Chapter 68
Chapter 68 - What a comedy-like thing
We faced each other silently for a while.
Minerva was smiling consistently. I pointed at her and stammered.
"You, you... you! You! You!!"
I was so flustered that I became a 'you' bird.
It's absurd to suddenly appear out of nowhere. No matter how much I wanted to meet, this timing was too sudden.
With my head already complicated, 'Shit hair' that I had barely forgotten has now revealed itself again?
What kind of story is trying to test me this time?
"Shouldn't you be more happy? I purposely put that woman to sleep and manifested in this world just to have a conversation with you. I squeezed out my non-existent strength just to help you."
"Happy? I'd rather freeze to death..."
As expected. Just when I thought Seolbaek had fallen asleep. It was the 'Shit hair's' doing.
Minerva quickly waved her hand and changed her expression.
"Well, since we both don't have much time, let's stop playing with words. I'll get straight to the point."
Is it just a feeling?
The 'Shit hair's eyes seem unusually sunken.
"How close have you gotten with the Immortal Demon King?"
"...Well, we've reached a level where we can crack jokes with each other."
"Oh ho."
Minerva smiled meaningfully at my answer.
What meaning is hidden in that exclamation? I have a complicated feeling of wanting to know yet not wanting to know.
And as I expected, I'm now certain with this question.
'These bastards already knew everything.'
They knew that Eldritch and the Immortal Demon King would interact.
They knew the Demon King had already hatched.
They even knew the Demon King would reach a state of not being able to gather magical power.
They knew everything. That's why they're asking such a question.
At this point, it seems they deliberately accelerated Lucy's hatching.
'Damn... I'm in a bad mood.'
I'm done being played around by their schemes.
I suddenly asked Minerva, who was lost in thought.
"Why are you putting me together with Lucy by hatching her early?"
"...Lucy? Oh my. You've even given a nickname to the Immortal Demon King? You'll be setting up a honeymoon suite soon."
"Has the one who had no time for jokes just died?"
Minerva closed her mouth at my words.
And with a still smiling face, she said,
"Yes. I have no time for that. Don't misunderstand. It's not just a joke."
"...What. Really getting married to that white one? Should we set up a meeting?"
"Not quite marriage... but I do hope you can somewhat suppress her."
"........."
"And you are currently fulfilling that role perfectly. No, precisely, you're doing better than our expectations. Well done. I'll praise you."
Minerva looked at me with an admiring gaze.
How annoying. I immediately raised my middle finger. Go eat shit.
As I continuously shot her an annoyed look, she suddenly scratched the back of her head, looking awkward.
"Hmm... Everything is going according to plan, but one impurity has intervened. To be honest, it's become a bit complicated. I want to reduce variables as much as possible."
"Impurity?"
"Yes. That woman there."
Minerva quickly nodded and pointed somewhere. I immediately turned my gaze.
Seolbaek was sleeping there, unaware of the world.
For a moment, I couldn't control my expression. Still, as colleagues, I got angry.
"What do you mean by impurity?"
"Oh, look at those eyes. I just stated a fact, so why are you so angry?"
"I'm not angry. I'm just checking if an ass is attached to your face since you're talking shit."
When I responded nonchalantly, Minerva got angry instead. But she soon suppressed her anger and sighed. For me, who wanted her to get angry, it was a disappointing reaction.
Anyway, instead of getting angry, she continued speaking.
"The reason I came here is to ask you precisely that."
"What."
"To advise you to avoid that woman. Seolbaek, right?"
"...Why."
"She is the Celestial Killing Star(天殺星)."
Celestial Killing Star. A person whose murderous fate is determined by heaven.
Could it be the Celestial Killing StarI know? Suddenly, it feels like a martial arts novel?
...No. Come to think of it, Seolbaek is a woman from the martial arts industry. There's nothing sudden about it.
"Haha, bullshit. If Seolbaek is a Celestial Killing Star, then I'm the Blood Cult Leader Pa Cheon-jeong-yong."[TL/N: Pa Cheon from Emporer’s sword.]
Of course, I laughed as soon as I heard that. It was a hollow laugh with the air escaping my lungs.
But Minerva's reaction to that was colder than ever.
"I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you're having, but Celestial Killing Star isn't just about killing people of one's own will."
"What? Then what is it?"
"A person who unconsciously kills those around them, one by one, and ultimately wipes them out. Someone born with the true fate of heavenly killing. That's her."
"........."
"Honestly, I don't believe in the heavenly signs that humans read. But seeing her, I believed it for the first time. I realized she's not just a quack."
"...To that extent?"
Seolbaek brings misfortune to that degree? I unknowingly swallowed a dry saliva and glanced at Seolbaek's face.
Perhaps noticing my expression, Minerva suddenly giggled and asked me subtly,
"You. Do you have a sense of why you died this time?"
"........."
I couldn't say anything.
Instead, I looked up and stared at Minerva as if to kill her. It was a gaze meant to threaten her to spit out what she knows.
Minerva pretended to be surprised and waved her hand.
"Not that look again. I don't know the exact reason either."
"Are you kidding me right now?"
"All I know is that this woman is related to your death... that's it."
"......…"
"That is certain. That's why I'm recommending this to you while taking on the risk."
A pure white explosion that covers the entire field of vision. Is this related to Seolbaek?
I casually glanced at Seolbaek once, and then immediately retorted to Minerva.
"... If I abandon her and leave, can I definitely survive?"
"Well, to some extent, you'll need to retry. At least it's not a confirmed death like now."
In other words, it means a confirmed death right now.
Does it mean I'll definitely die no matter where or how I try to escape?
Was it not a matter of just leaving that city?
"Come on. Why are you hesitating? Did you develop feelings for her?"
Minerva's voice, which instantly organized my complicated thoughts. I quickly lifted my head.
Minerva's gaze at me was particularly cold.
I ultimately avoided her gaze.
"Yeah. I did. We've been together for about two months. Of course, I've developed feelings."
"Hmm."
"So I refuse. I'll try to survive somehow, taking her with me."
In fact, it's not just because of feelings.
Precisely tonight. I originally received a strange proposal from her.
The episode tentatively called 'I'll be a friend if you want'. Once I knew she owes me a debt of gratitude, my disposition is too naive to cut ties like this.
Minerva shrugged her shoulders and her eyes lit up at my response.
"Then what? Do you have a plan?"
"I'll come up with a plan from now on."
"With the current personnel?".
"……."
"One useless demon king. One woman who brings misfortune. Looking again, you've really assembled quite a party."
For a moment, I was speechless and just scratched my head. How unfairly bringing up the facts. How mean.
But I can't sink like this. I immediately countered her.
"Well, if things get tough, I'll reveal the time regression to Seolbaek and come up with a plan together. She's smarter than me anyway. If we put our heads together, something might come out."
"You're going to tell that woman? Puhuhu. What a big dream."
Minerva openly mocked me. It was the most genuine laugh she'd shown so far.
I raised my fighting spirit and immediately challenged her.
"Why? Seolbaek will die in an instant if I say something. She'll believe almost anything I say."
"Ah, is that so? Yes, yes. Well, you might do that."
"I'm telling the truth. So she'll believe me about time regression..."
"That belief is fundamentally different from trust that comes from sincerity."
Was it just my feeling?
I felt that Minerva's words, which cut into my statement, were unusually heavy.
When I looked up, Minerva was looking at me with an indescribably sad expression.
"I guarantee. Such blind belief... will provide you with no help. At most, it'll be a wound."
It wasn't mockery or concern.
It sounded like a kind of prophecy. Her voice seemed to be certain that I would become that way.
I gritted my teeth and clicked my tongue, avoiding her gaze.
"Enough. So get lost. I have nothing more to say."
"Yes. I'll get lost. Besides..."
Minerva retreated obediently and turned her gaze somewhere.
I reflexively turned my gaze in that direction too.
And immediately widened my eyes.
"Even if you don't want to disappear, the time to disappear has come."
With Minerva's annoying voice, the horizon was brightening.
But I soon realized. The direction of the approaching light was west, not east.
This is not the light of dawn.
"I went out of my way to give you advice, but it’s all going to waste. I should've been a bit more forceful after all.”
Minerva's regretful sigh beside me confirmed my suspicion.
That light.
A mysterious explosion.
"Damn it! Seolbaeeeek!!"
I immediately woke Seolbaek and desperately urged her to use defensive skills. I barely managed to attach a protection spell to the demon king.
After that, I have no memory.
Everything became pure white.
* * *
[Immortal return point has been updated.]
[Time - Continental Calendar 1108, January 12th, 11:30 AM]
[Location - Marktress. Upper area of the Promised Plains, Kern Residential District]
"Wait! Stop right there!!"
Only after the panel belatedly appeared, I opened my eyes and chased the red-haired vagrant.
The vagrant glanced back at me before entering a secluded alley.
I clicked my tongue and was about to follow them immediately. However.
[Name: Box of the Dead]
[Notification: Item Update - Previous life's Box of the Dead save item has been updated.]
That panel blocked my view and I couldn't follow.
I momentarily held my breath. As if possessed, I reached for the Box of the Dead.
Pop. I opened the Box of the Dead and quietly looked at its contents.
[Oioi, next life's Jeong-yong kun. Believe me, damn it!]
"……."
There was such a note inside.
I stared at the note blankly for a while, forgetting what to say.
"Uh, Jeong-Yong nim? Why are you suddenly like this!"
"... Huh, yes?"
Seolbaek, who barely caught up, grabbed my collar and looked at me worriedly.
For a while, I let out a stupid exclamation like a person who had lost their soul.
"What kind of old Korean joke is that in this day and age you crazy bastard..."
I delivered a weak scolding to my previous life self.