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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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Chapter 11
"If we knew the reason, we wouldn't have done something as stupid as betting everything on a sliver of hope."
"So you're saying you don't know."
"..."
"You don't know? You stab someone in the back and kill them, and when I ask why, you say it's because my future self turned evil, but you don't know why I turned evil?"
Baekya's tone lightened.
At the same time, it became sharp as a razor.
"Cut the crap. What kind of explanation is this? Do you want me to believe you or not?"
If the person in front of him wasn't Na Jeongwon but some nameless Awakened, he would have already made his Constellation go berserk.
He wasn't some leisurely Awakened who had the time to listen to such nonsense.
"Hong Baekya."
"Just because you have some fancy pattern on your chest and say things doesn't mean they're all true..."
"I'll show you."
With that, Na Jeongwon raised his staff and pressed the green leaves against his own temple.
【Mist of Memories】
It was a Spirit Summoner's mental technique.
Swoosh.
A white, foggy energy flowed from his temple, gathering into the shape of an orb.
The mist orb floated and hovered in front of Baekya's eyes.
"See for yourself. What I remember."
Baekya's eyes wavered along with it.
'There's no trickery in the skill. There's no chance this is Bewitching Incense instead of water... My Constellation wouldn't have missed it either.'
He then inhaled the mist through his nose with a light gesture.
Swoosh.
Na Jeongwon's memories smelled dry, like ashes left after a fire.
Suddenly, Baekya's pupils contracted sharply.
'...! '
A sky engulfed in flames, reminiscent of a vibrant sunset.
The Statue of Liberty, half-melted.
'Nooooooooo!'
Beijing and Paris, Washington and Tokyo, and even Seoul, all suffering under the scorching heat.
People running away.
Himself, riding the Sun Chariot across the sky.
'It's Baekya!'
'Run!'
'Prepare to intercept!'
The crimson halo shining above his head.
His indifferent eyes, reflecting the light.
'Insects.'
Fwoosh!
The light of Law of Light erupting from Na Jeongwon's perspective.
It was definitely him.
"Cough!"
Swoosh
With a rough cough, white mist flowed out of his nose again.
Na Jeongwon swung his staff, gathering the mist and absorbing it back into his temple.
"Do you understand now?"
He asked in a low voice.
His words pierced Baekya's ears like needles as he lowered his head, gasping for breath.
"Even after experiencing all of this, I decided to give you a second chance. Not as a courtesy for what you've done so far, but as a chance that anyone, as a human, deserves."
His firm tone carried an underlying strength.
But Baekya, with a deep sigh, gathered his thoughts.
"No. Give me the courtesy."
"..."
He had been through countless battles, even against illusion-type monsters.
'Stay calm.'
He was used to managing memories and emotions that weren't his own.
"I deserve that treatment. Don't forget, I'm the one who made you the Fairy King."
He raised his head proudly and looked at Na Jeongwon.
"Alright."
Na Jeongwon had a complex expression on his face.
It seemed like a mix of anger and relief.
But he definitely seemed to have expected Baekya to respond that way.
Swish.
Na Jeongwon took off the silver ring he was wearing on his index finger and handed it to him.
"Be careful of Cheong Siyeol and Joo Suhyeok. Almost every Ranker knows about this warehouse. If someone starts coming here, they'll all get suspicious."
As he placed it on his palm and gazed at it intently, information about the artifact appeared.
【Subspace Ring (Common)】
【A mass-produced inventory artifact with a 300L capacity.】
【*Weight Limit: None】
【*Caution: Cannot store living beings.】
【*Special Feature: The blessing of the low-rank wind spirit, Sylph, grants +15 to Agility stat.】
It had a decent capacity for a common item.
Moreover, +15 Agility on an inventory item, not even combat gear, was quite a good bonus.
But Baekya scoffed as if it were insignificant.
"There's a limit to playing games."
Na Jeongwon winced, a look of hurt flashing across his face.
"Wh-What?"
Baekya immediately used Law of Light.
Flash!
【Special Feature: The blessing of the low-rank wind spirit, Sylph, is permanently removed.】
A white aura rose from the ring.
The option disappeared, and a small amount of mana was absorbed into Baekya.
He put on the Subspace Ring and said—
"So you can keep track of where I go and who I meet? Come on, just assign someone to follow me instead."
"..."
Na Jeongwon couldn't meet his eyes.
His averted gaze and flushed ears gave away his embarrassment.
"You were always terrible at lying. Even after all my training."
Only then was Baekya certain of Na Jeongwon's purpose in finding him.
'I guess I can't come back to this warehouse. It seems he really came to find me to give me a chance.'
Na Jeongwon had always been like that.
That’s why he taught him that in this world, being soft like that would only get him killed.
When coaxing and soothing didn’t work, he resorted to scolding.
He told him that with his power, he needed to show a firm side too.
'Don't you understand what I'm saying?'
'No.'
‘Then please!’
'But still...'
'...'
'I haven't given up on you either. Can't you give him one more chance?'
That's how he was, always giving second chances even after being scolded and lectured.
He must be trying to do the same for him.
Baekya let out a sigh.
"...Well, I'll gratefully use this. And I'll keep your advice in mind. I won't come back here again."
Na Jeongwon spoke again in his firm tone.
"This is your second chance. Make the right choice this time."
Baekya walked towards the bundle of cash, shaking his head.
"I've always made the right choices. It's you guys who made the wrong ones. You stabbed me in the heart without saying a word."
The red, radiant halo flickered and faded back to its original form.
* * *
I filled my subspace ring to the brim with gold bars, Mana Stones, and cash.
As Na Jeongwon said, it would be difficult to revisit that warehouse, and I had no intention of engaging in normal economic activities.
I had to secure enough living expenses until I could climb the Tower again.
On the taxi ride back to Hong Ilha's house...
Vrooooom.
I stared blankly out the window.
The past three hours felt like three days, no, three months had passed.
‘In the previous timeline, you rode the Sun Chariot across the sky, burning everything, and summoned the great demons of the Flame Realm from your sanctuary, leading them into war! No one could stop you. Cheong Siyeol, who reached the 99th floor after countless sacrifices, turned back time!’
‘If we knew the reason, we wouldn't have done something as stupid as betting everything on a sliver of hope.’
'Noooooooo!'
Did such a thing really happen?
They weren't cursed?
They weren't brainwashed by some Black Hole contractor or a great demon from a Gate who hated to see others happy?
Cheong Siyeol really stabbed me in the back?
I couldn't believe any of it.
No.
I didn't want to believe it.
I didn't even want to think about the story of my future self.
What mattered to me now was him.
Cheong Siyeol, whom I raised like my own brother.
He killed me of his own free will.
My mouth tasted bitter.
I wanted to curse out loud, but the words wouldn't come out.
High-ranking Korean Rankers getting collectively cursed VS my future self turning evil and the Rankers reaching the 99th floor to regress.
Which one is more likely?
A thrilling knife-stabbing event story unfolding in Seoul~.
"..."
While I was lost in such silly thoughts...
【"Are you alright?"】
【"I know you need some time alone, but you looked like you were about to jump out of the car, so I couldn't just leave you be."】
【"I'm sorry there's nothing more I can do for you."】
【Your Constellation 'Sunny' pats your shoulder.】
My Constellation personally comforted this foolish me, who couldn't even raise a disciple properly.
Swoosh.
I felt a warm breeze settle on my shoulder.
I wiped my face.
The sun was still shining.
I muttered softly.
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. No, if I'm not fine, I'll make myself fine."
【"Is that really true?"】
【Your Constellation 'Sunny' is sweating bullets.】
"Isn't that what I've been doing all this time? The country wasn't fine, and people's lives weren't fine, so I made them fine. I'll interpret this as a sign that I've done enough and it's time to take care of my own life."
【"How do you plan to do that?"】
"Nothing will change. First, I'll recover my strength and climb the Tower again. I've always lived climbing the Tower. I climbed for the sake of the country and to find out what's at the top. Now, I have one more reason to climb."
Every time the Tower was climbed, the country where it was located received systemic benefits.
The Tower's profitability increased, yielding more elixirs and resources.
Detailed alarms sounded whenever a Gate opened.
The proportion of high-ranking Awakened also increased.
The Tower that I had to climb for the country anyway.
"I'll go to the 99th floor. The sword was called Chronos' Timeblade, so there must also be Chronos' Clock there."
【"Are you thinking of finding that clock and turning back time again?"】
"No. Why would I turn back time just to please someone else? I'll incinerate it with the Law of Light. That way, regression will be completely erased."
Now, I'll climb for myself and my disciples too.
"Didn't you like those stories? Stories of dreamers who never give up."
【"I really... don't know whose contractor you are to be this smart. How do you understand my heart so well?"】
【Your Constellation 'Sunny' is amazed by your groundbreaking idea.】
"Constellation, I lost my disciples to the future."
Thinking about it again, those kids were indeed cursed.
Cursed by the future.
Cursed by knowledge.
It must be my job to break that curse.
The future?
A future where I burn the world, and those kids turn back time at the cost of countless sacrifices, only to stab me in the heart?
I sincerely refuse such a future.
I have to burn it away with Law of Light.
"I will get them back."
Eunwoo, Jeongwon, Siyeol.
I don't know what happened, and I don't particularly want to know.
I'll make it all as if it never happened.
So just wait a little longer.
* * *
Dinner time.
"Hyung, did something happen today?"
Wolha cautiously observed Ilha's unusually somber expression.
If Ilha in the morning was serious and reliable, the current Ilha seemed burdened with all the worries and anxieties of the world.
Ilha shook his head.
"It's nothing."
"It's not nothing. Come on, tell me."
"It's just... like you said, I was thinking about what we should do in the future. Earning 100 million won is hard, but spending it isn't, right?"
"That's true."
"So I thought about this and that... how about becoming a civil servant?"
"A civil servant?"
Wolha couldn't believe his ears.
This was his brother, who used to say how boring it would be to be a civil servant.
"Yeah, at the Gate Management Department. Not an administrative position, but a field position. It's a bit tough, but it's nothing compared to being a porter. The competition is much less fierce than for administrative positions, and you can even transfer to an administrative position later if you study more."
His brother had finally opened his eyes to reality.
He was beyond words with emotion.
"That sounds good. Since we're both Awakened, we'll get extra points, right?"
A bright smile naturally spread across his face.
Ilha, no, Baekya, smiled back at Wolha.
'It will take longer than I thought to regain my strength, fight the Regressors, and climb the Tower. It would be helpful to have internal support from the Gate Management Department. Even just getting access to Ranker monitoring information would greatly expand my options.'
Wolha said—
"Then I'll start looking into study materials tomorrow. No, let's go to a cram school. We've both been working with our bodies for too long."
Baekya shook his head.
"No. Not me, you."
"What?"
Wolha asked back, as if he had misheard.
"Then what about you, hyung?"
Baekya quickly continued his thoughts.
'I can't use the warehouse anymore, but since I ate the Fallen Dragon's Heart, I've basically taken everything I could from there. Now I need to go to the Tower or a dungeon. There's a Gate open right now that has good synergy with me...'
But there was no way Wolha would agree to him going there.
'How should I explain this?'
After deep thought, the answer he came up with was:
"Um... travel?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wolha's face crumpled, as if he'd just heard that the world was ending.
"Hyung."
"Yeah?"
"Don't say such ridiculous things."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Hestia
[Proofreader - Kaya]
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