Chapter 138: Survival (3)

—I did think that you might call someday. It seems you’ve been doing well.

I said, “I’m sorry for not calling you until now. I should have—”

—At your age, you’re probably busy with work.

I heard faint coughs from the other end of the call. The orphanage director cleared his throat before he continued.

—Strangers sometimes come and ask if you are from our orphanage. At first, I thought you had done something very wrong, but the other children showed me a video. Is it true that your other name is Death King? What a name...

“It isn’t a name I personally came up with. The Tower—”

—I see. Anyhow, it’s been a while since I heard your voice, so I feel relieved now.

I didn’t reply. I wasn’t sure what to say.

—Gong-Ja? Is something wrong?

Holding the phone tightly, I suppressed the emotions surging in my chest down my throat. “I have something to ask you, Director.”

—Tell me. No, wait a minute. How serious is the question? Let me know that first.

“It’s very serious. It’s probably the most serious question I’ve ever asked you...”

—Then give me two—no, three minutes. I’m lying on a sofa right now, so let me get up, get some coffee, and listen in a proper posture. Just don’t hang up. Wait three minutes.

“Okay.”

His life was probably very difficult.

I thought of all the malice that one had to endure to be a good person. If all the good people in this world came together, it would be possible to have a display of all the malice they had endured in their lives.

“Well, how is the orphanage these days? Are you doing okay too?”

—You’re changing the topic. It looks like you’re going to ask me a

very

serious question. The orphanage is fine. There are more teachers here now than when you were here. Now I’m just a director and I don’t do much. We receive more donations... Oh, we now have more delicious food.

“That’s good.”

—I’m sitting down now. You can ask me the question.

I took a deep breath. “Director... Did you graduate from Shinseo Middle and High Schools?”

There was tension between us. I overheard the director sipping on something. Probably black coffee.

—Yeah, I graduated from Shinseo High School. It's a prestigious school, but it used to be like that back then too.

Please let me be wrong.

“Were you class president during your second year of high school?” I asked.

I hoped the trauma had shown me an illusion. Maybe all the scenes from the past were lies, therefore the director was just an ordinary good guy and had not-so-unhappy school days. That was what I wished for.

The silence continued for a while before I heard the director’s voice on the other end again.

—That’s right. I was class president. It’s already been decades since then.

My heart throbbed painfully at what I was about to say. The director also seemed to sense the uneasy tension, but we both kept our mouths shut.

“Director.”

—Go on.

“When you were the class president in the second-year, did anyone... jump from the school rooftop? Did anyone do that?”

The director’s breathing paused. He replied.

—Yes. Somebody did.

The nightmare proved to be real.

—Although he and I never had a proper conversation. But yes, someone did jump.

The school hallways I walked through. The chain on the metal doorknob. The rooftop that ■■ had looked down from. The schoolyard as desolate as a wasteland. The shack floating like a white island in the middle of the plastic waste dump. All of them were true. There were no lies there.

“Please don’t die. Please. I beg you... Please... you have to live.”

“Yeah, Class President. Let’s survive this world together.”

Only the ending was a lie.

What should have been lies were the truth. Something that should have been true, the altered ending, was just a dream. That was the story of ■■ and the director.

“Director...” I barely managed to say, “Do you remember that person’s name?”

No one in this world knew his name. He was a man from the wilderness. The people of the empire gave him the name Lefanta to honor him. He killed Constellations, so the people in the Tower called him the Constellation Murderer.

The outside world had abandoned him. No one tried to remember him, so now only one person could call his name.

—Kim Yul. His name was Kim Yul, Gong-Ja.

I closed my eyes. I recalled the conversation I’d had with the Paladin in the school hallway.

“The student sitting by the window at the back of the classroom,” I said. “Do you remember him?”

The Paladin frowned. “Uhm...? Yeah, I do. He’s our classmate.”

The censoring noise cleared up.

“His name is Kim Yul, I think.”

Yes, that was his name.

“I’m not sorry to you, Kim Yul.”

He was so small that a white curtain could cover him whenever the wind blew through the classroom window. Before class started, he quietly took out an old notebook and looked at it. He would try pulling the chain on the metal door even though he knew it would not open.

“Sorry, Kim Yul. I’m sorry. Sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Decades ago, when I hadn’t been born yet, this child used to live in my world. After he left this world, he went on to live in many others over the next few decades.

—Gong-Ja? Are you crying right now? No, no. Nevermind. Anyway, how do you know about Kim Yul? I thought no one remembered him anymore.

The orphanage director was smart enough to get a scholarship to attend school. He had been so passionate that he maintained first place in his class at a prestigious school. To study, he only slept four or five hours a day. He knew how to create the future he dreamed of.

What dream did he use to have when he started high school? What kind of future had he been dreaming of?

—I’m not sure how you know him. Really.

But he had seen Kim Yul the human and the cruel animals who had pushed him to his death.

“No one cares about you. No one, no one. No one...”

When the director witnessed Kim Yul’s suicide, it was as if his life took a sudden turn. He gave up on the freedom of choice that everyone deserved and abandoned all his dreams. For the rest of his life, the director wanted to live on to remember Kim Yul’s name.

“Director, he’s here.”

—What are you talking about?

“Kim Yul. Your classmate.”

—I have no idea what you’re talking about...

“Kim Yul lived in a garbage dump at the feet of a mountain.”

There was silence on the other line.

“He sat in the back row of the classroom. By the window. He had old stains on the collar of his school uniform shirt. The guy who was dating the school president at the time was a bully. His older brother was a singer. Kim Yul didn’t have a phone, so the bad guy forcibly gave him one. The whole class harassed Kim Yul with text messages.

“Did you know that there was a farm behind the school? It was for raising rabbits and chickens. There was supposed to be a farming club taking care of the place and all that, but a foreign woman jumped to her death with her newborn. After the incident, no one took care of the farm anymore, except Kim Yul.”

—How...

The director’s voice quivered.

—Gong-Ja, how do you know that...?

“Director, you tried to stop it. You tried it since your first year. But after investigating, you found out that the parents of the leader bully were on the school’s board of directors, so you quit, right? There was also a senior pastor of the church you attended. Seryun Church. You told your homeroom teacher, but you couldn’t stand your ground because of your scholarship.”

—How...

“He’s here, Director.” I lowered my head while holding the phone. “He’s here.”

There was a long silence before the director spoke again.

—Four days. Actually, can you please wait a week?

A student whose time had stopped decades ago now spoke in a slightly older and wearier voice.

—I’ll be there.

***

A week passed by quickly. During that week, the director sorted out his assets. Anyone could enter the Tower, but they couldn’t bring items from the outside world. The director threw away what he had possessed, achieved, and protected over the decades.

It had been a while since I last saw him. He looked older than I remembered him.

“I was planning on retiring anyway. I’ve already found a teacher to take on my role. I was in charge of a few projects in the region, but... civil servants can’t do much about me ditching my work since I decided to come to the Tower, right? They can take care of the work themselves.”

I shook his hand. “Welcome, Director.”

He offered a bitter smile. “I’m not the orphanage director anymore, but yeah, call me however you want.”

Of course, the director had just entered the Tower, so he had no title. People without titles weren’t able to enter the Great Library of All Life. However, after talking with the Indoor Librarian, he made an exception and I brought the director inside.

“When I came here, I realized how successful you are now. No matter where I go, Gong-Ja, everyone only talks about you. Just as I entered the Tower, dozens of people flocked to the city entrance to guide me...”

“Well, I

am

successful in the Tower. I may not look like it, but I’m the Rank 2 Hunter, Director.”

“But you had the worst grades in school among your peers...”

The director nostalgically reflected on his past memories.

“So the beauty does change the beast.”

Those eyes were exactly like the ones I had seen in the trauma. While I was overwhelmed with emotions I couldn’t name, the director was warmly welcomed by my colleagues.

“Aha. You’re the one who raised Mr. Death King! I’m the Inquisitor. Nice to meet you!”

“I’m the Black Dragon Master. The Death King is the assistant guild leader of my guild, so I always receive his help. If you encounter any inconveniences while living in the Tower, please don’t hesitate to let me know.”

“I’m the Paladin in charge of security in Babylon on the first floor. Sir, I heard that you run an orphanage in the outside world. It’s a little awkward to say this when we meet for the first time, but the Tower always needs professional staff. I would like to formally discuss with you again later.”

“Okay. Thank you for your hospitality, everyone,” the director responded, seemingly used to this kind of conversation.

After a series of greetings, the director and I were left alone. He said, “One of your peers from the orphanage became the youngest member of the National Assembly, so I’m used to this. Even back then, dozens of people came by every week to say hello and congratulate me.”

“What? Who?!”

“Kim Hanbija. Do you remember? He’s now a proportional representation councilman. He changed his name, so maybe you didn’t know.”

I was shocked. I didn’t know this even before the over four thousand day regression because I lost all interest in my home country.

“Oh my god... Unbelievable. He was just an idiot... What did he change his name to?”

“Kim Hanbi.”

“He just took off ‘Ja’ at the end. I knew it. He’s still an idiot, isn’t he?”

“I can say this now that you are an adult, but you were also an idiot back then, Gong-Ja. A real idiot.”

“

Eh.

Wasn’t I a smarter one though?”

“I never understood why some people are bad at math until I raised you guys. Death King, you should consider it very fortunate that the ranking in the Tower isn’t determined by test scores.”

The Guardian chuckled behind him.

—I’ll get to hear a lot about your embarrassing past. Good, good!

The director and I talked freely. To prevent our conversation from being broadcast outside, I asked the Indoor Librarian in advance to stop the broadcast. He not only granted my request, but his bookmark maids also served tea and refreshments.

“I saw it on video, but this place is a really strange world.”

The director looked at the bookmark maids with suspicion. He then glanced around the vast library before meeting my eyes.

“So, where is he?”

I told him everything. About my abilities, the trauma penalty, and a person named Lefanta Aegim and Constellation Murderer.

The director listened to my entire story with an expressionless face. But expressionless did not mean emotionless. For over an hour, the director sat quietly, unable to even take a sip of tea.

“All of these stories are hard to believe.”

“I can understand why.”

“But how you know Kim Yul is also impossible.”

As had been the case since I was young, the director’s expression was difficult to read, but I could see something now after going through the trauma. The director was afraid.

“Kim Yul wasn’t even included in the graduation album. There is no trace of him anywhere in the album... But I... Think about it, Gong-Ja. They could have at least left an empty spot for him.”

I just stared at him, unsure what to say.

“And why are all those album photos so happy? Those bastards who bullied him... That son of a bitch who herded them... How could they smile in those pictures? For a long time, I didn’t understand how they could do that. Yeah, I’m sure they’re still doing well in life.”

The director looked down at the cup of tea with impassive eyes. He quietly took some sips, even though the contents of the cup had already gone cold a long time ago. His eyes were once again on me.

“I’m okay. Please bring him here—no, what’s left of him.”

I nodded. “

Monster Legion Reincarnation.

”

A shadow surged and came to life, moving. The black liquid, resembling wastewater, rippled. The current took the shape of a person, the waves turned into silver hair, and the puddles formed neat clothes.

“

Hmm.

This is unexpected.” The man with silver hair looked around and curtly muttered, “Is this a kidnapping? Did someone kidnap the puppet and awaken it forcibly? My power... I can’t use it. I presume that the puppet’s system was tampered with or that very powerful mental magic was used on me.”

The man had lost his black hair, name, and memories. Kim Yul was merely his forgotten starting point, so the man standing in front of the director was probably completely different from the Kim Yul he remembered.

The man was Lefanta Aegim, the Constellation Murderer. Therefore, no one had the right to call him Kim Yul...

“Mr. Kim Yul.”

...except for one witness who had been present at the start of his story.

The Constellation Murderer looked back at the director. The director slowly kneeled on the library floor.

“I’m one of the people who killed you, Mr. Kim Yul. I’ve wanted to tell you this for a long time. I...” The director bowed until his forehead touched the floor. “I’m really sorry.”

The Constellation Murderer’s expression turned serious.