ReLife Player

[Distorted Future].

Mid-April.

The students of Doan Elementary School went on a field trip to Deoksugung Palace.

Byung-in’s terror had prohibited elementary school students from engaging in extracurricular activities outside the school zone.

There was a reason why the kids who were supposed to attend a training camp ended up on a picnic to Deoksugung Palace.

«Never go outside Deoksugung Palace, and be at the main entrance of Deoksugung Palace Art Museum by 12:00!»

Im Dohon shouted at the kids as they rushed through the ticket booth.

The children responded appropriately and scattered in groups.

«Hey, hey, let’s go!»

«…Eunha looked at us.»

«Don’t pay attention to that! Let’s go over there!»

After making eye contact with Eunha, the children were startled and ran off without looking back.

«Who do they think will eat them….»

Eunha sighed when he saw the children running away from him.

From that day forward, Eunha was isolated.

Fifth graders avoided him out of fear, and those who had suffered from monster fears and trauma would burst into tears if they even made eye contact.

The atmosphere in the class was terrible. The kids were silent in conversation, and they didn’t talk during recess.

Most of the kids were uncomfortable in their seats, so they either walked out into the hallway or went to play with other kids in the class.

«Guys, where do you think we should go first?»

«Hayang, why don’t we go to the nearest one, Hahyeongjeon?»

«Hmm… sounds good. What about you, Minji?»

«…Do whatever you want.»

The friends tried their best to restore the class atmosphere.

It wasn’t the first time Eunha had been isolated. But Minji and Eunhyuk’s efforts hadn’t yielded any results.

The fear witnessed by the kids who had witnessed Eunha’s power couldn’t be easily shaken off.

Vice President Cho Yeona led the girls, and President Yeom Jae-jin led the boys.

Minji and Eunhyuk’s popularity had also been greatly diminished due to Eunha.

Hayang and Seona couldn’t do much either.

As a result, the five of them often walked around in a group.

«Mukminji, why do you seem so down since this morning? Are you hungry?»

«Do you even know why I’m like this right now…?»

Minji grumbled in irritation.

Recently, things hadn’t been going well for Minji. Even if Eunha deliberately teased her, she would just get annoyed and wouldn’t fight back properly.

«Eunha, don’t bother Minji too much. Do you know how much she worries about you…?»

«I know, I do…»

Seona followed Minji as she headed toward Hahyeongjeon.

Eunha swallowed the words he was muttering when he saw the children ahead of him.

It’s just unnecessary worry. I don’t need to care.

Eunha was fine with being isolated from the kids.

Although his friends worried about him, he, in turn, worried that his friends would be ostracized for standing up for him.

«Even if I say something, they won’t listen….»

It was frustrating.

Issues that arose between people couldn’t be solved with mana.

Fear, even more so.

Wielding fear on children who were afraid of him wasn’t going to make things better.

«I don’t know how to solve these problems.»

He had never been good at relationships, only at wielding a sword and killing people he didn’t like.

Even before his regression, his relationships were handled by Lee Yoo Jung or Ha Baek-ryeon.

Even if he could fight against the malice directed at him, he couldn’t do anything about his own fear.

«Everyone stop moving-!»

It was then.

Eun-hyuk shouted at the girls as they walked along the stone walls of Hahyeongjeon.

«What’s wrong!»

«Eunhyuk, why are you like this?»

«It’s not just us here. Do you have to speak so loudly?»

Minji got annoyed.

Hayang, who was hugging Minji, just shook her head, and Seona nudged Eunhyuk with a gentle tone.

Eunhyuk didn’t seem to mind though.

«According to the map, there’s a canteen around here, let’s go get something to eat!»

«How long have we been here?»

«Hey, Kim Min-ji. You’re in fifth grade and you still don’t know what you’re doing….»

Choi Eunhyuk clicked his tongue and pointed his index finger left and right.

«If we’re having a picnic, shouldn’t we eat and look around? The flowers must be blooming beautifully, and Deoksugung Palace must be worth seeing, right here! Isn’t that right, Captain?»

«…Uh, sure.»

Eunha nodded as he listened to Eun-hyuk spew out his words like a rapid-fire cannon.

He wasn’t wrong.

Without something to eat, the pleasure of sightseeing diminished. And when Minji is hungry, her temper becomes uncontrollable, and I get tired when my blood sugar drops…

«Hey, No Eunha, what were you thinking?»

«What? I wasn’t thinking about anything.»

«Liar! You just smiled at me! Did you think I wouldn’t know that you called me Mukminji inside your head?»

«…Hey, don’t just think whatever you can think of. One of these days you’re going to lose your hair.»

«What’s wrong with you? Do you think I don’t know? I’m Kim Minji from Doan Elementary School! Are you questioning who I am!?»

Minji and Eunha were arguing in the middle of Deoksugung Palace.

Seona’s tail wagged wildly as she watched the two fighting.

«Hey, stop fighting. People are passing by, you know?»

«I want soft-serve ice cream after hearing what Eunhyuk said! Let’s go eat ice cream! My mom gave me pocket money to eat with you guys, so I’ll pay!»

Hayang exclaimed as she lifted the rabbit purse around her neck.

At that moment, the two people who were having a staring contest turned their heads simultaneously.

«»Deal.»

☆

Soft-serve ice cream is a magic that can calm even the angriest of monsters.

Eunha and Minji, who had been bickering just a moment ago, were enjoying the soft-serve ice cream as much as ever.

«See? Don’t you agree? It’s so much fun to eat and watch while you’re at it!»

«Yeah, I admit it.»

«I admit it.»

Minji and Eunha agree as they run their tongues along the side of the ice cream.

They were walking down the street toward the stone pavilion.

As they savor the sweetness that spreads from the tip of their tongues to the front of their mouths, they look at the flowers along the way and feel soothed.

«It would have been even prettier if the cherry blossoms were in full bloom….»

«I know. It’s a pity that the cherry blossoms are almost done.»

Hayang looked wistfully at the cherry tree whose petals had almost fallen off.

Seona nodded in agreement. She stood still, unaware that she had soft serve on the corner of her mouth.

«Hey, Jin-seona.»

«Huh? Mmm? …What?»

«You’re not a child, and you’re going around with ice cream in your mouth.»

«…Thanks.»

Eun-hyuk stole a tissue and wiped the corner of Seona’s mouth as she stared at the cherry blossom tree.

Startled by the unexpected touch, Seona’s triangular ears perked up.

Whether she panicked or not, Eun-hyuk didn’t stop his hand.

«You’ve grown up, Choi Eun-hyuk. It seems like just yesterday you were bullying kids in kindergarten….»

«That’s right. Eun-hyuk has grown up.»

«So are you, Jung hayang. It seems like just yesterday that you were crying because Eun-hyuk took your ribbon.»

«Tch. What about you, Eunha?»

«If you knew how much longer I’ve lived than you guys, you’d be surprised… Hold on to this.»

«Huh? Huh?»

Eunha handed the soft-serve ice cream he was eating to Hayang.

Holding the ice cream in both hands, Hayang was dumbfounded.

«You’re such a clumsy….»

Eunha knelt down.

Her sneakers were untied.

She wasn’t good at tying her shoelaces. She usually wore shoes that her father or mother tied for her.

Whenever her shoes were untied, she would ask Eunha or Seona to tie them for her.

Eunha noticed that Hayang’s shoelaces were untied, almost out of habit, he knelt down.

«…Thank you.»

«How old do you have to be to tie your own shoes?»

«…My mom says it doesn’t matter if I can’t tie my own shoes.»

«Is that the chaebol mindset? Even if you can’t tie your shoelaces, hire someone to do it for you?»

«My mom says she can find someone to tie her shoes, so she asks my dad to tie them for her.»

«I bet it’s hard to find someone like that.»

«Well…, I don’t think it would be that hard….»

«Next time, tie your shoelaces by yourself.»

«Tch.»

Eunha took the soft-serve ice cream from Hayang, who puffed up her cheeks.

There wasn’t much ice cream left.

He swallowed the dripping soft cream in one gulp.

«No Eunha!»

«What?»

Eunha replied, savoring the ice cream in his mouth.

A few feet away, Minji was pointing at her shoes.

«Me too!»

«You can tie them yourself.»

«I have ice cream in my hand!»

«Then give it to me. I’ll eat it for you.»

«That’s cheesy, really…. Forget it!»

Minji bent down carefully.

She tried to tie her shoelaces without dropping the soft ice cream.

«…Ah…!»

Holding the cone with her pinky and thumb, she let out a short scream.

The ice cream, unsupported by her fingers, fell to the ground.

«Why are you so gloomy today?»

Minji, had become gloomy again.

Her head hung low, and she sighed while holding onto the string.

«Hey, why is Kim Minji acting like that again…?»

«Yeah. It’s Eunha’s fault.»

«Doggy, why are you arguing with me?»

«It’s Eunha’s fault, it’s your fault.»

Seona licked the ice cream off her fingers.

Eunhyuk and Hayang were also staring at him.

They looked like they wanted him to do something.

«…Why are you doing this to me?»

Eunha protested, frowning.

His friends just stared at him.

Yes, I lost, I lost.

Eunha gestured with his hands.

Reluctantly, he decided to comfort the gloomy Minji.

When he tried to approach her, it happened.

«—What’s going on?»

A woman coming down from the direction of the Stone Pavilion raised the end of a Halloween-worthy hat she was wearing.

That person is….

A woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat bowed slightly.

Long, flowing blonde hair cascaded down to her knees.

«Is that because you ran out of ice cream?»

«…Yeah.»

«So that’s it.»

Minji replied despondently.

The woman straightened her skirt and smiled softly from under her hat.

Her blue eyes looked at Minji, then moved to the remaining ice cream cone.

«…Long time no see. That person hasn’t changed a bit even during this time of the year.»

«Do you know her?»

«…Uh.»

Eunha looked at the woman, who gently touched her staff adorned with a large jewel.

He couldn’t not know her.

«…Uh? My ice cream….»

«Well, is it okay now?»

Minji snapped back to reality, finally realizing what had happened.

The woman was holding the soft-serve ice cream that had almost fallen to the ground, preserved in its original shape.

She extended the cone as if to say that this was nothing.

«…Thank you.»

«Just don’t drop it again.»

The woman with a gentle demeanor stood up.

Her hair, which was about to be carried away by the wind, fluttered with flower petals as she grabbed the end of her hat.

«…Captain, what did I just see, is that magic?»

«Did you just go back in time?»

«No.»

Contrasting with her pitch-black hat was her golden hair.

She wore a dark-colored dress that resembled a witch’s outfit.

She evoked the image of a witch, enveloped in dark hues.

«She just reverted it to its state before it fell.»

Although it sounded a bit awkward to say she «reverted,»

The woman hadn’t actually turned back time.

In reality, the fallen ice cream cone remained on the ground exactly as it was.

She merely interfered with the natural order of things, recreating the state of the ice cream right before it fell.

It was merely extracting memories that had already passed.

Magic that only she, who could read the flow of time through mana, could perform.

«Is she a player too?»

«…She’s a witch.»

Eunha replied with a bitter smile.

She was a player.

She just introduced herself as a witch.

It wasn’t entirely inaccurate.

The word «witch» was part of her alias.

«…Who are you, unni?»

«Well… who could I be?»

The woman playfully tilted her hat.

She didn’t have a name.

People referred to the nameless witch as the <Witch of Time>.

And in the sense of recreating memories, she was called Precis Memory.

<Witch of Time>, Precis Memory.

She was the one who replaced Bang Yeon-ji, the <Florist>, and later became Baek-ryeon’s mentor.