Chapter 82
Chapter 82
Civil Servant Hunter’s S-class Resignation Log – Chapter 82
"Elrona ended up dying after all. The administrator tried to clean up his mess by getting in my way, but... well, in the end."
Ja-rim gave an ambiguous smile.
The 'Massacre of the Great Battlefield' title boosted destructive power against ore-based lifeforms.
And Elrona was an ore-based lifeform born and raised on Baskar.
She was a terrible matchup for stopping a deranged Seong Ja-rim. In the end, she suffered horrific injuries, and the final blow came from a magical beast that crossed over from the labyrinth, leaving her unable to even move.
"So in the end, Baskar's administrator is the one who ruined that planet."
Ja-rim, who had been avoiding eye contact, widened her eyes.
"I don't know what grudge he had against you, but if that's the case, he should've just said so properly. Trying to kill you without any explanation? And to someone who was trying to help his own planet? He's lost it."
The massacre of the planet's inhabitants and the death of his contractor were both ultimately caused by the administrator. After all, he was the one who drove Seong Ja-rim mad.
There was no reason for Seong Ja-rim to feel guilty, nor any reason for her to be killed by Elrona, who was being manipulated.
"Elrona probably didn't resent you either. She was just sad and sorry. After all, you ended up like that because of her contractor."
"Uh..."
"That's how it'd be. I know, since I'm a contractor myself. That's how I'd feel."
It wasn't clumsy comfort. In her matter-of-fact tone, simply stating it as fact, Ja-rim began sobbing, tears streaming down her face.
Good grief. Se-ra sighed and pulled her into a hug, patting her back.
"You're a 100-year-old elder. Crying won't make you look pretty, so don't."
"Saying that just makes me want to cry more. I'm not an elder..."
She always seemed indignant about that. Se-ra chuckled.
"All of Elrona's titles vanished upon her death except for one: 'Last of the Fallen Planet.' That place really has nothing left now. Maybe it was destined to end that way from the start."
From the moment the administrator unleashed his inexplicable rage on an innocent person, the planet had been on the path to destruction.
So Seong Ja-rim was blameless.
"You should shake it off now. That world's gone from existence, and you'll never have to see it again."
With nothing left but barren wasteland, no more gates would open there.
Her grueling 100-year bond with Baskar was finally over.
"You've been through a lot."
Just as the administrator had said those words she'd most wanted to hear after slaying the magical beast in the Cheolwon Dungeon, Se-ra passed them on to Ja-rim.
You've worked hard. Good job. It's okay.
Simple words, but that's why everyone craved them most.
Hiiiing. Whether it landed well or not, Seong Ja-rim let out a long wail unbecoming her age. Looked like her babysitting duties weren't over yet.
Se-ra sighed, "Ehew," and patted her back all through the night.
* * *
The entire space shook with a deafening roar.
The man, sitting still in his chair as always, looked up. Someone outside was pounding on the place furiously.
But no matter how hard they tried, the door wouldn't openand the intruder knew that better than anyone. In the end, this was just venting frustration.
He'd only altered one tiny thing, and everything had shifted. Now even he couldn't stop it. The variable had already made its choice.
The man's gaze turned to the countless system windows floating on one wall. Two figures standing side by side appeared on the screen.
Kang Se-jun, Earth's one and only regressor.
And the returnee, Seong Ja-rim.
He didn't need to listen to know what they'd discuss. As always, he observed from afar. Whatever happened because of it, he was prepared to face it all.
The screen showed Se-ra, bored and tapping away at her keyboard after the two vanished. His eyes softened instantly.
If she came looking for him, he'd gladly be the lantern lighting her path as a guide. Even if it wasn't what Se-ra wanted, he'd do his utmost until the end.
* * *
After Se-ra's mission ended and she started living alone again, Seong Ja-rim stopped going to the Association. Thus began a tediously boring daily life. No dungeons had opened that needed her help, she knew no one else besides Se-ra, and there were no enemies to fight.
Just like when she'd lived alone on the vast plains of Baskar after all its lifeforms perished, Seong Ja-rim sat blankly in the living room of her empty apartment, her face expressionless.
Se-ra found out when she dropped by after work with fried chicken and suggested she at least start by going for walks. Only then did she begin moving a little.
And that suggestion proved hugely helpful. Once she started wandering outside alone, Seong Ja-rim realized this place was different from Baskar. Unlike the doomed planet, there were people here, plenty of food, and so much to see.
Especially fun was running laps along the track in the Hangang Park right by her apartment. Dawn, morning, afternoon, night the scenery changed with the time of day, and sometimes she'd stop mid-run, stand there dazed, and soak it in for hours.
I see. This really isn't Baskar. Unlike that place that endured for 100 years before perishing, my homeland is still beautiful.
She'd thought living with Se-ra had already taught her that, but no. It was only now, alone, that she truly felt she'd escaped Baskar for good.
Today too, Seong Ja-rim sat on a bench in Hangang Park late into the night, a faint smile on her lips. Her spirit, worn down by the long flow of time, was slowly recovering.
But unlike her, where recovery had begun, that man would take much longer.
"Hello, Mr. Kang Se-jun."
Seong Ja-rim smiled at the approaching man, Kang Se-jun.
"I was cloaked with magic so you shouldn't sense my power, yet you spotted me anyway."
"When you've lived in brutal places for long enough, you develop senses that pierce through magic."
"Brutal places?"
"Yeah, they exist. But how'd you know I was here? As Se-ra said, you really are an L-rank stalker."
"Don't say useless things like that... I just used tracking magic because I needed to see you. No other intentions."
"Still, you followed someone, didn't you? Stalker!"
Kang Se-jun's face twisted into a scowl at the pointing finger. Seong Ja-rim burst out laughing.
"If you don't like it, I can change the title. Let's see... 'Regressor' should be fine, right?"
Her sudden jab made his face stiffen this time. Even Se-ra would have drawn her gun by now, but he just glared at her.
"You already knew about me? It couldn't have been Yoon Se-ra who told you."
"You know her well. Se-ra's not the type to blab other people's stories everywhere."
"But you're not like Baek Hee-won with her divinity, and you haven't contracted with a holy body either, so it must be your eyes."
Kang Se-jun's gaze swept over Seong Ja-rim's unique golden irises.
"You can see an Awakener's info, huh?"
"Right. I've known since the first time we met."
For the first time, Kang Se-jun looked genuinely surprised.
"And you didn't let it show? Not even enough for me to notice? I didn't expect Yoon Se-ra-level acting skills from you."
"Nah, no one has that kind of acting talent. It'd be a problem if there were two like Se-ra."
Kang Se-jun nodded at Seong Ja-rim's serious expression. She was right. How fortunate there was only one Yoon Se-ra.
"It wasn't actingI just wasn't really interested in you. You were just... unusual? My own situation was too special to be shocked by you. So, you're here now because you need something from me, right? Sit. Looks like we have a lot to talk about."
Her bright retriever-like expression vanished without a trace. In its place came a smile that sank deeply into the night-shrouded Hangang riverside like sticky ink. Her golden eyes sharpened like a tiger encountered in a dark forest.
"Seong Ja-rim, what exactly are you?"
Kang Se-jun had met virtually every powerhouse in the world across his regressionsit wasn't an exaggeration.
Yet none had the same aura as Seong Ja-rim. Not even Alina, Athena's captain whispered to be the world's strongest, or America's Julian.
Like Yoon Se-ra, she'd been someone she'd never encountered in her past lives. Who the hell was she?
"Maybe I'm the person closest to you in this world."
"...Me?"
"I'm a returnee. Someone who barely made it back home from a distant dimension called a dungeon."
Kang Se-jun's eyes widened at her finger counting the stars in the night sky.
"Returnee...? You said returnee? Dimension?"
"There was no one like me before your regression, huh. Well, you're the first regressor I've seen too."
Seong Ja-rim gave a brief rundown about herself. Gates were doors connecting to planets in space, dungeons were their lands, and she'd been trapped and lived in a place called Baskar.
For exactly 108 years.
"Dungeons... connect to space? And what, 108 years...?"
"They say only 5 years passed on Earth. Maybe that's why I didn't age. If I keep not aging from now on, there must be some other reason."
"Now I get why Baek Hee-won said you were as unusual as me."
"I thought you came knowing something, but apparently not. Still, looks like Baek Hee-won can keep a secret."
"That's her strength."
Despite his calm reply, Kang Se-jun's eyes wavered.
108 years was longer than the life he'd lived across repeated regressions.
One who survived by repeating death, and one who clung to life without even dying.
Worlds apart, yet as Seong Ja-rim said, the two were more alike than anyone else in this world.
"Are you the only one who knows dungeons are other planets in space?"
"Se-ra knows too. I told her. She's pretending not to because she hates getting dragged into hassle."
"Typical Yoon Se-ra. But not me. I'm going to reveal this."
"To whom? The WDO? Do as you like. As long as my name stays out of it, even Se-ra won't mind."
But Seong Ja-rim's eyes remained indifferent.
"Even if you do, nothing will change. Gates will keep appearing forever until this world meets its end."
"...What the hell does that mean? Can't we stop these anomalies by clearing the labyrinth dungeons?"
"Labyrinth? Oh, right. I never thought about that case. Baskar fell because they failed to conquer theirs."
Despite her nonchalant tone, the revelation hit Kang Se-jun like a hammer to the back of his head.
"Baskar... that planet had a labyrinth dungeon too...?"
"Every dimension where gates appear has a labyrinth dungeon. That's the rule. Systems, Awakeners, gates, dungeonsthey're all shared."
Kang Se-jun, who'd regressed five times without knowing this, felt like he'd been repeatedly clubbed over the head.
"To think I didn't know that until now..."
"It's normal if you haven't actually lived in another dimension like I did. I only learned it all there."
"So you have no idea how to completely eliminate gates?"
"Nope. All I know is Baskar's case, and as I said, it was destroyed by the labyrinth. No lifeforms left there at all."
"At least hope isn't entirely lost."
Kang Se-jun clenched his fist. If there was even a sliver of possibility, he couldn't give up. He'd cling desperately to that one hope.
"You think you can do it? You've already failed five times. What makes this any different?"
In contrast, Seong Ja-rimwho had witnessed a planet's total destructionremained utterly apathetic.
The mindset of one who repeated life clutching at hope and one who destroyed everything in despair was worlds apart.