Between Data and Destiny

The strange air vanished cleanly the moment Caliban said, “Shall we go?”

“I can walk on my own.”

Because of the height difference, it looked like I might end up being carried, so I refused his support.

Unexpectedly, Caliban obediently let me go.

“Fighting, Assistant Manager. You can do it!”

It would have been better if he had shut his mouth as well.

“But darling, how did you end up falling into the gap?”

After walking a little, Caliban asked.

It was a natural question, so I answered calmly.

“I used an unfinished teleport item and it glitched.”

“You used an unfinished product? Haha, that’s not like you. Did you run into a fire bear or something?”

What fire bear? It’s not like I climbed a mountain.

“I ran into Jeok-o.”

“Ah… Jeok Seobaek.”

There was something strange about the way Caliban muttered, but the thought that followed left me no room to press him on such trivialities.

“Come to think of it, Caliban, I have something to ask.”

“Yes, go ahead, darling.”

“Jeok-o said something I didn’t know.”

Caliban tilted his head.

“Something you didn’t know?”

“What’s the relationship? Between the ‘player character’ and Jeok-o.”

“Well, they had a connection from outside Bran, didn’t they? I think that was the setting.”

“They were from the same city.”

But beyond that, there wasn’t any particularly close contact.

Jeok-o was the only son of the western city’s lord, and the player character was—

“…The PC setting was probably a commoner outside the inner city, right?”

Cities varied slightly, but basically in the WWC world the structure was similar.

The outer refuge walls, and inside them the inner city.

Naturally, the inner city was the wealthy district.

“If the PC had lived in the inner city, there’s no way they’d never have seen Jeok-o even once.”

I frowned as I spoke.

‘The player character’s setting feels oddly flimsy.’

Rather than flimsy, maybe it was full of holes here and there.

That was the feeling.

“Then Jeok Seobaek fell ill, right? I think that was when the two first met face to face, haha.”

“Right. Some rare disease, wasn’t it? And so the ‘player character’ was suddenly dragged to the castle….”

“Which started rumors that you were the lord’s illegitimate child, though that turned out to be nonsense, and after some twists and turns both of you were selected to come to Bran?”

Caliban tilted his head the other way.

“That’s the end, darling?”

“Yes.”

“You said you saw quite a few endings. There must’ve been a personal route for Jeok-o too. And that’s still all?”

“Even this was only revealed in the ending.”

Originally, the only information given at the start point was:

‘Jeok-o: From the western city, the only son of the western lord.’

That was about it.

“But something about it felt off. The way that bastard talks is….”

Was it really true that Jeok-o didn’t know the player character until they were dragged to the castle?

The fact that the exact rare disease he supposedly had was never clearly revealed felt unsettling too.

“Is that really all I know? Isn’t there more tying that bastard and the player character together?”

“How would I know, darling?”

Lost in thought about Jeok-o, I had been staring off somewhere else when I froze.

“You don’t know?”

When I looked at Caliban in surprise, he pulled the corners of his lips up into a wide smile.

“Unfortunately, darling. I really don’t. I only edited this. I’m not the writer who created the scenario.”

“But even when editing, wouldn’t you read the contents?”

“Hahaha. If your team leader handed you documents saying, ‘This was supposed to be handled by Deputy ○ in the other department, but could you take care of it instead? Just make sure the total adds up to 34,’ would you thoroughly analyze all the contents?”

Are you insane?

“See? You wouldn’t either.”

“I still thought you’d know.”

I roughly scratched the back of my head.

Come to think of it, that’s true.

He’s always going on about neutrality and never once gave a proper explanation, yet I just ran to him thinking, ‘The great prophet will take care of everything!’

“Can’t you dig into it?”

“If you want me to, I will.”

“…Really?”

His ready answer made me suspicious instead.

“There might be a small issue with the system in the process, but if you’re fine with that.”

“I’ll pass. It already feels like shoddy construction. That could cause bigger trouble.”

I fell into thought for a moment.

Then what should I do now?

“Maybe there’s just a Jeok-o personal route I missed….”

“Ah. The survival route you always talk about?”

That bastard isn’t deliberately teasing me for only seeing bad or dead endings, is he?

Ignoring Caliban’s comment on purpose, I began to think seriously.

“Should I seriously try entering Jeok-o’s route?”

“Haha, I won’t stop you if you want to, but it feels a bit like driving on the shoulder.”

Caliban pointed out.

“Your goal is to become king, isn’t it?”

“…?”

A beat later, I said, “Ah.”

“That’s right. The true ending.”

If I have to see the true ending to return, then that’s exactly what Caliban has been saying all along.

“In that case, wouldn’t entering a personal route be a waste of time? Darling, from what you’ve seen so far, it’s clear. Haha, though it’s not my place to say, our candidates seem rather violent.”

Without realizing it, my gaze shifted to Caliban.

He stopped mid-sentence and looked at me.

“Why are you looking at me like that, darling? I’m terribly shy, so such passionate stares are a bit burdensome, haha.”

Shy… no, never mind.

“It’s nothing.”

I shook my head.

‘It’d be awkward to bluntly ask whether you hate the candidates.’

He always says he’s neutral, but is that really true?

Is he constantly repeating it to himself out of habit because he has to be ‘neutral’?

Caliban held out his hand to me.

“Let’s go back.”

…Looking at him like this, maybe I’m imagining things.

When I lightly placed my hand on his, Caliban immediately clasped it.

“That hurts.”

“Haha, does it? Sorry.”

He apologized, but the strength in his fingers gripping my hand didn’t lessen.

“…?”

I almost said something, then stopped.

‘It’s cold.’

His hand was as cold as ice, and damp too.

Did he just wash up or something?

It even seemed like he was trembling slightly.

“But what exactly is this place? You called it a gap.”

“Haha. Come to think of it, you said you fell here after using an unfinished creature, right? Let me say this while we’re at it—never do that. Teleport items must be fully matured. If you’re unlucky, you might fall somewhere even more dangerous than this.”

Wait, that means—

“Are you saying this isn’t the only gap?”

“Hahaha.”

“Crazy.”

Anyway, guys like him are the problem.

They’re tarnishing the reputation of developers who grew splendidly through self-study, tsk tsk.

“But if this is between data and data, wouldn’t it be better to just patch it up as soon as it’s discovered? It’s dangerous.”

“That can’t be done.”

I was rambling, so I processed his answer a beat late.

“Can’t be done? Do you mean you don’t want to, or you can’t?”

The lips beneath the shadow of his robe curved into a smile.

I realized he wouldn’t say another word on the matter.

I just… knew.

Instinctively.

‘What on earth is this place?’

As he led me out by the hand, I turned back one more time.

A pitch-black space, as if painted over.

Oppressive and gloomy.

Like a starless night.

Like the inside of a coffin.

Suddenly, I realized something.

I hadn’t seen a single one of Caliban’s jeweled butterflies here.

Not even one.

When I returned to this place, it looked similar to yesterday.

Well, except that it was a bit of a mess.

And perhaps the members were similar to yesterday too.

Except Jeok-o was absent.

“Hello.”

Without even turning around, I greeted the presence behind me.

The presence paused.

After a moment, a voice responded.

“Hello.”

Unexpectedly, it was a greeting.

Reflexively, I turned around from where I sat.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

The man dressed entirely in white looked down at me silently, then asked.

“Forgive me. I find it difficult to read your expression.”

At that, I unconsciously rubbed my cheek.

That’s different from what Caliban says.

“Perhaps it’s because I’m not used to people.”

“No, it’s not that.”

I quickly waved my hand.

“If something bothers you, tell me. I wouldn’t know otherwise.”

“Yes, I will.”

Even as I spoke, I was honestly flustered.

He was strangely humble—no, perhaps I should say friendly.

But why?

He was completely different from before.

“I have something to ask.”

Of course you do. That’s why you came all the way here.

“About yesterday.”

“Please, go ahead.”

“Did you know I was coming?”

“I had a guess. I wasn’t certain it was you, Lord Seolbukbaek, but….”

“Seolya.”

The indifferent voice cut me off.

“You may call me Seolya.”

I grew even more confused.

Was he not being humble, but friendly?

Then why? He’s so different from before.

“I thought it would be one of you two.”

I subtly ignored his correction and returned to the original topic.

“And the one who was in the dormitory last night—”

The place I came to as soon as the day changed was the dormitory.

The reason was simple.

There was someone I needed to meet.

The other person who had been there last night.

The man standing before me now—Seolya.

“First of all, thank you for your help. Thanks to you, I survived.”

My gratitude was sincere.

[N/S: I felt a gaze. At the same time, I sensed someone’s presence.]

The script that had been output in the dormitory yesterday.

The presence Seolya made was heard immediately after I detected Jeok-o’s gaze.

In other words, it was deliberate.

And besides—

“Getting easily provoked is Jeok-o’s biggest flaw. For someone like you, it wouldn’t have been difficult to leave without being noticed by him.”

But Seolya hadn’t done that.

“Did you notice Jeok-o heading to the dormitory and follow him?”

Anyone would have found Jeok-o’s actions yesterday hard to understand.

If you noticed such sudden behavior, it would be natural to follow and find out what he was up to.

“You saved my life, so I want to help, but I truly have no idea about Jeok-o’s actions yesterday. Instead….”

In truth, I was still considering.

Why had Seolya helped me?

What did he want from me?

Should I just pretend not to notice?

“……”

But if he considered me worth using, then joining hands with him for the time being wouldn’t be a bad choice either.