Chapter 761: To The End (20)
“…”
-…
‘It’s really over.’
To be precise, I didn’t actually erase his memory. I couldn’t make everything that happened in the second round into something that didn’t exist in the first place.
If there were no events, there was no growth, either. What I cut were the feelings and bonds Kim Hyunsung felt for me.
Although it was a little difficult to explain, I thought that Kim Hyunsung probably wouldn’t have feelings as deep as before about the series of events.
He might feel like, ‘oh, that happened,’ or, ‘I don’t need to remember that.’
All of Kim Hyunsung’s personal feelings toward the character Lee Kiyoung had now quickly collapsed.
“…”
I didn’t know what to say, but I wasn’t that happy about it. Memories weren’t acc.u.mulated by Kim Hyunsung alone.
There was an old quote that went along the lines of, ‘the people left behind are in more pain than the dead.’
Of course, our case was different, and although it was my choice, I inevitably felt like there was a sense of loss.
‘I should just accept it. What else can I do? Doesn’t what we can gain matter more than what we had lost?’
That was right. I could just pick it up after work. It wasn’t my style to dig into this, and I didn’t even have to think deeply. It was simple.
‘Let’s run the happy circuit. It sucks to be depressed. Everything went well and is steadily proceeding been blocked, and there’s no room for reversal anymore. Everything is going the way I wanted, so I have to smile, right?’
With this, I kept smiling. Eventually, a laugh began to come out.
‘It’s going as I thought it would. That’s what’s important.’
There was no problem. Everything followed my plan, which was good news. It would be right to tell Jihye.
However, she might be busy… Well, it didn’t matter much if I didn’t tell her. She must’ve been filming a drama with Hyejin anyway.
Where and what was Deokgu doing? Oh, he had to be fighting. Hayan… was fighting too. It seemed that she had recovered all of her magic power…
I looked around the control room, but there was no way someone would be with me. In celebration, I raised a gla.s.s to the air alone.
Since my job wasn’t entirely over, it was still too early to have a toast, but I felt good.
Oh, I almost forgot. First, I had to check the regressor’s condition.
His face was distorted again by anger.
‘He’s really angry.’
It was a very simple emotion compared to before, which was a mixture of feelings. It was definitely best to be simple. For some reason, I wondered if Kim Hyunsung from the first round was like that. For him, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was everything in the second timeline.
Considering that, shouldn’t it be interpreted that the first round Kim Hyunsung remained?
‘No, I guess not.’
It was pretty hard to evaluate such things.
Only one thing was certain. The regressor was no longer resisting his heart’s voice.
Kim Hyunsung accepted it and was becoming more certain. He was filled with confidence, not doubt. The conviction that Lee Kiyoung was the masked man in the first timelined had already filled his mind.
‘It’s not just that.’
When one thing changed, many things often followed, almost as a consequence.
I could see that all the memories he kept like treasure were changing into distorted forms.
Wasn’t that understandable? From the b.a.s.t.a.r.d’s point of view, he would have thought that everything was a lie and a deception.
He actually was thinking of this. He was looking back on his memories one by one and realizing how idiotic he must’ve looked.
Among the emotions, he felt angry with himself. It wasn’t the madness stained with self-loathing like earlier, but the anger of being deceived once again by an enemy whom he wouldn’t be satisfied with the death of.
I was worried that he would be suddenly cursing me or disconnecting, but he didn’t feel the necessity to do that. Before I could talk to him, Seraphim spoke ahead of me.
-What did you realize?
-…
-You seem to have been enlightened. What are you angry with?
-…
-Ha… haha. Hahahaha.
‘You have worked hard too, Seraphim, but I don’t like seeing you laughing like that.’
-Puhahahahaha!
Kim Hyunsung didn’t answer. However, I could see his sword flying right away.
-Huh…
As soon as blood flowed from Seraphim’s cheek, he swung his weapon again. They continued to battle without saying anything.
‘What’s going on?’
Since the fight resumed, I started sending the instructions again, but I was disconcerted for a moment at the unexpected situation.
Still, it didn’t last long. I was able to quickly realize why he had just taken that action.
The pigeon was also an enemy anyway and… crucially…
“Hyunsung?”
-Yes, Kiyoung.
‘Your voice has gotten slightly colder. f.u.c.k. There’s no emotion. It seems like you’re calling someone else. Your tone is not the same as it used to be.’
“Do you… feel… a bit better?”
-Much better than before, but… my head is still…
“Yes?”
-I know it’s rude, but I’d like you to come and check it out in person.
‘I think I said I would go… wow, f.u.c.k. Kim Hyunsung, you sly fox… you really made up your mind.’
I quickly realized that he didn’t really mean for me to check his condition with my own eyes.
‘You’re calling me over for a different reason, right? Did you really define me as an enemy?’
From Kim Hyunsung’s point of view, the masked hero was a motherf.u.c.ker who could run at any time. He probably thought that if I chickened out, it would cause a disaster afterward. He wanted to bring me in directly and make sure to tear me to death…
Huh?
What? He shouldn’t tear me to death. Why was he thinking that?
‘You shouldn’t cut my throat either. No, why do you keep thinking about cruel things? Will you break up my whole body into pieces? You want to cut off my limbs and make me crawl, then crush me with your feet to kill me?’
“No. I need to check something here…”
-Please. I need you over now.
‘You think it would be good to turn me into someone that can neither die nor live and throw me into a pig pen? You’re a psychopathic b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Who thinks like that? I know you’re angry, but we made some memories together. You’ve gone too far. That’s not fair. f.u.c.k. Isn’t that a bit too much?’
As soon as I went silent, the unpleasant imaginations that filled Kim Hyunsung’s head disappeared. He was considering all possibilities.
Due to the Regressor Instruction Manual, he became wary of the a.s.sumption that what he was thinking might leak.
He was cautious of letting me know what he was thinking, even though I had never explained that what he was thinking or feeling was being transmitted to me.
He was considering all the
“I’ll go now.”
-Be careful.
‘But you need to know that Kim Hyunsung wouldn’t have asked me to go there in the first place. It’s too clumsy. I’m not sure if you’re acting right now, but honestly, I’m pretending to be fooled.’
After looking for the anesthetic potion in my arms, I stood up.
-Kiyoung?
“Yes, yes, I’m getting ready.”
I had to get the timing right.
Kim Hyunsung was constantly swinging his sword. It didn’t take too long for Seraphim to become covered in wounds.
Rather, it felt like he was controlling himself, as if he were waiting for me to come. He sometimes allowed himself to be pushed back on purpose. He even grabbed and pulled on his hair.
He kept appealing that something was wrong with him. It didn’t look to be true no matter how I looked at him, though. Still, it felt good to watch him trying hard in his own way.
The only problem was that there were no signs yet.
I was thinking that the end was coming, but I couldn’t see the picture. Everyone was yet to find their position.
I knew that I was close to the endgame, but I couldn’t get a sense of what kind of situation I had to conjure to complete the scene.
‘Is the timing still wrong?’
No, should I think about it after I got there? I could see that they were talking to each other.
-Take my hand, Kim Hyunsung. I can give you a new life.
-…
He would never take it.
-We don’t have to fight, do we?
-Shut up, Seraphim.
-You know that there is no chance you guys will win. What are you fighting for?
-I am not here to play with you.
-I’m not saying this as a joke either. I’m saying this because I think there was a misunderstanding. I’m saying that we didn’t intend to fight you. The endless war of destruction wasn’t what we wanted. We were swayed by a parasite that created such an atmosphere.
-I’ve never been in favor of your method in the first place.
-Right, but you know that’s what’s needed. The continent is sick. Do you think we came here for no reason? I know you must have felt a lot while going through the second round. Answer me this: are humans different from before?
-…
-Humans don’t change. Like the one you know, their essence never changes.
-…
-I’m giving you a chance, Kim Hyunsung. You can still come back. Although impurities have intervened, Your sins can still be cleansed. You can’t even see yourself as human anymore anyway, right?
-Bullsh*t.
‘He doesn’t even mean what he’s saying. That trash.’
Seraphim didn’t like Kim Hyunsung. I didn’t know what kind of feelings he exactly had towards our regressor, but I could be sure he didn’t like him.
The pigeons were hostile to the power of the demons in the first place, and Kim Hyunsung was contaminated enough to be completely covered by it.
Considering that he was particularly proud of his sword of judgment, it was correct to think that bullsh*t was to fool himself too.
‘Did you want to give me a blow that much?’
Seraphim’s actions might have started with simply wanting to anger me. If not…
-Our Creator wants you.
-What?
-Our Creator wants you, Kim Hyunsung.
‘Suddenly?’
No, not all of a sudden.
‘That… Was that calculated? Have you been watching this too?’
I was fl.u.s.tered, but…
‘Was that really calculated? f.u.c.k.’
I thought he was aiming for that. The creator of the pigeons wanted a manager who didn’t have a personality, which is why he made those morons… It wasn’t perfect, but… the current Kim Hyunsung…
“I cut those…”
It was then that a huge light covered the sky.
It was foreign, but it also looked brilliant, so it was hard to express. Even a fool would know it.
‘I wasn’t wrong. Sigh… f.u.c.k… I wasn’t wrong.’
The final puzzle piece existed for that, after all.
Lee Kiyoung’s sacrifice was meant for that.
The foreign and enormous light was slowly reaching out to Kim Hyunsung, creating a strangely shaped arm.
The outer G.o.d wasn’t coming.
“We… had to call him…”
However, making him come was also one of the tasks.
I didn’t know if it would be a happy ending or a bad ending, but I was sure that breaking my bond with Kim Hyunsung was one of the processes needed in order to reach the finale.
“I wasn’t wrong.”