Swaaaa-

A pleasant sound of Rupture echoed across the Beach.

The seawater surged in, wetting the sand, then receded again. In front of that endless Rupture, there was a bar that fit in perfectly with the Beach.

Do Chi-ryang, still wearing thick-rimmed Glasses and a Hawaiian Shirt, sat on a Sunbed on the Beach. It was a Sunbed for guests placed in front of the bar.

Normally, he would have sat at the bar and chatted with the Bartender, but today, it seemed to be a day of Nothingness, as the Bartender was nowhere to be seen.

Do Chi-ryang sat on the Sunbed and brought the beer bottle to his lips.

After a few sips of beer, he let out a ‘kuh’ sound.

It was clearly inside a Dungeon, but the languid atmosphere was no different from any resort.

“Suddenly, all the gates disappeared…”

Do Chi-ryang muttered to the sea, which heard Nothingness.

At a certain point, gates stopped appearing in all worlds.

The monster attacks that threatened the world had ended.

That was already two months ago.

Excluding worlds that had spent a long time traversing Dungeons and expanding Safe Zones, other places had a history of survival, literally fighting to protect their world from the gates.

Some worlds had fought against gates for hundreds of years, so the long history of struggle was embedded in their DNA.

But now, all those gates no longer appear.

Suddenly, without any warning.

“I wonder why…”

It was then.

Light gathered behind Do Chi-ryang, and a Male Staff Member appeared.

It was Kim Songcheol.

He wasn’t in his usual Combat Uniform.

He wore a simple shirt and shorts, not as flashy as Do Chi-ryang’s attire.

Kim Songcheol not wearing his Combat Uniform was something never seen in the Dungeon.

“…”

Do Chi-ryang turned his head to confirm Kim Songcheol’s appearance and tilted his head slightly.

Perhaps his atmosphere had changed a bit.

He had always been far from impatient, but now he seemed truly relaxed.

As if all his worries had disappeared.

“Hello.”

Kim Songcheol greeted him.

“Hmph, I’m fine. Come quickly and sit down. I have a lot of questions to ask.”

“I figured as much. I also needed someone to talk to.”

Kim Songcheol sat on the Sunbed next to Do Chi-ryang.

“Was it you?”

Do Chi-ryang asked sharply right away.

“What is it?”

Kim Songcheol played innocent. He looked around for the Bartender, but he wasn’t there today.

Instead, Do Chi-ryang pulled out a bottle of beer from the Icebox and offered it to him.

“Why would the gates disappear? There’s no effect without a cause. You’re the cause, aren’t you? There’s nothing else.”

“Haha, is that so?”

Kim Songcheol laughed lightly and took the beer.

Thinking that coming to Do Chi-ryang for conversation was a good choice after all.

“Are you shy? Then let’s start with some trivial talk. How is your world? Wasn’t it a pretty urgent place? It had only been less than 20 years since the gates appeared, hadn’t it?”

“It’s like a festival amidst anxiety, I suppose. I don’t think they’re perfectly enjoying it yet. That’s how people are, you know. It’s not easy to forget trauma. They’re still collecting Points, too. To be prepared for whenever a gate might appear again.”

“Is that necessary? Or not?”

A rather significant question.

“…Not necessary. Haha.”

Kim Songcheol answered clearly.

At that, Do Chi-ryang’s eyes sparkled like a morning star.

Such certainty clearly meant something had happened.

What had Kim Songcheol done and where had he been?

“Tell me in detail.”

“If you keep it a secret.”

Kim Songcheol pushed his bottom deeper into the sunbed and reclined the backrest further.

He ended up half-lying down.

“You’d be surprised how many secrets I have, wouldn’t you? Don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”

His ‘seeing’ ability was the best among mages. The secrets of the people he had seen were also countless.

“Is that like professional ethics? Because you can see other people’s futures and pasts as you please?”

“Heh heh, something like that. It’d be a bit tacky to blab about what I’ve seen.”

“Hmm, well, I’ll trust you then. So… where should I begin?”

Kim Songcheol began to recount what had happened, step by step.

He also needed someone to share this story with. Because he was human.

He had gone through something immense, and he couldn’t help but want to talk about it.

And he chose Do Chi-ryang as the person to truly tell ‘everything’ to.

Not the Celestial Spirit Maiden, nor Setsu. Not his family, nor Kim Myeongju.

He had told others a little, but Do Chi-ryang was the only one he would tell everything to.

And Do Chi-ryang was shocked again and again as the story unfolded.

No one could casually accept that this world was merely created within The Source, and that it was the 999th world at that.

Moreover, after hearing the explanation of the reason for the apocalypse and how its end and beginning came about, he slumped his shoulders and just sipped his beer.

It was a grand story that even Do Chi-ryang found difficult to accept.

It was a long time before he could speak.

“…So that’s how it was. Still, it’s a relief. Now that I know how the world works. This is an incredible achievement. Why don’t you announce it to the public?”

“No, I don’t plan to. If I announce this, I think it will draw the attention of not only Earth but all worlds… I just want to return to my daily life. That’s also why I haven’t told anyone.”

“Not even your comrades?”

“I told them to some extent, but telling them everything felt a bit… much.”

To tell this story, he would also have to reveal that the Celestial Spirit Maiden and Setsu were originally Kim Songcheol’s wife and son, and that their memories were projected, making them his comrades.

Kim Songcheol thought that was something they didn’t necessarily need to know.

“Oh, by the way, how are your comrades doing?”

“Oh, the Celestial Spirit Maiden has become a Divine Demon with absolute power. Anything could happen with just a word from her.”

She was the strongest Divine Demon in history, and also the youngest Divine Demon among all past Divine Demons.

Considering a Hunter’s lifespan, she would easily last for hundreds of years, so there would be no one in Ilwol who could look at the Celestial Spirit Maiden straight.

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Why me?”

“She said, didn’t she? If things go well, half of Ilwol would be yours.”

“Huh? How did you know that?”

“I’m Do Chi-ryang, the Three-Eyed Instability. Reading the past is nothing to me.”

“What would I do with half of Ilwol?”

“Well, world domination? Just bring a few directors… no, wait.”

Do Chi-ryang chuckled as if realizing something.

“You could do it alone. I briefly forgot what you accomplished.”

“Oh, come on, world domination?”

Kim Songcheol reclined the sunbed completely and lay down. He seemed too lazy to even sit up.

“You’re such a boring person. Then what about Setsu? He’s practically your stepson, heh heh.”

“That much… well, a close nephew? Or a youngest sibling? That’s how I think of him. And Setsu is running a monster eradication business. Even though the gates are gone, the monsters that have already appeared haven’t disappeared.”

With the disappearance of the gates and the cessation of creation, there was no longer any reason to expand the Safe Zones.

Setsu was also freed from the task given to him.

Instead, he was in the process of eliminating the monsters that dominated the continent and returning the land to humans.

The powerful monsters were all dealt with in a few days, and now he was meticulously searching for and killing the smaller monsters.

Once the monster eradication project is complete, proper reconstruction will begin.

Preparations are already complete. Magic and scientific technologies from other worlds can be transferred through the dungeons.

Moreover, Ilwol’s labor force would also be able to receive aid.

“Everyone’s doing well. So, is that the only thing left?”

“What…?”

At Do Chi-ryang’s meaningful expression, Kim Songcheol slightly narrowed his eyes.

“The Celestial Spirit Maiden, are you just going to leave her alone?”

“What do you mean?”

“She doesn’t have a partner, and you don’t have a partner. Isn’t that perfect?”

“Ah…”

A shadow fell over Kim Songcheol’s face.

It wasn’t for any other reason. The trauma of the first Kim Songcheol had briefly resurfaced.

The memories passed down by the first Kim Songcheol were as vivid as if he had experienced them himself.

That moment when he lost the Celestial Spirit Maiden and Sejun.

And the years he spent researching magic to get them back. That was firmly embedded in Kim Songcheol’s mind as well.

And it was the same for the other Kim Songcheols.

Some Kim Songcheols even created worlds where they intentionally did not encounter the Celestial Spirit Maiden.

That much, those feelings were a huge part of Kim Songcheol, and the Kim Songcheols concluded that…

It was better not to start at all.

Of course, the 998th Kim Songcheol did make the Celestial Spirit Maiden his comrade, but he set it up so that the two would not be together. So that they wouldn’t feel a selfish attraction to each other.

It was a fate that could never be joined in the first place.

“No. They’ll find good partners for each other. We’re comrades. Good ones. Anyway, I’m worried about myself. I’m almost in my late thirties. Mi-yeong’s aunt’s brother-in-law… no, anyway, I once had my Four Pillars of Destiny read. They said if I missed my late thirties, I’d get married at 52…”

“Really? Just a moment.”

Do Chi-ryang’s magic power stirred. His third eye flashed open in the center of his forehead, staring directly at Kim Songcheol.

But that was only for a moment.

The third eye vanished without a trace.

“That person was real?”

“Huh?”

“A person who can truly see. Sometimes there are such people among humans. Should I say they’re sensitive… compared to me, it’s incomparable, but they can still see at least an outline of causality.”

“What? Such people exist? Not magic? Just like that?”

“Why are you so surprised? A mage who saved the world, at just a fortune teller.”

“No… not magic, they’re just born like that?”

“Is magic everything? There’s still so much that magic can’t explain. Don’t be too arrogant just because you figured out the end and beginning of the world. Because magic can’t even explain the mechanism of a mere fortune teller.”

“Specifically, it was a Four Pillars of Destiny reader… but that’s true. That can’t be explained. Hmm… magic still has an infinite path to go down.”

“That’s right. Even you won’t be able to interpret or solve everything with magic. Not until you die, heh heh.”

Kim Songcheol nodded and remained silent for a moment.

Then, as if he had made up his mind, he raised his head.

“I need to write a magic book.”

“A magic book?”

“Yes. If I leave behind what I’ve gained, won’t someone else see it and research new areas?”

“Will someone like you be born? I told you. This world was too kind to you from the start. I know the reason now, but will there be anyone else born who receives such kindness from the world?”

“There’s a possibility. It’s not completely zero, is it? That’s how coincidence is.”

“Well… that’s true.”

“And it doesn’t require immense talent. Now there’s plenty of time. If someone inherits my magic after I die and expands the domain just a little… I think that would be amazing if it accumulates.”

“That would be a story for much later. The term ‘ordinary genius’ feels awkward, but compared to you, most geniuses would be ordinary. Anyway, ordinary geniuses are still geniuses, so they might be able to expand it a little. Even if it’s just a tiny bit.”

“Besides, the worlds are connected through dungeons now, aren’t they? I can’t even guess how many babies are being born at this very moment. Some of them will be born with talent.”

“That’s true. Oh, by the way, I forgot to ask something important. What happened to the first Kim Songcheol? Did he just disappear? You said he assimilated into the magic formation and became a seed?”

“Haha. The first one?”

Kim Songcheol laughed mischievously.

“He’s in here now.”

He tapped his head.

“Hmm?”

“Only the Source was assimilated into the Magic Formation. I separated the consciousness of the first one and implanted it into my Source. The time was the year Sejun was born. I created a world exactly identical to the situation back then. Plus, I tweaked his memories a bit… so he probably won’t know he’s in the Source until he dies.”

“Crazy, you took care of that even in that situation?”

“I am the last Kim Songcheol. I have to save everyone.”

“But was erasing his memories revenge or mercy?”

“Hmm… both, I guess? Haha.”

“You try it once? Without knowing reality?”

“Haha. But it’s heaven. It’s his happiest time.”

Although it’s not reality but a created world, it would be a perfectly ideal world for the first Kim Songcheol.

Could he have ever imagined it?

That the first one would enter the Source of the last Kim Songcheol.

That among the Kim Songcheols who were linearly connected, the first and the last would connect to form Oneness.

Of course, that’s only a small part.

It’s important that every single Kim Songcheol was saved by the final Magic they created, by the last Kim Songcheol.

Because it was the completion of a world where everyone is happy.

-The End of <The Late Bloomer Genius Mage>-