The Only Good Apocalypse is a Dead One
『No. 740: Confirming the Truth of the Story』
"No...! Th-this isn't my mom and dad!"
Tak! After the innocent Luna couldn't bear the adults' greed any longer and fled.
"We'll end today's meeting here. As you all know, the moment you step out that door, everything discussed in this room must be kept secret."
"We understand, Your Majesty."
"Sigh... It breaks my heart every time the princess grabs us and asks if something's wrong, and we have to pretend we don't know."
"...I fully appreciate your hard work. My heart aches and tears just as much... but please endure just a little longer, everyone."
—Clank.
Even after all the ministers had left, the king and queen of Selenum remained seated. The king rubbed his brow as if exhausted and let out a deep sigh.
"How long... just how long do we have to keep delivering treasures to 'that thing'...? We've already given it an enormous amount, yet it devours it all like a bottomless jar. I can see with my own eyes how our kingdom is being swallowed by its endless greed."
"Dear... are you sleeping well these days...? You're always working late into the night, and your health is suffering."
The queen pulled the weary king into her embrace.
"I'm sorry... I know a king shouldn't show such weakness, but today I'm feeling particularly drained."
"Hehe... No one knows better than I how hard you're trying, so don't worry too much."
The queen's benevolent smile warmed the king's heart more than anything else. But a massive shadow still loomed over their faces.
"It's been too long since we left our daughter... Luna alone. Even if it's unavoidable because of this deal with Greed... I can't help but wonder how much that young, innocent Luna is hurting... I'll be a father unforgiven even in death."
"I feel the same... As a mother, I can't even wrap her in love... Always making her wait... I'll surely go to hell when I die..."
—Drip.
Tears flowed from the queen's eyes.
How did things come to this? Since when had they started hurting their daughter like this?
"Has God grown jealous of our peaceful kingdom...?"
"First, I should introduce myself, right? My name is Greed. I hold one of the seats of sin that leads humanity to ruin. True to my true name, I want everything in this world!"
"Not just the shining treasures and the status and honor all humans revere, but even those emotions and love you so casually speak of. I want to collect everything that exists in the world."
"Ah, the reason I've come here? They say Selenum has a very beautiful princess... I want to have that beauty."
A few months ago, the day a grotesque being cloaked in dark red energy appeared before the king—that was when all the misfortune began.
Greed had come to 'collect' Luna, the daughter of the world's most beautiful couple and Selenum's only princess.
Naturally, the king and queen firmly refused and resisted with all their might. Normally, mere humans couldn't drive away a sin, but Selenum had him— the savior, Lucifer. With his help, they bound Greed with sealing chains and imprisoned it in the underground dungeon. But keeping a sin bound forever was impossible.
As the two agonized over what to do, Greed proposed a deal.
"If you show me indulging in greed and Luna still doesn't grieve, I'll cleanly give up on her and leave. I promise never to appear before you again!"
"Two conditions: Bring me an endless supply of treasures, and hide this from your daughter."
"If you so much as mention this deal to the princess... you know what happens, right?"
It was an utterly unreasonable deal, but they had no choice but to accept.
"Endure until three full moons rise and set. Haha!!!"
Recalling the past, even greater sorrow settled on the king's face.
"My daughter... our beloved princess, Luna... please forgive this worthless father... Even if it's to protect you, committing such a horrific act... please..."
"Don't blame yourself too much... Lucifer said he'd find a solution as quickly as possible, so if we just hold on a little longer..."
But contrary to their hopes, Greed had never intended to honor the deal. As Luna grew weary of loneliness, it secretly left the basement passage open. And despite promising neutrality, Greed lied to Luna, saying her parents were consumed by greed and had forgotten their daughter.
"Come, take my hand, Luna. I'll always be by your side. Forever..."
With that, the entire tale began to twist, and Luna's narrative ultimately became one of apocalypse.
『No. 740: Story's Truth Confirmed』
No. 740: Story's Truth Confirmed
After confirming the truth, I could only sit there stunned for a while.
The story I told Luna is exactly the same?
I'd assumed, like typical power-hungry leaders, that Selenum's king and queen had fallen to greed and distanced themselves from Luna. But telling her that straight up would surely fill those golden eyes with sorrow. So I'd just spun a 'what if' tale imagining her parents wouldn't have done that.
"Haha... and that was the hidden truth?"
There's a limit to how perfectly things can line up!
"No way, this is too much for coincidence—"
Ding!
"Whaaaa~! S-Si-hyun oppa! I... I believed in you! Even when you said you had a secret weapon, I was sooo worried! But from that night you told Luna the story, you had a whole plan, didn't you~? Punish this foolish me who doubted you even for a second!!"
"......"
Now there's no escaping it. I wanted to argue with the system that this was too much, but the Notification Window's intrusion made that impossible.
Ha, ha, hahahaha. Yeah, yeah~ I give up! Must be my luck's just that good! Haha!
In a world where ghost stories become reality, a bit of this luck is fine, right? I decided to stop overthinking it and brazenly roll with it.
"I won't punish you, so come out for a sec. I can't see anything with your face this close."
『B-but...! I feel so stupid for doubting you...!』
Yeah, you're not stupid. It's natural not to trust me. Because I jumped into Narrative Reestablishment with zero plan, no secret weapon or anything!
······But I can't say that.
Why tank my sky-high trust stat on purpose?
I flashed a kindly smile and patted the Notification Window.
"Notification Window."
『Y-yes~?! S-Si-hyun oppa, why call me in that deep voice—』
"Since you want punishment, I'll give you one."
『Wh-what punishment are you giving in such a serious tone...!? I-I'm a little scared...!』
I deliberately paused for a beat before speaking.
"Don't ever leave my side."
『Wh-whaaa...?』
"That's your punishment. Stay by my side forever. The only punishment I can give you."
『Ah... Wh-whaaa~?!?!』
—Poof!
The Notification Window flushed bright red, spewed steam, and flopped to the floor.
『Si-hyun oppa... Th-that's cheatingggg...』
Cheating my ass. I can't do Narrative Reestablishment or anything without you.
Time to hammer it home. I die without you!
After saying that much, she won't glitch out and ghost me like old times, right?
Her status looked stable for now.
"Alright, time to properly educate Greed?"
It promised not to touch Luna under the deal, then gaslit her from behind the scenes? Scumbags like that need to be butchered.
Someone might say I'm overreacting. But!
"Rebuke!!"
Absolutely not because I couldn't catch that landlord scum who ran off with my deposit when I was a fresh grad. It's because it tricked Luna. Definitely, definitely not venting that old rage on Greed. No way.
"Notification Window, snap out of it and get up."
『Hehe, cheeks a bit red but I'm fine!』
Ding!
Reestablish the narrative of Greed, empowered by falsehood?
"What kinda obvious question is that?"
I slammed my right hand on the system window.
"Of course! Rewrite it so our cute princess smiles happily, and that damn Greed never existed!"
Ding!
Provider of False Narrative: Greed
······No target detected in activation space for Narrative Reestablishment······.
Forcibly summoning Greed.
* * *
"What the hell is this?!"
Greed had no idea where it was trapped. Just seconds ago, it had been in the heart of Seoul, erasing humans. Savoring their sweet screams of demise in comfort.
Then a sucking sensation pulled it in, and when it opened its eyes...
"The void...? Why am I bound here?!"
—Splash!
Greed gathered apocalyptic energy at its fingertips and strained to escape, but...
"My power... my power won't gather... why?!"
No matter how hard it focused, not even a fragment of apocalypse remained.
What kind of madness was this?
As Greed failed to grasp its situation...
"A tale of Greed, rotten from its roots with falsehoods."
"Its narrative ends today."
A low, emotionless voice echoed through the void, like a machine's hum.
"What was that...? Ending my story...?"
An incomprehensible terror surged over it.
Altering a written narrative was impossible even for a mengmang-grade sin. Only one being could touch it: God. Or law. Or the world. Or the universe. Or providence. Only such an existence.
"No way... 'That being' has no interest in vermin like us... It wouldn't blink even if countless worlds perished!! Lies... it's a lie...!!"
Greed couldn't believe what was happening. Or rather, didn't want to.
But as if its comprehension was irrelevant, the voice returned.
Erasing Greed's tale, then reconstructing it.
At that moment.
—Crumble.
Greed's fingertips began disintegrating into tiny puzzle pieces.
"N-no...! This can't be... No way this is possible...!!"
But Narrative Reestablishment didn't stop at its screams. Like a child erasing a pencil mistake, it unhesitatingly dissolved Greed.
The end of apocalypse-named Greed was pathetically swift.
"Pl-please stop...! I was wrong! I admit it!! I won't show myself to the princess again. No, I'll leave her world entirely! So please stop... PLEEEASE!!"
Yet despite its pleas, its hands, feet, and entire lower body had already fragmented and vanished.
"Ah... Aaaah..."
A power rendering even an apocalypse this powerless. It was... utterly terrifying.
Finally, as one eye and its mouth began to fade, Greed heard the voice of the one wielding this ability.
"Farewell, Greed."
"「......!」"
"Fool who dared covet Luna without knowing your place."
—Rustle.
With Si-hyun's final words, no trace of Greed remained. Only the dust of its shattered pieces lingered.
Thus, Greed's tale came to an end.
Ding!
"Hehe, finally took it do—"
"Stop right there."
『Wha~?』
—Grab.
Si-hyun swiftly seized the Notification Window with his right hand.
"Where do you think you're casting resurrection? Shut that mouth."
『Gasp...! Y-yes!!』
Can't let my guard down till the end. The Notification Window's definitely the root of all trouble!
Only after barely stopping the Notification Window's last troll could Si-hyun finally relax.