Chapter 327: The God and the King (3)

The time in the artificial hell stopped.

“Impossible.”

The layers of sedimentary rock in the artificially constructed amphitheater sank, with the Ruin-Harvesting Cow standing at the very center. Her golden wheat-like hair fluttered as she shouted, “This can’t be possible!”

Mutia took a step forward, swinging her hammer to unleash her fury. An explosion erupted.

[The Ruin-Harvesting Cow has activated her power.]

[Your Exclusive Music Box has activated their power.]

However, my fox god stopped it. “But, upon reflection, it wasn’t impossible after all.”

“This can’t be happening!”

“Upon further reflection, it wasn’t impossible after all,” the fox god said dramatically, like a theater narrator.

Mutia gritted her teeth. “My title is the Ruin-Harvesting Cow, and my real name is the Rushing Storm Eye of the Blue Sea! Even after living eternally in the universe, I’m an absolute time coordinate that can never be swayed!”

“Absolute time coordinate? What is that supposed to be? There is this guy called Einstein in Mr. Gong-Ja’s world. Why don’t you go ask him? Don’t bother—”

“Death King, I know how insignificant you are!” Mutia glared at me with a fierce gaze. As her power faded, the bloodlust in her eyes subsided, and their eyes regained their golden hue. “I know your past!”

However, her eyes still resembled a blazing sun.

“You were nothing, kid! A shabby studio! A small bed! Portraits of your idols hung on the walls like laundry! You had nothing, so you filled the empty space with idols who seemed to have something! You were a ruin! You were a true ruin because you had never achieved anything, Death King. Before you earned the title of Death King, you were worthy of being my follower. A perfect person to pray for regression!”

It seemed that Mutia, the Constellation that controlled time and regression, knew everything about my past—the type of person I had been before my regression of over four thousand days. I accepted her omniscience as truth.

I guess that makes sense. Without knowledge of my past, the what-if worlds she tried to create wouldn’t have been possible.

While using her power, Mutia had cornered me and created a version of me who had gotten old without achieving anything. In the process, her power had made various assumptions.

—If you hadn’t met the Sword Star.

—If you hadn’t met the Sword Emperor.

—If you hadn’t met the Fire Emperor.

It made sense why she had mentioned the Sword Star. Simply knowing me was enough to throw an assumption about how much meeting him had affected me. However, if it came to the Sword Emperor, and especially the Fire Emperor...

She wouldn’t be able to speculate at all unless she knows my entire past.

Then how was it possible? How did the Ruin-Harvesting Cow know about my regression?

Hamustra was the Constellation that dealt with stories. He read a story about me and discovered I’m a regressor, but how does Mutia know? Is it because she is a goddess who controls time and regression?

While I was busy speculating and piecing together theories, Mutia let out an enraged shout.

“What if another regressor ruined your life?”

That snapped me out of my contemplation.

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb. You’ve thought about it before, haven’t you?” Mutia spread her arms wide. “‘Why am I so unlucky?’”

Those were words I had once spoken.

“‘Why can’t I get a single Skill?’”

They were words that many people had spoken.

“‘Why haven’t I ever had a lucky encounter with someone who can guide me, or an opportunity that can change my life?’”

I took a deep breath and exhaled. “If I said I’d never thought that way, I’d be lying. Yes, I have. I didn’t just think about it but said my resentment out loud. My days were filled with resentment, and my nights were drenched with alcohol.”

“You’ve only gained one Skill, yet you’ve made it this far,” Mutia said. “With amazing willpower, unyielding determination, and unwavering passion, you poured your heart into everything you faced and finally arrived before me. Have you never found it strange? That you, with no notable talent, built a path for yourself? Have you never doubted that something close to a miracle happened?”

“That’s—”

“You’ll say it’s because you met good people.” Mutia smiled, which was brilliant and spiteful enough to melt gold. “But that’s not true!”

I realized this was her final card. She had shattered the ground, created an arena where escape was impossible, surrounded me with her two hundred apostles, and poured all her power into aging me. This was the final blow she had gotten ready in case I was still not defeated, taunting me to endure this too.

—

I have a bad feeling about this. I don’t know what secret she’s trying to reveal, but my gut is telling me that it isn’t something good. When a Constellation becomes spiteful, a meaningless disaster always ensues.

No, it’s okay. I’ll listen.

I had delved into the secrets of countless people. Although I had taken responsibilities like I had been determined to, this was still a form of violence.

If the secret is about me, I want to hear it even more.

My secret couldn’t be the only sanctuary. As a Hunter who possessed the

Returner’s Clockwork,

I stood tall and asked, “What do you mean?”

“You could have been successful in the first place!”

Confused, I again asked, “I don’t understand, Lady Mutia. What do you mean, I could have succeeded in the first place?”

“You’re a fool, kid! You didn’t get to meet anyone to guide you on the first floor, and you didn’t have any opportunity to seize on the second floor. But that isn’t because they weren’t meant for you in the first place.”

Mutia’s laughter grew louder and louder. Like the laughter of an ancient king cursed to turn everything he touched into gold, the Constellation of Gold’s laughter was bizarre and desolate.

“You know what the Tower is like! Up to the tenth floor, it’s a refuge for those who have fled from the outside world. It’s a paradisic island and a land of opportunity, so how could you not have had it before your regression? You’ve been climbing the Tower. Is the Tower such a heartless place?”

Badump.

[The Ruin-Harvesting Cow has activated her power.]

In the amphitheater, where once only the sedimentary rocks lay around, the temple pillars rose from the ground with a thud. The pillars weren’t intact; they were the remains of an abandoned temple. Wind and rain had weathered them, and they resembled the teeth of an old man with exposed gums. The white pillars were embedded in the ground throughout the artificial hell.

—If you hadn’t met the Fire Emperor.

Something like a hologram screen flickered between the temple pillars. Her manifestation of power was something I had already seen in her previous attempt to alter my timeline.

—If the Fire Emperor hadn’t met the Mirage-Walking Princess.

That was a completely new assumption. In addition to that, the Fire Emperor was the subject, not me.

—If the Fire Emperor had not obtained the

Returner’s Clockwork.

—If the Fire Emperor hadn’t regressed via the

Returner’s Clockwork.

The world unfolded before my eyes.

***

—The Fire Emperor, who obtained the

Returner’s Clockwork,

regresses and purchases the MA’s lottery ticket.

Through the crack in the pillar, I saw the Fire Emperor and I passing each other.

—As a result, you arrive at the lottery ticket sales location a little later than you did in the original world. Your ticket, which should have won fourth place, brings you nothing this time.

It was a minor misfortune. The me beyond the pillar sighed before heading toward the hunting ground.

—Your pathetic equipment causes you to sustain an injury that lasts a day longer than in the original timeline.

That wasn’t all.

—After treating your injury, you return to the hunting ground, but the box you left behind is already empty.

The Fire Emperor hadn’t taken it since the box was too insignificant for someone with an ability to regress voluntarily. However, for me, who was poor and weak, the equipment inside would have been a great help.

—You didn’t get to obtain the Skill Card.

Like a grain of sand thrown into a smoothly turning gear, the Fire Emperor—the regressor—gradually changed my life.

—Your efforts repeatedly fail.

—Your life drove you to the edge of life itself.

It could be described as me hitting rock bottom in that small studio.

—However, if the Fire Emperor hadn’t regressed via the

Returner’s Clockwork...

A world where that tiny discord and misfortune vanished, and a completely different world showed up.

—Your efforts would have been properly rewarded.

It was a world of fruition.

—You acquire a good Skill and reap the fruits of your labor.

It seemed I gained the ability to communicate with all monsters there.

—You earn others’ recognition.

Thanks to my Skill, the people of the Tower finally discovered that there were intelligent beings capable of communication among the monsters roaming on the second to ninth floors. I also discovered that they had built a massive underground civilization to avoid humans.

—You pioneer a path for yourself.

We knew nothing about the civilization. On the fifth underground floor, the demihumans had secretly built a city.

—You prevent numerous tragedies.

I was the sole human capable of communicating with the demihumans, so I became humanity’s representative, a messenger, and a mediator.

—You make friends.

After going through a great deal to prevent a tragedy, the Black Witch patted my shoulder with a smile. She asked if I would like to have a drink at a nice place she knew.

—You make comrades.

Though my martial prowess was far inferior to what it was now, the pillars of the ruined temple showed a vision of me living a fulfilling life, receiving recognition from those around me, and living alongside the people I cherished.

“Child,” Mutia said. “This is your original timeline. It’s the path you were meant to walk and the destiny that was originally given to you.”

My heart raced.

“That bastard the Fire Emperor took it all away and hoarded it to himself! The chances you were supposed to have slipped through your fingers! In that timeline, the original timeline, you had no reason to endure pain over four thousand times. You could have lived a fulfilling life simply by cultivating your natural diligence.”

I see.

“Do you understand, kid? You weren’t unlucky.”

I’m also living a life changed by Yoo Soo-Ha.

“Someone else stole your luck!” Mutia’s thunderous roar echoed through the hellish landscape. “I’ll send you back to the real life you should have lived.”

Her move certainly stung me deeply. It was just that...

“The life you’re living is fake, an illusion. This time, I’ll make sure you walk your own path, free from regressors interfering with your timeline. I’ll let you live your true life. Abandon your Constellation, and join m—”

“It’s too late.”

“What?”

My Demonic Heaven was already on the move.

Whoosh!

The sword I had drawn split the hell in half. Where the sword coated with my aura passed, the pillars of the temple created by Mutia’s power were cut down very neatly and easily.

“It’s way too late,” I said.

“You bastard! What are you doi—”

I glared at the blazing gold and said, “Fake life or real life. It doesn’t matter. If you wanted to play with words, you should have come to me before meeting Raviel, tempted me before I found Teacher, or persuaded me before seeing Black Dragon Master’s smile. The Tower master said I didn’t get to live the best version of my life, and you’re saying that my life isn’t true.”

I looked beyond the gold.

“Whether a life is fake or real isn’t decided by the order of time, Ruin-Harvesting Cow. There are people who have been influenced by me, and those who have influenced me in return. That becomes love, friendship, and companionship. If I have people who will walk by my side in my life, then that is my true life.”

I grabbed the sword more tightly, my face not betraying a single emotion.

“This is who I am. There are people who made me who I am, and we are the only ones in this world. This is our true world.”

I took one step closer to her.

“Now, I’m done hearing your music, Lady Constellation.”

The Ruin-Harvesting Cow, Mutia, had the power of regression.

Her first move was to sink the ground and confine me. The attempt had been neutralized.

Her second move was to corner me in an amphitheater she artificially made. The attempt had been neutralized.

Her third move was to mobilize two hundred of her apostles for a joint attack. The attempt had been neutralized.

Her fourth move was to use her power as a Constellation and age me. The attempt had been neutralized.

Her fifth move was to show me my original timeline, tempting me to join her side. I declined it..

The Constellation aimed for at least two goals in every move. She had used five strategies to bring me, the Sword Emperor’s heir, down to my knees. However, she now had nothing but a hammer to stop me.

“I’ll first take your pride,” I said.

Everything happened in a flash. Mutia fixed her grip on the hammer and swung it in an attempt to counterattack, but what happened just a moment later was horrific.

One of the long horns on both sides of Mutia’s head fell limp and rolled away in the sandstorm.

“

Ah...

” she muttered.

[The Ruin-Harvesting Cow’s presence has weakened.]

Her brilliant golden light dimmed slightly.