Chapter 446. Separation Always Follows a Meeting

Shalyh was particularly busy today. Numerous people went in and out of Apertum. The twelfth reinforcements, announced by the Celestial Realm, had finally entered Liber a few days ago. As they were told, it was the largest number of reinforcements to this day, and at a rough estimate, thousands of people had entered, so their arrival received great attention from Shalyh. Besides the sheer number of incoming heroes, the quality was not bad either. Considering that a lot of organizations had lost a large number of their forces in the recent war, many of them showed great eagerness to participate in the drafting event.

Of course, no one dared to even covet the top heroes and consider it possible to recruit them as all the organizations believed Seven Stars would sweep all the best items, while they would pick up the leftover ones. Although they all waited like hyenas, they didn’t catch sight of Chi-Woo for some reason; they didn’t even see him in Seven Stars’ area either.

When several people, unable to suppress their curiosity, asked about Chi-Woo, Eval Sevaru gave them a benevolent smile and said, “Our boss said we’re all working hard, and we’re in this together, so why should we have to compete? He thought it was right to share good opportunities like this fairly within the established framework.” He continued, “Thus, he said he would utilize the rules, but he would wait quietly in his area. After all, him showing up here can render the rules useless even if that wasn’t his intention.” He spoke eloquently but in short, he was saying, ‘You guys were afraid we were going to eat up everything, right? But here, we’ll be generous and leave after eating the best parts moderately.’

Those who took his word as it was exclaimed. If Seven Stars monopolized all the top heroes, they would be unable to vocally complain about it, but they would grumble to themselves that Seven Stars was eating up everything. However, they gained hope after hearing that Seven Stars would leave after a moderate meal. They all praised Chi-Woo as a hero with great morals and were satisfied by his decision, and those who had a good head on their shoulders reacted the same way as well.

Although they interpreted Eval’s words, ‘we’ll utilize the rules’ as ‘we’ll still take all the best items. If you have any complaints, why don’t you come fight us?’, they decided to be satisfied with this as it was true that Chi-Woo was showing his consideration somewhat by not coming here. Although this wouldn’t happen, if Seven Stars really wanted to, they could take more than 90% of the twelfth reinforcements here. And like this, the second recruitment war began.

Since negotiations were already done in advance, Seven Stars were able to finish their recruitment quickly; after obtaining the list of heroes ahead of others, Eval Sevaru had made his choices, and they aligned with Aida’s pick once she took a quick look. After a short discussion between the two, the chosen heroes were called by Seven Stars, and as soon as they were given detailed explanations, they made their decision to join.

Eval Sevaru didn’t look too pleased upon his return to Seven Stars. He had originally planned to bring back four heroes, but among them, only three came. He let slip one of them in the end. He was rejected as soon as they met in the recruitment event. Eval asked if the fourth hero had decided to join another organization, but the individual refused to even receive a coin, saying that they had no intention of joining anywhere. It couldn’t be helped with how firm the rejection was. Although it did leave an unpleasant taste in his mouth, it was fortunate that he was able to at least bring back the other three.

“Hello~”

One man and two women. Among them, a young woman shook her hand gently with a lively voice. After a brief greeting, she looked at the existing Seven Stars members gathered here one by one. Ru Amuh, Emmanuel Eustitia, Yerial Mariaju, Yunael Tania…

The young woman exclaimed as if it was amazing to see a gathering of such famous heroes, whom every Celestial Realm hero had heard of at least once. “Wow~! Amazing! Judging by how many famous people are gathered here—as I heard, this organization must be doing quite well!”

Yunael snorted. She wanted to retort, ‘who the hell are you to judge us’, but she suppressed it; just like how this hero knew who she was, Yunael also knew who she was. Yunael had heard that besides everything, this hero was definitely skilled. Although she wasn’t a member of a Celestial Light or a prestigious family like hers, that was what made her even more amazing. Unlike them, who had the backing and halo of their family behind them, she had climbed to the top from the very bottom through pure grit and skill and made a great reputation for herself. Though it was irritating the more Yunael thought about why someone of such caliber and skill couldn’t have come to Liber earlier, considering their current circumstances, Yunael welcomed her as a great addition to their force.

“So, when can I meet the Choi’s second young master, whom I have heard so~ many rumors about? I came here to see him.” This came from the bald male hero, who had been grinning and enjoying the idle talk. The woman who kept her eyes closed like Aida and gave off a reticent impression was curious about this as well. Moreover, the fact that none of these heroes were intimidated by the famous heroes and could speak up for themselves was proof that they had high confidence as heroes.

Eval Sevaru calmly replied, “As I told all of you during the recruitment event, our boss is unable to make an appearance due to personal reasons. I’ll let you meet him as soon as he comes out again, so let’s first finish what we have to do first.”

Currently, Chi-Woo was not technically absent from the Seven Stars zone; instead, he was in a state of suspended animation. Frankly, Eval didn’t know his exact condition because Chi-Woo just had one knee on the ground with his head lowered all day long, without showing any signs of movement. Eval tried to lay him on the bed, but Evelyn dissuaded him from touching Chi-Woo, so he just let him be. He was quietly waiting now because Chi-Woo had told him something like this might happen in advance, but Eval was a bit worried as Chi-Woo seemed to be taking longer than he had expected. Still, it was Chi-Woo. There was nothing urgent going on, and since Chi-Woo promised to come back, he needed to trust him.

“Well, all right. There’s no way he won’t show us his face at least once before we return to the Celestial Realm, right?” The woman who greeted everyone first accepted Eval’s words with a shrug. Then she turned around and looked at everyone one by one and said, “Anyway, nice to meet you all! I’m sure many of you already know, but~” She shouted cheerfully with a broad smile, “I’m El Lache Teresa! I look forward to working with all of you~!”

* * *

Sharing information and conversing with each other was good and all, but in the end, what mattered was reaching their goal. That was the ultimate reason for their existence in this space. The condition offered by Future Yoo-Joo was simple. They were to control at least a little bit of the berserk state that she had artificially caused.

“I don’t expect any of you to gain full control of it.” That was a height that even she couldn’t reach, so Future Yoo-Joo advised that they should try to endure it by creating a balance even for a moment. Of course, if it was as easy as it sounded, the space wouldn’t be filled with their groans in the first place. Every time they tried, the Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos always ended up groaning in pain for a long time from the side effects of their failure, and the aftermath was far from a walk in the park.

“…It’s only a matter of time before my mind collapses at this rate,” Grumpy Chi-Woo grumbled to himself, but they weren’t empty words. The feelings that were coming into them from all sides was—how should they put it? It felt like all the curses and evils that existed in the universe were being pushed into them. Moreover, they felt like an ordinary person being thrown bare in the middle of Jupiter, where razing thunderstorms and storms the size of ordinary planets constantly swept through. Merely withstanding a situation like that was enough to push their minds to their limit, let alone trying to control it. Of course, with Future Yoo-Joo’s ability, the situation automatically stopped before irreversible damage could be inflicted on their minds, and the side effects of going berserk were nullified. But even then, the mental distress put upon the Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos substantially increased as time passed. And in the end, a commotion erupted.

“What the hell!” One Chi-Woo collapsed and shouted at the top of his lungs—it was Pervert Chi-Woo. “What the hell is this! What do you want me to do! Why did you call me to go through this torture!” Since he was the guy who constantly whined, ‘I want to see Evelyn! I want to rub my cheeks against Evelyn’s arms. Wahhh’, everyone usually looked at him with disgust, but today, they looked at him with understanding. Because they all felt the same way as Pervert Chi-Woo.

Pervert Chi-Woo shouted for a while and soon collapsed to the floor shedding tears. “What am I supposed to do if I can’t…” Only wretched sobs intermittently broke the stillness of the space, and Future Yoo-Joo didn’t say anything.

She looked down at Pervert Chi-Woo with a calm expression, and when his sobs died down, she said, “If you don’t want to…you don’t have to do it.” Everyone’s faces changed at her unexpected words. What did she just say…?

“If you want to quit, you can quit. I’ll send you back.” It wasn’t a threat. Her soft voice seemed to be giving him sincere advice. Pervert Chi-Woo slowly lifted his tearful face from the ground, as if he was asking her if that was really okay. Of course, there were those who didn’t think the same as him.

“What bullshit are you suddenly saying?” Grumpy Chi-Woo asked sharply.

“It’s as I said. Truthfully, you all know it right?” Future Yoo-Joo calmly continued, “There are those who feel like they may or may not be able to do it, but there are also those who feel like they can’t do it no matter how many times they try. Aren’t I right?”

She wasn’t wrong. It was obvious that the majority would be in the latter category. This was not something they could attempt only through effort or talent. Grumpy Chi-Woo was emotional, but he wasn’t stupid. He immediately understood what Future Yoo-Joo meant. The Chi-Woos in this space were all different versions of himself from different worldlines, but that didn’t mean they matched 100 percent. In the first place, Future Yoo-Joo had said that the only thing they shared was the same source of fate. Except for that, they were basically different people. In other words, even if one person succeeded, it didn't mean other Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos could do it.

Grumpy Chi-Woo’s face twisted with anger. Then why did Future Yoo-Joo… “And you still called all of us here even though you knew that!” He gritted his teeth. “Just to fulfill your goal!”

Future Yoo-Joo stared at him. She seemed to be looking at him with sympathy as if she understood everything he was feeling, and that only made him angrier. She should’ve called only those who could do it, but why! Grumpy Chi-Woo glanced at Chi-Woo once with blazing eyes and was about to continue when—

“I won’t deny it but…it’s for you guys too.”

But he swallowed those words when Future Yoo-Joo said that. He asked, “What do you mean it’s for us?”

“Do you all really think you didn’t gain anything from coming to this space? Honestly?”

Grumpy Chi-Woo paused. He had paid a price to come here, but…it would be a lie if he said he hadn’t earned anything. He had earned valuable information that he would have never known originally, and not just one or two pieces of information, but quite a lot.

“It’s not just information,” Future Yoo-Joo calmly continued. “The important part is possibility.” She stopped mid-sentence and stared at the tree of light with countless branches that had previously been created in the air. “A possibility that no one has ever reached yet. Not even him…a future that has never been opened.” Her eyes looked a bit sentimental as they focused on one particular branch. “If this meeting opens the way to that future, and our wishes are fully realized without a hitch…and if even one of us can create that future…”

Future Yoo-Joo stared intently at the tree of light for a while and suddenly made a bitter smile. “…Who knows?” Then she said with a conflicted voice, “Unlike me who had to stop at this level of interference, the other me who achieved everything perfectly—might save us all?” The space became silent.

Pervert Chi-Woo had stopped crying. He couldn’t help but do so after hearing her words. He had a strong feeling that the Yoo-Joo who came from the future with experience that the current Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos hadn’t had was about to say something very important. The silence continued for a while before Future Yoo-Joo exhaled the breath she had been holding and smacked her lips. “Anyway, I think you all have talked about everything you needed to, so if you don’t think you can do it, why don’t you consider returning? It won’t be a good choice to waste precious time either.” With these words, she turned around.

The Chi-Woos and Yoo-Joos stood in their place. Everyone blinked silently, lost deeply in thought.

“…” And the one and only Chi-Woo, who belonged to the former and not the latter category that Future Yoo-Joo talked about, made a bitter expression. He didn’t know why, but he felt that because of what Future Yoo-Joo just said, something they’d been putting off was finally going to begin.