The Worst Ending, and the Warmth of People

As soon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as my vision returned, I wished to see only the most critical moments from the future before my regression. Just like before, my desire was granted. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A specific point in time suddenly appeared and began to play back slowly.

But as Piece and I watched the scene, neither of us could continue speaking.

'...Where the hell am I?'

The place before my eyes was so utterly horrific that words failed us. It looked like a battlefield. The only difference from a normal battlefield was the complete absence of roaring artillery or gunfire—only silence and stillness remained.

Yet it was difficult to tell exactly where this was. Flames bloomed everywhere, and thick black smoke billowed into the sky. Still, two things were unmistakably clear from the sight.

One was the half-destroyed, massive Gate lying abandoned, as if declaring its proximity to a Gate. The other was the countless piles of corpses that suggested at least dozens of people had died.

Blood flowed between the bodies, forming a river that created numerous large and small pools. Judging by the color of the blood, it seemed they hadn't been dead for long.

And in the middle of that bizarre scene, one figure stood gripping a sword driven into the ground. That being stood alone atop the densely packed corpses instead of the earth, staring solely at the sky without glancing anywhere else.

The more I looked, the stronger the sense of déjà vu became. At the same time, it felt eerily familiar. I moved closer to see better, and the figure's appearance gradually came into focus.

A Defensive Coat so tattered it had lost all its effects. A long vertical scar across the left eye. A black right pupil and a red left pupil. A body drenched in blood and wildly disheveled black hair. And an expressionless face that was all too familiar from the mirror.

'What the...'

Yes. The one standing alone was none other than me.

Of course, there were differences from usual. An eerie face was embedded in the chest area, giggling with a kishishi sound while its eyes darted around. Tentacles extending from that face had spread densely across my entire body, as if using it as a host.

At that moment, the surroundings began flashing red as if warning that the time limit had been exceeded. An inexplicable chill ran down my spine.

It was pure instinct. In my short twenty-one years of life, it was an instinct I had honed my entire life—slightly lacking yet incredibly sharp. That instinct was warning me.

Do not look around under any circumstances.

I prayed that this instinct was wrong as I slowly turned my head. But they say uneasy premonitions are always right.

When I looked around, there were many people near me—both those I knew and those I didn't. Correction. Those who had been people.

They had all become cold lumps of flesh, no longer breathing. Kang Hyuk. Cheonma. Countless professors. The Holy Knight Order. Other hunters I'd never seen before, along with various beastmen. All sorts of beings lay scattered across the ground as cold corpses.

But it didn't end there. Even people I desperately didn't want to see in this horrific space entered my vision.

Precious connections to me. Hye-ji. Elsia. Jung Ayeon. They too had lost their warmth, their breathing stopped, quietly sleeping at my feet.

In this terrible sight, I didn't want to believe it. I hated accepting it even more. But I could only reach one clear conclusion.

The one who had killed everyone here—including them—was none other than me.

At first I doubted my eyes. I denied the thought. I tried to gaslight myself into thinking I was seeing things wrong. But I had no choice but to acknowledge the obvious truth.

Because embedded in their bodies were all the weapons I could manifest with my Mana Tattoos. And above all...

My sword wasn't piercing the ground. It was impaling Hye-ji.

I glared fiercely at me, who was still stabbing Hye-ji, and spoke.

"Pull the sword out, you son of a bitch..."

"......"

But I showed no reaction, as if my words couldn't be heard. Just kept staring at the sky.

Giving up on talking to me, I tried to pull out the weapons embedded in their bodies with trembling hands. Even though it would be useless, I kept moving my hands endlessly. As if believing that simply removing them would bring them back to life.

Once. Twice. Three times...

But my hands simply passed through everything as if it were nothing. As if I had no influence whatsoever.

Each time, my hands moved ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠faster. I repeated the same action over and over. The vain hope that if I could remove even one weapon before their lives completely faded, they might come back to life. That was what kept driving my body to move.

'Please shut up!......Please.'

After repeating it countless times, instead of pulling out the weapons, I tried to hold their bodies this time. Even though nothing remained and nothing could be felt, I wanted to grasp even a sliver of warmth and believe they were still faintly breathing.

But all I felt at my fingertips was the cold emptiness of cutting through air. Not even a fragment of warmth could be sensed. I couldn't feel anything.

I bit my lip as tears slowly welled up. Then, unable to hold back my emotions any longer, I screamed.

"Fuck!!!!!!!!"

With rage in my trembling hands, I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug in. The welling tears finally overflowed and streamed down. Without even wiping them, I spoke to me, who was still blankly staring at the sky.

"You......who the hell are you?"

"......"

"What did you do here?"

"......"

"Never mind. Just pull the damn sword out."

At that moment, I turned my head and looked in my direction.

"Ugh..."

"......."

To be precise, I was looking at Caersi. Right behind where I stood, Caersi was groaning as she lifted her body. That was what I had reacted to.

Even though that gaze wasn't looking at me, it felt as if it somehow recognized my existence.

All the while, that grotesque face on the chest was bursting into maniacal laughter. It was truly disgusting. And ominous.

In contrast, my expressionless face showed no emotion at all, which was chillingly eerie. The surroundings had already turned completely blood-red, signaling that time was up, but I didn't care. I charged forward to swing my fist at me.

"Get those swords out of them!!! You fucking bastard!!!!!"

- STAB!!!

But the outcome didn't change. My fist passed straight through me and cut through empty air. The sword I swung pierced Caersi's body precisely.

Caersi couldn't even let out a final scream. She vomited blood and collapsed miserably. That was the last thing I saw.

I returned to reality. An overwhelming wave of exhaustion from exceeding the time limit wrapped around my body, but that wasn't important right now. There was something far more important.

Panting heavily, I had no choice but to ask Caersi.

"Hey......what the hell was that just now?"

"You've returned too, nya?"

"It's a bit different. Anyway, what the hell was that?"

I had no energy left to speak politely to Caersi. Meanwhile, instead of answering me, she gave orders to the Holy Knights.

"Take him away, nya! We'll interrogate him later!"

"Three of you restrain that man. The other two, contact the interrogators in advance!"

"""""Yes!"""""

But none of them could take even a single step. By then, Elsia's sky-blue butterflies and white thorn vines had already bound the Holy Knights' entire bodies.

"What exactly are you all doing to my husband?"

"Ugh!!! What is this!!"

"Answer before I kill you."

Elsia was in an extremely rare state of complete seriousness. When Elsia snapped her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fingers once more, the thorn vines tightened their grip on the Holy Knights even harder in response. Amid the ominous sounds of armor being crushed, Hye-ji glared at everyone with an expressionless face, holding a rifle in one hand and a grenade in the other.

And Hye-ji pointed her rifle at Caersi and spoke.

"Reason. Explain."

"We have to take that thing awa—"

- BANG!

Hye-ji's bullet grazed Caersi's cat ear.

"I said explain the reason, you fucking cat bitch."

"Hiiik!!"

"Hye-ji, it's okay."

I grabbed the muzzle of the rifle Hye-ji was holding. To Hye-ji, who looked at me with a puzzled expression, I forced a smile.

"For now, put the gun down."

"...Okay."

"You too, Elsia."

"Yes."

I made Hye-ji and Elsia deactivate their abilities. Maintaining my forced smile, I spoke to the still-trembling Caersi.

"I'll see you this afternoon. We have a lot to talk about, just the two of us."

"U-understood, nya! Everyone, let's go back, nya!"

Caersi composed herself and began limping out of the classroom with the Holy Knights. The moment they completely left the classroom, an uncomfortable silence instantly settled over the room.

But I ignored that silence and asked them to follow me.

"Girls, can you come with me for a bit?"

"Husband? Where are we going?"

"Shinwoo, where are you going!"

"Young Master! Wait for me!"

"It'll only take a moment."

There were no more classes anyway. I led them all the way to my dormitory room, then locked the door so no one could enter.

When I returned from locking the door and suddenly dropped to my knees in the center of the room, they sat around me with worried eyes. They all seemed to want to say something, as if they couldn't understand the current situation.

But before they could speak, I pulled all of them into a hug at once.

"Oh my! Husband?"

"Shinwoo?"

"Young Master?"

Unlike before, I could truly feel their warmth in my arms and at my fingertips. They weren't cold corpses or empty air that my hands passed through—they were truly alive. The warmth of living people.

Only then did relief wash over me. My body began to tremble as I started sobbing. They said nothing more and simply held me quietly. As if telling me it was okay. That we were still here.

Even as I cried, I made a vow to escape this catastrophic future.

"I will never let you die."

I kept muttering it like a suggestion to myself, hugging them even tighter. In response, they hugged me back with slightly more strength.

You only realize something's value after losing it. And just moments ago, I had lost everyone by my own hands. That's why right now, I felt their preciousness more desperately than ever.

As if swearing never to lose that preciousness again, I held them even tighter.

The warmth we created together like this was a small warmth. Slightly ambiguous for truly warming anything. And yet...

That warmth was incredibly gentle. Gentle enough to help the broken me stand up once more.

In the end, I spent the entire morning explaining my ability to them.

The fact that I could see the number of regressions someone had. The fact that everyone except me could regress. The fact that when someone near me regressed, I could see fragments of that content. And finally, the contents of the future I had seen when Saintess Caersi had regressed.

It took quite a while to explain in detail, but it was worth it.

When I finished, Elsia finally spoke to me with an expression of understanding.

"So that's why you said those things in the Great Forest, husband."

"That's right."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore whether it's regression or whatever!"

Elsia said while hugging me from behind.

"You can't do it right now anyway, and most importantly, you're here with us!"

"Thank you."

"And."

Elsia smiled brightly and hugged me even tighter than before.

"You'll change even a future like that eventually, right?"

"......I have to. No, I will change it."

"Then there's no problem!"

Meanwhile, Hye-ji suddenly stood up and kicked me without warning.

"Oof, my god!"

"You crazy bastard!"

While I was still reeling from the kick to my solar plexus, Hye-ji grabbed me by the collar.

"If you have something like that, tell us right away! Got it?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Don't suffer alone and throw a tantrum!"

Then Hye-ji plopped down onto my crossed legs and leaned her body against me as she lay back slightly.

"Tell anyone to come at us. What you saw will never happen."

"Really?"

"I'll make sure of it."

'Wow, fuck. No matter how many times I see it, she's so damn cool.'

Meanwhile, Jung Ayeon had a slightly dazed expression. It seemed difficult for her to believe.

"Hey, Jung Ayeon. What's wrong?"

"Ah......there was simply too much information, so I short-circuited for a moment."

Then Jung Ayeon seemed to ponder something before carefully opening her mouth.

"Young Master, if my future also..."

"Go on."

".......Never mind.......I misspoke."

Jung Ayeon let it go surprisingly easily. Of course her expression was anything but easy, but I decided to let it slide, thinking I'd tell her later.

In the end, I revealed all the secrets I'd been hiding so tightly and told them everything. It was content that would be difficult to fully accept. They could have doubted whether what I said was true.

But instead of doubting me, they chose to believe and follow me. So I made a vow for them as well.

For their sake. And to end that worst possible conclusion. A small vow to struggle without stopping.

'It won't end with simply changing it.'

I would crawl desperately toward a happy future. That was how I'd lived until now. And how I would continue to live.

I deeply engraved this new determination into my heart.

Meanwhile, while Jung Ayeon kept her head down in thought, Hye-ji and Elsia spoke to me.

"Shinwoo, what are you going to do now?"

"Gotta go meet that fucking cat."

"Husband! Let's go together! Beast bastards only understand the whip!"

Just as we left the dormitory, animals were waiting for us in front. Five Holy Knights. One leader Holy Knight. And one Saintess Caersi. A total of seven beastmen waiting.

They were glaring at me fiercely, but now that I'd gathered myself, it was fine.

'Yes, I'm sorry about earlier.'

I jerked my chin toward Caersi and said,

"Let's go, you fucking cat."

"......Follow me, nya."

We followed Caersi, but then turned off to another place midway.

"Where are you running off to, nya!"

"We need to eat."

"Ah..."

After all, you have to eat to live. Food comes first. We drifted with the beastmen toward the cafeteria and finished a simple meal.

We were about to leave the cafeteria when the cold mechanical voice flowing from the register stopped me in my tracks.

".......Fucking cat, lend me your card."

"......."

Caersi handed over her card with the look of someone staring at an idiot. The moment I received it, I paid for everyone's meal.

"...Why the hell are you swiping for everyone else's food too, nya."

"You've got plenty of money."

"That doesn't mean you should prepay for your group's meals!!!!!"

I quickly finished the payment and returned the card to the fuming Caersi. She let out a big sigh and began guiding us.

After walking for quite a while, we arrived at an abandoned old warehouse on the outskirts. It was here that the interrogation between us and Caersi began.