Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 90
Chapter Title: Akashic Record Playback
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It was roughly two weeks before Yoo So-young disappeared.
I remember it as a rundown pork belly joint without even a signboard.
Yoo So-young, whom I was meeting again after a long time—well, just a week, really—was mumbling in a half-dazed state.
“Hey, this is just impossible. No matter how hard I wring my brain, nothing comes out.”
“Chapter 534?”
“No, 532. I blew through two chapters in one go. It’s basically just random letters strung together.”
“Then you’ve actually made less progress than last week.”
“Are you mocking me?”
“No, I was just stating the facts, but your situation is so shitty that it sounded that way. What’s the reason?”
“The reason? Well... I don’t even know what the problem is anymore.”
Yoo So-young muttered bitterly to herself and downed her shot glass of soju in one gulp.
Take it slow.
I subtly refilled her empty glass with water as I thought to myself.
The life of a popular author is truly grueling.
And that makes sense.
Her serialization had stalled for over three weeks due to plot issues, and her appearance was a mess.
Her once-glowing skin was now dull and flaky, and her dark circles were deepening, threatening to reach her chin.
“Explain it step by step. Let’s figure it out together.”
So she opened her mouth again.
Better to find answers together than struggle alone, I figured.
After a brief pause, Yoo So-young gave in and continued.
“The thing is...”
Chapter 532 was a crucial turning point, wrapping up the mid-arc and hinting at the direction of the latter half.
Since it scaled up with the Great Demon War as the theme, it had to balance plausibility and anticipation—not an easy task.
“How about setting the stage for the protagonists to reunite?”
“The stage?”
“Yeah. You need to fire the starting shot, right? So...”
The conversation continued until the two new bottles of soju we ordered ran dry.
It wasn’t a waste of time.
We refined the existing synopsis and arrived at a more satisfying outcome.
As we left the restaurant, Yoo So-young looked much relieved and said to me,
“Ha, now I feel like I can breathe. Sometimes you seem more like the author than me.”
I replied curtly.
“What are you talking about? I am an author. A webtoon author.”
“No, like the original creator. Honestly, half this story came from your head.”
Yoo So-young gave a self-deprecating smile, then patted my shoulder as if brushing it off.
“Thanks. Seriously...”
That was the last image of Yoo So-young I remember.
That night, she vanished.
Leaving behind only a message that she’d entered the [Epic of Salvation].
....
I should’ve at least replied back then.
Would things have been different?
I ignored it thinking it was drunken rambling, and it still leaves a bitter pang in my chest, like it’s been salted.
But right now, of all times.
[Welcome to the Akashic Record.]
[Moving to the recorded fragment’s viewpoint.]
The environment suddenly shifted, thrusting me into this urgent moment....
The reason it dredged up this regret-filled memory has everything to do with the current situation.
[Your viewing time is limited to 1 minute.]
[Replaying the record of Chapter 532.]
Before my eyes, Chapter 532 unfolded.
After graduating from the academy, the protagonists—who had been excelling in their respective positions—were reuniting under the name “Strike Team” that day.
I couldn’t understand why future events were called “records.”
But as time passed and the more mature protagonists began appearing one by one, I soon became immersed.
“Long time no see. Everyone doing well?”
Baek Sa-young, who had become the true protagonist, showed an air of authority befitting someone who had forged his own justice, replacing his usual goofiness.
“It’s been crazy lately. Overtime every day.”
From Cheon Seo-yoon, still bright but far more mature, emanated the composure of one who had endured against fate.
Both wore the black robes of the Night Raid Unit, with three white lines embroidered on the sleeves that stood out especially.
It signified they had risen to deputy commander positions.
I recall they shattered the record for youngest deputy commander, one after the other.
“Glad to see you too, but we should talk mission first. Departure’s soon.”
Joo Ah-rin, who appeared next, didn’t look much different from the face I’d just seen.
Her appearance hadn’t changed, but her public presence must have been incomparable.
As the leader of White Snow, which had grown into Joo Family’s key intelligence network, she wielded fame on par with a Night Raid deputy.
“Still a lot of talkers.”
Finally, Seol Yun-gi—officially designated as the Seol Family heir—and Lee Dae-ho, now looking in his forties, joined, and the mood turned serious.
The mission they’d been assigned was that heavy.
Ahead of the full-scale Great Demon War, the Strike Team’s formation purpose was to annihilate one organization as a declaration of war.
So it puzzled me even more.
“Why?”
Why show this scene to me, of all people?
To find answers, I needed to grasp the Akashic Record’s true nature first, but unfortunately, I knew nothing.
It was a setting outside the settings.
A device neither Yoo So-young nor I had ever conceived.
[Skipping memory.]
The scene shifted rapidly.
The Strike Team departed for the mission site after a brief meeting.
[Skipping memory.]
It ended successfully.
They cleanly erased a massive demon organization known for its atrocities, boldly displaying their elevated status.
“It’s over.”
I watched with a bitter expression and murmured softly.
This was, quite literally, the tentative end of the [Epic of Salvation].
The final scene of Chapter 532, uploaded right before Yoo So-young disappeared.
“But what now?”
The special reward couldn’t possibly be a plot recap.
As I glared at the sky, unable to hold back my questions—
[Skipping memory.]
...?
Surprisingly, the world transformed once more.
Kwah-jee-jee-jeek.
It was as if something huge had happened; piercing whooshes battered my ears from all directions, and my entire field of vision drowned in blinding white light.
[Skipping memory.]
I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.
Suddenly, silence descended.
The scene that followed was an indescribable catastrophe—a blood-soaked battlefield.
Cheon Seo-yoon, Joo Ah-rin, Seol Yun-gi. Even Baek Sa-young.
The entire Strike Team lay as cold corpses scattered on the ground.
“...What the hell.”
Cheon Seo-yoon had a hole punched through her chest, Baek Sa-young lay unconscious with his right arm severed.
Joo Ah-rin and Hae-rin were cold corpses sprawled in a pool of blood, while Seol Yun-gi was pinned in a corner with his broken sword, never to rise again.
“Fucking hell.”
Rage boiled up from the top of my head.
The system that pulled out this garbage as a “record”—whether 4885’s intent was a warning or deception.
Showing me this unacceptable scene was undeniably crossing the line.
[Skipping memory.]
Tap-
It was then that someone in a pure white coat appeared.
My vision was blurry, as if misted with moisture in my eyes.
The angle was unhelpfully fixed, showing only a hazy back view.
.
.
A slender neckline, small shoulders dropping at right angles. A soft silhouette curving from the back to the waist.
All of it reminded me of Yoo So-young, perhaps.
The reason and purpose I entered this world.
An instinctive pull I’d never felt before choked my breath.
So, right or wrong—
I shouted anyway.
“Yu...”
Future or fabricated record, I called out with all my strength.
“...So...young.”
But my voice didn’t reach.
A sudden sense of exhaustion and helplessness washed over me, like drowning.
The identity unknown figure in the white coat tilted her head obliquely, gazing down at the fallen protagonists.
She erupted with explosive mana and then vanished.
[Stopping record.]
The world turned ashen.
Everything froze as if power had been cut, and against that silent stillness, the message that appeared...
Explained why Chapter 532 was a “record” in one sentence.
[You have viewed the end of the previous round with a reward of 200 SP.]
[Next benchmark is 500 SP.]
[Achievement 1000 - First Akashic Record Viewing]
[Reward: SP acquisition paths will diversify.]
“No way.”
My brain felt like it was seizing; I was too stunned to speak.
Meanwhile, the world I thought was the future—what was actually the past—crumbled away.
The familiar night sky peeked through my regained vision—
“Are you okay? You suddenly collapsed...”
And Joo Ah-rin’s flustered face overlapped above it.
My body went limp, vision blurring.
* * *
The uncomfortable truth and the appearance of the figure I suspected was Yoo So-young.
Did that drain my mental energy more than usual?
I blacked out briefly, but aside from that, midterms wrapped up without issue.
I entrusted the matter of meeting Cheon-ho only to Joo Ah-rin and me as our secret—
And as soon as I returned to the dorm, I slept like a madman for a full day.
Thanks to that, I’ve recovered somewhat and am now sitting at my desk.
“Whew.”
I’ve mostly accepted the newly revealed truth.
In hindsight, it was suspicious from the start.
Despite possessing late, the viewpoint was before the prologue, back at the origin, like starting from scratch.
So, is Yoo So-young living a second round somewhere in this world now, or unable to participate?
Since 4885’s possession condition was rescuing her, she shouldn’t be dead...
Which makes the former more likely. My keen intuition whispers the same...
“This is tough.”
I sighed deeply again, gauging 4885’s intentions.
It dangled a “200 SP reward” and revealed part of the world’s truth.
The end of the previous round.
A tragedy from an unknown disaster(?), and the silhouette of who I suspect is Yoo So-young.
Mockery or warning?
....
One thing’s certain: this ambiguity is part of its scheme.
It never intended to spell things out clearly.
I don’t know its exact thoughts, but it’s toying with me, doling out bait bit by bit.
Raising SP requirements while planning gradual reveals.
“But that’s just your assumption...”
It underestimated me.
I’m not the type to obediently eat what’s served.
I have a temperament that won’t be satisfied unless I wrest more than intended.
“So.”
Pushing other thoughts aside, I recalled the back figure I took for Yoo So-young.
As vividly as possible before the memory faded.
Purely rationally, excluding all emotion.
I couldn’t miss any subtle clues.
[Reviving a specific imprinted scene from memory vividly for 2 minutes.]
[Required SP: 5]
I had the means, and I gladly paid the SP.
Tszzt-
A prickling sensation followed, and that back appeared as sharply as a photo.
“...”
The sole hint to identify her.
I examined the white coat she wore more closely.
But my hasty hopes were dashed; no distinctive features.
A flawless white coat without brand or emblem—zero clues.
Disappointed, I clicked my tongue.
As the scene neared vanishing, it advanced to her rapidly surging mana.
But upon review, was it the effect?
The coat billowing from mana was crystal clear in memory...
────!
Then, a flash from one edge of the coat—something I hadn’t seen before.
“...What?”
Convinced something was there, I widened my eyes.
[Trait, Sensitive Perception, activated.]
And there it was.
Near the left forearm, a fist-sized mass emitting unusually bright light...
I froze the scene, focusing all senses on sight.
10 seconds.
20 seconds.
.
.
Staring until my eyes nearly burned through, I realized at some point.
The light formed a specific shape.
“...A butterfly?”
A butterfly.
One with a completely mangled wing, unfit to fly—an aberration.
“Found it.”
I quickly grabbed a notebook and pen, transferring the mental image onto paper.