Chapter 288

A day passed since I arrived in the 1863rd round .

The Gwanghwamun area was wet from the dark rain that had been falling since last night . Soon after the rain started, the monsters crouching between the ruins woke up one by one . There was the monster that looked like an elephant that I saw when I first got here and one that reminded me of a huge octopus . The most frightening thing was the baby that was the size of a huge building .

There were many types of outer gods but not all of them were named ‘Eater of Dreams’ or ‘Indescribable Distance . ‘ Most of them were ‘unnamed’ and existed without a proper ego .

I watched the baby in a diaper pushing through the city like a bulldozer and hid while holding my breath .

. . . To be honest, I probably needed the diaper more than the baby .

[The constellation ‘Lily Pin of Aquarius’ is looking at you . ]

It had been a few hours since the archangels fell asleep, stating that they would save their energy .

The white lily in my coat trembled as if it had regained power . Gabriel .

“Have you woken up?”

[Why did you make that choice?]

“What choice?”

[Do you need to ask?]

“There was no other way . “

I heard a creaking and crushing sound in the distance . The moment I thought something else had happened, I saw the torn off leg of the elephant monster . There were signs that it was torn off by a powerful force . Someone dragged the severed leg and approached this way . It was the real monster of this scenario, Yoo Jonghyuk .

Like a sigh, the petals shook again . [I thought he would die . . . why is he holding a sword?]

“He could’ve committed suicide . Well, I don’t think that will happen now . “

I spoke while swinging Yoo Jonghyuk’s Heaven Shaking Sword through the air . It wasn’t surprising but I didn’t kill Yoo Jonghyuk .

Gabriel was silent for a moment before muttering in a small voice . [What does Uriel like about this guy . . . ?]

“Uriel? Ah, is Uriel well?”

[How should I know?]

It was a reaction that seemed a bit excessive . The moment I was about to ask, another indirect message came .

[The constellation ‘Commander of the Red Cosmos’ is looking at you . ]

The difficult angel had also woken up . Jophiel woke up and got straight to the point . [Did you decide to keep him alive?]

I accepted the elephant’s leg that Yoo Jonghyuk had brought instead of answering . It was a leg that was very fleshy . It gave off a very rich and clear story . I faced Yoo Jonghyuk who stared at me with empty eyes . Jophiel opened her mouth again .

[Don’t you know that you shouldn’t keep him alive? The scenario you received is . . . ]

“Yoo Jonghyuk’s death . “

It would’ve been nice if I could lie but it was too late to deceive the archangels . They would’ve seen the scenario window that I saw .

-Yoo Jonghyuk’s death .

It was the scenario that Secretive Plotter gave me . I had to kill him in order to return to the original third round .

“As I’ve already mentioned, it is difficult to interpret this scenario as it is . ” The death proposed by Secretive Plotter might not be the ‘death’ we thought about .

The archangels were silent . They didn’t seem to understand my words . I flipped the elephant’s leg and calmly declared . “Yoo Jonghyuk can’t ‘die . ‘ As archangels, you should already know this?”

I could feel the gazes of the two angels on me .

[What does that mean?]

“This guy is a regressor . “

In the early scenarios, the information I just mentioned would’ve been filtered but now it was different . The scenario was a scenario but by now, rumours about the ‘regressor’ should’ve spread quite a bit . Thus, the high-ranking constellations of Eden would know it .

The red cosmos leaves shook uneasily . [ . . . Don’t tell me?]

I nodded . “He is a being who repeats his life forever . No one can kill him . If he dies, he will just move onto another round . “

[How do you know this?]

“Why was Uriel keeping an eye on me?”

It was best to respond to questions that couldn’t be answered was with more questions . Jophiel trembled as if controlling his anger .

[Then . . . what are you going to do now? If you can’t kill him, you can’t return to your original round . ]

I shrugged and placed the roasted meat into my mouth . “I have to think about a way . There is plenty of time . “

At my calm response, an unusual air flowed around the two flowers . I was nervous because I thought they wanted to express their ‘status’, only to suddenly hear a strange sound .

It was a growl that wasn’t coming from my stomach . It didn’t seem to be Yoo Jonghyuk either .

. . . Then? I bowed my head and saw the two flowers looking away .

“Are you hungry?”

***

[Gabriel, how long are you going to stand by?]

[I’m not standing by . I’m just watching . If it wasn’t for Uriel, I would’ve killed him . . . ]

Gabriel, who was stuck in a plastic bottle, answered while sucking up water through his stem . Beside her, the cosmos of Jophiel was likewise inserted into a bottle of water .

In the distance, Kim Dokja was saying something to Yoo Jonghyuk . Gabriel stared at him blankly and asked,

[That Uriel, is she well?]

[Focus on the mission, Gabriel . ]

[No, I’m worried . Uriel always gets into trouble when she is left alone . ]

[ . . . I see . Do you actually like Uriel?]

[What nonsense! Have you found a way to go back yet? How long are we supposed to stay with them?]

Gabriel’s petals fluttered and Jophiel replied, [I’m looking for a way but it seems hard . ]

[Why? No matter how different the world line, there must be Eden here . If you ask the scribe here for help . . . ]

[There is no reply from the scribe . ]

[What?]

[It isn’t just the scribe . I can’t contact anyone from Eden . ]

Eden couldn’t be contacted? It was strange, no matter how much the world had changed . Due to the constraints of the scenario, it was impossible to return to their original ‘constellation context . ‘ It was frustrating .

Gabriel sighed and sucked up water again . [What? They were fighting and holding each other by the collar a few hours ago . . . ]

In the distant place, Kim Dokja seemed to be stroking Yoo Jonghyuk’s head . Looking at this scene, Gabriel was reminded of Uriel and herself . It was different but there was some resemblance .

. . . Comradeship?

For a very short time, Gabriel seemed to understand why Uriel liked them .

***

“Eat the soil, Yoo Jonghyuk . “

Yoo Jonghyuk started to silently eat the soil . I was startled and smacked him in the back of the head . “Why are you really eating it?!”

I wanted to test it but I didn’t know he would actually follow my order . The Yoo Jonghyuk I knew would’ve never done this . However, the regression depression had completely devoured his ego and for the time being, Yoo Jonghyuk was in a stupid state . Yoo Jonghyuk looked up at me blankly .

I sighed with some compassion . “How good would it be if the usual you was so calm? You are better than the third round bastard . “

” . . . “

” . . . Spit it out . “

I watched Yoo Jonghyuk spitting out the soil and remembered another Yoo Jonghyuk that I knew . I didn’t know if he was okay . It would be nice if he hadn’t lost his mind by the time I came back . I entrusted it to Yoo Sangah so I hoped things would turn out well .

“Now lie down there and get some rest, 1863rd Yoo Jonghyuk . “

At my words, Yoo Jonghyuk trudged towards the ruined building . I could see the sun setting in the distance . The sunset of the 95th scenario was still glowing . I looked at the haze and felt strangely peaceful . It was strange . In this horrible scenario, I could indulge in this appreciation .

「 Kim Dok ja needs to kill Yoo Jong hyuk . 」

. . . No, I didn’t . Fortunately, there was no deadline for the scenario that Secretive Plotter gave me . I turned my head and saw Yoo Jonghyuk curled up with a foolish expression as he waited for my orders .

“Sleep . “

Yoo Jonghyuk understood my words and closed his eyes . Since the scenario started, Yoo Jonghyuk had never slept properly . Maybe this was the ‘first sleep’ for Yoo Jonghyuk . It was the first sleep where he was freed from all his memories .

Once Yoo Jonghyuk was completely asleep, I turned on my smartphone . The phone desktop contained the text of Ways of Survival as usual . However, there was something different this time .

-Three Ways to Survive in a Ruined World . txt

. . . What? Wasn’t it the ‘third revision?’ I suddenly got goosebumps . Was it because I came back to the original round? Then it changed back to the original text, not the revised one?

I opened the file with a confused mind . The file was the original Ways of Survival that I knew . Maybe this was better . It was important to obtain information about this round if I wanted to think properly about the future . I quickly moved the screen to the 1863rd round and read all the information thoroughly .

「 I lost Lee Hyunsung in the 54th scenario . 」

I read the story, read it and read it again .

「 In the 67th scenario, Lee Seolhwa was killed . 」

He lost, lost and lost more people .

「 Lee Jihye died in the 78th scenario . 」

The Yoo Jonghyuk of this round was completely alone . In fact, it wasn’t only this round . In all of Yoo Jonghyuk’s rounds, he had to leave alone . It was the same life even until the end .

” . . . Poor guy . “

I didn’t know the epilogue of Ways of Survival . The one thing I could be sure of was that Ways of Survival didn’t have a happy ending .

. . . What if I didn’t go back to the third round? What if I stayed here and helped Yoo Jonghyuk of the last round clear the scenario?

「 The Fourth Wall says, “Kim Dok ja, that . . . ” 」

I know .

「 Ye s . 」

This was the trick hidden in Secretive Plotter’s scheme . Perhaps Secretive Plotter expected this and gave me a scenario . It was why the scenario had no time limit .

Kill Yoo Jonghyuk here and return to the original world . Or see the conclusion of the scenario with Yoo Jonghyuk here .

This was the idea of the ‘outer god . ‘ The laughable thing was that I was really shaken by the proposal . If I looked at the person here . . . I wouldn’t see the ending I really wanted . But if I killed him here, the original ‘Yoo Jonghyuk’ would disappear forever .

My head hurt as I thought about it . If I wanted to kill Yoo Jonghyuk, I had to end Yoo Jonghyuk’s regressions . However, his sponsor didn’t speak and I didn’t know the identity . I didn’t know if it was fortunate or not .

I sighed and scrolled through Ways of Survival again . Then I felt a cold feeling down my spine .

[The constellation ‘Lily Pin of Aquarius’ is warning you!]

In the distance, the two flowers in the plastic bottles were shaking . It was a strong alarm . Was it an outer god?

“You’ve been hiding here, Yoo Jonghyuk . “

The moment I reflexively tried to turn around, I felt an eerie prediction . If I turned around now, I would die . I clearly had this feeling . It was a degree of stealth that could fool my constellation senses . It was clearly an unquantifiable existence . The presence was nearby?

“What are you? Are you Yoo Jonghyuk’s companion?”

I got a sense of deja vu from the voice . It was clearly a voice I knew . I turned my head slowly enough so that the enemy wouldn’t feel threatened . Behind me was a woman with a familiar appearance . For a moment, my mind was awash with panic .

. . . How on earth? I hadn’t thought about it . It was because this person was already dead in this ’round . ‘

“Well, there is no need to know . I’ll kill him anyway . “

The smiling Admiral Lee Jihye smiled as she pointed the Double Dragon Swords towards me .

TL: Rainbow Turtle