Episode 272
I feel joy and delight.
The end of a long, long war.
Some people cheered in victory.
Some were relieved to have survived.
Some shed tears at the fact that they had protected someone precious to them.
Emotions fluctuate across the continent.
Choi Hyun-seok felt as if he could touch everything vividly.
‘Is this reality?’
Contrary to the vivid feelings I felt, I felt like this situation was unrealistic.
It feels like I’m dreaming and not real.
That’s why Choi Hyun-seok was standing with a calm expression.
“It’s warm.”
When I opened my palm, white crystals settled down.
It clearly resembled snow, but it was an infinitely warm decision.
It was too beautiful and warm to be the force that brought death to the continent.
‘Warm eyes…’
Perhaps this contradictory decision is what represents today’s reality.
Such a silly thought occurred to me.
“Rachel. Are you there?”
“Here it is!”
Rachel appeared at Choi Hyun-seok’s call.
She sat with her butt on Choi Hyun-seok’s shoulder.
He lifts his chin high and looks up at the sparkling crystals filling the sky.
“I have a question.”
“yes.”
“Did I succeed?” “Of course! You saved the world!”
Rachel flew into the sky and stretched out her hand toward the falling crystals.
The sight was just like that of an innocent child who was excited to see snow.
“Yup! Yup!”
Although she was so weak that she couldn’t catch anything, she kept reaching out.
After flying around like that for a while, he sighed and returned to Choi Hyun-seok’s arms.
“Hero.”
“why.”
“Can’t you continue to be a warrior?” “What nonsense are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Ask the warrior to remain a warrior.
When I looked at her, wondering if she was joking, Rachel’s expression was extremely serious.
For some reason, it seems like there is a dark shadow on his face.
After hesitating for a moment, she opened her mouth.
“A warrior must go on adventures! You’re not planning on retiring and living in the countryside after defeating the Demon King, are you!?”
Choi Hyun-seok laughed bitterly.
“Well, I guess I’m no longer worthy of being a warrior.”
There’s too much blood on my hands.
No matter how many lives are saved.
Is it possible to wash away this thick, foul-smelling blood?
“What do you mean, I’m not worthy of being a warrior!?”
Rachel jumped to her feet.
She put her hands on her waist and shouted.
“Hero! Follow me! There are no bad heroes in the world!”
“…”
“I told you to follow along?”
“it’s okay.”
“Eight!”
Suddenly Rachel gave up her power.
Choi Hyun-seok, who suddenly had his fist stuck in his eye, sweared and stepped back.
“What the hell! What are you doing!?” “Follow me! There are no bad warriors in the world!”
“I told you, it’s done.”
“Ahhhhh! Follow me!”
Looking at the way he had his cheeks filled with air, it seemed like he was going to whine until I followed suit.
Choi Hyun-seok had no choice but to speak quietly.
“… There are no bad heroes in the world.” “Bigger! More confident!” “Whew… There are no bad heroes in the world!”
“It was good!”
Rachel said with a bright smile.
“Follow this too!”
“What now?”
“It is natural for a cow to be sacrificed for the greater good!” “Hey! And you are still a fairy after doing that!”
I slapped the dedicated fairy who was spouting lines that the final villain would say.
“Ahh! Don’t hit me, think rationally! What more do you want than to save the world from destruction!? You saved more people than you killed!” “How stupid! This isn’t a simple addition and subtraction!”
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In a pure white world, the warrior and the dedicated fairy grabbed each other by the collar.
While fighting over who was right and who was wrong, Choi Hyun-seok suddenly felt empty and collapsed.
“Yeah. What does that mean?”
Originally, Choi Hyun-seok didn’t really attach any significance to things that had passed.
The past is the past.
I have lived my life thinking that what is important is the present and the future.
The current incident was too big of a deal to simply be dismissed as something of the past.
Of course, what do you think?
He killed people to save people.
As a result, more people were saved.
However, I was tormented by the fact that I could not save more people.
Even if I go back, my decisions and actions from back then wouldn’t be much different.
“Okay. Let’s assume Rachel is right this time.” “I’m not saying she is right, I’m saying she is right.” “Okay, okay. Let’s assume that’s true.” “No, warrior! I’m not saying she is right, I’m saying… .”
Choi Hyun-seok collapsed on the floor.
Rachel kept chattering beside me, but I ignored it because it was familiar.
That’s when a system message appeared.
[Hero’s Goal Achieved!]
[Transfer consciousness for compensation!]
“uh?”
Without any time to react.
Choi Hyun-seok lost consciousness.
***
“Here is…”
Choi Hyun-seok looked around.
It’s a familiar space.
Clear blue sky and dazzling sun.
The pure white clouds spread across the floor were softer than any bed.
“It’s been a while.”
A snicker escaped my lips without me knowing it.
It was a very short moment, but perhaps it was because it was so intense.
This space was still vivid in my memory.
The place he arrived immediately after he died on Earth.
This is where it all started.
After being fooled by Rachel’s sweet talk, he ended up in the Demon King’s fortress.
-Welcome, Warrior Choi Hyeon-seok.
A voice echoed throughout the space.
Choi Hyun-seok is the one whose voice was called a god.
And then he realized that he was the one who had brought him to this world.
“This is our first time talking. Oh, can I speak comfortably?” – Of course.
Choi Hyun-seok had been looking forward to a conversation with this being for quite some time.
Because I had so many things I wanted to ask.
“Is there enough time to talk?” – This is the space of the soul and consciousness. It is different from the flow of time in reality, so there is plenty of time for conversation.
Fortunately, it seemed like we wouldn’t have to rush the conversation.
Choi Hyun-seok closed his eyes and crossed his arms.
“What should I ask first? Now that I’ve laid out the bed, I can’t think of anything.”
It was difficult to open my mouth.
Many questions float around in my head and then disperse.
As Choi Hyun-seok’s worries seemed to be getting longer, the other person spoke first.
-If it’s okay, I’d like to first say thank you.
“Thank you?”
-Thanks to you defeating the Pope, my lost powers have been restored and I have regained consciousness. Thank you again for saving the world.
“Oh, so that’s what happened.”
I was wondering how the Pope could summon up such enormous divine powers, it seemed he had tapped into the power of this being.
Choi Hyun-seok naturally asked a question that came to mind in relation to this.
“What are you? Are you really a god?” – I am not something grandiose like a god.
“then?”
– It can be summarized as a spiritual body created by the reaction of human desires and mana. If it is difficult to understand, you can think of it as a tool for human happiness.
Choi Hyun-seok nodded slowly.
It wasn’t impossible.
Because mana could be anything.
It would have been possible to create such god-like beings.
“What is your name?”
-I don’t have a name. If you want to call me by a title… I think you can just call me X.
“okay.”
X.
I don’t know what he meant by that, but I decided to call it that for now.
“X. What was the Pope? He said he was a warrior. How did you take your power?” – Pope Orban IV. Real name Thomas Jacobson. He is a warrior who came here about 134 years ago.
In this part, Choi Hyun-seok felt a refreshing shock.
Orban IV wasn’t his real name.
-He was the most talented warrior besides you. He had a strong sense of justice.
“But why did it end up like that?” – That’s…
To summarize the following explanation, it was as follows.
X recognized the Pope’s talent early on and invested generously in him.
Thanks to his outstanding talent and X’s full support, the Pope grew at an astonishing rate.
He has reached a level that surpasses all warriors of all time.
But at some point he changed.
I became a completely different person than before.
“He changed without warning?” – That’s what I feel.
“Hmm, my thoughts are a little different.”
Why did the Pope change?
Choi Hyun-seok somehow seemed to know the reason.
“True salvation. Eternal peace. All of those are illusions.” “Even if I die and the Church of Gatren and Deusis collapses, do you think there will be peace on this continent?” “Saving the world? That is a hollow pretext. It is nothing more than propaganda that demands only the sacrifice of the warriors.”
As he continued his life as a warrior, the Pope must have realized:
About the irrationality of the world and the ugliness of humans.
Unlike modern Earth, this world is a class society.
Thanks to this, the human appearance is revealed more rawly and clearly.
If, after seeing this reality, you ask, ‘Does salvation exist?’…
Nine out of ten will say this.
‘There is no salvation.’
Even if all the demons are killed, there is no salvation for the common people as long as there are nobles left who squeeze their blood.
It would be the same even if we killed all the nobles and eliminated classes from the world.
Because the nature of human existence will never change.
Then why should you sacrifice yourself?
Why should a warrior fight for a world that cannot be saved anyway?
Choi Hyun-seok also had similar concerns at one time.
That’s why it was possible to infer the Pope’s underlying thoughts even in a short conversation.
“Okay, enough with that story.”
Choi Hyun-seok has already organized his thoughts on this.
It’s over now.
It was a waste of time to raise the question again and get a headache.
“Anyway, you gave your all to support the Pope, but he betrayed you and you ended up getting kicked in the butt.” – That’s right.
“So you kept watching me and checking my liver?” – That’s also true.
From X’s perspective, he would have been reluctant to give himself full support.
Because there was already a failed precedent with the Pope.
Sometimes I tested Choi Hyun-seok, and sometimes I helped him, and I watched his growth.
-And one more thing I want to confess is that it was intentional to send Rachel to the Demon King’s army in charge of your transfer.
“Haa… So that’s what it was.”
When you hear this far.
Choi Hyun-seok was able to infer one more fact.
Why did you hide the final, ultimate reward of this adventure?
“By any chance, the reward for saving the world mentioned in the warrior quest. Is it along the same lines that you hid it?” -… That’s right.
“I guess the compensation was pretty meager.”
What if you save the world only to receive a pittance in return?
There was no way an angry warrior could not turn into a pope.
That’s probably why X didn’t tell us the final reward until the very end.
Choi Hyun-seok felt a little empty and chuckled.
“So. What’s the reward? I thought you said you’d give me some choice back then?” – Specifically, your future residence.
“Dwelling place…”
-The first is to send you to Earth.
The first choice was obvious.
Return to Earth.
Choi Hyun-seok nodded calmly, as he had expected it.
-If I use all my power, I can send you back to the moment when you were about to die.
“I don’t really have any ideas. What’s my next choice?”
Choi Hyun-seok didn’t want to return to Earth now.
It wasn’t like I had a family I wanted to see.
Even if I went back, I didn’t think I would be able to adapt well.
-Before I tell you about your next choice… I need to tell you about your current condition, Choi Hyun-seok.
“My condition?”
-You have joined the ranks of the transcendent.
“Oh, I guess there was a separate name for this.”
Transcendent.
I thought it was an appropriate name.
Because I actually felt like I had transcended everything.
Although he was far from being omnipotent and god-like, he was at least not a being worthy of being called human.
“So. Why did you become a Transcendent?” – A Transcendent cannot exist in the same dimension as a human. The power is too strong, and it would cause a dimensional rift.
“I see…”
-The longer you stay, the greater the danger. After this conversation, you will have to leave the realm within a week at the latest.
“I don’t have much time.”
I have to leave the continent within a week.
Choi Hyun-seok felt his heart become heavy for some reason.
