Chapter 873: The End of the Scenario (6)
“Don’t be mean! You bastard!”
‘This is right. This is the correct answer.’
“Don’t be ridiculous! Son of a bitch! What’s right?! What the hell is right…? Shit… what… what’s the right answer…?”
He was still smiling. His figure became clearer and yet more blurred.
‘What the hell is that? What the hell are you?’
Seeing him smiling as if he were satisfied made me angry.
I bit my lip to grab hold of my mind, but his appearance did not change. He was still looking at me.
Was this what you wanted?
“Did you touch my memory to see this?”
It felt like I was not breathing properly, but my mind was clear.
I felt like I was going to pass out at any moment, but the light that continued to surround me grabbed my fading mind.
I forcefully clenched my fist. I took a deep breath to somehow send air to my brain.
I thought I needed to keep breathing over and over again.
“Haaa… whoo…”
Was it my fault?
“Whoo… haa… haa…”
Where did it go wrong? From where… what the hell happened?
“Haa… Whoo… Whoo…”
It’d be fine soon. It’d… It’d be fine soon.
As usual, nothing would happen. It was no big deal. This hadn’t gotten out of my hands yet.
I could turn everything back. As always, it’d be the same this time. I still had many cards.
If not, I could go to the next round. It would be a bit bothersome, but yes. I had the option of starting all over again. I had insurance. So, I shouldn’t be nervous.
“Sigh…”
I wasn’t sure if I had been able to think as usual, but I had to force myself to think about it. I had to keep thinking about why it had happened and if there was a way to reverse the current situation.
I had to think about which piece of the puzzle was wrong. Because I knew turning it over didn’t help.
I had to get rid of unnecessary emotions and make rational decisions. So I had no choice but to continue comforting myself.
It only took a very little time for me to feel a bit better.
“Whew…”
Was I in that bastard’s hand?
The hypothesis that part of Lee Kiyoung from the first round might be inside me had been established for quite a long time.
I couldn’t be sure, but there were several omens.
I did think about the possibility that it was a bluff, I didn’t ignore the possibility that it was just my illusion, but I couldn’t erase the thought that it had been Lee Kiyoung since the first round.
It was simple.
Assuming that first-round Lee Kiyoung’s purpose had been to avenge Kim Hyunsung, everything felt like a perfect play.
For sure, there was no more perfect revenge than that. Because, even in my opinion, it was the completion of the most brutal revenge.
He held Kim Hyunsung in his hand, shook it, and made him sacrifice himself at the last moment.
To erase the existence of Kim Hyunsung on the continent and restore everything to its original state through his sacrifice.
He gave him a moment when he was really happy and then took it away.
He gave him the feeling of wanting to live and made him give up on it.
It was perfect storytelling.
“Right. Damn, it was a perfect story.”
Kim Hyunsung had smiled and disappeared, but I didn’t think he was really happy at the last moment. Because it had been different from the first round, in which he didn’t feel many emotions.
The guy in the second round had wanted to live. He had wanted to do things he couldn’t, and he wanted to have an everyday life. He also had a lot of hobbies and interests, and he had wanted to enjoy them.
It must have been terrifying, as he had said. It must have been scary and difficult.
“I am not you. Trash bastard. I am the Son of Light. Asshole.”
‘No matter what you plan or do, it has nothing to do with me. So don’t disdain. Don’t look at me like it’s all over.’
Nothing was over yet. Now, it was the beginning. If it turned out like that, I would start anew…
Images came to my mind.
Images kept popping up in my head, and I thought I could tell what he was trying to show, but I didn’t care about it.
No, I didn’t want to think about it. No matter what the guy in the first round had been thinking, it had nothing to do with me.
There was one important thing.
Kim Hyunsung was mine.
“If you touch what’s mine, everything will be lost. Do you understand? You rat. You will regret what you did. I don’t know where you are or if you’re in my head, but I will surely find you and tear you to pieces.”
‘I am you.’
“Bullshit. I don’t care what kind of bullshit you’re thinking, it’s meaningless. Moron. What you did means nothing. I will start over. All your bullshit… will be meaningless.”
‘It will be of no use.’
“You think?”
‘There is no third round.’
“Fuck you.”
‘Kim Hyunsung’s existence has been erased… Even if the third round starts, Kim Hyunsung won’t be there. The Sunset Swordsman is not dead. Can you feel that he has attained divine status? He no longer exists.’
“It is not for you to decide. I can do it if I say so.”
‘It’s sad to see you comfort yourself like that. Poor bastard.’
I bit my lip hard. My hands were trembling from seeing him so disdainful, but I could do nothing about it.
I didn’t have enough information. Remembering was the most important thing. How did I do it? What did he know? What in the hell did he know that I didn’t?
‘Pendant. We gave it. Isn’t that true?’
“Don’t say we. You fucking bastard! I never agreed. Fuck! I never agreed! Son of a bitch! How can I agree with this? Me?”
‘I think you’re overly agitated…’
“I. Never agreed. You bastard!”
‘No. It is true that we agreed to hand over the legacy of Altanus.’
It felt like the fog in my head had lifted. The events that happened in Mirror Lake came to mind in a chain.
The face of Kim Hyunsung, who was delighted with the inheritance of Altanus, came to mind. I even saw my smiling face. The memories we shared after eating together also lingered in my mind.
‘First, I want to say thank you.’
‘What?’
‘The items found in the dimensional sea…’
‘Oh. You don’t have to worry about it. After all, no one else can use it except you. To be precise, I didn’t give it to you… ‘
‘I will make sure to keep the pendant you handed me.’
Why did you laugh at that, you stupid bastard?
“Why did you laugh at that? You were stabbed in the back, bastard…”
My hands were starting to tremble. I couldn’t see the surroundings well.
Why hadn’t Kim Hyunsung doubted me? No, it was understandable. Kim Hyunsung would have thought I didn’t know about the penalty. He might just have thought I’d given him a nice present.
‘It was your choice.’
“No. I never made a choice.”
I did not agree. I’d tried to protect Kim Hyunsung. So I erased his memory of the pendant.
In order to prevent Kim Hyunsung from reminding himself of the pendant, ‘he’ had sealed his memory with the Regressor Instruction Manual.
Just in case he didn’t need me… I had tied it up so that it wouldn’t be used in case of necessity.
I had even touched my memory. Bluffing on the bluff might have been in order to fix this memory.
The reason the Blue Guild members who had been together at the place did not recognize the pendant must also have been the reason for fulfilling the contract with Lucifer.
The content of the bet was not about whether Kim Hyunsung would stab me or not, but whether or not to save me.
‘I think there is a possibility that he will be affected. Lucifer.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Whether to use the pendant or not depends on the Sword of Sunset’s choice. We must make it impossible for others to exercise influence.’
‘I agree.’
I was reminded of me and her talking.
I grabbed my aching head that felt like exploding. It felt like shards of glass were being driven into my brain.
I continued with the thoughts. Nevertheless, the question of why I had given the pendant to Kim Hyunsung remained unresolved.
Nothing came to mind. Had he been influenced by Lee Kiyoung from the first round? Had he lost control of his body for a short while to Lee Kiyoung from the first round?
‘I don’t think so.’
“Shut up…”
If not… maybe I really had passed the pendant to him. To use it as insurance, if there were times when I would need it later… to use it someday…
‘Think. It’s a legacy that can change one person and achieve everything. Where else could you find a business as profitable as this?’
“Shut up…”
‘We are like that. We’re the ones who use everything. Why wouldn’t you? Tap the calculator. It’s a legacy where you can get everything. Don’t you feel like a fool not to have one? Suppose you had been handed the pendant, not me. Imagine what you would have judged reasonable. I’d bet on the latter. You’re me too. We know our thoughts best.’
“I never abandon what’s mine. Stupid bastard.”
‘So it looks like it was fixed late. Isn’t that so? Even doing useless things… right? Because it felt like Kim Hyunsung was more precious to you than you thought. Because you’re closer to Kim Hyunsung than you thought. You thought it wasn’t yours, but in the end, you gave up your space. You thought it was going to be a throw-away card, but you liked it. So maybe that’s why you were trying to fix it.’
“…”
‘Humans are so much fun.’
“…”
Slowly my body fell to the ground. The light that had continued to fall from the sky gradually faded away.
The light that had enveloped my body also disappeared as if it had never existed in the beginning. As if there were no strength in my legs, my body collapsed on its own.
I saw others approaching in surprise, but I couldn’t see their faces. I couldn’t hear their voices. I saw someone’s hand touching my body, and I slapped it with my arm.
I was getting nauseous. I didn’t know why, but I kept getting nauseous. It felt like my whole face was covered with tears and saliva. Loud cheers were heard.
“Blaaaaaaargh…”
Nothing came out. Someone grabbed my arm.
“Piss off… Shit…”
“…”
“…”
I kept thinking about it without realizing it.
“Fuck…”
I kept thinking of him.
“Sniff… Fuck… Fuck…”
As I moved my body, I sat down where he was.
I tried to grab something but caught nothing. I gripped the floor.
“…”
I kept thinking of him over and over again.
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