Chapter 396: The Real Ryu Min |
‘Where should I go?’
After considering for a moment, Ryu Min teleported using the power of time.
He went straight to Seo Arin’s timeline.
‘This is where I need to search carefully.’
He’s unsure whether there are any hosts or seeds here.
Maybe they haven’t appeared yet.
‘Or maybe it’s already on the brink of collapse.’
However, the view of Seoul from the skyscraper looked no different from usual.
‘So, this is Seo Arin’s timeline?’
It’s not surprising since this timeline was created after Seo Arin fulfilled her wish.
‘This is the timeline affected by Seo Arin’s wish. I might even run into myself here.’
This is the timeline from the end of the survival game.
Although he doesn’t have his parents, there’s him, his brother, Min Juri, Ma Gyeong-rok, An Sang-cheol, Christine, and the other 97 players who survived the final round.
Though they no longer retain their player powers.
‘This is where the players I saved are living. I might meet some familiar faces.’
He doesn’t know what Seo Arin and the others are doing, but the situation is dangerous.
Because Deorant is working to collapse this timeline.
‘I don’t know what Seo Arin’s wish was, but it seems like not much has changed.’
Looking at the bustling city of Seoul, Ryu Min checked the date on the screen.
‘It’s been about two years since the survival game ended?’
Time flows differently in each timeline.
His brother’s timeline just ended recently, but two years have passed here.
‘It’s time to investigate. First, I need to understand the situation here.’
Ryu Min went to an internet café and searched for news online.
If hosts and seeds are already causing havoc, it should be reported in major headlines.
Just as he expected.
‘There it is.’
He found an article that caught his attention.
[Breaking News: Mass Deaths at a Wedding Due to a Monster Attack!]
When he clicked on it, there was only a photo and basic information, showing the urgency of the situation.
(A blurred photo of a wedding interior taken in haste)
At noon on the 12th, a wedding at a hotel in Seoul is being devastated by a monster attack. (Photo by Min Jung)
‘Wait, Seo Arin’s wedding?’
The photo seemed to have been taken urgently, with each second being critical.
This was clearly the work of a host.
‘I wonder who Seo Arin is marrying, but I’ll find out when I get there.’
Using the Rune of Light Speed, the world around him slowed down.
After checking all the hotels in Seoul, he finally found it.
The scene of a wedding filled with screams and death.
‘It’s already too late.’
From what he saw, many bodies lay on the ground.
If he had arrived a little earlier, he could have saved those people.
‘This wedding turned into a massacre.’
The guests were unfortunate, but the feelings of the bride and groom must be even worse.
On what should have been the happiest day of their lives, a mass killing took place.
Ryu Min, sadly gazing at the lifeless bodies of the guests, moved again in the frozen time.
‘There.’
He saw a man raising a black sword, threatening someone.
‘That must be the host. I need to deal with him quickly and get out of here...’
But the person being threatened looked familiar.
Not just familiar—identical to his own reflection in a mirror.
‘Is that... me?’
It was him, unconscious on the ground, dressed in a suit.
And Seo Arin, dressed in white, was protecting him.
As soon as he saw the scene, Ryu Min understood.
‘Is Seo Arin marrying me?’
Though it was him in this timeline, it was still a shock.
He had never imagined marrying Seo Arin.
‘I don’t think I would have proposed first... Could this be Seo Arin’s wish?’
He was surprised, but it didn’t matter. He had his life, and the Ryu Min of this timeline had his.
‘...I’ll just eliminate the host and leave.’
Deactivating the Rune of Light Speed, time resumed its normal flow.
He pulled out his black scythe and sliced off the host’s arm, who looked at him in shock.
“Kieek!”
“Your opponent is me.”
“Interfere...”
Without listening further, he extended his hand.
Zzzap!
The host was struck by a high-voltage current, leaving his body charred.
After the battle.
His eyes met Seo Arin’s, who stared at him in surprise.
“Ah...”
Seo Arin’s eyes were filled with astonishment.
‘The dress suits her.’
He wanted to tell her that, but he disappeared without a word, as if he had never been there.
——————
“Ryu...Min...?”
Seo Arin murmured, looking down.
She saw a man lying on her lap.
It was Ryu Min.
Her fiancé, with whom she had promised to marry.
‘Then, who was that person?’
Seo Arin lifted her head.
Her eyes met the man who had charred Song Min-hyuk.
“Ah...”
It couldn’t just be a resemblance.
He looked exactly like the man she loved.
In the blink of an eye.
“Huh?”
He was gone.
She thought it was a hallucination, but the evidence was right before her eyes.
The bodies of many guests and the monster’s corpse.
And Ryu Min, unconscious.
She wanted to believe it was a dream, but it was all real.
It had truly happened and would be a catastrophe that marked her life forever.
“I need to call an ambulance...!”
Seo Arin’s fingers quickly dialed 119.
———————-
“We are at the wedding venue of actress Seo Arin, where the incident occurred a few days ago. The scene is chaotic, with tables and chairs scattered everywhere.”
The media continuously reported on the wedding incident.
The first large-scale murder at a celebrity wedding.
126 people died, mostly from the entertainment industry, who lost their lives in an instant.
It deeply saddened Seo Arin.
‘At least my parents and Ryu Won weren’t hurt...’
A deep sigh escaped Seo Arin’s lips.
The bigger issue was that her fiancé, Ryu Min, was in a vegetative state.
“Ryu Min... How am I supposed to live now? Huhu...”
Clutching the lifeless hand of Ryu Min in his hospital bed, Seo Arin shed endless tears.
“Just when I thought we were finally going to be happy... how could this happen?”
A monster appearing at her wedding was something inexplicable.
Where did that creature come from?
Seo Arin wasn’t the only one who couldn’t understand the situation.
Even though the CCTV footage captured everything, people couldn’t believe it.
The moment a human being swelled up and spewed toxic substances seemed straight out of a movie.
‘It’s a creature created by environmental pollution. It’s an alien from space. Song Min-hyuk was actually a player with hidden powers,’ the theories were endless. But...
More than that, Seo Arin was intrigued by the man who appeared with a scythe.
‘If it weren’t for him, Ryu Min and I would be dead.’
What bothered her the most was that the man’s face was identical to Ryu Min’s.
Fortunately, the CCTV didn’t capture his face, but people were certain.
“Oh, it’s Black Scythe. Seeing the scythe, it’s definitely Black Scythe. Didn’t Black Scythe disappear two years ago? He didn’t disappear; all players lost their powers and became normal people. If he became a normal person, how did he get the scythe? And how did he kill the monster? I don’t know. I guess he regained his powers.”
Everyone thought Black Scythe had regained his powers and returned.
But Seo Arin knew that was impossible.
‘Black Scythe, Ryu Min, is here...’
Then, who was the man she saw?
Someone impersonating Black Scythe?
Or perhaps another Ryu Min?
The questions were endless, but for now, her main concern was her husband.
“Ryu Min... I’ll come back tomorrow. Stay strong.”
With a sorrowful voice, Seo Arin left the hospital room.
Seeing her beloved in that state was more painful than she had imagined.
That he had become a vegetable with little chance of survival...
Plop-plop-
Tears welled up in Seo Arin’s eyes as she paused.
‘I thought I had no more tears left...’
Like a broken faucet, the tears flowed without stopping.
‘Ryu Min, please stay strong... You have to survive. We promised to be happy together...’
Still clinging to hope, she got into An Sang-cheol’s car.
“Where to?”
“Home, please...”
The manager, An Sang-cheol, stepped on the gas.
Seo Arin’s sorrowful face reflected in the car window.
——————
Screech-
“We’ve arrived.”
Seo Arin didn’t return to Galleria Forest.
It was a modern three-story country house.
The house they had bought to start their new life with Ryu Min.
Now it was useless.
“Given the circumstances, I’ve canceled all engagements for the next week. Seo Arin, please rest at home and regain your composure.”
“Thank you, manager.”
“I’ll come by tomorrow morning.”
“Yes. Take care.”
After getting out of the car and bidding farewell to An Sang-cheol, Seo Arin entered the house.
Although she didn’t ask why he’d come by in the morning, she knew the reason.
‘He must be worried that I might stop eating or try something drastic.’
Her beloved had been attacked by a monster on their wedding day and was now in a vegetative state.
Her happiness had been shattered in an instant, and her mind was far from at peace.
They feared she might stop eating or attempt suicide.
‘No. I won’t abandon Ryu Min.’
She would watch over Ryu Min until he woke up.
Even if he never woke up, she would care for him for the rest of her life.
She still hadn’t fulfilled her wish to be happy with him.
Click-
As she entered the house, Seo Arin went straight to her room.
Loneliness filled the air.
A sense of isolation washed over her.
“Ugh...”
Her emotions overwhelmed her once more.
At that moment—
Creak—
The sound startled her, and she turned her head.
‘What was that noise?’
The sound of a door opening?
Goosebumps ran down her arms at the thought that someone else might be in the house.
“Who... who’s there?”
Deliberately, she stepped out of her room and called out loudly.
There was no response, and Seo Arin headed towards the kitchen.
Her fear of the unknown urged her to arm herself.
Swish—
Grabbing a knife, she noticed a shadow.
She quickly turned and swung the knife, but—
Clang!
The stranger easily caught her attack.
“I—this is...”
As she tried to scream, Seo Arin’s eyes widened in disbelief.
The man standing before her wasn’t supposed to be there.
“Ryu... Ryu Min?”
“It’s good to see you, Seo Arin.”
The man, whom she had mistaken for an intruder, was Ryu Min, who calmly took the knife from her hand and placed it back where it belonged.
“Ryu Min, how are you...?”
“Don’t be confused. I’m not the Ryu Min of this world. The Ryu Min of this world is still in a vegetative state in the hospital.”
“What...?”
The Ryu Min from the 102nd world summoned a scythe to prove his point.
Swish!
A massive scythe materialized in his hand from thin air.
It was a player’s skill that the ordinary Ryu Min of this world could never perform.
“I come from another world. This is the world where your wish came true, right?”
“You know about my wish?”
“Yes. I saw you touch the Wish Stone at the very last moment.”
Seo Arin’s eyes widened even further.
“That means...”
“Exactly.”
The Ryu Min standing before her dismissed the scythe.
“I’m the real Ryu Min, the one who shared life and death with you.”
***
Thanks to the user "Johnston,Greg" for the chapters provided! 