Joshua looked at the thing in front of him.
It was a chair full of glowing text?
He didn’t know, so he asked,
“What is this place?”
Ken had dragged him to this room and was now working on the chair.
Grabbing the helmet on the chair, Ken answered Joshua, “This is a runic device that retrieves memories.
I call it MRRD.”
“Wait, it can retrieve memories?” asked Joshua, looking curious.
“Yep, now sit.”
“Wait… why do you want to watch Avengers: Endgame so badly, anyway?”
“Huh!
Why?
Well, because that movie is the damn reason why I’m here.”
“Huh?
What do you mean?”
“Well, you see, I wanted to watch Endgame in the theaters really badly, but the tickets were all sold out for two weeks in my local theaters, so I heard someone was selling black-market tickets in an alley beside the theater.
I was desperate to watch the movie, so I somehow gathered the money, but as I walked into the alley, I somehow got transmigrated into the World Dungeon just like you!”
“Ohh…” Joshua blinked, surprised.
“So that’s how you came to this world?”
“Yeah, and I didn’t even get to see the movie—but not anymore.
I have waited for 14 years.”
Man, this guy looks desperate.
Could it be he only took me as his disciple so he could watch the movie?
Wait, did he just say…
“14 years?” Joshua questioned.
“But didn’t Endgame come out in 2019?”
Ken was also stunned.
“Wait, I forget, what year did you come from?”
“2026,” answered Joshua, confused.
Rubbing his chin, Ken theorized, “There can be two possibilities: one, time moves faster in this world, or you or I traveled back or forward in time.
I think time moving faster is the correct answer.
Anyways, I really want to see that movie, so come and sit here.”
Joshua hesitated.
“Is… is it safe?”
“Of course it’s safe.”
Joshua reluctantly sat on the chair full of glowing runes.
“Wait, will it hurt?”
“No,” said Ken as he put the helmet on Joshua’s head.
“Probably.”
“What was that?”
Joshua felt a jolt go into his head as memories he thought he had forgotten started resurfacing—not just one or two, but many, many memories.
He couldn’t describe the process, but it felt like he was reliving all the moments of his 16-year-old life all at once.
Then it stopped as the face of the devil came in front of him and asked, “Are you alive?”
“I don’t know.”
Joshua was dizzy.
“Yeah, you’re alive.”
“What… just… happened…?”
“I… saw… everything… all… my… life…”
“Yeah, drink this.”
Ken handed something to Joshua, who was still in a dazed state.
Without thinking—because he literally couldn’t—he drank the whole thing.
Instantly, he felt better, enough to ask,
“What… was that?”
“Something that calms the mind.”
His eyes drooping, Joshua whispered, “I feel sleepy.”
“Yeah, it also helps with sleep.”
“I don’t…”
Before he could finish, Joshua fell asleep on the seat.
Grabbing him, both Ken and Joshua disappeared from the room, appearing in another room with a bed.
Laying Joshua down, Ken covered him with a blanket and disappeared, reappearing in the room with the runic chair.
His eyes were different, however.
His expression was blank, and his eyes were cold and indifferent.
Looking at the screen in front of him that said Memory Retrieval Successful, he pressed on it.
Instantly, the room was filled with displays all around.
The screens were showing different scenes, some with the same people, others with different people.
“Let’s see what kind of person you really are, Joshua,” Ken muttered as tentacles with eyes started coming out of his body, the screens reflecting on them.
In an office, a lady with beautiful blonde hair was looking at the documents before her.
There were many documents just like that piled on the desk in front of her.
A crown was placed on the table, along with many other things.
Knock.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door.
“Speak,” she responded in a gentle tone, not looking up from the documents.
“My queen, Lady Hastin is asking for an audience,” came the voice of a maid.
Her eyes halted as the blonde lady finally looked at the door.
“Let her in,” she answered as she put the document aside and sat up straight.
The door opened as an old lady leaning on a cane walked in.
Her eyes were shut, and yet she didn’t trip.
She walked in front of the desk and gave a bow to the blonde lady.
“What do I owe the pleasure of this personal visit, Lady Hastin?
If you needed to discuss something, you could have sent a message.”
“Ohh, I just wanted to know how it went in the Forest of Doom and wanted to hear it in person!” Her voice was sweet like a grandma’s, yet the blonde lady didn’t smile, nor did her expression soften.
She spoke with a questioning tone.
“It has only been seven hours, Lady Hastin.
For a round trip, at least 16 hours are needed at a bare minimum.”
Before the old lady could reply, another knock came at the door.
The blonde lady frowned as she questioned, “What is it now?”
The voice of the maid answered again, but this time it was a little bewildered.
“My queen, Knight Alvin Crestfall is back and is asking for an audience!”
Stunned, the blonde lady looked at Lady Hastin.
She had a smile on her elderly face, as if already knowing this was going to happen.
Suppressing her inner turmoil, the lady gave the order,
“Let him in.”
The door opened, and this time Alvin walked in.
He fell to one knee as he said, “My queen.”
The blonde lady nodded.
“Get up, Alvin.”
Alvin got up and looked around, only to notice old Hastin standing a little distance away.
He gave a slight bow.
Hastin nodded in response.
Alvin gave the queen a questioning look.
The queen answered his silent question, “You can speak freely.
Don’t mind her.”
Alvin, looking a little uncomfortable, blinked, but the next moment, his eyes turned firm.
Then he started speaking.
He described how he and Joshua ventured into the forest, how they found the special space where Ken lived, how they got in, what they spoke about, and how Joshua got accepted as Ken’s disciple.
He didn’t miss anything and said everything he saw, even trying to describe how Ken and Joshua spoke in their native language.
Throughout the recollection, the listeners’ expressions changed very little.
As he finished his report, he said,
“And then Mr.
Ken did something to the artifact, and somehow I appeared directly in my quarters.”
The queen blinked in surprise, but then corrected her expression into a serious one.
“As expected, we need to strengthen the anti-teleportation measures in the royal castle.”
Although she said that, she didn’t have any confidence in actually stopping that man from teleporting here if he really wanted to.
Not knowing that, Alvin nodded seriously.
Old Lady Hastin, who had been silent up until now, suddenly spoke,
“Well, I shall take my leave now.
Long live the queen.”
Saying that, she got ready to depart.
Just then, all three of them heard dramatic music coming from the side door near the blonde queen.
Suddenly, the door opened with a bang, and a young girl of about 11 made a dramatic entrance.
Her hair was black, and two horns were attached to her forehead.
With both hands on her hips, she stood in a pose and declared,
“Prepare for your destruction, humans!
It is I, the demon princess, here to deliver your doom!”
Paapa.
A convenient dramatic sound effect followed her declaration.
Everyone in the room was baffled.
At that, the girl looked very satisfied.
“Ooh ho ho ho ho!
Everyone is scared of this princess!
Nice, nice.”
She gave herself a thumbs-up.
Looking at this silly princess comedy show, the blonde lady couldn’t help but facepalm and let out a sigh.
Alvin, on the other hand, smiled lightly as he finally saw his princess, whom he had been worried about.
The princess in question first looked at the facepalming queen, then at the man in robes.
Her eyes lit up.
“My knight!”
Then her eyes drifted toward the old lady who was trying to slip away.
She tilted her head as her pretty, cute face scrunched up.
Then her eyes widened.
“Wait, you… you’re that old hag that has a lot of delusions and wants to scam everyone, right?”
Paapa.
A sound effect followed her declaration.
Both Alvin and the queen were dumbfounded as the girl continued,
“What are you doing here?
Wait, were you here to scam Mother or my knight?”
The so-called old scammer’s eyes twitched as black lines appeared on her face, making her look even more ugly.
“Don’t mind her,” said the blonde lady hurriedly as she got up from her chair, covering the girl’s mouth.
Old Lady Hastin didn’t say anything and just left the room.
Alvin, whose shoulders were shaking, couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing.
The queen, too, couldn’t help but chuckle a little.
The girl’s horns retreated and turned into slime as it bounced on her head.
The girl with black hair, looking curious, asked,
“What is it?
Why are you two laughing?
Tell me.”
“First tell me who taught you to say that about Lady Hastin,” asked the blonde lady.
The girl tilted her head as she answered,
“It was Ken.
Ken told me to shout that if I ever see her.”
Now the blonde lady’s eyes twitched.
She grabbed the girl by her ear and was about to pull, but—
“Ouch!” the girl cried out in pain in a loud voice.
The blonde lady was surprised as she let go.
“Hey, I haven’t even pulled your ear yet.”
The girl dashed toward Alvin, hiding behind him.
“Ken taught me that too.”
“Come, my knight, we’ll play the demon princess and knight again.”
The slime bounced on her head as if agreeing with her.
Shaking her head, the queen nodded at Alvin, who nodded back and walked away with the little devil.
Just then, the girl stopped, turning around.
She asked, “Mother, will Ken come to my birthday party?”
The blonde lady paused, then said,
“I have sent him the invitation, so he’ll definitely come.”
The girl smiled like a flower and resumed walking.
Looking at her daughter, a distant look flashed in the blonde lady’s eyes.