Chapter 55

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Translator: 8uhl

Chapter: 55

Chapter Title: S-Rank Movement Skill: Bird That Hears Daytime Words

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I was flying. Well, not exactly me. My feet were firmly planted in midair, climbing higher and higher like ascending stairs.

Whirr, whirr.

Every time I lifted a foot, circular ripples spread out across the lake surface, like raindrops falling.

'Self-destruction's almost here.'

I pushed my crumbling legs toward Choi Min Hunter as fast as I could. Bathed in sunlight all over my body, maybe that's why—I reached her in no time.

Choi Min Hunter, whom I practically dragged into an embrace, stared at me with uncharacteristic panic written all over her face.

"Shin Ji-ui Hun..."

"Let that bastard go right now!!"

Crack.

As I yanked Choi Min Hunter toward me, I brought Ego down on the shoulder of the Person-Seeking Traveler. With a pop of dislocated joints, its arm dangled limply downward. Seizing the opening, I kicked its head.

The serene expression on its face twisted violently, and soon its body began swelling as if it might burst at any moment.

Stab.

"Kuh...!"

Before I could pull back my extended leg, its nails elongated like longswords, deeply slashing several gashes into my thigh and side.

"Shin Ji-ui Hunter!"

"Guh, heuk..."

Pain flashed before my eyes, and a metallic liquid surged up my throat. No air reached my lungs at all—my consciousness flickered out over and over. A cowardly thought crossed my mind that dying might be easier, but I gazed at the Person-Seeking Traveler anyway.

Rustle.

The nails that had pierced me crumbled into a handful of ash, scattering on the wind. In some timeline my body remembered, the one where it had taken Choi Min Hunter's life—that Person-Seeking Traveler had vanished completely.

'Good.'

Relief washed over my entire body. The dizzying pain dulled at some point, and an unnatural drowsiness flooded in.

"Get a grip!!"

That's when Choi Min Hunter shouted loudly. Rolling my eyes to look, I saw her rare furrowed brow. Her lips trembled—how hard had she bitten them?

"What did I ever do for you to go this far..."

Choi Min Hunter looked utterly confused. I wanted to say something, but blood clogged my throat, letting no proper words escape. I just felt this horrific déjà vu with my whole body and smiled at her.

Suddenly, stark white text floated before my eyes. A fierce battle unfolded right there—the one trying to inherit memories versus the one deleting them. Every time I'd reclaimed past memories, something relentlessly interfered, and this time it hounded me just as stubbornly.

"Kuhk!"

I expelled the blocked breath, and a gush of metallic liquid poured out. Now I saw nothing, and my mind began sinking into the depths.

The inheritance side had won.

"Shin Ji-ui Hunter! Shin Ji-ui Hunter!"

'I hope she doesn't think I'm dead.'

Leaving behind the desperately calling Choi Min Hunter, I hurled my mind into the past timeline.

37th timeline, Gyeongpo Beach A-Rank Dungeon.

"Damn it!"

By the time I reached the hospital, Choi Min Hunter was already embracing the Person-Seeking Traveler and soaring into the sky. It happened before I could even explain that its self-destruction wasn't an explosion.

"Choi Min Hunter! Let that bastard go right now!!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs, but it didn't reach her ears.

If this kept up, she'd get her limbs torn off and die just like before.

Click.

I aimed Ego at Choi Min Hunter. The only way to separate her from it. I tensed my finger on the trigger.

Vrrrrm.

Pulling the trigger long made the air around the hospital vibrate. Normally, it wouldn't affect Choi Min Hunter at all, but this time was different. I'd targeted her as an enemy too, making her body lurch violently.

Whoosh—

Choi Min Hunter plummeted with the Person-Seeking Traveler, and I strained my crumbling legs to catch her falling body.

Thud.

I leaped with Word Without Feet and grabbed her—

Stab.

"Ah."

This time, the Person-Seeking Traveler's nails pierced my body.

Thump.

With that final attack, it turned completely to dust and vanished. At the same time, I collapsed onto the cold asphalt.

Choi Min Hunter, who had fallen right in front of me, shuddered as she barely stood, then went pale as a ghost upon seeing me.

"Shin Ji-ui Hunter!!"

Her agonized scream tore at my eardrums. Through my reddening vision, I saw her face. She reached out to me, then scooped up my body. The ashen Person-Seeking Traveler faded from my sight. Only then did relief hit me, and I let go of all tension.

Click, click.

The monster-defense iron grilles protecting the hospital slowly returned to position. Before my life ended, the odds of medical staff coming out were practically zero. In the previous timeline where Choi Min Hunter died—and the one before—no medical team had emerged from that hospital.

"They'll come soon. Doctors will be here any second. Han Jin-woo Hunter's joining too. So..."

"It's fine..."

Choi Min Hunter's arms trembled as she held me.

"Why do you keep doing these reckless things?!"

First time seeing her angry like this.

She gritted her teeth and slowly leaned over me. Tears soon poured down onto my face.

"What did I do to deserve this from you..."

"Haha..."

What nonsense. I didn't know about others, but to me, Choi Min Hunter wasn't nothing. In every timeline after regression, she'd saved me. When I'd awakened and was dying in that mystery dungeon, she'd come to rekindle my life.

Every life I'd gained post-regression started with a debt to this woman.

"Isn't it time you relied on me? Why do you keep shouldering everything alone?!"

"..."

"Just... what am I to you?"

'What is Choi Min Hunter to me?'

I spat out the blood filling my throat and struggled to continue.

"Now... I don't even know who to trust anymore."

"..."

"But you, Choi Min Hunter..."

My vision was darkening now. Her face blurred like watercolor on sketch paper, and my hearing dulled.

"...you've always been unwaveringly on my side."

Before everything went black, I saw tears streaming down Choi Min Hunter's cheeks.

'Rewind time once more.'

.

.

.

[Causality increase for those who witnessed Savior's death]

Present.

"Kuhk!"

"Shin Ji-ui Hunter!"

My throat burned like fire. My shriveled heart regained its size, desperately pumping to take in oxygen. As my ragged breathing steadied, my mind fully cleared.

"Huu, hu... hahaha..."

'Damn it, really damn it.'

I remembered. Everything from my first awakening until now.

Awakened as an S-Rank Hunter, became the Creator's Apostle, world ended. Just when I thought I'd die, I became the Savior out of nowhere, using the bizarre power 'Power of Words' to rewind time.

I repeated that dozens of times, failing every time to stop the world's end—and this me now was proof.

"H-Hey, you with it? Do you know who I am?"

Then Han Jin-woo Hunter poked his face in. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠He peered down at me with a teary, worried look, hands clasped politely as if waiting for me to speak.

This guy's always so consistently kind and gentle.

I quirked up the corner of my mouth and rasped out.

"Yeah... Thank you, Han Jin-woo Hunter."

"Haaaa. Thank goodness. Medical team's coming soon, so just hang on a bit longer."

Han Jin-woo Hunter sighed in relief and layered another Healing Hand on my legs and stomach. A fresh, antiseptic coolness spread like diluted disinfectant over the wounds.

Come to think of it, Han Jin-woo Hunter being here meant...

"Is Se-bin... okay?"

"Yeah. She's fine."

"Ah."

'No wonder it felt so cozy.'

Se-bin's voice came from the top of my head, and only then did I realize whose arms I was in.

"Se-bin..."

"Shh."

Calling her name, she rested her head on mine, breathing softly. The arms around my shoulders trembled. Her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brown hair tickling my forehead carried a faint blood scent.

My stomach wound had made me dizzy, but thankfully the healing was wrapping up well.

I opened my half-closed eyes and slowly scanned around. Ha Mi-jun Hunter fanning himself with his shirt, external team hunters who looked like late arrivals, and amid the crowd...

'Choi Min Hunter.'

The place buzzed with chatter and constant movement, dizzying my mind, but Choi Min Hunter stood stock-still, just watching me.

No matter how many regressions, some presences never changed, holding their ground. From the first regression to now, he'd come to save me in every timeline. The unease and fear I'd felt toward him were actually familiarity—déjà vu.

Crackle.

That's when static-like noise hit, and everything shook violently.

'Oh yeah, I got some mission reward...'

Gently closing my left eye, golden letters floated around everything in my vision. Absurdly, they looked handwritten by me.

Reading the letters downward, I understood what they meant.

'These are my memories all this time.'

Information gained after dozens of regressions was stored in my right eye. Opening my left eye again, the letters vanished.

Crackle.

'Regression... wasn't just this once?'

Ah, forgot about Ego.

Ego repeated "No way..." in utter confusion.

'I'll explain later.'

'Then what about what I remember?'

'Later, I said.'

For now...

"So sleepy..."