BXBX NOVEL Chapter 20 – Companion III
Chapter 20 – Companion III
Chapter 20 – Companion III
6
In Tang Seorin’s tales, there lies a lot of epilogues.
Well, to be honest, all my stories are kind of epilogues. At least until we hit turn 1183.
So strictly speaking, it would be more accurate to say that Tang Seorin’s stories are filled with plenty of epilogues, and I’ll just mention a few of them.
“Huh. Doctor Jang, awake already?”
The day after the celebration following the suppression of the Ten Clans.
Everyone was passed out. Those who could handle their liquor were as drunk as they could be, and those who couldn’t handle it were just as drunk as they could manage. The remnants of the Ten Clans provided plenty of booze, after all.
As the dawn struggled to forget the remnants of the night in its blueness, Tang Seorin stood beneath a white pine tree. Alone. Her shadow seemed to be bidding farewell to the night that had already passed, rather than awaiting the sun.
“Yes. I’m awake.”
“Headache? You were drinking quite heavily with the Sword Master, weren’t you?”
“I’m the type to get drunk quickly and recover quickly. I’ve never been much of a morning person anyway. And what about you, are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah, I’m always fine.”
Yet, Tang Seorin’s voice, as she said that, still sounded somewhat strained. Well, she had been casting spells non-stop for 41 minutes on the battlefield yesterday, and then she sang her heart out at the celebration afterward. Even a singer with vocal cords made of steel would’ve strained their voice under such circumstances.
“It seems hearing ‘leader’ from you might soon come to an end. A bit regretful.”
“Well, the Ten Clans may be dead, but we still don’t know what other monsters might emerge. There’s a high chance that guild alliances will be formed again. You might have to be a leader again then.”
“True.”
Tang Seorin quietly gazed up at the dawn sky.
“Yeah.”
Since the alcohol hadn’t completely left my system yet, I joined the spectators, hoping that the blue sky would disinfect the alcohol lingering in my head.
I wonder if the sky really has that disinfecting function. Oh well, who knows?
When the daytime sky absorbs people’s sweat and the nighttime sky accommodates their dreams, and yet unfulfilled aspirations find solace in the dawn.
“Hey.”
The wind spoke beside me.
“Wanna hear about my dream?”
“I already know. It’s to conquer all the world’s finest restaurants.”
“Oh, that’s right. Yeah. Can’t give up on that.”
Tang Seorin nodded earnestly.
“But what I’m talking about now is a different dream.”
Another dream?
I cocked my head. Was there another dream? I’ve been scrutinizing Tang Seorin as the guild leader from Turn 4 to Turn 6, but I’ve never heard of another dream.
“Oh. Are you really talking about aspiring to raise three thousand elite guild members and make a name for yourself in the Three Thousand Worlds?”
“Oh, that too. What about you, Doctor Jang?”
Tang Seorin glanced at me as if she had just remembered something.
“You always seem disinterested in others, but surprisingly knowledgeable about me, huh? Are you a Tang Seorin otaku or something? But besides that, it’s a different dream.”
“Well then, I really don’t know. What is it?”
“Railway travel.”
Tang Seorin raised her hand slightly towards the dawn.
Her five fingers grasped the sky firmly.
“I want to travel this broken world by train.”
“…By train?”
“Yeah. I don’t need a fancy train. Just an old one. A single compartment train customized by me.”
She hummed as if singing.
“It’s a thing that won’t even move without me if it breaks down. But I can eat, sleep, travel, and even do laundry there. Like a camper or a yacht.”
“I’m not sure if the railways will still be intact. Even the KTX trains that are currently being used as temporary accommodations by the Three Thousand Guilds can’t operate, can they? The first-class roads are barely managed from Busan Gongbang.”
“Well, I’ll figure it out somehow with the mysterious power of magic.”
Tang Seorin mimicked boxing, making swooshing sounds.
“I’ll keep fixing the railways that have fallen apart in this world one by one. From one station to another, forever. Wherever I pass, beautiful rails will always be laid behind me.”
“Hmm.”
“And then, as I keep going and going… if I reach a decrepit train station on some beach, where a single pole stands like a lonely station attendant…”
“…”
Tang Seorin didn’t continue speaking.
I felt a strange sensation and looked at Tang Seorin’s face.
It was a weird thought, but it felt like she could collapse any moment now.
“Leader?”
“Hmm.”
Tang Seorin blinked. She leaned on her ever-present broom (which she claims is a witch’s essential item).
Her complexion was the same as usual.
“Doctor Jang, why don’t you come join my guild and become the vice guild leader? You know as well as I do that our guild is thriving. This kind of opportunity won’t come again. You might regret it later, you know?”
“…Here we go again. I’m not accepting the guild hat.”
“Really? Well, can’t be helped then.”
Tang Seorin walked away.
Waving her hand lightly behind her back.
“Bye-bye. I’ll take a little walk and come back later. I’ll enjoy the solitude, so don’t follow me.”
“When will you be back?”
“Well, roughly in about an hour?”
An hour passed, then two, but Tang Seorin didn’t return.
A search party was dispatched from the guild alliance.
Three hours after her disappearance, Tang Seorin was found collapsed on a forest path.
She never got up again after that day.
“How is the future of the Three Thousand Guild Leader?”
“It’s… peculiar.”
The doctors looked grim.
“Overall, there has been a decline in bodily functions. We suspected it could be a curse, but it’s not. It’s truly peculiar… I’m sorry to say this, but whenever she closes her eyes, it’s not unusual.”
“I see.”
I mentally prepared myself and entered the hospital room. It was one of the few remaining sterile rooms in operation in Korea.
Our eyes met as I approached Tang Seorin by the window.
She was reading a novel. Not the kind of trains she loved, but with her body weight resting on the wheels of her wheelchair.
“…”
“…”
There was a moment of silence.
After about 30 seconds, Tang Seorin closed the novel with a thud and placed it on her lap.
“Lifespan.”
It was the first thing she said to someone she had seen in two weeks.
“Lifespan?”
“Yeah. Anyway, isn’t that what you’re getting at? I don’t like this atmosphere. Let’s just get to the point and talk about something else.”
Tang Seorin shrugged her shoulders. Her expression and gestures were hardly different from usual. If it weren’t for the wheelchair, one would never believe that something was wrong with her.
No.
It wasn’t just the wheelchair. The guild hat was hanging on the hospital coat rack, and the broom was not a witch’s essential item, but simply leaned against the wall like an old cleaning tool.
“I feel like this hospital room is a mockery of Tang Seorin.”
“My magic grows stronger as it consumes my remaining lifespan. Besides magic, I have another awakened ability. I’ve coolly named it [Equivalent Exchange]. Well, it’s not a very unfamiliar ability, is it?”
“So…”
“Yeah. Wow, those Ten Clans were really tough. How could that monster hold out until I cast the 10th Melody? I thought I’d die right then and there, but I don’t know how I’ve managed to survive until now. Anyway, I’m not the one who’s sick.”
I couldn’t easily find words to say.
It wasn’t because I couldn’t think of words to comfort her. I was just feeling a profound shock.
‘She never mentioned it before.’
That Tang Seorin was a multi-ability awakened individual.
In addition to her magical abilities, she had the ability to temporarily gain firepower by burning her own lifespan.
Even when I served as her right-hand man in the Three Thousand Guild, Tang Seorin never revealed her secretive weapon.
Because…
“…Did you plan to die in the battle against the Ten Clans?”
“Yeah.”
Tang Seorin nodded confidently.
“It was an enemy we couldn’t guarantee victory over without putting our lives on the line. Right? You, Sword Master, the awakened individuals who participated in the battle, the soldiers and volunteers who assisted us. All of us.”
I couldn’t deny that statement.
After all, didn’t I myself risk my life seven times?
Suddenly, I remembered the things Tang Seorin had said in the previous turns. The words she uttered in the face of the Ten Clans suppression.
-Hold out for just 30 minutes, no matter what. I’ll build up a grand spell and blow off the heads of the Ten Clans.
-Doctor Jang, Sword Master. Without hesitation, hold out for 25 minutes… no, just hold out for 30 minutes.
At that time, Tang Seorin must have already been prepared for her own death.
So, she was actually making such a request.
-Hold out for just 30 minutes until I die.
But it took 41 minutes to suppress the Ten Clans.
It was an expenditure of lifespan that far exceeded its limits.
“…”
It was difficult for me to calm my turbulent heart.
For me, regression was also a tool to test the potential of others. Most people behaved differently and achieved different results with each regression. But there were also things that didn’t change no matter how many regressions occurred.
The strength of the heart and the steadfastness of belief.
‘So far, Tang Seorin has never deviated from her principle of suppressing the Ten Clans and holding out for 30 minutes.’
“Even if it consumes your lifespan, how does Equivalent Exchange work specifically?”
“Oh. When I awakened this ability, it showed that my original lifespan was 85 years. So, if I mentally think, ‘I’ll use up a few years from my remaining lifespan of 60 years,’ my firepower automatically strengthens.”
“So, did you consume over 60 years during the Ten Clans suppression battle?”
“Uh, well…”
Tang Seorin narrowed her eyes.
“That’s really strange.”
“How so?”
“Did I tell you? Actually, I didn’t expect to hold out for over 30 minutes even while casting the main melody. If my calculations were correct, even reaching the 6th Melody was risky.”
Tang Seorin pinched her chin.
“Originally, this main melody magic, the more melodies overlap, the exponentially more magic power is consumed. It’s truly exponential. Even if I spent 60 years of lifespan, theoretically reaching the 10th Melody would be impossible.”
“But you sang it so well.”
“Yeah. Isn’t it amazing? Even though I was singing behind you all, I was questioning why this was working in my mind? Why was this possible? I was really puzzled.”
“…Ah, I broke out in a cold sweat.”
That’s when it happened.
Some strange premonition, not anxiety or dread, but a wave of a different color, spread from my spine.
“Leader. So, how many years of lifespan did you exactly consume during the Ten Clans suppression battle?”
“Huh? I was so distracted at that time that I didn’t count it one by one. Let me see…”
“…Is it roughly around 250 years?”
“Oh.”
Tang Seorin nodded.
“Right. It’s not exact, but more than 200 years and definitely less than 300 years. Roughly 250 years. How did you know?”
A current surged through my body, some enlightenment dawned upon me.
For example, let’s hypothetically consider.
―― If Tang Seorin’s unconsumed lifespan is inherited into the ‘next turn,’ then?
I don’t know what fate Tang Seorin faced from the 1st to the 3rd turns. Maybe she also fought against the Ten Clans back then.
However, without Old Scho and me, the squad would perish in just five minutes, even if they entered the suppression battle. Tang Seorin would have died without even a chance to sing the main melody.
Tang Seorin’s original lifespan is 85 years. Subtracting her current age and the lifespan used here and there, excluding the Ten Clans suppression battle, she has about 45 years of lifespan left.
So, from the 1st to the 5th turns where the Ten Clans suppression was not properly carried out, Tang Seorin left behind a lifespan of 40 to 45 years per turn.
From the 6th turn, when Old Scho joined, the suppression battle gained momentum. Tang Seorin leisurely consumed her lifespan.
Another 10 years, 15 years, 20 years.
Tang Seorin’s lifespans were gradually ‘accumulated.’
By the 10th turn, she had unknowingly saved 250 years’ worth of time in an account called lifespan.
‘If this inference is true.’
Unfortunately, all the lifespans Tang Seorin had saved during the past turns were spent in this 10th turn.
But my regression didn’t end in the 10th turn. It would continue in the future. And depending on the situation, Tang Seorin might continue to save lifespans.
‘If it exceeds 250 years and reaches 500 years? What if it accumulates to 1000 years, 2000 years?’
I couldn’t suppress my trembling.
“Guild Leader.”
“Yeah?”
Unconsciously, I called Tang Seorin the Guild Leader as before. Tang Seorin tilted her head as if she hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
“Why?”
“I have something important to tell you.”
That, I am a regressor.
Perhaps your lifespan accumulated with each turn.
“That’s incredible!”
Throughout my deduction, Tang Seorin was intrigued, surprised, her eyes sparkled.
“Doctor Jang, were you really my guiding star?”
“Is that the surprising part…?”
“Of course! Then where else would the surprise be? Oh, the me from other turns was amazing too. My eyes never deceive. The high hat suits you on your coat rack. Everywhere, Doctor Jang. Shall we be witch buddies?”
What on earth is a witch buddy?
“Do you not consider the possibility that I’m lying?”
“Huh? Why would you think of such a possibility? We’re comrades. If you’re a regressor, then it must be true.”
Tang Seorin chuckled softly as she coughed.
Coughing, the tremors of her remaining lifespan dissipated thinly into the air.
“Anyway, it seems like you and I share similar dreams.”
“Yes?”
“In this world, we’re fixing one broken railway after another, moving forward. The rails destroyed by the Ten Clans. The abandoned tracks destroyed by other monsters. By fixing them step by step, someday the railway lines will connect from station to station, and others can walk along that path too.”
“….”
“Not bad.”
Even if I didn’t have the [Complete Memory Ability], the words I heard on this day would never be forgotten.
Tang Seorin smiled softly.
“And ironically, although I can’t walk the rails you’re on, at least I’ll follow behind with the same stride as your lifespan. Though we can’t live together, we’ll be companions in death, you and I.”
Tang Seorin reached out to me with a firm grip on my arm.
“Use my lifespan wisely, Doctor Jang. Don’t waste it recklessly. You needed to reach the 10th melody to defeat the Ten Clans. This is too much of a waste. You need to become stronger.”
And so it was.
“I shouldn’t excessively consume my lifespan with the main melody. It’s just my intuition, but somehow I feel like the Ten Clans won’t be the end. They might become stronger. We might need not just 250 years, but 500, 1000 years. My lifespan needs to be accumulated as much as possible to prepare for the monsters that might appear after the Ten Clans.”
And so it was.
“And if possible, don’t reveal to the next turn’s me that you’re a regressor. I’m greedy and a zealot. I can’t think of sacrificing this turn for the next. If I find out I have hundreds of years left, I’ll definitely use it for this turn. Until the real last moment. Until the real, real last crisis arrives, guide my lifespan to accumulate.”
And so it was.
“And always be my vice guild leader in other turns.”
That didn’t happen.
Tang Seorin smiled brightly.
“Take care in the future, my time’s companion.”
That night, Tang Seorin died.
Tang Seorin’s remains were scattered on the beach.
Keeping her last wishes wasn’t as easy as it seemed.
I became stronger, and the Ten Clans couldn’t force me into adversity anymore. The task of Tang Seorin singing up to the 10th melody in the Ten Clans’ subjugation battle also disappeared.
But even as the Ten Clans disappeared, formidable enemies continued to emerge, and each time, Tang Seorin stood at the forefront.
She was always on the front lines. The edge of the broken tracks was always where she aimed to be.
Backing her up, even unwittingly, as she tried to use her own lifespan was more challenging than I thought. Eventually, there was a catastrophe where all the lifespans were reset halfway through.
Of course, it was just one mistake.
Now, over 1000 turns later, I calculated that Tang Seorin’s lifespan had accumulated to tens of thousands of years.
At least over 30,000 years of lifespan.
‘I wonder how far she could sing if she sang now?’
Sometimes, while drinking coffee, I drift into imagination.
Standing on some battlefield where Tang Seorin is singing.
The 1st melody, the 2nd melody, the 3rd melody… Even if they continue and overlap, her song never ends, eventually echoing across every shoreline where the tracks of this world connect.
Only then would Tang Seorin finally arrive at some coast she had hoped for. Wearing her hat, holding her staff, riding on a single-car train.
I hope to hear that song one day, but at the same time, I hope the day never comes when I can never hear it.
In recent turns, whenever I coincidentally meet Tang Seorin, she asks me this. Just like when we first met in the 4th turn.
“Doctor Jang. Do you have any intention of joining my guild? I can even offer you the position of vice-guild leader.”
Then, I would smile faintly and reply.
“I won’t join.”
It can’t be helped.
Isn’t the hat a bit much, Guild Leader?