380. Conclusion (7)
He says it nicely, but in the end, he’s just saying he won’t make me commit unnecessary murder because of what he caused.
“If you had that sense of responsibility, you shouldn’t have caused this kind of accident in the first place.”
“…That’s what I’m saying.”
He looked down at the corpse of the final boss with a face full of regret.
His face doesn’t show any emotion.
As I remember, Sylvester in the original work would have defeated Epheleoht with hostile emotions at the end.
“What was my face supposed to look like originally?”
Sylvester asks, as if he noticed that I was thinking about it.
“Originally? There’s no need to remember it.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Originally, I would have caused a lot more trouble before finishing him off… so I hated him quite a bit.”
“…Yeah, it was a really irrelevant story.”
Sylvester gave a bitter smile.
“That guy hated fate.”
“Just so you know, there’s no need to sympathize with that nonsense.”
Depending on the choice, he could have chosen the path of creating the future with us.
But he didn’t.
“It’s just the price he paid for fearing the difficult path and choosing only the easy one. He’s not even worth sympathizing with.”
“…Aileen. You’re being awfully harsh today.”
“Because of someone.”
Perhaps it’s a rebuke that pricks the conscience of Sylvester, who almost succumbed to that despair.
“More than that, why did you follow me?”
I asked that first.
From the looks of it, Sylvester didn’t seem to be thinking of stopping me.
“I was bored lying down. Now that it’s come to this, I’m going to watch and see if you can really do it, Aileen.”
It seems that what he said is his true feelings.
Has the protagonist given up on following his destiny?
Perhaps it is only when he truly stops clinging to his destiny that he can escape the shackles of his role.
“It’s a strange feeling… I feel like the strange feeling of being blocked in my ears has disappeared since a while ago.”
“…It’s probably your imagination.”
Anyway, if he’s shaken off his lingering feelings, that’s all that matters.
“So?”
“Hmm?”
“How are you going to stop what happens next?”
I heard what I was going to do, but I don’t know the detailed contents to reach there.
“Honestly, there’s no time.”
“I know. Because of someone’s accident, it’s a huge mess…”
“…”
Sylvester grits his teeth at my harsh criticism.
Whether he’s feeling guilty or not, it’s none of my business.
“And stopping the erasure that will happen in the future is not important.”
“…What?”
Sylvester looked blank, as if he couldn’t imagine those words coming out of my mouth.
“Don’t mistake what you have to do. My purpose is to catch the errors in this damn world.”
I make it clear.
If I simply maintain it, I will make the same mistake as Sylvester.
“We need to fix what’s fundamentally wrong…”
“Can you do it?”
“I have to make it happen.”
I’m thinking that I have to make it happen no matter what this time.
First of all, I received some information about the method.
After thinking about it several times, I set up a hypothesis and thought about the procedure to some extent.
The plan I’m making.
‘Honestly, I’m not sure if it will work or not.’
I didn’t bother to say that.
There’s no point in making weak noises now.
I have to pretend to be good and show off now.
“First of all, we have to use the method that Epheleoht used in reverse.”
He must have been thinking of creating a connection with a higher being and obtaining the authority to erase civilization instead.
“…Then what should we do to stop that?”
“Can’t we just break what he made?”
“You’re ignorant… but that’s the right answer.”
At least to stop the current situation, all you have to do is smash the artifact that he has seized.
But that won’t achieve the goal.
“Instead, I’m going to use this.”
I checked the artifact ‘Remnant of the Ley Line’ enshrined here and judged that there was no big problem, so I touched it as it was.
He must have used it as energy to carry out the mission he received from the higher being, as well as the driving force to use his abilities.
Then there will still be coordinates left.
“I know you’re there.”
I feel a familiar feeling.
That unpleasant feeling I encountered in the previous World Tree.
A black wave washes under the Remnant of the Ley Line, and a passage opens.
Are you telling me to come?
“Huh, you responded obediently this time.”
I guess you’re watching.
…Then the important thing is from now on.
“Sylvester.”
“…Hmm?”
“Don’t be surprised no matter what happens.”
I warned him.
Before he could panic and shout something, the change finally happened.
The light that burst out from the black wave swallowed us.
Now the final act.
‘The final negotiation.’
If I can get over this well, I will finally be able to find the rest I wanted here.
* * *
After the pure white light, a pitch-black darkness swept over us.
A black space.
A world with a strange viewpoint where the overall landscape of the world is observed below.
“…I guess we’re reaching here after all.”
I looked around and sighed, and at the same time, a small sigh rang out from behind.
“What. You got dragged in too?”
“I was swept away by the light… I guess I followed you somehow.”
“Well, it doesn’t matter.”
He said he would watch until the end, so it would be better.
“Aileen… where is this?”
“It’s complicated to explain, but you can think of it as a collection of houses where the guys who played with us live.”
It’s a space I’ve reached once before.
At that time, I forced my way in, but it’s different now.
This time, I’ve been formally invited.
This time, they won’t be able to easily expel me.
“Now that it’s come to this, why don’t you come out soon? I’m a guest who came all the way here. I have a lot to say to you.”
I don’t expect to be served tea.
Anyway, all I have to do is draw them out.
As if I was threatening them, I shouted confidently, and soon changes occurred in all directions.
I feel something swaying in the darkness, and then alien monsters appear one after another.
“…Is that a god?”
“I heard they’re not as noble as gods.”
I smirked, recalling Nelke Rose’s explanation.
“The important thing is that they still hold the power of life and death over us…”
If I make a mistake, things will go wrong.
“There’s one thing I want to ask about your policy. So won’t you listen to me?”
But there is no reaction.
Rather, they just stare at me as if they find it ridiculous.
“Aha? Really? You’re going to ignore me?”
Still, their gaze is closer to observing something strange.
I guess they still think of me as just a foreign substance that got mixed in by accident.
“Then try getting pushed away.”
Think about it.
If a rat comes up from the sewer, will you touch it?
I don’t touch it.
Why?
“…Hoo.”
I put strength into it and poured it out towards them as if to explode that power widely.
The only reason is because it’s dirty.
Kwaang!
A change occurred in them.
Some of them hesitated as if they felt threatened.
“Remember. If I don’t like it, I’m just going to let it go and run wild here.”
I have no intention of disappearing obediently. I have no intention of failing.
But if, really, if that happens, then I’ll take you to the afterlife with me.
“If you don’t like that, get on the negotiation table properly, you bastards.”
I can feel that they are quite embarrassed.
Originally, it would be impossible to attack easily.
But I can threaten them.
Is it because of my uniqueness?
Well, let’s use it.
“Now you’re in the mood to listen.”
The basic of negotiation is to start with a gun pointed at the other person’s head and mine at the same time.
There is no such thing as elegant negotiation.
The despicable truth that you are willing to talk only when you are threatened is no different for them or us.
“…Are you okay?”
“Just watch. You said you would.”
Sylvester closed his mouth, thinking that speaking any more would be a hindrance.
If I ruin this place, everything is over.
“But how do I talk to these guys?”
Really a trivial thought.
I joined in with great enthusiasm, but… can these guys really speak the same language as us?
As soon as I had a really useless question… a message appeared right in front of me as if they knew what I was thinking.
“…First of all, I have to be happy that we can communicate somehow, or get angry that they treat people like foreign substances; it’s complicated from that.”
An alien species, a foreign substance, an outsider… you do all sorts of things.
Actually, you guys don’t like me, do you? Right?
Well, that’s probably the intention of calling me in.
A foreign object that ruins the order they have set.
That is me in the end.
That’s how I know my worth.
“I have no intention of having a social gathering with you. I don’t want to talk while drinking coffee. …Oh, is there even one before that?”
Coffee.
I was sick of it, but I suddenly think of it because I haven’t drunk it for a long time?
Should I look for it when the world becomes peaceful later?
He asks.
They can see through my actions, but they can’t read my mind.
That’s because I’m an existence outside of their jurisdiction.
They don’t know what’s in my head.
“First, let me tell you the requirements. Originally, terrorists say the requirements first, right?”
Prepare money, or other ridiculous things.
“First of all, one. Abolish your plan.”
I demanded that they stop all the nonsense they were doing to develop humanity.
Of course, they won’t listen easily, will they?
“Why?”
They can’t simply reject my request.
Your stubbornness is not normal.
“I can’t accept that reason. Do you really think this kind of thing will be the way for humanity?”
I asked back, but.
The one in the middle of them came forward and spread out tentacles like hands.
There are countless circles floating on it.
“…Are those all worlds?”
What was reflected in the circle was countless worlds.
There were countless tragedies unfolding in that world.
Epidemics, wars, natural disasters.
…And the additional tragedies that follow.
Looting, murder, etc.
The blood that flowed from them forms a river and dyes the sea.
They claimed that.
The scenery changes.
After a disgustingly terrible sight, the results of dazzling development were seen.
Through the development of the military industry through war, various basic technologies are developed.
Overcoming epidemics, they realize the importance of developing medical technology.
…Or they engrave someone’s tragedy in their hearts and reflect on not causing it again.
“…That’s hard to accept.”
I slowly shook my head.
“Do you have to force that on innocent people just because other worlds did?”
To put it in perspective, it’s like forcing you to sleep only 30 minutes a day and study because the kid next door went to Seoul National University by sleeping only one hour a day.
You die.
You really die if you do that.
That’s why I can confidently say from a human’s point of view.
“Humans don’t need that kind of thing. Don’t evaluate humans like that.”
Give it to the dogs.
“Pain is not an element of development. Moreover, it cannot be a model to follow.”