< Chapter 139: Relationships (3) >
It’s a familiar scenery.
The last view I remember of the pub. Shin Hyung was sitting in front of a table filled with all kinds of side dishes and bottles of soju.
“Sit down.”
With an indifferent expression, he urges me to sit across from him.
Sssrrrrr-
Then he pours liquor into the soju glass.
“Sit down. Let’s toast for the old time’s sake.”
A calm expression and familiar gestures.
Anyone could tell it was Kim Shin.
“…Is this a dream?”
“It could be a dream, or it might not be.”
Shin Hyung empties the soju glass in one go.
“What do you mean? If it’s a dream, it’s a dream.”
Hyung rubs the empty soju glass with his index finger and smiles bitterly.
“Hmm. It’s hard to explain in words. Just think of it as a bonus stage.”
“A bonus stage?”
“Yes. A bonus stage where you can solve the questions you hold.”
“…Alright.”
I quietly took a seat.
Looking at me like that, Hyung passed me a bottle of soju. He probably meant for me to pour it.
“You said we don’t have time.”
I took the soju bottle from him.
“It’s okay to have a shot of soju even if you are in a hurry, isn’t it?”
Hyung said with a smile, holding out his soju glass.
The sight of him playfully uttering a famous line from a familiar movie was both dear and resentful.
“That’s a line you say before you die.”
I said as I poured soju into Hyung’s glass.
“Was it? Anyway, cheers.”
Hyung held out his glass.
I also raised my glass.
Cheers-
The sound of the glasses colliding resonated clearly. We lightly emptied our glasses.
“Kuee~ Is it because I’m drinking with Seo-yul? The alcohol is running out.”
“Really? For me, maybe because I’m drinking with Hyung, it tastes really bitter.”
“Isn’t it because it’s been a while since you drank?”
“…That’s part of it.”
Certainly, since I was thrown into this world of the novel, I haven’t even touched alcohol. I didn’t particularly like it in the first place, and there wasn’t the leisure to do so either.
“It’s really… good to see that you seem healthy.”
The gaze of Shin Hyung looking at me emitted a sorrowful light.
“Is that something the very person who pushed me into this world should say?”
“Haha. Indeed.”
Hyung did not deny what I said.
That means…
“…It’s true. Hyung, you sent me into this world of the novel.”
“Yeah. That’s right.”
The person responsible for causing the supernatural phenomenon of being possessed by a novel was Shin Hyung.
“You must have had some extent of suspicion too.”
“About 90%.”
I stared intently at Hyung.
There were many things I wanted to say, but it was difficult to express them in words.
No, I didn’t even know where to start. My head is a mess.
Seeing me like that, Hyung smiled.
“You have a face that wants to ask why I sent you to this world.”
Suddenly overcome.
I was suddenly overcome with emotion at Hyung’s calm expression and tone.
“…You know well. Yes. Let’s ask. What is the reason?”
Something boiled up from within.
“Why did you send me to this world?”
The resentment, anger, and hatred buried under feelings of relief, welcome, and longing exploded momentarily.
“Why did you get rid of the S-class status window? If you wanted to make me the protagonist, you should have done it properly. Do you know how much I suffered because of that?”
I vented all the irrationality and injustice I had felt until now.
“A future full of crises. I am the only one who can prevent that. But I can’t stop it. However, I have to stop it. Do you know how much my heart has been tormented by that fact, Hyung?”
For some reason, I felt like a surge of tears would suddenly pour out.
“In such a situation… do you know how hard I tried…?”
My inner frustration, which I hadn’t been able to share with anyone until now, gushed out like a fountain.
“The relationships with people felt like walking on a tightrope, variables continuously erupted no matter what I did, and when I tried my best to solve those variables, even bigger variables erupted….”
I bit my lip.
Would this Hyung understand how much I had suffered mentally?
“Hyung… no, but….”
My words were all over the place.
It was just the tantrum of a child venting their unfairness.
Exactly that.
Hyung smiled bitterly.
“I indeed sent you here, but I don’t know how you have been living.”
“….”
“So, I cannot know how hard it was for you. I think it shouldn’t be said rashly that I understand, that I know everything.”
Hyung’s serious eyes pierced through me.
“The only thing I can say is… I’m sorry.”
Hyung bowed his head.
“I’m sorry.”
“….”
I looked at Hyung like that and took a deep breath.
Pull yourself together. Getting angry now won’t help at all.
Thinking that, I tried hard to return to the calmest state of mind as much as possible.
“…You said we don’t have much time, right?”
About a minute passed like that.
I succeeded in regaining my composure, even if just a little.
“Yeah. Because there is a reason, I can’t maintain this state for a long time.”
I cannot maintain this meeting for a long time. He also said he hadn’t been continuously observing me earlier.
That means.
“It means that there is someone who can impose restrictions on Hyung, like a higher-up.”
It means that there is a third party who can impose restrictions on the supernatural entity called Kim Shin.
“… Similar.”
It seemed that indeed another divine entity was involved.
“Then…”
“Just a moment.”
Shin Hyung raised his hand to interrupt me.
“We don’t have time. Can I start with what I need to say?”
“…Okay.”
“First, I’ll explain why I borrowed this dream world to meet you.”
Hyung said.
“Seo-yul, you, were you planning to reveal your secret to someone… the fact that ‘the status window does not exist’?”
“Huh? Yeah. I was planning to do that because I thought it was necessary… Why?”
How did he know?
“Of course….”
Hyung said with a serious look.
“That, you must never say.”
“…Why?”
“It will be detected by the system.”
“It gets detected by the system?”
Could it be?
“At that time, something like a vaccine program will be unleashed?”
“That’s right. The system that realized your identity, the error, will initiate a self-purging function to remove you.”
…Oh my God.
“No, wait a minute. It’s not a big deal, just saying ‘There is no system.’ The system detects the error and initiates self-purging? Can such a thing happen?”
“Yes. It can.”
Hyung asserted.
“In this world, ‘status window’ is a common medium that all sentient beings have. There are no exceptions. You understand?”
“Yeah.”
“Therefore, everyone can’t even think about the possibility that a person doesn’t have a status window. Because just as a person is a person, it is very natural for a person to have a status window.”
That is why, starting with Jia, including Yu Hwa, Si-yeon, and even Maiden,
None of them could imagine the possibility of me not having a status window.
“But why is that?”
“That obvious concept is engraved in the system. That’s why they can’t even think of the possibility of a human existing without a status window.”
“Ah….”
“I see.”
Thinking that way, it makes sense that the people around me never mentioned the possibility that I don’t have a status window.
“If the concept engraved in that system is disrupted by your statement, what do you think will happen?”
I understood immediately.
“It will be deemed as a system error and initiate self-purging?”
“That’s right. Now you understand why I told you not to reveal your ‘secret’ to others?”
“…Yes.”
Indeed, if that’s the case, it is correct not to reveal it.
“By the way, seeing that you know about the vaccine program, it means you have already used the anti-vaccine I prepared.”
“…Huh? Yeah, I used it.”
“Anything else? What else did you receive?”
“A warning about the color of the tattoo, and… a trait encyclopedia?”
“Hmm. That’s appropriate.”
Hyung nodded as if satisfied.
“But why are you asking? I was supposed to find the dictionary myself, but weren’t the anti-vaccine and the mail directly sent by you?”
“Hmm. As I said earlier, I can’t know what you are doing in this world. The anti-vaccine and the mail were triggered automatically by certain triggers, prepared in advance. It wasn’t something I was involved with directly.”
“Aha.”
I see.
“The mail was set to go to you when your tattoo first turned black, the anti-vaccine was for when the vaccine program first appeared, and the trait encyclopedia was for when the number of traits you have exceeded a certain number.”
“Ah….”
Now I’m convinced.
“And today, this dream was meant to occur when you decided to confide your secret to someone.”
“…So that’s how you knew I was thinking of confiding my secret to someone.”
“That’s right.”
Hyung chuckled softly.
“I want to help you more, but as you know, I am a being bound by constraints. This is the only way I can help you.”
“Help… So there are other preparations left, right?”
“Yes, there are. But I can’t tell you what they are right now. As I said…”
“I’m a being bound by constraints?”
“Of Course!”
Hyung laughed heartily.
“Anyway, whether it’s the secret about the status window or the fact that you came from outside of the novel, you must not say things that are completely off from the common sense of this world.”
“I understand.”
I sighed softly.
What should I do then?
The only way to gradually untangle this complicated relationship seems to be to reveal my secret.
My head started to hurt again.
“You seem to be worried a lot.”
“…There are some complex issues.”
“I suppose so. Given your personality, the situation must be very complex to even consider revealing your secret.”
I smiled bitterly.
“Anyway, this is the end of my story. If you have anything else to ask, ask quickly. I will answer within the lines I can answer.”
Hyung said, tapping the watch he was holding with his index finger.
It must be a gesture indicating that there wasn’t much time left.
“Why was I thrown into this world in the first place?”
“Because I asked you a favor, and you accepted it. You don’t remember roughly? You should have a vague memory by now.”
“…I wasn’t sure because it was literally vague.”
So, I accepted the request.
“What is the more primal reason? There must be a reason for making such an absurd request to me.”
Why did he put me into the novel?
“Yes, there is. But….”
Hyung said as if he was sighing.
“I can’t answer that question.”
“…Okay.”
It seemed to be a question he couldn’t answer due to restrictions.
“Then this.”
I raised my upper body and showed the tattoos engraved on my body.
“The Mark of Adam. What is this?”
At the mention of the Mark of Adam, Hyung’s eyes widened as if lit by a lantern.
“Where did you hear about the Mark of Adam?”
“I found out by chance when I got involved with the beastkin princess.”
“Ah~ So that happened. That’s good.”
“No, rather than that, this. Is this really the Mark of Adam?”
The engraving is said to be used by the primordial Creator when creating life forms.
The Mark of Adam.
No, is this really the Mark of Adam in the first place?
“Yes, that is the Mark of Adam that I created.”
“…You created it?”
So, Hyung is the Creator from the mythology.
“Yes. It’s the engraving I created, and I made it to be engraved on you.”
“…Why?”
“Why? To give you, a true loser without a status window, a way to become stronger, while also setting up a barrier to prevent you from being detected and removed by the system. It was engraved for various reasons.”
Hyung smiled slyly.
“What are you talking about?”
“Your ability. Do you know what the core theory of the system error is?”
“Being able to ignore all sorts of item usage restrictions because there is no system. It starts with this, doesn’t it?”
That is the origin of my ability.
“Exactly. Then, why do you think you are not detected by the system no matter how many times you use that fatal error?”
“…Well, I don’t know?”
I haven’t thought about it that far.
Come to think of it, it is strange. Given that error messages popped up several times, I should have been detected a long time ago.
“Because the Mark of Adam serves as a barrier,”
Hyung said.
“The Mark of Adam, which holds the power of the origin, prevents your information from flowing into the system, and rather, I configured it to follow that route in reverse to draw out power.”
I see, that was the case.
“Then, what about the changing color of the Mark of Adam?”
“No matter how exceptional the Mark of Adam’s engraving is, it will be detected by the system if it goes too far. It’s like an overload.”
Hyung shook his head slightly.
“Heh. You have no idea how much I struggled to hammer Adam’s relics into the back pipe. Ugh. I feel like I absolutely can’t do it if asked to do it again.”
It seemed as if a chill had taken over, causing a shudder to run through the body.
“Then you should have just given the S-rank status window and sent it. It would be easier for you, and better for me. It would be great.”
Hyung gave a bitter smile.
“It would have been a bit better if I did that. But I can’t do that, that’s why I did it this way.”
“Why can’t you do that?”
Hyung smiled slightly.
“…I can’t answer that.”
Really?
“…Why does the deity have so many restrictions?”
“That’s what I’m saying.”
Hyung sighed deeply.
“Then…”
At that moment,
As if the pigment was being drained, the space gradually started to turn white.
“…What is this?”
At the same time, my body began to disappear.
“It seems like the time is up.”
Hyung, who was disappearing just like me, smiled bitterly.
“It’s a shame. I wanted to talk more.”
Hyung shook an empty soju glass slightly and gave a bitter smile.
“Seo-yul, you must have a lot of thoughts right now. It might have become more complicated unnecessarily because I showed up.”
At the center of the rapidly collapsing bar, Hyung and I looked directly into each other’s eyes.
“Don’t think too complicatedly. You’re doing very well.”
Hyung smiled.
“Take care of yourself. Later…”
It was somewhat complicated and somewhat sad.
It was an unknowable smile.
“Let’s meet again at the end that is not the end.”
The last episode of the novel becomes the original of this world.
Episode 859, the end that is not the end.
He waits for me at the end of the novel.
That’s what Hyung told me.
“When I get there, I can know everything?”
“Yeah.”
The world collapses rapidly.
In the scattering world.
“Seo-yul.”
Hyung smiled.
“Thank you. I’m sorry.”
With those words as the end,
“Hang in there.”
My vision was completely filled with a bright white.
< Chapter 139: Relationships (3) > End
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