Chapter 175 Death God (2)
“If you think I’m dead, please use your power then.”
He asked Dracar for a favor, but he wasn’t sure. There were cases where he missed the timing and failed or when he suddenly changed his mind. If all possibilities were combined, there might be a case where he returned without gaining anything. It was just one of the possibilities.
However, that was why this death was worth it.
—…You can’t give up!
He was leaving his success or failure to fate. Since he didn’t know the results, everything he saw in the process of running toward death touched him anew. He became a candle with a wick that was about to finish, shaking around in finding meaning in the life it burned.
Past, present, future. All were vain at the moment when all became one. Then he realized, why do candles emit the most glorious light only after reaching the end? As soon as he realized-
「Vintage Pocket Watch (Rank S+) returns the owner’s time to 5 minutes ago.」
The second hand that had stopped moved backward. At the same time, death disappeared.
—S-stay still.
The sorrow was forgotten. The heart he had ripped out found its original position, beginning to beat harder than ever as if to prove that he was alive. Yoon-seok focused solely on breathing as time rewound, feeling alive through the cold air biting his lungs. All until time had finished restoring itself.
“Rosaline.”
Yoon-seok first went to Dracar and initialized the cooldown of the pocket watch. He asked how many times it was, but he didn’t stop him, unlike before. No, he even cheered for him. What changed?
He would soon know.
“I have something to check. Come out.”
Yoon-seok shouted. However, no answer was heard. Was it that she couldn’t be called with nice words?
“Queen, crazy bitch.”
The moment he insulted her instead-
—Kyahaha, kyahahahahahahaha!
The world began to shake with the queen’s laughter.
—Recklessness is always paired with death…!
Her creepy voice froze the expedition members, and the darkness writhed.
Whoooooosh-!
Yoon-seok smiled gently. Reversing time over ten thousand times, finally, he saw it. The thing that was hiding in the swaying darkness.
When the queen killed him the first time, Yoon-seok met another queen in the stopped time. He didn’t know how she intervened, but she was real, not a recreated being of the Tower. Yoon-seok asked what she wanted, and she replied like this.
—That you wake up. That’s the only thing.
She hoped he would wake up soon. After hearing that she was a candidate designated by the Tower, he thought she was trying to appease herself, but…
—Make good use of the dwarf I sent you. Although it is a fake, you will return alive only with his help.
It was funny. This could’ve ended if she had just killed him. If it weren’t for her advice, he wouldn’t have come this far and would have faced death for the second time. This time, Yoon-seok was sure.
—Don’t forget, Rick Gerssey.
The reason why he was called Rick Gerssey. He couldn’t even guess why the Tower was her enemy, but what she wanted was not appeasement. She wanted him to survive this mission and continue to ascend the Tower. Of course, he didn’t know her hidden purpose. But, Yoon-seok decided to ask later.
It wouldn’t be too late to get the answer once he survived.
「You died.」
「You died.」
「You died.」
Following the queen’s advice, he received Dracar’s help and a clue from Cheon-ma that there was a way to kill the queen in the system. That was how he reached {Death God}, seeing and dealing with death. Not knowing exactly what ability it was, he could only see it after dying ten thousand times-
Whoooooooosh-!
The deeper darkness hidden in the swaying death rushed toward him. Yoon-seok instinctively felt it; this was exactly what was killing Yoon-seok all his time.
Suddenly, a smile lit up his lips. As long as he could see it, there was nothing to fear now.
Slash-!
The moment Yoon-seok took out his sword and cut the darkness, it scattered.
Whooosh-!
Once, twice, three times, four times… the more he cut through the darkness, the more shivers flowed through him. How long had he waited for this moment in doubt and despair? How long did he have to endure alone to see what came next?
“Cheon-ma!”
He didn’t have to fight alone anymore. Immediately, Cheon-ma intervened. She came to Yoon-seok’s side and slashed the darkness down.
—…Who are you? I’m sure I killed all the candidates?
The queen screamed, flustered. The madness in her voice remained, but the ease had disappeared. This was a good sign. It meant that the queen, who trampled upon him like an ant, felt threatened now.
—I’ll kill all of you!
Darkness fluttered passionately, and Yoon-seok saw it. Something swirled in it and soon began to flood around them. It was the thing that exterminated the expedition over and over again.
‘What should I do?’
Yoon-seok contemplated. Just as Cheon-ma couldn’t save Yoon-seok, even if it were possible to stay alive, it was too much to protect others. Of course, it didn’t matter if the expedition members died. They wouldn’t help even if they were here. Furthermore, all of them would be revived if they succeeded in killing the queen.
But…
‘Dracar must be saved.’
Dracar was different. He had to survive. It had nothing to do with b Predation}; it had been a long time since he abandoned that greed.
‘There’s no way it would end like this.’
Dracar would help in the fight against the queen, so he had to find a way to save him. Even if he had to repeat that death again and again…
‘Wait a minute…’
As soon as Dracar died, Yoon-seok, busy choosing whether to commit suicide, flinched. Come to think of it, the effect of b Death God} wasn’t to see the unseen like Cheonma. All he saw was death. Nevertheless, Yoon-seok was able to see and feel it hidden in the dark. In other words, it meant that the queen’s ability was related to death.
If that hypothesis was correct, not only would he be able to see it but also intervene to some extent.
‘See death, deal with death.’
Then how could he deal with death? A few things came to mind, but the first thing Yoon-seok tried among them was to spit it out in words.
“Stop.”
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An order with a clear intention, like when he first moved the Natural Energy. Let’s try that.
Swaaaaaaaaaaaaa-.
The darkness stopped moving all at once. It didn’t feel like something was holding it back or being blocked by something. Instead, he felt like he’d become an omnipotent god.
—H-how?
b Death God} didn’t have a general effect like Cheon-ma’s ability, but, at least for the queen, it was the perfect counter ability.
—Move! I said, move!
When the queen shouted, the darkness began to rise again.
“Stop.”
Yoon-seok didn’t back down. The darkness, which was struggling to release itself from its bondage, calmed down. Of course, it didn’t stop there.
“Disappear.”
Like a gust of wind driving away from the fog, the surrounding darkness disappeared. As their surroundings suddenly brightened up, the expedition members who didn’t know what had just happened were flustered but still on guard. Regardless, Yoon-seok looked to only one place.
—I’m the only one who’s not bound by the Tower! But why…!
A wave of darkness was wriggling from afar. Was that the queen? Yoon-seok reached out to the darkness. For some reason, he thought he could exert this power without commanding it to disappear. Of course, he couldn’t see the queen’s actual face. However…
Swish.
Every time he embraced that will, the darkness peeled away bit by bit. The great darkness grew smaller and smaller, swaying violently as if in pain.
—Kyahahaha! Keuhahahahaha!
It was reduced to the size of a person. She was hiding in the dark like she had covered her whole body with mud, but at least the outline was revealed.
—Is that so? Is that so? Kyahahahahahaha!
That human form began to twist strangely. It looked like she was giggling while holding her belly. Yoon-seok frowned. He didn’t know what was so funny, but if he did it one more time, he would be able to see her bare face.
‘Disappear.’
The last leaf was torn off, and the woman finally revealed her appearance. It was not the appearance of the Queen he imagined. She didn’t have an appearance of great beauty, exuded or threatening aura, nor was dressed in noble clothes. She was a woman in her early twenties who appeared just below average in every part, wearing worn-out clothes.
“Keuhehehehe! Heuhahahahaha! I got it! I got it now!”
After laughing and gasping for a long time, her blue eyes regarded Yoon-seok.
“It’s all fake.”
No more madness resided in her voice that he could now hear through his ears and no longer directly in his mind.
“My feelings, my memories, my abilities. In the end, it’s all just data created by the Tower.”
He didn’t know the trigger, but the queen realized that she was recreated by the Tower.
“I can’t believe I made a candidate who might kill me someday. As expected!
Keuhahahahaha!”
Yoon-seok’s eyes shone sharply. He was sure that she had lost all determination, so now, it might be possible to obtain information from her.
“If you resent it, please tell me. What is it?”
The queen didn’t answer. She cried with tears of either laughter or sorrow in her eyes. But, Yoon-seok kept asking regardless. Why is the Tower’s creator trying to kill you, the invaders, and what is at the end of all this? He didn’t receive a reply.
“Stop it. There’s no way a puppet can tell you that. Let’s just kill her now.”
Cheon-ma, who was watching, drew her sword. Yoon-seok bit his lip and asked for the last time.
“Do you know the name Rick Gerssey?”
But then.
“…How do you know that name?”
The queen’s laughter was cut off. Then she shouted with an expression as if she had realized something.
“Ah, I see!”
Shock, joy, hatred. It was a gaze full of all kinds of emotions.
“You are him! Listen carefully! You are…”
Yoon-seok leaned in to listen. He didn’t know it, but he had a hunch that a very important story would be revealed. But then.
‘…?’
Time stopped abruptly. Of course, he was familiar with this phenomenon.
‘…I died?’
This happened for a moment before the pocket watch turned back time.
‘Damn it.’
He thought she was presenting him an important clue but was she trying to catch him off guard? He didn’t know she was hiding a weapon like this. In the next attempt, Yoon-seok decided to move more carefully.
But…
「Success.」
What appeared was not the phrase that he died. Was killing the queen, not the clear condition? Even so, it wasn’t even the 30th day yet. Yoon-seok doubted his eyes.
It wasn’t enough that the mission suddenly ended in a way that was hard to understand.
「You killed the Queen of Death who regained her power.」
The system was lying. Killed? No. He did not kill the queen. Rather, it happened the moment he leaned in to listen to her that the mission ended.
‘No way…’
Suddenly, he felt goosebumps running down the back of his spine. As far as he knew, there was only one person who could do this.
‘Does the Tower not want me to know this information?’
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Yoon-seok smiled.
‘Interesting.’
To be honest, whatever the Tower wanted, he didn’t know. But now, he changed his mind.
If it was something they wanted to hide so badly, wasn’t it human nature to want to find out about it?