I believe we’ve mostly finished cleaning up now.
I swept the broken glass shards into a bag and spoke to the owner.
Inside the restaurant, which had been forced to close for the night, Fay and I helped the owner tidy up the chaotic mess.
“Thank you for helping us clean,” the owner expressed. “Without any staff, it would have been incredibly difficult. And after I even overcharged you.”
The owner expressed his gratitude to us for our assistance.
“Oh, it’s nothing. We’re regulars, after all. Right, Fay?”
“Hmph, Mr. Will is just too kind for his own good…” Fay sighed, her voice laced with a hint of exasperation.
While Fay voiced her reluctance, I felt no such reservations.
‘She only says that because she doesn’t realize this world is a game.’
As a certain playwright once said, if you introduce a gun in a story, it must eventually be fired.
Unlike real life, events in a game usually have a purpose.
In South Korea, a drunken brawl witnessed at night wouldn’t typically have any repercussions the next day.
In a game, however, that very drunkard could turn out to be your interviewer.
‘And the genre of this game is ‘healing.”
There was a high probability that this incident would connect me with Regen.
Perhaps the objective of this event was for the player to hear the backstory of Regen and the owner, intervene, and reconcile the two.
And as a reward, Regen might even join my party. It was a classic narrative progression.
If so, it was time for a follow-up event to trigger.
“…Now that I think about it, you came here to eat, but I couldn’t even serve you. Please wait a moment.”
Just then, the Lizardman owner flicked his tongue, disappeared into the kitchen, and returned with a bag overflowing with the fried foods and meats he had been selling.
“Take this and eat it on your way. It’s leftover food from today’s failed business, so feel free to enjoy it.”
As I accepted the bag, a delicious aroma wafted out, stimulating my stomach.
“Oh, thank you so much. We’d feel rather guilty accepting all this…”
“…In that case, would you grant me a favor?”
“Yes?”
Here it came, a special event.
I maintained my composure and asked the owner again.
“Here.”
The owner took out a bottle of alcohol and handed it to us.
While I wasn’t an expert on alcohol, it was clearly an incredibly luxurious bottle at first glance.
The bottle itself was high-quality, and a subtle floral scent emanated from the cork, signaling something extraordinary.
“Could you take this alcohol to that scoundrel, Regen? I’ll tell you where they might be. If they’re not there, just drink it yourselves.”
“This is…?”
“Well, it’s an item with a story. You’ll understand once you deliver it. It’s time for that fellow to wake up from their dream, too.”
Then, the owner fetched a piece of paper, quickly sketched a rough map, and handed it to us.
‘Is this what friendship looks like?’
It was clear to my eyes.
The owner and Regen must have been old regulars, their relationship deeply rooted.
Despite their bickering, their genuine affection for one another was undeniable.
“…Hmm.”
Fay, seemingly sharing a similar sentiment, lightly stroked her philtrum with her thumb, her expression slightly moved.
“Yes, we’ll deliver it and return.”
“We’ll definitely deliver it!”
Who could refuse such a human and heartwarming event?
Fay and I immediately left the restaurant in search of Regen.
****
[Title] Why Doesn’t This Crappy Game Resolve Its Foreshadowing?
[Content]
At the bar, Regen? Some incredibly cool-looking person and the owner were fighting, so I brought them a reconciliation drink.
But when I delivered it, they just said thanks, and that was it? Nothing else happened.
They didn’t even show up again later.
If I’d known, I would’ve just chugged it myself.
Is there a follow-up quest for this? What happened?
[Comments]
– Oh
– You killed them, you killed them, you killed them.
– OP) What.
– That’s a trap.
If you deliver it, you’ll never see Regen again.
– OP) Why?
– If they receive the alcohol, they… well, they take their own life.
– OP) (Fay_Shocked.png)
– It’s like Xun Yu’s Empty Box (TL Note: A historical anecdote from the Three Kingdoms period where Cao Cao sent Xun Yu an empty box, implying he should take his own life).
– OP) WTF, how did it turn out like that?
– That alcohol Regen received was brewed and stored by the owner and old comrades ten years ago.
It was like a time capsule. They promised to drink it together after ten years.
But they received it when only eight years had passed.
The owner sent it, thinking of Regen, with the intention for them to drink it and give up on trying to return as an explorer. However, Regen, whose mental state was already fragile, saw it, and their mind shattered because of it, and they haven’t appeared since. While their death wasn’t explicitly shown, the circumstances imply…
– (Regen_Shouting_What’s_the_point_of_living.png)
– OP) Ah, so I killed them? Lol…
– Lol, so to save Regen, you have to ignore the event and leave, or steal the alcohol and drink it yourself.
– The Threshold… You have to live as a cold-hearted bastard to survive in this warm city…
– OP) Ugh, I seriously wish I hadn’t known; this feels incredibly unsettling.
– It’s fine, since Regen isn’t in the early game, you’ll soon follow them.
– Seriously, lol. That event appears really early, and if Regen isn’t there? You can kiss becoming a proper adventurer goodbye, lololol.
– (Fay_Saying_Welcome.png)
– OP) ?
– OP) Why would that happen?
****
“We’ve arrived! According to the map, Regen should be here… Wow.”
Having taken on the owner’s request to deliver the alcohol to Regen, we soon arrived at what the owner called Regen’s ‘secret spot’.
“It’s truly… a magnificent sight.”
Indeed, it was.
Looking down from a distance, ‘The Threshold’ was steeped in the twilight hour, even as night had fallen.
At the heart of ‘The Threshold’ lay a waterfall plummeting into the dungeon’s abyss.
With the emergence of the Nether, a colossal river had transformed into a roaring waterfall overnight.
The waterfall plunged into the boundless abyss, and the mist it generated diffusely reflected the city’s scattered lights.
Below, the cheap mana lamps cast a crimson glow, while above, the affluent adventurer district radiated an amber luminescence.
The clouds embraced hues of red and yellow, mimicking a sunset, and the city itself was enshrouded within this twilight cloud, a creation of both nature and humanity.
It was truly a city that never slept.
With a hellish foundation (TL Note: 아랫목, ‘aremok’, refers to the warmest part of a traditional Korean ondol floor, often implying a cozy or central spot. Here it’s used metaphorically for the city built upon a ‘hellish’ abyss), the city captivated the hearts of travelers like a fishing lamp luring fish.
And then,
A solitary pointy-eared woman stood silently gazing at that twilight.
“Regen?”
“…You. How did you get here?”
Turning around, Regen asked, a puzzled expression on her face.
“Hehe, an errand, of course.”
With a ‘thump,’
I presented the alcohol I had brought to Regen.
“I’ve brought you some alcohol. The owner, who was just there, asked me to deliver it.”
“…Ah.”
The liquid shimmered with the colors of the evening glow, catching the light of the nightscape.
“…”
Had she been moved? Regen remained speechless for a while.
This was friendship.
“……Yes, I suppose that’s how it is in the end…”
Regen pressed firmly on the left side of her face, which was covered by cloth.
From the gap between the cloth and her face, an incongruous floral scent wafted.
“Excuse me, if it’s not too intrusive… what’s your relationship with the owner? Colleagues?” Fay asked Regen.
“…Before I retired, I used to drink a lot there with those bastards… no, with my guildmates. I was a regular. I even officiated that guy’s wedding.”
Their connection seemed to run remarkably deep.
“Anyway, thank you for coming all this way. This will be fine for today. Oh, and this.”
Then, Regen extended a pouch of money to us.
“It’s for your trouble. Well, it’s not much.”
“No, we weren’t expecting to receive anything like this.”
“Just take it. If you don’t, I’ll just throw it away.”
Her temper was not easy to deal with.
Left with no choice, I accepted Regen’s money pouch.
For something she claimed wasn’t much, it felt surprisingly heavy.
“Well then, farewell.”
Regen turned her head away from us, as if there was nothing more to discuss.
“Ah… now that I think about it, you two. You said you aspire to be explorers, didn’t you? Since you won’t listen if I tell you not to go, I’ll give you one piece of advice as a senior.”
And then, as if a thought had suddenly struck her, she looked at me for a moment,
“Don’t pour too much of your heart into people. In the end, when it’s time to go, everyone goes alone.”
With a wistful expression one might only wear after being battered by the world and dumped by a lover, she offered this cynical advice.
Huh, this is different from what I expected.
It wasn’t the kind of advice one would give in such a heartwarming atmosphere.
“Now, off you go.”
Shooing us away.
With a dismissive wave of her hand, Regen sent us on our way.
‘Huh, is this it?’
No, I’d received money and a reward. And if we met again later, I could probably pretend we were somewhat close.
‘But something feels missing?’
Something was lacking.
I lingered, wondering if something more would happen, but Regen, ignoring us completely, rummaged through her bag and pulled out an opener.
“They’re quite… a negative person, aren’t they?”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one feeling uneasy, as Fay also looked awkward.
‘…’
Should I just go back like this?
‘It’s probably the right thing to do.’
The quest would likely end here.
This was our second encounter. The rest of the story would probably unfold in the future.
So for now, I should just retreat.
‘…’
And yet,
“Then we’ll… Huh? Mr. Will? Where are you going right now?”
– Thump, thump.
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t accept it. This wasn’t right.
– Thwack,
Regen’s arm, reaching to drink the alcohol, was blocked by mine.
“…What do you want?”
Regen looked up at me with an expression that clearly asked, “What the hell is this guy doing?”
Yes, this world was a game.
But for me, in this moment, it was also reality.
That meant I was granted a little freedom. I could even stop an NPC with an action not present in the original story.
“What do you want? If you’ve stopped me, then state your business…”
I had to speak.
If I didn’t say it now, I would regret it immensely.
I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.
I would convey my true feelings to Regen.
My true feelings, they were—
“Just one sip.”
“?”
“Can I just have one sip? That alcohol looks incredibly delicious.”
To taste that alcohol, which was clearly a famous brew.
“Oh, and I happen to have some snacks too! It feels wrong to just drink alcohol by itself, doesn’t it? Right?”
A luxury enjoyed through all five senses, possible because this was not just a game.
“Wouldn’t delicious things taste even better if we shared them?”
As someone who had made a living through travel, I couldn’t simply back down from such an opportunity!
***Game Log***
– ‘Player’ suggests joining ‘Regen’. ‘Regen’s’ actions are restricted.
[‘Broken Promise, Adrian’s Death’ event has been interrupted.]
…
– Event trigger has been reset.
