# Chapter 116
“Geonwoo.”
Jaehee, who had been by Geonwoo’s side all along, couldn’t help but notice his condition.
Seeing Geonwoo excessively tense and sensitive, Jaehee pondered before carefully parting his lips. He voiced a hypothesis he’d been considering.
“How much time passed between when the incident of my death occurred and when the next incident happened?”
It was a sudden question, and Geonwoo’s face contorted as if recalling something he didn’t want to remember.
Around them, monsters were being dealt with one by one, and the area was gradually being cleared. While everyone else’s expressions were lightening, Geonwoo alone wore a pained face. Jaehee’s question had made him that way.
“…Why are you suddenly curious about that, hyung?”
Geonwoo asked, pretending to watch the monsters while avoiding Jaehee’s gaze. But that very behavior indicated that the reason for Geonwoo’s increasing sensitivity lay within this question.
“Geonwoo.”
“……”
“Tell me.”
“……”
“We promised to tell each other everything, didn’t we?”
They had promised not to hide anything and to be honest with each other. Recalling that promise, Geonwoo hesitated for a long time before finally forcing out the words. His expression was deeply soaked in sadness, as if he was expelling something he hated to speak of.
“At first… it happened very occasionally, irregularly.”
“And after that?”
“Then it was once every few months, and later, once every few weeks…”
Geonwoo’s voice gradually lowered.
“The time between each incident kept getting shorter.”
Jaehee took Geonwoo’s hand as if to comfort him. His hand felt cold to the touch.
“And now?”
From there, Jaehee posed a difficult question.
“What was it like during this period?”
Geonwoo’s gaze dropped to the floor.
“When the S-class gate was created…”
Geonwoo said with a pained look, his eyes crinkled. He squeezed their joined hands.
“Incidents kept happening… every few hours.”
Jaehee could now understand exactly why Geonwoo had been growing increasingly sensitive. According to Geonwoo, during this period in his memories, Lee Jaehee’s death occurred every hour, and all those scenes were imprinted in Geonwoo’s memory.
“Did the same incidents keep happening with each regression?”
If this assumption was correct, Geonwoo would be suffering even more.
“…Yes.”
It would be painful to face this period again if the events were reenacted identically with each regression despite changing the future. Especially now, when the intervals between the numerous incidents targeting Lee Jaehee had narrowed.
“Except for when I was young… the same incidents kept occurring.”
But then, something completely unexpected came from Geonwoo’s mouth.
“When you were young? It was different then?”
“Yes, it wasn’t the same then. Things would change exactly as I wanted when I changed them.”
Geonwoo spoke while extracting memories from his past.
Though he had to keep his distance from his hyung because he wasn’t strong enough, it was definitely different back then. When he changed the future to protect his young hyung, a completely different future would unfold.
“…Exactly when?”
“Until I entered the Center. It was different from now.”
At those words, Jaehee’s expression changed.
‘Before Geonwoo entered the Center…’
Jaehee slightly bowed his head, lost in thought. Geonwoo quietly watched over Jaehee, who was deep in thought, while confirming that the monsters were being cleared one by one.
‘He says there’s a difference between before and after he entered the Center…’
Why?
One thought led to another.
‘A future that can’t be changed, and a future that can be changed.’
Where did the difference between these two come from?
Then he reached a single thought.
‘The point where the original story began!’
Jaehee traced his memories. That was certainly from the moment Geonwoo entered the Center.
‘Then…’
If it wasn’t a point where the original story was predetermined?
‘After the original story ended…?’
Just as he thought that far, screams suddenly erupted around Jaehee. While Geonwoo urgently hid him behind his back, Jaehee quickly surveyed his surroundings to assess the situation.
Loud explosions were occurring among the monsters that had been clearing out one by one. At the same time, blue blood splattered everywhere.
“Everyone get back!”
The cause was monsters with poison inside their bodies. When they died, they released deadly toxins that dragged those nearby into death with them. For this reason, handling these monsters required special caution compared to other monsters.
Given that Geonwoo and Jaehee knew about these monsters, they had warned the ability users in advance to be extra careful. But someone had triggered such a monster.
And at the center of it was Yoo Jiwoon.
“Guide Yoo Jiwoon! Come this way!”
The Espers around Jiwoon, who were supposed to protect him, had been entranced by Jiwoon’s guiding energy and triggered the monsters. But they were just puppets; the true culprit was clearly Yoo Jiwoon.
Jaehee glared at Jiwoon. Jiwoon pretended to be scared and ignorant, brushing off Jaehee’s gaze. Amidst the ongoing life-threatening incidents, Jiwoon had no other choice to protect his life. The Espers couldn’t protect Jiwoon perfectly. Even Kang Dohyun occasionally malfunctioned like a broken machine, sometimes not immediately following his orders.
This wasn’t good in such a pressing situation.
So Jiwoon made an extreme choice. To create a situation where Choi Geonwoo had no choice but to deal with these monsters.
“Be careful!”
The monsters, sensing death, exploded the deadly poison within their bodies. Poison that could melt skin just by contact scattered everywhere. As if it were natural, Geonwoo stepped in front of Jaehee to shield him. Geonwoo used his ability while relying on Jaehee’s guiding energy.
It wasn’t easy to block the poison spreading in all directions. The time using his ability extended, and gradually Jaehee’s guiding energy weakened. Jaehee gritted his teeth. He felt his fingertips trembling and the guiding energy depleting within his body.
When only the last monster remained, Geonwoo physically blocked to prevent Jaehee from getting hurt. And in that urgent situation, there was someone aiming at the monster. It was Dohyun. Despite knowing that dealing with poison-bearing monsters required precisely targeting near the heart, Dohyun used his ability slightly off target. So that all the poison would envelop Geonwoo.
The moment he saw the poison spreading as if targeting him, Geonwoo immediately wrapped Jaehee in his arms. Instead of Jaehee, who remained without a scratch, Geonwoo’s body bore a huge wound. The screams of surprised people could be heard, and Jaehee’s worried voice echoed loudly.
Watching this, Dohyun’s eyes trembled slightly. His hands were also shaking. Confused emotions occupied his face.
“Geonwoo!”
Jaehee urgently checked Geonwoo’s condition. Conversely, Geonwoo looked at Jaehee’s condition and felt relieved. That’s when he realized there was a problem.
“…Hyung…”
Geonwoo’s pupils shook. He desperately hugged Jaehee and wouldn’t let go.
“Geonwoo, let go of this hand. We need to look at your wound first!”
Geonwoo seemed not to hear any words. He even started trembling as if frightened of something.
“…Hyung…”
In the midst of the gut-wrenching situation, Geonwoo’s eyes widened. Something was strange. Whenever he suffered such a serious injury, the scene before his eyes would always become preserved like a picture. As if preparing for regression, the current moments would remain in his memory like a scene from a tape.
But now, there was no change at all. There were no signs of regression happening.
As if… he could no longer regress…!
“…!”
Geonwoo didn’t think about treating his wound. Ignoring his wounds opening from the sporadically exploding poison, he pulled Jaehee closer into his arms and spoke.
“Geonwoo!”
“Hyung…”
Geonwoo whispered in Jaehee’s ear. A trembling voice followed.
“…Something’s wrong.”
“Huh?”
“With an injury this severe, symptoms indicating regression should appear…”
Geonwoo’s voice was shaking.
“Nothing… is happening…”
“…Geonwoo.”
Jaehee couldn’t help but understand the meaning of those words. But he didn’t show it. Jaehee reassured the anxious, trembling Geonwoo.
“It’s okay. Let’s treat your wound first.”
As if they had been waiting for Jaehee to finish speaking, healing Espers stepped forward and supported Geonwoo and Jaehee.
And there was someone watching them. Another person who had repeated countless regressions. Yoo Jiwoon’s eyes widened. His pupils filled with overwhelming emotion.
“Guide Yoo Jiwoon, are you okay?”
Jiwoon’s expression became bizarre. Those supporting Jiwoon thought his expression was contorted from the pain of his wounds. But that wasn’t it. Yoo Jiwoon quickly averted his gaze from Geonwoo’s direction and hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand. Behind the shadowed hand, his mouth corners rose as if about to tear.
‘I wasn’t the only one.’
The fact that he could no longer regress applied to Choi Geonwoo as well.
‘This is the last time.’
The end of the endlessly repeated story was finally approaching.
