It was more like an animal howling rather than a man crying.
Yoo Ji-hyuk just cried and hugged Han Soo-young, who was bleeding as red as her hair with a dagger stuck deep in her chest.
“No, why… why… !”
He put his hands on her body and murmured madly.
Numerous branches of the world tree had protruded from his arms and were connected to her body.
Even if the dagger pierced the vital point, his power was enough to restore her.
However, no matter how much he exerted his power, Han Soo-young’s wounds did not heal at all, even though he squeezed too much mana and energy to literally tear the heart that was mine and Minerva’s.
Numerous notification windows appeared in front of him, who was just muttering blankly and hugging Han Soo-young’s body.
[Some of the awakening conditions of ‘Han Soo-young’ have been achieved. (3/3)]
[Information about ‘Han Soo-young’ is updated.]
[Han Soo-young’s awakening condition has been achieved!]
[Awakening Conditions
1) Make the power of another world beyond the other dimension your own
2) Make her overcome the trials on her own
3) She will make her own decisions in front of her fate]
[You have satisfied the awakening conditions for a total of 8 people.]
[You succeeded in awakening all the main characters!]
[quest]
— origin
[Explanation]
― You must perform the duties assigned to you.
Because those who fail to fulfill their duties and duties are not worthy of existence.
― Your steps so far will tell you what your existence is and what your duty is.
To go further, don’t forget that your title is ‘one who goes against the flow of the world’.
― You are against the flow of the world.
And you know who is destined to lead the world.
You will have to make a choice.
Whether you will fulfill your duties and duties assigned to you, or not.
[Reward on Success]
― As proof of your worth, you will be permitted to remain in this world or return to the original world.
[Condition]
All requirements have been met.
“… Fuck it, really.”
He looked at the notification window with blank eyes, and muttered it out quietly.
At that moment, with a popping sound, the guide’s crystal that was rolling on the ground exploded like an explosion.
Then a new notification popped up in front of him.
[The quest ‘The Seventh Evil’ begins.]
[The Seven Devils ‘Ariman’ appears in front of you.]
Who said that misfortune appears with its tail on its tail?
Yoo Ji-hyuk burst out laughing at the words that fit exactly the situation.
“Yes, come.”
He carefully hugged Han Soo-young, who was breathing blood from the corners of his mouth.
He then realized that he had tried to move Henir’s shadow to intercept any who would appear at any time, but was soon unable to do so.
The fact that the voices of Minerva and Svengali, which had been constantly being heard, ceased to be heard.
“You will not be able to use the power and power of the Seven Evil Species.”
a voice is heard
It was his voice.
After that, Ariman, who slowly ripped the space, appeared and looked at him.
Ahriman was still wearing rags that could not be seen.
“It’s not just the power and power of the Seven Evil Species. All the powers gained here will be unusable. … And it’s the same with me, so there’s no need to worry too much.”
He waved his hands and waved them as if to look around him.
“It must have been a lot more urgent than that, and you wouldn’t be able to understand the circumstances around you, as well as such a natural thing. … Is that woman so precious?”
“Shut up.”
Yoo Ji-hyuk muttered quietly.
As Ariman said, they had come to a space where their surroundings were completely twisted, and as he said, they could not draw any power.
There was no time to mutter, ‘At some point in the world’.
“I don’t have time to talk to a bastard like you.”
“I’m sorry about that. I have a lot of stories to tell.”
Han Soo-young warned him over and over again that he should not have any trivial conversation with Ariman.
Even if there was no warning from her, he knew well how dangerous the seven evil bells of Ariman were, so he had no intention of negotiating any conversations with Ariman.
“I will heal her.”
until you hear that.
“… What do you want?”
In response to Yoo Ji-hyuk’s answer, Ariman let out a small laugh.
Ariman held out his hand towards him, who thought he wanted to pierce his neck with a knife over and over again if he could.
In his hand was a sharp dagger.
“Well.”
Ariman cut off the tip of his little finger with a dagger with a short sound.
Then he threw it straight at Yoo Ji-hyuk and said.
“Swallow it.”
“What?”
“If you swallow my finger, it will heal her wounds perfectly.”
“… … .”
Ariman said as he slowly picked up his fingers.
“What, do you want me to swear?”
“… Surely you didn’t say that you can’t use any power in this place?”
Ariman waved his hand as if asking him to believe.
Red blood was still oozing from where the finger was cut off.
like an ordinary person.
“That is not a lie. You really can’t use any power here. but… As you may know, I was also in charge of managing the Seven Music Bells. This is the so-called higher-level managerial position. It sounds like it can be applied with some degree of flexibility.”
“Then, first treat Sooyoung.”
Yoo Ji-hyuk said so and looked at Ariman.
“Then I’ll eat your fingers and whatever you tell me to do.”
“… I can’t help it, it’s because I didn’t trust you.”
With those words, Ariman slowly reached out toward Han Soo-young.
His hand touched the dagger in her chest, and without hesitation he pulled the dagger from her body.
Her body bounced back wildly, as if convulsing, but Ariman didn’t care and patted her wounded area with her fingers a few times before retreating back as if it was done.
“It’s over.”
At his words, Yoo Ji-hyuk quickly began to check Han Soo-young’s condition.
The place where the dagger had been locked was intact, and the pale complexion suddenly regained its color.
Above all else, she was losing her mind and started to tremble and tremble her eyelids.
“Swimming.”
“… what?”
Han Soo-young, who quietly opened her eyes, just muttered like that, as if in doubt.
After blinking a few times, she immediately closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Yoo Ji-hyuk just sighed in relief and hugged her.
“Then it is your turn to keep your promise.”
Ahriman, who was staring blankly at his rotten and bruised hands in return for using his power, said.
Yoo Ji-hyuk slowly picked up his finger and brought it to his lips.
“Yeah, that’s right. Chew it tightly Shouldn’t you be thirsty? okay… .”
Ariman just muttered like that and looked at him with blank eyes.
Eventually, when he stopped chewing and swallowed it… .
[An error has been detected in the system.]
Yoo Ji-hyuk and Ari-man.
At about the same time, a notification window appeared in front of them both.
Ariman immediately erased the notification window that appeared in front of him and caught only Yoo Ji-hyuk, precisely the notification window that appeared in front of him.
[An error has been detected in the system.]
[System!@$# 553 is out!$%was&!%.]
[!%#$@#&* $^# %^&$^@#.]
[The death of all Seven Evil species has been confirmed.]
[You have acquired a portion of all Seven Evil species.]
[You have taken on the sins of all the Seven Evil Species.]
[A fatal error has been found.]
“finally.”
Ariman muttered quietly.
He slowly reached out and grabbed the rags that covered his figure and pulled him down roughly.
“Finally.”
warped space.
In a space where you don’t know what to call it, you can’t exercise any power you have gained from this world.
It was the same even for the Seven Evil Bells, and even that Ariman had to give up his hand in return for using a little power.
“Now… .”
So Yoo Ji-hyuk could see Ari-man’s face.
Contrary to what he expected, his appearance was quite ordinary.
An ordinary face.
sharp eyes.
Eventually he realized.
The fact that his face was the same as his own, as if reflected in a mirror.
* * *
“… what.”
I looked at the guy in front of me and asked without knowing.
“Who are you?”
“… Who am I?”
Then he turned his head and looked at me.
It was only now that I realized why it was so unpleasant to have someone who looked just like me in front of me.
“I am you.”
Ariman answered.
“And neither are you.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“okay… … To borrow the words of the World Tree, it might be more appropriate to say that you are one of the many of you who are in the many worlds you might have been. No, isn’t it?”
He slowly threw away the rags.
He was wearing an unusually ordinary attire.
It was a look that many people walking down the street would wear.
“I have been called by many names until now. Manure stone, wedge, regular… A rebellion against the law… An existence that goes against the flow of the world. All of them are me.”
Ariman, who had the same face as me, looked at me.
“Do you need more explanation? ah… okay. I forgot to tell you this too.”
He was about to applaud, but when he noticed that his right hand had disappeared, he clicked his tongue slightly.
“I wanted to go back like you. But the one I chose was a little different from yours.”
he said in a whisper.
“I killed them all.”
“… What?”
“I told you, I am you. So I was thinking the same as you. If you kill all the Seven Evils, maybe you’ll find a way back. Say that.”
Both the starting point and the destination were the same.
What was different was the process leading to that destination.
“I thought I had to be strong to kill the Seven Evils. like you did.”
With that said, he calmly began to talk about what he had done.
I killed Jin Ye-seul to get a unique trait.
I killed Yeeun Lee to get a hidden item by burning the World Tree.
To deal with forty and forty, Lee Yuna.
Choi Hyun-woo to extract talents including his sixth sense.
Ivan Hunt to devour the Spirit King’s power.
Ahn Do-hoon to obtain the miracle of resurrection.
Cass Lyle for the old homunculus nucleus.
“And lastly, I killed that woman with my own hands. She was the main character in my world.”
Unknowingly, swear words flowed out at his reckless reaction.
“… crazy bastard.”
“her.”
Then, Ariman just burst out laughing as if sneering at me.
He didn’t seem to care what I said.
“Shall we continue the story? Anyway… When it’s all over… I couldn’t go back. Rather, it became like this. Being one of the Seven Evil Orders, you are constantly repeating and managing this world.”
“okay.”
I looked at him and asked.
“So what does that have to do with me? How can I write you a heartfelt letter to improve your situation?”
“… Don’t you think it’s strange?”
As if it wasn’t a question he was looking for an answer to, he went on straight ahead.
“Why on earth was that Lee Myung-jun, even if it was made by the Seven Evil Bells, was destined to die at Mandragora’s cry?”
“What?”
He said.
“Situations that are going in your favor. Events and items that appear when needed. All the arrangements for you that were planned hundreds of years before you came. It’s even a status window, so things that aren’t so convenient like a notification window.”
He clapped and clapped.
His right arm, which had been rotten and bruised, was restored to its original state.
“Initially, the original… original… You keep saying, ‘It was like this in the original. I don’t understand, but the original went like this.’ I thought so and moved on. Even if there was something inconsistent, I came here believing that the difference was due to your existence.”
he asked
“But what the hell is the original in your head?”
“no way… .”
“Why on earth would you ever doubt it?”
“… … .”
“Can I tell you? Things that have always been your indicators in your head. Those and other things that became your strength.”
he smiled and said
“They were all things I intended and prepared for.”
For a moment, he couldn’t utter a word.
“… what?”
“Think about it, you idiot.”
He smirked and twisted his lips.
“If not, how long do you think you could have survived in this world?”
He continued to say with a twisted smile at me.
“At first, I just wanted to watch. But if I left it with nothing, it quickly died. It was the same no matter how many times I repeated it. No matter how many times I repeat it… He died fighting, he died in a strange accident, he died after being defeated by the Seven Evil Bells, he took his own life… Do you want to know how many times I repeated it?”
“That, what… .”
“Is that a lie? It doesn’t matter if you believe it or not. Up to this point, although not in a few cases, if you tell the truth, everyone has the same reaction as you now.”
The ending was the same, and he shook his head very slightly.
“It was useless. okay… maybe you know no… You don’t know, but Yeeun Lee and Sbangali know that girl.”
He chuckled and pointed his finger at his chest.
“There is one thing in your head that you put a ball into. I have collected everything that has been there so far. As I kept repeating it, I couldn’t understand the English language, but there were often times when I remembered or recalled events in the past. Other things were pretty good. Because if I go back to the starting point anyway, I forgot everything.”
However… .
He slowly turned his head to look at Sooyoung.
“I remember little by little as much as that woman. Is it because of his ability to handle space, or maybe it’s for other reasons… I was the only human being I couldn’t touch, so I couldn’t do anything about it.”
Still, at best, he exhaled a little while looking at him, who muttered that he was able to get over it because he felt faint or uncomfortable.
“… one. May I ask?”
“However much.”
“Let’s assume that everything I’ve been doing up to this point has been your intention. … So what the hell are you thinking of telling me all of that now?”
At that, he made a strange expression on his face.
“… Right. After all, it must have looked a little strange.”
Ariman nodded his head a few times as if to admit it.
“But won’t you understand me? Over and over again, I can’t count how many times, I finally got here. If I’m going to vomit my honest feelings, it’s good for anyone, so I wanted to hold onto it and open up to it.”
“… … .”
“Last time… was very bad Like you now, almost everyone came and was defeated by Yuno at the end and died. By then, most of the party had died, but all that remained were turned into statues in the snowy field.”
In the midst of that, the scene where the two became one statue was quite tearful, he said in a calm voice.
“And the second reason… Because in the end, I have to end the story amicably with you.”
“What?”
“In the countless worlds, you were the only one who had all the Seven Evil Species in your body and brought out the awakening of all the main characters. you and I. It was just the two of us.”
Ariman muttered hard, as if it was long and long.
“I can’t come out any more. that there is only you… The only person who can bring me back to my original world is you.”
He looked at me and muttered blankly.
For a moment, I got goosebumps at that crazy look.
“… What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Same starting point, same destination. And by satisfying the same conditions, you and I can now identify with each other. Simply put, if only you accept me, only two Ahri will exist by helping you. If that is the case, if we combine our powers, we will be able to get out of this world and return to our original world.”
… I couldn’t quite understand what he was talking about, but Ariman didn’t mind my reaction and continued.
“Now I even forgot my real name.”
he murmured in a low voice.
He looked very tired and tired.
“I’m tired of trying to come up with a non-funny name of Ariman. So please Please, please, let me go back to my original world.”
Ariman slowly knelt on the spot.
He started begging me.
“Don’t tell me how to get your little brother back. Yeah, didn’t you originally want to go back because of your brother? Let’s take your brother with you. As long as we can go back, taking one more won’t change anything.”
“… … .”
“I swear by my name. No, yes. right… Please tell me how to get your brother back to normal.”
The boy frowned and began to tell the story.
A whisper of how to bring Gina back to normal, that even if she were in this world, she and she would not be fully accepted anyway, that if she returned, she would touch the original world a little and live without worries… .
“I didn’t want to say things like that.”
The guy who had been talking up to that point glanced at Sooyoung.
Sooyoung was almost sane now.
“If you continue to remain in this world, eventually one of the two will have to die. Are you going to kill that woman? Or are you going to make her carry the guilt of killing a loved one for the rest of her life?”
“… … .”
“It’s cruel, but this is the only way. If you do what I say… As long as you and I return to the original world, both can end without dying. So… !”
“… That sounds really good.”
With those words, I slowly got up from my seat.
Sooyoung, who had come to her senses, could feel her grabbing my collar.
I carefully took her hand and got up from my seat.
“If I had heard of it as soon as I came to this world, I might have accepted it right away.”
I looked at Ariman and asked.
“Then why do I have to go back?”
“… What?”
Ariman looked at me blankly.
The expression on his face as if he had heard a question he had never thought of was enough to burst into laughter.
“Think about it, there’s no reason for me to go back to the original world anymore.”
It was a thought I had been thinking about over and over again.
I slowly opened my mouth to him.
“In the original world, I was just a guy with nothing. But here it is different. Here I can do anything I want. There are people who completely believe and trust me like this, my younger brother who was the reason I live, and people who love me like this more than anything else. But why on earth do I have to leave them alone and go back to the original world?”
“That is, the providence of the world… .”
“And you said you had two reasons, didn’t you? Let me ask you two things as well.”
I looked down at the kneeling Ariman and said.
“… You obviously said you swear by your name. Everything you say is true.”
“It did.”
He let out a small sigh.
“By the way, didn’t you just say that you were the person you are today by mixing up beings with many names?”
“… … .”
He shut his mouth.
In her head, the countless worlds the World Tree showed and the advice she gave.
And I remember how Milited, who had so many names, easily broke an oath under one of his names.
“And you said that you said that to Sooyoung. ‘I always follow the rules. But there are exceptions to every principle.”
There was no guarantee that the exception would not be now.
Ariman.
A Seven-Aak Bell that spit out what the other person wants to hear the most and the most desperately wants to hear about the other person’s situation.
The seven evil bells that everyone who had experienced him agreed to never talk about or deal with.
He still kept his mouth shut.
“Convince me once and for all, Ariman. Make me believe you’re really telling the truth, and move that cheeky tongue somewhere to get me back to my original world.”
“… … .”
His head lowered slowly.
Then, his body began to shake little by little.
“flaw… uh… .”
He was smiling.
After laughing for a while, he muttered quietly.
“A bastard called my brother… A year of being a little sister… .”
He, Ariman slowly raised his head.
“You have a striking resemblance to that single snake-like tongue that binds others.”
After saying that, he ran towards me.