Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 217
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The Unclaimed ⅠⅠⅠ
4
Let’s clarify something: I and Endless Hell have a perfect hierarchical relationship.
In other words, there’s no cliché where “the sealed Endless Hell was actually secretly gathering strength with perseverance and one day ambushed me and Cheon Yohwa!” That just doesn’t exist. It’s simply not there.
“No, no, senior. Can’t you at least allow a 0.02% chance? Being the destined heroine who never wins is just too sad for my life, no, for my weird life.”
“Who’s supposed to be whose heroine here?”
“Well, I’m yours. Being the alter ego of a dual-personality heroine could be a cult favorite among certain fandoms, don’t you think?”
“Leaving aside the claim that Yohwa is the heroine, Endless Hell, did you perhaps... drop this?”
I took out a piece of paper from my pocket and handed it to her.
Endless Hell, who accepted the paper with "self-awareness" written on it, made a peculiar expression.
“What the heck? Why are you carrying around something like this?”
“Why do you think?”
“Hmm, maybe because you’re crazy? Preparing for a Korean language proficiency test with a vocabulary notebook? Or because you knew I’d say something like this someday...?”
Endless Hell’s expression twisted even more mid-sentence.
With her outstanding analytical ability, she reached the answer.
“That’s exactly it.”
Every alien god has their specialty. Their strengths.
And, of course, weaknesses.
Endless Hell is particularly vulnerable to 'regression' compared to other alien gods. Despite claiming to be the deity of random numbers, she can only act the same way in the same situations.
Moreover, as the 267th turn of the Saintess froze Nut’s domain herself, my regression became even more solid.
At least, Endless Hell cannot break through that.
“Damn it, this is unfair! Regression is such a cheat!”
Endless Hell stomped her feet.
It was a pattern I had seen many times before, so I wasn’t moved.
Even the tempo and speed of her stomping were identical to those I had observed in previous turns.
However.
Seeing her do it in Yohwa’s form felt a bit off.
“Change your clothes.”
Endless Hell tilted her head at my sudden remark.
“Huh?”
“The white sailor uniform is the symbol of Baekhwa High. You’re not a human affiliated with that school. So wear something else.”
“Eh... wait. That’s why I untied the ribbon?”
“Just do it.”
“Geez...”
She muttered, “Isn’t this a bit too strict?”
But despite her grumbling, the so-called “lousy alien god rocket” lightly touched her uniform.
A faint noise spread across the sailor uniform.
Soon after, the characteristic white uniform of Baekhwa High turned pitch black.
A black sailor uniform, a color perfectly opposite to ‘Baekhwa.’
“Is this okay now? Seriously, this is too much...”
Endless Hell pouted her lips.
The way she trailed off her words and the angle at which she pouted her lips were exactly the same as in similar situations during previous turns.
Given this, it was impossible, at least for someone like me with perfect memory, to mistake Endless Hell for a human.
She was merely 'forced to act like a human' by Cheon Yohwa and me.
“So, what will you do, Senior, Doctor Jang with no family, relatives, or friends? How will you approach it now that all routes are blocked? I’m curious to hear the wise thoughts of the Human King.”
“I’ll trace my memory back to the 4th turn.”
I pointed to the Han River.
There was a bench just perfect for lying down. Although the bushes had grown waist-high due to a lack of maintenance, one could still lie down there.
“I’ll enter the dream and revisit the turns I’ve gone through in reverse order. The 250th turn, the 200th turn, the 150th turn, and so on.”
“Huh? Why? Why not just jump straight to the 4th turn?”
I sighed.
“Endless Hell, consider the possibility that I’m a ‘being that suddenly fell from the sky in the 4th turn.’ Some kind of anomaly.”
“Hmm.”
“If that’s the case, then there’s no guarantee that I wasn’t an anomaly suddenly appearing in the 266th turn as well, right?”
“…Huh?”
Endless Hell blinked.
I explained.
“I may have full memories up to the 267th turn, but that could merely be a delusion. I could be an anomaly that only began to exist in this turn, with memories ‘manipulated up to the 267th turn.’”
“Oh…? Oh.”
“If I could suddenly emerge in the 4th turn with such memories, then by the same principle, I could suddenly emerge in any turn. I need to confirm that possibility too.”
“Ah.”
Endless Hell made an impressed expression.
“Right? You’re correct. It’s the same possibility, like the 'brain in a vat' or the 'five-minute hypothesis.' Hmm.”
“You seem to have dropped this too.”
Endless Hell accepted the piece of paper with 'intelligence' written on it and tore it to shreds, throwing it in my face.
“You crazy human! You’re the one who stole my intelligence! Right now, my brain’s like a computer with only 64MB of RAM!”
“That’s enough to run Romance of the Three Kingdoms III.”
Isn’t that enough? You sure are asking for a lot.
We laid down on the bench.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t exactly “side by side.” I laid on the bench, and Endless Hell offered me a lap pillow.
A white fingertip covered by a black sleeve touched my forehead like a compass point.
“By the way, senior, it’s funny. You talk about cherishing the bonds you’ve built, thanking the 267th turn Saintess with all your heart, yet at the same time, you’re considering the possibility that all of it could be fake, right?”
“Move your hand.”
“Oh, sorry. Did it scratch?”
I gripped my cane sword tightly.
The white jest in the form of a fingernail fell from my forehead.
“Scary. I’ll dive into the dream quickly then, senior. Please close your eyes.”
I did so.
And then we entered the dream.
The destination was the 250th turn.
The previous master of the Incubus, Endless Hell. The current master of the Incubus, me.
Given the dangerous combination forming a temporary alliance, accurately targeting the desired dream was no big deal.
Thus, the moment we entered the lucid dream.
-Hmm?
A man turned to look at us.
He was Doctor Jang of the 250th turn.
He was sitting on a bench at Jamsu Bridge, reading a book. Phenomenology of Spirit. A book that he and the Saintess had read together around this time.
“Yohwa? And... me?”
Doctor Jang arched an eyebrow.
“A doppelgänger?”
“No, the 250th turn of Doctor Jang. This is a lucid dream, and you are a figure within the dream. The presence with me is not Yohwa but Endless Hell.”
“Ho.”
Doctor Jang's lips curved into a smile.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!w
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Eyes as black as ink, with no glimmer of light. A well like a black hole resided in those eyes, reflecting nothing, no matter how the sunlight shone on them.
They were always ominous eyes.
Just as hearing your own voice in a recording makes you feel awkward, facing Doctor Jang directly made me feel a strange disconnect.
“You claim I am merely a figure in a dream? An interesting hypothesis. Fine. If you truly are the real Doctor Jang, then state the password.”
“Café au lait.”
“And?”
“Schopenhauer is an asshole.”
“And?”
“Looking forward to working with you. My companion in time.”
Thud.
Doctor Jang closed the book.
Before the sound had even fully ceased, Doctor Jang drew his sword and lunged at me.
It happened in an instant. His inky aura collided with mine.
――――!
Waves rippled across the surface of the Han River beyond the Jamsu Bridge. A restrained wave. The surroundings were surprisingly intact, given the clash of auras.
My aura had overwhelmed his, greatly diminishing the impact.
“It’s you.”
Doctor Jang nodded as I caught his blade with my hand.
A sort of test.
If I had truly come from a ‘future turn,’ then it was only natural that I would be stronger.
Doctor Jang’s jet-black eyes stared at me.
“What do you want?”
“First, tell me which turn this is.”
“250th. And you?”
“268th.”
“Not too far apart.”
“Indeed.”
I nodded.
“Now, take your life immediately.”
“My class isn’t Lancer, though.”
Despite the lament slipping from his lips, Doctor Jang within the dream instantly took his own life.
Without the slightest hesitation.
The Endless Hell beside me laughed.
“He’s really insane, senior.”
“It’s just a pre-arranged protocol.”
Thud.
As Doctor Jang's body crumbled, the world was instantly engulfed in darkness.
It wasn’t just that the lights went out. Literally, nothing existed; darkness enveloped everything.
The dream had ended.
“Endless Hell. For the next question only, I permit you to use the data of the dream demons. Do you sense any presence here besides us?”
“Give me a moment... … …Nothing. It’s empty. I mean, it’s a void in the truest sense—emptiness, a Void.”
“You can’t even sense the presence of the Alien God?”
“Not at all. I only sense you, senior.”
Endless Hell frowned deeply.
“...But what are you harboring in your skull? You’re like a human black hole.”
“I never harbored anything. Next.”
200th turn, 150th turn, 100th turn, 50th turn.
The subsequent Doctor Jangs were subdued far more easily. Since we all shared the same protocol, the dream-bound Doctor Jangs willingly made the decision.
There was no problem.
At least, not for me.
“――Uweeeeh.”
The problem was Endless Hell.
As we ventured into earlier and earlier turns, her expression grew increasingly strained, and by the 50th turn, she suddenly collapsed onto the ground, vomiting.
“Uweh! Urp, phweeeh. Huweh! Uweeek.”
True to the nature of the Alien God's vomit, the bile was rendered as rainbow-colored noise, thereby escaping censorship on any platform.
What a relief.
“…What are you doing, making such a pathetic sight of yourself?”
“I-I feel like I’m going to die, senior. I don’t think I can endure this any longer. Uweeek.”
Endless Hell continued to expel what seemed to be her existence in the form of vomit.
Not a metaphor—the rainbow vomit transformed into tiny Endless Hells as soon as it hit the ground. Then, they dashed away before dispersing.
It was the kind of spectacle that made you feel like you were losing your mind.
Endless Hell himself seemed to be shaking her head in a daze, as though she were about to lose her mind.
“What kind of… dream is this? It just borrows the appearance of a dream. It’s completely… different.”
“Hmm.”
Endless Hell indeed.
Despite her pathetic state, being an Alien God, she had seen through the nature of this place, unlike the Tutorial Fairy, who hadn't even noticed.
“It’s not like it’s causing harm to others like you do. Unless someone deliberately invades, no one gets hurt.”
“No... Ugh! What do you mean, normal? It feels like my HP and MP are draining with every breath I take; how is that normal...?”
“Here.”
I pulled out a notebook and wrote down ‘HP and MP,’ then handed it to Endless Hell.
Endless Hell looked at me like I was insane but didn’t refuse the paper.
As we clasped hands over the sheet of paper, Endless Hell’s breathing finally began to stabilize.
After a moment, Endless Hell spoke.
“Senior… Can I ask you one thing?”
“What?”
“Is this really a dream?”
Endless Hell wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her black garment.
Even her clothes were infected with noise, crackling with static.
“This… isn’t a dream. It’s just your domain, isn’t it? The divine realm you set up at Baekhwa High School before you exterminated me. Isn’t this just like that?”
“……”
“It looks just like a dream, but it’s completely different. Just like there was a void mimicking the school's appearance, this is nothing more than a void mimicking the appearance of a dream. So, if my analysis is correct...”
Endless Hell looked up at me while still holding my hand.
My reflection appeared in her red eyes.
The human in those eyes looked exactly like Doctor Jangs I had encountered and forced into suicide as I crossed through the dreams.
“Senior. Have you ever even dreamed?”
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!w
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