“Is it, Miss Cheon, or Cheon Miryo’s… master?”
In a space where time had stopped, Seol-Hwi asked that.
The thing called the Absolute being was not even moving. He was not even able to move his lips. Nevertheless, the words were being conveyed right.
Rather, it was like speaking with his mind.
“I did refine a few moves for Ryo. Even if it wasn’t for me, that child would have realized it eventually anyways.”
“Ah!”
As expected, what he thought was right, the master of Cheon Miryo was a wise man who discovered the time being repeated and spoke of things which would happen in the future.
“Perhaps you… are God?”
When asked so carefully, the old man burst into laughter.
“Haha. No. Not at all. Although I have acquired a lot of talent in the later years of my life, I am not that great. To put it in an understandable way… I think someone who is close to sainthood.”
“…Sainthood.”
“So, you are a bright kid and to clear those doubts, I wasn’t the one who made the system.”
“…!”
Seol-Hwi was shocked.
It seemed that suspicion and antipathy were seeping into his thoughts without his knowledge.
This was not unreasonable, because so many unimaginable things happened one after another. And in just a little time as well. It was too much to go through, much less in a single day.
“…What task do you have for me?”
This immortal being, the saint who was heard of only through rumors and stories, why did someone like this appear at this point?
Maybe it was because of Cheon Miryo’s death. So for Seol-Hwi, he was being a little careful of how he behaved.
“You seem quite confused. Most likely you should be. Actually I think it would be more correct to say that you called for me, not that I came for you,”
Shh
The old man said, twisting his head a bit.
“Time flows with space. So the stoppage of time breaks down the boundaries of nature and opens up part of the things which bind this world. Because you created a crack, I managed to come in.”
“The restraints…”
Perhaps he was talking about the system. There, Seol-Hwi saw the Absolute being who was swinging his sword, but then the man was frozen now.
“What you call the System is this abnormal ability which follows the principles of God. So, the person who wields that strength is no different than a God in the eyes of others. To a small creature, all people might seem huge and beyond them, but by human standards they are warriors.”
“…I see.”
He understood it all because it was easy to understand words.
In other words, even those who exalted themselves by talking about the Absolute, in the end, were ordinary humans who could not overcome the limitations of time and space.
And now this old man came, Cheon Miryo’s master, who seemed to have a greater strength than normal humans.
So the question was why did such a powerful and strong being appear before him?
“I am going to give you a choice.”
“Choice… is it?”
When asked, the saint nodded.
“If you want, you can totally split yourself from this system. You can think of a higher level of existence by going out. If needed, you can forget the memories of the things you had suffered through.”
“Hmmm.”
Because of his sudden appearance, he did suspect something was up, but looking at what he said, it was not all bad.
Above all, the proof was in his warm and kind eyes.
“To be separated from the System… what exactly does this mean?”
“In a world where Demon God doesn’t exist, to live like a normal, ordinary person. It is a peaceful life with no fights or disputes. Isn’t that exactly what you long for?”
“…”
Seol-Hwi’s face distorted at the words of the old man.
Was this not what he desired? Right. But that was not everything. That might have been true in the past, but not now. For Seol-Hwi, who had been through a lot in life so far, this was a bad… no, the worst suggestion.
It could not have been worse.
Destiny—
Everyone he loved and cared about had died. Now it had reached a point where there was almost no one in the world he knew.
Memories of them ran through his head. Could he escape and live a peaceful life with all his close friends still left in the system?
There was no way. He did not know what it would be like for the other people, but for Seol-Hwi, it was a coercive isolation. It was a choice he would not accept.
“Why… why me?”
But before refusing, Seol-Hwi asked.
Because there was something he wanted to confirm first.
“Miss Cheon was asked by you to help me. Of all the tens of thousands of players, why did you decide to give such a choice to me?”
There was more anger than curiosity. The peerless beauty who lacked nothing and the old man who was in front of him, he was the one who asked her to help Seol-Hwi, the woman with the most outstanding character.
And he did not like that she died.
“There was this bit of misunderstanding. Right, one might think so, but…”
The old man shook his head with this bitter smile.
“I chose you not because you were special. I just saw the system, a window of time and space, and you were the one who came closest to it.”
“…”
“That is why I taught Ryo and used that to be a foundation for the future. To learn what the system is like and the players who are born and die within. In a way, your awakening within it was just secondary.”
“Secondary…”
In an instant, this sense of futility flooded through Seol-Hwi’s heart. At the same time, anger rose. Secondary? Was he saying that he was just a tool?
How could someone like this saint speak of his life so easily? Do all those who have gotten to the top act this cold?
“So now I will listen to your answer. What is your choice?”
In response to the next question, Seol-Hwi gathered his emotions.
The other person was a saint. Whether he liked it or not, he was a divine being. He could not be foolish enough to display his true emotions.
Seol-Hwi asked, carefully, controlling his emotions,
“That offer… what happens if I refuse it?”
“Hmm. Refuse.”
The old man nodded.
It seemed strange, or as if he expected Seol-Hwi to choose that.
“Why are you thinking about refusing?”
“Cause I have work to do here.”
“What is that work?”
“Things which have never been done within the system. And I must reclaim the things I was unable to protect due to my weakness.”
“Huh. You want to go back to the painful times for just that one reason?”
“That reason… Is it my everything.”
Seol-Hwi suppressed his boiling emotions and answered him.
That was all.
Even if he was inside the system, Seol-Hwi experienced life within it. It made him become close to people.
Even if the old past was overwritten and rewritten through death and life, it changed nothing. No matter how anyone thinks, the fact that it was Seol-Hwi’s life and his choice would never change.
“Do you understand what you are talking about? The being called Demon God has touched into the area where the system can no longer reach. Born on the border, he is different from humans. You are going to fight for the rest of your life against someone like that?”
“Yes, I will fight.”
“You will die, lose, and be crushed. What are you trying to achieve in a fight where the outcome is clearly determined?”
“Seeing the people I want to see, apologize for getting help without doing anything for them. And… and…”
“You want to see Ryo.”
“…!”
Seol-Hwi, who had felt like the nail was hit on the head, kept silent. Then the old man said with a sad face,
“Unfortunately, it will not be easy. It would be right to say it was almost impossible. Ryo is a person outside the boundaries to begin with. This is a person that the system doesn’t recognize. So even if you enter the system now, there is no guarantee that you will be reunited with her.”
“But… Miss Cheon clearly entered the system and died within it.”
“That is why we cannot guarantee it, because of the System. This bondage of time and space was created by a God for some reason. It is unclear whether human intervention would work. Even if you return to life and meet her, she will not remember you. No, the chances of meeting her itself would be very slim.”
“…”
Point one percent—
To the system language, it meant less than a percent. Seol-Hwi’s face went dark at that.
“Because she was one who never existed in the first place, it was unknown if she would be born as a human. It was a random thing where one might be born with the disability or appear as an animal.”
“…”
“You still want to walk into that? To a living hell where your soul will be broken entirely and the odds are slim?”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
Seol-Hwi responded to the man who was genuinely concerned. But he was not backing down.
No matter how many more hours of bullying awaited him.
“Even if the probability is just 0.1 percent too, it is still worthy to challenge it. Because there are already more than a thousand lives. I think this is what we get them for in the first place.”
The chance of success was one in a thousand. All he had to do was try and make it once in the 1,000 chances.
He was just using the lives he got thanks to her.
“Huh…”
Those reckless words and choices, the saint sighed.
“Why do you want to go to such extreme lengths for Ryo? After a thousand deaths, you get around two or so chances at most.”
“Because she is waiting for me.”
“…?”
“When she gets reincarnated as a human, she will probably be waiting for me. Be it once in a thousand or twice, I need to head there directly.”
Seol-Hwi opened his mouth, and with a faint trembling voice, it was the sound that came out as a result of emotional turmoil,
“Thank you… and I have to say I was sorry. I have to tell her that. It has to be.”
“Huh.”
The old man sighed again.
Step. Step.
He walked around for a while holding his back which was bent, and did so for a while. Finally, as if something occurred to him, he said,
“Fine… maybe you expected this kind of thing to happen. The reason why the system was created may have been to reflect on this unbreakable will and life.”
After saying something which Seol-Hwi did not understand, the old man quietly nodded towards Seol-Hwi.
“Right. Good. Do whatever you want. No matter how terrible the end is, you will find happiness.”
“…!”
This ominous prophecy made him feel goosebumps rise. When Seol-Hwi took a deep breath and calmed himself, he just looked at the old man who continued,
“Once I step down, you will die. And as it has been until now, the system will start to take things back. To the person who is infinitely reckless, I acknowledge their will and present a gift.”
“Gift…?”
“Well, you will find out the moment you die. Maybe if that happens, you will have a special life. If only a little, or rather, a lot of luck is on your side…”
The old man smiled brightly and continued to speak,
“If you defeat the Demon God, you might be able to meet Ryo.”
“…!”
“It has been a long time since I had a good talk. Then… humans who have become subordinate to the System and opened the gates of hell, from now on, I will watch your steps from afar. I wish you luck…”
Shhh
The old man raised one hand and continued to speak,
“Take care of yourself.”
Clack
As the old man disappeared, Seol-Hwi looked at the Demon God. And then he experienced the familiar phenomenon of his vision turning dizzy.
<Seol-Hwi has died. There are currently 1,121 lives left. What would you like to do?> ▶Start from the beginning ▷Start with AI (New) ▷Continue ▷Load a save point
This?
Among them was this new window which signaled the beginning.
