Chapter 851: The Last (84)
However, he should have known the third round wouldn’t happen. Not even over my dead body.
“…”
“Yes. It was a dream of a new start… of everything going back to the beginning.”
“…”
“You were smiling there, and it wasn’t just you. Deokgu, Hayan, Hyejin, and other guild members all gathered and laughed together. Everyone was enjoying their precious daily lives without hard work or suffering. Adventures were fun, but being in each other’s company was even more so.”
‘Let me listen first.’
“Sometimes Ki-mo joked, and Deokgu and Ye-ri laughed. You still didn’t let go of your work, but you would occasionally watch the guild members train from a distance. Like you wanted, you toured the continent on a griffon and lived your hopes and dreams… You did it with everyone.”
His body was trembling.
He probably judged that I would understand the nonsense he was saying.
He didn’t say it was the third round, but I knew that was what he was talking about. He was most likely worried about how I, the saint who had sacrificed himself for the continent, would react to his selfish remarks.
“No one died. There were no victims in the tutorial either. The various wars and great events that occurred, the events that made you suffer… didn’t happen… They didn’t happen…”
“…”
“You’re not riddled with memory loss. No, your mind and body weren’t damaged by the various incidents that you went through. It’s not just you. Everyone on the continent… looked like they were living a happy and healthy life. It’s hard to describe everything, but it was the kind of place where everyone could smile.”
That was utter nonsense.
I continued to look at him with a sad expression. He visibly became frightened, seemingly startled. He probably regretted talking about it, thinking that he shouldn’t have brought it up, but his behavior, biting his lip hard, didn’t change.
“The things that hurt you… didn’t exist there…”
“You can’t undo what has already happened.”
“No, I can turn it back. There is a way to rewind time. You know that too, don’t you?”
“How?”
“I just have to start over. Just like I saw in my dream.”
“Did you think I would agree with your delusion?”
“It’s not a delusion.”
“Even if it isn’t.”
“I am telling you that it is actually possible.”
‘Yeah, fuck, it might actually be possible. But what can you do?’
“Something that didn’t happen will not happen. If you start over again, can you be sure that I and the other guild members you know will remain the same?”
“That’s…”
“Of course, there are memories I want to forget. There are experiences I don’t want to think about, and I met people who made me suffer. But that’s why I am who I am today. Because we went through all of that, Hayan, Deokgu, Hyejin, and our people exist today. Because we went through all these things together, our bond deepened this much.”
“…”
“Everyone wants to forget the hard times, but I don’t want to let go because I know that they made us who we are today.”
“Maybe there is a way to return with our memories. We don’t know if there can be only one regressor…”
“What I’m talking about isn’t just our relationships with people. The same goes for places that have become memories. The new State will not be the one we know right now. Laios and Mirror Lake will never be the same again. Castle Rock’s walls will be returned to before they were repaired, and the Federation will suffer the same fate. We’ll go back to a place where the recovery plan hasn’t been executed yet. The same would be true of the small town of Heren. There won’t be anything there that you described before.”
“But!”
“I want to build memories here. I want to live in a place where many things have already happened, where the Blue Guild members and my people live together.”
I stared at him with very little hostility. Just this much.
‘Are you worth only this much?’
It was dramatic.
‘Are you willing to step so low?’
My expression went well with the situation.
I didn’t list the sacrifices we’d had to make to get to the third round.
I didn’t tell him about those who had sacrificed themselves to make the current continent.
I didn’t mention that the current continent would be abandoned, that many people looking at the light would be abandoned, and that this place would have to be pushed to a level that could not be restored for us to get to the third timeline.
However, I was sure that he already knew. My eyes said it all.
Actually, the biggest reason was that the third round would be bothersome, but it would be better to put aside his useless delusions anyway.
Unsurprisingly, he reacted to the hostile light. It was brief, but all kinds of negative emotions seemed to overflow from him.
Anxiety seemed to be rising inside him. He’d run out of breath with a single stare from me, which was unusual. It looked like he was about to have a seizure, but he mustered the courage to speak up.
“But… But you may not be there. You said you want to build memories, but there might be no place for you.”
“I’m coming back…”
“That might just be another lie!”
“No…”
“You could be lying again, right?”
“…”
“You might just be attempting to reassure me by saying that everything is fine this time when you won’t really be able to return. If you could come back, you would’ve already done it.”
“I will come back.”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I can come back.”
“Don’t lie… damn…”
“It’s something I want too.”
“That’s… such a lie.”
This bastard didn’t fucking believe me.
How did this skeptical bastard get stabbed in the back so much?
It felt like he was acting like a kid. It was becoming embarrassing because it seemed like we had reached a level where we couldn’t communicate.
I was saying I was going back. Why did he keep saying it was a lie?
‘Why are you staring at me? You look like you’re going to hit me.’
He seemed about to cry as well. The more the sky changed, the more his nervousness became evident.
‘How much time is left… do I have time to be like this right now?’
I felt a little worried, but…
‘What can you do?’
It was ironic, but I didn’t think that he would continue to stand up for himself when he noticed my change in behavior.
When I stopped talking and looked at him silently, he flinched a little.
The longer I stared at him without saying anything, the more he talked. Unable to look into my eyes directly, he lowered his head gradually, his strong tone becoming weaker and weaker. In the end, he became quiet.
‘That’s right. How dare you raise your voice after seeing me like this? You’re the one who put me in this state, and you still have the audacity to shout at me? Have you seen what you did to my stomach?’
“Please, believe me.”
“…”
‘It’s not a lie this time.’
“You have to believe me.”
“…”
“If not you, who will? I know that it is difficult to understand right now and that you are anxious. And you might resent me. But that’s not a lie. I love the Blue Guild more than I love the continent. I am also envisioning the day when we will be together again.”
‘You can’t say anything, can you?’
He probably had a lot to say.
To be honest, there was nothing he could do, even if he screamed or shouted out loud. Regardless, he seemed to already believe in me.
No, he probably thought he should. If Kim Hyunsung didn’t, who would?
Even though he had reduced my body to rags, I still put my faith in him.
‘I believed you even though you turned me into a total wreck.’
Our friendship hadn’t broken despite me being torn apart by his sword.
I’d trusted that it wasn’t Hyunsung’s will, that he couldn’t do that…
I’d supported him with no doubts until the moment I closed my eyes.
‘You have to pay off your debt.’
The light never forgets debt. I didn’t put pressure on him with words, however.
‘I trusted you, so you have to believe in me too.’
It was a card I was trying to use anyway. I thought it was released at just the right time.
“Trust me.”
I slowly raised my sword.
Looking at the sky, which had already begun to change, I pointed to it as if the time had come.
Of course, I couldn’t do any harm to my body. That was why I had no choice but to look at Kim Hyunsung again.
Hesitantly, he started closing in on me, looking at the brightly changing sky once and then at me again. Of course, he was already shedding thick tears. He seemed like he wasn’t certain if he could do this.
‘You can do it. I’ll do it with you.’
I didn’t want to make him carry the burden alone.
He and I held the sword. The way I grabbed it was a little funny, but I felt his hand trembling as he cried, leaving me no choice but to hold onto it even tighter.
“I will come back.”
“Yeah… sniff… yeah.”
“I will definitely come back.”
“Yeah… Yes, Kiyoung. I believe you.”
“I will believe you too.”
His face was distorted. I didn’t know why, but he closed his eyes tightly, then carefully opened them again as if he thought he had to witness it.
His pupils shook, but when I nodded and smiled, he forced a ridiculous smile.
He was smiling while shedding tears. I almost burst for a moment, but I held my emotions in and talked to him again.
“Are you ready?”
“I am.”
It didn’t really seem like he was, but Kim Hyunsung had made up his mind. I could feel it because of the Regressor Instruction Manual.
‘We’ll go on three.’
After I conveyed my intention, he nodded slowly.
One.
Two.
Three.
‘Ah…’
And…
I thought my head was going to fall off.
However, the sword fell to the floor.
As I looked straight ahead with a puzzled face, I noticed Kim Hyunsung grabbing one of his eyes.
‘It’s ruined.’
A face contorted like a demon.
An expression that seemed to have lost reason in anger.
‘Gosh, Song Sookyung, you bastard. You can’t even get the timing right. Really.’
And with this, the silent villain began to act.