Cruelty

Yeodre pushed Seo Yerin? Wasn't it a suicide?

'...I can't recall the scene from back then. Why?'

Raeband was flustered by his inability to remember the moment Seo Yerin jumped. The Scholar and Kaits, however, did not attempt to dredge up those memories; they simply watched Drae’s actions, each harboring their own thoughts and emotions.

Drae stood silently, staring blankly at Suryeon. The only movement he made was an occasional blink. It was Suryeon who broke the silence.

"I know everything, Drae. There isn't a person in this world who understands you as well as I do."

"You understand me best? You?"

"Yes. The reason you helped me. It was to keep the promise you made to your father to live a good life, wasn't it? Even though you felt something was wrong with me, you helped me anyway, just for the sake of that one promise."

"That... is correct."

At Drae’s affirmation, Suryeon’s smile deepened.

"It started that way, but you were actually quite happy. I only brought Seo Yerin, Seong Sihyeon, and Han Siyoung into the fold because they were naive, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arrogant brats, but it really grinds my gears that you got along with them and were happy."

"That, too. Is correct."

"But even while you were happy, you kept feeling a sense of suffocation in a corner of your heart. Why? Because your instincts are only satisfied when you crush, trample, and dominate others."

The answer came only after a long pause.

"That’s not true."

"Oh, isn't it? Back at the dojo, you expected Jin-pae or Kang Gu-han to bring their gang, didn't you?"

"...When are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. The day Seo Yerin was broken and sought refuge at your dojo, the day Seong Sihyeon was smashed to pieces."

"......"

"Maybe you had a shred of conscience left, or maybe it was for another reason, but you called Rachel Han. Yet, the fact remains that you ignored them, even if only for a moment."

"You're writing fiction."

"Fiction?"

Giggle. A cute, bubbly laugh that didn't fit the tense situation rang out.

"You just don't realize what kind of trash you are. Did you really commit all these cruel acts out of anger because your friends were treated so horribly? Do you have any idea how many people have died so far? Can you even fathom how many hundreds have wallowed in pain and despair?"

"......"

"Simple anger isn't enough to do what you've done. You couldn't have done it with such... enjoyment. Shall I tell you the answer to your own heart that even you don't know? You faithfully followed the promise you made to your father, and in one corner of your heart, you found it suffocating."

Suryeon’s lips curved like a crescent moon.

"You wanted to deviate, didn't you? So you created a reason to be angry, a pretext to go wild. You pushed her yourself, then rationalized it by claiming we were the ones who pushed Seo Yerin."

"...That's not it."

"Oh, isn't it? You pushed Seo Yerin off the roof to play the protagonist of a tragedy, and now you're playing innocent so well. Or perhaps you did it unconsciously? That’s even more chilling. Yeah, that's it. You don't even know your own heart."

"......"

"There’s a reason why my story—that you follow only your instincts without knowing your own feelings—is a definite fact. Do you know what it is?"

Drae looked at Suryeon as if demanding an answer. She smiled brightly.

"It's that you haven't killed me yet and are listening to my story."

Drae’s mouth hung slightly open.

"If you were the Drae of until now, you would have gagged me and started with torture. The fact that you didn't means you want to know about your own thought process, which even you can't explain."

Suryeon, who had been gasping for breath while leaning against the monument, was suddenly perfectly fine.

"Isn't that right?"

Drae did not answer. The muzzle he had raised was now pointed downward.

"There is no one who knows you as well as I do."

Suryeon laughed as if she were truly happy. She didn't stop there; she continued as if she had been dying to say it.

"Drae. You are a truly strange bastard. Cruelty aside, you are detached from human emotions."

"......"

"You really don't care about anything other than what is important to you, do you? And that 'important thing' is only one thing: the promise with your father. That memory dominates all your thinking, so your own nature is suppressed, and you just endure it even though it's suffocating."

"Setting aside whether that's true or not, is that wrong?"

At Drae’s nonchalant voice, Suryeon burst into laughter once more.

"Wrong? Of course it's wrong. Humans are beings that continuously build and update memories, living by leaning on them. There is no one else like you, trapped by one or two memories and throwing away all other desires."

Suryeon said that it was wrong as a human, and pathetic.

"That's why I tried to save you. If you had just come under me, I would have awakened your true nature, and you could have lived a fun, human life."

"Is that so."

"Yes, that's so. Ah, are you unable to accept the fact that you're abnormal? I guarantee you... even if there really is a god who created all things, even that god would think you're abnormal."

It was the Scholar who nodded in agreement with Suryeon’s words. Drae was an incomprehensible existence. How on earth could he have spent ten thousand years of boring, repetitive time while staying sane? For what reason? No, no matter the reason, it was unacceptable. That is not human. It is incomprehensible, and because it only resembles a human in shape, it only causes discomfort.

"I guarantee one more thing. You will never be able to forget me. Never. You will never be able to forget the one who made you, who is always angry, even angrier."

Therefore, Suryeon said confidently, as if guaranteeing it.

"You and I cannot be separated. If I'm not here, you'll just go back to being a boring, upright human."

A voice full of confidence. But the reaction this time was different. Drae, who had been listening expressionlessly until now, grinned.

"In the end, are you begging for your life?"

"......"

"Your words are long-winded, but to summarize, you're saying let's be together, aren't you?"

"Yes. That's right. But does this sound like begging for my life?"

Hehehe. Suryeon, who let out a laugh, had a dignified attitude.

"I'm giving you an opportunity. The only opportunity for you to live like a human."

"Opportunity, my ass. I killed your father, your family, and your direct subordinates, so what power do you have..."

"I have Mind Reading."

Suryeon placed a hand on her chest and shouted confidently.

"Do you think Shin Jin-seung succeeded on his own? Not at all. I am the true ruler. With just me, those forces can be restored anytime, instantly."

"You're full of confidence."

"Because it's the truth. I can become a ruler anywhere I go, and that is just an obvious fact. It's not boasting, nor is it a bluff."

"Assuming that's true, you want me to trust you? Can you trust me? I killed your father and your brother..."

"It doesn't matter."

Suryeon’s eyes burned with a certain desire. Raeband felt as if he could sense a sliver of emotion in those eyes.

"Even if I don't have family, I have you."

But Drae’s expression vanished at that answer. The blankness was momentary, and he soon smiled broadly.

"I'm sorry. I can't trust you."

At Drae’s words, Suryeon said as if frustrated.

"You proved your worth. You alone destroyed me and my forces. So I truly thought we could stop making you a slave and start as equals..."

"Ah, enough. Enough."

Drae waved his hand dismissively.

"In the end, I just wasted time listening."

"......"

"Forget it all."

Drae threw his gun to the floor and grinned.

"Even if everything you said is true, even if I live a sub-par life, I don't want to be with you."

"...Why?"

"Read it with that high-and-mighty Mind Reading. Or did the activation conditions for that high-and-mighty Mind Reading not get met?"

"......"

"I'll give you a parting gift for your journey to the afterlife. Actually, it's nothing special."

With his entire face filled with mockery and contempt, Drae said:

"What kind of man would want to be with a woman whose face is ruined like yours?"

After a long silence, Suryeon opened her mouth.

"......Th-that. My face can be fixed."

Suryeon stuttered for once. She was blinking and flustered, as if she had heard something completely unexpected.

"What? Don't tell me you're hurt? You have a surprisingly cute side."

Suryeon couldn't hide her agitation and began to ramble.

"I, I... I am of the same kind as you. No one understood me, and you too..."

"Don't open your mouth, you ugly bitch."

"Don't open your mouth. It's disgusting."

[Unable to maintain his composure, he cloaked himself in anger instead of fluster.]

That meant Suryeon’s words had caused a ripple in his heart to some extent.

"The only good thing about you was your pretty face, but now you're ugly not just in heart, but in face too. Don't you think?"

"......How could you... to me-."

Suryeon tried to say something, then shut her mouth and stepped back. But behind her was a cliff.

"Don't... come."

"I don't want to. But Suryeon, how do you want to die? Should I strangle you? Or should I beat your face until you die?"

"How could you... how could you do this to me...! You can't treat me like this...!"

"What do you mean I can't treat you like this? You're the one who started it. You seem to be under the delusion that the world is living for your sake."

Suryeon continued to step back.

"Seo Yerin is dead, and Han Siyoung might as well be! Now there's only me left. But..."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Drae slowly reached out his hand and grinned.

"It's the climax."

"......"

"Don't open your mouth anymore. Just die."

"Don't come!"

As Suryeon stepped back, the edge of the cliff she was standing on crumbled.

"Eek, aaaaaah!"

Drae grabbed Suryeon as she fell.

"Bye-bye."

"Ugh, aaaa...!"

At that moment,

Kuaaaaack!!

A colorless vortex, or a current of power that looked like calm ripples, appeared behind her and swallowed the girl in an instant. Drae stepped back, preparing for what might come next, but nothing happened.

Only, Suryeon had vanished.

"......Is she another special ability user?"

Kukwakwakwakwa.

The background of the world of memories turned dark. Was it representing Drae’s feelings? But... were there any memories left to show here? What kind of story could there be after this?

The memory world showed the story that followed.

First, an alleyway somewhere.

In that place where the first memory began, the guys he had seen before were there. The thugs, the male student being extorted. The perpetrator and the victim were exactly as they were. The difference from before was that Drae beat them mercilessly. The victim, terrified by the overwhelming violence that left bones exposed, ran away. And Drae left the thugs, who were crying and begging for their lives after being beaten, crippled.

A hospital.

Not the Shin-jin Hospital, but a hospital room that looked ordinary at a glance. Seong Sihyeon lay with his eyes closed on a snow-white bed. Beside him, a woman was trembling, naked. A girl who looked like a delinquent, with hair dyed a color close to blonde.

"H-h... don't..."

"Sihyeon. I brought your ex-girlfriend. Her name is... Dasol? Was it Harin?"

Seong Sihyeon could not open his eyes. He just breathed, hiss, hiss.

"What should I do with this bitch."

"I, I'm sorry. I betrayed Sihyeon because the bad guys told me to, not because I wanted to..."

"Sihyeon."

Drae, who kept calling the name of the classmate lying down as if the woman’s opinion didn't matter, moved his hand at some moment.

Thwack, crack, squelch, crunch, thwack.

Eek. Save...

Just like that, the ex-girlfriend who had betrayed Sihyeon in front of him died.

The scenery changes.

"Hello, Yoo Jae-heon."

A name he had heard before. A small build, dark skin, unkempt appearance, and beady eyes. Raeband struggled to remember where he had heard that name, and the Scholar answered.

"It's Han Siyoung’s boyfriend."

Raeband groaned, "Ah." It was the first time his actual appearance had been shown, though only his name had appeared, and Raeband frowned without realizing it. He was a pathetic man, and it was incomprehensible how he had come to date Han Siyoung, who was bright and stylish.

The place was a basement. There, Yoo Jae-heon was trembling while tied to a chair, and beside him were terrifying surgical tools.

"Wh-why, why are you doing this. You said you were Han Siyoung’s friend..."

Slap!

When two teeth flew to the floor from a single slap, Yoo Jae-heon burst into moans and tears.

"Hey. Honestly, what was lacking in Siyoung?"

"*Sob*. *Sob*. Th-that's not it..."

Yoo Jae-heon was beaten mercilessly right after being told he would be beaten until he told Drae the truth. The guy made up excuses as a last resort, saying he was threatened or that Han Siyoung had been ignoring him, but Drae perfectly grasped other people’s emotions and psychology, so the lies didn't work.

The guy, who kept suffering, eventually spoke his true feelings as if in a fit of desperation.

"She looks like a slut! Sh-she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠won't give it up! The women Suryeon sent all gave it up!"

"Dasol... ah, no. Including Harin?"

Drae mentioned the girlfriend of Seong Sihyeon, whom he had killed, but Yoo Jae-heon was silent.

"......"

"Ah, Suryeon must be included too."

Yoo Jae-heon, mocked for how he could embrace such cheap women. And the cruel beating began again. At some moment, Yoo Jae-heon said in a voice filled with malice.

"Fuck! What's wrong with a man playing around with his dick, you fucker! And that bitch Suryeon only took pictures and didn't give it..."

"Ah, enough, enough."

Pliers. When the tool entered his mouth, Yoo Jae-heon’s eyes widened, trembling as if he hadn't known it would go this far.

"I know enough."

As if he had suddenly found courage, Yoo Jae-heon immediately begged for his life, crying and wailing. And Drae killed Yoo Jae-heon after tormenting him to his heart's content.

After that, too.

He destroyed everything related to Shin Jin-seung or Kang Gu-jin, really everything. He destroyed, destroyed, and destroyed again... Then, suddenly, the slaughter stopped. Perhaps... he had killed all the people involved.

Peaceful scenery is visible. Drae wandered aimlessly as if he had lost his destination. He looked powerless. Raeband and the Scholar did not feel pity at that sight, but rather a sense of anxiety and fear, like the calm before a storm.

The scenery changes.

The sea. A small port. Drae stood staring blankly at the sea with his hands in his pockets. A stylish woman stood beside him. A red-haired woman. It was Rachel. She took out a cigarette and put it in her mouth, then said.

"Want one?"

Drae shook his head silently. Phew. The cigarette smoke rose into the sky. The silence was not long. Just about the time it took to burn one cigarette. Rachel opened her mouth.

"I have no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠idea what kind of guy you are."

"......"

"I just thought you were a kid adopted by that bastard to do something meaningful before he died. I know it's true that you didn't learn anything from him. A guy like that is now a complete slaughter machine... no, what should I call you."

Drae did not answer. He just looked at the sea with hollow eyes.

"You did well not to kill the 'Manipulator'. In the first place, she wasn't cooperating with Shin Jin-seung’s side because she wanted to, and she seemed quite terrified of you, so she acted on her own to manipulate public opinion so that the world wouldn't know about you. I used my power behind the scenes too... and..."

Rachel gave a bitter smile and began to mutter to herself.

"The prosecution. The politicians... those high-and-mighty people who think of the public as dogs and pigs are all in a panic, running around in confusion without even properly grasping what happened."

Kekeke. Rachel, who chuckled, continued in a voice filled with laughter.

"And the conclusion they came to was just to cover up the incident. Those who were Shin Jin-seung’s subordinates, those who held their heads higher than anyone else, were terrified of a single high school kid..."

That’s why Drae still hasn't been caught by the police, Rachel said. And immediately after that, she snorted and spoke in a self-deprecating voice.

"No, actually, I'm scared of you too."

Only then did Drae turn his head to look at her.

"You are an unknown entity. Even if the police stepped in, even if the army stepped in, I don't think they could catch you. I have good intuition, you know? But for this once, I can't trust my intuition. My intuition feels like no one will be able to stop you until you want them to, and everything will be destroyed."

Even until the world perishes. With those words, silence flowed again. Then, at some moment, a voice of reproach came from Rachel’s lips.

"You even killed those whose sins were light."

Drae, unable to let it pass this time, replied quietly.

"...They were collaborators."

"They were originally good. They were people who didn't know themselves or were forced to cooperate."

"That’s just hypocrisy, and their true nature was revealed."

"Even so, there were countless men and women who didn't deserve to die. People are weak, so they have no choice but to be influenced by their surrounding environment. But you trampled on even the sprouts that might have grown in the future."

"Because they deserved to be trampled."

"...Do you think you're right? Do you think it's natural not to give even a single chance?"

Rachel’s tone became passionate.

"Don't you know the word forgiveness?"

"I know the word."

Ha. Rachel, who snorted as if it were absurd, pointed her finger at Drae.

"Do you know this? Your father wasn't like this either. That guy knew what forgiveness was. Didn't he teach you about forgiveness?"

Drae’s expression distorted for the first time. That was all, but Raeband and the Scholar, who were existences outside the memory, felt as if their hearts were being gripped. Seeing Drae, a high school student who had an immeasurable gap in terms of force alone.

"If you had to define it, you are evil. Not justice."

"So? What do you want me to do?"

Drae’s face turned black. What is this? A hallucination? A correction of the memory world? Whatever the reason, that appearance was already hard to see as human. In the darkness, red eyes narrowed, and Drae said in a grinning voice.

"Want to have a go, you fucking bitch?"

"......"

Silence again. Drae sneered.

"It's fine if you attack together with the guys hiding nearby waiting for the sniper signal."

Rachel did not answer. She just raised her hand and sent a signal. And nothing happened.

"...Why would I fight with a colleague’s son. They were brought in just in case you went crazy and attacked."

Rachel turned her back.

"Don't worry. I'll just help you live your daily life. I have the power to do so. The situation is flowing very well, and I have great collaborators."

"......"

"So live normally. And give up on finding Suryeon. Seeing that she doesn't appear in my information network, she has either gone completely into hiding... or did you actually kill her and forget?"

It was a reasonable suspicion for Rachel, but Drae just frowned.

"...She disappeared. Right in front of my eyes."

He could have asked if that made any sense, but Rachel didn't. She just said quietly.

"...Even if Suryeon is alive somewhere. Forget it. You've already paid it back several times over."

"......"

"Try forgiving just once."

Rachel walked away from the silent Drae and said.

"Try, at least."

Drae looked up at the sky without a word. Rachel stopped for a moment.

"Come to think of it, why did you come to the port? Are you waiting for someone?"

"...I came to see the sunset."

Drae answered after a long time, and Rachel smiled.

"Your father really liked the sunset."

And she left.

Time passed. Drae, watching the reddening sky and the setting sun, said inadvertently.

"Shall I play a game."

Kukwakwakwakwa.

The world changes completely.

Drae found a room. He also got a capsule for virtual reality games, and bought all kinds of games, comics, novels, etc., and holed himself up in the room.

The three people watching thought at the same time. They didn't know why the conclusion of a game came out immediately after that slaughter without any sense of reality. As if to resolve the question, the narration adds an explanation.

Yes. He continued to play the game. The Scholar had a fed-up expression. Memories, memories, memories that didn't end even with maximum fast-forwarding. Kaits was able to change time by the year. He manipulated time quickly. The memory world flows at an incredible speed.

One year passed. Still playing the game. He cleared a certain game.

"Clear... um. Still not working."

Game over title on the screen. He cleared it, but it's still not working? What does that mean?

Ten years.

Still playing the game. But by then, he had cleared all kinds of games, so it seemed like there were no more games to play.

"...Now there's nothing to play in RPGs. Still not working."

Next is a hundred years.

He mastered not only RPGs but all kinds of games.

"Fun. The story is also the best. Dragon-chan."

Drae, who was moved to tears to the point where the onlookers were stunned, muttered quietly.

"...But, I still can't forget."

His tone changed strangely. He became completely otaku-like. However, something was still strange.

Next is a thousand years.

By this time, Raeband had a look of terror beyond astonishment. Two thousand years. Three thousand years. Four thousand years... As it flowed and flowed, Drae played the game... and played...

"...Is that guy human?"

Raeband finally asked the question anyone would have, and no one answered. Just as time was about to flow.

Chizit.

Noise occurred now. What is it?

"Record God."

"Did a problem occur with Yeodre?"

Kaits understood those words and opened his eyes wide. Perhaps the gods intervened at this time. Drae must not have known that fact.

'No, maybe he just didn't care.'

Kaits narrowed his eyes. Yeodre had previously spoken as if he had been abandoned by his assigned god. In fact, he doesn't even have the common sense that ordinary users have. But for all that, he is quite an exception. The gods evaluated him by making him perceive it thoroughly as a game without him knowing. Interference in another dimension consumes causality to some extent. A god took on the burden of causality for a man who had nothing to do with them, who wasn't even their assigned user yet? And they would leave someone who took such a loss alone...?

As if Kaits’s astonishment had nothing to do with it, Drae’s memories flowed quickly like waves. The time floating in the air also accelerated exponentially. Five thousand years. Six thousand years... Seven thousand. Eight thousand. Nine thousand. And ten thousand years.

Drae, who said he couldn't forget something every time he finished a game, put down the pad he was using to operate a shooting game. He, wearing a shabby hoodie, smiled brightly and nodded.

"God game."

Ten minutes of silence followed. Drae let out a breath.

"But, as expected, I can't forget."

"I can't forgive. As expected, let's kill them."

And Yeodre puts down the game. From the next day, the journey to find Suryeon and the Shin-jin gang would begin.

[The day after this, he is summoned to Elynar.]

Yeodre is zoomed in. Those black eyes, which were smiling brightly, soon burn red. That is anger. A hellfire that cannot be hidden, cannot be endured, that will burn the world, everything.

Whoosh!

The hellfire actually burned the world. Yeodre’s memory world burns and disappears...

Paaaaat.

It ended here. Since what Drae promised to show Kaits was the memory before coming to Elynar, the story after this can no longer be known. As for what kind of human Yeodre is currently, he must now infer it. Raeband reached a conclusion.

"This guy is not it, Captain."

His voice was trembling. Having ten thousand years of memories, yet unable to forget one memory, and instead, hatred was amplified? The fact that the background was ominously burning and undulating was proof that the hatred had deepened.

Yeodre is crazy. He is the incarnation of anger and madness. The Scholar agreed.

"He is a guy who cannot be controlled."

It's not the body that's the problem. His mental strength is at a level that cannot be dared to be discussed by human standards, and even high-level life forms would be looked down upon. And in the world called Elynar, mental strength leads to... tremendous power. He will become a tremendous existence that cannot be handled. As much as he doesn't know what he might do with his immediate emotions, he is the worst existence.

"That guy is evil. Great evil. No, great, great evil. Perhaps he might grow into the supreme evil."

Raeband was particularly concerned about whether he really pushed Seo Yerin off the roof. He couldn't confirm it because the memory was vague, but... if that were true, he is an existence that can trample on other lives without a second thought for his own pleasure. The sword of light for a guy who hides a slaughter instinct with mental strength that easily surpasses such humans? Don't make me laugh.

He must be dealt with right now. Before that existence collides with a dangerous entity and becomes unmanageable.

And Kaits said.

"Record God."

By the time the ringing voice stopped, Kaits continued.

"There is a part you intentionally didn't show."

The two members of the hero party looked at Kaits with faces that said, "Huh?"

The Record God acknowledged it. And Kaits understood that he hadn't shown that memory for his own sake. The Record God had warned from the beginning of the danger of an entity intervening if one watched this memory.

"Is that memory... one where the entity you warned about has a possibility of intervening... no, is it a memory where intervention is certain?"

"Even so, I want to see it."

"Why?"

"......"

The Record God grasps all ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the authorities Kaits possesses. The authority that has brought him closer to the gods residing in Elynar through all the previous rounds. Even so, for it to say that... is the entity that will intervene that dangerous?

"I will bear it."

At those words, an entity rose before them. A middle schooler? An elementary schooler? A strange boy who was young but lacked a youthful feeling was clearly the young Yeodre. As Kaits desperately desired, the memory of that time seemed to have been shaped.

Kaits ignored the Record God’s words and walked toward the young Yeodre. And the young Yeodre smiled.

"Get lost."

The next moment. Black-red flames covered the world.