Regressor Instruction Manual

Chapter 709: Soulmate (8)

‘I have a lot to think about.’

The first problem was that I didn’t know the reason why I suddenly saw moments of the first timeline.

Meanwhile, I began thinking that Lee Kiyoung of the past bluffed before erasing my memory, but I already knew about it.

‘Kim Hyunsung stabbed Lee Kiyoung.’

I had reached conclusions once before. That was a winning puzzle. It was a bet with Lucifer, and it was the condition that allowed us to have that war.

I roughly judged that it was finished, but there might still be something I was turning away from. It wasn’t enough to dismiss all of the hypotheses that had been established before, and I thought I needed to dig a little deeper.

I wondered for a moment that the soul of the masked trash might be penetrating Lee Kiyoung’s soul, but…

‘It isn’t noticeable…’

Since it wasn’t, I didn’t even feel the need to stop it. It wasn’t something that could be stopped just because I wanted to in the first place… and it was definitely partly helpful.

Organizing the visions I had seen was the priority. As the hypothesis I had established so far had been blown away, I had no choice but to press the change of stance button.

‘Kim Hyunsung. wasn’t he an enemy?’

The most shocking thing was that the masked trash wasn’t hostile to Kim Hyunsung. More than anything else, that fact was the most interesting.

I thought that Kim Hyunsung and the masked trash in the first round were enemies.

The central theme of the history of the first timeline was the confrontation between Kim Hyunsung and the masked trash.

At some point, the two were hostile enough to hate each other and went through several wars. The conflict deepened, and, as a result, the situation became so complicated, reaching a point where the continent was utterly destroyed.

Kim Hyunsung was a warrior who had to save the world, and the masked trash was his opponent. It was a typical story about a warrior and the devil. Even if they were rivals, it was a relationship filled with hostility.

I thought the masked trash Jin Qing was a psychopath who had no way to be rid of.

‘Is it possible that it may not be?’

What the hell was it?

‘My interest lies on him, a hero who has accomplished his task brilliantly but has fallen exhausted. The one who couldn’t overcome his limits. The one who sacrificed everything he had. The enlightened one. Kim Hyunsung, the hero who failed. Whew… It sounds good. Does it not so? Kim Hyunsung, the failed hero! Kim Hyunsung, the hero who carries all the burdens. It’s not you pigeons that will change the world. This one here will save this place on your behalf.’

What the hell?

Wasn’t he talking as if he was pampering Kim Hyunsung? It was no different than saying that all actions against Kim Hyunsung so far were lies. It was no exaggeration to say that it was a lie that destroyed all the cases I assumed in the first place.

Of course, there was no guarantee that those words were true. Who could know the thoughts of the masked trash? He might’ve just said that to deceive the alcoholic pigeon, or perhaps he was babbling without meaning. He couldn’t be trusted. That’s for sure.

Masked trash…

“The masked trash never killed Kim Hyunsung.”

I continually looked at his history, but he had never once touched Kim Hyunsung. The masked trash had never done any other harm to the regressor, even though he was in a situation where he could kill him if he chose to.

Considering that Kim Hyunsung was still alive even after the world was destroyed, it seemed that it wouldn’t be wrong to dig deeper into the current hypothesis.

I judged that it was because of Altanus’ protection, but there were other possibilities at that point, such as the case where the masked trash wanted to let Kim Hyunsung remain from the beginning.

“That’s crazy. Fuck.”

Many things came to mind. What if the masked trash didn’t resent Kim Hyunsung from the beginning?

Of course, it was more likely that he resented Kim Hyunsung if I thought about what he had done against him. But at some point, he might have come to understand Kim Hyunsung. He might have changed his purpose from revenge to something else entirely, or his train of thoughts itself might’ve become different.

But the fact that he continued to be hostile to Hyunsung even though that was the case…

‘Was it because he wanted Kim Hyunsung to become stronger?’

Shaking my head and looking at Kim Hyunsung through the telescope, I saw him entangled with the alcoholic pigeon that was providing him with even more experience.

A more intense fight was still going on than the one in the first round.

My jaw dropped without my knowledge.

-Kim Hyunsung.

-…

Baaaaaaaang!!

It had been a long time since the two separated from the other battlefields and spaces.

I could see a colossal shield spread around them. It was a minimal countermeasure to keep others from getting caught in the aftermath of their fight.

Of course, it was meaningless to have that. The shield burst out in no time, and even the wall began to collapse.

‘Gosh… fuck. That shouldn’t have collapsed.’

It was just after Kim Hyunsung swung his sword. The black magical power in his blade struck the wall instantly, and with an explosive sound, one side of it crumbled helplessly.

It wasn’t even weird. Instead, I felt that Hyunsung was controlling his power. I knew that the two fights showed similar patterns in the first round, after all.

Above the sky, on the floor, they kept constantly moving while trading blows. I could feel their emotional agitations from a distance. Unlike the alcoholic pigeon who desperately tried to seek his friend, I thought that Kim Hyunsung had no reason to get agitated, but…

‘Would it be weird if he weren’t?’

He might have been drunk in the atmosphere, or perhaps he was drunk on himself.

It was different from Kim Hyunsung of the past, who could barely deal with him. The current Kim Hyunsung was overwhelming him.

His insufficient magical power increased, and the wings he didn’t have appeared. He had grown several levels physically as well. Everything was definitely different from his inferior self in the first timeline.

Although I cheered at the enemy’s increasingly reddening appearance… honestly, that alcoholic pigeon was tough as well.

It was as if each other’s positions had changed from the first round.

The alcoholic pigeon was fighting like Kim Hyunsung in their first battle. Although all parts were inferior, he prolonged the fight by appropriately gauging Kim Hyunsung’s power.

Kim Hyunsung had the upper hand, but strangely, I couldn’t picture him taking victory in the fight.

It was then that they lowered their swords from a close distance.

-…

-You got weaker.

-No, I got stronger, Thronus.

-You got weaker.

-Let’s see if you can still say that with your throat sliced open.

‘Where did Hyunsung learn such harsh language? Fuck.’

-Have you lost your temper by being drunk with power? That power will ruin you, Kim Hyunsung.

-I am always rational, and I just made a reasonable choice. I am always aware of what I am doing and what I should do.

-That’s disgraceful. Do you know what you look like now?

-I know.

‘No. Hyunsung, you don’t look disgraceful. You don’t. You look cool, so stop with that. Who would say you look disgusting upon seeing those black wings?’

-I know that I look disgraceful…

-That’s the words of a man who sold himself to a dirty demon. Kim Hyunsung. Look down at yourself. Aren’t you no different from them? There were times when I thought you were shining back then. Now, you no longer have even a slight glimmer. I can’t call you a star. It feels ridiculous to say this, but I leaned on you a little bit. No matter. I don’t have any questions about you. Your role is only to tell me where he is.

-…

-No instruction required, Seraphim, since this one can’t beat me anyway. I’ll get him back alone.

-I don’t know what you’re talking about. You probably know that it’s not convincing to talk like that with the way you look now.

-You even became even more idiotic. You’re too drunk on that power.

-…

Kim Hyunsung was biting his lips tightly. He hated to admit it, but he had no choice but to do so. The fight that stopped for a while began once again.

Kim Hyunsung made a face that showed there was no way he could lose as Thronus slowly grasped his sword.

It was only from that point that the direction of the battle began to change.

‘That drug-addicted pigeon bastard.’

“Why are you so strong? What the hell did you do?”

Thronus’s power was considered weaker than Cherubim and Dominions, but he was actually stronger than both. Too overwhelmingly so, even. Otherwise, his present condition couldn’t be explained.

Not long after the fight began, Kim Hyunsung became visibly nervous.

It wasn’t because of the guy’s awkward psychological warfare. It was exactly the same conversation they had just before. He was messing with Kim Hyunsung as if the fight wasn’t just with specs.

It was like seeing when Kim Hyunsung fought against Donovan and won. Except that Kim Hyunsung was in the position of the strong idiot.

-Damn.

-Stupid human.

-Damn!!

‘He definitely has an advantage…’

It felt like he was losing psychologically.

‘He’s immature.’

At that moment, I realized again that Kim Hyunsung wasn’t a perfect hero.

“He’s rather unstable.”

After going through the first round, others went through multiple changes, while he remained immature and unstable.

“That’s why.”

It felt like I had been hit by a hammer in the head.

Everything suddenly made sense about what happened and how.

“That’s what it was.”

The scattered puzzles were coming together again.

I came up with a ridiculous hypothesis, assuming that the purpose of the masked trash in the first round was to save the world.

What if he had already realized the first round would fail and was secretly preparing for the second round?

It sounded ridiculous, but what I had seen so far made it seem rational. Rather, there were too many parts that fit together, so much so that I wasn’t even perplexed.

Everything made sense; everything fit. The masked trash didn’t want to destroy the continent. No, perhaps he wanted to protect it.

“This is right.”

What if he thought that the outer gods were needed as adversaries, and that’s why he chose Kim Hyunsung as the right person?

It wasn’t only the reason why the masked trash didn’t really antagonize Kim Hyunsung that made it sound plausible, but also the probability of the unfamiliar scene I just saw.

“Why Kim Hyunsung?”

Kim Hyunsung wasn’t a perfect hero, but he was the last remaining hope of humanity.

I got goosebumps when I thought about it. It was hard to maintain composure about the truth that the masked trash wasn’t a wicked person from the beginning.

He wasn’t the villain. He claimed himself to be a wicked man… for the continent. He took it all and prepared for a new start.

If that hypothesis was true…

How hard was it for him?

How lonely and distressed he had he been?

How much courage did it take to take one step further toward a path no one could choose– no one would choose– knowing that everyone would criticize and hate him, knowing that he would be the enemy of humanity?

He wasn’t the masked trash but a hero who sacrificed himself for the continent.

I could no longer call him masked trash. I kept thinking of the scenes I had seen before.

‘Thank you, Altanus.’

The one who carried everyone’s suffering on his back.

‘I can start over, Jihye.’

The one who claimed himself to be wicked to save the continent.

‘This one here will save this place on your behalf.’

The one whose face he covered for the sake of the cause.

The Masked Hero.

“It was me…”

It wasn’t Jin Qing.

He couldn’t do that.

Trash like Jin Qing couldn’t simply be a hero carrying a burden.

“It was me…”

I was the masked hero of the first timeline.

“Fuck … I was the masked hero…”

It was an unthinkable identity.

In front of that great twist, I unknowingly spoke to myself.

“The masked hero Lee Kiyoung?”

The mask would have existed to hide my sadness, not to hide my identity.