Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Web Novel KR)

I couldn’t believe it.
That really was the same Cheon Inho I knew?

「“If you won’t bring it to an end.”」
The figure of Cheon Inho, standing atop a mountain of corpses, vanished.
「“Then I’ll end it myself.”」

From his back, pitch-black wings of feathers spread open. And in the next instant—
[Fable, When All the Stars Close Their Eyes, begins its story.]
Goosebumps ran down my arms.

Cheon Inho had invoked a fable.
Just what the hell had happened—what had he devoured, how had he grown—that the Cheon Inho of the 40th regression became this powerful?
Rumble—!
Yoo Joonghyuk, gripping the Heaven-Shattering Tyrant Blade (Jincheonpaedo), scanned the surroundings. Yet Cheon Inho’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

Only pitch-black darkness. Not a single starlight could pierce through to reveal Cheon Inho. No presence. No scent. Nothing.
「It was as though Yoo Joonghyuk stood alone.」
At that moment, something invisible sliced his cheek. Then his forearm. Then his thigh.

As though toying with him, streaks of blood spurted in every direction.
But Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t counterattack. He simply gripped the Tyrant Blade and waited.
I watched that battle with sweaty palms.

Neither Yoo Joonghyuk’s sharpened senses nor my vision could grasp Cheon Inho’s figure.
But the increasing wounds were proof.
Cheon Inho was here.

Yoo Joonghyuk activated [Vermilion Bird Steps]. His movement quickened, but Cheon Inho’s attacks grew even faster. The number of wounds multiplied rapidly—
Shoulder, thigh, neck, calf.
Yet none were fatal.

Each time the blade touched his skin, Yoo Joonghyuk shifted with miraculous footwork, controlling the depth of the wounds. His movements were nothing short of divine.
Yoo Joonghyuk’s lips opened, ever so slightly.
「“Open your eyes.”」

And then—
[Fable, The King Who Leads the Stars, begins its story.]
The impossible happened.

「“Open your eyes, damn constellations.”」
At his declaration, the stars drowned in polar night began to shine one by one. The few stars left in the heavens burned their very bodies to cast light.
[Constellation, Lily Blooming in Aquarius, gazes at Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk.]
[Constellation, Fiendlike Judge of Fire, gazes at Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk.]

[Constellation, Guardian of Youth and Journeys, gazes at Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk.]
Gabriel, Uriel, and even Raphael—the stars of were blazing.
But their light wasn’t enough to vanquish the darkness.

And yet, Yoo Joonghyuk spoke:
「“It’s enough.”」
The uniform darkness quivered with distortion, and a tyrannical aura erupted from Yoo Joonghyuk’s entire body.

His flank was sliced open at the very moment the Tyrant Blade moved.
Heaven-Sundering Sword Path.
Ultimate Art.

Heaven-Sundering Meteor Slash.
A baptism of sword-qi, bright enough to rip apart the night, wrapped around the blade’s edge. Dazzling light cleaved the darkness in two, and the Tyrant Blade cut through something.
A wet explosion rang out in the void—Cheon Inho’s figure flickered into view, clutching his chest.

Yoo Joonghyuk seized the opening and struck his abdomen.
Heaven-Sundering Collapsing Fist.
Third Form.

Millennial Phoenix.
Brilliant flames wrapped his fist, and a thunderous roar exploded from Cheon Inho’s abdomen.
His body shot like an arrow, crashing into a heap of ruins.
Crackle—

Then, one by one, the stars began to fade.
The stars that had burned their fables as fuel to light the night sky were dying.
Raphael’s star was the first to vanish. Then Gabriel’s.

Lastly, Uriel’s.
[Constellation, Fiendlike Judge of Fire, pays respect to Incarnation Yoo Joonghyuk.]
Yoo Joonghyuk gazed for a long time at the empty place where Uriel’s star had disappeared. Then, as if speaking to them, he murmured softly—

「“I’m sorry.”」
It was unbelievable.
No one in this world hated the stars of the night sky more than Yoo Joonghyuk. Especially Yoo Joonghyuk before he met Kim Dokja—he was vengeance incarnate, determined never to stop regressing until every star fell from the heavens.

And yet this Yoo Joonghyuk… apologized to them.
My mind was in chaos. Nothing made sense.
Was this really something that existed in the 40th regression of Ways of Destruction?

If such a round had existed, there’s no way Kim Dokja wouldn’t have known.
In that instant, doubt surfaced for the first time.
「Does Ways of Destruction really record every single regression of Yoo Joonghyuk?」

According to Kim Dokja’s narration, yes.
Some regressions were shortened, or abandoned when Yoo Joonghyuk went mad, but none were omitted entirely.
Then what was this sight before me?

In Kim Dokja’s memories, Yoo Joonghyuk of the early regressions was never this strong. For him to become powerful enough to kill constellations required hundreds of regressions at minimum.
And yet the Yoo Joonghyuk of the 40th regression looked stronger than those fable-grade constellations in the heavens.
And not only Yoo Joonghyuk—Cheon Inho as well.

Cheon Inho, unfurling the Demon King’s wings, freely wielding the power of fables.
The meticulous Kim Dokja, who remembered all 1,863 regressions of Ways of Destruction, could not possibly have forgotten such a Cheon Inho.
The Kim Dokja I knew would have recalled the Cheon Inho of the 40th regression the very moment he saw him.

Thus, only one explanation could account for this.
There exists a world Kim Dokja never read.
「A world-line not recorded in Ways of Destruction.」

But how?
It felt like the same brain-splitting storm I’d experienced when recalling that first false trauma.
「In the 41st regression, Yoo Joonghyuk sent Shin Yooseung to a past world-line. And Shin Yooseung became the Disaster of Floods.」

That thought conjured the snowfields I once walked with Kim Dokja.
「Ways ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) of Destruction is the story after Yoo Joonghyuk made Shin Yooseung into the Disaster of Floods.」
In that snowy landscape, the footprints had split into two paths.

「Then where is the record of the regressions before Shin Yooseung became the Disaster of Floods?」
One trail that stretched on endlessly, and another that was cut short midway.
「The story of the 41st regression, when Shin Yooseung was still with Yoo Joonghyuk.」

That story existed in Ways of Destruction only as a brief recollection.
A regression left out, never properly recorded.
If what I was seeing now was the memory of that world—

「“Stop pretending, Cheon Inho. I know you’re still alive.”」
At those words, Cheon Inho rose from the heap of ruins.
「“So you’ve lost even your last companions, Yoo Joonghyuk.”

“……”
“No star watches you anymore.”」
Steel clashed in the void.

One blade was the Tyrant Blade. The other—
「“Black Heaven Demon Blade. So you even visited Murim.”
“Do you think I stopped at Murim alone?”」

Dark engravings spread like veins across his neck and hand.
Demonic Energy (Magi).
Cheon Inho was using the Demon King’s aura.

That aura wrapped around the Black Heaven Demon Blade, forming sword-qi that struck down toward Yoo Joonghyuk.
Yoo Joonghyuk’s body blazed in golden light in response.
Transcendent Form.

Rumble—!
A desperate bloodbath.
Cheon Inho’s magic sporadically burned away the darkness; incandescent fables tore at each other’s flesh.

Yoo Joonghyuk roared, blood-soaked, and Cheon Inho’s left arm flew through the air. Yet Cheon Inho’s sword pierced Yoo Joonghyuk’s side.
And then, all light vanished. Their powers were spent.
No star illuminated them. No fable recorded their battle.

「Only I could imagine their struggle within this darkness.」
Perfect night. Two men fighting. Blades cutting, flesh tearing.
They did not stop. In pitch-black silence, steel pierced and smashed again and again.

The sound of dripping blood. The shattering of blades. And—
The sound of someone collapsing.
「“Are you satisfied now?”」

Yoo Joonghyuk asked.
「“What do you mean?”」
Cheon Inho answered.

Another body fell.
「“That you ruined this world.”」
Silence followed.

Only ragged breathing remained.
Then voices again—
「“I should’ve killed you the first time I saw you.”

“But you didn’t.”
“It was a mistake.”
“Did you kill me in the other regressions?”

“I did.”
“Then I suppose I’ve succeeded in avenging the last one. Not that you’d remember.”」
Blood gushed. Whose blood, I couldn’t tell.

「“I never once asked you.”
“About what?”
“Why you live like that.”」

A scoffing laugh.
「“I only tried to live earnestly. In this regression, I simply lived a little longer, that’s all.”
“Honestly, you surprised me this time. I never thought you’d recruit all of the Ten Evils.”

“You underestimated this body’s ability.”
“I admit it.”
“Should’ve made me your ally from the start, then.”」

They had fought and fought, until finally reaching the end of this relentless war.
Cheon Inho could only make such a joke now—because they had both fought with everything, and because both knew instinctively that this moment was the end of their world.
After a pause, Yoo Joonghyuk’s solemn voice came.

「“Perhaps I should have. But it’s too late in this life.”」
In the darkness, a faint laugh echoed.
「“So in the next life, you’ll make me your ally? Me—the Ten Evil, the sophistry of malice incarnate, your sworn enemy?”

“……”
“Why don’t you answer, Yoo Joonghyuk?”
“You’re not worthy to be my enemy.”」

A brief silence passed. Then Yoo Joonghyuk spoke again.
「“If the world repeats once more, would you consider living a different life?”」
Cheon Inho stayed silent for a long while.

I thought he might have died—until his voice returned.
「“Do you mean that? I killed your companions.”
“I know.”

“And still, you’d take me as your ally?”
“Not an ally. Something similar.”
“…Are you sane?”」

In Cheon Inho’s voice were both his hatred for Yoo Joonghyuk and his grief toward this world.
「“Why would you need me? You can regress infinitely. No matter how hard the scenario, if you keep trying you’ll clear it eventually.”
“……”

“Don’t try to recruit me. In the next regression, I’ll still be your enemy. Again and again, I’ll be your enemy.”」
His voice grew weaker with each word. His body’s strength was fading.
「“Hurry up and press the reset button. And face me forever as your enemy.”」

Where there is a protagonist, there must be a villain.
Cheon Inho had chosen the path of the villain.
He discarded every other possibility, declaring he would forever rise again as the enemy, as the clown.

And so, the protagonist asked—
「“Why do you think the reset is infinite?”」
The sound of someone’s breath catching. Maybe it was my own.

「“Cheon Inho.”」
For a fleeting moment, somewhere in the vast night sky, an unknown star shimmered.
The moon, hidden by darkness, caught that light and once again illuminated the ground.

「“The reset button can only be pressed one more time.”」
Chills ran down my spine.
In the dim moonlight, Yoo Joonghyuk was looking this way.

It was as though, transcending countless world-lines, he was speaking directly to me.
「“In the next regression, everything in this universe will be destroyed forever.”」