Beyond the Eternity

After what seemed like a thorough evaluation, she looked up at Jung Yunhee and pointed at me. "Who is this creepy man?"

God Damnit. Jung Yunhee looked somewhat confused, glancing between me and Miyuki Kuroi, "Huh? So he isn't your brother?"

"Brother? I don't have a brother, but I do have a sister."

Finally, Jung Yunhee turned to me and asked, "She's not your sister?"

"No, she's not."

"I thought you asked me to save her because you two were related?"

"Not necessarily. Haven't you figured it out already?"

"What...?"

Jung Yunhee frowned and glanced at Miyuki Kuroi. It didn't take long for her to catch on, and her eyes widened in realization.

"Wait, you don't mean..."

"Yes, she's the sister of that person. Honestly, I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out. I thought you two shared some kind of connection."

"Are you saying that two people can form a connection simply by dueling against each other?"

"Isn't that usually how it works? There are even plenty of popular articles about it online."

"That's nonsense. By that logic, I could write a story about dressing a duck in a penguin costume, call it a penguin, and it would suddenly be true."

"Please don't joke about something like that."

Someone wrote a novel about the Horrors known as Fables, and it somehow became a reality.

It was a 'miracle' that defied all sense of Logic and the World's Order. Yet, despite its impossibility, it came into existence, costing countless lives due to that seemingly innocent act.

If a novel could become a reality, then what else was truly impossible?

Perhaps even joking that a duck could become a penguin was far more dangerous than it seemed.

Suddenly, there was a voice.

"Did you know my sister?"

Miyuki Kuroi interrupted, tilting her head curiously, like a penguin.

Jung Yunhee and I exchanged a quick glance before I crouched down to meet Miyuki's eyes. I said, "Not exactly. But we were allies for a while and fought side by side."

"You don't look strong," she observed bluntly.

"Survival isn't all about strength. And you shouldn't judge people just by their looks."

"My mother used to say that a lot."

"See? It's smart to listen to adults."

"She died because she trusted someone blindly."

"...."

"She left this world because she blindly trusted someone."

"...."

For some reason, she repeated the same words again as if she was trying to get a point across.

How am I supposed to respond to those words?

Thinking about it, Kagura mentioned something about her mother passing away when she was young—specifically when she was sixteen. At that time, Miyuki would have been about seven years old.

Dammit. Why did the author have to give the characters such sad backstories filled with tragedies?

Perhaps he was simply trying to craft a more compelling story for his readers. He might not have known that his creation would become a reality, or that billions of lives would be lost because of the Song of Nightmares he wrote.

Even so, where was he when his character was in such a state?

Before I could dwell on that any longer or say a word...

"By the way, how were you able to find the rest of the party members?"

It was Angelica.

* * *

The method Kim Hyunwoo used to locate the missing party members was almost exactly what I had imagined. Despite that, I couldn't help but be impressed by his ingenuity.

"You found the party members using this?"

"Exactly. Since I can't manipulate the internet, I had to create those bots to search for them manually. Unfortunately, it took longer to set up than I expected."

Kim Hyunwoo scratched the back of his head in irritation.

On the desk in front of him sat a mini laptop that looked custom-built, accompanied by a metallic object. The object was shaped like a fry, though more precisely, it resembled a mosquito. It was one of Kim Hyunwoo's creations, but it didn't seem to possess any combat capabilities. In fact, it was intentionally built that way since combat was not its main purpose.

Kim Hyunwoo tapped the metallic object with a grin. "This little thing is what helped me track down their locations. It's a mini-drone, designed to scout areas we couldn't reach directly."

I raised an eyebrow, "A drone, huh? Does it have any other functions besides tracking?"

Kim Hyunwoo nodded enthusiastically, clearly proud of his work. "Well, it can transmit data and even record audio, so it's pretty handy for gathering intel in areas we can't access. I built it to be stealthy, so it doesn't stand out much. I didn't want to risk alerting anyone to our presence."

"Impressive. So you've used this to pinpoint the party members' locations?"

"Yep. I sent them out to scout different areas, and once they spotted something, they fed the data back to me." He tapped a few keys on his custom-built laptop, and a map appeared on the screen, showing various marked locations. "See? Each one of these marks represents a party member's location, based on the drone's feed. All we need to do now is go to each one, but it's unrealistic to move from place to place just to find them."

Angelica noticed something and asked, "Wait a minute... How were you able to receive and send data without the internet?"

"That's because of a skill I purchased from the shop... it's called Signal Relay. It lets me transmit and receive data through a direct connection to a specific frequency. Therefore, bypassing the need for the internet or any external networks." Kim Hyunwoo explained, with his grin widening as he watched Angelica's puzzled expression. "It's not the most common skill, but it does the job."

"You've been busy."

"Pretty much. I wasn't sure how long it would take, but with this, it's just a matter of heading out. We also need to keep the other survivors in mind."

I turned my attention back to the drone, which hummed quietly on the desk. "How many of these things do you have?"

"Just a few. I didn't want to overcomplicate things. This one's the prototype, and it's been working well so far, so I didn't see the need to make more just yet."

"You really thought this through, huh?"

Kim Hyunwoo shrugged modestly. "I had to. We couldn't afford to waste time searching blindly."

Watching him work, I couldn't help but wonder just how many other surprises Kim Hyunwoo had up his sleeve. In fact, he was exactly like this in the original worldline of Song of Nightmares.

The Junkyard Engineering attribute was known for its vast creative potential, limited only by the user's imagination.

If Kim Hyunwoo continued to grow at this pace, wouldn't he become an unstoppable force?

At the very least, this solved the problem of locating the missing party members; now, all that was left was to head out.

However,

Crunch—

"AAAGGHHH! SOMEONE, HELP! PLEASE, GET HER OFF ME! I'M SORRY! SOMEONE, ANYONE!"

... A desperate cry echoed alongside a sound.

I turned to see Yoo Jinsung frantically running around the room with eleven-year-old Miyuki clinging to him, biting the top of his head like it was a giant onigiri.

What the hell happened? Wait... wasn't Jung Yunhee supposed to be watching the children?

Turning my head once more, I saw Jung Yunhee rubbing her temple in frustration, while Yoo Rin lowered her head, clearly embarrassed.

I sighed, "What happened?"

"That idiot took something that belonged to her and refused to give it back. Apparently, she has a short temper and bites when she's angry. And well, this is the result," Jung Yunhee explained dryly.

"That serious? What did he take?"

"Some kind of jewelry Hyunwoo made for her. What was it called again?"

Yoo Rin spoke as if she was apologizing. "It's called a trinket."

"A trinket...?"

"It's a special piece of jewelry, like a charm or talisman, that Hyunwoo crafted for her to lift her spirits, and she's become quite attached to it."

"I see. So that is the situation."

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It was simple. In fact, the situation was so simple that it was ridiculous.

Ridiculous yet understandable. Even if the world has come to an end, children will still be children. Yes?

Yoo Jinsung was still running around the room here and there, but Miyuki had seemingly locked her jaws in place, unwilling to let go. Was she some kind of stubborn camp mosquito?

Jung Yunhee finally had enough and strode over to them. "Alright, break it up, you two."

"Y-Yes! Please, just get her off me!"

"Stop whining and hold still."

"Aacckkk!!"

Jung Yunhee attempted to pull Miyuki off the top of Yoo Jinsung's head but failed miserably. Sensing the struggle, Miyuki tightened her grip and yanked on Yoo Jinsung's hair, causing him to scream even louder.

What kind of scene was this?

It felt like I was watching a comedy show, and I definitely didn't have the energy for it right now. My body was still aching from the probability penalty.

"Ughh..."

I let out a weary sigh and glanced over at Angelica, who looked completely baffled by the scene unfolding. "I'm going to lie down for a bit. Can you keep an eye on the kids?"

She hesitated, still staring at the chaos, then gave a small nod. "Uh... alright. Sure."

"Appreciate it."

Just then—

"Ugh... aaarrgghh… I-I don't feel so good…"

Yoo Jinsung staggered, swaying on his feet, before finally collapsing to the floor, with Miyuki still clinging stubbornly to his head. It looked like he'd actually passed out from blood loss.

* * *

「 A week passed in the blink of an eye.

We spent our days hunting stray monsters for two main reasons: first, to keep our food supplies stocked, and second, to help strengthen the survivors. It was crucial that they grew stronger, not just for our own survival, but so they could stand on their own when the time came.

Angelica would teach them about the System's privileges such as the usage of [Coins] and the [Shop] function, while Jung Yunhee would focus on honing their physical combat skills.

It was chaotic, and many people were injured unnecessarily. However, thankfully, there were no casualties. At times, I found myself switching between the roles of doctor and leader.

Since I was the only one with medical knowledge, it couldn't be helped.

However, one thing continued to nag at me—the relationship between Yoo Jinsung and Miyuki. To be more precise, the relationship between the two did not improve at all.

Every time Miyuki got upset, she would leap at Yoo Jinsung, grab both of his ears, and bite the top of his head. Angelica had called me several times to step in and resolve the issue, but for some reason, those two just couldn't seem to get along.

Interestingly, Yoo Rin had no issues with Miyuki. In fact, the two of them got along quite well. The real problem, however, was Yoo Jinsung.

Was he really the problem? He didn't seem like the troublemaker type. Or perhaps the issue lay with Miyuki herself?

Honestly, at this point, I wasn't sure anymore. Maybe it was impossible for everyone to get along. After all, wasn't that the nature of humans? The history of humanity has further proven this point as the truth.

Another point of interest was Jung Yunhee's behavior. She managed to get along with everyone but always maintained a subtle distance, one that could only be detected by closely observing her body language and posture. Despite this, it appeared that she and Kim Hyunwoo had made some progress in improving their relationship during their time together.

Although I was concerned about that, it wasn't the main issue. The real problem was that, every night, once everyone had fallen asleep, Jung Yunhee would slip on her leather jacket and vanish, only to return in the early hours of the morning—usually around or before 5 a.m.

The act of going outside at night wasn't inherently strange, but the fact that she did so regularly was enough to spark curiosity about where she went and what she was up to during those late hours.

I was a rather curious fellow, you know.

As such, I asked Kim Hyunwoo about Jung Yunhee's midnight walks. It seemed he had already noticed them, but he claimed not to know where she went. Honestly, it felt like he didn't care enough to be curious himself.

In the end, her midnight walks remained a mystery I couldn't unravel.

In any case, everything seemed to be going smoothly over the past few days— perhaps a little too smoothly, if you asked me.

It felt like the calm before the storm, as that major event was about to begin at any moment. 」

Coincidentally enough,

[Helloooo, everyone!! Have you all been living well?]

As soon as I wrote that sentence, a voice, as mischievous as a demon's, echoed through the air. Aurora appeared in the air, flapping her tiny wings.

[Did you enjoy the Stories so far? Ah sorry, that question was rather unreasonable. Of course, you didn't. If you enjoyed fighting with your lives at stake, I would have been scared you know. Hehehe!]

She was quite the cheeky fairy, that one. However, by now, everyone had already grown accustomed to her antics.

The survivors gazed at her with deadpan expressions, and in the next moment, Aurora's face twisted slightly with clear displeasure.

[What's this? When did you all become such joykillers? Tch! Whatever. Anyway, it seems all your struggles and suffering have finally been recognized. But do you know? All the previous Fables you completed were nothing but child's play.]

At those words, the survivors' faces instantly turned as pale. She was right— the previous Five Fables were nothing compared to the horrors that awaited us.

[But fortunately for you, there are many powerful beings in the universe who are willing to take you as their Avatars. Based on your progress so far, you could even become the sword of a Great Lord. I'm sure you already know what I'm talking about, right?]

My expression turned icy as I powered off my smartphone and tucked it into the pocket of my coat. Finally, the main event before the Sixth Fable was beginning.

[That's right. The Star Selection will begin now!]