Chapter 221. < The God Standing in the Square (1) >
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Translator: Seven
1.
While talking about sacrificing herself for the kingdom, Ja Soo-jung smiled brightly.
As I looked at her smiling face, I suddenly recalled the memories of the trauma.
‘Right.’
Beyond the fact that I was simply Kim Gong-ja, Young Master of the Infernal Heavens*, and the Moon of the Ivansia Family, I remembered the scenes that I’d witnessed when I fell into the trauma. (*:Infernal Heavens(마천-魔天) not Demonic Cult(마교-魔敎).)
‘I’ve pretty much witnessed the Tower Master’s life.’
The moment Ja Soo-jung rose to noble ranks.
When she first became a Baron, she instantly pushed the Capital City into a whirlpool of political strife by marrying a relative of the same sex.
‘In every memory, Viscount Ja Soo-jung is smiling.’
And in all of the scenes I saw, Viscount Ja Soo-jun was smiling happily.
Even though my ability was to see [trauma].
‘That’s not all.’
I even knew that Ja Soo-jung would eventually gain the title of Duke.
Even the things that happened next, I’d already [seen] them before.
‘So why?’
Why did I see even Ja Soo-jung’s happy moments?
Why did I see the moments after this?
‘No way…’
Now that I knew about Ja Soo-jung’s power, I realized a possibility.
It was a possibility that was almost improbable. So much so that it would be hard for an ordinary person to even think about it.
However, as someone who had performed 4,000 days of regression, it was a conclusion that I could easily reach.
‘The Tower Master’s entire life is a trauma.’
Regardless of how happily she smiled.
‘From the time she was born until now, there was no [time that wasn’t trauma].’
Upon realizing this, I unwittingly opened my mouth.
“…for how long?”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung turned to look at me.
I told her.
“For how long will you enforce the Golden Ruler?”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung smiled.
“Forever.”
“Until there are no more victimized subjects?”
“Yes. Not just the subjects. Didn’t this one tell the Advisor, no, Mr. Gong-ja?”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung leaned close to me and whispered into my ear.
“This one will go beyond this Kingdom and cover the entire world.”
“…”
“I’m sorry, but I took a peek into Mr. Gong-ja’s memories. Mr. Gong-ja is looking at this one’s memories, so it seems like a fair trade.”
As I expected.
Viscount Ja Soo-jung had the power to see someone else’s past.
There was no way she wouldn’t look into the past of an irregular person like me who suddenly appeared.
“You are the Young Master of the Infernal Heavens. You lead a very interesting group, Mr. Gong-ja. Well. You’re bound to have such relationships when you’re like that.”
The Viscount looked at me as if she was looking at a cherished junior.
“I know you want to stop this one. You do not want to watch someone be in pain. However, Mr. Gong-ja. Please stick to your duties.”
Duties.
“You are the one who sides with the powerless more than anyone else. Someone has to take the lead in enforcing the Golden Rule. To replace the cries of the weak. Isn’t that your duty?”
“I…”
“Do not try to stop me. This is a warning.”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung touched my ear.
“This one has a bad habit of inadvertently destroying the lovely children she sees.”
“…”
“Mr. Gong-ja, you don’t think you’re the first person to try to stop this one, do you? Do you know how many tears His Majesty, who is sitting on that throne, shed? If this one were to collect the tears of all of my lovers, we wouldn’t need to worry about a drought next year.”
That was probably not a lie.
The warning given to me was not a bluff either.
Because God always gave warnings before she destroyed humans.
The Tower Master had already warned me once by trying to stop me from viewing her trauma.
“You…”
And just like that time, I opened my mouth despite that warning.
“Does doing this… make you happy?”
“Yes.”
Small nails gently scratched my ear.
“Can’t you feel it? This one is overjoyed. This one possesses my lovers’ happiness and unhappiness. One of this one’s smiles is enough to make those children happy, and one of this one’s glances is enough to make them unhappy. How could it not be enjoyable?”
“Even if you continue to be tortured in the future?”
“Even if I continue to be tortured in the future.”
“Why… Do you accept even pain as happiness?”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung smiled.
“Pain hurts. However, there’s an even sweeter reward in front of me.”
“What is that?”
“The tears this one’s lovers will shed. As they watch this one suffer, their hearts will collapse and their visages will crumble. It’s a sight so sweet that I want to keep looking at it.”
“…you love your lovers. To put your loved ones in pain is…”
“It is wrong, but all of the children that this one loves are those who have killed or ruined others.”
“…”
“Then isn’t it natural for such children to suffer?”
“…”
“I told you before, Mr. Gong-ja. You are not the first, and you will not be the last to try and stop this one. This one made this moment to bring harm to this one.”
“Made…?”
“Yes. Indulging in misfortune is something of a hobby. It’s like a taste for seeing the beauty in broken people. This one’s appearance and eloquence is enough to capture them. Talent. Achievements that no one can deny, and skills that no one can protest against. This one tried to achieve it, and did it.”
“…”
“Shall I prove it to you?”
At that moment, there was a commotion in the middle of the assembly.
“The disturbance has ended!”
It was a large noble with horns on his head. The noble’s voice was as loud as his size, and when he shouted, the amniotic fluid shook.
“The rebellions have been suppressed! The panic has ended! Now, we just have to clean up the mess, there is no need for such extreme laws…”
I used Baron Gu Won-ha’s information spell to read the noble’s personal details.
+
[Pa San-woo(破山牛)]
Identity: Noble. Margrave.
Relationship: Viscount’s Political Rival.
Danger Rating: White.
Remarks: Head of the Cow Count Family. In the past, he was involved in the kidnapping of another family’s Young Miss. He aided and abetted the kidnapping resulting in the destruction of a fief. Bordered in the northeast, by the Bear Count, famous for its mining industry. All of the mining slaves that flee from the neighboring territory Bear are captured and returned to the Bear Count.
Neutral.
Can kill.
+
It wasn’t just Count Pa San-woo.
“That’s ridiculous. No…”
A noble who seemed to be about the same age as Viscount Ja Soo-jung muttered despairingly. The noble went through the document in his hands before flipping it through its pages one by one, then two by two, then three by three, before finally grabbing the entire document.
“Members of the Viscount’s faction… Did know you? About this?”
Those behind Viscount Ja Soo-jung did not answer. Then, the noble clenched his teeth.
“Regardless of the reason, for a girl with age similar to mine. No, even if it isn’t a girl. The logic behind it doesn’t matter. I… hate this bill. I just hate it!”
I also read that noble’s personal information.
+
[Sun Jo-hae]
Identity: Noble. Marquis.
Relationship: None.
Danger Rating: White.
Remarks: Head of the Crab Marquis Family. When he was young, he wandered off to see with a strong sense of adventure, but he met a marine Dragon and was cursed. He lost his memory and his ego. Due to his immaturity, the Marquis used his family crest and lodged with a Dragon Country, which eroded the foundation of the Marquis’ power.
Contrary to his external appearance, the age of his ego is 13 years or younger.
Unaware of the fact that rebels had been gathering in his own territory, the Marquis had inadvertently been a great help in the East Sea Rebellion.
Neutral.
Can kill.
+
Afterward, many nobles opened their mouths.
And each time I read their information, I found the [same thing].
‘None.’
Not a single one.
‘None of them are without sin, not even one.’
Those records had been written by the original owner of this body.
The person known as Baron Gu Won-ha.
‘In this entire assembly. Not even one person.’
Marquis Baek Seol-to murdered a child. Viscount Sun Heuk-sin was a cannibal. Viscount Dae Ha-ran slaughtered civilians. Count Pa San-woo ruined a fief. Marquis Sun Jo-hae failed to stop a rebellion. Baron Hae Myeong-seom, the Apathetic Duke, the Sun King…
Some were ignorant. Some were incompetent. Some just didn’t care. Hundreds of nobles with thousands of excuses for hundreds of circumstances.
But the commonalities were clear.
Among them.
There was not a single person who hadn’t sinned before.
“Everyone.”
That was why Viscount Ja Soo-jung was so relaxed.
“Everyone has been too relaxed over the past 1,000 years, especially in the past 600 years and even more so in the past 60 years.”
None of them had saved more people than Viscount Ja Soo-jung.
“What did you do when tens of thousands of subrace slaves were dying in the Bear Count’s ore mines? Did you not know? Did you not have the power to interfere? Were you not ready? Perhaps that’s the reason. However, hundreds of years are far too long for such an excuse to work.”
None of these people were more competent than Viscount Ja Soo-jung.
“The disturbances have ended? The rebellions have ended?”
“…”
“Do you think the disturbances have ended because the conspicuous enemies are gone? Do you think they’re really gone? Everyone. They are not gone, they are just holding themselves back. Those who were whipped in the back will never forget the pain they suffered.”
That was right.
“The families with dead loved ones will never forget the temperature of the soil around their grave.”
That was why in a different world, a being known as the Heavenly Demon, bowed.
“Those who were forced to avoid carriages on the road would not forget that humiliation. The mother would never forget her son, who was conscripted but never returned, when she lay in bed. On a winter day when there is nothing to eat, people would never forget the pain in their mouths from chewing bark.”
That was why, a being known as the Heavenly Demon, bowed.
That was why, a being known as the Heavenly Demon, bowed.
That was why, a being known as the Heavenly Demon, bowed.
“Did they just disappear? Is it all in the past now? Are their grudges old and don’t need to be resolved, or are they too boring to be worth hearing?”
They couldn’t be.
“They can’t be.”
And that was why they bowed down.
“They’re not joking.”
This world was no different, no world was different.
Someone had to bow.
So it was in this world.
An untouched stone in Baron Shin Weol-suk’s territory rolled over on its own. The people murmured, saying that it was a bad sign when the rocks in the territory began to wander on their own.
And Young Miss Baek Seol-to killed a commoner child with a whip.
Every night, the water in the great river boiled for no reason. Frogs jumped out from the waterways, buried their heads in the ground and died. In the Royal Capital, lightning struck 26 times in a single day. The fortune teller at the north gate said, “It’s a bad omen because 26 is the number 13 doubled”.
And Viscount Dae Ha-ran slaughtered civilians.
The fortune teller was considered a criminal because he recklessly foretold the fortune of the nation. The Royal Guards pulled the fortune teller aside and beat him up. On the same day, the rainy season had not yet arrived, but the river overflowed, blocking all of the roads leading to the Royal Capital.
And the Sun King didn’t come out of the palace.
“You all, the people in power, need to take responsibility for the past.”
There were several bad harvests. The epidemics never stopped. Time was like a rotten spine, with pus accumulated in every vertebra.
The bodies of the dead floated endlessly in the overflowing river.
“All of this was intended or neglected by someone, so you will have to choose someone to be condemned by everyone.”
And in the center of this crumbling world, in the twelfth month, a pillar in the shape of a girl who would try to support it, was born.
Everyone will pick this one.”
The amniotic fluid was silent.
After a long time.
Marquis Sun Jo-hae opened his mouth with a shaking voice.
“This, I hate it.”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung nodded.
“Yes. That’s right.”
And said.
“What other results do you think were prepared?”
2.
The original owner of this body must have searched desperately.
‘Even one person would be fine.’
Baron Gu Won-ha loved Viscount Ja Soo-jung.
I didn’t know why and I couldn’t see the reason, but I could feel the weight of the Baron’s love in the words she’d written.
‘Even if it’s only one, there has to be someone among the rulers of this damned kingdom that’s innocent.’
That’s why the Baron began to record.
Using magic, she examined each and every one of the nobles and wrote down the things they’d done.
After taking over her body, I also looked at each of the nobles one by one, and read their information.
But the records left by Gu Won-ha remained the same.
‘A murderer.’
A butcher.
‘A rebel.’
Someone who suppressed rebellions.
‘A slave buyer.’
A slave seller.
‘Those who made mistakes due to ignorance.’
Those who made mistakes due to incompetence.
The information recorded by Baron Gu Won-ha was no different than a criminal disclosure. Of the hundreds of feet soaked in the amniotic fluid, there was not a single one that was not covered in the blood of others.
So Baron Gu Won-ha gave up.
She could not stop her Master.
‘Perhaps the reason why I gained control of her body at this time…’
The moment this thought appeared in my mind, I moved.
“Huh?”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung tilted her head to the side.
Her purple eyes reflected me, who was standing in front of her.
“Did I not warn you, Mr. Gong-ja? I-”
“Trauma.”
I said.
This made Viscount Ja Soo-jung tilt her head even more.
“Huh?”
“Viscount. I’ve seen your trauma.”
“I know. Aren’t you still looking at it?”
“It’s not just this moment. The moment you became a Baron, the moment you married your wife… I’ve seen almost every part of your life.”
I grabbed Viscount Ja Soo-jung’s wrist.
“If you were truly happy, I would not have been able to see those scenes.”
“Huh?”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung looked at me in confusion.
“Maybe it was only recently that this one started feeling a bit happier. Since you’ve already seen all of the hardships and adversity in this one’s life. That means that today will be the start of true happiness .”
“It’s not.”
Her smile hadn’t changed since that day.
“I even saw when you eventually became a Duke.”
Her smile hadn’t changed since then.
“Today, and after today, you will continue to experience trauma.”
“That is a strange thing to say, Death King.”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung called me by my title, which I had never told her.
She wasn’t lying about viewing my past.
“Are you saying that this one has always been unhappy and was only pretending to be happy? I am a bit offended. If this one had been telling such a lie from the start, there is no way my lovers wouldn’t notice, right? I-”
“[The God that Never Regresses].”
I got a bit closer to Viscount Ja Soo-jung.
“The reason your entire life is a trauma is simple. It’s natural. Because you can look at [another person’s past] at any time, anywhere. You saw the Marquis’ past, you saw the Viscount’s past, and you even saw my past without my knowledge .”
In other words.
“There isn’t a single moment when you’re not seeing someone die.”
“That couldn’t not be painful. So your life is basically scarred by hundreds of millions of traumas.”
Closer.
“However, it’s strange. You only recently got the [Gold Dragon’s Eyes] and [Ice River Dragon’s Breath]. This means that it hasn’t been that long since you started looking at other people’s pasts. And yet, you were experiencing pain all your life.”
I had also seen the days before Viscount Ja Soo-jung had the Dragons.
Even then, she suffered from the pain of reading other people’s pasts.
How?
In those days, Viscount Ja Soo-jung shouldn’t have had the power of the Dragons, so how could she receive the pain of others?
There was only one possibility.
“[The God that Never Regresses], that is a ridiculous lie.”
“…”
“You are [The God that Regresses].”
I looked at the young noble.
“You returned to the past with the powers of the Dragons. So from birth, you were able to see the traumas of others.”
When she’d confronted the Apathetic Duke, Viscount Ja Soo-jung was able to understand the Duke’s life in an instant.
As if she’d known from the beginning.
When she met the Sun King, Viscount Ja Soo-jung had already known about the King’s life.
As if she knew from the beginning.
“You are constantly [repeating] your life.”
“…”
“You regress, return. Return to live the same life. Every time, you live by saying what you know to say, and doing what you know to do. You constantly watch people suffer as you repeat this life continuously.”
“…”
“That’s why your entire life is a trauma.”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung was silent.
So I asked her.
“Tower Master, how many times have you lived your own life?”
Viscount Ja Soo-jung was no longer smiling.
“Have you ever counted?”
She was expressionless.
Without me realizing, time in the meeting hall had drawn to a standstill.
Both Marquis Sun Jo-hae, who had lowered his head and began to cry angrily, and the Sun King, who sat, unmoving, upon his throne, froze.
“Mr. Gong-ja.”
In this time after the clock froze, Viscount Ja Soo-jung opened her mouth.
“Have you even counted the grains of sand as they float at the bottom of a river?”
The sands of the Yellow River.
“This one’s answer is simple.”
There was no expression on Viscount Ja Soo-jung’s face, as if she had been born expressionless. As if it was her original face. Her purple eyes shined indifferently at the world, and her lips did not smirk, sneer, or smile.
“Eternally.”
At that moment, the surrounding scene shattered.
(TL: Another 3k for the books I guess.)