Chapter 169. Butterfly Effect (4)
-So… I signed the contract today.
“That’s great. You’ll do well. If it’s Lime, the company is decent too.”
Listening to Kim Wonho’s noticeably relaxed voice, I pushed off the ground with my slippered foot. The swing creaked as it swung backward and then came to a stop.
-But everyone here is younger than me. They all look so round and cute. It’s a bit awkward.
“Then you just have to become the top dog. Perfect for you.”
-Wow, top dog? You seriously sound like an old man just now.
“Wanna see what it’s like to be cut off by a super strong old man?”
A few days ago, I discovered the strange SOS message from Kim Wonho a little late. I called him immediately, wondering what was going on, and now I was glad I did. After hearing from Wonho about Jaeyoung, Seok-hyung, and even Yoon Taehee, the third of the No Hope Trio, I realized just how much had changed.
-When are you guys starting?
“Well… we’re on vacation until next week, at least. There’s a lot to sort out. They said to take it easy as if it’s the last vacation of the year.”
-Wow, that’s already pretty intense.
“It’s your future.”
-Are you cursing me?
“It’s a prophecy.”
Kicking the sand lightly with my foot, I chuckled along with our silly back-and-forth banter.
As I sat on the swing at the playground near my house, a place I often visited when my mind was crowded with thoughts, I turned my gaze toward the setting sun peeking between the buildings.
I squinted at the red sunset for a moment. Kim Wonho was still chatting away on the other end of the phone.
-If it’s only a week, it’ll go by in a flash… I guess I’ll have to play hard.
“…I suppose. It would be nice if it went by in a flash.”
-Huh? What did you say?
“Oh. Nothing, just that we should grab a meal before the vacation ends.”
Oops. I meant to keep that thought to myself.
Without realizing it, I had spoken my mind, and I quickly changed the subject with something else. Simple-minded Kim Wonho eagerly responded, “Sure! When’s good for you?” and seemed ready to schedule a meal immediately.
After suggesting a day and time, we exchanged simple farewells and ended the call.
Well, setting the date for the last day of my week-long vacation was a good idea, but…
“…The problem is whether that day will actually come, Wonho.”
I muttered like a sigh and looked at the culprit who had brought me to this playground again.
A blue window floating in the air.
Unlike usual, there was not a hint of the familiar and sloppy vibe from Thirteen in this blue window, which was plastered with the word ‘Warning’ in ominous yellow letters.
[System Alert: Evidence of abuse of another person’s timeline (Yoon Kisuk) has been confirmed.]
[System Alert: Penalty calculation is complete.]
[System Alert: Penalty <Butterfly Effect> has been applied.]
[System Alert: A new event <Butterfly Effect> has been added to the fixed regressor’s timeline.]
[System Alert: An event of similar impact to the abused timeline will occur in the fixed regressor’s timeline.]
It was time to settle the score.
* * *
This penalty window had appeared the moment I woke up this morning, a consequence of accessing Yoon Kisuk CP’s past to eliminate him and Han Sungwoo.
Not only did I force Thirteen to show me Yoon Kisuk CP’s past, but I also recklessly copied items to use as evidence… which was treated as ‘timeline abuse,’ leading to the penalty.
‘Well, if someone with such abilities went around carelessly messing up people’s pasts, the world would probably end in no time.’
Because of my actions, Yoon Kisuk and Han Sungwoo were driven out of their respective workplaces and forced into a drastically different life from the previous timeline. The same went for Kim Wonho and Sarin, but it seemed that whether or not I used my abilities as a timeline manager was the key criterion.
There was a clear difference between actions taken by humans of their own free will and deliberately digging into someone’s past to ruin them. I had somewhat braced myself for this, but…
“Still, isn’t this a bit too fair?”
I was about to shout, “Don’t I get any protagonist buffs!?” but then I remembered that the protagonist of this ridiculous world wasn’t me but Dan Haru, and I calmed down.
Poor Thirteen, too, had committed the crime of ‘abusing administrator privileges’ rather than being part of the protagonist’s system, and he got some kind of punishment for it. On top of the penalty, I couldn’t even communicate with Thirteen properly for the time being. Facing the cold system window that only spoke when necessary made me realize just how lenient Thirteen had been in handling the system.
Anyway, under normal circumstances, I would’ve accepted this penalty as a reasonable price for ruining someone else’s life… not quietly, of course, but with a bit of a tantrum while thinking of a way to deal with it.
“Our sensitive regressor must have set up for a big return.”
The penalty was that ‘an event of similar impact to the timeline I abused’ would occur.
I hadn’t heard the full aftermath of what happened to CP Yoon, but I had a vague idea that he got reprimanded by the broadcasting station and things weren’t going well between him and Han Sungwoo’s father.
‘If I were still an ordinary person, I wouldn’t care, but I have a lot to lose now.’
Based on the pattern so far, there’s no way Dan Haru would just stand by and watch me fall into ruin.
So, if I don’t properly prepare for this penalty, it’s a 100% chance I’ll have to regress.
I sat quietly on the bench at the playground (the swing had been taken by a neighborhood kid) and started to carefully calculate the possible outcomes. It would have been easier if I had a clear target like “Prevent Lee Yugeon’s Withdrawal!”, but without even a hint of what kind of event this would be, it was difficult to think of a way to handle it.
“Red hyung!”
“…?”
As I was staring blankly at the sky, which had turned crimson, a confident little voice suddenly called out to me from beside me. I turned my head to see that the little kid who had taken my swing earlier was now grabbing the hem of my pants with one hand, smiling brightly.
“Why? I gave you the swing. Go play.”
“Mm. But you know, the swing is, um, like, if you, uh, do it like this, it’s more fun?”
“……”
“It would be nice if hyung could do it for me….”
The kid, who had been enthusiastically waving his short arms, suddenly became solemn and twisted his body awkwardly.
“You want me to push the swing for you?”
“Yes!”
As I bluntly pointed out his obvious intent, his eyes sparkled, and he eagerly nodded his head.
Now that I think about it, why is this kid out here alone without an adult?
Even if this neighborhood is old and everyone knows each other, he still doesn’t understand how dangerous the world is.
I got up from the bench, crouched down in front of the kid, and looked him in the eye. Then, grabbing his small and squishy shoulders that fit easily in one of my hands, I spoke.
“Kid, what’s your name?”
“Park! Sangnyul! Imnida.”
“Sangyul? Sangyul?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, Sangyul. My name is Kang Hajin. But, you know, you shouldn’t talk to strangers so easily or act all cute like this, okay? Didn’t they teach you in kindergarten to be careful of bad adults?”
“They did!”
“Luckily, I’m a kind and warm-hearted guy, but what if I had bad intentions and just took you away or something, huh? What are you supposed to do if someone says they’ll buy you ice cream from that store over there?”
“The store is my house!”
Oh, right. He’s the son of the store owner.
I made a mental note to tell his mom when I got home that she needs to do a better job of teaching her youngest son about safety. Then I took the bright-eyed kid to the swing.
“Anyway, if a stranger says something like that, you run away. Got it? You don’t need to say anything like ‘No, I don’t want to, go away.’ Just run and find your mom and dad. Understand?”
“Yes! Hyung, are you a bad uncle?”
“Fortunately, I’m neither an uncle nor a bad person yet. But you shouldn’t just trust anyone like that. Have you seen me before?”
“Yes!”
“You have… seen me before?”
“Hyung, I saw you on TV!”
Oh, dear. So you’re a fan, huh?
With the sudden appearance of my youngest viewer, I couldn’t help but smile. As Sangyul, or maybe it was Sunyul, or Seongul, smiled brightly at me, I gently placed him on the swing. After making sure he was holding the handles tightly, I started pushing the swing slowly so he wouldn’t get scared, and soon, cheerful laughter filled the air.
“…Yeah. As long as you’re having fun, that’s good enough.”
Our little rabbit warrior is just as cheerful as you, but I don’t know why he’s so sensitive.
How can I stop Dan Haru’s regression?
Even as I mechanically pushed the swing, thoughts of Dan Haru and the penalty wouldn’t leave my mind.
In the brief moment I was lost in thought, I unconsciously
put more strength into my hands, causing the swing to jerk and lurch.
“Oh no, Sangyul!”
At that moment, the kid, who had been having too much fun and was bouncing up and down on the swing, fell off.
I quickly grabbed the swing to stop its momentum so it wouldn’t hit the kid, then hurried over to him.
I don’t know how many thoughts and feelings flashed through my mind in that short time.
What if this is the penalty?
What if this kid, who has nothing to do with it, gets seriously hurt because of my penalty?
If this is my karma, and I can’t even regress, what should I do?
My heart felt like it had plummeted from the top of the 63 Building to the ground floor as I ran to the kid―
―Ta-da!
…The kid jumped up with a big smile and struck a triumphant pose.
With great enthusiasm.
“Hey, are you okay? You’re not hurt?”
“Yeah. Was that cool?”
“Cool my foot. Didn’t I tell you to hold the handles tight and keep your butt glued to the seat?”
Even though it was my fault, my voice came out louder because I was so shocked.
As I brushed the sand off his clothes, I checked his delicate skin several times to make sure there were no scratches or bruises. Fortunately, the sand I had pushed in front of the swing earlier acted as a cushion, so it seemed he wasn’t badly hurt.
“If you keep playing like that and get hurt, it could be really serious. You need to be careful.”
“But Sangyul plays like this all the time.”
“You don’t always fall and get hurt, do you?”
“My sister pushes me even harder.”
“…But it’s not dangerous like this, is it?”
“But, but, um, last time, I fell down, and I, um, bled here.”
“What a boast. See? That’s dangerous.”
“But, but, um, so, uh, I cried because it bled.”
The store owner’s youngest son, Park Sangyul, kept talking as if my words didn’t matter.
As the eldest son in the Kang family, who has no fewer than seven younger cousins, I knew all too well that these little ones wouldn’t stop talking until they finished what they wanted to say. So I decided to sit down on the sand and listen to what he had to say.
“So, you cried? Because it hurt?”
“Yeah. My sister held my hand.”
“What a good sister.”
“Yeah. That’s why Sangyul likes his sister.”
“So, you were just bragging about your sister, huh?”
I couldn’t help but laugh at the little guy’s proud expression as he talked about how great his sister was.
But even in this amusing conversation, I couldn’t help but think of our delicate regressor.
“…I mean. Even if you fall down, you can just get back up.”
Why was that so difficult for him?
If only there had been just one person by his side to hold his hand, he could’ve gotten up easily.
“Hey, Park Sangyul! Come here!”
“Oh! It’s my sister!”
While I was lost in thought, a sharp, loud voice suddenly rang out from a distance.
The resilient Park Sangyul, who had been playing with my hair just a moment ago, unceremoniously abandoned me and ran toward the owner of that voice. Then, I heard the sound of his sister sternly scolding him.
“Why did you come out here by yourself! I told you not to go to the playground alone.”
“I was waiting for you!”
“Why wait for me? You should’ve just stayed at home. Ah, seriously, Mom needs to… How could you just hang out with someone you don’t even know? How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?”
So our youngest viewer was a repeat offender.
As I stood up, I thought I should probably explain that I wasn’t a suspicious person but just a guy from the neighborhood who lived next door to the playground since it seemed I had scared them.
When I turned around, I found myself locking eyes with a student wearing a middle school uniform, holding Sangyul in her arms. I tried to put on the kindest, most harmless expression I could, but Sangyul’s sister turned pale as if she had seen a ghost.
“Uh, I live in the white house over there. I’m not a bad person….”
“…H-Hajin oppa?”
Huh?
“Big sister! It’s the hyung from your room!”
Park Sangyul pointed at me and smiled brightly.
…Oh. So this is where you’re a fan.
A cool breeze blew between us as we stood facing each other in the playground.