Chapter 365: Ascension to Immortality (End)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 365: Ascension to Immortality (End)
The battle between Sun Wukong and Vritra began. In terms of pure combat power, both were spirits who could easily be called the strongest even among their kind. However, let us set aside the clash of these mythical beings for a moment and speak first of the boy lying broken upon the ground.
Kang So-hyun.
Having challenged a god with a mere human body, his physical form was a shattered wreck, and his soul was nearly hollow. He remained alone in a withered, dying world.
It was a miracle that he still drew breath and maintained a human shape, though that miracle was clearly reaching its end.
Even so, he struggled in his own way to keep that faint spark of life flickering.
When Sun Wukong had rescued him moments ago, the Great Sage had shared some of her energy. So-hyun tried desperately to circulate that power through his body to stave off death.
Regrettably, the Authority housed within him had no intention of allowing such a thing. It tore the energy Sun Wukong had given him into shreds and swallowed it whole. His eyelids grew increasingly heavy.
It was a sensation of death he had experienced many times before, though never by choice.
It was a feeling of strength draining from his limbs, a slow, heavy lethargy washing over him.
He tried to resist, but it was futile.
If death were something one could overcome simply by resisting, it wouldn’t be called death.
He thought of those dear to him. He envisioned a happy future. He recalled everything he had achieved, the things for which he needed to apologize, the things he regretted, and those he still had to save. He remembered the promises yet unkept and the tearful face of his most precious friend. He had used all of these as the fuel to endure until now.
But this also meant that anything he could pull from his sheer willpower had already been exhausted to the limit.
Perhaps as a price for using everything up, his hazy mind was now devoid of thought.
The voices of the Artifacts screaming for him to wake up and the imaginary voices mocking him felt like nothing more than distant, irritating noise.
‘I’m tired.’
The moment that thought crossed his mind, he felt the strength leave the hands he had been clenching so tightly.
Because he had been holding on through sheer force of will, once his grip loosened, it was impossible to find the strength to tighten it again.
Eventually, his eyes slowly drifted shut.
And so, Kang So-hyun died.
Immediately afterward.
Regardless of his will, his life force was forcibly restored. His physical body was mended, and his empty vessel was filled until it overflowed.
Combined with the Lucky Double Coin, the super-regeneration granted by the Authority of the Creator reignited the embers of his life. At the same time, it threatened to shatter his vessel, which had already been weakened to the point of fragility.
The other Artifacts resisted desperately, but with their master unconscious, their efforts held little meaning. Finally, the signal came.
Crack.
The sound of something splitting rang out. As something began to leak through the fractured gaps, the boy opened his eyes once more.
However, it was uncertain whether “that thing” could still be called Kang So-hyun.
For now, one might just barely call him that, but soon, even that name would no longer fit.
Exuding a presence so immense that even the two battling spirits turned back in shock, the entity raised its head.
* * *
I looked around, but my head was so foggy that I couldn’t make sense of anything.
I could recognize that Sun Wukong and Vritra were staring at me with strange expressions, but I didn’t really know how I was supposed to act.
Are they both my enemies? Should I fight them?
I probably should have resisted or fought, but I lacked the motivation.
Why was I supposed to fight again?
Just as Vritra moved to eliminate me and Sun Wukong stepped in to block him, I felt familiar presences approaching from the distance.
Right.
That was it. I was enduring all of this because I wanted to protect those people, because I wanted to be with them.
That black dragon is an obstacle to them.
And it is something they cannot yet handle.
Now that I remembered the reason, I felt like I could fight.
I knew the most effective way to get rid of that thing right now.
Fighting the dragon was irrational.
It was much simpler to break the laws that bound it to this place.
“Come here.”
What held the Drought here was the Authority of the Creator, which had forcibly intervened in the Trial.
Therefore, if the Authority of the Creator vanished, it was only natural that the dragon would be unable to maintain its existence here.
Of course, there was no reason for the Authority she wielded to listen to me, but for some reason, I felt like it would obey me now.
“Hurry.”
When I spoke once more to the Authority, which seemed to hesitate and dawdle, it came to me much more easily than expected. Vritra gaped at me and those approaching me as if he were seeing the impossible, as if this simply could not be happening.
He unleashed a breath laden with the power of Drought, but it didn’t seem like it would be a problem.
I could have dodged it if I wanted to, but then the people behind me wouldn’t be able to endure it.
So, I simply blocked it with my body.
I felt a thirst deeper than I expected, but it was a familiar sensation, not something unbearable.
As the dragon vanished while screaming of the injustice of it all, I turned around to see familiar faces watching me.
“So-hyun…?”
“You’re okay, right?”
Why were they asking me the very thing I should be asking them? Right, I should ask if they’re okay.
It was the question I had been holding back, the words I had been dying to say.
“…Is everyone okay?”
My answer seemed to bring them immense joy; their faces brightened as they nodded.
“We’re fine, of course!”
“You’re okay too, right, So-hyun?”
They were all saying something, but for some reason, nothing other than the fact that they were “okay” really registered.
I see.
You’re okay.
Everything is okay now.
I…
I managed to protect you.
Tick.
The cracks in my vessel widened a bit more. Through the gaps, I felt something warm—something I had cherished deeply—slipping away.
And when I looked at them again, for some reason, they no longer felt as warm or precious as they had just a moment ago.
In place of the affection that had leaked out, a piercing coldness and a heart-constricting guilt took root in my chest.
“I’m sorry.”
“Huh…? So-hyun, why are you apologizing? You’re making me nervous. Isn’t it all over now?”
Sword Ghost Ha-ni shook her head as if denying something.
“You’re—you’re just worried we’ll be mad because you got hurt so much, right? He-hehe, So-hyun, you’re being such a loser today. Don’t worry, I won’t be mad…!”
Kim Ga-eul was forcing a smile.
“So-hyun, you look like you’re struggling. Come here first. Let’s talk over here. Okay? Please.”
Cathy, the ‘Professor,’ reached out her hand, beckoning me to join them.
…But by what right? Hadn’t everything until now been an anomaly?
A guy like me, a piece of trash, a villain, an unforgivable wretch, a one-of-a-kind bastard, worse than a devil, a monster… I, who deceived and used you all without a second thought… how could I possibly?
…Still, since I managed to protect you, maybe it’s okay to apologize now?
If I even defeated the Destruction for your sake, maybe I can confess just a little bit.
Yes. Let me look each of you in the eye and apologize.
Let me confess my unforgivable sins.
“I’m sorry for letting you die that day.”
Ga-eul tried to approach me with a confused expression, but the Black Thing that had begun to swirl around me pushed her back.
“I’m sorry for using you and for never looking at you properly until the very end.”
“Hey, what’s with the nonsense all of a sudden? Kang So-hyun. Stop talking crap and listen to the Professor. Come here…! You won’t? You think I can’t get to you?”
Ha-ni grew angry at my words and tried to reach me, but the more she did, the more violently the Black Thing around me raged.
“I’m sorry for not taking the hand you held out, and for returning your kindness with malice.”
Professor Cathy didn’t hesitate to strike the Black Thing.
Even the black storm cracked under her golden blow. Through that small gap, the woman—looking both angry and sad—reached out to me.
“Take my hand!”
You’re offering me your hand again. Thank you. Truly, thank you.
But I have no shame left; I don’t think I can take it.
Even as I watched her fists battering the blackness that was slowly sealing back up, all I could feel was guilt.
“So-hyun! Grab it! I said grab it! Grab it…! Are you not going to listen to me!?”
“Cathy, move…!”
A deluge of silver struck the blackness, but the Black Thing was already much harder and more solid than before.
“Crazy…”
“I’m sorry for not stopping it when I could have. I’m sorry for approaching you with the intent to use you.”
“Look here, Kang So-hyun. I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I know you’ll eventually come back swooning anyway. So stop with the weird build-up and get over here. If you come now, I’ll forgive you.”
Even so, Professor Park A-ram looks much better than she did in the 1st Timeline.
“…It’s definitely not a talent. Seeing as I can’t even stop this.”
Ah, Baek Seol. Right, there was something I needed to apologize to you for as well.
“I’m sorry for not trying to understand you sooner.”
Though you were hard to forgive, perhaps if I had reached out a little earlier, you could have been a reliable senior even in the 1st Timeline.
“So-hyun.”
Master. You, who stayed by my side until the end, even though I committed so many sins and did so many terrible things.
“If it’s too hard for you to come this way, is it also not allowed for us to go to you? Hmm?”
Master, who gave me more affection than I deserved, even though I was only paying back what I owed.
“I’m sorry for not treating your last words as a will, and for not seeing your death as a death.”
“…I’d rather you just said you were plotting something like usual.”
Lee Yu-na?
Haha, seeing the Future Chihuahua recently makes this even clearer.
“I’m sorry for deceiving and using you.”
If I had told you the truth about Lilac sooner, you might have been able to die a little earlier.
Who else is there? Ah, Lilac. It’s Lilac.
“I’m sorry for not giving my all that day.”
The hero of this world, who failed to defeat the Demon King because of us and could only manage a double-kill.
You have to become stronger from now on. You have to become more cold-headed. The world without me will be a bit harsher to you all than it is now.
So that you can endure even without me, you must be much stronger than you are now. But if you are only strong, you will break, so you must also possess gentleness.
…Ah, I still have apologies left, but there are people who aren’t here. Arcadia, my old comrades, Cheon Yu-hak, Noona, Father, Mother… none of them are before me.
But first, I should apologize to you.
“Seo-ha.”
No one answered my call.
Of course not; she was one of those who wasn’t here.
“I’m sorry for forcing my selfish ideals on you.”
Wasn’t this the best apology I could give?
This time, something thick and cold—black tears—fell from my eyes.
At the sight of the tears, which held a lethal chill that froze everything they touched, the others momentarily faltered. By the time I had finished weeping…
I no longer felt much of anything, not even the guilt toward them.
Then, then what is left of me?
Something still remained.
Something tucked away in the deepest part of my heart, something even I didn’t quite understand, was why I was still lingering here as Kang So-hyun.
I didn’t want to open it, but the door opened on its own, and the hideous things I had hidden inside began to spill out.
What? Was the thing I hid so desperately only this?
Compared to the things I had already shed, these weren’t even difficult to discard.
The screams filling my head were my own. They were from a very long time ago, yet they were somewhat justified, and in a way, quite pathetic.
— Why only me? It’s unfair. What did I do that was so wrong?
Resentment.
— Did I really ask for that much? No. These are things others have as if it’s only natural. I should be allowed to have at least one.
— Everyone just die. The ones who have what I can’t, and the ones who took away what I finally managed to grab. All of them.
Jealousy.
— Why does everyone leave? Why does everyone disappear? If you’re going to do that, then don’t say you love me. Don’t approach me. Don’t say you’ll stay by my side. Don’t make me hope.
Obsession.
— Why did no one kill me? You could have stopped me. There were so many chances.
And all sorts of unpleasant, petty emotions that any human might harbor, like shifting blame.
It was the anger of a child, hidden away for fear of being hated or causing disappointment, and a foolish fixation kept secret because it couldn’t be expressed.
“What, it’s nothing special.”
So, I didn’t think I would hesitate to throw it all away.