Ch.148Such a Person

# 1.

“…Those who could not be saved?”

When Hyesung first became aware of their existence, she was greatly bewildered.

Time regression was a divine power exclusive to Aria, something only a deity could wield.

However, due to the Abyss’s unique characteristic <Wager>, the destroyed worlds became the property of the Abyss.

Worlds swallowed deep into the Abyss with their cycle of rebirth broken.

Each time the first iteration was destroyed, one world was absorbed by the Abyss, and they became power for the Abyss instead of returning to the goddess’s embrace.

And then billions more iterations followed.

With each iteration, the Abyss grew stronger and the number of those who couldn’t be saved increased. It was only when Hyesung’s turn came that she noticed “Those Who Could Not Be Saved.”

So Hyesung chose to become one of “Those Who Could Not Be Saved” herself, to protect and guard them from annihilation.

“Among all the saviors throughout history, she was the strongest. With my assistance, we’ve somehow managed to hold on until now… but we’re at our limit.”

If the Abyss disappears now, “Those Who Could Not Be Saved” will be trapped there for eternity.

Their souls would be imprisoned, forced to wander the Abyss for all time.

“Is there a way to prevent it?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know. What I do know is that if the Abyss disappears as things stand, all those who couldn’t be saved will be trapped forever. And…”

After hesitating briefly, Aria added in a small voice, genuinely frightened:

“Even Hyesung, who willingly jumped into destruction saying she would save them too.”

So if the Abyss disappears now, only the current iteration—this world alone—would be saved.

Just this one world.

Reminded of this fact once again, Aria lowered her head and her shoulders trembled.

“Because of me… because I couldn’t control the Abyss, countless souls…”

Who could possibly understand?

The helplessness of being forced to watch the world you created be destroyed.

And not just once, but witnessing endless cycles of destruction.

She had struggled through immeasurable time, resisted in countless ways, but now with destruction imminent…

Her worn-out heart finally breaking, Aria unconsciously murmured:

“If only I had accepted the Abyss during the first destruction… at least ‘Those Who Could Not Be Saved’ wouldn’t have come into existence.”

Billions of destructions.

Billions of regressions.

The world repeatedly faced destruction, and all those souls were captured by the Abyss.

“…I’m sorry.”

As Aria thought of those who couldn’t be saved and unconsciously began to shed tears—

Thump.

Han, who had risen from his seat and approached without notice, placed his hand on her shoulder.

“So, you’re saying you have no solution?”

His eyes were still clouded.

Yet unlike before, he no longer appeared helpless—instead, he seemed incredibly resolute.

Aria couldn’t help but ask:

“Do you… have a solution?”

“Nope.”

“…What?”

Startled by his immediate answer without hesitation, Aria was taken aback as Han smirked.

“Isn’t it obvious? How could I find a solution that even a god couldn’t discover?”

“Then why…?!”

If there’s no way to stop it.

If “Those Who Could Not Be Saved” will vanish with the Abyss and be lost forever.

Why on earth,

Have you risen again in the midst of this despair?

Unable to voice these thoughts, she hesitated, and Han calmly answered:

“Because we have to succeed.”

“…What?”

Han looked down coldly at the dumbfounded Aria and added:

“You seem to misunderstand. This isn’t something we get to choose. It’s just… something we have to accomplish somehow.”

“But there’s no way—!”

“Aria.”

His hand settled on her shoulder once more.

With an expressionless face, Han bluntly stated:

“If you want to give up, do it alone.”

His attitude was beyond cold—it was glacial.

He tightened his grip on Aria’s shoulder and said with finality:

“Don’t push your reasons for choosing to give up onto me.”

Han’s demeanor changed frighteningly at the mention of Hyesung’s existence.

Aria suddenly recalled a conversation she had with Hyesung.

Hyesung, the previous incarnation’s savior.

Her immense strength gained through unwavering integrity and relentless effort.

When she had asked that child—whom she considered flawless, strong, and the greatest savior of all time—about her previous life,

That child had whispered her secret while maintaining her usual bright smile.

“Actually, I wasn’t a good person.”

She quietly revealed her past.

Hyesung was the illegitimate child of a massive corporation.

“My life wasn’t as dramatic or terrible as those in dramas or movies.”

Her father, who maintained two households, was responsible, and over time, her mothers came to understand each other.

She grew up with her father’s full support, and despite being the eldest child of the second wife, she developed into a brilliant child worthy of inheriting the company.

But there was one problem:

“I was born with a weak body.”

While growing up as the heir, she visited a hospital due to illness and received news.

The doctor who first diagnosed Hyesung declared to the guardians who accompanied her:

“It’s a rare, incurable disease.”

It was a disease that only manifested in Hyesung, so they couldn’t even determine the proper cause.

A disease without even a name consumed Hyesung, and her once-robust body weakened with each passing day.

She was hospitalized with the belief she could be cured, but years passed without finding the cause.

Her gradually weakening body eventually became so frail she could barely walk, spending more time lying down than standing.

And so Hyesung said:

“I wanted to recover somehow… I didn’t want to die like that. My father committed numerous evil deeds for my sake.”

Those who had suffered from rare diseases for longer periods.

The treatment for diseases that affected many more people than Hyesung’s condition.

Instead of clinical trials for those treatments, they recruited for a clinical experiment solely for her.

Due to the massive capital investment, her case was prioritized, and numerous clinical trials extended Hyesung’s life somewhat.

However, as the development of Hyesung’s treatment took precedence, the development of the original treatments slowed, resulting in many deaths.

For the first time in her life, Hyesung confronted her father, the chairman of the conglomerate.

“Rather than focusing on saving just my life, I wish you would save more people.”

But she realized.

The world doesn’t treat everyone equally or operate rationally.

There are invisible ranks, and society circulates according to those ranks.

The development of Hyesung’s treatment continued, while clinical trials for rare diseases affecting many more people were indefinitely postponed.

Hyesung gradually recovered, but countless others died for her sake.

The development of treatments for those on the verge of complete recovery was delayed for the sake of extending her life by a few days.

“So I thought, rather than living by holding the lives of those people in my hands… it would be better to quietly take my own life.”

That’s when she met Han.

A man who had lost his entire family and came to protect her according to the wishes of someone he called “big brother.”

“He offered me a new solution when I was just waiting to die.”

With your birthright’s capital, other clinical trials could also be restarted.

Han’s words were true.

The development of Hyesung’s treatment was merely disguised as a corporate investment.

The money going into it was the company’s, not their personal funds.

“I proposed to my father. My treatment would continue under corporate investment, but as a donation, we would support the development of treatments that had been suspended.”

Naturally, problems arose.

Even for a personal investment, the amount was astronomical.

The chairman cherished only Hyesung and had no interest in anything else.

Even as a donation, it was an investment, which led to losses, so the chairman refused.

He said:

The only life I want to save is yours, Hyesung, and yours alone.

The reason those clinical trials were suspended was because they weren’t as exceptional as her, and if so, they should simply accept their fate.

“So I resigned myself.”

Because I could live anyway.

They say hundreds of lives are more important than one, but my survival was what mattered at that moment.

It would be better for me to live and inherit the company than for the victims of suspended clinical trials.

I thought that after inheriting my father’s company, I could save more people than those who were sacrificed because of me.

But Han, who came looking for her on behalf of the victims, asked:

“Do you know how many die because of just you?”

After revealing the truth she had been avoiding, he calmly offered her a choice:

“Either persuade your father to restart the suspended clinical trials, or die by my hand right now.”

Hyesung chose the former.

But not knowing how, she asked Han for help, and Han went straight to Hyesung’s father and threatened him:

“Hey, mister. You want to die by my hand, or invest in those clinical trials?”

The chairman chose the latter.

The suspended clinical trials were restarted, and Hyesung’s treatment continued as well.

Of course, Han was later captured by the chairman and imprisoned, beaten nearly to death, but through Hyesung’s intervention, he became her personal bodyguard.

“That’s the kind of person he is.”

When she was about to choose the Abyss because there seemed to be no other way.

Someone who suddenly appears and succeeds with methods she never imagined or expected.

That kind of heroic person.

So,

“If I have a problem, call Han as the next batter.”

Now.

Unlike me, who chooses the lesser evil when there seems to be no solution,

“Han will find a way.”

And now again.

“…I will never give up.”

Hyesung’s words were true.