The Last Regret
Dead.
Everyone was dead.
All of it, because of me. Because of my weakness.
“I leave it to you, Seong-ah.”
Deok-bae, the man who threw himself into the enemy’s attack to protect me, vanished without a trace, half his body obliterated.
Kim Cheol, who burned his life force to create an opening for me to attack, dried up like a mummy and died.
And… Ga-eun, who fell protecting me, unable to move because of the damage to my body, spewing blood from every part of her body.
All because of me. Because I was weak. I lost everyone precious to me more than my own life.
All of them died because I was too weak to protect them all.
“You damn half-wit…”
They sacrificed everything for me, yet because I was the worthless half-wit, they all died. I still couldn’t kill that bastard.
[What the hell are you doing?]
Everything happened because I couldn’t kill that bastard, and everyone died because of my weakness.
My body wasn’t in a good state either.
Every time I breathed, the broken ribs crushed my lungs, and the pain was unbearable.
Even though every inch of my body felt like it had been shattered, I couldn’t fall.
I couldn’t fall even on this broken ground.
“Shut up, you bastard…”
[In the end, they were just insects that would die sooner or later anyway.]
“Shut up… My comrades… They weren’t supposed to die here because of a nobody like you…!”
[No matter how much you try to defy fate, you were destined to die because of you.]
Celestials
Five years ago, the Celestials suddenly appeared in the world and granted everyone divine power, a new force that turned them into a worshipped race.
Thanks to the divine power the Celestials gave, many lives that should have died were saved.
It was truly a miracle from the gods.
A religion formed in worship of the Celestials who bestowed this miracle, and a country was built.
But it didn’t last long.
The Celestials weren’t saviors who gave miracles to humanity.
They were just puppeteers who tied a thread of miracle to the puppet called humanity and controlled them.
To them, humanity was neither more nor less than that puppet.
A puppet show where they moved humanity like a marionette to make the audience happy.
A puppet show that crossed over the chapter of humanity’s development and ended with the act called “finale.”
And the value of me and my comrades… we were nothing but props for the play.
My comrades… my comrades were not the kind of people who should have been discarded as trash for props like me.
They had lives more valuable than a half-wit like me.
“But you Celestials shattered that value to smithereens!!”
Inside, magma-like rage boiled up. The bastard’s words answered my question, and I felt a rage that no human could even imagine.
[Do you cherish something you’ve thrown away?]
To the Celestials, the value of my comrades, more precious than my family or my life, didn’t even deserve a response.
“As expected… I’ll kill you, no matter what.”
Even if I died in this world, even if no future remained, I would kill those Celestials.
Wind-attribute magic
Cyclone
A storm representing my inner rage roared, sucking up the rubble of the shattered buildings and sweeping ferociously.
[You were going to waste your remaining life, weren’t you?]
“It’s useless to have a life like this.”
If this life can kill you, then my life is over.
[I see. Then I’ll watch your end up close, personally.]
The bastard looked at the cyclone coming at him, lightly cut through the empty air, and punched me.
BOOM—!
“Kuhak!”
A single blow that shattered even mana destroyed the Cyclone, scattering it, and the impact reached me standing behind him, causing blood to spew from my mouth.
With just that light punch, my meridians twisted, leaving me in a state where I could barely move. But pain like that, I could endure.
“Not yet… not yet…”
If Cyclone wasn’t enough, I unleashed the next higher magic, and if that wasn’t enough, even higher magic.
Every time, my internal injuries devoured my flames. There wasn’t a single place on my body that didn’t bleed—eyes, mouth, ears—nothing.
My ears were clogged with blood, and beneath my feet, black coagulated blood had pooled into puddles.
[Is this the end?]
No matter how many spells I threw, not even a scratch marred the bastard’s body.
The sight of me, half-dead and dripping blood, contrasting with the bastard’s pristine white body.
The gap between a half-corpse me and a body with not a scratch on the bastard.
In strength, defense, healing—everything, I was completely inferior to him.
That’s why…
“The end is still unknown to you, you bastard.”
KUGUGUNG
The ground shook, and the Earth-piercing strike slammed into the bastard’s abdomen. In that opening, I poured out my life and used my final magic.
Meteor
A forbidden magic used in every country.
But every country that banned it has already perished, and everyone who would have been hit by the Meteor is already dead. So using it causes no harm.
KUGUGUGUGUNG
A star of disaster activated, devouring my life force, fell.
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“Haa… haa… it’s over… I did it…”
It had to be over.
With that Meteor, my body couldn’t move at all now.
Now I was just a flickering candle about to go out.
I could do nothing more.
I could only look up at the hazy sky and wait for the moment I would die.
[Am I satisfied now?]
But a damn voice came from beside me.
THUD!
A massive body landed beside me, and the pure-white giant looked down at me.
Despite the attack that poured out everything I had, it had no effect on the bastard. The bastard calmly asked me if I was satisfied.
“Y-you… gen… zzzzz!”
I forced my immobile body to move and tried to cast magic.
Stagger
THUD
But my body, ignoring my will to fight, simply gave out and collapsed to the ground. The bastard approached, lifted me, and said,
[Your attack… was entertaining. So I’ll give you a special treatment.]
Wooong——!
Celestial Power
A power higher than the divine power the Celestials gave to humans. The power symbolizing healing and purification wrapped around me, filling my body with vitality.
“H-how… why are you healing me…?”
My body wasn’t fully recovered.
Just enough to be in a state where I’d suffered some damage, and my muscles were so worn from continuous high-intensity exercise that I looked like I hadn’t rested at all.
Even though my body had recovered to some degree, the mental exhaustion remained, so my body was actually harder to move than before recovery.
In response to my question in that state, the bastard smiled, which looked creepy to me, and said,
[You’re more entertaining than I thought. So I’ll give you a chance. Beg.]
“…What?”
I doubted my ears at what the bastard said.
[Beg me to save you. Then I’ll personally save your life.]
Along with the bastard’s words, the primal survival instinct surged up.
All the instincts inherent in humans were screaming at the bastard to beg for their lives, to plead for mercy.
My instinct, which had killed countless people and slaughtered monsters without flinching before any threat, was screaming now.
Physically and mentally exhausted, without realizing it, my body bent toward the bastard.
‘Stop… stop me…’
Even though I told it to stop, my body didn’t listen.
My instinct, which had never bowed to anyone, was defeated by the instinct to survive and rebelled against me.
‘Stop… please stop…!’
I couldn’t bear to die like this.
I couldn’t kneel to beg this bastard who killed my comrades.
But… but I couldn’t do anything.
At that moment when my knees were about to touch the ground, I stopped my body at a word that flashed through my mind.
[Why are you stopping? Aren’t you afraid to die?]
The bastard, puzzled, asked, and I answered kindly to the bastard’s question.
“You damned bastard.”
BOOM!
A massive shockwave hit the bastard, and the bastard, blasted by the sudden explosion, spread white wings behind his back and landed on the ground, roaring in anger.
[Do you really want to die?!]
The ground cracked from the bastard’s roar, and building rubble rained down on me. I slowly dodged it and walked toward the bastard.
“You didn’t want to die, did you?”
[Then why did you reject my offer?!]
“I don’t want to die. I really didn’t want to. I made a promise to my comrades… I swore I wouldn’t bow to anyone ever again. And even if you heal me, I’m going to die anyway.”
At the end of those words, I began chanting my final magic.
A magic I didn’t know.
But at the same time, a magic I knew.
KUGUGUGUGUGUNG!!
At the moment the magic activated, the air trembled, the ground split, and the bastard, seeing it, instinctively retreated a step, thinking it was dangerous. I smiled and asked,
“Scared?”
Stagger!
[W-what… did you just say?]
My words made the bastard’s body freeze as he retreated, staring at me with an incredulous face.
“Even the great Celestials… are scared of death?”
[You damned human!!!]
CRASH!!!
The bastard, whose pride was wounded by the threat of death from the human he looked down on, unleashed his Celestial power offensively and shouted,
[If you want to die, I’ll grant your wish!!]
THUD!
Beginning to gather Celestial power strong enough to make the skin hurt, the bastard’s Celestial power all gathered, and I threw my completed final magic at the bastard.
Apocalypse: Eclipse
A black sun spewing ominous energy collided with golden Celestial power like a radiant sun, and with a massive explosion, the aftershock swallowed the land.
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The storm from the final magic obscured my vision. I couldn’t see anything.
I could only hear a piercing sound—phew—noise in my ears, nothing else.
Whoosh
At that moment, a wind blew, widening my sight blocked by dust.
In the widened view, there was a starry night without a single cloud and buildings that had lost all their lights.
“The… bastard… is…”
THUD
To check what happened to the bastard, I rolled my body and looked at where he had last been.
“Kukuk… you bastard… good for you…”
And as I rolled, in the front I saw, there was nothing but a single black stain on a brand-new sheet of paper.
“Ugh! Haa… haa… now… I have no strength left…”
The last night sky of this country, I wanted to die looking at it, but it seemed impossible.
Well, it didn’t matter which country it was; I just wanted to see the sky I used to see with my comrades.
Rolling my body to confirm the bastard’s death was the last remaining strength.
We, humanity, eventually lost to the Celestials.
Every outstanding strong person in the world died.
The number of Celestials we, humanity, rushed to kill together was only about 10, including that bastard.
We… killed 10 Celestials and lost all of humanity.
‘I’m going there soon too… everyone.’
If there is heaven and hell, where would I go?
My comrades would probably go to heaven.
‘Well… even if I go, it’d be hell. But still…’
Still, if I could go to heaven… I’d like to see everyone one more time…
[Do you want to turn back?]
As my sight blurred in front of me and my eyes began to close, a voice came to me.
I didn’t know if it was a hallucination.
And what did I want to turn back?
“What…?”
[Do you want to turn back time?]
What did turning back time mean?
Was it a metaphor? Or was the person really asking if I wanted to turn back the past?
Or was the voice I heard as a hallucination because I had wanted that deep in my heart?
“Turn… back… I… don’t…”
[Then——make——a——contract]
Now, even the sound was hard to hear, a voice came to me offering a contract.
“What… kind…”
[I’ll——turn——you——back——to——the——past——]
p>The voice was getting harder to hear. What was it turning back? Or was it sending me back to the past?
If so, the contract would have a price—what was it?
Honestly, it was ridiculous that I was hesitating like this.
After all, my life was about to end in less than a minute anyway. What was the point of hesitating?
But… but if there was even the slightest chance, my answer was decided.
“I——will——make——a——contract——.”
Now, no sound came out, and nothing was heard.
But before my final consciousness faded, I could hear it in my head.
[Contract established.]
That was the end. My consciousness disappeared into pitch-black darkness.
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“——”
“——”
Any noise near my ears woke my closed eyes.
When I opened my eyes, I was standing in a very familiar place.
‘A jumaramp?’
I had heard that a jumaramp showed the most regrettable moment of the person.
This street
Very familiar, but I hadn’t passed near it in a long time, and now I was standing here—it made sense if it was the most regrettable moment shown by a jumaramp.
This was the street where, after being beaten by bullies and getting seriously injured after my childhood friend Yuna appeared to stop them, I had never passed it even once since then.
6:30
Looking at the time displayed on the surrounding screens, it was probably soon.
‘3… 2… 1…’ 6:31
TUTUDUDUDUDUT
At the same time the time changed, ten big men ran and surrounded me. I stayed still, thinking it was that time.
“Come with us peacefully, Lee Cheon-seong.”
“You damned bastard, I’ll kill you this time for real.”
From the men threatening me, I felt too weak killing intent, and I lost even the slight interest in the jumaramp, and like that time, I followed them.
The place the bastards brought me was again the same back-alley as that time, and the men who brought me were laughing and chattering.
“Kkukku. Ah~ what, Lee Cheon-seong. Where did that strong appearance from yesterday go?”
“Hey hey! Are you scared? What can you do? You’re a half-wit who touched us.”
“Ah~ even if you don’t resist at all, it’s not fun~.”
While the men were chattering, I waited for my regret to start.
“Seong-ah!!”
“Eh? What, that girl…”
“Whoa. She has a pretty face.”
Soft and warm features, brown ponytail sparkling in the sunlight.
Lee Yuna
My only childhood friend, my only friend, and the woman I loved.
Lee Yuna, who had appeared in the alley to help me, was the start of my regret.
The bullies looked at Yuna’s face and body, clicked their tongues, and approached her.
“Huhu… hu…”
I saw her hand reaching out slowly with a disgusting smile, and I acted just like that time.
GRAB
UDUG!
“Kyaaaaak!! This son of a bitch! Hey!! Hit!!”
I grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted it. Just like that time, I waited for the man’s screams and his words to his gang to attack me.
THUD!
‘…It hurts.’
It was the first thought when I was hit in the face by a bully’s fist.
I thought there would be no pain since I would see the jumaramp after death, but when I actually got hit, there was pain.
JAW
“Are you okay, Seong-ah?!”
After being hit, I fell, and Yuna caught me like that time, asking if I was okay. I said I was fine and tried to stand up.
While standing up, I looked at the bullies running toward me and had one thought.
‘Do I really have to act exactly the same as that time?’
Because it was the jumaramp showing the regret at that time, I acted exactly the same.
But was there a reason for that?
I didn’t know.
I didn’t know if I could change the jumaramp, or if I should act that way.
There was no reason I had to, but even so, I threw a punch.
POW!
“KUWOOK!”
THUD!!
Looking at the bully who fell to the ground with his jaw hit by my fist, I kept throwing punches.
“Y-you… you son of a bitch!!”
When his own comrade fell from one blow, the panicked men hesitated and rushed, and with such monotonous attacks, I dodged and knocked them down one by one.
THUD!
After knocking down the last remaining man, I was looking at the men when something soft touched my cheek. I turned around.
“Seong-ah, are you okay?”
There, Yuna was looking at me worriedly, her hand on my cheek. From Yuna’s touch, I could feel her warm warmth.
‘Warm…’
Enjoying Yuna’s soft and warm touch, I had another big question.
‘But why is the jumaramp so vivid?’
Yuna’s eyes looking at me worriedly, the warm hand stroking my cheek, the pain when I was hit, the impact when I hit the men, the touch of the wind passing by me.
With such a vivid image that it couldn’t be called a jumaramp, I recalled the voice I had heard right before my last death.
The voice I had thought was a hallucination.
A voice I had thought was a hallucination, but wanted to believe was real with even the slightest chance.
The voice before closing my last eyes told me:
Contract established.
The condition of the contract was to send me back to the past. The price was for the voice to receive what it wanted.
If… if the voice hadn’t been a hallucination and the contract had really been established…
If the slightest chance had really come true…
‘Really… really came back…?’
WAAAAA!
At that moment, my colorless vision changed, and the street where all colors had returned came into view.
“Seong-ah, are you okay? Did you get hurt somewhere?”
And with the colors of the Yuna I loved returning, tears welled up in my eyes.
WARAK!
“Y-you… Seong-ah?!”
Looking at the appearance of the person I had longed for and loved my whole life, my body moved first, without me realizing, and I pulled Yuna into a strong hug.
With Yuna in my arms, the warmth of Yuna, which reminded me even more that I had returned to the past, made my tears flow uncontrollably, and Yuna patted me and calmed me.
After falling into Yuna’s arms, I looked at Yuna and smiled brightly and said,
“I’m okay, Yuna.”
That smile was one I could never have seen in my life, the brightest I had ever smiled.