Chapter 390
Chapter 390
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 390
>Chapter Title: Are You Scared Right Now?
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Silence hung over the empty space. Aster took in the sight of 'Yeokcheon' with eyes trembling faintly.
Yeokcheon.
……Yeah, Yeokcheon.
"You seem pretty shocked. You've got a ton of questions, right? Like why I turned back your time, why it was you of all people. And going even further…… what purpose I have in mind for you."
Yeokcheon chuckled as he began to walk. Aster wasn't walking, but he was following behind. It was an odd phenomenon, but Aster felt nothing about it. He simply listened closely to what Yeokcheon would say next.
"To cut straight to the point, I can't explain anything. Oh, don't get me wrong. It's not like I'm hiding something from you. To be precise……."
Yeokcheon tapped his temple.
"It's outside your range of cognition."
"……Range of cognition?"
"Yeah. Have you ever tried imagining a 'being that doesn't exist'?"
Aster shook his head.
A 'being that doesn't exist'? What kind of contradiction was that?
Yeokcheon nodded as if he'd expected that, then twirled his index finger as he continued.
"That's what 'outside your range of cognition' means. As someone borrowing your appearance, personality, and thought patterns, I can't explain it, nor even dare to think about it. But if I absolutely have to explain…… yeah, like this."
Snap.
With a flick of his fingers, a small box floated up into the empty air. Yeokcheon held it out to Aster.
"Draw one. There's one winner. And inside are thousands of tickets. ……Alright, now open it?"
"……."
Aster unfolded the one he'd drawn from the thousands. And what was printed inside……
Winner
Aster stared at the paper for a moment before looking up.
"So…… it's just chance?"
"Could be, or couldn't be. Ah, don't get pissed at my phrasing. Like I said, I borrowed your personality and…… well, everything, right? Cursing me would just be spitting while lying down."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ticket and box crumbled into sand and scattered. By then, Yeokcheon was walking again.
"Honestly, it's not something you can just brush off as 'chance.' More like…… fate? You and I were destined to meet. The same goes for turning back time. And honestly, that's not what you're really wondering about, is it?"
Even as he spoke, Yeokcheon kept walking. In the pitch-black emptiness, scenery began to emerge. And it was a scene Aster knew well.
"Is this…… when we first met?"
Decullan wizards scattered across the plain. Neither Pahren nor Aster himself was there, but Aster recognized it at a glance. This was that exact place.
"We turned back time here, and let's see…… this is when I first lent you my power after the regression."
The scenery shifted, revealing an inn room. Aster remembered that place too.
'The place I stayed with Damian.'
It was here that Aster had first deployed a breathing technique after regressing, and Yeokcheon's power had come into play.
And then, one after another……
"This is where you laid the foundation for your mana body. This is when you awakened blood magic too. But hey, isn't 'blood magic' a kinda lazy name?"
As Yeokcheon walked, the scenery changed bit by bit.
Every one was a place where Yeokcheon had intervened.
……Hamern Great Forest.
"Destrow. ……The Emperor. Ugh, that obsession was something else. Still, thanks to it, we filled in some missing power."
……Library Rapiter.
"The head librarian was Teheman, right? Indurance…… they're some grateful folks. Who knew they'd cherish a part of me so preciously."
……Ancient Ruins, Baharmut.
"Guess we got lucky. Who'd have thought we'd find a fragment there. Oh, how was that future I showed you back then? Helpful at all?"
……Nameless Plain.
"Good thing there was a spirit. 'Natural Order' allowed it just in time too. You know what? If you hadn't gotten the spirit in Baharmut, you'd have died that day."
After the wyvern became a dragon, no more special scenery appeared. Even so, Yeokcheon never stopped talking. He chattered on endlessly, like he was having the time of his life.
After a while.
"Honestly……."
Suddenly, Yeokcheon stopped walking.
It was right then that scenery materialized in the empty space.
……Arapurgin Mountains.
A certain mountain peak.
"Surprising, huh? Who'd have thought the Last Lord left behind an arrangement. Ah, remember? The red dragon. That guy's the Last Lord. Honestly, at the time, I felt…… utterly screwed. Or wait, I don't have a self. Yeah, whatever. Looking back now, it was screwed."
Contrary to his words, Yeokcheon's expression didn't look all that angry. His smile just got a bit rougher.
With that rough smile on his face, Yeokcheon turned to Aster.
"Why'd you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Why'd you do it? You could've made a dragon your slave. The last dragon left on the surface. You could've claimed the Lord's power and raised the first dragon to prosper in this era as a slave. But……."
Yeokcheon's words sped up, until his voice rose to a shout, like he was venting rage.
Did he notice it himself? Yeokcheon trailed off and caught his breath. When he spoke again, his voice was much calmer.
"You set it free."
"……."
"You went against my will."
Yeokcheon jabbed his rigid index finger into Aster's chest.
"You know what you did?"
"……."
"The dragon was already part of me. It held the power of the fragment you got in Baharmut. But you set it free. Do you get what that means?"
Press.
Yeokcheon pressed down on Aster so hard it felt like his finger might break, then looked up. His wild eyes reflected Aster's impassive face.
"My already incomplete power became even more incomplete."
"……."
"And what'd you get out of it? You paid a price you didn't even need to, just to go against my will. That dumb dragon—does it know? 'Friend, friend.' That stupid lizard spawn—does it know what you paid?!"
Aster stayed silent. Yeokcheon glared at him. Come on, say something. If you've got a mouth, spit it out.
But with no response, he wrinkled his nose and growled.
"It's the life I saved."
He had turned back time.
How it was possible didn't come to mind now that he was borrowing 'Aster's' existence. But he clearly remembered paying a hefty price.
"You should've used it for me."
That was the right thing.
If you receive something, you give back, right?
"That lame conscience, that shallow pity—since when did you have any of that? Why? Living like a human made you think you actually became one? 'Good'? Ha! Fuck, that's not even funny."
"……."
"So what's the result? Huh? How'd it turn out? Look! Patriarch Otto! You fucking Otto!"
The scenery shifted again. It was the place where he'd fought Patriarch Otto.
Standing in the center, Yeokcheon flashed a sinister grin and pointed accusingly, as if urging him to remember what happened.
"If you hadn't freed that lizard, I could've helped you. You think you were the only one who paid? Hell no! I paid too! If not for that price, I could've helped you instead of just humming 'ooong, oong' like a wimp!"
"……."
"Ah, is that not it? Was facing Otto alone from the start the problem? Fuck, you're too nice. You didn't even know you'd die, and you faced Otto solo? You should've used the Grand Duchess as bait! The blue-eyed wizards are at least that capable! But why……!"
Yeokcheon clenched his fists, unable to swallow his anger. Rough breaths leaked through his lips.
He took a moment to steady his breathing.
"Is this 'good' too?"
"……."
"But you don't have that, do you?"
"……."
"Ah, how do I know? I'm you, you're me—why wouldn't I? ……Or not? Haha, fine, whatever. Want me to list out your sins one by one? Need a reminder to admit……."
"Tch."
Yeokcheon, mid-tirade, twitched his eyebrow. The expression on Aster's face reflected in his eyes was…… well……
"……Pathetic? Me?"
When Yeokcheon asked incredulously, Aster let out a smirk.
"Yeah, pathetic."
"You……."
Yeokcheon opened his mouth like he was about to explode, but Aster's voice cut him off.
"Listening to you ramble on like you own the place…… Hey, let's be real."
"About what……."
"You scared right now?"
As he said it, Aster dug in his ear and blew out some earwax. Yeokcheon tried to respond……
"Gahk!"
A sudden kick sent Yeokcheon screaming and tumbling. Stunned and blinking, he saw Aster approach his head.
"Why me, why turn back time—none of that's my business. Your purpose…… I'm curious, but looking at you now, I think I get it."
A mere 'tool' talking about 'slaves.' A guy with no 'self' expressing regret over freeing the wyvern. But that wasn't what really pissed him off.
Aster grabbed Yeokcheon's hair and forced eye contact.
"That price I paid back then. That valuable to you?"
"……."
"Why? What price do you have to pay this time? You can save me, right? Doesn't it cost something?"
Yeokcheon stared at Aster with bulging eyes. Aster was smiling. Mockingly.
That gaze ignited humiliation. An emotion the true 'Yeokcheon' wouldn't feel, but borrowing a mortal's existence made it inevitable.
If he'd borrowed someone else's existence instead of Aster's—or even adult Aster instead of his childish self—it might've been better.
But the incomplete Yeokcheon had few options and had no choice but to borrow immature young Aster's. He'd copied some of current Aster's cognition and thoughts, but immaturity was unavoidable.
As Yeokcheon ground his teeth at the blunder.
"Want me to guess? What price you need to pay to save me this time? And why you're so bummed about it?"
Aster yanked Yeokcheon's head closer and lowered himself, whispering in his ear.
……What price must be offered to survive. And what Yeokcheon's true purpose was.
When that explanation ended.
"……."
Yeokcheon's eyelids trembled. That's when Aster slammed his face into the ground.
"……Guh!"
Wh-what……
Yeokcheon groaned under the rough grip. Then Aster's voice drilled into his ear.
"Hey, listen up."
"Wh-what……."
"If you want to gather the fragments, shut up. Don't drool over a goal you haven't achieved yet. Just shut up."
The voice held no seriousness, but Yeokcheon…… who had partially borrowed young Aster's existence…… trembled. He was afraid.
Aster looked down at him, smirked, and patted his hair.
"You're a tool. I'm the master."
"……."
"Got it?"
……Yeokcheon nodded weakly.
Satisfied, Aster gazed at him and asked.
"But hey. So, how many fragments are there total?"
"Dun……no."
"Really?"
"You remember how many hairs fall out?"
"Don't you have to? It wasn't just one or two…… Ah, does that make it harder?"
Aster chuckled, looking at Yeokcheon. If he'd truly borrowed all these parts of him, he'd have no choice but to laugh along.
But.
Fsssh……
Yeokcheon's body crumbled into dust and vanished.
Aster shook his head at the fleeing figure.
"……Petty."
Anyway.
"I'm gonna live, right?"
No answer came to Aster's question. The abyss-like darkness simply began to fade.
Standing in the lightening space, Aster looked around.
That's when the voice came.
―Last time was half.
"And?"
―This time is half of the remaining half.
By the end, Yeokcheon's voice had returned to its usual colorless tone. Devoid of any self, utterly dry.
'Last time was half…….'
'Last time' meant when he freed the wyvern. But.
'This time is half of the remaining?'
Aster pondered it quietly, then let out a deep sigh.
"Fuck, guess I won't die a natural death."
……Anyway, survival: successful.
That was enough.
Probably.