Chapter 140: The Late Life (2)
The room was silent.
“W-what...”
No one was around except the three of us. We were close to the prohibited area that the Indoor Librarian had previously mentioned. Therefore, the Indoor Librarian was groaning even louder than usual. He covered his mouth with his sleeves.
“How cruel of you. Death King, do you know the gravity of your proposition? The Constellation Murderer died at a school in that world. No, that isn’t enough to describe what he went through. That world abandoned the Constellation Murderer and left him to die! You’re asking him to fall into that very world again and regain Kim Yul’s memories. How can you...”
The Indoor Librarian couldn’t finish what he wanted to say not because he was complaining so loudly that his voice went out. I let go of the orphanage director’s hand and grabbed the Indoor Librarian’s wrist instead, revealing his face.
The Indoor Librarian was grinning. “How cruel... is that...?”
“Yes, it’s cruel,” I answered curtly, looking down at him.
The Indoor Librarian’s cheeks turned red. He was already imagining the stage I had proposed.
I said, “But you think this way because of your favoritism. Do you know what is truly cruel? The grassroots and people in the world of the Heavenly Demon Chronicle had to turn into walking corpses because their Constellation died at the hands of the Constellation Murderer. They still don’t know anything about it. What happened to them is true cruelty.”
“Hmm, um. Hmm. Well, you have a point...” The Indoor Librarian’s eyes lit up. “So, are you really planning to make the Constellation Murderer remember everything?”
“If they are memories to be remembered, sure.”
“Are you going to make him apologize to the countless victims of the Heavenly Demon Chronicle? Do you know how many Constellations he has slaughtered so far? Are you going to make him apologize to everyone who lived and died in those worlds?”
“Yes, at least to the people of the worlds I decided to carry.”
“Death King...” The Indoor Librarian’s breathing was ragged. “You have such a beautiful way of talking about the path to hell...”
The Constellation seemed to follow the demon’s rite of forewarning destruction. “Favoritism is completely natural. Ahh, I know the ending of a person who chose a path similar to yours. That is why I feel extremely bad. The... No, revealing this violates the agreement.”
“I’m sorry for interrupting you while you’re enjoying the story to the fullest.” I let go of his wrist and added in a quiet voice, “Open your book already.”
“Gladly.” The Indoor Librarian chuckled, opening The Story of the City of Ascension. “The trauma you dreamed of is nothing more than a world of illusion. It was artificially created and meant to exist for only a limited period of time. Even if you change its ending, it cannot be incorporated into the Tower’s official history. If I had to put a name on it, it’d become a side story. To be honest, I have never enjoyed a delicacy like this before, so I don’t know what the stage will be like.”
Black smoke came out of the book. Yes, it was indeed black. Until now, when an apocalyptic book was opened, only white light leaked out. This time was different. The black smoke rose ominously, like the tentacles of the Void that had swallowed up the trauma.
“Huh? Huuuuh?” The Indoor Librarian was a bit surprised to see that. He noticed something. “This is Zrakua’s shadow... Aha. I see, I see. Even if it’s the Golden Contract, I thought it was too much to manifest trauma into a world, but I see it now! A truly esteemed person directly intervened in this matter. You’re truly favored, Death King. A lot of people would be jealous of you...”
Favoring me? Who?
[The Indoor Librarian attempts to negotiate.]
The Indoor Librarian was muttering as if he was talking to someone else. “Hmm. In that case, it would be difficult for me to be a voyeur this time... That world has already become the owner’s domain. Gosh. Then please at least leave a record in the apocalyptic book after it’s all over.”
The black smoke swirled.
“Good! I’m glad you understand me. You’re really the Constellations’ lovely clown...” The Indoor Librarian smiled, stroking the black smoke as if it were a pet. “Death King, Constellation Murderer, and Death King’s nurturer. The three of you have been selected as new characters in The Story of the City of Ascension: Side Story. Once you open your eyes, you’ll find yourselves in the side story before the serialization unfortunately discontinues. Be careful. Especially you, Death King.”
The Indoor Librarian wrapped his fingers around the black tentacles. “A higher-up has an eye for you.”
“What do you mean?”
“The Tower remembers everything. I can only get a glimpse of your past by reading the book, but the Tower remembers all your past. Naturally, they also remember that you used an expedient to get to the fiftieth floor. Since you broke the Tower’s rules, you should be punished to some extent, so the Tower asks you if you really, truly, trust your nurturer and the Constellation Murderer?”
The black fog tentacle crawled around the Indoor Librarian’s fingers.
“Do you trust that your nurturer will not crumble down with guilt? The Constellation Murderer may be so obsessed with revenge that he may not even forgive your nurturer. Perhaps no one will be able to forgive or be forgiven.”
The Indoor Librarian glanced at the Constellation Murderer and the director.
“Do you believe that those two can reach a different ending than the official story?”
It was an ominous question, but I already had an answer to that question.
“Sorry, Class President.”
I remembered Kim Yul and the class president together on the rooftop.
“I didn’t mean to hurt people like you.”
The Kim Yul I saw was a very strong individual. Even in the hell of animals, he took care of them on the farm.
“There was one person. I thought there was no one.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt someone like you.”
Kim Yul, who used to be classmates with the director, was incredibly stronger as a human being than the Constellation Murderer, who had killed countless Constellations. The director was also strong for continuing to live in a world without Kim Yul.
“Yes, I do.”
The two ended up plagued by despair because they had met each other too late. I believed in the moment they shared on the rooftop that day. That moment encapsulated their true feelings. Not all illusions were false.
I repeated, “I believe in two humans.”
“Poor animals.” The Indoor Librarian smiled. The fog wrapped around his fingers melted.
Swiiish!
The fog spread quickly, engulfing the Constellation Murderer, the director, and me.
Just before the world around me turned pitch black, I saw the Indoor Librarian’s smile.
“If so, prove it. However, you won’t be the one doing that.”
The world turned black. I heard a voice.
[Imposing strong penalties on you.]
[You will be deployed to the world a year earlier than the other challengers.]
[Your character immersion is strong from the start.]
[Your immersion level is 95%.]
The nightmare began.
***
Penalties. The immersion level is ninety-five percent from the start...
I took action as soon as I opened my eyes.
I have no time to hesitate. None. Soon, my immersion level will hit one hundred percent. I should finish all preparations before then.
It was easy to complain about being given such cruel penalties, like how I was the only one who ended up in this world a year early, but nothing would change if I did. I couldn’t waste the precious time I had on resentment and anger.
This is about forcing the Constellation Murderer to get his life back, the life he threw away.
It meant I should also be prepared to receive unwanted disgusting memories, even if they were the perpetrator's.
Simply returning Kim Yul’s past to the Constellation Murderer isn’t enough. Kim Yul should want to keep on living. The director will figure things out by himself, but...
I remained calm while planning things out.
... he can’t do it on his own. Yes, right now, he’s just an ordinary high school student. What a single high school student can do on his own is very limited.
Before the perpetrator completely consumed me, I had to do what I could.
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Revenge. I have to help the director and Kim Yul get revenge on those scummy animals.
Time to move.
[Your immersion level is 95%.]
After I witnessed the end of this trauma, I was left with some regrets. I could have done a little better, but I didn’t.
Maybe it was because I had been too flustered. Even though I had possessed the perpetrator for a long time, I missed out on the things I could do with my role.
I have to leave evidence of bullying.
Creating physical evidence was something only I could do.
“Everyone, attention. Good morning, Teacher.”
I was in a classroom. It seemed the director was the class president even in his first year of high school. Perhaps he remained class president for the rest of his high school years. However, I no longer saw the Black Witch in this role, but a young version of the director.
One year left.
Unlike me, the director and the Constellation Murderer hadn’t arrived in this world yet.
Kim Yul was also in the same classroom, already exiled to the window seat in the last row. What was supposed to be the best spot in a classroom had become an off-limit area of some sort because it was easy to harass him in secret.
When the teacher turned toward the blackboard, the students gathered eraser powder and turned it into small balls, into which they inserted pieces of mechanical pencil leads. They looked like crouching hedgehogs. They then secretly threw the thorny pencil lead balls at Kim Yul.
“Ha.”
“Hehe...”
Kim Yul flinched every time he got hit. He tried his best to ignore it, but his nape turned red after being hit by those balls multiple times. The young bullies had many different ways to enjoy inflicting pain onto him.
I have one year left.
I held back.
I’m in the past. This happened decades ago.
Society back then was worse than when I was young. Much worse.
To prove that bullying happened, I need physical evidence. If it’s seen as a one-off incident, the perpetrators will only get a slap on the wrist. I had to prove that the bullying had been secretly carried out with utter malice for a long time.
There was only one way to screw over the cruel bullies—it was to become as malicious as them.
“Hey, guys. Look here.”
“Huh?”
Snap!
I took pictures of the students throwing those balls at Kim Yul. The photos from this era weren’t great at taking pictures, so I bought a digital camera and a camcorder to take pictures and videos.
“Uhm, Sunbae...” One of the middle school hoobaes looked worried. It was the person who had been the Moonlight Demon King of the Four Demon Kings in the trauma last time. “Is it okay to film this?”
“Don’t worry. I’m only going to share it with a few people and then delete it. Hey, the video is getting repetitive, so introduce yourself.” I gestured at him with my chin.
“What? Uh, my name is...”
I recorded the bullying that occurred every single day. There was no end to the misdeeds committed by me and the people around me. Smoking was actually one of the cuter misdemeanors. Not only did I bully Kim Yul, but I also harassed other students from time to time and even enjoyed bullying one middle school student.
Crazy bastards.
How was any of this normal? Did this happen in other schools as well? If so, did it mean that something like this was happening in every school in this world? Then why on earth was no one doing anything to put an end to it? Why did everyone keep quiet about this? How could they do something like this?
Kim Yul was sprawled on the floor. He looked up at me. My gang and I attacked him while he was taking care of rabbits and chickens on the farm behind the school. We laughed at him for taking care of the animals, calling him tacky.
“I was wondering what that smell was. It’s animal poop.”
“Why are you raising chickens? Are you trying to eat their eggs? I can buy some off of you, you know.”
Kim Yul didn’t say a word in response. He just stared at me while I was recording everything with the camcorder. The small screen of the camcorder reflected his pitch-black eyes.
[Your immersion level is 95%.]
[Your immersion level is 96%.]
[Your immersion level is 97%.]
Hellish records piled up day after day.
It’s dangerous now.
I felt my limit after eleven months.
My immersion level can hit ninety nine percent at any moment.
My mind was already in shambles. At some point, I didn’t feel angry or guilty as I filmed while Kim Yul was getting assaulted. Instead, I felt a subtle sneer taking over my face and instantaneous pleasure.
My job here is done.
I lifted the cardboard box. 103 voice recordings, 311 videos, and 30,790 photos. My and Kim Yul’s cell phones contained the incriminating text messages. All the voice recordings, videos, and photos had the exact date and location.
No one would be able to deny this evidence. There was no way one could slip away by lying or saying stuff like “I regret my past mistakes” or “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
Director.
I put the box down in front of the house where the director’s family lived. When he was young, the director used to live in a small apartment.
I rang the doorbell and hid. The director came out.
“Huh?” The director, who hadn’t yet been possessed, looked around. “Who is it? Who—”
He paused when he saw the box. Attached to the top of the box was the A4 paper I had printed.
—I’m sending you all the evidence of bullying. You can decide how to use it. If you choose to take action, please do so after thirty days.
The director was cautious even when he was young. Instead of bringing the box inside right away, he brought a box cutter and unsealed it. As he slowly checked the contents, his face turned more and more serious. He looked around again. Without letting down his guard, he took the box inside, quietly and carefully.
Thump.
The door closed. I could finally be at ease.
Ahhh. I did it. I held on. I heaved a sigh of relief since arriving in this world. It’s done. I held on. I did everything I could.
On the way back home. I looked up at the dark night sky.
I did all I could, but could I have done something more? Was there a better way? Will the days ahead be worth more than the violence I could have stopped over the past eleven months?
[Your immersion level is 98%.]
I lay down on the bed.
I don’t know. I don’t know, but I didn’t give up just because I didn’t know. Yes, I made the right choice. If there is anyone who can or has the right to change the ending of this story, those people are Kim Yul and the director. I should leave everything to them. This isn’t my story to tell...
[Your immersion level is 99%.]
I clasped my hands together like I was praying.
The wicked should just disappear. The role given to me in this world is just to wait.
I closed my eyes.
I’ll wait. Kim Yul and Director...
[Your immersion level is 100%.]