Chapter 616 – The Stolen World (31)
—
User: Han Kain (Wisdom)
Date: Day 242
Current Location: Searching…
Sage’s Advice: 0
– Han Kain
“Know that under heaven, you are the only one.”
Did that just come from the shadow of the unborn left in the grimoires?
I can’t be sure about that.
What’s important is that right after those words, everything around me became eerily quiet.
The Moon didn’t say a word but seemed to be concentrating intensely.
It felt like it didn’t want to miss even a single second of the moment.
I’ll never forget a sentence of ten characters, but the profound reasoning behind it is like a mirage—fading and elusive.
If I let this moment slip away, I might lose it forever.
About three seconds flew by as I opened the dream kingdom and forced my consciousness to sleep under the divine sunlight.
If the prince had wanted to kill me, he could have done so at any time, but nothing happened.
Perhaps it’s because of the promise that he wouldn’t prevent my master’s escape or maybe he, too, didn’t want to waste the moment of enlightenment!
After nearly being obliterated by the stone slab, the dream kingdom is slowly recovering.
At this rate, it looks like I’ll be able to use it normally soon, but not yet.
As it stands, I can only use it for a conference, not to regroup my teammates.
That’s good enough.
This is my one more chance for making an escape with Miro.
*
In a space filled with gray fog, I met Mooksung.
“Kain! Everyone was shocked when Eunsol and Ari suddenly died!”
“Focus!”
I hurriedly conveyed crucial information about the Moon and soul pieces, the bizarre phenomena inside the Moon, and, most importantly, the existence of the crown and the securing of the Holy Mother!
I spilled out my thoughts chaotically, but Grandpa seemed to understand quickly, showing his competency as an agent.
“Is everything done now? We just need to rewind time and take this ‘crown’ with the Holy Mother’s help, right?”
“That’s probably it.”
“What about the plunderer?”
“They have a plan over there too.”
“Then should we rewind time? We still have some time left.”
Final thoughts floated in my mind.
The temporal limit of the one more chance is 30 days, and the rewind point is Day 226.
Which means we have a limit to rewind up to Day 255, and currently it’s Day 242.
There’s still some extra time.
“… Miro is currently inside the Moon.”
“Right.”
“Normally, you can’t absorb souls just by killing them.”
This has been mentioned several times.
There’s a reason why both the Moon and I, not to mention the ‘Lord,’ go through complex processes for establishing a church.
“You said it yourself. It’s like cooking to eat.”
“In that sense, Miro is currently in a person’s belly.”
“If she dies inside the Moon, her soul gets eaten without worship?”
“…”
I don’t know.
Even the Owl wasn’t sure about this bit.
Being a lofty entity doesn’t mean you have all the answers to every problem.
Maybe it’s case-by-case, depending on the soul.
In this scenario, even the Moon wouldn’t be sure if it could consume Miro’s soul or not.
I made my decision.
“Let’s go. We’ve figured out everything we needed to.”
One last thought crossed my mind.
The cost of the one more chance that was warned about in the hotel, “the price of reversal.”
Neither I nor Ari, nor even Grandpa, deliberately mentioned the cost of reversal.
All I could do was silently nod toward Grandpa.
He replied with a light smile.
“Good work. Let Miro know too.”
“Okay.”
Time rewinds.
Heading back to Day 226, before the Moon awakens!
*
– Miro
“How long has it been since you woke up?”
“About 5 minutes? I’m not exactly sure.”
“That means somewhere, I’m holding the Moon off for a whopping 5 minutes.”
“Uh?”
For a moment, I realized how Kain had stalled the Moon for quite a while. Just then, Kain murmured.
“It’s happening now.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s about to rewind time.”
Finally!
The emotion I felt at that moment was relief.
Since arriving inside the Moon with Kain, every moment felt like terror.
After realizing how horrific it would be to get consumed by the Moon, my fear only grew, threatening to engulf my soul.
But it’s okay now!
We’re going back before the Moon awakens, so the brilliant conclusion that Kain figured out will carry us through!
Just as I was about to smile, I saw Kain’s expression.
His brow was furrowed in concern.
He looked frustrated.
It felt like he knew something was left behind, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was missing!
“Kain?”
“…”
His gaze flickered to my hands hold the hourglass and the camera.
I recalled his words from earlier.
“Why did you bring the hourglass or the camera if you were planning to end it?”
I’m curious about that too!
If we rewind time like this, then why did we even bring the hourglass and camera?!
— Bang!
A massive signal echoed throughout the entire world as if it had been waiting for this moment!
The “soon” Kain had mentioned was truly immediate.
The ground, the sky—the entire world inside the Moon began to shake.
— Thunder!
“Aah!”
“Hold onto my hand tight!”
A gigantic vortex.
I couldn’t see it, but I could feel the flow of power undeniably present!
The authority of time started to engulf the surroundings instantly.
In that moment.
— Goooooo…!
The overwhelming presence shook the whole dream realm inside the Moon.
Those massive eyes, too intimidating to dare meet!
At the moment we locked gazes, an uncontainable malice and anger erupted from it.
“■■◯★▷◖!”
My head felt like it was about to burst.
Countless voices flooded my ears, and yet silence enveloped everything else.
The spirits of vengeance reached out to my heart all at once, feeling like a million squirming tentacles were tearing me apart.
Countless fragmented minds.
Inside that chaos, a singular light emerged trying to awaken.
A shape that had just begun to sprout!
A collection of infinite possibilities overcoming all confusion and pain!
Just when my breath was about to choke in fear, someone covered my eyes.
“Don’t look. That’s something that will soon disappear.”
“Ka-Kain!”
“No need to understand. It’s just the final dying gasp.”
It’s going to disappear soon?
To me, it seemed like it was resisting the power of my one more chance!
Didn’t the demon king in Room 206 also resist the master of time in his own way?
Despite the combined strength of indomitable reason and the master of time, the demon king eventually woke up in due time.
That means the master of time alone could do nothing against the demon king!
Could the one more chance even turn back the Moon’s time?
Kain’s calm voice tried to quiet my anxious thoughts.
“It’s okay. It’s crumbling. If it were in a completed state, it would be different, but this is still at the seed stage.”
“What, what’s that?!”
“The ultimate self. The mind of a god.”
“What?”
“I took a huge risk at this time. I almost sent an entity that had been stuck at the wall for ages beyond the true wall.”
Then, in the next moment, I felt a will that felt like it could consume the entire world.
“I◯ am ■ gold, but ★ I have power over you!”
This time, I thought I could comprehend what ‘it’ was trying to convey.
If that monster had been given just a little more time to develop, if it had completed its ultimate self…
At that point, it might truly have become irreversible.
— Thunder!
The Moon’s will diminished.
The whirlpool of time summoned by the one more chance swallowed the Moon too!
Finally, I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
As I cried tears and let my shoulders slouch in relaxation, I heard Kain laugh in disbelief.
“Hah! Hahaha! Was this it?”
What the—?
“What do you—”
Kain pointed at the hourglass.
“Turn it! Now!”
“The… camera—”
“Not the time for that. Use it ‘here!’ Turn the hourglass!”
My mind raced as I turned the hourglass, trying to comprehend.
Kain must have realized through insight that we needed to use the camera and hourglass within the Moon.
The timing for the hourglass is now, and the camera should be used ‘here?’
My head is spinning!
Will using the hourglass when the one more chance rewinds time create some kind of effect?
Golden light.
This was my last memory.
*
– Kim Mooksung
— Ting!
With the sound of a coin bouncing, the whole world came to a halt.
It was like the calm before the storm…
Soon, the force of time would swallow everything!
Thinking back on Kain bowing gently in the dream kingdom, I found it hard to reconcile with his usual confident demeanor.
The reason was glaringly apparent.
It had to be the “price of reversal” that everyone had avoided mentioning.
Some of my companions seemed hesitant to use the one more chance because of this…
What a foolish thought!
If you’re so afraid of the price that you can’t use your inheritance, then why acquire it in the first place?
Once you decide to use it, you need to accept the price without hesitation.
And that’s why my hand, flipping the coin, had no trace of hesitation.
— Boom!
Though one thing did linger in my mind.
What is the price of reversal?
When I used it in Room 207, it aged me by about 30 years. Is it the same this time?
…
I recalled the conversation I had with Ari the first time I used it.
If the price of reversal is 30 years of aging? Does that mean those without biological age limits, like Ari, can use it infinitely?
That can’t be right.
If that were the case, the price would simply be ‘30 years of aging,’ and there would be no need to grandly call it the price of reversal.
Thirty years of aging isn’t much of a big deal in reality, let alone in the curse room!
Heck, with the Admin Bureau’s help, I might even be able to transfer my brain to another body!
I believe the key to the price is the limit on usage.
It’s about not being able to just use it recklessly as often as one wants.
You’ll have to pay a heavy price.
Maybe this usage of the one more chance will be the last!
Looking down, I saw my trembling hands.
Haha, look at that!
Mooksung, are you seriously acting like this in such a crucial moment?
You said you were ready to accept your fate, didn’t you?
If that’s the case, then no matter if the price means `instant death,` you should take it with a smile!
Instantly, a cosmic power reached from distant realms and grasped my soul.
“Aah…”
I understood what the price of reversal was.
— Crack!
I felt the spiritual agony of my soul being torn to pieces while I was still alive.
I heard the sound of my once sturdy soul’s vessel shattering.
I knew my mortality had returned to me.
I was a returnee.
No,
I was a former returnee.
I am no longer a returnee.
I am a mortal.
— Boom!
As I felt the pain of losing my eternal life, I slowly closed my eyes and heard someone’s voice breaking through even the vortex of time.
“Participant Kim Mooksung. With this, all your desires have been fulfilled. Yet, you still have one step left to ascend.”
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