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“Huh?”
“The other world…?”
“The goddess… so she really existed.”
Everyone was taken aback by what Hanbit had said.
Even Kenji was hearing of the goddess’s existence for the first time.
“Please continue.”
Yeonwoo, reacting with unexpected calm.
At that serious expression, Hanbit nodded and went on.
“The time I went was two years ago. In that place, I lived fifty-five lifetimes. Regression, possession, reincarnation — I experienced them all firsthand.”
The explanation he began wasn’t lengthy.
He couldn’t pass on every detail of the past anyway, and what mattered was the fact that something extraordinary had occurred.
“It may be difficult to believe, but everything I’ve just told you is the truth. Most of what you’ve seen from me in RP has been the product of that experience. The web novel was a convenient excuse I fabricated.”
“..”
When he finished, a silence followed for some time.
A goddess and a transfer to another world.
For ordinary people, it couldn’t be easy to accept.
Then Yeonwoo spoke first.
“A goddess, and another world…. The scale is incomprehensible.”
He let out a short breath, his expression saying it had finally come together.
That reaction puzzled Hanbit too.
“Wait — you’re just going to believe this?”
“It doesn’t add up, but it’s not like you’re the type to play games in a situation like this. On top of that, thinking about the gameplay you’ve shown so far — a web novel doesn’t come close to explaining it. It was genuinely in a class of its own.”
Yeonwoo had been watching Hanbit’s play from the very beginning and had been carrying a question in the back of his mind.
Knowledge far too detailed and deep to be explained by reading an original novel.
On top of that, his combat ability was on a level that left common sense far behind.
If the explanation was that it all came from countless experiences in another world — that actually made more sense.
“So you really weren’t an ordinary person, Black Dragon. It’s like the puzzle has finally come together.”
Avant-garde, nodding from beside him.
His eyes held no doubt or suspicion — just something that felt like awe he couldn’t quite name.
“Well, I don’t fully understand, but I believe what you’re saying. More than that — you were carrying a secret this big all by yourself? That must have been stressful.”
Kim Jaeha added a worried remark.
The option of not believing the words of the man who had saved his life had never existed to begin with.
His concern was simply for a younger person who seemed like he would carry everything alone.
“Not particularly stressful. For a while I was just completely focused on progressing through RP.”
With that answer, Hanbit shifted his gaze to the orange-haired boy.
He was tilting his head with a serious expression.
“Noeul, what’s wrong?”
“Ah.”
At the call of his name, Noeul came back to attention and turned his gaze.
Then he waved a hand and said:
“I believe everything Black Dragon says too! It’s just that I felt something strange…”
Noeul’s trailing voice genuinely suggested he had no idea why.
Hanbit had a feeling he might know why.
‘I’ll have to tell him about the twins later.’
The talent Noeul and Haneul possessed was — no matter how he thought about it — similar to the twins from the other world.
The sense of familiarity they had felt at the Tower of Vortex, and other things — he couldn’t help but think there was some kind of connection.
“Let’s talk about that strange feeling together later too. It might not be precise, but it should be a clue.”
“Oh, yes! Actually, we had something we wanted to tell you as well, and were hoping to find time for it!”
“Is that so?”
The twins apparently had something to say as well.
For now, dealing with the more urgent matters first was the priority.
“Kenji, your daughter appears to have been caught up in the power of a god from the other world. Whatever the intent and purpose — this much is certain.”
“….I see.”
A being far beyond the reach of human hands.
He didn’t believe in gods — but the man before him had revealed his secret and reached that conclusion.
A weight and credibility that couldn’t begin to be compared to Adventurer A.
“Is there a way to save my daughter?”
Now that he had come to truly know of a god’s existence, the light of hope had dimmed just a little more.
“We’ll have to look for clues. Minho, what’s your read?”
Hanbit shifted his gaze back to the video call screen.
Lee Minho, who had been quietly listening to the story, wore a blank expression.
『…It was real?』
He reacted with a delayed beat of surprise.
But the first thing that had naturally come to Lee Minho’s mind when delving into the gear was — a god.
Technology of overwhelming complexity, impossible to produce with human capability.
He had judged that only something beyond reality could provide it.
“Does it seem like it might connect to what’s on the slab?”
『If there are actually gods, then it’s not a simple legend. There are two gods mentioned here but… 』
Lee Minho’s expression grew complicated.
He glanced at his materials for a moment, then looked up and said:
『The characters written on this slab were in the form of a cipher built on code. It mixes programming languages at random — I’m not sure whether that was an error that occurred when it crossed over from the other world, or whether that side already knows the language. Either way, I’d like everyone to read through it first.』
Lee Minho placed the slab image and its interpretation side by side on the screen.
The compiled content was divided into paragraphs.
「In the beginning, there existed the Goddess of Stillness, the Goddess of Turmoil, and two dragons — one of white and one of black. But the two goddesses, whose wills differed, came to part ways, and only the Goddess of Stillness remained to take charge of governance. The world, now in harmony, developed peacefully and stably over long ages. And then, at last, when an advanced civilization had been built — the Goddess of Turmoil appeared.」
‘Stillness? Turmoil?’
Information he hadn’t known surfaced from the very beginning.
That the goddess who had taken Hanbit to the other world held the title of Stillness required no further explanation.
Advanced civilization — was that the sight he had seen in the restricted area?
Hanbit kept his surging thoughts in check and continued reading.
「The Goddess of Turmoil, returning with tremendous power, sent waves of upheaval crashing through the world. They destroyed, violated, and drove all that existed toward ruin. The Goddess of Stillness, who had already spent much of her divine power, could not hold back the despair and hell that spread in an instant. The betrayal of one of the dragons was also a heavy blow.」
「Choosing a last resort, the Goddess of Stillness used all of her remaining divine power to reverse the flow of time in the world and seal it. The Goddess of Turmoil, seizing that opening, attempted to intervene with tremendous force — but the result was something no one had anticipated.」
「The shockwave pulled one human from the nearest dimension into this world. And with that human’s death, the phenomenon of the world’s time rewinding began. Even returning the human to the original dimension did not improve matters. Another human flowed here once more. Even when the Goddess of Turmoil attempted destruction, that force scattered uselessly away.」
「The two goddesses, each interpreting the events in their own way, concluded that the key to resolving the anomaly existed somewhere within the world. This unknown thing was given the name Erfort, meaning ‘the door to the source.’ The goddesses, having divided their respective domains, agreed to take turns overseeing the humans who flowed in, recognizing victory for whichever side found the Erfort first.」
「By the time countless humans had been sent back without result, the Goddess of Stillness had grown concerned about the world’s stability. It could hold for a thousand years, certainly — but if this place was destroyed, the nearby dimension would also reach its end. What caught the goddess’s eye as she pondered was the virtual world existing there: a game.」
「Having completed her investigation and conceived a plan, the Goddess of Stillness proposed using a game — a replica of the world — as the stage for their contest. One single run, with no loops. The Goddess of Turmoil, hearing the terms, accepted the proposal on the condition that she could use a portion of her divine power. The Goddess of Stillness knew it was groundwork for change and chaos, but gave her quiet agreement.」
「The two goddesses managed the humans flowing to each of them and took time to prepare for the game’s creation. The Goddess of Stillness, who encompassed all aspects of the world, and the Goddess of Turmoil, who chose to use the Holy Nation — which worshipped her remnants. And so, what felt like hundreds of years passed, and the stage for their contest shifted.」
「What situation was unfolding in that dimension could not be known. Only the hope that whoever carries the potential will stand on the side of the Goddess of Stillness. In the name of Black Dragon, I leave this record — buried in code amidst a time of chaos.」
“…Hah.”
Having read through to the end, Hanbit let out a sigh.
It was enough to make his head ache trying to figure out where to begin.
The fact that if timing had been off even once, he would have met the Goddess of Turmoil instead was shocking in multiple ways.
And the existence of the ‘Black Dragon’ who had left this slab.
There was clearly a connection to the fact that his character name had been assigned by force.
“…A battle between gods?”
“Black Dragon…?”
“If the Goddess of Turmoil’s side finds the Erfort first.. the other world and Earth would perish as well.”
The others each reacted in their own way.
The two who stayed silent were Yeonwoo, who continued poring over the content, and Kenji, whose expression had grown visibly darker.
Hanbit decided to share the hypothesis he had just pieced together.
“Kenji, Momo likely never caught the attention of either deity. The unstable world would have had many variables.”
“…I think so as well. If she had flowed to the side of the Goddess of Turmoil, she might actually have been unable to return.”
Kenji breathed a sigh of relief, saying it was a mercy at least.
Life first — then the possibility of salvation could exist.
Thinking about it that way, there was reason to be grateful even for the current situation.
There might also be people who had flowed to the other world and never come back.
“I believe that if the Goddess of Stillness wins this contest, Momo will also return to normal. Let’s settle that properly when the time comes. Until then, I’ll make full use of the game’s elements as well. You never know where a possibility might be hiding.”
“Thank you! I’ll do everything in my power to support you!”
Kenji’s one and only purpose was returning his only daughter, Momo.
The goddesses’ contest meant nothing to him — but if it meant saving his daughter, that was a different matter entirely.
A hundred times, a thousand times, he would throw himself in and help Black Dragon win.
“In the end, the game has to be cleared. The goal is the same, so it’s actually clean and simple.”
Yeonwoo clapped his hands once, drew everyone’s attention, and stated the conclusion.
As he said, this competition was something that would resolve with someone’s victory.
That a draw hadn’t been considered likely meant the other-world-experienced individuals on each side were of a different caliber.
Among the top-tier vanguards, there would certainly be people aligned with the goddess.
“Minho, how do you think the gear interpretation will go from here?”
『Having this backstory will change my perspective, that’s for sure. It’ll have to be something I work through on my own, though.』
The conversation held here couldn’t be freely shared outside.
But the gear, as a factor, was important when thinking about the future.
“If you decide you need to, it’s fine to tell your colleagues at the company. Explaining it as ‘there might be a possibility like this’ should be enough.”
The story of the goddess and the other world leaking to the outside would more likely be treated as a joke.
At least from an ordinary person’s perspective.
“What do you do if the Goddess of Turmoil’s side catches wind?”
Kim Jaeha immediately raised the concern.
But at this point, it wasn’t something worth factoring in.
“That side has probably already noticed. The gameplay scenes and everything else that’s been made public — there’s a lot.”
“Huh? Then why haven’t they come to interfere? Adventurer A and the Nesto Guild worked hard at it though…”
Noeul asked with a puzzled tilt of his head.
The answer to that was simple.
“It means they’d rather push forward than spend time interfering. Either way, finding the Erfort and clearing the game is what wins.”
“We absolutely have to win!”
Just then, a sky-blue-haired girl appeared from the back of the room.
Haneul, excited from head to toe, strode over and stood beside Hanbit.
“Where’s Momo?”
“She relaxed and fell asleep in the bed. Another world and a goddess — it really does feel like a fantasy, it’s fascinating! Anyway, should we increase our playtime starting today? I’m genuinely confident I can go all night.”
The energy radiating from that eagerness was considerable.
Of course, that was not going to happen.
“What time does school end tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is the school’s founding anniversary! Completely free all day!”
At that question, Haneul answered with sparkling eyes.
Hanbit quietly turned his gaze to Noeul.
“Is that true?”
“Yes. It’s really the founding anniversary.”
“…You doubted me, didn’t you!”
Haneul occasionally showed intense enthusiasm like this.
He had asked just in case, since it was a Monday — and it actually turned out to be the founding anniversary.
Hanbit quickly changed the subject and said in a quieter voice:
“Ask your grandmother if I can visit, and let me know. I’m going to explain the contract to her in person tomorrow.”
“Yes!”
“Understood.”
Thinking about what lay ahead, Hanbit needed to build a ‘team’ with both trust and strength.
Since the twins were to be central figures, moving forward with contracts quickly was best.
And to do that, convincing their grandmother — their only guardian — was necessary.
Hanbit rose from his seat and looked at everyone.
“Then let’s wrap up here for today. You’ll need time to process everything, so rest well and I’ll see you tomorrow. Minho, thank you for taking the time.”
