Chapter 187

[System: Playback of <■■’s Memory> has ended.]

[Hidden Quest: Identify the owner of the memory.]

[Success: Hidden choice unlocked]

[Failure: None]

A hot tear streamed from the corner of my eye. I slowly opened my eyes and gazed at Dante, who was frozen in place.

<Dante Ryuna Taikan / 13th Ruin>

The owner of the memory was…

“Dante.”

[System: Quest <Identify the owner of the memory> has been successfully completed.]

[A hidden choice has been unlocked.]

Dante was Shinwoo. The medium of regression who had killed himself twelve times to turn back time, all for me.

“You…”

As I choked up, unable to continue, the Administrator crinkled their nose as if to reassure me.

“No one can hear our conversation, child. Not even the Constellations. Speak freely.”

I glared at the Administrator and gritted my teeth.

“What in the world… did you do to Shinwoo?”

“How peculiar, to ask such a thing. You should have seen everything in the medium’s memory.”

“Don’t call him a medium! He has a name!”

“A name is not important for a medium, child. They are beings separate from the world.”

“Why did you turn Shinwoo into something like a medium! You should have just let him die in that dungeon!”

How terrifying and painful it must have been, killing himself twelve times. The thought of the suffering Shinwoo endured felt like it would drive me mad.

“Are you a god? What kind of god is so cruel?”

The Administrator remained unfazed by my harsh condemnation. Far from being offended, they tilted their head like an innocent child.

“I don’t understand why you’re angry with me. I merely offered an opportunity; it was that child who made the choice. All to see you again. So if you must be angry, be angry with yourself, not me.”

“Shut up!”

Unable to say more, I covered my ears. Of course, I knew. I knew Shinwoo had become the medium for my sake.

Why would you do that, Shinwoo? For someone like me.

Everything felt hopeless. How did we end up like this? Why couldn’t we just live normal lives? What did we do to deserve this?

“You seem to pity the medium. If so, why don’t you be the one to save him?”

What? I snapped my head up.

“…Is there a way?”

“There are two, in fact. Originally there was only one, but another has been added. Which means you now have one more future you can choose.”

Right, the reward for the hidden quest was unlocking a hidden choice. A spark of hope ignited within me.

“Tell me the first one.”

“Do nothing, and let the medium perish naturally. When the medium vanishes, the destruction of this world will end. The repeated regressions will cease as well.”

“…”

“In exchange, once the destruction is over, you will be unable to escape the natural order.”

“The natural order?”

“The phenomenon you called Hunter Syndrome in your past life. You haven’t forgotten already, have you?”

How could I ever forget the memory of that pain? It was still as vivid as if it happened yesterday.

“Let me tell you in advance: the moment you make the first choice, you will slowly lose your five senses, soon become a vegetable, and live for sixty-two years before dying alone. You’ve already experienced it once, so this much should be enough for you to understand, yes?”

The mere thought of reliving that miserable time made me want to vomit.

A future I would have been forced to face had I not succeeded in the quest. I shook my head.

“The second choice.”

“Is to use the eyes you possess, the ones that see through to the essence of things. Think carefully now. Who is it whose essence you have yet to confirm?”

Was there someone whose essence I hadn’t confirmed?

Suddenly, I remembered one person whose title I hadn’t checked.

Myself.

I opened my status window.

<Astell Ruthius / Title — The One Who Saves from Ruin.>

“No way…”

“Only the one with the title of Savior can save the medium. This is the second choice. Since you created that child with your own hands, it is only fitting that you bring about his end with your own hands.”

The second option was also not what I had expected. I clenched my jaw and asked through gritted teeth.

“Speak plainly. What are you telling me to do?”

“Kill the medium.”

The horribly cruel words flowed placidly from the Administrator’s lips. I stammered like an idiot.

“You’re… you’re telling me… to k-kill him? To kill Dante?”

“That’s right.”

“You said the medium could only die by his own hand! Was that a lie?”

“Gods do not lie. When the medium ends his own life, he regresses to the beginning. That is the only rule.”

“But.”

“However, all things must come to an end. When the medium is so broken that regression becomes difficult, he can find peace if his life is ended by the Savior’s hand.”

“Don’t hide the truth behind words like ‘peace’! In the end, you’re just telling me to kill the person I love with my own hands!”

The Administrator let out an exaggerated sigh.

“It is a pity, but what can be done? That medium has served its purpose. His mind has collapsed, and he can no longer fulfill his role. If left as he is, he will writhe in extreme agony before crumbling to dust, starting from his extremities. Child, can you bear to watch that happen?”

Could I stand by and watch Dante suffer? No matter how I thought about it, I knew I couldn’t.

But to kill him with my own hands… That was also impossible.

As I stood there woodenly, unable to decide, the Administrator whispered.

“Yes, how could it be easy to kill the one you love? Your heart will feel as if it’s being torn apart, and you’ll be plagued by terrible guilt. But that is not the end. I have a gift prepared for you.”

“…”

“Child, I will allow you to escape the natural order.”

In exchange for killing Dante, they would prevent me from getting Hunter Syndrome?

A hollow laugh escaped my dry lips.

‘That’s the gift?’

How ridiculous. I thought gods knew everything.

“What happens if I choose neither?”

“The settings could be altered, or they might disappear entirely. An incomplete scenario is disposed of, you see. Hah, just thinking about it is dreadful.”

The Administrator, who had been shaking their head as if troubled, shrugged.

“But that won’t happen. You will certainly make a choice. For your information, every Savior until now has chosen the second option. They made the best choice.”

“Every one of them…”

The fact that I wasn’t the only one who had to kill their loved one was no comfort at all.

The Administrator, who had moved behind me at some point, tempted me like a devil.

“Come now, save the medium. Grant freedom to the child who entered this cycle of suffering on his own, all for the sake of being with you.”

My gaze automatically drifted to Dante.

I don’t think I could bear to see that beautiful face contort in pain.

All that was left for Dante was annihilation anyway. In that case, perhaps ending his life with my own hands was the right thing to do…

I lowered my head and muttered.

“Is my choice also part of your scenario?”

“You state the obvious. Every choice you make is within my scenario.”

“Then that means every human until now has moved according to your scenario.”

“Ah, yes. Every single one, without exception. My scenarios have always reached a perfect conclusion. You may not know this, but it’s a great source of pride for an Administrator.”

A flash of hidden ecstasy appeared in the Administrator’s eyes before quickly vanishing. It was a glimpse of a mad obsession with reaching a conclusion.

“…How long do I have to decide?”

Returning to their gentle, godlike demeanor, they smiled warmly.

“Just wait. The time for your choice will soon arrive.”

The Administrator’s voice echoed from all around before fading away at once.

Time, which had been stopped, began to flow again.

Sounds burst forth all at once. The guild members, who had been standing motionless like mannequins, began to move. No one seemed to have noticed what had just happened.

I quickly scanned my surroundings, but there was no sign of Jean.

So how much time do I have left? A few months? A few years?

Dante took hold of my hand, which I had clenched tightly in anxiety.

“Princess, what’s wrong? You don’t look well.”

Shinwoo.

I barely managed to swallow the name that rose to the tip of my tongue.

Shinwoo had hidden the fact that he was turning into a monster until the very end. He probably wouldn’t want me, of all people, to know what he looked like or what choice he made in his final moments.

I tightly intertwined my fingers with Dante’s.

“Are you all right, Your Highness? Your nosebleed seems to have stopped.”

“You look worse than I do, Princess. Are you sure… nothing’s wrong?”

Dante studied me with a worried gaze. Shinwoo used to look at me just like this whenever I was struggling.

How could I not have known? They’re so much alike.

As I forced a smile while holding back tears, Dante’s expression turned strange. He was just about to open his mouth, his brows furrowed in confusion, when…

“Guild Master!”

A staff member from the detection team came running in, out of breath.

“Pant! Pant! A gate has been detected!”

“Location?”

“Well, the gate’s coordinates are a bit strange.”

“Strange? Do you mean you can’t pinpoint the location?”

“No, it’s just that the detected locations are all over the place. As if something is scrambling the signal.”

She showed me a document. It was the location signal captured by the gate detection artifact, converted into coordinates.

Just as the staff member said, there wasn’t just one or two detected coordinates. Among them were the coordinates for the Guardian headquarters.

“Inform the Magic Tower, the Imperial Palace, and the Temple of this immediately, and—”

Before I could even finish my order.

From somewhere, a thick white fog began to drift in.