Chapter 236

That answer was the last thing I said before the familiar warning window popped up.

Warning.

Do not damage the indi■iduality.

I’d expected at least this much. When I didn’t add any extra explanation, the warning window naturally disappeared.

Im Haekyung watched me for a long moment, then nodded.

‘I thought they’d at least ask how I was so sure, but I guess not.’

Not that I had an answer I could give even if they did ask.

‘Are you going to try to stop it?’

‘Who knows.... Just because you’re sure, Jehyun, doesn’t mean it actually happens.’

After that, Im Haekyung didn’t bring it up again. And since they weren’t the type to answer no matter how much I asked, I just accepted it.

Im Haekyung seemed totally unfazed even after laying out their past. Considering their past wasn’t known to the public, their response was oddly bland.

‘Or maybe they’re confident they can keep me from leaking it.’

Either way, Im Haekyung was a top-tier mental-type Hunter.

Once we were done talking about their past, Im Haekyung went right back to explaining their plan like nothing had happened.

‘It’ll be hard for me to kill the Dungeon Boss myself. Like I said, the compatibility matches too well... and it’s a mental-type boss, so our abilities are pretty evenly matched. It’s better for other Hunters to attack instead. Even if they’re only A-rank, their abilities are good.’

“.......”

‘But the Hunters right now....’

‘They won’t be in their right minds. And we don’t even know where they are.’

‘Right. Probably. Ah—location doesn’t matter. It’s a space the Dungeon Boss created, so the moment we suppress the Dungeon Boss, it’ll be revealed.’

The way Im Haekyung said it wasn’t exactly “confident,” but it was... a little subtle. More like they were stating an obvious law.

‘So first we pull out the Hunters who aren’t in their right minds... put them to sleep a bit, then use them when we need them. You understand what I’m saying?’

‘I understand, yeah.’

‘But waking up every single A-rank Hunter while dealing with an S-rank Dungeon Boss is hard even for me. If I had to pick which is more important... it’s obviously the latter. Life.’

‘Yes.’

Im Haekyung paused, looked me straight in the eye, and got to the point.

‘Jehyun. Can you do what you did earlier one more time?’

‘What?’

‘Mental Domination.’

Only then did I realize what they were trying to do.

‘You want me to face the Dungeon Boss.... It’ll get really interesting if I die doing that.’

‘All you have to do is buy time. And while you’re at it, you can get a fear experience too.’

‘You’re talking like you want me to go through a haunted house once.’

I’d said it assuming from the start that I couldn’t fully deal with the Dungeon Boss. So they really were just telling me to stall for time.

‘And Jehyun... you don’t seem like you have anything you’re scared of, ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) so won’t you be fine?’

‘I’m scared of plenty.’

‘Ha ha! Hm.... I’m curious what you’d be scared of. Tell me later.’

‘Me... bother?’

‘It feels like it might be similar to me... so I got curious.’

Saying that, Im Haekyung grabbed my shoulders with a strange smile. I already knew what they were afraid of, so I snorted and looked away.

‘I’ll come before you die.’

‘You’re sure I’ll cooperate.’

‘You can’t clear it on your own anyway. You need me. This is a dead end, Jehyun.’

Im Haekyung was right. There was nowhere left to retreat. A dead end.

‘You’ll listen to me, right?’

‘Yeah, well....’

‘Good.’

‘Yeah, I know.’

‘Ha....’

There was some pointless back-and-forth after that, but in the end I got up without resistance to go along with Im Haekyung’s plan.

Like Im Haekyung said, finding where the Dungeon Boss was wasn’t hard.

‘Find the place where the magical power is strongest.’

As expected, Im Haekyung located the Dungeon Boss easily.

‘You’re going alone?’

‘Of course. If I get close, they’ll know right away.’

I guess when your magical power is that strong, you can’t help but sense each other both ways.

So in the end, I had no choice but to leave Im Haekyung behind and walk over alone to get wrecked by the Dungeon Boss.

‘That bastard isn’t going to betray me, right?’

When I arrived, there was a single bizarre pillar standing there.

It was a different shape than the flower I’d seen before, but it looked like this pillar was the main body—and part of the Dungeon Boss.

The massive pillar had a bizarre form, like someone had smeared thick black clay all over it, and it was taller than I could’ve imagined. Like it was holding up this entire space.

Living off fear (S)

Not yet defined.

It must constantly devour to survive.

“Man, there really is all kinds of shit.”

Up close, I could tell for sure. How enormous the magical power flowing through this space was, and what this bastard was doing.

That crushing pressure returned, like my insides were being squeezed. It was because of the ridiculous gap in magical power.

I slowly clenched my fist. The time I could use Im Haekyung’s Skill was limited. Once that time ran out, I’d be dragged straight into fear.

‘Doesn’t matter.’

Was it okay because I still didn’t know what I was afraid of?

Whatever. Either way, there was no time to stall.

Mimic (S) has been activated.

Mental Domination (S) has been activated.

Ironically, the moment I used the Skill, the massive magical power pressing down on my body began to thin out.

“Hey.”

It felt like I was drilling into their overwhelming magical power. Digging into something shapeless—mind—and suppressing it, regulating it. A completely unfamiliar sensation.

But since I’d copied a Skill they used like it was routine, even if it wasn’t perfect, I could at least “mimic” it.

I called again to the bastard who still wouldn’t answer.

“Hey, come out. Let’s talk.”

Then one root wriggled out of the pillar, squirming, and right in front of me it split open into a mouth.

“Yeah, focus on me.”

Gather the magical power that had been scattered in all directions into one place.

There was no way to contact Im Haekyung separately. No way to adjust control on the fly while watching the situation.

‘They’ll handle it.’

One tiny mistake, and it’d be the perfect setup for me to die.

Luckily, the bastard seemed willing to focus on me. I could feel the magical power that had been scattered elsewhere slowly withdrawing. I gathered their mind into one point and focused on the thing in front of me.

“Why fear, of all things?”

I wasn’t curious at all about why it grew its body by feeding on fear in an empty place. I only asked to pull its attention away.

The huge mouth in front of me opened and closed on its own, repeating, then spat out words.

-Easy... is... best....

Yeah. Stirring fear is the easiest thing. And fear even chains and spreads.

It was true.

“Explain more. I’m curious....”

With a faint smile, I urged it on, and it kept squirming out words.

-Everyone... has....

“Right, sure. Everybody’s got at least one thing they’re scared of. Plenty of bastards are scared of dying.”

The more I talked with it, the more certain I became.

‘I can’t hold out long.’

Even if I’d copied an S-rank ability, it wasn’t enough to overcome a gap that existed from the start.

‘Is it really enough to buy only this much time?’

It wasn’t that I doubted Im Haekyung’s ability, but even a good ability can’t do shit if the support is fucked. It would end before it could fully show its value.

I poured almost all the magical power in my body into suppressing it as much as possible.

Then the bastard that had been squirming nonstop threw a question back at me.

-You...?

“Me what.”

-What are you afraid... of?

Hell if I know. What am I afraid of?

Staring straight at it, I said,

“I don’t really know.”

What was I afraid of? The deleted loops? Death? Or was there something in my past?

After my short answer, the mouth in front of me opened wide, then shut. Watching it try so hard to communicate in that disgusting form was almost impressive.

Had it only been three minutes since I’d faced it one-on-one? Maybe even less. I wasn’t controlling all of it—just a tiny part of its vast mind—and even that was overwhelming.

In my head, I traced Im Haekyung’s route. Their Skill applied even at a decent distance. All they had to do was gather the Hunters in one place, so even with some variables it shouldn’t take five minutes. No—it couldn’t take longer than that. If they had any conscience.

Then the huge mouth in front of me opened wide again, then closed.

-I’ll....

“.......”

-I’ll... tell you....

Along with its words, I felt a subtle vibration. A bizarre sensation, like it was imitating laughter.

Because I’d pulled my magical power up to its limit, my hand naturally reached into the domain where the beast could come out.

Beyond my rolled-up shirt sleeve, I saw a familiar pattern rising on my skin.

‘This is the limit.’

The moment I felt like I’d scraped out even the last bit of magical power inside me, a massive magical power several times larger than mine slammed down and swallowed me whole.

-I’ll tell you.

The last thing I saw was that mouth, chewing as it smiled.

***

I lowered my gaze. I tried to look closely at the faces of the corpses I was kicking at my feet, then stopped quickly. I’d already checked them two or three times.

There was no need to confirm again that they were dead. I’d watched the exact moment their breathing cut off.

‘Where’s Kwon Taehan?’

I scanned the area, looking for Kwon Taehan. It would be better to kill him now. When he was filled with guilt from failure and suffering.

Because at times like this, he restarted with the hope that he could do better. If I was going to kill him anyway, now was the right timing.

“Taehan.”

But there was no answer.

I froze for a beat, then hurriedly turned around. I’d definitely checked all the bodies. Every single face was familiar, and...... of course Kwon Taehan hadn’t been there.

That was how it had to be.

He was an S-rank Hunter...... and at this timing, other than me, there was no one who could kill him. Even if we couldn’t clear the Dungeon, I was alive, so there was no way Kwon Taehan would die first. The probability of that.... was—

“There it is.”

I stared at the corpse in front of me and let out a hollow laugh.

“.......”

Why the hell...... did Kwon Taehan die now?

“Ah, fuck....”

This...... couldn’t happen. If Kwon Taehan dies—if that bastard dies—then this world is finished. It would start over. For his success.

All of this would remain only in Kwon Taehan’s memory, and he’d repeat everything he’d done as if it were nothing.

“Fuck.”

The moment things went off-track even once, everything ended. I dropped one knee to the floor and slowly reached my hand toward Kwon Taehan’s corpse. I still couldn’t feel any sign of life.

I wrapped my hand around Kwon Taehan’s neck, then slowly let go.

“Ah.... Fuck, seriously. Taehan!”

If Kwon Taehan dies, the world ends.

To return to the start—to “regress” with him—I had to kill him myself. That was the only way I could usurp his regression.

Without him, I couldn’t regress.

Starting over without carrying this memory was meaningless.

It was nothing but a boring repetition.

So...... not remembering the previous loop is meaningless, but....

“Taehan, fuck, are you insane?!”

No matter how much I tried to choke the neck of someone who was already dead, a bastard who’d died once couldn’t die again.