Chapter 284
[Congratulations! You have cleared the main quest ‘The Standstill World’!]
[Attribute points have increased by 10.]
[Reputation has increased by 2.]
[A new title [The Second Hand of the New World] has been acquired.]
[Rare items [Demon Bone Powder] and [Mini Petrification Dispenser] have been acquired.]
*Second hand here refers to the second hand of the clock, showing the number of seconds.
And after that…….
“You’ve lost it.”
Cadel’s eyes rolled slowly. In front of him was Kunra, sitting in a stiff posture and giving him an equally stiff stare.
Before the system could tell him that the treatment was complete, Kunra intervened. Cadel’s consciousness was now in Kunra’s grasp, and having adjusted to Kunra’s energy, Cadel didn’t feel the same headache or rejection as he had at first.
“Do you know how surprised I was when I went to check on your condition and found it completely destroyed? Even with the power of this one, you can’t keep up with me. It’s not worth the effort.”
The words were deliberately sarcastic, but Cadel didn’t answer. He just stared off into the distance, still transfixed. Kunra, watching him, clicked his tongue briefly and turned away.
“If you lose consciousness before the healing is complete, you will die, so I intervened to keep you awake. Now that your subordinate seems to have healed you properly, I’ll let you go.”
“……me go.”
“What did you say?”
“Don’t let me go.”
Kunra’s brows narrowed and he tried to say something, but he couldn’t get the words out.
“Just, just a little bit more…… Please let me stay here.”
Beyond the motionless gaze, Cadel was crying. He couldn’t even make a proper sob, just a trickle of tears.
How long would it take him to get over the fact that Van had left him?
Perhaps a lifetime, and he would never get over it.
“Halfling, you should know that you have a lot of work to do. Time here is different from the outside world. If you stay too long, you might miss the start of the war.”
“……I know, I won’t be here long.”
Kunra brought Cadel to his home. It was the cave where he told Cadel the truth the first time.
“I haven’t seen a more pathetic human being than you in a long time.”
Kunra spat out a hollow laugh as he watched Cadel crouch before the cave wall. He would rather Cadel cry out loud. It would be noisy, but it would end eventually, so he could bear with it. But Cadel was just a silent sobbing mess, wiping away the tears that were rolling down his cheeks.
He didn’t think Cadel was this depressed just because he was attacked by a demon. He had a hunch, and it was a problem that even Kunra couldn’t solve.
“I’m not keeping your consciousness here so you can cower in a corner. Go out and get some sun.”
Striding over to Cadel, Kunra slipped a hand under his armpit and yanked him to his feet. Then he dragged Cadel, unable to resist, out of the cave. Cadel squinted in the bright sunlight and clicked his tongue in disbelief as he was dragged out.
“Wasn’t this supposed to happen when you decided to tell him about the soul? You didn’t expect him to choose you, the person who stole the body, rather than the original soul, did you?”
“…….”
“It’s right to let him go. Come to your senses and go on with life. The worst thing you could do to him would be to have regrets.”
Kunra said it harshly as if to wake Cadel up, and the tears that had seemed to have dried up flowed again. Cadel burst into tears, then sat down and sobbed sadly.
“Who doesn’t know that……? I know better than anyone that I’m a horrible person to Van. I know it’s not me he likes, it’s the Cadel Lytos in me. It’s no wonder he’s abandoning me.”
“If you know that―”
“I’m sad, I’m choking, but I’m not even sure if this sadness is Cadel Lytos’ emotion or mine, and I find it most…… repulsive that I can’t deny it. I’m…… I’m a disgusting person.”
Cadel pounded his chest in frustration, then looked up at Kunra with a distorted gaze.
“If you are like a god here, can you understand the system? Why was I sent here? Why…… Why do I have to take over other people’s bodies? What did I do wrong? I’ve been a good person. I haven’t done anything to deserve it. Why do I have to live like this? Huh? Kunra, can you tell me?”
In the end, the burden of his fate was too much. He didn’t know it when he was loved, because he was so motivated to get through it all. But he didn’t deserve to be loved, and when the one he loved finally realized it. Only then did he realize the existence of this terrible curse.
“I never wanted…… a life like this…….”
He rubbed his tear-stained cheeks and trembled helplessly like a child. As if he hadn’t cried enough, tears continued to pool in the corners of his reddened eyes.
Kunra stared at Cadel, then slowly lowered himself to be eye level with him. He pulled Cadel’s hand, already soaking wet and pointlessly wiping away tears, and wrapped it tightly around his own.
“If I were the god of your world, I would not have done this. Even if I were the only god of this world, I would have prevented the system from intervening.”
“…….”
“But it’s already begun. It has begun, and you are Cadel Lytos, and no one can deny it. Not even you. Even when you go back after everything, when it’s all over, you are the one who was ‘Cadel Lytos’. You own that body now.”
There was no sign of criticism or disappointment in the eyes directed at Cadel. Kunra simply caressed the human being who had fallen into an unfamiliar world and had to carry many burdens, as he pleased.
“If you feel guilty for the soul in you, the solution is simple: accept its feelings. Stop discerning which ones are yours and live as if they are all yours. Even if at the end of the day you lose…… a lot of feelings with that soul. Allow it to feel with you.”
Cadel, who was looking at Kunra with blurred vision, pursed his distorted lips and spoke in a trembling voice.
“Is that okay……?”
“I’ll allow it.”
“I…….”
“So grieve to your heart’s content, the grief, the tears, it’s all yours.”
Kunra had no way of knowing the true nature of the soul that had taken over Cadel Lytos’ body. But what stood before him now was a human being crying humbly. A human who had been swept up in a whirlwind of fate that was quite enormous and shaking helplessly.
It wasn’t that he had any particular affection for humans, but he didn’t want to pretend he didn’t see them wandering off into another world. Cadel might be the one most closely related to the peace he hoped for. So, he hoped that there would be peace in Cadel’s heart as well.
To hope that Cadel could somehow overcome this fate might be proof that he was no different from the system, but for now, Kunra could only hold his shaking head and pat his hunched back.
“I miss Van…….”
It was a sadness that didn’t match the clear sky.
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