Chapter 452 — The Final Wall (3)

What the ‘Secretive Plotter’ said felt as hollow as words coming from someone who had lost all meaning in his life.

I spoke up as if to rebel against that hollowness. “....Your life saved someone else’s.”

To someone who had lost so much, the truth of saving a kid whom he didn’t even know the name of wouldn’t be much of a consolation. The boy was someone completely unrelated to him, after all. That boy was not his comrade or his family member.

I tried to open my lips several times, yet I still couldn’t say anything else. The life I lived was no help whatsoever in the quest to save this guy.

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ looked at me struggling and spoke. [[When I first saw you, I believed that I needed to bring you under my wings.]]

Bring me under his wings. For some reason, I recalled the moments I first encountered him.

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– Please select your Sponsor.

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1. Abyssal Black Flame Dragon

2. Demon-like Judge of Fire

3. Secretive Plotter

4. Prisoner of the Golden Headband

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....I remembered it.

That did happen. The ‘Secretive Plotter’ showed up during my first Sponsor Selection as my third potential choice. He really did try to become my Sponsor.

[[After that, I continued to observe this world-line. Sometimes, I was surprised. I was just as surprised by the fact that I was surprised. Because, I hadn’t been surprised by anything for a long time.]]

I knew that. During this world-line’s story, he watched what we did and sent various indirect messages. If I dug through the indirect message logs, I should be able to read the ones he sent to me.

[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is intrigued by your choice.]

[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is impressed by the level of your stupidity.]

[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is disappointed by your flippant declaration.]

[Eyes of the Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, are sparkling after he heard your plan.]

[Constellation, ‘Secretive Plotter’, is curious about your scheme.]

.....

Those messages made the first actual face-to-face with him rather awkward for me. I knew now that [666] and other Yu Jung-Hyeoks were responsible for those indirect messages, but still....

[[I had to decide – whether to continue observing this distorted world, or to destroy it.]]

“....Was that why you sent me to the 1863rd turn?”

The Plotter nodded his head. His choice led to the beginning of this ‘world-line’.

He continued on. [[It was roughly a similar reason why I gave this turn’s Yu Jung-Hyeok the information on the 1863rd turn. I had a need to test you. To find out whether you or this turn’s Yu Jung-Hyeok was the more suitable candidate to witness the conclusion.]]

“Okay, so your choice was?”

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ didn’t reply and simply stared at me, before opening his mouth. [[There is a massive wall at the end of this world. It’s the ‘Final Wall’ that can only be opened when all the keys have been gathered together.]]

– You have acquired answers to all the questions.

– The ‘Three Divine Questions and Answers’ has ended.

I realised it then. That reply of his was the answer to my ‘three questions’.

Sparks dancing around the ‘Secretive Plotter’ grew more vicious. Certain information would require the consumption of a great deal of Probability just by mentioning it. And if the info was related to the end of this world, then it was only obvious that the Probability cost would be enormous, too.

The ‘Final Wall’.

That was the ‘Conclusion’ the Secretive Plotter had encountered in his epilogue.

[[The ‘fragment’ you possess is the last key that I’ve been searching for.]]

I got nervous and backed away. As I was in the shape of a [Murim dumpling], it was pretty hard to take backward steps, but whatever the case might have been, I simply had to create some distance between us.

If the Plotter’s goal was [The 4th Wall] in my possession, then he....

He, who was busy clenching and unfurling his fists, came across as rather terrifying for some reason.

Other kkoma Yu Jung-Hyeoks were also looking up at the Plotter with tense expressions.

[[Far too many things had to be distorted to create this world-line. I can’t decide whether leaving you alone is the right thing to do or not.]]

The distorted world-line. The broken Probability.

I heard about those two things lots of times already.

“Okay, so what? What do you want, then?”

I just threw out whatever came to my mind. The important thing was to buy time. I needed to drag this out as long as possible and return to my original body. That was important.

“I don’t really get what you’re trying to say here. I don’t get all this confusing mumbo-jumbo about the end result devouring the cause and whatnot. However, regardless of what, my comrades and I did our absolute best to come this far. The conclusion is practically around the corner for us.”

I could almost see it, the conclusion to this previously-unwritten story.

[[Seeing the conclusion is not everything. The truly important thing is to witness the correct conclusion.]]

“Correct conclusion? Deciding that would be.....”

[[A story with distorted Probability will always go on to create a calamity.]]

I became dazed from that declaration, something that only a Dokkaebi would make.

“That’s not like you. With something you haven’t even seen yet....”

It was then an earthquake suddenly erupted out. Something collapsed with a loud ‘Thud!!’

The wine glass on the circular table tumbled over; the whole forest was shaking around.

“.....What’s going on??”

This was definitely not a natural tremor.

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ slowly stood up from the throne and walked past me. His empty eyes were now peering deeply at the wide view of the forest.

The N’Gai’s Forest was enveloped in the violent conflagration.

His forest was burning up.

[AhAhAhAhAhAh]

[SavemeSavemeSavemeSavemeSavemeSaveme]

All those trees, so tall that they might pierce the heavens above, were now burning away into ashes. ‘Outer Gods’ hidden within the forest screamed. The hall’s temperature rapidly shot up from the incredible power of the flames. This couldn’t have been a simple arson.

Even I could sense it.

Someone possessing incredible Status was attacking this place.

But, who could it be?

Something like this was impossible. This was the territory of none other than the ‘Secretive Plotter’. So, who would dare to invade this place, then?

Could it be one of the large Nebulas?

? ? Or.... ?

I quickly went through the list of all the Constellations related to ‘fire’ in my head. But I couldn’t come up with any Modifiers.

This incredible flame that burned away the entirety of the expansive forest..... Could it be that there was another existence possessing this much power back in the original story?

[MykingMykingMykingMykingMyking]

[EscapeEscapeEscapeEscapeEscape]

Small ‘Outer Gods’ quickly gathered around the Plotter. Many Outer Gods had left him by now, but still, there were quite a lot that chose to remain. They were like the citizens crowding around to protect their king, having sensed the imminent fall of their kingdom.

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ looking at his subjects spoke to me. [[‘Demon King of Salvation’. I too made a mistake like you once before.]]

His voice remained relaxed, even as he faced an urgent situation of his forest burning away. As if, he had predicted all of this beforehand.

[[Rather foolishly, I tried to change what had already happened in the past.]]

“....What are you suddenly on about? Are you talking about the events of the 41st turn?”

If that was the case, then I too knew what happened.

Yu Jung-Hyeok from the 41st turn made a deal with the ‘Devil of the Horizon’ and sent Shin Yu-Seung to the 3rd turn. As a consequence, she ended up becoming the 3rd turn’s calamity.

If the ‘Secretive Plotter’ was thinking about that particular ‘calamity’, then I wanted to tell him that there was nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately, [41] next to me was shaking his head. “This isn’t from my regression turn.”

“What? But then.....”

[41] didn’t reply and simply stared at the Plotter.

My head was in a mess. According to my knowledge, the only regression turn in the ‘Ways of Survival’ where he interfered with the past that had already happened was the 41st.

....But now, there was another turn besides that one?

When was that? Did it happen outside the original story?

A sun enveloped in pure flames was rising up high above the wide-open ceiling of the hall. However, this sun belonged to neither Surya nor Apollo. And in the centre of this exploding sun, ominous-looking sunspots were growing larger. No Constellations that I knew possessed a Sun that horrifying.

That was the power belonging to an existence I didn’t know of.

[999th turn’s ‘Yu Jung-Hyeok’ is sighing in lamentation at the Sun.]

....999th turn??

Abruptly, I recalled something.

⸢Yu Jung-Hyeok from the 999th regression turn. I respect the life you led. Excluding me, you were the only one who managed to get near the ‘Conclusion’.⸥

One of them was what the ‘Secretive Plotter’ had said, and...

⸢”Even if I regress, this world will not vanish. Meaning, the world will not reset just because I died.”⸥

....And, the other one was what Yu Jung-Hyeok had said.

Even if he died, the world would not vanish. Even after he regressed, the world would still remain.

⸢What if it wasn’t only the ‘Secretive Plotter’ who witnessed the Conclusion?⸥

⸢What if there was another story that didn’t get a mention in the original storyline?⸥

⸢What if there was another being who, even after Yu Jung-Hyeok had died, remained in that world and continued on through the scenarios? While fighting over and over again....⸥

The sun now enveloped in jet-black flames suddenly cracked like an eggshell and blinding rays of light exploded out.

⸢What if there was another being who reached the end of the world and witnessed his or her ‘Conclusion’?⸥

The arsonist responsible for burning down the forest showed itself in the centre of the light. A silhouette simply too beautiful to labelled as a mere arsonist wavered about.

Another existence possessing power equalling the ‘Secretive Plotter’. Such an existence was spreading out her purest-white wings right before my eyes.

The Plotter looked up at this creature and spoke.

[[The ‘Living Flame’.]]

The ‘Living Flame’, he said.

There was such a name among the records written by the ‘Recorder of Fear’.

⸢The ‘Living Flame’ that rises up from the east.⸥

One of the kings that ruled over the ‘Outer Gods’ alongside the ‘Secretive Plotter’.

The thing was, I never thought about who the other kings could be, or where they might have come from.

What a stupid moron I was.

All the ‘Outer Gods’ were beings from the discarded regression turns from the ‘Ways of Survival’. Since that was the case, I should’ve figured it out that their kings would also be other beings from the ‘Ways of Survival’, too.

Ku-gugugugu!

It felt as if my hands were trembling like crazy.

I didn’t want to imagine the cause and effect. No, I didn’t want to acknowledge it. Right now, I didn’t want to accept that a world as horrifying as this one could actually exist.

With his trademark disinterested voice, the Plotter addressed me. [[Now do you understand? This is the consequence of distorting the world-line.]]

As his words came to an end, a sword wrapped in the most brilliant, luminous flames began pointing in our direction.

It was the sword of an Archangel that I was intimately familiar with.

Why didn’t I know it? Maybe, I didn’t want to know in the first place?

That these flames could be this hot and this merciless?

That the flames meant to burn demons could also burn other beings, too?

The sword [Flames of Retribution], now completely covered in [Hellfire], was glowing brightly. The owner of the sword was smiling. And with an utterly terrifying expression that I had never witnessed before, she opened her mouth to speak.

[[I’ve been searching for you for a very long time, Yu Jung-Hyeok from the 1863rd turn.]]

The eyes of the Archangel who judged everything now blazed in pitch-black flames.

[[Oh, the Outer God who ruined my world.]]

It was Uriel.

Fin.