Chapter 877: The End of the Scenario (10)
‘There isn’t much. Fuck. Selfish bastard. Selfish Kim Hyunsung.’
After sitting down, I immediately took a bite of the bread.
Actually, I wasn’t hungry. I just wanted to make the conversation easier.
Didn’t people say that they become closer while eating? At least, it would be a good environment to relieve Kim Hyunsung’s vigilance.
Unsurprisingly, a murmur could be heard from beyond the wall.
Even if I didn’t look at him with my eyes, it seemed that I could see him eating bit by bit.
There was no voice, but the silence did not last long.
“Are you there?”
I heard him.
‘This bastard…’
“Hello?”
Still, he must have felt like he’d been left alone since the atmosphere was different than before.
When I didn’t answer on purpose, just in case, I heard him begin to cry.
“Sniff…”
He looked so weak that I couldn’t understand why I’d picked this asshole as a hero.
I was completely disgusted to the extent that I wondered if it would be better to just go back.
But my feet didn’t move.
“Yes. I’m here.”
“W-Where have you been?”
“It’s none of your business.”
He had nothing to say. Fuck. He couldn’t ask me that. He was the one stuck there.
“…”
“I guess you’re scared since you’re alone.”
“…”
Look. He had nothing to say.
“How did you get here?”
“I don’t really remember. Why I’m here and since when… what about you?”
“I can’t remember either. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”
It wasn’t a joke. I really didn’t know what I was doing right now.
It was a bit funny how we were sitting with a wall between us, leisurely eating bread. I was thinking about how to get him out.
‘Should I just leave him alone and go back like Kim Hyunsung from the first round said? I’ve drawn an arrow, so maybe he will follow it.’
I thought there was a high chance, but I didn’t do it.
I wanted to see him come out from behind that wall himself.
I thought it would be good to make him more at ease, so I talked about this and that, but in the end, I didn’t know what to talk about anymore.
A lack of sociability seemed to be his basic trait.
“Give me a little more.”
“…”
“Quickly.”
‘I’d rather have an anglerfish like in the tutorial dungeon. Then I’d throw it over there.’
‘Do you have an infinite bag of bread? I don’t think the food ran out either.’
Though my head was cluttered with various thoughts, I calmed down once again. In fact, I laughed.
“How long will you be here?”
When I asked, I heard a voice in response that seemed to have no energy.
“I… don’t know.”
“If you don’t move, nothing will change.”
“Still…”
“…”
“There is a possibility that it could be dangerous. What I’m experiencing right now is not a normal situation… Come to think of it, there are a couple of strange things. You also said you couldn’t remember why you came here… Me too… It would be dangerous. It’s a new place. I’m not moving, so I’ll stay safe.”
“I’m outside. Or maybe you think I’ll hurt you? I can’t fight. I have no weapons.”
No, maybe I could beat Kim Hyunsung now. If I fought with all my might, my chances of knocking him out might be as high as forty percent.
‘We even ate bread together. What’s up with him?’
“It’s not necessarily that important… I know you’re not a bad person, but… I just don’t want to go out.”
“Why?”
“I am afraid of change. It feels like everything is going to change. I am afraid of what will be out there, what kind of work I will do and what choices I will make. Here, you just have to stay still. Then at least nothing will change. People like you may not understand, but I…”
“No. I understand.”
“…”
“I know what you are talking about.”
“What?”
“It’s scary to be different from the current environment. Taking on a challenge is inherently scary for anyone. Everyone is afraid of sudden changes… I am no exception.”
“…”
“It only takes a small impulse.”
“…”
“Anyone can change with a really, very small impulse.”
“Did you do that too?”
Maybe I had. It had been a little different from what I told Kim Hyunsung, but there might have been a reason for me to change too.
There were many reasons, but I thought Kim Hyunsung would also play a huge role. Otherwise, there would be no reason to be here now.
The same went for Kim Hyunsung. In the beginning, the guy could do nothing but lock himself up against the wall, but he had led the first round and became a hero who knew how to sacrifice himself in the second round.
The experience he’d been through was huge, but pulling him out from the wall for the first time had to be a small impulse.
Kim Hyunsung had grown by meeting new people, experiencing new things, and going through dangers and crises.
His biography looked like that of a hero to the extent that it could even appear in a novel or movie. It was the continent’s history, and it was a narrative passed down from mouth to mouth. It was this guy, the guy who was hanging on the wall and eating bread.
I wasn’t sentimental. But I kept getting my memories back, and I was mumbling useless words without realizing it.
“It would be good to think of it as a dream. What I’m saying may sound like bullshit, but what you’re going through right now isn’t normal. You are dreaming now.”
“That… that…”
“A lot of things can happen that you can’t even imagine. As you said, it can be painful, scary, and difficult. You can still write your story down.”
He might have been looking at me with those eyes, wondering what kind of bullshit I was talking. But this emotion could work.
“You can make a lot of friends, and you will meet a lot of people. You will go through painful things that will make you want to give up, and you may be waiting for something completely different from the life you’ve been through. You will make a lot of mistakes, and in the end, you will fail.”
Kim Hyunsung from the first round had. He’d met a lot of people, gone through painful things, made many mistakes, and failed.
“You might end up in a situation where you really want to give up everything, but… you will meet people who are like family again. Right now, you may not feel happier than you were in your past life, you may give up and fail again, but in the end, you will experience things that are so enjoyable that any painful experiences you have had will be overshadowed. You will meet important people, enjoy your favorite travels, hobbies, and things you want to do. You have it right in front of you.”
“T-That doesn’t make sense.”
Son of a bitch, I’d set the mood.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen until you go out and face it in person.”
“…”
“Even if it sounds like I’m talking bullshit right now, you won’t know unless you roll the dice. It’s you, not me, who can confirm that. You’ll have to check it yourself. You… You… You will be a hero.”
“…”
“You’ll save everyone, save the continent, and save me.”
“…”
“You will be my regressor.”
“Ah…”
“You will be my regressor, Kim Hyunsung.”
“Um…”
“Because I choose you.”
“…”
He didn’t say anything. No voice could be heard through the wall.
‘You should have gotten out of here in the first place. You have to come out. The famous lines played by the characters who have lost their memories have to appear once.’
I honestly didn’t expect much. Because I was just saying what came to mind. But the lovely regressor opened his mouth as if living up to my expectations.
“What…? Why the tears…?”
Yes, son of a bitch. This.
“Huh… sniff… sniff… huh… huh… why all of a sudden… tears are….”
‘Kim Hyunsung, fuck, it’s really easy. There’s no one easier than this. This worked.’
“Wait… Wait… Wait a minute, sniff… I’m sorry. Hey… sniff… I suddenly…”
How would this work?
“Suddenly… tears are… sniff… sniff…”
“You will grow to be able to sacrifice for others, and eventually, you will be saved.”
Because I would make it happen.
I slowly stretched my hand towards the wall. There was no particular reason, it just seemed like I had to.
I didn’t know until he took a step forward like I’d just said.
I’d always waited for him to come out from behind the wall on his own, but looking back, I don’t think I ever went inside.
I suddenly realized that this homework had not just been given to him. It was me, not him, who should present the future to him.
“Huh… huh…”
All of a sudden, I could see Kim Hyunsung. I could see the twenty-two-year-old Kim Hyunsung, who was crouching and crying.
Then Kim Hyunsung got up. He was crying, and his nose was runny when he stretched out his hand. I also stretched out my hands and lifted him.
“A good ending awaits you.”
And.
Whooooooooooooooooosh!
The world began to change with that sound.
Again, starting with the feet.
“Ah…”
The guy looked around. I looked at him.
The twenty-two-year-old guy suddenly turned into the first-round version, and then the first round turned into the second, and the guy who kept crying was looking around everywhere.
The background seemed to change as well. It was as if Kim Hyunsung was bringing back the times that had passed so far.
Among them, he closed his eyes tightly as if there were some things he didn’t want to see, but then he slowly opened them to see everything.
To try to see everything that had ever raised him and made him grow.
My hero grew like this. Our regressor had become tough.
Like this.
It seemed a little exaggerated, but the scene was also reflected as if the sunset were rising.
Because the dark memories of Kim Hyunsung were getting brighter.
“I will present you with the future.”
There were no more quest messages.
The reason was obvious when the scenery surrounding him finally returned to its original place.
The guy laughed.
With all his tears and runny nose, he smiled in an invisible form as a God of Sunset.
What to say, how to explain this situation now? There was an incomprehensible look on his face, but he realized that he had returned, and the guy muttered with his eyes on me.
“I’m… I’m back. Sniff… I’m… sorry. Sniff…”
It was a classic phrase.
‘This is it? Can’t you say just a bit more? No, I like clichés too, but that’s it? What’s up with that? I’m sorry… Should I just say “welcome”? Isn’t that just corny?’
But it wasn’t weird. I was really embarrassed that he could say something like that, but…
I also smiled.
“Fucking bastard,” I said.
[The Regressor Instruction Manual has ended.]
– So, oppa.
– Huh?
– What happened in the end?
– What?
– The villain from the first round. The masked trash. That bastard in your head. I mean, you’re sure it was in your head, right? Did you just think about the probability of bluffing that you made a fuss alone? Even now… do you see him?
– Well.
– What’s that? You’re too vague. Don’t you know everything now?
– I can’t say for sure. Actually, I don’t know either. As you said, it could be bluffing… or just…
– Yeah.
– That bastard might have been very attached to our regressor. He’s watched him for a long time, so he may have felt human sympathy… maybe he meant it when he told me, “this is right. This is the correct answer.” Maybe everything was correct.
– Come on.
– So, what?
– …
– The God of Sacrifice and Resurrection said: “Let there be light.”
– …
– There was light.
– …
– …
– Is that all you have to say about this?
– …
– Lee Kiyoung… you are really trash.