Chapter 334: Memories of the Puppeteer

Chapter
334: Memories of the Puppeteer

“I
can show you my memories of the person with the Hero Gene.”

Memory
sharing.

The
assumption based on the Puppeteer’s words was not wrong.

“To
be precise… it’s closer to a form of experience.”

The
Puppeteer can show and let others experience their memories.

However,
Balkan did not easily open his mouth even when presented with the
opportunity to face the truth.

‘Is
that memory worth committing an inhumane act for?’

The
conditions that came with experiencing memory sharing were more
demanding than he had imagined.

Too
demanding for him, if not for others.

“……”

He
lifted the morally reprehensible strand of hair with the very tips of
his thumb and forefinger.

His
younger sister, whom he had been desperately searching for… her
pubic hair.

The
most intimate strand of hair of his precious younger sister, who
always followed him around calling him ‘Oppa.’

This
was not just a matter of moral depravity.

A
sense of guilt and shame rose from the depths of his heart.

But.

‘…I’m
sorry.’

Even
so, he had to overcome it.

‘It’s
all for you… forgive this Oppa.’

To
steel his will, he took a deep breath, straightened the curly hair,
and wrapped it around his middle finger.

“………Hoo.”

Then,
he exhaled briefly.

Barely
overcoming the depravity that felt like it was burning his brain, he
looked at the Puppeteer.

“……Ah……”

The
Puppeteer was staring blankly at the hero’s brother, who had
wrapped a part of the hero around his hand.

The
Puppeteer captured the beautiful sight in their eyes and thought
to themselves.

‘Perfect…’

The
hero, who was the most desired being in the past, present, and
future, and the hero’s brother, who had opened their eyes to a new
sensation, were united as one.

Gulp…

They
swallowed involuntarily, feeling as if they were facing the ultimate
treasure that could not be obtained even with billions of dollars.

‘I
want it. I want it so… badly.’

But
now was not the time to express desire, but to keep a promise.

Swish.

The
Puppeteer also wrapped a part of the hero around their finger and
then reached out to the hero’s brother.

“Take
it.”

Balkan
glared contemptuously at the Puppeteer, who had unconsciously
spoken to him in a polite tone, and then took a deep breath.

Soon,
their hands overlapped.

***

Is
this what it feels like to float on the sea without a tube?

Balkan
was familiar with this strange sense of floating and dizziness.

‘A
mindscape…?’

The
last bastion protecting the spirit of life, the deep sea of the dream
world, or a space where consciousness and unconsciousness come
together.

A
place where the history of a person’s life is projected.

That
was the mindscape.

It
felt different from when he forcibly invaded Serif’s mindscape using
the Incubus’s ability to brainwash.

Judging
from the fact that the surrounding scenery changed in an instant, it
was similar to Bunny’s case, but… it wasn’t exactly the same.

His
body was not doing anything, but the world was passing by as it
pleased.

A
landscape like looking down on a desert.

The
wind blowing from the desert, which looked like the outside of the
Labyrinth City, swept his bangs.

‘A
first-person video…’

It
was neither a mindscape where interaction was possible like with
Serif, nor a place where the owner of the mindscape could control and
govern everything like with Bunny.

It
felt like watching a video made based on the Puppeteer’s
memories.

Pee-ing—

He
faintly felt the sensation of moving a thread from his fingertips.

It
wasn’t just watching a screening like a normal 2D movie, but the
Puppeteer’s memories felt real like a 9D movie.

As
the Puppeteer said, he was experiencing their memories.

Clank!
Clatter—!

The
mouths of the puppets hanging on the ends of the threads opened with
a clunk, and the Mana cannons loaded inside were fired.

Puh-uh-uh-ung!
Kwaaaang!

“Kuaaaaaaack!”

“Hold
on! Hold on! Hold on as much as you can!!”

As
the black ray mixed with Mana and demonic energy swept forward, the
knights at the end gritted their teeth and blocked the attack with
huge shields.

However,
such resistance was easily shattered in the face of immense energy.

The
Puppeteer’s puppets, which had melted the terrain within a radius
of tens of meters along with the knights, closed their mouths with a
clunk as if they had finished their work, and began to cool down the
overloaded Mana cannons.

‘…If
there had been just one of those, the battle would have been quite
difficult.’

Those
were probably the Puppeteer’s real puppets.

It
was fortunate that the Puppeteer didn’t use them in the last
battle.

“Haa,
so annoying… the kingdom’s knights.”

His
mouth opened on its own and spat out a voice mixed with annoyance.

Was
this also something the Puppeteer had said sometime?

A
moment when he was speechless at the mysterious phenomenon.

“I’ll
wipe out the rest too—”

“That’s
enough.”

Along
with a sensation that made his whole body tingle in an instant, an
intense energy flew from behind.

‘The
goosebumps I feel are not mine.’

The
emotions that the Puppeteer felt at this day, at this moment,
were influencing him.

Kaaang!

The
Puppeteer’s vision turned back, having stretched out Mana threads
to block an intangible blow.

There,
a woman stood holding a flag spear.

The
woman’s flag spear, clad in pure white armor as if gathering all the
light of the world, slammed into the ground.

“Pure
white armor and a flag spear tied to it, pure Divinity… are you the
rumored hero who sealed away Envy and Arrogance?”

He
could barely hear the words that the Puppeteer uttered as soon as
they saw the woman.

Balkan
felt all his nerves focused on the woman in front of him.

Long
black straight hair and delicate features gathered on a small head.

A
modest chest that wasn’t too burdensome, a lean female figure that
seemed to be between Ellie and Denshi.

A
woman with a familiar face and a familiar body.

“Yes,
I am the hero.”

A
somewhat delicate atmosphere, yet a confident figure who clearly
stated her case.

‘So-eun-ah…’

…His
younger sister, whom he had longed to see, was there.

Although
it was only in a memory, a choking feeling rose at the fact that he
was able to see his precious sister’s appearance again with his own
eyes.

“Is
that so, die.”

Taang!

And,
along with the Puppeteer’s murmur, a fist-sized hole was pierced
through his younger sister’s solar plexus.

The
Puppeteer had gathered the threads into a spherical shape and
then fired them like a rotating drill.

‘…Huh?’

Balkan
tried to move quickly, but he couldn’t move at all.

Only
experience was allowed in this memory.

As
if the past that had already passed could not be changed.

Thud—!

With
a terrible sound, his younger sister collapsed powerlessly.

Because
the thread sphere had penetrated all the way to her back, So-eun,
with a fist-sized hole in her solar plexus, fell without any
resistance.

Damage
that would be fatal to an ordinary person.

‘Ah,
ah…’

His
mind turned completely white in an instant.

Reason
still fully knew that she wasn’t dead… but helplessly watching his
younger sister bleeding and collapsing on the floor like a corpse was
by no means easy.

He
would rather be tortured than see his precious person suffer like
that.

As
expected.

“……Ptooey!”

The
miracle of healing spewed out with pure Divinity once wrapped around
So-eun’s body, and she stood up again as if nothing had happened.

With
a somewhat nonchalant expression, she spat out phlegm mixed with
blood.

“You
should have shot me in the head if you were going to shoot. Moron.”

‘…Huh…?’

Was
it because she had been rolling around in this world for quite some
time?

His
younger sister, who was always innocent and kind in front of her
brother, raised her middle finger at the Puppeteer while uttering
somewhat heavy profanity.

Balkan
saw himself with adrenaline rushing to his head at the sight of his
younger sister’s changed appearance.

“Hoo.”

Pee-ing!
Pee-ing!

Before
he could be flustered by that unfamiliar yet familiar appearance, the
Puppeteer, who had lightly admired, flicked the threads and tried
to control the Mana cannon puppet that had melted the knights.

However,
the puppets hanging on the ends of the threads did not respond.

Creak,
squeak…

“What…?!
Already?”

The
puppets, which had been pierced by the spear in a flash and lost
their function, could not properly operate the Mana contained within
them and gasped.

Kwaaaaaaaang!!

The
Puppeteer, who had lost the initiative in the battle in a moment
of panic, had a spear blade hanging between their eyebrows.

Thwack—

There
was no reversal.

The
sensation of having their forehead pierced was clearly felt, and
Balkan and the Puppeteer opened their eyes in another place.

“……Did
I die? I?”

If
they hadn’t cast a spell to revive in a puppet’s body in case of
death, they would have surely died.

Even
though they were careless, the Puppeteer trembled and twisted
their lips at the humiliation of being defeated by a human in that
fleeting moment.

“……Unexpectedly,
I might be able to get a good puppet?”

A
powerful human who could kill them in an instant if they seized the
opportunity well.

They
had already heard rumors that they had sealed two demons, but they
didn’t know it would be to this extent.

“Good.
I want it.”

To
create a new weapon, the Puppeteer jumped up and stretched out
the threads.

It
was the beginning of a twisted obsession with the hero.

***

After
that, the Puppeteer went to every battlefield where the hero
participated in the body of a puppet.

The
second battle was a draw.

The
third battle was a victory.

There
was no carelessness, and they prepared relics, artifacts, and puppets
that could seal the nimble movements by reviving the memories of the
battles they had fought so far.

But
the decisive cause of defeat was not just for that reason.

“H-Hero!
Hero…!”

“Kuh-heuk,
because of, because of us…! Because we couldn’t avoid the
attack…! The Hero…!”

“Uwaaaah!
Sniffle, hwaaaaaaah!”

The
faces of the citizens and knights were full of guilt, and the cries
of the children held in their parents’ arms echoed high in the sky.

And
in front of them, the hero, whose upper and lower body were split in
half while protecting the fleeing people, was spewing blood from
their mouth.

The
Puppeteer was enveloped in deep questions.

Why?

Why
didn’t they abandon them?

Why
didn’t they avoid the attack while protecting those bugs?

The
Puppeteer, who had stretched out threads to make the hero, who
could not resist, into a puppet doll.

“……”

After
much deliberation, they retracted all the threads.

The
moment they turned away in confusion.

“…Oppa……”

A
small voice flowed from the blood-soaked hero’s mouth.

“I
want to, see you……”

Balkan
heard his younger sister’s voice calling him through the Puppet
Master’s memory vision.

Crackle—

Blood
seeped from his tightly clenched fist.