Chapter 269 – Epilogue (2)

I revisited the places my hands had touched, the places my feet had stood.

I had met countless people, and lost just as many.

The dead tell no tales. Nor, I imagine, do they hold memories.

But I remembered every single one of their faces, their personalities, even their names, with crystal clarity.

It was a shame.

The thought of what might have been, had I possessed this power back then, occasionally crossed my mind.

But that was nothing more than a lingering regret. My becoming the one and only strongest being was not my achievement alone. It was thanks to the sacrifices of my comrades.

So, my strength is by no means mine alone.

To give meaning to the deaths of the sacrificed, I shouldered the beliefs for which they had given their lives.

I can now say that I have reached that goal.

Hero, Champion, Savior.

I was called by many names. Now, I intended to choose my own path.

Having comforted the souls of the dead, I supposed they would have no more complaints.

After all, the person they gave their lives for had become the strongest in all dimensions.

The time had come to think purely about Lee Hyunbin, the man, without any grand titles attached.

What will I do from now on?

No, that very thought was flawed. I pondered what I *wanted* to do.

To clear my head, I continued to wander.

Having recovered my divine power and regained the Ark’s abilities, it became difficult to go to crowded places.

Because even if I didn’t want to, I could feel the thoughts of everyone, even those far away.

I had literally become omniscient.

Hearing everything at once, even when I didn’t want to, gave me a massive headache.

It was a special kind of noise pollution.

Feeling people’s emotions was tiring enough, but my physical strength was also growing stronger and stronger.

I mean, I wasn’t doing any special training, but my stats just kept climbing until they no longer even appeared on the status window.

Not only that, but the Akashic Records the goddess had handed over to me now automatically collected all information, whether I wanted it to or not.

This wasn’t right. I felt myself becoming something other than human.

Even when I looked at living creatures, they appeared as data composed of 0s and 1s.

Before I knew it, I was interpreting everything that way.

It was driving me mad.

Take eating an apple, for instance.

I should just be able to take a crisp bite and think, “delicious,” and that would be the end of it.

Instead, my mind can’t help but analyze it and spit out a conclusion.

I couldn’t live like this.

I decided to control my divinity.

I sealed my abilities and power in 10 stages, creating a system where I could open a drawer and take them out as needed.

It wasn’t easy at first, but once I got the hang of it, it became simple.

I was relieved that I would no longer have to hear the resentful cries of “I’m hungry” or “I want to go home.”

Once I could control my power, the place I returned to was Korea.

The world had found a degree of stability.

Of course, Gates still opened.

They probably wouldn’t stop opening until the day this world ended.

The ecosystem endlessly competes, grows, and you never know what might happen next.

Therefore, the Gates will endlessly test humanity.

The one silver lining was that my threat to the Western Demon King had worked well.

They didn’t dare even think about crossing over to this world.

Of course, if they did, I’d slice them all to pieces.

More importantly, the immediate problem they had to solve wasn’t the strongest being in the world who now possessed even Baal’s power, but the Warlord Coalition that was right on their doorstep.

-Special Feature: The Successors of the Deliveryman.

-Kim Tae-yang Ascends to S-Rank Hunter.

I happened to hear news about Kim Tae-yang; he’d become S-Rank.

If anything, it felt late.

I thought a guy like him would have made it sooner.

-Hanul Team 3’s Well-Founded Challenge. Hunter Kim In-ho to Take on a 4-Star Dungeon!

Kim In-ho had become a team leader in the past three years.

Seeing their faces in the media felt strangely unfamiliar.

It seemed like just yesterday that they were being tormented—no, diligently trained by me, vowing to become stronger.

-Seo Hyun-ji’s Concerts Sell Out, Again and Again!

As for Seo Hyun-ji, she quickly returned to the entertainment industry as soon as I disappeared.

She was blessed with two talents, and she chose the path she wanted, so I had no intention of saying anything about it.

In fact, maybe she only became a hunter because I was around?

I found myself having such a conceited thought.

No, could that really be it?

‘Well, it suits her.’

Seo Hyun-ji looked happy on stage, holding a microphone under the dazzling spotlight.

The Seo Hyun-ji I knew as a child was also a little girl who often hummed and sang. It seemed she inherited both the talent and hobby of a dancer from her mother.

-Hanul Group, World’s 2nd Largest in Hunter Industry Revenue.

-The Midas Touch, Striking Gold Again? Stock Prices Soar Ahead of New Virtual Training System Announcement!

A newspaper photo showed Im Jae-joon looking like he’d bathed in money.

‘There’s no way this guy is satisfied with second place.’

Honestly, if it weren’t for the wall that was me in this field, Im Jae-joon, who had possessed the Baal System, was incredibly strong.

That’s why I’d beaten him with all my might without even realizing it.

Ah, I wonder if his broken nose from back then is okay? Looking at the picture, it still seems sharp, so I guess there were no problems.

To think the great Demon King would get so hooked on making money in the modern world that he’d become a tycoon Demon King. Life is truly unpredictable.

‘Everyone’s doing well.’

I was glad to see my acquaintances were all doing fine.

As for Katrinne, since I wasn’t here, I figured she would probably return to her domain.

There was no reason I couldn’t go see her. No, in fact, I should.

But the reason I hadn’t gone to see her right away wasn’t just because I couldn’t control my power.

It was time for her to stand on her own two feet.

She had been with me since she was young, and her entire world had revolved around me.

Now, Katrinne. Katrinne L. Elivelde needed to find her own life.

She no longer needed to live like a regressor.

‘I hope she’s not doing something like being a mukbang streamer.’

She was a saintess from another world and a noble lady, after all. She wouldn’t do something like that in front of a camera, right?

“Hah, haah…”

Just then, I heard someone panting behind me.

Wondering who was panting like a dog, I instinctively turned my head.

A woman in an office look with long, wavy hair was looking at me.

“What the.”

It was Olivier.

How did she know to find me? I was currently at Haeundae Beach in Busan.

In other words, the complete opposite side of the country from where my people were active.

“Did you… haah.”

Olivier, still out of breath, continued to speak while panting.

“Think I couldn’t find you?”

A bitter smile escaped me as I looked at Olivier, who said this with a small laugh.

***

Olivier waited for Hyunbin.

A year passed, and then another.

People returned to their respective places and began walking toward their goals once more.

The disciples Hyunbin had taught grew stronger, aiming to claim the title of the strongest in the wake of their master’s disappearance.

Im Jae-joon restructured his group and began an aggressive business strategy.

Saintess Katrinne, while managing her domain, signed with Hanul Entertainment and started as a mukbang streamer.

Having come of age, Katrinne gained explosive popularity with her cute and pretty face.

While everyone else was finding their own path, Olivier remained at a standstill.

She knew why.

Her goal had always been Hyunbin.

From her time in the other world, she had been tasked with monitoring the Hero.

Even after the Hero defeated the Demon King, she had chased after the Hero, who was like her mortal enemy.

Ostensibly, it was for revenge on behalf of the Demon King. But he had taken the burden the Demon King carried upon himself.

He had silently walked his own path.

The reason for searching for the Hero who had vanished.

She could finally say it truthfully.

She wanted to see the Hero.

His valiant side, his clumsy side, his sad side, his quirky side. She knew them all. One would think she’d be tired of it, but she wasn’t.

-Congratulations. You have achieved 100% Synchronization Rate.

A little late, Olivier filled her second status window’s synchronization rate.

The Demon King had raised his by creating his own faction, and the Hero had restored his by saving people.

Her synchronization condition, which was completed much later than others, began to rise upon reuniting with the Hero and then never stopped.

To awaken the Elder Succubus’s synchronization, she had tried going on blind dates and attending social gatherings. But the rate didn’t budge at all.

It only reacted to the Hero.

Olivier knew the reason well.

She wanted to see the Hero.

Once she honestly admitted it, she felt a sense of relief.

Upon awakening her synchronization, she felt her search range expand infinitely. She kept her search skill constantly active to find the Hero, who had to be hiding somewhere.

Ignoring the countless people who entered her search range, she looked for only one man, and three years after his trail went cold, she confirmed the Hero’s presence.

“What the…”

She thought he might have died. There was no way he would just not show up for three years.

‘Then again, that man would be fine even if he got hit by a nuke.’

At this point, nothing could kill the Hero. Literally, even if all of humanity became his enemy, the Hero would be the one to survive.

Olivier immediately took the KTX down to Busan. The thought that she would soon see the Hero kept her from sleeping.

Arriving at Busan Station, she immediately took a taxi to where the Hero was.

‘What should I say?’

It was her first time seeing the Hero in three years. Should she brag about fully awakening her synchronization? Or should she snidely ask if he’d been hiding and training all this time?

While trying to sort through her complicated thoughts, she found herself not walking, but running. In the distance, she saw a man in a hooded sweatshirt.

She headed toward him. The Hero was sitting there, within arm’s reach.

Her ragged breath from running made it hard to open her mouth. Her emotions were strange. She didn’t know how to describe the complex, writhing feeling tangled inside her.

The Hero turned around. He had lost a lot of weight, but it was definitely the face she had longed to see.

Olivier curled the corners of her lips up, composed her breathing, and opened her mouth.

“Did you… think I couldn’t find you?”

Olivier pulled her lips into the most confident expression she could manage.

Her heart was pounding just from seeing his face. Not wanting to reveal such feelings, she tried to speak as teasingly as possible.

“What’s with your appearance? You look like a total beggar. What, why are you so thin? Have you been starving yourself?”

“Have you been well?”

“Of course, I’ve been well.”

In truth, she hadn’t been.

“If you were alive, you could have at least sent word. At least to the Saintess…”

“I had my reasons.”

The Hero smiled, almost apologetically. Seeing his gentle and warm smile, so different from his usual mischievous self, she felt a pang in her chest.

“Still…”

Even so, what he did was too much.

“Don’t cry.”

“What- what are you talking about. Who’s…”

At the Hero’s words, Olivier brushed her eyes.

“Huh…?”

She had been crying without even realizing it.

“So where have you been all this time… *hic*.”

Seeing him safe and sound, Olivier felt a surge of emotion. She rushed forward and threw herself at Hyunbin.

It was something she would never normally do, but right now, she felt no shame or anything else.

Hyunbin gave a wry smile at Olivier suddenly hugging him and gently patted her back.

“You didn’t even think about the people waiting… *hic*, you just disappeared after that explosion… I tried searching but… *hic*.”

“I told you, I had my reasons.”

“And who do you think would care about… those stupid reasons?”

This embrace was just a sign of camaraderie after a long time apart.

She was only hugging him to hide the tears that were pouring out, a wave of emotion she couldn’t control.

The Hero’s embrace was warm. The hand patting her back was still large and firm. But…

“By the way…”

Olivier suddenly pulled away from Hyunbin’s embrace and faced him directly. Tears still welled in her eyes, wetting her lashes. Still, she had to say what was on her mind.

“How long has it been since you washed, Hero?”

“The last time it rained?”

“…”

An expression of utter disbelief washed over Olivier’s face.

“First, let’s get you washed. You need to wash up.”

“Don’t pinch your nose. That hurts a guy’s feelings.”

“Then give me a gas mask…”

“Hey, don’t back away. Weren’t you the one just hugging me?”

“Even I have my limits… *Hoo*. Seeing your haggard face, you probably haven’t been eating properly either.”

Grinning, Hyunbin showed her a 1.5-liter bottle filled to the brim with a protein shake. Olivier let out a low sigh.

He really was a madman.