Time Alone

" Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow."

5 

'Calm the fuck down!'

It was a crazy situation, sure, but there was no real reason for Dice to fear Assistant Kim, right? Even if the world had changed, it didn't make sense for him to escape from his own residence. 

In the first place, Dice did not do anything wrong. He was neither a law breaker nor a fugitive.

It was also impossible for him to jump down. If he was not mistaken, the penthouse was at least on the sixtieth floor. It would be a death sentence to try to jump down the window.

As for the fire exit, Dice had no idea where the fuck it was located.

Besides, Assistant Kim was his own subordinate—his past self's? Future self's? subordinate—thus, regardless of his memory loss, there should be no danger to Dice's life.

The worst that could happen was that his assistant would send him to a mental hospital.

However, it was also difficult for Dice to ignore what his intuition was telling him. There ought to be a basis or logic why he felt that his nonhuman assistant was dangerous. 

'Could it be he schemed against the Professor?'

'Did he cause my memory loss?'

The possibility could not be denied.

Was Assistant Kim an enemy?

Dice decided to play things by the ear. If he paid attention to the man, there was bound to be a clue or two on whether he had hostile intentions.

When he opened the door, the young man ushered him towards the door in a hurry. Assistant Kim made no comment about his choice of clothes, or about things to bring, or brief him about their destination. He did not even mention breakfast.

Dice was yet to understand his situation, so he also did not ask a question, lest it give away his current ignorance. 

In the end, despite his hunger, he simply let himself be dragged by his assistant out of the penthouse and into the underground parking lot, where he was greeted by several strict-looking men who seemed to be bodyguards based on their crisp black attires. 

However, they were not wearing suits. 

A portion of them were dressed similarly to Assistant Kim, wearing armors on their upper bodies, some made of black leather while others were partial plates of black steel. There were a few that had shoulder pauldrons, while a pair of men were clad in long black robes. 

Compared to them, Dice felt severely underdressed. For a second, he wondered if he should change outfit, but tossed the thought away the moment they bowed to greet him. Their actions were faultlessly smooth and coordinated, like they had done this routine hundreds of times.

"Good morning, Chairman!" one shouted.

"Good morning, Chairman!" the others repeated.

'Unlike Assistant Kim, they should be humans,' Dice noted down. 'And they also don't make me feel scared.'

It was a discovery that brought him relief.

There were a total of ten of them, and that was only the number on the surface. Dice had a hunch telling him there were more in the vicinity, monitoring the surroundings.

Don't ask him how he knew. It was all intuition.

Although the guards were dressed like cosplayers from a fantasy game—or members of a crazy cult who loved the color black— Dice saw one silver emblem on all of their clothes. The emblem on their sleeves had two rings in a cross shape with a small world in the middle.

It symbolized the Craft Guild he had read from the news articles.

"Chairman, Guildmaster just called us and said that he had already arrived at the factory with the advisors," one of the men, presumably the leader, reported before Dice climbed inside the luxurious-looking vehicle of an unknown brand. He then handed a tablet for Dice to peruse before humbly bowing. 

As soon as Dice made himself comfortable on his seat, the leader of the guards closed the door of the car.

Realizing that he was the only passenger, his emotionless mask cracked. 

'Fuck, that was exciting and scary at the same time. I thought I'll be a goner. Did I do good? Is the Professor an arrogant prick who doesn't even greet them back? Should I continue with this kind of setup?'

To think people would bow down to greet him and look up at him with reverence, the sensation of being on the receiving end was hard to describe.

'What kind of person is the Professor?' he could not help but wonder. 'I'm not sure, but as long as I keep my mouth shut, the less chance I will be exposed.'

His forgotten self seemed to have hit it big, very big. Not only was he filthy rich, he was also a person who commanded awe and respect.

'And this car…?'

He caressed the leather on the seats, amazed by the feeling under his fingers. He also looked around, and found the interior equally strange and fancy.

Dice had a university friend who's severely addicted to cars. Lloyd would always rant about model XX and model YY every chance he got, that was why his two closest friends, Dice and Jin, both could find out what the vehicle model was based on its approximate shape and design. 

Yet he could not recognize this car.

'Well, it's been five years,' he reasoned. 'Hmm. It's luxurious but it gives me a feeling like it's patterned to military model trucks. Does that mean this has something to do with the military?'

'The Professor was connected to the military? Maybe even the government?'

It was beyond common sense.

Dice could not help but groan at the mess he is in. 

'Could I survive this day without anyone discovering something is wrong with me?'

'I wonder if I have free time on my schedule. I need time to think.'

'Maybe I should order Assistant Kim to cancel all my appointments for the day. Say that I'm not feeling well or something.'

As a smart glass panel appeared between the rear passenger seat and the driver's seat, Dice realized this luxury-military vehicle had a privacy partition, guaranteeing his absolute privacy from the only other person who could spy on him—the driver.

This kind of feature, he was familiar with.

'A chance!'

Dice reached out to turn the mode of the wall from 'clear' to 'opaque'. The smart glass panel visibly darkened until it became pitch black, similar to the color of the leather seat. The car windows were also darkly tinted, so there was no way people from outside could see what he was doing.

'I will be safer now.'

Unless magic was involved.

Dice had limited knowledge about the world five years ahead from his memories. From his quick glance of the internet earlier, he only learned that magic truly exists in this time—but as for how it works and what it covers, he needed more time to absorb information.

'If it's similar to fantasy movies and games then…'

Maybe Assistant Kim or one of the guards from earlier had some skill similar to X-ray vision. If they glanced at him and saw him acting suspicious, things were bound to go haywire.

'I shouldn't be that unlucky, right?'

However, it was safer for him to overestimate their abilities instead of the opposite. Even if he's alone, he could not afford to let down his guard. 

'But then, since I'm their Boss, then my subordinates wouldn't do that to me. It will be rude and disrespectful to peep at their Boss.'

Only after convincing himself was Dice finally able to breathe easier.

'Luckily, Assistant Kim and those scary people from the Craft Guild ride in a different car than mine. Otherwise, I don't know if I will be able to continue fooling them.'

Assistant Kim, by himself, was a tall wall to climb for the current Dice. 

Worse, more people had come into the picture.

'Assistant Kim is still the scariest.'

Though the bodyguards appeared physically larger and more powerful in combat, Dice could not remove the feeling that the clumsy-looking Assistant Kim could actually wipe out their entire party by himself.

'Was it because those from the Craft Guild are humans while Assistant Kim isn't?'

Dice covered his face with a hand, trying to rub the stress away. 

'Ugh, I'm already exhausted. Thankfully, I have some 'me' time now but…'

He let out a dry, helpless chuckle.

'Can I keep a poker face for an entire day?'

He slapped his cheek twice, as if to wake himself up, before leaning against the super-comfy leather seats.

'I want to go home.' 

Did Professor Lee Suho ever visit his family? 

His younger brother, his parents, he missed them. 

After his military service, circumstances forced Dice to return immediately to the city to continue his studies. He was unable to return to the countryside to visit his family.

It meant that to the current Dice, he had not seen them for almost three years. 

If he were to add the years he couldn't remember, Dice had not seen his family for a total of eight years.

Why were their contact details not in his phone?

No matter how successful he had become after five years, the normal Lee Suho was not an ungrateful bastard who would cut off his connection to his family.

Unless his family were no longer…

Dice's eyes widened as a horrifying thought entered his mind.