[Translator – Jjsecus]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Chapter 43 – The Forr Watcher V
Clang!
The sound of shattered glass echoed from all directions. Though I didn’t catch it with my eyes just now, it was evidence that the Saintess’s aura had been activated.
The bullets rushing toward like a school of sharks shattered simultaneously. Axes rolled on the ground. The sight of thousands of bullets being crushed like powder, mingling with snowflakes, was truly magnificent.
“…”
The mastermind behind this miraculous sight, the Saintess, or the fallen one who would later be nad “Executor” by , was staring at intently.
“What are you planning to do?”
The Saintess’s tone seed ordinary at first glance. But I had spent countless years with her in the past and would continue to do so in the future. It was difficult to hide emotions perfectly from a destined opponent of thousands of years.
The Saintess seed flustered.
“As expected.”
I nodded.
The fight wasn’t ant to happen in the first place.
The Saintess truly had no intention of killing . Just aiming to subdue.
I couldn’t know what the Saintess was plotting in her mind right now. Unfortunately, I only mastered the Solitude Technique in the 554th run, and at this point, it was only the 107th run.
Still, there were clues to speculate.
“Saintess.”
“Yes.”
“Please stop using Ti Stop. Send back the Awakeneds you summoned. Otherwise, I will commit suicide imdiately, without any delay.”
“…”
The Saintess looked into my eyes. For a mont. Perhaps eternity. Or maybe while looking at herself through my eyes. Pupil reflected in pupil.
Thud.
The axe the Saintess released fell into the pile of snow. Snowflakes continued to fall from the sky. They settled on the thousands, tens of thousands of footprints left on the ground.
Ti passed.
“It has stopped.”
The Saintess expressed it as “it has stopped.”
Suddenly, I felt an unbearable emotion. In the twisted flow of ti, both she and I were kin.
Commonly, those who have lived in familiar spaces were called natives, while those who lived in unfamiliar spaces were called foreigners. Then what about ti? To ordinary people, aren’t both of us just strangers with no place to belong?
Snow fell. I thought of this place as an isolated place, a world forsaken by everyone.
Coincidentally, banishnt originally stemd from returning to one’s hotown. Returning to one’s hotown had beco a form of punishnt at so point.
In that case, the void of this world might truly be the hotown of both of us.
“…Very well. Since the Saintess doesn’t wish for my death, and I also don’t wish for the death of the Saintess, we should be able to have a conversation.”
“Agreed.”
The distance between us was about 6 ters.
“Then let’s first confirm each other’s demands. I hope the Saintess won’t oppress my freedom.”
“…I, likewise, hope that. I hope that Doctor Jang won’t obstruct my execution.”
The Saintess spoke up.
“If we regress once again and the 108th world begins, Doctor Jang will undoubtedly try to prevent from becoming ‘like this.'”
“…”
“You wouldn’t want to beco a murderer. You’d always want to be placed in a position where I have done nothing wrong. But this is a conclusion I’ve reached, that I will inflict pain on those who have committed sins, even if I have to do it myself.”
“So you tried to subdue ?”
“Yes. I intended to detain Doctor Jang until I found a way to specifically erase certain mories. The world is vast, and there are many Awakeneds, so there must be abilities to control mories sowhere. In the worst-case scenario, I could rely on Koyori.”
Koyori is not an option.
“By the way, you ntioned earlier that you called Koyori. Is that person on their way here?”
“That was a lie.”
The Saintess said casually, with an expressionless face.
“It was also a lie that I called other Awakeneds in the na of the Constellations. It was a tactic to make Doctor Jang impatient and make a mistake. No one else except us will co here.”
“…I see.”
Unbelievable. It was a complete bluff. I couldn’t afford to let my guard down around this person.
I took a deep breath. Then, sheathing my sword, I said,
“Saintess, I will never hide the fact that you have reached the conclusion of punishing wrongdoers yourself, no matter how many regressions we go through, even in the next run or the one after that.”
“…”
“I promise. So please ease your anxieties, Saintess.”
“…”
“Even if you were to set the world on fire, I am on your side.”
Silence fell.
With each landing of snowflakes on the Saintess’s shoulders, there was a faint, almost imperceptible sound of glass cracking. Amidst the quiet, only the sound of snow falling and glass shattering softly echoed.
“It’s lantable.”
Amidst the white and transparent sounds, the Saintess’s voice seeped in like a shadow.
“The fact that this mory, this conversation, will be completely forgotten by in the next run. That all the mories of the past 16 years spent with you will lt away like snow.”
“…I will rember.”
“Yes.”
The Saintess lowered her eyes subtly.
“And that makes it even more poignant.”
“…”
“I’m sorry. It must be sadder for you than for . But I couldn’t bear it any longer. The possibility that all the events, mories, and the aning of soone’s death might disappear. …The fact that all of this has to be entrusted to one person’s shoulders.”
“It’s okay. I can handle it. Because you’re here too.”
Snow fell.
With the sound of glass shattering, the Saintess’s lips parted.
“When an Awakened’s ability reaches its peak, it’s hardly distinguishable from a monster.”
This was the first in my regressions.
And also the first ti in human history that the phenonon of ‘corruption’ was identified through one person’s mouth.
“Pardon?”
“At so point, even in a frozen world, I beca able to move freely. Not only my own voice, but also all the sounds I rember, can now be replayed telepathically.”
The Saintess was utterly serious. She assembled her words at a pace calm enough for to follow.
“At first, I just thought my abilities had evolved. It was a natural inference. But as ti went on, another hypothesis, another possibility, began to circulate in my mind.”
“What possibility?”
“That I’m not growing, but rather, I’m losing myself ― that’s the hypothesis.”
The Saintess’s eyes narrowed.
“Originally, telepathy only transmitted ‘my’ voice. But what if I transcend my own physical body? What if I gradually beco less human? In that case, couldn’t I replay not only the nurturing of a human, but also countless other sounds?”
“Uh… logically possible. But still, could the phenonon you ntioned simply be interpreted as the expansion of the Saintess’s scope, the breadth of the self?”
“Yes. But they’re not so different.”
The Saintess nodded slightly.
“…It’s very difficult to explain this feeling to soone else. But there are symptoms that are too distinct to simply dismiss as psychological anxiety.”
“Symptoms?”
“Invisible aura.”
Why was it? The mont those words flowed from the Saintess’s lips, I too was seized by a sense of foreboding.
A sensation as if an invisible tongue licked from my throat down to my pelvis—licking my spine.
The Saintess was staring straight at .
“The aura Awakeneds manifest co in all sorts of colors. You interpreted mine as ‘having a transparent color’ because there was no color in my aura.”
“…That’s correct.”
“But what if it wasn’t an aura?”
The Saintess murmured, probably pondering over a problem she herself had endlessly agonized over within the frozen ti.
“Like producing effects similar to an aura enhancent, but not actually an aura. Doctor Jang must have witnessed countless phenona like that.”
“Monstrosities…?”
“Yes. Monsters.”
The Ten Clans don’t use aura.
They just have bodies that seem enhanced by aura from birth.
My heart raced. The sound of the Saintess’s entire body making a faint noise, like a shuffling, matched my heartbeat endlessly.
“I’m gradually being eroded by emptiness.”
“…”
“That’s not all.”
Thunk.
The Saintess flicked her finger.
At that mont, my perspective flipped.
“…?”
No, to be precise, it wasn’t flipped.
It was as if I was experiencing astral projection ― seeing my own body from above.
My first-person view had switched to a third-person perspective.
“Saintess?”
My lips moved. I saw the sight of my own lips moving.
It was a very strange sensation.
[Translator – Jjsecus]
[Proofreader – Gun]
I saw my own back. If I were to do strength training in this state, I could strike the weight with unparalleled precision. But the third-person perspective world didn’t just offer advantages like that.
“What on earth…?”
Sense of buoyancy.
Ultimately, a person’s ego clings to their body.
The physical body is the most direct objectivity. If the body loses its imdiacy and is placed ‘alongside’ other objects, rely becoming one among many, then the person’s ego is adrift like waves on an endless sea, having lost its anchor.
“That’s the world I see, Doctor Jang.”
Crunch.
The Saintess approached , stepping on the snow. I was helpless, like a newborn baby who hadn’t yet learned how to control its body.
“In the past, I only experienced that perspective when using Thousand Mile Vision. But as I got used to it… now I’ve reached a point where I can’t distinguish between my own perspective and the third-person perspective.”
The Saintess grasped my hand.
The sensation of her cold hand on the snow was vivid. But sohow, that sensation felt ‘distant’.
Should I express it as tactile sensations feeling like colors? Despite sensations being sothing felt closest to the skin, there was a sense of distance.
The sensation the Saintess described was difficult to explain to others.
It was eerie.
It was strange.
Uncanny.
“I think I’ve already beco about half eerie.”
“…When Doctor Jang found out my secret, I thought it was a big problem. But looking back now, I’m relieved it was discovered. If a little more ti had passed… I might have lost even the most important part of myself.”
The Saintess whispered in front of from afar.
The Saintess gathered the remaining warmth in her hands and enveloped my hand.
“If it had co to that point, I might have been able to freeze ti to prevent Doctor Jang’s regression. No. Not ‘might.’ I’m certain.”
“….”
“Losing my color, losing my perspective, losing my form, losing ti, just becoming sothing that rely observes everything. That’s the uncanny.”
Steam escaped from the Saintess’s mouth. A thread of human warmth rose in the midst of the snow-covered world.
“Rember, Doctor Jang. This fight, this challenge to save the world, is not an infinite ga. The opportunities for challenge are infinite, but once you enter the stage, there’s a ‘ti limit’.”
“Ti limit…”
“That ti limit is probably 15 to 20 years. Beyond Awakeneds getting accustod to their abilities, once they beco so consud by their abilities that they devour themselves, they’ll beco eerie like . Do you understand? An Awakened’s ability is not a pure blessing. It’s a double-edged sword.”
Crunch-
From sowhere, near or perhaps far away, the sound of glass shattering echoed.
It wasn’t until now that I realized it might not be glass at all, but so sort of barrier surrounding the Saintess, an invisible barrier.
“This ti, Doctor Jang, you focused on my growth, which ultimately led to becoming like this the fastest… But I don’t know what will happen in other runs. My intuition tells that the more powerful an Awakened is, the more dangerous they beco. For example… Tang Seorin from the Three Thousand Worlds is likely no exception.”
“20 years. Before 15 years pass, you must restore the world to its original state. Please rember, Doctor Jang. The ti limit…”
The sound of glass breaking beca clearer and clearer.
I understood the Saintess’s intention. That’s why I pulled her hand and embraced her. It was quite difficult to control the body from a third-person perspective, so I might have applied too much force.
The Saintess’s eyes widened.
“…Ah.”
“So, you intend to kill . To ensure the regression happens before you completely transform yourself. But that’s just greed to shoulder the burden alone.”
A small exhale and laughter was heard.
“You really know well, Doctor Jang.”
“Let’s go together.”
“…Yes.”
“I may not have said it, but I’ve actually lost my mind control. During the third run, I’ve traveled around the country and even worked as a convenience store owner.”
“A convenience store owner?”
“Yes. Even the Saintess needs to learn to let go a bit.”
I summoned my aura throughout my body.
As the glass barrier continued to crack and break, the sound intensified.
Crackle- crackle.
As my aura enveloped the two, countless cracks reverberated.
The snow fell. The glass shattered. Even as the snow continued to fall, the two shadows etched on the white snow remained untouched.
“…It’s warm.”
The Saintess closed her eyes.
“Why do people… hurt each other… when we’re all just… human.”
Crackle.
The world fell silent as the snow stopped.
That was the Saintess’s testant.
8
There is an epilogue.
This epilogue isn’t limited to a specific run.
In the 109th, 110th, and 111th runs… this scene was inevitably reproduced in the runs where I ford an alliance with the Saintess.
“That’s what happened.”
“…”
After listening to my story, the Saintess remained silent, occasionally rubbing her chin in thought. Sotis, she tilted her head as if lost in deep contemplation.
“It doesn’t feel like my story, even though it is mine.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
The Saintess looked at my face with a very serious expression.
“You’ve been diligently exploring the outside world, but it doesn’t suit you.”
“…I see.”
Was it really like that?
The Saintess stood up and gestured to the aquarium.
The fish she had carefully collected before the world beca like this quickly gathered at her command. Red, white, yellow, blue… Various creatures swam in the water.
“It’s difficult to understand punishing villains anonymously. Using one’s own position to instill fear in people is effective, but it’s the mindset of soone who doesn’t trust others. If she had been as sincere as she was thorough in exploring, wouldn’t it have been better to publicly announce her existence, her abilities, and even govern the world herself?”
“Um. Maybe she wasn’t that diligent?”
“Exactly. She was diocre. Choosing seclusion to avoid diocrity.”
The tip of the Saintess’s finger gently brushed the surface of the water.
For the fish, the boundary of the world, the barrier of this world, was slightly disturbed. The Saintess seed to enjoy the sensation.
“Above all, in the 107th run, I described it as if Awakeneds automatically fall into corruption as their abilities develop. But that’s a flawed analysis. There’s clear evidence against it.”
“Evidence?”
“Doctor Jang.”
The Saintess spoke.
“You’ve regressed countless tis already and continuously developed your abilities. If my theory were correct, you would have experienced corruption sooner than anyone else. But seeing that such a phenonon hasn’t occurred to you, the likelihood is that corruption is simply a ntal issue.”
Simply a ntal issue.
She was still strict with herself.
“But I understand the aning behind the final testant.”
“What aning is that?”
“The fact that humans kill each other. Even though they’re human. It’s always a painful truth. And…”
“And?”
“…”
The Saintess glanced back discreetly.
I blinked.
Like a crab clicking its pincers against the glass in the aquarium.
Then, sothing truly rare happened.
The Saintess gave a faint smile.
“It’s a secret.”
– The Forr Watcher. The End.
[Translator – Jjsecus]
[Proofreader – Gun]
Reviews
All reviews (0)