846 Episode 45 Ten Evils (4)

"You... how do you know that?"

The Blood Demon glared at me with eyes mixed with confusion and anger.

If possible, I wanted to avoid doing something like this. But this time, I couldn't help it. Because.

I looked closely at the Blood Demon's face. The appearance of a middle-aged man stained with time. However, the Blood Demon was very young when the scenarios were just beginning.

And his younger sister was even younger than that.

The Blood Demon's younger sister , Yeom Cheonah, who shouted with enthusiasm, was there.

And in the next moment, the voice changed and the Blood Demon Yeom Baekho's howl echoed. 「"Cheonah! No! Cheonah…!"」

Listening to the voice of the story flowing out, I once again felt goosebumps at the 'Evil Sophist'.

"How, how do you have that story?"

Cheon Inho in the 40th Round may have already considered that the Blood Demon would become the King of the Seoul Underground City.

That's why he had this 'story fragment'.

"Does that matter?"

I stared at the staggering Blood Demon, smiling like Cheon Inho.

Maybe the Blood Demon resembled Yoo Joonghyuk.

He was not as strong as Yoo Joonghyuk, was not born with any special abilities, and did not have a single reader who liked his stories. Nevertheless, he resembled Yoo Joonghyuk.

That was because he had not saved his sister even once in countless Rounds.

"Do you have Cheonah's soul?"

The Blood Demon came up to me like a madman and grabbed me by the collar.

"Tell me. Do you have Cheonah's soul?"

"What would change if I had her soul?"

The Blood Demon's movements that were shaking me stopped for a moment.

"Are you going to revive her? You know what you did, and now you're going to revive her? Do you think she'd like it if she came back to life?"

"What do you know..."

"Even if she comes back, you won't be forgiven. Because she told me."

Blood Demon Yeom Baekho.

Forty years ago, when the 'First Scenario' first began before his eyes, he was locked in a room alone with his younger sister.

"I hate you more than anyone else in this world."

A scenario where he had to prove his worth, prove through violence that he was more noble and superior to other living beings.

The Blood Demon proved it and survived alone.

"I, I, I—"

"I know why you want to find the Great Law of Regression. But, you know, Yeom Baekho."

Like Kim Dokja once did, some beings spend the rest of their lives in atonement for their survival. In the process, some sacrifice themselves, but others cannot endure the pain and choose to become worse people.

"Do you think everything will be as it was if you regress?"

To erase his original sin. To turn back everything he did to survive.

That was why the Blood Demon wanted Yoo Joonghyuk's 'regression' so much.

The Blood Demon's grip on my collar tightened with a firm grip.

"You're trying to deceive me with strange words again, you Evil Sophist. I won't say much. Give me the head of the Supreme King right now. Of course, you'll die even if you give it to me."

"Why? Because I know your secret?"

I laughed.

"Even if I could return with the head of the Supreme King, you wouldn't be able to change any of your pasts."

"How would you know that?"

"Even if you return, the memories of killing your younger sister won't disappear."

In the end, Yoo Joonghyuk's dilemma applies to all regressors.

The world he abandoned and left behind will forever be Yoo Joonghyuk's shackles.

However, the Blood Demon was crazier than I thought.

"Really? Then you should erase my memories as well."

The Blood Demon continued to babble in a voice dripping with gloomy madness.

"If you turn back the world and erase my memories, it will all be like nothing happened. Neither that child nor I will remember what happened this time. The things that no one remembers are like nothing. Then...!"

"If that's 'regression', then you've already regressed dozens of times."

"What?"

"You've already regressed. Which world do you think this world is?"

In a sense, the regressor in this world is not the only one. In this world, there exist countless regressors who 'don’t know that they have regressed'.

"You have already regressed forty-one times, and you have repeated the same choice for the forty-second time."

Not all humans who have lost their memories always make the same choice in the same situation. Rather, because they do not remember their past lives, their choices are pure and perhaps infinitely heavy.

The forty-two choices that they do not remember themselves. Those choices are what proves the Blood Demon.

The Blood Demon has never died in place of his sister.

"That cannot be, that cannot be. I…!"

The Blood Demon staggered and let go of my collar.

I asked, adjusting the collar of my shirt.

"Are you that desperate about regressing? Is what you really want 'regression'? What you want is…"

Some desires do not exist until they are written down.

That is why sometimes the role of the writer is to accurately describe the desires that even the characters themselves ignore.

In that sense, the existence of the writer.

It may be a kind of incite that grants desire to the character.

"You will be forgiven by your sister."

The Blood Demon opened his eyes wide as if he had been struck by lightning.

Even though he knew that this was a trap I had set, he could not escape this trap.

His history made him that way.

"...How can I be forgiven by her?"

"..."

"I know you can use [Deceased Summoning]. Can you summon her? Let me meet her and talk to her one more time."

"What can you give me?"

"I will give you what you want. Anything you want!"

The conversation soon reached the point I wanted. The Blood Demon, who was completely taken in by [Incite], would not even remember what he had said for a while.

"Unfortunately, I cannot summon your sister's soul. Because I cannot find your sister's 'head' anymore."

One of the conditions of [Deceased Summoning] is the summoner's 'head'. So, in the first scenario, Yeom Cheonah, the Blood Demon's younger sister, died with her head exploded, and no matter what he did, she could not be revived.

"And even if you meet her, you will not be forgiven anyway."

"Then what do you want me to do! If I cannot meet my younger sister, and even if I do, I will not be forgiven—"

"There is only one way."

I said with a grin.

"I will make you regress."

I suddenly held out the dumpling on the table.

"Eat this dumpling."

The Blood Demon glared at me with his lips pursed.

The Blood Demon must have noticed it too. The familiar yet strange smell coming from this dumpling.

After staring at the dumpling for a long time, the Blood Demon's expression softened and he let out a deep sigh.

"Is this a dumpling with poison?"

"It contains something more deadly than poison."

This dumpling was made with the memories of the Blood Demon's younger sister, 'Yeom Cheonah', that Cheon Inho obtained when he destroyed <The Underworld>.

"What happens if I eat this?"

"You can meet Yeom Cheonah. Of course, it's not the living Yeom Cheonah. It'll be hard to communicate properly."

"..."

"Even if you eat this, you won't be forgiven. Your life won't change."

"Then why should I eat this?"

"Face what you did to survive."

The Blood Demon looked down at the dumpling with trembling eyes.

"Eat this and go see your younger sister. Ask for an obvious, one-sided forgiveness that she'll never hear. And come back hurt by the fact that nothing has changed."

"You said you'd make me regress. How is that a regression?"

"That's a regression. Nothing can be changed."

The Blood Demon raised his head and looked at me.

"If one regression could change something, why did Yoo Joonghyuk need to regress so many times?"

The Blood Demon stared blankly for a moment, how he had taken my words unknown, before he soon let out a sneer. Then he snatched the dumpling from my hand.

"Evil Sophist. I already know what your purpose is."

"Yes. As you know, the moment you eat that, I…"

"I’ll give you time until I wake up again."

I was a little taken aback by the Blood Demon’s answer. He added, as if he found my expression amusing.

"If you’re still in front of me when I wake up again, I’ll make you a guard too."

With those words, the Blood Demon took a big bite of the dumpling in his hand. I could see his eyes dilating as the sweet scent spread.

The Blood Demon must have returned to the hellish First Scenario by now. The time limit for the First Scenario was 30 minutes. It matched the duration of the dumplings exactly.

He would meet his sister there once again.

"Is it over?"

I turned around at the voice from behind me, and Yoo Joonghyuk, who had been hiding in the darkness with the Ten Evils, appeared.

"It's over."

"You finally achieved your goal with just one tongue."

"Actually, this wasn't the best method."

I said, staring into space and looking at the frozen Blood Demon.

"I could have asked the Blood Demon for help."

It wasn't enough to just open the Blood Demon's wounds and inflict terrible trauma.

There was a reason I chose this method in the picture.

Because there were 'eyes' watching this story.

Anonymous Recorder. Perhaps, like Bicheonhori or Cheon Inho, there were other 'Recorders of Fear' whose true names were not revealed.

It felt similar to when I was getting attention from Constellations, but somehow it felt subtly different.

If the Constellations were closer to 'readers', then these were closer to 'critics'. Anyway, the critics' attention was on me right now.

And their attention—

It was converted into a huge amount of coins and returned to me.

It was a much-needed income for now. In order to clear the Last Scenario, I had to raise Cheon Inho's comprehensive ability, and there were things I had to buy from the 'Dokkaebi Bag'.

Kyung Sein, who was observing the frozen Blood Demon, asked.

"Wouldn't it be better to just kill him now?"

"The Blood Demon has achieved the ultimate of the legend of 'King of the Dead'. If I kill him, all the ghouls in the underground of Seoul will go berserk at the same time."

In the end, it was best to let the Blood Demon sleep for a while.

Yoo Joonghyuk, who had made a quick decision, said.

"The Blood Demon’s warehouse is upstairs."

"Let’s move right away."

We went straight up the stairs of Seoul Station.

The Blood Demon’s corpses didn’t stop us even as we passed by. Perhaps they had received such an order.

"You."

After climbing the dimly lit stairs several times, Yoo Joonghyuk opened his mouth as if passing by.

"Do you really think that regression can’t change anything?"

It seemed like he had overheard my conversation with the Blood Demon.

I answered with a bitter smile.

"No. Actually, I think a little differently."

Perhaps regression itself can’t change anything.

The tragedy that has already happened is eternal, and no one can be saved through regression.

Even so, I know people who have changed through that 'regression'.

"Anyway, everything remains a story."

"What do you mean?"

"Even if nothing changes in the story, it means that the person reading the story may change."

Yoo Joonghyuk seemed to think about what I meant for a moment.

In the meantime, Ye Hyunwoo, who was walking ahead, stopped walking.

"We've arrived."

"There's a trap. I'll remove it."

Lee Dansu quickly stepped forward and dismantled the trap. After a while, the huge iron door opened with a creaking sound.

Is this really the Blood Demon's warehouse?

"As expected of the Blood Demon."

All the relics that could be found throughout the scenario were gathered there. From special relics like the Chochegeom and Cheonungeom to the 'useful spear' we were looking for.

Yoo Joonghyuk pulled out a spear from a corner and examined the spearhead.

"It's Guanyu's spear."

The Azure Dragon Crescent Blade. As expected, it was a weapon with great dignity, worthy of the relic of the best warrior in the Central Plains.

"Are you going to take it?"

"No."

Yoo Joonghyuk shook his head and looked somewhere.

"There’s a better spear."

"Is it a more useful spear than that?"

"It’s not useful."

Yoo Joonghyuk strode over and pulled out a spear stuck in the darkness. The moment the blade was pulled out, a dazzling beam of light illuminated the dark warehouse. I immediately recognized the spear.

Yoo Joonghyuk’s final spear—the material just before completing the Amcheon-wolguk.

A beautiful spear that seemed to have been carved from a deep sunset was there.

"This is the best spear for now!"

Hwangcheon-wolguk.

That spear was certainly a worthy replacement for the Cheongryongeonwoldo.

Moreover, in terms of durability comparable to the Jincheonpaedo, the Hwangcheon-wolguk was perfect for Yoo Joonghyuk to use now.

The Ten Evils who entered the warehouse together and rummaged through the items were busy exclaiming in admiration here and there. There was also a guy who couldn’t shake off his thieving instinct and was diligently stealing the sacred relics.

"I think the internal map of the 'Ark' might be here too."

"Well, if it's the Blood Demon guy, he should have it."

Ten minutes, twenty minutes. The Ten Evils and I continued to search the Blood Demon's warehouse, but unfortunately, we didn't find any items containing the information on the ark.

"This is a big deal. It's time— Huh? Cheon Inho. What are you doing there?"

I was looking at the feast of 'heads' decorated on the walls of the huge warehouse.

It seemed like the heads the Blood Demon had collected to make zombies.

"I don't think we need a map."

I said, looking at one of the heads.

"I found a better one."

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