Chapter 166 (2/2)

Left alone, Sungjin returned to his room and opened the door. The figure of Serin who did not say anything throughout dinner was stuck in his mind.

‘Can you stay for a bit?’

He wanted to keep her here and talk to her, but she claimed she was tired and left. Sungjin’s feelings were complicated. Of course, it was not as if he did not understand her feelings.

This was because Edward was someone who truly seemed to be a good person. However, instead, he was more dangerous because of this reason. Last time, the final ten were people who did not mesh well together, but everyone like and trusted Edward. However, at the final moment, he stabbed them in the back. His betrayal was so much more effective because of it.

‘Do I have to explain what had happened back then…’

Although it wasn’t something he wished to recall, he had no choice. This was the only method that he could use to persuade her. However, for some reason he felt sad.

Even if she did not understand immediately, he had hoped that she would help him. Sungjin sat on top of his bed inside his room. After having eaten dinner, there wasn’t anything to do in particular. He was not going to go shopping in the Black Market, nor was there a raid tomorrow. However, suddenly, Sungjin thought of what the Dragon Archae’ard’s had said.

‘Ah, right. Before when I read your memories, there was something that I was also curious about.’

Having thought about that time, Sungjin called out the Operator.

“Operator.”

[Please speak.]

“That… Eye mask that I obtained this raid. Was it Ever Dream? Take it out for me.”

At Sungjin’s request, the eye mask appeared from the cube. Sungjin held it up and examined it. The Dragon that had taken a peek at his past had said something strange as he handed the eye mask to Sungjin.

‘Why did Edward, at that time, shoot spells at his allies?’

The Dragon had also said,

‘There is a topic that I was thinking about recently… If you can know the past in its entirety, then could you not also predict the future in its entirety? Something like that. With that in mind… I’ll give you this.’

Sungjin held the item above his head as he once again pulled up the Operator’s explanation window. He then read the ability of the Active Skill ‘View of Fantasy’ again.

‘Shows what you want to see from inside the gaps between time that has flown past. Only activates when sleeping for longer than 7 hours.’

Sungjin asked the Operator,

“Operator, what time is it?”

[The time is 07:45:33 PM.]

Regardless of things, he had to go to Darker than Black at four thirty in the morning.

‘Since I have to get up at 4 AM in that case…’

In order to sleep for longer than 7 hours, he had to fall asleep by 9 PM at the latest. Since he could not fall asleep the moment he laid down, he had to attempt to fall asleep by 8:30. Sungjin said to the Operator,

“Operator. Set an alarm for 8… 8:20.”

[Understood.]

*

[It’s 8:20, Mister Hunter]

Sungjin glanced at the Operator Cube. He had a set an alarm in case he forgot, but instead he constantly thought about it and had become filled with tension. Sungjin held up the eye mask and laid down on the bed. Afterwards, he turned off the lamp next to the headboard.

The rooms of the inn ‘Ninety Nine Nights’ were optimal for sleep, even for people who were sensitive to light. After turning off the last lamp, only an inky darkness was left, though it did not compare to the darkness of Darker than Black. Sungjin put the eye mask on his face as he thought,

‘Even though it’s this dark, to wear an eye mask…’

Afterwards, he laid down on the bed. Though it appeared to be rather large, it weighed almost nothing.There was no sense of discomfort when lying down while wearing it like this.

‘Hrm… If I fall asleep like this… Is that it?’

He could not get a feel for how he was supposed to activate it. However, it was definitely identified as a ‘Passive Skill’, so there was likely nothing that he had to deliberately do. Still, since it said that it would ‘Show what you want to see from inside the gaps between time that has flown past,’ he should at least think about what he ‘wanted to see’.

Without much further thought, Sungjin thought about that incident. That time, when Edward had shot magic at his teammates.

‘However, even if it’s like this… The reason why he shot magic at us… Isn’t that impossible to find out?’

Sungjin had his doubts, but still decided to listen to the Dragon’s words. He attempted to fall asleep while thinking about that time. However, since he was forcefully attempting to fall asleep, sleep did not come easily.

A person ate and slept based on the cycle of his body. Regardless of what he desired, for several weeks, Sungjin had been living a life where he went to sleep at about 10 and woke up at 4. All of a sudden, he began to worry.

‘This… What do I do if I can’t fall asleep?’

Failing here would waste the whole day. Since he couldn’t just take a nap for seven hours. Sungjin asked the Operator while lying down with his eyes closed.

“Operator, what time is it?”

[The time is 8:31:21]

There was still a lot of time remaining. Sungjin attempted to fall asleep a bit more. However, sleep did not come.

“Operator, what time is it?”

[The time is 8:45:02]

There were 15 minutes left.

‘If it’s like this…’

Still, it was an item that he had obtained after going through many difficulties for it, so it was not as if he could simply not try it out. Sungjin decided to turn off the 4 am alarm so he could try sleeping for 5 more minutes.

He attempted to go to sleep one more time while thinking of that incident. However, for some reason sleep again did not come easily. Feeling helpless, Sungjin was about to get up and call the Operator, when at that moment, he could suddenly hear someone else’s voice.

“Hey Sungjin, come here for a bit.”

When Sungjin lifted his head and looked, Illich was gesturing towards him. The Illich that he had personally killed not long ago.

‘What’s happening?’

Even though Sungjin was thinking so, his body began to walk towards Illich. He soon realized that he had arrived inside a dream.