Chapter 218
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 218
Chapter Title: Dream
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Past life.
A character to whom the game's [Reincarnation] system had been applied—essentially no different from Lee Jung-jun's failure.
Up until last year, he'd passed along numerous memories that proved helpful to Jun in all sorts of ways. But from some point on, his presence had noticeably faded.
Why had this being now borrowed the power of dreams to appear before him?
Instinctive wariness flared up, but the past life paid it no mind and spoke.
"Time is short. One of the outer gods punched a hole into your dimension, creating this brief window."
Jun barely restrained the flood of questions he wanted to fire off and waited for the man to continue.
"You've got a lot you want to say, I'm sure. I'll clear up a few of your doubts while I can."
"......"
"First off, I don't know how a being like you came to be. I'm just the result of my own desperate flailing to escape this reality."
With that, he gestured toward the shabby cave.
"I lived obsessed with magic, squatting here in this pitiful hole just to glimpse its end. The beginning and end were always in the Demon God Body. But as you know, magic power is vast. Vast enough to make you forget your very existence as 'me' and shatter your soul into a fragment of it."
"......"
"So the essence of the Demon God Body is little more than a curse. That's why I resisted it—and linked my fate to yours. That's the reason we're able to talk like this now."
Did that mean everything was just the past life's creation?
"No, I'm not some grand existence. Just a mad fool lost to magic. But my will reached the heavens anyway, and that wish ricocheted off to some unintended place. An outer god read me."
"......"
"Some of those outer gods read my will and granted it. That's how you were born."
So the outer gods had dragged him into this world?
"Maybe, maybe not. At some point, my existence connected beyond this repeating universe, pierced an endlessly spiraling path, and reached you."
Having sated some of Jun's curiosity, the past life spoke again, as if it was now Jun's turn.
"Anyway, I've dragged this out. What I want is simple: for you—the one tied to my fate—to reach the end of magic."
He wanted Jun to grow stronger?
"No, that's not it. Strength is just the process. I'm after something more. But it's impossible in this repeating world. So you have to shatter this cycle."
'The conversation just jumped into the deep end.'
"No need to grasp it now. Another chance will come with time."
With that, the past life pointed to a passageway that had formed behind him.
"But at your level, survival against the outer gods' incursion is no guarantee—let alone reaching magic's end."
'I thought I'd been busting my ass.'
"I felt your growth. Fast enough to stir jealousy. But that momentum has only agitated the outer existences."
'They get worked up watching someone else struggle to survive?'
It was absurd, but the past life offered no consideration for Jun's feelings.
"The patterns of this repeating world you've witnessed can't be trusted anymore. As you know, countless changes are accelerating its next demise."
'So what am I supposed to do? I'm already maxing out from where I stand.'
Just two years.
In two years, he'd climbed from third circle to sixth. His companions' levels far outstripped the game's storyline.
"That's why I'm here—to give you a lead. Survive the first outer god's invasion, then head to the Ancient Tower."
'Ancient Tower...?'
A place he'd visited once before.
"It'll supply what you lack most right now."
'What I need most... time? It's handing me time?'
"Exactly. Time's up. The outer vermin are catching on to our chat. We'll meet again when fate allows."
'Wait, when exactly...'
"Fate alone knows. One last thing before I go: I've granted your spirit a sliver of fate-reading ability. One-time use—make it count."
Whoosh!!
In that instant, an alien energy poured from the past life's forehead.
Monghwan greedily absorbed it.
The dream world collapsed at the same time.
-Master... this... can't hold it long... gonna... use it now...
'Wait, what the hell does that mean?'
Jun's vision flickered once more amid the impossible-to-follow torrent.
A pale purple energy devoured the space in a flash. Soon, Jun felt his mind haze over.
Hellscape.
The vista before him was devastation beyond words.
Monsters roared from every direction, butchering people who screamed in agony.
Jun grimaced.
'Where... is this?'
It bore no resemblance to any city he'd seen.
Had he crossed into another dimension?
"...Leader?"
Startled by the voice, Jun whipped around.
There floated Maya—translucent, just like him.
"You... why are you here?"
"Shouldn't I ask you that? This is my dream."
"Dream?"
Only then did Jun remember who'd brought him here.
'Monghwan. You sent me here?'
To be precise, Monghwan had merely provided the means. The true reason was the past life.
Why send him here, of all places?
Monghwan offered no answers.
Having expended tremendous power, it had even drained Jun's magic—something it rarely touched—before sinking into deep slumber.
'Whatever. If they sent me, there must be something here.'
Jun turned to Maya.
"When did these dreams start?"
"Why the sudden question? You know something about this place?"
"Not really. Got yanked here out of nowhere."
"Hmm... I see. Anyway, to answer: second time. First was during that campout before the city."
"That time..."
The day Jun first glimpsed Maya's nightmare.
"So what's this dream? You here because of it?"
"Beats me. Monghwan dragged me along."
"That ring, huh."
"Gruesome dream, though."
"Yeah. Everyone's... dying."
Maya stared at the carnage with an oddly parched expression, then turned to Jun.
"That disaster you mentioned—is that it?"
"...Yeah."
Monsters poured from the sky's gaping hole in overwhelming numbers.
The gates lay in ruins long ago, beastkin within slaughtered mercilessly.
Among them loomed a beast over ten meters tall, swinging a massive flail.
One strike crumbled the walls, burying countless beastkin in rubble.
"What kind of war are you fighting, Leader?"
"......"
"You knew about this future?"
"Somewhat."
"......"
Maya's face darkened.
"Can we stop it? All those monsters...?"
"Tough. Even watching, we couldn't. Who'd believe us?"
"So you're giving up?"
"Sigh. No clue."
No method came to mind.
Couldn't pinpoint where or how it'd start.
"Feels so powerless."
"......"
"Hate this feeling."
Who enjoyed powerlessness? For Maya, it cut deeper.
Too many bitter memories tied to it.
Bullied in her tribe, she could only endure.
During the tribe's fall, fleeing was all she managed.
Out in the world alone, same story.
"Haven't felt this lately. Nice change. Thanks to you, Leader."
"Hitting me with that now... low blow."
Maya smiled softly.
"You always find a way. Even in the worst spots."
"Tall order..."
Still, Jun drank in the scene anew.
Even now, beastkin fell to monsters.
Cruelty to scar normals for life.
Yet he pondered countermeasures.
'This descending on the mortal realm...'
He didn't want to witness it.
More—he wanted to stop it.
But possible?
Then.
The Bright Eyes skill revealed something.
A beastkin far from ordinary—regal, even—led guards down the boulevard.
"...Right. Just find the way."
"......"
"C'mon, Maya. Let's see what your dream's hiding."
"Now that's my Leader. Let's move."
Jun and Maya tailed the royal entourage.
They battled monsters for no short stretch, carving an escape path.
Mere survival flight?
No.
Beastkin faces differed from human, but their fights—even the guarded royal's—burned with resolve.
No despair there.
Jun and Maya cheered silently. In the end... they breached the monster wave.
No easy trek.
A formidable foe awaited at the flood's end.
After felling it, survivors numbered a tenth of the start.
The royal lost an arm mid-fight, yet his gaze burned fierce.
"This place..."
Jun recognized it.
Dim cave. Lone stele in the center.
Uncannily like the space in Kyler's photo.
-Dari a ber tu bar nes line dura.
"...!"
The royal before the stele began chanting.
Something betwixt ancient tongue and beastkin speech.
"Dari a ber tu bar nes line dura."
As the chants concluded, deathly aura erupted from the stele.
It self-immolated. Nothing remained but gray ash.
The survivors emerged from the cave. The monster-choked city had changed.
Flames licked everywhere, blood soaked the earth from countless corpses.
But the monsters? Vanished.
Like a horrific nightmare dispelled.
The royal's legs buckled, dropping him to the ground.
Victory, yes.
Pyrrhic, laced with agony.
Jun felt profound disgust watching.
As if the past life whispered:
-Don't want this? Don't slack.
A stinging lash.
'Push through, huh.'
As he tsked...
Maya spoke up.
"Leader. That guy's moving."
"Huh?"
The royal—face twisted in rage and despair—lurched to his feet.
Hope reborn, resolve etched clear.
His guards followed.
Back to the cave.
'What now?'
Doubt cleared fast.
He dug into the stele's ashes.
What emerged:
'Pocket watch...?'
Jun's eyes narrowed.
Vast magic pulsed from it.
Intricacy rivaled the colossal clockwork from the Ancient Tower.
'Past life. This what you wanted me to see?'
As the royal claimed the watch, the dream shattered.
"Phew..."
Chaos lingered, nothing neatly filed.
One certainty shone.
'Spoon-feeding me like this—failing now would be ridiculous.'
Recalling the watch's mana pattern, Jun grinned fiercely.
Task clear:
Stop the disaster.
Prevent that hellscape.
His mind whirred as ever.
"Knew it. Our Leader always finds the way."
Maya's satisfied smile was the dream's finale.