Why did another 'Baek Yu-Seol' suddenly appear in this situation?
He couldn't understand it at all, and he tried to part his lips, but it felt as if a steel bar was hanging from them, preventing him from moving.
'What... is this?'
Baek Yu-Seol had once encountered another Baek Yu-Seol deep within his consciousness. At that time, Baek Yu-Seol dismissed this other version of himself as merely another version of himself, but now he knew for certain that this was not the case.
The reason was clear.
This other person had experienced something different from him.
He had never been to an internet café, had not saved the Aether World, and had died without saving the world.
In every way, he was undeniably a different person.
And as far as Baek Yu-Seol remembered—
'You… disappeared, didn't you?'
That's right.
In that consciousness world that resembled an internet café, that other Baek Yu-Seol had helped Baek Yu-Seol and then disappeared, vanishing completely.
'Yeah, there was someone like that. But that wasn't me, it was a different Baek Yu-Seol. That guy and I are not the same.'
'What…? There are more people like you?'
— There were many.
'...Many?'
— Yes. But now, there are almost none. Worlds that face destruction turn into 'forms that never existed' and merge entirely with your existing world.
'Merged...? What does that even mean...?'
— You won't understand it yet. But just know this… there are still a few like me who retain their sense of self. And right now, I'm here to help you.
'You came to help me?'
He couldn't understand.
Baek Yu-Seol wasn't even in any real danger at the moment. In fact, nothing significant was happening.
All he had done was cut through the 'space' in front of him. That was it.
— That's the problem.
'...'
— Cutting through space… do you think that's something you can do at your current level?
'What…?'
— That's a level so high that it's beyond what you can perceive unless you've reached Ha Tae-Ryeong's level.
He couldn't believe it.
The fact that slicing space, something he had done without thinking, was actually such an absurdly advanced skill—
'That's…!'
He wanted to refute it, but his voice wouldn't come out.
— Damn it! Soon you won't even be able to speak. But you'd better listen carefully. Your growth has gone way beyond the limit. In just two years, you've grown far too fast. Your 'Narrative Power' can't handle it… it'll cause your mind to collapse."
He wanted to ask what that even meant, but he couldn't.
— So... Damn it, there's no time. Baek Yu-Seol, listen to me one last time. The enlightenment you just gained from cutting through space… never use it anywhere else. Don't even think about it, and don't dwell on it!
"Wait a second..."
"Remember my words! Someone is deliberately accelerating your growth. Even if you have to use the power you've realized, to ■ at least..."
Snap!
With that, the voice of 'another Baek Yu-Seol' disappeared completely.
"Gasp!"
Regaining his ability to move, Baek Yu-Seol fell to one knee and supported himself with his sword.
"Hey, hey, what's going on? Are you okay?!"
Panallet rushed over to help him, and with her support, Baek Yu-Seol managed to stand up, albeit with difficulty.
"Ugh..."
His head throbbed painfully.
"Your... your nose is bleeding!"
Blood trickled from his eyes and nose, and his head felt like it was about to explode with pain.
"What's going on with you, seriously?!"
"I think... I swung my sword too hard..."
"What? Just from swinging your sword hard, you end up like this? Hey, hey!"
Thud!
Baek Yu-Seol collapsed to the ground after uttering those words.
Panallet, looking flustered, hurriedly supported him and lifted her head.
"Holy..."
The gray temple, which had seemed so far away, was now right in front of them.
Baek Yu-Seol's act of collapsing space had completely closed the distance.
"That's... impressive, really..."
Though he had fainted after swinging his sword, the sheer act of slicing through the spatial distortion itself was a truly remarkable feat.
At just eighteen years old, if he's this strong now, how much stronger will he become by the time he's twenty?
"…I have no idea."
That's a problem for the future. For now, what she needed to do was support Baek Yu-Seol and get him to the temple.
Although he had collapsed, covered in blood, surely a temple would offer healing or some kind of aid, right?
***
Baek Yu-Seol dreamed.
To be precise, he dreamed as 'Character Baek Yu-Seol', standing on a field with a sword in hand.
'Huh?'
He raised his hand to inspect the sword.
It wasn't an especially rare item.
At best, it was of superior grade, but not beyond that…
Ah! He remembered now.
It was the Teripon Sword, a magical sword of high quality he had purchased at a hefty price from the marketplace, reluctant to use it outside because it seemed too valuable to waste.
He raised his head and looked straight ahead.
'Huh? Wait a second.'
It was only then that he noticed something was off. Baek Yu-Seol pointed his sword forward, realizing the situation was anything but ordinary.
In front of him stood a monster that could not be ignored.
[Wolf King of the Grasslands]
A wolf the size of a house glared at him with glowing red eyes. It was a familiar monster.
He had encountered this boss back when he was in his second or third year of playing the game.
The memory wasn't pleasant—he remembered struggling a lot.
Its attack patterns were chaotic and hard to learn.
And so.
Here.
Character Baek Yu-Seol dies.
…He dies dozens of times.
Thud!
"Ugh…!"
When he came to his senses, the Wolf King's claw was already piercing through his abdomen. The pain was unbearably vivid, so real it was impossible to believe it was just a dream.
"…Hah!"
Then, in the next moment, his awareness shifted. He was back to the moment just before it happened.
Baek Yu-Seol was now unscathed. He was facing off against the Wolf King, his sword pointed at the massive beast. The Wolf King circled him cautiously, as if gauging its prey.
'Huh? Wait…!'
Before he could process it, the Wolf King charged at him. He hurriedly teleported sideways to dodge, but his range of movement was shorter than he anticipated.
'What the hell… damn it!'
Crunch!
The Wolf King bit into him, and he died.
When he opened his eyes again, the scene had reset, repeating itself exactly as before.
In the middle of the grasslands, holding only a single sword, Character Baek Yu-Seol stood to face the Wolf King.
What kind of bravery had driven him back then? Or was bravery even necessary?
'After all, my lives are infinite.'
If he died, he could simply try again.
This time, he decided to practice dodging that pattern.
Next time he planned to figure out the hitbox of that pattern… could he walk away from it, or did he absolutely need to jump? Could he even counterattack during that timing?
And so, one life after another.
He sacrificed another life. And another.
That was how Baek Yu-Seol grew stronger.
It was the secret behind how Baek Yu-Seol, who had no talent and started out weak, managed to become strong.
'…Through countless deaths, I learned and grew stronger.'
Die, and die again.
When those seemingly meaningless deaths finally reached the tens of thousands—
"Gasp! Huff…!"
Baek Yu-Seol at last stood victorious, his sword buried in the Wolf King's neck, towering over its lifeless body.
"Ah…"
Thud!
Kneeling on the ground, Baek Yu-Seol ran his hands over his body. He had lost count of how many times he had died.
Was it truly necessary to lose this many lives just to defeat the Wolf King of the grasslands?
But what was even more chilling—
'...Am I even the same person as the one I was before?'
That thought crept into his mind.
The Baek Yu-Seol of the first attempt, who died instantly from the Wolf King's single strike, and the Baek Yu-Seol of the second attempt, who at least managed to endure for a moment, were 'two different Baek Yu-Seols.'
He was able to perceive that difference.
When the Baek Yu-Seol of the first attempt failed, that world was erased entirely, spiraling straight into destruction.
Then, the world of the second Baek Yu-Seol began… a new world where he still breathed.
It wasn't simply time rewinding and repeating itself. Every failure meant the complete annihilation of one world.
And yet—
'And yet, back when I was playing Aether Online, how did I handle it? I died, and died, and died again.'
He died out of curiosity.
He died to experiment.
He died because someone provoked him.
He died to complete quests.
He died just to return to a village faster.
Thousands? Tens of thousands?
No.
He must have died millions of times.
Through countless deaths, endlessly repeating.
'...How many worlds have I pushed into destruction?'
[Welcome to Aether Online!]
The game's vibrant and exhilarating welcome screen had left such a strong impression on him.
It was truly harsh, cruel, and merciless. If only his mind had shattered, it might have been a relief, but even that was denied to him by the blessing of Pink Spring Moon.
In a way, that was fortunate.
Even in this situation, Baek Yu-Seol could remain calm and objectively analyze reality.
'...Saying that all this happened because of me is an exaggeration.'
Every Baek Yu-Seol was a different Baek Yu-Seol.
However, the hypothesis that the Baek Yu-Seol of the second attempt inherited the memories of the Baek Yu-Seol from the first attempt seemed undeniable.
Although they were distinct from each other, one Baek Yu-Seol passed on his memories to the next, aiding him.
Rubbing his eyes with one hand, he thought slowly.
'It's still uncertain. I still don't know why I had to experience the situations of all these Baek Yu-Seols as if they were part of a game.'
For an ordinary person, such circumstances might have torn their mind to shreds, but Baek Yu-Seol did not crumble so easily.
'If anything, it's a good thing. It proves my hypothesis.'
There was always a lingering question he struggled with:
Was Aether World just a game?
If so, is this world really just a mere game?
It was a fundamental question.
Baek Yu-Seol cherished everyone in this world.
From his closest companions like Flame, Hong Bi-Yeon, and Eisel, to all the relationships he had built so far… he treasured them all deeply.
But what if they were all just part of a game? What if he himself had entered a virtual world made up of 1s and 0s?
If that were true... everything would feel utterly meaningless.
However, through this current ordeal, he became certain.
'I really was living in reality, after all.'
His chest sank with relief.
Some might say that such a realization was an underwhelming conclusion, given the countless deaths of his other selves that he had witnessed.
Yet, on the contrary—
Because so many versions of himself had died.
Perhaps it was because his memories of death had worn thin that he now had the luxury of such thoughts.
For the current Baek Yu-Seol, the fact that all the relationships he cherished were not falsehoods but real was far more comforting than the deaths of countless other Baek Yu-Seols.
'...Then, I need to be even more determined.'
He slowly opened his eyes.
"What? What the—? You're already awake?"
"We thought the brain's reaction was so severe that you'd be unconscious for at least a month!"
Two dark-skinned priests in ceremonial robes immediately came into view. In the past, he would have instinctively drawn his sword, but now, he calmly raised his upper body instead.
He hadn't forgotten his current objective.
"Are you priests of the Gray Divine Moon Church?"
"Uh, yeah, that's right. And you're Baek Yu-Seol, right? You're not about to suddenly draw your sword, are you?"
"Of course not."
Baek Yu-Seol rose from his seat and bowed to them respectfully.
"I've come because I heard you could help me."
"Uh…?"
The priests exchanged glances, clearly not expecting him to bow like this.
"So please, I ask you… help me find Scarlet."
Even after saying that, Baek Yu-Seol didn't straighten his back, keeping a deep 90-degree bow.
The priests were caught off guard by how polite and respectful he was. They were flustered.
Initially, they had planned to reprimand him for destroying the spatial distortion maze. Searching for the witch was supposed to come only after that.
But whatever words of rebuke they had prepared suddenly evaporated.
Baek Yu-Seol looked so desperate, so earnest, that they couldn't bring themselves to scold him.
"...Alright, fine. Restoring the maze won't take that much time anyway. Finding the person you're looking for is more important."
"Hooh! We've been in your position before."
"You said you're searching for the Witch Queen?"
At that, Baek Yu-Seol raised his head and nodded. The dark-skinned priests chuckled helplessly and spoke.
"Never thought I'd see the day we'd be helping a mage of Stella."
"Follow us. You're one lucky guy."
"Excuse me?"
One of the dark-skinned priests grinned slyly.
"By chance, there's a priest here who, 400 years ago, played a part in uncovering traces of the Witch Queen, Scarlet."
At those words, a smile spread across Baek Yu-Seol's face. He had gained an unexpected, significant clue in an unlikely place.