Chapter 72 13. The Heroines' Endings
The Heroines' Endings
Episode 73
『Two days remaining until Tower entry.』
Only two days remained on Earth before escape.
What would happen if I failed to enter Earth's Tower within the time limit?
『Please be cautious to avoid any situation where you cannot enter <The Tower>.』
Missing the chance to enter the Tower means failing to become a <Climber>.
And if that happens, what then?
...To put it bluntly, I'd be fucked.
Uooooooh...
『The Ignorant yet Ambiguous Terminator, Erkwi.』
A giant so vast the world could not contain her.
Yet a Wanderer, rejected by the Tower and unable to enter.
We, too, would become lost souls just like her.
『The Tower assumes no responsibility for what follows.』
The Tower does not grant second chances to those who miss their opportunity.
Neither moving to another world nor exploiting loopholes to rejoin the Tutorial is possible.
After all, we would be branded as 'failures' by the Tower.
And thus, we would be left stranded in the Outer Dimension for eternity.
Our minds corroded by the Outer Dimension's influence.
Until eventually, we would lose ourselves entirely, assimilating into its chaos.
We might become just another weak, nameless Wanderer as time passed—
Or perhaps...
Kuuuuuung!
We might grow into a giant whose footsteps alone could shake the world.
"......"
And there I stood, dazed, struggling even to take in the sight of the giant before me.
Uooooooh...
Hard to believe, but that giant... was once an official heroine.
A legitimate heroine, just like Park Ha-rin, Park Se-eun, Hayase, and Kang So-eun—all of whom had official illustrations.
A monstrous being capable of swallowing the world whole—Erkwi.
『Unique Skill 「Mind of the Strange Sage」 is active.』
The moment I recognized her, the terror that had turned my mind blank began to fade.
『You observe all things without prejudice and occasionally maintain composure.』
Perhaps it was the effect of my mental resistance skill.
No—that alone couldn't explain this phenomenon.
Erkwi's form existed far beyond the boundaries of human comprehension.
For a human, merely glimpsing her true self should have shattered their mind.
A single mental resistance skill shouldn't have been enough to endure it.
And yet, instead of fear, I felt something else.
What seeped into the void left by terror was emotion—
A strange, inexplicable longing. Or perhaps... a memory.
『Partial progression of 「Read」's Alteration detected.』
A burning sensation hinted at something.
"Park Si-hyun. Rejoice! I have come for you!"
A tiny woman I had never met before.
And yet, one who felt familiar.
"Since I have deigned to visit you in person, I shall grant you the opportunity to offer me tribute."
"Huh...? 'Tribute' and 'food' don't really go together, do they...?"
"It's because you fuss over trivial things like this that you're incapable of making a child with me. Hurry up and bring me something to eat!"
"......"
A petite frame that suited her well—a cute woman.
Her eyes sparkled like newly risen stars, and the hair swaying gently on either side was soft to the touch.
"Hurry, hurry!"
She growled and threatened, demanding I feed her immediately.
After taking a deep breath, my vision moved on its own.
I saw my hands. My hands pulled out a stove and began cooking.
The woman ate my food, squeezed her eyes shut in delight, and beamed.
"Not bad today either. I'll spare you again this time."
She looked up at me and smiled brightly.
Still smiling, she faded into light.
I knew how this story ended.
"......"
A flash of crimson.
Beyond the thick fog—
"Disgusting bitch."
A silver-haired woman closed her eyelids.
From the tip of the blade she dragged along the ground, blue blood dripped, forming a puddle.
Someone collapsed at her feet.
"......"
A girl with twin tails, stained red.
A torrent of blood poured from her body.
Her wounds were too many—she no longer moved.
A Myth even the Tower could not break had crumbled there.
Yet Park Ha-rin's gaze held not a flicker of emotion.
The silver-haired woman stepped on the small back and turned to look at me.
Her crimson eyes burned, unshrouded even by darkness.
"She kept chasing after you, so I took care of it. Now you don't have to cook for other women anymore. Convenient, right?"
I was furious.
But I couldn't show a shred of that anger.
"Y-yeah, that's... convenient... Ha. ...Hahahaha."
"Good. I'm glad you're happy. That's how it should be. ...That's how it has to be."
Because she was smiling so brightly.
So I smiled along with her.
Even as veins bulged across my forehead, I had to keep smiling.
Then—
Fragmented scenes clung to my vision.
Hayase, leaning against a wall, vomited dark red blood.
A blood-soaked hand reached up and touched my cheek.
"Si-hyun... Be careful of Ha-rin. ...Please, make it out alive..."
The light left her pupils even as her desperate gaze remained.
I closed her unseeing eyes for her.
Hayase disappeared.
My vision shifted again.
Park Se-eun materialized like mist, then dropped to her knees.
Dressed in a witch's outfit with excessive exposure, her expression burned with nothing but hatred.
Clutching the hole in her chest, she glared at me.
"You... Why... Even now... do you torment me...?"
My little sister shed tears of resentment.
Hurling every grievance at me, she looked up in agony.
"Promise me... you won't trust her... No matter what happens. No matter what...!"
Her head, which had been slowly lowering, slumped forward completely. After that, she never raised it again.
With trembling hands, I reached out. For the first time, I placed my hand atop my little sister's head.
Park Se-eun faded from view.
Kang So-eun appeared before me, her back turned.
From her body, countless starlight particles erupted, decorating the surroundings.
Kang So-eun—the woman who had once summoned thousands of swords from the earth—turned to look at me.
『...Go. She's coming.』
Despite the solemn expression she wore just moments ago, her face softened as she gave me a faint, bittersweet smile.
『Go. You still have things you need to do, don't you?』
My chest was shoved backward.
My vision pulled away from her.
BOOOOM!
Behind Kang So-eun, thunder roared and lightning flashed.
Her eyes turned toward the encroaching storm of lightning.
CRAAAAACK!
A bolt of lightning massive enough to illuminate the world descended.
Kang So-eun, having aligned her swords, flung herself forward as if to meet the lightning head-on.
In the next instant, her figure was swallowed by the light.
Even my own vision was drowned in brilliance.
When I opened my eyes again, I was standing somewhere else.
The floor beneath me was red. No—not just red. It was blood. Blood that was still flowing. Slowly, I raised my gaze toward the source of the bleeding.
「.......」
The worst ending route I had once seen. Why had I forgotten this?
No—why had I only remembered it now?
Under the dim red glow,
the heroines lay collapsed.
Each bleeding from different wounds, their lifeless eyes unable to even close.
They decorated this place as nothing more than corpses.
Every woman connected to me—gone.
And among them, my sister stood.
Her silver hair swayed without wind, fresh blood dripping down like it had just splattered onto her.
Tap. Tap.
Dressed in what could be mistaken for a futuristic agent's outfit, Park Ha-rin walked toward me.
Even as she approached, her wicked smile never faded.
「Si-hyun. The time has finally come.」
A future I could never escape.
Why show me this now?
What part of Erkwi was responsible for forcing me to witness this scene?
No... That wasn't the important part.
Crack.
"You're too late, aren't you?"
I had already set my resolve long ago.
If you wanted to shake me, you should've come sooner.
Craaack—
Fissures spread across the crimson space.
「.......」
Park Ha-rin's brows furrowed.
Perhaps this was the Ha-rin of a future that could have been.
"I don't need to see this anymore."
After taking in the blood-drenched space filled with corpses, I rejected it outright.
"Because a future like this will never come to pass."
Crack.
I didn't struggle all this time just to reach an ending where everyone dies.
"I won't let Noona cause a tragedy like this. I'll stop her myself."
Everything I've done so far has been to save the people connected to me.
So—
"I won't kill Park Ha-rin like you want. I'll change the future."
Even if my choice turns out to be wrong, I'll stop it by force if I have to.
"I have no intention of abandoning Noona, no matter what you want."
Bzzzt—
『The projected vision distorts.』
Right. I will never let Noona become like this.
Because—
"Noona is already a woman I've taken responsibility for."
A man can never abandon a pure-hearted woman who's devoted to him.
That's just an undeniable truth.
The moment my words resonated through the space,
Park Ha-rin's face blurred. A sudden mist veiled her features.
"You can rest easy now."
Her once delicate face twisted into the shape of a weeping specter.
The blood-drenched space warped in response.
Yet, through the mist, Noona's face faintly emerged.
「...Alright.」
A weary smile formed on her barely visible lips.
An expression free of worry—one I hadn't seen in so long.
A reaction I had never even witnessed in the game.
Suddenly, a single blossom of light bloomed between us.
The corpses surrounding us began dissolving into snowflake-like motes of light.
"Don't worry."
Whether this Noona was an illusion or not didn't matter right now.
What mattered was that these visions had stirred a change within me.
"I'm Park Si-hyun, after all."
I'll use every means possible to save Noona.
I'll take responsibility as family to ensure she never harms anyone else.
"And Noona... you're just impossible to hate."
Isn't that what family is supposed to be?
Noona's form dissolved into light, scattering away.
「I'll trust you.」
The sight of her grew brighter before my eyes.
A tragedy I had only seen in the game.
Maybe this was a future that could have been.
But I would treat it as nothing more than a game.
An ending like this is only acceptable in a game where you can restart.
All my senses pulled free from the illusion.
Leaving the nightmare behind as just that—a nightmare.
Finally, I opened my eyes.
#
THUD. THUD. THUD.
When I came to, the giant was already moving away.
"...."
A colossal monstrosity that had shaken the Outer Dimension.
With senses like hers, she must have noticed us even from this distance.
Yet she walked in the opposite direction, leaving us behind.
Just what had Erkwi consumed in the Outer Dimension to make such a sight possible?
...Well, in a world where regression exists, I can't say the remnants of the game are impossible.
Maybe this was something the Tower, holding onto the game's memories, had discarded.
Whatever. It doesn't matter.
Thanks to this, my wavering resolve had solidified.
Never let Park Ha-rin run rampant.
Never let the heroines die.
In the end, strength was what I needed.
...By any means necessary, I had to cultivate power strong enough to suppress even Ha-rin.
And—
I turned my head.
The powerhouse I needed for that was right beside me.
"KYYYYYAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
...Though I had to admit, the way her eyes had rolled back in her head suggested her condition had deteriorated considerably more than just "a little."