Chapter 316: The End of the Dream
Chapter 316: The End of the Dream
Well, this is absolute shit.
That was my only thought as I stared at the light reflecting off the windshield.
It wasn't the light itself that bothered me. What made my head spin were the cascading images of ruin. And the one that caused the most agony was the final image left behind by the "me" of the previous loop.
Change, huh?
What a lunatic.
How the hell am I supposed to beat something like that?
Then again, I’m not exactly sane for coming up with a way to defeat such an enemy. It’s a path as precarious as walking a tightrope over a narrow string. If I follow it to the end, I can win.
But what lies beyond that path is…
Tsk.
Maybe the "me" from the previous loop had another method in mind. The images passed down to me were incomplete, like a document riddled with holes.
Yet, as if to prove that the previous "me" was still me, I knew exactly which words and sentences belonged in those empty gaps.
It’s malicious.
Whether it’s this enemy or the previous version of myself, they both clearly have terrible personalities. Especially the previous me. He probably dumped this plan on my lap just because it wasn't his problem anymore.
Still, I can't think of any other way to take The Enemy down. I really wish the other versions of me would tell me how they managed to beat this thing. Though I doubt they ever would.
…Except for that "Glutton" version of me, maybe.
I kept spitting out complaints internally, but soon, I steeled my will.
I prepared myself. I resolved not to break, no matter what lay ahead. I resolved not to slip off the tightrope, no matter what happened.
So, even as images surged up to block my path and paralyze my choices, I gritted my teeth and endured. I did what I had to do.
I rested my hammer on the accelerator. I customized the SUV as my body dictated.
The gruesome images grew clearer. I already knew what waited at the end of this action.
But I had to do it.
Suppressing a multitude of impulses, I reached into my bag and pulled out a thermos. It was a silver, shining thing, and the liquid inside sloshed around.
The suspicious Liquid X, meant to dull the senses.
…How long has it been since I relied on drugs? It’s a testament to how far I’ve been backed into a corner.
Please, let this power help me endure the future to come.
With that prayer, I swallowed the liquid.
“Ah! Senior!”
I heard Han A-bin’s voice.
My senses and emotions dulled slightly. With that…
“What is it?”
I was able to don a mask of composure.
By killing my own self.
* * *
Before my eyes, a story I knew—but had never experienced—flowed by.
Through various incidents and accidents, people laughed, cried, and screamed. But I couldn't perceive it clearly.
A-bin’s screams were blocked by the image of her death.
Baek Si-hyun’s laughter was blocked by her pale, lifeless face.
Un-ho’s sleep-talking was blocked by the skull of the fake Un-ho.
I couldn't clearly tell what anyone was saying. Yet, amidst the countless stacked images, I took the actions I naturally would have taken.
I walked the tightrope, knowing that a single wrong choice among the invisible options would send me plummeting into the abyss.
What a garbage game.
There’s only one choice that leads to the True Ending, but all the options are glitched out so I can't even read them.
And that True Ending… it isn't a Happy Ending.
It’s a cruel conclusion where everything is lost and everything vanishes. But truth and victory exist only there.
Perhaps there was another way, but the current me didn't have the luxury of choosing it.
When the car accident happened.
When the monsters attacked.
When the car exploded.
I simply chose the answers that seemed right and moved forward.
The images didn't stop. They kept advancing.
The end hadn't arrived yet.
I could sense The Enemy.
The fog set in.
My disciples scattered.
Not yet. Not yet.
My head felt like it was splitting open. Because I knew what lay ahead, I wanted to scream in despair.
But I couldn't. I couldn't predict how a single action might change things.
I had to reach that place.
The place where I broke.
The place where all these loops began.
“—!”
Un-ho shouted something. Judging by his movements, it was likely the Song of Origin.
Amidst the countless cruel images, a single ray of light descended. A beam of light granted by a powerful being.
Queen, you’re a piece of work too.
I lamented to the one being I could curse freely—since she was surely outside the loop—and found a small bit of comfort in it as I ran forward.
I braced for the impact that was coming. The worst kind of shock, one that could shatter my heart.
If I knew the future and was prepared, maybe I could endure it.
Strengthening my will, I stepped into the light.
A clearing where the fog had lifted.
I knew this.
The fog vanished, and the light shone down.
I knew this.
In the center of the clearing stood a single, out-of-place tree.
I knew this.
Someone lay there, collapsed as if sleeping.
I knew this.
She wasn't sleeping. My senses told me there was no life left in her body.
I knew this.
That person was Han A-bin.
I… knew this.
And yet, I acted. I pretended to be shocked, pretended to know nothing. Praying that the world wouldn't change.
Acting that way, I shook Han A-bin’s head.
Her bangs shifted.
I saw The Hole.
The first encounter.
The Enemy of the first loop, before any changes had occurred.
Pop.
I let my power explode.
Stoking my resolve, I burned the will I had been suppressing.
It had been so long. How much of myself had I carved away just to get here?
Baek Si-hyun was likely dead by this point as well, judging by the similar images that kept settling over me. Un-ho might be dead too, without me even noticing because I’d become so numb to the changes.
Sacrificing everyone, I had finally reached my adversary.
I looked at Un-ho, who was slumped on my shoulder.
As expected, he was dead.
What was the first loop like? Did I mutter to myself like in the other loops, unaware that Un-ho was already gone? Unaware that I was the only one left?
Then, let me explode with the rage of one who has been left all alone.
“Come out, you son of a bitch!”
Swish.
With the sound of cutting air, a hole erupted from Han A-bin’s forehead. A small number of holes appeared in the surrounding space.
This was likely the entirety of The Enemy.
Because it hadn't "eaten" any changes, it was pathetically weak. Flimsy tentacles that seemed even weaker than the first enemy I’d met after my awakening.
Everyone died because of a thing like this.
I was defeated by this.
Countless hours were devoured by this.
These weak enemies would gradually grow stronger as I changed the future. But this was the first change. The first deviation from the fixed first loop.
The idea that a small step could change the world significantly was a story for the future. No matter how much I shook the world now, it wouldn't gain much power yet.
“Authorize it! Queen! You damn hag!”
【 Power shall have will 】
A short chant.
Power descended. My hammer turned a deep crimson.
The tentacles tried to flee as they felt the pressure. They were growing rapidly, but since the future hadn't changed that much yet, they couldn't gain significant strength.
Charge time: 0.5 seconds.
I slammed The Hammer into the earth.
It was the end of a star that exploded before it could even properly form, but since The Enemy was so weak, the radiating light was more than enough to erase the holes.
The fleeing enemies were swept away and annihilated by the light imbued with my will.
With that, it was over.
A pathetically hollow end for The Enemy.
We were toyed with by something this weak. My disciples wouldn't have normally fallen to an enemy in this state, either. It was only because they didn't know its true nature. Because even in that state, The Enemy possessed the power to pierce through anything.
That was the only reason they died.
I had defeated The Enemy, but the fog had not yet lifted.
That was fine. This was what I intended.
With that thought, I quickly scanned the forest. Soon, I found Baek Si-hyun, collapsed with a hole through her brow.
I carried her back to the clearing and laid the three of them down together.
And then.
The last remaining enemy.
The one I had intentionally left behind.
I looked at the final hole.
Thanks to my careful control of power, it hadn't vanished yet, but it was on the verge of death.
As I stepped toward it, The Hole slowly extended a tentacle. As if refusing to accept its end, it clung miserably to life.
The tiny tentacle took shape, and an impossibly slow, weak thrust was aimed at my forehead. An attack so slow even a five-year-old could dodge it.
But I didn't dodge. I watched it calmly.
The attack pierced my brow.
It hurt.
But this was a future I had already prepared for. I pulled on the tentacle embedded in my forehead.
The final enemy—the one with no power left—was dragged out along with The Hole.
The Hole had taken physical form to strike The Enemy. I grabbed the object, now shaped like a coin, and swallowed it whole.
Nothing changed significantly. I didn't feel anything new like my other self did, nor did I gain the power to devour things.
But perhaps because I had consumed The Enemy’s source, I was able to recall the one power I needed.
And so.
As I prepared it, I looked at my three companions whose life signs had ceased.
“Sleep now, A-bin,” I answered within the vanishing world.
“Sleep now, Si-hyun,” I answered within the closed world.
“Un-ho, I’m leaving the rest to you,” I answered within the world I could never return to.
I used the power that had newly formed within me after swallowing The Enemy.
What I feared wasn't a future heading toward ruin. It wasn't the long stretch of time I had to endure.
It was this conclusion.
Because I had failed the first choice. Because I had been a fool, everyone died in this ending.
To defeat The Enemy, I had ignored the consequences and abandoned what I was supposed to protect. Just to weaken The Enemy.
An ending born from being the sole survivor who defeated the foe.
I already knew it would turn out like this. When the "me" from the previous loop absorbed The Enemy, I gained information on how this thing constructed the loops.
A loop is no simple thing.
To rewind the information accumulated in the world to a certain point requires immense power. And it demands a fatal price from the one performing the miracle.
Most notably, the loss of one's humanity.
To handle that, The Hole Tentacle had used most of the power it had swallowed and sacrificed part of its colony. It seems strange to sacrifice what you've already eaten just to eat something new, but for a creature that lives that way, it must be natural.
But I don't have such abilities. I’m not a colony, and I don't have the power to create such things.
So, I intend to sacrifice myself.
I am one who protects others. I am one who cannot protect himself.
In the new world, there will likely be a new me. The previous me called that person "myself," but perhaps he felt the same way I do now.
I wish I could be as detached as the Librarian, but it seems I’m not built that way.
I wish Calavera were by my side. Since the soul returns as it is, Calavera could tell me that it’s not death, only the memories that vanish. That would have brought some comfort.
Perhaps it really is just me with my memories erased, since the soul remains. But there is no one here to tell me that for certain.
Right now, I am all alone.
To kill myself with my own hands, rather than by The Enemy’s… suicide is a difficult thing.
Well then, let’s end this illusion.
Sleep, everyone. When you open your eyes, the nightmare will be over.
I spoke to those I had to protect, those within my reach. A testament that no one could hear.
To move them to another world, I reached out and thrust my hand into The Hole in my forehead.
Not a physical hole, but a conceptual one.
And everything began to rewind.
Leaving me behind—the subject of the loop, the sacrifice—in this world.