Side Story Chapter 117 - Endless Eighth (3)

“Hmm... okay. Let’s talk later.”

Echidna left the room in dejection.

“Haaa,” Oh Kang-Woo sighed deeply, sweeping his hair back as he frowned.

‘I have no way of finding them.’

He had no idea who was looping the eighth, from where, or how. The only thing he was sure about was that a Titan was involved.

“Eve, is it impossible to use the Law of Titans to track them?”

[Yes... I didn’t even know something like that was happening until you told me, Sir Guardian Deity.]

Kang-Woo was even more frustrated by the blue message window in front of him.

“But... why am I the only one with my memories intact?”

[Oh, I believe I know.]

“What is it?”

[I believe you have escaped the time loop’s influence because the power you possess lies beyond the realm of Titans.]

In other words, the power of the Demonic Sea transcended the power of turning back time, allowing Kang-Woo’s memories to remain intact.

‘Yeah, I can understand that.’

The problem was that nothing could be resolved from him knowing that.

[Do you have a guess as to who it could be?]

“A guess, huh?”

Kang-Woo closed his eyes and fell into thought. He had no idea how they did it but could more or less tell who did it.

“Akart.”

[Are you saying Akart is behind this?]

“I’m not 100% sure.”

Kang-Woo lacked far too much evidence to be certain but it was highly likely based on what was happening.

‘Akart has never taken action with me as his focus.’

All of Akart’s subordinates so far had taken action with their focus on

humanity

instead of Kang-Woo— the same went for the zombies in Singapore and the fanatics of the Church of Radiance.

‘And the thing happening right now is also affecting everyone on Earth.’

Kang-Woo didn’t know why Akart was doing this and how he could do something impossible even for Nostrian, but he couldn’t think of anyone but Akart who could do something of this scale. Even time-wise, it was about time he had made his move.

[Then... what should we do?]

“I dunno.”

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue and shook his head. He wasn’t even sure this was Akart’s doing. Besides, even if it was Akart, Kang-Woo couldn’t do anything about it since he had no idea how Akart was doing it.

‘I’m sure Akart’s subordinate, or maybe Akart himself, is somewhere on Earth.’

Kang-Woo doubted Akart could rewind time on a scale of this level at a distance from Earth; he was sure the one who was rewinding time was somewhere on Earth, but...

“I have no idea how to find them...”

Kang-Woo couldn’t detect the power of a Titan. Horos had his Clairvoyance ability but even if he could look hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, he couldn’t scour the entire world with it. Even if Horos could, there was no way to pick out Akart’s subordinate from the billions of people.

“Shit,” he cursed with his arms crossed.

He did not feel he would find the culprit even if he spent all night randomly searching like he had done yesterday.

‘I need a way to bring them to me.’

Kang-Woo thought for a while but couldn’t think of a good way.

‘I’d rather they do something eye-catching like the zombie incident or the shit with the Church of Radiance.’

This time, no one but him was even aware of the abnormality.

“Haaa,” Kang-Woo sighed deeply.

The sun had set before he realized it as he was thinking with no answer coming to him.

“Kang-Woo~ Dinner’s ready~”

Kang-Woo heard Han Seol-Ah’s voice from outside the room.

“No, I’m good.”

“P-Pardon? I-Is something wrong?” asked Seol-Ah as she entered the room.

Cha Yeon-Joo followed behind Seol-Ah and peeked into the room as she asked, “What? What’s up with you? You never skip meals.”

“...”

Kang-Woo wondered if he should explain to them what was happening but shook his head.

‘Even if I tell them, it’s meaningless if I don’t know how to resolve it.’

It was best not to tell them until he had a clue.

“I don’t have an appetite... Actually, no. I’ll eat.”

Kang-Woo was planning on thinking more instead of eating but he didn’t feel like he would find a satisfactory answer even if he thought for any longer. His time would be better spent eating Seol-Ah’s delicious food to unravel his cluttered mind.

“What’s up with you? You’re making me worried.”

“Hehe. Even I have days like this.”

“Stop fooling around and eat.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kang-Woo sat at the table as Yeon-Joo nagged at him. He would normally have talked to them about the engagement ceremony but he didn’t even feel like doing so since time would be rewound in a few hours.

“You’re not overreacting like you always do. Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Yeon-Joo asked in worry.

“No, I told you. Everything’s fine.”

Kang-Woo evaded the subject and turned his head to the TV Yeon-Jo had turned on before beginning to eat dinner.

[A twenty-two-year-old female university student has gone missing in Seo-myeon, Busan. The police are investigating whether monsters have come out of the Gates in the area.]

[Hanwoori Guild’s S-rank Gate raid, which had been scheduled for today, was canceled. According to the guild’s official statement, the main reason was that they couldn’t get in touch with the two cornerstones of the guild, Players Oh Jeong-Hyun and Kim Chun-Bong, who have suddenly gone missing.]

“There have been a lot of missing cases today,” Yeon-Joo said as if passing by.

“Wait...”

Kang-Woo put down his spoon.

‘Was that the news last time as well?’

He recalled the events of when the eighth wasn’t repeating itself yet.

‘No.’

Kang-Woo did not pay much attention to the news because he was so focused on telling his lovers about the engagement ceremony but he was sure the news was different from the one playing right now.

‘I’m sure the Hanwoori Guild had cleared the S-rank Gate.’

But today, the raid was canceled before it even began— due to the two cornerstone Players going missing.

“Oh.”

Just then, a thought popped into Kang-Woo’s head. Sparks ran down his back. “Pfft!! Hahahaha!! Yeah, so that’s what it was!”

The others stared at him.

“What was what?”

“Kang-Woo?”

Kang-Woo turned away from his lovers staring at him with their heads tilted and stood up.

“I’ll be right back,” he said.

“Out of the blue? Seriously, what's up with you today?”

“Nothing much.”

Kang-Woo smiled. Yes, it had been nothing much; the trap he thought was perfect had been a worn-out net full of holes.

“I’ve found a weakness,” he remarked.

“Weakness...?”

He turned his back on the confused Yeon-Joo and left the house.

“I’ll have to check first.”

He needed to confirm whether the weakness he found was legitimate or not.

“In that case.”

Kang-Woo used the Authority of the Sky and flew to a Player detention center where vicious Player criminals were held.

‘I might as well use these guys to test it out.’

Kang-Woo easily entered the detention center by using his position as a Guardians member and went to visit a Player who had already been sentenced to death.

“The world sure has gotten a lot better. After all, we can punish these pieces of trash now, unlike before,” said the guard guiding Kang-Woo as he chuckled.

Korea reinstated the death sentence to halt the rapidly rising crime rate after the Day of Calamity. Not just Korea but every country now sentenced vicious criminals to death.

“But what is a Player from Guardians doing here? Does one of the Players held here need further investigation?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Kang-Woo randomly answered the chatty guard.

He followed the guard to a solitary cell protected by a barrier. Inside was an intimidating-looking young man with mana restraints shackling his ankles.

“H-His name is Hong Seung-Hyun. His death sentence is scheduled for next week.”

“What crimes has he been charged with?”

“Jeez, don’t even get me started. That garbage is a demon wearing human skin.” The guard glared at Seung-Hyun in disgust. “He was charged with sexual assault of a minor. He even used his powers as a Player.”

“I see.”

If that were the case, Kang-Woo had no reason to hesitate.

“But what did you need to see him f— W-Wait!”

Kang-Woo ripped open the solitary cell door.

“What do you think you’re doing?!!” shouted the guard as he pulled out his weapon.

Kang-Woo shrugged and answered leisurely, “To send him on his way a week early.”

He slowly walked into the cell and grabbed Seung-Hyun who was stepping backward in shock.

“Wh-Who the hell are — Kurgh!!”

Kang-Woo pushed him to the ground and stepped on his chest, caving it in as if it were smashed with a sledgehammer, and crushed his heart.

BEEP—!!

The guard quickly grabbed his walkie-talkie and shouted, “E-EMERGENCY!!! EMERGENCY!!! THIS IS SECTOR 28-C!! A MURDER HAS OCCURRED!! REQUESTING REINFORCEMENTS!!”

This went without saying but not even a Guardians member could kill a death row criminal without following protocol just because they were already scheduled to be killed.

Boom! Boom!

Dozens of guards surrounded Kang-Woo after not even a minute.

“Step aside,” Kang-Woo warned.

He had no time to waste dealing with these people.

“Haap!!”

“Get him!!!”

Dozens of guards charged at Kang-Woo with weapons but Kang-Woo paid them no mind and easily walked through them.

Crush! Bash!

“ARGHHH!!”

“MY AAAAAARM!!!”

The guards who swung their weapons at Kang-Woo fell to the ground, clenching their broken wrists.

“Let’s see.”

Kang-Woo walked out of the detention center after breaking through the dozens of guards and took out his smartphone to check the time.

[November 8th, 9:27 PM]

“I’ve still got tons of time.”

Kang-Woo used the Authority of the Sky to fly back to his home. He spent the rest of the night putting Yeon-Joo, Seol-Ah, and Lilith, who had been waiting for him in worry, at ease and telling them he was okay.

[November 9th, 7:59 AM]

“Just hold on for a little longer, Darling.”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“We’ll get to have that engagement ceremony soon.”

“E-Engagement ceremony? Wh-What do you—”

Seol-Ah, who was stepping backward in confusion, suddenly turned blurry.

“Kurgh.”

His consciousness flickered black and he felt nauseous.

[November 8th, 8:00 AM]

Slam!

“HM! KANG-WOOOOOOOOOO!!! GET UP!!”

The fourth eighth began. Kang-Woo stood up before Echidna charged to jump on him. He caught her by her underarms and raised her into the air.

“The wedding dresses are coming tomorrow, right? Hmm, I wonder what I should give Darling as a gift at the engagement ceremony.”

“H-Huh? Echidna’s eyes widened. “H-How did you...”

Kang-Woo smirked as he saw Echidna’s confused expression. He messied Echidna’s black hair and walked past her to open the room door.

“I’ll be right back.”

“K-Kang-Woo? Where are you going? Forget that, how did you know the wedding dresses were coming today—”

“I don’t think I can come back for dinner.”

Kang-Woo left the apartment suite, leaving behind the dumbfounded Echidna. He immediately flew to the Player detention center he had visited yesterday.

“HONG SEUNG-HYUN HAS ESCAPED!!!”

“Where the hell did that son of a bitch go?!”

There, he could see the guards running around in search of Seung-Hyun.

“I knew it.”

Kang-Woo smirked as he looked down at the chaos in the detention center.

‘Eve said even Nostrian couldn’t rewind time of everything on Earth.’

However, the impossible had occurred, and the reason why it had been possible was simple.

‘It was never possible to perfectly rewind time.’

Kang-Woo cackled as he looked down at the detention center.