Chapter 3

< Chapter 3: I Was There, But I Wasn’t (3) >

I left the vacant lot and headed to the city.

“Choi Ji-hoon.”

My mind was filled with thoughts of how to use Choi Ji-hoon to my advantage.

Choi Ji-hoon, a third-generation chaebol of Suseong Group.

His personality was as rude as I had seen.

He was a spoiled brat who thought the world revolved around him.

“I’ll see you later. I’ll make you a vending machine for items.”

I was laughing evilly when it happened.

“Excuse me.”

Someone suddenly stopped me.

“Yes?”

They were two women.

“Um. You have blood on your face…”

One of them handed me a handkerchief.

“Oh.”

I remembered the wound on my cheek.

I didn’t feel much pain, so I forgot about it.

I smiled awkwardly and took the handkerchief.

“Thank you. When did I get hurt?”

It was rude to stain someone else’s handkerchief with blood, but it was ruder to reject their kindness.

I wiped the blood while making small talk.

“Oh my.”

The woman’s eyes widened and her face flushed.

I looked at the two women while wiping the blood with the handkerchief.

They were both stunning beauties.

Maybe if I had met them in the original world, I would have been mesmerized by them.

“Thank you. You’re so kind as to give me, a stranger, a handkerchief…”

But not now.

There were two reasons.

“If you’re grateful, why don’t you give me your phone number?”

The first reason.

As you can tell by the fact that these beauties approached me first, this world’s ‘Kang Seo-yul’ is a genius of appearance.

In other words, I’m the one who has the upper hand right now.

“I’m sorry. I have a girlfriend.”

“Tsk.”

Another one is.

As you can tell by the world tree that took root in the Korean Peninsula,

This world’s South Korea is a country that has ‘elves’ as its ancestors.

They got their motif from being the ‘nation of bows.’

Thanks to that, Korea has the nickname of being the number one beauty country in Asia.

“Hey. Do you think he deserves someone like you?”

“What do you mean?”

So what I’m trying to say is.

“She’s just an ordinary girl who belongs to the top 50% of Korea.”

“······This bitch is hitting me with facts. I’m pretty when I go to other worlds, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure you are~”

There are plenty of women with this level of beauty in Korea.

You can see Kim Tae-hee and Song Hye-kyo walking around if you just turn your head.

“But what about you? How much charm do you have? How high is your charm to have such a face?”

“I don’t know. I don’t know.”

I folded the handkerchief neatly and handed it back to her.

“Tsk. Fine. If you don’t want to tell me, just say so.”

She took the handkerchief and pouted her lips.

She’s cute.

But well, it’s not like I’m in the mood for dating right now.

“Well, I’ll be going then. I have an appointment.”

I waved my hand lightly and turned around.

* * *

“…He was really handsome.”

“I know. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen a guy like that in Korea, the land of beauty.”

I smiled involuntarily at the compliments I heard from behind.

It’s not a bad feeling.

My mood improved a bit after being annoyed by Choi Ji-hoon.

* * *

I took the bus and passed through the city,

I arrived at a nearby department store.

My destination was the equipment store in this department store.

According to my phone search, this was the biggest and closest one.

My purpose was to look around and investigate the equipment.

I needed to see the weapons for myself before I decided what equipment to use.

Ding-

4th floor.

The elevator stopped and the door opened.

“Welcome~”

A woman greeted me with a bright smile.

“Do you have anything you’re looking for?”

“No, I just want to look around in general. Can you guide me?”

“Yes, of course. This way.”

The 4th floor of this department store was entirely an equipment shop.

“First, I’ll show you the sword-type weapons.”

“Okay.”

As I followed the employee, I saw a shelf full of swords in the distance.

Come to think of it, that sword. It looked like a really good sword.

It was light enough for me to lift with my pathetic strength.

I wonder how much it costs.

“If you have a body type like yours, I recommend these rapiers or longswords. Oh, and if you want to know the price or ability of the weapons, you can check the status window yourself. The status window viewing is all activated.”

I wanted to do that, but I couldn’t see the status window yet.

I looked at the weapons with a blank expression.

“Then, next this way…”

After that, I went around the shop.

Honestly, they all looked the same to me. I had no idea which sword was good.

This is the sorrow of someone who can’t see the status window.

“You don’t seem to like any of the equipment.”

The employee gave me a forced smile.

“Huh? Oh.”

Was it because I had a blank expression on my face?

She thought I was disappointed.

I wasn’t disappointed.

I just couldn’t see the status window.

“If you don’t mind, can I show you some higher-level equipment?”

“Huh? Oh, yes. Sure.”

I don’t have the money or the intention to buy them, but if you’re going to offer me such a service, I’m grateful.

“Then, this way.”

How long did I follow her?

“Wow.”

We arrived at a place that looked like a giant safe.

She put her palm on the panel of the safe and it started to open slowly.

“Is this okay? You can just show me this place.”

“Yes, it’s fine. This place is open to anyone who requests it.”

“I see.”

I thought I got lucky because I was handsome, but that wasn’t the case.

It’s embarrassing.

“Actually, this place is like a museum. There are no items that customers can wear here.”

“…Are the user restrictions that bad?”

“No. It’s just biologically impossible.”

She raised her hand and pointed at a sword.

It looked flashy even at a glance.

“For example, this sword. It has a condition that only ‘dwarf race’ can use it.”

“Oh~”

I see.

That’s why she called it a museum.

“What about the other items?”

“Yes. There are items for elf race, dwarf race, and over there are items for beastman race.”

“I see.”

As I said before, this world’s setting is a bit unique.

What’s special about it?

Despite the fact that there is a ‘world tree’ standing in the center of South Korea, there are no elves.

Despite the fact that there are traces of dwarves all over China, there are no dwarves.

Despite the fact that Dragon Lord’s heart is designated as a national treasure in America, there are no dragons.

There are no intelligent beings other than humans in this world right now.

“How do you like it?”

“Yes. It’s amazing.”

“Hehe. Right?”

It’s been 10,000 years since elves and other intelligent races lived in this world.

Now, 10,000 years later.

Their existence remained only as legends.

They only left behind countless relics as evidence of their existence.

“…I could just rob this place later?”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“Oh. Nothing.”

Of course, this setting is not for nothing. The other races will gradually reveal themselves in front of the protagonist as the novel progresses.

They will say that they were hiding for some reason.

“Wow. But these are really awesome.”

“Right? Right?”

There were flashy pieces of equipment that looked like they came from games or comics.

As I admired them,

Suddenly, I saw a flashy sword hanging crookedly on a shelf.

I didn’t know if it had fallen from above, or if the stand had a problem and tilted.

It looked like it would fall with a slight breeze. I went closer to check it out, and unlike the other equipment, there was no protective glass on the floor.

I reached out for the sword.

It bothered me, so I wanted to put it back in its original place.

“By the way…”

The employee who was explaining to me turned around and tried to say something.

“The equipment here is… Ah! You, you!”

Suddenly, her eyes widened.

“That, that thing! Don’t touch it!”

“Huh?”

Zzzzzzzz-!

At that moment, a fierce spark flew from where the sword and my hand touched.

“Ouch!”

“Kyaaak!”

Then I remembered.

There was a setting that you shouldn’t touch equipment with race restrictions.

There was no direct description in the novel, but it said that a rejection reaction would occur.

What a stupid guy. How could I forget that!

I quickly let go of the sword.

Fortunately, the spark stopped soon.

“Kyaaah… Huh?”

The employee who was screaming looked at me and the sword alternately with wide eyes.

“Are, are you okay?”

“Ah, yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“Huh?”

I regretted my thoughtless action.

Maybe because I let go quickly, there was no backlash.

But that was all hindsight.

It didn’t change the fact that I did something stupid.

“….Anyway, I’m really sorry. You were kind enough to show me this place.”

I bowed my head.

“No, no. It’s our fault for not managing it well. I’m more sorry.”

The employee was still in a daze.

She looked very surprised.

“Well, I’ll be going now.”

“Ah, yes, yes. Go, go ahead.”

I smiled bitterly and turned around.

* * *

After Kang Seo-yul disappeared.

The employee who was left alone stood blankly for a while.

“It’s strange. I’m sure they told me not to touch this sword when I was trained.”

She recalled the time when she was trained, looking at the sword that Kang Seo-yul had grabbed.

‘The Fang of the Vampire Lord’.

“They said that if I touched it even a little, I would turn into ashes from the backlash. They warned me to be careful… I’m sure they did.”

She stared at the sword for a long time.

“Did my senior just scare me?”

* * *

April 11th.

For the past two days, I spent time checking if there was anything different from my knowledge about this world.

As a result, I confirmed that there was nothing different from what I knew, although there were things I didn’t know because they were not described in the novel.

And tomorrow is finally the day of awakening.

The day when I can see the status window that I have been hearing about all the time for the past three days with my own eyes.

And the day when I have my first battle with an enemy.

“…It’s more impressive when you see it up close.”

That’s why I decided to visit the place where the incident will happen tomorrow.

The World Tree Park with a fancy cafe terrace and a huge fountain.

Tomorrow at this time, this place will be attacked by terrorists.

I need to be there for the awakening.

“…Will it be okay?”

I felt a surge of anxiety as I thought about fighting terrorists all of a sudden when I had never had a proper fight before.

If the incident goes as it did in the novel, there won’t be much danger.

His ability won’t work on me.

I reassured myself like that.

I was lost in thought when it happened.

“Excuse me. Have you seen this person?”

I heard a beautiful voice that sounded like it purified my ears.

I turned my head and looked at the source of the voice.

Wow.

There was a goddess standing there.

Golden hair that shone more brightly in the sunlight.

A face that was so perfect that there were no words to describe it.

As I said before, the Koreans in this world are generally beautiful.

But this woman was outstanding among them.

This is what they call eye-catching.

“Hello?”

“Ah, yes. Sorry. What did you say?”

“Yes. Have you seen this person?”

She had a photo in her hand.

A man with a gaunt face and wearing all-black clothes.

I had never seen him before.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Oh. I see.”

She looked disappointed.

Even that was picturesque.

As I was staring blankly at her.

“Jia-nim. He’s not here either.”

A man who looked like he was in his late 30s came up to us.

Wait, did he just say Jia?

“…We still don’t know anything. Let’s search some more.”

With that name and that face.

It was certain.

She was Shin Jia.

The main supporting character of this novel, who always helped the protagonist with kindness.

Among her many settings, there was one that said she was a genius of beauty.

If there was ‘Kang Seo-yul’ among men, there was ‘Shin Jia’ among women.

That’s how much she was praised.

She deserved to be called that with her appearance.

But why was she here?

I thought Shin Jia and the protagonist met after they enrolled.

No, wait. Today was a day that wasn’t recorded in the novel.

It wasn’t strange that she was here.

I was convincing myself of that when it happened.

“Kyaaah!”

Suddenly, a woman’s scream tore through the air from afar.

“!”

A gentle breeze blew.

I felt a chill run through my body.

Shin Jia and I turned our heads in that direction at the same time.

“Run!”

“Kyaaak!”

People who looked terrified were running like crazy from that direction.

Boom-!

At the same time, a loud explosion shook the ground.

“Ru, run!”

“It’s a terrorist attack!”

The surroundings turned into chaos in an instant.

Terrorist attack.

That’s what everyone was shouting.

But the terrorist attack was supposed to happen tomorrow, why?

“Jia-nim.”

“Yes. I know.”

Shin Jia’s eyes sank coldly.

“Piale Aro. Today we must….”

She glared in the direction where smoke was rising with icy eyes.

“Please contact the security and the main house right away.”

“Yes. I understand.”

“I’ll go ahead and check it out.”

“Yes. Please be careful.”

With that, they disappeared from my sight.

“Piale Aro.”

I knew that name.

“Why today….”

The first enemy who appeared in the first chapter of the novel, and the one who caused the incident that made the protagonist awaken.

The incident happened a day earlier.

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