100th Chapter
“Uncle, who are you?”
The little girl Tara was watching me very warily.
Of course, I didn’t think much of it. I understood how she felt.
‘Well, I’m meeting her for the first time right now, too.’
Once I recover the residual memory, how will my awareness change? How did I meet this kid, and how did I extract the legendary quest, and what exactly was the quest about, along with its rewards? Thinking about those things made me even a little excited.
Why just think? I immediately restored the residual memory right by my side.
I tried not to look at the corpse in its grotesque state.
[Item Activation – Izanami’s Heart]
[Recovered residual memories from the previous life.]
[Recovered 11 points in Strength, 32 in Agility, and 0 in Intellect.]
[Restored combat skill – Seven Sword Pierces LV.13.]
[Restored combat skill – Fatal Shoots LV. 3.]
[Restored combat skill – Black Wings LV. 2.]
[All memories from the previous life have been recovered.]
The moment the recovery of residual memories ended and the memories from my previous life fully returned,
I heard that I was in a state utterly beyond description.
“… Uncle, why are you acting like this all of a sudden? Are you in pain?”
Tara, who had been wary on the side, asked me almost unconsciously.
I barely managed to regain my composure at her question. Struggling even while in a daze, I forced a smile and said,
“It’s nothing… it’s all nothing.”
This was the first time I’d recovered the residual memory without screaming in agony.
My voice was choked due to the overwhelming sense of emptiness.
*
‘It’s not too late… now… NOW is the time!!’
I hurriedly raced through the commercial district of Kern.
I wildly scanned the surroundings, checking every brunette woman I saw.
Red eyes. Brown eyes. Black eyes. Green eyes… no. No. None of them were her.
“Sara!! Ms. Sara Anette! If you can hear me, answer immediately!! Saraaaa!!”
The moment I entered the bustling night market, I shouted at the top of my lungs, circling around. Everyone’s attention turned toward me, but I didn’t care. In fact, it was what I wanted.
This round benefited from Lucy’s intervention, giving me a quicker start. The white explosion hasn’t happened yet, and the people still unaware of the impending tragedy were cheerfully walking around the night market.
‘If I act now, it’s still possible!’
Perhaps, I can save her.
She must live. I promised Tara. Even if the person involved has forgotten the promise, I haven’t.
You’ll see, Tara. I’ll definitely bring back your mom for you.
“Yes. I’m Sara Anette. You were looking for me… um, let’s talk somewhere less crowded!”
Before long, my efforts bore fruit.
Shouting wildly had been effective. I sighed deeply in various senses, seeing Sara hastily emerge, her face crimson with embarrassment.
“We don’t have time for talking. We need to move, quickly!”
I immediately grabbed her wrist and started running. Naturally, we headed toward the back alley beyond the central business area where Tara was.
“What? Go… go where…!”
“Anywhere. It’s dangerous here. Leave Kern immediately with Tara. Right now!”
“How… how do you know my daughter’s name… No, let go first! It hurts!!”
As we approached the back alley, Sara pulled her hand away from mine. Only then did I realize I was gripping her wrist too tightly.
“My apologies…”
I released her hand belatedly and looked at her. She was staring at me with a guarded look, her body recoiling. Her wrist had turned bright red.
People from nearby shops were murmuring, looking at us.
Judging by the atmosphere and their gazes, it didn’t seem like they were enjoying pleasant conversations.
‘…calm down first.’
Though it was impossible to calm down, I would try.
I took a deep breath right there.
“Whew…”
I looked at Sara again with a calmer expression. After a moment of silence and while she looked at me in confusion, I began organizing my words to explain the situation.
However, just then,
As I was looking intently at Sara, ironically, her status window popped up, obscuring my view.
[Monster Information]
[Name: Urbanites of Blessing Sara Anette]
[Health: 90/90 Magic: 0/0]
[Strength: 8 Agility: 10 Intellect: 11]
[Details: One chosen by the Blue Flame Demon King Astarte. Her power has yet to manifest.]
There, displayed as expected, was her status window marked as a monster.
As if to mock my struggles, it popped up before my eyes—a sentence of death.
I closed the mouth that had been opened to explain.
“…”
“Uh, excuse me?”
Sara called out to me. I could not answer.
I wanted to say something, but I had no idea what to say. This was a first for me.
Indeed.
Do I even need to answer with words?
Reaching that conclusion, I immediately drew my sword.
“… Ah?”
Puuuk. Sara looked down in disbelief at the black blade piercing her abdomen.
What do you mean ‘ah?’ Yes, that’s exactly what you saw. Stop denying reality. In Sara’s shaking gaze, I met her eyes expressionlessly.
I clenched my jaw with all my might and tightened my grip on the sword.
And then, a smirk.
As if waiting for just that moment, Sara’s mouth stretched into an unsettling grin that curled all the way to her ears.
―I am utterly astonished. How could you have noticed, without even a hint, at this point?
“!”
―Could it be… you saw the future?
The instant I heard the voice, I swung my sword upward with all my strength.
Sara’s ribs shattered. Her lungs and heart collapsed, her spine and nerve bundles severed by the blade for a moment. The blow broke her neck, shattered her skull, and split her brain in half, sending the blade skyward.
With a wet squelching sound, I muttered in the scattered remains of Sara’s bodily fluids.
“Ha. That’s something I didn’t know.”
Instead of hitting myself in the jewels as a sign of realization, I stomped with force on one side of Sara’s severed head.
Sara’s body, split from the abdomen to both sides, gazed up at me with a distorted expression, still giggling, with her crushed face beneath my foot.
And I muttered to the presence beyond her gray eyes.
“You. You’re the type who doesn’t like direct conversation, you creepy waste of a fanboy, aren’t you?”
Yes. I knew that voice the moment I heard it. It immediately reminded me of something I had completely forgotten.
‘The first reset point has been updated.’
The tailing agent dispatched by the organization called Cassas, the incident of his sudden death, and the mysterious presence who addressed me from behind Jeremi Valkin’s corpse.
That voice just now was identical to the one I heard then.
Everything connects now.
I finally understood, but it was too late.
―Didn’t I tell you we’d meet again soon?
Clclcl. An unsettling laughter flowed continuously from the sprawled corpse of Sara.
That confirmed my guess was right. I wiped the blood splattered on my face with my sleeve.
When I lowered my arm, a bitter smile was already hanging on the corner of my lips.
“Does Casas have financial trouble? Did they acquire a merger deal with the Resurrection Sect? Is the boss not paying his salary because of it?”
―Hmm. Your worries for Casas flatter me as its boss. But rest assured. The likes of the Resurrection Sect are merely pawns used in Casas’s grand purpose.
“Grand purposes? Nice teeth, impressive, acknowledged.”
This bastard.
This is him.
This manipulative dark force orchestrating all these doglike deeds is undoubtedly him.
The mastermind behind the ritual to summon fragments of Astarte, the puppeteer controlling the Resurrection Sect, the world’s worst son of a bitch for granting that divine selection of Eggtart or Astarte to Sara.
I’m sure of it. If I’m wrong, let them cut one of Halsenberg’s testicles. I have that much confidence.
“Where are you? Let’s have a direct conversation.”
Quack! While trampling Sara’s head firmly, I said. Trying to look calm, but my voice was thick with uncontrolled anger, ruining everything.
The self-proclaimed boss of Cassas smirked at me with a snort.
―Are you really curious who I am? Your interest as a famous person flatters me.
“Ah, X, tell me your location so I can blow your head off.”
Who you are? I don’t care if you’re the president of Cassas or the chairman of the Jogging Society of Mt. Chilgap. I’m no samurai. I’m just eager to kill you right away.
But my sharp words earned me only a tsk sound.
―I’ve noticed already, when you’re angry, you lose all sense of reasoning. Focus on growing up before you come to meet me.
And that was the end of the conversation. Quoting some famous gamer’s best line of the century, the boss of Cassas fell silent.
Fwoosh, the vitality remaining in Sara’s corpse quickly vanished.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
As the level-up panels and fanfare went off, the sensation that followed was…
“Gyaah!”
“M-Murder!”
“That lunatic is killing people!!”
The familiar cries and screams of terror rang out.
‘What is this?’
The white explosion hasn’t happened yet. Did the Resurrection Sect already start their operations? Could it be that I moved quickly, and they, too, initiated the massacre earlier?
I immediately wiped the blood off my sword and prepared for battle. Turning my head toward the citizens, ready to pounce at any moment.
“Uh…”
And then I let out a sigh of realization.
The terrified stares, the screams of terror, and the cries of anger were all directed at me.
I, the nighttime mass murderer, was none other than myself.
“Hahaha, life is a pile of crap. Kyahahaha!”
True. Right. How did I not know?
From their perspective, the guy who just tore an innocent woman in half is clearly me, the world’s worst bastard.
‘Ah. The world is truly so beautiful.’
I pressed my forehead. The current situation was so absurd that I burst into uncontrollable laughter.
Involuntary laughter kept flowing out despite my will. People, upon seeing my madman-like grin, gradually began to step back.
And in the midst of the swirling chaos, a soft voice that shouldn’t have reached me did.
“… Mommy?”
My laughter stopped abruptly. I whipped my head around as if burned by fire.
There stood Tara. Her gaze on the fallen Sara beneath my feet seemed to waver aimlessly.
I realized we were just in front of the alleyway. That late realization hit me like a punch on the back of my head.
“Mo, mon, MON… MONSTER.”
The old pants Tara was wearing began to soak slowly from the groin. She had wet herself.
Shaking legs barely moved as she stepped back. Tears streamed down Tara’s eyes, filled with confusion and terror.
Her gaze was pointed directly at me.
“…”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, and finally turned away.
It was because I couldn’t think of any rebuttal to the word “monster.”
