Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Ruined World (4)
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Lee Sang-hyun, who had followed the Green Star, arrived at a kingdom abandoned by the demons.
"......"
The ironic part was that it remained intact precisely because it had been abandoned. Otherwise, it would have been thoroughly destroyed like everywhere else, but thanks to being discarded, the kingdom had preserved its form.
Step by step.
Of course, "intact" was relative; it was still a ruin that could collapse at any moment.
...There it is.
Lee Sang-hyun detected a "living" presence in the abandoned kingdom.
...Thump... thump...
The heartbeat was unmistakably the sound from a living being.
The chance he'd misheard? Not possible. He could even sense the flow of blood through his domain of perception.
Thump... thump...
It was definitely a "human" who had survived in this ruined world.
But Lee Sang-hyun's expression wasn't excited. It had sunk into a cold, fierce glare.
The Abandoned King...
The king sat upon his throne. From the moment he was forsaken by the demons until now, he hadn't left it even once.
"......"
The king who ruled the abandoned kingdom looked no different from a skeleton. His hair had long turned snow-white, and his gaunt body seemed like it would crumble at the slightest touch.
Yet his eyes burned with intense greed and obsession, and his voice brimmed with loathing suspicion.
"......"
Lee Sang-hyun stood on the ancient carpet, reduced to dust, gazing at the Abandoned King.
Nameless had called it a "choice" before they met the Abandoned King.
He had wondered what to choose and what the choice meant...
Seeing the king consumed by greed, Lee understood what the choice was.
...He left it up to my choice.
Nameless's words were simple.
He had left it entirely to Lee Sang-hyun's decision.
The great king had seen a thousand futures.
And from those futures, he found one where he and his crown were safe.
But the future the king had found contained no subjects. Only the abandoned kingdom and the abandoned king remained.
Captured by the future, the king hadn't left the kingdom since that day. No, he couldn't.
Because all thousand futures led to ruin.
Thus, the king ensnared by the future was abandoned by his kingdom.
The crown that saw a thousand futures had also "prophesied" that a plunderer would one day appear.
Believing this prophecy without doubt, the Abandoned King had waited "eternally" for the plunderer.
And now.
The Abandoned King unleashed his greedy fury toward the plunderer—Lee Sang-hyun.
Even alone in the ruined, forsaken kingdom, even after eons of solitude, his obsession hadn't faded.
On the contrary, the plunderer's arrival made it burn even fiercer. Because the prophecy—the future—was real.
"......"
Lee Sang-hyun silently watched the Abandoned King.
Honestly, the ability to see a thousand futures was enticing. It could be called the strongest power without exaggeration.
But seeing the king trapped by it...
He's a puppet. A puppet blind to the present, ensnared by the future. Is that why the demons abandoned him? Because it's so ridiculous?
Lee Sang-hyun thought as he gazed at the Abandoned King. He recalled Nameless's words.
Choice... I can choose. To take that power or abandon it.
The deliberation didn't last long.
Let's go back.
Lee Sang-hyun didn't want to become the Abandoned King. He didn't want to lose his path, trapped by the future.
So he turned away. And left the abandoned kingdom.
The Abandoned King was certain Lee Sang-hyun coveted the crown—God's Eye. Because it was the treasure of treasures that revealed a thousand futures.
He believed without doubt that he would steal it...
Lee Sang-hyun turned and left. He left without coveting the crown. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left. He left.
The Abandoned King assumed Lee Sang-hyun schemed to take the crown he no longer needed.
He thought it was a ploy to acquire it naturally by pretending disinterest.
A scheme to make him relinquish it himself.
But in none of the thousand futures...
Was there Lee Sang-hyun.
Lee Sang-hyun had left.
Lee Sang-hyun had left.
Lee Sang-hyun had left.
Lee Sang-hyun had left.
Lee Sang-hyun had left.
He couldn't find him in even a single future. In all futures, Lee Sang-hyun had departed.
He had left the abandoned kingdom—without coveting the crown that saw a thousand futures—the kingdom left with only its solitary king.
He had truly left.
"No way."
"Impossible."
"No one could resist this power."
"Everyone wanted it."
"Everyone coveted it."
"Everyone envied it."
"The power everyone yearned for."
"Yet..."
"You left?"
"You really left?"
"Without wanting this?"
"Without taking it?"
"Impossible."
"That's..."
"Unthinkable."
"Never."
"Absolutely not!"
"R-Right!"
"A trap to fool me."
"It must be a trap!"
"Like this."
"Deceiving me."
"Pretending to leave."
"To claim the crown, huh."
"Fat chance."
"You think I'll fall for it?"
"I won't be fooled!"
"This power."
"Is for me alone."
"Only for me!"
"You think I'll hand it over?"
"This!"p> "The absolute power to see the future!" "Hand it over?" "No way." "Foolish trick!!" "Never, ever giving it." "It's mine." "Mine." "It's mine." "......"
But Lee Sang-hyun didn't return. In the thousand futures, nowhere did he return.
He had left forever.
Lee Sang-hyun could have saved the Abandoned King from his cursed future.
But he didn't. There was no reason, duty, or sense of mission to do so.
So he did as the Abandoned King wished. He left the abandoned kingdom without stealing the crown, just as desired.
That way.
He didn't look back. No regrets or lingering attachments. He gazed at the sky and walked forward.
Whoooosh...
The wind blew. The same desolate, lonely wind filled with ash, dust, and soot. Yet it carried a faint tinge of resentment.
But Lee Sang-hyun didn't stop. He walked until the abandoned kingdom vanished behind him.
"......"
How long had he walked?
In the distance, the sun was rising. Obscured by dark gray clouds, but rising bit by bit.
Lee Sang-hyun paused briefly. Then turned back. Because the Abandoned King had followed.
His bloodshot eyes and tearing voice resembled a child throwing a tantrum.
"......"
Lee Sang-hyun listened to the Abandoned King's ravings.
Of course, he only listened, offering no reply. He remained silent, letting the king rant.
Lee Sang-hyun didn't ask if he was done or if he could leave. He simply turned away.
He ignored the Abandoned King and followed the Green Star.
Lee Sang-hyun considered just running. But he didn't.
Because it would look like acknowledging the words, and he hated seeming like he was fleeing in admission.
So he ignored him and walked as usual, disregarding the rants.
"......"
Yet the Abandoned King blocked his path. With a desperate expression and resentful voice.
The Abandoned King's eyes fixed straight on Lee Sang-hyun. It was clear he genuinely wanted to know.
Lee Sang-hyun answered the question.
"I don't need it."
Mad, huh. It was somewhat accurate, so Lee Sang-hyun smirked and replied.
"If that future includes your death, could you accept it?"
"If that crown demands your death, would you accept it meekly? Despair because the future is set, and submit to it?"
"I'd struggle. I'd reject such a future outright and forge a completely different one."
These words were for the Abandoned King—and for himself.
"You saw a thousand futures, right? Does that mean you can't see the thousand-and-first?"
"If it can't see beyond a thousand futures, what's the point? Isn't it worse than not seeing any?"
The Abandoned King could say no more. He gaped like a mute, unable to speak.
Lee Sang-hyun taught the king.
"The future is something you choose yourself from the start. Not something you follow because someone showed it to you."
The future is chosen by oneself.
It was a question whose answer was already clear. So Lee Sang-hyun asked back.
"What do you want to do?"
The Abandoned King answered.
At that moment.
The crown glowed.
Spewing intense red light.
Declaring it all an act by Lee Sang-hyun.
A lie.
A play to seize the crown.
It showed a thousand futures.
Lee Sang-hyun turned away.
And walked forward.
Following the Green Star straight ahead.
And didn't return.
"......"
The Abandoned King.
The king left alone in the kingdom.
For the first time, removed the crown.
And...
Chose a future unseen in the thousand possibilities.
Crack!
Even if it meant death.
He stepped into a nonexistent future.
Of his own will.