Chapter 381: God of Dimension |
“God of Dimension?”
I don’t know much about the race of gods, but I’ve never heard of that.
The most powerful god I know is the Transcendental Min Do-jun.
“Who is that guy? Is he strong?”
“Yes, he’s strong. He’s the god who manages all dimensions.”
“Stronger than Gaia or Chaos?”
“Without a doubt.”
That was when Ryu Min’s mouth dropped open in astonishment.
If he’s stronger than those two, just how powerful could he be?
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Deorant manages and controls all dimensions. He didn’t want to see unnecessary dimensions multiplying.”
Every time he returns, the timelines increase.
Currently, these are the timelines Ryu Min is aware of:
Ryu Min’s timeline from the first to the hundredth time.
97 timelines created by the fulfilled wishes of 97 people from the 101st time.
And the newly created timeline from the 102nd time.
A total of 198 timelines coexisted within the framework of the universe.
However...
“The God of Dimension doesn’t want to see that?”
“Exactly. From what I’ve heard, he’s extremely obsessed with order and wants to get rid of all unnecessary dimensions.”
Ryu Min had deliberately kept the additional dimensions instead of eliminating them.
On the contrary, the god called Deorant can’t stand duplicated timelines and wants to erase them.
‘This is a bigger problem than I thought.’
The appearance of a god who wants to destroy timelines made Ryu Min feel nervous for the first time in a long time.
Of course, there were still parts of Cronos’ words that made him doubt.
“How do you know that? I mean, about Deorant.”
“I met him once. Of course, I didn’t speak directly to such a high entity; I just saw him pass by. As you know, I’ve been hiding here and there to avoid Chaos.”
“Did you run into him by chance?”
“Yes. What else would you think?”
Ryu Min didn’t respond.
Though the words sounded plausible, he couldn’t fully trust them.
‘I can’t fully trust Cronos’ words, who tried to betray me... but I’ll know when I verify it. Whether the timelines have truly collapsed or not.’
Ryu Min asked Cronos.
“Can you tell if the timelines have collapsed with the power of time?”
“Yes. Check it out. It shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Is there any chance Deorant might discover my location if I use this power?”
“Don’t worry. Deorant doesn’t know of your existence yet.”
“Why?”
“If he knew you were responsible for increasing the timelines, wouldn’t he have started by destroying the 102nd timeline?”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
Ryu Min didn’t object.
It certainly was reasonable.
“So, was it just a coincidence that the memory fragments from the collapsed timeline ended up here?”
“Yes, it was a coincidence. Perhaps not just one timeline collapsed.”
‘Not just one?’
He hadn’t thought of that.
Ryu Min immediately closed his eyes and used the power of time.
It was time to check how many timelines had collapsed.
Shortly after, Ryu Min’s eyes opened in shock.
“What happened?”
“Six of the 101 timelines collapsed. Fortunately, they don’t seem to belong to people I know...”
“Six? It looks like he really wants to destroy all the timelines.”
The situation was truly serious.
Of the 101 timelines created by the players’ wishes, six had collapsed.
As a result, the memory fragments scattered, affecting the memories of other timelines.
‘The more timelines collapse, the more chaos there will be. People will receive memories of experiences from players and angels that they never lived.’
The most serious issue of all was Deorant’s intention to exterminate humanity.
He couldn’t just stand by.
He had to act before Deorant caused more havoc.
Ryu Min’s eyes filled with determination.
“Tell me how to stop Deorant.”
——————-
“Ugh... My God.”
Hwang Yong-min opened his eyes while clutching his aching head.
‘That bastard? Is he gone?’
He looked around and didn’t see Ryu Min.
‘Thank goodness...’
Suddenly, a torrent of memories surged in Hwang Yong-min’s mind.
‘That bastard pulled out a scythe.’
A scythe with dark energy that he had drawn out of thin air.
Although it was a scene hard to believe even as magic, Hwang Yong-min was surprisingly calm.
Because he had knowledge of it in his mind.
‘That guy had the skills of a player, didn’t he?’
Information about players, items, and survival games surfaced in his mind.
He didn’t know how he knew it.
Hwang Yong-min just accepted it naturally.
‘Ryu Min... That bastard was Black Scythe...’
Horrific memories surfaced.
Ryu Min, revealing his identity as Black Scythe and slicing his neck.
‘It wasn’t a dream. It’s a real memory.’
Hwang Yong-min murmured just in case.
‘Status.’
The status didn’t respond.
Which meant he wasn’t a player.
‘But Ryu Min, that bastard, had skills, didn’t he?’
If everyone had become players, why was he the only one without skills?
No, why did he assume he should have them when he never had them before?
As if it was an inherent right.
And how was he alive if he had clearly died?
‘Damn it... my mind is a mess.’
Hwang Yong-min got up from the alley where Ryu Min had beaten him and started walking home.
On the way, he saw other people, and in his mind...
‘Why are there so many people in their twenties? Shouldn’t most of them be dead? Are they all players?’
Chaotic thoughts tormented him relentlessly.
‘Damn it! My head is a mess.’
Between the mixed reality and fantasy, he somehow made it home.
He planned to lie down and clear his cluttered mind.
He was tired after being beaten by Ryu Min.
However...
“Hey.”
“Hwang Yong-min.”
There were burly men waiting in front of his house.
They were none other than members of the Chinese gang.
“Br-brothers?”
“Well, well, Hwang Yong-min! Just got back?”
Jo Joong-sik approached with a relaxed motion.
For Hwang Yong-min, it was both comforting and bewildering.
“Brother Jo Joong-sik! Where have you been? Why didn’t you come to the graduation?”
“Oh, I’ll tell you while we go. For now, follow us.”
Abandoning the idea of resting at home, Hwang Yong-min followed the Chinese gang members and got into a van.
“Let’s go.”
The atmosphere in the vehicle was quite silent.
‘What’s going on? The brothers seem really down.’
The air was heavy, different from usual.
Watching the brothers closely, Hwang Yong-min convinced himself that Ryu Min had lied.
‘What’s going on? That guy. He said he eliminated them, but they’re perfectly fine.’
They couldn’t be this well if Ryu Min had attacked them.
After all, Ryu Min was a player.
“Brother. Tell me, why didn’t you come to the graduation? Weren’t we supposed to kill that bastard Ryu Min together?”
Could it be just his imagination?
The brothers flinched when he mentioned Ryu Min’s name.
“We’ll talk when we get there.”
The gangsters arrived at a deserted mountain road.
“We’re here, get out.”
What business could they have in the middle of the mountain?
“Follow us.”
They began walking up the mountain path.
They ventured deeper into the dark forest.
‘Why is the atmosphere so tense? What’s here?’
A nervous Hwang Yong-min suddenly stopped.
Jo Joong-sik, who was leading, halted and turned around.
With a visibly angry expression.
“Hey, Hwang Yong-min.”
“Yes?”
“Why didn’t you say anything?”
“About what?”
At that moment, he felt a heavy blow to his back.
“Argh!”
“Knock him down!”
“Beat the bastard!”
The gangsters started beating him as a group.
Hwang Yong-min, who didn’t understand what was happening, curled up in a turtle position and took advantage of a pause to speak.
“Why are you doing this? What’s going on?!”
“Why?”
When Jo Joong-sik raised his hand, the beating stopped.
With the charisma said to dominate Seoul’s organizations, Jo Joong-sik approached Hwang Yong-min with a terrifying look.
“Hey. Did you regain your memories?”
“...What?”
“Why didn’t you say you regained your memories?”
“Br-brother. No way...”
“You’re not the only one. I got mine back too.”
Without giving room for excuses, Jo Joong-sik punched him in the face.
“Ugh!”
“I remember how you betrayed me, you bastard.”
Jo Joong-sik began beating him mercilessly.
Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!
Hwang Yong-min, unable to resist, could only take the hits.
“How does it feel now? Do you remember better with these punches?”
“Ugh...”
“Isn’t this how you beat me in the third round?”
Bam!
“With your fists.”
Bam!
“You beat me to death, didn’t you? Huh?”
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Hwang Yong-min, almost unrecognizable, couldn’t even open his eyes.
His face was soaked in blood.
“You bastard! While I may forgive everything else, I’ll never forgive betrayal. Do you understand?”
Jo Joong-sik reached out, and one of his men handed him a shovel pulled from the van.
“Normally, I’d make you dig your own grave, but I’ll make an exception for you.”
Jo Joong-sik lifted the shovel above his head.
Even if it was in a different timeline, he couldn’t accept a subordinate who had betrayed and killed him.
“I’ll kill you right now.”
Just as the shovel was about to smash down onto Hwang Yong-min’s head...
Clang!
Ryu Min appeared out of nowhere like a gust of wind and deflected the shovel with just a single finger.
Jo Joong-sik’s eyes widened in shock.
Not only because the shovel had been deflected with a finger but also because of the speed at which Ryu Min had appeared—like a ghost.
“I’m not a ghost. So put the shovel down.”
Upon Ryu Min’s command, Jo Joong-sik not only dropped the shovel but also took five steps back.
Memories of something deeply unpleasant flooded his mind.
The man who had beaten him repeatedly in the illusion was now standing right in front of him.
“Ugh... Ugh...”
“Ugh...”
Jo Joong-sik and his men trembled as if they had PTSD.
It was a natural reaction since they had been mercilessly pummeled in the illusion.
To the Chinese gang, Ryu Min was like a living nightmare.
“Black Scythe...”
“So, you’ve also regained your memories. Or should I say, did you receive memories from another timeline?”
Ryu Min murmured, then pointed his chin at Hwang Yong-min.
“Jo Joong-sik, don’t touch Hwang Yong-min.”