Episode 115. Scavenger (4)
“Ughh… Ahhhhh! It hurts, it hurts!”
“Stay still. This arrow is covered in many poisons. It’s really dangerous if I don’t take it out now.”
“But it hurts─!”
Kkkkdeu-deuk.
A strange sound came out as the arrow stuck in his chest was pulled out. It was fortunate that the arrow barely missed the heart. He had luckily survived because the man didn’t know the exact position of the Returnees’ hearts.
If the arrow was perfectly aimed… The number of people here would probably be four, not five.
‘I didn’t expect there to be such an individual on Earth.’
Countless assassins made attempts on their lives until they rose to the rank of ‘The Five Kings’ in the other world. Many didn’t approve that outsiders who dropped from the sky were building kingdoms and rising above other people.
In the process, the Returnees constantly struggled to survive. They developed resistance to poison, changed their body structure so they wouldn’t die immediately from attacks to vital body parts, and activated barriers at all times.
Then, from some point on, the assassins stopped coming. It was because they knew it was useless. And the five Returnees became desensitized to the fear of death. As time went by, they forgot that they were capable of dying anytime.
“Aaaarghh!”
“Looks like you’ve forgotten what pain is since you always activated your barrier. It’s just an arrow in the side of your chest, but see how much you’re suffering.”
“You… just because you aren’t the one who’s hurt…….”
The man grasped his chest and complained, muttering at that moment.
“Leave him be. He hasn’t experienced pain in a long time.”
“…Boss.”
The man called ‘Boss’, who seemed like the leader of the Returnees, started to speak.
“Don’t blame him. And you. Don’t forget this. You must remember this pain so that you don’t let down your guard or make mistakes next time.”
“…Okay.”
“At least now we know that there are people on Earth who are just as powerful. We realized that we can die at any time and that we can always get hurt.”
“…….”
“All we have to do is prepare for this not to happen again. To do that… we need to work together.”
The leader’s eyes sparkled.
“Lee.”
“Yes?”
“You’ve met that man before, haven’t you?”
“Wh… what do you mean?”
“His eyes. When your face was revealed, he was startled. We were in danger of losing two out of five, but thanks to that, all five of us came out alive.”
Thud, thud.
The leader began to walk towards Lee.
“I…I don’t know. Maybe we used to know each other. But so much time has passed that I can’t remember.”
“Don’t lie to me. Everyone here knows that you wanted to return to Earth the most.”
“…….”
“You were close, weren’t you?”
Lee gulped.
“He was powerful. So strong that we can’t deal with him unless we’re careful.”
“Oh….”
“Maybe even stronger than the Swordmasters or Archmages we faced in the other world.”
“…….”
“One mistake and one of us might die. Or all five of us will suffer lethal damage.”
Tap.
The leader put his hand on Lee’s head.
“We were able to survive and return because countless people sacrificed themselves. People who wholeheartedly helped strangers, just because we were flung into a strange place.”
“…….”
“Why don’t you be the one to help this time? I know it can be hard, and I’m not forcing you. But can you just close your eyes, think of your comrades, and act for us all?”
The leader smiled. It was a gentle smile, but from a different angle, it was an infinitely terrifying smile. Lee trembled slightly.
“Hm? Could you do that?”
It was not a request or a recommendation.
“O-of course, I will.”
It was an order she could not refuse.
* * *
I stretched my fist forward. The attack containing Ki lightly hits the sandbag. The intangible energy disrupts the inside of the sawdust-filled sandbag and returns to my body.
“Whewww.”
The recovered Ki flows through my blood vessels and my heart and circulates my whole body. With one breath, sweat drips down, and my body heats up. The warmer the body gets, the more it grows. Stronger, faster. This is the training I’ve always been doing.
[Focus. You’ll get hurt if you make a mistake.]
But today, the process wasn’t easy. Not only my movements but also the circulation of Ki was too rough. It was because I could not control my feelings.
The moment I hit the sandbag, my wrist bent. I couldn’t smoothly perform even the simplest movements.
[… You’d better take a break. You are too distracted.]
Said the Traveler. He was right. My mind was in a mess.
“I guess I should. I can’t concentrate.”
[Are you still thinking about it? How that man, Lee Hyun-seung, stopped?]
“Yes, I can’t get it out of my head.”
[Anyone can make a mistake. Don’t worry about…….]
“No, I’m not bothered by the mistake.”
Lee Hyun-seung. The man who used to be called everyone’s hero.
“I’m upset and angry that such a great man died for a reason like that. I now know how unreasonable the Disasters happening in the world are.”
[…….]
“He worked his entire life to protect humanity. And they send a Returnee with his wife’s face to distress him, then kill him. How can he die so meaninglessly, not even from fighting a powerful monster? I can’t accept it. It’s an ending that doesn’t suit him.”
[Jeong Si-woo.]
“It’s, it’s so……!”
[Calm down.]
The Traveler spoke in a low voice. At the same time, my boiling emotions quickly cooled down.
[No one can simply decide the fate of a human.]
“…….”
[An unsuitable ending? I’m sorry, but the end of a life is gruesome no matter what. Whichever way it happens, death is terrible. Do you think you have the right to judge it or determine whether it was right or wrong?]
“…Ah.”
[It’s not your right, but the right that belongs to the heavens.]
The Traveler’s blank eyes look at me.
[Since you have the Akashic Records, you may one day earn the right to decide. But not now. You are not strong enough to break the wheel of fate. Don’t mess up everything by interfering with someone else. The reason I disrupted the fate of the warrior Kim Young-hwan was because I was sure that it wouldn’t harm you.]
“…….”
[But I’m not sure this time. If you stop such a big star from falling, you could delay the moment you become a star yourself and rise. Then, you could be swept away and killed by the giant waves that are yet to come. You heard that this is your last chance. Can you abandon this world because of your emotions?]
Squeeze.
I clenched my fist. Can I abandon humanity to prevent Lee Hyun-seung’s meaningless death? I couldn’t answer readily.
If preventing his death delayed my development, if I could not become strong enough before the Great Overlord appeared, the end was no less than decided.
[If you know the future that lies ahead, calmly accept it. If you try to correct it by force, the flow will be ruined.]
“…The flow will be ruined?”
But.
“Traveler, this world is already half-ruined. Monsters pour out, illogical disasters happen… Will there be much difference if I ruin it a bit more? I mean, wouldn’t the world actually become better if I destroy it differently?”
[…What are you talking about?]
“I don’t want to make a choice I’ll regret later. I don’t want to leave him be when I know how to save him. I don’t want to be the only one in regret after the world is saved.”
I was speaking from my heart.
[The ‘Akashic Records’ squirm.]
And my heart told me not to listen.
[You break away from the conventional flow of the story.]
[The story-hungry Akashic Records have found an exciting subject.]
It was what my instincts were shouting out.
[The ‘Akashic Records’ have determined that user Jung Si-woo cannot properly carry out this material’s story.]
[The Akashic Records develop.]
To act the way I want and desire.
[A new feature of the ‘Akashic Records’ has been opened up.]
“In my first life, there were tears and yearning for others. And I survived alone and endured it. I’m done with that.”
[…….]
“I think I’d rather be the one to die. I’ve already experienced the beginning and end of my life, so I’ll give myself up to save the rest. This time, I don’t want to lose anyone.”
I had revered and helped heroes in my past life. But this time, I would become one of them.
[The new feature of the ‘Akashic Records’ influences the status.]
[Class has been opened up.]
.
.
.
[Class: ‘The Librarian’ of the Akashic Records.]
[→ Protector of the myriad of knowledge and stories wandering in the super-dimension.]
[→ One hour a day, all stories recorded on the Akashic Records can be borrowed ‘without limit’.]
[→ Based on the recorded stories, the user can create their own ‘Narrative.’]
* * *
Two weeks have passed since then. Instead of going back to the hospital, Seol Ah-rin was staying with Sung Hyun-woo at the lodgings.
“Wow, that’s amazing!”
She seemed to have recovered her memory but acted like a child again when she woke up from sleeping. She didn’t act violently. There was simply now a new member in the lodgings. A woman who liked to watch TV and had a habit of looking up at the sky from time to time.
“Can you get this for me? They say it’s hard to get from the Black Market that I use.”
And Lee Jin-woo, who played a significant role in the fight against the Returnees, didn’t brag or get satisfied. Instead, he blamed himself and became even more hungry for better equipment. He grumbled that he shouldn’t have let them escape and that he should have killed them with a single blow.
He also extended his physical training time. He said that if he became more used to utilizing space by moving to blind spots, it would be easier to deal with the Returnees.
So, even after the Fourth Disaster occurred, nothing changed much. We were faithfully pursuing development. We rushed to the scene when Returnees appeared and put together plans to wipe out monsters when they poured out. Our everyday lives were mostly the same.
“Si-woo, have you… received any news yet?”
There was only one issue.
“Yeah. I called others, and they all say he’s gone.”
The issue that heated the world and disturbed our minds.
“…Where the hell did he go?”
The disappearance of hunter Lee Hyun-seung.
He was now missing for a week.
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