Saved a Heroine From the Brink of Death

179. One step forward (2)

#179. One step forward (2)

There were two things I thought about.

“The Eternity of the Universe”

“Cynthia’s Freedom”

It wasn’t about predicting the future by reading cause and effect.

I didn’t have that kind of authority or power. But I thought about it. But it wasn’t like I had to read cause and effect to be able to predict.

A huge database created by the permeation of identity.

And the ability to analyze the surrounding situation.

Even reading the psychology of people related to the end of the world.

These were used to predict the future.

We assumed variables and created countermeasures accordingly.

And so the universe continued on as I planned.

With the power of Berget, the dark magic of the Watcher was driven away, and the Earth and Universe #132 were saved from the end.

But there was one more problem.

This is the intervention of the Guardian.

Given his original mission and his actions recorded in the Akashic Records, there was a high probability that he would make Cynthia his ‘subordinate apostle’.

It was an inescapable fate, a curse that could never be escaped unless one became an outsider and an outlier.

That is why I gave Cynthia a part of Berget’s causality, thereby encouraging the phenomenon of ‘exo-deification’.

Even if she didn’t want it, I thought it was better than living her whole life as a puppet of a foreign press.

If this happened, I might never see Cynthia again… but I still wanted her to live. If you become a puppet of the foreign press, it’s already decided. You’ll live for an eternity to maintain order, and then when a replacement comes along, you’ll be mercilessly discarded. I couldn’t let Cynthia meet that fate.

‘As expected.’

The moment when Berget gained momentum, I felt that everything was going as I had expected.

If he hadn’t been able to obtain the rank of a foreign god, he would have used other methods to borrow the power of the guardian and use the secret weapon to pursue Cynthia’s foreign godhood… but that didn’t happen.

‘… … Live well.’

I felt my mind drifting away as I witnessed Berget’s attack. It was something incomprehensible. Just witnessing it would destroy, melt, and shatter the mind… If I hadn’t been granted the Guardian’s divine power, my mind would have collapsed immediately.

In the midst of such waves of confusion, I lost consciousness, wishing Cynthia happiness.

Maybe, I hope you come back to me, hoping to find the ‘one way’ that I didn’t mention.

I wished her well.

***

“… It seems like I was thrown from the depths of the void into the real dimension.”

When he opened his eyes, Herron was looking at the blue sky.

It is unknown whether it was ejected from the void at the center of the empty space or whether it was sent back by Cynthia. However, one thing is certain: Cynthia is nowhere to be seen.

“The secret has disappeared… When I read the destiny, the part related to ‘End’ has completely disappeared. Instead… the destiny related to ‘Wu’ has covered the entire universe of #132.”

“It must be Berget’s influence. It must have become easier to become a transcendent than before. Endless growth. That’s the mission he was given as an outsider. Maybe… #132 Even if you don’t receive the rank of transcendent in the universe, you can become a transcendent right away if you reach a certain level.”

“… I guess so. Haa.”

“Why are you sighing?”

“Just. I had a hard time becoming a transcendent, but I think the later entrants will be able to rise to the top easily. It’s like, something.”

“I see.”

“… The response is really lukewarm.”

“Just. That’s how I feel. No matter what I see, hear, or feel, I don’t feel anything…”

I looked up at the rare blue sky and asked Heron.

“Are you going back to your residence now?”

“Yes. Now that Berget has become a foreigner, I don’t think he would be interested in a universe like this… He wants to take over the position of the leader of the Pantheon and replenish the divine power he has used up.”

In short, it meant that he wanted to exploit other transcendent beings.

“Your eyes are very impure.”

“So are you going to punish me?”

“No, is that really necessary? More importantly… what about Cynthia?”

Herron looked around to find Cynthia.

“Cynthia is not on Earth.”

“Did you go somewhere else to see something? I was going to say thank you or something.”

Heron said something that was not like her. Judging from her strangely bright expression, I could guess her state of mind. She probably didn’t even know that Cynthia had been alienated.

“Anyway, since I’m done with work… I’ll be going now. I don’t know if we’ll have anything to do in the future. See you next time.”

“Okay. Goodbye.”

With those words, Heron slowly became hazy like fog and soon disappeared.

***

Everything was going back to normal.

People were busy trying to get back to their previous lives with bright faces, even as they vented their complaints.

The people of Kwon Seong-shin’s family also devoted themselves to training every day and lived for achievement.

Even though Cheonmu Bong had become a transcendent being, he continued to train in the mountains to further his martial arts, and occasionally traveled around the world to clear dangerous gates.

Shin Dong-baek fainted when he heard the news about Cynthia that I told him, but he soon got up and lived each day for the revival of the Shin family.

Illien had seemed a bit gloomy since Cynthia disappeared, but now he’s back to his usual cheerful self, spending more than two-thirds of his 24 hours a day playing console games.

Everyone around me was returning to their original form.

“… … Now I can’t imagine life without you.”

I felt the divine powers bestowed upon me fading away.

Now that I have completed my mission as a Guardian, there is no longer any reason for him to support me with his divine powers.

As his divine powers disappear, the transcendent authority that was tied to causality is also taken away. The right to view the Akashic Records is revoked, and along with it, the identity that Cynthia gave him also floats into thin air. Because it is impossible for a non-transcendent to have an identity.

I returned to being a normal human being again.

Back to those days when I just had a little more money and thought a little faster than others.

If you do nothing, nothing changes.

I used to think so.

But now I know that that was wrong.

The world changes subtly just by my presence. I realized this while living as a transcendent being for a moment.

All existence is a variable.

Every single human being, even animals and tiny insects.

Just as a butterfly’s fluttering wings can cause a typhoon on the other side of the world, someone’s presence can change your destiny, whether you want it or not.

“If it means anything to me, I hope it’s to be the part that allows you to return to Earth.”

I like Cynthia.

I like Cynthia, not the Divine Palace, the Cynthia who taught me self-defense, ate with me, and returned to Earth after going through all kinds of hardships.

The person I like is not a character made up of letters from a novel, but someone who is next to me and tells me that he or she likes me.

And I hoped that my presence would bring about a meaningful change in her. It was a personal desire, and so I didn’t say it, but I still hoped it would come true.

Time passed.

The sun rises and sets again and again,

How many times does the moon orbit the Earth?

How many times has the Earth orbited the sun?

Society rebuilt its original infrastructure, creating its original systems. People were once again taking the subway to their old jobs, students were going to school, and heroes were going through the gates and taking out monsters.

And I was waiting for someone.

I cleaned her room today too. I hoped she would be there when I opened the door in the morning.

“… There’s none today.”

The result was the same today. Cynthia did not return. I don’t know what choice she made. Whether to live as an alien or to give up everything and choose the possibility of returning to Earth.

Selfish as I am, I was hoping she would choose the second option.

I thought she would make that choice, and I guarded the space for her to return to for days, months, years.

Kii-i opens the door and leaves the room, holding cleaning tools.

An inaudible noise came from behind.

The sound of someone’s footsteps.

And then a familiar voice follows.

I was waiting for that voice.

“Brother, I’m back!”