I looked at Researcher Lee Jaheon, no… at ‘Manager’ Lee Jaheon.
Though he no longer looked like a lizard, I still naturally imagined that reptile’s vertical pupils.
“…Since when have you remembered?”
“? I have always remembered.”
For a moment, an immense sense of relief flooded through me so strongly that I nearly let out a laugh.
“I see….”
The tension drained from my shoulders.
‘Hoo….’
It seemed I had been under even greater pressure than I had realized.
Being dropped into an unfamiliar point in time without a single familiar person around, struggling by myself to save acquaintances who no longer remembered anything.
…It must have been hard.
[Mr. Roe Deer….]
[However, strictly speaking, you were not alone. Your friend was always with you, comforting and guiding you with clever words.]
Th-that’s true.
Thank you.
[Oh, think nothing of it!]
Let’s not say something like, ‘What I meant was a real acquaintance with a physical form,’ and end up with him going, ‘Oh, I understand completely!’ and suddenly turning into a host….
I decided to let myself enjoy the relief of this moment, if only briefly.
I no longer had to rescue someone on my own. I now had someone who could work with me to rescue others.
And besides—
‘Come to think of it, it would actually be more natural for Manager Lee Jaheon to remember things just like I do.’
After all, he had fallen into this place under conditions not all that different from mine.
The two of us both got out of the loop and then… well, died.
‘Did I really put on that whole show with the researcher ID card…