-I know how to kill Yoo Jonghyuk.
Those were Han Sooyoung’s words.
I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth. “…You don’t have to do something like that. A perfect story isn’t the best story.”
From afar, there was a deafening roar from the collision between Yoo Jonghyuk and Uriel. The light that emanated from the sky filled Han Sooyoung’s white eyes.
“Yoo Jonghyuk has to die in this scenario. That way, the world I am hoping for will be finished.”
“What world are you hoping for…”
“Didn’t you look into my head? Yet you’re still saying this?”
My voice was buried by another roar. It was a meaningless question in the first place. As Han Sooyoung mentioned, I got a glimpse of the world she dreamt of.
It was a utopia without any gaps. It was an answer that only a person who digested the original novel in a completely different way could present.
I turned my head and watched the battle between Yoo Jonghyuk and Uriel. In the world that Han Sooyoung dreamt of, the answer for this battle was as followed:
「 The archangel of flames will die here. 」
As if waiting, the party members gathered around Uriel and Yoo Jonghyuk’s battlefield. Lee Jihye was preparing Instant Kill, Lee Hyunsung charted up Great Mountain Smash, Kim Namwoon was untying his bandage and seemed ready to call the Abyssal Black Flame Dragon.
I grasped Unbroken Faith. Han Sooyoung noticed my movements and glared at me. “Wait, you…!”
It was obviously Han Sooyoung, not Yoo Jonghyuk, who made this world. But… so what?
[The constellation ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is opening his ‘status.’]
In the first place, this wasn’t the story I wanted to read. The small horns that symbolized a demon king rose from my head. I wanted to embody the wings but it wasn’t possible with the imperfect Demon World’s Spring. Han Sooyoung was surprised but didn’t stop me. Perhaps she thought it was impossible to stop the fight with my own strength.
I knew it as well. By the way, now I wasn’t alone.
“Gabriel, Jophiel.”
[The constellation ‘Lily Pin of Aquarius’ is looking at you.]
[The constellation ‘Commander of the Red Cosmos’ is looking at you.]
“Please help me.”
[The archangels says that it will require more probability than before.]
“It doesn’t matter.”
The moment I gave permission, the status of the two angels entered me. I felt my skin tearing and something grew.
[The archangels’ ‘status’ dwells within you.]
Six wings grew from me, just like when I destroyed the constellations.
[The status of a demon king and an archangel are conflicting inside you.]
The stories that didn’t mix screamed from inside me. An archangel’s status was added to the power of a demon king. The wavelength that was impossible with common sense swept through the battlefield.
“What, this status…!”
It was natural to be shocked. Now Uriel was the only archangel to survive in this world. Yet the status that could be felt from me belonged to an archangel.
[The demon king ‘Black Mane Lion’ is watching you!]
[The demon king ‘Devil of Lust and Fury’ is looking at you!] (TL: Slight change to Asmodeus’ modifier)
It was surprising that the power of a demon king and archangel dwelt in one being. As far as I knew, there was only one existence in the world that could create this type of status in Ways of Survival.
[Demon. King…!]
Uriel felt my presence and looked over here. The moment I opened my mouth, Gabriel who descended inside me struck first.
[Uriel! Stop! What is this?]
The majesty of the archangel’s true voice caused a light of reason to return to Uriel’s eyes.
[…Gabriel?]
[Are you out of your mind? What are you doing?]
Gabriel’s true voice flowed through me. I looked at Uriel’s cold eyes and belatedly realized the mistake.
[Look, these are the people you like! Yoo Jonghyuk and Kim Dokja! You are always talking about them!]
The moment Gabriel’s incarnation approached Uriel, her lips opened.
[What are you talking about? ■■■]
The confused Gabriel stiffened. Uriel continued speaking. [You are alive Gabriel. You also groveled to a demon king.]
[W-What are you saying?]
-Ahhhhhhh!
Uriel’s enormous magic power flooded the Gwanghwamun area. Hell Flames Ignition was running wild and turning it into hell. I was able to see Yoo Jonghyuk’s coat melting away from the high temperature.
The unnamed things were swept away by the aftereffects and scattered into pieces of meat.
I shouted, “Gabriel!”
The dazed Gabriel belatedly handed his strength to me.
[I will hear the explanation later.]
To be honest, I wasn’t confident in explaining. They wouldn’t be able to fathom what happened to Eden in the 1863rd round. Once the archangels of the third round knew the information, I didn’t know what type of storm I would be swept up in or the psychologically damage Gabriel would receive. Because… Gabriel of the 1863rd round betrayed Eden.
“Yoo Jonghyuk!”
The moment I called out, Yoo Jonghyuk cut the flames using Breaking the Sky Swordsmanship. I plunged into the flames.
Three petals from Gabriel and Jophiel scattered in the air. There was a huge charge and something rose inside me. I took advantage of the reaction from the colliding magic power to instantly approach Uriel.
I’m sorry Uriel.
I grabbed Uriel’s head with both hands. The power of the White Pure Star Energy and the status of the archangels and demon king struck Uriel’s head. Uriel made a pained frown but Uriel’s momentum didn’t decrease at all.
Rather, her flames were encroaching towards me little by little. The high heat caused my wings and horns to melt slightly. I was the one who groaned first. This was the power of Edens’ strongest combat angel.
Uriel smiled brutally and called the hell flames to her hands. The hottest flames in the world. The moment that sharp blade of flames aimed at my heart.
“Jophiel!”
Huge sparks appeared at my fingertips and Uriel’s body was surrounded by a circular restraint reminiscent of a halo. Uriel cried out with shock as the white constraints bound her.
Uriel’s status was reduced in an instant and the flames suddenly extinguished. Uriel was one of the most powerful archangels in Eden. No other angel could match her in fighting demons.
However, what if the opponent was also an archangel?
Archangel Jophiel. Unlike the other angels who focused on demon eradication, Jophiel had one more special ability.
[Confinement of Good and Evil.]
Uriel’s skill that was used to hunt fallen angels exerted strength against Uriel. Uriel tried to escape but the restraint tightened. Uriel struggled before finally giving up on rebelling and collapsed. The archangel trapped by the constraints would fall into a deep sleep for a week.
I hugged the sleeping Uriel and moved out of the fire with Yoo Jonghyuk. I emerged from the smoke and saw the party members looking this way. Someone stared with astonishment while others felt admiration…someone else was staring at me with faint hostility.
I watched Han Sooyoung. “This is something that wasn’t present in the world of your dreams.”
“…Uriel being dead or not has no impact on the big picture. You’ve seen it so shouldn’t you know?
My visualization is perfect.”
Her white coat fluttered as Han Sooyoung walked towards me. She soon reached my nose and looked up at me. She glanced at the burned angel wings and broken demon horns and asked,
“Kim Dokja, what world do you want? You have read the story to the end and there must be a world you want.”
I knew Han Sooyoung’s words very well.
「 “What is the world that I want?” 」
They were the very words that Yoo Jonghyuk always used when recruiting new colleagues. I told Han Sooyoung. “I’m not your colleague.”
“I need you to complete this story.”
Han Sooyoung continued while pointing to Yoo Jonghyuk. “Don’t you also need the completion of a new story?”
It seemed that she knew why I came to this world. I examined the faces of the party members one by one. Lee Hyunsung, Lee Jihye, Lee Seolhwa, Shin Yoosung, Kim Namwoon…
So far, there was no round where all of them had survived up to this point. However—
“What’s new about this story?”
I was watching Yoo Jonghyuk. The only person not selected by this world. He repeated thousands of rounds to save this world but this time, he had to die for the world.
Han Sooyoung’s world was also a world where someone must die in the end. There were countless other worlds like that, not just Han Sooyoung’s world.
“You have read part of the original, changed the development and placed the name of another person in the place of the protagonist.”
Some reproductions might surpass the original. However, they could never be the original.
“Do you know what they call such an act?”
I wanted to have a relaxed smile but now I wasn’t in the mood. Han Sooyoung stared at me with blazing eyes. “This isn’t the round you were in. Don’t talk nonsense.”
Han Sooyoung no longer listened to me and turned away. “I’ll give you three days. You better decide by then. Help me or don’t help me. That’s all I want to hear.”
The party members followed Han Sooyoung and entered the building one by one. Lee Hyunsung helped Lee Seolhwa transport patients. Lee Jihye and Kim Namwoon glanced at me before looking away.
This wasn’t my round. The people in my round were waiting for me and I could go back if I killed Yoo Jonghyuk.
I looked at Yoo Jonghyuk. There were holes in his coat as Yoo Jonghyuk stood there with foolish eyes.
…However, was that really all I had to do?
***
Han Sooyoung was sweating when she opened her eyes in the darkness. There were faint sparks around her body. Her entire body was freezing cold.
Han Sooyoung took a deep breath and rose from her spot. She turned on her smartphone and opened her novel file. SSSSS-grade Infinite Regressor.
「 Yoo Junhyun thought about it. 」
「 …I’m afraid. 」
「 Is it just up to here? 」
These were the contents of the saved pages. Nevertheless, Han Sooyoung read them. She read them again and again, as if the contents would be blown away if she didn’t.
How long did she read? The sparks around her started shrinking. She barely managed a sigh. If she had been a bit later, her existence itself would be swallowed up by the sparks.
It wasn’t the first time. It was the probability storm gnawing at my memories. It wasn’t known if this was a side effect of the excessive use of Avatar or related to Ways of Survival.
[The Star Stream is watching incarnation ‘Han Sooyoung.’]
Han Sooyoung bit her lips and relaxed her body. Her shoulders and wrists hardened by the side effects were checked one by one. She could feel the eyes of countless constellations on her.
Han Sooyoung thought, ‘Look as much as you like. I didn’t start this just to end here.’
After warming up, the coldness in her bones were gone. Han Sooyoung put on a coat and glanced out the window.
Kim Dokja and her party members could be seen. They were awkward on the first day but after a few days, they were chatting. It was strange. Those who had gone through 94 scenarios and were filled with distrust quickly opened their hearts to him.
Kim Dokja. The variable that appeared at the end of this plan.
…Why did Secretive Plotter send another covenant at this point? Han Sooyoung didn’t know the answer. She just knew that she had to use Kim Dokja.
Yoo Jonghyuk was standing blankly in a corner of the square. Han Sooyoung watched for a while before jumping out the window.
Han Sooyoung landed beside Yoo Jonghyuk and opened her mouth. “It has been two days.”
Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t answer. Han Sooyoung slowly watched Yoo Jonghyuk. His blank eyes seemed to hear nothing.
Han Sooyoung stared into his eyes and suddenly approached him. “…You really aren’t conscious?”
Han Sooyoung’s hand grabbed Yoo Jonghyuk’s chin. Yoo Jonghyuk didn’t react.
“How funny. I can’t believe this is happening… did you forget that you promised to die?”
At this close distance, Yoo Jonghyuk’s face was covered with scars. They were traces of a lonelier battle than any other round.
Han Sooyoung looked at such a Yoo Jonghyuk. She felt both sympathetic and angry. Han Sooyoung removed her hand from Yoo Jonghyuk’s chin and pulled out a cigarette. Smoke appeared as she lit it up.
In the distance, the people surrounding Kim Dokja shouted at something he said. Han Sooyoung blew out smoke.
“The world is unfair. Some people find it easy to get along with others using a few words while some people egress so much and feel out of place.”
“…”
“Didn’t you write down some good memories for me? You could’ve done enough… no, it’s fine. There was no way you could do it.”
Han Sooyoung stepped on the cigarette ash that fell.
“Don’t blame me for killing you when you don’t remember. I did everything you asked me to do.”
Han Sooyoung walked towards her party members. Yoo Jonghyuk watched Han Sooyoung moving away with empty eyes. A dim light was returning to Yoo Jonghyuk’s blank eyes.
TL: Rainbow Turtle
