Chapter 194: A Changing World
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 194: A Changing World
After the Evil God was defeated and the incident in the United States concluded, two months passed in a flash, bringing us to March.
The reason so much time had passed was simple.
The incident in the US had been on an immense scale.
It was a catastrophe so great that more than half of the United States would be unable to recover for some time.
Because the US is such a massive country, the world itself had been at a near standstill for those two months.
The economy was in turmoil, and the value of the dollar had plummeted.
But still, the world keeps turning.
The United States owed countless debts to countries all over the world.
While America's own national debt was staggering, it began a rapid recovery by actively accepting aid in exchange for forgiving the debts owed to it by other nations.
Moreover, since the disaster was caused by a dimensional entity, other countries saw no harm to their image in helping the US.
In the midst of this, the ones who naturally came into the spotlight were none other than the returnees.
Unlike the hunters, who had been forbidden by their governments from providing direct support, the returnees' active assistance prevented countless casualties.
Not only that, but they were the ones who ultimately ended the incident, causing the perception of those who had previously treated returnees as nuisances or ticking time bombs to slowly change.
It reached a point where some even lauded the returnees as guardians of the world.
Of course, this was only one perspective, and it couldn't be said that everyone felt this way, but one thing was certain: the public image of returnees had improved dramatically.
Adding to that, the reaction of American hunters played a huge part in bolstering that image.
They treated the returnees they had fought alongside as comrades, hailing them as national heroes and promising to buy them a drink anytime.
And since the US possessed as many S-rank hunters as it did land and capital, the words of these hunters, who were far more well-known than the returnees, carried immense influence.
Thanks to this, the World Returnee Association was incredibly busy.
Enacting new laws to match the changing image of returnees.
The continued pursuit of the vanished Erebos.
Searching for any dimensional entities from the Divine Realm that might have escaped the US.
And all the miscellaneous problems that needed to be resolved in the aftermath of the incident.
The World Returnee Association began to operate at a busier pace than ever before.
Naturally, the one suffering the most through all this was Seol-hyang.
“I think I'm going to lose my mind.”
Seol-hyang muttered to herself, clutching her forehead as she sat in front of her laptop.
There was nothing I could do but massage her shoulders.
I'm not stupid, but I'm nowhere near Seol-hyang's level.
I couldn't possibly match her ability to handle work, so even I couldn't help her.
“If it weren't for you, Ha-chan, I would've thrown in the towel long ago.”
Thankfully, it seemed I was at least helping her recover mentally.
“How much work do you have left?”
“That's the problem. There's too much to even estimate.”
I wondered when a day would come when Seol-hyang could finally get a proper night's sleep.
“I'm worried my skin will get ruined at this rate. Then you'd start to hate me, Ha-chan.”
“What do you take me for? I'll love you even when you're covered in age spots.”
Perhaps because I'd grown used to these displays of affection, I casually said something I never would have been able to in the past.
Seol-hyang didn't seem to mind, letting out a small chuckle before finally taking her hands off the keyboard.
“Alright. Let's stop here for a change of pace.”
It seemed she was finally in the mood to rest a little.
“So, let's take care of something else first.”
“So you're not resting after all.”
How does doing other work count as a change of pace?
I didn't get it, but she pushed her chair back and stood up.
“If I rest, the work will just pile up. Besides, that 'something else' is the reason I called you here, Ha-chan.”
“I thought you called me here for a massage.”
“Well, there is something I want more than a massage.”
Seol-hyang said, looking at me with a slight pout.
Realizing what her eyes were implying, I cleared my throat, and Seol-hyang quickly averted her gaze downward.
“Because if we did, I don't think I'd be able to stop.”
Compared to Ahyu, Seol-hyang's stamina in this area recovers much more slowly.
On top of that, she must be exhausted from all the work, so she'd almost certainly fall into a deep sleep afterward.
If that happened, the Seol-hyang of the future would surely resent the Seol-hyang of the past.
“Let's sit down first.”
With that, she walked over to the sofa and sat down.
As I followed and sat across from her, coffee and cookies suddenly appeared on the table.
How did she do that?
I had no idea, but I decided not to ask.
“The reason I called you today, Ha-chan, was to talk with my little brother.”
Little brother.
The brother she was referring to was none other than Baeksan.
I glanced to my side, and Baeksan gave a slight nod.
It seemed he had been expecting Seol-hyang to bring this up eventually.
“Two months ago. You remember, right?”
“How could I forget?”
We were at the center of the US incident, after all.
“That day, someone snuck into the World Returnee Association and told me not to attack Erebos.”
“...Was it my sister?”
The moment I heard that, my sister came to mind, and I had to ask.
But Seol-hyang shook her head.
“No. It wasn't Ma-ri. It was someone else.”
Hearing that, I recalled Baeksan once mentioning there might be another person with an ability similar to Seol-hyang's, someone who could see worldlines.
Could it be that person?
As I remained silent, Seol-hyang continued.
“And I have a pretty good idea who that person is.”
As she said this, Seol-hyang pressed the back of her index finger to her lips with a weary expression.
“Normally, I would have dismissed it as a ridiculous thought and moved on.”
Seol-hyang's gaze shifted to my side.
“But since there's already a precedent, it's not so ridiculous, is it?”
“Tsk.”
Just then, I heard Baeksan click his tongue.
Seeing his scowling face, it seemed something had occurred to Baeksan as well.
“You know that Ma-ri isn't working alone, right, Ha-chan?”
“Yeah, Baeksan and I talked about it.”
Since I was already aware, I answered, and Seol-hyang finally lowered her finger from her lips.
“That woman... was probably me.”
The moment I heard those words, my body went rigid.
Because as I listened to Seol-hyang, something clicked in my mind.
“No way.”
“That's right. Just like the Baeksan by your side, a future version of me has returned to the past.”
Hearing that, Baeksan ground his teeth.
“Damn you, Iron-Blood.”
Seeing his reaction, I could tell Baeksan had an inkling of what was going on.
At the same time, fury began to swirl in his eyes.
“So in the end, she used me as a test subject. Is that it?”
“A test subject...?”
It wasn't Baeksan who answered my question, but Seol-hyang.
“She must have sent Baeksan first to ensure she could return to the past more reliably.”
Seol-hyang said this with a self-deprecating smile.
“All to save you, Ha-chan.”
She confessed so casually that she had used her own stepbrother for my sake.
Seol-hyang's eyes were calm.
At the same time, the emotion reflected in her eyes as she looked at me was a deep, profound conviction that she, too, would have done the exact same thing.
Facing that fact, I realized it all over again.
Why Baeksan had warned me so vehemently not to date any of them, or to embrace them all if I was going to embrace any.
Returnees have no limits.
They had already lived lives where their limits were broken, so they only knew how to charge forward without brakes for the things precious to them.
Even if it meant using their own family.
“Your regression, Baeksan... my future self must have helped you directly, didn't she?”
Hearing Seol-hyang's question, Baeksan remained silent.
Seol-hyang couldn't see Baeksan, but it seemed she could tell everything just by watching my reaction.
For a while, silence hung in Seol-hyang's office.
I felt that the current events, starting with the fact that a future Seol-hyang was now making her move, were unfolding in an ominous way.
‘Masterpiece.’
It was a moment when I truly understood the meaning of that word.
The flow of the world was truly revolving around me.
And I also understood that if the masterpiece went wrong, the puzzle would never be completed.
“My future self is probably moving forward while looking only at the worldlines that are for your sake, Ha-chan. That must be why she finally revealed herself to me.”
Seol-hyang crossed her arms beneath her chest.
“...Even though she should know what happens when you overuse the Crown like that.”
Her gaze clouded over slightly.
Seeing that, I decided to ask.
“What does happen?”
Seol-hyang had been reluctant to use her ability—the Crown that sees worldlines—on several occasions.
When I asked about it, she looked at me for a moment before finally speaking.
“...Yeah. I can't keep it from you forever.”
She said, a faint, bitter smile on her lips.
“First, the dimensional shift I was caught in was to Tower · 1, Pantagruel.”
Tower · 1. It was a dimension I'd never heard of, just like Eunnamu's Outer World.
“The Crown I obtained was on the final floor of Pantagruel.”
Seol-hyang gave a short laugh, as if reminiscing.
But the emotion contained within that laugh didn't seem pleasant at all.
“The people who entered Pantagruel were all searching for a way to save their worlds. I fought against them, overcame the tower's trials, and ascended its floors.”
People searching for a way to save their worlds.
For some reason, it reminded me of those who had lost their Tower of Revelation and had come to ours.
And as if confirming my thoughts were correct, Seol-hyang looked at me and nodded.
“You're right, Ha-chan. Pantagruel was very similar to the Tower of Revelation.”
Saying that, Seol-hyang let out a self-mocking laugh.
“But at the very top of Pantagruel, there was no such thing as a way to save the world.”
“Didn't you say the Crown's ability was to see worldlines?”
“It is. But the Crown has a fatal flaw.”
The color began to drain from Seol-hyang's face.
“The worldlines you see with the Crown are just that—worldlines. If the starting point to reach them is already broken, then it all becomes meaningless.”
Seol-hyang looked at me.
I knew what she meant.
“So, in the world Baeksan regressed from, the 'me' of that world couldn't save you, Ha-chan, even with the Crown. And she couldn't stop the world from ending.”
“That's...”
“That's why she must have chosen to return to the past. To abandon a failed world and get to a starting line from which she could create a proper worldline.”
I fell silent for a moment.
Then is this world the one that the future Seol-hyang wanted?
I couldn't be sure.
But seeing the unsettled emotion on Seol-hyang's face, I could vaguely tell that this wasn't the answer either.
“A moment ago, you said something about what happens when you overuse the Crown. That's the problem, isn't it?”
As I asked, Seol-hyang's gaze turned to me.
Then, she slowly nodded.
“...Those who peer into too many worldlines all exhibit the same symptom.”
Seol-hyang let out a low groan and clutched her forehead, as if she had experienced it herself.
“Dimensional Synchronization.”