VHN 15

Is he unsure of his own skills?

It would have been better to strike a deal with someone like Do Ye-hyun. He’s the type who got backstabbed after showing goodwill, so would he believe it if I approached him again with talk of goodwill? Of course, there are plenty of idiots who would believe it.

So, I’m going to take the direct approach.

“To put it simply, I need a healer.”

“…”

“Your ability is healing-type, right?”

“…How did you know?”

“Background check.”

“…”

To be exact, I knew thanks to the status window. Well, I did use Joo Seo-won, so a background check wasn’t entirely wrong.

“I can’t always carry potions when exploring Dungeons, and I needed a healer to bring along, so I brought you because you caught my eye.”

“…….”

“Did you think I saved you for no reason? I saved you to exploit your skills. So, you shouldn’t act like this….”

See? He calms down when I talk like this. I put my hands in my pockets and stood in front of Do Ye-hyun, who was sitting down.

“It’s good to be wary, but don’t lash out at just anyone. He may look like that, but he’s a higher rank than you. You’re the one who’ll be screwed.”

“…Yes.”

“I went to the trouble of saving you, so act in a way that makes it worth my while. I’ll be at a loss if you die.”

After giving him some friendly advice, Do Ye-hyun nodded slightly, seemingly impressed by my words. I guess that’s enough for now? When I turned my gaze to Joo Seo-won to get his approval, I saw Joo Seo-won with his mouth wide open.

“The way he talks is fucking… Is he a psychopath?”

I made sure he wouldn’t lash out at him, and he’s still complaining.

Do Ye-hyun lowered his head towards Joo Seo-won and apologized.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Ah, no. Hey, you don’t have to apologize… Hey, I didn’t think like that, like that bastard.”

Anyway, I saved him, so isn’t that enough?

That being said, I felt like I was starving to death because I hadn’t eaten anything other than a light meal earlier. I stared blankly at Joo Seo-won and Do Ye-hyun and asked.

“Want to eat?”

* * *

Since neither of them offered an opinion, I ordered Korean food of all kinds through room service. As soon as the food arrived and I put something in my mouth, I felt like I was slowly regaining my senses. Yeah, humans need to eat something to live. I was losing energy and feeling like shit because I was hungry, but now I felt a little better.

“You’re going to eat all this? The three of us? Holy shit, look at the price tag. Wow….”

Why can’t three men eat five servings?

Joo Seo-won picked at his food and suddenly asked a question.

“…But what the hell are you, really?”

I was starting to look forward to what kind of nonsense he would come up with next. Joo Seo-won put down his spoon, even though he had half his rice left, and studied my expression. But is he going to leave all that?

“Aren’t you going to eat more? Then give it to me.”

“…Crazy pig.”

He doesn’t look like it, but I guess he has a small appetite. Do Ye-hyun, who was sitting next to me, was admirably finishing his bowl of rice. You definitely have to eat well to be pretty. I took what Joo Seo-won was eating and started to devour it.

What should I say if they ask what I do?

‘It seems better to increase trust by taking the risk of slightly damaging the plausibility.’

Warning.

Do not damage individuality.

As soon as I thought about it, the status window flashed and started warning me.

Still, it’s a bit difficult to bring in Joo Seo-won and Do Ye-hyun and ask for their cooperation without revealing anything. Besides, I plan to keep Joo Seo-won and Do Ye-hyun with me, so there has to be a purpose. Within the limits of reasonably fitting plausibility, a reasonably convincing purpose.

After a brief moment of contemplation, I said.

“I can see the future.”

“What?”

“…”

Do Ye-hyun and Joo Seo-won’s gazes immediately turned to me. Yeah, they must think it’s bullshit, but the world has changed, so it’ll be hard not to accept it.

I deliberately paused for a moment before adding.

“In 5 years… no. In 6 years, the world will be destroyed.”

Of course, I’m the one who’s going to destroy it. But anyway, me destroying it is still destruction, so it’s not a lie.

Joo Seo-won’s expression completely hardened. Lies become art when you tell them often enough. I admired my own creativity.

“You… holy shit, you’re talking about that while we’re eating.”

“Then when should I say it? Should I tell you before you go to sleep?”

“No, destroyed… you’re saying it’s going to be destroyed?”

“So, we have to stop it.”

“Stopping it! Leaving stopping it aside, how is the world going to be destroyed? That fast? Suddenly?”

This was a bit of a surprising reaction. It hasn’t even been 5 years since Hunters appeared overnight and Gates were created, and people were saying it was a sign of the end of the world. Well, people adapt quickly.

“It won’t be sudden, there will be some warning.”

“What warning? How can we stop it? No, can an individual even stop it?”

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain in my head.

Warning.

Do not damage individuality.

Yeah, I knew this would happen. Ever since I gave Ryu Tae-yeong a spoiler, the status window has been sending me warnings as soon as it senses something. I tried to act as nonchalant as possible, paused for a moment, and continued without making it obvious.

“Can we stop the destruction… is this even certain? Are you not feeling well? Is it a delusion or something… But you acted like a madman, so it can’t be a delusion. No, you acted like a madman, so is it a delusion?”

What is he even saying? From the middle on, I couldn’t even understand what he was saying. I endured the pain and patiently continued.

“We can stop the destruction… that’s why I’m telling you. In 5 years, a huge, high-rank Gate will open, and Hunters from all over the world will struggle to conquer it. They’ll somehow succeed in conquering it, but they’ll lose many Hunters there.”

“…”

“But that Gate isn’t the last one.”

The price for damaging plausibility was high. The subtle headache had become so strong that I couldn’t ignore it. I nonchalantly pressed my temples with my hands.

“How… how can we stop it?”

“There’s a Hunter who can stop it. I can’t tell you more details.”

“Why? No, you have to tell us the details.”

If I told them more details, I might die. Instead of answering, I took a deep breath and stared at Joo Seo-won, pressing down on my head, which was throbbing with the penalty. Joo Seo-won seemed to notice something from my expression and nodded, saying, “Ah.”

He seemed to think that there was a specific reason why I couldn’t say more. For example, an Oath, a contract, or… everything that Joo Seo-won knew that would make me keep silent.

“…You can’t say more, right?”

“Yeah.”

It’s nice that he understands without me saying anything. I nodded and added.

“Don’t worry too much.”

“…How can I not worry? Holy shit.”

“Then do it. I’m being nice to you, you bastard.”

Should I smack him on the back of the head? As I seriously considered it, Joo Seo-won noticed and quickly changed the subject.

“…So? Why did you find me and Do Ye-hyun?”

“Because I need you.”

Will this bullshit work? Even if it doesn’t, I’ve already done so much that they have no choice but to believe it. I glanced back and forth between Joo Seo-won and Do Ye-hyun and added.

“We’re in a contract anyway. As long as you keep the secret, we won’t lose anything. I won’t make unreasonable demands either.”

“Holy shit, I knew something was weird…”

Joo Seo-won muttered to himself repeatedly, seemingly shocked. His reaction was relatively calm, considering I had mentioned the end of the world. Maybe it’s because it doesn’t feel real.

On the other hand, Do Ye-hyun had been silently staring at me since earlier. I was conscious of his gaze and turned my head slightly, and Do Ye-hyun’s gaze dropped to the floor. Something’s bothering him.

Ignore it for now.

“So, do as I say.”

Anyway, that was the conclusion. Thanks to the mix of lies and silence, the penalty had subsided a bit. Did saying that I had a skill to see the future help? I left Joo Seo-won and Do Ye-hyun in confusion and organized the contents of the novel in my head.

Im Seong-yeon’s [I’m the Only S-Rank Hunter with Maxed Stats].

‘Holy shit, just thinking about the title makes me lose all my energy.’

Anyway, to summarize the contents of the novel that bastard wrote:

The protagonist of the original work, Kwon Tae-han, is a man born unlucky. An orphan with no close friends.

Well, that’s not what I think, but that’s what the original Kwon Tae-han thought of himself. Then, he accidentally gets caught up in a Dungeon, Awakens as an S-rank Hunter, and experiences several setbacks and growth while receiving the protagonist buff. In the process, he also gains companions. One of those companions, by the way, is Seo Je-hyun.

In the future, the rate of Gate occurrences will increase, and the rank of Gates will also increase. Kwon Tae-han loses his life to me in the S-Class Dungeon ‘Tryseles’ and regresses 5 years into the past. Kwon Tae-han, who has returned, can’t abandon me, who betrayed him once, and comes back to me again. He has quite a bit of camaraderie.

And his second life, which was going quite well, also ends at my hands.

From here, the hidden keyword of this novel is revealed. It turns out that Kwon Tae-han is a guy who regresses infinitely, not just once. After that, Kwon Tae-han repeats his life, sometimes hating me, sometimes predicting the future, sometimes preventing Dungeon Breaks in advance, sometimes giving up on life, or trying to save the world by telling the world the truth.

The ending is always the same. I kill him.

I don’t describe all 999 lives in which ‘I’ killed Kwon Tae-han, but I did tell him in detail about the despair Kwon Tae-han felt. Was he trying to make me feel guilty? It was so absurd that I didn’t feel any guilt, I just wanted to beat up Im Seong-yeon.

Anyway, skipping and abbreviating the regressions, Kwon Tae-han finally reaches his 1,000th life. And in that life, Kwon Tae-han sees a future that he has never lived before for the first time.

And that future comes in a way that Kwon Tae-han never expected. A new event breaks out on Earth, which has been devastated by Gates.

This is the so-called Title Event, where the ‘Title’ that has been left blank is finally useful.

When I first saw the novel, I thought it was strange because the content was too long even though it seemed like he had already said everything he wanted to say, but there was a reason for it.

To summarize the Title Event, you can think of the entire Earth as becoming a Dungeon.

When everyone thought it was all over, instead of new Gates appearing, the Earth itself became a Dungeon, and creatures from another world began to open Gates and pour into Earth. And for the first time, humanity witnesses its own ‘status window’.

The situation changes as the entire human race sees the status window that only Kwon Tae-han could access before. Although Kwon Tae-han was still the only one who could view other people’s status windows.

People actively seek out ‘Titles’ to strengthen their abilities, killing creatures and even Awakened, opening an unprecedented arena of slaughter.

At that time, Kwon Tae-han’s Title was this.

[ Title: Regressionist of Countless Lifetimes ]

Anyway, Kwon Tae-han saves people and loses his companions in the arena of slaughter, and finally reaches the ending.

And in that ending, Kwon Tae-han sees the real mastermind, Seo Je-hyun, again. ‘I’, who he clearly killed and pushed into the Gate, was actually alive. And he was working with God to destroy the Earth.

I killed Kwon Tae-han 999 times, but it was really surprising that I was the mastermind until the very end. Not even a devil’s doll, but eternally returning, holy shit. It was so ridiculous that I even applauded, but when I looked at the comments, everyone was saying they were getting goosebumps.

After that, it’s obvious. A clumsy production that pretends to be touching and shocking, the same mastermind that is described as a twist. Anyway, Kwon Tae-han kills me in the final ending. While crying. He’s crazy.

What’s even funnier is that the comments were also crying. They killed me, but they said it was touching….

And Kwon Tae-han uses his Title to regress the entire human race. To a peaceful past with no Gates and no Awakened. The ending ends with Kwon Tae-han confirming his empty status window while remembering everything.

While watching the last ending, I think I had this thought. Im Seong-yeon, that bastard, wanted to kill me. I’ve never heard of anyone repaying kindness in this way.

Anyway, the important thing is that it’s before the start of Kwon Tae-han’s fifth life, and I have to face the God who was mentioned in the original work, but I can’t wait until Kwon Tae-han dies 999 times.

So, my goal was one. To see the ending in this life.