823 Episode 41 Sophistry (7)

What is a life written in text?

Someone's year can pass in a single sentence, and someone's life can be summarized in a single paragraph.

When I think about the lives of the characters, I sometimes feel such sadness.

Did I fully portray this character's life? In fact, couldn't I have told more stories? Is this scene really the 'highlight' of this life?

So where does the rest of his life, which didn't become the highlight, go?

"I'm bored."

Maybe this very moment is also one of the rest that disappeared in that way.

"You're just talking nonsense."

Three months after saving Yoo Jonghyuk from the Blood Cult group in the 40th Round.

I was thrown into the void with Yoo Jonghyuk.

To briefly explain what a void is, it's as follows.

There is another world beneath the mantle of the Earth where we live. The cliff we fell from was one of the entrances to the common area.

The common area was a place where monsters of at least level 5 or higher - monsters that could easily rule as a single type of conqueror - gathered.

"Let's just hold on a little longer. Just count to 10 minutes in your head."

"If you keep talking like that, he'll find us."

We waited quietly until the level 2 monster, the 'ed dragon', disappeared.

It was absurd that the place we fell was the Red Dragon's nest, but on the other hand, it was fortunate.

After a while, the Red Dragon left to hunt, and we inspected its nest.

"We found it."

The Red Dragon's lava pond.

We could see a few fish swimming around inside.

Mannyeonhwari.

One of the most exquisite spirits in '0th Murim'. A spirit with an inner power that even the Transcendental Constellations and the Constellations of the Giant Nebula covet. I immediately caught the 'Mannyeonhwari' and carefully cut open its belly. The recipe for 'Mannyeonhwari' was written in detail in the 81st Round of 'Ways of Survival'.

Yoo Jonghyuk, who was watching me work, said a word.

"That's not how you do it."

"No, this is the right way to do it. The magic usage is also correct."

"If you prepare it like that, you'll lose half of the Mannyeonhwari's internal energy."

"Instead, it makes it easier to consume. The patient should just shut up."

The reason I was cooking something I wasn't even good at was because of that damned guy from the 40th Round.

He barely survived by falling off the edge of a cliff, but because he was so severely affected by the intangible poison, Yoo Jonghyuk's internal energy didn't return.

"If you hadn't eaten my Blood Spirits, this wouldn't have happened."

"Yeah. It's all my fault."

After a while, the sloppy Mannyeonhwari dish was completed. Yoo Jonghyuk flipped the fish over with his fingers as if he was searching through a pile of trash, and left a short comment.

"It's trash."

"What? You haven't even tried it."

"I know even without trying it."

"No, then why didn't you cook it yourself?"

"You need internal energy to cook the Mannyeonhwari. And I can't use magic right now."

Yoo Jonghyuk swallowed the Mannyeonhwari while making all sorts of expressions.

Still, it was touching. In order to eat it, Yoo Jonghyuk had overcome his own myth that he 'can't eat things made by others.'

By the way, now that I think about it, I understand why Yoo Jonghyuk and Cheon Inho became so strong in the 40th Round.

Since they ate this kind of stuff every time, they must have ended up having incarnation bodies that even the stars would despise.

Thinking about it made me feel a little uncomfortable.

Could it be that Yoo Jonghyuk and Cheon Inho became so strong in the 40th Round because of me? Could it be that I, who am here now, intervened in the 40th Round through this 'Fear' and changed history? I don't know if this makes sense...

After a while, Yoo Jonghyuk, who was chewing on the Mannyeonhwari, muttered.

"My internal energy has returned a little."

It was the moment when the efforts of the past three months finally paid off.

Mannyeonhwari is Mannyeonhwari, but the number of spirits I've defeated in order to restore that bastard's internal energy must have exceeded dozens. I wanted to cheer right away, but I tried not to show it.

Because if I showed it for no reason, the 'Fear' might detain me again.

This Fear didn't have a clear beginning and end.

However, if Fear is also a 'story', then there is definitely a beginning and an end. If my intuition as a writer is correct, the end of this Fear will be 'when Yoo Jonghyuk's internal energy returns in the 40th Round'. That's a fitting conclusion for a Round.

"That's good."

I said with a bittersweet feeling. If even a little bit of magic power had returned, Yoo Jonghyuk would now be able to repeat the [Recovery] and regain his former skills. To be exact, he would be able to absorb all the elixirs he had consumed so far and obtain a much more powerful incarnation body than before.

If that were to happen, escaping this cave would be no problem.

"I owe you something."

I was a little taken aback by Yoo Jonghyuk's unexpected remark.

Did I know that this kid would say something like that?

"Then pay it back."

"Understood."

"Yes?"

Yoo Jonghyuk frowned.

"Tell me what you need."

Yoo Jonghyuk's debt. This is precious.

I thought for a moment and then said this.

"I don't need it right now. Pay it back on the 41st Round."

Yoo Jonghyuk glared at me as if he was dumbfounded.

"I forgot for a moment that you knew about regression. But I can't keep that promise."

"Why?"

"Because the next time you won't be the same you are now?"

"How do you know that?"

"When the next Round changes, everyone except me will return to the past. Memories will disappear, and history will be forgotten. Only a few lines of anecdote will remain."

Just 'a few lines of anecdote.'

"Why are you saying that so solemnly? Isn't that how our lives are?"

"What?"

"Some things are forgotten, and only the things that are remembered are remembered. They become scenes, sentences, and anecdotes. Even precious moments and sad moments will eventually remain as just a few lines of a story."

Yoo Jonghyuk seemed to think about what I said for a moment and then replied.

"Why are you saying that?"

"I mean, don't trivialize those few lines of a story."

Maybe it doesn't take that many sentences to change a life.

One line, and then another line. That one line, written with great difficulty, changes someone's life.

"Funny. To hear that from someone who doesn't remember anything."

"Yes. I'm sorry."

"Now tell me what you really want. If you keep talking nonsense, I won't repay your debt."

"Even if it's not the next time, you can't repay my debt."

Yoo Jonghyuk frowned again.

"What kind of nonsense are you trying to say again?"

"I'm not saying nonsense, I'm saying the truth. Let's say you repay the debt to me a month from now because you owe me now. Is the current Cheon Inho and the Cheon Inho a month from now the same person?"

"What—"

"Some people would say 'the same person'. Because there are so many 'stories' in the world that recognize them as 'the same person'."

"..."

"Then let's think about it this way. If I lose all the stories I have now a month later, and thus lose all my memories, is the current Cheon Inho and the Cheon Inho a month later the same person?"

"..."

"They look exactly the same, and their personalities are similar. They often talk nonsense, and they laugh unluckily with their eyes wide open. Can we say they're the same person?"

Perhaps Yoo Jonghyuk knows this contradiction better than anyone else.

He can't repay the debt he owes in this Round in the next Round.

The comrades who sacrificed themselves for him will never return.

He will be crushed by that debt of distant memories.

I looked at Yoo Jonghyuk for a moment and then continued.

"But you can do that."

"What?"

"You can think of the next Round's me as the same person. This guy has lost his memories, but he's the Cheon Inho I know. Think of it that way. And do to him like you're doing to me now."

"Why should I do that?"

"Then you won’t be alone either."

Yoo Jonghyuk’s eyes wavered as he paused.

I continued speaking.

"I'm telling you not to live like that, pretending to be lonely in the world, pretending to be the main character, pretending to embrace the darkness of the universe. What if people forget? Just think shamelessly on your own. That guy is the guy from the last Round. He forgot, but I remember. So I'll take revenge. Didn't you apply that standard to the villains? I'm a villain too."

Yoo Jonghyuk was silent for a moment.

The pond of the Red Blood Dragon began to boil, and soon several Mannyeonhwari jumped out and disappeared.

Suddenly, I had a question.

Do Mannyeonhwari know that they live in lava? Since they were born in lava, they probably don't even know that it's hot there.

"Even if I help you in the 41st Round, you won't gain anything from it now."

"Why won't I gain anything? I'm getting help in the 41st Round."

"What—"

"In my next life, I want to ride the Regressor bus and live comfortably."

Yoo Jonghyuk snickered as if it was ridiculous upon hearing that. Although it was a mockery, it had been a long time since I'd seen Yoo Jonghyuk laugh.

"You crazy guy."

"Are you the only one who's going to do it?"

I heard the sound of the nest shaking lightly. It was a sign that the red dragon was returning. It was time to leave now.

At that moment, Yoo Jonghyuk said something unexpected.

"Cheon Inho."

"Yes."

"There's still a lot left until the 41st Round."

Yoo Jonghyuk wasn't looking at me, but I felt like he was looking straight at me more than ever.

"So?"

"I have no intention of giving up this Round easily."

The moment I heard that, I realized what Yoo Jonghyuk was trying to say.

"Help me in this Round."

Be his partner in the 40th Round. That proud guy was saying that directly.

I was captivated.

But the moment I met the eyes of the guy who was looking back, I was overcome by a strange feeling.

I was just an illusion created by this strange Fear, and what Yoo Jonghyuk was looking at was not Kim Dokja or Lee Hakhyun, but Cheon Inho's shell.

The person he was talking about becoming his comrade with right now wasn't me.

The moment I realized that fact, I felt something tangled in my head.

"Yoo Jonghyuk."

Since it's already like this, why don't I tell Yoo Jonghyuk, who's in his 40th Round, some important information?

Even if I fail in the 40th Round, what if I just tell him everything I know so that he can change history in the 41st Round?

"Yoo Jonghyuk, my real name is—"

The moment I was about to speak, the world was filled with bright sparks. The Red Dragon running from afar disappeared, and the common scenery disappeared. Yoo Jonghyuk disappeared, and I disappeared.

In a world where everything was just a few lines of sentences, I shouted my name toward Yoo Jonghyuk.

Regardless of whether Yoo Jonghyuk heard it or not, the ending of the 40th Round was also recorded in just a few lines of sentences.

Dear Readers! Are you enjoying your read? Please consider donating to help keep the ORV-Reader running! Thank you for your support! (My rent is due TwT)

• Support ORV-Reader