Translator: Rainbow Turtle
Jung Heewon was surprised.
…Struggling? Anyone could see that Reinheit was evil. He deceived countless and produced monsters in this underground area. How could he not be evil?
[The constellations of the absolute good system entrust the judgment to incarnation ‘Jung Heewon’.]
Reinheit opened his mouth. “If you kill me, Paradise will end.”
Jung Heewon’s hell flames decreased at these words. There was a faint smile on Reinheit’s face.
“Jung Heewon-ssi, I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“What…”
“You should’ve known. Paradise isn’t perfect. It is natural for a beautiful place to have a shadow.”
Jung Heewon didn’t respond. Ignorance was a deception. Of course, she had thought about it. This place must be hiding some awful truth. She just didn’t think it would be this…
“Why are you mass producing monsters? Are you going to conquer Dark Castle?”
“I’m not doing anything. They are just the nutrients of Paradise.”
A huge tree trunk could be seen in the centre of the cavern. Branches stretched out like tentacles towards the monsters in the vicinity.
Jung Heewon realized where the tree trunk was heading. The small flower that bloomed on the hill, the Perpetual Motion.
Jung Heewon’s legs were shaking without her knowing. Surely this tree…
“Isn’t it strange? Weren’t you curious about why the many demon species on Dark Castle don’t invade this place?”
She thought it was strange. It wasn’t enough to describe Paradise as a blessed fortress.
“Why are there so many demons in Dark Castle?”
Rapidly moving branches grabbed the humans one by one. The prisoners screamed but there was no room for resistance. The rapidly moving branches tied around the prisoners’ bodies and three them into a hole in the trunk.
A terrible noise was heard and then there was a scream like a soul was being castrated.
After a while, buds blossomed on the tree trunk. Jung Heewon sensed what would be born from the bud and shook. In less than a few minutes, a giant monsters was born from the bud. It was the human who had just been swallowed by the tree.
The Perpetual Motion was a tree that made demons.
Jung Heewon kept trembling. “H-How can you do this?”
Why couldn’t she find any demon species near Paradise? Paradoxically, it was because Paradise itself was the source of the demon species.
“The demons produced here are released every month on certain days. There is a limit to the capacity of the prison.” Reinheit smiled as he spoke. “Don’t look at me with those eyes. Being a demon isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
“…”
“They can have eternal life and are stronger than humans. In addition…”
The tree emitted a bright light and started to supply nutrients to the earth of Paradise.
“Their sin is used to sustain the lives of other beings. In other words, they are martyrs.”
It was the source that provided vitality for crops to grow on the barren land of Dark Castle. This was the role of the Perpetual Motion. Jung Heewon understood everything and felt desperate.
[The constellations of the absolute good system are demanding you make a choice.]
If she killed Reinheit, the underground prison would collapse. The Perpetual Motion would die and the system of Paradise would be destroyed. People would lose the land and their food. Then they would be torn apart by the monsters.
“Why… why…” Knowing this, Jung Heewon couldn’t kill Reinheit. She had no confidence in condemning the source of the tragedy when she would cause a bigger tragedy.
“Somebody has to do it.” Reinheit’s face was sad. “Life continues for the losers of the scenario. Someone has to create a place for them.”
“If you really care for them, you should help keep the scenario going! Don’t make a place like this. Lead the people and try to clear the scenarios!”
“You don’t know. The enemy in the following scenario isn’t someone we can win against.”
Jung Heewon was surprised at his gloomy expression. The 2nd ranked demon marquis of Dark Castle. Who could cause him to feel such fear?
“…What do you know?”
“That isn’t important. Even if you clear the following scenario… the ‘next’ one is always ready. More losers will be made.”
“We can clear all of them! It is a scenario. Won’t it end one day? Practice your skills and build your story…!”
“Do you think we can clear all the scenarios one day?”
Jung Heewon closed her mouth. The end of all the scenarios. Her colleague Kim Dokja wanted to reach that place.
Reinheit continued speaking, “Do you believe peace will come at that time?”
Jung Heewon cried out with all her heart. “Yes. I believe.”
“Why do you think so? Is there a single person who has reached the end of the scenario?”
“There are the constellations!”
“The constellations?”
“They exist outside of the scenarios. In other words, there is a way to escape from this scenario.”
The constellations who treated the incarnations like toys. The existences of such ‘absolute’ beings actually gave hope. Someday they would be able to reach that place. They could get away from this hellish scenario.
“Ha. Haha, hahaha…” Reinheit laughed. “I see. The constellations. I understand your mind. I had thought so as well.”
“What do you mean?”
“Why do you think that constellations cleared all the scenarios? Did Kim Dokja say so?”
Kim Dokja never said this. An ominous feeling entered her heart.
“They certainly are outside the scenario. However, they are just ‘outside’ the scenario.”
“…”
“They are all doing scenarios like us. 76 times, 84 times. The size and number of scenarios vary but they are like us.”
She had never thought of this before. Jung Heewon asked in a trembling voice, “T-Then…?”
“The constellations are just powerhouses beyond the standards, born in the middle of the scenario. They are neither gods or absolute beings.”
Reinheit spoke as if declaring an absolute proposition.
“Let me tell you once again. No one has ever reached the ‘end’ of the scenarios.”
“…”
“This world is eternal hell.”
Jung Heewon collapsed to the ground. Even the constellations couldn’t do it. Even the mighty beings couldn’t reach that place.
Kim Dokja wanted to go to such a place.
“Something like this… what do you want to do? Kim Dokja, you…”
Reinheit kept speaking. “That’s why I made Paradise.”
Jung Heewon stared blankly up at Reinheit.
“If this continues, Paradise will someday collapse. The number of humans is decreasing and the number of demons is constantly increasing. The nutrients to sustain this land are running out.”
At the end of despair and desperation, he created the Paradise of Despair.
“I need a noble human to sustain this tree. There are many souls who entered this quarter. Kim Dokja is one of them.”
Jung Heewon realized what he was talking about. “That’s why I’m needed?”
“That’s correct. You are chosen by an archangel and will last at least 10 years. A constellation like Kim Dokja will be able to maintain the vitality of Paradise for more than 200 years.”
“Do you think I will just listen to you?”
“You will listen. It is because you are the incarnation of an archangel.”
If she sacrificed herself, she would be able to protect Paradise.
“If you help, there will be no need to punish people for minor offences for a while. You can save thousands, tens of thousands of lives.”
Jung Heewon’s shoulders trembled. She could save tens of thousands of people with her life. If she didn’t die, tens of thousands of people would die.
She saw a monster reminiscent of a fish squirming on the ground. The face resembled the woman from Geumho Station. The monster stared at Jung Heewon with a hungry expression and roared.
“I…”
It was an abandoned life anyway. Her parents, friends and the people who remembered her were all dead. The end of the scenario was impossible. Living any further was useless.
“I…”
[The constellations of the absolute good system are looking at you.]
Jung Heewon made a decision. “I understand. Then I…”
If she died to save tens of thousands of people, it was the right thing, the righteous thing.
Reinheit’s expression seemed to soften. At the last moment, something caught her.
‘Then what is my life?’
It was probably empty.
‘I… what the hell is this?’
It was the foolish last attachment to life. She already knew the answer.
-Heewon-ssi is a good sword.
-You are calmer in front of the fire than any of us. In particular, you are sensitive to the tyranny of the strong.
-You always fought at the head of the party and never complained about how difficult it was.
It was because someone told her the answer already.
-This is the Jung Heewon-ssi that I saw because you continued the scenario.
Maybe Kim Dokja knew the reality of the scenarios from the beginning. Even so, he didn’t give up.
-That’s why I believe you should continue the scenario.
Jung Heewon stood up.
“I can’t die here.”
Thus, she decided to be selfish. She decided to live, even if many people died from her choice. She had to live with it.
“No, you will die.”
However, sometimes their life and will were irrelevant.
“Then you will become the nutrients of Paradise.”
There were a number of demons who couldn’t be dealt with even using Hell Flames Ignition. Jung Heewon’s expression tensed and she opened up all her magic power. She couldn’t die. She would never die.
At this moment, there was an explosion and people appeared.
“Heewon-ssi!”
“Ah, Unni went alone again!”
It was the people who sustained her life. Still, Reinheit didn’t panic. He smiled like it was good.
“I’m able to get a lot of nutrients.”
This person was the second strongest in Dark Castle. He wasn’t afraid of a group without Kim Dokja.
“Everybody stand back!”
Lee Hyunsung stepped forward and protected his companions. He was much stronger than before but the situation was bad. Maybe someone would die in this fight. It would be lucky if all of them didn’t die.
How good would it be if Kim Dokja was here? She tried to avoid depending on Kim Dokja but Jung Heewon couldn’t help having this thought.
“This is your end.” Reinheit declared and raised his hand.
Then the entire ceiling collapsed. It was like bombs had poured down in succession. The ether storm ripped through the branches of the Perpetual Motion and the shattered ceiling fell towards Reinheit and the monsters.
The crushed monsters let out terrible screams. Somebody’s voice was heard among this chaos.
“You hid in a deep and dirty place.”
There was a man and the shadow of a woman chasing him. Yoo Jonghyuk faced the people looking at him with wonder and confusion and asked, “…By the way, where is Kim Dokja?”
