Drip, drip-drip...
After a while, the sky began to clear.
"...Regardless of what happens next, I'll go gather some food."
I stood up, leaving the two who had become despondent behind.
"Wait, Deputy Manager Alex. Let's go together."
"Yeah, yeah. What if some weird creatures kidnap us while we're separated?"
"...Well, yes. And..."
I said with a bitter smile.
"Strictly speaking, since they were taken away as disciples, it's more like recruitment than kidnapping..."
"That's kidnapping. What? Did those strange creatures actually get proper consent before taking them?"
Director Rowe spoke with a grimace. Indeed, it was actually a kidnapping.
We stayed close to each other as we gathered herbs and fruits together.
"Try chewing on this herb. It will warm your body."
After the rain, I gave warming herbs to Director Rowe and Manager Chen, who were shivering in the cold air.
"Th-thank you, Deputy Manager Alex."
"Really, if it weren't for you, we would have been starving from the first day until now..."
"Why didn't the company recognize someone as capable as you..."
I chuckled bitterly.
"The only thing I know how to do is survive in the woods for a few days, but I have no other abilities or talents."
"Don't be modest. It's because of you that we are still alive. You are, in essence, our lifesaver."
"That's right, Deputy Manager."
The two encouraged me with trembling voices.
Moved by their sincere words, I could only smile bitterly inside.
'This is all I can do for you.'
Right now, I'm like a merchant trying to buy Director Rowe's favor with my future knowledge.
I am neither a capable person, a good person, nor someone who can be a savior to others.
I'm just paying the maximum price I currently can to buy favor.
"That's why you should also try this. It'll clear your mind."
"This herb helps with blood circulation..."
"This fruit is said to be effective for beauty..."
I wandered around the forest, feeding Director Rowe and Manager Chen numerous medicinal herbs and fruits.
I made sure they both ate their fill.
"Thank you, Deputy Manager Alex. Feeling full makes the gloominess fade a bit."
"Deputy Manager. You really... can't go anywhere."
"...Of course. I won't be kidnapped."
As I wandered the forest, gathering herbs and fruits, evening approached.
'Now, it's about time.'
I took off my shirt and lit it on fire with Manager Chen lighter.
"Good heavens! Deputy Manager Alex! What are you doing?"
"De-deputy Manager!"
The clothes, having dried after the rain and being worn while wandering outside, caught fire easily.
I threw the freshly picked fruits into the fire made from my burning clothes.
"We couldn't gather firewood because of the rain. It'll be night soon, we need the fire."
"But... your clothes..."
"I'm fine. Didn't I bring a lot of warming herbs?"
A farewell gift for Manager Chen.
I left the two in a panic and, after a while, retrieved the fruits from the fire using a branch.
"Manager Kim, try this. Director Rowe, you too."
"...Thank you, Deputy Manager Alex."
"Really, thank you."
The sun had set.
We sat in the cave, watching the sunset, eating roasted fruits.
This would probably be the last meal with Manager Chen.
who started chatting within ourselves.
Sometimes laughing heartily,
Sometimes snickering quietly.
Sometimes feigning disinterest at Chen jokes.
That way, we spent a long time laughing and talking.
As the sky turned from red to purple at sunset, the sun almost completely set below the horizon.
In the distance.
In the direction where numerous cultivators and the Dragon Emperor had headed, towards the Ascension Gate,
Manager Chen suddenly turned her head.
"Manager Chen, what's wrong?"
Director Rowe asked Manager Chen. Seeing his trembling lips, I guessed that the time had come.
"Uh, uhh..."
he had awakened her abilities.
"It's, it's strange... Suddenly, I can feel everything around me. My senses are reaching out for several kilometers... Ah, ahh..."
Manager Chen, suddenly able to sense his surroundings for several kilometers, clutched her head in pain, moaning.
"Ugh... Grrr..."
"Deputy Manager Alex! What should we do? Is there any herb good for headaches...?"
"There is one for headaches here, but..."
I doubted it would be useful.
45 years ago.
In my past life, it was around this time that he was taken.
"Ah, ahh...!"
he screamed softly in the direction of the Ascension Gate.
"It's coming! It's coming! Something is coming!"
From the direction of the Ascension Gate, where the cultivators had headed, a small dot became visible.
Soon after, the dot rapidly grew and swiftly approached us.
Whoosh!
Arriving above our cave at an unbelievable speed, it was a giant puppet-like beast.
Sitting on top of the sinister looking puppet beast, was an old man.
[What's this? Mortals? How did mortals without spiritual roots reached the Path to Ascension? Ah, I see. It's the time when the Ascension Gate opens, and the nearby space becomes unstable. It's likely that ordinary mortals got caught in a spatial storm! I'm a genius. To figure out such a puzzle in an instant!]
The self-praising hunchbacked old man chuckled for a while and then asked us.
[By the way, ordinary folks. Who was it just now that unleashed such an immense consciousness? I was startled, thinking a high-level immortal from the Upper Realm had descended... Ah, is it that one?]
Leap!
The old man jumped down from the puppet and approached Manager Chen, who was suffering from a headache.
"Who are you...? Manager Chen is... our colleague."
Director Rowe blocked the old man's path.
But with a flick of the old man's chin, Director Rowe was helplessly thrown aside.
I ran to catch Director Rowe, and although my back scraped, I managed to safely catch her.
"Deputy Manager Alex, thank you. Hah, huff! Are you okay? Your back!"
"I'm... fine."
While we were busy, the hunchbacked old man approached Manager Chen.
[Interesting, indeed interesting. An ordinary mortal's consciousness should not extend beyond their own brain. But this boy's consciousness stretches out like threads in all directions. It's so vast that I mistook it for the presence of an immortal from the Upper Realm...]
The hunchbacked old man lifted Manager Chen's chin, grinning.
[Child, I will take you under my wing. You may lack spiritual roots, but with my abilities, I can fully awaken them. I'm curious to see what results will emerge if such a peculiar consciousness evolves into a cultivator's divine consciousness...]
Manager Chen's eyes trembled, and he turned to us.
"Director... Deputy Manager..."
[Hmm...? I said I would take you, yet you still cling to these worldly connections?]
"Ugh, huu..."
Tears the size of beans began to fall from his eyes.
he had worried about being separated from us, after his colleagues were kidnapped just a few days after arriving in this world. The thought of being separated from us again frightened him.
Seeing him like this, the hunchbacked old man's face pointed at us.
"Keug! Keough!"
"Argh!"
Director Rowe and I groaned loudly and collapsed on the spot.
An overwhelming pressure that made it difficult to breathe squeezed us.
[Then, I shall personally sever your worldly connections. Now...]
"No, please! I'll do anything you ask. Please just spare them!"
Manager Chen clung to the old man's feet.
Seeing this, the hunchbacked old man wrinkled his brow and withdrew his hand from us.
The crushing pressure that felt like it would burst our hearts finally subsided.
[Fine, if you say so... But remember, you are now mine, and you must forget all worldly connections. Understand?]
"...I understand..."
[Well, since it has come to this, I will send these two to a nearby mortal's nation through a spatial rift. I'll send them randomly, so I will not know where they'll end up. You will never meet them again! Forget these meaningless worldly connections!]
"Just a moment...!"
Whoosh!
Crack!
A dark rift opened behind Director Rowe and me.
Startled, Director Rowe tried to run in the other direction, and I hurriedly gathered the herbs and medicinal plants I had placed at the cave entrance.
[Stop right there!]
As the hunchbacked old man gestured, we began to be sucked towards the rift.
As Manager Chen Yeon reached out to us with a desperate look, we lost consciousness on the other side of the rift.
Blink.
I came to my senses and got up.
"Where is this...?"
I looked around, recalling memories from 50 years ago.
The musty smell.
The noisy sounds coming from afar...
"...What?"
Rubbing my eyes, I looked around.
It was different from my memory.
This place was different from where Director Rowe and I had landed in my past life.
I found myself in an alleyway, with people passing by on the other side.
"Why is it different from last time?"
Then I remembered the hunchbacked old man saying he would randomly connect the spatial rifts.
'...It was random.'
Even a tiny difference could have changed the probabilities due to the butterfly effect, sending me to a different place than in my past life.
I looked back.
Behind me were Director Rowe and the herbs I had brought, scattered on the ground.
'...Let's go outside for a while.'
I arranged the herbs and pushed them into a corner of the alley, covering them with a burlap sack.
Then I stepped out onto the streets.
A cacophony of sounds hit my ears.
"The best silk in Town !"
"Today's goods are scriptures from Yanglong Country ()!"
"If you talk about our pharmacy..."
It was a bustling area.
Fortunately, it was a language I was familiar with.
'I was startled for a moment. I thought I had fallen into a completely different country where I had to learn a new language...'
Luckily, it seemed I had landed in a land, where I had lived in my past life.
"Excuse me, I'm a bit confused. What's the name of this place? I've just come up from the village and am a bit mixed up about the name here..."
I stopped a passerby to ask the name of this place.
In my past life, Director Rowe and I had landed in Ironstone City.
A small city located on the border of Central plane.
The passerby, looking at me as if I were insane, brushed off my hand and said,
"Are you out of your mind? Asking where this is right in the middle of the capital, ugh, bad luck. Meeting a crazy person in broad daylight..."
"The capital..."
I smiled as I learned the name of this place.
"Ironstone City !"
In this life, I had arrived in the capital of Yanglong.
***