Chapter 1143

It took three steps to get my stalled brain back up and running.

First, roughly thirty seconds of silence.

Second, someone’s muffled shout, as if it were echoing from deep underwater.

And finally, the grand third step.

Whoosh!

A figure strode closer, and a palm came flying at me with a sharp whistle.

Smack!

Light flashed before my eyes.

As my dulled senses returned, the breath I’d unknowingly been holding burst out of me in a gasp.

“……A-are you back with us?”

I could barely answer. All I managed was a blink.

Jeok Cheongang had come right up to me, staring with a look that mingled confusion and concern.

And peeking out from the gap in his robe, as if it were a third eye, was an object glaring right back at me.

“T-that. That thing.”

“What?”

“No, I mean, uh……”

So much for my brain being back up and running.

My tongue had gone stiff. I couldn’t get the words out, like Mute Samryong¹. It wasn’t until I saw my Master raising his hand again—for his Disciple’s sake, naturally—that I finally came to my senses.

“W-wait!”

Smack!

Ah, the boundless grace of a master. My eardrum was ringing with it.

“……I said wait.”

Jeok Cheongang flinched at the betrayal in my eyes.

“I thought you were on the verge of qi deviation……”

“Wouldn’t you have to be more careful if I really were having qi deviation?”

“You’re fine if you’re only on the verge. Ever heard of fighting fire with fire?”

I wasn’t sure that was the right expression for this situation, but the real issue was something else.

The culprit who’d made Jeok Cheongang suspect I was on the verge of qi deviation was still swaying before my eyes.

As if trying to hypnotize me.

“By the way…… where did you get that?”

Even as I asked, I felt uneasy.

If that unexpected object hanging around Jeok Cheongang’s neck really was the one I knew, how was I supposed to make sense of it?

His answer only made my heart sink further.

“Where did I get it? How would this old man know? You’re the owner. You’d know best.”

“……!”

“What? Is something wrong?”

“N-no.”

I managed to answer, then immediately muttered to myself.

There was one surefire way to find out.

Open Inventory. Summon.

It was simple.

I just had to picture it in my mind and put my will behind the command.

But the process I’d gone through hundreds, even thousands, of times suddenly felt unfamiliar.

So did the small System window that appeared in the air.

Beep.

System

This item does not exist in your Inventory.

Shit.

I took a small breath and forced myself to speak calmly.

“I was mistaken. It is mine.”

“That’s what I thought. I’ve seen it a few times before, too. Still, it must have some story behind it. Or it’s important to you.”

“Excuse me?”

“I found it ten days ago, right where you’d collapsed unconscious. It was lying in a pool of blood, but luckily I recognized it. You’d carried it through such a fierce battle, so I figured I ought to keep it safe.”

“……I see.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve forgotten what it’s called. Chairman? Was it a makeup watch?”

I licked my lips, which had gone dry.

“A pocket watch.”

“Ah, right. One of those foreign devices used by the barbarians across the sea. It has such an odd shape that it stuck in my mind.”

The part about barbarians across the sea was something I’d made up because too many people had been listening when I explained it.

As far as I could tell, this world wasn’t even made up of five oceans and six continents. How would I know if there were blond, tanned punks or tyrannosaurs living across the sea?

But there was at least one thing I knew for certain.

That pocket watch had been buried deep in my Inventory for more than two months.

Had I taken it out?

A simple mistake in my memory?

Absolutely not.

I’d half forgotten the thing even existed. How could I have taken it out?

This makes no sense.

Right. This really made no sense.

The Inventory was an infinite storehouse that opened and closed only at my will.

But that thing—more precisely, the item called [Pocket Watch of Unknown Make]—had somehow broken the System’s rules.

Without me even realizing it.

“I’d been meaning to give it back these past few days, but I kept forgetting, so I started wearing it around my neck. Good timing.”

I took the pocket watch Jeok Cheongang handed me as if I were under a spell.

And—

“……!”

It suddenly came back to me.

“All right. It’s time to go. To the place where you belong.”

That fleeting voice, gentle against my ear, as my vision was swept away and pulled toward somewhere unknown.

“Take it. It’s the last gift this old man can give you.”

The hard feel of something I’d instinctively clutched as my consciousness faded, and the glimmer it held.

The Helper.

There was no doubt. At last, I remembered clearly.

The endless, empty space.

What he’d given me in our final moments there.

Squeeze.

I tightened my grip on the pocket watch without thinking.

Ding!

System

Item information has been updated!

Would you like to view the new information for [Pocket Watch of Unknown Make]?

Y / N

After checking the System window, I fell into a heavy silence.

I kept my mouth shut on the way back to our quarters with Jeok Cheongang, while we climbed the stairs, and even when he prodded me, unable to stand it any longer.

No—I hadn’t heard him.

The thread of thought holding my senses captive was that long and that tough.

What is it?

Memories that stay vivid long after the years have passed fall into two broad categories.

The unbelievably good kind, or the goddamn awful kind.

And the pocket watch in my hand clearly belonged in the latter.

Even after more than two months, I remembered it so clearly that I could recall every last word.

Item Window

[Pocket Watch of Unknown Make]

Type: Common Item
Grade: None
Restrictions: None
Description: A pocket watch made by someone unknown. Extremely sturdy. At a glance, it looks like an old, broken watch. Even on closer inspection, it looks like a broken watch.

The memory came back as fresh as yesterday.

The anger that had surged from deep in my chest like lava the moment I checked the item information.

How could I forget? It was such a goddamn awful memory.

Of course it was. Back then, I’d been bursting with anticipation.

This wasn’t some run-of-the-mill Quest. The item had been given to me as a Reward for a [System Update].

I’d gone through all that shit because of an update I didn’t even know existed.

Right after defeating the Doppelganger in the modern world, I’d been sent straight to Murim. It hadn’t been my choice.

The System Update had started without warning and forced me to Log In. The System stayed dead throughout the update, only returning to normal after I’d wrapped up the events in the imperial palace.

And after going through all that bullshit, how do you think I felt when I got this piece of trash as my Reward?

Considering how I felt back then, it’s a miracle I didn’t throw it away.

More accurately, it wasn’t that I didn’t throw it away. I couldn’t.

It was an update reward, after all. I’d held onto a sliver of hope that it might have something hidden up its sleeve.

But it didn’t take long for that last flicker of hope to burn out completely.

The pocket watch was…… actual garbage.

It was filthy and worn no matter how closely I looked, and clearly broken no matter how long I stared.

I examined it like a judge on an antiques appraisal show scrutinizing a national treasure, but the only unusual thing I found was one faint line inscribed on the back.

A broken clock is right twice a day.

Twice a day, my ass.

After a week of watching the second hand stay exactly where it was, I shoved this sturdy piece of trash deep into my Inventory.

Whoever made it, I was sure I’d beat the shit out of him if he ever showed his face.

But…… why is it showing up here again? And like this, out of nowhere?

I narrowed my eyes at the holographic window floating in the air.

Item Window

[Pocket Watch of Unknown Make]

Type: Special Item
Grade: None
Restrictions: None
Description: A pocket watch made by someone unknown. Extremely sturdy. At a glance, it looks like an old, broken watch. On closer inspection, it holds a secret that has yet to be uncovered.

The newly updated item information.

Actually, calling this an update seemed a little generous.

Only a few characters had been added or changed.

The item type, and the last line of the description.

The change was tiny.

It had gone from a Common Item to a Special Item, and the sentence “Even on closer inspection, it looks like a broken watch” had been replaced with new information. That was all.

But the meaning behind that change didn’t feel small at all.

Especially when I thought about how this useless piece of junk had come back into my hands.

The Helper. The endless, infinite space. And finally, the pocket watch.

I kept repeating those three keywords in my head, which was already crowded with thoughts, when—

Tap, scuff, tap.

Irregular footsteps drew closer through the slightly open door, and an uninvited guest arrived.

“Buuuurp. Whew. I’m drunk.”

A near-mummy—no, Hyuk Mujin—appeared with a burp like a lion’s roar and looked at Jeok Cheongang and me through half-lidded eyes.

“Well, well, you’re here, are ya? Hehe.”

Before I could say anything, Jeok Cheongang spoke in a dignified tone.

“If you’re drunk, go sleep it off. Unless you want the shit beaten out of you.”

Hyuk Mujin answered.

“Nah.”

“……”

“……”

Who knew one word could leave both me and Jeok Cheongang so dumbfounded?

But Hyuk Mujin, who’d just accomplished what no great fiend had ever managed, didn’t stop there.

“Uuugh.”

“Hey, don’t you dare……”

“Bwaaaaargh!”

“……I said don’t.”

What the hell was wrong with this guy?

Jeok Cheongang recoiled in alarm as vomit poured out like Niagara Falls. I sighed and patted Mujin on the back.

When he’d finished making a whole scene, he lifted his head.

“Huh? Isn’t this that watch? Are ya finally givin’ it to me?”

He’d spotted the pocket watch around my neck. Then he said something I never would’ve expected.

“But did ya finally get it up and running?”

“You crazy bastard, why are you talking about getting it up all of a sudden—wait, what did you say?”

“You repaired it, didn’t ya?”

With his tongue thoroughly twisted, Hyuk Mujin mumbled and grinned as he grabbed the pocket watch swaying before him.

“Ya did. It’s showing a different time than the last time I saw it.”

“……!”

What did he just say?