Chapter 853: The Last (86)
“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh… Aaaaahhhhhh! Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”
‘Are… you okay?’
“Sniff… pant… aaaaaahhhh… aaahh…”
‘Our Hyunsung will cheer up, right? You can still stand up, right?’
“Sniff… sniff… ugh… pant… aaahh… ahhh!”
‘You can overcome this. I believe in you.’
“Aahh… Ah… Aaaahhhh… Sniff… Sniff…”
‘Hold… hold on…’
“Ha… haha… aaahh… sniff… hahahaha…”
‘What should I do? I… think he’s really gone nuts.’
Kim Hyunsung looked so broken that it made me stomp my feet.
I simply couldn’t tell what was going on. He was shaking his head profusely, making me fear approaching him.
He seemed to be having seizures. I could understand that this had been a shocking scene for him, but I never thought that he would be ruined to this extent.
That body of mine was a hollow sh.e.l.l anyway. If I had been alive and suffered that, his reaction would have been understandable, but only the sh.e.l.l got slightly damaged.
There would be no problem since it could just be rea.s.sembled like a toy. As soon as Sora and Hayan touched it, it would revert to its former glory right away. I might not even need to do that in the first place. The moment I got resurrected, it would go back to its original state.
“Ahhh… sniff… Ahhh…”
It wasn’t big enough for him to be vomiting and crying like that.
“Ahhh… Aaaahhhh…”
‘I think he’s really going crazy. What should I do?’
I should have hired a psychiatrist in advance. I should have set up a dedicated team to monitor his mental health properly.
‘This all seems dangerous.’
This situation would put everyone at risk.
Our lovely regressor was already suffering from several, if not dozens, of inexplicable psychoses in the first place. In fact, he’d seen that happen in the first timeline as well, so it would be strange if he had maintained a healthy mind.
I couldn’t figure out how to define his mental illness academically, but I judged that he was in a very dangerous state, like walking on a tightrope.
It just didn’t look like it from the outside since there were no visible symptoms.
Looking at Kim Hyunsung now, I thought it was finally being expressed.
He was constantly grabbing his chest, seemingly unable to breathe properly.
So many tears were pouring down from his eyes; I had never seen such a sight. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he was suffering what that sh.e.l.l of light had suffered.
In short, Kim Hyunsung was falling.
What had been holding him up was now most likely collapsing.
‘He’s really going crazy. What should I do? What should I do?’
I was afraid he’d turn into an idiot or get something like aphasia. He was showing how the human mind collapsed once it was broken.
‘I have to stop him from falling apart.’
I had to quickly pick up the Regressor Instruction Manual and put it back up.
‘Maybe he’s doing this because he thinks I won’t be able to come back.’
I had to tell him that even if that body were ruined, it wouldn’t have a huge impact on my return.
Now he was on his knees, still grabbing his head.
I went down to the floor with him, putting my hand on his shoulder.
“It’s okay.”
“Ah… aaahhhh…”
“It’s okay. Everything… everything will be fine.”
‘What is Hayan doing?’
I was concerned about the other side too. Quickly looking around with the telescope, it seemed like she was still busy. That allowed me to focus on solving the problem in front of me.
I calmed down and kept talking.
“I’m here. It’s okay.”
‘One, two.’
Since his breathing felt irregular, as if he were about to explode, I instructed him how to control it. I didn’t know if it would work, but he seemed to follow my instructions.
I patted him on his shoulder, held his hand tight, and quietly rea.s.sured him that everything was okay and everything would be fine. Even without words, some things could be conveyed through actions.
Of course, I didn’t stop talking either.
“Hyunsung. Look at me. Look at me. I’m here.”
“Aahh… sniff… aaahhhh…”
“I’m here. Everything will be fine. Calm down. I’m here, don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
“Sniff… Sniff… Sniff…”
“Yeah. It’s okay.”
A frantic hand touched my shoulder.
His breathing seemed to be noticeably stabilizing. Tears continued to flow from his eyes, but at least he was no longer having a seizure like before.
He wasn’t screaming anymore, and I could see his reason coming back. However, I didn’t know if it had returned to the point where he could communicate normally.
I could see his pupils slowly returning. I didn’t know exactly how, but now, he seemed to have realized what kind of situation he was in.
There was a sense of urgency in the eyes looking at me. He’d learned what he really needed to protect and who was on his side.
“Ha… Hahahaha…”
“Have you come back to your senses now?”
“Hahahahaha… haha…”
“Hyunsung?”
“Hahahahahahaha!!”
‘Ah… f.u.c.k.’
“Hyunsung…”
“…”
“Hyunsung?”
“Yeah?”
‘Ah…’
“Yeah… Yes. It seems that my head is a little refreshed. Thank you, Kiyoung.”
“I can explain everything, Hyunsung. But for now…”
“Yes, yes… I thought you’d say something like that. I knew… you were going to say something like that.”
‘It’s not that. I don’t think I can really explain it.‘
“I don’t know exactly what happened… but we should try to be as rational as possible…”
“Yes, be rational… and that it’s not a big deal… I thought you’d say that. I knew you would say that.”
Blood oozed from where he had bit his lip since he was chewing on it.
There was an indescribable rage in his eyes. Blood continued to drip from his mouth.
Kim Hyunsung laughed. As if he had given up everything, he smiled.
‘Are you serious?’
Kim Hyunsung had already given up.
‘Are you really serious?’
I could see what he was thinking.
“Kiyoung.”
“…”
“Kiyoung.”
“Yes?”
“I… don’t know… I don’t know what I’ve been fighting for.”
“That’s…”
“For what… why did you carry such a burden?”
Reality had indeed hit him hard.
“I think you should calm down a little first, Hyunsung. Right now, you’re…”
“The world’s giving you a hard time, the ones around me too… And yet we have to protect them…”
“He’s a human. He’s bound to make mistakes. He’s probably… to the demon…”
“You had to die… for those worthless motherf.u.c.kers…”
“So…”
“It was only because of them that you had to suffer.”
What was up with him?
“You keep saying that everything is fine… that everything will be fine… through your sacrifice… that’s always been your stance. You’ll be okay, right? Yes. If it’s you, you’ll say you’ll always be fine. You always pretend that nothing is wrong, after all, that you can understand… you can take it all…”
“Hyunsung, as I said, let’s look at the situation a little more objectively. This…”
“How can you still talk like that even after knowing what happened to your body?! How?!”
‘Hey. Are you yelling right now? Did you just yell at me?’
“I’m not okay.”
Now I could feel the fear emanating from me.
“I’m not okay.”
With this, he quietly got up.
“It’s okay not to go back. I don’t care what happens after that.”
‘What’s wrong with you, Continent’s Hero, Sunset Swordsman?’
“I will not kill you.”
The sky kept changing. A strange aura continued to unfold as if a bad omen were approaching.
It was like a reenactment of that time. It wasn’t really the outer G.o.ds, but it felt like the dungeon was penalizing an event failure.
That foreign light was the system that governed the dungeon.
‘I must die now.’
“There is no time, Hyunsung. I… I will continue to speak to you from the heavens. For now, quickly…”
It would be strange to ask him to cut my throat. However, it had to be now, or they’d really come.
‘The continent will be destroyed, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d.’
But he moved on as if it didn’t matter. He even left me alone.
I pushed my stomach a little further forward, but he didn’t seem to see it. It looked like he was trying hard to focus.
His determination not to be swayed any longer was commendable, but the timing wasn’t right.
I hurriedly grabbed at his clothes, thinking that I should do something, but he quietly looked down at me and didn’t say anything.
No. A moment’s gaze was enough.
“Don’t… Don’t go.”
“…”
Kim Hyunsung walked, and naturally, I lost sight of him and fell flat on my face.
“Aaahh.”
In pain, I tried to look up, but all I saw was Kim Hyunsung spreading his wings.
“Don’t go.”
“…”
I slowly rose upwards.
I got up and ran hurriedly. I stumbled on purpose and fell, but he still seemed out of his mind.
“Hyunsung!”
“…”
“Come back!”
‘ If you want to go, kill me first, you son of a b.i.t.c.h.’
“Kim Hyunsung!”
‘You have to cut my throat before going. f.u.c.k.’
“You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
‘Are you ignoring me?’
“Don’t go, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
‘Mean b.a.s.t.a.r.d.’
“Hey, you f.u.c.king b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Son of a b.i.t.c.h! You stupid b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You moron! You d.i.c.khead! Hey! Hey! If you want to go, cut my throat first, d.a.m.n it!”
‘Kim Hyunsung, you son of a b.i.t.c.h.’
“You’ll regret this,” I muttered quietly on the snowy mountain. I was alone.
“You will definitely regret this.”