“83 years…? You’ve lived for that long here?” I asked.

  “That’s right. I never told anybody this because they would forget me once they left but I know you can take me to the Interface! Please Primordial Human, Help me!”

  I was starting to get nervous and shy. Everyone always wanted help for me but would then leave me once they were the successful ones. Yet, the sincerity in his words made me happy. If he was 83 years old, then that would basically make him my senior.

  “Well how can I even take you there, I haven’t signed my contract yet.”

  “Do you have time left to sign it?! If you don’t you will probably be stuck here for years, like me! Please Han Jae-Shik, I beg of you! Get me out of here!”

  「An Unknown Ability is blossoming within you! 」

  「The Unknown Ability is known as a Boon you have received from your Great Plotter!」

  「The Boon will be known as a ‘Temporary Boon’ due to the Contract not being Signed! 」

  The panel illuminated the pitch black room we were in. I could see Colin’s begging eyes filled with tears as the years he’s lived in the Terminal got up to him.

  Boon… So maybe this is something I gained if I signed the contract with Theatrical Vision. Boon’s are like blessings from gods that were given to humans, like me. Maybe this book will come to use in some way.

  「The Unknown Boon is allowing you to view the plotter, ‘Colin Darithan’ s memories! 」

  Suddenly, all the noise and commotion from the attackers went away. I saw my translucent body once more, it was my soul that had left my body. Soon, a large panel opened up and it was filled with videos. Most of their thumbnails were filled with Colin’s face.

  Video 1: Day 303 - New Friend

  -Synopsis: Colin meeting a new mentor.

  Video 2: Day 413 - Goodbye Master

  -Synopsis: Colin’s mentor had left the Terminal.

  …

  Video 19: Day 15,348 - Loneliness, I

  -Synopsis: Colin being the last person in the Terminal

  There were many of these ‘Loneliness’ videos in the panels. I waved my arm up and down to scroll down to see the latest video. The latest video was ‘Day 29,348’ and it had a blocked off title. I couldn’t watch it.

  A sadness filled my soul.

  Colin was a lonely, and sad person. He tried every day and every ounce of his power to win the lottery, yet he came out losing. Everyone he made bonds with eventually left him, even though they got Great Plotter support they didn’t bother to take him because according to them, it would hinder their strength progression to carry around a weakling without luck.

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  I understood that Colin was being genuine in his words, yet I still didn’t want to sign the contract yet. Not unless the time limit I had was one minute. Then I would at least consider it, for Colin’s sake.

  「You have watched all memories!」

  「Transporting Soul back to TrailBody! 」

  I came back to my body and we continued where we left off. However, before I could speak with him, people found out about our area and our whispers. I could see their menacing bodies, they were not of a human but of an Owl Monkey. But, their bodies weren’t thin or small, they were abnormally large. Through the reflection of the light on the other side, I could see their sinister grins.

  Colin took my arm and started running out of the dark room.

  “Since the Owl Monkey’s had superhuman sight, they could see through the Dark! We have to get out quickly!”

  The chase soon came to a stop as we found an escape. However, it was still in the light where everyone was looking for me.

  I looked to my right and there were a large group of creatures and people who were running around. But… to my left was Lee Nari.

  “Lee Nari-ssi! Please help us keep Han Jae-Shik safe!”

  She definitely had no intention of keeping me safe. “Hah! What good will that do to me!? If I kill him here, I can enter the Interface as a primordial Human!”

  Colin hesitated for a moment. “But don’t you need to go into the Interface anyway?”

  “You don’t think I haven’t been contacted by a Great Plotter yet? Well guess what, I have.”

  “Huh!? By who?” Colin screamed out, letting out the location being revealed.

  “It doesn’t matter.” She said, pulling out a sword from the panel she had opened up. The sword looked like it was from Korean Folklore stories from the way it was described. It was silver with a golden handle and several strings.

  「 The Plotter, ‘Lee Nari’ is aggressive towards you! 」

  She moved at an astounding speed and started to attack me. I tried to block her attacks at Colin stood behind me. Her swords kept slashing and slashing, she wasn’t backing down anytime soon. The other people behind were also running towards me with greedy smiles. Some were even drooling out of their mouths.

  Being a Primordial Human must have its perks…

  Knowing I couldn’t do anything against Lee Nari, I started running instead of blocking her slashes. Come to think of it… How did she even get the sword? Did her Great Plotter provide it to her?

  There has to be a way to get these special items. I know it. Videogames and all sorts of novels my wife told me about had a shop system. Looking back at the contract, it did mention something about ‘Plotation Points’ , maybe it was the ‘currency’ these shops used…

  The only thing left now is to access this shop.

  I looked toward Colin as we descended the Escalators. “Do you know any sort of shop I can use to buy weapons? Or something of use!?”

  “Shop… Shop…” He murmured to himself as the large group of enemies swarmed behind us. Strangely enough, the alligator with the suit was still standing and observing the chaos unfolding.

  “Ah, yes! The Allegory Shop! It’s where you can buy skills and all sorts of stuff… But there was this weird way a guy named Evan opened it once.”

  “Do you remember?”

  He nodded as we turned another corner. “But, you have to be under a Great Plotter to access the shop itself.”

  Shit… Every single roadblock was leading back to me having to sign with Theatrical Vision. There was literally no option or else me and Colin would die permanently. Suddenly, a gust of wind appeared from behind us. It was Lee Nari. She was above us all this time. She probably jumped from the second floor.

  “Found you.”

  「An Unknown Boon is identifying the presence of a Great Plotter Observing his Plotter! 」

  「The Great Plotter, ‘Grand Tactician of the Sacred Dawn’ is observing his plot! 」

  「The Plotter Lee Nari has used the Boon, ‘Turtle’s Gambit’! 」

  Lee Nari’s eyes glowed with a white light. Her eyes suddenly had this weird pattern as she kept moving them around. As soon as we kept running, we found a dead end. Lee Nari was approaching.

  “S-Shit!”

  “It’s over for you now, Han Jae-Shik. I will devour your soul.”

  「An Unknown Boon is identifying the ability of Turtle’s Gambit!」

  「Turtle’s Gambit: A Boon created through an Angel from Earth, to see countless possibilities to attack one’s TrailBody. However, the Boon is currently greatly unreliable due to its unusual use in the Entrance of the Interface! 」

  I finally had a way to bypass Lee Nari’s aggression. I had to trick her Boon into giving her an option that would hinder her abilities to attack me. “Then Let’s fight, Lee Nari-ssi.”