It was a hasty conclusion, but in the end, it succeeded.
I opened my eyes in a familiar place. The familiar text was there as well.
The current timeline has been deleted <999> times.
The current timeline has been deleted <999> times.
Current timeline: Regressor Kwon Taehan’s first life.
A warm welcome to the beginning of ‘Seo Jehyun’!
At that moment, a strange sensation, as though my mind was growing murky, surged through my head. At first, it felt like pain, but soon it changed into the feeling of my head being emptied out.
It was an alien sensation, but it was not unpleasant. No, if anything, it felt good. It felt as though my filthy brain was being washed clean.
The memories of the previous timeline, clear until just moments ago, filled my head completely. But even those were washed away along with that strange sensation. They were clearly recent memories, yet it felt as if I were recalling the distant past.
Because it was not unpleasant, it put me even more on edge. What was this?
At that moment, a voice brushed past my ear.
—You will move on to the next stage. Your worn-down mind imitated divinity, but you will return to being human and temporarily regain your original self.
—All these memories will disappear.
But the memories remained.
No, could I really say they remained? The memories were definitely there, but they had sunk somewhere far away, making them feel horribly unreal. Even though they were things that had definitely happened, they felt like someone else’s story.
But even so, they had not disappeared.
My mind, which had been blurred and worn down, began sharpening awake one piece at a time.
Emotion and memory sank together to the floor.
I rose from where I sat.
***
It felt as if my mind had been thrown out.
The sensation I had felt until just now sank to the bottom in an instant.
I was confused.
'What?'
I had seen the deleted timelines far too clearly.
It felt as if one of the barriers around my mind had been blown away entirely. No, I could not call it just one.
'Fuck, this is....'
Right.
What the hell was this?
That question was meaningless. I already knew.
I had lived through the deleted timelines, and from there, I had succeeded in sending Kwon Taehan into his first life. The pasts I had seen until now began fitting together one by one.
Deleted timelines.
Timelines that now existed in no one’s memory.
I did not know how long the past me had retained these memories, but the current me did not even remember the lives after the first timeline. Kwon Taehan, too, only remembered from the first life onward.
So deleted timelines really meant exactly that.
'Fuck, seriously....'
I had seen the past this way several times before, but every time, I had felt thoroughly detached from it, as if I were watching someone else’s life.
But not now.
These were clearly my memories.
Just as Im Haekyung had said, a barrier had been placed over part of my mind, and once it was removed, the memories naturally blended back into me.
However, they were not perfectly vivid.
Even though I had witnessed those scenes with my own eyes only moments ago, they felt like events from the very distant past.
During the time those countless “deleted timelines” piled up, the “Seo Jehyun” who must have been worn down for just as long was gone.
I did not think the way I did back then. I did not move forward out of inertia, and I was not sick of everything and unable to find anything entertaining.
Was the version of me that Kwon Taehan had called so very human an acquired nature created by repeated erosion?
¡Error occurred!
Readjusting....
.......
Complete!
Deleted timeline review complete.
The Status Window changed rapidly before my eyes.
This space was familiar too.
My unconscious, and my refuge.
It was also the place where I had met Selene, and the place where I had once faced Moros inside the maze Dungeon.
I stood up and tried to feel some sense of reality.
It felt so excessively real that it was almost unreal.
But one thing was certain: the “Seo Jehyun” I had seen was not something completely separate from me.
Even though I had not learned everything yet, perhaps the shock was considerable, because my head hurt like it was being squeezed tight.
No, maybe that was not the only reason.
Penalty settlement!
“This fucker is really goddamn thorough.”
The Status Window, pretending not to hear me, flashed once more.
According to the settlement for reviewing deleted timelines, ‘Seo Jehyun’ will receive the following penalties: pain, internal injury, hemoptysis, temporary decline in class, and physical abnormality.
Wait.
“What?”
Reading the words in the Status Window, I could not help but ask back.
Pain, internal injury, hemoptysis....
Yeah, fuck. I had braced myself for that much before coming here.
But decline in class and physical abnormality?
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
If it was going to pull this shit, it should have shown me everything. Instead, it only showed me the parts it decided were fine to show, cut me off carelessly, and now this bullshit.
All I had glimpsed were the deleted timelines.
Though, to be fair, what I gained from seeing those deleted timelines was far from insignificant.
'So what?'
Still, why the hell did I need some shitty penalty for tracing back my own “memories,” of all things?
'If you’re going to give me a penalty, fuck, just make it hurt a little and end there. What the hell is this bastard trying to pull?'
But as always, this space had a tendency to easily ignore my opinions.
With a rejection reaction, as if the space itself were refusing me, I was pulled back into “reality” in an instant.
“Ugh....”
“Jehyun.”
The first thing I felt was, of course, horrible pain.
A tingling sensation spread through my entire body.
My throat heated up instantly. When I tried to turn my head and cough, the handkerchief stuffed into my mouth got in the way.
'This fucking....'
I tried to bring my hand up to wipe away the blood flowing from my nose and mouth at the same time, realized my wrists were bound, and struck the back of the sofa with my hand.
Thud!
“Jehyun.”
Then my head was lifted, and a towel began wiping the blood away.
A beat late, I recognized Im Haekyung.
Right. All of this had been caused by Im Haekyung.
Then just how far did Im Haekyung’s ability go?
Was that ability truly so outstanding that it could make me view deleted timelines?
'That makes no sense.'
Even if Im Haekyung was S-rank, Haekyung was not a god or an existence equal to one, right?
And yet this was possible?
Regardless, Im Haekyung was absorbed in treating me.
After removing the handkerchief that had filled my mouth, Haekyung pushed a thumb between my lips to keep me from closing them, then frowned when my teeth snapped shut.
“Jehyun, open your mouth.”
Im Haekyung took out a potion from somewhere and forcibly poured it into my mouth.
Feeling the potion spill down the corners of my mouth, I swallowed as much as I physically could.
Once the whole bottle was emptied, Im Haekyung spoke calmly.
“How is your mental state? Separate it from the pain and think.”
“Fucking... shitty....”
“Do you need a temporary block?”
A temporary block?
I did not know what exactly that meant, but I was sick to death of anything else happening to my mind.
'Fuck, my hands feel suffocating.'
But because of the pain, I could not manage to form the words telling Haekyung to untie my bound hands.
Im Haekyung gripped my chin and lifted it slightly.
A brief moment passed where I could not tell whether Haekyung was examining my expression or checking my reaction, then Haekyung spoke as if making a simple assessment.
“I think you’ll need it.”
After reaching that conclusion alone, Haekyung took something out and pushed it into my mouth.
When I frowned at the square, paper-like thing sticking to my tongue and tried to push it out, Haekyung quickly explained.
“It has an analgesic effect, so behave and swallow it.”
With something like this?
This was not simply pain from an injury.
Would something like this even matter?
As if reading my suspicion, Im Haekyung added an explanation.
“It’s a Dungeon item. You can trust it.”
Anyway, once I swallowed the pain-relief item as Im Haekyung told me, I felt the pain gradually fading.
I inhaled deeply, exhaled once, and tried to push the agony away.
Even in the meantime, Im Haekyung continued observing me steadily.
Haekyung’s gaze bothered me, but there was no way to stop it.
After watching my reactions and confirming that the pain had begun to settle, Im Haekyung asked,
“Are you a little better now?”
Instead of answering, I nodded once.
Im Haekyung gently massaged the back of my neck, then spoke calmly.
“All right, for now....”
“.......”
“You should sleep a little. I can wait long enough for your condition to improve.”
More than this?
But I did not have the will to argue.
Because I really was somewhat exhausted.
Mental Domination(S) is activating.
It felt as though my mind was gradually sinking into calm.
My consciousness shut off at a rapid pace.
My whole body felt like it was going limp toward the floor... and soon, even my consciousness sank downward.
Just before I fell asleep, Im Haekyung whispered quietly.
“I’ll see you when you wake up.”
It was definitely a soft, gentle tone, yet somehow, I had no idea why it sounded like a warning.