Chapter 19
“…!”
No, what is this…
As I stared at the message with a serious expression on my face, the call came in again. It was the restricted number of caller ID from earlier.
“…”
Feeling distressed over it, I answered the call.
“Who are you?”
“Haha, you can’t hang up the phone so suddenly…”
“Who are you?”
“Haha…”
The awkward man’s voice was irritating to my ears. I’m so sensitive that I can’t think well of the shady guy who sent me a meaningful message.“This is probably the first time I’ve met you, so I’ll introduce myself again.”
The man continued to speak in a calm voice. His soft voice is quite pleasant to listen to. His voice is really perfect for voice fishing. This man could go to jail multiple times if he put his heart into it.
“My name is Sim Dante, the Regin Guild’s S-class item maker.”
“Regin guild?”
I was surprised by the man, no, what Sim Dante said.
The Regin Guild was a gathering place for famous item makers with item-making skills, not only in Korea, but all over the world. Among them, Sim Dante, the key figure, was an extremely rare item maker with S-class skills.
I can’t believe such a man called Han Yi-jin. I asked back in a slightly suspicious voice.
“Are you really Sim Dante?”
In the novel, Sim Dante was a mysterious figure who rarely appears. There were rumors that he became a mad scientist after being infatuated with experiments, and that he was arrested by state authorities later for not hesitating to carry out dangerous human experiments.
However, the items he made were all superior in performance, and the prices had all skyrocketed. This is because most of the items the protagonist uses are made by Sim Dante.
After all, Sim Dante’s mystical concept was only mentioned a few times and never really appears in the novel. At least in the episodes I’ve read. Therefore, I can fully suspect that he is an impersonator.
“Well, if you don’t believe me, do you want me to send you my hunter licence?”
“Yes.”
I immediately answered the question of the man I assumed was Sim Dante.
A Hunter’s Licence is an identity card specially created by the World Hunter Management Organisation.
They had applied precise skills to it so only registered people could carry it, so there was no need to worry about someone stealing or plagiarising it.
Ding!
Moments later, a text message came. I checked messages with my phone on.
[Hunter’s Licence
Name: Sim Dante
Registration Number: 09S-00139
Rank: S
Affiliation: Regin Guild]
“…”
He really is Sim Dante.
I was astounded to see the photo of Sim Dante, which was embedded in the mint colored hunter licence. So, Sim Dante looking like this, huh? I saw his pretty handsome face and clicked my tongue without saying anything, and then I heard laughter.
“Do you believe me now?”
“Ha, well… What business do you have with me? What does the message mean?”
The message on his Hunter’s Licence caught my eye again.
“You are not Han Yi Jin, right?”
It gave me goosebumps. I couldn’t possibly be caught this simple, but my mind went blank because I felt like I was knocked out for a second.
“Oh, that.”
I heard Sim Dante chuckled. He continued in a relaxed tone.
“I know you are not Han Yi Jin. If you were the real Han Yi-jin, you wouldn’t hang up on me like that.”
“What do you mean…”
“You saw it as soon as you opened your eyes, right? My masterpiece QED-Ver.7!”
“…What?”
I frowned at the unfamiliar name. Sim Dante then asked curiously.
“There’s no way you didn’t see it. Have you seen the machine connected to Han Yi-jin’s body?”
“Oh, that.”
It was only then that I thought of the hideous machine I saw immediately after I was possessed. I don’t know because I saw it roughly, but I think there’s a Q… identification tag on the outside.
“The fraudulent item that will raise your rank?”
“Well, I’m not saying it’s a scam, but I’m saying I’m selling it…”
“Hoo…”
Isn’t this bastard a total con artist?
Sim Dante quickly continued to speak with my dumbfounded sigh.
“Of course, it’s not wrong. In fact, thanks to your presence in Han Yi Jin’s body, his abilities have greatly improved.”
“…!”
When I first woke up in Han Yi-jin’s body, I was just confused. Suddenly I woke up in the body of a stranger. Besides, he was a character in a novel that I read continuously until the day before. If it’s a dream, I think it’s a very silly dream.
However, I was surprisingly adaptable and was able to play Han Yi-jin more skillfully than I thought. Thanks to the system, I was able to synchronise with his body.
But this isn’t right. I asked Sim Dante in a trembling voice.
“Isn’t that machine just an illegal item? Is it a soul-changing thing or something?”
“What do you mean by illegal item? You shouldn’t talk about my lifetime masterpiece like that. Ah, and it’s a soul-changing machine. It’s based on quantum mechanics.”
“Hey, you bastard!”
“Oh…!”
I shouted, and Sim Dante was surprised. But that just sounds pretentious to me. What did this madman do to a man who lived well? I said, gritting my teeth.
“Now, return me back.”
“Yes? No, that’s impossible.”
“Why?”
“Well… to return to the original world, you have to find the real Han Yi-jin who went there, but that’s still impossible now.”
“If it’s still impossible now, doesn’t that mean there’s a possibility?”
“Of course there is a possibility. When I first saw the gate in Seoul, I realized that there was another world. The gate proves the existence of another dimension, but ordinary people who haven’t entered the system can’t make gates, can they? So I thought, let’s build a gate with human power! That’s how I apply the theory of quantum mechanics I’ve been studying for a long time to…”
“Summarize in one line.”
“If you give me time, I will research more!”
“Haa….”
Listening to a crazy psycho scientist makes my head heavy. I had a hard time and got entangled in this experiment by a crazy bastard.
Damn it, damn it.
While cursing inside, Sim Dante asked carefully.
“But… Why do you want to go back?”
“What do you mean why?”
“Well, didn’t the system give you good skills? Normally, it’s generous to users who come from another world.”
I frowned when I heard him mutter suspiciously. It was because the way he spoke sounded as if there were several people who were dragged into this world like me.
“…Is there anyone other than me?”
“Oh, no. I mean, there is.”
“There is?”
“Yes. Not much, but there was only one case of success in the initial trial. He was a beta tester.”
“But why are you speaking in the past tense? What happened to him?”
“Hmm…”
When I asked, feeling somewhat ominous, Sim Dante hesitated and delayed his answer. When Sim Dante tapped his phone with his finger fiercely, he answered as if he couldn’t help it.
“Honestly, I don’t know either. I lost contact with him.”
“What?”
“He disappeared after he announced that he had succeeded in the experiment. I think he’s addicted to travel…”
“Ha….”
“Well, dimensional travel is very interesting, isn’t it? I think he liked the trip. Haha.”
Listening to him speak casually made me angry.
I don’t like it here, no matter how many good skills the system gives me.And I hate Han Yi Jin’s body even more!
“Well, unlike beta testers, you don’t seem to like the current situation. Can I help you? As compensation.”
“Of course you have to, son of a bitch.”
“Ha ha ha.”
Sim Dante, who laughed awkwardly, hinted after a while.
“Then can you help me retrieve my lovely QED-07? This is the first success I have had in a while and I wanted to do more research on it.”
“Loki Guild Master has it, so take it yourself.”
“What? The Loki Guildmaster… Jang Tae-san?”
Sim Dante, who raised his voice as if surprised, sighed quietly.
“No, how….”
“There’s a rumour that it was defective item. Did you check it? I was in trouble because I got caught. You’re a fucking nuisance.”
“Ha ha ha.”
Sim Dante laughed awkwardly again. And he muttered in a subtle tone as if to let me hear it on purpose.
“Hmm. That’s not good. If I want to return the cat to the original world, I have to get it back…”
“Who’s the cat? Damn it.”
“Oh, don’t you know about Schrödinger’s cat?”
“I don’t know?”
Who doesn’t know the famous Schrödinger cat?
Sim Dante frowned at the random remark, and continued to speak in amusement.
“The talented people who use the QED series I distribute are called Schrödinger cats. I didn’t know what they were until I observe them, right?”
“Fuck.”
The psycho scientist, who was so faithful to his role, was absolutely horrifying and astonishing. It’s amazing that the title cat gives me goosebumps in a different sense.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Then what should I call you? By the way, do you still remember your real name?”
“Of course. My real name is…”
My name.
What was my name?
Suddenly my head felt empty and I couldn’t think of anything.
As I blankly held my phone, Sim Dante’s calm voice burrowed into my ears.
“Looks like you’ve synced. How about forgetting your real body? Even if you return back, I wonder if you can adapt well…”
“Shut up, damn it!”