episode_0028

Yunyoung’s ancestors were a family of considerable influence in Heaven. They had accumulated a significant amount of merit over generations by performing good deeds, which earned them widespread renown.

Yunyoung’s kind nature and warm heart could be said to be an inheritance from his ancestors.

Among them, naturally, there were also grim reapers who guided the souls of the dead, and through their duties, they became aware of the pitiful story of their descendant, Yunyoung.

The ancestors could not stand by and watch the life of their descendant, who was in such a dire situation.

What they chose was the forbidden among taboos, something that should absolutely never be done. But for the sake of their descendant, they were willing to cast aside everything they had.

The very thought of it was utterly sacrilegious: God-Slaying──.

To kill a god.

Even a god, the supreme ruler of the heavens, was not completely immune to death. Death came for everyone. However, as an absolute being, they would eventually revive, though it would take some time.

Yunyoung’s ancestors were planning something, aiming for that gap in time. It was to kill a god, temporarily seize their power, and gain the ability to alter the past and future.

Of course, the price for this was that the spirits of those ancestors, who were enjoying happiness in Heaven, would all be annihilated.

They, who had been enjoying a luxurious life in Heaven thanks to their accumulated merit, were prepared for even annihilation for the sake of their descendant, Yunyoung.

“Kill the gods.”

The one who said this was Nakamura, one of Yunyoung’s ancestors who had gone to Japan during the Joseon Dynasty.

Joseon had dispatched envoys to rescue those who were taken as prisoners to Japan and worked to bring them back, but there were also those who refused to return during this process.

However, such cases were few, and most were native Koreans who had lived and died on the Korean Peninsula.

“To kill a god… I never thought we would do such a thing.”

“Still, for our poor descendant, we cannot just stand by and watch.”

“Living in Heaven isn’t bad, but we can’t just watch our descendant suffer, can we?”

-2-

Suddenly, a door appeared in the room where Yunyoung was, and several men rushed in. It was the moment the god who had been toying with Yunyoung turned his head back.

“Huh?”

With that sound, his neck was snipped, and he fell lifelessly.

The god rolling on the floor was, astonishingly, not dead. With his severed head, he glared and shouted at the intruders.

“You bastards, what are you doing…!”

But that roar was short-lived. His head was crunched under a foot and burst. The intruder would not leave the babbling god alone.

In the sudden chaos, Yunyoung couldn’t understand what was happening. The god who had been mocking him while toying with the being resembling Mira was dead.

And the being resembling Mira, who was beside him, also collapsed with a thud. It seemed to have been a form maintained by the god’s power.

Even so, seeing a woman identical to Mira suffer such a fate made his heart ache. But for now, he had no time to worry about it. Yunyoung looked at the men who had burst in and asked.

“Who… are you?”

“Rest assured. We are on your side.”

“We came to save you!”

“What do you mean?”

Yunyoung was bewildered by the behavior of those who had suddenly blurted out such words, but he did not lower his guard.

“We are your ancestors.”

“Ancestors…?”

“Look closely at our faces. You’ll get a strong feeling.”

Yunyoung listened to their words and slowly examined their faces. Although they were clearly strangers he had never met before today, they gave off a familiar and close impression, as if he had known them for a long time.

And in their appearance, he could glimpse the faces of his own father and grandfather, whom he had seen in photographs.

“…!”

“Even if it’s hard to believe right now, trust us for now.”

The man who said this reached out his hand towards the dead god’s body. Soon, a bright, shimmering beam of light began to gather, growing larger and taking on a spherical form.

Yunyoung felt an immense power surging from it. The man withdrew his hand, as if he had completely extracted it from the corpse.

“Take it.”

The man extended his hand, as if to hand the sphere of power to Yunyoung.

“What is this?”

“It is the unique power and absolute authority that can change your past. Divine power.”

“Divine power…? I don’t know what it is, but why are you giving it to me?”

This whole situation was full of questions for Yunyoung. While he was glad the annoying god had been killed, it was true that he found it hard to trust the people who had suddenly appeared and done the killing.

“With this power, you can go back to the past.”

“Go back to the past…?”

“Don’t you want to change your miserable and unfortunate past?”

“I want to change it. If only I could, I’d do anything. But… there’s no such convenient story in this world, is there?”

“That’s why we stepped forward.”

“Just believe us, descendant!”

At that moment, the outside became noisy.

“Tch, it seems they’ve already grasped the situation.”

“We’ll hold them off, so please take care of this one.”

“Come on, we’ll face you no matter what!”

All but one of the ancestors opened the door and left.

“We cannot delay any longer. All of them are people who have prepared for death for your sake.”

“What’s happening? Are you going to die?”

“Cast aside your doubts! Right now, only think of yourself. Think only of your position. You want to go back to the past, don’t you!”

As he heard those words, Yunyoung’s eyes trembled violently, then soon steadied. In their place was the firm gaze of a man who had made a decision.

‘That’s right. I wasn’t born to die senselessly, hit by a truck or something like that─. I wasn’t born to end my life like that, damn it.’

Firming his resolve, Yunyoung received the divine power.

“Kuaaaagh… Aaaaah──!”

An excruciating pain, as if he were being burned alive, enveloped him. Agonized groans painfully spilled from his lips.

But he endured.

‘This much pain doesn’t matter at all. If I can change the past, I can endure even more.’

As Yunyoung frowned, his face contorted in pain, cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Blood trickled from his tightly bitten lips.

‘If I can use this divine power, or anything else, I will. I’ll change that damned past!’

Was this what it felt like to plunge a hand into flames? It was so agonizing that he felt his mind was shriveling up and burning away.

But he endured. Soon, the pain subsided, and as he began to adapt, he felt alright. Yunyoung let out a long sigh he had been holding in, and composed himself.

The god watching him could not hide his expression of shock.

“He… completely absorbed the divine power…? Did such a soul capable of that even exist?”

Yunyoung, breathing heavily and cooling his feverish body, didn’t hear his ancestor’s muttering. Yunyoung still looked incredibly strained, but he raised his head and called out to the ancestor.

“Hey.”

At that sound, the ancestor, who had been dazed, came to his senses.

“What do I do now?”

At that sound, the ancestor recalled their purpose: to guide their distant descendant, Yunyoung, to the past.

“Reach out your hand to me.”

“Like this?”

As Yunyoung extended his hand, the ancestor muttered something. Then, an engraving appeared on the back of Yunyoung’s hand.

“What’s this? A tattoo-like mark just appeared.”

“It’s the spell for regression to the past. However…”

The ancestor hesitated to speak. But as desperate screams began to echo from outside, it seemed he realized there was no time.

“The success rate is 1%.”

“1%…?”

“Even if you possess divine power, if you try to travel through time, the angels guarding spacetime will pursue you. If they catch you, it will be a big problem.”

“I have no intention of being caught either.”

Yunyoung was calm. Even a 1% chance didn’t matter. If he could erase these agonizing and terrible times, he would bet on an even lower probability.

“It seems I worried needlessly. Good. The usage of the spell is simple. Ardently think of the moment you want to return to.”

“The moment I want to return to──?”

Everything stemmed from the incident on that day. If only he could avoid that incident, everything that had happened until now could be undone.

There was not an ounce of hesitation or doubt about the moment he chose.

Soon, Yunyoung’s body began to blur.

“What is this…?”

Yunyoung, flustered, raised his arm in bewilderment.

“It seems you’ve chosen the right time. From now on, you will travel back in time to the past. It won’t be easy. We haven’t done it ourselves, so it’s hard to tell you the exact details, but…”

“Thank you, Ancestor-nim.”

“Ancestor…?”

“No matter how I think about it, you seem like my ancestors.”

“Hmph, so you say.”

Yunyoung’s body began to fade more and more.

“Ancestor-nim, there’s one last thing I want to ask. If I leave, what will happen to all of you?”

“Well… we’ll die.”

“I see──.”

Yunyoung immediately understood. It was something he had already expected.

They had caused a massive commotion by killing a god and seizing its power. It was easy to grasp what kind of fate awaited ancestors who had instigated such a deed.

However, he had no intention of worrying or grieving. Showing such weakness would be an insult to the resolute ancestors.

Nothing is gained without sacrifice. Those who move forward should not look back. This doesn’t mean forgetting the efforts of those who sacrificed.

It means to engrave in one’s heart that there were people who pushed them forward, and then to advance.

Before Yunyoung disappeared, the ancestor, who had only been gruff, wore a gentle smile on his lips.

“You must change the past.”

Yunyoung nodded.