almost as if it was counting down.

“...What?"

They were inevitably puzzled.

“Two out of three? What does that mean, Yoo-Joon?" Kang Joo-Han failed to grasp the significance of the text, and turned to Goh Yoo-Joon, who had figured it out and cursed.

“This is fucking bullshit...”

“Why, what does it mean?"

Goh Yoo-Joon’s expression was twisted in frustration. “It means that two out of three required people have completed the sacrifice condition." This implied that there was one more person experiencing the same ordeal as them.

Goh Yoo-Joon pressed his forehead in frustration. It seemed like one challenge after another. Just when they thought they were prepared to make the sacrifice, they hit another wall.

Another player, as the creator god referred to, was still required to fulfill the condition? The situation was already complex enough to burst their heads.

Unlike the furious Goh Yoo-Joon, Kang Joo-Han calmed himself and began searching through his phone. “Stop swearing and sit down. I will make a call."

“A call? What? Who are you calling?"

“You think we’re the only ones filled with regret over Hyun-Woo's situation?"

Certainly, there was another person laden with guilt and remorse over Suh Hyun-Woo's existence, as much as they were.

Goh Yoo-Joon looked surprised. “Lee Jin-Sung?"

Kang Joo-Han didn’t respond but immediately called Lee Jin-Sung. “He might be out of his mind and not answer. But if he’s in the same situation as us, he will pick up." He gripped the phone determinedly.

“What in the world are you doing?!"

As the ringing dragged on, Kang Joo-Han nervously chewed his lip and prompted Goh Yoo-Joon to also start searching for Lee Jin-Sung’s number on his phone. “I will send a message too."

Just then, the ringing stopped. Lee Jin-Sung’s voice, weak and cracked as if he had been crying for days, came through.

- ...Hello?

Kang Joo-Han quickly asked as he was desperate for answers. He didn’t notice the struggles from Lee Jin-Sung’s voice.

"Where are you, Jin-Sung?"

- Uh? Oh... home.

“Come to my place quickly." Kang Joo-Han hung up then realized he should have first asked if Lee Jin-Sung had also seen that bizarre blue window. Though he had told Goh Yoo-Joon to remain calm, he himself was struggling to do so.

“...Hyung, you can’t just hang up. We needed to ask him about the window." Goh Yoo-Joon also appeared frustrated at Kang Joo-Han’s hasty decision and fiddled with his phone. “So, is he coming?"

Kang Joo-Han said gruffly, “I cut the call too quickly, didn’t even listen to him. Can you call him back?"

Goh Yoo-Joon bit his lip in silence and slowly turned on his phone. Under normal circumstances, he would have avoided calling after Kang Joo-Han had already done so, saying, 'Hyung called already, so it’s settled,' or 'He will come.' But given the situation, he reluctantly pressed the call button.

However, before the call could even connect, Lee Jin-Sung called Kang Joo-Han's phone back.

- Hyung, hyung, I’m on my way. I know why you called me. I’ll get there as fast as I can.

And as usual, Kang Joo-Han hastily hung up the phone. It was difficult to have a serious conversation while driving.

“Jin-Sung is on his way, so there is no need to call him again.”

“Ah, okay. Got it.”

Goh Yoo-Joon repeatedly hit the end call button and put down the phone. He was relieved that he didn't need to speak with Lee Jin-Sung.

Kang Joo-Han stared at him intently and then looked away before asking, “Does he make you that uncomfortable?”

“It's not that he makes me uncomfortable.”

“You avoid him, though.”

Goh Yoo-Joon turned his head and looked at the tightly shut blackout curtains. “It's Jin-Sung who is avoiding me.”

“It's because you make him feel uncomfortable. Jin-Sung hasn't done anything wrong. If anything, you are more to blame.”

“I know.”

But too much time had passed, and now he neither had the desire nor the courage to talk and resolve things.

“You both should make up now. You will regret it if you give up on fixing this. We both know it painfully well.”

“We will deal with it when this thing is over.”

Once everything was resolved, Goh Yoo-Joon would apologize to Jin-Sung. He regretted blaming him for Suh Hyun-Woo's departure from the group when he was younger and taking his anger out on him.

***

Soon after, Lee Jin-Sung arrived at Kang Joo-Han's house. Upon entering, Lee Jin-Sung hesitated when he saw Goh Yoo-Joon standing behind Kang Joo-Han. He avoided the other man’s gaze and walked inside.

“Yoo-Joon hyung, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Yeah. Uh... did you cry a lot?”

“No, not really.”

Kang Joo-Han looked at them both in disbelief. How could they still be this awkward when interacting with each other? Kang Joo-Han sighed and pushed both Lee Jin-Sung and Goh Yoo-Joon onto the couch.

“The remaining player is Jin-Sung, just as expected.”

“Yeah.” Lee Jin-Sung nodded, already understanding the situation even before Kang Joo-Han could explain.

“You seem to have figured it out on your own, so I will skip the long explanation.”

“Yeah, I thought this was about Hyun-Woo hyung... but maybe not.” Jin-Sung murmured, to which Kang Joo-Han affirmed with a look.

“We've already made our choice.”

As soon as Kang Joo-Han said this, a blue window popped up with perfect timing.

[First Condition: Be Ready to Sacrifice] Completion Progress! (2/3)

Lee Jin-Sung stared intently at the window. The text was slightly different from what had appeared to him before. However, he quickly understood its meaning.

“Are you guys prepared to make the sacrifices?”

“Not to put it too grandly, but we've decided to give it a try. We need to save Hyun-Woo.”

That was, if this unbelievable window wasn't just an illusion.

Lee Jin-Sung looked at Goh Yoo-Joon, who silently nodded.

Kang Joo-Han continued, “Jin-Sung, a sacrifice is literally an act of giving something of mine without expecting anything in return. Of course, it's not necessarily our lives, but we can't be sure what it will entail.”

Honestly, Kang Joo-Han was quite worried about the fact that one of the players was Lee Jin-Sung. How could he not worry about his younger friend, who also cherished Suh Hyun-Woo?

But Lee Jin-Sung answered without hesitation. “I know. But hyung, I've already made up my mind. I made a choice.”

It was a natural response. Both Kang Joo-Han and Goh Yoo-Joon had expected his answer because Lee Jin-Sung was the one who felt the greatest guilt and remorse for Suh Hyun-Woo.

“Jin-Sung—” Kang Joo-Han was about to advise further consideration.

Ding!

Pababam!

With the cheerful sound of fanfare, the floating window's text changed.

[First Condition: Be Ready to Sacrifice] Completed!

- The target Suh Hyun-Woo will regress to another timeline.

- [Second Condition: Choose] Unlocked!

- You can view the options!

- Click the magnifying glass icon to check the details of the quest!

“...Hyun-Woo has regressed."

Now, these three could no longer back out. They had to sacrifice something for the regression of Suh Hyun-Woo after accepting the creator god's proposal.

Kang Joo-Han immediately clicked on the magnifying glass icon. As soon as he did that, the text unfolded at length. Only then could the three of them understand what was written there. The significant and utterly incomprehensible writings revealed what the meaning of Suh Hyun-Woo's regression and what the sacrifice entailed.