Ch 476: Ep. 90 - One Person, V

I sensed the power of a vast Story oozing out from Yoo Joonghyuk's entire frame.

The will of the entire world was now paying attention to him.

Every single Yoo Joonghyuk's Story that I knew felt 'complete' now. This feeling couldn't simply be described as him merely becoming stronger. This 'Yoo Joonghyuk' before my eyes was a different existence to the one I became familiar with.

I got a little tense as I asked him. "Our companions?"

"Safe."

"You being here means the 'Secretive Plotter' has decided to do me that favour, right?"

My final alternative plan in case even the plan B failed was to awake the sleeping Yoo Joonghyuk.

Tsu-chut…

The last-ditch method that I didn't want to resort to if at all possible, yet simply had to when left with no other options – the greatest ace up our sleeve we currently possessed.

And I felt distant, numerous gazes coming from within him. Suddenly, I had this ominous foreboding. What if this Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't the 'Yoo Joonghyuk' that I knew of…?

"Excuse me, but which regression turn Yoo Joonghyuk are you?"

He then stared at me. I could see the thick scar on his cheek, a wound the 3rd turn Yoo Joonghyuk didn't possess. I was about to ask something else, but then, several sentences flowed out from his body as if to shut my mouth.

⸢Terror of All Stars⸥

⸢Strongest Incarnation in Star Stream's history⸥

⸢The Iron-blooded Supreme King⸥

⸢The Usurper of the Scenarios⸥

The history he had lived so far was floating up as the crude, coarse sentences from the 'Ways of Survival'. The sentences gathered to become a Story, and that story soon became the man standing before my eyes, the existence that waded past 1864 lives.

"I am Yoo Joonghyuk."

He was not Yoo Joonghyuk from any of the regression turns. Not from the 0th turn, not from the 1st, and not even from the 1863rd.

He was simply Yoo Joonghyuk from all regression turns.

The 999th turn's Lee Jihye dazedly looked at us, her eyes wide open in disbelief.

And then, another Lee Jihye shouted out at that girl. "Master! Hurry! Take care of her! She's trying to destroy our world-line!"

She yelled out with so much anger.

I was thinking of adding something there. However, such thoughts scattered away the moment I saw Yoo Joonghyuk's side profile. He didn't bother to assume the attacking stance and simple stared at the two 'Outer Gods' present here.

And the two people from the 999th turn was staring back at him in return.

Lee Hyunsung looked quite agitated at the moment. 【This story… But, it can't… Could it be, really…?】

Just like how I was searching for the 'Yoo Joonghyuk' I knew from this particular Yoo Joonghyuk, they were now looking for the 'Yoo Joonghyuk' they recognised.

There was no point in becoming one anymore as Yoo Joonghyuks were being torn apart within those gazes. They were searching for the 'Yoo Joonghyuk' they recognised and were shoving away other 'Yoo Joonghyuks' in the process. They eliminated those they couldn't understand and tried so hard to find that one 'Yoo Joonghyuk' they recognised.

And so, how long passed by like that?

And one of them finally discovered something among the patchwork of 'Yoo Joonghyuks'.

Just before the 'Master of the Sunken Island' could take a large stride forward, the air before her split apart with a single ray of light. Accompanied by choking heat, a blinding beam of light crashed down like a lightning bolt.

Yoo Joonghyuk lightly swung his [Black Heavenly Demon Sword] to deflect that beam of light.

There was no need to ask who it could be.

The 'Living Flame', 999th turn's Uriel, cried out.

She lived only for the purpose of killing the 'Secretive Plotter'. And she came this far to finally have her vengeance. The conflagration became even more vicious on her [Flames of Retribution].

The one to try and stop her was the 'Master of the Sunken Island'.

And right next moment…

Finally, even the last 'King' arrived in the location.

He took a look around the battlefield, then spoke with his eyes almost bulging out of his face. 【T-there are two Jihyes here?!】

…It was the 'Monarch of the Great Abyss', the 999th turn's Kim Namwoon.

They simply ignored whatever the stars were saying and quietly studied each other.

⸢The 'Living Flame' that rises up from the east.⸥

⸢The 'Master of the Sunken Island', the calamity of the world in the west.⸥

⸢The 'Monarch of the Great Abyss', the ruler of the northern universe.⸥

⸢The 'King of the Silver Heart', the ruler of the interstellar space in the south.⸥

⸢And the 'Great Plotter' that crawls from the place of nothing.⸥

The plan I began cooking up bit by bit ever since I discovered their names within the book written by the 'Recorder of Fear' and deduced their identities…

I sneaked a glance at Yoo Joonghyuk. The original plan A was actually supposed to begin from here.

– Yoo Joonghyuk.

My signal prompted him to step forward.

The Chaotic aura of an Outer God enveloped him, and he spoke in the true voice. 【Everyone has gathered, I see.】

Those words contained emotions that I couldn't even fathom. However, someone present here still managed to do just that.

The [Flames of Retribution] scythed past the air and flew in. The [Black Heavenly Demon Sword] containing the power of the Transcendent rose up to deflect the flames.

As the friction noises loudly tangled up with waves of magical energy, Yoo Joonghyuk raised his voice. 【Been a while, Uriel. My old companion-in-arms.】

Her Stories growled like a wounded wolf. Her expression could only be made by someone who lost something far too precious to her. And while carrying such an expression, she pointed her sword at us.

Her Story was crying out now.

⸢[I'll kill him. I'll definitely kill him. Without a doubt, I shall make sure to kill him.]⸥

The 999th turn's Uriel held onto Yoo Joonghyuk's Incarnation Body wasting away due to the 'Other World Pledge' and cried in sorrow.

⸢[Regardless of what needs to be done, even if that means crossing world-lines, I will definitely avenge you. Even if I end up leaving the side of Good to become Evil!!]⸥

And so, the 'Demon-like Judge of Fire' became the 'Living Flame'. She was an Archangel who chose to become an 'Outer God' for the sake of her vengeance. That was her reason for being here.

Yoo Joonghyuk deflected some more flames tinged with boundless rage and continued on. 【He awoke again, and lived through the 1000th turn. He then died, only to move onto the 1001st. And so, he continued to live on and on. And on.】

I too know of that life. A life that no one remembered, a life that he couldn't share with anyone else. Yoo Joonghyuk continued to live such a life all alone.

Uriel pounced, looking as if she had heard something she shouldn't have. She swung her [Flames of Retribution] in desperation, cutting his side, then slicing into his stomach. And in a blink, her blade circled around and took aim at his neck. He didn't try to stop her, as if this was the just punishment he'd been waiting for. And then…

Like magic, Uriel's blade came to a halt.

Uriel probably knew this, too – that her vengeance could never be fulfilled. Because the one who stole away her most precious companion-in-arms happened to be the very same companion, that's why.

Yoo Joonghyuk spoke to her. 【If you want, go ahead and kill me. The 'Secretive Plotter' who took your world-line away is none other than me, after all.】

Uriel howled out in anguish, then cried out loudly.

Just as her sword moved again, the ocean exploded along with the loud 'Ka-boom!!'

Her sword was flung in the air. The Flames of Retribution stabbed into the ocean, and slowly sank beneath the waves while vaporising the water.

Yoo Joonghyuk wasn't responsible for that.

Shu-wuuuu…

The cannon smoke rose up from the other side of the waves. It was the 999th turn's Lee Jihye who fired a shell.

She staggered across the ocean's surface and approached this side. Yoo Joonghyuk didn't avoid her pale hand.

Rather than tears, Chaos flooded out from Lee Jihye's eyes like fine powder seemingly made out from the pitch-black darkness. He looked at her and nodded his head.

The 999th turn's Lee Jihye grasped onto his sleeve and slowly crumbled.

I could only look at his back. His back, where I couldn't read his expressions at all.

⸢It was the trickery of the world-line that caused Yoo Joonghyuk to become many.⸥

Yoo Joonghyuk who lived during the 0th turn became the 1st turn's Yoo Joonghyuk, then he became the 2nd turn's. And the 2nd turn went on to become the 3rd – and then, the 4th.

Abnormal events of the past and future interfering with each other ran rampant and made everyone forget that crucial fact, but this was the undeniable truth.

⸢A regressor actually doesn't regress. What actually regresses isn't him, but everything else excluding him.⸥

The time for everyone else would rewind, but his own time would continue to march forward.

Even though the world-lines had split up and some became the 1864th turn's Yoo Joonghyuk while someone else became the 'Secretive Plotter', but still…

⸢From the beginning, he was just 'one person' who kept walking on one continuous, unbroken path.⸥

However, could these people be able to handle the truth?

⸢Someone only lived on for the sake of her revenge.⸥

Uriel, still raising her flames.

⸢Someone only lived on for the sake of continuing on with his will.⸥

Lee Hyunsung, who couldn't shed tears anymore.

⸢Someone only lived on for the sake of fighting him one more time.⸥

Kim Namwoon, standing askew in the air and glaring daggers in this direction.

⸢And someone only lived on for the sake of reviving those times she lived alongside him.⸥

Lee Jihye, currently crumpled, looking vacant.

Yoo Joonghyuk told them that 'regression couldn't change anything'. However, his regression did change someone's life. The 'Yoo Joonghyuk' was the world to these people. A world that helped them live on even after their own world-line was annihilated.

⸢Kim Dokja's plan was precisely about this 'world'.⸥

If, by any chance, these people still remembered their world even now…

And, if they accepted this 'Yoo Joonghyuk' once more as their captain, then…

⸢If so, then there might not be a reason to continue with this battle.⸥

I hurriedly looked at him.

– Yoo Joonghyuk.

He must never stimulate them negatively here. No, he definitely needed to use the most suitable words to win them over. Even if he had to lie, he needed to agree, before it was too…

"Lee Jihye."

Yoo Joonghyuk looked at her and spoke. Not through his true voice, but with his physical voice.

The 999th turn's Lee Jihye shrunk her shoulders when subjected under his gaze. Just like on that day when she first learned to wield her sword from her master.

"Is that what you really want?"

"Do you believe that you'll become happy if everything reverts to how it was back then?"

"A man who regressed 999 times can grow tired by the 1000th," said Yoo Joonghyuk in a voice so honest that even I was left stunned. "Even if one endured 1000 lifetimes, one can still give up during the 1001st."

The voice was so thick with boundless fatigue that even I became dazed by it.

"He would not give up. Indeed. However, if that's everything you remember about 'Yoo Joonghyuk', then…"

I needed to say something. I need to tell him that he must not say these things. But I couldn't.

"…Then, that Yoo Joonghyuk is dead."

That was his heart laid bare. A man who lived 1864 lifetimes, a man who had never truly expressed himself, had finally bared his soul.

Lee Jihye cried out, sounding more like a shriek. 【Not true! That can't be true!!】

"He shall not regress anymore."

I saw some things sparkle in the distant sky – they were stars.

Stars that watched our stories from a very long time ago were approaching this side. And beyond them, our companions were also rushing towards us.

Han Sooyoung, Yoo Sangah, Jung Heewon… The people from <Kim Dokja's Company> who had lived with us in this world. Within the darkness brought on by the fading sunset, they looked like one giant constellation.

Yoo Joonghyuk, now as one person, took in that sight and raised his voice.

"I can't go back. My final regression turn is this one."