Chapter 458 — The square circle (4)

The time limit for the scenario was until midnight today. It was already nine PM, so there were less than three hours remaining.

....How did the time fly by so quickly, anyway?

I heard that happy moments would pass you by really quickly. It must’ve been true.

⸢Four complaints still need to be answered. And only three hours remain.⸥

No matter what, I was cutting it real close. From the beginning, solving five of such difficult missions was clearly forcing it.

In the end, I decided to resort to ‘that’.

“Biyu-yah.”

Dokkaebis had jurisdiction over sub scenarios, so she should be able to control one just fine.

Also, since the failure penalty was not ‘death’ but ‘death(?)’, I was thinking that they wouldn’t kill me for real, and.... Biyu wasn’t answering.

“Where are you, our cute little Biyu?”

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is cackling at your ill fortune.]

[Constellation, ‘Queen of the Darkest Spring’, is urging you to seriously carry this scenario out....]

Seeing that the channel was open, Biyu must be nearby for sure, but...?

I decided to pull out the hidden trump card.

“Ba-aht.”

That caused the empty air to quiver a little, then a ball of cotton with a small horn attached on top rose out from there.

[Aba-aht.]

Biyu popped out with a “Poof!” and began giggling away.

I didn’t smile back, though. “Biyu-yah. I’m sorry about this, but can you, like, cancel this scenario....?”

[Eh-oh-bah-aht.]

I couldn’t tell whether she was trying to say ‘eva’ or ‘over’.

[Constellations agreeing with the applicable scenario’s Probability are rejecting the scenario cancellation.]

....Hang on, could this be a bounty scenario, instead?

[Constellation, ‘Demon-like Judge of Fire’, is arguing that this scenario is a necessity for you.]

[Constellation, ‘Abyssal Black Flame Dragon’, is criticising you, telling you not to use a cowardly method.]

[Constellation, ‘Bald General of Justice’, is saying that if you’re a true comrade to them, then you should use your valour and tenacious spirit to....]

[Constellation, ‘Goryeo’s First Sword’, is simply denying the cancellation.]

....They are in sync with each other only in times like this, aren’t they?

“....Yes, yes. I get it now.”

[Constellation, ‘Most Ancient Liberator’, is cheering on his maknae.]

I couldn’t really get used to the new Modifier for the Great Sage Heaven’s Equal. We parted ways right away after the ‘Journey to the West’ scenario came to an end, but I knew we’d get to see each other soon enough.

In any case.... Who should it be? Who should I speak to next? It should be someone holding the highest amount of complaints towards me, right?

I studied my companions one by one, leisurely sitting around together after that fulfilling supper. That was when the [Midday Tryst] came flying in my way.

– What are you looking at?

Okay, let’s skip Han Su-Yeong for now. Her problems weren’t on the level that I could fix anyway.

– You making fun of me?

I continued to search for the next candidate. The next two I spotted were Yu-Seung-ee and Gil-Yeong-ee. While looking at the two lying side by side and patting their slightly bulging tummies, it almost felt as if the [Fruit of Good and Evil] was whispering to me from deep inside my mind.

⸢If it’s their troubles, can’t I easily solve them?⸥

Even if I set aside the cowardly reason for now, I still needed to have a serious talk with Gil-Yeong-ee.

[Constellation Yi Gil-Yeong’s Sponsor is staring at you.]

Although he looked the same on the outside as before, Yi Gil-Yeong’s Status had a faint trace of demonic aura permeating it. Would it be okay to talk to him now? However, wasn’t it too open here?

[Constellation, ‘Master of Sky Walk’, is observing your actions.]

[Constellation, ‘Lily Blooming on Aquarius’, is focusing her attention on you.]

Not only that, Constellations were watching us, too. I couldn’t really imagine how the channel’s Constellations would react if I went and carelessly got in touch with ‘that side’ now.

Even then, I should at least talk to him.....

[Currently, ‘Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint’ 2nd Stage is in activation.]

....The inside of my head rang with a “Bzz!” and the skill was activated forcibly once more. This was happening rather often lately. I wasn’t sure whether it was because I read the ‘Ways of Survival’ too much, or due to some other reason, but...

⸢Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump⸥

Their voices soon entered my head.

⸢Dok-Ja hyung will come and talk to me, right?⸥

⸢Is he coming over now?⸥

....Ng??

⸢I better tell him about a biiiig problem.⸥

⸢I must tell him something really shocking.⸥

⸢....What if Shin Yu-Seung talks about something bigger than mine?⸥

⸢I definitely must say something more shocking than Yi Gil-Yeong.⸥

My steps came to a halt.

....It was not because I was scared of the kids, though. Anyways. I shifted my gaze to the person crouching next to them, instead.

⸢....I miss them.⸥

Yi Ji-Hye with a sad expression was looking at the distant sky. She was an energetic chatterbox usually, so it was rare to see her make such face.

I could guess who she was referring to when she said she missed them.

The first scenario would’ve been a nightmare to everyone, but it must’ve been especially worse for her. Even if the was here for her, one person couldn’t really substitute for someone else.

I wordlessly approached her and lightly poked her on the shoulder. Yi Ji-Hye looked behind at me. “Uht? what’s this, ahjussi? You finished with the dishes?”

“Yeah.”

“H-mm.... Wait, did you come here because of the scenario?”

“It’s not entirely about that. But....”

“I don’t have any particular complaints, so you don’t need to talk to me, though? Why don’t you speak to others first?”

Even now, she was worried about others. No matter how badly she was hurting, she was still thinking of other people’s pain first. Yi Ji-Hye from Chungmuro grew up like that. And she grew up into an adult like that, too.

“You can talk to me any time. If you don’t want to talk to me, then it’ll be fine with someone else, too. But you don’t have to huddle in a corner and let it fester inside you.”

Maybe she didn’t expect me to say something like that, because Yi Ji-Hye began blinking her eyes next.

“Ahjussi, don’t try to act cool, okay?”

She smirked and punched me in the shin with her sturdy fist. I thought my bone was broken or something.

[You have currently resolved 1 complaint.]

A simple chat on this level couldn’t resolve Yi Ji-Hye’s troubles. Even then, I still had to speak to her.

She lightly shook her beer glass around and while standing up, spoke to me. “....Alright, then. Since I’m full, I should go and stretch my limbs for a bit.”

“You shouldn’t exercise after drinking, you know.”

“I feel fine, though?”

Seeing her swing her sword about like that, she definitely was her master’s student, alright.

....Hang on a bit. Now that I thought about it, there was one guy who should be the most dissatisfied by me around here, wasn’t there?

I quickly scanned the campsite, but strangely enough, I couldn’t locate that idiot no matter how hard I looked.

“Hey, you deaf?? When someone is calling you, you should.....”

Along with a resounding ‘Slap!’ someone smacked me in the back of the head.

I looked behind and spoke to the culprit. “Hey, Han Su-Yeong....”

“What now?”

“Where is Yu Jung-Hyeok?”

“Yu Jung-Hyeok? He was over th.... Uh?”

Only then did she realise it, too. Honestly speaking, that guy usually acted on his own and often disappeared on us without warning, so this shouldn’t come across as all that surprising. The problem had to with the fact that he didn’t disappear alone this time.

Han Su-Yeong looked into the wide-open rear door of the [X-grade Ferrarghini] and spoke up. “.....The ‘Secretive Plotter’ is gone, too.”

*

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ surrounded in the transparent Sealing Sphere landed on the ground with a thud and roughly rolled around in the dirt. He was still unconscious. Yu Jung-Hyeok quietly looked down on him, then slowly unsheathed the [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] and addressed the Plotter.

“I know that you’re already awake.”

The Secretive Plotter slowly opened his eyes. Accompanied by faint sparks, energy from a Fable surged throughout his body. For a moment there, his Fables were returning to him.

[[You don’t seem to know how to enjoy these brief moments of peace.]]

“I don’t have a habit of enjoying my peace with an enemy near me.”

[[Are you planning to kill me? That is indeed a wise move. However, you should know by now that you can’t really kill me.]]

That was true. The ‘Secretive Plotter’ was another Yu Jung-Hyeok. Killing him simply meant the creation of another world-line.

Even then, Yu Jung-Hyeok didn’t let go of his [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword]. “It’ll be far better than watching you mess up this world-line.”

The Plotter laughed. They were both Yu Jung-Hyeoks. They may have lived two different lives, but their nature as Yu Jung-Hyeok was the same. And that was why they could understand each other’s thought process the best.

[[Do you believe that your power alone is enough to kill me? Without Kim Dok-Ja’s Fable, the current you can’t fight against an ‘Outer God’.]]

“That might be the case, but killing you will be rather simple. I only have to shatter that [Sealing Sphere].”

A faint trace of unrest flitted in and out of the Plotter’s expression.

Currently, the ‘Secretive Plotter’ was inside the unstable [Apocalypse Dragon’s Sealing Sphere] created by the 999th turn’s Uriel.

“You’re deliberately not removing the [Sealing Sphere]. If you break it, then the ‘Hounds Chasing After the Abyss’ will appear from the gap in space and time, that’s why.”

It only had been for a brief moment, but still, Yu Jung-Hyeok got to steal a glance into the memories of the 1864 regression turns engraved into the ⸢Hellscape of Eternity⸥. That’s where he got to learn partial information on ‘Outer Gods’. The Hounds that chased after the Abyss – he learned about the Hounds of Tindalos during that time, too.

They were the cleaners capable of detecting the distortion in a world-line.

“They can only intrude from where angles below 90 degrees exist. The normal you wouldn’t be troubled by something like a few Hounds, but with how weakened you are, the story should change greatly.”

The flow of Status loaded onto the [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] grew thicker. Yu Jung-Hyeok too hadn’t fully recovered from his wounds, so fighting the Plotter head-on was impossible.

However, shattering the Sealing Sphere shouldn’t pose a challenge.

The Plotter’s expression changed, perhaps after figuring out Yu Jung-Hyeok’s intentions. It was the face of a man who had accepted ‘something’.

And so, just as Yu Jung-Hyeok’s [Dark Heavenly Demon Sword] was about to make a move...

“Oppa.”

Someone’s head poked out from the bushes.

“What are you doing?”

Yu Jung-Hyeok was taken by surprise and while turning his head towards her, shouted out. “Yu Mi-Ah! Don’t come closer!”

Dismay brushed past his expression next. Because he had focused all of his perception on the ‘Secretive Plotter’, he ended up making such an egregious mistake.

“Go back to where our companions are! This place is dangerous!”

“Don’t want to.”

She replied in a cold voice, something she had never used before.

Yu Jung-Hyeok replied in stupefaction. “....What?”

“You don’t even come back to Earth all that often anyway, so stop nagging me. You promised to stay with me for a few days, didn’t you? Both Su-Gyeong ahjumma and Gyeong-Ran ahjumma are always busy, you know? And I’m tired of listening to Grandma Bok-Sun’s stories of the past, too!”

Yu Mi-Ah clearly enunciated every single word as she strode forward. Yu Jung-Hyeok’s judgement blurred for a moment then.

She seized that opening and quickly ran towards the front of the ‘Secretive Plotter’.

“By the way, he looks exactly like you, oppa. Who are you exactly?”

Before long, she was within the touching distance of the Plotter. Yu Jung-Hyeok grew anxious. He wanted to swing his sword right now and shatter the [Sealing Sphere], but his little sister might get swept up in the air current if he made the slightest mistake here.

As he began deliberating on his options, she placed her hand on the transparent [Sealing Sphere] and innocently asked the figure inside. “Are you trapped in this thing? You want me to help you get out of there?”

Yu Jung-Hyeok dearly wanted to move and pull her away from there right now. But for some reason, he couldn’t.

The ‘Secretive Plotter’ was staring at Yu Mi-Ah.

His eyes were trembling from a very powerful agitation. Even Yu Jung-Hyeok was surprised to see such an expression appear on the Plotter’s face, someone who had lived through an untold amount of time.

Yu Mi-Ah pressed him further in the meantime.

“Come on now, answer me.”

Fin.