The Greatest Estate Developer - Chapter 401: Brilliant and Sweet (1)

A strange noise was ringing in my head.

Why is it so noisy on the other side of the Gate of Reincarnation?

Why is the King of Hell so chatty?

“I’m tired. So sleepy.”

I tossed and turned in my bed, frowning.

I was utterly exhausted.

And why wouldn’t I be?

I had spent the entire night leading the operation.

I had drowned the Hell Knight army.

I fought desperately against the King of Hell.

And in the end, I had leapt into the Gate of Reincarnation with the King of Hell, so it was only natural that my whole body felt as if it were falling apart from fatigue.

No, it was almost karma.

“But I did it in the end.”

It was my last attempt.

The only method of success that the Orb of Truth had revealed.

I had tried it with great difficulty and finally succeeded.

The thought brought a satisfied smile to my face.

But my smile didn’t last long.

“…Now for the weather update.”

A strange voice filled the room.

Intelligent, yet with a crisp, no-nonsense tone.

“Is this a dream?”

It must be a sound drifting into my dreams.

I rolled over, trying to ignore it.

But even that movement couldn’t block out the voice that came again.

“It would be wise to prepare a thick coat this morning. A cold wave has arrived with the Siberian high-pressure system that has developed since early winter. The temperature in Seoul this morning has dropped sharply to minus 9 degrees…”

…Huh?

This isn’t a dream.

The voice was definitely coming from right beside me.

“How is this possible?”

Suddenly wide awake, I snapped to full alertness.

I had definitely crossed the Gate of Reincarnation.

Which meant I should have been going through the process after death.

I should have been living a new life, reincarnated, or otherwise starting a new existence.

That’s how it should have been.

But… I’m hearing a voice that sounds like a weather report?

Confused, I opened my eyes.

And my entire body froze in shock.

“…The wind will make it feel even colder. Especially this weekend, when the coldest temperature of this winter is expected.”

“….”

A pale light illuminated a TV in the dark room.

There was a person on the screen.

A face devoid of even a gram of humor.

Their neat and tidy appearance matched their crisp tone.

“News…?”

I muttered unconsciously.

That was unmistakable.

It was the weather update on the news.

The news anchors delivering that sort of news always looked exactly like that.

Almost as if to confirm my suspicions.

The weather announcer on the TV smiled elegantly.

“Tomorrow, there may be scattered snow in the northern mountainous regions of Gangwon. Waves will be high offshore.”

“…”

It felt like a snowstorm had settled in my heart.

“What is going on here?”

I muttered without realizing it.

The announcer smiled even more gracefully.

“That’s the weather update. Thank you.”

“…”

I fell silent.

The old TV belched out cheerful music, signaling the end of the news.

But for some reason, that TV felt oddly familiar.

I felt like I was going to be sick.

Before I knew it, both my hands were trembling.

And then, I realized.

That TV was from my room in the boarding house.

Which means… this is the dingy little room in the boarding house where I used to stay.

“What… is this?”

Why is this happening?

Why am I here?

I felt like I was losing my mind.

I looked around like a madman.

I didn’t know where to focus my gaze.

The familiar and tiresome smell of mold.

The wallpaper, yellowed in places.

The damp sheets and blankets.

And…

A cracked, old cell phone lay next to my pillow.

No way… it couldn’t be.

Please, don’t let it be.

Anything but that.

I turned on the cell phone screen.

I checked the date first.

And before I knew it, I tossed the phone down and burst out of the room.

“…Ugh, ugh!”

My stomach churned.

I threw up everything in the shared bathroom.

Then, suddenly, I saw myself in the sink mirror.

“…”

A pale face from not eating properly.

Dark circles around my eyes.

Cracked lips and unkempt hair.

That face stared back at me through the mirror, on the verge of tears.

Kim Suho.

Who are you, really?

Why are you here?

And why is today’s date like this?

Why, after becoming Lloyd, is it now the morning after?

“This… can’t be happening, right?”

Tears ran down my cheeks uncontrollably.

I couldn’t understand.

I had definitely grabbed the King of Hell and jumped into the Gate of Reincarnation together.

I should have received a new life and opportunity.

It was only natural to live a new life.

But why, of all things, did I return to this horrible boarding house life I wanted to avoid most?

And on top of that, it’s the morning after I left here, possessing Lloyd Frontera.

“This is… too much.”

It was so unfair.

I didn’t even know why, but it felt incredibly unfair and infuriating.

Crash!

Without realizing it, I punched the mirror in front of me.

A crack appeared on the mirror.

My fist, too, had red lines of blood.

But it didn’t hurt.

No, I didn’t have the mental energy to feel pain.

“Ha, ha ha. Ha.”

It was just too unfair.

This couldn’t be happening.

All I could do was laugh.

♣

How did I spend the morning?

I don’t know.

There’s only one thing I’m certain of.

It’s that I have definitely returned to being the original Kim Suho.

“…”

Lying blankly, I picked up my cell phone.

Three missed calls.

They had come in the morning.

I didn’t even need to check who they were from.

“They were probably calling to ask why I didn’t come to work.”

I suddenly remembered something from years ago.

I remembered the place I used to work at until just before I became Lloyd Frontera.

To me, that was several years ago.

But here?

It was just yesterday.

So, what, was I dreaming?

All those times in the Frontera estate, in the royal capital of Magenta, on the continent of Lorasia.

All those times I worked hard, laughed, and cried, facing countless events—was it all just an elaborate dream from a single night?

“Javier, Queen Alicia…”

And the Count and Countess, and Julian.

Ppodong, Bangul, Hamang, Bibeong, and Ggoming.

And all the others I met.

All the memories we built together flooded back.

That made it feel even more hollow, more painful.

Part of me felt scared, too.

But I wanted to find out.

I opened the novel app.

The list of novels I had read appeared.

Among them was *The Iron-Blooded Knight*.

The story of the world where I had lived and breathed as Lloyd.

Perhaps, the contents of this novel had changed a little.

Maybe the traces of all I had worked for, laughed with, and experienced would be left in the novel.

With a mix of fear and anticipation, I opened the novel.

I skimmed through it.

Hope turned to disappointment.

Fear turned to despair.

It was all too easy to switch between them.

“…”

Nothing.

Nowhere.

Not in a single corner.

There wasn’t a trace of me anywhere.

Lloyd Frontera still died early on.

The Count and Countess still met a tragic end.

Javier still left to face the world.

And his grand, indomitable epic of adventures as the Iron-Blooded Knight remained unchanged.

So, all those experiences I lived through, all those memories… they left no mark whatsoever.

As if they had never existed in the first place.

As if it had all just been a dream.

“No, no way.”

I didn’t want to believe it.

Before I knew it, I had gotten up and started putting on my old parka.

I left the boarding house, wanting to deny reality.

Like a madman, I jumped on the subway.

Some people frowned at my shabby appearance.

But I didn’t care about their reactions.

Only one thing filled my mind.

“Namsan. Maybe…”

There might be a trace left there.

No, there definitely will be.

There has to be.

“I went to Namsan with Javier.”

To build the Orb of Truth.

To find the last core material for the orb.

I remembered the time we came to Seoul with Dragon King Verkis’ dimensional travel magic.

Back then, we went up Namsan.

The Love Lock Fence at Namsan Tower.

One of those sections had been the last core material for the orb.

We took it.

“So, there should be a trace. We took one section of the fence. They must have put in a new one there.”

I was sure that would be the case.

Only that section of the fence would be new.

It would have less rust or look different from the surrounding fences.

“That’s all I need to find.”

Then it will be confirmed.

The time I spent with Javier here.

It wouldn’t have just been a dream.

It would be proof that it was something I actually experienced.

“Please.”

Even if I can’t go back.

At least let it not have been a dream.

If all those memories were nothing but my own dream, I might just want to die.

“Please.”

With a desperate heart, I climbed Namsan.

Passing by countless strangers.

Passing and passing again.

Panting heavily.

Finally, I arrived below Namsan Tower.

I examined the fences with a desperate prayer

.

But there was nothing.

“…Huh?”

An unrusted fence.

A fence that looked new.

There was nothing like that.

I couldn’t see anything anywhere.

Everything was just as worn out.

Locks hanging like countless lovers’ promises.

Amidst that, people’s laughter and chatter spread joyfully.

“…”

So, there’s nothing.

No trace that I came here with Javier.

No evidence to prove that the past few years were not a lie.

“Nothing was here, after all.”

From the start.

From the very beginning.

There was nothing.

It was just a dream.

A bit grand, vivid.

So vivid that it tricked me into believing it was real.

I had been dreaming a sweet yet horrible dream like that.

Just that.

“Ha ha. Ha…”

The absurdity of it all made me laugh.

Like a madman, I trudged down Namsan.

Passing by countless strangers.

Happy couples, friends, families.

Everyone laughing and chatting together.

Only I was descending the desolate stairs alone.

After that, I don’t know where I wandered.

How I walked around.

I don’t know either.

I just walked blankly.

I wondered if maybe, if I turned my head, Javier might talk to me.

Maybe, as I kept walking, Queen Alicia might smile and ask for a spar.

I walked and, at some point, stopped abruptly.

I even reached into the pocket of my old parka.

But there was no Ppodong, no Bangul, no Hamang, no Bibeong, no Ggoming.

No engineers, no Dragon King.

No mana heart, no circles, obviously.

“Ha…”

Was it strange to see me walking and laughing alone?

The gazes of strangers brushing past in the crowd.

But it didn’t matter.

I just kept walking.

Sometimes coughing in the bitter wind of early winter afternoon.

Only by evening did I finally arrive in front of the boarding house building.

My foolish stomach growled without any tact.

That’s when I realized.

“I haven’t eaten anything today.”

Not a sip of water.

I felt hunger belatedly.

I rummaged through my pockets.

Luckily, I found two one-thousand-won bills.

I went into the kimbap shop on the first floor of the boarding house building.

I bought a roll of 1,500-won kimbap to go and came back up to the boarding house.

But just then—

“Excuse me. Room 301?”

Someone called out to me.

A voice that felt oddly familiar yet unwelcome.

I turned to see the boarding house manager coming out into the corridor, someone I hadn’t seen in a while.

“Why did you break the mirror in the shared bathroom this morning? People were saying it was you in Room 301, right?”

The manager asked with a frown.

I didn’t answer.

I just stood there, a bit dazed.

Just staring at the manager’s face.

The manager sighed heavily.

“Room 301, what’s going on with you? Can’t you at least not be a nuisance? Shouldn’t you respect some basic rules?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Is sorry enough? Do you live here alone? If you break a mirror, you should tell someone. And when are you going to pay the rent for this month? Do you even know how many days it’s overdue? But you still have money to buy kimbap?”

Thud, thud, the manager tapped the kimbap bag.

He continued.

“And since we’re talking about it… Even though plain rice and kimchi in the shared kitchen are free, isn’t this a bit much? Shouldn’t you take a moderate amount? Aren’t you ashamed, not paying your rent on time and all? How many times do you expect me to believe the excuse that your wages are delayed?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“If you’re really sorry, then pay the rent sooner. I’m going to add the cost for today’s mirror repair and the worker’s wage to your bill. Got it?”

“Yes.”

Leaving the manager’s harsh glare behind, I went back into my room.

The cramped little room where you’re almost touching the walls when you stretch out your legs.

The yellowing wallpaper with its mold greeted me.

I let out a sigh without realizing it.

“Ha.”

I didn’t even feel angry anymore.

I thought about what I should say back.

But somehow, I didn’t feel like saying anything.

I could only let out a hollow laugh.

Only sighs kept coming.

I shrugged off my old parka and sat on the bed.

Trying to act like everything was fine.

Like it was no big deal.

I took out the kimbap and took a bite.

But why?

Why couldn’t I swallow the kimbap?

Why did my throat keep tightening up?

“Seriously.”

Even if it was just a dream.

It didn’t feel like it was.

And I couldn’t accept that it wasn’t.

It was so unfair to accept it like this.

It felt like everything was falling apart.

I didn’t have the courage or strength to start over.

Returning to the hopeless life of Kim Suho rotting away in this little room seemed so cruel and unfair.

Without realizing it.

Tears flowed.

But then—

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked on the door.

Who could it be?

Was it the manager again?

‘What could they be nagging about this time?’

Could it be about the mirror repair fee they mentioned earlier?

That seemed likely.

I hurriedly wiped my eyes.

I tried hard to seem calm.

Determined not to show any signs of misery.

I steeled myself, making a decision over and over again.

Slowly, I opened the door.

And I came face to face with—

“…Huh?”

There he was.

The one I missed so dearly.

The one I thought I would never see again.

The one I never thought I would encounter here.

That face was waiting for me outside the door.

Looking as glad to see me as ever.

Tears brimming in his eyes, looking right at me.

“…I missed you, Lord Lloyd.”

Javier said, his voice quivering, with a bright smile.