Chapter 104
The central urban battle flowed much more smoothly than expected.
In fact, it made sense. I also learn. If my memories just keep connecting, I gradually figure out their habits.
Who I should kill first.
Where should I strike to be efficient.
Where do I dismantle to reduce their offense? I learn these kinds of things.
“Huhk…Kuhk.”
Prioritizing, I first find the locations of the snipers scattered throughout the urban area and assassinate them.
Next, I identify and prioritize the extermination of the horrific creatures Cassas’ chief planted all over.
And lastly, it’s the turn of the fallen sister whose spawn point (?) is unclear.
“Aa… Ugh…!”
Something I didn’t consider before: reducing the number of Resurrection Sect followers as much as possible before consciousness starts is surprisingly very helpful.
What was most challenging about this attempt wasn’t anything else but having too many rookies attacking all at once, where defending became overwhelming.
Next time, I must absolutely be the one initiating the conflict. That was the conclusion I reached internally.
“Ghh… Huuuk.”
Anyway, the whining sounds since just now are getting loud. I tightened my grip on my sword.
Psssjik. The sound of slicing flesh, and Vestark plunged deeper into her abdomen.
“… How… in such a short time… could you have grown so strong?”
The fallen sister in front of me muttered this, covered in large streams of blood.
I quietly stared at the dying sister’s face, then lowered my gaze to my chest. My voice leaked out, suppressing pain just like her.
“Becoming stronger… I’ve got a long way to go before I do that with trash like you.”
My sword pierced through the abdomen of the fallen sister, while reciprocally, her sword was buried into my chest.
Honestly, I could’ve avoided it if I wanted to, but fighting would’ve dragged on inevitably. I didn’t even have the time for that.
There’s no time to be lingering here. I have something I need to check out immediately.
“Hak… goddess… what…”
The fallen sister couldn’t finish her sentence. Her trembling body went limp. Simultaneously, the level-up panel popped up — her stubborn life force had finally ended.
I withdrew my sword and looked down at her lifeless corpse sprawled on the ground for a moment.
“Kulk! Kuuhk… Kuhm.”
It hurt to breathe, as if there’s a hole pierced through my lung. My right shoulder, which was cleanly severed at the base, throbbed painfully. This, by the way, happened from being ganged up on by rookies before even fighting the sister.
While sweeping my gaze through the square filled with mountains of corpses, I smirked faintly.
“What… I’ve more or less got it all memorized.”
In the central urban area, there are five snipers in total, eight monsters, and one irregular fallen sister. There are about 150 Resurrection Sect followers, regardless of strength.
‘And considering that the residential and commercial districts will have similar numbers… and counting the ones hiding in the alleys…’
That Zeon kid is talking nonsense about the maximum 500 people thing. There’s even more. While muttering curses internally, I immediately consumed the remaining ether.
In this life, I managed to save one Water Ether and cleared the urban area. This result is the greatest evidence of my growth.
“Hoo.”
After the moment the pale light swept through my body, I looked around, finding my body to be much more comfortable.
And for a moment, I stared at the empty space where my right arm once was.
‘As expected. Ether alone can’t reattach a cut-off arm.’
Though, if severed arms could sprout back like a lizard’s tail, that would be creepy for its own reasons.
I bitterly smiled, looking at the severed edge of my shoulder that instantly healed. I then immediately set off.
My direction was naturally toward the residential area.
“…”
Has the Demon King convinced Seop Baek? Did Seop Baek heed my words?
Several thoughts arose, but I tried my best not to dwell on them. The surroundings were eerily silent, making my mind wander into unwanted thoughts.
Even when I was hurting earlier, the pain would quickly suppress any distractions, but now, being this energized is turning out to be the problem.
“…Ehh.”
And as I arrived at the residential district, I exhaled a deep sigh rising from the depths somewhere. I quietly stared at the now-familiar inn, “Promise of Refuge,” which had become irritatingly familiar.
There, as usual, Seop Baek waited for me with an anxious face.
*
“Mr. Jung Yong… your arm…!”
The moment Seop Baek saw my condition, she blurted out a line reminiscent of a certain pirate manga’s protagonist’s childhood.
And the phrase afterward wasn’t much different from her actions in the previous life either.
“Are you saying that I, while you fight to the point of looking like this, should just sit around and watch?!”
Still, just as in the previous life, she embraced me and spoke up, asking me to let her fight alongside.
“Uhhh.”
I let out my second sigh.
Seop Baek’s resolve was stronger than ever. No matter what I said, it seemed she was determined to follow me.
She had never held on to something this firmly before. She must be really worried.
—Pain… thank you for it.
Suddenly, a voice that reverberated in my mind stiffened my body.
Seop Baek’s face overlapped with the horrifying monster’s features. I exerted all my strength momentarily to suppress the urge to vomit.
The fragment of Astarte. If I see that bastard again this time, it’s over.
My resolve wavered. I became certain.
‘No matter what… it can’t be done.’
As a result, I decided to take decisive action.
Tell her straightforwardly what happens from here in the future, and protect her safety.
It’s fine. There’s a possibility. She even believed that I’m immortal. So, if I explain things properly this time…
“Seop Baek, listen.”
“I’m listening.”
“You say you’d believe me, even if I told you to skip rope with a rainbow… right?”
“Yes. I’ll believe anything you say. Please don’t go alone, Mr. Jung Yong.”
Seop Baek looked at me with eyes so earnest, almost blindly.
With a sigh, I glanced at her earnestly and began to speak.
“I tell you, the truth is, I’ve already seen 140,000 different futures…”
I stopped there. I tried forcing in a joke, but shut my mouth.
And I stared at Seop Baek’s eyes with unfocused eyes.
“…”
“Mr. Jung Yong?”
When the speech suddenly cut off, Seop Baek tilted her head in confusion and gave me an inquisitive look. But I ultimately did not speak again.
Instead, I let out a quiet sigh of resignation, unnoticed by her.
“Right. Now I see… you’re absolutely right, you stubborn idiot.”
“… What? What do you mean by that?”
“Not. Nothing.”
It was then that I realized the significance of the words Minerva had said before.
“There you go. It’s weird to believe in the first place.”
Minerva said that no one would believe my words regarding the spatiotemporal regression. I argued back, saying Seop Baek believed me. She unconditionally believed me.
Then, she looked at me with a sad face and said:
—That woman’s belief is not sincere trust.
I felt like I was dismissed at that moment and got pissed off, but now I understand.
Looking at Seop Baek’s determined eyes, knowing they could pierce through death itself, I deeply realized.
‘No matter how truthfully I speak this time… she won’t change her stance. Never.’
Instead, she might think I’m lying to protect her.
Of course, I might not be the pure-hearted hero she thinks I am, but from Seop Baek’s perspective, laughably, this is the most logical conclusion.
So, verbally saying she believes while silently following me no matter what, will inevitably follow her actions.
Why, you ask?
‘Because she doesn’t believe the so-called undying god talk either.’
I want to prove my selfishness.
With this body that doesn’t die, if I fail, I can try again. With a safety net, I go crazy.
You, with your ordinary hero-like healing, can’t keep up with me. So, you’re just annoying.
Shit, it’s the only thing Park Jeong-yong, the no-reply-to-life, can boast about. Naturally, I’m extremely eager to show it off.
‘But there’s no proof.’
That’s the problem. There was no proof to show Seop Baek on my part.
How can I prove that I don’t die? I couldn’t even realize I was dead until my memories were restored.
‘Spatial regression… isn’t memory erasure.’
When you die, everything you’ve done is erased as if it never happened. That’s the fatal part.
To the world, to Seop Baek, and even to me. It’s all history erased.
Even I, who have regained memories of my past lives, only realize ‘Oh, that happened’ as if reading someone else’s story.
‘All my deaths have been erased as if they never happened.’
Then, in such circumstances, how could I prove something that never existed?
With the Box of the Dead? Among the palm-sized items it can hold, are there truly any that can definitively prove I’m immortal?
Besides, if I spatially regress and open the Box of the Dead, even I wouldn’t know what’s happening inside. I’d just keep getting startled by the tricks my past self has set up.
—Such blind trust… it won’t help you at all. If anything, it might just be a wound.
Minerva’s sorrowful voice echoed in my head.
I bitterly nodded in agreement.
‘Shit… you’re absolutely right. So annoying.’
Knowing facts only I know, facts no one truly believes, and facts I can’t even prove, is frustrating. No, it’s painful. I felt it acutely now.
For the first time in my undying life, I feel a slight scratch in my heart.
“… No. It’s nothing.”
In the end, I could only mumble something meaningless. The words after a long silence were unbearably bland.
Seop Baek gave a sorrowful smile, as if she expected nothing else.
“… Of course, you don’t explain, do you?”
“Saying it wouldn’t make you believe anyway.”
“But I believe in you unconditionally. Don’t you trust me?”
“Because that’s not real trust. You’re just forcing me to trust.”
“…”
Seop Baek seemed shocked by my words. For a moment, she averted her gaze in silence. Her lips opened and closed repeatedly as if she intended to say something but couldn’t bring herself to.
I stared at her silently and continued speaking.
“Even I think it’s hard to believe without being forced. So I won’t push it. I don’t want to force belief anymore.”
I spoke as honestly as possible.
Believing nothing yet trusting, following, and being swayed by me, I paid my respects to Seop Baek who did all that until now.
A long silence stretched. When she finally lifted her head, there was moisture in her eyes.
“Then… Yes. I won’t ask anymore. I won’t even be curious.”
“Good. Thanks.”
I sincerely bowed my head in gratitude. Tears dropped from her eyes.
I watched it silently, feeling deeply regretful.
‘Now, do I have to see this again?’
The fragment of Astarte. The blood-soaked, chilling face grows clearer each time I blink. My heart started trembling naturally.
I failed to persuade Seop Baek. That event will happen again inevitably. A fear greater than death crept in.
But then, at that moment.
“I’ll… go back, then.”
Seop Baek said that and turned her back. She walked away with her shoulders slumped, heading toward the urban area.
She’s preparing to leave as I suggested.
“Uh-um? Eng?”
I stumbled for words, opening and closing my mouth. Seop Baek glanced back at me with a bowed head.
“… I’ll wait in the Promised Fields. For however long it takes… until Mr. Jung Yong returns safely.”
Endless streams of tears flowed down under Seop Baek’s bowed face. Because her head was down, I couldn’t see her expression.
“…”
Frankly, I don’t even want to. Seeing Seop Baek’s face now would only add headaches when I recover my memories each time. It’s better not to see.
So, I wiped the blood off my sword and, with my back to her, headed further into the residential district.
“If Resurrection Sect members charge toward you, don’t hesitate and kill them. Survive as selfishly as possible. Prioritize your life.”
“…”
Seop Baek tightly closed her lips and withheld her reply.
Thinking back, when I first came to this world, Minerva gave me similar advice. I completely ignored it and got dragged around like a rag for nearly dozens of times.
‘I hope you’re not like me, a pushover.’
Silently wishing for Seop Baek’s safety, I quickened my steps further into the residential area.
“We promised to watch fireworks… so you have to come back alive. Please.”
I heard Seop Baek’s imploring voice.
I gestured vaguely while saying,
“I’m the immortal god, remember?”
It was the statement with the highest truth value among all that I said here.
I briefly glanced back at her, holding up two fingers. Seop Baek responded with a sorrowful smile.
‘Even if you know the ten-mile depths, the one-mile depth of a person remains unknown, they say.’
Is today the day to reminisce on all the sayings of life?
Though she wouldn’t listen even when I prayed earnestly for her return, why did her sudden decision to retreat occur now that I’ve kept quiet?
I don’t know.
In all sincerity, ‘even if I die and wake up’ countless times, I may never understand.
Uhm. Women are hard.
