Original Chapters: 105~110
29: let's meet again
Alt. Title: the regressor and the beau
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He had seen glimpses of her in Shin Yuseung of the 41st round's memories.
"Dokja," a hand held the reader in place. It was his sunbae, who grabbed his hand tightly. "Remain here. Binna and I will take care of her."
"..."
"Dokja."
"I know," he couldn't help but force those words through gritted teeth. "I'm in trouble for dying so I should just stay put."
"Good boy," Eun-Byeol smiled and placed a quick kiss on his forehead. "You're going to be punished for dying on me."
... dammit. Kim Dokja watched as the Ahn siblings, with Junghyuk following closely, fought with Shin Yuseung. I can't tell him I have plans to die more in the future, right?!
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Ahn Binna remembered the little girl who was just a head smaller than her. She didn't know which nth reincarnation met Yuseung but from the memories she received, she recalled a Yuseung who loved hugging her arm.
The little girl followed behind her, calling her unnie with her soft and lonely voice. She would always search for her when Binna stepped out of sight. Little Yuseung would grow anxious whenever they got separated. Binna remembered cradling her whenever they slept in the same sleeping bag.
Yuseung would always have nightmares and Binna would be there to whisper words of comfort so that she could go back to sleep.
Although Binna didn't remember how she felt in that memory, it made her heart ache for the Yuseung she met in this life.
What if her Yuseung went through the Past Yuseung's experiences?
She couldn't bear to imagine such a thing.
Binna had grown fond of the current Yuseung, even though she didn't show it. She loved teasing the younger girl and goading her to a challenge for her brother's attention.
When she first saw Yuseung by the pier, she only sensed that she was dangerous. The more Binna got to know the younger girl, the more the belle recalled the memories of her past self taking care of Past Yuseung.
The Past Yuseung who clearly imprinted herself on her.
Binna couldn't remember how she felt towards her, the decisions the past her made to have Past Yuseung to love her deeply, because when she receives her memories in the next life, neither thoughts or feelings come along with them.
The only reason why she was obsessed with finding her brother was because in every reincarnation, the belle was always born in a fucked up family. The memories she receives in her early years are memories of her and her brother.
Of how she was loved.
Of how he loved her without expecting anything in return.
Of how he gave her everything, even his own life.
He was her lifeline.
Binna wanted to experience that love again. So, she searched for him in every life, not willing to give up.
But there was also a question that plagued her ever since they separated.
Why did he selflessly give up his life for a little girl who he only knew for less than a decade?
...
'Kill me, unnie.'
I can't...
'It's okay. I know that right now, you don't hold any affection for me. Your Yuseung is right there. Protect her instead.'
I can't!
'Unnie, I'm really glad I met you. In the thousands of years I spent wandering through the Labyrinth of Worlds, my time with you were the most beautiful memories I've had.'
Then, let's create more of those memories, Yuseung! You don't need to die! I'll pay the price of plausibility—I'll go against the scenario for you!
'It's okay. You can create those memories with the Yuseung of your round.'
It won't be the same...
'You said before that only your memories return. Not how you felt nor what your thoughts had been. Unnie, I don't understand. I'm just a character in your memories, a character you've read.'
I... I know that. But when I recall the times we spent together, even without remembering my last thoughts before death, I know I regretted leaving you. Yuseung, come with me. With us! This time, I really won't leave you!
'...'
Yuseung!
'I'd love that. I really do, Unnie, but I—'
...
Ahn Binna barely dodged the claw that almost stabbed her heart. The fight with the Catastrophe of Floods uprooted almost all the trees in the island. The waves grew more and more in size, taking with it corpses of beasts and broken trees.
The belle watched helplessly as her brother's sword sliced through the catastrophe's shoulder. A whole arm fell on the ground, blood splattering everywhere. Even then, the catastrophe continued to fight.
Like a robot whose only command was to kill on sight.
The Catastrophe of Floods stood in place, where Eun-Byeol cut off her arm, and fell to her knees. The accumulation of injuries shut down her body at last.
At once, heavy breaths filled the island. All the beasts from the gate the Catastrophe opened died under the hands of the incarnations gathered in the scene.
'Unnie.'
The belle's heart trembled when Past Yuseung called for her.
"Am I going to die now...?"
Step by step, the exhausted Binna approached the dying Catastrophe and knelt down in front of her. "Do you want to?"
"Maybe." 'I don't want to, unnie.' "I'm glad I came to this round. I got see you again, unnie. With you and your brother, I think some things might even change in this round." 'I don't want to die.'
Binna didn't know what to say. She didn't even know when she activated her telepathy. Throughout their devastating battle with an SS-Rank Catastrophe, it took Binna a long time to realize that she'd been having a conversation with Shin Yuseung.
"Are you leaving?" Yoo Junghyuk stepped forward, expression indecipherable.
Shin Yuseung glanced at her captain's direction. "I guess so." 'There's something I desperately want to hear from you.'
"I want to ask you something."
"What is it?" 'I wish I could hear it even if it's just once.'
"Who is the demon that helped you cross between worlds?"
Ahn Binna almost charged at that moron. However, she caught Kim Dokja's gaze before looking down at her knees. Afraid that she would try to kill Yoo Junghyuk if she so much as glanced at his direction once again.
"... to the end, you're so predictable, captain." 'You haven't changed at all.'
"Tell me."
'That's why I look up to you.' "Have you heard of The Demon of the Horizon? You'll see him too if you're unlucky. But don't even try to fight it. You will never be able to defeat it no matter how hard you try." 'I will watch you for all the years to come. And unnie, don't be consumed by hatred. Please always be the unnie who loves her brother unconditionally.'
"..." Binna clenched her fists, even drawing blood as nails dug into her palm. For you, I will.
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'... and get my revenge on you.'
'Goodbye, captain.'
'You did good.'
'I'll leave the rest to you then. And, captain, please take care of unnie.'
'I will so, rest now.'
Kim Dokja watched read their conversation. This kind of communication, without the need for words, indicated just how well they knew other. The reader's heart throbbed, and his emotions overcame his reasons.
One step forward he took, and before he knew it, he was beside Shin Yuseung's side.
He gave her his word.
He would fulfill his promises.
"Brother-in-law—!" Ahn Binna, who had been quiet beside him all this time, suddenly clung onto his arm. Desperation glistened in her earthly warm eyes. A desperation that Kim Dokja had only seen once directed at his sunbae.
"Can you really do it?!" The little girl who was boisterous, who fearlessly tackled each scenario without fail, expressed her distress so clearly just as a child her age should.
Dokja didn't know how she knew but perhaps she had the skill telepathy under her belt. She must have heard the promises he uttered, and those promises will be fulfilled without exceptions.
"I will," Dokja held her cheek, giving her reassurance. "So, cry as much as you want. You need it."
Children, no matter how mature they acted, would always remain as children. The feelings the belle bottled up finally spilled through the cracks Dokja's comforting words made. Big, fat tears escaped her eyes.
No matter how many lives Binna reincarnated into, no matter how old she had been in those lives; right now, the Binna before him was just about fourteen years-old. She was just a child who didn't know how to properly regulate her feelings.
"It'll be okay, Binna." You'll be able to see her again.
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"Is she really dead...?"
Little Yuseung, embraced in Eun-Byeol's arms, buried her face on the crook of his neck. "Is there really... no way to change this, mister?"
Ahn Eun-Byeol didn't know how to comfort children. When he raised his sister on his own, he raised her in an unconventional way. How could he ever know how to care for a child when he himself wasn't raised properly?
He remained silent and could only offer a hug to the crying Yuseung. "Mister, I don't think... she deserved to die..." She trembled violently in his hold, arms wrapped tightly around his neck. "I saw... her memories. I saw how lonely she was... will I be like that, too, mister...?"
"Of course not," Eun-Byeol whispered to her ear. He raised a hand to stroke the back of her head. "Our Yuseung will always have us. I'm pretty strong, aren't I? No matter what comes, I'll come out as the winner and return to Yuseung's side. My Binna won't let you be alone, too, okay?
"Dokja-shi will always return to you as well. Everyone will. So, Yuseung, don't be afraid. Our future won't be as bleak."
...
[The Fifth Main Scenario has come to an end.]
[The rewards are being calculated.]
Exhaustion hit everyone like a sixteen-wheeler truck. The Fifth Main Scenario felt like it went on for forever.
Suddenly, blue lightning crawled in the sky, and out of the light they emitted, the Dokkaebi Enforcers stepped out. Without uttering a single word, runes of blue light formed around Paul and bound him in place.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"Mid-grade Dokkaebi, Paul, you are under arrest... for violating the rules of the Star Stream."
Before the Enforcers could bring Paul away for punishment, Kim Dokja quickly intervened. "Wait, hold on!"
The Enforcers were momentarily stunned, asking in an unsure tone, "Were you... talking to us just now? Incarnation Kim Dokja, why did you call us?"
Kim Dokja released Binna from his hold, giving her a smile that stunned the belle.
It's time to fulfill the first promise I have to keep.
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"Brother," Ahn Binna stepped up beside the beau, who still held Yuseung in his arms. She couldn't tear her gaze away from the crying girl. "I want to torture him. That dokkaebi."
"Me, too," the beau answered quietly. "But how?"
She remained quiet.
After reincarnating countless times, she had discovered some things while participating through many 'apocalypse'. Binna knew about the Private Meetings. She wasn't sure how her brother-in-law knew about it, too, but she could also do the same as him.
Even if she can't kill that dokkaebi, she could at least make him suffer in living hell.
"Leave it to me," she said after a moment of silence. "I'll avenge her in a way that I can."
Little Yuseung finally lifted her head. The belle met her teary eyes and Binna reached up to stroke her back. "Yuseung, don't cry. I'll give that dokkaebi another round of beatings after brother-in-law is done with him, okay?"
"... okay, unnie."
'Unnie!'
For a moment, the Past Yuseung's much more mature voice overlapped with the Little Yuseung's in Binna's ears.
...
Kim Dokja looked around as everyone sat around the flickering embers of fire in the middle. Empty cans of soda and bottles of soju littered the ground. On one side, three children huddled up in a single blanket and slept together. On the other hand, the adults plus Jihye drank soju.
Except for the missing beau.
He must have followed Junghyuk in an attempt to find out what happened in the past.
In fact, when the 41st round's Yuseung revealed Junghyuk's and his sunbae's past, he couldn't believe it either.
The result of Junghyuk's decisions and pride killed his sunbae.
Some things still don't make sense. I can see sunbae's profile while I can't see Binna's. This contradiction makes it difficult for me to arrive to a conclusion. The reader tried to think more about it.
Maybe Binna had a skill that allowed her to hide her profile from him. After all, she was a reincarnator who received her past lives' memories. However, the status window that pops up was the same as Sangah's.
It just doesn't make sense. Dokja's thoughts were a mess and in the end, he arrived to a conclusion that maybe he shouldn't think too deeply. Perhaps there weren't any secrecies behind Binna's hidden profile, just that she had a skill that blocks anyone from seeing it.
A sigh escaped his lips. I miss sunbae already.
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[You have entered the Sub Scenario (Personal) - Haunted By The Past.]
[SUB SCENARIO (Personal) - Haunted By The Past]
Category: Sub (Personal)
Difficulty: ???
Clear Condition(s): The constellation Love Me 'Till Death gives you the chance to unearth the history burried deep in your hearts. However, don't get too caught up in the past for you shall remain stuck in time if you are unable to untangle the knots in your hearts.
1. Find the answer to: Who are you?
2. Answer the question: Do you regret?
Time Limit: --
Reward: 20 000 coins
Failure: Remain in the past, never to return to your present.
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Yoo Junghyuk abruptly woke up, gasping for breath. The last thing he remembered before Eun-Byeol tackled him into the sea was a sphere of water enveloping the both of them. Quickly, the regressor assessed his surrounding, trying to figure out where he was.
Because the moment he took in a deep breath, the air tasted different.
Like it belonged to an office.
"Yoo-shi," someone called out to him. The regressor, stunned by this address, turned his head. "Your phone's been ringing constantly. Aren't you going to answer it?"
It was an unfamiliar yet familiar man, wearing a hoodie, looking out of place in this office setting.
The stubborn ringing of a phone entered his ears at last. It took him a while to reorganize his thoughts. Junghyuk glanced at the desk, finding a highly elaborate desktop setup. On the screen, it showed the login interface of a game. It was still in the middle of updating.
Beside the keyboard was a phone that kept ringing nonstop.
Junghyuk's hand moved to reach for it as if it had a mind of its own. Even if he tried to stop himself, his hand refused to stop. The regressor felt tense, as if he was about to face a troublesome enemy. Seeing the name on the screen, he felt confused.
Lunatic Manager is calling...
Who...?
As that thought crossed his mind, Junghyuk answered the call, only for him to stiffen in bewilderment.
"Are you dead already? I've been calling for the past ten minutes, why haven't you answered?"
It was a very familiar voice.
"Nevermind. I called to tell you I'm not able to pick you up. Something troublesome cropped up in my lab, so you can commute back home."
A voice that often spoke to him in a disgusted tone.
"Remember to hide your face, being a manager is just a hobby of mine so don't give me too much trouble, okay?"
Yet now it spoke to him with helplessness and a hint of annoyance.
"Well, that's that, really. Eun-Byeol out."
The call ended just like that.
Junghyuk remained frozen, unable to process the current situation. It was not until a status window popped up in front of him that the regressor managed to react.
A personal sub scenario? And this constellation, I don't think I've seen that name before. Junghyuk's eyes narrowed, reading what this scenario was all about.
Then... the questions I've been asking, I can now find the answers?
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IT'S TIME FOR JUNGHYUK'S SCREENTIME! We can finally find out what tf happened between him and Byeol~
I'm gonna miss Dokja ಠ◡ಠ
I mean, look at him in that coffin, waving at us with a blushy smile.
NGL I do, kinda, maybe, perhaps, a tinie tiny bit, ship Yuseung and Binna.