64 - Fairy Tale

TL/Editor: raei Schedule: 5/week

Illustrations: None.

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The Tree Person paused, momentarily flustered, before slowly projecting a mental wave.

"You rejected us and left. And since the world's come to this, you must be dead."

"Show me the body then."

I needed to find out where and how he died while I had the chance. At Yeonwoo's firm voice, the Tree Person slowly changed the world.

Then it spoke, sounding confused.

"He's alive?"

The world changed in an instant.

A secluded mountain cabin somewhere. Warm sunlight shone down, birds chirping in the gentle breeze.

Future Yeonwoo, dozing in a rocking chair in front of the cabin, slowly opened his eyes, sensing something strange.

"Ugh...?"

Wearing fluffy pajamas, he rubbed his eyes. His hair was messy and his beard neatly trimmed.

The pupils clearly reflecting dice suddenly fixed on present Yeonwoo, then lazily gazed into space.

"This is-!"

The Tree Person spoke urgently.

"You've seen enough, now go back-"

"What the hell are you doing?"

A low voice. Somewhat slurred pronunciation.

Future Yeonwoo stretched out his hand. A gesture as if measuring countless threads. Simultaneously, the dice in his pupils rolled. As he clenched his fist, the dice stopped abruptly.

Success!

"No!"

With the Tree Person's cry came the sensation of a string snapping. Just as Yeonwoo, swallowing hard, began to fade away.

Future Yeonwoo opened his hand again, then made a fist. The dice in his pupils rolled.

Success!

Yeonwoo, who had been fading, returned.

He was transported in front of future Yeonwoo. Captured in the future, breaking through low odds.

"Uh..."

Yeonwoo stepped back cautiously, wary of his future self. He couldn't let his guard down just because it was the same person.

Hadn't he seen the Demon of Sloth? If it posed a threat to survival, he'd kill even another version of himself without hesitation.

His mouth went dry. His body tensed.

Future Yeonwoo glanced at him, then slowly rose. He turned and opened the cabin door, disappearing inside.

A voice came from beyond the door.

"Come in."

"Yes."

Yeonwoo entered the cabin politely. His legs trembled as they stepped on the wooden floor.

'What the hell is this?'

He was clearly a superior version of his current self. Whatever he did with the dice was visible in his eyes, and he seemed to control the results too.

If he decided to kill him... he'd be dead in an instant.

Yeonwoo carefully closed the cabin door with both hands, then reluctantly made his way to the living room table.

Future Yeonwoo sat in a chair and gestured to the chair across the table.

"Sit."

"Yes."

Yeonwoo sat down, placing both hands on his knees. As he looked at future Yeonwoo with trembling eyes, future Yeonwoo poured water from the kettle on the table and took a sip.

"I don't know how long it's been since I've had a conversation. So, where are you from? The past? A parallel world?"

"Th-the past, I think. The Tree Person in the Anomaly Research Society said it would show the future, and here I am."

"Ah. That time. Good."

Future Yeonwoo nodded slightly. He stared at the water in the wooden cup for a moment, looking at his reflection.

An uncomfortable silence fell.

Yeonwoo fidgeted, moving his hands from his knees to the table, then spoke.

"I was wondering why you kept me here..."

"Listen."

"Yes."

Future Yeonwoo spoke slowly.

"At that point, you're probably focused on survival. The company too."

"Yes."

"That's not right."

"Pardon?"

Yeonwoo raised his head. Despite his fear of the other, he couldn't suppress his curiosity. He doubted if this was really himself.

Future Yeonwoo leaned back in his chair, looking at the cabin ceiling. Shadows fell across his face.

He closed his eyes, lost in thought. His past self, the journey he'd been through, the accidents he'd experienced. And consequently, the things he'd lost.

Future Yeonwoo muttered as if to himself.

"I experienced it all firsthand. The extreme weather, the company's failure, the evacuation ships, the final shelter, the migration site..."

Scenes that still come to mind when he closes his eyes. Moments that occasionally appear in nightmares.

The evacuation ship he boarded. The dice he rolled to prevent a collision resulted in a critical failure, entangling nearby satellites and other ships. The dominos fell. He made them fall.

All the evacuation ships exploded simultaneously, becoming space debris.

The day he infiltrated the final shelter, half his body vanished at the gesture of a doomsday cultist.

The day he reached the migration site, he fled immediately in the face of the anomalous army scaling the walls.

"Well, you survived anyway, didn't you?"

At this clumsy attempt at consolation, future Yeonwoo opened his eyes and looked at present Yeonwoo.

"I survived. By becoming one with the dice, digesting all the rainwater, collecting and controlling countless other anomalies, incorporating them into my body. I've reached about danger level 6 or 7."

Goosebumps rose on Yeonwoo's skin. Half from fear of such a dangerous being before him, half from amazement that he could reach that level.

But there was no joy on future Yeonwoo's face, despite having the power to survive any situation.

"But that's all. I'm just alive."

Future Yeonwoo met Yeonwoo's eyes. His eyes sank wetly.

Eyes closer to an anomaly than a human.

Yeonwoo lowered his gaze, cowed, waiting for future Yeonwoo to speak. Future Yeonwoo said with a hint of mockery:

"Everyone else is dead."

He spread his fingers wide, then folded them one by one. With each finger, a memory was folded away.

"Family, the investigation team leader, Senior Ji-yoo, the kid, my company friends, the clock repairman, the allies I personally recruited, other friends. While I sought only my own survival, they all died."

A stone settled in Yeonwoo's heart. His chest tightened, and he couldn't bring himself to speak.

Future Yeonwoo said:

"The reason I didn't cooperate with the Tree Person was because I didn't want to live as a slave with my mind controlled. But. Am I living like a human now?"

Future Yeonwoo, who had become a top-tier anomaly living alone in a world where humanity was extinct, sneered.

"Survival alone isn't the issue. I should've thought about the world after survival. There's no meaning in a world where only I survive. So."

Future Yeonwoo looked at Yeonwoo. Over the pupils reflecting dice, Yeonwoo's image overlapped.

"Go back and change the future. Don't focus solely on survival, think about defeating the extreme weather. That's how you can live like a human."

Yeonwoo closed his mouth. He felt some sympathy, but also a lot of resistance.

Finally, in a small voice, he said:

"But I don't know how to stop the extreme weather. And I can't just roll the dice recklessly, can I?" sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ɴovᴇlꜰirᴇ.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Seeing Yeonwoo like this, future Yeonwoo nodded. This was indeed his past self. He knew those thoughts well.

"You were planning to roll when the risk became too great, when the point of no return came, right?"

"Yes..."

"This is the result of that postponement. The world's going to end anyway. Just roll it."

"No."

Yeonwoo opened his mouth. Are you saying to gamble with the fate of the Earth? Sure, it's not wrong, but why not just tell me the cause and solution to the extreme weather?

Future Yeonwoo smirked.

"More precisely, try various things, but definitely roll before the extreme weather hits. Once it starts, it's over."

"Could you explain those 'various things' in more detail...? I've only found the North Wind and Sun so far."

The conversational atmosphere wasn't bad, so Yeonwoo asked casually.

Future Yeonwoo tapped his fingers on the table. With each tap, thoughts long buried bubbled up like spring water.

"I have some ideas."

Methods to defeat the extreme weather that he once pondered every night before sleep.

"The North Wind and Sun, Demon of Malthus, Surtr's Sword, the Butterfly Effect, Biblical plagues..."

Countless anomalies flowed endlessly from future Yeonwoo's mouth. Entities contributing to the extreme weather, entities that could prevent it, entities known to the company, entities unknown to the company...

Yeonwoo etched each word into his mind, his face turning pale. The number was excessive.

Moreover, their locations were spread across the world.

"...Just handle these. Use them, persuade them, or destroy them. Judge based on the situation."

After a long while, future Yeonwoo finished speaking, and Yeonwoo said:

"Isn't that too much? Almost all of them are overseas. How am I supposed to do this?"

"So you won't do it?"

Future Yeonwoo stretched out his finger, pointing at the cabin window, then at himself.

"If you're going to survive anyway, you should live well in the city. Eat hamburgers, drink coffee, use smartphones, use computers."

"...I understand."

There must be a way. Yeonwoo silently mouthed, etching the list of anomalies his future self had mentioned into his brain.

Future Yeonwoo added some advice:

"By that time, you'll be more than capable. I had greater abilities than I thought, but I didn't use them well."

"For example?"

Yeonwoo let down his guard and openly asked for guidance.

"You yourself are a small company. Use the Extermination Company as a strike force. Use the Management Company as an intelligence department, and use the clock repairman or hostile groups as informants or subcontractors."

The alliances Yeonwoo had formed were more powerful than he realized.

"In the end, they're all people who couldn't abandon Earth. With the same ultimate goal, they won't refuse the answer I've given."

Only then did Yeonwoo raise his head straight. A light of realization shone in his eyes. He now understood the value of this information.

His voice thundered out:

"With this, I can unite not just the company factions, but even the hostile groups!"

"Uh... I hadn't thought that far."

Future Yeonwoo hesitated. Having lived alone in a desolate world for so long, he couldn't see the bigger picture.

He had just thought of telling his past self to use other people.

But the current Yeonwoo, who was actively meeting people and forming alliances, was different.

"It's possible! This is more than enough!"

This wasn't just information or a goal. It was a flag, a lighthouse. A clear path to an ideal future. A light to draw in all humans searching for a way in the darkness.

A faint hope became vividly real.

---

[Terms I've changed:

Great failure -> critical failure. This one is thanks to a dnd youtube short. Realized it was meant to be critical, not great.

Strike Force -> Strike Company. This is from c22 and c23. No idea if they will show up again. This is different from the strike force mentioned in this chapter]

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