Episode 105: She Alone Remembers
So what?
As for the result of grabbing Seop Baek’s collar and entering the residential zone, it goes as follows.
I managed to capture about 20 minor Resurrection Sect disciples, then fell unconscious. This happened approximately 15 minutes after I sent Seop Baek back.
“Huh… damn it.”
Honestly, it was quite expected.
Losing an arm is devastating. It was my right arm this time – if it had been my left, it might have been less critical. Using my less dominant hand, it became extremely difficult to parry sword strikes, and my body’s balance was all off.
Naturally, this created many openings. I allowed too many attacks, and the blades carving into my flesh grew in number.
“Cough!”
About 15 minutes in, coughing fits accompanied by streams of blood became as frequent as breathing. My torso was pierced with swords like a pincushion. No matter where I moved my gaze, it was filled with the swords and daggers wielded by Resurrection Sect disciples.
As I took in this sight, while a primal fear of dying washed over me, my unusually cold and calculating mind assessed my immediate priorities.
“Blackwings!”
With a tearing sound, my cloak split to transform into crow wings, and I shot up into the sky.
Fortunately, up to this point, no enemy had been seen flying in any location in Kern. Furthermore, teleportation-type magic is exceedingly rare, and movement options in this world are generally quite limited – this applies to enemies as well.
Thus, Blackwings became an extremely useful method of escape and travel.
“To… the start… point….”
In my fading consciousness, I mumbled like I was casting a suggestion on myself. I had no idea if I was heading in the right direction or not, relying on a half-dreamlike sensation to fly.
And just how far did I fly? A heavy crunch sounded, and my body violently shook. Right there, I began to plummet.
“Ugh.”
Crash! Falling at full speed, I crashed to the ground and skidded for quite a while before stopping. The pain had perhaps reached its limit, as a heavy sensation of compression took over my entire body.
With eyes that barely opened anymore, I quietly examined my condition.
“……”
A large hole pierced through my stomach. Given that the hole, starting from my back, widened as it reached my abdomen, it seemed to have been caused by a bullet-like projectile. I had been shot down.
Blood and ruptured organs were slowly leaking out through the hole.
‘Ah, right.’
Of course. One doesn’t need to fly in order to attack from the air, does one? Was my head so muddled that I forgot such an obvious fact?
My body felt as if it was floating. The pain gradually lessened, and alternating sensations of cold and heat repeated.
In the end – as it always did – absolute darkness enveloped me.
[The fixed axis of reincarnation has been forcibly altered by the immortal Demon King Rustica Asmodeus.]
[The resurrection point has been updated.]
[Date – Continental calendar year 1108, January 13, 02:44]
[Location – Markeuteuriseu. Upper region of the Promised Plain, western gate of Kern township]
In front of the dashboard that I looked at with bewilderment, Lucy slowly released the lips she had been pressing against mine.
Could it be my imagination? Lucy’s pale face, devoid of color, seemed slightly tinged with red.
“… Hmm. I guess I’m getting used to this.”
Lucy, stroking her lips, made such a comment. For someone whose first kiss was just forcibly taken, her reaction was incredibly flustered.
I took a step forward to pinch her cheeks, and at the ‘pzzjak’ sound beneath my feet, I quickly glanced down.
There, my squashed corpse lay.
The right foot I had stepped out with had landed precisely into the hole in the corpse’s belly.
“Hoeeeeeng!!!”
I let out a scream like an 18-year-old soldier who had just finished military service.
After calming down the violently pounding heart for a moment, I looked down at my corpse, and Lucy began to rub her chin. She glanced at me with a look of satisfaction.
“So, you died accurately at the checkpoint? Quite talented, eh? How did you die, hero?”
“It’s not like I can tell, you know! Ah, but… Rather, this still feels strange.”
I tensed up and pointed toward the corpse. I looked at Lucy.
I sent her a gaze asking ‘is it that?’ and Lucy immediately replied with a look that said ‘yes, that.’
“Are you not getting tired of always being surprised? Just accept it quickly. It’s annoying for those who watch.”
“Sure, you might get tired, but for me, every day is new, man.”
Muttering to Lucy, I reached for my waist, pulled out the lantern emanating an ominous light, and placed it near the corpse.
The form of my past life, lying peacefully as if in a reverie, dissolved into ashes and disappeared into the air.
[Item Activation – Izanami’s Heart]
[Obtained residual memories from the previous life.]
[Restored 43 points of strength, 88 points of agility, and 0 points of intelligence.]
[No skills lost in the previous life, therefore no recovery of practical skills.]
[All memories of the previous life have been restored.]
With a groan, the memories of my past life returned to me.
I stared blankly into the air for a short while.
Then, out of habit, I opened the status window first.
Since the operation was an operation, it had become habitual for me to do this after regaining my memories.
[Name: Park Jeong-yong]
[Nickname: 163417413th official hero. Guardian of the Demon King’s Egg. One bound to immortality.]
[LV. 213]
[Health: 1800/1800 Magic: 1000/1000 Physical Condition: Mild confusion]
[Strength: 257 Agility: 430 Intelligence: 51 Hero Sense: 19]
Finally, with experience points alone, I achieved the remarkable feat of surpassing level 200. The abilities restored by Izanami’s Heart were no joke due to the large increase in levels.
‘… The last level I saw in my past life… was it… 258?’
At some point, the speed of leveling up would slow down drastically, I’m sure.
The experience points provided by the Resurrection Sect members are undoubtedly limited, as is the number of Resurrection Sect members. However, since my level keeps rising, there’s certainly an upper limit.
Judging from the steady progression I’ve observed thus far, the arrival of that limit is still a long way off.
‘… Let’s go.’
As the notion of wanting to rest even for a moment surged within me, the many times I had died in previous lives urged me to eliminate as many Resurrection Sect members as possible during this golden moment. I moved forward in a dazed state.
Suddenly, I stopped in my tracks. I stared blankly at Lucy for a moment before abruptly opening my mouth.
“Hey. Lucy.”
“Eh? Why are you calling me suddenly?”
That’s right. Why did I call her? I was flustered by the fact that I had summoned her and was now unsure of why.
Looking at Lucy, who blinked at me with wide eyes, I spouted every thought in my head without filtering.
“Do you want to hear an amazing fact?”
I don’t know why, but at this moment, I was utterly exhausted. Hence, my actions preceded my thoughts, like when intoxicated.
And I realized the fact, but I didn’t stop. Otherwise, I thought I might truly go insane.
“Amazing…? What is it?”
My unusually serious tone must have startled her, for Lucy’s eyes widened with tension.
I slowly revealed the amazing fact to her.
“Actually, I’m an immortal god. I come back to life even after dying.”
“……Eh?”
“Really. Don’t you believe it? Even I can’t believe it, but apparently, I really come back after dying. Isn’t that freaking awesome?”
“Has this bastard gone completely insane…?”
Lucy sighed heavily with an expression as if she had seen it all, then suddenly rushed at me and started kicking my calves.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I don’t know that? I don’t die either, you fool! Are you trying to be impressive?”
I wanted to respond with a joke to her reply, but my throat constricted, and my voice failed me momentarily. My reaction was thus delayed.
“… You too? That’s amazing! You badass, you’re truly a great Demon King!”
“No, why are you like this, you fool?! It’s terrifying!”
Seeing me suddenly burst into laughter, Lucy took a step back. I grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from escaping.
Then, I slowly pulled her into my arms and hugged her.
“… Huh?”
Seeming not to understand the situation, Lucy let out a puzzled exclamation.
A chill-like sensation, as if hugging a corpse, spread through my body. A long while later, she sharply inhaled.
Lucy started to flail about, clearly flustered.
“Y-y-y-you really! Hero, are you crazy? Are you insane? I’ll drive my sword through you!”
“Yeah. I’m crazy. I’m going insane.”
“Not… not that… Ugh… No, seriously…”
Lucy seemed to have given up on trying to free her arms, ceased resisting, and lowered her head.
I couldn’t make out what she was muttering to herself. When I gently tightened my grip on her with my arms, her body flinched.
This is pretty amusing. Having such thoughts, I closed my eyes and said,
“Just wait. I’m recovering my SAN points.”
“San points…? Wh-what’s that?”
“Yeah, there’s something like that.”
“Ever since then, you’ve been spouting nonsense about being an immortal god or something… something’s really off with this life of yours, hero. Right?”
“Got it.”
Of course.
It’s obvious to Lucy that I’m immortal. Upon hearing that, the oppressive feeling of choking tightness that had been constricting my neck until now disappeared.
Lucy has no choice but to trust me. Out of everyone in the world, she alone can genuinely believe that I am an immortal god.
She alone remembers every single death of mine, even those I’ve forgotten.
That’s enough. She understands, and that’s all that matters.
“Alright. I’ll be fine for about a hundred tries.”
Satisfied, I nodded and released Lucy from my grasp. As soon as the hold was loosened, Lucy quickly stepped back and adjusted her posture.
On closer inspection, her face was slightly flushed and she was avoiding eye contact.
“If I go crazy… you understand, right?”
While walking towards the commercial district of Kern, I said.
Lucy, who had been cautiously observing me, resumed her confident stance without hesitation and teased me.
“Understood! I’ll thoroughly dismantle your limbs to snap you out of it!”
“… Oh yeah.”
I glanced at the giggling Lucy and continued towards Kern.
Whoosh! My silhouette, using Blackwings, soared into the sky. Cutting through the night sky, it felt unusually light.
And thus, I returned to hunting the Resurrection Sect members. I effortlessly and cleanly cleared the central district, then once again remained silent in front of Seop Baek, causing her to retreat. And fortunately, I succeeded in clearing the entire residential area.
However, not long after entering the commercial district, I instantly died.
“… Choke.”
I think the last sound I heard was a loud “Taang!” It was probably a sniper shot.
The defense of Blackwings was long gone. When your brain is shattered by magical bullets, you have to die, what else can you do?
Unlike a certain YuX, we don’t teleport our brains to avoid such shots. Damn.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
…
…
… Ah, right.
In the next life, an unexpected event occurred.
I died in the residential area without recovering the residual memories from the commercial district.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
What went wrong? Did I let my guard down? No. Originally, my level had already risen substantially, and I was a new recruit with combat experience from doing this five times already.
What exactly did I do wrong?
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
One might wonder about this. But such doubts are now meaningless.
Because ultimately, I died without recovering the residual memories. Everything that happened during that time—the struggles I faced over five lifetimes—became completely “non-existent.”
What’s the point of debating over events that didn’t even happen?
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
Thus, a much later version of me… the me of now… knows absolutely nothing.
What did Minerva warn me about? What expressions did Seop Baek have when we spoke? And how did I feel when I received all that?
I don’t know. Originally, none of it happened, so I can’t possibly know.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
Knowing nothing, I just blindly keep charging ahead.
Over and over again, until I achieve the ending I desire.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
At times I reached levels 200, 300, even the lower 400s, only to die without accomplishing anything.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
Sometimes I cleared the residential area but lost everything in the commercial district. Other times I cleared the commercial area only to mess up the central district in the next life and lose it all.
Then there was the instance where I didn’t even clear the central district and lost everything.
Even after sending Seop Baek away, parts of the Resurrection Sect infiltrated the Promised Plain, summoning Astarte’s fragment, resulting in my complete annihilation.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
And then whoosh, I was reincarnated anew as if nothing happened.
Neither the incident with Tara nor the dispute with Seop Baek nor Minerva’s advice, none of it existed as Park Jeong-yong mk2, 3, 4, 5 kept appearing there.
“Urgh… how many times is this now, you bastard?”
The Demon King spits into the ground with an expression that indicates she’s tired of kissing me after every reincarnation.
Frustrated, the Demon King can’t recall dying in the past lives, just as I can’t with my death.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
Still, it’s fine. I had confidence I wouldn’t go insane.
Lucy will remember everything. No matter how many times I die, no matter how many times I start all over again from the beginning. She alone remembers everything—even what I forget.
That’s enough. If you remember it all, that’s fine.
Even my attempts that became non-existent are not meaningless.
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
[The resurrection point of immortality has been updated.]
…
…
