Chapter 294

Meeting a good teacher was an incredible thing.

A teacher who would come out and comfort you even if you called crying in the middle of the night, who was sweet enough to buy pizza for the students with his own money, and who would kindly answer any questions whenever you went to ask him.

The kind of teacher who made a habit of saying he hoped we would become happy adults.

"..."

Being able to meet someone like that was an incredible stroke of luck...

"Eun-hye."

"..."

My breath caught in my throat.

"...Teacher."

All sorts of ugly emotions came rushing in to fill the empty space left by that overflowing luck. Misery and despair filled that massive void.

But we had lived taking pride in the fact that it was something we had built with our own hands, an undeniable stepping stone and an honor... yet the nightmare continued to hold us back.

The nightmare asked.

"Are you here to get a snack?"

"...Yes, just..."

Pitch-black hair and even blacker eyes. His skin was pale, and his eye sockets were deep.

His eyebrows were a little thick, his lips were red, and his quiet gaze, like a snowy winter dawn, was striking. He was a person so conspicuous that you wouldn’t easily forget him once you saw him.

And it was also a damn familiar face.

"...Could you give me a macaron?"

At my absurd request, he gave a slight nod.

"You talked so much about managing your diet, are you going to exercise more?"

"I don’t... have to manage my diet anymore."

"Then you can eat whatever you want."

"I’m going to eat whatever I want."

"Is that so?"

He looked at me. He wasn’t smiling, but he looked at me with a gaze that seemed to be smiling.

"That’s good too."

It was the teacher who had affirmed everything about me.

"Why are you still standing, instead of sitting down."

"You’re busy painting, too."

"How could I be busy with a hobby."

"Still, I didn’t want to disturb you."

"Or were you planning to just grab a snack and run away again this time?"

"You see me as too cold-hearted of a person..."

Pulling up the corners of my mouth, I sat down on a worn-out school chair.

"..."

Even without looking down, I could tell I was wearing a school uniform.

"...Teacher."

"Yes, aspiring idol."

"This is a dream."

"I know."

"I know, too."

I could see the scenery of the art room that remained faintly in my memory.

Dense trees could be seen outside the window. The window, covered in black dust because it hadn’t been replaced in a long time. The person who had neatly arranged the art supplies that the students had left in a mess was the teacher in front of me.

This place, with a faint smell of burning, was Cha Eun-hye’s dream.

"I always think about what it would have been like if I had just forgotten everything."

It was a sweet dream, like burnt caramel.

"If I forgot everything like the others."

"That makes me sad."

"Forgetting what you look like, forgetting what kind of lunch boxes you packed for me, forgetting what we talked and joked about... just forgetting it all..."

"You’d be at peace, leaving me behind."

"Yes, leaving only you behind. But I can’t do that."

It was miserable.

"What if even I forget you."

"I’m lonely, Eun-hye."

"How could I do that when you’re so pitiful all alone."

"Where am I right now? Why did you leave me alone?"

"Honestly, I still don’t really know why we had to make that choice..."

"Eun-hye."

The pitch-black ghost looked at me.

"Save me."

"..."

Something that was neither human nor anything else looked at Cha Eun-hye.

"...Save me, I’m scared. I don’t want to be alone. Where is this? What do I look like to you? Let’s go home, I’ll pack you a lunch box. Does it hurt? Are you okay? Are you okay? Are you okay? What should I draw for you this time? Tell me."

"..."

"Eun-hye, guys. Guys. You can’t get hurt. Run away. I’ll protect you, so don’t worry. Should I help you? Should I help you? How should I help you? Does it hurt? Does it hurt? Help me? It hurts. It hurts, so much."

"...I really..."

"What exactly am I right now? What am I doing? How do I look? Am I a person? A monster? Am I human? Do you want to run away? Hide, run away. It hurts. It’s okay. Eun-hye..."

"This is really terrible."

Down to the fact that this was an illusion I had created myself, there wasn’t a single thing that wasn’t terrible.

"Our teacher wouldn’t be like this."

It was all nothing more than a nightmare created by Cha Eun-hye.

"I resent you all."

"...No, you aren’t the type of person to resent anyone..."

"I was so good to you, and this is all I get in return? Ignorance and evasion? Leaving me all alone? When you were struggling, when you needed help, I was always there for you."

"...You weren’t someone who expected something in return for your favors, either."

"Now I’m alone. Everyone looks at me. Everyone fails to see me. I’m lonely. You guys refuse to face me like this until the very end. Cowards. I didn’t teach you to be like this..."

"So, please..."

"Turn me back to normal."

The pitch-black, alien, and bizarre thing looked down at Cha Eun-hye.

"Bring me back."

It spoke of resentment.

"You guys made me like this."

He was absolutely not the type to say things like this. It couldn’t be true.

"It’s because of you, if only you guys hadn’t been there..."

Even though he wasn’t the kind of person to say such cruel things, my heart sank.

"I wouldn’t have died."

"...You didn’t die, please..."

"What’s wrong? Did you forget? What promise you guys made?"

"You didn’t die, seriously, why are you doing this to me. Don’t be so scary."

"In the end, you made a choice just for yourselves."

The pitch-black thing gently embraced Cha Eun-hye.

"Ruining me."

"...No."

"And saving the world."

"No."

With trembling hands, I hugged the nightmare back.

"Tell me that we made the right choice."

At that, the ’teacher’ looked at me. It was the teacher. It was my nightmare, and a familiar face. It was our teacher, who had returned to a human form according to my will.

Then he spoke.

"Your choice was right."

"I want you to praise me."

"It was hard, wasn’t it. You must have suffered a lot. But you did really well."

"We..."

I grabbed that pitch-black shirt and cried.

"...I-I’m sorry..."

I was scared.

"...What if we really made the wrong choice? What should I do? At the time, I thought it was for the best, but now I’m not so sure. I still have so much resentment and longing, but my friends have forgotten everything. Why do I have to be the only one suffering like this?"

It felt unfair.

"Teacher, why did you return? How did you return? I wanted you to return someday, but I didn’t really want it to happen like this. What’s your goal? Did you come to kill us? Did you come to take revenge on the world? How do you remember us? How is that possible?"

I missed him.

"I don’t really know if the Hunter named Seo Ji-oh is truly you. But if it is, what should I do? Why aren’t you coming to see me? No, I want you to not come see me. No, that’s not it. We can just pretend not to know each other and get close again. We can do that, right? That would be okay, right? Will you allow it? But it’s too much of a waste. I, I... I..."

What should I do.

"...If we went back to that day, I’d rather we all just die together."

"Why would you think that?"

"...It’s too hard..."

I needed an adult.

"It was too hard on our own."

I needed my teacher.

"W-why did we make this choice, what good did we think it would do."

"But you know this was the right path, too."

"It wasn’t a good path, not at all."

"Even while saying that, you actually feel proud, don’t you?"

Her nightmare knew everything about her.

"You’re proud of the fact that you’re maintaining the world to this extent."

"That doesn’t make the fact that I’m struggling a lie."

"Even if you went back to that day, you would end up making the same choice."

"..."

Breaking the hug, Cha Eun-hye looked up at the ’teacher’.

"...Are you dead?"

"You guys killed me."

"Are you dead?"

"Of course not, I didn’t die."

"It’s a truly terrible dream."

"You wanted to have this dream."

"..."

The adult Cha Eun-hye asked.

"...Teacher, could you say those words for me?"

"Sure."

The ’teacher’ in the nightmare whispered affectionately.

"I will always..."

"That’s right."

"Be right here."

"You’re right, Teacher."

In this dream, this one thing at least wasn’t a cowardly lie created by Cha Eun-hye.

"I am always here."

That was Teacher Seo Ji-oh’s last will.

Cha Eun-hye woke up from her sleep.

"..."

She wept bitterly.

"Ugh, ah..."

She gripped the blanket, squeezing it as if to tear it.

"Keu-euk... heup, aah..."

She wanted to tear it apart just like this.

"...Teacher..."

Even though it was a shitty nightmare, she still hadn’t wanted to wake up from it.

It was only after a long time had passed that Cha Eun-hye relaxed her grip. She cooled her red, flushed eyes with her cold hands. Her body, drenched in cold sweat, had no warmth left anywhere except for her swollen eyes.

She then slowly let out a breath.

"...Hooo..."

She calmed down.

"..."

Her gaze landed on a mirror.

The mirror beyond it, the mirror on the ceiling, the mirror on the floor. The mirror attached to the door. The mirror attached to the pillar. The mirror hanging from above. The small mirror on the desk. Mirrors. More mirrors. And more mirrors.

No matter where she looked, ’Cha Eun-hye’ was there.

"...Good."

Cha Eun-hye smiled brightly.

Ah, this expression looks fine.

"I like it."

I should go about today like this.

Even though the sun hadn’t risen yet, Cha Eun-hye got out of bed. Sleeping longer than necessary was what led to having such pathetic dreams.

It had been a long sleep for once, but she didn’t feel particularly refreshed. Nevertheless, Cha Eun-hye smiled as she left the room.

"Your Excellency, are you awake?"

"Are there no documents from the Gardeners?"

"Actually, Guild Master Jung Hae-woon contacted us to ask if a morning visit would be possible."

"Hmm... I must have woken up this early to see Hae-woon. Tell him to meet at 5."

"I will relay the message."

"And this on me."

Cha Eun-hye tapped the corners of her eyes.

"Call the friends who will cover this up for me."

"I will call them right away."

It was the start of a day like any other.

"But it’s a bit surprising."

Yoo Sung-woon said while dipping a corn chip into guacamole packed with avocado.

"Because the Symbols of Eternity seem very quiet."

"They must all be too busy to have time to come see their teacher."

"I’m just asking just in case, but you aren’t sulking right now, are you?"

"? No, I’m just proud that they seem to be living diligently."

Ji-oh snapped a corn chip in half.

"I like cheese sauce."

"The guacamole is going to be sad."

"It’s time for the guacamole to become independent."

"Why are you breaking that small chip again in the first place? Are you bullying the chip?"

"If I eat this big chip whole, the roof of my mouth will get scratched."

"Can you even get scratched like that?"

"The roof of my mouth gets scratched too."

Eating the chip fully dipped in cheese sauce, Ji-oh turned to look at Joo-hyun.

"Why aren’t you dipping it in the sauce?"

"The corn chips are already salty enough on their own, so I don’t really need the sauce..."

"Joo-hyun has pure tastes."

"What on earth are pure tastes."

It seemed like another translation error had occurred.

"Ji-oh, your translation often glitches like that."

"Can we even call this translation?"

"Isn’t it the easiest expression to understand?"

"Well, that’s true... Though I wonder what’s the point of bringing it up now."

Yoo Sung-woon also gave up.

"If I’m your friend in my next life too, is there a friend discount for living life?"

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Or I’ll become your disciple, Ji-oh."

"Welcome."

Joo-hyun stopped Yoo Sung-woon.

"Looking at the accumulated data, I think it would be better to avoid the role of Ji-oh’s disciple."

"That’s unfair."

"A mermaid, a deer, and the Symbols of Eternity. No matter how I think about it, living a normal life as Ji-oh’s disciple is ruined..."

"That’s a frame-up."

Ignoring Ji-oh, Yoo Sung-woon nodded.

"That is true."

"Are you ultimately betraying me?"

"There is no betrayal in accumulated data values, Arzio."

Anyway.

"Going back to what we were saying at the beginning, are you really okay like this? Doesn’t it seem like your lovely disciples have decided to live on having forgotten everything?"

"Yes, I’m okay."

"May I ask the reason?"

"At their age, they should live their own lives."

"You know you’re really cold-hearted in weird places."

"I didn’t give birth to them."

Ji-oh was firm.

"Even children become independent when the time comes, let alone students. Both Joo-hyun and Yoo Sung-woon say I’m secretly cold-hearted, but are you worried?"

"Right, okay. Since you set the stage, I’ll be honest. I’m scared that the Symbol of Eternity, having regained their memories, will get so furious they’ll flip the earth upside down. So I want you to coddle them before that happens."

Joo-hyun made a slightly resigned expression.

"A pampered Symbol of Eternity..."

"Ugh, even saying it myself gives me goosebumps. Right?"

"It’s not a combination of words that comes to mind easily."

"Anyway, isn’t it something that could happen?"

At Yoo Sung-woon’s question, the portrait tilted its head.

"No way."

"In the Hunter industry, there’s an unspoken rule not to say things like ’No way’."

"It’s a rule I like."

Is it like a death flag?

"I don’t doubt that my students will choose the right path."

"Right, if it looks like they’re going to flip the earth later, make sure to discuss it with our Guild Master beforehand."

"It seems they are being pampered even now."

"If you say so, that’s a relief. Right, then that’s fine."

Yoo Sung-woon resigned himself too.

"Anyway, this is delicious. I don’t like avocados, but this is pretty good."

"Yoo Sung-woon, you seem to know very well how to make a chef happy. Those were excellent words, thank you."

"Are you a chef?"

"I don’t have a license."

"It’d be surprising if you did."

He leaned back in his chair.

"It’s unfamiliar to have the smell of food in my house after such a long time."

"Four meals a day."

"Yeah, yeah, I’m eating. But I don’t usually eat at home..."

"Are you still busy?"

"But it still feels like things are gradually getting sorted out."

"I’m curious."

The portrait expressed interest.

"Is your garden kind, Yoo Sung-woon?"

"...It’s on the kinder side for a garden, but why?"

"I was wondering if it always has to be so cold."

A garden.

"May I go visit?"

Recently, Ji-oh had been looking for material for a new artwork.