Chapter 444. Choi Chi-Woos (2)

“━━━━━━━━━━━━━━!”

Piercing screams erupted from all directions. No, it sounded too desperate and heart-wrenching to be described as screams. It would be more accurate to say that it was a roaring cry. The quiet space shook with terrifying force as if there was a major earthquake. It felt like the whole space was going to turn upside down, and they were going to drop right into space. In the meantime, the light bursting out everywhere began to dash at high speed like a runaway locomotive with a broken brake. And inside this madly fluctuating light—

“Ugh…!” Chi-Woo endured with his teeth clenched, or to be more precise, he was trying his absolute hardest to hold on for dear life. ‘Get angry and destroy everything.’ Chi-Woo had only felt this intense compulsion once in his life; not in the present, but in the future. Moreover, it was even worse now than it had been then. It wasn’t just a feeling of anger and the desire to destroy. All kinds of negative emotions, including despair, were shaking up all his senses and his entire mind.

‘This is…!’ In the past, he would have been overwhelmed by these emotions from the very beginning, but he wasn’t like that anymore. Chi-Woo supported himself with the ‘realization’ he had obtained and ‘accepted’ from his battle with Bael. However, this was the extent of his resistance. He could only barely endure and maintain his state of mind, and even then, it was only for a brief moment. Chi-Woo’s face turned into a scowl as he felt the impulse to destroy overcome him like a tsunami.

—Perhaps.

In that brief instant, a snippet of the conversation he had had with Byeok Ran-Eum after the war flashed through his mind.

—By surpassing the limits of your bowl, a new bowl might be made.

—Then it might be better…

—To just empty it…

* * *

The light that filled the space began to go out one by one. The horrible shrieks that had been echoing from all sides also suddenly stopped. The vacancy left was filled with only groans. Not too long ago, the Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos had been standing on two feet, but after the lights went out, not a single person was standing. They were all lying on the ground and groaning in pain.

Smart Chi-Woo was on the ground and couldn’t even breathe properly, and Grumpy Chi-Woo was grinding his teeth and wriggling like an insect with sweat pouring out from him. Stupid Yoo-Joo was sprawled on the ground like a frog and had passed out. It was also the same for the Yoo-Joo who had been living a perfect life on Earth and Liber and was greatly praised by Future Yoo-Joo. Although Perfect Yoo-Joo lasted longer than the others, she soon reached her limit and collapsed the moment the light surrounding her went out. The hard, white floor was as soft as a feather bed. After panting for a while, she closed her eyes tightly.

‘Just now…what the hell…’ It felt like someone’s desperate and dreadful feelings at a specific time had completely overlaid her own. It was such a terrible compulsion that she didn’t even want to think about it. She wondered what the hell someone had to go through to feel such grotesque emotions. Perfect Yoo-Joo shivered and opened her eyes. When she looked up and found Future Yoo-Joo, her eyes widened. She thought she had withstood the longest among this group, but that hadn’t been the case. Although almost all the lights had died out, there was still one light left. And Future Yoo-Joo was staring intently at the light with a slightly affectionate and sentimental look while hovering in the air.

“I see. It’s not finding rationality in paradox, but pure truth… Since now, you’ve been… No, not yet. I can’t be sure yet…” Future Yoo-Joo murmured to herself like she was monologuing and shook her head vigorously.

Finally, the light that was burning to the very last extinguished, and Chi-Woo was revealed from under the cluster of light. He stumbled a couple of times as if his head hurt and then fell on one knee. However, unlike the other Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos, he didn’t roll on the floor and groan in pain. Seeing this, Perfect Yoo-Joo’s face fell slightly.

“You lasted longer than I thought.” Floating in the air, Future Yoo-Joo approached Chi-Woo while he panted hard. “But still, as expected, you can’t do it in one try…” She looked a bit disappointed. Her reaction was beyond ridiculous, but Chi-Woo didn’t reply because his lungs were frantically gasping for air.

“…So how about it?” Future Yoo-Joo asked. It was a question of myriad implications. Chi-Woo was still silent because he was still breathing hard, but he raised his head. He felt like he just experienced something he had vowed never to go through again. He wanted to wave his hands and shake his head if someone told him to go through the same process again, but he had to persist. The experience made him realize to some extent what he had to do in this space. What Future Yoo-Joo said was right—this was an opportunity. An opportunity to grab and utilize something much greater than just the rewards of a promotion. If he returned like this, an opportunity like this would never come again.

Thus, Chi-Woo rose to his feet resolutely. “One more time.”

Future Yoo-Joo’s nervous expression brightened a bit. “Yeah. So that you…yeah, that’s how you should be.”

Seeing the small smile on Future Yoo-Joo’s face, Perfect Yoo-Joo gnawed on her lower lip, and she glared at Chi-Woo as he stood alone like a triton among minnows. Even though she was the definition of perfection and was evaluated as even more outstanding than Future Yoo-Joo at the same point in time, Future Yoo-Joo’s attention was now solely directed at that man. Should she call it pride? Perfect Yoo-Joo, who had always walked the path of the best whether on Earth or Liber, could not accept that there was someone better than her. Thus, she forced her still trembling body to get up and said, “Me too.”

Seeing Perfect Yoo-Joo stand up while her entire body shook, Future Yoo-Joo smiled and raised her hand.

Flick!

* * *

Some time ago, right after the great war.

The factions of the defeated enemy coalition went their separate ways. The Sernitas, which had destroyed and absorbed the remaining Demon Empire, thought that although they had benefitted while only losing one Sky Castle, they still lost in the end. To avoid the same outcome from ever happening again, they needed to do a thorough analysis of why they failed.

However, the analysis showed no signs of ending, or to be exact, there had been no progress. It was somewhat understandable since they wouldn’t have lost the Sky Castle so easily if analysis had been possible in the first place. After lengthy consideration, the Sernitas came to the conclusion that ‘this being’ was an existence that they couldn’t analyze at their current level. The moment they, or to be exact, all the consciousness that made up the Sernitas, realized this, they were filled with intense excitement. They had left the planet with the ambitious aspiration to become a perfect being and encompass the entire universe, but at one point, they realized that they had hit an invisible wall.

The excitement and joy they felt when they first threw themselves into the vast universe and embraced a new lifeform didn’t last as long as they had thought. After reaching a certain level of completion, everything became pretty much the same. There was a clear limitation to abandoning disadvantages and only incorporating advantages. A new shock was needed; a fresh shock that would surpass all the information collected so far. And finally, there emerged an existence with information of that level.

They needed to extract that information by any means possible, no matter what the costs may be. This was something that all the consciousness agreed upon without exception. However, it would be a lie if they said they were confident. By mobilizing all the information they had accumulated so far, they had thought they stood at least a 50% chance of success, but that confidence shattered with the Sky Castle’s destruction. At this rate, they would surely lose.

Of course, it was still too early to determine the victor, but for the Sernitas, who only carried out their plan when success rate reached at least 70% to 80%, it was an impossible suggestion for them to risk their lives for a plan with only a 50% chance of victory. The Sernitas debated about this issue for a long time, and while they struggled to make a decision, one consciousness who had been existing for a very long time shared their opinion—whether they could even analyze this being with the information they currently have.

So rather than forcing an impossible analysis, they should focus on accepting this being instead even if they had to give up everything else. The idea received countless support and just as many disagreements. In the midst of this stark contrast of opinions, an event compelling the opposing party to change sides occurred. The reason was simple: the Sernitas’ surveillance network had spotted an interference. They had no idea what kind of interference it was.

However, as soon as the Sernitas found that the being who caused the unknown interference was the existence they were on guard against, the Sernitas felt an unknown sense of crisis. The consciousness with the power of prophecy persistently warned that irreversible situations could come to be depending on the outcome of the interference. As a result, the Sernitas finally made a decision.

Of course, it was not an easy decision since they needed to predict and prepare for all foreseen problems as well as unexpected variables. In order to do this, they needed time, but since they didn’t have much time to prepare, they needed to quicken the process as much as possible. Thus, the Sernitas left only the most minimal consciousness and raked all the remaining consciousness together, beginning their preparation to create a vessel that could hold all possible variables…

The Sernitas’ changes were soon discovered by the Abyss. Upon receiving the report that the Sernitas had ceased all external activities, the Abyss King fell into thought. He wondered if the Abyss should join hands with humanity and the League and attack the Sernitas at this time, or…

The Abyss King tilted his head back to look up at the sky. Originally, the secrets of the sky had been invisible and unknown to him, but after eating the queen, he could see and read the signs in the sky. The Abyss King let out a hollow laugh as he had succeeded in making an observation similar to the Sernitas. First of all, it was suspicious that Liber was calm and quiet as if nothing was happening. If an interference of that magnitude had occurred, it would be normal for something to appear on this side as a result; that was the law of causality. A law that even a god could not go against.

However, nothing happened. It didn’t make sense unless someone was dealing with that massive cause and effect. And what if this speculation was true? What kind of existence could carry out an interference of such a massive scale without suffering any side effects? And what were their reasons and intentions? It was a great matter that couldn’t be easily overlooked. The Sernitas probably felt some sense of crisis and initiated an extraordinary counterplan to deal with this by suspending all external activities. That would explain everything.

‘If that’s the case…’ The Abyss couldn’t stay still either. The Abyss King smiled insidiously. The situation had just turned interesting. Though how things would end was a mystery, he had no intention of withdrawing easily like this. From that day on, the Abyss also began to make preparations—a preparation for when the interference’s outcome was revealed…

* * *

How long had it been? There was no need to eat, drink, or sleep in this space. If the Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos really wanted, they could stay awake all 365 days throughout the year. However, even if their body was fine, it didn’t mean their mind was. Things that originated from the mind such as willpower had a clear limit.

“Ack!” Escaping from the light, Chi-Woo barely managed to keep down his heaving breath before gasping out again. He didn’t even know how many times he had tried; he stopped counting long ago. It was said that humans were adaptive animals, but this phrase should be rectified as of today. He had thought the experience would get better the more he underwent it, but he couldn’t get used to it no matter how many times it had been. Rather, the more he did it, the more traumatized he got.

Chi-Woo breathed hard for a while and looked around. When he first came here, there was no room to even move around. After Future Yoo-Joo weeded out the Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos, there were still quite a few people left, but the number had decreased noticeably more since then. Now, he could easily count the number of Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos left if he wanted. Their reasons for departure were varied; some lost hope that they would ever succeed, and others left to deal with urgent matters in their worldlines. In that sense, Chi-Woo was in a fortunate situation. Since he had successfully overcome the great war and finished organizing Seven Stars’ internal affairs, he had some leisure time.

“Ugh…” At that moment, he heard someone burst into tears. It was a man—a Chi-Woo. Chi-Woo from another world was lying on the floor and shedding tears with snot coming from his nose. “I miss you…I miss you so much…”

Chi-Woo felt a bit sad while seeing him. Who could insult him and call him pathetic? As long as they were human, it was natural for someone to miss their parents. Chi-Woo sometimes thought of his father and mother too…

“Evelyn…”

‘…What?’

“Sniff…I want to fall asleep in Evelyn’s arm…I want to rub my cheeks against Evelyn’s arms…”

Chi-Woo doubted his ears and wondered if he had misheard.

“Then Evelyn will smile at me like always…and pat my head…and pat my back too…waaaahh…”

Chi-Woo stared and gaped at the Chi-Woo who was whining for Evelyn and desperately rubbing his cheeks against the floor. How should he describe his current emotion? It was an intense self-loathing.

Grumpy Chi-Woo said, “Sigh…How could that fucking idiot be another version of myself…” Chi-Woo deeply sympathized with Grumpy Chi-Woo’s lamentations this one time.

“You’re being too harsh.” Smart Chi-Woo, who was sitting nearby and resting, smiled bitterly. He put both hands on the ground and sighed. “It’s natural to want to see your lover. I also miss Yunael.”

“What, that wild boar-like girl? You certainly have a unique taste.”

“What do you mean she’s like a wild boar? Watch your mouth. Do you not know how cute and lovely Yunael is?”

“Shut up. Just imagining it makes me want to throw up.” Grumpy Chi-Woo spat on the ground as if he found that idea extremely unpleasant.

Smart Chi-Woo smacked his lips and said, “Geez, what’s up with your reaction? Then who did you end up with?”

When Grumpy Chi-Woo did not answer, suspicion spread in Smart Chi-Woo’s eyes. “No way, Hawa…?”

“No, the only life partner I have ever acknowledged is El Lache Teresa. Don’t get any funny ideas.”

Smart Chi-Woo’s eyes widened. “El Lache Teresa…? Who’s that?”

“What? She hasn’t come into your world yet?” Grumpy Chi-Woo replied flatly.

Smart Chi-Woo was about to say something but closed his mouth and fell into thought for a bit. “…Wait a minute.” Then he got up from his seat and began walking around. “If you all don’t mind, shall we talk for a moment? Between us?” It seemed as if he was trying to gather people together.

Perfect Yoo-Joo, who was taking a short break, also received an offer. She gave it some thought and glanced at Chi-Woo, whom she thought of as her competitor. “If he accepts, I’ll also join.”

Chi-Woo was taken aback when his recovery of body and mind was suddenly interrupted. She should just join if she wanted to; why was she dragging him into this?

“Okay! Then let’s decide!” Chi-Woo suddenly heard a loud cry. Subsequently, he felt someone hook their arm with his like a snake. “Oppa, you’re going to join, right? Let’s all take a break, okay?” Stupid Yoo-Joo approached him without him knowing and pulled him close with a bright smile. Chi-Woo groaned. He was Chi-Woo, and she was Yoo-Joo; his mind felt muddled while he processed everything. Grumpy Chi-Woo tried to ignore the offer, but since the number 1 and 2 people who had grabbed Future Yoo-Joo’s attention decided to join the discussion, he also followed suit.

“So,” Once they were all sitting together, Grumpy Chi-Woo first spoke up, “What are we going to discuss? Don’t tell me you want us to describe every part of the life we’ve lived so far?”

Smart Chi-Woo tilted his head and said, “Why don’t we all say from which point in time we came from?”

“Point in time?”

“Yes, point in time. If you tell us about a big event that happened recently, I think we can get a rough estimate,” Smart Chi-Woo said while looking intently at one person.

Chi-Woo felt his gaze and an unknown sense of pressure. It seemed that Smart Chi-Woo had a lot of questions for him.

“By the latest big event, are you talking about the war with the enemy coalition?” Thankfully, another person answered first without being asked. “If it’s that war, fortunately, we were able to resolve it.”

Smart Chi-Woo’s eyes slightly widened at Perfect Yoo-Joo’s words.

“You were able to resolve it?”

“Yes, in the end, we were able to rescue my older sister and successfully destroy the enemy coalition.”

“How, how did you do that?” Stupid Yoo-Joo also inched closer to her and asked.

Perfect Yoo-Joo continued as if it was no big deal. “I judged that it was impossible to protect Shalyh, so I immediately gave up on it, and by utilizing the base we secured within the Demon Empire’s mainland, we quickly…”

Chi-Woo tilted his head as soon as he heard her first sentence. ‘Give up on Shalyh?’ He understood her thought process, since he had almost given up the city too. However, the reason why he couldn’t do that and insisted on a war despite everyone’s opposition was because of his intuition alone. Since he felt that he shouldn’t give up Shalyh then, he risked everything to save Shalyh. Other people wouldn’t have been able to understand his decision, but everyone here were other versions of himself. They should have also learned from a young age that it was better to not go against their intuitions for most cases…

“…While my sister was holding out, I made a secret agreement with the Abyss, and at the promised time, we struck the Demon Empire and provided a way for her to escape…”

Mid-sentence, Perfect Yoo-Joo suddenly paused because she saw her competitor tilt his head as if he found her words strange. She narrowed her eyes slightly. “What’s the matter?” she asked the man sitting across from her.

“It’s nothing.”

“I don’t think so. I think you want to say something. Please go ahead.”

The other Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos watched their conversation with interest. Chi-Woo had no choice but to speak up when the Yoo-Joo ushered him to quickly talk.

He asked, “Then what happened to Shalyh?”

“Shalyh was destroyed.”

“Shouldn’t that not have happened?”

“If you’re talking about our intuition, I was also aware of it, but it was an inevitable choice. And as a result, I was able to obtain something much greater.”

“Ah, I see.” Chi-Woo tried to drop the issue. He didn’t want to have a useless argument about who was right.

However, Perfect Yoo-Joo didn’t seem convinced. “Then what about you?”

“?”

“You must have also experienced the same war.”

“Well, yes.”

“Were you able to protect Shalyh?”

“Yes, well. Somehow,” Chi-Woo replied casually. He thought there would at least be one among this big group who had achieved the same result—

“…What did you just say?”

Until he heard Perfect Yoo-Joo’s reply.

She continued, “Wait a minute. Perhaps…are you mistaken? I’m not talking about the invasion of the Demon Empire on their own.”

“Yes, I know. You’re referring to the invasion when the Sernitas, the Demon Empire, and Abyss all came together as a coalition.”

“…You fought all three factions at once and succeeded in defending Shalyh?” Perfect Yoo-Joo asked again.

“Yes.”

Her eyes shook at the confirmation. “How…?”

“Uh…Since they came in pushing from one direction, we held on for dear life at the last gate, and then the enemy coalition’s detachment went to Shalyh by herself and…”

“W-Wait? So you’re saying—”

While Chi-Woo listed out the events as they came into his mind, Smart Chi-Woo suddenly interjected, “That you faced the enemy coalition head-on and won in a battle of strengths?”

“Yes, yes.” How many times did he have to say the same thing? Chi-Woo complained inside his mind, and then he finally got a good look at the others’ reactions. Along with Grumpy Chi-Woo, Pathetic Chi-Woo, Stupid Yoo-Joo and of course, Perfect Yoo-Joo and Smart Chi-Woo were all looking at Chi-Woo with their mouths open—as if they were staring at the biggest liar in the world.

Startled, Chi-Woo quickly blinked and asked, “…What’s with you?”