Childhood Friend of the Zenith – 358 (Part 1)



358 (Part 1)

Upon hearing the words mixed with the spring breeze.

I couldn’t say anything.

‘What did you just say…?’

Did I hear it correctly?

I heard what Wi Seol-ah was saying but it felt like my mind was rejecting it.

It couldn’t be helped.

It was such a bizarre statement that I couldn’t comprehend.

“What did you… what did you just say?”

“…”

In response to my question Wi Seol-ah made a pained expression.

Setting aside why she was making such a face.

I needed to hear it more clearly.

“You said you made me regress….”

Not just anyone but the being that sent my time back to the past.

“Is it Heavenly Demon…?”

The one who had already pushed my life which was hitting rock bottom further into despair.

The master of the Demonic Cult.

The one who would soon bring bloodshed to the Central Plains.

‘You made me regress?’

No matter how I thought about it it was an incomprehensible statement.

“Gu Mister….”

“Explain… explain. What does that mean?”

“…”

I grabbed Wi Seol-ah’s shoulders and asked.

Without realizing it I must have held on tightly as I could see her grimacing.

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Seeing that I hesitated and loosened my grip a bit.

“…Calm down….”

“That seems a bit difficult. It’s not a story that allows for calmness.”

“…”

“You know don’t you? Why I’m living like this now.”

What I have been rolling around for.

How I have been engrossed in raising my level without almost any sleep.

The reason I am desperately moving forward.

Surely the Wi Seol-ah in front of me must know.

“…Gu Mister.”

I will kill Heavenly Demon and prevent the bloodshed.

This life was meant for that purpose.

Not for me.

If it were for me I would have secluded myself in the mountains never meeting anyone and spent my life alone.

That might have been better.

The reason I am rolling around like this is ultimately.

Not for my own peace.

It is an apology for those who died for me and lived for me.

However.

“…Why Heavenly Demon?”

From the moment Yeon Il-cheon asked if my regression seemed like a mere miracle.

I have always thought.

It seems that someone’s intention is hidden in my regression.

If as Wi Seol-ah said Heavenly Demon sent me back to the past.

Should I consider that all the actions I am taking now.

All the situations happening to me were foreseen by Heavenly Demon or contained Heavenly Demon’s will?

Thinking that way makes my head spin.

“Gu Mister….”

“Is it true?”

“…”

“Is it really… that it was Heavenly Demon who made me regress?”

I wanted to hear that it wasn’t true.

That it was just a joke. That the atmosphere was too heavy and it was just a joke.

I wanted to hear such words but.

“…It’s true.”

Wi Seol-ah was resolute.

“If it weren’t for me… there is no one else in this land who could do such a thing to Gu Mister but her.”

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“…That’s.”

I bit my tongue in my mouth at Wi Seol-ah’s words.

If it’s not her then it must be Heavenly Demon.

That carried a lot of meaning.

That means both Wi Seol-ah and Heavenly Demon are not human.

Just like the World Tree they are beings high enough to turn back time.

Moreover.

It means that Wi Seol-ah herself is aware that she is not human.

“…You.”

“I think Gu Mister already knows.”

“…”

I know.

That Wi Seol-ah is not human. I might have vaguely sensed it in the past.

But now I can be sure.

Wi Seol-ah reading my expression smiles.

Was she making such a funny face?

“I’m glad.”

What does she mean by glad?

“…Even knowing that your attitude remains the same.”

I frowned at Wi Seol-ah’s words.

“Is there any reason for that to change?”

At my words Wi Seol-ah widened her eyes for a moment then quickly covered her mouth and laughed more.

“Exactly. What was so scary?”

I was a bit concerned about her slightly hunched shoulders.

But right now the conversation we were having just before was more important.

“…The fact that if it’s not you it would be Heavenly Demon means it’s just a prediction right?”

“No. It’s a certainty.”

“Why…? Why do you think that?”

Heavenly Demon died at Wi Seol-ah’s hands.

That is a clear fact.

And the moment I met my death in the underground prison of the Mang several days had already passed since then.

Heavenly Demon must have died long ago.

So the idea that Heavenly Demon made me regress raises many questions.

Yet why is Wi Seol-ah so certain?

Hearing my doubts Wi Seol-ah averted her gaze and said.

“Because it’s something I can’t help but know.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“We are made that way.”

The words that I can’t help but know resonate deeply in my heart.

“What are you?”

“…”

“What is your relationship with Heavenly Demon?”

It couldn’t be said that there was no relationship.

It was evident.

They looked so alike not just similar but as if looking into a mirror Wi Seol-ah and Heavenly Demon looked exactly the same.

Except for their hair color and eye color everything was the same.

There are countless coincidences and miracles in the world but can that really be called a coincidence?

“If you ask what kind of relationship she and I have… it’s hard to define anything.”

“What do you mean by that….”

“It’s just… that from the beginning we should have been one not ‘us.’”

“Do you really have to make it so complicated? You know my head isn’t that good.”

“…I’m sorry please understand.”

Wi Seol-ah smiled pitifully and grasped my wrist.

I felt her voice getting a bit rough from her own frustration.

As Wi Seol-ah held my wrist I felt a bit of my tension ease.

But that didn’t mean it was completely gone.

I was just holding back because I didn’t want to ruin this unexpected reunion.

‘So it seems that it’s true that Heavenly Demon made me regress.’

According to Wi Seol-ah that would be the case.

But I had doubts.

Excluding the fact that Heavenly Demon had such power.

The World Tree the master of this world was sealed in a false world as a price for regressing Yeon Il-cheon.

The World Tree was sealed and all records and memories that existed in the world disappeared.

Even the traces of its existence were completely erased.

If it is true that Heavenly Demon made me regress.

‘Why can Heavenly Demon exist?’

What I saw the day before was Heavenly Demon.

Could it be that there is something that wouldn’t be punished?

‘And above all.’

If such power exists wouldn’t it be better for him to regress himself?

Why did he go out of his way to make me regress?

Moreover listening to Wi Seol-ah it seems that while she cannot do that Heavenly Demon can.

‘That means…’

It suggests that Heavenly Demon’s power was greater than Wi Seol-ah’s.

It was a thought I had idly at some point.

The divine sword was powerful.

I hadn’t fought directly but at least I could see how strong Wi Seol-ah was during her prime from a distance.

She is strong.

She is a martial artist so powerful that I can assert that I cannot win if I were to fight her.

‘But… was Heavenly Demon weaker than the divine sword?’

If I were to ask whether the being called Heavenly Demon was weaker than the divine sword.

I would not be able to answer.

That being seemed to be on a completely different level.

That’s why when I heard that Heavenly Demon had died at the end of the last war.

Along with the calm that settled in a corner of my heart I had a question.

How could Heavenly Demon have died?

“The more I learn something the more questions arise as if they are unraveling.”

Just when I thought I had learned something.

The world throws another secret at me one by one.

“It’s as if… it was waiting for me to uncover the secrets.”

“…”

Wi Seol-ah didn’t say anything in response to my frustrated voice.

“Is it that you can’t do that either?”

“…Gu Mister.”

“If you don’t hate me. If you’re sorry. Then….”

“I’m sorry….”

Wi Seol-ah apologizes to me once again.

“I want to tell you everything you’re curious about… everything I know.”

“Then just say it.”

“…”

If she knows if she wants to say it then she should just say it.

What this damn world wants from me.

What Heavenly Demon’s intention was in making me regress. It should all be said.

Everyone seems to want to say something but keeps their mouths shut.

“Just….”

“I don’t have much time left.”

“What?”

My mouth which was about to ask out of frustration shuts tight at Wi Seol-ah’s words.

“What do you mean?”

A bitter smile appeared on Wi Seol-ah’s face as she confirmed my reaction.

There’s no time?

“What do you mean? There’s no time.”

“…I no longer have the strength to tell Gu Mister the stories he is curious about. The story about Heavenly Demon was my limit.”