Chapter 154 - Decision
"How truly regrettable..."
"........"
"Someone always interferes at the critical moment..."
As I stare blankly at Dice who's approaching while gazing at me, the shadow's voice in my ear grows more intense.
"But come to think of it, you're also one of those people who interfered at a critical moment..."
"......?"
"Ahahahaha..."
When he suddenly started saying something completely random, I grabbed the thing that had emerged from my body with Chirpy and began to swallow it back up.
"But you can't... ignore me forever..."
"...Sigh."
After completely swallowing up the thing spouting typical villain lines, silence followed.
"........."
In that silence, my eyes and Dice's quietly begin to meet.
"How did you get in here?"
"Is that what you're curious about?"
As I ask the first question, thinking it somehow feels like it's been a long time since I've seen her—perhaps because so much has happened—she stops walking for a moment and answers with her usual enigmatic smile.
"Yes."
"...But it's a secret."
As I quietly observe Dice's somehow sad-looking smile, I sigh and speak softly.
"Don't you think the time for living buried in secrets has passed?"
"........"
"Things are different from when we first met. I've learned a lot, and I've remembered a lot."
At that, she drops her smile and quietly stares at me.
"Please answer me."
"Well, if I knew..."
"No, answer me."
Dropping the formal speech entirely, I whispered a question to the woman before me.
"Are you... I-ra?"
"........."
"Kim I-ra, is that right?"
There was no answer.
"Honestly, I think it's a bit strange too. You look and act different from I-ra."
"...That's not the issue."
"Right, and you and I-ra are even walking around simultaneously in this world."
But I couldn't let another opportunity to learn the truth slip away.
"But you admitted it yourself, didn't you?"
"........"
"That you came from the past."
When I hit the mark, she lowered her head and quietly spoke.
"I don't think I ever explicitly said that..."
"So, am I wrong?"
"........"
"You've been implicitly acknowledging that fact all along."
Still, there was no answer from her.
"I think it's time to talk, Dice."
"........"
"In fact, even that name 'Dice' was I-ra's hero name, wasn't it?"
When I raised my voice and pressed her like that, Dice quietly began to sigh.
"...So your memories have returned that far."
"Then, indeed..."
"Yes, there's no point in hiding it anymore..."
Her lips, which had been sealed for a long time, finally begin to open.
"...It's as you suspected."
"........"
"My real name is Kim I-ra."
How long had I been waiting to hear these words?
Actually, not that much time had passed in reality.
It just felt like years because of everything that had happened over the past few months.
"Then you're... I-ra from the future?"
"...Similar, but slightly wrong."
When I asked another question with that strange feeling, an unexpected answer came from her.
"I did come from the future, but not the future you know, and while I am Kim I-ra, I'm not the Kim I-ra you know."
"What does that mean...?"
As I quietly furrowed my brow at her typically confusing statement, she smiled faintly and stepped toward me.
"Ha-neul, I'm..."
The words that came out of her mouth were quite unexpected, even for me who thought nothing could surprise me anymore.
"A being from another dimension."
"...What?"
"Let's say, a parallel world... something like that? Haha..."
As she said this and burst into laughter, Dice's eyes looked particularly sad.
.
.
.
.
.
"A parallel world... you say?"
"Yes, actually if we get more precise, it's not exactly that either... but that would be too complicated. Just understand it that way."
"Is that... so?"
Dice, watching Kang Ha-neul scratch his head with a dumbfounded expression, unconsciously broke into a smile.
"I've met countless Ha-neuls, but you're definitely different somehow..."
".......?"
Though she had become numb after traversing innumerable world lines for an uncountable amount of time, this time was definitely different.
"This world's Ha-neul hasn't been tainted black yet..."
"You're speaking in riddles again."
Had there ever been a Ha-neul who reacted so calmly when she said she came from a parallel world?
Most were either shocked or immediately became hostile toward her, so probably not.
"Could you speak more plainly now?"
"...Pfft."
No, a Ha-neul with such a kind heart had never existed before.
All the Ha-neuls she had met until now were destined to be tainted by darkness.
"Hehehe..."
"Hey...?"
Absolute evil that would go mad before becoming good.
That was the consistent identity of Kang Ha-neul in every world she had seen and experienced.
"Ah, sorry. It's just a bit funny..."
"What's so funny?"
"Well, how should I put it..."
Dice, looking down at the puzzled Kang Ha-neul, muttered in a barely audible voice.
"You're the first one who doesn't try to control me..."
"What?"
What could have changed him so much in this world?
'...Is it because of her, after all?'
In fact, having traversed numerous similar dimensions, she already knew the answer.
'Justia...'
In countless world lines, more than half of Justia's deaths were caused by none other than Kang Ha-neul.
Even in world lines where that wasn't the case, the two were either in opposition as student council president and vice president, never getting along.
But this world's Justia had actually approached Kang Ha-neul first, and beyond that, had reached out to help him whenever he fell.
'She definitely had something special...'
Crucially, while Justia was still the No. 1 ranked hero, she had never been as overwhelmingly powerful as in this world.
Also, she had never died so young in any other world.
'And, as for him...'
But the variables didn't end with Justia's death.
As soon as she died, coincidentally, the Child of Prophecy, who was always behind everything, completely changed.
'...Well, that woman was always strange.'
One fact Dice had realized through traversing countless dimensions was that "Lumia Vois" was a very special existence.
'To think someone would actually possess the personality of a fake possessor...'
Through the countless world lines she had experienced, Dice had discovered that "Lumia Vois" was the protagonist of a world with the setting of being possessed.
However, this world line was a bit unusual.
Unlike before, when she would calmly answer yes to questions about being possessed, this world's Lumia had responded with a shocked expression and raised voice.
Through her recent Q&A with her, Dice had realized:
Someone had actually possessed the protagonist who mistakenly thought she was possessed.
And that someone, who coincidentally appeared right after Justia's death—another variable—was clearly a being from a higher dimension.
'You know, the interpretation of Kang Ha-neul is actually a huge debate topic among fans...'
'What?'
'There's fierce conflict between the view that Kang Ha-neul was absolute evil from the beginning and the view that he was initially good...'
She had fluently revealed information that only she knew, information the original Lumia didn't have.
'The reason interpretations are so divided is because of that famous scene where he switched fates with his noona when they were young...'
'........'
'Whether to see it as self-sacrifice or selfishness that didn't consider his noona's position—it's still a hot topic in the community. Kang Ha-neul is truly optimized for fan theories...'
Almost like a reader's perspective on a creative work.
'...I've decided.'
After mulling over all these variables in her head, Dice quietly closed her eyes and reached one conclusion.
'This world line is where I'll place my last hope.'
That the world she had been searching for, traversing dimensions until reaching her mental limit, was right here.
"...Dice?"
'...He's looking at me with such nostalgic eyes.'
While the fact that some unknown chain of events was occurring in this world line that even she couldn't understand was a major factor, there was a decisive reason why she reached such a conclusion.
'That wonderful look he gave me when he saved me...'
"......?"
It was the first time that look Kang Ha-neul gave her at that moment—which inevitably occurred no matter how many dimensions she crossed—had remained for so long.
.
.
.
.
.
"Hey. I have a favor to ask, Ha-neul."
"A favor?"
Dice, who had been looking at me with nostalgic eyes, quietly begins to reach out her hand to me.
"...Would you hug me just once?"
"........"
"What's with that lukewarm expression..."
As I look at her with a slightly furrowed brow, I hear her voice full of complaints.
"I have a girlfriend..."
"Ah."
Hearing this, Dice smiles slightly and mutters.
"...Come to think of it, this is the first time you've formed a relationship with that girl too."
"What?"
"Everything is new in this world line."
"Mmph."
Then, before I could stop her, she hugs me tightly.
"...W-what are you doing."
"Now I'll make my real request."
As I was about to push Dice away with a surprised expression, I suddenly froze with wide eyes.
"Swallow me."
"........"
"And completely leave this place."
Because the words that came out of her mouth were not something I could simply agree to and move on from.