Chapter 629: Understanding [2]

Chirp! Chirp!

The soft chirping of birds echoed in the background, my head still lowered as I ruffled my hair. The silence that followed felt stifling, and I found myself lost in my own thoughts. Eventually, I raised my head and leaned back against the bench.

"Right, there’s no need to go that far."

I was exaggerating.

There was no need for me to go that far.

’...It seems like I’m starting to let my inner thoughts get the best of me lately.’

Even if I chose to go down that route, I was far from strong enough to do so. At the same time, things hadn’t reached the point where I had lost everything. I could still fix things.

"Well, that’s that."

I looked at Kyle and smiled.

"Thanks to you, my head is a lot clearer."

I felt liberated to some extent.

I knew what I had to do next.

"Oh, right."

I looked at Kyle.

"I’m curious, why did you join this line of business? You said that I never cared to ask, but I’m asking you right now. If you do, then I promise that I’ll eventually bring the old Seth back."

Those brief moments of ’enlightenment’ made a few things clear to me.

Simply put, I wasn’t fit for this world. No matter what I did, I would never be accepted. Kyle, the Matriarch, everyone I knew... They were the same, yet not. They were fakes, just as much as I was.

Since that was the case, all I had to do in order to fix this was just go back to my old world or reverse things. But was this even possible? Honestly, I didn’t know, but I had a feeling that it was.

Either way, I wanted to give it a try.

"You..."

Seeing the surprise on Kyle’s face, I smiled.

"Well, you were right."

I shrugged.

"I’m not the Seth that you’ve grown up with. I’m still Seth, though, don’t get that twisted. I’m just a Seth that comes from a distant place."

I was careful with my words. Thinking about the first restriction I’d received, the one that said I couldn’t talk about the system with anyone, I tried to keep things vague. Then again, Kyle wasn’t exactly human, so maybe I could’ve said it to him, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

Even if he asked me to elaborate, I’d just keep silent.

"Although I’m not certain, I think I can bring him back. Well... I can’t make promises, though. I’ll still try."

"..."

Kyle didn’t say anything.

He just stared at me.

He seemed conflicted. Although he didn’t say anything, I could pretty much tell what he was thinking inside his mind.

’Is he telling the truth? But what if he’s lying? Then... does it mean that there’s a chance for Seth to return?’

I just smiled. Even though this wasn’t the Kyle that I had grown up with, he was still Kyle. I knew how he’d react, and sure enough...

"You... really can?"

"As I said, I can’t make any promises, but I can try. While I don’t know how I ended up here, I do have a feeling that it has something to do with the Seth that you knew. He... caused all of this mess."

Yes, this much was true.

I thought back to the entire situation back in Malovia with the cult and the brief flashbacks. Although it had only been a passing thought, the more time I passed in this world, the more the idea seemed to solidify in my mind.

’He must’ve done something in his desperation. Summoned something that caused this entire mess. Something to ease the pain he was in, or make it fade. Maybe he struck some kind of deal, and now he’s in my world. Maybe the system is the very thing he summoned.’

Haha, well, this was a reach to some extent.

But maybe this was also the closest thing to the truth.

I shrugged.

Meeting Kyle’s gaze head-on, I leaned back against the chair, feeling far more relaxed. For the first time in a long while, I felt free from the chains of my own thoughts. Instead of trying to fix the mess I was in, it felt better to simply let go.

Kyle was right.

I was an avoidant. I liked to avoid things.

In this regard, I was going to avoid this entire world.

"I just... want to go back home."

There was a brief, yet unexpected pause as I mumbled those words. Lifting my head to look at the sky that seemed to be familiar yet so unfamiliar, I found myself smiling.

Yeah, I wanted to go back.

This world just wasn’t for me.

Looking back at Kyle to see his stunned expression, I extended my hand in his direction.

"What do you say? Willing to cooperate with me? If you think I’m stepping over the line, you can always try to stop me. At least, you’ll know and be aware of what I’m doing. That being said, I’m not so sure I’ll listen to you, but I’ll certainly give it a few seconds of thought."

"..."

Kyle closed his eyes and brought a hand to his face, his lips curling slightly. Almost as if he found my words ridiculous.

No, it would be more accurate to say that he found this entire situation to be ridiculous.

He looked down at my hand before sighing.

"...I don’t trust you. I really don’t trust you. However, I have no choice but to trust you."

After which, he reached for my hand and shook it.

"Seth..." He mumbled softly, "I’ll definitely bring him back."

I stared at his expression and looked away.

’Kyle...’

Yeah.

’...I’ll meet him again soon.’

***

The moment Zoey left the hospital, the first thing she did was call the Guild and had several cars come to the location. Looking at Rowan, it was clear that he wasn’t in the right state of mind. His situation was rather serious, and as things stood, he’d have to be put in the mental ward for a while.

Zoey’s heart sank as she looked at Rowan.

However, as her recollections of those moments back in the hospital resurfaced, she could only clench her teeth ⎯

’Judging by how it seemed like he had just come out, the gate had some sort of time dilation. Whatever the case is, this isn’t something that I can just dismiss.’

Turning her head to the dark SUV before her, she walked toward it as the door opened and let herself in. The engine roared to life as the car began to move. Seated in the back, she leaned her head against the seat, thinking about what she would say upon reaching the Guild.

But at the same time⎯

"..."

Zoey retrieved the small device from her pocket, her hands fiddling with it slowly.

’He was a fake.’

As in, the Seth that had left during the situation in the operating room.

He was a fake.

She felt bad for the way that she acted, and judging from how clueless he seemed during her outburst, it was obvious that he wasn’t aware of what had happened in that room and with Rowan’s sister. He wasn’t there after all.

’...I would’ve fallen for it if not for the device Liora had given me.’

She was emotional by nature, but not stupid. She knew better than to trust everything she saw, and thought this was a good way to determine whether the Seth before her was real or not.

In a way, she was also curious to see what sort of result the device would bring. Was he really as sick as Liora told her?

Turns out, he was a fake.

The device didn’t even show any change when his blood came in contact with it.

The only reason Zoey acted the way she did was because it was clear Seth had been the target of the attack. Their goal was obvious: to create friction between them. She played along for now so that the one responsible wouldn’t suspect a thing.

However, she was clear about the situation.

This was some orchestrated event to make them hate Seth.

’The stuff about the Jester was probably bullshit too.’

Zoey clenched her fist, her body leaning forward slightly as her teeth ground together.

’I just hope... that Rowan’s sister’s body was fake too.’

Thinking about the little girl, Zoey felt her heart tighten in her chest. Especially when she remembered how her body had disappeared from the hospital. Now, no one really knew where she was.

However, if it was based on what had happened in the hospital, then...

Zoey closed her eyes, sucking a cold breath.

Please be fake. Please...