< Chapter 182: Encounter (2) >
“Sit down first.”
At Shin’s gesture, two chairs appeared facing each other.
“Don’t we have limited time?”
Do we have the luxury of time right now?
I grumbled as I took a seat.
“Seems like the future me had time constraints, huh?”
Shin sat down across from me with a smirk. It seems this version of Shin doesn’t have such constraints.
“…Ugh. The future Kim Shin is really useless.”
“….”
Shin’s brow furrowed. Whether it’s about the future or not, he didn’t seem pleased being insulted.
“Just tell me quickly.”
I was running out of patience.
“You don’t have to rush. I’ll start soon.”
Shin leaned back, stroking his chin.
“I wonder where and how to start explaining… Hmm.”
He glanced at me, seemingly lost in thought.
“Hey, you’re not just stalling because I hit you twice earlier, right?”
It seemed like he was just pretending to think. But Shin just grinned again.
“I’m really sorting out my thoughts.”
Really now?
“So, when will that sorting end?”
“Just wait for 5 minutes. I’m trying to deduce the thoughts of my future self as accurately as possible. It takes some time.”
“…Really?”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Fine, I’ll wait for 5 minutes.”
“Thank you for your patience.”
So, I waited, growing increasingly anxious.
“It seems like 5 minutes passed. Are you done yet?”
I felt like I was about to explode.
“I’ve just finished.”
Shin stopped stroking his chin and crossed his arms. Looking at him, it seemed like he had genuinely been lost in thought.
“…Is the Shin of this era a bit more magnanimous?”
“Let’s begin the explanation.”
I uncrossed my legs and listened attentively.
“Firstly, this world isn’t just a ‘fictional’ world. It’s a real world.”
Reality.
I had suspected as much. I felt it from the people of this world.
“So, based on the novel written by the future you, this world was created?”
“No, it’s the other way around.”
Shin shook his head.
“The other way?”
“I created this world first and then moved to the world you lived in to write a ‘novel’ about this world.”
“…Why?”
Why did he need to do that?
“To remember this world. To let people from other worlds know about it. And also…”
Shin chuckled bitterly.
“As a requiem for this world. Probably with that intention, he wrote a novel about this world.”
“…Requiem?”
A song for the dead.
Which means…
“So, even with the transcendent power of the ‘S-Class Status Window’, it couldn’t prevent the destruction of this world.”
“…I can’t know for sure now, but judging by the actions of my future self, that seems to be the case.”
Shin bitterly laughed.
“That’s why I erased the [S-Class Status Window] from you. Because I would have known better than anyone that with that method, I couldn’t protect this world.”
“….”
“Perhaps what you said to my future self, to remove the status window, was the hint.”
Shin’s gaze bore into me.
“Coincidentally, your body was made using my soul, making it the perfect vessel to directly receive Adam’s legacy. Even if it was a gamble, it was worth trying. At least, if I were in that situation, I would have thought so.”
…So that’s how Adam’s legacy was connected.
But I still had doubts.
“So why did you throw me into this world? Even if you didn’t make me reincarnate into another world if you had given this power to the original protagonist….”
“He would have died long ago.”
Died? Why?
“In this world, not having a system is an indescribable penalty. Unless someone like you, who indirectly experienced the future of this world, came along, they probably would’ve seen it as impossible to overcome.”
“Ah.”
I thought for a moment.
If I didn’t have the ‘knowledge of the future,’ how would I have fared in this harsh world?
‘I definitely wouldn’t have survived.’
Even if I managed the first challenges, starting from the doppelganger episode, it would have been impossible. Not having the status window was a huge disadvantage from the beginning.
‘So that’s why the S-Class Status Window was removed….’
When I met Shin in a dream before, he had said that he had no choice but to remove the S-Class Status Window. Now I understood why.
“…Huh?”
A question popped up in my head.
“Can I ask a question?”
“Anytime.”
“If everything you said is true, then the novel written by you is based on ‘facts’ and is actually what will ‘happen in the future,’ right?”
“Yes.”
“And you knew this world would be destroyed.”
My eyes narrowed.
“So, you knew everything that would happen on all the timelines in this world?”
“Yes, I would have known everything.”
“Would have?”
It sounds as if the current Shin doesn’t know about the future.
“Your guess is right. I currently don’t know in detail what will happen in the future.”
“…Why?”
“There’s a spoiler.”
“Ah.”
He’s referring to the Demon King.
“All I know now is that this era will face its end in 3 years.”
Shin smirked.
“If I had known all the way up to ten thousand years into the future, there would be no reason to create the seemingly useless power of the [S-Class Status Window].”
“Right.”
It made sense.
“I assume that after 3 years when this era meets its apocalypse due to different races, I slowly began to see the future.”
“Because the spoiler was sealed?”
“Yes.”
The spoiler.
The Demon King was sealed at that time.
“And I probably despaired. Even with the power I carefully prepared, the [S-Class Status Window], I couldn’t prevent the destruction of this world.”
“…So you ran away to another world?”
And wrote the novel, met me, and found a clue to save this world.
‘So I reincarnated into this world’s protagonist. Without the deemed useless S-Class Status Window.’
This was the full story of my reincarnation into the novel.
“If that’s the case, you should’ve told me before you sent me….”
I was skeptical.
He might have tricked me as a joke. That’s why he couldn’t tell me the reason.
“He probably did.”
“…Did?”
When?
“He must have told you everything before you came to this world.”
“…I don’t remember?”
“I told you before. Your memory was locked.”
“Because of that damn authority?”
“Yes.”
I rubbed my chin, deep in thought.
“Indeed, when I met you in the dream, you did mention making a request to me and said that I had accepted it.”
“Then it’s certain. I must have explained everything to you, and you accepted it.”
“…Really?”
Considering my personality, there’s a high probability that I would have accepted after hearing such a thing. Especially since I was quite drunk that night.
“Okay. I understand now why I’m in this situation.”
Everything connected logically, and there was nothing more I was curious about.
“So, I just have to save this world?”
That must be why, in episode 859, you said to meet at the ending that isn’t quite the ending. Once I reach there, it’s practically mission accomplished.
“Yes. Once you do that, you should be able to return to your original world.”
“My… original world…”
The sudden mention of going back…
“I’m not really sure if I want to go back.”
“Why not? Don’t you miss your family and friends?”
“…You really don’t remember anything about me, do you?”
If it were the Shin who knew me, he wouldn’t have said such a thing.
“I don’t have a family.”
In other words, I’m what you’d call an orphan.
“And friends… Well, since I started working at a very young age, I don’t really have any.”
I had my hands full just taking care of myself.
While I had several people I could call acquaintances, our relationships were merely transactional.
Exchanging greetings during the holidays like “Happy New Year”, then not communicating for about a year. That kind of relationship.
“I did have people I communicated with…”
I was tactful enough not to do anything offensive.
As a result, I ended up exchanging contact details with many, more than I realized.
I even tried dating a few times.
But, it was hard for me to get emotionally attached.
I just… felt like things were too light.
As a result, I never had a long-term relationship.
“Once I had some free time, I was engrossed in web novels.”
In my life, Shin was the person I was closest to, so he knew everything about me.
“That’s why I don’t really have any regrets about my original world.”
Perhaps, that’s why I adapted so quickly to this world.
“If I had to describe my current feelings, I’d say I want to stay in this world.”
I’ve become more attached to this world.
I like the people in this world.
The five months I’ve spent in this world feel more valuable than the 28 years in my original one.
“If this world can be peaceful without the threat of annihilation… I want to happily live here with the people I love.”
If I end up saving this world, I want to stay here.
“Is that possible?”
In response to my question, Shin smiled.
It was a very warm smile.
“Of course.”
It was the same kind of smile the future Shin showed me.
“My world isn’t so shameless as to shun a hero.”
I smiled back at him.
“Oh.”
I had forgotten the most important thing.
“Hyung, due to my coming to the past, could the future change?”
The butterfly effect.
Time paradox.
I need a definitive answer to this matter.
Only then can I take action.
“If my actions cause the future to crumble even worse…”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
Suddenly, he approached me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Regardless of what you do here, your future won’t change.”
“Why?”
“Because you are the protagonist.”
“…What does that mean?”
How is, being the protagonist, related to the future?
“It means you are the ‘big’ history of this world. You’re the unchangeable center of ‘fate’.”
I couldn’t comprehend his words.
Seeing my confusion, he elaborated.
“In other words, the factors that make up your existence won’t change.”
“My existence…factors?”
“The people around you, the situations you’ve encountered, what you’ve gained. All of that is immutable. The force of history revolves around you, changing to maintain your existence.”
“…Because I’m Kang Seo-yul?”
The protagonist of this world.
With a part of Adam’s soul.
Kang Seo-yul.
Is that why?
“That’s part of the reason. But also, you are the subject of the time leap.”
“Why is that?”
“Your existence is essentially confirmed by the situation where you performed the time leap. So, from the world’s perspective, it has to maintain you. It cannot allow a time paradox.”
…There’s some kind of law preventing the time paradox itself.
“So, you’re saying if I safely ensure Teddy and Adel survive here, in the future, Instructor Pi jin ho and Jia will be perfectly fine?”
“If those two are key figures in your ‘history’, then definitely.”
They are important figures.
“There won’t be any changes around me?”
“Right. Everything will stay the same. It’s the ‘natural order’.”
“…Are you sure?”
“I am certain. I stake my two names, ‘Adam’ and ‘Shin’, on it.”
“…I see.”
Only then could I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Anyway, if what you say is correct, this world is genuinely the past, right?”
“Yes.”
“If I defeat the devil here and now, he won’t emerge in the future?”
“…If you can, then yes.”
Fire gleamed in my eyes.
‘Not bad.’
Having the chains of the time paradox (worries about the future) removed, combined with the prime opportunity to defeat the devil.
“It won’t be easy. Defeating the devil is defying fate. Especially now, changing fate from this past point will be very tough.”
If my existence is the force of this world, it would be a considerable challenge.
“I know. Still, it’s an opportunity. If I fail, I can use that failed experience in the future.”
There’s no loss in battling the devil.
“…I see.”
It seemed he agreed.
“Oh, right. Just in case, I need to prepare to return to reality. I haven’t found the way yet. Do you have any idea on how I can return?”
“Hmm…”
He retreated to his seat, lost in thought for a moment.
“You mentioned that the ‘Essence of the Time Dragon’ seemed to have been activated along with the collision of errors when you came here.”
“Right.”
The relic of time regression.
The Essence of the Time Dragon.
The cause of my time leap most likely lay there.
“Then, the answer is clear. Seek out the Time Dragon.”
“…Is the Time Dragon still alive?”
“Yes. It’s on its last legs, but it’s still alive.”
With his gesture, a piece of paper dropped in front of me.
“If you go there, you’ll be able to meet the Time Dragon.”
It was a map.
“You need to hurry. The Time Dragon doesn’t have much time left.”
At that moment, my next destination was determined.
< Chapter 182: Encounter (2) > End.
