Realities of the First Adventure (4)

He's got some pretty… beefed-up stats for someone who was just summoned about a month ago..

I'm confused. Besides the fact that his stats exceeded the Guardian Trent despite being a lower level..

What happened before the first regression?

There's a lot of plot I'm not getting here.

"Has your discussion come to a conclusion?" Liliath's voice echoed softly, bringing Nine and I to turn to her.

"Not yet. How's Prune?" Nine asked.

"She's sleeping now, so I thought to spend some time hearing the contingency plans."

"About that, since there's a lot we need to deal with.." then I went on to explain the morning routine, which Liliath gladly complied with.

"Leaving that aside, you're just about to enter a discussion regarding the Irregular right?" Liliath asked, "Noel, did you not make yourself a cup of tea?"

"Eh.. no.."

I actually didn't brew tea this time around. So it's only Nine that has a cup. There's a really good reason for that.

"Then would you like some? I can help you with that."

"No, really.. It's alright."

"Is that so?" Liliath tilted her head, with a pause, she brought a cup over and opened the shelf to find that.. all the tea was gone. "That explains it.."

"Sorry," Nine said.

"It's alright, I'll refrain just from tea today," Liliath said with a sigh, closed the shelf, returned the cup back to the holder and sat beside me. I brushed her hair to console her, she had this cute disappointed look.

"So we'll start by talking about the timeline alright?" Nine said.

"Timeline?" Liliath examined Park Jiwon's stats

"Here's the thing, right now we know Park Jiwon is a regressor, which means he knows what's going to happen to this world."

"And from that hint in the morning.. his first life didn't look all that good, didn't it?" I said after Nine's explanation.

"Which leads me to question this-- is it a timeline with us in it, or is it a timeline without us? The regressor probably met Liliath in the past, we just don't know how and when."

"Regressor as in, those in Korean novels?" Liliath pulled up the BookReader Widget and typed up novels with time regression as a genre.

"Yeah, there are no other regressor definitions right?"

"So.. in a way he knows our future?" I said.

Okay.

So say if we were in the world before he regressed, what were we doing back then? Did some overdramatic thing happen? It has to be right? Usually, the only reason why a regressor regresses is because he or she dies a tragic death with some wish of revenge or wish to survive through some calamity.

But if we distorted reality somehow and only appeared during the first regression and not regression zero.. then we might have not existed in his life. In that case how did the regressor know Liliath? Or maybe the regressor also knows us?

What's going on?

"Either he's met us before, maybe the us that returned to the modern world to replace us, or he has met us the current us.. just that we are not currently in the first regression and not the us during regression zero."

What the hell. This is confusing AF.

"Hm.."

"It did seem however that this regressor only recognized me. He gave everyone else but a quick look dripping in apathy," Liliath said.

"That makes it even more confusing, is he just ignoring us and recognizes Liliath.. or did we really not exist back then?"

"Did something happen between us in the future?" Nine contemplate with a scrunched face.

"I find it difficult to understand the significance of how this relates to our current situation?"

"I mean.. a Regressor spells bad news in a sense. The fact that he's here means that something really bad happened during his first run. The thing is.. if we're also involved in the first run, and if something happened during the first run that even we couldn't deal with.. then something will definitely happen during this run."

Liliath fell into thought.

"We have to stick together and can't split up. Not now at least," Nine said.

"Yeah.. Hey, wait a second, what about we just ask the Regressor himself?" I said.

"Oh.. why didn't we think of that," Nine coughed a laugh.

"Aah, that does sound like the most plausible option," Liliath said, blinking at me a few times.

"Then it's decided then. Next time we run into him we'll ask for directions. But.. I don't think we should go ask him now…"

"I agree."

"Likewise. In that case, I'll be in your care Nine."

"Same here."

"All the best together Nine," I said with a yawn.

"Why does this feel weird? You two.."

"Oh, that reminds me," I pulled up my inventory and took out a chain-- a heart shaped crystal pendant.

The inside was hollow, where the philosopher's stone in my heart used to be before it became part of me.

"Liliath."

"..." she stared at the pendant silently.

"Or do you not want to wear it?"

"Is it alright? Even though I've done something like that.."

"That's just how it is right? I got this for your birth season after all."

Actually, the pendent has been stuck inside my inventory since yesterday. I thought now would be the best time to return it to her.

I stared into her crimson red eyes, at her pupils, a captivating red glint that entranced my entire being.

"Then please," She exposed bare her neck to me, her skin slightly red.

I brought the chain around it and fastened the lock to secure it in place.

"There."

"You two go explode!"

"Eh.. no. Did we look like that?"

"Yeah of course you dimwit.." Nine groveled, but her face was red to the ears. Huh.. I was sure she drank tea and not alcohol-- of course I know we're causing her to puke sugar.

"We're like a couple now so well.. that's just how it is right?" I said in a not-so-convincing manner.

"Thank you Noel, I will cherish this forever" Liliath whispered in a soft voice, a small smile hung on her face.

Actually.. forever might be impossible.

"Ah shit. I didn't prepare any birthday presents." Nine said with a troubled expression.

"Your company itself already serves as a wonderful gift. And if you look at it in another way.. you did share with me your Unique Skill," Liliath said.

"If you say so. Too bad Prune's Unique Skill couldn't create a new apartment.." Nine said with a wryly smile.

"Yeah, too bad."

The fact was that we tried pasting [Home Sweet Home] into another person's Unique Skill column, it worked yes but.. we always arrive in this same apartment. And if Nine opens the door on his end, nobody else can open the door unless that first door Nine created was removed.

Of course, the convenient thing was that in this way, we can access this apartment no matter where we were.. just that the set point for the door would be where the last person opened it was.

"Think about it. You could do some really amazing stuff with more space. If there was a second apartment, you two can do IT all night long without bothering the other tenants. Right?" Nine quipped, stressing the word 'it'.

"You wanna die?"

"Were you implying what I think you were implying," Liliath hissed.

"What? You two wanna fight hHAH? Riajuus GO EXPLODE!!"

And so was the start of our adventure in Liliath's world.