TRPM 184

chapter 184

After the joint funeral, the scenery around me kept changing.

It kept shifting into scenes I remembered from before my regression.

“Ha ha ha…! These little things are supposed to be the sprouts of the future?!”

“Kyaaaah…!”

The moment terrorists suddenly appeared in the once-peaceful academy.

“P-please… spare me….”

“Nope~.”

The moment those terrorists mocked the cadets who begged them for their lives.

“P-please… spare….”

“You said no earlier when the others begged for their lives, didn’t you? Then I’ll say no too.”

And then, the moment those terrorists were crushed in turn by the stronger cadets or instructors.

Memories soaked in blood replayed themselves.

“(Urgh….)”

“(Don’t hold it in. It wasn’t just you, everyone did the same.)”

Looking around, many were vomiting at the sight of countless corpses.

Even before my regression, I had never seen so many human bodies, so I had thrown up in a corner too.

“(… Geonwoo. Was this an everyday thing for you before regression?)”

“(No, not that much.)”

The chairman of the academy, Shin Han-ji, is an archmage.

And not just any archmage—he ranks among the strongest.

Shin Han-ji always maintained a barrier around the academy, so most terrorists couldn’t even get inside.

If that barrier hadn’t been there, the academy would have been attacked ten times more often in my previous life.

Of course, there were still plenty of terrorists who somehow lured him outside and broke through the barrier.

“(Still, there were attacks once every month or two.)”

“(……)”

At my words, Chloe fell silent.

It must be shocking to hear that attacks happened that often.

Even I wonder how I survived back then.

I wasn’t even that strong yet, since I hadn’t properly built the foundation of my martial arts.

“(Don’t worry. In this timeline, the chances of that happening are almost none.)”

The Taeguk Guild doesn’t run a dictatorship.

There’s no shortage of Awakened manpower delaying dungeon raids.

Police forces are plentiful, so crime is almost nonexistent.

Every criminal organization in Korea has already been wiped out.

In this kind of environment, the chance of terrorism is close to zero.

“(I see….)”

Even after hearing my explanation, Chloe still looked pale.

Seeing that, I forced myself to shift thoughts.

I tried to erase the bloody images, and instead pictured another scene.

Swoooosh….

The scenery changed again.

Just moments ago we had stood in a world drenched in blood, but now we were at a seaside, with waves crashing under a blue sky.

No one else was around.

“(This place….)”

“(Just a beach I stayed at for a while when I wandered around on my own.)”

We calmed ourselves by looking out at the vast sea.

Not just Chloe, but I too felt sick from what we had just witnessed.

More importantly—

‘If my mind stays unsettled, the scenery will keep shifting.’

Unless Chloe gets used to controlling the dream, my willpower will dictate the dream’s flow.

So, I steadied my mind by watching the endless sea.

After a while, Chloe seemed calmer, and she reached her hand toward the ocean.

Shoooaaah!

The sea parted to both sides, revealing the seabed.

It looked just like the miracle of Moses.

‘She’s starting to manipulate the dream.’

A moment ago, she couldn’t grasp anything about this place. Now she was altering it freely.

Why?

I didn’t know the details, but it was probably because her resolve changed after seeing those scenes earlier.

‘That’s the face of someone who’s steeled herself for something.’

What exactly had she resolved?

I could read her mind to find out, but the side effects would be severe.

In any case—

“(Is that the exit?)”

“(Yeah… probably….)”

With newfound determination, Chloe manipulated my dream with ease.

Light surged upward from the ocean floor, and instinctively, we knew that was the exit out of the dream.

‘… Seems my Harmony Divine Art has roughly finished analyzing dreams as well.’

From now on, I should be able to lucid dream whenever I want.

Maybe I can’t change the scenery like Chloe can, but I should at least be able to create an exit and leave whenever I wish.

And with time, even manipulating the dreamscape should become possible.

‘Maybe I’ll even be able to train while I sleep.’

Of course, nothing done in a dream would affect my physical body.

But I could use it for meditation or organizing insights.

“(Let’s head out.)”

“(Yeah. See you in the morning.)”

And so, Chloe and I stepped toward the exit.

“… Huuuh.”

I woke from the dream and checked my surroundings.

It was still dark—so this must be dawn.

Naturally, since Chloe and I hadn’t been wandering around in my dream for that long.

‘It felt like around three hours… but in reality, only about an hour passed.’

Does time flow faster in dreams?

Or is that also something a succubus can control?

Hard to say, since this was my first lucid dream experience.

Either way, since I was already awake, I chose to sit and circulate my qi instead of lying back down.

The efficiency here was lower compared to my house, which had a magic circle installed to gather mana, but it was better than nothing.

‘Inhale… exhale….’

I lost track of how long I sat, feeling my internal energy circulate through every meridian.

‘… Hm?’

Suddenly, I felt a strange sensation near my head.

Familiar, yet unfamiliar. It was similar to when I used internal energy to imitate psychic powers.

‘… Must be the residue from when Chloe entered my dream as a succubus.’

So, succubus powers are closer to psychic abilities?

I’d thought of them as similar to spirit arts or shamanism.

But since it directly influences a person’s mind, calling it psychic powers isn’t strange either.

With that thought, I sent my qi to the spot where I felt it and erased the trace Chloe had left.

Then, I focused again on my circulation.

Until the sun rose.

“… Haaah….”

I stood up, feeling refreshed.

Now it was time to think about today’s plans.

Except—

‘I don’t really have anything to do.’

Chloe and her escorts had their own schedule.

They had planned it with some flexibility, but at the latest, they’d have to leave tomorrow for sightseeing so they could return to England on time.

‘I don’t really have anything I want to do in Egypt either.’

So, maybe I’d just head back home after breakfast.

With that thought, I changed clothes and left my room.

“(Ah, Geonwoo. Did you sleep well?)”

At almost the same time, Chloe opened the door of the room next to mine.

Of course, unlike in the dream, she didn’t have horns, wings, or a tail.

Still, meeting her like this first thing in the morning felt too coincidental.

But then—

‘No… this isn’t coincidence.’

She wasn’t surprised at all.

If it had been coincidence, she would have shown at least a flicker of surprise.

She must have woken up early, focused on my room, and the moment she sensed I was done circulating qi and changing clothes, she came out too.

As expected of an actress, her act was so natural I almost believed it was by chance.

‘… Well, no need to confront her about it.’

It wasn’t like she had malicious intent toward me.

So, I simply greeted her.

“(Did you sleep well? After entering my dream, you didn’t sneak into anyone else’s dreams, right?)”

“(Yeah. I can control it to that extent. Though, if I wanted to, I feel like I could enter someone else’s dream… or even my own.)”

So she’d already grown used to her succubus abilities in just one night.

Whether it was because Chloe adapted quickly, or because succubi were like that by nature, I couldn’t say.

Since she’s the only succubus in existence, there’s no one to compare her to.

We don’t even know what abilities succubi normally have.

So she has no choice but to learn her powers on her own.

‘… Just like how I had to forge martial arts from scratch before regression.’

Definitely not an easy path.

“(Geonwoo. Where should we go have fun today?)”

As we headed to the hotel elevator, she asked me that.

She sounded hopeful, but—

“(I’m thinking of returning to Korea soon.)”

“(Ah… right. Yeah, you should.)”

She looked disappointed at my answer, but not surprised.

She must have expected it.

“(When you arrive in Korea, you’d better call me, okay?)”

“(… Got it.)”

She didn’t cling or try to drag things out.

She only asked me to make a light promise to call her when I got there.

So, after breakfast at the hotel, I checked out, went to Cairo International Airport, and boarded a flight to Korea with the emergency passport the embassy staff had prepared two days earlier.

And I had no idea what had happened in Korea during the two days I was away.

“He’s here!”

“One, two…!”

“““““Korea’s Hero! Welcome back, Artist!”””””

“Kyaaah! Oppa!”

“Look this way too!”

“…?”

As I stepped off the plane, I was met with a cheering crowd.

Judging by them calling me “Artist,” it was clear they were here to welcome me.

But still…

‘Even so, this many people came?’

While I stood dumbfounded, someone approached and quickly put a mask, hat, and sunglasses on me.

Not a random stranger—someone from the Iron-Blood Guild.

…I didn’t remember his name, but he was definitely staff.

Since I trusted that much, I followed him and asked:

“What happened while I was in Egypt?”

“Mirae is waiting in the car. She’ll explain everything, so let’s go.”

The staff member led me through a path cleared by guild members and airport workers.

Just what had happened for all this?

Rrrrt….

Outside the airport, a van was waiting.

When I approached, the door slid open—and inside was Yeon Mirae.

Rrrrt… Slam!

As soon as I got in, she shut the door tight.

I turned to her and asked:

“So, what on earth happened?”

“Hmm… how should I put this….”

After a moment of thought, Mirae spoke.

“Your identity and the heroic deeds you’ve accomplished so far… they’ve pretty much all been revealed.”

“… Hm?”

“So right now, in Korea, you’re a hero.”