"Anyway, shouldn't we get moving? We've already been staying here for two days."
Frisk nudged Linde. Although no voice had woken her from her sleep, an inexplicable restlessness still lingered deep inside her, growing stronger whenever she stopped moving forward.
Linde silently glanced back at Snowdin once more, then nodded. "All right, let's go."
Passing through the place where Frisk had fought Papyrus, the two reached a steep, rugged stretch of terrain.
"We're here. This area is Waterfall."
Linde pointed toward the Waterfall Outpost a short distance away as he spoke.
Sans sat there dozing.
"heya, kids. how's it going?" Sans opened one eye and greeted them with a grin.
"By the way, Sans, just how many jobs do you have?" Linde asked curiously.
"aha! let me count. hmm, about five, I guess (Snowdin Forest sentry, Waterfall sentry, Hotland sentry, hot dog vendor, Judge)."
"Wow, that's really worth a round of a-bone-plause." Linde shrugged.
Since they had already discussed Flowey at Grillby's, Sans didn't invite them to the bar for a chat. He simply told them to keep going.
Notably, Linde didn't see Monster Kid. Perhaps because they had been delayed for a while, Monster Kid had already gone to see Undyne three days earlier.
Just then, Linde saw it-the Gray Door that countless people knew about.
Talk about incredible luck! ...No, maybe it's because of the Void Power inside me...
"That door..." Thanks to the power of the void in her soul, Frisk had spotted the Gray Door too.
Linde gently placed his hand on the doorknob. "Let's go in and take a look."
The two walked through the door and, sure enough, saw Gaster... or perhaps a fragment of his body?
"We finally meet again... Linde," Gaster said with a smile. "Oh, and you too, Frisk."
Because Player had previously intervened directly in the course of the world's development, Linde had never entered the Void Space, but a mark of the void had remained within him.
Gaster, who had almost become part of the void himself, could naturally sense that power. With his extraordinary intelligence, he quickly deduced everything.
Frisk looked a little confused. "Have we... met?"
"Oh, of course we have! Three hundred years ago, it was thanks to you two that I didn't fall into the Core."
"You didn't fall into the Core?!" Linde was utterly astonished.
Gaster nodded firmly and patted Linde.
He actually has a physical body... He really didn't fall into the Core!
What surprised Linde even more was that Frisk had also gone back to the past!
His earlier conversation with Toby had led him to believe that he alone had gone back. He had never imagined... that Frisk had gone back too...
"There's no need to be so nervous. Go bring Grandpa Semi back first. That old man will tell you more... All right, now that you've arrived, our agreement is over. I can leave. Those who followed me back then are still waiting for me."
With that, Gaster waved and walked out of the room.
"Who was he?" Frisk asked curiously. "And what did he mean about seeing us again?"
Linde hadn't wanted to tell Frisk about these things, afraid she would worry. But since she would also travel back to the past someday, there was no harm in telling her some of it.
Frisk held her head, looking thoroughly overwhelmed. "Ah... I really didn't expect things to be this complicated. Why would the world reject you?"
Linde shrugged, pretending not to know. Some things he could tell her, but the fact that he had come from another world absolutely had to remain a secret.
Leaving aside what might happen if Frisk learned the plot, Linde still didn't dare trust her completely. He wasn't sure whether someone might be controlling her from the other side of a screen.
Although it didn't seem that way, Linde didn't dare take the risk until he was completely certain that no one was.
Besides, if she really wasn't being controlled, making her think this world was a game would be a terrible idea no matter how he looked at it.
"All right, then. Looks like we have no leads. Let's do what you said and take it one step at a time. There's no point thinking about all this right now."
Frisk sighed and continued onward with Linde.
Before you continue