SSS-Class Revival Hunter - Chapter 221

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ SSS-Class Revival Hunter ◈

Chapter 221: The God in the Square (1)

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When Jaa Soo-Jeong spoke of sacrificing herself for the kingdom, she was beaming with a bright smile.

Looking at her smiling face, I suddenly recalled all the memories of my trauma.

'Yes.'

Beyond the mere fact that I am Kim Gong-Ja, the Vice-lord of the Demonic Heaven and the Moon of the Ivansia family, I remembered the hallucinations I had witnessed during this trauma.

'I've almost completely seen through the life of the Tower Master.'

The moment when Jaa Soo-Jeong ascended to the nobility.

The moment she first received the title of Baron, swiftly plunged the capital into a whirlwind of political strife, and married a relative from the same clan.

'In every memory, Viscount Jaa Soo-Jeong was smiling.'

And I saw all the moments she smiled happily.

Despite my ability being to see [trauma].

'But that's not all.'

I knew that Jaa Soo-Jeong would eventually receive the title of a duke.

Even the moments that follow, I had already [seen] once.

'Why?'

Why did I see the moments when Jaa Soo-Jeong was happy?

Why did I even see what comes next?

'Could it be...'

Having learned what power Jaa Soo-Jeong possessed, I realized something was possible.

It was a possibility close to impossible, something a normal person would hardly think of.

But as someone who had deliberately regressed through 4,000 days, I could easily reach the answer.

'The life of the Tower Master is entirely a trauma.'

No matter how happily she smiled.

'From birth until now, continuously, there has been no [time that isn't trauma].'

The moment I realized this, I unwittingly spoke out.

"......Until when?"

Jaa Soo-Jeong turned to look at me.

I asked her.

"How long do you plan to execute this Golden Rule?"

Jaa Soo-Jeong smiled.

"Forever."

"Until there is not a single aggrieved citizen left on this earth?"

"Yes. Not just the citizens. As I told you before, advisor, no, Mr. Gong-Ja?"

Jaa Soo-Jeong leaned towards me and whispered in my ear.

"I will encompass all worlds, beyond just the kingdom."

"......"

"I'm sorry, but I peeked into your memories, Mr. Gong-Ja. Since you're looking into mine right now, I suppose we've made a fair trade."

I had expected this.

Jaa Soo-Jeong has the power to intuitively understand someone's past.

It's unlikely she wouldn't look into the past of an irregular like me.

"The Vice-lord of the Demonic Heaven. You lead an interesting group, Mr. Gong-Ja. Then again, only someone with bonds like yours could have grown this lovely."

Jaa Soo-Jeong looked at me as if watching a beloved junior.

"I know you want to stop me. Someone like you couldn't tolerate the sight of others suffering. But Mr. Gong-Ja, please stay true to your role."

My role.

"You should be the one siding with the powerless people more than anyone else. You should be the first to execute the Golden Rule. To voice the screams of the weak. Isn't that the burden you've taken on?"

"I am......"

"Don't try to stop me. This is a warning."

Jaa Soo-Jeong toyed with my ear.

"I have a habit of unwittingly breaking adorable children when I see them."

"......"

"Don't think you're the first to try stopping me. Do you know how many tears Their Majesty on that throne has shed? The tears I've received from my lovers alone could end next year's drought."

That wasn't likely a lie.

Nor was the warning she sent me a bluff.

Gods always warn once before breaking a human.

She had already once tried to stop me from seeing the trauma, warning me.

"You are......"

And like that time, considering the warning, I spoke.

"Are you happy doing this?"

"Yes."

Her little fingernail gently scratched near my ear.

"Don't you feel it? I'm happy. I possess the happiness and misfortune of my lovers. Just one smile from me is enough to make them happy, and just one gesture from me suffices to make them miserable. How could this not be enjoyable?"

"Even if you're tortured continuously in the future?"

"Even if I'm tortured continuously."

"Why... Why do you accept even pain as happiness?"

Jaa Soo-Jeong smiled.

"Pain is painful. But there is a sweeter reward right before me."

"What is it?"

"The tears my lovers will shed. Their hearts collapsing and their faces breaking as they watch me suffer. It will be such a sweet sight that I'll want to keep watching forever."

"......But you love your lovers. To bring pain to those you love is......"

"It's wrong, but all my lovers have killed or ruined someone."

"......"

"Isn't it natural justice for such people to suffer?"

"......"

"I've told you, Mr. Gong-Ja. You're not the first, nor will you be the last to try persuading me. I've crafted myself for this moment."

"Crafted......?"

"Yes. A hobby of indulging in misfortune. A taste for admiring the ruined. Appearance and eloquence that can captivate them. Talent. Achievements that no one can deny and skills that no one can protest. I've strived and achieved all that."

"......"

"Shall I prove it?"

At that moment, a commotion arose in the middle of the seats.

"The chaos has all passed!"

The noble had horns and an incredibly large build. Their voice was as thunderous as their size, and when they roared, the surface of the amniotic fluid rippled.

"The rebellion has been suppressed! All the major disturbances have ended! We just need to clean up now. There's no need to prepare such an extreme law for......"

I used Baron Gu Won-Ha's information magic to read the noble's identity.

[Pa San-Woo]

Status: Noble, Borderland Count.

Relation: Viscount's adversary.

Danger Level: White.

Remarks: Head of the Cow Count family. Deeply involved in a past incident involving the abduction of another family's young lady. Facilitated or condoned the kidnapping, resulting in the complete ruin of one of the estates. Resides in the northeast, famous for mining, neighboring the Bear Count's territory. Captures all runaway mine slaves coming from the neighboring territory and returns them to the Bear Count.

Neutral.

Can be killed.

It wasn't just Count Pa San-Woo.

"This is ridiculous. No, even if..."

A noble of similar age to Jaa Soo-Jeong muttered in dismay. Flipping through the legislative documents, she quickly turned one, two, then four pages at a time, eventually grasping the entire stack.

"The members of the Viscount's faction... What about you? You're accepting this?"

Those seated behind Jaa Soo-Jeong gave no answer. The noble clenched her teeth.

"Even if she is a girl not much younger than me, whatever the reason may be... No. It would be the same even if she were not a girl. I do not care what logic you offer. I hate this bill. I just hate it!"

I read that noble's information too.

[Seon Jo-Hae]

Status: Noble, Marquis of the Capital Environs.

Relation: None.

Danger Level: White.

Remarks: Head of the Crab Marquisate. Adventurous in her youth, she roamed the seas and was cursed after encountering a Sea-Mine Dragon. She lost her memory and sense of self. The young lady's immature actions sent the marquis's house into decline, after which the Dragon Kingdom extended its hidden influence and eroded the foundations of the house and its territory.

Her mental age is below 13, despite her appearance.

Failed to notice the rebels gathering in her own territory, inadvertently contributing to a major rebellion in the eastern sea.

Neutral.

Can be killed.

Many other nobles spoke up after that.

Each time, I read their information and found a [common point] in all of them.

'None.'

Not a single one.

'No one is innocent.'

That was the record left by the original owner of this body.

Baron Gu Won-Ha.

'In this vast parliament. Not a single one.'

Marquis Baek Seol-To murdered a child. Viscount Chun Heuk-Shin practiced cannibalism. Viscount Dae Ha-Ran massacred civilians. Count Pa San-Woo ruined an entire fief. Marquis Seon Jo-Hae failed to prevent a rebellion. Baron Hae Myeong-Seom, Duke Mu Wi-Sik, the Sun King...

Some were ignorant. Some were incompetent. Some were simply indifferent. A hundred nobles had a hundred reasons, and a thousand excuses for each reason.

But the commonality was clear.

Among them.

Not a single one was innocent.

"Everyone."

That's why Jaa Soo-Jeong was so composed.

"For the past thousand years, especially in the last six hundred years, and even more so in the last sixty years, you've been far too negligent."

No one here saved more citizens than Jaa Soo-Jeong.

"What did you do while tens of thousands of demi-human slaves mined ore and died in the Bear Count's territory? Did you not know? Did you lack the power to intervene? Were you unprepared? Perhaps. But centuries are far too long for such excuses to hold."

No one here was more capable than Jaa Soo-Jeong.

"The turmoil has all passed? The rebellion has all ended?"

"......"

"You think the turmoil is over just because you defeated the noticeable enemies? Do you think they're gone? Everyone. They haven't disappeared, they are just enduring. A person who has been whipped never forgets the pain."

Indeed.

"A person whose family died never forgets the temperature of the soil that made their grave."

That was why, in another world, someone bowed and called out, "Heavenly Demon."

"A person who had to step aside on the road to avoid a carriage never forgets that humiliation. A mother never forgets the day her son, drafted and never returned, lay in bed. A person never forgets the pain in their mouth from the tree bark they had to peel and eat during a winter day with no food."

And so someone bowed and called out, "Heavenly Demon."

"Have they disappeared? Is it all a story of the past? Are their grievances so stale that they don't need to be resolved, their resentments so tedious they're not worth listening to?"

Impossible.

"That's impossible."

That was why they had bowed.

"Don't make me laugh."

This world is no different. No world is different.

Someone was bowing.

This world too.

In Baron Sin Wol-Seok's territory, a stone no one had touched rolled on its own. Because a loose stone had wandered through the domain of solid bedrock, the people whispered that it was an ominous sign.

And Lady Baek Seol-To beat a commoner's child to death with a whip.

In Daeha, the river boiled every night for no reason. Frogs leaped from every waterway, then plunged headfirst to their deaths. Lightning struck the capital twenty-six times in a single day, and a fortune-teller at the north gate babbled, "Thirteen stacked above and below makes twenty-six, so it is an ill omen."

And Viscount Dae Ha-Ran massacred civilians.

The fortune-teller was severely punished for recklessly predicting the country's fortune. The royal guards beheaded them. That day, even though the rainy season had not yet arrived, the river overflowed greatly, blocking all roads leading to the capital.

And the Sun King did not leave the palace.

"You all, those in power, must bear the responsibility of the past times."

Famines repeated. Epidemics were continuous. Time was like a rotten spine, with pus accumulating at every joint that recurred and continued.

The corpses of citizens flowed over the flooded river.

"Someone orchestrated all these events, neglected them, and therefore, you all must choose the one who deserves the condemnation of the entire population."

In the middle of a collapsing world, on a December day, a pillar in the shape of a girl stood, trying to support it.

"You will choose me."

The waters fell silent.

How much time had passed?

Marquis Seon Jo-Hae spoke with a trembling voice.

"I dislike this."

Jaa Soo-Jeong nodded.

"Yes. That's right."

And then she said.

"What other ending did you expect?"

The original owner of this body must have searched desperately.

'Even just one would be fine.'

Baron Gu Won-Ha loved Jaa Soo-Jeong.

I didn't know the reason or see the cause, but from the Baron's writings, I could feel the weight of her love.

'Even if it's just one, there must be an innocent ruler in this damned kingdom.'

So the Baron began to record.

Using her magic, she investigated the actions of each noble, documenting her findings.

I, too, who inherited her body, looked at each noble attending the parliament. I read their information.

But the records left by Gu Won-Ha remained unchanged.

'Murderer.'

Mass murderers.

'Those who started a rebellion.'

Those who suppressed civil unrest.

'Those who bought slaves.'

Those who sold slaves.

'Those who erred out of ignorance.'

Those who created wrongs due to incompetence.

The information recorded by Baron Gu Won-Ha was a revelation of crimes. Among the hundreds of feet in the waters, not one was free from the blood of citizens.

So, Baron Gu Won-Ha gave up.

She couldn't stop her master.

'Maybe that's why I regained control of this body now...'

As I thought up to that point, I moved.

"Eh?"

Jaa Soo-Jeong tilted her head slightly.

Her violet eyes reflected me, standing in front of her.

"Didn't I warn you, Mr. Gong-Ja? I am-"

"Trauma."

I said.

Jaa Soo-Jeong tilted her head even more.

"Huh?"

"Viscount. I have seen your trauma."

"I know. You're seeing it now, aren't you?"

"Not just this moment. The moment you first received the title of Baron, the moment you married your wife... I've almost entirely seen through your life."

I grasped Jaa Soo-Jeong's wrist.

"If you were truly happy, those scenes wouldn't have appeared before my eyes."

"Maybe?"

Jaa Soo-Jeong cocked her head.

"Maybe I've only started to become a bit happier recently? Despite appearances, my life has been a display of hardships. From today, true happiness begins."

"No."

Your smile hasn't changed since that day.

"I saw that you eventually received the title of Duke."

Your smile hasn't changed since then either.

"Even today, and from here on, you will continue to experience times of trauma."

"That's a strange thing to say, King of Death."

Jaa Soo-Jeong called me by an alias I had never revealed to her.

Her claim of reading my past was no lie.

"Are you saying that I'm actually unhappy and just pretending to be happy? That's a bit offensive. If I had lied like that, my lovers would've noticed, wouldn't they? I am-"

"[The God Who Never Regresses]."

I moved closer to Jaa Soo-Jeong.

"The reason your entire life is pain is simple. It's obvious. You're always seeing [someone else's past]. You've seen the past of Marquis Baek Seol-To, Viscount Dae Ha-Ran, and even my past, which I wasn't aware of."

In essence.

"You've never had a moment when you weren't watching someone die."

"......"

"That must be painful. That's why your life is stained with hundreds of millions of traumas."

Closer.

"But it is strange. You acquired [Golden Dragon's Eye] and [Glacier Dragon's Breath] relatively recently. Surprisingly, it has only been a short time since you gained the freedom to peer into other people's pasts. And yet you have suffered throughout your entire life."

I had seen the era of Jaa Soo-Jeong before she gathered the dragons.

Even then, she suffered from reading others' pasts.

How?

Without the dragons' powers in that era, how could she have suffered the same way as now, inheriting others' pain?

There's only one possibility.

"[The God Who Never Regresses] is an absurd lie."

"......"

"You are [The God Who Keeps Regressing]."

I looked at the young noble.

"You returned to the past with the dragons' powers. Thus, from your childhood to now, you've continuously been able to see others' traumas."

When she faced Duke Mu Wi-Sik, Jaa Soo-Jeong instantly deciphered her life.

As if she had always known.

When she met the Sun King, she already knew their life.

As if she had long suspected.

"You've been incessantly repeating this life."

"......"

"Regressing, returning. Living the same life each time. Knowing exactly what to say, how to act. You're eternally repeating this life, continuously watching others' pain."

"......"

"That's why your entire life is a trauma."

Jaa Soo-Jeong fell silent.

I asked her.

"How many times have you repeated this life, Tower Master?"

Jaa Soo-Jeong did not smile.

"Have you ever even tried to count which life this is?"

Expressionless.

Time in the parliament hall had seemingly stopped.

Marquis Seon Jo-Hae, with her head bowed in anger, tears streaming, the Sun King, silently sitting, everyone had frozen in time.

"Mr. Gong-Ja."

In the time broken like a stopped clock, Jaa Soo-Jeong spoke.

"Have you ever counted the sand grains in the river that flows to Nirvana?"

Ganges sands.

"My answer is predetermined."

Jaa Soo-Jeong's face, expressionless as if she was born that way, bore no emotion. Her violet eyes indifferently reflected the world, her lips neither mocking, blessing, nor scoffing.

"Forever."

In that moment, the scenery shattered.

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