Chapter 801: Release (2)
A soft floral scent brushed over me.
As if trying to calm me down, Rookie made flowers bloom all around us in shades of pink, pale sky blue, and soft lavender. Fresh green vines climbed the trees and burst into buds above my head. A gentle breeze carried the clean fragrance through the air, and leaves rustled like they were singing.
It wasn’t so shocking that he needed to go this far.
Then, suddenly, I remembered the curse Chatterbox had left on me.
That everyone would forget me.
Death didn’t lead straight to oblivion, but it was close enough. People who could no longer recognize me, even while I was still alive.
“There are people the keyword didn’t affect, though. Chief Song, Kyunghoon hyung, Do Hamin, Soyeong, and then the Breeding Facility staff, the Haeyeon employees, all of them.”
What about my kids?
Gyeol, Seol, and Byeol hadn’t been directly registered under the keyword, but since they were children I had created, it might apply to them the same way as if they had been. Gyeol had said something like that before, too.
At my words, Rookie shook his head.
“Memories are organic, Honey. So are human relationships. If a large number of intelligent beings from the same world who share deep ties with you all come to recognize you as dead at once, the effect will spread outward and influence the world itself.”
“So, simply put, if several people all think I’m dead at the same time, everyone in our world will end up believing it too?”
“Yes. And on top of that, your death has to be acknowledged by both the skill and the system. Everyone will consider you a dead man. Except for the Transcendents.”
“Because Transcendents exist outside the system?”
“Because the Perfect Nurturer title is L-rank. Even someone who isn’t a Transcendent can avoid it if they possess L-rank or higher abilities.”
…
The only SS-rank we had was Yuhyun at twenty-six years old, and now he was talking about L-rank. In practice, that meant everyone except Transcendents would believe I was dead.
“What if you, a Transcendent, tell the kids I’m alive?”
“They won’t be able to register it. Just like Honey’s… little brother.”
The memories stolen by the King of Harmless, the ones now held by twenty-six-year-old Yuhyun. Twenty-one-year-old Yuhyun had been completely unable to perceive the watch sitting inside his own inventory. Did that mean even if someone shouted, Han Yujin is alive! he wouldn’t hear it?
“Not even with a Transcendent’s power?”
“It would be difficult. Even if we forced them to perceive it, as long as they stayed in Honey’s world, they would soon be swept up in the effect again and forget.”
“Then… wait. If L-rank or higher is fine, that applies to me too, doesn’t it? Wouldn’t it be better for me to think the people affected by the keyword are dead instead? Once I reach Transcendent-rank, I’d realize they’re alive.”
“…Honey, you wouldn’t endure it.”
Rookie’s ears drooped flat as he spoke.
“Keyword Release applies to everyone the keyword has affected. Starting from the very first person you applied the keyword to, one by one, in order, they will pass their power and memories on to you.”
The very first…
Yuhyun.
“Again and again, until you reach forty people. Or perhaps more.”
After Yuhyun would come Myungwoo and Yerim.
When my brother had died before the regression, I had endured it. Partly because I’d had the target of my revenge right in front of me.
But what about this time?
“Before you gained power on the level of a Transcendent, the continuous effects of Keyword Release would make you believe that every person precious to you had died, and that you could never bring them back. Honey, you’ve certainly held on with incredible strength until now, but…”
“…Yeah. I’m not confident.”
Would I still be alive by then?
And on top of that, I would believe that Gyeol, Seol, and Byeol had all died too… Even if my body was still breathing, my mind wouldn’t be intact.
Rookie watched me as I let out a long sigh. He hesitated for a moment, fidgeting, then opened his mouth again.
“It isn’t simply… to save Honey’s world.”
“Hm?”
“Excessively manipulating the system for just one world is… well, it doesn’t balance out.”
Rookie said it apologetically.
Well, of course. Transcendents tended to think of a single world as something light. They had allowed the Cradle of Transcendents, Crescent Moon, to exist, after all.
“Then what else—”
“Honey can save every world.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak. Flustered, I asked again.
“Every world? Me?”
“Yes,” Rookie said, nodding.
“After Senior Droplet checked Honey’s skill, she found a way to save every world safely and reliably. Through the sacrifice of one person. You, Honey.”
“What… exactly would you even have to do to me?”
“You know about the power that protects each world, don’t you?”
A round sphere appeared in front of Rookie. It was a planet that resembled Earth, tinted blue. A transparent film wrapped around it.
“This power keeps outside beings away.”
One tentacle pressed against the film. But it couldn’t pass through and was repelled.
“The stronger the outside being, the stronger the protective barrier’s resistance becomes. That’s why it’s difficult even for Transcendents to interfere directly. But if the being is weak…”
A tentacle far thinner than before reached the protective barrier. It slipped through as if melting into it.
“They can be sent inside without much trouble. If they’re F-rank.”
F-rank.
No way.
“On the other hand, leaving the world…”
The tip of the thin tentacle inside the barrier bent, trying to come back out. But the film hardened and blocked it.
“It is difficult for an F-rank. Even if an outside Transcendent expends a great deal of power, extracting them safely is not easy. That’s why the targets they usually negotiate or contract with are S-ranks.”
That was why Yuhyun, before the regression, had ultimately refused Diarma’s offer. If Diarma had been able to take me along safely as well, Yuhyun might have joined hands with the Filial Duty Addicts.
“Honey, you’re F-rank. You can enter any world easily.”
“…And I can become Transcendent-rank. Meaning I can leave any world easily.”
They send F-rank Han Yujin into a world approaching destruction. Han Yujin applies the keyword to fifty S-ranks in that world, then releases it. Han Yujin becomes Transcendent-rank, prevents that world’s destruction, and leaves. Seven days later, Han Yujin returns to F-rank. Then the process repeats.
“Can a world really be saved in only seven days?”
“The system disperses and softens the Source’s attacks through dungeons. To allow Awakened People to adapt, the first dungeons that appear are low-rank, then their ranks gradually rise afterward. They appear in multiple numbers as well. In other words, the opposite is possible too.”
“…You mean you can create an L-rank or higher dungeon and end it all at once.”
“Yes. For someone at Transcendent-rank, three or four days would be enough. And there is more.”
There was still more?
Rookie continued.
“Senior Droplet also highly valued Honey’s nurturing abilities. Looking at the growth of the Awakened People Honey is especially attached to, she judged that they had a high chance of becoming Transcendents.”
“So I’d be useful for increasing the number of Transcendents too. But there’s no way I’d just obediently—”
I stopped before I could finish.
Something had occurred to me.
“You would have told me I could meet the people precious to me again.”
Rookie didn’t answer. He only looked as if he might cry.
“You would have said Yuhyun and Yerim could grow into Transcendents too. That even if I saved our world and left it behind, one day, when they became Transcendents, they might remember me and come find me.”
The Unfilial Children would have given me hope.
The old me, the one who still hadn’t really understood Yuhyun, definitely would have fallen for those words.
Believing that my little brother, whose heart would have stopped the moment he recognized me as dead… would someday come find me.
“…And you would have said that if I cooperated with you, you’d help the people precious to me become Transcendents even a day sooner. I’m sure of it.”
You would have promised that, once we met again, we could finally live together in peace this time.
“Even though Yuhyun would already be dead by then.”
They would have hidden it from me.
After all, I’d have no way of knowing.
If Yuhyun died, they might even try to interfere with Yerim or other Awakened People from our world becoming Transcendents. Because I couldn’t be allowed to know.
“I’d go on saving worlds without knowing a thing. Waiting for my dead brother. And wherever I went… I’d end up liking someone again. I’d end up with more people to wait for.”
A hollow laugh slipped out of me.
“How many times could I possibly endure that? If it got too hard for me, would you erase my memories? Turn me back to the moment right after I left our world? Then I’d start trying again. Under the delusion that it hadn’t been long since I parted from the kids.”
Unable to stay in any world, pushed forever into new worlds, my memories erased as I waited for a brother who would never come.
It was almost like another…
‘…Another?’
There couldn’t possibly be anyone in a similar position, yet for some reason, I felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Sit down, Honey! Hurry!”
Maybe I had staggered, because Rookie quickly made a soft chair appear. A tentacle came toward me and pressed me down into it. It wasn’t pushing hard, but maybe all the strength had left my body, because I collapsed into the chair as if I’d fallen.
“At first, we didn’t know your brother wouldn’t be able to live after losing you! So we really did think we would let Honey live together with the people precious to him! We were going to decorate Honey’s room beautifully too. And when you saved worlds, we were going to do everything we could to make it as safe and fast as possible. Language-type skills would be a given, and we would adjust your race and appearance to fit each world in advance, and give you charm skills specialized for S-ranks, and safety items…”
“Rookie, I know you changed your mind partway through. But the Mermaid Queen…”
A tea table appeared, covered with several ornate dessert trays. Rookie placed a cookie in my hand.
“Senior Droplet would have… yes. She would have done exactly what Honey said. Countless worlds and a single person cannot be weighed against each other…”
“Even if Yuhyun survived and came to find me, there’s no way he’d leave me alone while I was being used by the Unfilial Children. Yerim would be the same, and if the S-ranks I befriended across all those worlds became Transcendents and showed up…”
“That’s…”
“They’d want to save me. In the end, I’d become a hostage. The Transcendents who liked me would have no choice but to side with the Unfilial Children and hold back the Filial Duty Addicts, who would want to get rid of me. Han Yujin, the leash around countless Transcendents’ necks, and a tool for saving worlds. Under the protection of Transcendents forced into cooperation, worlds would be saved.”
By offering up a single sacrifice.
It really was a perfect plan.
For the Unfilial Children, that was.
Rookie, fidgeting anxiously, pushed the cookie into my mouth. It wasn’t real, but it was sweet.
“…I’m sorry, Honey.”
“You’re all right, Rookie. You warned me too. As for the Mermaid Queen… she did seem pretty desperate.”
“…Yes. Because Honey was gradually changing. Until the moment she realized Honey’s brother had fallen into White Bird’s hands, she was actually pleased. Because the Honey back then would have accepted our proposal much more easily.”
That was before Gyeol had come along.
I had thought my relationship with Yuhyun had improved too, and since my head had been full of thoughts about finding the Yuhyun from before the regression, I might have willingly accepted. Telling myself I’d be reunited with the current Yuhyun eventually anyway.
“During Chatterbox’s party, she even said it was an opportunity. There were several S-ranks gathered, and it would be difficult for Honey to hold Chatterbox back, so once the Keyword Release system was completed, it would succeed.”
“But she didn’t make the offer to me.”
“Because I delayed the system’s completion as much as possible.”
Rookie wriggled his fingers as he spoke.
“It had already started, so the progress kept rising automatically, but if I had worked on it, it would have been complete around then.”
“You did well, Rookie. Thank you.”
I said it with a slight sigh.
If the Mermaid Queen had proposed Keyword Release back then, I probably would have wavered a little. I might still have refused in the end because of Yuhyun, but if I had truly felt there was no other way… I couldn’t say for sure.
“So that’s why she openly sided with the Filial Duty Addicts’ team during the bet between the two Transcendent factions.”
“Yes. Honey had to lose for there to be a higher chance of you accepting the proposal. By then, the Keyword Release system was also in its final stage.”
“In the end, she even kidnapped Yerim.”
She must have intended to take Yerim hostage and threaten me. She could have lied about Yuhyun as much as she wanted, too. She probably would have tried to persuade me by saying they would protect Yuhyun’s memories or something like that.
No wonder I’d wondered why the Mermaid Queen had been so determined to make me lose.
“But Senior Droplet changed her mind at the very end too. I don’t know the exact reason, though. I think Little Droplet had a major influence on her.”
“After hearing the full plan, I can’t bring myself to say I’m grateful.”
Before, I had been somewhat grateful that she had sent Sea to me and even asked Tree for help.
But at this point, if anything, wasn’t the compensation lacking?
At my words, Rookie flapped both hands in embarrassment.
“Senior Droplet has always had a personality like that. She stayed on the throne for a long time too, so she’s especially authoritarian, even among Transcendents. She deliberately uses polite speech because she decided she would soften that part of herself. And also, she tends to look down on male-bodied beings.”
“She does?”
“It’s more like she sees them as lacking… She treats me like that too. In the world and species Senior Droplet came from, they mainly handled water magic, and water is usually more compatible with female-bodied beings, so most societies there are matriarchal. And if they’re ovoviviparous with external fertilization, then male-bodied beings naturally end up with even less standing.”
Rookie grumbled that he also often received looks from her as if she were dealing with a deficient child.
Now that he mentioned it, the Mermaid Queen had definitely cared more about Yerim than me.
…
Had she first assumed I was male because I was a weak F-rank?
“She says she’ll fix her old habits and treat everyone fairly, but, well~ Transcendents don’t change easily even when they get incredibly old. Their memories of the past don’t fade. Sometimes, after leaving their own world, their old selves become even stronger instead.”
“Childhood experiences do tend to last a lifetime.”
“I’m a little… like that too. Anyway, if Little Droplet had been male, Senior Droplet absolutely never would have handed over even a one-use skill. That’s probably why she took Honey lightly too. She does that with other Awakened People as well, but with you, it would have been even stronger. The mindset that you only need to do as I say.”
She really was Her Imperial Majesty.
Transcendents were no different from ordinary people in the end.
“Shouldn’t someone at the level of a Transcendent have transcended things like gender too?”
“It’s because of cultural differences. Besides, there are all sorts of variations, like bisexual, asexual, neutral-sexed, polysexual, and sex-changing species. Oh, Honey, your Flame Horned Lion is a sex-changing species!”
“…What’s that?”
“Among high-rank mammalian magical beasts, sex-changing and bisexual species are actually rather common. Sex-changing species are normally sexless, but gain a reproductive sex only during mating periods. Even among sex-changing species, the details usually differ depending on their habits.”
Rookie began explaining magical beast studies.
It came out of nowhere, but since it had to do with Peace, I listened carefully.
“Most sex-changing species usually live alone. They’re divided between species that only gather in groups during the breeding season, and species that mate and then go off alone again. In the case of Flame Horned Lions, they’re the former. Among species that gather in groups, the strongest individual usually turns male. That makes it easier to protect the females and cubs.”
“Then there’s no way to know which side Peace will become.”
“Correct. It can change with each breeding season too. For reference, in the latter case, it’s the opposite. The stronger individual turns female, because she has to raise the offspring alone. There are intelligent races like this too, not only monsters.”
Rookie’s eyes sparkled as he said he had looked it up separately for me.
So the reason we hadn’t been able to confirm Peace’s sex was because he was a sex-changing species. Peace would be much stronger than other Flame Horned Lions, so maybe I could think of him as closer to a boy? But since there was still no way to know for sure, it was hard to say confidently that he was male.
“Complicated. Well, there are creatures like snails and clownfish in our world too.”
“Social structures and cultures are truly diverse as well. How are you feeling? Would you like another cookie?”
“Uh, huh?”
While I’d been thinking about Peace’s future, the Mermaid Queen’s plan had been pushed from my mind for a moment.
This Rookie bastard. Had he brought up Peace on purpose?
But as the director of the magical beast breeding facility, it had been useful knowledge.
I ate one more cookie Rookie offered me and took a long, deep breath.
“It’s completed now, isn’t it? That system.”
“Yes, Honey.”
Rookie nodded.
The Keyword Release system.
“It can be used at any time. But…”
“I’m not using it.”
I answered flatly.
It was true that the situation right now was extremely unfavorable, though.
“I can’t pull out my last card before we’ve even properly clashed. More importantly, Yuhyun has been kidnapped.”
I couldn’t explain anything to him or come up with countermeasures.
Being made to perceive me as dead would be a fatal poison to twenty-one-year-old Yuhyun, who was already unstable.
I would die someday. I had accepted that Yuhyun would follow me. But absolutely not like this.
“That’s right! Honey’s brother would never endure it. The others would be terribly sad too.”
“Yerim, obviously, and the kids are there too. And I don’t want to be buried alive.”
“So, Honey, please be careful.”
Rookie spoke anxiously.
“Especially of Senior Crescent Moon. Since the system is complete, Senior Crescent Moon will realize it before long too.”
“…Crescent Moon.”
Crescent Moon…
My head felt dizzy.
My memories of her came back in fragments, but it felt as if something had punched holes through them.
She had been after the pseudo-Source, and she had made contact with me as well.
I definitely knew her.
But for some strange reason, my memories wouldn’t connect properly.
–TL Notes–
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