Chapter 75: Together In Another Life

"Don't worry about them," YuWon smirked and charged towards the monsters.

Everyone followed suit, preparing to fend off the ogres. However, just then, YuWon turned to the side and swung the sword. But he wasn't aiming for the ogres.

"Argh!"

One of Anna's teammates let out a cry of pain as his hand got severed. He was the one who had held Gina back while YuWon struggled to get on the train. Since his hands touched her, it was only right that he lost it.

Everyone thought they had to work together to stand a chance against the ogres. But YuWon? He didn't care. The ogres weren't his target. Anna's team was.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Anna shouted in Korean.

"Do I have to tell you the reason?" YuWon retorted.

The look YuWon gave Anna confirmed her fears. YuWon had respawned, somehow, and now he knew about her and her plan to trap him in the penalty zone.

"Stop him! Don't let him get close!" Anna yelled, pointing at YuWon.

If YuWon knew about her regression, he would stop at nothing to end her. She had to act fast and regress.

However, before she could regress, a dagger hit her square in the chest. Anna stumbled backward and noticed [Medusa's Fang] buried in her chest. The blade would never kill its target, but it would seal their abilities, and that was a death sentence in itself.

Upon noticing the blade, Anna wondered how much ahead in time YuWon had gone to get a mythical weapon. Just then, one of her subordinates rushed towards her.

"I'll pull it out—"

"No!" Anna pushed her back. "If you pull it out, I'll die."

"What?"

Her subordinate appeared confused, but Anna wasn't lying. If anyone pulled out the dagger, the rebounding curse would kill her. Once someone got bitten by [Medusa's Fang], there were only two ways to negate the curse.

First, they would need to kill the fang's owner, and second, if the owner removed the dagger themselves. Anna didn't see any way for the latter to happen, leaving them with the choice to kill YuWon.

But even that won't work.

Anna bit her lips in frustration. Even if they killed YuWon, he would just respawn and do it all over. It was a lose-lose situation. She scanned her memories, hoping to remember something that would help her in this situation.

YuWon scoffed, and Anna dropped her head and sobbed. For once, YuWon realized she wasn't pretending anymore. Everything she said was the truth.

But even then, he couldn't help but wonder why she would try to kill him if she loved him so much.

"I didn't have a choice..." Anna continued and fell back.

She had lost too much blood and was struggling. But even then, she couldn't leave without clearing her conscience and having that last conversation with YuWon that she never had.

"That angel bitch... she gave me a choice. To save the world, I had to kill Gina or the angels would destroy everything... starting with you."

"Bullshit—" YuWon said, but Anna wasn't hearing him and continued.

"With you trapped in eternal slumber, I had no choice... those bitch angels, they love playing with us. The only way to wake you up was to kill Gina. But no one could know about it."

She continued, "So... that's what I did. I killed her to save the world and you. But the angels... they tricked me. You woke up right before I killed her and saw me doing it.

And those angels... they messed with your mind."

"...I don't believe a word you're saying," YuWon shook his head, but Anna didn't care.

"Grief-stricken, you... destroyed everything. That's why I couldn't risk it and wanted to trap you in the penalty zone... forever."

"Destroying the world..." YuWon mumbled, looking at Gina fending the ogres. "Yeah, that sounds like something I would do."

"...I know," Anna chuckled, gesturing for him to get closer. "There's something else... I want to tell you."

YuWon thought for a bit, wondering if she had an ulterior motive. However, curiosity got the better of him and he leaned in to hear her last words.

As he leaned closer, Anna's trembling hands suddenly shot up, and she pulled him closer. Before he could react, she pressed her lips on his.

Even though she was dying, there was a strange intensity in that last moment, as if she had been waiting to do it for a lifetime.

"Maybe... we'll get a happy ending in some... other timeline..."

For a moment, everything stood still. Then Anna's grip loosened, her eyes blankly staring at the sky above as she smiled. Her chest rose one last time, then fell... she was gone for good this time.

"..."

YuWon stood there, speechless, before he turned and left, forgetting about the regressor after one last look.