**"Aaaaah."**
The light envelops her entire body. At the same time, changes begin. The link connects to something, and the energy she possesses transforms.
**"Ugh!"**
She grabs her head in pain.
**'What, what is this?'**
Her head feels like it’s going to split open. It was a headache she had never experienced before.
Desperately trying to keep her mind focused, she tried to endure.
But it was impossible.
This was not a simple headache or mental pressure. It was on a completely different level.
**"Ah, aaaah!"**
A voice escapes from her lips. Amid the headache, something flows into her mind.
It was a memory.
**'...Me?'**
She forgets the pain and opens her eyes wide.
It was undoubtedly her.
But it was a version of herself she didn’t know.
The memories begin to stack up like bricks, piece by piece, from the very beginning.
**"Ah."**
Lee Taeyeon flinches, her body trembling.
In her memories, she is descending into the Labyrinth.
She didn’t receive Taesan’s help, nor did she rely on anyone. She simply moved forward, alone.
Crying in fear, struggling to resist giving up, but she never stopped.
She watched that version of herself in a trance.
It was beautiful.
Even though it was herself, she couldn’t hold back her surprise.
The memories accumulated, and the more they did, the closer the version of herself in the memories came to the present version.
And after the memories ended...
She became one.
**"Ah... Ah."**
Her voice settles.
Lee Taeyeon takes a deep breath. Taesan furrows his brow.
**"You."**
Lee Taeyeon’s aura is different. It’s no longer the sensation of the Lee Taeyeon he knew.
And Taesan had felt this same aura from her in a past life.
**"...Hello, Taesan."**
Lee Taeyeon smiles, her expression cold, like a mask.
**"It’s been a while."**
When Taesan saw that smile, he was certain.
**"You... Lee Taeyeon?"**
She was Lee Taeyeon. It was such a simple question.
But Taesan’s question carried a deeper meaning.
Lee Taeyeon slowly affirms.
**"Yes."**
**"...."**
Taesan frowns.
When he handed Lee Taeyeon the flower ornament from Maria, it suddenly seeped into her. Then Lee Taeyeon regained her past life’s memories.
He couldn’t understand how this had happened. Finding the answer wasn’t easy.
Then came the sound of laughter.
A small laugh, reverberating in the air. It was Maria. Lee Taeyeon quietly prepared herself.
**"It’s been a while, huh?"**
**[Yes, child.]**
Maria says with a laugh, her voice warm, as though she knew Lee Taeyeon well.
Taesan watches Lee Taeyeon silently. Lee Taeyeon presses her forehead.
**"You must have a lot of questions... but sorry. My memories are jumbled, and I haven’t sorted them out properly. Can you give me some time?"**
There was no reason to refuse, so Taesan agreed. Lee Taeyeon sat down for a moment, lost in thought.
Left alone, Taesan speaks.
**"Maria. You... what are you doing with her?"**
**[What do you think?]**
Maria laughs, sounding quite pleased, as if waiting for this day.
**[I think you should hear the answer from her directly.]**
Taesan shuts his mouth.
---
An hour later, Lee Taeyeon approaches him.
She looks much more composed than before, her face calmer.
**"You succeeded."**
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
Her first words upon seeing Taesan were those.
There was admiration, awe, and, somehow, a sense of inevitability.
**"You defeated the Apostle. Just six returns... it’s incredible."**
**"I got stronger."**
**"Yeah. You got stronger. I knew you were the right choice. My choice wasn’t wrong."**
Lee Taeyeon murmurs, a look of relief crossing her face as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
**"You."**
Taesan frowns.
The Lee Taeyeon he met during the Trial of the God of Despair had been very different from the one he was seeing now. He knew she had been thinking and planning something in secret.
But to regain her past life’s memories? He didn’t expect that.
---
Taesan had come to the conclusion that she had made a contract with a god. She had a link to the gods, a contract that allowed her to temporarily escape the flow of time.
But, she nodded, confirming Taesan’s assumption.
**"Yes. I’m the God of Choice. I made a contract with Maria."**
**"But you died."**
Taesan had clearly seen her corpse. Lee Taeyeon smiled wryly and spoke.
**"Where should I start?"**
She slowly explains.
She had known from the beginning that she couldn’t win. She had always struggled with the decision to use Ouroboros’ gem to reverse time.
But in the end, she couldn’t come to a conclusion.
At the end, she returned to the city to hand the gem to Taesan, but collapsed.
**"So that’s why you were in the city."**
Taesan had been puzzled by this. Why had she, who had been fighting away from the city to avoid causing damage, ended up dying in the city?
It was all to give Taesan the gem.
She died there.
And her soul, with the power of the item Maria had given her, was summoned into Maria’s domain.
There, she accepted Maria’s offer.
**"So the flower ornament you gave me was for this purpose?"**
**[Hmm, perhaps.]**
Maria answers in a playful tone. That was enough of an answer.
**[I like fair choices. Moving forward in crises and hardships, without lies, overcoming them with power and strategy. But I also don’t dislike choices full of doubt.]**
**Doubtful choices.**
It was clear she was referring to Lee Taeyeon.
**[Inner turmoil. Self-loathing and fear. And self-denial... She hides many emotions, and still moves forward. Proudly, for others. That is noble sacrifice in itself. In this world, especially for someone like her, it’s not easy to sacrifice one’s own life for others.]**
**"No."**
Lee Taeyeon denies Maria’s words.
**"I was just... afraid of going back down into the Labyrinth. It wasn’t such a noble choice."**
She speaks in a bitter tone. Maria only smiles quietly, saying no more.
**[That’s what you think. Either way, I liked you. That’s why I made the offer.]**
**"I truly appreciate it. Thanks to you... I can see you again."**
Lee Taeyeon looks at Taesan.
Her gaze is full of emotion.
**"How should I call you now?"**
**"Just call me Lee Taeyeon. With Maria’s help, I regained my past life’s memories, but my present life’s memories are intact. If I were to say, they’ve merged."**
The Lee Taeyeon of her past life had always worn a mask, acting. In this life, she was weak but didn’t back down and had confidence in herself.
Now, she was somewhere in between.
Lee Taeyeon lowers her head, her face gloomy.
**"I’m sorry, Taesan. In the end, I passed the responsibility onto you."**
She was the player who had cleared the Demon Lord mode.
She had been responsible for everyone.
But in the end, she had passed on the responsibility and sought rest.
**"You can blame me or despise me. I’ll bear it."**
**"I don’t think so."**
Taesan said calmly.
**"I never thought I’d have to say this."**
Taesan comforted the Lee Taeyeon he had met in the Trial of the God of Despair.
But that had been a fake, made of memories, for his own satisfaction.
Now, the real Lee Taeyeon stood before him.
Then, there was something he had to say.
**"I’m sorry, but I already knew what you were thinking and what mask you were wearing in your past life."**
**"Huh?"**
**"You did well. You held it together, not breaking even under pressure, and supported us. We survived until the end because you were there."**
Lee Taeyeon’s eyes widen.
Taesan finishes his words.
**"You’ve done well, Lee Taeyeon."**
**"...Thank you."**
She lowers her head, her voice heavy with emotion.
---
After hearing Taesan’s words, Lee Taeyeon’s face softened.
She talked to Taesan for a long time. She vented her frustrations, saying many things, and Taesan listened quietly.
It was a joy for Taesan to see Lee Taeyeon regain her past life’s memories. It meant he wasn’t the only one who remembered those forgotten times.
Lee Taeyeon waved to the ghost.
**"Goodbye?"**
**[Yeah. What kind of guy was I when you met me?]**
**"I don’t know. I never met you. I was just scared and passed by."**
**[...Really? A first for me. Well, you’ve reached higher ground than me, so I can’t complain.]**
The ghost chuckled.
Taesan was about to ask her about the next floors, but Lee Taeyeon shook her head.
**"Sorry, but I can’t answer that. Since I made a contract with the Apostle, I can’t influence the present with my knowledge."**
Maria liked to see adventurers challenge the Labyrinth. She couldn’t let Lee Taeyeon, with her cheat, simply go unpunished.
Though Taesan wasn’t surprised, he didn’t react much to that.
**"You made a contract with Maria, didn’t you? Does that mean you’re now a god’s apostle?"**
**[No, I’m not.]**
Maria suddenly interjected. Lee Taeyeon looked surprised as Maria spoke.
**[The flow of time is not that simple. The contract I offered her is something that will happen in the future, from now. So, right now, she’s regained her memories, but her power hasn’t changed.]**
**"So she can’t gain power until that time comes?"**
**[Something like that. Transcendents aren’t affected by the flow of time. But they can’t escape it either. Technically, the first contract I offered was to you, Taesan.]**
**"Hmm."**
Lee Taeyeon tilted her head in confusion. It was difficult for her, a mortal, to understand.
**[It’s not that important, but it’s better for you to know.]**
With a soft voice, Maria disappears again.
---
**"I don’t know the details, but... it’s as Maria said. My power hasn’t changed."**
**"But you still have your past life’s memories."**
Even if she couldn’t speak about it, the knowledge she had was a great power in itself.
Taesan asks her.
**"What will you do from now on?"**
**"I don’t know."**
She stares at her hands in a daze.
**"Taesan. The reason I gave you the Ouroboros stone... was partly to save the world, but also because of my own problem."**
She confesses, like a soul-searching confession.
**"I was so afraid of going back into the Labyrinth."**
To risk her life, to fight through it alone again.
She could not make that choice.
But now, she was different. Lee Taeyeon clenched her fists.
**"I’ve gotten stronger."**
It wasn’t physical strength. It was mental strength.
**"Honestly, I’m surprised. I didn’t think I could go back into the Labyrinth like this."**
In her past life, Lee Taeyeon had given up many things, used shortcuts to clear the Labyrinth.
But in this life, even with Taesan’s help, she was breaking through the Labyrinth proudly, head-on.
Her past self had never realized her own potential.
**"And I’m not alone."**
She looked at Taesan.
The only person who remembered the ruined world. A companion who had fought against destruction through countless years.
Now, she didn’t need to suffer alone or worry. She didn’t need to wear a mask anymore. She could move forward with Taesan.
That, for her, was salvation.
**"You’ve done enough. I’ll do what I can. I won’t go down the same way as I did in my past life."**
Her quiet voice carried a deep determination.
Having finished most of the conversation, Taesan and Lee Taeyeon descended from the heavens. A puzzled Kang Junhyuk greeted them.
**"Sis. You’ve changed a lot. What happened?"**
It wasn’t just her expression or tone; even her combat style had changed. Lee Taeyeon answered.
**"Something happened."**
Taesan watched her movements.
The movements of her past and present life were intertwined.
It was still a little awkward, but it was her own strength.
The next time they meet, many things would have changed.
---
And thus, the return time came. People gathered and waited for their return.
**[The Labyrinth's mage and manager are probably going to have a headache once you return.]**
Maria speaks to Taesan as he waits for his return. Her voice is only heard by him.
**[You’ve reached the position of Immortal. That’s a sort of destination. The Labyrinth's system never expected an adventurer to become an Immortal in the 70th floor range. Fabbamaba is going to have a real headache.]**
Maria laughs.
**[Child, don’t you think it’s strange?]**
**"What do you mean?"**
**[Only transcendents, those with their own realm, are unaffected by the flow of time. They don’t experience time’s influence because their realm doesn’t allow it. In other words, even if you’re an Immortal, you can’t resist the flow of time.]**
Maria’s words confirm that only transcendents aren’t affected by time’s flow.
**[But the power you have is unaffected by time, even if it turns back.]**
Taesan’s skill remained his even when time reversed.
**[You haven’t reached transcendence yet. You don’t have your own realm. But your power isn’t affected by the flow of time.]**
It was a paradox.
**[And that power can even steal the power of Immortals and Gods.]**
Taesan wasn’t a transcendent.
But he wasn’t affected by time.
He was stealing the powers of Gods that defied the world’s laws.
It was power that defied Maria’s understanding.
**[Where will the end of the path you walk lead? I’m curious.]**
With those words, Maria disappears.
People began to gather, ready for their return. Lee Taeyeon gave a small nod to Taesan.
**"See you next time."**
**"Yeah."**
Taesan replied.
With that, he returned to the Labyrinth.
**[Monster Position Bonus + 1,443]**
**[Apostle Position Bonus + 3,121]**
**[Victory Bonus + 775]**
---
**[Settlement complete]**
**[You receive 5,876 points.]**