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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjsecus]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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Chapter 41 – The Former Watcher III
5
There had always been a hypothesis that I had been suspicious of.
―― Could it be that certain monsters, certain anomalies, were actually born from humans?
I hadn’t entertained this thought for a long time.
The moment I seriously considered this hypothesis was when I uncovered the identity of Udumbara, in the World Tree.
As you may know, Udumbara originated from Asan, Chungcheongnam-do. It was the corpse of a mother and child presumed to have died of starvation. And it was none other than humans who gave birth to the unprecedented virus.
It seemed illogical for anomalies to be born from ordinary humans. But with a slight shift in perspective, it became quite plausible.
Assuming they were Awakeneds with ‘such abilities’, everything made sense.
We couldn’t determine which of the mother and child was the Awakened. By the time we discovered them, they were already gone. But what if one or both of them were Awakeneds?
If Udumbara itself was an ability?
―― When objectively analyzed, the abilities of Awakeneds were no different from those of monsters, anomalies.
In theory, Awakeneds had the potential to ‘fall’ into monsters just like them. No, in fact, you couldn’t even call it a fall. Awakeneds and monsters were essentially the same from the beginning.
[The ability to grow two hearts in the body and constantly regenerate tentacles].
Thus, the tentacle monsters came to be called Ten Clans.
[The ability to observe a wide area covering the entire Korean Peninsula at will and freely shoot telepathy at all Awakeneds].
Thus, the Saintess who claimed to be an Awakened.
If viewed from the perspective of someone completely unrelated to humanity, such as aliens, which of the two creatures would be more dangerous?
Whether they took on a ‘human form’ or not, the only difference in appearance was superficial―― they were both terrifying beings in essence, weren’t they?
“…Saintess.”
“Yes. I killed her.”
A remarkably straightforward affirmation.
But considering that these words came from the Saintess herself, it was more cold than straightforward.
“Why….”
“Doctor Jang. That’s a strange question. I’ve simply taken the same stance as always.”
The Saintess remained expressionless.
“To prevent Awakeneds from committing crimes recklessly, we created the Constellation system, which doesn’t even exist in this world. We mimicked it. The operating principle of the Constellation system is the possibility that [someone may be watching my every move]. Anxiety. Humans restrain themselves when others are watching, but let go of reason when they’re not.”
The Saintess tilted her head.
“Is there really a difference between me and a serial killer?”
“….”
“The Constellation system could control the riots of Awakeneds. But it couldn’t reach out to ordinary civilians. Unfortunately, my telepathy abilities only apply to Awakeneds. So, I’ve simply recreated the possibility that ordinary people could also fear me.”
Snow was falling.
Snowflakes fell over the Saintess’s head, over her double coat. As soon as the cold descended from the sky and touched her body, it melted away without maintaining itself.
The Saintess’s eyes narrowed.
“There’s too much garbage in this world. No, ‘garbage’ isn’t the right term. There are too many beasts pretending to be human.”
“So….”
“So, I killed them. Are you worried that there might be innocent people? Don’t worry, Doctor Jang. I’ve checked. I’ve killed them over and over again. I’ve never regretted my killings for a single moment.”
Why was it?
Even though I was talking to the Saintess, the presence emanating from the figure in front of me felt unfamiliar. It wasn’t just that the person had changed or their personality had changed. It was as if their very existence had changed.
Sweat inexplicably beaded on the palm of my right hand.
“You’re too kind, Doctor Jang.”
“…Me? I didn’t expect to hear such words from you, Saintess.”
“You give everyone infinite chances.”
Crunch.
The Saintess took a step forward. The snow underfoot crunched. Reflexively, I took a step back, keeping my distance from the Saintess.
Even if the Saintess was a murderer, there was no reason for me to avoid her. We were allies. Even if the Saintess were to set the whole world on fire, I would stand by her side.
So, the reason I moved my foot was not logic, but intuition.
Instincts accumulated over 107 cycles of life controlled my footsteps.
“Chances?”
“Yes. What do you think about the ability of [Regression], Doctor Jang? You undoubtedly think that you yourself are constantly receiving endless chances. But from my perspective, from the standpoint of someone watching you, it’s a bit different.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s not just you who receives chances. Everyone except you, every time the world regresses, receives chances.”
One step.
“The evildoers who killed innocent girls in the previous cycle will receive a chance to change in this cycle. They will have the opportunity to take away the food that the child had saved until the end, to bind the child, and to deliberately watch as she starves to death. Once. Twice. Ten times. Twenty times. Thirty times. Forty times. Fifty times.”
“….”
“But how many of them hesitated in front of their own wicked deeds? How many of them killed the same person, tortured the same person, more than thirty or forty times?”
“…Those people don’t know that the world is regressing.”
“Exactly. Ignorance. Not knowing is always a good excuse. People always hide behind ignorance, even when it comes to killing others. I understand. I’ll understand. But what about the people who were killed?”
“….”
“Why should those people endure countless unjust deaths and wrongful suffering?”
One step.
“Doctor Jang, someday you will succeed in saving the world. Yes, undoubtedly. In the future world, even evildoers will be given the chance to live a new life again. Perhaps in a world where evildoers have become a little more relaxed, in a slightly more peaceful era, they might not commit sins anymore. I think that would be very―― wrong.”
Another step.
“Doctor Jang, if you kill someone, you must face punishment.”
The Saintess said quietly.
“It’s not about getting a chance.”
At some point.
Before I even realized it, a small and nimble hatchet was already clenched in the Saintess’s hand. It meant that the Saintess had armed herself at a speed beyond my cognitive abilities.
More sweat trickled down my neck.
“Even if Doctor Jang regresses many times to save this world, the sins committed by evildoers within it will not disappear. No. I won’t allow myself to disappear.”
“What do you mean…?”
“I will forever bring suffering to the sinners.”
Steam rose from the Saintess’s lips.
It was white smoke rising to the boundless sky.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjsecus]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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“You are welcome to regress, whenever you want. A hundred times. Two hundred times. A thousand times, if necessary, to save this world. But I won’t let evildoers enjoy the benefits of your efforts.”
“….”
“Every time Doctor Jang regresses, I will execute the punishment that should rightfully fall upon this world. If evildoers continue to commit crimes forever, I will torture them forever.”
The steam emanating from the Saintess’s lips twisted sideways.
It was the Saintess’s mockery.
“I may not have the ability to create heaven on earth due to my incompetence, but I do have the ability to create hell, albeit on a small scale.”
As the Saintess took her final step, I drew my sword like a flash of lightning.
The target was the axe the Saintess was holding.
I couldn’t understand why the Saintess had armed herself against me. But I didn’t doubt her intellect. If the Saintess had taken up arms, there must have been a reason for it.
What was the Saintess’s plan? After subduing me, what did she intend to do?
It was hard to guess, but one thing was clear: it wouldn’t end well for me.
Suppressing my ominous feeling, I attacked the Saintess.
“What…?”
However, the Saintess easily evaded my attack. Just one step. Just moving one step to the side.
It was as if she knew in advance where the attack would come from and where it would go.
Crash!
Suddenly, a noise of glass breaking echoed from my body. Not just one place. Left arm, right arm, left leg, right leg, my limbs all vibrated from the collision at the same time.
The four axes struck my body and ricocheted off in all directions.
I couldn’t even tell when or from where the axes had come flying.
It felt like the axes had suddenly appeared ‘right in front of me’.
“If I hadn’t developed the habit of wearing aura armor all over my body, I would have suffered serious injuries from that blow.”
I immediately distanced myself from the Saintess. I pounded the ground with my feet and leaped backward in one breath.
――But the gap didn’t widen.
“You’re strong. Just as expected, Doctor Jang.”
Without a doubt, the Saintess had covered dozens of meters in one leap and was ‘already’ standing in front of me.
“…!”
Not only that, but when I crashed, the axes bounced off my body again. This time, there were six of them. I could barely react to only two of the axes and fend them off with my sword.
‘How? Even if she had talent in martial arts, it wasn’t to this extent. This isn’t a skill, it’s….’
That’s when it hit me.
As I watched the Saintess effortlessly following my movements, a memory from long ago suddenly surfaced.
Run 36. The conversation I had with the Saintess when we first met.
– How did you create the Constellation system?
– It’s thanks to my abilities. I can use Clairvoyance and Telepathy.
– But isn’t it impossible to impersonate the Constellations with just Clairvoyance and Telepathy? You need another ability to simultaneously observe multiple people and send messages. Don’t you have another ability?
“Oh, that’s…”
The Saintess chuckled lightly.
“That’s a secret. I’ll tell you later.”
An old memory.
Now I felt like I knew what that secret was.
“Time stop…?”
“…”
The Saintess paused.
“You knew?”
“I was just guessing. It was one of several possibilities. To impersonate multiple Constellations and observe multiple Awakened Ones simultaneously, you would need a remarkable ability, like multi-perspective or multiple personalities… But time stop.”
Time stop. It was the joker card I thought was the least likely.
If it was true that she also had the ability of [Time stop], then the Saintess was essentially the most powerful Awakened One.
I laughed bitterly, forgetting about being cornered.
“Clairvoyance, telepathy, and now time stop? It’s ridiculous. It’s not just having one extraordinary ability; it’s monopolizing three. Spare me your flattery, Saintess.”
“That’s excessive praise. Even if I have abilities, I’m not comparable to an infinite regressor.”
…Finally, everything made sense.
The Saintess had used [time stop] to simultaneously observe so many Awakened Ones and also to impersonate multiple Constellations.
It was inevitable to accept that she had dodged my attacks and suddenly thrown axes from all directions.
With time stopped, she could calmly assess where attacks were coming from and where to strike.
And what’s more? If she used [clairvoyance] on me, the Saintess could synchronize her vision with mine, predicting exactly where I was looking and aiming.
As long as she didn’t let her guard down, she was practically invincible.
“My abilities weren’t this strong from the beginning. Even when time was stopped, I could barely flow my consciousness or move my eyes. But as time passed, it got stronger. Now, I can stop time and travel across the country to find villains.”
“Amazing. So, what do you intend to do by overpowering me?”
“Well…”
The world froze for a moment.
The next moment, I had no choice but to widen my eyes.
Where there had been only a few lines of footprints on the snow-covered ground, countless footprints suddenly appeared. There were no footprints of mine. The tattoos on the shoes the Saintess wore were spread out in hundreds, thousands, surrounding me like a panorama.
It meant that my moment was eternal to her.
The Saintess didn’t waste time.
Right now, thousands of bullets flying towards me from all directions proved her diligence.
It wasn’t just bullets. Among the bullets, dozens of axes also appeared. Unlike the mere shots fired, each axe seemed meticulously aimed.
“It’s a secret.”
Countless bullets stormed towards me.
Boss battle.
Ocean-level danger.
Awakened Ones: Lee Myung and the Saintess.
Fallen Ones: Lee Myung and the Executor.
Battle begins.
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HEL SCANS
[Translator – Jjsecus]
[Proofreader – Gun]
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