Chapter 1740 – 1740. Savior Of The Academy
Seong Hari and Seong Hari disliked each other. There could be many reasons, but it seemed like they instinctively hated each other.
‘Is it a case of same-species aversion?’
I seemed to have read somewhere in a creative work that seeing someone exactly like oneself could trigger a feeling of disgust.
‘But this is a virtual reality… Does it make sense for a dungeon Seong Hari to exist? Is she an illusion? Or did some AI bastard steal my memories and create an NPC…?’
But she was too vivid to be an NPC. I didn’t sense the crudeness of the NPCs I knew from her.
“Oppa?”
“Son?”
The Seong Haris urged me as I was racking my brain to grasp the situation.
It was a shame I couldn’t use the momentary pause. I needed time to think slowly in situations like this.
I quietly swallowed. Any lies I made up on the spot would be quickly exposed here. The two of them, being the parties involved, would eventually talk, and they would realize I had lied.
‘Aish, damn it. Did I do anything wrong?’
The fact that I had slept with the dungeon Seong Hari flashed through my mind and disappeared. And there might be something I didn’t know.
‘In times like this…’
Let’s just tell the truth.
“I’ll tell you everything. So, you and Mom, sit down and listen first.”
I spoke in a serious tone. The Seong Haris looked at each other, then at me, and nodded. They sat down in front of me. The way they sat cross-legged on the floor was similar.
‘It really seems like there are two Seong Haris. Well, the atmosphere and such seem a bit different. And is Mom Seong Hari’s chest a bit bigger?’
I could guess the reason. Mom Seong Hari had experienced pregnancy. Women’s breasts and hips naturally get bigger after pregnancy.
“Ahem. So…”
I started with the information about Mom Seong Hari. I had no choice. The strongest one here was the dungeon Seong Hari. I had to be mindful of her. And I cautiously talked about the dungeon.
“…So, you’re saying I’m a human from the dungeon?”
After hearing my explanation, the dungeon Seong Hari spoke. It was getting tiresome to keep calling her dungeon Seong Hari. I decided to call her Young Hari in my mind. Using the character for ‘young.’ Of course, I didn’t tell Young Hari. If she heard, she would surely get angry that I was calling her by a different name.
Young Hari was shocked by my words. …Or rather, that wasn’t her reaction. She was just narrowing her brows as if she couldn’t understand.
“I’m not a human from the dungeon. I have my own life. It doesn’t make sense that my world is a dungeon.”
“There’s no guarantee that your memories are real.”
Seong Hari snapped at Young Hari. Young Hari’s eyebrows twitched.
“Can’t you just shut up, Auntie?”
“Auntie? I may be an auntie, but there’s no reason for you to call me that!”
Seong Hari got angry. It was different from when she usually heard the word ‘auntie.’ She was overreacting.
“I’m calling an auntie an auntie. What else should I call you? You don’t want to be called ‘Miss,’ do you? An auntie with a grown child? That’s just too much.”
“Ugh… Just call me Hari. I’ve lived longer than you, anyway.”
“No. Auntie.”
“You little…!”
“Wanna try me?!”
Seong Hari and Young Hari stood up. Young Hari was stronger now. But Seong Hari wasn’t the type to back down even if her opponent was strong. My head throbbed. What if they really fought?
‘Considering Seong Hari’s temper… it’s definitely possible.’
I stood up and put my hands between Seong Hari and Young Hari’s legs, grabbing their crotches.
“Eek?!”
“Eek?!”
They narrowed their shoulders and let out shrill screams. As if to prove they were the same person, their reactions were identical.
No matter how much of a Seong Hari they were, they couldn’t do anything when their crotches were grabbed.
“I’m not done talking. Listen to everything I have to say first.”
I told them about the current situation.
This wasn’t reality but a virtual reality world called Tera Simulator, and that due to an error in the AI, we were trapped in the virtual reality world, and that we had a limited lifespan due to some apocalypse or something.
“…This is a virtual reality? That’s absurd. I entered the dungeon and ended up here!”
“There’s no reason for us to lie. Don’t you have levels and a job too?”
“Ah.”
Young Hari let out a small sigh. It was clear she could see the notification window too.
I told them everything I could.
Both Young Hari and Seong Hari were lost in thought. They were probably different kinds of thoughts. I quietly waited for them to make a decision.
The first to speak was Seong Hari. She spoke to Young Hari, not me.
“What are you going to do?”
“…About what?”
“You’re different from us. If what you say is true, then your body is real. When the apocalypse countdown ends, you’ll die like us.”
“I’ll just destroy this world before that.”
“Ha. Even you can’t destroy the world.”
“……Then what do you want me to do? Just die like this?”
“Cooperate with us. There’s no way to go back anyway. Help us stop the apocalypse.”
“Your goal isn’t to stop the apocalypse in the virtual reality, is it? It’s to find Susanoo’s Magatama, right?”
“The anomaly happened a few hours after we logged into the virtual reality. Wouldn’t it be stranger if it wasn’t related?”
“Someone is messing with the virtual reality to kill Oppa and Auntie?”
“That makes sense. Think about it. How many people would try to kill me openly in reality?”
Seong Hari straightened her back and spoke. Young Hari didn’t refute and nodded.
“Even if I’m old, it’s because it’s me. There wouldn’t be anyone who’d try to fight me openly.”
“…You’re really rude, aren’t you? Are you going to keep calling me old? And I’ve been wondering since earlier… Aren’t you embarrassed to wear a school uniform at your age? Your top and skirt are so short too. Are you a pervert?”
“Th-This is because I had to wear it for infiltration. This was the only clothes left…!”
“Ah. I see. I won’t get old and tacky like Auntie.”
“…You little brat! Are you in any position to point that out? What’s with your fashion sense? Your belly button is all exposed! I think you’re the pervert! And where did you get that tacky coat?!”
“Tacky? You’re just too old to understand the fashion! Do you know how much this costs? It even has an effect that makes my body lighter?! Don’t act like you know it all and point things out! Why don’t you manage the wrinkles around your eyes instead?!”
“Wh-What, wrinkles…?!
Seong Hari was surprised and touched her face with her hands. Of course, there were no wrinkles. She had the same face as Young Hari, who was in her twenties, so there was no way she would have wrinkles. Seong Hari let out a sigh of relief and glared at Young Hari as if she would kill her. Really, as if she would kill her. Young Hari calmly met Seong Hari’s gaze with a ‘so what?’ look.
It was strangely amusing to watch them fight, but if they really went for the kill, it would be a problem for me.
“Let’s stop that and decide what to do from now on.”
“Yujin, wouldn’t it be better for us to go our separate ways?”
“Oppa, you know I’m strong, right? Let’s just ditch that old hag here and go together.”
Both of their gazes turned to me.
“If Hari helps, I’d welcome it.”
Seong Hari flinched, her eyes wide with surprise, while Young Hari had a deep smile on her face. To be honest, I was very curious as to why Young Hari had appeared here. To solve that question, it was only natural that Young Hari had to be by my side.
“Yujin, there’s no guarantee that this girl is another version of me, is there? What if she’s a doppelganger monster? They’re very dangerous monsters…”
“Auntie, stop it. Just because a doppelganger has my appearance doesn’t mean it can be as strong as me. Rather, isn’t the doppelganger you? You’re too weak to be me right now.”
Seong Hari bit her lip. She couldn’t refute it. Then, as if she suddenly remembered something, she asked Young Hari.
“Why are you so confident? Don’t you know that your future is me? Do you think you’ll always be strong?”
“I’m different from Auntie. The Spirit King’s curse. I don’t have that.”
“…You killed all of them?”
“It was revenge. It was also part of the contract. They were the ones who were wrong first.”
“…There were innocent people among them.”
“Where are the innocent people when everyone is involved?”
“I see it clearly now. You’re different from me. …Why are you different?”
“How would I know?”
“…You didn’t enter the tower, did you?”
“The tower? Are you talking about the Tower of the Sun?”
“Ha, never mind. It seems you haven’t gotten that far yet. If you hadn’t rejected the Spirit King’s contract… you’re not a hero, but a villain. Am I right?”
“China did point out that I was a villain.”
Young Hari turned to me with a gasp.
“Oppa, don’t misunderstand. I’m just called a villain, but I don’t go around doing villainous things. I’m making money by taking on dungeon clearing requests. I even take requests from the US and Russia.”
“Hari, I believe you.”
“…Thank you for believing me, Oppa.”
Young Hari looked at me with affectionate eyes. That gaze was strangely sticky. I looked at her closely and realized. Her hair had grown longer than the last time I saw her. It seemed like she had taken good care of it, so considering that…
‘At least a year has passed since the last time I saw her.’
It must be in a state of being stored away.
I swallowed hard.
“Wait a minute. The atmosphere is weird.”
Seong Hari stepped between me and Young Hari. She looked at me with a glare.
“Mom. If you have something to say, say it.”
“Did you do it?”
“Do what?”
“You didn’t do it with that girl, did you?”
“……”
When I closed my mouth, Seong Hari squeezed her eyes shut.
“You did it…! You couldn’t resist seeing a younger version of me. But marriage is absolutely out of the question. You two are mother and son!”
“Auntie, you’re not in a position to say that. I can tell that your relationship isn’t normal. And Oppa and I are lovers.”
“You stupid girl! Yujin is my son! Do you really not understand what that means?!”
“I’ve never been pregnant. I’ve never given birth to a child. Oppa and I are strangers! I’m going to marry Oppa! Should I call you mother-in-law? Mother-in-law!”
“You crazy bitch!!”
“You’re the crazy one! How can you do that with your own son?!”
“Eek! Still, you and Yujin can never get married!”
“I will?!”
Young Hari did something unexpected. She grabbed my head and kissed me on the lips. It was so fast that I couldn’t react. My mouth opened like an automatic door, and Young Hari’s smooth tongue entered my mouth.
“Th-This is really crazy?! Get off him right now!”
Seong Hari was shocked and grabbed Young Hari’s arm and hair. Young Hari didn’t budge.
“Yujin! Seong Yujin! Son! What are you doing! Get off her! Get off her!!”
Just a little more.
