"..."
Silence spread through the area.
"Ma'am, what kind of nonsense is that?"
"I'm sure she has a reason. I'll follow Miss Dokja's judgment."
"If noona wants it, then I'm fine with it."
"Hm? Makes risking my life to save those two feel worth it. Joonghyuk, aren't you going to apologize to the person who died once because of you?"
"Do you want to die again?"
"Yeah, well, I did tie you up too, so let's call it even."
Yoo Joonghyuk's problem was that no matter what regression this was, she never took a joke as a joke.
'Agreed. There was no way that mid-grade Dokkaebi named Paul would let this pass so warmly.'
"You're going to save me...? Don't make me laugh. Who the hell do you think you are?"
All Shin Yoosung could do, after losing everything and being defeated, was rage in one final struggle.
But to lose your world, to lose the people you loved.
And even so, to have to go on living in that world once again.
There was only one person in this world who could truly understand Yoosung's grief. Yoo Joonghyuk.
"You won't understand now, but you'll know soon enough. In the end, the only one who can understand your grief is Yoo Joonghyuk."
"? I have oppa too. And don't talk about the captain."
"What I can do is sympathize, not understand. I can understand living on in a world after losing someone precious... but the pain of losing the world itself? Yoo Joonghyuk is probably the only one who knows that."
Yoosung turned her head and looked at me.
"The one you should be looking at isn't me."
"All regressors live while hating 'what hasn't happened yet.'"
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't pity Shin Yoosung.
If this was Shin Yoosung of the 41st regression, then the one who could understand her best, more than I could, was Yoo Joonghyuk.
No, she wouldn't even call it understanding.
She merely stated her thoughts in a calm voice.
"If you want, I can become your 'hatred' as many times as needed. In this regression, live for the sake of killing me."
"Wait, captain...!"
"Shin Yoosung. From now on, this place is your new 'regression.'"
Yoosung looked at me, standing behind Dokja.
I knew she'd do that.
The Shin Yoosung I understood really was full of hatred for Yoo Joonghyuk, but what she had truly wanted was Yoo Joonghyuk's acknowledgment.
They say if puberty doesn't hit when you're a student, it comes when you're an adult.
If you asked me, Shin Yoosung had matured too quickly in a ruined world, so her rebellious phase had only come late.
That was probably why she kept calling her captain to the very end, even while claiming to hate her.
"One more thing. There's something I want to ask."
"What is it?"
"Your oppa—no, our oppa. What the hell is he, really? He showed up where I was like it was nothing... and predicted all of this. Even without [Foresight]. What exactly is he hiding?"
Everyone waited for my answer.
Even if I couldn't see them right now, weren't the Constellations waiting for my answer too?
"I just trusted Dokja, and trusted Yoosung. I believed Dokja would create a huge variable. I believed Yoosung would accept it in the end. That's what family is."
"...Family."
A new family met in a new regression.
Yoosung had to be confused too. She'd need time.
"More importantly!"
"Huh?"
"Since you killed Dokja once, apologize to your unni—"
He had finally appeared.
The mid-grade Dokkaebi, Paul.
"Dokja?"
"Oppa?"
""Looks like you both planned this?""
Clap
As expected of Dokja.
It seemed she had noticed the loophole in the Scenario just like I had.
"Why would that be difficult? We didn't violate the Scenario's rules."
This much was still within my expectations.
'Agreed.'
The Great Tree always said what I was thinking one step ahead.
"Don't worry about that. We are going to kill the disaster."
"Ma'am, what are you... ?"
"Just not right now. The Scenario clearly says 'no time limit,' doesn't it?"
This was the loophole we'd found.
Since there was no time limit, it meant it was up to us whether we went all the way to the end and killed her right before the last moment, or killed her now.
Which meant we didn't have to kill her now.
"In other words, the timing of when we eliminate the disaster is up to us. So stop rushing us."
"That's your new sister-in-law, Yoosung."
"Even if I let oppa slide, I have no intention of serving a bitch like that as my unni."
"Trying to interfere with the Scenario again? Did you already forget what happened last time when you pulled that?"
So that bastard Paul must've gotten punished once before.
Was that another variable created because Ways of Survival had become reality...?
No wonder Dokja had it rough, with a Dokkaebi like that.
[Sub Scenario - Disaster of Floods]
Category: Sub
Difficulty: SS
Clear Conditions: Eliminate the Disaster of Floods, 'Shin Yoosung.'
Time Limit: —
Reward: Double the reward of [Main Scenario #5 - 'Disaster of Floods'].
Failure: —
"Pfft!!!"
"Haha, Paul. You know as well as I do that I'm not the disaster. You always think humans will move exactly the way you want them to..."
What good was a huge reward if no one could actually use it?
Shin Yoosung had weakened, yes, but the main fighting force of Seoul Dome would protect her.
More than that, I hadn't even fought a proper battle, so my stamina was still full.
And on top of that, Dokja seemed to have caused a pretty strong butterfly effect.
"Nobody move recklessly! Value your lives! Unless you want to die like moths rushing into a flame!"
As expected, there really was a faction following Dokja, and they began protecting the disaster in accordance with her declaration.
The Constellations watching this were probably in an uproar at Paul's words.
"Why don't you back down? Honestly, at this point, everyone should be satisfied."
'Me too. It feels like something is churning... but I can't explain it exactly.'
Paul's gaze slowly settled on me.
"If you understand, then why don't you make your decision already?"
Dokja said what she wanted regardless.
It was just a feeling... but something was going wrong.
"...Oppa?"
"Dokja, you're one of the people in this world who knows the most."
"What are you suddenly trying to say?"
"You've built your plans thoroughly based on that information, and up until now, they've worked."
"Oppa?!"
But there was one major flaw Dokja had when it came to making plans like that.
"You exclude too many variables for someone as smart as you. Like you believe 'Plan A' is bound to succeed."
"I don't know what you mean."
"The Constellations, and the Dokkaebis... they're far more petty than you think. And that was the biggest variable of all."
"...What do you mean?"
Paul sneered at Dokja.
As if he had already won.
Pajijit!
"I knew this... would happen!"
"Oppa!!"
"Ah... no, wait, I...!"
"Wait! What are you doing...!"
"Aaaaargh!!"
"Back off!"