Chapter 760: To The End (19)
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhh”
He couldn’t completely pull out the horn.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh… Ah… Ahh… Ugh… Ahhhhhh”
His face turned pale. It seemed that he was still dizzy, but he was reacting to my screams.
His eyes turned big.
“Ah… Ugh… Ahh…”
“f.u.c.k, b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
Wouldn’t the extremely realistic crying and painful screams be delivered to him with the exact same quality?
He was still not on his mind, but it probably wouldn’t take too long to figure out what was going on.
‘Yes, you’ll be alright.’
There was no way that Kim Hyunsung wouldn’t realize that being able to block pain-sharing was a lie in good faith.
He was famous for being slow, but I believed he would be able to notice the consideration of “that guy,” who couldn’t say that, fearing that the returner wouldn’t focus on the battle properly.
The sacrifice of that guy who endured pain and tried not to become a nuisance.
As expected, he was flinching. His feelings filled with despair were making it hard for him to even open his mouth.
-K… Kiyoung?
“…”
-Kiyoung? Are you… Are you okay? Kiyoung?
‘Is he sane?’
I honestly didn’t know. Maybe it was just a reflex action. For the time being, it was correct to remain silent.
Wouldn’t it be better to feel great pain first and bravely talk afterward?
It took time to decide what kind of judgment was the right answer.
It was an action that came from the thought that I should prevent Kim Hyunsung from becoming half-disabled. I was that desperate too and…
The pain Kim Hyunsung was feeling was hard to explain. Physical pain was also painful, but…
‘You shouldn’t try to solve the problem like that.’
He shouldn’t hurt himself and pull out his horns like that. What was he going to do if it didn’t work out after he pulled it out? Would he try to pull out the wings as well? What would he do if that didn’t work either?
That kind of thing wouldn’t help. He shouldn’t try to solve the problem by doing that.
‘It’s more comfortable to just accept it. Did you think you can deal with the suspicions that are springing up in your mind in the first place?’
I thought it would be better to press on firmly to prevent other thoughts so that he could no longer do anything useless. It might be a little difficult to do it, but…
‘I have to do it.’
No, it wasn’t really hard. It was the same as when demons corrupted a human.
They constantly dug into the weakest and most afflicted part of humans and ate them completely after driving them into an irresistible state.
Of course, there was the difference that I was doing it to protect Kim Hyunsung, but I was certain that their method would work better in such a situation.
What was Kim Hyunsung’s most distressing part right now? It was obvious.
Guilt.
I dragged it down to a darker place. All I had to do was pretend to be in a little more pain and pretend to be fine.
“Ah… Sigh… Ah…”
-Are you… Are you okay? Kiyoung… Kiyoung? What…
“Ha… Uhh… Ah…”
-Kiyoung… the pain… the pain… I… I…
“Ah…”
-…
“I am fine. I am… So… don’t worry.”
-What? Yeah… uh… yes… sniff…
“I don’t know what happened, but… I’ll move over there now. I don’t feel anything right now… Something… If something is wrong… I have to personally check your status.”
-Is… your head okay?
“It’s been a long time since I blocked the pain, so don’t worry… Yes. Sigh… Sigh… Are you… Are you okay? It… It seems I have to get to that place for now. Maybe mental magic… Ugh… is on you now…”
- Kiyoung? Kiyoung?
“…”
‘I’m okay for real. Are you really okay?’
-I am… Yes. I am… sniff…
‘How used to pain are you? What are you doing?’
-I am… I don’t mind. Ugh… Yes.
It was exactly as I thought. I didn’t have to induce his consciousness, and he was going in the direction I wanted.
It could be judged that he removed the horns from his head to resist Lucifer, but in reality, it was safe to say that it was self-harm.
It wasn’t unreasonable to interpret that he hurt himself because he couldn’t overcome his hatred. It was an act of damaging his own physique, but I could use it so it would appear he hurt me in the end.
As expected, I felt Kim Hyunsung gradually sinking. Even the final solution he could think of had been blocked.
He didn’t know how to act now. He was confused as to which direction to take the current situation. He was stopping even when he tried to put his hand on his head, and he was falling into h.e.l.l as the only way to resist was blocked.
There was nothing that he could do except to shed tears.
There was no Kim Hyunsung who had achieved one level of growth. Kim Hyunsung, who escaped from Lucifer’s grasp and became a sacrificial hero, wasn’t anywhere to be found. There was only a sandcastle that would probably collapse if touched.
I could see him continuously looking around. His quivering mouth and constant flow of tears caught my eyes.
He couldn’t even say anything properly. Kim Hyunsung was broken.
“I… I… I believe in you.”
With only those words, he collapsed too easily.
Whoooooosh.
‘Now.’
It was an easy task.
It was really easy to touch Kim Hyunsung, who was defenseless, a little.
‘Time to break him.’
I could just destroy the bond Kim Hyunsung has with Lee Kiyoung. The reason our regressor was resisting was that he didn’t want to let go of that string. Hence, I blurred everything that had happened so far.
No, rather than blurring, I killed the feelings and bonds Kim Hyunsung felt so far.
I had to make him not feel guilty about Lee Kiyoung.
Was that possible? Why could it be impossible? Hadn’t the wall completely broken down?
‘Is it really necessary to do this?’
It was correct to block the anxiety element from the beginning. I could be sure if I looked at Kim Hyunsung right now. With our bond intact, he couldn’t stab me in the end.
Even if I admitted that I was the masked hero, I had couldn’t be touched because of the affection built in the second round.
‘Look at that b.a.s.t.a.r.d. He will definitely act like that. He will hesitate and deny it and eventually drop the knife, but…’
No, there were no buts. That was the only option.
I continued to wander through Kim Hyunsung’s head. I kept pulling out the moments when he felt the bond with Lee Kiyoung.
From the very beginning of the tutorial.
-Ah… No.
Yes.
‘I’m Kim Hyunsung.’
From the beginning.
I had already talked about memories with him once, but…
Looking at it like that, it felt like everything was going like a panorama.
‘Personally, it seems a little better to choose from Summoner, Alchemist, and Black Wizard, but it’s hard to recommend Black Wizard. I’m not sure, but you could be in a dangerous situation. At least this status window doesn’t lie to us.’
Having trouble because of my cla.s.s was quite fun, wasn’t it?
‘…’
Honestly, I had fun too. At that time, I thought alchemist was a sweet cla.s.s. When I thought about it now, it was as if I got fished.
f.u.c.k. Being a black wizard would’ve been fine, and Commander would’ve been good, too, but I was hooked on Ramus Tucker’s Introduction to Alchemy.
Did he still think that was the best choice? For real?
‘Just… Just in case… Are you thinking of going somewhere else?’
‘You can’t. O-Oppa!’
‘I won’t. I want to be with you too. Of course, Hyunsung too. Isn’t that right?’
‘Yes. Even though we met in this strange place… I want to go with Kiyoung, Deokgu, and Hayan.’
Was it when I first entered the guild? I said that I would earn a lot of money. At that time, I was desperate and just pushed forward.
I sometimes said that even without Deokgu, it was fun with the four of us. Was it the same for him? Or was it a memory correction? He didn’t like me very much at that time, right?
‘There is no need to apologize, Kiyoung.’
‘What?’
‘You did nothing wrong. No, even if you did, Yura does not have the right to point out Kiyoung’s fault. Kiyoung is definitely a Blue party member. If I had thought you made a mistake, I would have told you first. I don’t know why Yura first made a problem with our party member’s behavior, but I’m honestly not happy about it.’
The first dungeon that I’d joined before. Even now, I thought Hyunsung was a little cool there.
‘The gift prepared for our Blue Guild Master is this griffon.’
‘Ah!’
Did he like it that much? He went crazy with the griffon.
‘I want to appoint Hyejin as the head of the guild secretary…’
‘Er, Hyunsung… you can forget what I said before. It’s just a personal thought. If you think Hyejin is suitable for the job, you are free to appoint her. Ah! I’m telling you this to clear things up, but there is no misunderstanding. It’s something you can think of, in your position.’
Really, the candles at both ends had been burning brightly for him back then.
pa.s.sed by.
These were moments when Kim Hyunsung had no choice but to feel the bond with Lee Kiyoung, although the order was mixed. There were even a lot of things I didn’t remember. Very trivial ones. Really small things, like when we had a meal or had a drink together.
Conversely, there were many very big events.
‘Kill me.’
That was a little embarra.s.sing to see now. No. Honestly, it was cool.
‘Give it back to me, motherf.u.c.ker.’
‘Did I not tell you?’
‘Give me back…’
‘You sound like a parrot.’
‘Give me back… give me back!!! You f.u.c.king!! b.a.s.t.a.r.d!!!!’
I didn’t want to watch that. What happened before that was awesome.
‘Humans are strange. Everything is in ruins… it looks a bit pretty. It also looks mysterious. The red sunset…’
Right. This.’
‘Sh*t! What do you know!? What do you know!? d.a.m.n… d.a.m.n! Don’t imitate it. Don’t imitate it. Sh*t! Don’t come to me that way and force me to take responsibility. Don’t show up like this and force me to take responsibility. I never said I wanted to start over. I never asked to do it again! So just leave me alone. Please! Leave me alone! Don’t force me to take responsibility anymore! Motherf.u.c.kers! Don’t… f.u.c.king force me to take responsibility… f.u.c.k…’
‘…’
‘Please don’t think… please… Please don’t think. Don’t remember… I’m sick of it now. Please don’t think of it. Don’t think of anything.’
‘…’
‘Please stop… please… Please don’t force me to take responsibility looking like that.’
Honestly, I thought that was decisive. Even when I thought about it now, I got sad.
‘No one has ever told you to take responsibility. No one ever said that. It’s understandable that you feel pressured to have someone expecting things and that it doesn’t seem like you will be able to withstand many things. You don’t have to be stressed alone. I can carry your burden with you.’
‘…’
‘I will take the responsibility.’
I raised Kim Hyunsung. There were much more memories than I thought.
Bag shopping? Oh, f.u.c.k. Imprisoned for two weeks? And a night walk… f.u.c.k, really?
The Doom Hyunsung case proved to be a little bit too big, too, right? He really hated Raphael. However, after our work was done, they might have to live facing each other.
As I went more and more, each and every little thing… There were too many, although it didn’t matter. It was just a moment anyway.
‘Kiyoung?’
Yes.
‘I’m willing to believe.’