Chapter 273
Chapter 273
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 273
Chapter Title: A Certain Future
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[You...]
The message window appearing before my eyes. Is this the start of some irreversible glitch?
[...have overcome your phobia and defeated the object of your fear.]
Huh? Is that how it works?
Oh, right. I took down Moon Kyung-nam, the magic user.
And somehow—I did use a bit of a loophole—I overcame my phobia of magic and was able to use it.
[The overcome phobia naturally heals, and you gain additional experience points.]
[System: 'Madness - Magic Phobia' has been removed.]
"We did it!"
"I don't know what we did, but grab me already!"
Kong Isu's shout poured out like a scream.
I cast a spell to catch Kong Isu as he plummeted downward.
[Invisible Hand]
"Ugh! Rocks! Rocks!"
"Senior, just hold on a bit!"
[Feather Fall]
[Spell Enhancement: Multiple Casting]
[Gravity Reversal]
[Spell Enhancement: Multiple Casting]
Bam bam bam bam bam!
I slowed the speed of rocks within dangerous range or altered their fall paths, deflecting the fragments raining down from all sides.
"Ugh, but I've used up almost all my mana..."
No time to celebrate magic being back. I added a few enchantments to myself, scooped up Kong Isu, and attempted a tricky flight.
"Reddie!"
"Kreeee!"
Rumble rumble rumble!
It would've been way more dangerous without Reddie's help.
Damn. Not even enough mana left for Gate Creation.
Crunch boom! Kaboom!
* * *
The collapse is still ongoing.
We took shelter in a crevice we found in a corner of the underground cavern.
"Isn't this dangerous too?"
Tick-tock— tick-tock—
The clock where Kong Isu's head should be makes an anxious second-hand noise.
"Probably need to get out fast."
"I knew it would end up like this. Junior, no matter what time I meet you, you're always a total mess."
"Feels a bit different from the last time I saw you. Which timeline's senior are you, exactly?"
"Me? When did you see me?"
"Um..."
What does 'when' even mean to a time traveler who jumps back and forth through time?
"Last time, you were barefoot in a patient gown—and you spoke in this much more somber, wistful tone."
"Well, must've been the mood back then."
And the current Kong Isu?
He's wearing thick, tough leather boots and a ragged poncho-like raincoat. Plus, he's got this heavy metal backpack strapped to his back.
Is that even a backpack? Looks like it has mechanical devices embedded in it.
"Junior, I came to this day in the future because of you, and I met future-you. Probably—"
"Probably?"
"You changed the past, right? That's why the me you met last time and the current me experienced different futures."
"Different futures? Just a guess?"
"Has to be. The wistful [patient-gown me] you met before is [future me] from my perspective. See? Complicated, huh?"
"Very. But..."
"No, before that! Magic! Try using any magic! Hounds! The hounds are coming soon!"
"Ah, got it."
[Matter Transmutation]
Grind grind grind—
I gathered my mana and rounded off everything in range that could form a sharp corner.
Kong Isu is a [Time Traveler] with the power to traverse past and future. But [Cthulhu World] imposes strict penalties on [Time Travelers] who disrupt the laws of time and space.
"Good. This should hold for now."
The [Hounds of Tindalos] that hunt time travelers reveal themselves through corners with angles of 120 degrees or less.
The whole underground cavern is unstable, so we can't stay long, but this buys enough time to talk with Kong Isu.
"What happened in the future to make you dress like that?"
Sand pours from the gaps in his clothes every time Kong Isu moves.
Ominous sand laced with poison and mana. Just that hints the future isn't great.
"Hahaha—it's the future where you escape Seoraksan on your own without meeting me here."
"Oh, so it was possible to escape on my own?"
Boom! Kaboom!
The impact sounds still echoing faintly from above.
I caused that, but I thought escape was impossible—yet I escaped through this?
[High-Speed Recovery] sealed my wounds, but the damage is immense. Most artifacts lost, Dolly and Achilles missing.
Three fingers gone from my left hand—and my left leg, which was completely charred, still won't move.
Looks like this leg's like this for life. Waist's still bad too. Health and strength were already trash, now it's over.
But how did I get out of here in this state?
"You're tenacious and creepy like that, right? You always pull through somehow."
"Ah, so I did somehow."
Impressive.
Kong Isu shook his head (clock) wearily and continued.
"Yeah. The junior I met in the future was amazing and fun. The future was horrific, sand everywhere, but we had a blast traveling together."
The [patient-gown Kong Isu] I met before spoke wistfully and sadly about future-me, like something tragic happened. But the one in front of me now...
How do I distinguish this Kong Isu? [Desert Kong Isu]?
He's talking about fun memories with future-me.
"But something was wrong, right?"
That [sand-covered] bit is the most unsettling.
"Smart. Yeah."
Figured.
If not, [future me] wouldn't have sent Kong Isu to this time.
The logic and calculations leading to pulling Kong Isu here at this place, time, and method—it's all derived from explainable reasoning.
If [future me] thinks like [current me], he'd send him right now.
As if expanding on my thoughts, Kong Isu continued.
"The future you I met was an incredible guy called the [Desert Savior], but he was missing fingers on his right hand, no right leg at all. Mental state wasn't great either."
"Aha?"
I sensed something off in his words and was about to point it out, but Kong Isu dropped something way more important.
"And he kept lamenting something about never finding the [Lhakrex Grimoire]."
Yeah, knew it.
"Never finding the [Lhakrex Grimoire]? Wait, what about the future now?"
"The future—"
* * *
Kim Shin-hwa stopped the [Great Origin]'s descent, canceling the apocalypse trigger.
But the [Source of Corruption]'s descent didn't vanish.
Everything south of Gyeonggi and Gangwon in Korea turned into territory ruled by the [Source of Corruption]—triggering horrific anomalies worldwide.
Kim Shin-hwa, who escaped Seoraksan late, witnessed a world where everything had turned to desert.
Modifying an armed truck left by Yeonam Construction, Kim Shin-hwa traversed the post-apocalyptic Korean peninsula—
And became known as the [Desert Savior]...
* * *
"Stop, stop! I get the gist, enough."
"Yeah. Future junior kept tempting me that something was here in this era, so I came to check, and it was a trap. Luring me here..."
Got it.
Well done, [future Kim Shin-hwa].
Just as I predicted, future me sent Kong Isu to this exact time.
If we don't turn it back now, no way to find the [Lhakrex Grimoire].
"Yes. I don't want that future. Can you pass a message to past me?"
Solution's simple.
Just a few keywords: [No time. Depart now], [Don't send Park Kwang-rim to Buyeo], [Stop Moon Kyung-nam].
Then past me will completely change this wretched present, and that weird desert lord future won't happen.
"No."
"...What?"
"No idea which time you're referring to, but junior—you haven't met any other me between [patient-gown me] and current me, right?"
"That's... true."
"Then no. The number of times I can meet you is fixed. And between [last time] and [now], there's no slot."
What the hell does that mean...
"Fixed number? Who decided that?"
"Can't explain to you, junior, but it's not that simple. To you, my time looks twisted and looped weirdly, but it's the opposite. From my view, my time is a straight line. You're the twisted ones."
Headache. Some setting only time travelers get.
Damn. Thought this would work.
I quickly shifted my gaze outward.
Crunch—with a massive rock pushing through the cavern ceiling. Is that Ulsan Rock from the peak?
How to break through that?
Even if I do, what awaits is that horrific apocalypse world.
Kong Isu talks like it's fun memories—but it's gotta be hell.
And after years wandering that hell, future me couldn't escape and chose to change the past.
Means no answer this way.
What now?
Tick-tock— tick-tock—
"Hmm..."
I feel Kong Isu stroking his head (clock) while looking at me.
"You're really something, junior."
"What?"
"Thought you'd whine more, but you're already hunting for the next solution? Quick thinking in danger—must be innate."
His voice sounds nostalgic, recalling memories with [future Kim Shin-hwa]. No idea what happened, but this Kong Isu shared thrilling action and epic adventures with future me too.
"But you could use a different method instead."
"Different method?"
"Yeah. You want to change the future, not me? If this present changes, my fun future vanishes. Why should I bear that risk?"
Tick-tock— tick-tock—
A deeply eerie, ominous sound from the floating clock where his head should be.
"That's maybe..."
"Yeah, that maybe. It's your wish, right? And I have the power to grant it."
Tick-tock— tick-tock—
Kong Isu soon made a proposal.
After deep thought, I accepted it.
* * *
"There's no clear cure for dissociative identity disorder. This medication helps regulate excessive emotional swings more than treating or alleviating symptoms."
The doctor has a name since she's human, but in [Cthulhu World] terms, she's just a nameless NPC.
I came to in a psychiatric clinic in southern Paju.
"Huh—?"
"Um, are you okay?"
The doctor looking at me with concern.
"Ah, yes. Yeah. I'm fine. Uh, really fine."
She gives a meaningful look at my robotic response.
"If you're after something else..."
"No. Don't need Nirvana or Heartbreaker."
"Ah, I see."
Her expression visibly brightens.
"Even though we're a 'real hospital' that doesn't deal in that stuff, some people insist."
"Yes. Makes sense."
Want to end the talk and leave fast, but hold on a bit. Procedures needed.
[System: Rationality recovers through psychiatric consultation.]
[System: +1 for 'relaxed atmosphere', +1 for 'safe environment', +4 bonus from doctor's 'psychological counseling' level. Max recoverable rationality: 1~10+6.
Mental strength check... success. Recovery: 13 points.]
Good. Recovered a good amount.
Confirmed, then hurried out of the hospital. Sky's clear and blue.
And the message window covering my eyes.
[Legendary feat achieved!
You have crossed the barrier of time and regressed to the past.
Acquired 'Legendary Feat: Regressor'.
All experience gained before regression inherited, plus additional trait.]
[System: Penalty trait 'Prey of Tindalos' applied.]
[System: 'Prey of Tindalos' activated. Footsteps tracking you from beyond space-time echo.]
"No time."
Not immediate. Not like Kong Isu chased by dozens of hounds. No hounds in 10 minutes. Per Kong Isu—
'At first, it'll take a while to appear. With your magic, you can disrupt or slow their tracking? But don't stay in one spot over 6 hours.'
Right.
Ended up like this. I took the risk and chose to change the future.
And before anything else, one thing to wrap up ASAP.
* * *
Arrived via secure taxi at the apartment in Munsan-eup that Yeonam Construction sold last time.
The one with ghouls in the underground parking, great view over the Great Wall from high floors.
I reached the apartment and broke into a unit via the balcony.
"Hello."
"Who are you!? H-how'd you get in?"
"Oh, the barrier on the balcony? Nothing special, dispelled them all. Next time, don't DIY—hire someone skilled."
"What...?"
"Anyway. Just take two hits."
[Thunderbolt]
[Glacial Spike]
Zzzzap! Boom!
"Arghhh!"
Moon Kyung-nam's scream echoes through the luxury apartment interior.