"The odds of victory are uncertain." I imdiately understood the aning behind those words.
'So there is a chance of winning, after all.'
She said it would take
40 years to adapt to the power, but before that, even if I were to fight The Fox That Devours the World, it's not that victory was impossible.
"Didn't you say it would take
40 years to accept this power? How is it that I can fight The Fox That Devours the World before the world is destroyed?"
"You will just have to bear the price."
Ramisa responded calmly to my question.
"Price?"
"Yes. To settle the power quickly, you must bear the corresponding cost. What is it that you desire?"
"To save the world and take revenge."
At this mont, these were the two things I most wanted.
There might be more I wanted later, but for now, these two could represent my desires.
"Revenge, huh. Well, there is a way. If you keep the circumstances of your revenge constantly in mind, vividly recalling the events, I think you could adapt within five years."
"Five years?"
Five years seed like a feasible ti fra. Given that I was currently 10 years old, even with five years passing, I would only be 15.
"Ti here and in the world I was born into is the sa, right?"
I asked again, just to be sure, and Ramisa nodded.
"Yes. The ti flows the sa in both places."
"Alright. So if I return, it would be about five years. That’s not bad."
Five years didn’t seem so bad. Ten years might be too long, but five years would give
plenty of opportunities.
"I see."
"Yeah. But, is it alright for you to explain all this in detail?"
I was genuinely curious. She didn’t want
to clash with The Fox That Devours the World, yet she was still giving
all the information.
"Since I’ve decided to consider you as an ally, I’m simply being honest and providing all the details."
Though she spoke in a blunt tone, I nodded in response to her words.
"I see."
Ramisa, despite her stunning beauty with black hair and golden eyes, strangely seed quite simple-minded at tis. As I looked at her expressionless face, I thought about her nature.
'Completely indifferent to humans. Though her nature isn’t inherently bad, this is how she has consud worlds.'
Surprisingly, Ramisa’s true nature wasn’t evil. Once she acknowledged soone as an equal, she would converse with them respectfully and sincerely. She was diligent and considerate.
However, she was an outsider. Her essence of seeing most humans as worthless hadn’t changed, and I was the only one she treated as special.
'She fears Yoo-cheon, but I guess she expects to be protected through .'
Thinking about her opposition to
fighting The Fox That Devours the World, I began to doubt whether she would really grant
the power I sought.
"What will you do if I insist that I must stop The Fox That Devours the World?"
"If that happens, I will try to persuade you again."
"What if I still refuse?"
"Then I’ll try to request it again. But if you continuously refuse, I’ll have no choice but to respect your opinion and follow it."
I was surprised at how readily she would yield to .
"Is that alright?"
"What else can I do? Without your help, I cannot proceed. And you did say you’d bear the price."
When Ramisa ntioned the price I had agreed to bear, I realized what she was referring to.
"If I can’t endure the pain… then I would have no choice but to give up and choose to spend 40 years here. But if I can withstand it… then it ans my resolve is strong enough, and you won’t be able to stop ."
In other words, she still wanted to see my resolve. Perhaps, she thought there was a high chance I wouldn’t be able to endure the pain.
"Then there’s no need to drag this out. Start right now."
"Now?"
"Yes. I need to get stronger as soon as possible."
"...Understood. But you must be careful, as this is the price you are paying. If you abandon it, the power you’ve gained will disappear."
"Really?"
"Yes. You will need to endure the price for at least 15 years for the power to settle within you. Until then, you cannot erase the pain through thods like forgetting."
In other words, if I gave up halfway, all the power I had gained would be lost.
"Understood. I’m ready, so start."
"Alright."
As soon as Ramisa finished speaking, I imdiately felt the change happening inside .
The ti when Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung had discriminated against
felt as vivid as if it had just happened. Similarly, the mont when Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung sold
to the villain So Kang-seok felt like it was happening right then.
Soon, a surge of emotions filled —cursing my parents who sold
while I was tortured by the villains. The pain I endured in those monts felt as fresh as if it was happening now.
Anger, hatred, resentnt, and pain.
Everything felt so vivid, gnawing away at my mind quickly.
"Ugh!"
My thirst for revenge against Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung intensified. The resentnt I held for the villains who tortured
under the guise of experints and then threw
into the rift also surged.
'I won't forgive them!'
My vengeance, boiling over, caused
to grit my teeth. It was terribly painful to continuously feel all this so vividly, but at the sa ti, it beca a stimulus.
My desire for revenge only grew firr and stronger.
Right now, my state… was just solidifying my resolve to achieve this vengeance.
That was what I decided. Otherwise, enduring all this would be unbearable.
"......"
After a brief silence, Ramisa asked .
"How do you feel right now?"
"Revenge... I can only think about making my revenge succeed."
Any normal person would have gone insane by now. However, having already experienced hell and filled with the desire for vengeance, I didn’t go mad.
I couldn’t afford to go mad after everything I had suffered.
And my body, continuously nourished by the magic of the rift, kept
in top condition, allowing
to clearly feel everything as I seriously thought about and planned how to carry out my revenge.
Simply killing them all with strength wouldn’t be satisfying. I needed to figure out how to show them hell.
So might look at
now and think I’m going mad in extre pain, but I wasn’t.
I had simply resolved to ensure my revenge and reaffird my determination.
Probably...
"I guess there’s no other way. Then, for the next five years, I’ll depend on you. After that... I’ll still need your help."
And so, Ramisa and I began living together, now certain that I wouldn’t give up.
Her imnse power flowed into my body, and soon, she transford from the beautiful woman into the black serpent, wrapping herself around my neck like a scarf.
Seo-jun, if you want to give up, you can always tell .
"There won’t be such a thing, Ramisa."
Smiling, I gently stroked her body as she offered
the option of giving up.
"I won’t run away. For the sake of revenge… I can endure this. Oh, and I have to save the world too."
The more I recalled the pain I had endured, the more I questioned whether the world was worth saving.
But thinking that I couldn’t beco like Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung, I shook off the temptation and solidified my thoughts.
I thought about the countless people caught in the collapsing world, about how saving them would prove that I was different from Baek Hyung-won and Kim Yoo-jung.
'Revenge, revenge, revenge…'
But in the end, my thoughts again turned toward revenge.
Over the next five years, I had to live every day in intense pain and anger. But I managed to overco it all and successfully settled Ramisa’s power within my body.
Now, considering the price, if I endured for just 10 more years… this power would be fully mine.
'But I can't find Yoo-cheon yet.'
I didn’t know where Seo-mun Yoo-cheon was, and even if I tried to cross dinsions, The Fox That Devours the World was more likely to find
before I could find him.
Until I beca stronger, I had to stay hidden from The Fox That Devours the World.
'I should start moving soon.'
Then, as I stepped outside, I t Seomun Ye-jin, who would beco my wife, for the first ti.
It was truly a miraculous mont.
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