Gehrman Sparrow, Shin Yoosoung, and Fors Wall entered a restaurant.
"They already rebuilt restaurants?"
Fors looked around.
Despite the apocalypse, the reconstruction was fast. Humans were creatures of adaptation.
The salted fish wondered if she should write an apocalyptic novel.
The tale of a cold madman, surviving against monsters and saving damsels in distress… There were no mind-reading skills in the Star Stream, right? There was no way Gehrman could know she was thinking of him, right?
Feeling him glance at her, she repressed a shudder.
Sitting at a table, they looked at the menu.
The lack of variety showed that the reconstruction of civilization was not completely over. However, having a restaurant in these times was already quite a luxury.
A waiter soon came to their table and asked for their orders.
Gehrman glanced at Fors, giving her chills.
In his usual cold voice, he casually said, "Let's eat salted fish today."
Her spiritual intuition was screaming 'danger' at her.
Did he want her Beyonder Characteristics?
After trolling Fors, he turned toward Shin Yoosoung.
The waiter left after receiving all of their orders, leaving an unnatural silence between them.
Fors wanted to cry.
Shin Yoosoung looked at Gehrman, tilting her head.
Klein hoped she hadn't caught on that he was bullying Fors.
"Unnie, is there something wrong?"
Unnie? Why did the child call her 'unnie' and him 'ahjussi'? They should be around the same age.
Klein's gaze darkened.
Fors received Gehrman's glare for no reason and straightened up.
'Did I do something wrong?'
Is it because she didn't answer the child immediately?
She shook her head to Shin Yoosoung, hiding the dark truth that her guardian was actually a madman and not whatever filter she saw this man through.
Afterwards, the waiter served their orders.
Gehrman Sparrow slowly and methodically cut with his knife the poor salted fish on his plate.
Watching the scene, Fors felt as if she were the salted fish in question. Maybe it was his way of saying 'you're next'. A million thoughts ran through her mind.
Bang!
Suddenly, a loud sound came from the entrance. She turned her head in that direction.
At the door, armed men pointed firearms at the customers.
"Raise your hands! Nobody moves!"
Robbers?
Instead of being scared of the intruders, the man by her side felt far more terrifying.
Fors's mind started to panic.
Did these robbers have a death wish?
She hoped Gehrman wouldn't lose his temper. Who knew if she would be caught in the aftermath.
Unaware of their bleak fate, the attackers continued threatening the customers.
'These poor robbers are seeking death.'
Intending to reassure the most likely panicked child, she turned toward Shin Yoosoung.
Fors paused.
The child's eyes were cold, calculating, as she observed her surroundings with her thoughts unreadable. At that moment, Shin Yoosoung's behavior uncannily resembled Gehrman Sparrow.
Fors had chills and hurriedly shook the thought out of her head.
Then, stepping toward them, one man pointed his weapon at Gehrman Sparrow.
"I said don't move."
Fors paled.
Don't provoke the ticking bomb!
She made her presence seem as small as possible, not wanting anyone to notice her.
Unfortunately, they had already noticed her.
'…Should I teleport away?'
She already felt drained mentally.
If she had to stay with this madman any longer, she would either lose her life or her hair would fall from stress.
'It's fine if they all die. As long as I survive, it's not my problem,' she tried to reassure herself.
Fors stared at the attacker with pity.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Huh?! Haven't you heard what I said?"
Gehrman fired an air bullet into the man's head, making the incarnation fall to the ground.
Then, he crossed his legs.
"Quiet."
Instead of becoming silent, people spoke louder at the sight of a dead body, panicking.
After a quick divination—confirming that they were all irredeemable trash—Gehrman controlled one of the attackers and turned him into a marionette, making them kill each other.
Then, the restaurant turned even more into chaos.
Fors covered Shin Yoosoung's eyes.
Gehrman finally kept one of them alive, staring at the last robber.
He had to interrogate him.
"Why did you attack this restaurant?"
Of course, if he didn't want to open his mouth, Klein could still do a Spirit Channeling.
Fors watched the scene.
'At least it's not me.'
***
Klein glanced at Fors, thoughtful.
Since he encountered Fors, he discovered some abnormalities he had not noticed until now.
'She's stronger than I remember…'
Or she was not?
It felt like she was hiding some things from him.
What was Fors's Sequence originally?
Klein also realized a point he had been missing: what was his own Sequence originally?
Suddenly, he felt a sharp sting in his head. The fragmented memories refused to come together.
'My memory is not necessarily complete.'
More precisely, he had already known about it, but hadn't paid attention to it.
Was he under some psychological cue?
But Sefirah Castle would have removed any psychological cues, so that didn't make sense.
"Gehrman?"
A familiar voice.
He turned toward Jung Heewon.
Not far from her, he could see Kim Dokja.
'…What a 'coincidence'.'
It indeed was fate at this point.
Klein nodded to Jung Heewon.
Noticing the additional person by his side, she inquired, "And this is…?"
Fors introduced herself, bowing elegantly, "Fors Wall."
Jung Heewon nodded, not asking further questions.
Yoo Sangah noticed them next and greeted them, looking toward Fors with curiosity.
Then, Lee Jihye, who wasn't as polite as the others, voiced out her thoughts.
"Is she Shin Yoosoung's mother?"
Lee Gilyoung nodded, thinking the same.
Fors choked and denied it vehemently. She felt as if she was very close to being assassinated by Gehrman.
Jung Heewon refuted, "She wasn't Gehrman-ssi's biological daughter in the first place."
"Ah," Lee Jihye understood.
But then, why did Fors say she 'didn't have that kind of relationship with Gehrman' instead of 'she wasn't Gehrman's mother'? She could have been Shin Yoosoung's mother without being in a relationship with Gehrman.
Lee Jihye narrowed her eyes at Fors, feeling suspicious.
'Are they really in a relationship…?'
The denial was a bit too strong for there to be nothing at all.
Of course, Lee Jihye didn't know that Fors felt like her life was in danger and that clearing the misunderstanding was a matter of survival to her, so she may have overreacted.
Lee Hyunsung kept his distance, being shy (afraid of women) as always.
Gehrman looked around. Jung Heewon, Yoo Sangah, Lee Jihye, Kim Dokja, Lee Gilyoung, Yoo Mia, Lee Hyunsung, Gong Pildu…
Apparently, Van wasn't with them.
Yoo Joonghyuk was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.
"You came right before the start of the scenario," Jung Heewon explained.
"A scenario?"
Jung Heewon shrugged, glancing toward Kim Dokja.
However, Kim Dokja had never seen this scenario in Ways of Survival and didn't know about it either.
"How have you been doing?" Jung Heewon continued.
Out of consideration for Gehrman, everyone avoided the topic of how Shin Yoosoung could be here, alive, when they had clearly seen her die.
After all, Kim Dokja had also resurrected before.
(Or the child could be a ghost, an avatar created in the shape of the one the madman remembered to convince himself that Shin Yoosoung wasn't gone.)
After talking briefly about what happened to their groups, Klein chose to join the scenario.
Since it could be dangerous—both in the unknown scenario or their base could be attacked while they were away—they left the children behind with Lee Hyunsung, Gong Pildu and Fors.
Facing the portal, Klein read the scenario conditions once more.
+
Difficulty: ???
Clear Conditions: ???
Time Limit: ???
Compensation: ???
Failure: ―
+
His divination told him that the scenario's danger was moderate. In other words, participating in the scenario wouldn't be a big problem.
Shin Yoosoung's life wouldn't be in danger even if he left her behind either. His divination above Sefirah Castle recommended to not let her participate in the scenario.
The participants crossed the portal.
Once they entered, a sense of deja vu crossed through Klein's mind. Not the place, but this specific situation…
'Hall of Truth?'