CH 226

It was unfortunate, but we could not see Yerina’s coronation ceremony. In the first place, Empress Primel did not immediately step down from the throne, but took her time to give Yerina a proper transition time. It would take at least one to three years before Yerina ascended. And since Yoo Seodam couldn’t accelerate time anymore, he thought that there was no reason to stay here any longer.

“Are you really leaving, guardian-nim?”

“Yeah.”

Yerina lowered her head at his words. She wanted to show Yoo Seodam the moment when she became the Empress, so it saddened her quite a bit.

“As you know, I’m not a person who likes to stay in one place for long. This is the first time I’ve ever spent a long time with someone.”

They had spent nearly five years together. Of course, most of the time was shortened because Yoo Seodam used the probability to accelerate time. Nevertheless, he had a lot of memories with Yerina, so he also felt slight regret in leaving her behind. However, just because memories had accumulated, he couldn’t simply decide to stay in this world for longer. After all, his original purpose of coming to this world was to strengthen himself to raid the Hell Gate.

“Can we meet again next time, guardian-nim?” Yerina asked carefully.

“No. I’ll go somewhere you can’t go to. Even as the Empress, it will be impossible for you to come to where I would be.” Yoo Seodam shook his head. Unless she’s a magic addict whose daily routine only consists of eating and researching magic, like a certain someone.

“Still, if there is an opportunity someday, I really want to see you again. At that time, I will show you that I have become a true empress.”

Promise of a reunion should not be taken lightly. After all, Yoo Seodam had never been to the same dimension more than once. However, in front of the pleading Yerina, Yoo Seodam couldn’t just say that it was impossible. And after pondering for several seconds, he opened his mouth.

“Okay. Let’s meet again someday.”

After saying that, Yoo Seodam turned away from Yerina, followed by Aracelli. Both of them left the Primel Imperial Castle, walked for a long time and eventually left the Primel City.

“…it’s easier not to hold on to it any longer.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I’m used to those obsessions and regrets because I’ve seen them a lot.”

“Where did you see it?”

“Just here and there….”

Aracelli looked at Yoo Seodam at that moment, but he was already doing something else.

[You have hunted a level 199 protagonist.]

[1990 days of lifespan has been paid.]

[Your level has been raised by 3.]

[You have completed a long-term project hunting as you slowly and painstakingly hunted the protagonists, absorbing a lot of the protagonists’ probability in the process.]

[Your level has been raised by an additional 2.]

[You have obtained ‘Muscle Tightening (A)’ skill.]

It really took a long time for Yoo Seodam to reach this level. And thanks to absorbing a significant part of the probability, the level went up by a whopping five steps.

In other words.

[Congratulations! You have reached level 200, you have once again broken through the limits of human beings!]

[Ability can now exceed the limit!]

–

<Yoo Seodam>

[Level: 200]

Stats :

[Strength 203] 

[Health 205] 

[Agility 201]

[Energy 1]

[Mana 373]

*Talent

[Swordsmanship S] 

[Hunting D+] 

[Shooting S+]

[Cooking D-] 

[Intuition A] 

[Quick-wit A]

[Insight B]

[Vitality SSS] 

[Focus C]

[Others…]

*Skills

[Protagonist Hunter Lv. 5]

[White Swordsmanship (S)]

[Inventory (S)]

[Dharma Heavenly Wind God Technique (SSS)]

[Concentration (SS)]

[Holy Conversion (F)]

[Ara-Sunyoung Mana Circling technique (SSS)]

[Library Of The White Witch(B)]

[Looking at all things with a cold gaze (B)]

[How to understand the machine emotionally (A)]

[Double Circle (SSS)] [Muscle Tightening (A)]

–

The effect level 200 brought to You Seodam’s body was much more intense than the effect of level 150. Normally, all stats could never be higher than a certain level. However, the moment someone reached level 200, the stats could exceed the level and all possibilities were infinitely opened. On top of it, even talents and skills grew. Skills could grow as long as they were trained, but it was impossible to raise talent that way. However, by throwing away the frame of being human, Yoo Seodam broke past the limit. In addition, all the talents and skills that are related to ‘Sense’ were combined to become a single talent: [Quick-wit (A)]

Yoo Seodam clenched his fist and felt the mana running through his body. Previously, he had been able to relatively move the mana inside his body freely. However, now, he could feel the mana was flowing endlessly inside. Even though there was only a five level difference, the difference was akin to land and sky. He could feel that his body was much lighter and healthier. He also felt as if from this moment, he is unbeatable.

Even so, at the thought that he was barely on the same level as Taylor Nine, Yoo Seodam was able to calm down once again. On top of it, as he thought that Seol Jungyeon was at level 350, and Aracelli, who had a record of achieving level 500 in the past, he gained his composure back. After all, compared to them, he was still a long way off.

‘Still, this is enough for the Hell Gate raid.’

Now all that remains is to really return to Earth and prepare to enter the Hell Gate.

“Aracelli. When I return to Earth this time, I think I will take a break from this work for a while.”

“I-is that so?”

“Yeah. By the way, since you already learned the double circle, is it still impossible for you to move to Earth?”

At his words, Aracelli closed her eyes and sensed the energy of the dimension.

“Yes… It’s still impossible. If the distance to Vivienda from here is one step, the distance to Earth is almost ten steps. It’s too far.”

“Hmm. Should we try again after moving to a different dimension?”

“No. That’s not what it means.”

“Huh? Then?”

Araceli said slowly, with a look that seemed a little cryptic. “Earth is soooooo far away. I can go to most other dimensions with my current strength if I dedicate one year of my age to it. But it’s still impossible to go to Earth with just this much. It’s away… all alone… as if it was isolated from other dimensions.”

“What does that supposed to mean…….” Yoo Seodam was puzzled. In the first place, he could not understand Aracelli’s words properly because he had never felt the ‘dimension’ with his own senses. In Aracelli’s case, her dimensional sense was already beyond human awareness, so it was possible for her to properly describe it.

‘Only the Earth is far apart…’

Is there any reason?

Just as Yoo Seodam was about to think about it, Aracelli’s expression softened slightly and then slowly hardened.

“This…”

“What’s the matter?”

“Something is strange. There is an aura that should no longer be felt at Vivienda.”

“What!? Did the demons return?”

“No. That’s not it. It’s like…”

She closed her eyes with her fidgety look and felt her own hometown in the distance. In the process, she had to consume all the mana she had accumulated so far, the mana of 3 double circles, and the mana that she recieved from Yoo Seodam. Thanks to that, she was able to find an answer. However, it was by no means a good result.

“Ah….” Aracelli, who opened her eyes again, looked at Yoo Seodam with darting eyes. It was due to the fact that the aura she felt at her hometown was the very same aura she had seen and felt countless times as she traveled together with him. It was also the aura that drove her child self into a wretched abyss.

<…It is probability.>

“What? Does that make sense…?”

<No. It doesn’t make sense. It’s more apt to say that it’s impossible to happen… Why did a protagonist appeared again in a world where the protagonist had died…>

“Think about it. A two-part series, or a side story series. There is something like that, isn’t it?”

<As long as the protagonist dies, the value of the worldview disappears. It’s like a series we talked about previously. At that state, it was unlikely that the protagonist would appear again. I have a strong feeling that someone deliberately brought them back.>

“But who?”

<That… I don’t know.>

The more Yoo Seodam thought about it, the more his head hurt. Meanwhile, Aracelli was still looking at Yoo Seodam with anxious eyes.

Rebirth of the protagonist. 

That means, in the end, the world will continue to head towards destruction. Aracelli knows that fact very well. She is also aware that no matter what kind of beings come and no matter how weak those beings are, she will never be able to defeat the existence called ‘protagonist’.

But, does that mean she has to watch her hometown perish? She didn’t want to. But the only existence that could hunt the main character was Yoo Seodam, her professor..

‘However, the professor just said that he will stop hunting protagonists for the time being…’

“What are you doing? We have to go quickly.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t we have to go to Vivienda? Or should I go first?”

“No… that’s not it…. Professor, didn’t you just say that you are going to stop hunting protagonists for the time being…?”

“Why are you bringing that topic now?” Yoo Seodam shook his head in frustration. “After resolving the Hell Gate problem, I was going to dedicate the rest of my life to you.”

He had to use his own lifespan to travel between dimensions with someone. And he planned to bring Aracelli to Earth one day after collecting enough lifespans.

“I see.” Aracelli’s cheeks blushed a bit at his words. She knew that her behaviour was something which didn’t go well with this situation, but it made her feel better without realizing it.

“Let’s hurry. We should go before your world goes crazy.”

“Yes!” Aracelli shouted and held Yoo Seodam’s hand before casting the Dimensional Shift spell. As Yoo Seodam couldn’t consume probability anymore, the place they would arrive would be different from each other, but it doesn’t matter. After all, this time too, she would be able to continue breathing the same air with him.

*

On the other hand, on Earth. Seol Jungyeon, the leader of Murim, stood on an empty field in the United States and looked up at the sky.

Currently, Earth is in a very chaotic state. It was due to the fact that Hell Gate suddenly started becoming active. News from scientists who said they didn’t know when it might explode was being reported one after another, and at the instigation of some irresponsible person, a lot of people bought several years’ worth of food and put them in an air-raid shelter.

“My lord. What are you doing here? Are you taking a break?”

Seol Jungyeon smiled at Shin Hye-ji’s question. It was simply a scientific calculation that allowed humans to know that ‘Hell Gate is expanding!’ However, for Seol Jungyeon who had a keener sense than anyone else on Earth, it was different. When she closed her eyes, blocked her sense of hearing, and emptied her mind, she could feel it.

In the distance, an ominous being was slowly trying to escape towards the Earth. But strangely, the Hell Gate itself was not hostile to Earth. It was like, it seems to be trying to have a conversation with Earth, or maybe it wants something else.

‘What the hell is that…’

Startle!

In an instant, Seol Jungyeon drew a sword and aimed at something. The time it took from her initial movement until that moment was at most 0.0075 seconds.

In the direction where the sword was pointed, a certain man with gray skin stood. He was looking at Seol Jungyeon with a face devoid of any expression.

“(Is that animal the strongest creature on Earth?)”

“(It’s not an animal, it’s human.)”

“(Is there any difference between the two? They have the same body of fragile skin and dangling bones.)”

Behind the man stood a slightly short woman. She also had gray skin. They mumbled in their own language, thus Seol Jungyeon could not understand it.

‘They aren’t human…?’

Seol Jungyeon narrowed her eyes. She was aware of the existence of different races which come to Earth. Among them, there were people who wanted to learn martial arts from her, so she had to face them in person. However, the two otherworlder in front of her were different from other otherworlders she had encountered so far. She felt as if the two otherworlders were experts who had reached a higher level than herself.

‘No. They are weaker than me.’

So, why did she feel that way?

“(Anyway, doesn’t it mean that if we give her the energy, she will become a ‘protagonist’?)”

“(Yes.)”

“(Humans are cumbersome~ Why do they continue to live their lives like garbage which has not been chosen? Why are they satisfied with their current position even though, as it is, they are destined to be only extras for the rest of their life? Oh, she can’t hear this, can’t she?)”

“(The beast cannot understand us.)”

The gray-skinned woman slowly approached Seol Jungyeon, her eyes were fully black.

“(Earth needs to be absorbed quickly, so please take care of us!)”

As she said that, she tried to transfer some energy to Seol Jungyeon.

Swish-!!

“(WHAT?)”

As she stretched out her hand, her right arm was cut off.

“(Uh, uh, what. Why, why are you doing this. Huh?)”

“(Calm down. It’s just a simple cut!)”

“(Ah yeah…)”

But, the most disturbing thing for her beside her arm being cut off was the fact that she, as someone from ‘perfect race’ was unable to see the attack from such a lower species.

Seol Jungyeon brushed the tip of her sword and sighed. “…I don’t know for sure, but I know that you are ignoring me.”

When she tried to recall the last time she was ignored, she couldn’t clearly pinpoint it. But she knew that it was at the time when she had yet to ascend to the seat of Heavenly Demon. Therefore, she was quite upset by the two otherworlders who ignored her.

“I can’t just let you go now.” Immediately after saying that, Seol Jungyeon danced.

At that moment, the ‘perfect race’ that came from Hell Gate witnessed the true meaning of ‘perfect’ from her dance.