Chapter 553: Revenge Companion (2)

He looked as if he didn’t mean to speak about Hayan’s death out loud. Since he had been busy providing me the tutorial story, more information had popped out without him realizing it.

I was sure he was blaming himself for his lack of consideration. On the surface, Jung Hayan and I were supposed to be a couple.

It would be like saying, ‘Ah, you know, your girlfriend got tricked by some trashy guy in the First Timeline. So, she killed herself. It was so terrible…I even saw some signs of abuse’.

We were forced to maintain a long silence, even though things were different since the First Timeline.

“…”

“…”

“That’s why. She was…”

“What?”

“When I first met Jin Qing, I saw him express his interest toward Hayan. He even sent her a private note. At that time, I thought he was just interested in her magical talent…”

“Yes, if Miss Hayan hadn’t have met you, she might have gotten tricked again by him. It was his specialty to charm people like that.”

“What did she look like when you found her…?”

“We… We found her dead in her room after drinking poison. There was no other damage. Some say she might not have taken her own life, but that she was a-assassinated…”

‘Oh my… Hyunsung, do you want to be this considerate of me?’

“The letter we found in that room detailed what happened to her.”

It was written that she had hung herself and died. He changed the story a bit in consideration for me. I could see that he was very careful about his words. He even made sure not to mention that there were signs of trauma on her body. ‘At this point, I can definitely say that the misunderstanding has been cleared.’

The First Timeline’s Lee Kiyoung had apparently died in the tutorial dungeon.

Kim Hyunsung’s suspicion that I might be the masked trash was completely gone. He probably lost his suspicion after the demons kidnapped me, but it felt nice to see his trusting expression, which didn’t have a single sign of suspicion, with my own eyes.

“Jin Qing, he…”

“I can never understand him. As I told you, he was the greatest enemy of mankind.”

“Then what happened to Hee-ra nuna?”

“The Mercenary Queen went missing during the war. Of course, that was what the Red Mercenaries announced, but I think she probably died during the war. Yes. She probably fell by Jin Qing’s… own… hands. Miss Hyejin too… And many of our other comrades… They all died, all because of that man…”

“Sigh… I feel strange. Even though it didn’t happen in this Timeline…”

“I’m sorry. I accidentally made the atmosphere too heavy.”

“No, I’m thankful that you told me. It’s a heavy topic in the first place. And… I can at least endure this much. Of course, I’d be lying if I said I’m not feeling uncomfortable. However, in this Timeline, all of that didn’t happen. Hayan and Hee-ra nuna and everyone too… Yes, when I go back, I want to hug all of them. Still, why did the demon summoner…”

“I think his purpose was to fulfill his revenge on humanity.”

“Revenge?”

“I’m not sure, but one thing I can say for sure is that he was the enemy of humanity and a person who proved to be an enormous threat in the 1st Timeline. He spread infectious diseases in one city, and during the war, he infected his allies to spread diseases to his opponents.”

“Ah…”

“He treated the empire as his plaything. Just as he abandoned the murderer, Jung Jinho, he used and abandoned both allies and enemies according to his advantage. I tried to find his motivation or reason, but I couldn’t find any.”

‘You tried to find it? That too? So that’s why you… did that?’

Suddenly feeling nervous, I spoke hurriedly.

“Maybe there was no motive. Ordinary people like us probably can’t understand how people like them think. People like you especially won’t understand.” “…”

“There’s probably something inherently broken about him. He’s of the same type as the psychopathic killer Jung Jinho. No, he is an even more vicious and worse kind of human. He probably enjoyed the pain and fear of others the same way an addict enjoyed drugs.”

“Yes, that could… be. But I thought there might have been a reason…”

“No, there are people out there that we’ll never understand. Everything he did was probably an act. He played the character he wanted and wore a mask in front of everyone. He just played a character that was filled with hatred and revenge for humanity. I also looked into this a bit…”

“What did you…?”

“I tried to look into the reason why his Republic began the war and why he summoned the devil of Laios, but I wasn’t able to find anything. I also thought it wasn’t possible at first. I didn’t think that a human being would drive those who were living peacefully into the battlefield just for their own enjoyment and entertainment.”

‘He was just a piece of trash. Nothing more.’

“But I was wrong. I couldn’t find any reason or… motivation.”

“…”

“He’s that type of human. Yes, he was just that type of person.”

“For just that… for a reason like that…”

I noticed Kim Hyunsung biting his lips tightly. His lips and arms began to shake visibly.

I could understand why he was reacting like that. All of his sufferings, everything that he went through were all because a trashy person wanted to have some fun. I couldn’t imagine how furious and shocked he must’ve been feeling.

A lot of events happened because of Jin Qing. Multiple battles and incomprehensible situations happened every single day. All the pain that Hyunsung, his colleagues, and mankind had to suffer from…

“For a reason like that… For such a worthless desire…”

He had to make so many sacrifices and die painfully. Kim Hyunsung, who had been wondering about Jin Qing’s motive, must’ve felt both despondent and enraged. I couldn’t help but sympathize with Kim Hyunsung’s feelings. If I were in the same position as him, I probably would’ve made the same face.

There was only one thing I wondered about regarding his involvement.

It was whether or not Kim Hyunsung and the Blue Guild really didn’t get involved in the death of Park Deokgu. At that time, Park Deokgu died to protect the masked trash.

And that was the starting point for the masked trash’s revenge on the continent. I was sure that the masked trash was also aiming for the Blue Guild and Kim Hyunsung.

‘Was there a misunderstanding?’

I couldn’t be certain until I heard the whole story.

‘Well, I guess I will hear it later.’

I was feeling hungry, but above that, sleepy. I tried to endure with a potion, but I felt as if I was going to fall asleep at any moment.

Before I headed to bed, I knew I had to calm Kim Hyunsung down, who remained immersed in his anger. I was going to listen to what I was most curious about before I could enter my slumber.

Since I couldn’t mention the final villain directly, I didn’t think it was a bad idea to slowly build-up towards the topic.

I had to grab the big strands first. I’ll have the chance to hear the little details later, I guess.

I tapped Kim Hyunsung’s shoulder, his face still looking uncomfortable.

“You can calm down. None of those events happened this time around.”

“Yes, you’re right…”

“He’s already dead, and he paid for his sins. Of course, I don’t know the exact details since I don’t remember the 1st Timeline as you do, but what you’re worrying about will no longer happen. It’s all over.”

‘This is good enough.’

He nodded happily at my words and then began to look serious again.

“No, actually… everything isn’t over yet. Even though murderers Jung Jinho, Lee Seolho, Ito Souta, and Jin Qing are dead, not all threats have disappeared. I told you I’m a regressor not only because I wanted to share my burden with you but also prepare us for the upcoming threats together.”

‘Yep, that’s what I’ve been waiting for. Let’s finally do all of this and be happy.’

“Yes, now that I think about it, Goddess Benignore has…”

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

“Yes, there are imminent threats.”

“…”

“…”

“A fragment of the outer god.”

“A fragment of the outer god?”

“It might shock you, but what I’m saying right now is the truth. I don’t know exactly why Sun Hee-young saw a part of the outer god in the wormhole and why it came into the empire. I don’t know the purpose behind it either.”

“…”

“The outer god hated humans, but he tried to keep the continent under his control. I think the right expression is that he was trying to maintain the objects. According to Jin Qing in the 1st Timeline, he told me…”

‘Huh?’

While Kim Hyunsung was talking, one question came into my mind.

Humanity…

‘Wasn’t humanity wiped out?’

In the subconscious world, Kim Hyunsung remained alone just before he regressed and looked down at the destroyed continent. As expected, there were no survivors, and I thought he already accepted that.

I couldn’t help but question Kim Hyunsung’s words that the outer god wanted to limit the human population under his control.

‘What is this?’

Two possibilities came into my mind: first, the outer god’s real purpose was to destroy the continent.

‘He isn’t perfect.’

Even the gods weren’t perfect. Benignore always made sure to emphasize that fact to me.

Even the outer god might not be complete either. That was why they had to gather believers and increase their divinity.

Kim Hyunsung said that it was only a fragment of the outer god, so they must not have had enough power to destroy the entire empire on their own. Then, they must have made their own group and drove humanity to fight amongst each other.

After gathering enough divinity, the outer god could’ve just left and repeated the same process in another empire.

The second possibility was that the outer god’s real purpose was to manage humanity.

‘That’s also possible.’

If I were a god of the outside world, I would’ve had some desire to manage the continent, especially if I was interested in humans. Since they wouldn’t have anything, they might have wanted to take control of a random empire and play god.

The question there was why the continent had reached that point. The chances were small… But maybe…

‘Did the masked trash betray even the outer god?’

In the first place, it was hard to imagine that the masked trash, who hated humanity and wanted vengeance, would obediently follow the words of an outer god. Also, when the masked trash first joined the brigade, he joined with the promise that he would seek revenge against all rotten people…

Judging by his actions and atmosphere, it didn’t seem like he had completely abandoned that vengeance.

The outer god was thinking about management and maintenance, but what the masked trash thought was the destruction of mankind. Perhaps he pretended to lick the outer god’s foot but then went behind his back and fucked the empire.

There was the possibility that he might have led things to go that way.

If the second hypothesis was correct…

‘That bastard, he’s the real deal.’

At that point, he should’ve been given the title of backstabbing master.