Chapter 82

Chapter 82

“Elona is also dead. She tried to stop me and make up for what the administrator did, but... well, eventually...” Jarim chuckled awkwardly.

The ‘The Slaughterer of the Battlefield’ increased destructive power against creatures made of ore.

And Elona was one such creature, born and raised in Baskar.

Unfortunately, her compatibility was too poor to successfully stop the deranged Seong Jarim. She ended up with severe injuries, and a monster from the Labyrinth delivered the final blow to her immobile body.

“In the end, it was Baskar’s administrator who destroyed the planet.” Jarim, avoiding eye contact, widened her eyes. “I don’t know what grudge it had against me, but it should have communicated. Trying to kill me, someone who was trying to save its own planet? That’s just insane.”

The slaughter of the planet’s inhabitants and the death of its contractee were all ultimately caused by the administrator. It was the one who drove Seong Jarim to madness.

Seong Jarim had no reason to feel guilty for killing Elona, who was being manipulated.

“Elona wouldn’t have held any resentment toward you. She was probably just sad and sorry that her own contractor turned you into this.”

“Yeah...”

“I believe so. I am also a contractee, and I would feel the same way if I were in her shoes.”

It wasn’t a mere empty consolation. Jarim began to weep at the matter-of-fact statement. Seora sighed and embraced her, gently patting her back. “It won’t look good if a senior of a hundred years cries, so please don’t cry.”

“You saying that only makes me want to cry even more. I’m not old...”

She still found it unjust. Seora chuckled softly.

“All the ‘dead Elona’ titles have vanished, leaving only one: The Last of the Ruined Planet. Now, there truly is nothing left of that place. Perhaps it was meant to be this way from the very beginning.”

From the moment the administrator unleashed its fury upon the innocent, the planet embarked on a path of destruction. Therefore, Seong Jarim bore no guilt.

“You should let go of it as well. It’s a place that no longer exists in this world, and you won’t encounter it again.”

Now that it had transformed into an uninhabited wasteland, the gate would no longer open. The hundred-year relationship with Baskar came to an end with this.

“You did a remarkable job,” Seora conveyed the words she longed to hear when she slayed the monster in the Cheorwon Dungeon to Jarim, just as the administrator had told her.

Well done. Excellent job. It’s alright.

It’s a simple phrase, yet the one everyone yearns for the most.

Hnggg. Seong Jarim let out a long, drawn-out cry that seemed out of place for her age. It seemed Seora’s role as a nanny would never cease.

Seora sighed and comforted her throughout the night.

***

With a loud noise, the entire space shook.

The man who had been sitting quietly in his chair looked up. Someone outside was pounding on this place with force. However, no matter how hard they tried, the person knew very well that the door would not open. In the end, this was just a venting of frustration.

〖”Are you anxious? Well, things have changed a lot, after all.”〗

He had only changed one tiny thing, but everything had transformed. Now even he couldn’t stop it since that variable had made a choice.

The man’s gaze turned toward the system window, which was filled with numerous floating displays on one side of the wall. Two figures appeared side by side on the screen.

Kang Sejun, the sole regressor of Earth.

And Seong Jarim, the returnee.

Even without listening, it was obvious what the two would talk about. However, as always, he observed without interfering. Because of that, he was prepared to face whatever might happen.

It was no exaggeration to say that Kang Sejun had encountered all the powerful individuals in the world through his repeated regressions. Yet, none of them possessed the same aura as Seong Jarim. He didn’t feel that way toward Ali, the leader of Athena, who was secretly regarded as the world’s strongest, nor toward Julian of the United States.

Just like Yun Seora, who is this woman I have never encountered in my past?

“Perhaps I am the person closest to you in this world.”

“...Me?”

“I am a returnee. Someone who has finally returned home from a distant dimension in the universe called the dungeon.”

Kang Sejun widened his eyes at the fingers that counted the starry night sky. “A returnee...? Did you say returnee? From what dimension?”

“I suppose there was no one like me in your previous regressions. Well, it’s also my first time encountering a regressor.”

Seong Jarim briefly explained herself. A gate is a portal connecting planets in the universe, a dungeon is the territory within, and she had been trapped in a place called Baskar.

For exactly 108 years.

“The dungeon is connected to the universe? And what did you say? 108 years...?”

“I’ve heard that only five years have passed on Earth. Maybe that’s why I haven’t aged. If I don’t age in the future, there must be another reason.”

“Now I understand why Baek Huiwon said you were as unique as me.”

“I thought you came here knowing something, but it seems that’s not the case. Apparently, Baek Huiwon can’t keep a secret.”

“That’s her specialty.”

Despite the calm response, Kang Sejun’s eyes trembled.

108 years was longer than the lifespan he had experienced through his repeated regressions. He, who lived by dying repeatedly, and she, who survived without dying. Though vastly different, as Seong Jarim pointed out, the two of them were more similar than anyone else in the world.

“Are you the only one who knows that the dungeon is another planet in the universe?”

“Seora knows. She claims to hate getting involved in complicated matters and pretends not to know.”

“I’m not like Yun Seora. I have to make sure others are aware of this.”

“Who? The WDO? Do as you please. As long as my name doesn’t come up, I don’t mind.” However, Seong Jarim’s eyes lacked luster. “But knowing won’t change anything. Gates will continue to appear until this world is destroyed.”

“...What do you mean by that? Wouldn’t the strange phenomena disappear if the Labyrinth Dungeon is solved?”

“The Labyrinth? Ah, right. I hadn’t considered that. Baskar was destroyed because of the failure to close the Labyrinth.”

Despite her composed tone, the impact of this revelation struck Kang Sejun like a blow to the back of his head. “There was a Labyrinth in Baskar too...?”

“A Labyrinth Dungeon exists in every dimension where gates appear. That’s the rule. Systems, Awakened, gates, dungeons—they are shared across all dimensions.”

Kang Sejun, who had undergone five regressions without any knowledge of this fact, felt as if he had been struck in the head multiple times. “I can’t believe I didn’t know such a thing until now...”

“Unless you’ve actually lived in another dimension like me, it’s normal not to know. I learned everything there.”

“Do you know how to eliminate the gates completely?”

“I don’t know. All I know is Baskar, and as I mentioned, it was destroyed by the Labyrinth. Not a single life form remains there.”

“At least hope is not entirely lost.” Kang Sejun tightened his fists. I cannot give up if there is even a glimmer of hope. I will hold on to it with all my might.

“Do you think you can succeed? You’ve already failed five times. Will this time be any different?” Seong Jarim, who had witnessed the utter destruction of a planet, found him distasteful.

Their perspectives, shaped by his repeated life filled with hope and her devastating despair, were drastically different.