Chapter 351:

Chapter 351:

The Fragment began to emit a fierce light and started to absorb the surrounding stories.

The stories that made up this nightmare world were a vast history built by a single regressor who had repeated success and failure over 600 times.

All those stories were being forced into a single Fragment. The power gathering in the Fragment swelled as if it would explode at any moment and trembled unstably.

Yu-hyun watched it with trembling eyes and instinctively knew.

If this explodes, everyone here will die.

-You, do you know what exactly the Fragment is?

Yu-hyun recalled the conversation he had with Oello in the past.

-You told me. The Fragment is a piece of the Codex, the Book of Genesis created by Logos.

-Yes, but that's just the literal meaning. I asked if you know how great the power of this Fragment is.

-Hmm. I’m not sure.

Yu-hyun rubbed his chin.

He knew well that the Fragment was indeed a remarkable object. The power he had obtained from Laplace, Maxwell, Descartes, and Darwin was not something one could typically acquire.

-It seems you still don’t understand it well.

-Me?

-You don't fully comprehend the extent of the Fragment's power.

Oello crossed his arms and shook his head. Yu-hyun couldn’t refute his words. He himself sometimes harbored doubts about the power of the Fragment.

-If the Codex is the foundation of the world, the Fragment is like a piece of that world. Haven't you wondered why those who possess Fragments are so weak?

-I've wondered about that. Those who possessed Fragments were so absurdly weak that I wondered if it was okay to collect them so quickly.

-That's because those who were acknowledged by the Fragments couldn't fully harness their power.

-The true power of the Fragments?

-You’ve seen Georn. Why did that Frozen Divine Spirit end up like that? It's because of the Fragment. Georn, although he had left half of his power aside, still had half of his strength. Yet, he fell into ruin because of the Fragment.

-...So, you mean the true power of the Fragments is different from what I've seen?

-Not just different. Even the power of Maxwell that you possess seems to intervene with probability now, but its versatility is much greater. The same goes for Laplace, Descartes, and Darwin. Each Fragment is literally a mass of immense power. Even a tiny piece can corrupt a Divine Spirit to that extent.

-Then, why couldn’t the owners of the Fragments show their true abilities? Weren’t they chosen by the Fragments?

-Being chosen and being able to use it properly are different things. Though the Fragment can choose its owner, it doesn't have the intelligence to think or speak. It’s driven by a massive instinct and flow.

-So?

-Think of it as a kind of pet, in terms of your Earthly perspective. It follows your will but doesn't do everything you command. You can’t control everything about a dog just because you own it. If you try to force it, the dog might even show its teeth.

Oello said that while the Fragment is simple, it is also complex.

It seems simple, but handling it properly requires a very complicated process.

Without fully understanding the world, one cannot handle the power of the Fragment.

-The power of the Fragment you handle is less than one-tenth of its original strength.

-...Was it that much?

-A single Fragment corrupted a half-powered second-generation Divine Spirit like that. You can't imagine how great the true power of a full Fragment is.

-Then what happens if one uses the full 100% power of a Fragment?

-It depends on how you use it. But if you could fully harness the power of a high-level Fragment... you’d need to think on a planetary scale at the very least.

-...Planetary scale. That's suddenly a huge scale.

-It would be absurd if a single Fragment was weaker than a Divine Spirit. So you need to realize how great the Fragment you possess is.

-How can I fully utilize the power of the Fragment?

-That, I don’t know. I only know their locations, not how to use them. That’s your job. But...

-But?

-If Praytion could fully weaponize a single Fragment, like when he corrupted Georn... you wouldn't be able to do anything about it. No, he could use it to create a bomb, using the massive power within the Fragment.

And if it exploded, its power would be enough to wipe out a planet.

-Of course, that's assuming the worst-case scenario. To use it as a bomb, you need enough fuel to react to it.

-The fuel is the story.

-Yes. You can only fill a torn piece of paper with words. Of course, there’s no way to pour that much story into it. There's no human on Earth with such a vast story, is there?

Oello said that using the Fragment as a bomb was a possibility but nothing to worry about.

Yu-hyun, though a bit uneasy, nodded in agreement with Oello’s words.

Just recalling that moment made Yu-hyun angry at his own complacency.

He should have been the first to suspect, yet he ignored the possibility.

‘I was complacent.'

Oello said it was impossible to gather such a story on Earth, but there was one person who made it possible.

He had been living closely with the regressor who had built countless histories through numerous iterations.

The nightmare world, which embodied all of Kwon Jia’s stories, hadn't disappeared. The remnants of it, crumbling and shattering, were being absorbed into the Fragment as fuel.

‘Can I stop it?'

Yu-hyun looked into the future. He couldn’t stop it.

No matter what he did, there was no way to stop this Fragment from exploding now.

Meanwhile, the light of the Fragment grew stronger, compressing itself to the size of a pea.

Yu-hyun looked back. Everyone was looking at him.

Seeing their anxious, tense, and hopeful eyes, Yu-hyun gritted his teeth.

‘I can’t tell them the truth...'

He couldn't ask everyone, already exhausted, to join forces and suppress the Fragment's runaway.

Nor could they escape as the Fragment had already reached its critical point. It could explode at any moment.

* * *

The story, reaching its critical point, began to expand.

Yu-hyun immediately squeezed out all his strength. The sticky aura of the Seven Demonic Black Sky Divine Art surrounded the book. Gritting his teeth, he poured all his strength into suppressing the Fragment.

Bang!

Yu-hyun's body was pushed back. The expanding power of the Fragment didn't budge. It grew larger, even repelling his Qi imbued with intent.

‘I'm being pushed back!’

Yu-hyun felt his body being pushed back further. The Fragment had swelled to fill his entire vision.

‘At this level, it’s nowhere near enough...!’

Despair engulfed him. He had stayed to buy even a moment of time, but with his remaining strength, he couldn’t delay the explosion by even a second.

If this exploded, even his escaping comrades would be caught in it.

‘Still, I must hold it back.’

Clenching his teeth, tasting blood, and holding on to his fading consciousness, Yu-hyun pressed down on the growing sphere with both hands. It wasn’t enough, so he even used his forehead.

Crackle! His suit ripped from the wrist to the forearm as the power flowed through his hands. Blood vessels burst, muscles tore, and blood gushed out, turning into text.

‘Hold it!’

Even for a second.

‘Endure!’

Even a little longer.

‘At least until everyone else is safe...!’

[You’ve endured well.]

A light descended from the sky.

It was different from the explosive light before him, a peaceful, comforting light.

Hearing the familiar voice, Yu-hyun widened his eyes and looked up.

“Enlightened One...?”

The Enlightened One, Shakyamuni.

A humble man descended slowly from the sky, reaching out to the Fragment.

The soft golden aura flowing from his fingertips transformed into a giant hand and grasped the Fragment.

“What, what are you doing?”

Yu-hyun asked in a trembling voice.

What Shakyamuni was doing now was nothing other than descending directly to Earth, defying the system.

And he was using all his power to suppress the explosion of the Fragment.

It was impossible to comprehend with a normal mind.

[I had already resolved myself.]

Shakyamuni didn’t flinch. There was no way he wouldn’t feel the backlash of defying the system. The pain inflicted on his entire body wasn’t something even a Divine Spirit could endure.

The agony of a soul being torn apart, far worse, the dreadful pain of existence being erased, yet Shakyamuni smiled.

“Why, why would you...?”

[Because you are the hope.]

Golden light spread out. It didn’t just cover the Korean Peninsula but gently enveloped the entire Earth. Crack! Shakyamuni’s skin cracked like glass.

[The only hope that can end the endless, unending cycle of eternity. For that, I can sacrifice this body. Right?]

Shakyamuni looked up at the sky from which he had descended and asked.

Yu-hyun didn’t know who he was addressing. The situation was too urgent to worry about that.

Shakyamuni suppressed the Fragment with one hand and reached out to Yu-hyun with the other.

Yu-hyun’s body was swallowed by a large lotus flower.

[Please forgive me for the rudeness of not explaining properly and doing this.]

Leaving a final apology, Shakyamuni focused all his remaining power on the explosion.

His body crackled and disintegrated into dust from his fingertips.

An expression of longing crossed Shakyamuni’s usually impassive face.

My precious disciple Chulapanthaka. What did you hope to achieve while enduring such pain?

Whatever it was, I won’t ask. But answer me this one thing.

Did you achieve what you sought, like I did?

The Fragment he had been suppressing exploded.

───────!!!

A massive flash engulfed the world.

The collectors watching from afar instinctively shielded their faces. They soon realized the explosion hadn’t harmed them and lowered their arms, staring blankly at the sight.

Light.

A warm light was protecting them.

The explosion didn’t reach beyond the ruins. The storm of stories raged but was contained within a translucent barrier.

A faint presence watched over them from the distant radiance.

That day, those in the nightmare world unanimously said.

Buddha descended and saved the world.

But.

Kang Yu-hyun, the Teller who stayed behind to suppress the explosion, didn’t return.

No one saw him again afterward.