Surviving Every Worldview

Chapter 28: Interlude: The Story of Seol Do-yeon

After I dropped Seorin off at home, I realized that more time had passed than I thought.

I did that to check on her condition.

I guessed how much of the trait she used and told her, and then got [NEW GAME] to verify it but it took time because I used such an ignorant method.

In conclusion, it was normal. She was just cold from flying around on a drone, and she was having a particularly hard time because of the alcohol that was worsened by using [Overdose].

In other words, it was all for nothing.

She’ll wake up tomorrow, get sober, and everything will be fine.

But it’s also okay, just this once.

No matter how important it is to utilize traits, it’s not okay to use a trait that harms your body every time.

Seorin needs a plan.

Either create a way for her to recover from using her trait, or grow her to use it as little as possible.

Or, if possible, she can do both and make everything perfect.

All of these are hard to do right away.

“Let’s think about it later…….”

It’s getting close to sunset and the sky is turning red.

On the way back, people were starting to come out, noticing the change.

“Hey, honey, how’s it looking out there?”

“All the undead around me are gone, that’s weird, did someone take care of them in passing or is it over……?”

While the place that was blocking the entrance is just now trying to figure out what happened.

As I walked out into the busy area, I saw people who had already assessed the situation and started to clean up.

“I have no idea what the hell is going on. The undead just suddenly disappeared…….”

“That’s one thing, but what was that loud noise?”

But there’s not much the average person can do.

The undead disappeared with the death of the necromancer, but destroyed buildings and abandoned cars are also a big problem.

These are issues that need to be addressed more professionally and officially.

The episode is over, but it’s going to take a long time to clean up the mess.

The good news is that there is plenty of time to prepare after the first episode.

There will be time for society and people to adjust to the changes, for laws to be made, and for everything to settle down.

In the meantime, we can prepare for the next episode.

-Kang Hyunseok: Are you guys okay?

Lee Min-seo: Seniors, seniors, seniors, seniors.

Lee Min-seo: The cops are panicking because all the undead are suddenly dying.

-Lee Min-seo: Anyway, you solved the problem, right?

Finally, Min-seo seemed to realize that it was over.

For about an hour, they sent hundreds of DMs sharing their situations.

I’m pretty sure I don’t need to go there to know they’re safe.

“……It’s really over.”

It’s only the first episode, but it’s over.

I can relax for a while, though I shouldn’t take it easy on the way back because Do-yeon is waiting for me.

“The sun is setting.”

If I go back now, she’ll probably ask me why I’m so late.

As a diversion, I grabbed a few things from the Necromancer’s crash site on the way home.

These items will be valuable as ‘artifacts of the episode’ in the future.

For now, this moment feels like a terrible disaster, but one day someone will look back and call it a romance.

“Do-yeon? I’m home…….”

However, the sight of Seol Do-yeon upon entering the room was not what I expected.

I half-jokingly expected her to jump up and ask what I was doing when I opened the door.

Do-yeon was just sleeping, sprawled out on the couch in the living room.

Her pouty head was making a Z shape like a cartoon.

She was tired.

Well, it had been a long day, so I decided not to wake her up.

After putting the food I brought in the refrigerator, I sat down under the sofa and took a nap with her.

* * *

Seol Do-yeon woke up in the darkness of the night.

The sun had long since set outside, and the living room light, which was off, had been turned on while she was asleep.

“You’re awake.”

As Seol Do-yeon stumbled around in a half-awake state, Yoo Seon-woo returned to the living room, sipping from a canned drink.

He picked up the warmed frozen food on the table with a fork and placed it in her hand.

Seol Do-yeon rubbed her eyes with her other hand and asked.

“What time is it……?”

“It’s half past seven. You must have slept for about five hours.”

“Really? I feel like I slept really well.”

Seol Do-yeon stretched her whole body and sat up at the table.

She woke up quickly and wondered about the current situation.

She noticed the undead were gone when she got back, but she’d fallen asleep as soon as she got home, so she didn’t know what happened after that.

“Did anything else happen? Like the necromancer suddenly resurrecting as a skeleton?”

“Nothing like that happened. Just look at the notifications.”

“Notifications……?”

[Episode 1 has ended.]

[Episode 2 starts in 30 days.]

[Your performance is being calculated……]

A message arrived in front of Seol Do-yeon, telling her that everything was over.

It was Yoo Seon-woo who floated it.

“What the hell. This should have come out as soon as the Necromancer died!”

“It’s a bit slow. I wanted to make sure there’s no chance of revival or other aftermath.”

“Ah…Is that so?”

Seol Do-yeon smiled wickedly, and Yoo Seon-woo sighed as if he had intuited something.

“What’s wrong again?”

“Let’s go back.”

“I told you, no.”

“Why do you say you know everything, but then say you’re not a regressor?”

“Why don’t you think that both can be true at the same time?”

“I will say so!”

Out of habit, Seol Do-yeon turned on her phone and checked her DMs.

For a few days, some services were suspended and video platforms were only uploading accident videos, so it had become a routine to check DMs briefly.

‘Is everyone okay? Thank God.’

Her friends were actually worried about her.

She had fallen asleep right after the episode and hadn’t been able to update them.

One by one, she replied that she was fine, and then went through her backlog of DMs.

“Huh?”

Most of the texts were the usual regards.

But interspersed among the texts were ominous tales from the internet, or horror stories about her neighborhood.

From small things like crimes taking advantage of the chaos, to conspiracy theories about the undead, to big things like rumors of collapsed areas or buildings.

…One was a rumor about a hospital where three people had died.

“Seon-woo, Seon-woo, look at this. It looks like it wasn’t just the place we were that collapsed. I thought the undead didn’t touch buildings unless they were ordered to.”

“Don’t believe everything you hear. It could be a rumor.”

“Is it?”

“Look at this. The airport has disappeared without a trace. You have to say something that makes sense.”

Yoo Seon-woo denied it, and Seol Do-yeon was speechless.

That’s what regressors do.

“Phew…….”

Seol Do-yeon breathed a sigh of relief that she had a place to go back to.

Her smile returned, and she asked Yoo Yeon-woo a question.

“Now that the episode is over, I should be going home soon too, but what do you want to do before then?”

“Why? Do you want to hang out?”

“Why don’t we make plans? I could stay here for a few more days.”

Today is December 22nd.

Less than ten days left in the year.

Even though a lot of things are broken, I wonder if some of them will be revitalized before the year is over.

I thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Okay. Considering the situation, the city might still be frozen by then.”

“Then I should bring something home and play with it! If you say that, I can just go tomorrow!”

“What? What are you talking about? You can’t go home tomorrow.”

“I’m… going? Why?”

Seol Do-yeon asked, shoveling chicken tenders into her mouth.

“You can’t drive until there are no more cars on the road.”

“What do you mean? You somehow managed to drag me here last time!”

“Because there was no one enforcing the law back then.”

On the day he dragged Seol Do-yeon to the terminal, Yoo Yeon-woo repeatedly dodged back and forth whenever there was a car on the road.

Of course, if he did it now, the cops would scold him.

“So… when will I be able to go home?”

“I don’t know, but there are unwritten laws, so it’ll be solved within a week, right?”

“Wow, you’re so…wow…….”

After hearing the unbelievable news, Seol Do-yeon shouted and fell down on the table.

“I’ve been scammed. I didn’t hear that I can’t go home for a while…….”

“Please understand a little. If you weren’t here, the episode would’ve ended a lot later.”

“I know, but kids like me get discouraged when we’re far away from home… I don’t think Seon-woo can empathize with that… …….”

Seol Do-yeon looked at Yoo Seon-woo shyly.

Inwardly, contrary to what she said, it wasn’t really hard to be away from home now.

She was tired for a day or two, so in the end, after a few days, her body adjusted and it was more troublesome to go back.

Staying together was unavoidable, so there’s nothing to complain about except that laundry became a hassle.

And yet, she’s still being unnecessarily nosy to Yoo Seon-woo……just for fun.

“Then why don’t you surprise me on the 25th, neatly?”

“Christmas?”

“Yeah. I’m sure they’ll reopen something in three days, and I can go home as soon as it’s ready.”

Realistically, it might not be possible, but there are unwritten rules in this world.

On a big day like December 25th, there will definitely be a store open.

At least, that’s what Seon-woo thought.

“Okay! Promise me! Don’t change the subject when you get there!?”

“I promise. How could I say that I have an appointment on a day like this?”

“You’re not going to suddenly drag me to an appointment with someone I don’t even know!”

“Oh, I don’t like that either.”

“Oh, well, at least we can talk.”

Seol Do-yeon loved this moment.

Everything that happens is cinematic, unexpected, and special.

Often, she was scared that she would lose something because of the episode, but in the end, it all worked out.

Her friend is alive and well, and Seol Do-yeon herself is alive and well with a special experience.

She often felt uncomfortable with herself for taking such life-and-death situations lightly.

For now, she decided not to worry about it or try to change her mind.

[※ Story completion level: 2 → 3]

If there was anything wrong with this mindset, there was someone there to point it out.

* * *

“…… is up again.”

“What?”

“Just. I was thinking about something else and talking to myself.”

“Oh, well.”

Except for me, story completion appears in everyone who has a story like Seorin.

As I watched Seol Do-yeon, I received a message that her story completion level had increased.

Still, I couldn’t like it just because it was smooth since I don’t know what it represents.

I don’t know the conditions of the climb, what happens when it happens, or where it ends.

‘I don’t think it’s actually something negative.’

As much as I know almost everything about the Cognitive Revolution system, I’ve developed a habit of being hyper-vigilant about what I don’t know.

I can’t wait to figure it out and I have two more problems to think about right now.

[You have completed the first episode.]

[Carefully decide how to use the chapters you have written.]

The first problem was this message that appeared at the end of the episode.

I can use these pages to improve my skills, like any other page, or to create an entirely new story.

Naturally, stories with a limited number of chapters get special treatment, and their abilities exceed those of normal stories.

However, this requires me to abandon [Text Thief].

It’s not an easy decision to make.

After all, [Text Thief] is the story that works best for me.

‘I don’t mind if I just use it to improve my skills.’

Even if I melted this chapter into [Text Thief], I’d probably get a trait out of it.

There’s a lot of power in a chapter.

Should I just write a new story? Should I spend it on gaining proficiency and traits?

It’s an important choice.

… [Choice] is meant to be used in times like this.

However, no new choices are presented until the results of the previous choice are known.

Now, this is the second problem.

What is the result of my last [Choice] waiting for? Why isn’t it appearing?