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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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Elsia, her hand still stinging from Hye-ji’s slap, looked stunned.
But only for a moment.
She clutched her reddening hand and glared at Hye-ji.
“…You…”
“Do pointy-eared bastards live in doghouses instead of forests?! Every single one of you barks like a dog!”
Hye-ji’s eyes were bloodshot as she yelled.
Elsia, on the other hand, remained calm.
“What’s your relationship with my husband?”
“You crazy bitch! You just met him today!”
“Oh, but love at first sight exists, you know.”
I glanced behind Elsia and saw the bodyguard elf smirking.
The number above her head had increased after Elsia’s, so she must have seen this scene in a future vision.
But she didn’t seem to want to intervene.
She just watched with amusement.
“Aren’t you embarrassed to be wearing a skirt, little boy?”
“I’m a girl! Why do you bastards keep calling me a guy?!”
“Really? You’re so flat-chested; I thought you were a cross-dressing boy.”
Elsia crossed her arms, emphasizing her own ample bosom.
Hye-ji gritted her teeth, provoked by the gesture.
“And you? Aren’t you embarrassed to be hitting on someone at your age?”
“…This one is only 89 years old~. Very young for an elf.”
“At least you’re self-aware~.”
Elsia faltered, her composure shaken by the jab.
She quickly regained her smile, but…
Her eyes weren’t smiling.
“Perfectly flat. You could be honorary members of the Cliffhanger Club in Korean, Chinese, and Japanese games.”
“You’re quite old, aren’t you? What should I call you, out of respect for your age? Grandma?”
“…Call me ‘sister.’ Little sister.”
The atmosphere was tense.
The fight was escalating.
I tried to mediate, even though my body was screaming in pain.
To be honest, I could barely hear their conversation over the throbbing in my body.
But seeing their hostility, I knew I had to intervene.
However…
“Um… Hye-ji and Elsia? This is getting a bit too heated. How about we calm down?”
“Shut up! You’re the one grinning at this grandma!”
“Stay out of this, Husband. You’re not attracted to this little girl, are you?”
“Yes, ma’am…”
My attempt at mediation failed miserably.
I quickly retreated, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.
Hye-ji and Elsia continued their argument, ignoring me completely.
Elsia started the next round.
“You’re so flat, you’re practically horizontal. I could build a house on your chest.”
“My, aren’t you a bit too old to be alive?”
“Small breasts can be charming too. Don’t worry too much pat pat. Ah, there’s your back. I got confused~”
“…Are you losing your eyesight from old age? You can’t even tell the difference?”
Hye-ji swatted Elsia’s hand away.
But the look on Hye-ji’s face suggested that her slap had hurt her own feelings more than Elsia’s hand.
And Elsia’s attack continued.
“Oh my, when I scanned your chest with a transit card, it said ‘Insufficient Funds.’”
“…”
“They say breasts hold dreams, but it seems you’re sharing all your dreams with everyone. You’re like Santa Claus.”
“You bitch.”
Hye-ji’s killing intent was overflowing.
‘If I had said that, she’d have killed me.’
[He hasn’t learned anything, even after getting riddled with bullets.]
Then, Hye-ji calmed down, looking at Elsia with a sinister smile.
It was her turn now.
“An elf being 189 years old sounds mystical, but being 89 years old just sounds like you smell like a chicken coop, don’t you think?”
“…Your head seems as empty as your chest. I’ll say it again. I’m very young for an elf.”
“Oh, right, you’re an elf, so not a chicken coop, but a rotten tree? What are you going to do, sister? You must be all dried up without any moisture.”
I heard the sound of grinding teeth.
It was coming from Elsia, who was still smiling sweetly.
She composed herself and said,
“…Elves have a unique fragrance. We don’t smell like trees.”
“Well, you might want to start using some perfume at your age.”
“…”
“You’re not a gold miss, you’re a ‘rotten wood miss.’”
Hye-ji landed a critical hit.
A deep and painful one.
They glared at each other in silence.
“…”
“…”
“…You marble-titted bitch.”
“…You rotten wood-smelling hag.”
They hurled insults at each other.
I spoke to the voice in my head as I was trying to recover,
‘It does feel weird when an elf is realistically under 100 years old, doesn’t it?’
[That’s as absurd as a 6kg dagger. At least a 200kg dagger would be intriguing.]
‘No, a 6kg dagger makes sense.’
[What nonsense are you talking about?!]
The voice in my head yelled at me.
But there was nothing wrong with a 6kg dagger.
‘A Recon would use it.’
[Then this one agrees.]
Suddenly, both of their gazes, sharp and focused on each other, turned towards me.
“Shinwoo, you’d bang a dried-up hag?”
“Husband! You’re not a pedo, are you?”
“Wait, how did the conversation even get here?”
“Answer us!”
“Tell us now!”
Thankfully, before I could answer…
Professor Mi-ran entered the classroom.
Sensing the atmosphere, she instinctively tried to retreat.
But I was faster.
I grabbed her and practically begged her to start the class.
Hye-ji and Elsia’s fight ended abruptly, without a proper resolution.
The bodyguard elf, looking satisfied, left the classroom with Elsia.
Before leaving, she smirked at me.
[That was quite entertaining.]
‘You should pay for the show, you bitch.’
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Elsia didn’t return for the rest of the day.
She was the newly elected World Tree Communion representative.
It would be normal for her to make the rounds and greet everyone.
But fortunately, or unfortunately, Elsia wasn’t allowed to visit the lower-tier classrooms like Jung Ah-yeon was.
The difference in their tiers was too significant.
Iron to Gold.
There were two whole tiers – Bronze and Silver – between them.
*‘They’re sticking to the game logic where you can’t queue together.’ *
[An Iron-tier shouldn’t even try to compare themselves to a Gold-tier.]
Meanwhile, Hye-ji spent the rest of the day like an emotionless robot.
With only a single emotion remaining:
Killing intent.
A sharp, viscous killing intent specifically targeted at…
The pink-haired elf.
She was too scary to approach, so I just gave her a brief greeting and fled to the library to borrow some books.
And at the library…
“Master? What brings you here?”
“Just here to borrow some books.”
…I ran into Jung Ah-yeon again.
She looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected to see me there.
“Master has the intellect to read books?”
“You bitch.”
“So, what are you looking for?”
“Well, I’ve finished reading ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint,’ so I’m looking for something new.”
“Oh! This one has read that!”
Her face lit up.
She seemed excited that we shared a common interest.
“Of course I’ve read it. It’s a masterpiece, nothing but praise for that story.”
“This one was also deeply moved. To think that the author found inspiration after burning down his own orchard.”
It truly was a masterpiece.
I was glad I read it before I died.
“I also enjoyed reading ‘Tower of God,’ which was completed around the same time as ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint.’”
“You have diverse tastes. Have you perhaps read ‘Trash of the Count’s Family,’ although it’s a different genre?”
“I was surprised by that one. Who knew that the hiatus announcement meant the author was going to finish the story quickly and then take a break?”
I was worried when the hiatus announcement came out, but it turned out to be a ruse.
I was so happy while reading it.
Suddenly, Jung Ah-yeon’s face turned gloomy.
“It’s a shame that the author of ‘Harry Potter’ died suddenly after finishing the series.”
“Right? And the AI that hacked the author’s messenger and started spouting nonsense can’t even be punished.”
“How outrageous! They should abolish the AI Impunity Act!”
[Didn’t the story get completely ruined by the AI after the author’s death?]
‘It wouldn’t have been so bad if it weren’t for that AI bastard.’
The conversation flowed smoothly since we shared similar tastes.
I didn’t know if it was due to her sister’s influence or if she had always enjoyed reading.
Either way, it wasn’t bad.
It’s a shame that in some world, there are only two brothers left.
But even among all the completed works…
Hunter x Hunter is still on hiatus.
[Which will end first, this novel or that manga?]
‘Togashi, please, at least write the story.’
I borrowed a completed work that Jung Ah-yeon recommended.
It was the story of a blind man named Yi Ye-reu.
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Back in my dorm, I was reading the book when I recalled the events of the day.
‘Elsia can definitely regress from a distant future, can’t she?’
[Indeed. This one can’t be certain, but her hair was quite long in that future vision.]
‘But she didn’t expect Hye-ji to slap her.’
I closed the book and took out some paper and a pen, trying to organize my thoughts.
Then, I suddenly realized something.
‘Elsia’s regression count wasn’t that high, was it?’
[Even for a long-lived elf, a two-digit regression count is quite low.]
‘But that pointy-eared bastard and Hye-ji had four-digit counts.’
I started writing on the blank sheet of paper.
The words formed countless paths, branching out in different directions.
I formulated a few hypotheses based on those words.
[Let’s see what you’ve come up with.]
‘It’s a bit vague, even to me.’
Hypothesis 1: Those with higher numbers can regress more frequently, but they cannot regress from a distant future.
[Indeed, when Hye-ji fought that Ah-yeon child, she didn’t look like she expected you to attack from behind.]
‘She looked surprised, actually.’
[However, she seems to have experienced short-term future visions frequently.]
‘Well, both the pointy-eared bastard and Hye-ji’s numbers kept increasing rapidly.’
I wrote down Lucian’s and Hye-ji’s names below the first hypothesis.
Then, the second hypothesis.
Hypothesis 2: Those with lower numbers can regress from a distant future, but they cannot do so frequently.
[That would explain Elsia. However…]
‘However?’
I asked the voice in my head.
After a brief silence, she continued.
[That gold miss who attached the prosthetic to your arm regressed three years into the future, and then again during the faculty meeting.]
‘Damn, that’s right. And she still couldn’t get married.’
[How pitiful.]
I wrote down Elsia’s name below the second hypothesis.
And finally, the third hypothesis.
Hypothesis 3: The conditions for regression and its cooldown period vary from person to person.
[Didn’t that Ryu Kang-hyuk fellow, the one who beat you senseless, say he had a one-hour cooldown?]
‘Yes, he said he could only regress once every hour, and only up to 30 minutes into the past.’
Assuming the Old Man wasn’t lying.
[Then, how do you explain Hye-ji experiencing a future only 3 minutes ahead and regressing multiple times?]
‘Maybe… it’s rechargeable?’
[Like Teemo’s R?]
That was a surprisingly accurate analogy.
And she was right.
‘…You seem to know more than I do? What tier are you?’
[This one wouldn’t normally associate with Iron-tiers. Be grateful.]
‘Damn it.’
I wrote under the third hypothesis:
Single-use type and Rechargeable type.
[So you think the recharge time is longer than the maximum regression time?]
‘That’s what I’m assuming. Otherwise, the world would be in chaos already.’
[Well done.]
This world was full of convenient settings.
But the voice in my head seemed to have a different opinion.
[There’s a reason for everything. There’s a reason why they can’t do it freely.]
‘Really? Tell me later.’
I gave up, my brain couldn’t handle it anymore.
It was something I’d figure out eventually as the story progressed.
Probably.
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Hiatus x Hiatus is still on Hiatus lmaoo
Honestly, I found Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint a bit of a letdown, at least where the ending was concerned. It had great moments, and some of the stuff right before the end worked for me, but the big, ultimate secret being that everything was a time paradox and all was kinda…ehh…