Chapter 104 – Things That Can’t Be Changed (3)
Things That Can’t Be Changed (3)
Controlling the body of a disaster? I didn’t intend on this from the beginning. Originally my plan was something else. I decided to modify the plan the moment my mind transferred to Shin Yoosung’s body.
[Exclusive skill, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint stage 3 has been activated!]
[The 1st person supporting role viewpoint has been activated.]
To be exact, I had to modify it.
「 …I can’t admit it. 」
「 Then what am I? How long have I lived? 」
「 What can I get for returning? 」
In the midst of Shin Yoosung’s turbulent pain, I saw the world with her eyes. I breathed through Shin Yoosung’s nose and killed people with Shin Yoosung’s hand. I expressed Shin Yoosung’s thoughts with her voice. I was Shin Yoosung.
[The exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking!]
Then I met Lee Jihye. I knew the moment I met her that Lee Jihye would die here. Thus, for the first time I tried something that I hadn’t done before.
[The 1st person supporting role viewpoint interferes with the behaviour of the character.]
[The exclusive skill, ‘Fourth Wall’ is shaking ominously.]
There was an electric current in my head followed by tremendous pain. Yet the moment Shin Yoosung dealt the decisive blow, I was able to pull back her right hand. It was a fine adjustment so Shin Yoosung didn’t notice, but I definitely did it.
Lee Jihye didn’t die.
[Your understanding of the character ‘Shin Yoosung’ has increased.]
The same thing was repeated with Lee Hyunsung. My mind had become a bit ragged but I thought that I might be able to do something. I poured more of my heart into it and increased my grip on Shin Yoosung’s body.
Finally, it happened when Shin Yoosung grabbed Lee Gilyoung’s neck.
“W-Who are you?”
I succeeded in controlling Shin Yoosung’s right hand.
[You have a very high understanding of the character ‘Shin Yoosung.’]
Someone else’s arm moved according to my will. It was an amazing experience.
“…Ahjussi?” Shin Yoosung asked.
“Get out of me!”
Shin Yoosung’s right arm under my control starting shaking. The abnormally deformed arm turned black and swollen, like the blood vessels were bursting. The young Shin Yoosung rushed to grab the blackened arm.
“Ahjussi, you’re in there right? Ajusshi!”
The young Shin Yoosung grabbed my right arm. At this moment, a strong spark entered the right arm. It was a spark similar to a storm of probability. The surprised people came running but the sparks blew them away.
The ‘disaster’ Shin Yoosung and the ‘young’ Shin Yoosung saw each other at the same time. The wave of memories were gathering.
「 “Ahjussi.” 」
「 “Captain.” 」
It wasn’t possible. If the ‘Disconnected Film’ theory was correct, the two people shouldn’t have a shared history.
「 “You… can kill me. It’s okay.” 」
「 “I wanted to survive.” 」
When I thought about it, the Disconnected Film theory only applied to ‘characters.’ I came from outside the novel. What if my existence played a role in connecting their memories? What if I connected the two films?
I could feel both Shin Yoosungs holding my hand. The third round and the 41st round. The two different times were facing each other.
「 “Is it worth it for me to live?” 」
「 “Then what is the value of this life?” 」
“No! This… these memories…”
The panicked disaster Shin Yoosung stuttered and bit on her blue lips. A mighty energy was being created inside Shin Yoosung’s body.
There was the sound of something tearing and the young Shin Yoosung was thrown away from the right arm.
Shin Yoosung was damaging her own body in an attempt to get me out. Blood flowed from her and her combat power started to rapidly drop. The balance of her flesh was being broken due to the excessive magic power.
「 Shin Yoosung! Wait, stop this! 」
“Aaaack!”
Shin Yoosung grabbed her head and struggled to expel me. I shared her senses and felt like I was going crazy from the nausea and pain. Shin Yoosung’s mind was blank.
I was troubled for a moment. If this continued, the disaster Shin Yoosung…
Dammit!
.
.
My consciousness left Shin Yoosung’s body and all five senses disappeared.
[The skill conflict error is normalized.]
[The delayed privilege of the King of No Killing has reappeared.]
[Your body is resurrected from death.]
……
Maybe this wasn’t the right choice. However, I wanted to give it a try.
[A constellation who likes to change gender is sad.]
I would always regret it if I didn’t.
[The recreation of your flesh has begun.]
[The exclusive skill ‘Fourth Wall’ offsets the mental shock caused by your death.]
[Compensation is being prepared for the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint stage 3.[
It was my second resurrection after dying from the fire dragon.
I felt my nerves being reconstructed and struggled once again. The regenerated lungs filled wit hair and the optic nerves were connected, restoring my vision. The abstract activity of the mind was transplanted onto the cerebral cortex.
[The privilege of the King of No Killing has been completed.]
[100 karma points have been consumed.]
[The wastes of your flesh have been completely removed and the performance of your body has increased.]
[Physique and magic power has increased by 2 levels each.]
[You have exceeded in overall stats limit for the scenario.]
Fortunately, it was the second resurrection and I didn’t have an unseemly appearance.
I looked around and saw my scattered items and clothing. It was lucky that no one had taken them. I started putting on my clothes when I heard an eerie voice behind me.
“…Kim Dokja?”
Ah, come to think of it, that bastard was right beside me. I looked back and saw Yoo Jonghyuk staring at me with disbelief. His shoulders were still covered with the sulfur mummies’ bandages.
“How on earth?”
I sighed. I couldn’t explain about the King of No Killing here so I said something else. “…Don’t say that you will kill me again. I really will die this time.”
“Kim Dokja, you…!”
“I will explain it later. There is no time.”
I swung the Blade of Faith and freed Yoo Jonghyuk from the sulfur mummies’ bandages. The sulfur mummies shrieked and stared at me. Then I activated Way of the Wind through Bookmark.
I carried the injured Yoo Jonghyuk on my shoulder and rushed towards the frozen Han River.
From afar, I could see incarnations fighting with monsters. There was a black aura rising from Yongsang-gu, Seoul. It was for certain. The disaster Shin Yoosung was over there.
“Ahjussi?”
“Dokja-ssi!”
I found my party members running towards me. I put Yoo Jonghyuk down on the ground and ordered.
“Take a break.”
Then I ran straight towards the disaster Shin Yoosung.
“Dokja-ssi, it is dangerous.”
“It’s okay.” I stopped Lee Hyunsung and moved forward. “Shin Yoosung.”
The Disaster of Floods was sitting down while holding her head. Blood flowed down and hit the ground.
I was certain that the incarnations didn’t dare approached because of the terrible aura she was emitting. Right now, everyone could kill the current Disaster of Floods if they combined forces.
“You… who… are you?” The disaster Shin Yoosung looked at me with trembling eyes. “It’s all ruined… because of you… this isn’t the round that I know.”
The soul that had lasted over a thousand years was shaking with fear.
“No, not at all.”
The change began with Yoo Jonghyuk and then her spirit started collapsing the moment she encountered the Shin Yoosung of the past.
She hated Yoo Jonghyuk. Her anger had accumulated over a thousand years. The strong emotions had crumbled at the memories she received.
Maybe this hope could change the world. It was the small bit of hope that the disaster Shin Yoosung saw. It might be very small but hope could overwhelm despair.
I approached Shin Yoosung and knelt down beside her. Shin Yoosung stared at me.
“Well done.” I kept thinking about what she would most want to hear. No such thing had appeared in Ways of Survival. I could only come up with the words myself. If I was Shin Yoosung… “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
Shin Yoosung’s eyes shook uneasily. “…You have been waiting? Who are you?”
“A person who wants the same world you do.”
At this point, Shin Yoosung’s eyes changed drastically.
「 I… 」
Little by little, Yoo Sangah touched my shoulder.
“Dokja-ssi.”
I nodded and got up. My companions were looking at me. I looked at them and opened my mouth.
“Everyone.”
I liked the Disaster of Floods episode. I loved all the characters who appeared in this episode and valued them. Perhaps that was why I hoped for this episode to not happen.
“I won’t kill the disaster.”
I thought about it. In the original third round, the Disaster of Floods died after the young Shin Yoosung was killed. However, I wondered if there was another ending to this episode that I didn’t know about. It was an ending that had never been attempted.
“I won’t accept any arguments. This time, I hope you will listen to my suggestion.”
“Ahjussi, what is this bullshit?”
There was no time limit for the fifth scenario. What if the Disaster of Floods gave up her role and what if we didn’t hunt the disaster?
Perhaps this scenario would just continue without anyone dying. Some people understood while others looked confused. The first one who nodded was Yoo Sangah and then Lee Hyunsung opened his mouth.
“You must have an idea. I will follow Dokja’s will.”
“It is fine if that’s what Hyung wants. But can I hit her as much as she hit Titano?”
“Damn, do whatever you want. Since when hasn’t Ahjussi done what you wanted? But is it okay?”
I listened to the party members’ words and then looked at the young Shin Yoosung.
“I…”
The girl had tears in her eyes. Perhaps Shin Yoosung had seen it, everything that her future self experienced.
Thus, it was cruel to ask the young Shin Yoosung about what to do with Shin Yoosung. I stroked the child’s hair and finally looked back at the disaster Shin Yoosung. She had a distorted expression like she was a wounded beast.
“You will spare me? Don’t make me laugh. Who are you to say that?”
The only thing she had left was her pride.
“I have lived through the 41st round of regression. I remember everything that no one in this world knows. What do you know? How did I spend that time? How can I forget all of that?”
The words of the future Shin Yoosung stopped. It was because Yoo Jonghyuk was watching her.
“…”
In this moment, Shin Yoosung realized the real meaning of what she said. Being lost among worlds. Losing her loved ones. Nevertheless, living in that world again. There was only one person in this world who understood her grief.
“Every regressor lives hating the things that haven’t happened yet.”
Regressor Yoo Jonghyuk started talking.
“That guy will be a bad person in the future and I should kill him. That person will kill my companion in the future and I should kill him. That person will be my companion in the future and I should save them.”
I could read the emotions that ended Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes. Since I was able to read them, Yoo Jonghyuk felt strange to me for the first time. I had never seen such an honest Yoo Jonghyuk.
“It is a future that hasn’t happened yet. I know they don’t remember me and that they haven’t done anything yet. Still, I believed and acted like they did. That’s how I lived. It is because everything clearly happened to me and I can’t live by denying it.”
Anger returned to Shin Yoosung’s eyes.
“Yes! It is because you lived that way! My companions…”
“So you also live that way, Shin Yoosung.”
“…What?”
“If you want, I will bear your hatred.”
I couldn’t say anything because I was too saddened by Yoo Jonghyuk’s words.
“Survive this round for the sake of killing me.”
Yoo Jonghyuk spoke some final words. Perhaps this was the warmest that Yoo Jonghyuk could be.
It was the first time I noticed that Yoo Jonghyuk’s back was so big and wide. His back was wide and lonely.
Shin Yoosung stared at Yoo Jonghyuk with her mouth wide open.
Ironically, she understood the man who she hated for thousands of years due to all the years she lived.
“Captain… wait. Captain!”
I was able to feel the ripples in Shin Yoosung’s heart.
「 …Is this really okay? 」
「 Keep going for this reason. 」
「 This world, you don’t have to abandon it… 」
Some anger hadn’t disappeared and some sorrows hadn’t been erased. However, as long as she lived, salvation would come one day.
I told Shin Yoosung, “Shin Yoosung, this is your ‘round’ now.”
I couldn’t change anything when I was a reader. It was because I was a reader that I could change it now. I thought I could change it.
At least, until the voice of the intermediate dokkaebi was heard.