Destiny's Record (3)
Kang Seojun set the two women aside the moment they were out of sight and got straight to work.
A body that had barely stayed awake through the night screamed in pain, yet there was far too much still left undone to allow sleep.
He started by purchasing the **Flourishing World Reconstruction Serum** from the Dimensional Shop and injecting it directly into his body.
—Puk!
—Shuuuuh!
The effect was instantaneous.
The exhaustion in his mind cleared as if he had just woken up.
“Ugh…”
Even as his thoughts sharpened, the agony from every bone, muscle, and patch of skin in his body deepened tenfold.
Kang Seojun calmed it all with the **Flourishing World Analgesic**.
—Twitch, twitch, twitch!
—Gulp! Gulp!
“Hoo…”
It had been an extreme load, but every day was precious fuel to him, so it was unavoidable.
After finishing the bare-minimum preparations, he began the real task.
First, he had to read the **World Hunter Federation Union and Sungjin Group Joint Records** that Jin Serin had brought.
He needed to understand where the **Destiny Record** item had come from.
[19XX. Month. Day. Found while leveling the site for a new Sungjin Group headquarters building. It was stored inside a steel box sealed with welding, along with purified mana stones.]
[19XX. Month. Day. Research into the uses of old parchment began at Sungjin Lab.]
[19XX. Month. Day. Experiments were conducted with everything from magic catalysts to lightweight materials, leaving no possibility unexplored, but no satisfactory use was found.]
[19XX. Month. Day. A research agreement was signed with the World Hunter Federation Union. The study of the old parchment was adopted as one of the joint projects.]
[19XX. Month. Day. Young researcher Johnson claimed he had seen his own future through the parchment. Since no such phenomenon had ever been recorded in the history of the study, his claim was met with skepticism. Two days later, another young researcher, Rose, also made the same claim.]
[19XX. Month. Day. Dr. Gwak Cheol-ong hypothesized that the parchment’s use might be tied to age and began experiments centered on the young researchers.]
[19XX. Month. Day. The value of the parchment was immeasurable. It contained formulas for a certain ancient language cube, the existence of yet-unseen attributes, future medical technologies, the location of unregistered dungeons to be discovered in five years, the weaknesses of demons that would appear three years later, and combat strategies for monsters never seen before. It held an enormous volume of information and technology. The lab planned to recruit new staff and begin new technology development projects based on the information.]
[19XX. Month. Day. A strange common thread was discovered in the researchers’ claims. Every one of them had seen a black-haired Asian man named Kang Seojun appear in the vision.]
[19XX. Month. Day. The research team struggled to identify the true identity of “This Man.” The appearances reported by witnesses mostly matched, but his origins, job, traits, age, and even gender at times were all contradictory. No identifying information was consistent.]
[19XX. Month. Day. Skepticism grew about using the information from the parchment for new technology development. It was impossible to replicate technology developed over generations after only a few glimpses.]
[19XX. Month. Day. The research team achieved considerable results using the information from the parchment. However, it was becoming increasingly difficult to obtain new information through it. The team slowly shrank until, on 19XX. Month. Day, under agreement with the Union and Sungjin Group, research on the parchment was concluded and the team was completely disbanded.]
[19XX. Month. Day. This Man. Who exactly was he? Even in the end, they never learned his true identity. Since the team was disbanded, investigating him became impossible. His identity became an unsolvable mystery that no one would ever care about again.]
Kang Seojun set the report down on the table and leaned back against the sofa.
—Thud! Crack!
The sound of something snapping in his waist echoed through the room, but he ignored it.
“This mysterious man who gives future information through parchment… This Man…”
That was the identity recorded in the report.
The researchers had mistakenly believed Kang Seojun was burying the future information underground just for their benefit.
“Hmm.”
On the surface, it looked as if he had been providing information to help Sungjin Group and the Union grow rapidly.
They had simply seen their own future, and in that future Kang Seojun was their colleague.
“And Jin Serin and Seo Eunha…”
They thought he had used some means to send the information from the distant past to save them and the world.
“Hoo…”
Was it right to correct the misunderstanding?
But calling it a pure misunderstanding felt incomplete.
Kang Seojun shook his head.
“I’ll think about that later.”
There were far more urgent matters at the moment.
“Next is this.”
He picked up the old parchment.
It was nothing more than a faded yellow sheet with nothing written on it.
──────《ITEM》──────
▶Destiny's Record
◆Grade
[Rare]
◆Description
- A parchment containing fragments of memories from the previous loop. When used, it displays the recorded memories from the previous loop. Mana is consumed during use.
- If used by an NPC, the NPC can only read memories related to themselves.
─────────────────
He needed to figure out exactly what memories Jin Serin and Seo Eunha had seen.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
“Ugh…”
Kang Seojun forced his sluggish mind to settle and set the parchment aside.
Using the parchment required mana, so he had been sipping mana potions like coffee while working, and his stomach was already on the verge of rebellion.
“I still confirmed everything I needed to…”
As expected, Seo Eunha had seen her bad-ending route.
The memories related to Jin Serin contained many scenes she would have found embarrassing to describe directly.
From the first meeting that had started over a small quarrel.
The memories of watching each other’s backs during operations.
The memory of her face flushing unconsciously during their first handshake.
The memory of comforting her at the president’s funeral.
The memory of being saved dramatically from death at the moment she had resolved to die.
The memory of their silent confession at the fireworks festival.
The memory of surviving together, sharing body heat, after being isolated by a snowstorm.
The memory of the first house they had prepared together.
The memory of promising each other their hopes and futures under the stars on the night before a difficult battle.
And…
The memory of Kang Seojun embracing the dying Jin Serin after the demon’s curse pierced her heart and wailing as she passed.
The final fragment showed him in a critical state, clutching her mementos, ascending to the Altar of Regression.
“The memory fragments were split with perfect artistry.”
In truth, not every one of those memories had occurred in a single loop, yet they felt like a single sad movie.
The way the memories were arranged was probably also thanks to his Luck stat.
Thanks to the way they were combined, his relationship with Jin Serin had deepened far faster than it ever could have otherwise.
All coincidences, whether he wanted them or not, flowed in the direction that benefited him.
—Chirp!
“Hoo…”
Kang Seojun took a deep breath and looked out the window.
Time had already become a full morning.
There was still time until afternoon when Jin Serin had their training session.
He massaged his stiff eyes and reached for the last task.
The necklace stolen by Seo Eunha from the Man Spy.
──────《ITEM》──────
▶Obsidian Necklace of Deception
◆Grade
[Rare]
◆Description
- A necklace that conceals the user’s demonic energy.
- This item is exclusive to [Demons].
─────────────────
It had no special effects and was exclusive to Demons, so humans couldn’t use it either. It was practically trash.
But for Kang Seojun, it was the first step toward mastering the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
“Shall I start a small business?”
Trash could become art or valuables depending on how you processed it.
He opened the Dimensional Shop and bought all the materials needed for the combination.
—Tap. Tap. Tap.
Disposable combination boxes, black bones, night flowers, dark crystals…
Materials that would have taken years of grinding to obtain were gathered in an instant by the Dimensional Shop’s power.
Kang Seojun arranged the materials according to the combination recipe.
What he intended to create this time was a legendary-grade accessory.
It was also a Demon-exclusive item, so he couldn’t use it himself.
But he could sell it on the shop and earn tens of times the Dimensional Currency he had invested.
The success probability of the combination was only 0.03%.
However, a probability that meant nothing to Kang Seojun, whose Luck stat had transcended the mortal realm.
With this, he would gather enough Dimensional Currency to purchase the **Flourishing World Reconstruction Serum**—
◆Traits
[Hunchback Lv. Lowest], [Knock-Knees Lv. Lowest], [Twisted Arms Lv. Lowest]
—the path to removing more than half of his hated physical debuffs would finally open.
That would be one more step toward the prerequisite Heavenly Martial Body required for the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.
In other words…
“Today I come one step closer to the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.”
Kang Seojun closed the lid of the combination box and smiled deeply.