#376
Soda
But I didn’t hate it.
No, rather, it felt refreshing.
I finally let my true feelings spill out honestly.
The expression on Messiah’s face turned blank after hearing my words.
Possessor.
This term occasionally floated around in web novel communities.
The most physiologically repulsive cliche during reincarnation is possession.
Possession is akin to raiding someone else’s perfectly fine body, donning their skin, and pretending to be that person while deceiving the emotions of those who originally knew them.
From the perspective of those around, it’s a genre close to horror where a ghost takes over a family member’s body.
When I was in that community in my past life, I brushed aside such discourse as no big deal.
After all, I was just reading web novels to kill time, so I thought, “Who cares about possessing or not?”
All I needed was some good soda to enjoy.
But when I truly experienced possession…
When I genuinely recognized this world, perceiving the surrounding heroines as breathing individuals instead of mere characters and gave them real affection…
The essence of possession resurfaced and began to torment me.
There wasn’t anything wrong with that statement.
Unintentionally, I had hijacked Kim Deok-sung’s fate and raided Kurosawa Yuji’s opportunities.
I am not the real Kim Deok-sung. Yet, under his name, I formed relationships with the other heroines and interfered in the events of this world at will.
If they were to discover my true identity and the ugly actions I’ve taken, they would surely turn away from me.
Anyone would.
Reality isn’t a web novel, after all.
That’s what I thought.
But they, this damned kinder world, showed no signs of wavering at my identity as a possessor, nor at the fates and opportunities I had hijacked.
The original protagonist Yuji, the heroines, and even the 7.7 billion beings in this damn light novel world acknowledged my existence.
They recognized me as the savior of the world.
So how could they not like me?
I genuinely loved this world now.
“Then does that mean you’re giving up on returning and choosing to stay in this world? If you execute me now, the World Gate will close. Thus, your chance to return may disappear forever. Yet, you leave your hometown behind and accept the fate of a savior…”
“Who said I was giving up?”
I cut off Messiah’s words.
Seriously, the villains in light novels just talk too much.
“What do you mean…?”
“I’m going to do both. I’ll take responsibility for everyone in this world and also my parents in the original world.”
“But it’s impossible to take both…!”
“Have you tried it?”
At my words, the Messiah’s eyes trembled.
“There’s no such thing as a binary choice in this world. The only reason it looks like a binary choice is that you lack the ability to create a third option that cherry-picks the advantages of both while discarding the disadvantages. So, where do you get off forcing a binary choice on me?”
“What kind of nonsense is that?!”
“A binary choice is like sweet potato, and cherry-picking is like cider! You’re the talkative final boss of a light novel who doesn’t even know this! Unlike light novels, in web novels, if there’s no cider even on one side, everyone drops out after 5,700 characters. Didn’t you know? And I’m not a light novel protagonist who’s kind-hearted and weepy, empathizing with your sad backstory. I am…”
I grasped the hilt of Durandal.
Watching the shaking eyes of the Messiah, I attempted to stab the unmoving Durandal into his chest as I spoke.
“I’m a selfish cider psychopath who’d still be hungry even after monopolizing both worlds. You little bastard.”
*
“Hahaha, hahahaha!”
Hearing Kim Deok-Sung’s words, the Messiah laughed.
A seemingly endless flow of laughter escaped his lips.
“What’s so funny? You little bastard. Is what I said that funny?”
“No, it’s not.”
The Messiah shook his head.
“I misjudged you.”
The Messiah acknowledged it willingly.
Kim Deok-Sung.
He realized he had misjudged him.
Because their thoughts were connected, he understood.
That everything Kim Deok-Sung said was sincere.
Even though he was an outsider, he genuinely loved this world.
“Is the ridiculous answer of being responsible for and saving both worlds really the response from the Messiah, the world savior, chosen by this world?”
“I’m monopolizing, not saving. I told you, I’m a selfish bastard.”
The Messiah didn’t bother correcting Kim Deok-Sung’s words.
He knew.
He remembered firmly deciding to take responsibility for both worlds.
He was just too embarrassed to admit it.
“…I still don’t think my path as a savior is wrong. But I never expected a savior to emerge that could surpass my belief.”
The Messiah realized.
The conviction that Kim Deok-Sung held before him transcended his own.
Though he had held him in the world of thoughts as a last-ditch effort, even that world was slowly crumbling.
It was nearing its limits.
“You, the world savior burdened with two worlds── even though our beliefs and directions differ, still.”
The Messiah smiled.
“I will respect you. As a fellow savior, I entrust this world’s salvation to you.”
The moment the Messiah uttered his last words.
His conviction shattered.
The black-and-white world collapsed.
Simultaneously, Kim Deok-Sung’s astral sword precisely and silently pierced the Messiah’s heart.
Thump.
Cough.
Blood flowed from the Messiah’s mouth.
A wave of deathly pain washed over him from his chest.
“…C-congratulations… You… won this decisive battle, Black Beast…”
The Messiah gazed at Kim Deok-Sung as he spoke.
His vision grew hazy.
Beyond his darkening sight, a vision appeared.
[…Welcome, my son.]
[You’ve worked hard, little brother?]
[I missed you.]
Flickering lights in the distance revealed the apparitions of the parents who had died long ago at the hands of the otherworldly beings, the older sister who had committed suicide due to a hero’s actions, and the first love who had perished in a villain’s terror.
The ghost of his first love, who died in the terror attack, flickered before him.
The faces of those he wanted to see but had to let go appeared.
A single tear rolled down his cheek.
He wanted to save them.
His parents, his first love, his sister—he wanted to bring them back to life.
So together, in the New World, free of worry and anxiety, he envisioned a normal life marrying his first love, starting an ordinary family with a daughter and a son, greeting his sister and parents, and working a regular job—just like that.
“I just wanted to live normally──.”
That was all.
Messiah reached out with trembling hands toward the apparition.
The illusion shattered like bubbles.
“Ah······.”
The moment Messiah let out a despairing cry.
Whoosh.
Kim Deok-Sung’s Durandal completely pierced his body.
The tip of Durandal protruded from his back.
Blood gushed from his wound, soaking the ruins’ floor like a fountain.
“I’m not interested in your past. I’m not interested in your delusions. I don’t care for your acknowledgment.”
Kim Deok-Sung’s cold voice rang in Messiah’s ears.
“Hey, Messiah. The reason you’re dead is simply that you did terrible things, and that annoyed me. You’re not some great Messiah; you’re just a persistent villain who caused a world-sized nuisance.”
Kim Deok-Sung’s weighed-down gaze fixated on Messiah.
There was no shred of sympathy in it.
At Kim Deok-Sung’s words, another apparition unfolded before Messiah.
Not the faces of cherished ones, but the spirits of the countless innocent people slaughtered in the name of his New World plans, whom he had sacrificed like cattle for the greater good, grabbed at his ankles.
From ordinary civilians to hunters and heroes alike.
Every person he had killed screamed out to Messiah.
Beyond that, flames of hell burned bright.
“And a world without powers, magic, or gates is your utopia, New World? I came from there, too, and wars and conflicts occur just the same. The only difference is the weapons used—guns, bombs, nuclear weapons instead of powers and magic. To call that kind of world a utopia is ridiculous.”
Kim Deok-Sung scoffed.
His gaze turned toward Messiah.
Messiah’s eyes wavered.
“I know that too. But at least because of the powers, tragedies caused by magic and gates can be prevented······.”
“Stop rationalizing. If you’re going to wash your sins, do it properly. You’re not a savior; you’re a butcher.”
Butcher.
The moment Kim Deok-Sung’s words fell upon Messiah like a death sentence.
The countless innocents he had killed rose as spirits, gripping his limbs and dragging him down into the fiery depths of hell.
The flames of the inferno scorched Messiah’s soul.
His face twisted in denial of his entire existence.
“No, I am, I am! A savior! I am······. here to save everyone······. The sacrifices of innocent people were inevitable in that process! I had no choice for the sake of saving everyone, for the New World! I didn’t want to sacrifice anyone either!”
Messiah’s cheek quivered.
Not a savior?
Just a villain?
Was everything he did merely meaningless slaughter?
No, that wasn’t true.
I am the savior.
The innocents I killed were unavoidable and noble sacrifices that followed the creation of the New World.
No, that wasn’t right.
I didn’t want to kill either.
I really wanted to save everyone.
I actually knew it.
That I was a massacrer.
That blood-stained hands could never save anyone.
That no matter how noble the purpose, if it means sacrificing innocent lives in the process, it has no meaning.
That every life is equally important.
That I am unqualified to be a savior.
Messiah realized this only at the last moment.
“…so that’s how it is. I am a massacrer…”
Messiah finally accepted it in the end.
I am not a savior, but a massacrer.
The worst terrorist who butchers the innocent.
So.
“…it’s inevitable that I die by your true savior’s hands…”
It makes sense that I will pay with my life, suffering the eternal punishment in hell after death.
What a sinful life this has been.
What was I thinking all this time?
At this moment, Messiah has truly, completely lost to Kim Deok-Sung.
Messiah’s face hardened as he realized his heavy sins at the end.
Crunch.
Kim Deok-Sung swung Durandal, embedded in his body, and split Messiah in half.
Messiah’s vision turned red with blood.
His sight was turned upside down.
Just before death, the last thing Messiah saw was his severed lower body and the specter’s hand dragging his soul to hell.
Messiah willingly accepted his fate to go to hell.
*
“Ha.”
Slide.
I sheathed Durandal, stained with Messiah’s blood.
Before me lay Messiah’s corpse, split into upper and lower halves.
Below that, the ancient ruins’ floor was a sea of blood.
There was no sign of life from Messiah.
He was definitely dead.
Creeeeak.
As evidence, the World Gate slowly closing in the sky.
The Earth of the parallel universe beyond it, my hometown, was also slowly disappearing.
By now, I should have heard the Black Prince’s voice, saying “Good job, partner,” but there was nothing.
It felt empty.
It felt like a big hole had opened in my heart.
My hands trembled.
The Black Prince is really… gone?
That guy has disappeared?
My vision blurred.
Tears uselessly flowed from my eyes.
“Ha…”
I barely lifted my broken arm to wipe my tears away.
Once I wiped them, laughter bubbled up.
It was a hollow laugh.
It’s over.
Everything.
The realization hit me now.
It’s sad.
On the other hand, relief flowed through me, and I began to laugh.
A complicated mess of emotions intertwined.
Is this what they call bittersweet?
What useless thoughts.
In the distance, I saw the Heroines running toward me.
From their lip movements, it seemed like they were shouting something at me, but I couldn’t hear anything.
Maybe I used up too much mana with that last hit.
‘Huh?’
The sky is yellow.
The moment I realized that.
Flash.
With a black flash, battle mode was forcibly deactivated.
Stagger.
Strength drained from my entire body.
Sudden feelings of powerlessness and fatigue poured over me.
Thud.
I collapsed onto Olivia’s soft chest as she approached me.
Before losing consciousness, the last thing I saw and felt was Olivia’s pretty face with tears glistening in her blue eyes and the familiar, warm body heat emanating from her embrace.
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