Chapter 819 |
“How did this happen?”
A dazed voice murmured nearby. I was just as stunned.
The person standing in front of me was unmistakably the twenty-five-year-old Yuhyun. My little brother, who, at this point in time, had already lost his life.
And yet he was standing on his own two feet. Seeing, hearing, speaking.
How? What the hell had happened? Was this Yuhyun from right after that Gardener bastard had brought him back—made him move again?
But if that were the case…
A tiny snowflake drifted down near Yuhyun’s mouth, only to be gently pushed away by the breath leaving his lips. The snow that landed on his cheek melted and became a bead of water.
He was breathing.
He had warmth in his body.
Yuhyun, who had been staring at the white tree, opened his status window. Maybe because this was Yuhyun’s memory, I could see his skills and titles too.
[A World of One (L)
Your world is made up of a single person.
If someone else sets foot in your world, or if the world, “Han Yujin,” dies completely, this title will disappear.
The disappearance of the title is the disappearance of the world.
The disappearance of the world is your disappearance.]
World… of One…?
The fact that it was L-Rank was shocking enough, but the title description left me even more at a loss. If I died, the title would disappear, and then Yuhyun would die too?
What kind of title was that! Even with a penalty as extreme as death attached to it, it didn’t grant him a single skill or stat.
After confirming the title, Yuhyun let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, a heavy ache spread through my chest.
‘For Yuhyun… it must have been a comfort.’
Even when I was not by his side. Even when I went into dungeons and he had no way of knowing whether I was alive or dead. Because of that title, he would have been able to feel that I still existed. To reassure himself.
It was a title the current Yuhyun did not have.
Did he get it after I Awakened? Was it a title he received because he worried too much about his older brother going into dungeons?
‘…But the rank is too high for that.’
Was this another Transcendent’s doing? But Rookie seemed completely unaware of it. It did not seem like Crescent Moon or Diarma either.
‘White Bird?’
That name came to mind.
The Transcendent Yuhyun had made a contract with was Diarma. But I had been told that the one who took my brother’s corpse away was the Bird that Counts the Stars.
A Transcendent who had loved and tried to protect the tree where snow fell.
A future-seeing species.
What in the world had she seen? What path had she chosen, to make something like this happen?
My insides burned hot, as if they were on fire. My head, on the other hand, went cold.
Twenty-five-year-old Yuhyun, twenty-six-year-old Yuhyun, had come back to me.
But it was not over yet.
Yuhyun was trying to show me that.
The things I still did not know.
–Han Yujin’s flame.
Someone spoke.
Yuhyun and I lifted our heads at the same time toward the direction of the voice. Between pure-white branches, through pure-white snow, a pure-white-feathered bird folded her wings.
The Bird that Counts the Stars.
–I am a future-seeing species. A wanderer lost among countless crossroads.
“…A Transcendent.”
Yuhyun kept his guard up as he looked at White Bird. She descended onto the snow piled white beneath her. The bird’s form changed. Her body shrank, and beneath the white feathers that draped around her like a veil in place of hair, the figure of a woman appeared.
Long lashes shadowed her black eyes, which had no whites, and a star-like shimmer flowed across her smooth forehead and cheeks.
“The Transcendent I made a contract with should have been the master of the Venom and Curse Dragonkin.”
–He passed you to me along with the contract.
White Bird did not move her lips. She conveyed her intentions directly.
–Diarma has no ability to make use of a corpse that has died and escaped its own world. An Origin-Rooted One may be powerful, but only while he remains within the world.
Outside the world was the realm of Transcendents. Even an S-Rank or SS-Rank would be nothing more than a low-rank Hunter from our world there.
Not that Diarma would have had the ability to send Yuhyun back to our world, either. And even if he could, considering the amount of power it would cost, it would not have been worth it to him.
–He only takes dragonkin as his subordinates, so to him you were all the more useless. Nothing but a corpse. Had he known about Han Yujin, he would have kept you as a hostage. But Diarma cannot see the future.
A chill ran over me at White Bird’s words.
If White Bird had not taken Yuhyun away, if Yuhyun had remained in Diarma’s hands…
Then Diarma would absolutely have used Yuhyun as a hostage to threaten me.
I would have—especially the me back then would have had no choice but to obey him.
But Diarma had seen me as an ordinary F-Rank who posed no threat, and had handed Yuhyun over to White Bird.
“What do you mean, if he had known about my brother?”
Yuhyun’s gaze went cold. At the same time, his attitude became a little more polite.
“What happens to my brother? To Han Yujin?”
The fact that he only asked about me made me want to shout, Yuhyun, you idiot!
Hey. You died. You literally just died. Why aren’t you asking what kind of situation you’re in? Whether you were actually brought back to life back then, or whether it only looks that way?
I was burning up inside, but Yuhyun’s gaze was fixed straight ahead, looking at only one thing.
“Is my brother safe?”
–Han Yujin turned back time.
“…Time?”
–To five years ago, before Han Yujin Awakened. Only that world changed. That is why, even though you are here, the twenty-year-old Han Yuhyun also exists.
“Why!”
Yuhyun shouted. My brother’s fist clenched tight.
“If I’m there, then in the end, again…”
The same thing will happen.
Yuhyun gritted his teeth.
No, Yuhyun. It changed. So much changed. Because you protected me.
‘That’s right, hyung.’
The lingering consciousness of the twenty-six-year-old Yuhyun answered with a smile.
‘I know that now.’
‘That’s why I wanted to show you.’
‘While my magic power, while my existence, is still here. I wanted to give it to you myself.’
…
Because now, he trusted me.
I remembered the way Yuhyun had hesitated, as if he wanted to tell me something. The memory I was seeing now was something that could become a burden on me. That must have been why he had held back.
I braced myself and focused on the scene Yuhyun was showing me.
–The future is an endless series of crossroads. The movement of a single grain of sand can create dozens, hundreds of new paths. I, too, cannot take every future into my sight. The future is infinite, and it is not fixed.
White Bird continued.
–Thus I have remained silent. As the pinnacle of future-seeing species, I look upon countless futures, but I bear the karma that if a prophecy I speak aloud proves false, my standing as a Transcendent is worn away. Even the most likely future is not certain to happen, and even a future that borders on impossible is not unreachable.
“What is the most likely future for my brother? Will the twenty-year-old Han Yuhyun once again… my brother…”
Yuhyun stopped mid-sentence and drew in a short breath.
“…Please tell me what you want from me.”
He asked because she must have brought him here and explained future-seeing species because there was something she wanted.
–I cannot easily speak of the future. However, by inheriting Diarma’s contract, you have been temporarily bound to me. I will show you the crossroads I have seen directly.
Flap.
Her hair, made of feathers, spread wide like a bird’s wings. Snow scattered and swirled as though dancing.
–The paths that Han Yujin and his flame could have taken.
The scenery around us blurred, as if someone had spilled every color of paint at once.
Tweet, tweet.
Birdsong rang out.
We were in a forest I did not recognize. There I sat, wearing a large backpack. My expression was uneasy, and I kept looking around every so often, on guard.
‘…Early twenties?’
I looked younger than I did now. There was still a youthful softness to my face. I had to be at least a couple years younger.
I was anxious, but surprisingly, there was no shadow on my face.
Then that version of me shot to his feet.
“Yuhyun!”
Calling his name in a low voice, I started moving. From that direction, Yuhyun appeared, carrying not only a backpack but also bags filling both hands. He, too, looked noticeably younger.
“You okay? No one caught you?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
I checked my little brother over and let out a short sigh.
“If you were alone, you could’ve crossed over to Japan or China easily.”
“I’m not going anywhere without you.”
–A path where Han Yuhyun never left Han Yujin.
White Bird’s voice came.
–He Awakened, but he neither became a Hunter nor created a guild. He chose to hide instead…
It was a possibility that might have existed.
Because my brother was an S-Rank Hunter, I was threatened. Yuhyun had created Haeyeon in order to protect me, but there had been another way.
A path where he threw everything away and ran.
A tent appeared in the mountains. Thankfully, the weather was not cold. My brother and I sat side by side. We had no home, not even proper food, but our faces were bright. The mood was almost as if we had simply gone camping together.
“Framing you when you’re not even a criminal. Seriously, even if you’re an S-Rank Awakener, you’re still a minor. Why are they so desperate to find you?”
I grumbled. It looked like there was a warrant out for Yuhyun. If they announced that an S-Rank Awakener was wanted, people would panic, and foreign countries would try to smuggle him out, so they must have slapped some plausible charge on him instead.
From the state’s point of view, they could not just let an upper-rank, not merely mid-rank but S-Rank, go missing.
“I don’t care even if I have to hide somewhere without people for the rest of my life, but are you really okay with that, hyung?”
“I’ve got you, don’t I? I’m okay. You’re the one I’m worried about. Seriously, what kind of world tells a kid to risk his life in dungeons just because he Awakened? The world’s gone insane. You’re at the age where you should be studying and going to college!”
Someday, maybe the world would go back to normal.
So for now, let’s hide somewhere safe and find another way.
I smiled as I said that.
I looked at the brothers sitting pressed close together.
A Han Yujin who had never been separated from his little brother.
Running away blindly could hardly be called a good solution.
Even so, I envied him.
Maybe I should have asked Yuhyun to run away with me too.
If I had—
“Hyung!”
Yuhyun shouted.
A monster had collapsed in front of him. It was not low-rank. At minimum, it was mid-rank or higher.
“Answer me, hyung!”
I saw a torn tent. Belongings scattered everywhere. A backpack lying on the ground.
Beside it, a piece of someone’s arm had fallen.
–One of the methods the Unfilial Children use to dispose of caregivers. An intentional dungeon break.
White Bird told me.
–Most caregivers have low ranks. They create a dungeon near the caregiver when the caregiver is alone, then immediately force it into saturation…
Because Yuhyun, who had Awakened as an S-Rank, had hidden instead of blocking dungeons.
The Unfilial Children had killed his caregiver.
They must have hoped that the born S-Rank, having lost his caregiver to monsters, would seek revenge.
But Yuhyun…
“…Hyung.”
Black flames surged.
They burned the monster and spread across the entire mountain. My corpse also disappeared into the fire.
Yuhyun’s form melted into the flames that swallowed me.
Without leaving a single trace.
–If Han Yuhyun does not enter dungeons as a Hunter, Han Yujin is murdered by the Unfilial Children, one way or another. In every path I saw.
The scene changed again.
News was playing on a large TV.
[We have received reports that after Han Yujin, the older brother of Hunter Han Yuhyun, was murdered, Hunter Han Yuhyun belatedly emerged from a dungeon and followed his brother in death.]
The report went on to talk about the underage S-Rank whose only family was his older brother, the power struggles in the Hunter world, and pressure from overseas Hunters.
–Even if he becomes a Hunter while keeping Han Yujin by his side, Han Yujin’s chances of death are high. However, in that case, there are also many paths where he survives.
So Yuhyun had to become a Hunter no matter what in order for me to have a path to survival?
A hollow laugh slipped out of me.
“Aaaagh!”
“Run!”
Screams mixed with the roars of monsters.
We were inside a dungeon. I was fleeing when a monster sank its teeth into me. My body was flung aside, twitched a few times, and then stopped moving.
–There were countless crossroads even on the path you chose and walked. Paths where Han Yujin died inside a dungeon, and you followed him in death…
Right.
In truth, things could have gone wrong for me at any moment too.
That was why Yuhyun had hated me doing Hunter work so much.
–However, the likelihood of death was comparatively low. Han Yujin developed as a Hunter rather quickly, considering his rank and aptitude.
So throwing myself into danger had actually been safer?
Another possibility appeared before my eyes.
“I’m sick of this.”
My little brother’s voice was icy.
Leaning on crutches, I had my head hanging low.
“It’s the only thing you can do for me. And you’re saying you won’t go?”
“…I…”
“He says he’ll pay far more than that pathetic caregiver title is worth.”
“I, Yuhyun, I—!”
My voice rose sharply for a moment. The anger in my eyes crumbled soon after.
Yuhyun looked straight at me. I quickly avoided his gaze.
“If the Sesung Guild Leader takes you and leaves the country, Haeyeon becomes the number one guild in Korea. He also agreed to transfer some major dungeon rights in exchange for you.”
…
That could not possibly be true.
All of that had to be something he was saying to convince me.
Yuhyun, who had decided to send me to Seong Hyunjae.
This option had definitely existed too.
“If you think of me as your brother, then as my older brother, as the caregiver who raised me, why don’t you try being properly useful for once? Or are you going to keep—”
“Fine! Fine, I’ll go…”
Almost sobbing, I said I would go.
Then I turned and left. The door closed, and Yuhyun’s eyes twisted with anguish as he stared at the spot where I had been standing.
“It feels rather like I’m kidnapping you.”
Seong Hyunjae said that to me as I sat blankly in the airport lounge. I had almost no luggage. Without so much as glancing at Seong Hyunjae, I hugged my bag to my chest.
–Even if Han Yujin is sent away somewhere safe, at the longest, within three years, and at the fastest, within a couple of months, one of the two dies and the other follows. And even if, by some chance, both survive safely together…
Jingle, jingle.
The sound of bells rang out.
People looked up at the sky. Moonlight poured down over countries where it was broad daylight, and countries where it was the middle of the night.
Both I and Yuhyun looked up at that moonlight.
The me who was alone in an old house as a Hunter.
The me who had not Awakened and was protected by Yuhyun, living with him in his house.
High-rank Hunters all over the world felt an ominous chill.
The dungeons vanished all at once.
Yuhyun ran to me.
“Hyung!”
And then.
Cra—
ack.
The world shattered.
The moonlight of Crescent Moon, who had descended to retrieve the filled Seong Hyunjae, broke the world apart. Everything collapsed, and Yuhyun and I were swept up in it too.
–Destruction cannot be avoided.
White Bird spoke in the silence.
–The small moon holding the legacy of the eclipse would have failed, and that legacy would have made him a full moon in the end.
Did that mean Chief Song’s Plunder, his attempt to restrain himself, would have failed… and instead become a new experience that filled Seong Hyunjae?
–Crescent Moon, who no longer needed to wait, would have broken your world and taken the full moon into her hands.
Even if Yuhyun and I somehow survived, the ending was still apocalypse.
White Bird beat her wings. The time before the regression was pushed away.
Then—
“Hyung. Dungeon brokers—”
“I’m sorry.”
It was me after turning back time.
I apologized to Yuhyun and hugged him. We ate dinner together, and I stayed at Yuhyun’s house.
–Han Yujin began again.
The images of Yuhyun and me vanished, and a snowfield appeared.
Twenty-five-year-old Yuhyun looked at White Bird.
“Was what I just saw… my brother as he is now?”
–Yes. Han Yujin’s flame.
White Bird spoke.
–Do you wish for Han Yujin to survive, to go on living, no matter what happens?
“I want my brother to live.”
Yuhyun answered without the slightest hesitation.
–Even if the path he walks is painful and cruel. Even if you are not there at its end.
“I don’t care what happens to me. But my brother…”
For an instant, Yuhyun’s eyes strained with pain.
“…He’s suffered enough. Even so, I want to protect my world.”
–I will show you the crossroads that come next.
Snow and feathers whirled.
The volleyball—Rookie—bounced.
[Honey’s little brother is alive! Outside this world!]
I froze. So did the future illusion of me.
It was only showing a possibility.
Even so, my heart lurched violently.
“Wh-what are you talking about!”
[Honey’s little brother from before the regression was split off as a separate existence. He did die and leave the world, but it isn’t hard to bring back a freshly dead S-Rank. He can’t return to Honey’s world, though.]
Rookie gave a detailed explanation.
The face of the me who listened filled with confusion, then joy, then hardened with fierce resolve.
“I’ll get Yuhyun back.”
No matter what it took.
Somehow.
Once I learned that it was not a dead Yuhyun, but a living Yuhyun, who was being held outside the world—
–If you are alive, Han Yujin will become even more desperate. He will lose even the room to care for himself or for those around him.
He would.
He absolutely would.
Not only myself and other people, but even the current Yuhyun—I would probably shove everyone aside and struggle to get back the brother from before the regression.
The twenty-year-old Yuhyun…
I would not have been able to hold him in my arms with a pure heart.
“Hyung! What the hell is wrong with you!”
The twenty-year-old Yuhyun shouted.
“Look at me! Really look at me!”
I avoided my little brother’s eyes.
If I had believed the twenty-five-year-old Yuhyun was dead, then still, I would have taken care of the living person first.
But if both of them were alive…
I would have had no choice but to think more about the brother who died for me, the brother trapped alone.
My heart would have been frantic, terrified that something might go wrong.
–And in the end.
I was lying on a hospital bed, haggard and wasted away.
Han Yujin, who had pushed himself and pushed himself until he could no longer endure.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt