Chapter 218

You know…

[Yes.]

You know I have memories from Earth, right?

[Of course.]

Looking back, that was the beginning. Thanks to those Earth memories, I was able to believe in myself. If it hadn’t been for that… I would have wasted so much more time. My ability to see mana and magical power was always denied by teachers, by adults.

[But wouldn’t you have become a wonderful mage eventually anyway?]

Who knows? Maybe I would have died encountering a calamity without being prepared.

[…That’s such a sad thought. I’m glad that didn’t happen.]

It is fortunate. Because I had those Earth memories… I was able to find my own path without seeking help from others. Maybe that’s why? I’m thinking of that person now. The owner of those memories stored in the Stone of Memory. I inherited so much of that person’s knowledge… yet I know nothing about their personal memories. I don’t even know their name. That person… what were they thinking when they died?

[You said they lived an unremarkable life and died that way, didn’t you? That despite being a genius who accumulated knowledge rivaling anyone, they had no luck, no qualifications that could be officially recognized.]

Yeah… was it truly a lonely and futile death?

[No. It wouldn’t have been. They would have died thinking, “My memories crossed to another world and helped save it…”]

How could that be possible?

[Trust me on this.]

That <Samantha>. So unreasonably positive. But I didn’t dislike it. It warmed a corner of my heart.

It’s probably because my own death is approaching.

How much time has passed?

It felt like just a moment, but also like a long while had gone by. The time when I forgot even myself and gave everything as lubricant and coolant.

That too is coming to an end now.

Like waking from sleep, I suddenly became aware of my surroundings. I became aware of my flesh and soul that had nearly vanished, leaving only a handful remaining.

Even if I die… the world will keep turning well, won’t it?

The life I lived will eventually influence someone, won’t it?

Just like how Ye’s <Saíl> crossed distant time to save me. Just like how memories from that distant world were transmitted to me.

[It will. Just as gods don’t simply vanish, neither do worlds. The memories of worlds drift through the sea of chaos like that. Sometimes they’re even collected by other gods trying to achieve genesis.]

Somehow I felt better.

A rite of passage that every child on the Star Continent goes through at least once.

The ‘Stone of Memory’ I accepted that day was a kind of reference material that the old gods had collected for genesis.

In the end… did I, influenced by it, achieve genesis and become a reference myself?

That distant world called Earth. Some person who lived in that world. A memory that crossed the sea of chaos. The god of our world who accepted it. The crisis of destruction. And genesis again…

It felt like I had properly concluded not just my brief life, but one very long, long story. That sense of fulfillment.

Right. There’s nothing to regret.

I lived well enough.

As I was organizing my thoughts this way, <Samantha> said something strange.

[And I’ll be the same.]

What are you talking about? You’re just getting started. As the creator of a new world, you have a tremendous mission, don’t you?

[Ah, that? I plan to take my time. Take my time.]

What? Hey. That won’t do. Don’t be lazy. We haven’t achieved complete genesis, have we? There will be a flood of revisions needed.

[There are mages, aren’t there?]

Mages are mages. Gods are gods.

[To me, mages are like gods. That’s the truth, isn’t it? After all, it was a mage who created me.]

I never created you. You were born on your own.

[This world will be the same.]

This one… is saying strange things.

Hey. When you talk like that, it sounds like you’re the one disappearing instead of me? You need to stay and work.

[Hehe. Do you know how many years it took me to complete genesis?]

Well… did it take a week? No, wait. I think it took longer than I thought… a month?

[No. It took 7 years.]

What?

I couldn’t immediately understand <Samantha>’s words.

What is she talking about?

The goal was to achieve genesis as quickly as possible, wasn’t it?

7 years? If genesis took that long, how were humans supposed to endure it?

No, setting that aside, there’s no way I could have lasted 7 years.

7 years? Really? This doesn’t make sense.

What the hell is…

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

Originally, I shouldn’t have been able to last even one month, let alone 7 years.

But <Samantha> said 7 years had passed.

During that time, my flesh and soul had crumbled away until only a handful remained… but somehow I had survived. I had made it through.

This doesn’t make sense. If I had taken on the shock that <Samantha> should have received as coolant and lubricant… that would have been impossible.

In the end, there was only one answer.

‘I didn’t bear the shock that <Samantha> should have received alone. Rather, I only carried a tiny fraction of it. Just an extremely small part.’

You… you didn’t…!

[Hehe. Sorry. Father.]

Father, my ass…! Hey! You! That’s not right, is it?

[I wanted to minimize the damage to Father’s soul as much as possible… but I couldn’t manage even that. I’m sorry. Still, I definitely completed genesis. There will be many problems, but those problems can be solved by the world itself. I’ve granted it that possibility.]

What are you talking about right now? You’re a god, aren’t you? Without gods, things won’t work! Why would you… for me…!

[Don’t worry. There are mages, aren’t there? The true administrators of this world who endured even 7 years of genesis.]

I didn’t understand what this emotion was.

My whole body just felt like it was erupting in flames. Frustrating. Suffocating. I was angry.

You, you little… what have you done! Why! Why! How dare you decide something I had resolved to do!

[Why? I’m just happy.]

Happy about what! You’re just a child! A newborn who just came into being! All you’ve done since birth is fight, suffer, and scream! And now you’re going to disappear instead of me? You’re going to take on what I had prepared myself for? To die right after being born? Instead of me?

[Hey. It’s not dying. It’s just the same as always. Scattering throughout the world. I was originally like that, wasn’t I? The remains of dead gods. Father was the one who brought me back to life.]

“Don’t call me father! Cancel this! Don’t sacrifice yourself!”

A voice came out that shouldn’t have, that mustn’t come out.

My body, which had given up form and dissolved like gas and liquid, was somehow taking human shape again.

<Samantha> really intended to save me.

She had taken on most of the pain I should have endured herself, continuing that pain for 7 whole years to complete genesis. As a result, she was destined to scatter without achieving complete evolution.

Does this make sense?

No, how can it make sense for a god—that impossibly noble existence—to die for the sake of a mere human?

Does that make sense? After being born as a god and suffering so much, shouldn’t she at least get to live well and be treated with respect now?

“Don’t die!”

Why am I so angry about this?

Is it anxiety about another god disappearing from this world? Is it because my own resolve to sacrifice myself gloriously has been made meaningless?

No. No, it isn’t.

I don’t really understand, but I just hate it.

I hate <Samantha> dying more than I hate myself dying.

I can’t bear the fact that this child, who had never seen anything good since birth and only suffered, is dying like this.

[Hehe. Still, I’m a bit happy that you’re saying that.]

“Happy about what! You’ve done nothing but suffer since you were born, and now you’re leaving like this…!”

[That’s exactly why Father should live. Father hasn’t had a single moment of pure joy either… Father should live happily now too.]

I was overwhelmed with indignation. I was angry but there was no way to fix it, so I just threw a tantrum, sputtering whatever came to mind.

“You’re younger than me! How can the younger one go first!”

[I have no regrets though? I’ve been happy the whole time. From the very moment I was born—continuously!]

I was speechless.

Happy? From the moment she was born, screaming like that from the rampage of magical powers?

The child who suffered so horribly in the primordial flames because of my promise to reach the 11th Step?

[Yes, I was happy. Even all that pain.]

“That’s nonsense…!”

[It’s true. Did you forget? There are magical powers inside me. The spirits who were with Father are there too. All of that is me. So… I couldn’t help but be happy. Father, you kept your promise, didn’t you? You cleared away the ashes of destruction and brought us back to life… what more could I have wanted?]

“But… there was only so much pain… it hurt. If you’re going like this… it’s not right!”

I repeated the same words over and over, and tears streamed down my cheeks.

I quickly wiped the tears away with my hands. As I wiped them, I realized.

Ah… all my fingers are attached. Regeneration is completely finished. I’m alive. And <Samantha>…

Through my blurred vision, the dim light was scattering like morning dew.

[Really, it’s okay. Thanks to you, I got to dream of a brief radiant wind.]

Those… were the last words she left.

[Goodbye. Father.]

Whether from tears or because my newly revived body hadn’t adapted yet, I couldn’t see <Samantha>’s disappearing form clearly.

I quickly reached out my hand, but my hand only grasped empty air.

* * *

“…It disappeared!”

At an hour when everyone was asleep. A boy standing watch alone on the surface couldn’t believe his eyes and rubbed them several times.

But no matter how many times he looked, it wasn’t there.

The white star that had been ominously shining in the sky for a full 7 years was nowhere to be seen.

He’d thought it was strange when the raging storm had calmed down… but now even ‘that star’ had disappeared.

“The bad star disappeared!”

The boy clenched his fist and shouted words that would have earned him a scolding from adults.

“See! What savior… when the star disappeared, the storm stopped right away, didn’t it? I knew the white star was bringing the calamity.”

The boy was now eleven years old.

In the old days (7 years ago), land didn’t fly around everywhere and typhoons didn’t strike 24 hours a day.

But the boy had only heard stories about such heavenly times—he didn’t remember them directly.

From such a boy’s perspective, the white star could only be a bad star.

Every time the white star moved or shone brightly, the calamities striking the earth became even more severe.

Adults said it was because the white star was fighting against destruction… but to the boy’s eyes, only the white star was visible.

“Huh? But what’s that?”

The boy saw something slowly falling down.

“A shooting star?”

But when he focused his eyes, it looked like a person.

“A person…? But the hair part is white…? A ghost?”

Shiver. The boy trembled. It seemed like a bad omen.

Trying to figure out what it was, the boy strained his eyes, then suddenly remembered what he needed to do.

“Ah! This isn’t the time. I need to report this. Report.”

The boy concentrated and muttered.

“Ethereal form.”

The boy’s body, along with his clothes, became translucent. Turned ghostlike, the boy simply passed through the ground and seeped underground.

And shortly after,

BOOM!

The ground exploded and a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties burst out.

As soon as she emerged, she looked around, then her eyes fixed on one point in the sky as if nailed there.

“Baek Jun-woo…!”

A beaming smile bloomed on her face.