Royal Road
Chapter 214
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 214
──────
The Opposite XI
18
There is an epilogue.
The season that reality returned to was summer.
Summer was radiant.
The hell of blades, where swords sprouted from every step, had vanished. The molten metal that had crept into the alleyways and melted people’s hearts had evaporated.
Even the silver bell that once hung from my wrist was gone.
But those were not the only things that said farewell in this season.
"Hmm...?"
"Huh? Why am I on the rooftop...?"
People couldn't remember what had just happened.
Nor could Noh Doha, Sim Aryeon, or the other comrades.
Even the infected Regressor Virus protesters in the square were the same. People looked at each other in confusion, chatted casually, or returned to their workplaces.
As if they had just woken from a brief daydream.
“Saintess...?”
Perhaps that dream was a nightmare.
“I'm sorry, but who is that...?”
The Saintess of the 267th turn had disappeared.
From reality. And from memory.
"Noh Doha, Chief of Management. Don’t you really remember? The existence of the Constellations?"
"Constellations? Aren't those just nicknames you use when occasionally posting announcements on SG Net...?"
"No. There's someone who can observe every Awakened in the Korean Peninsula with [Clairvoyance] and deliver messages at will with [Telepathy]."
Noh Doha frowned.
"What are you talking about? Is this some kind of superpowered Awakened you imagined...?"
No one remembered the Saintess of the 267th turn.
It was the same as my [Time Seal].
She had sealed herself, along with Nut's domain, in a hidden world that could no longer affect reality.
So that the goddess of the night sky could never interfere with me. So that my regression would never be tainted by the monstrous.
She isolated her very existence.
"......"
Summer passed.
"Whoa. Comrade Secretary-General. Even if we are just residents of a dream, that's impossible. We can't enter the dreams of someone who doesn't exist in reality."
I tried countless methods to cross over to the hidden world where the Saintess was sealed.
And I failed every time.
When I had hunted Nut before, at least I could see the glass barrier even if I couldn’t cross it.
Now, even that was impossible.
The magical mirror had lost its function as a gateway.
No matter what means I used, I couldn’t get closer to the hidden world where the Saintess was sleeping.
“Comrade Secretary-General, I combed through the dreams of everyone living in the Korean Peninsula as you ordered, but I couldn’t find anyone with the characteristics you described!”
But such a person did exist.
“Someone who could brew all kinds of coffee but always asked for instant coffee.”
“And liked it even more if you secretly mixed in a spoonful of cinnamon.”
“Also, someone with water-colored hair and eyes, who had a quiet atmosphere like they were swimming through water instead of walking on land.”
“A person who was uninterested in the trivialities of the world, always expressionless, never joining in on people’s idle chatter, but still willing to compromise for the sake of others.”
“Someone very smart.”
“Who liked crossing the Jamsu Bridge during walks.”
Such a person existed.
"Hoeeh. Comrade Secretary-General! We've used all our resources for six years, but we still couldn't find any trace of them!"
The Saintess’s residence in Yongsan had somehow turned into ruins.
The tropical fish that had survived the collapse of civilization, the meticulously maintained aquariums where she had wiped the algae away, all had turned to dust.
The table where we sat together for study sessions every Wednesday was gone.
Without [Clairvoyance] and [Telepathy], public safety in the Korean Peninsula rapidly deteriorated.
When Awakened ones got lost in the void.
- Doctor Jang.
- There’s a distress call. I’ll give you the location now.
The person who used to send me those messages was gone. I could no longer rescue people as quickly as I used to.
No one found this strange.
Summer passed.
When Awakened ones didn't know their abilities well, or how to strengthen their skills.
[‘The Librarian of the Great Library’ unlocks your true ability.]
[‘The Librarian of the Great Library’ assigns you a quest.]
[Upon completing the quest, a fortuitous opportunity will arise to enhance your ability.]
The person who guided Awakened ones subtly in my stead was gone. I could no longer help people as broadly as I used to.
The idea that "at least a Constellation is watching over me" disappeared from people’s minds, no matter what they did.
The support of "at least I can confide in the Constellation about my worries" also vanished from their hearts.
No one found this strange.
Summer passed.
The world without you grew closer to hell with each passing season.
Only then did I realize.
From the 1st turn, where I lost my memory forever, to the 4th, and from the 5th, when I started living in earnest as a regressor, until now.
At every moment, someone somewhere in this world had quietly lived, watching over people.
Even the moments I thought were the worst were not truly the worst.
Even a regressor who had lived many lives still had much to learn about life.
I wasn’t ready to live in a world without her.
Summer passed.
It was time to move on to the next turn.
In truth, I had a fear at that time that I had never revealed to anyone.
‘What if the Saintess isn’t there in the next turn either?’
In the 268th turn, I rushed to the souvenir shop as soon as I woke up in the Busan Station waiting room.
I went to find the item I always looted without fail.
‘It’s there.’
The cheap souvenir silver bell with a 9,900 won price tag was still sitting on the shelf.
I attached the bell to my bracelet and, in a hurry, cleared the tutorial dungeon.
If there was ‘someone’ out there observing every Awakened person, they would surely be intrigued by the overwhelming skill I displayed.
Then.
[‘The Saintess of National Salvation’ is shocked by your exploits!]
[‘The Lord of the Red Horse’ feels a desire to challenge your power.]
[‘The Conqueror of the Alps’ is paying attention to your actions.]
[‘The Chancellor in the Red Cloak’ is wary of your abilities.]
I almost felt my knees buckle.
I exhaled. A feeling of relief swelled in my heart.
‘It exists. ...Yes, it exists.’
Finally, it was clear.
The one excluded from the flow of time was only the ‘267th Saintess.’
In the end, the existence of the Saintess itself had not been erased from the world. Perhaps, the moment she ascended to the rank of an alienated god-like anomaly, she was treated as a completely separate being from the previous Saintess.
Now I could tell my comrades what had happened in the 267th turn.
‘But I can’t.’
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Splash!
I entered the restroom at Busan Station and washed my face with cold water.
Since the water supply in the city had not yet been cut off, the tap water was enough to clear my mind.
‘I can’t reveal to the Saintess what happened to her in the 267th turn.’
‘If she were to realize that she has such potential… The Saintess, she wouldn’t hesitate.’
Surely, the same thing would happen again someday.
It was easy to imagine.
When a moment of danger came that threatened the world’s destruction, the Saintess would activate [Time Stop] without hesitation, once again spending thousands of years alone.
‘No.’
So I couldn’t possibly tell her.
It was similar to Tang Seorin’s situation.
Just as she confessed that if she realized her accumulated lifespan had already surpassed thousands of years, her greedy self would break the reserves at the slightest hint of danger.
The moment the Saintess learned of such a powerful trump card, she would, at any time, transform again into a god-like anomaly.
‘That cannot happen.’
‘I must keep the secret.’
‘This must never happen again――.’
Clink.
It was at that moment.
The silver bell on my wrist shook.
“……?”
Something happened unconsciously.
Perhaps without even realizing it, I must have placed my palm on the bathroom mirror after washing my face.
‘What?’
I raised my head and looked at the mirror. My wet face and hair were reflected on the mirror’s surface.
But my gaze wasn’t directed at those things.
My palm.
The palm of my hand that was touching the mirror.
‘Cold.’
For some reason, only the part where my palm was touching felt oddly chilly.
In terms of temperature, yes.
Exactly like a body temperature of 15°C.
“……!”
I tried touching the mirror with my other hand. But I didn't feel the same sensation no matter how much I groped the glass with the hand without the silver bell.
Only when I touched the mirror with the palm of my left hand, which held the silver bell, did I feel the 15°C temperature.
‘Ah.’
She was there.
She is here.
“Saintess.”
Without a doubt.
“Saintess, can you hear my voice?”
I couldn’t hear her.
I couldn’t see her anymore. I couldn’t cross over to the other side.
I could no longer converse with her. We couldn’t exchange voices. We couldn’t sit in the same room and feel each other’s breathing outline.
All that was left here was a memory.
And the faint warmth that could be felt when I placed my palm on the mirror with her on the other side.
Perhaps, on the other side, she was also placing her palm on the mirror just like me.
Frozen forever, along with the world.
“……”
But this was enough.
‘As long as you exist, we will meet again.’
That was the fate of a regressor.
I was grateful beyond words for the fact that I was a regressor.
Though for some, as those afflicted by the regression virus screamed, this fate might be hell, it wasn’t for me.
If someone can still be grateful for life after realizing that this world repeats endlessly, it’s likely because there’s someone they want to meet again.
And a person could cross millions of summers just for a single reunion.
“…Please wait just a little longer.”
We were opposites of each other.
I lived through the endlessly flowing time, while the Saintess stayed at the end of time. I enjoyed wandering outside, while the Saintess liked quietly watching the fish in a tank inside her room.
Now, we were separated by a mirror.
“After briefly closing my eyes and opening them again, I will be back in that season.”
Swoosh.
I slowly lifted my hand from the mirror.
My palm and fingerprints were clearly visible on the mirror’s surface for a moment.
――And just before the prints disappeared.
I surely saw it.
The marks that overlapped with mine. Slightly smaller palms and slightly thinner fingers than mine. The sight of them briefly overlapping.
The white words.
-Yes.
-I’ll see you soon.
Anomaly: ‘Goddess of the Night, Nut.’
Alias: Ruler of the Underworld, Mirror World, Geocentric Theory, Eye of Horus, Parmenides’ Moon, Regression Virus
Danger Level: Lv.5 Alienation-Class
Currently being hunted.
-The Opposite. End.
[Translator - Jjescus]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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