Chapter 876: The End of the Scenario (9)
And…
Slowly the sky opened up.
Once again, a huge light filled the earth.
I didn’t think the system would respect Altanus’ will because it didn’t have a personality.
It just judged right and wrong. What suited the law more, which was the most ideal and least harmful to the created world.
Neither Altanus’ legacy nor will seemed to matter at all. It wouldn’t even pay attention to the quests I had given them.
It had one interest: to fix the conflicting errors.
“It’s a compromise. Coexistence… that’s what I want.”
In fact, it was compromise, coexistence and bullshit, but from its point of view, there was no other option. Because now I was being stubborn.
If it couldn’t fix bugs and errors, I’d ask to get things back. I meant to accept it. Unless you wanted to see this fucking shit happen.
It might seem like a virus that had entered the human body, but I was not a harmful virus.
Depending on how it chose a coexisting virus, I could be poison or medicine.
Rather, I was a virus that made the human body stronger. Your immunity would be higher, and I would be able to manage this more stably. So, let’s solve the problem together. Huh?
[Creating a mythic-grade forced quest.]
[I forgive your sins. Rise up, Regressor of Altanus. Then I will gift you the future. (0/1)]
[Quest Clearing Reward: The Future (0/4,397)]
Please, accept it. It wouldn’t be a bad deal.
[Quest Clearing Reward: The Future (0/5,132)]
“Wake up… sniff… sniff… sniff…”
Let me shed a tear…
“Sniff… sniff…”
Holy tears were running down my cheeks. This scene was important. Right?
“Wake up… Sunset Swordsman. Then… sniff… I will give you the future.”
I thought the reaction would be immediate because it was the system. It was rather easy to make rational decisions. It knew what was needed to fix the error.
I took a step because I could see the light falling as if telling me to come inside. To where Kim Hyunsung was.
Once again, the view changed.
What the?
As soon as I stepped into the light, the landscape changed. The sight of it changing in an instant, starting with my left foot touching the floor, felt foreign but beautiful.
Neither Park Deokgu nor Jung Hayan nor the others felt it. I wondered if my mind had run away again, but it probably wasn’t that.
Because it felt so real. I couldn’t judge exactly what this space was right now, but maybe…
“Feedback came.”
It would be most reasonable to think that feedback had come. It was a space where everything was surrounded by white, and I was surrounded by a maze-like wall.
It was unreal enough to make me wonder if it was the afterlife, but ironically it was very vivid.
“If you want to give it to me, just do it. If not…”
It might not have been allowed. Still… the quest went on… Jihye and Benignore would take care of the cleanup. I still had some time.
I kept moving on. I didn’t know where I was heading or what awaited me in that maze of white space.
Maybe it was the place that Altanus’ Legacy had provided…
Because it was a place where there was nothing, I had a lot of thoughts. This was because of the possibility that the system might have identified me as a bug and quarantined me.
I thought that moving hastily would be worse, but I had no choice but to move.
It wasn’t the right situation in which to throw dice, but I was that desperate.
I seemed to be moving quite recklessly for a person who hated gambling. I left an arrow on the wall, thinking I might get lost.
‘I’m not thirsty, and I’m not tired. At least it’s not hostile.’
To turn the happiness circuit, I had to turn it like this.
‘Oh, come to think of it, am I still in the world? I wonder if it’s just my spirit that came here.’
‘I’m the God of Sacrifice and Resurrection. I don’t know if I can disappear suddenly.’
‘I don’t want to create a gimmick that the God of Sacrifice and Resurrection disappears before a miracle occurs. It’ll look a little weird.’
‘I have to resurrect with light. If I hide… it won’t… look cool.’
It was then that the sound of a crying voice came from somewhere.
“Sniff…”
I listened to the sound from afar.
“Sniff…”
It wasn’t clear, but I took another step.
“Kim Hyunsung?”
“Sniff… Sniff…”
“You’re with that bullshit again. Again. Are you crying again?”
“Sniff…”
“I’m sick of it. Really.”
I kept hearing him crying. But as I got closer to the sound, the less I heard.
Finally, I couldn’t hear the crying, but I could feel someone.
Somewhere in this space had to be Kim Hyunsung.
Maybe it would be my end to wander around here, and maybe the system really had punished me. I thought I had been defined as a bug.
Was this the punishment for continuing to explore the maze while listening to Kim Hyunsung crying? Very good. It was a dramatic myth, so it would probably come and go in people’s mouths.
“Sniff… sniff…”
I kept walking.
I didn’t know how much time had passed because I had no sense of time. It seemed that I was going in circles. Looking at the arrow carved on the wall, I couldn’t help but mutter.
“How many days have passed?”
At some point, there was no sound. I wondered if it would be better to think of a way back, but what would be different if I went back now?
The concept of time here and there might be different. A few days here could be a second there. It was similar in Kim Hyunsung’s head.
At least a week had passed. No, it could have been a month, or it could have been half a year. Still…
‘Let me be more at ease.’
“Sniff…”
It was then that the cry was heard again. I walked recklessly and without thinking, and then I stopped. The voice was coming from beyond the wall.
After slowly touching the wall, I opened my mouth. It was right under my nose…
“You were here.”
“…”
“You were here.”
“…”
“Were you there? How did you get there? Looking at the shape, it looks like it was blocked from the inside… Don’t even think about hiding like a rat because I know you’re there. It’s no use covering your mouth, you bastard. I don’t know how long you’ve been hiding, but I know everything.”
“Who… are you? Who are you?”
The voice I heard was really Kim Hyunsung’s. His voice was a little younger than usual, but I was convinced that he was the person hiding behind the wall.
It made me a little sad that he couldn’t remember my voice. Had he lost his memory? Or was he unconscious?
It might not have been the real Kim Hyunsung, but it would be right to get him out anyway. That’s why I came.
“Come outside.”
“…”
“What are you doing? Come out.”
“No… I don’t want to.”
‘You fucking bastard.’
“Come out. Bastard.”
“I don’t want to. I will not go out.”
“Stop with this and come out, Kim Hyunsung. Before I break down this wall.”
I couldn’t really break it, though.
“Who are you?”
“Is that important?”
“Who are you, and how do you know my name? Were you the one who locked me up here?”
“You are stuck on your own.”
“I don’t mean that… not here behind the wall… you imprisoned me here?”
“Fuck. Yeah, I locked you in here.”
“T-Then, are you imprisoned here too? How do you know my name? Why…? Am I dreaming right now? Please, tell me it’s a dream. We must be undergoing some kind of human experimentation. If not… Do you know anything? Were you dragged here too?”
“…”
“Um… I was unconscious for a moment… and suddenly I was here. Do you have a cell phone? Where’s the… police station? You…”
“Is that important?”
“…”
“Why am I here? Why do I know your name? Do you think it matters? The important thing is that we have to get out of here. Instead of talking while stuck there, you have to act no matter what. I’m not saying it’s bad to have questions, but you have to act. Right?”
“It’s safe here.”
“It’s safe where I am too.”
“…”
“I-I’m scared.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“…”
“What the hell are you so afraid of?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
“What?”
“I don’t know what’s out there. I don’t even know if you’re really a good person or a bad person… It’s safe here. At least there’s no risk of dying. That’s right. It’s dangerous outside.”
“…”
“How do you know my name?”
“Don’t make me say the same thing, Hyunsung.”
“Are you a good person?”
‘You annoying bastard, fuck. Why do you ask such a thing?’
I couldn’t understand the situation. But it seemed to explain the state he was in right now. Maybe…
‘I think he’s Kim Hyunsung from the first-round tutorial.’
This was Kim Hyunsung at twenty-two years old. I’d heard about it.
I didn’t know whether the situation was exactly the same or not, but it was probably Kim Hyunsung from that time behind the wall. The place I was in right now wasn’t a tutorial dungeon, though.
At the time, I’d thought it was annoying while listening to the story, but I felt like I would explode when I met him in person.
‘What an idea. Gosh.’
I didn’t know if he’d come here on his own and got stuck or if he’d started here.
I didn’t know if his original personality had been destroyed. Even if I brought him out now, would that be Kim Hyunsung…?
Was that the penalty of Altanus’ Legacy?
I had a lot of questions, but I thought that probably nothing would happen.
If it were true that the system had signed the agreement and Altanus had given me a chance, she wouldn’t have done things messily.
It might be convenient to think of it as just a device. It could be the process of checking whether Kim Hyunsung would receive the quest reward… This was probably the most convincing hypothesis.
Because Kim Hyunsung might not want the quest reward.
Let’s throw a question mark on the first guy who’d arrived here.
‘Can he say no?’
“I’m hungry.”
“…”
“…”
“I’m hungry.”
“…”
“…”
“I’m hungry.”
“Ah…”
“I am really hungry… my throat is dry…”
His hand stuck out under the wall. It was a hand that had never held a sword, and it was different from the hand of the current Kim Hyunsung.
He had no calluses and no scars. It was a hand that never seemed to have ever done hard work. His cuffs also felt a little thin, making me wonder if it was really Kim Hyunsung.
Hesitant gestures seemed to represent his personality.
There was a mumble along with a rustling sound from beyond the wall.
“Perhaps…”
“Yes?”
“Do you want… bread?”