Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Altering History Through Tales
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What does altering history through stories even mean?
I spent a full two years in that previous timeline just to wrap my head around it.
Even then, my understanding wasn't perfect, and I ran into all sorts of headaches.
The Choi family mess early on was a prime example. That whole tale wasn't something I deliberately set in motion.
It was just an incident that cropped up to patch the holes in my incomplete story.
"How the hell was I supposed to know they were tied to Horrifica?"
That said, let me share the most crucial thing I figured out: the more detailed and complete a fabricated story is, the higher the odds the history will play out that way.
That was the biggest reason my existence twisted into an incomplete tale—and why I had to play the role of deus ex machina, unraveling the narrative myself.
In the end, it worked out to some degree, and that forged destiny brought me to this moment.
"What a goddamn grind... a filthy, endless slog."
Sure, I've only been in this current history for a few months, but if you tally up all the real time? Easily over five years.
But today marks the end of those failed histories. Peace—a fleeting blip in this world's timeline—is finally here.
I am the Merchant.
Or rather, I stepped out from the space of what can now rightfully be called an angel.
The sunlight beat down, brushing my cheek, and just as I started to bask in that joy for a fleeting second, screams shrouded in chaos echoed from every corner of the city.
It meant the Evil God's descent had already begun.
A fabricated god that first warps emotions and values, then twists even the body to its will.
"No time to stand around."
When crafting stories, I could preserve my memories.
It was as simple as tacking on one extra line—nothing too tough.
But there was a reason I didn't do it.
"So... guess I need to head into the sewers first."
It all came down to my 'will.'
If I didn't retain my memories, I'd just follow the story's flow naturally, regardless of my own volition. But the moment I become aware like this, my autonomous will starts interfering with that current.
In other words, from here on out, I have to move based purely on my own judgment.
Just like that time long ago when I dove into the sewers to head underground, I trudged deep into that stench-filled hellhole.
In the previous history, I never got a clear picture of who was behind turning the world into that nightmare.
That's why I dug into it back then using TooWiki, etching every single one of his moves into my memory.
And I even stalled for time through that gambling addict.
Thanks to that, I now had this foolish Evil God worshiper right in front of me.
"Wh-what the hell? Who're you?"
"Me? That's none of your business. You're Lee Young-gil, right?"
"Huh, ain't nobody who don't know me? Heh heh... At this rate, maybe I oughta go on TV and become a celebrity."
I stared at Lee Young-gil stone-faced.
"So... you from the Bureau too?"
"Well... I guess you could say I'm from the Tale Management Bureau."
It all started when I first arrived in this world and joined the Bureau, after all.
"Heh. What're you on about... Th-the Bureau's full of too many weirdos..."
"If that's how you see it... yeah, I suppose you could call me a Bureau alum."
Lee Young-gil furrowed his wrinkled brows, eyeing me sharply.
He was definitely hearing advice from that god right now.
"H-hold on a sec."
Less than two seconds later, Lee Young-gil's face twisted in shock.
"You—you! You're not human—"
Before he could spit out the revelation, I lunged forward with a powerful kick.
"Son of a—!"
Lee Young-gil barely raised his guard in time to block my fist, but he missed the real threat.
I'd never fought with punches anyway.
My attacks always started from massive tentacles. So with his eyes locked on my fist, he was basically handing me a free critical hit.
A tentacle emerged silently from my shadow—no warning, no sound—and sliced straight toward his back.
"Wh-what the—!"
It pierced him.
"Guh—!"
A thick tentacle speared him just above the navel—a spot that would've killed any normal person outright—its tip poking out the other side.
Lee Young-gil thrashed to break free, but his skewered body showed no sign of escaping my tentacle or grip.
"You bastard...! How the hell is a tale—!"
"Do-hyun... Tae-jun was so easy to stab."
"Let me go—!"
In other stories, they'd just hurl enemies away in situations like this, which always struck me as odd.
Why toss them when you could bisect them for an instant kill?
Shrrk—
"A-aaagh!"
Seizing his moment of distraction, I grabbed his hips with one hand and shoulder with the other, then ripped outward with brutal force.
Shrrrk—rrrrrip—
"Gaaaaah—!"
My monstrous strength—far beyond even the Headquarters Chief's—tore his frail human flesh like wet clay. His agonized howls blended with the sickening sounds of ripping bone and muscle, surpassing even the Evil God's voice in sheer horror.
Lee Young-gil slumped like a deflated sack, the infinite life force from his god snuffed out in one go. He couldn't even lift his head.
I flung the upper half into the sewage and split the lower half again—just in case of revival—before chucking it near the gruesome summoning traces.
"Huff... haa..."
I hadn't even exerted myself much, yet my breath came in oddly ragged gasps. I headed toward the Evil God summoning site.
"Looks like it's already underway... and been going for a while."
Which meant...
"The Evil God... is about to descend."
But giving up hope? Not on the table.
My scenario was built around the Evil God's summoning from the start.
It was such a massive event that erasing the summoning itself was next to impossible.
"It's just... a shame."
Still, there was a way to weaken the Evil God.
"If the summoning's incomplete!"
I raised my foot to smash the heart-dough pulsing with malice.
"St... stop."
"Ugh! What the hell is this!"
I couldn't help but flinch at the sight of Lee Young-gil—even more grotesque than the horrors from past histories.
From the ragged stump of his remaining leg, a head was slowly, grotesquely regenerating—like that guy from the movies.
"Even as a human... how does he have that kind of recovery?"
A chill ran through me as I felt the Evil God's power firsthand once more.
"Stop! I said stop!"
Part of it was unnerving, part absurd. I let out a hollow chuckle and kicked the heart-dough, scrambling it.
"Nooo—!"
Lee Young-gil thrashed in hysterical fury, as if personally wronged.
"Goooood! My world's almost here... and you—you come along and ruin it—!"
The wrong guy was staying calm while the one begging for mercy screamed. I was too dumbfounded to speak.
"You stupid worm!"
"...Want me to let you in on something? Even if your plan worked and that brain-dead freak descended, your world wouldn't have come."
I'd never seen Lee Young-gil in any previous history.
Which meant the Evil God never honored its promise to him.
Such a being isn't bound by human notions like promises or trust.
That's how the story was made.
"Huh? What do you know, you shit!"
"Everything... oh, I know it all."
Memories of my loved ones' deaths flooded back.
I realized my face had twisted into a goblin-like snarl.
What could I even explain to this villain who'd doom the world for his own selfishness?
No need. He wouldn't get it anyway.
With that epiphany, I stomped down on the ridiculous, babbling leg fragment.
"Kuugh!"
Somehow still feeling pain, Lee Young-gil's shard wailed. I crushed it again, hard.
"Graaah—!"
"Listen. I got dumped into this godforsaken world out of nowhere, and I've been busting my ass to protect it. But you? You're a native. Shouldn't you be working even harder to defend it?"
He probably couldn't hear.
His ears were pulverized, beyond regeneration.
"Ugh..."
And I kept going.
Until every last drop of my rage burned out.
Unfortunately, his twitching stopped before my anger did.
A worthless, meaningless life—past or present.
"Hoo... now it really begins."
To brace for the Evil God's revival, I climbed out of the nose-burning sewer.
My body was drenched in blood—as you'd expect—and the civilians who spotted me erupted in chaos.
It actually cleared my path, sparing me the hassle of shoving through the crowd.
"Still... feels shitty."
Like a declaration that I'd fully shed my humanity.
Even if I stop this apocalypse, it'd scream that I no longer belong in human society.
Clutching that melancholy, I took another step forward.
"Jin-seong."
A very familiar voice called out.