The Damn Family Is Back Again

224. Source of Contamination (6)

It’s bewildering.

No, it’s not just bewildering; it’s infuriating.

When you think about brightly shining objects, there can only be one.

Isn’t it just a memorial reflecting the past of Karsein?

Surely, the status window also called it a memorial.

But why?

Why does this house I escaped from reappear here?

– Swish.

“…!”

A sudden presence made me whip my head around.

A man was walking toward me, no more than three steps away.

Chillingly, I recognized that gaze.

Yes. I remember this too.

On that night when the dark fog settled in.

A day when the darkness felt particularly deep.

The day my family laughed and chatted merrily, oblivious to me.

In front of this house stood a figure I had never seen before.

A silhouette of a man holding a knife in one hand.

In that moment, as realization washed over me, I relaxed my body.

– Thud, thud.

It was eerie; when our eyes met, I expected him to charge at me, but he simply continued straight ahead.

As if he didn’t even know I was there.

As if he couldn’t see me at all.

Step by step, I drew closer.

Then came the moment when our bodies would touch, but my form did not collide with that man. The man who had passed through me continued to move forward without interruption.

Yes. This was not Karsein; it was a memory from my past.

“Behind this…”

My gaze instinctively shifted in a familiar direction.

There stood the version of me returning home after finishing my shift, approaching silently.

A man walking home with a kitchen knife in one hand.

And there was my past self, just then realizing the situation unfolding before him.

Faintly, memories from that time began to resurface.

***

– Ding dong.

The doorbell rang at the man’s hand.

The laughter and chatter in the living room paused for a moment.

“Who’s visiting? Did either of you invite someone?”

“I didn’t.”

“Neither did I. What about you, older sister?”

“What about Mom?”

Even their mother shook her head in confusion.

None of them had invited any guests.

“It’s not even my guest. Who could it be at this hour?”

The second one tilted his head and opened the door.

– Click.

“…? What the hell?”

Though he had opened the door, there was no one in sight.

Only a profound silence filled the air, devoid of any voices.

The bell had definitely been pressed. Yet, with no one around, his expression twisted into a frown of confusion.

“Ugh, seriously. Who pulls a bell prank these days?”

Muttering in annoyance, he turned to close the door behind him.

But was it really just silence?

In that soundless place, an intense struggle was unfolding.

– Crash!

“Grrr! Let go of me!”

“Ugh!”

It was Min-hyuk who had disarmed his opponent and pinned him down after a sudden ambush; however, the man’s strength proved formidable.

Being intoxicated dulled his senses further; if even a whisper escaped their scuffle, they could be in serious trouble. He completely failed to choke him out as intended and ended up struggling instead.

“Hah… Hah… Who are you? What kind of b*stard are you?!”

The man gripped his knife again and glared fiercely; only now did he focus enough to recognize Min-hyuk’s face.

“What? You… you’re that kid’s little brother living here? Seriously? I can’t believe I’m getting my ass kicked by some pathetic loser who can’t even get treated like a proper sibling.”

Indeed. This man was older than Min-hyuk by one year—a senior from the same school.

But there was a background to this incident.

“Kim Min-hyuk, you little pest. I have business with your second sister, so why don’t you just get lost?”

“Hey. Lee Young-jun. Do you really think that by saying that, she’s going to accept your confession?”

“What?”

“You got rejected, didn’t you? At school.”

“You b*stard! I wasn’t rejected! What do you know!”

“Come on, it’s obvious you were turned down. Do you really think stumbling back home drunk and confessing again will change anything?”

At those words, Young-jun gritted his teeth.

“Eun-hye was just embarrassed when I confessed out of the blue! So step aside right now!”

“…Hah.”

If he had a knife in hand while spouting such nonsense, he would gladly step aside.

It was clear at a glance that something wasn’t right; if that guy went into that house, what kind of trouble would he stir up?

If he drunkenly confessed again and got rejected once more, the outcome would be all too predictable.

Min-hyuk had been hated by those family members countless times before.

Yet no matter how much they despised him, he didn’t want to witness someone being brutally butchered and left for dead.

He steadied himself.

If it were an equal fight with someone wielding the same sword as him—that would be one thing—but here he stood against an opponent who held all the weapons unilaterally.

It wouldn’t have been strange for cold sweat to pour down his back.

But Min-hyuk calmly assessed his opponent’s state.

“Hah, hahah. You dare try to interfere with my love? You must be out of your mind.”

Intensely drunk, he felt less pain.

On the other hand, watching his staggering body revealed clear weaknesses in both balance and vision.

‘If only I could do something about that kitchen knife, maybe I could take him down.’

Young-jun aimed the cold tip of the knife at Min-hyuk.

“Yeah, yeah. A nuisance like you should really just disappear. Eun-hye would probably wish for a little brother like you to vanish anyway. You’re just an unnecessary burden in this family. It wouldn’t be strange at all if you were gone a bit sooner. Right? Ah, once I take care of you, Eun-hye might even be happier. Heh, hehehe.”

A madman.

Chills ran down my spine until it became downright terrifying.

“Dieee-!!”

With bloodshot eyes wide open, Young-jun lunged forward.

His expression was as if a screw had come loose; he was aiming precisely for Min-hyuk’s neck.

But his grip on the knife was awkward.

His movements showed that all his strength was concentrated in his arms while everything else felt sluggish and unresponsive.

There was definitely an opening to exploit.

-Swish! Swish!

Min-hyuk deftly dodged two swift attacks while watching for a gap; as soon as one appeared, he moved with lightning speed.

-Whoosh!

The blade’s trajectory narrowly grazed Min-hyuk’s cheek. Skin split open and droplets of blood splattered into the air.

And in that moment,

He dove right into Young-jun’s space and seized his arm wielding the knife, flipping it over effortlessly.

“Gaaah!”

-Thunk.

The body that fell to the ground beyond the air tumbled over, and with a twisted arm still held tightly, he drew out his knife.

“Ugh, ugh! Let go! I said let go!”

Min-hyuk pressed down harder on Young-jun’s struggling form, subduing him further.

Young-jun flailed about in drunkenness, forgetting even his pain; he was quite a nuisance. But just as Min-hyuk began to feel overwhelmed, the sound of police sirens echoed through the air.

“What’s that? Why are there sirens?”

“It seems like something’s happening outside.”

“Eek! I’m scared!”

“If you stick close to your big sister, you won’t be scared.”

Before long, the siren sounds faded away.

The warm atmosphere of family began to revive once more.

And soon after,

Min-hyuk entered the house.

“Hey, why are you always so late… huh?”

As Min-hyuk tried to walk into the room without acknowledging anyone, his younger sister Eun-hye suddenly grabbed his arm tightly.

“What’s this on your face? What kind of wound is it that you’ve plastered with so many bandages?”

Once again, Min-hyuk shrugged off her grip.

“Mind your own business. It’s not your concern.”

“What? Hey! I’m worried about you—”

-Thud.

“Ugh, seriously. What kind of rude jerk is that?”

“Just leave it. How long are you going to worry about that idiot?”

“…”

At her older sister’s words, the second sister swallowed her irritation and turned away.

But why was it?

Eun-hye couldn’t shake off the unsettling feeling as her gaze kept drifting toward Min-hyuk’s room.

When she later heard from the police about the nature of the wound on Min-hyuk’s cheek…

She had to cover her mouth in shock.

***

▶The Hidden Memorial has ended.◀

…Is this really what a memorial is?

I can’t even find words for how absurd this is.

This is just an unpleasant memory from my past.

Right now, it’s nothing but a trivial thought that will fade with time.

And yet they present it as some sort of memorial?

“Damn it. I really fell for this.”

There’s no trickery like this kind of trickery.

I brought this hoping to secure definitive evidence for use on the final presentation day of the symposium. But at this rate, I’ve just wasted my effort and money for nothing.

As I waited for the timer to run out,

the status window once again displayed a system message before me.

*Ding!*

▶As a special reward from the Hidden Memorial, it reveals the secrets of this world to the player!◀

The secrets of this world…?

【 Depending on your choices, the fate of another person in this world will be determined. 】

“…What?”

What does that even mean?

That my choices will decide someone else’s fate?

If I make a wrong choice, that person could die?

“Explain it so I can understand! What does that even mean!!”

I shouted in frustration, but the status window offered no response.

▶This scene is a Hidden Memorial.◀

▶Collecting additional Hidden Memorials will provide more information.◀

▶Gather information related to the Kingdom of Wederos.◀

▶The memorial effect will be released. A timer has started.◀

10…

9…

A chilling message had my senses on high alert.

To think that someone’s life or death hinges on my decisions.

No matter how much it’s just a game, isn’t this an unsettling story?

“Damn it. What the hell…!”

As I clenched my teeth, expressing my frustration over the unresolved questions, the timer began to wind down.

Surely, I couldn’t remain like this when the timer reached its end.

“…Was I instructed to gather information related to the Kingdom of Wederos?”

That was the only answer that had ever been given.

Despite attempting retries time and again, it seemed that I could only find answers by investigating a kingdom I’d never even encountered in-game.

The secrets of this world lay there as well.

The fact that my life was intertwined with someone else’s too.

Delving into the Kingdom of Wederos might lead me to another revelation.

▶ The timer has expired! ◀

▶ The time stop effect will be lifted. ◀

“Harnie. Is it alright if we move a bit faster?”

“Pardon? That’s fine, but…”

“In that case, excuse me.”

“W-wait?! aaah!”

***

Questions about the Kingdom of Wederos still lingered in my mind.

The moment doubt crept in was back at Lusmaier.

An old man harbored suspicions about a ring and summoned Delphina to activate some kind of magic; his reaction revealed something significant right then and there regarding Wederos.

Moreover, I recalled Polux posing an odd question as well.

“Then you were a citizen of the Kingdom of Wederos?”

“…What?”

“If you weren’t from the Kingdom of Wederos, you wouldn’t be able to wear that ring. Yet here you are, wearing it without any side effects.”

A special ring and the potential side effects that come with wearing it.

And yet, I wore it without any issues at all.

Whether this was due to some game mechanics or if there was a hidden backstory behind it—I couldn’t say.

But for me now, this question represented the only key to unraveling my mystery.

“As for the Kingdom of Wederos… I don’t know much.”

The only thing I knew was that it was the sole kingdom in the west that wasn’t tribal.

Beyond that, I didn’t have much knowledge about Harni either.

However, there was someone here who knew quite well about the west.

“Talpon.”

“…Karsein? Did you have a good trip?”

“I’m sorry for bringing this up out of nowhere. But could you take a look at this first?”

I extended my hand to show him the ring.

“This is…!”

“This ring. I’ve heard from Pollux that there are side effects associated with it. And I’ve also heard that if you’re not from Wederos, you shouldn’t be able to wear it.”

“Is that so? That rascal Pollux…”

“This sword must be similar, right?”

“…Yes. That too can only be wielded by someone from the Kingdom of Wederos.”

But I had already confirmed it.

That this black sword fits my body perfectly.

▶The silver swords of the Kingdom of Wederos are weapons that grow in proportion to the player’s growth!◀

With such a phrase displayed, no further explanation was needed.

“Tell me. About the Kingdom of Wederos. And there’s something about me too, right?”

“…Yes. Now might be a good time to talk.”

After a moment of silence, Talphon closed his eyes tightly and then opened them, sniffing around to make sure there were no eavesdroppers before sitting down.

“Before I answer that, let me ask you first. Karsein. Where are you from?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden? I─”

“You’re not from the Bagrand Ducal Family. You’re not even a resident of this world.”

“…!!”