ReLife Player

Unlocked chapter (12/13)

[Brainwave and Silent (3)]

Yoo Soo-jin, the youngest of the Twelve, was a player characterized by pervasive laziness.

Except when she was on a mission, she was often sleeping or lost in her own world.

Because of this, the Tempest Clan couldn’t fully enjoy the privileges associated with having a Twelve Seat in their ranks, despite her selection replacing Shin Myung-hwan.

While this was fortunate for Im Gaeul and Baek-ryeon, it was a source of frustration for Kang Ye-hee, the Tempest Clan Lord.

Kang Ye-hee, unable to accept Shin Myung-hwan’s death at the hands of the Fairy Government in the Northern Gyeonggi Provincial Office, didn’t appreciate the Fairy Government’s decisions.

The Pine Group, which sponsors the Tempest Clan, has remained neutral even when the politicals circles has turned against the Fariy.

If someone other than Yoo Soo-jin had become the Twelve Seat in Tempest Clan, Kang Ye-hee would have denounced the Fairy Godmother as soon as she became Clan Lord.

I hope it doesn’t happen in this life….

Tempest Clan Lord Kang Ye-hee, after Yoo Soo Jin’s death, did not hesitate to become a sword against the Second Fairy Ha Baek-ryeon even if it meant throwing away the Pine Group’s sponsorship.

She truly showed what a madwoman is.

However, it seemed this time around there was no need to worry.

According to Shin Seoyoung, Kang Ye-hee didn’t seem to hold a grudge against the government.

«Unnie, are you sure you can eat it all?»

«…….»

«Don’t drink and eat at the same time, you might choke otherwise.»

Awakening from his memories, Eunha was stunned to see the woman sitting on a bench.

Yoo Soo-jin, wearing a headband-style hearing protector, was devouring the food from the store without hesitation, ignoring the slightly messy hair.

She ate with unwavering focus, without hearing the words of Hayang and Seona sitting on her left and right.

«I didn’t know this was the kind of <Silent> she was…»

«…….»

A silent sniper that I had only seen from afar before my regression.

I had no idea she was a food snob.

«…Is the hamburger ready yet?»

While Eunha was contemplating this, Yoo Soo-jin, who had been engrossed in her sweet potato pizza, looked at the microwave.

Two or three generations of microwaves were in operation.

Hayang and Seona happened to be microwaving some frozen food she had bought.

«There’s still a minute left.»

«I want to eat now.»

«…Unnie, wait a minute, you might get a stomachache from eating frozen food.»

«I’ll eat now.»

Yoo Soo jin didn’t even pretend to listen to Seona’s plea.

She stood up, opened the microwave, and took a bite out of the still-defrosted hamburger.

«Is she really Twelve Seat?»

«…Uh.»

«Is the country so devoid of talent?»

Seona asked in disbelief as she watched Yoo Soo-jin take food out of the other microwave while eating her burger.

It was so unbelievable that she even blurted out something uncharacteristic of her.

«Even if she looks like that…, she’s the youngest of the Twelve.»

Eunha felt unnecessarily ashamed of himself.

What Yoo Soo-jin looked like now was not the best sniper in the country, but something that would make Mukminji cry.

«I’m sleepy….»

«Wow…, she’s eating in her sleep.»

He watched in admiration as she shoved food into her mouth while sleeping with her eyes closed.

Eunha felt like he wanted to hide in a mousehole.

He wondered if Seona was right about the lack of talent in the country.

«Picnic…, my picnic….»

«Unnie, here.»

«But why are you eating here instead of eating in the cafeteria?»

Yoo Soo Jin groped in the air with her empty hand in search of her picnic, even though she was dozing off.

Hayang quickly stuck a straw in her mouth.

Like a child sucking on a bottle, she gulped down the drink held up with two hands.

«It’s because Yoo Soo-jin doesn’t like noisy places.»

«Huh?»

Lee Dojin and Yoo Soo-jin weren’t the only Twelve Seats who participated in defeating Manticore.

There was another Twelve who deployed a protective spell to prevent the Manticore from harming the school.

<The Witch of Time>, Precis Memory.

The kids looked at her as she walked up the ramp.

She tipped up her Halloween hat and smiled at them.

«Hello. We meet again?»

«My unnie! Hi!»

«Is unnie here too?»

Seona and Hayang didn’t seem to realize that she was also a Twelve Seat.

Of course, Precis Memory didn’t seem to have any intention of letting them know.

«Your name must be Eunha, right?»

«Yes, hello.»

Eunha had long suspected that she was somewhere in the school.

Lee Do-jin, Yoo Soo-jin, and Precis Memory. There was no way that the three members of the Twelve Seats would be wandering around an elementary school at leisure.

They and the other players at Doan Elementary School would be checking to see if there was any omnipresence in the neighborhood.

With a disaster-level Manticore battling in the middle of the schoolyard, there was no way it wasn’t happening.

«Yoo Soo-jin, we have to get back to work, please wake up.»

«…No….»

Precis Memory tapped the floor with the tip of her staff.

Yoo Soo Jin, whose sleep was interrupted by the sound of the tap, turned her body around abruptly.

«Then I’ll investigate this place by myself. You, Yoo Soo Jin, go back to the headquarters.»

«…Okay.»

«You might be called to other sites along the way, since the monsters have broken through the cocoon…, there will be a shortage of labor here and there….»

«…….»

«Do you still want to go back to the headquarters?»

«…No.»

Yoo Soo Jin, who had been sleeping using Hayang’s shoulder as a pillow, frowned.

When she finally woke up, she hugged her rifle and sighed.

She cleaned up the trash and stood up, though she was still a little bitter about the food she hadn’t eaten.

«So unnie, how did the Manticore get out?»

In truth, Eunha had been asking himself the same question ever since the Manticore had appeared.

It was extremely unlikely that a third-rank monster would appear in Seoul under the protection of the Cocoon.

The Cocoon’s function was to disrupt the ubiquity of mana.

Furthermore, the Mana Management Organization Control Bureau monitored the flow of mana and prevented it from becoming ubiquitous.

The likelihood of a large-scale outbreak in the city center was extremely low.

«You haven’t heard the news yet. The monsters have broken through the cocoon, and the players are all running around.»

«How many broke in?»

«About twenty?»

Eunha suddenly realized why the Manticore had unstable mana fluctuations.

The mana that made up its body was fluctuating due to the influence of the Cocoon.

Why the Manticore?

Why did it break through the cocoon, even to the point of destabilizing its existence?

Still, there was one thing that didn’t make sense.

Monsters born of omnipresence would not approach the cocoon with the power to disperse mana without a good reason.

The Manticore is no different.

If anything, it should have been intelligent and stayed away from the cocoon.

Yet, this creature had infiltrated the cocoon, leading around 20 monsters.

«You don’t know why the monsters broke into the cocoon, do you?»

«I wonder… what could be the reason?»

Prissy Memory returned Serena’s question with a question.

Looking up at the sky, she said nothing.

Eunha looked up, too.

The sky, where the cocoon should have melted into transparency, was peacefully clear.

As if the dark clouds just moments before had been a lie.

«…There’s no reason.»

Yoo Soo-jin, who was scratching the back of her head, opened her mouth sleepily.

«…Because humans are just food for monsters.»

She muttered as if it were obvious.

Monsters covet mana.

To them, living things, especially humans, were nothing more than tasty prey.

Predators who would not hesitate to take advantage of any opportunity to devour.

The monsters had invaded Cocoon for one reason: to eat humans.

«Monsters are something to be killed, there’s no reason.»

Monsters are to be killed.

There can be no compromise between humans and monsters.

Eunha agreed with that sentiment.

«In that sense…, maybe the cocoon is the magic that protects us, but for the monsters, it’s the cage that holds us.»

«»…….»

«I’m sorry. I must have gotten too dark.»

Precis Memory smiled softly as she watched Seona and Hayang close their mouths.

The children said nothing.

There was no warmth in the words the Twelve Seats spoke.

They were filled with hatred of monsters and resignation to this world.

«─Doesn’t that sound too heavy to tell young children?»

«Oh my, I was just about to look for you…»

«…Hi.»

The heavily sunken atmosphere was lightened by the mere appearance of Lee Dojin.

With his gentlemanly and cheerful personality, he spoke to the two children whose faces were stiff.

Seona and Hayang’s faces immediately relaxed.

As if they had forgotten what they had heard earlier, they answered his questions with a smile.

«By the way, player Lee Dojin, what are the children you brought with you….»

«…It’s noisy.»

«Hahaha…, there’s a good reason for that….»

Priscis Memory looked embarrassed as she brought her hand to her cheek.

Yoo Soo Jin, wearing hearing protection, spoke up with a tone of annoyance.

Lee Dojin could only let out an awkward laugh.

The children around them screamed in excitement, shouting, «Love you, Dojin Oppa!» Minji, in particular, was more enthusiastic, shouting for the crowd to leave.

Minji, where did you get those glow sticks?

And what are you going to do with a glow stick in broad daylight….

Eunha clicked his tongue at the pathetic behavior of the girl he had known since he was two years old.

«Captain, Dojin decided to shoot hot chocolate, will you drink it too?»

«Huh? Really?»

«…Really?»

Eunhyuk pushed his way through the crowd of kids and grabbed Eunha.

But when he heard Eunhyuk say «hot chocolate,» he looked back at Yoo Soo-jin, who was wearing hearing protection to block out the sounds around her.

«…Are you sure?»

Yoo Soo Jin gripped the strap of his rifle with one hand and grabbed Lee Dojin’s collar with the other.

Having heard in disbelief that he was going to shoot hot chocolate, she was holding on to a perplexed Lee Dojin.

«Uh…, Soo jin, do you want some too?»

«Yeah.»

«Th-then…. Precis Memory, do you want some too? I’ll get it for you.»

«Then I’ll have one too. I’ll drink it well.»

Eventually, to the cheers of the kids, Lee Dojin took out his wallet.

Eunha, who was also in the audience, was able to drink the hot chocolate he bought.

«Hot chocolate is the best in winter, right, Captain?»

«Yes, it is.»

«What’s with your reaction, No Eunha? Dojin oppa bought this for you. You should drink it gratefully.»

Minji was ready to take the can to home with her.

As she collected the cans, she talked to the kids one by one.

«Does she want to be a player or a fan, what is it?»

She was such an embarrassing childhood friend.

Maybe it was better to pretend not to know for a while.

That was Eunha’s thought.

«Then, kids, study hard! I’m buying this for you to study well, okay?»

«»»Yes-!!»»

Lee Dojin bid farewell, showing his white teeth.

The kids responded with a disappointed but spirited voice.

«See you later.»

Precis Memory waved to Eunha as she walked through the path the children had made for her.

She was followed by Yoo Soo-jin.

«Ah.»

Returning to her seat, Yoo Soo Jin found the food she hadn’t gotten to eat.

«…You guys eat.»

«What? Th-thank you….»

«…Thank you.»

Yoo Soo-jin turned around with a satisfied face after giving Hayang and Seona more food than they could hold in their arms.

The two stared at her in a daze as she walked away.

«By the way, the Manticore….»

As the children waved an almost tearful goodbye, Eunha looked up at the deep blue sky.

…Was it something they had been targeting for a long time?

The Manticore had led over two dozen monsters into Cocoon.

It couldn’t have been whims or whimsical desires.

A creature with powers reaching into the Third rank could not have invaded for the sole purpose of feeding on humans.

Eunha was vaguely certain.

Its purpose, their purpose, must have been reconnaissance.

«…….»

Someday, people who had lived comfortably inside the cocoon would realize, at the moment the cocoon broke, that they still couldn’t escape the threat of monsters.

Beyond the cocoon, monsters were always lurking, waiting for the opportunity to devour humanity.

«…….»

There was nothing in this world.

Not even a safe life.

Not peace.

And certainly not hope.