Side Story Chapter 4. A Slightly Strange Salvation
By saving Future Yoo-Joo, Chi-Woo kept his promise with all the ‘me from different worlds’. Only then could Chi-Woo return home with a refreshed and light heart. The scenery remained the same. Chi-Hyun was still studying at his desk, and Choi Lo-Ra seemed to have come back from school as she was watching TV on the sofa in the living room.
“Oh, what? You’re already back?” When Chi-Hyun turned off the internet lecture he was watching and turned back, Chi-Woo tilted his head.
“How long has it been?”
“It hasn’t been long. About half a day?”
“Hmm, it hasn’t even been a day.” It felt as if he"d been away for quite a while. Of course, they were both well aware that each world had a different time flow.
“What in the world did you do this time?”
“A normal civilian shouldn’t worry about it and just study.”
“What the h.e.l.l did you say, you punk?”
“I’m kidding. What I did was…”
After hearing Chi-Woo’s explanation, Chi-Hyun was shocked. He knew that his brother had accepted his fate and awakened his powers, thus becoming the strongest being in the universe. However, the only word he could say was ‘you’re crazy’ after hearing that Chi-Woo had gone across parallel worlds and absorbed all the Heavenly King’s fates from the other versions of himself to eliminate any threat.
“Are you…okay?”
“What? Ah, yeah, I’m fine. Actually, I’m a little better than…?” At that moment, a slight frown appeared on Chi-Woo’s face, and at the same time, an unusual vibration rang from Chi-Woo. Shocked, Chi-Hyun quickly looked towards Lo-Ra, and Lo-Ra, who was ever so keen, quickly moved out of her sofa and rushed to Chi-Woo.
Choi Lo-Ra tightly hugged Chi-Woo and then flinched because the waves transmitting from Chi-Woo had changed considerably from before. It felt a bit heavier. Thus, the burden naturally increased, and Lo-Ra closed her eyes tightly and clenched her teeth. After some time, the waves that had been constantly flowing for a while gradually subsided until finally coming to a halt.
“That’s enough. I’m really fine now…thanks.” When Chi-Woo exhaled the breath he had been holding, Lo-Ra gently moved away, but even while moving away, she shot Chi-Woo a worried look.
When things seemed to have calmed a little, Chi-Hyun said, “Don’t push yourself too much. Even for you…”
Chi-Woo chewed his lower lip. Chi-Hyun’s warning was reasonable. Chi-Woo had also felt it. Fate as a Heavenly King was essentially an infinite power, and it was the same for the Choi Chi-Woos and Choi Yoo-Joos from different worlds. Since infinity added to infinity was merely infiniti, he thought he could handle it. In fact, he wasn’t wrong, but he had also known that fate as a Heavenly King could not be thought of as a mere numbers game, which was evident enough just by looking at the rotating loop inside him right now. The density of the force flowing out from it had become incomparable to the past. It felt like the concentration had become much thicker.
“I think the plan to eliminate future threats is good, but it only becomes meaningful if you are fine. If you make your already unstable power even harder to control, it’ll only be a loss at your end.”
“Yeah, you’re right. So I’m planning to rest for a while and just stay low.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.”
“Then while we’re at it.” Chi-Woo suddenly rummaged through his pocket and pulled something out. It was a small sphere that let out a clear light.
“What’s that?”
“This? Ah, it’s your first time seeing this, right? I gave it whatever form I wanted, but should I call it the law of causality?”
“…What?” The law of causality was the most powerful force and weapon the will of the universe used to maintain balance. Chi-Hyun was also well aware of this.
“I took it away as a warning because the will of the universe acted out of line way too much, but now that it became like this, I’m planning to give it back.”
Chi-Hyun had no way of keeping in check the confusion and shock growing inside his mind. Aside from the fact that Chi-Woo was going to give back the power he had managed to take away, had he really just taken such a great and all-powerful force out of his pocket? As if he was taking out a mere toy?
Chi-Hyun looked back at Lo-Ra to confirm if this was true, but Lo-Ra, who had long given up being shocked by such mind-blowing events, had returned to her sofa and was watching a magical girl animation with a relaxed expression.
“Uh, well.” Chi-Hyun, who didn’t know where he should start, decided to ask a question within his realm of understanding first. “The will of the universe is no different than your enemy. Why are you giving back the power you’ve taken from it with so much effort?”
“Well…should I say it doesn’t really matter now?” He would have never returned it if it had been before he traveled across the numerous parallel worlds. However, after the trip, his mind changed. The hierarchy between him and the universe’s will had already been set and decided on Liber, and at this point, Chi-Woo became sure that there was no one who could threaten him anymore. Not only in the universe where he existed, but also in the parallel universe of other worlds. Rather, the power had grown too much that he now might have to reduce a little bit of it. Like erasing unnecessary files to free up disk s.p.a.ce, getting rid of the most useless(?) law of causality was only the most natural progression.
“And after saving worlds myself, it dawned on me that it’s really a great bother, so I want to leave it to the will of the universe again.” The will of the universe became normal after losing the law of causality to Chi-Woo. It was keeping the balance to a minimum right now, but it could no longer directly interfere as before. Even if it was fine at the moment, there would be a problem when an event occurred where it needed the power of the law of causality. If it was an event that even the will of the universe could not fix, the only one who could solve it in this universe would be Chi-Woo.
‘Come to think of it…’ After hearing this explanation, Chi-Hyun understood Chi-Woo’s thought process, albeit not completely. Back on Liber, Chi-Woo had entrusted him with all the work of managing Shalyh even after going through all the trouble of bringing him down at the general a.s.sembly, and although he had his own plans, he had traveled across parallel worlds to just keep a promise. Since he had such a strong sense of responsibility, he didn’t even try to take on things he didn’t want to take responsibility for in the first place. In short, he didn’t want to make promises that he couldn’t keep.
Of course, it would be a lie if Chi-Hyun said he wasn’t worried, but upon reflection, he believed that would be fine as could be seen from the law of causality that Chi-Woo had just taken out. Rather than trying to do something now that it was finally free, the law of causality seemed dejected after seeing Chi-Woo, which was completely understandable from its perspective. It probably hadn’t imagined that Chi-Woo would absorb all the fate of the Heavenly King from different worlds. As a result, Chi-Woo had turned from a burdensome opponent to deal with to an existence that it dared not go against.
“Don’t worry too much,” Chi-Woo said while looking at the despairing law of causality. “I know what you’re worried about, but at the end of the day, I’m just another being in this universe. You don’t seriously think I’ll destroy the world I live in, do you?”
Then Chi-Woo felt a cautious energy coming from the law of causality. It seemed to be asking Chi-Woo for affirmation with its clear and bright eyes.
“Of course. You just have to work hard doing what you’ve been doing. As long as you don’t touch anything related to me, I’ll live as quietly as I can. I promise.”
Chi-Hyun fell into thought as he saw Chi-Woo gently soothe and console the law of causality. How should he describe it? It felt like his daily life was being invaded. He wanted to live as a normal person, but there was no way for him to live like a normal person if this went on. What kind of ordinary person saw someone talking to the law of causality so casually like this? He couldn’t let this be. He needed to adapt to normal life as soon as possible, so Chi-Hyun decided to not care more about this matter as Chi-Woo told him to.
‘Well…he’ll do well on his own.’ After watching Chi-Woo send off the law of causality, Chi-Hyun put on his earphones and turned his online lecture back on.
* * *
After Chi-Woo’s declaration, the Choi Family was able to enjoy the normal daily life that they had so earnestly hoped for. Choi Su-Ho looked for a job, and Chi-Hyun pa.s.sed the GRE in a short time and went to cram school to study for the CSAT. As for Elrich, she stayed as a housewife and cared for Evelyn and Choi Lo-Ra as her own daughters and was happily spending her days. Yeah, it was a happy life no matter how many times Elrich thought about it. There was no doubt about that. However, Elrich’s heart was not always at ease. She was definitely living out her dream these days, but there was something that bothered her. It was obviously because of her youngest son.
After the incident that Chi-Hyun caused, Su-Ho and Elrich had reflected on themselves greatly and realized their wrongs. Thus, they resolved to never raise Chi-Woo like how they or Chi-Hyun had been raised. However, contrary to the resolution they made, the situation had reversed. They had been enjoying their lives at the price of Chi-Woo carrying all the duties and burdens of the Choi Family. Chi-Woo laughed and said it was okay, but how could a parent just accept this situation?
It was the same for today. Excluding Chi-Woo, the entire Choi Family had stepped down from the frontline, causing an emergency situation in the Celestial Realm. Since Chi-Hyun was in charge of many projects, his retirement left a huge vacuum in manpower, and naturally, the Celestial Realm experienced significant setbacks. Elrich understood the situation, but she wasn’t pleased that the Celestial Realm came down to visit them today.
When Elrich sighed deeply, looking at the tightly closed door, Evelyn asked, “Mother, what’s wrong?”
“No…it’s nothing.” Elrich m.u.f.fled her words, but she couldn’t hide her anxious gaze.
At the same time.
“Please, sir.” Two angels kneeled and were bowing so deeply that their foreheads touched the floor in Chi-Woo’s room. It was Gabriel, who was considered the leader even among the four great archangels that stood at the top of the Celestial Realm, and Laguel, who followed her.
“At this rate, the Celestial Realm may collapse. I sincerely beseech you to help us.” Unlike her usual self, Gabriel spoke and acted politely, but Chi-Woo didn’t waver.
He looked uninterested and replied, “I clearly told you that the Choi Family has cut off all connections with the Celestial Realm now.” He continued to say clearly, “It’s not decades or hundreds of years. It’s been thousands of years. The Choi Family has sacrificed for more than a thousand years in the name of saving the universe. Shouldn’t that be enough? I think we’ve fulfilled more than our share of responsibilities and duties.”
“But sir!”
“I know what you want to say.” Chi-Woo raised his hand. “I know that the frequency of abnormalities has increased when I took away the law of causality from the will of the universe.” However, not long ago, Chi-Woo had reconciled with the will of the universe and returned the law of causality with a warning that as long as it didn’t bother Chi-Woo first, he would stay quiet. The will of the universe understood Chi-Woo and expressed its sincere thanks, vowing repeatedly that it would no longer interfere with Chi-Woo’s life.
“Things will probably return to normal soon. In other words, I have no reason nor the responsibility to step up unless something happens because of me.”
Gabriel clenched her teeth at Chi-Woo’s logical response. It was not a matter of refuting. Even if the Celestial Realm wanted to force him to take responsibility, they couldn’t. He was an existence that the Celestial Realm dared not do anything about; that was the current Chi-Woo. And for some reason, the energy flowing out of him seemed to have become incomparably stronger than before. In the first place, a mere angel couldn’t even estimate how great true infinity was. Anyway, the important part was that they could only ask him for a favor, and if he didn’t want to do it, they had no way of receiving any of his help.
“Please go back, and I hope you don’t come to me again for such a matter next time… No, please make sure that never happens.” It wasn’t just a firm dismissal. Chi-Woo said it as gently as possible, but both Chi-Woo and Gabriel knew that it was a warning. If they came back with the same problem again, Chi-Woo wouldn’t drop things so easily like today. However, Gabriel couldn’t withdraw like this.
What she said hadn’t been a lie. At this rate, the Celestial Realm would really be ruined. Chi-Woo’s help was more sincerely needed than ever. Gabriel glanced at Chi-Woo and turned back to Laguel. Since it seemed as if she would only incite more anger from Chi-Woo if she pushed further, she was telling Laguel to step forward. Under Gabriel’s gaze, Laguel carefully raised her head. She put her hand politely on her chest and cleared her throat. Then she quietly said, “If you’d allow me, I would like to say something.”
Chi-Woo smacked his lips and sighed at Laguel’s earnest request, but he didn’t say no. He folded his arms and tilted his chin to indicate that he would at least hear her out. Since they knew each other and had a deep connection, his gaze was softer when he looked at her than when he was looking at Gabriel.
Bolstered by his reaction, Laguel made her point.
“…What did you say?” Then Chi-Woo’s eyes widened.