“What do I need to do?” Hajin asks.
“You must relive the seven sorrows. Your soul must complete the journey.” Yi Yeonjun smiles.
Kim Hajin doesn’t understand what Yi Yeonjun means. This is new to him. If it is the ‘Seven Sorrows,’ Hajin can only think of bible references. “So who am I? The Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ?”
“Funny,” Yi Yeonjun smirks. “There are a lot of deviations, but I try my best to cater to your path. For example, it is truly out of my lordship’s calculations that you’d become the successor of the Great Sage. And then, there is that guy, Savant… Whoever that is, he is also a contributor to the deviations…”
Hajin doesn’t clear up the misunderstanding with him being the successor of the Great Sage as this inaccuracy of information might prove to become an asset for him in the future.
“Savant?” He rhetorically asks just to be polite, but the real source of his confusion is something else. “Lordship? Are you talking about Baal?” No, he quickly dismisses the assumption of the ‘Lordship’ being Baal.
Yi Yeonjun did say Baal has vanished. “Baal? No! The Devil King got sealed, remember? Ah~! I am sorry, you don’t know exactly the story from the past iteration, don’t you?”
Hajin comes to the understanding that Yi Yeonjun’s information is not as complete as his. Kim Hajin is in possession of information from two realities— The Returnee Hero and The Novel’s Extra.
“Who is your ‘Lordship’ then?”
Yi Yeonjun summons his [Book of Revelation] again as if boasting. “This book came from my lordship… You seem curious about who my lordship is. Fine, I will tell you… It is the God Almighty! It is you.”
“Me? Don’t fuck around. It is whatever is inside me, don’t you?” Hajin is feeling distasteful. He recalls Yi Yeonjun’s words moments ago, his hysterical and fanatical cry indicates how he has gone to the far end of insanity.
Yi Yeonjun is a madman, and Hajin reminds himself of how unstable the person in front of him is.
“Looks like they are done.” Yi Yeonjun summons a blue portal at his words.
Hajin doesn’t understand how Yi Yeonjun is in possession of this Gift. Looking over at who is being summoned, he sees Yi Byul, Droon, Cheok Jungyeon, and Jin Yohan.
“Hah! What happened to your leg?” Cries the voice behind Hajin.
Hajin is startled. When he looks around, he sees Jain sitting on a comfortable sofa. Since when is she here? Hajin is surprised he forgets Jain’s presence at all. On second thoughts, that is just natural as he is too focused on Yi Yeonjun.
Cheok Jungyeon is carrying his one leg. “Some kid cuts it off. Where is Setryn or Yoo Kyunghwan? I need this fixed, it is annoying…” Jungyeon does a little bit of first aid, warrior style. He sits on the sofa beside Jain and sticks his bleeding leg to his stump. Using his natural healing factor, and a bit of stimulation of qi, he tries to mend his injury.
“I will return this to you.” Yi Byul tosses something to Jain.
Hajin’s eyes widen as he recognizes the thing right away. “Where did you get that?” He feels for his person, searching for the [Orb of Solomon], but he cannot find it in his clothes. He is angered by Jain stealing from him.
For the [Orb of Solomon] to work, it has to be outside his Stigma, but to think it is stolen just like that from him. “Return it to me,” Hajin menacingly adds. He has already turned a stroke of his Stigma into a string.
“No can do. I am a thief, you know? So, this is mine.” Jain tosses the Orb of Solomon to the air playfully taunting Hajin. Suddenly, the [Orb of Solomon] is pulled to Hajin.
“You have to return what is not yours.” Hajin hides the [Orb of Solomon] in his Stigma for safekeeping. It is no use leaving it outside his Stigma now considering he is in the enemy base.
Jain blanches at what happened, annoyed and pissed. Cheok Jungyeon laughs hysterically at what he witnessed. Meanwhile, Yi Byul makes her apt report. “We accomplished our mission objectives. We have neutralized the Devil’s Seed’s Host, and corrected Evandel.”
Neutralized? Corrected?
Hajin tells himself to keep calm, but he is barely keeping it. “What does that mean?”
Yi Byul doesn’t pay him any concern.
It is Yi Yeonjun who answers Hajin. “It meant that the Devil’s Seed’s Host’s completion would slow down. Please do thank me, it is for the good of humanity, right? And then there is Evandel. Let’s just say I had her abandon her monster status…”
Hajin summons his Desert Eagle and fires multiple bullets at Yi Yeonjun out of anger, but the latter easily blocks them by overheating the air around him.
“Don’t.” Yi Yeonjun adds.
A shadow knife is placed just on Hajin’s neck. From the knife’s end is Yi Byul.
Hajin ignores her, his attention fully on Yi Yeonjun.
“How did you even know of the Great Sage’s inheritance?”
That information shouldn’t be in the so-called past iteration. It has foreshadowing from The Returnee Hero, though it isn’t revealed in the story either, Hajin has come to understand it is not a too-out-of-expectation kind of development. This is the reason why Hajin is not so surprised when the Great Sage’s inheritance abruptly appears in the plot development.
But Yi Yeonjun is different. His information should be one-sided. How does he know a lot of things? Not to mention, Yi Yeonjun even has means outside Hajin’s knowledge— it is evident as to how Yi Yeonjun now possesses a second... no... maybe even a third Gift.
Yi Yeonjun comes close to Hajin and gives him his [Book of Revelation]. Hajin receives it and reads its contents, but there is nothing to read. There is only a clean sheen of white. Hajin frowns. He imagines the book to be an artifact, but that seems to be not the case.
“Is this a part of your Gift?” Hajin asks.
“Yes,” Yi Yeonjun succinctly replies. “I can also ask it questions in exchange for a certain something.”
Hajin is reminded of his [Book of Truth] which is an extension of his [Observation and Reading] Gift.
“What is your Gift called?”
Yi Yeonjun smirks. ‘As if I will tell you that.’ That kind of smirk.
The [Book of Revelation] vanishes on Hajin’s hand. Hajin knows that it isn’t impossible for a person to possess more than one Gift, but for a person other than him to possess [Observation and Reading] is too ridiculous.
Objectively speaking, Yi Yeonjun’s Gift can only be a replica. Hajin hypothesizes that Yi Yeonjun can only possess this power because of Yi Yeonjun's lordship. “I understand what your ‘Lordship’ wants with me, but what do you get out of this?”
“Me? I get to watch the world burn from the front seat.” Yi Yeonjun is quite honest for some reason, making Hajin just more on guard. While Yi Yeonjun might not look like it, he is actually a dangerously manipulative person.
“Then what use is there in telling me all of this? If I only needed to relive the past iteration, then you could have chosen to remain hidden and do things from behind the scenes. Why appear?”
Yi Yeonjun teleports and returns to his throne. He is really showy, which is annoying. “Why appear? It is so that I can be certain that your trait of ‘Self-Sacrifice’ remains. I can imagine that lass, the Regressor, changing you… which is bad. For all I have known, you might have chosen a side already.”
“A side? Which sides?” Hajin is rattled by Yi Yeonjun knowing Nayun’s regression.
Yi Yeonjun smiles. “So, let’s see if you have the spirit of ‘Self Sacrifice’ still. Stay here with us on the Chameleon Troupe as Seat of Black. Of course, you can still play around Cube. And then, when you drop out, join the Jeronimo Mercenary. Anyways, my dear Yi Byul will watch over you. Just follow the script. Make things easier for each of us.”
“Aren’t you provoking me to not cooperate? What if I become the deviation you wish to avoid?”
“That’s impossible. You are just another character in the story after all. For that, I have to thank Chae Nayun’s regression. Sadly though, that might also have changed your nature.”
Too cryptic. It is too difficult to understand what is even happening at all in one sitting. Hajin is afraid. “Self-sacrifice?” Hajin reminisces about the days since his arrival in this world. “I don’t think of myself as a Hero, but I think you are right. I might actually have the spirit of self-sacrifice.”
Kim Hajin points his gun at his temple, and…
BANG~~!
He kills himself.
“What do I need to do?” Hajin asks.
“You must relive the seven sorrows. Your soul must complete the journey.” Yi Yeonjun smiles.
Kim Hajin doesn’t understand what Yi Yeonjun means. This is new to him. If it is the ‘Seven Sorrows,’ Hajin can only think of bible references. “So who am I? The Virgin Mary or Jesus Christ?”
“Funny,” Yi Yeonjun smirks. “There are a lot of deviations, but I try my best to cater to your path. For example, it is truly out of my lordship’s calculations that you’d become the successor of the Great Sage. And then, there is that guy, Savant… Whoever that is, he is also a contributor to the deviations…”
Hajin doesn’t clear up the misunderstanding with him being the successor of the Great Sage as this inaccuracy of information might prove to become an asset for him in the future.
“Savant?” He rhetorically asks just to be polite, but the real source of his confusion is something else. “Lordship? Are you talking about Baal?” No, he quickly dismisses the assumption of the ‘Lordship’ being Baal.
Yi Yeonjun did say Baal has vanished. “Baal? No! The Devil King got sealed, remember? Ah~! I am sorry, you don’t know exactly the story from the past iteration, don’t you?”
Hajin comes to the understanding that Yi Yeonjun’s information is not as complete as his. Kim Hajin is in possession of information from two realities— The Returnee Hero and The Novel’s Extra.
“Who is your ‘Lordship’ then?”
Yi Yeonjun summons his [Book of Revelation] again as if boasting. “This book came from my lordship… You seem curious about who my lordship is. Fine, I will tell you… It is the God Almighty! It is you.”
“Me? Don’t fuck around. It is whatever is inside me, don’t you?” Hajin is feeling distasteful. He recalls Yi Yeonjun’s words moments ago, his hysterical and fanatical cry indicates how he has gone to the far end of insanity.
Yi Yeonjun is a madman, and Hajin reminds himself of how unstable the person in front of him is.
“Looks like they are done.” Yi Yeonjun summons a blue portal at his words.
Hajin doesn’t understand how Yi Yeonjun is in possession of this Gift. Looking over at who is being summoned, he sees Yi Byul, Droon, Cheok Jungyeon, and Jin Yohan.
“Hah! What happened to your leg?” Cries the voice behind Hajin.
Hajin is startled. When he looks around, he sees Jain sitting on a comfortable sofa. Since when is she here? Hajin is surprised he forgets Jain’s presence at all. On second thoughts, that is just natural as he is too focused on Yi Yeonjun.
Cheok Jungyeon is carrying his one leg. “Some kid cuts it off. Where is Setryn or Yoo Kyunghwan? I need this fixed, it is annoying…” Jungyeon does a little bit of first aid, warrior style. He sits on the sofa beside Jain and sticks his bleeding leg to his stump. Using his natural healing factor, and a bit of stimulation of qi, he tries to mend his injury.
“I will return this to you.” Yi Byul tosses something to Jain.
Hajin’s eyes widen as he recognizes the thing right away. “Where did you get that?” He feels for his person, searching for the [Orb of Solomon], but he cannot find it in his clothes. He is angered by Jain stealing from him.
For the [Orb of Solomon] to work, it has to be outside his Stigma, but to think it is stolen just like that from him. “Return it to me,” Hajin menacingly adds. He has already turned a stroke of his Stigma into a string.
“No can do. I am a thief, you know? So, this is mine.” Jain tosses the Orb of Solomon to the air playfully taunting Hajin. Suddenly, the [Orb of Solomon] is pulled to Hajin.
“You have to return what is not yours.” Hajin hides the [Orb of Solomon] in his Stigma for safekeeping. It is no use leaving it outside his Stigma now considering he is in the enemy base.
Jain blanches at what happened, annoyed and pissed. Cheok Jungyeon laughs hysterically at what he witnessed. Meanwhile, Yi Byul makes her apt report. “We accomplished our mission objectives. We have neutralized the Devil’s Seed’s Host, and corrected Evandel.”
Neutralized? Corrected?
Hajin tells himself to keep calm, but he is barely keeping it. “What does that mean?”
Yi Byul doesn’t pay him any concern.
It is Yi Yeonjun who answers Hajin. “It meant that the Devil’s Seed’s Host’s completion would slow down. Please do thank me, it is for the good of humanity, right? And then there is Evandel. Let’s just say I had her abandon her monster status…”
Hajin summons his Desert Eagle and fires multiple bullets at Yi Yeonjun out of anger, but the latter easily blocks them by overheating the air around him.
“Don’t.” Yi Yeonjun adds.
A shadow knife is placed just on Hajin’s neck. From the knife’s end is Yi Byul.
Hajin ignores her, his attention fully on Yi Yeonjun.
“How did you even know of the Great Sage’s inheritance?”
That information shouldn’t be in the so-called past iteration. It has foreshadowing from The Returnee Hero, though it isn’t revealed in the story either, Hajin has come to understand it is not a too-out-of-expectation kind of development. This is the reason why Hajin is not so surprised when the Great Sage’s inheritance abruptly appears in the plot development.
But Yi Yeonjun is different. His information should be one-sided. How does he know a lot of things? Not to mention, Yi Yeonjun even has means outside Hajin’s knowledge— it is evident as to how Yi Yeonjun now possesses a second... no... maybe even a third Gift.
Yi Yeonjun comes close to Hajin and gives him his [Book of Revelation]. Hajin receives it and reads its contents, but there is nothing to read. There is only a clean sheen of white. Hajin frowns. He imagines the book to be an artifact, but that seems to be not the case.
“Is this a part of your Gift?” Hajin asks.
“Yes,” Yi Yeonjun succinctly replies. “I can also ask it questions in exchange for a certain something.”
Hajin is reminded of his [Book of Truth] which is an extension of his [Observation and Reading] Gift.
“What is your Gift called?”
Yi Yeonjun smirks. ‘As if I will tell you that.’ That kind of smirk.
The [Book of Revelation] vanishes on Hajin’s hand. Hajin knows that it isn’t impossible for a person to possess more than one Gift, but for a person other than him to possess [Observation and Reading] is too ridiculous.
Objectively speaking, Yi Yeonjun’s Gift can only be a replica. Hajin hypothesizes that Yi Yeonjun can only possess this power because of Yi Yeonjun's lordship. “I understand what your ‘Lordship’ wants with me, but what do you get out of this?”
“Me? I get to watch the world burn from the front seat.” Yi Yeonjun is quite honest for some reason, making Hajin just more on guard. While Yi Yeonjun might not look like it, he is actually a dangerously manipulative person.
“Then what use is there in telling me all of this? If I only needed to relive the past iteration, then you could have chosen to remain hidden and do things from behind the scenes. Why appear?”
Yi Yeonjun teleports and returns to his throne. He is really showy, which is annoying. “Why appear? It is so that I can be certain that your trait of ‘Self-Sacrifice’ remains. I can imagine that lass, the Regressor, changing you… which is bad. For all I have known, you might have chosen a side already.”
“A side? Which sides?” Hajin is rattled by Yi Yeonjun knowing Nayun’s regression.
Yi Yeonjun smiles. “So, let’s see if you have the spirit of ‘Self Sacrifice’ still. Stay here with us on the Chameleon Troupe as Seat of Black. Of course, you can still play around Cube. And then, when you drop out, join the Jeronimo Mercenary. Anyways, my dear Yi Byul will watch over you. Just follow the script. Make things easier for each of us.”
“Aren’t you provoking me to not cooperate? What if I become the deviation you wish to avoid?”
“That’s impossible. You are just another character in the story after all. For that, I have to thank Chae Nayun’s regression. Sadly though, that might also have changed your nature.”
Too cryptic. It is too difficult to understand what is even happening at all in one sitting. Hajin is afraid. “Self-sacrifice?” Hajin reminisces about the days since his arrival in this world. “I don’t think of myself as a Hero, but I think you are right. I might actually have the spirit of self-sacrifice.”
Kim Hajin points his gun at his temple, and…
BANG~~!
He kills himself.
