Memoirs of the Returnee - Chapter 159



Only Krnovel

The Regressor’s Notepad 159

Ghost (2)

“Fake is… … .”

Raye with her eyes wide open. Elise with her arms crossed. Soliet standing right next to me. Kane looking indifferent as if he wasn’t interested. Escher frowning. Gerken with a calm expression.

Among these, the fake ones are… … .

“Who is it?!”

Raye quickly asked back.

I raised my finger.

“Who are you!”

“… … I was going to say something.”

He glared at Raye and pointed at my chest.

“I am the fake.”

“… … ?”

At that moment, everyone tilted their heads.

“Zion. What does that mean?”

“Are you stupid?”

Soliet asked questioningly, and Elise snorted.

You don’t have to worry about them.

I looked back at the stone statue.

“Everyone on this airship is a ‘real’ ghost. So the only ‘fake’, or human, is me.”

The stone statue narrowed its eyes at me.

He said it clearly.

‘This is the spirit’s airship. There’s a fake one!’

There is only one fake in the spirit’s airship, but I have never been able to tell which one is fake.

Whether the person is fake, or the ghost is fake.

“You told me to pick out the spirits before the airship takes off, while the airship is already in the air.”

‘We’re about to take off! Takeoff successful!’

‘… … Pick out the spirits before the airship takes off.’

The two words of the stone statue seem to contradict each other.

At first, I understood it without thinking much. Since we had already taken off, I thought it must mean ‘until we land’ – something like that.

But the statue replied that it had only told the truth.

then.

“This fake airship has taken off, but the real one hasn’t even taken off yet?”

──… … Hahahahaha!

Then the statue laughed loudly. The other seven lost their expressions. Their eyes became unfocused, and their skin hardened like pale wax.

──That’s correct!

The stone statue shouted. In an instant, the entire area melted like a watercolor painting that had been hit by rain. The scenery that was revealed was the dark interior of an airship.

As expected, the airship was still stuck to the ground, and the other guys were fast asleep in their seats.

“… … Are these the same?”

Next to me are Raye and Soliet. Right behind me is Elise. Gerken is lying on the floor for some reason.

“As expected… … Seok Sang-nim… … Shabashaba… … .”

At that moment, Raye, sitting next to me, muttered something in her sleep.

“Hehehe… … .”

I don’t know what kind of dreams this guy has.

I slapped him once.

slap-!

“Oh, sorry.”

I failed to control my strength. I hit too hard without realizing it. My wrist snapped properly.

“Hey, are you okay? Sorry.”

“… … .”

There was no answer, and the cheek of Raye, whom I had hit, slowly turned red. It soon swelled up like a steamed bun, and now it looked like a face that had three or four wisdom teeth pulled out at once.

Even if I hit you like this, you won’t wake up?

-The moment I was thinking about it.

“……evil.”

Raye reacted quite late.

“Ugh… … Eww… … Aaaah… … Kwaak… … .”

He continues to thrash his body as if the pain will not stop. He trembles in agony, his eyelids flutter, and his arms and legs tremble.

“You fucking idiot… … You hit me… … .”

“sorry.”

“That crazy statue… … That damn statue… … I trusted you and you betrayed me… … Kaaaah… … .”

I looked back at the statue again.

“Statues. Are they trapped in a dream?”

──That’s right!

‘Dreams’ are the most efficient way for a spirit to take over a physical body.

They confine the original owner of the body to the unconscious, that is, to dreams.

The original owner, who was unable to escape, falls into a coma, and the control of the outside world of the dream, that is, his ‘body’, is taken over by the vengeful spirit.

“Can you help me? I want to enter their dreams.”

──You finally escaped and now you want to get into danger again?!

The stone statue asked. I nodded.

“uh.”

The rush is dangerous, even though it doesn’t seem like it would be that dangerous. While I am almost immune to magical or magical interference, the spirits that primarily utilize auras are a different breed.

──I understand. But you have to be careful! You can’t drag her out by force!

“I know.”

The unconscious is not such an easy space.

It is not a phenomenon that can be destroyed by shaking the body or slapping the cheek.

We must make ourselves aware of our own ‘reality’.

─It’s simple! Just sleep next to each other! Who will go in first!

The stone statue asked. The first thing I saw was Gerken. I don’t know why, but he was lying on the ground.

“This one first.”

* * *

Meanwhile, in Gerken’s dream.

“Cotton candy clouds? What a surprise.”

Gerken crash-landed in a cotton candy cloud. In fact, it was an even more unusual situation than a crash-landing. The airship was stuck in a cotton candy cloud.

So the group had no choice but to get off at the cotton candy store.

The cotton candy clouds were really cotton candy, and when you picked them and ate them, they tasted like real cotton candy.

“That’s right. Why cotton candy clouds of all things?”

Then someone said, it was Zion.

Gerken glanced at him, then lay back down on the floor, chewing cotton candy while face down.

Zion, unable to bear it any longer, said:

“Hey. You found the fake.”

“… … .”

Gerken looked at Zion while eating cotton candy. He asked back, as if he was dumbfounded.

“Do you want to stay here?”

“It’s not bad to enjoy it. If you can use it.”

Gerken already knows that the current situation is a dream caused by a vengeful spirit. However, he created this scene by sending a fake signal to the vengeful spirit that covets him.

Also known as lucid dreaming – ‘lucid dreaming’.

“But how did you know that this place was fake?”

“I’ve always trained. As time goes by, there will be more and more people who want to get into my head.”

Well, for someone who dreams of becoming a politician in the future, this training is almost essential.

Zion shrugged and said.

“Is that so? Then when will it come out?”

“……hmm.”

Gerken thought about it and raised two fingers.

“20 minutes.”

Zion’s brow furrowed.

“I’ll eat up a whole cloud, but… … Then come out in exactly 20 minutes. I’ll be gone.”

Gerken nodded, and Zion went out.

* * *

I woke up from Gerken’s dream.

“What are those cotton candy clouds?”

Although I was dumbfounded, I got up anyway.

“… … Kaaaaak… … Betrayal Statue… … I won’t forgive you… … .”

Raye still had a tortured expression on her face.

“Should I wake him up?”

“Kyaaaa… … Kyaaaaak Phew… … .”

“… … .”

Just do it last. You’re almost turning into an animal.

I saw Elise in the back seat of the Laye.

“… … What is he splitting?”

She had a smiling face while sleeping.

Assuming that the other person is a vengeful spirit, this is the worst possible situation. It’s more unpleasant to wake up from a good dream than from a bad one.

I walked over and sat down next to her.

I closed my eyes quietly.

Solsol- I surrendered myself to the sleep that was creeping upon me.

… …Wheww!

A cold wind suddenly blew in.

I opened my eyes.

It was a sandy beach on an island.

Everywhere I looked was covered in the sea, and the salty scent of salt tickled my nose.

“What is this-”

“Isn’t that so?”

I looked around with a start. Elise was crouching on the beach. She was looking out at the horizon with her chin on her hand.

“You just don’t have to do a proper landing or takeoff.”

She smiled slyly.

“what.”

I looked around. Behind the island was the wreckage of an airship split in half.

“What is it?”

Elise asked, nodding.

“Huh? Oh… … Oh, I see.”

It seems that Elise has crashed the airship completely, preventing it from taking off or landing.

“Hey.”

Under the dark night sky, looking out across the vague sea, Elise asked me in a gentle voice.

“What do you… … think of Petra?”

“… … .”

It seems that the situation in Elise’s dream has already progressed quite a bit. The atmosphere is quite serious and emotional.

For now, we need to get into sync.

As the stone statue says, if you say, ‘This is a fake world, so wake up quickly’, it will have the opposite effect.

It’s not that it’s not true, but the keyword ‘wake up from a dream’ actually makes the sleep deeper. Very few people know how to wake up from a dream on their own.

“… … Petra?”

I asked Elise back.

“huh.”

Elise added in a small voice.

“My family, I mean.”

“Um… … Well.”

The Petra family itself does not stray far from the category of nobility.

He pretends not to look down on the common people, but he does, and he does not care about the means and methods for the prosperity of his family, and above all, he is the biggest culprit who caused the death of my mother, whose face I cannot even remember.

“I don’t like it.”

“… … .”

Elise’s expression hardened. She lowered her head. She buried her face between her knees.

“……sorry.”

For a moment, I didn’t understand Elise when she said she was sorry.

“What are you sorry about?”

“… … I can’t say it yet.”

Elise muttered in pain.

I asked her indirectly.

“What? Did you find the fake one?”

“Fake? Oh… …you mean the airship? There’s no need to look for it anymore.”

Elise pointed to the airship behind her, already split in half.

“… … .”

As for me, it sent a slight shiver down my spine.

If this continues, I’ll probably get kicked out.

Elise doesn’t know what’s fake and what’s real. No, she doesn’t even think about finding out.

The only way to wake her up from the dream is to make her realize that this situation is ‘fake’…

Suddenly.

A very good idea occurred to me.

Now, for some reason, it’s just the two of us on this island?

“… … That’s right.”

I stared intently into Elise’s eyes. She met my gaze for a moment, then licked her lips and averted her gaze.

“What, why are you looking at me like that?”

I moved my body. I pushed my face toward her as she squatted down.

“Elise.”

“… … What, what, why?”

“I’m happy because I’m with you.”

“… … ?!”

Elise’s face shook violently. She asked again, her lips quivering.

“What, what are you talking about, you idiot?”

“Is it better when there’s just the two of us?”

“Crazy… …Stop talking nonsense. I’m going out.”

Elise tried to get up to run away. I grabbed her hand. I grabbed her shoulder and slammed her into the sand.

“Ugh!”

Elise’s back touched the sand. I was on top of her, pressing down on her. She looked up at me and shook her head.

“Hey, put this down. Hurry up-”

“No. I want to be with you.”

I slowly approached Elise, almost overlapping our bodies.

“No… … This won’t do. We… … can’t… … go on like this!”

She shouted. I stopped in front of her for a moment. I looked straight into her wet, shaking eyes and said,

“Okay.”

“No. I’m Petro… … You’re Ascal.”

“… … .”

What the hell is this? What kind of movie are you making?

I almost gave up on the situation itself at one point, but I forced myself to immerse myself again.

“What does that matter? I don’t care if you’re Petra or Carpet.”

“… … Okay, let go for now, huh!”

I placed my hand on Elise’s cheek. I touched her soft earlobe and said.

“Come with me… … .”

Their breaths are intertwined, and their noses are almost touching.

“Let’s stay here together forever, Elise. Don’t worry about anything else. Here forever… … .”

“… … Wait. Forever?”

“Yes. Forever.”

“… … .”

In an instant, Elise’s expression hardened. Her whole body stiffened as if she had realized something.

“you.”

Her eyes looking up at me, her eyes that had been shaking violently just a moment ago, froze.

“who is this.”

The question is who.

I answered, holding back a laugh.

“… … Can’t you see it? It’s Zion Ascal.”

“joy.”

Elise gathered her magic power in her palm. She glared at me as if mocking me and recited coldly.

“Get out. The Zion I know is not this weak.”

… … succeeded.

I emerged from her dream satisfied.

* * *

Again, the airship.

“after.”

When I woke up, I saw Elise. She was still asleep, but there was cold sweat on her forehead.

“Ugh… … .”

A complexion that looked like she needed to take a dump, and the magic power that was igniting in her grasp.

It means you’ll wake up soon.

“Let’s try this!”

At that moment, a loud shout rang out.

I looked back at him.

It was Raye. The guy was waving his arms up wildly. Why, like a balloon doll soliciting customers.

“What? Are you awake too?”

“I can do this all day!”

“… … ?”

But the reaction was a bit strange. I approached Raye again.

“You little bastard… …! Come on!”

Raye screams like that with her eyes tightly shut. She waves her arms as if she is swimming, and makes a loud noise.

“Come at me!! Hit me again!”

“… … .”

Of course, slapping Raye in the face was probably the best way.

I hit him one more time just in case.

This time, a little weaker.

slap.

“……evil.”

Raye flinched.

And then, hmph──! hmph──! He started hyperventilating and shaking like an incredibly angry person.

“You are really dead.”

“… … This guy will wake up on his own.”

It looks like there’s no need to worry.

“Huh!”

In the meantime, a groan is heard from behind.

“Haa… … Haa… … .”

Elise woke up. I looked back at her.

“Are you awake?”

“……you.”

She pointed at me with her finger.

“… … .”

But she can’t say anything and just moves her lips. A faint blush appears on her face.

“Why. What.”

“No… …I had a bit of a nightmare.”

“What a nightmare.”

“… … Don’t ask. It’s horrible.”

Elise looked around.

“It looks like everyone is the same. When did you wake up?”

“just now.”

“… … Is it true?”

“Uh. I woke up about a minute ago.”

“… … Phew.”

Then Elise let out a sigh of relief. I pretended not to know and asked back.

“Should I wait until the other kids wake up too?”

“no.”

She shook her head, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“You can enter the dream. We have to help you. It would be difficult to do it alone.”

“… … You damn dog!!”

“Whoa!”

Elise was startled by Raye’s sudden outburst.

“Hey!! Come here!! You’re dead!!

“Why, why?”

She quickly checked Raye’s face, but

“Come here!!! I’ll make your cheeks like mine!!”

Raye was still asleep.

“… … What is this? Why is the ball like this?”

Elise asked, looking at Raye’s cheeks that were puffed up like balloons.

“Well, I don’t know.”

I took off my hat.