Chapter 249

‘What does that mean?’

Honestly, it was a bewildering statement.

Whether Yeon Jaki really chose Yoo Haon in the future I saw—I couldn’t quite guess what intention lay behind those words.

However, since it was clear that Yoo Haon was indeed the qualified person Yeon Jaki was looking for, I was about to nod in agreement.

At that moment, a thought struck my mind.

‘No, strictly speaking, maybe not.’

Certainly, in the future I knew, Yeon Jaki chose Yoo Haon, but that was only in the original work.

And I had merely applied that experience; I hadn’t actually seen Yeon Jaki’s direct future here myself.

Only then did I begin to somewhat understand what she was trying to say.

“……”

“Judging by your reaction, it seems you’ve roughly heard the answer.”

As I stood confused, Yeon Jaki nodded quietly as if understanding.

And she began to speak again.

“Certainly, as you said, she was suitable for the person I was looking for.”

“…There were some uncertain parts in the message I conveyed to you then, but it’s clear she has the qualifications.”

“Yes. I think so too.”

Yet, even as she said that, Yeon Jaki was staring at me with a meaningful gaze.

“A very long time ago, I made a promise with someone. And at that time, that person said they trusted my judgment.”

“……”

It must have been Taoist Master Hochoong. And then, Yeon Jaki looked at me with a voice full of conviction and said,

“The person I chose is you. Only you can stop the coming calamity.”

The words the protagonist Yoo Haon heard from Yeon Jaki in the original work.

Having heard them exactly as they were, I unconsciously shook my head.

“That can’t be. Surely, rather than me…”

“You have a strange tendency to underestimate yourself.”

Maybe so. After all, I had directly seen that Yoo Haon was the one who would decide this entire story, and I still think so now.

However, Yeon Jaki continued with unwavering resolve.

“You destroyed the Night School and Luke, cleared the labyrinth formed by a high-level Great Barrier, and never lost your wit and resourcefulness in any situation—all of it was your doing.”

“That was just…”

“Even setting aside the power to read the future, you have more than enough ability and skill to overcome obstacles.”

Just as she said that, a shadow trembled finely and began conveying someone’s will. It was Hwabaek.

‘I asked her to endure only until the conversation ended…’

Holding my throbbing head, I eventually let out a sigh and summoned her to this place.

Swoosh.

Whoosh!

“Hmph, there’s a limit to patience. You’re treating me exactly as you please.”

“……”

Yeon Jaki, who had been staring strangely at the suddenly appeared Hwabaek, soon seemed to realize her identity and spoke with trembling eyes.

“You… how can that be…?”

“It’s been a long time. I thought we’d never meet again.”

With a gaze mingling joy, nostalgia, and sorrow, Yeon Jaki then sharply turned her head to look at me, who had been avoiding her gaze.

She had realized the strangeness of the current situation.

“Did you know about my relationship with Hwabaek? Just who are you?”

Simply reading the future couldn’t explain it.

In response, I calmly organized my thoughts and spoke quietly.

“Through the Cursed Tool called Usurped Thought’s Short Blade, I saw her memories. I learned then that she was someone connected to you.”

“But…”

“Meeting her was a coincidence, and a recent one at that. I was quite surprised too.”

Originally, if Yeon Jaki’s reaction had been unfavorable, I planned to seek her cooperation with Hwabaek’s help, but things seemed to be taking an odd turn.

However, regardless, Yeon Jaki didn’t seem to take it badly.

“It’s strange.”

“I think so too.”

“And it makes me more convinced that you are the right person.”

After saying that, Yeon Jaki exchanged glances with Hwabaek, rejoicing in their reunion. Then, with a somewhat embarrassed expression, she straightened her posture.

“Let’s save the personal talk for later and return to the main topic. Hwabaek also seems to have something to say, right?”

“Indeed. Listening, I couldn’t help but be concerned.”

Saying that, Hwabaek turned her head to look at me and spoke as if frustrated.

“Thanks to my contract with you, I can read thoughts and emotions to a very slight degree. Strangely, you hold a peculiar fantasy about someone named Yoo Haon and his companions.”

“…What do you mean?”

“While they too possess remarkable talent, in my view, the most outstanding is you. Why do you refuse to acknowledge that?”

I couldn’t answer Hwabaek’s question.

There was no particular reason for thinking that way. It was simply a given for me.

‘That I am superior to Yoo Haon’s group?’

I had never once thought that.

After all, the reason I could steer situations favorably was because I had that much experience and knowledge.

In terms of raw talent, I couldn’t compare to geniuses.

‘I’ve only played a created game.’

But Yoo Haon was the protagonist and central figure of that story.

Naturally, his inherent capacity as a human was different.

To me, who still couldn’t accept her words, Hwabaek said,

“You have always been wary of the coming calamity and sought its solution.”

“……”

“Then see it through yourself to the end. Don’t pass the expectation onto others. You have more than enough ability to do so.”

The moment I heard those words, I felt my complicated emotions somehow settling.

Indeed, I might have been trying to shift the responsibility onto Yoo Haon’s group, who were originally this world’s protagonists.

Because I thought that was natural, and that it had to be that way.

But as I’ve told myself many times, this place is reality.

In reality, there are no protagonists.

Everyone simply lives the life they believe in.

Only now did I clearly recognize that.

“…Perhaps Hwabaek-nim is right.”

“Only now do you realize that?”

“Yes. I won’t hesitate anymore.”

Hwabaek finally nodded in satisfaction, and Yeon Jaki took out a pouch containing a strange power from her bosom and returned to the main topic.

“How much of the truth about this incident, called the Night Parade of One Hundred Specters by the world, have you realized?”

“I’ve uncovered some secrets on my own, but it’s insufficient.”

Strictly speaking, I knew almost all the truth, but there might be parts I didn’t know or aspects that differed from the original history.

Thus, I wanted to hear the detailed story from Yeon Jaki again.

“The Specters causing the Night Parade of One Hundred Specters were all trapped in a divine artifact called the Oracle Bone Casket.”

That much certainly matched what I knew. The important part was what came next.

“The one called Celestial Guide Master Hochoong and his ancestors continuously captured and imprisoned Specters, and they have been released in this era to run rampant.”

“Why did it have to be that way? Someone with that level of power should have been able to exorcise the Specters.”

“…It was all because of one Specter.”

The king and ruler of all Specters, Polar Night.

“Polar Night, regardless of its strength, could command all Specters as its subjects and absorb their power to wield absolute might. It was not an existence that could be defeated by ordinary means.”

This too was no different from what I knew.

Therefore, to defeat Polar Night, a strategy unbound by conventional wisdom was needed.

“Hochoong’s family found the solution through the divine artifact, the Oracle Bone Casket. Can you roughly guess?”

“To capture and imprison all Specters, weakening Polar Night’s power?”

“Exactly. Defeating Specters through ordinary means would only lead to their quick regeneration, but using the Oracle Bone Casket changed the story.”

The world has a kind of balance.

Just as there is light where there is darkness, and yang where there is yin.

And as the number of Specters captured in the Oracle Bone Casket increased, the number of Specters existing in the world gradually decreased.

“It was an extremely long and arduous task, spanning several generations, and finally concluded in Hochoong’s era.”

“Did they engage in a decisive battle with Polar Night?”

And Hochoong fought a fierce, evenly matched battle with Polar Night, but ultimately, unable to overcome the limits of his aged body, he left the final battle to future generations.

That was the original story of the first Exorcism Academy Series as I knew it.

And, upon hearing Yeon Jaki’s following words, I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink.

“Taoist Master Hochoong ultimately succeeded in defeating Polar Night. I thought that would be the end of everything,”

Though I had a suspicion, it hit the mark exactly.

The final boss of Hell Difficulty is not Polar Night.

It was the moment the worst assumption I had always imagined unfolded before my eyes.

“As for what happened after, honestly, I don’t know everything either. Only that Hochoong realized something after defeating Polar Night and, expending his last strength, imprisoned the dying Polar Night inside the Oracle Bone Casket.”

“And he left you with a final request.”

“Yes. That’s right. I made a promise with Hochoong and sealed myself inside the Oracle Bone Casket, and thanks to precautions taken beforehand, I was able to be released into this era a little earlier.”

And the task given to the humans of this era was simple.

“The Great Specters still remaining inside the Oracle Bone Casket, waiting for an opportunity to devour the world—defeat them all, uncover Polar Night’s secret, and completely exorcise it.”

A great undertaking no one could confidently claim to achieve.

But someone must do it. Otherwise, this world will meet its end.

“And this will be the key to that.”

Declaring so, Yeon Jaki took something from within the pouch and handed it to me.

That was precisely what I had wanted to obtain from Yeon Jaki through Yoo Haon, the one means to fill our lacking combat strength.

“A horn containing the final Secret Art of the Great Specter Mountain Sky. With this, you can travel to a perfectly replicated world of the past.”

An era where multiple Great Specters existed, and Taoist Masters who opposed them existed.

And Hochoong said.

The answer lies only there.

“You have only one chance. If you fail to obtain the answer, everything ends.”

With trembling hands, I finally accepted it of my own will.