I sat down beside hatchling Yong Yong who was sleeping on the bed, patted him and watched him.

Yong Yong had grown to the size of a retriever from my vivid memory where he rose his tiny little paws when he was a little baby.

He was a larger one among retrievers.

Yong Yong, who entered the hibernation not long ago, was sleeping all day long.

Dragons usually go through hibernation, but I had heard that sometimes they didn’t depending on their living conditions.

Yong Yong did not hibernate often, but not long ago he suddenly hibernated.

Both Ho-chi and me had become busy, he became bored more often and for longer periods, so his hibernation naturally begun.

When Yong Yong, who had always been energetic and around me, fell asleep, the world seemed frozen.

I didn’t take care of him because I was too busy at that time. I felt terrible about it.

Right now I can’t wake up Yong Yong, who was hibernating, and play with him. So I could do nothing but stay besides Yong Yong.

I should have been kinder to him when he was awake.

I failed to perform such a simple act.

[Lee YeonHee, 35th floor: What about the 17th floor? I don’t think I can win if I meet your mirage.]

While patting Yong Yong on his back, I received a message from Lee YeonHee after she finished contemplating.

Lee YeonHee, who was a magic caster that depended on skills and items, indeed showed a great weakness on 35th stage.

Of course, Lee YeonHee’s efforts to improve her skills would enable her to pass through some gates.

I made lots of preparation for that.

The problem is the mirage on the 17th floor.

There is one fact that comforts me.

[Lee HoJae, 60th floor: It is your mirage which will exist on the 17th floor, not mine. You don’t have to do the stage mission so It will be better to solve it with communication. It’s also a standard tactic.]

I killed the mirage and passed the floor, but I don’t think she needs to do the same.

Each man has his own ways and standards.

What’s more, people would suffer from a tremendous amount of stress if they killed the mirage made based on themselves.

In my case, I didn’t suffer from that. However, it is very possible for Lee YeonHee to be affected.

[Lee Yeonhee, 35th floor: What if the mirage attacks me? I’ve heard that if people meet their doppelgangers, they will die.]

Things on the 16th floor was not the doppelganger, but a ghost story.

The underlying idea of the ghost story was this.

If you meet another person who had the exact same appearance and identity as yourself, the first impression these two people have for each other will be hostile.

During the conversation, it was totally possible for the mirage, to become aware that she was a fake, to feel jealousy and hate and attack the real Lee Yeon-hee.

What to do.

I should make up a story to explain the situation and fool around.

Or I could say that these useless thoughts should be dismissed.

This was not good.

Lee Yeon Hee is always worried.

The evidence is how dilatory she was on the 30th stage despite having such strength.

She is currently getting through the stages without my advice.

It’s been a long time since she’d asked me for advice, so it’s better to relieve her worries than to make up some nonsense.

[Lee HoJae, 60th floor: Don’t worry too much. I’ll tell you a magic incantation. If the mirage attacks you, say ‘Baruce’, and you’ll be fine.]

[Lee YeonHee, 35th floor: ‘Baruce’? It sounds like a castle on the Heaven. Hahahaha. ]

I felt that the giggling Lee YeonHee was cursing me.

It must be an illusion.

Lee YeonHee said nothing for a while.

I sighed.

Was she practicing the ‘Baruce’ incantation?

This is the problem of Lee YeonHee.

She is cautious and calm, but still careless at times.

So I couldn’t tell her that she was sluggish like an old turtle.

She could die anywhere at the slightest slip.

Zzzz, Zzzz, Yong Yong puffs from his nose. I annoy him by putting my finger in and out his nostril for fun.

Yong Yong’s nose was throbbing as if it was itchy.

After a some time, Lee YeonHee sent me messages.

She was indeed practicing the ‘Baruce’ incantation.

The moment she mutters the word, the effect built into the item will be activated.

Lee Yeon-hee will not be able to take any action because of extreme pain.

[Lee YeonHee, 35th floor: what was that?]

I could feel her embarrassment through her short question.

It was hard to answer.

What Lee YeonHee felt was not only embarrassment.

The fact that someone can harm them remotely gives great fear to humans.

For Lee YeonHee, who is on the 35th floor, it will be extremely frightening.

However, I should explain that.

Fear scales up through raising various doubts.

It will be better to let her understand.

[Lee HoJae, 60th floor: It is the strength hidden in your necklace Ruceba. (TL note: Ruceba is the name of the necklace. Korean is 루스바)]

I explained that this function was prepared to confront the mirage on the 35th floor.

It was truly for that purpose.

[Lee YeonHee. 35th floor: But this necklace… you sent me this necklace when I went to 2th floor.]

[Lee HoJae, 60th floor: I prepared for this in advance.]

[Lee YeonHee, 35th floor: Why don’t you tell me in advance.]

Because you’ll kick me if I talked about it.

In addition, the mirage could get the information about the function of this necklace.

I explained it to her carefully.

[Lee YeonHee, 35th floor: Okay, I see. I’ll take this necklace off. Since I have arrived at the 35th floor, it’s meaningless to wear it.]

[Lee HoJae, 60th floor: Alright.]

The conversation ended awkwardly.

No matter how necessary it is, Lee YeonHee’s feelings will worsen.

Because I caused it.

I thought it was necessary to apologise, but to apologise was also awkward.

Because it is useful on the 35th floor.

But even so, I felt apologetic.

The necklace of Ruceba was made before Lee YeonHee came into the tutorial.

In fact, it was an experiment based on the idea that I could control the newbies who just entered the tutorial by pain, and not to confront the mirage on the 35th floor.

Another function hidden in Ruceba necklace was the remote drive that works beyond the dimensions.

Newbies who entered before Lee YeonHee usually died on the lower floors.

당시 내가 그들에게 걸고 있던 간절함과 정성은 아무 소용도 없다는 듯 맥없이 픽픽 죽어 나갔다.

They died one after another as if the effort I made for them at that time was totally useless.

I couldn’t figured that out at that time.

Even when I have provided detailed strategies that suit their own level, they couldn’t get over the 3th floor and died.

There were many challengers who didn’t want to move beyond the first floor.

Chanllengers wasted their time in the waiting room became stressed out and lonely and finally committed suicide. I wanted to create a means to force them to progress.

Of course, the experiment failed.

If I succeeded in experimenting with force beyond the dimensions of the tutorial stage, I would have been in Seoul now, not here on the 60th floor.

While I was sighing, Ho-chi opened the door and came in.

“Why do you look like that?”

“I’m just emotional.”

Situations where my actions are controlled by emotions occurred less often than before.

But my emotions still exists.

Without regard to the feelings of others, my emotion exerts much more influence than before.

The sense of guilt, which was generated because our consciousness were connected, didn’t reduce at all.

“How about Barrier?”(TL note: Gyeolgye is a magic that can build a sealed environment to protect someone or catch someone.)

“Well, things are getting serious. You should go to see it.”

Ho-chi said while scratching at the back of his head.

It seems that some God is playing a trick with my Barrier.

They thought they just orderly knocked on the door. But in my eyes, I thought they were some guy who peed on the door and ran away.

“How about the Barrier?”

“The time axis of the Barrier was shocked.”

This is indeed serious.

If the time axis collapses, the base system of protection will also collapse.

“The God of Slow has finally come, right?”

“Nope. I found that time is going back.”

Time reversal.

Of Gods in the Hundred Gods temple that can reverse the time axis of my Barrier there aren’t many.

And if this God did this directly, there is only one left.

“It must be the God of Remorse.”

“I think so too.”

If it’s not the God of Slow, then I could feel reassured somehow.

Time flows forever, and this is powerful to prove eternal existence.

Regression is a transcendental phenomenon that overturns the law of the universe, but the area that changed must be limited.

The emphasis of this phenomenon is the process of changing, but not the results of changing.

This was interesting because this matched to the personality of the God of Remorse.

By the way, I was wondering if the God of Remorse was still behaving himself.

Maybe this is also part of their disciplining.

Recently, the gods in the Hundred Gods temple are taking turns to attack my Barrier.

What I’m wondering is, what did the Gods sacrifice for this much direct intervention?

Everything the Gods do comes with a price.

Or perhaps the Ten Thousands Gods temple, the Hundred Gods in the other dimension paid the price instead.

I want to know more about the Gods in other dimensions.

“The Gods related to time are fussy.”

Ho-chi muttered.

I agreed with that.

Unless we know and prepare for the major premise that they are entitled to use the power of time, it is very difficult to cope with it.

“Let’s go. I should go to have a look at it.”

I said frankly.

It will be hard for Ho-chi to stop their attack on his own, but their attack is not enough to completely ruin my Barrier.

I built a thorough defense against their power.

Even when the God of Remorse came out to attack my Gyeolgye, all he could do was to return part of my Barrier to the past and obstruct the system’s normal functions. This attack is a lower level than that.

I went out from the room, which Yong Yong was sleeping in and asked Ho-chi.

“What did you do?”

“Hm? What did I do? I just left it and came back.”

Ho-chi answered with such a natural tone.

He said this so naturally that I almost felt he was right.

This is unbelievable.

“Hey, you should of at least did something to fix it. ”

“Uh. I didn’t know.”

How prideful.

He was so smart that he didn’t even know he should do something.

“You really have to study. Do I hope for a lot? You should at least learn some basic knowledge. Yong Yong will be better than you if you continue to act like this. Your previous accumulation doesn’t remain a lot now.”

“Uh. I’m not interested in it.”

I wanted to kick Ho-chi who gave this perfunctory answer.

So I did.

“Ah! Shit, what’s wrong with you?!”

Ho-chi rolled round and said that I violated his human rights, abused children, and his brain cells were dead because I hit his head.

Abusing children was technically correct.

The age of Ho-chi is not much higher than Yong Yong.

Ho-chi continued to yell, but as I ignored him, he soon became quiet.

Ho-chi, who was quiet, poked his mouth out and started to read a novel book even while walking.

He had no interest in anything except reading novels.

He is becoming more and more childish.

He used to be a person who was like the other me, but now, it was different. He became a totally different person from me.

He is growing. He was also changing.

For Ho-chi, my appearance is the starting point of his birth.

He shares the same base as me, but recently, I believe he has changed too much,

Maybe because of adolescence.

Thinking carefully, it is possible at his age.

It is a little early. but it’s not very strange that he is experiencing puberty now if you trace his life back to his birth.

Since his words are like a Jung-ibyeong he became understandable. (TL note: Jung-ibyeong means how sophomore acts and talks in middle high school. Normally, teenagers’ acting and talking change a lot because of adolescence.)

It’s time for him to do something like that.

So I determined to let this go.

If someday I hear the sound that he is kicking the blanket, I will just jeer at him.

“Aren’t you just in a bad mood?”

He disconnected the telepathic link. I even don’t know how he figured that out.

* * *

It was only then that I understood why Ho-chi came back without taking any measures.

Especially, I understand his gripe.

There was a familiar face in the center of my Barrier.

“Seregia.”

“Yes, Warrior.”

Collaboration with –

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