Chapter 387 – Side Story 2   - Kronos (2)

Ha-Rim, now called Leah, let Kronos accompany her. The world may have become fairly safe now, but traveling with a stranger could still be dangerous. After all, player-related crimes were still abundant. Moreover, “never trust any player completely” was the first lesson taught to all the players. Eden maintained the Tower, so it was much safer than before, but it was still a dangerous battlefield.

Still, Leah let Kronos accompany her. And he could understand why.

‘Because I’m weak, very weak now.’?

If the old Kronos had met the current Kronos, he would have treated his weaker version like a bug.

‘And compared to me right now, she’s much stronger.’?

Kronos could sense the power storm raging inside her. Leah was obviously confident that she could take care of him if he tried anything.

“I’m going to leave the Tower tomorrow. What do you want to do?” asked Leah. She had explained earlier that she was here to find something.

“I’ll go with you,” Kronos rigidly answered.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Leah replied sarcastically with a grin. The duo roamed the floor together for the rest of the day.

‘There are more varieties of monsters on each floor now. I can even see some extinct species too.’?

Kronos studied the Tower diligently. It was very different from the old Tower. He knew every species that lived on each Tower floor, so he was certain this Tower wasn’t the same as the old Tower.

“It’s a completely different place now. It’s almost as if this is a whole different world.” Kronos became even more curious, wondering what had happened while he was dead. He looked at Leah up and down.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Leah asked as she demolished a group of ant monsters.

Kronos shrugged and answered, “I’ll follow you and find out everything I need.”

“...” Leah gaped in confusion for a moment before stammering, “U… umm, okay…”

Shaking her head, she resumed killing the ant monsters. With every attack, she pulverized a lot of ants.

Standing behind her, Kronos asked, “Do you think I am mad?”

“No, that’s not it! Anyway, if you aren’t going to kill the monsters, at least pick up the crystals! You gotta earn your keep!”

Kronos nodded quietly and began collecting the tiny rice-sized crystals.

“Pfft!” Leah, ultimately, failed to suppress her laughter, giggling at the strange man who had appeared out of nowhere and talked funny.

‘He makes me feel a strange yearning.’

***

“Wait a minute. Are you telling me that this man isn’t registered anywhere?” Leah asked the Eden employee, who looked just as confused. Unregistered players rarely appeared in the Tower. And this man, he seemingly didn’t belong to any country or group.

The Eden employee explained, “It’s like… he didn’t exist before today.”

Eden was the biggest group in the world, so it was a huge problem if it couldn’t identify someone. The Eden employee stared at Kronos suspiciously, but his target was too engrossed in the TV.

Leah replied, “All right.”

“There is nothing I can do. Rules are rules.” The Eden employee couldn’t finish his sentence because Leah’s threatening aura suddenly struck him.

She asked, “Please keep this quiet for now.”

Leah’s energy had seemingly overwhelmed the Eden employee. In the end, he nodded and answered, “All right.” Satisfied, Leah turned around and returned to Kronos. Another Eden employee, who had been watching from far away, approached the employee in charge. “Who was that?”

Eden was a powerful organization. This employee wasn’t some low-level worker other players could disrespect.

The other employee asked, “You’re going to report this, right?”

It was necessary to report the unusual event to higher authorities. An unknown player had emerged, and a woman, seemingly his guardian, had intimidated an Eden staffer.

“Don’t.” The employee Leah had threatened shook his head.

“What?”

“That woman is a ranker.”

“A ranker…? So what?”

Being a ranker didn’t mean she was above Eden’s rules and regulations or that she could threaten anyone as she pleased.

Frustrated, the employee in charge explained, “The execs at headquarters are keeping a close watch on her. I’ll make the report myself if I must, so don’t do anything stupid.”

He knew very well that the proper protocol was to report what had happened today.

‘But she’s famous for being the worst bully.’?

Choi Leah didn’t give empty threats. She wouldn’t physically harm an Eden employee, but she was known to be good at bullying people.

‘But I better do something to protect myself just in case,’?the Eden employee thought. He wouldn’t report this to his boss, but he needed to ensure he had a way out if this ever became a problem.

“Player Choi Leah!” the Eden employee called out loudly.

Choi Leah, who was talking to Kronos, turned and narrowed her eyes as the Eden employee grinned widely.

***

“Just who are you? And why won’t you tell me your name?” Choi Leah was feeling frustrated.

“My identity… My name…” Kronos couldn’t answer her easily. She had asked him this many times now, so it was no wonder she was annoyed.

“Could it be that you’re suffering from amnesia? Like in movies? Is that it? But if that’s the case, Eden would have your records.” Choi Leah narrowed her eyes at him and complained, “Do you have any idea what kind of risk I took just now for you?”

The Eden employee assigned to her was an excellent worker and a reasonable man.

‘But he’s too good. It’s annoying.’?She knew he would never do anything that would put him at a disadvantage.

Leah grumbled, “Haa… If you get in trouble, I’ll become responsible. And he even asked for something else in return… I don’t know why I’m doing this.”

With another sigh, she demanded, “Just tell me your name, at least. Why do you have so many secrets?”

Considering how weak this man was, he shouldn’t have been anywhere near that high and dangerous floor. Surprising yet was the fact that even Eden didn’t know about him.

‘I’m even more curious about him now.’?But it wasn’t simple interest she felt toward him. Also, she wasn’t helping him because she felt a strange longing when she saw him. Eden was involved in everything; it felt like this man belonged to a completely different world.

“Did you come from a different star or something?” Choi Leah joked.

“I suppose that’s true.”

“...?”

“My name is Kro—”

“Kro?”

Kronos was about to say something, but he decided against it. Shaking his head, he replied, “It’s Ha Song-Su.” “Ha Song-Su…” Choi Leah nodded. “It’s not a bad name, so I don’t know why you tried to hide it. Anyway, you’ll do what I ask from now on, right?”

Kronos nodded. Earlier, Leah had asked the Eden employee not to report his finding. The employee had agreed to her request, but Leah had to officially register as the guardian.

“And there was one more thing he asked. Starting tomorrow, you must go through the basic lessons under a guide. You're obviously a beginner, so it will be perfect,” Leah explained. The employee had asked that Kronos learn from a tutorial guide. During this time, they would assess him.

‘He wants a guarantee.’?Choi Leah knew that the Eden employee wanted to make sure she was blamed for everything if a problem occurred.

Kronos reassured her, “Don’t worry. I don’t want to inconvenience you anymore, either.”

“...” Leah stopped frowning and replied, “All right. And… Haa… You don’t have a home, do you?”

.

They were standing in front of the Eden headquarters. There was much paperwork Leah needed to take care of regarding Kronos.

“I… don’t have a home.”

“Any place you can stay at? Relatives? Friends… Guess not. Ah! I wasn’t trying to upset you!”

“I’m not upset.”

Leah scratched her head, wondering what she should do with this man. In the end, she mumbled, “I guess you’re coming home with me now.”

***

“It’s small,” Kronos commented.

“S-small?” Leah had never felt this flabbergasted in her life. “This is over 3500 sq ft in the middle of Seoul. It’s just a single-story, but it’s a detached house! Yet you’re calling it small?!”

Since Eden’s headquarters was in Seoul, it became the safest place in the world. Of course, this meant that it also became the most expensive place.

“Yes, it’s small.”

“Haa…” Leah gave up and muttered, “I guess you used to be a king or something? You’re such a strange man.”

“A king…”

“Huh? Are you saying that you were really a king?” asked Leah.

When Kronos didn’t respond, Leah sighed, “Haa. We already ate dinner outside, so let’s just wash up and go to bed. You can use that room, and as for your clothes…”

Leah studied Kronos’ shabby clothes.

“You can wear these.” Leah handed him her workout outfit, blue with vertical white stripes, that she usually slept in.

“Quite extravagant,” said Kronos.

“Ah, sure, Your Highness. Well, I’m off to bed now.” Leah went inside her room.

Left alone, Kronos couldn’t hide his awe. ‘What an amazing defense system.’?

Even with his weak energy sensor, Kronos could sense dozens of traps in her home. He was relieved to know that this place wasn’t wiretapped.

‘Hmm.’?He was about to enter his room when Leah walked out in regular clothes—a feminine one-piece dress thin enough to be see-through. She offered, “Do you want to have some beer after you wash up?”

“Sure.” Kronos knew what beer was because he had Ha Song-Su’s memory of consuming the beverage.

After he showered, Kronos sat in the living room. With the TV on, he drank the beer Leah handed him. There were many stories about Eden playing on TV. It talked about Eden’s accomplishments, including world peace and the improvement this world had experienced.

‘But no one is talking about Kim Gi-Gyu.’?Gi-Gyu seemed hidden perfectly. Was he trying to rule secretly, or was he just watching from the sideline?

Leah said to Kronos, “About tomorrow… Your guide will be someone a little unique. No one knows his identity.”

“Hmm?”

“Let’s just say that he gets special treatment from Eden. I thought I should warn you.”

Kronos sipped his beer and replied, “Thanks.”