Chapter 353
Chapter 353
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 353
Chapter Title: Empathy
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Her vision blurred.
Adora raised a hand to wipe her eyes.
As Park Chan-woo's memories swept through her, she found herself shedding tears without realizing it.
"......Tears?"
She stared in disbelief at the liquid trickling down her cheek.
Tears were utterly foreign to a witch, a creator of death.
Emotions like sorrow or pity were luxuries she couldn't afford—or the pathetic weakness of frail mortals she couldn't comprehend.
Yet here she was, crying.
Something hot and aching welled up from the depths of her chest.
It wasn't simple sadness.
It was the raw despair Park Chan-woo must have felt before his regression, the self-loathing for his own weakness, the crushing loneliness of losing everything and being left alone, and that desperate yearning in his final moments to seize one last chance, wagering it all.
Every fragment of those emotions poured into her through the illusions of memory, shaking her very existence.
"This is... the true essence of the human Park Chan-woo."
Behind the man she knew—the one who could be ruthless one moment and playful the next—lurked a soul that had shattered so utterly in despair.
A second life bought at the cost of selling his future and even his soul to turn back time.
Now she understood why he had been so desperate, why he planned so meticulously and sometimes threw caution to the wind, staking everything.
The contents of this book were a record of his failed past and a blood-oath vow never to repeat it.
The burden he carried was far heavier and darker than Adora had ever imagined.
Adora let out a slow breath.
The tears had stopped, but the subtle ripples of emotion stirring in her chest refused to subside.
Pity, understanding, and... something deeper directed toward him.
She was the only one who shared his pain and secrets, the sole companion in his unending battle.
Her gaze drifted once more to the relics in the center of the living room.
Park Chan-woo's proofs of struggle. Now that she knew the secret of his regression and its price through his records, these artifacts felt like far more than mere equipment.
She walked slowly among them.
The armor Ragnarok (Lv ∞), exuding a majestic aura like the twilight of the gods themselves.
The Star of Arrogance (Lv ∞), a dazzling crystallization of mana.
They seemed to symbolize the pinnacle he had reached, overcoming every adversity.
But what captured her attention even more fiercely were two other relics.
The pauldrons radiating a bizarre negative energy alongside their golden divinity: Golden Mystery of the Arhat (Lv -89). And the staff imbued with the will of the Star's Guide, yet bearing a minus level: Staff of the Sextans (Lv -61).
"Level -89... Level -61......"
Now she understood what those numbers meant.
The words The price of turning back time was far too great.
He had returned to the past staking everything, but at the cost of his very existence plummeting to negative levels.
Even these powerful relics might have been mere pipe dreams for him.
Or perhaps this minus-level restriction was the only fragile hope he could barely equip at the start.
Either way, it laid bare just how hopeless his beginning had been.
Adora stood before the "Golden Mystery of the Arhat."
She took a deep breath and extended her trembling hand, cautiously brushing her fingertip against the golden pauldron's surface.
Perhaps, just as her power and Park Chan-woo's Wish had resonated to pass through the barrier, she might connect with the lingering echo of him in this relic.
The moment her fingertip touched the pauldron.
Kwaaaaaa—!
A torrent of sensations far more violent than before, as if shaking the foundations of her being.
An intense void, like her power was being sucked away.
A debilitating weakness that made even breathing feel laborious.
A profound alienation, as if the entire world denied her existence.
And an anxiety that she might crumble away at any moment.
The lingering pain of the curse and debuffs from the minus levels that Park Chan-woo had shouldered right after his regression assaulted Adora's mind.
"Aah......"
Adora swallowed a scream and yanked her hand back.
She staggered back several steps.
Cold sweat beaded on her forehead, and her breaths came in ragged gasps.
Even she, who wielded the authority of death, could scarcely endure it—this fragment of agony that felt like her very existence was being whittled away.
"This kind of state... like this...!"
Stumbling, she gazed incredulously at the pauldron and staff, then at Ragnarok and the Star of Arrogance across the way.
From that abyss of a starting point to those radiant heights.
Park Chan-woo had crossed that unimaginable chasm alone.
Behind his meticulous plans and ruthless decisions lay this desperate flailing to overcome such horrific penalties.
She clenched her fist tightly.
A feeling bordering on reverence and awe welled up, transcending mere pity.
And an even fiercer resolve.
"I want to know more about you, Park Chan-woo."
Ignoring her heart pounding like mad.
She approached Park Chan-woo's equipment once more.
This time, it was different. No longer mere curiosity or a thirst for information, but a profound yearning for empathy and understanding from one who had witnessed his suffering and struggle.
"How did you endure it?"
Her gaze passed over the minus-level pauldron and staff on the floor, settling on the necklace gleaming brilliantly beside them: "Star of Arrogance (Lv ∞)."
The Tower of Arrogance. There, with his help, she had tamed her death authority and claimed that star as her final reward.
It was one pinnacle of his feats that she had witnessed firsthand.
She slowly reached out toward the Star of Arrogance.
It might reject her, just as Ragnarok's hilt had earlier.
But she wanted to feel it.
Even a fragment of the sensation Park Chan-woo must have felt when he seized this power, crawling up from the abyss to grasp the stars at last.
Her fingertip touched the surface of the Star of Arrogance.
Paaaat—!
There was no rejection as she expected.
Instead, a blindingly pure and potent wave of mana flowed into her through her fingertip.
It wasn't merely a surge of power.
She faintly sensed the transcendent aura from the top of the Tower of Arrogance, the whispers of the stars, and enveloping it all—Park Chan-woo's unique essence... no, the power of the "Wish" resonating with him.
That was the beginning.
One by one.
Adora equipped Park Chan-woo's gear.
And then.
Having donned every piece, Adora stood unsteadily in the center of the living room.
Mighty power from his relics surged through her body, yet her mind was crushed by the horrific weight of the price he had paid.
"Is this... the burden of the path you walked......"
It was heavy.
So unbearably heavy.
She wanted to collapse right then and there.
Even taking a single step felt impossible.
The pressure bearing down on her wasn't just the physical weight of the powerful relics.
Minus levels.
The original sin Park Chan-woo had shouldered at the start of his second life.
Adora wanted to drop to her knees and crumple.
She gritted her teeth. Park Chan-woo hadn't fled from this despair.
On the contrary, bearing this weight, he had accomplished every feat she had seen in his records.
That fact pulled her back to her feet once more.
"Me too... with you."
Even in this pain, he had found a path and pressed forward.
"I won't give up."
Adora resolved to walk the thorny path alongside Park Chan-woo.
Upon arriving at the Abyss Safety Bureau, Lee Hyuk-soo felt a throbbing headache.
The events in the Tomb of Time, his own transformation after absorbing Park Chan-woo's existential foundation, and the heavy task of the "Racial War" left by Chronos at the end.
Real-world problems pressed down on his shoulders without even a moment to catch his breath.
"How am I supposed to explain all this...?"
But he couldn't afford to just brood.
The humanity representative selection for the Racial War was right around the corner.
First, he needed to meet Park Sang-min, the Minister of the Abyss Safety Bureau—the chief overseer of this crisis and one of South Korea's de facto leaders.
After the receptionist's call, he soon stood before the minister's office door.
A heavy tension seeped from beyond it.
"Come in."
A low voice laced with fatigue responded.
Lee Hyuk-soo took a short breath and opened the door.
In the spacious office, Minister Park Sang-min stood before a massive situation board, lost in deep thought as he stared at profiles and data of countless Awakened.
Dark circles hollowed his eyes, and his shoulders sagged heavily.
The pressure of selecting representatives on whom humanity's fate hung seemed to be crushing him.
"Ah, Mr. Lee Hyuk-soo."
Park Sang-min looked startled at first upon seeing him, then turned with a wry smile.
"You're back safe. The entire bureau was worried sick."
"My apologies, Minister. There were... various circumstances."
Lee Hyuk-soo replied politely.
"Still, it's a relief. You made it back before the selection."
"I know. That's why I've come to see you, Minister."
Lee Hyuk-soo cut straight to the point.
"For the humanity representative selection in the Racial War, I'd like to add three more candidates."
"Three? Do I know them?"
"You'll only recognize Saint Eugene Seo."
Park Sang-min's expression hardened instantly.
He stared at Lee Hyuk-soo with bewildered eyes.
"...The selection is already in its final stages. Adding unverified candidates at this point? It's hard to accept procedurally or in terms of fairness."
His tone was calm, but firm with refusal.
No matter who Lee Hyuk-soo was, they couldn't handle a national crisis like this.
"They're powerful enough that no verification is needed. You'll see for yourself if you meet them, Minister. They're essential forces for humanity's survival."
Lee Hyuk-soo showed no intention of backing down.
"Even so, we can't ignore established procedures...!"
Just as Park Sang-min tried to press on in frustration.
Srulk.
As if stepping out from the shadows, a figure silently materialized in the air behind Lee Hyuk-soo.
Exuding a chilling, profound aura that froze the entire room.
"Who—?!"
Park Sang-min recoiled in shock at the intruder's sudden appearance, moving to assume a defensive stance.
How had they bypassed the bureau's strict security and magic detection systems?!
But Lee Hyuk-soo reacted first.
Though startled by the abrupt arrival, the overwhelming presence made him instinctively utter a honorific.
"......P-Prophet?"