Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Huh?” 

It had been a rather peaceful week, and it was supposed to stay that way for the next 3 more.

It was the month of rest that took place in every regression in TWSA, originally designed for incarnations to fully grieve their loved ones and for those who survived to fully recover so that they could perform well in the future. 

I had informed the party earlier that they could spend this time however they liked because there wouldn’t be any scenarios taking place. 

I had been spending my time re-reading the parts of TWSA that may help us in future scenarios, Yoo Joonghyuk had been organizing and maintaining his gear, Lee Hyunsung has been polishing his shield for 3 days now, and the kids had spent this time bickering with one another only to settle the arguments with a battle between bugs and low-level monster species.
 
Everyone was starting to relax a little without scenarios threatening our existence.
 
Yet one had appeared before our eyes. 
 
Without needing to look up from my phone, I could already feel the gazes of the party members settle themselves on my back. Within moments a wave of their voices came through the silence of the industrial building.
 
“Hyung…” 
 
“Mister…?”
 
“I thought you said-”
 
“Dokja, I thought…” 
 
“You told us-”

I inwardly sighed, and the only thing that I could do was look up at the protagonist, who was previously sharpening his black demon sword. I only was met with a piercing gaze with an unreadable expression in return.
 
Strangely, after a moment, he was satisfied with something and promptly turned to face the blue window floating in front of him. He lifted his hand to press something on the system message. 

“...”

The stares of the party members immediately shifted over to the regressor that was now leaving the room. With a slam of the door, he was gone. 
 
Out of the rest of us, he must have the most memories of the past he would like to forget.

It was strange - another reminder that even though I had read the entirety of TWSA, it didn’t mean that I knew everything about the protagonist. 
 
“Hyung, what do you want to do?”
 
The owner of the voice was Gilyoung while Shin Yoosung was shadowing him. If they accept the scenario they would have to relive one- or more- of their unpleasant memories. It was likely that he didn’t know the full weight of what the scenario was asking.

I must have scrunched my face in a strange way as I was thinking this though, because Gilyoung immediately backtracked while Yoosung aggressively elbowed him. 
 
“ah - wait! I didn’t mean to make hyung sad! I’ll decline!” 
 
Before I could protest, two votes were already cast. 

“... you didn’t have to do that. You should do what you want.” I patted both kids on the head while both of them dramatically squeezed their eyes shut and smiled contently.
 
“What Hyung wants is what I want.” declared Gilyoung with a triumphant smile.
 
“... as long as it doesn’t include mister dying.” Shin Yoosung added while rolling her eyes.
 
While the kids were making their statements, the other party members in the room took my advice to heart.

The writer had the guts to speak first. 
 
“I am honestly curious. What deep dark secrets of the past are our demon king hiding?” a smirk could be seen forming on the ends of her lips.
 
“I am also curious.” Jung Heewon added shyly.
 
“Ah… me too…” Hyunsung said hesitantly.

I let out another disappointing breath as I pressed my hand against my temples in frustration. I wasn’t supposed to be the main focus of their decision, they should first consider if it is okay for them to share their past. 
 
“Wait.” I quickly waved my hands at the remaining party members to prevent them from making any more rash decisions. One more vote for the agreeing side would mean that we would participate in an unnecessary sub-scenario. “think deeply about this, the sub-scenario will make everyone in the party witness your past. There is no privacy in this scenario.”

My hands were sweating as I said this. 

“But, having a brand new SSS-Grade item sound’s nice, doesn’t it?” Han Sooyoung proceeded to eye the other members with her mischievous smile. Before I could say something against her, she seemed to have read my mind. “Without depleting the companies funds. This is like free stuff! We all trust each other enough to know about each other’s past right?” Her stare finally stopped at me, just for dramatic effect. 

That was my only response to her. 

It was a name that I was glad to see.
 
“We should really make sure that everybody is okay with this first.” A hint of concern was found in her voice.
 
She was sharp to notice that I was nervously fidgeting with my hands.

the rest of the company directed their gazes to the last party member that had the responsibility of breaking the tie.
 
She looked torn between her decision. It was understandable, I had an idea of what past she would like to forget. If I remember correctly it was something that always haunted her no matter what regression Yoo Joonghyuk was in. On the contrary, she felt the obligation to follow her master. 
 
It was obvious what she was going to pick, although she may have trouble picking between the two, for now, she was surely going to lean towards the disagree button.
 
At least that is what I thought before I heard the mutter under her breath.
 
“Ah, whatever, if Master can relive his past then I can.” 
 
My eyes shot open in surprise, but before I could convince Jihye to change her mind, it was already too late.

Han Sooyoung shot an evil laugh in my direction, then turned her head towards the sky. “Hah! I won against that bastard!” 
 
I could only reply with an attempt at a smug face. She would soon lose her feeling of triumph. I clenched both of my fists as I felt my existence being moved to another place.