“You crazy bastard! You crazy bastard! You insane bastard! Hey! You’re really not in your right mind, are you? Are you an idiot? A moron? Really!”
He was so angry he couldn’t speak properly. His head was spinning and he didn’t even know what he was saying.
He was just pouring it out on Jeongwoo like a waterfall. His hands were trembling and his vision was spinning.
“Jaehee, Jaehee, calm down. Okay? Calm down.”
“You crazy bastard! Would you calm down if you were me? You say you did this to save me, but then what about me? What am I supposed to do? You crazy bastard! You crazy bastard! Then what about your parents? What am I supposed to say to your parents? That your son sacrificed himself to save me? What the hell am I supposed to do about this?”
“Jaehee. Think about it. Do you remember my parents?”
“…What?”
“Have you met my parents? Do you remember their faces?”
“Of course I’ve met them! Right now they’re in the provinces, so…”
Jaehee stuttered as he spoke. Now that he thought about it, he was sure he had visited Jeongwoo’s house before and greeted Jeongwoo’s mother, but somehow their faces wouldn’t come to mind.
“Wh-what is this…? H-how did this happen?”
Jeongwoo smiled bitterly as he looked at Jaehee. Jaehee felt like he’d been hit in the back of the head.
Why… why couldn’t he remember Jeongwoo’s parents’ faces…?
“Actually, my parents don’t exist. Or more precisely, there are people who were my parents, but to them, a son named Woo Jeongwoo doesn’t exist.”
“Wh-what does that mean?”
“It means this world is using all its power to push my existence away. This world wants to erase my existence completely.”
Hearing Jeongwoo’s words made his breath catch. How could he say so calmly that this world was using all its power to erase him?
“How… how can you say something like that so casually?”
“Jaehee. Rather than being casual about it, I have no regrets now.”
“No regrets? You selfish bastard! As long as you’re fine, that’s the end of it? You don’t think about me?”
“After I disappear, your memories of me will probably fade too. So…”
“Ha! This is the worst! Woo Jeongwoo, you’re really the worst. You just decide on your own and do whatever you want? What about my will? What about my opinion? Are you that great? Really, you’re really the worst.”
Jaehee turned around sharply. He couldn’t do anything about the rage bubbling up inside him. Even if he screamed at Jeongwoo and swung his fists, it didn’t seem like it would calm down. Even now, the black spots on Jeongwoo floated around in his head.
That means he’s going to disappear now?
And then he’ll forget? So it’s okay?
It was the worst thing he’d ever heard.
“Jaehee! Where are you going!”
“What does it matter to you? To someone you’ll forget soon anyway? I don’t want to see your face right now. Don’t even call my name!”
“W-wait, Jaehee! Jaehee!”
He couldn’t stand it anymore, so he ran. He heard his name called several times from behind, but he didn’t look back.
Perhaps because Jeongwoo thought there was no danger here, he only called out a few times and didn’t follow. That made him even angrier. Wasn’t it like he was creating distance between them?
He ran until his breath reached his chin. He ran until his lungs felt like they would burst, then stopped. He had run mindlessly, so he didn’t even know where he was.
“Damn it. That bastard Woo Jeongwoo. What is this? What the hell is this? Did we go through all that suffering just for this? That stupid bastard. That idiot.”
His surroundings looked hazy. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and bit down hard on his tattered lips. He could cry after everything was over. Right now, he had to do something more important. He took out cold water from his inventory and poured it over his head. After pouring several bottles like that, he felt like he was coming to his senses a bit.
“I can’t let it end like this. There must be a way.”
Jaehee remembered the last words Blazing Flame had said.
If there was no way at all, Blazing Flame wouldn’t have bothered to give him a hint.
Right. Then he needed to find Blazing Flame first.
It was difficult to have a conversation with a Constellation, but fortunately, Jaehee knew a possible way.
Jaehee wiped his eyes once more and started walking somewhere.
* * *
“Yeong-i. Help oppa out.”
“Mm, oppa?”
Yeong-i, who wasn’t fully awake yet, rubbed her eyes and looked at Jaehee.
The place Jaehee had gone to was the lodging where Yeong-i and his stepmother were staying. The family’s lodging was quite far from the guild building for safety reasons. But he had run so mindlessly that when he came to his senses, he wasn’t too far from the lodging. Jaehee ran to the lodging in one breath.
“J-Jaehee, what’s wrong?”
“Ah, it’s all over now. The system window says everything is finished, but it’s calculating right now. I have something to say to Yeong-i.”
“Oh my, Jaehee. What is it that you need Yeong-i for…?”
“I have something to ask Yeong-i! Only Yeong-i can do it. Stepmother, I’m sorry! It won’t harm Yeong-i! Th-there, I’ll be in the yard for a bit.”
“Then, at least have breakfast…!”
His stepmother tried to hold him back, but Jaehee hurriedly picked up Yeong-i and went outside.
Actually, after a Constellation made contact, Yeong-i might strain herself and fall ill again, but even knowing that, he had no choice. Jaehee apologized inwardly to his stepmother as he set Yeong-i down in the yard.
“Yeong-i, oppa has to apologize first. I’m going to make a difficult request of you. Remember when you helped oppa last time and got sick? This time, you might get sick after helping oppa too. But if you don’t help, Jeongwoo oppa, you know him, right? Jeongwoo oppa will be in a lot of pain. If you, so Blazing Flame…”
“I know. You mean Pretty Oppa, right?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t cry, oppa. Yeong-i will help you.”
Yeong-i firmly reached out and wiped away Jaehee’s tears. Only then did Jaehee realize he was crying and bit his lip. To be comforted by young Yeong-i. He felt pathetic.
“Pretty Oppa? Yeong-i, do you mean Jeongwoo oppa?”
“No. Why would Jeongwoo oppa be Pretty Oppa? You said you wanted to call Pretty Oppa.”
“…Blazing Flame?”
“Yeah.”
Jaehee felt like he’d been hit in the back of the head by Yeong-i’s words.
The Pretty Oppa that Yeong-i sometimes talked about was Blazing Flame…?
“I’ll call him. Wait. Pretty Oppa was waiting anyway.”
After saying that, Yeong-i took Jaehee’s hand. When Jaehee blinked at the warmth felt from her small hand, Jaehee was standing in a different space.
“…Blazing Flame.”
Someone was standing in a pure white space. The form was human, but inside it, red flames rippled, so there was nothing that could be called features.
– We finally meet. I’ve been waiting for a long time.
“…You were waiting for me?”
– Yes. But that’s not important right now, so let’s move on. You want to save Woo Jeongwoo, right?
“Yeah. This is too… too much. Jeongwoo gave everything, and the result is annihilation. There’s a way to stop it, right? That’s why you spoke to me separately last time.”
– Saving Woo Jeongwoo isn’t such a simple matter. I too am bound by several constraints due to turning back time. This world is rejecting Woo Jeongwoo’s existence. That’s why he’s going through the process of annihilation.
“I don’t care about that. Just tell me the method. If the world rejects Jeongwoo, then I’ll reject that kind of world.”
– It’s not that there’s no method at all. After you become king, give that crown to Jeongwoo. Then he’ll be able to live.
“The crown?”
– The system and the planet create a crown themselves and present it to the first king. That crown contains part of the system’s power and part of the planet’s life force. That much should be able to grant Jeongwoo existence.
“Ha! Thank goodness. I knew there was a way. But wait. What happens after I give him the crown?”
– You already know, don’t you? The crown is the symbol of the king. Without a crown, there is no king.
“Wh-what…? Then what happens?”
– Everything will return to how it was. They’ll have to choose a king again, and until a king is chosen, there will be exploitation by other Constellations. And this time there’s no regressor, so they’ll walk steadily down the path of destruction.
“Th-that’s ridiculous! Then everything Jeongwoo suffered through… it’ll all be for nothing.”
– That’s right. King, what will you choose? Between your beloved and your people.
The bright red flame before his eyes swayed as if shaken by the wind. To Jaehee, it felt as if Blazing Flame was laughing.
