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nSide Story Chapter 9. Meeting the World Again

nChi-Woo regularly met up with the companions he befriended on Liber. Not only did his companions desire it, Chi-Woo also cherished his relationship with those he shared so much pain and joy with and wanted to continue his relationship with them. And even though many of them were Celestial Realm’s heroes, their experience on Liber was particularly special, so they shared Chi-Woo’s feelings. This time, they decided to meet up on Liber.

nThere were two reasons they picked Liber as the meeting place. For one, they were curious about Liber’s current situation after they saved it, but there was another reason. It was because of what Yunael had said in a pork belly restaurant on Earth during their first meeting.

nBy the way, boss, have you heard the recent news from Liber?

nAh, it’s nothing much. After the Sernitas’ invasion, the Celestial Realm designated Liber as a special care zone and oversaw it for a long time.

nBut according to reports, no crisis ever befell the planet again after the last crisis—not even a very small one.

nThat probably means someone is artificially controlling the situation from behind the scenes and preventing crises from arising… It really is surprising.

nBut now that I think about it, I wonder how those who remained on Liber are doing.

nIt wasn’t only the heroes they had built connections with. They also became close with the natives of Liber; and although some of them hoped to follow the Celestial Realm’s heroes, Chi-Woo refused and told them to live their own lives in their homeworld. Chi-Woo was also curious about what had happened to them and what kinds of lives they were living. Thus, he took the lead and arrived at Liber again. But of course, before he went anywhere, he didn’t forget to make a stop at one place.

n‘This place is the same as usual.’ Chi-Woo wandered around a garden filled with a strong floral scent and stopped when he spotted a girl. The girl seemed deep in thought while riding on a wooden swing alone. As soon as she saw Chi-Woo, her eyes widened, and she stopped moving. The two looked at each other for a bit before Chi-Woo broke the stillness.

n“You grew up so much.”

nBefore, she looked like an elementary student, but now she looked like a middle-schooler.

n“How have you been?” Chi-Woo greeted Liber, who had changed so much that she was almost unrecognizable. Liber didn’t say anything. She was so shocked by the sudden reunion that she simply sat on the chair with tears welling up her eyes.

n“Come one, don’t cry.” Chi-Woo patted the girls’ head until her hair was all messed up. He lifted the shopping bag he brought.

n“You know what they say. Cry babies don’t get gifts.”

n“Oh! It’s Chi-Woo!” It was then Kabal, Balal, and Asha spotted Chi-Woo. They rushed toward him at once. Unlike the living World who had grown, the three looked the same as usual. Asha jumped up and down and sat on top of Chi-Woo’s shoulder, and Kabal and Balal took the shopping bag from Chi-Woo and revealed his present.

n“Ohh. What is this?”

n“They are just snacks from my planet. They are quite tasty.”

n“Snacks? Well, snacks are good, but what about this?”

n“Ah, that?”

nChi-Woo took the white headband that Kabal was holding with both hands. He put it on Liber as she calmly sat on the swing. “How is it?”

nLiber blinked fast in shock as Chi-Woo smiled at her.

n“Doesn’t she look prettier?” Chi-Woo asked the others, and with a blush, she lowered her eyes.

n“Aha. Is that what you do?” Kabal also put on a pretty ribbon that was for her. “But it’s just a normal decoration?” Then, she said in a slightly disappointed tone, “Since you are the one giving us these gifts, I thought it would have some great ability…ow!” Kabal screamed mid-sentence. Liber had suddenly reached out and snatched the pin from Kabal’s hair.

n“What? Have you lost your mind?” Kabal said angrily while rubbing her head, but Liber got angrier. It seemed that she was mad at Kabal for her ungrateful reaction to the precious gift that Chi-Woo gave them.

n“No! Give it back! That’s mine! It’s for me and you already got yours—!”

nChi-Woo knew that Kabal didn’t genuinely mean her words. She simply complained because she wasn’t yet used to kindness with pure intentions, as shown by how desperately she tried to take her pin back. On the other hand, Balal was smiling brightly after putting on her pin while Asha thought a rubber ball that Chi-Woo gave them was a friend and rubbed their body against it. Then, after stopping the escalating fight between Liber and Kabal, the five sat down together. They shared the snacks Chi-Woo brought and conversed.

nBut even while this went on, Liber and Kabal continued to bicker. Still unable to get her pin back, Kabal made a snide comment about Liber in her annoyance.

n“Hey, why aren’t you saying anything? You are being so quiet even though it’s been a while since Chi-Woo visited us.”

n“?”

n“You know that this is all an act right? She is so rowdy when she is with only us, and she’s just pretending to be calm and dainty now that you are here. Okay, I got it. I will stop here. You should’ve given it back sooner.” As Liber hurriedly gave Kabal back her pin, Kabal also stopped talking.

nChi-Woo smiled. Every time he saw them, he felt warm and fuzzy inside. It wasn’t like he had no worries, but it relieved him to see the three of them seemingly doing so well. Then, after talking a bit, Chi-Woo tried and failed to get up. It was because as soon as he pushed himself up, Liber clung to him with both hands with misty eyes, so even Chi-Woo couldn’t push her off coldly. In the end, he was only freed after promising ten thousand times that he would visit them again.

n“Come back again~! And bring presents next time too!” Kabal said cutely, and Liber also waved her hand with a dejected expression, sniffing. Chi-Woo turned around after Balal and Asha also bade him farewell and entered the World.

n‘Where should I go?’

nThere was still some time left before the meeting would take place. Chi-Woo wondered whether he should seek out Eshnunna first or Hawa. After a moment of deliberation, he decided to go to the place he wanted to go the most and was most curious about.

n“Huh?” Chi-Woo’s eyes widened as he looked down from the sky, and they only grew wider as he descended. The place he arrived at was Shalyh. Celestial Realm’s heroes were protected from the flow of time, and thus, they were less affected by its constraints. However, that wasn’t the case for Chi-Woo, who had thrown away all contracts made with the Celestial Realms ever since he saved Liber. Thus, he didn’t know how much time had passed on Liber while he was on Earth. Shalyh could’ve disappeared, and he wouldn’t have even known it. He was now here though, and Shalyh stood completely intact. No, more than that, the city looked exactly as Chi-Woo remembered.

n“What in the world…?”

nEven the Seven Stars’ zone looked the same as before, as if time stopped only at this place after everything ended. Chi-Woo looked down at Shalyh for a while and trespassed into the Seven Stars’ zone, heading straight to his office.

n“Everything is really the same.” The office that he once oversaw various businesses from, the meeting place where he gathered with everyone, the lodging place where he slept, and the basement bathhouse that was the highlight for the Seven Stars members—they were all the same as before. Furthermore, there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere, as if someone had been paying great attention to the place and keeping it clean.

nChi-Woo wandered from room to room and eventually got out of the building. He walked around the neatly trimmed gardens and dwelled over past memories.

n“Hey!” It was then he heard a shrill whistle and saw a group of people rush toward him. Wearing silver, sparkling armors, they appeared to be guards.

n“Ha, seriously. I can’t believe there’s someone brave enough to wander around this place. Are you a tourist?”

nTaken aback to find himself surrounded in an instant, Chi-Woo didn’t answer. When Chi-Woo only kept blinking, the leader of the guards stepped forward.

n“Anyway, you should quickly get out. This isn’t a place that outsiders can just enter.”

n“Um…but I’m not an outsider.”

n“Hm, you aren’t?”

n“Yes, this is my place…I’m the one who established this building…” It wasn’t wrong since he did gain ownership over this zone and use his money to construct the buildings, yet the guards looked baffled by Chi-Woo’s response.

n“Boss, it seems we have a crazy guy here.”

n“Hm, that’s too bad. He still looks young. What happened to him…?” The guards clicked their tongues, and Chi-Woo got irritated.

n“No, this really is my place—not just this building, but this entire zone!” Using his infinite loops, Chi-Woo even took out documents that proved his ownership. The leader of the guards took the documents from Chi-Woo a bit hesitantly before freezing in place. His eyes stayed fixated on the documents for a while, and he remained silent. It was then Chi-Woo realized that something was going wrong. He should’ve left when he was told to, and it was evident that the situation would turn serious if he just pulled out an ancient document from who-knows-where to claim rights over this area.

n“It really is…suspicious.” The leader of the guards crumpled the sheets of paper. “Not only did you trespass into the Empress’ villa, you are bringing out fabricated documents?”

n“It appears he isn’t a tourist who strayed into the wrong place.”

n“We needed to investigate him. Arrest him!”

nChi-Woo didn’t even have the time to ask them who the great Empress was, and as the guards seemed ready to charge at him, Chi-Woo quickly turned around and ran.

n“He’s running away! Catch him!”

nChi-Woo played hide and seek with the guards at the Seven Stars’ zone for a while and lost them using teleportation. Then, he wandered around the streets more leisurely and entered a storefront he spotted. He wanted to learn why the Seven Stars’ zone had become a mere villa of the Empress and what had happened to Shalyh City.

n“Welcome…”

nDing, Chi-Woo opened the door and found a suitable seat. Then, seeing a waitress staring intently at him, Chi-Woo’s eyes widened. With a look of surprise, the waitress approached Chi-Woo and stood in front of him.

n“What did you come here for?”

nChi-Woo smiled faintly at the freckled girl with pigtails and said, “I just wanted to talk.”

n“Talk? That sounds good. But I would like to exchange information for information. Is that alright with you?”

n“…By that, is it information about my brother that you want?” Chi-Woo asked, and the freckled girl—the Last Dragon, Raphine—smiled.

n“It’s been a while,” she said.

n“Yes, it’s been some time.”

n“But isn’t this way too sudden? I was really shocked. It would’ve been nice if you gave me a heads-up or something before coming.”

n“Honestly, I didn’t expect to see you here either.”

n“Well, I guess everyone has their circumstances. But first of all, is there anything you want to drink?”

nChi-Woo took the offer, and Raphine quickly got him his order. “Anyway, it sounded like there was a commotion outside.”

n“Ah, well…” Chi-Woo explained what just happened, and Raphine smiled.

n“So what happened? Why did the Seven Stars’ zone become a mere Empress' personal villa?”

n“Ahahaha! A mere Empress? Well, I suppose if it’s coming from you, it’s understandable,” Raphine continued while wiping her tears. “It’s only natural because a considerable time has passed since you left.”

n“How long has it been?”

n“1,000 years.”

nChi-Woo was stunned speechless for a while.

n“1,000 years have passed on Liber since you defeated the Sernitas and left.”

n“But considering that—”

n“Nothing changed in Shalyh, right?” Raphine chuckled. “Fufu, no wonder. In addition to the Seven Stars zone, this entire city is actually being maintained to keep its past appearance.”

n“Why?”

n“I don’t know the exact reason, but it’s because of a stone-cold order that the great Empress of the Salem Empire made. She even personally visited this place and surveyed it not long ago. And from time to time, she stays and sleeps in the city for several days, so the staff here can’t neglect the place.”

n“The great Empress of the Salem Empire?”

n“Ah, I suppose I have to tell you that first. Currently, authority over Liber is divided between two large powers, and these two powers rule over this continent. One is humanity’s Salem Empire.”

n“Wait, by Salem…”

n“Yes, you can make a guess with that, can’t you?” Raphine winked. “Salem’s ice witch. The iron-blooded Empress of Salem who unified all human nations under her. Her name is Salem Eshnunna.”

nChi-Woo’s mouth slightly gaped open. He hadn’t expected something so big to happen after he left. He had hoped that Eshnunna would spend the rest of her life happily with her family, but it appeared that her circumstances didn’t let her be.

n‘Well, considering her abilities…’ Chi-Woo smiled bitterly. It hadn’t been just one or two centuries, but a thousand years. If he knew something like this would happen, he would’ve come sooner.

n“But I’m grateful to her. She must’ve given her successors a serious warning for them to still be managing this place so well,” Chi-Woo said, thinking he should visit Eshnunn’s grave later if he had the time.

n“Hm? What are you saying?” Raphine said. Then she revealed something that shocked even Chi-Woo.

n“The legend of the great iron-blooded empress isn’t over yet.” Raphine smirked. “After building the foundation of her empire for one thousand years, she is still protecting her place resolutely.” She was so fixed in her position that no one was permitted to sit beside her, as she waited for one man who might never come again.

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