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Puring’s magic formula successfully activated.

To be honest, I was a bit worried before transferring through the magic formula.

What if, after transferring, I woke up in the body of Jeong Ji-hwan, who was asleep in the outside world?

However, after examining the magic formula with Myohail and Albert, we concluded that the probability of that happening was almost zero.

Puring’s magic formula wasn’t just about transferring consciousness—it literally transferred the living body.

And after transferring, as I expected, nothing like that happened.

If I had woken up in my real body, it would have been a problem. After all, my body is probably imprisoned somewhere by Director Park.

The moment I opened my eyes, I could have been put back to sleep or even killed to silence me.

Of course, I’d love to go to Stella right now, punish Director Park, and rescue my brother.

But I still don’t know exactly what kind of world I was in, or even what Director Park’s true intentions were.

For various reasons like that, I have no intention of recklessly approaching Director Park.

For now, I decided to take pride in the fact that I successfully made it out to the outside world.

‘Finally… I’m back.’

If we’re just counting this loop, it’s been about a year since I returned. Including the time spent in failed loops, it feels like almost 10 years… no, at least 100 years. Subjectively, it feels even longer.

But I didn’t have time to just sit around and reflect.

Park Se-hee, the assistant who helped me get out, demanded an explanation.

I told her everything that had happened.

From the atrocities Director Park Joon-hyuk committed against those in vegetative states, to how I was forced to live as Tristan overnight.

However, I didn’t mention the regression.

If I explained that, it would only make my story less credible.

After all, the things I experienced did lack a sense of reality.

Who would believe that I was trapped in a game for a year and then came out?

But my outlandish story wasn’t entirely without credibility.

After all, I had just transferred to the outside world using the magic formula Park Se-hee drew. That’s magic that current science can’t replicate, and it’s proof that I came from another world.

“Park Joon-hyuk… Did he really do such things?”

“…Yes.”

“Wow… Then we don’t have time to waste here.”

“Huh?”

“We need to report this to the police right now! Someone like that needs to face the law!”

Park Se-hee stood up, as if she really intended to go to the police station. Typical of her quick action.

Fortunately, it seemed she believed me.

“What are you doing? Let’s go. I’ll go to the company, gather all the evidence, and hand it over—”

“No… That won’t work.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“I don’t think someone like Director Park would leave evidence lying around at the company. If he hid it, he would have hidden it thoroughly.”

“Hmm…”

“Plus, someone at his level has likely bribed the police. But more importantly, we don’t even know who in the company is on his side. We can’t make any moves until we know the scale of their operation.”

No matter how powerful Director Park is, he couldn’t have pulled off something of this scale alone.

I was sure there were people within Stella who supported and cooperated with him.

In the end, we’d have to fight a lonely battle against the company.

“But we need to save Sora…”

“Don’t worry. He won’t be able to touch my sister right away.”

Even if I don’t know for sure, Director Park wanted to create a world where real characters lived and breathed. And Sora, who created that world, is an indispensable existence.

“Fortunately, we still have time before the service launch. We need to gather information about Director Park and prepare our counterattack.”

“…If you say so, Ji-hwan.”

Park Se-hee sighed and sat back down on the sofa. I spoke to her.

“Thank you for helping me get out. Assistant… no, Se-hee.”

“Pfft… Still confused about what to call me?”

“Yeah. I’m still not quite used to it.”

It’s been so long that “Assistant” still feels more natural than her name.

Still, I’m glad Tristan’s arrogant tone didn’t slip out.

“Thanks, but… Ji-hwan.”

“Yes?”

Se-hee looked at the girl in my arms and asked.

“Is that… Wendy?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

“Oh my…! I can’t believe it’s really her.”

Park Se-hee reacted as if she had just seen a celebrity.

She had worked with me, so she knew about the original settings and characters to some extent.

And Wendy was one of her favorite characters.

Back when we worked together, she had said that Wendy, who was killed by Tristan, was too good to be just an extra character…

Plus, she has a weakness for cute things.

No surprise there…

“How… She’s so cute, like a doll…”

“I-I’m not a doll…”

“Ahh! Her voice is so cute too!”

“Eek!?”

The serious atmosphere from earlier was completely gone, and Se-hee was fawning over Wendy.

From her perspective, it must feel like a cute character from a game suddenly popped into reality, so her reaction is understandable.

“By the way, can I hug Wendy just once? It’s my wish.”

“That’s…”

I glanced at Wendy, and she shook her head vigorously.

Her complexion didn’t look good—she probably hasn’t fully recovered yet.

Plus, being in an unfamiliar environment must be making her anxious.

“…As you can see, Wendy isn’t feeling well.”

“Ah… I’m sorry. It’s rude of me to suddenly act like this, but she’s just so cute…”

Yeah, our Wendy is pretty cute.

“But seriously, she’s going to make a lot of guys cry later. I’ve never seen such a pretty girl before.”

“Is that… so?”

I locked eyes with Wendy.

Hmm. Se-hee is right—Wendy’s looks are unmatched among kids her age.

You know how you can tell when a female celebrity was beautiful even as a child? Wendy definitely has that kind of aura.

I’ve actually seen her grow up using the Hero’s Power.

If she grows up like that, she’ll definitely become a stunning beauty.

Some lucky guy will take her away, but he’ll have to be prepared.

If he doesn’t meet my standards, he won’t be able to take our Wendy.

“Count…?”

“…Ahem.”

“Ah, ah! Oppa…”

“Aw, so cute. Our Wendy, are you going to call me Oppa? Then can you call me Unnie?”

“Ugh… N-no…”

For some reason, Wendy refused.

She seems to be wary of Se-hee, probably because she’s shy around strangers.

Wendy, feeling uncomfortable under Se-hee’s gaze, clung to me like a baby squirrel refusing to leave its parents.

“Really! Unnie is so sad that Wendy won’t call me Unnie.”

“I-I’ll call you that if Oppa says so…”

Wendy clung to me, waiting for my answer.

Seeing this, I realized she’s still just a kid.

“Don’t worry about me, do what you want. It’s fine here.”

“T-then I won’t…”

“Aww… What a shame.”

Stubborn kid.

But I don’t dislike it at all.

In fact, I’m happy that the timid and fragile Wendy has grown enough to show this side of herself, so I patted her head.

Whether it’s the aftereffects of the transfer or the sudden change in environment, Wendy looked a bit tired.

I let her rest in my arms.

“By the way, Ji-hwan, you’ve lost so much weight I almost didn’t recognize you…”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You’ve changed completely.”

Well, before I got trapped in the game, I was living like a shut-in and had gained quite a bit of weight.

“See, I told you before, right? If you just lost some weight, you’d look great.”

Did she? I think I remember something like that.

Come to think of it, even when I became Tristan, my appearance didn’t change much.

Since Tristan was modeled after me, we looked almost identical.

Maybe that’s why.

After losing all that weight, I felt more like Tristan than Jeong Ji-hwan.

“Hmm. Ji-hwan, are you mixed race?”

“Ah, yes. I think I heard one of my ancestors was German.”

“No wonder! I thought you had a bit of an exotic look.”

“Uh, um. Do I look weird?”

“No, no! Not at all! If anything, you stand out.”

“Is that… so?”

“Yeah. But if I may, I think you’d look better with your hair pushed back.”

My hair?

“I’ve always thought that while you look good with your hair down, you’d look even better with your forehead exposed. It makes you look more confident. Like… this.”

“Se-hee?”

As she said that, she suddenly reached out toward my hair.

Was she going to style it herself?

I was about to let her, but Wendy, who was in my arms, blocked her hand.

“Huh?”

“D-don’t touch Oppa…”

“Wendy?”

Wendy glared at Se-hee with teary eyes and said.

“Oppa is… going to marry me…”

“……”

This is definitely about that.

Wendy was just bringing up the promise we made last time.

If Se-hee knew the context, it might be different, but hearing that, she paused for a moment, then spoke with a serious expression.

“We need to go to the police station… right now?”

 

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