BXBX NOVEL Chapter 39 – The former Watcher I
Chapter 39 – The former Watcher I
Chapter 39 – The Former Watcher Ⅰ
1
After reading about Kim Sieun’s backpacking trip to Japan in the last run, some readers might have had doubts.
They might wonder if I’ve been avoiding mentioning overseas matters.
Of course, there are valid reasons for that.
Firstly, it’s quite obvious, but my main area of activity is the Korean Peninsula.
Occasionally, I do venture out, but I generally prefer not to go on overseas expeditions.
Why? Because there is no saintess there.
I’m not joking. It’s quite disorienting when the presence of a saintess, who always supports me, suddenly disappears. It’s like a third-person top-view strategy simulation game suddenly turning into a first-person soul-like action game?
I didn’t bring the saintess with me when I went to China to deal with the Butterfly Effect.
The role of the saintess in my regressor life is much larger than I thought.
I don’t plan to sing hymns like a Russian Lolita complex writer, saying “My light of life, the fire of my body, my sin, my soul, saintess,” she would probably hate it too.
But if I were to organize a hero party, I would definitely recruit the saintess first and then think about the strategy. Remember that. The Supporter-Saintess is a fixed pick.
“Doctor Jang.”
“Yes?”
“Why shouldn’t we ever observe Koyori of the Satisfaction Guild from Clairvoyance, no matter what happens?”
“Well….”
Since she’s such an important talent, naturally, the guidebook titled “How to Use the Saintess” was attached to my mental folder.
I didn’t give special privileges to just the saintess; I wrote separate guidebooks for all the members I consider as party members.
Most Awakeneds treated my “guidebook” as something rather suspicious.
It was understandable. To me, it was knowledge gained through blood, sweat, and tears, but from others’ perspective, it was like a sudden stranger popping up and shouting, “Your ability actually becomes stronger the more aggro you draw!”
Honestly, even I found it hard to believe.
“Koyori has a top-tier mental contamination ability as a passive. It’s top-notch. No matter how strong someone’s mental strength is, they will be brainwashed if they come into contact with Koyori.”
“Ah… I see.”
The saintess never once doubted my guidebook.
Even though she couldn’t share memories with me, she shared records. She accepted my mere claims as truth without hesitation, and strategized based on that truth.
Tap, tap –
The saintess organized information on the keyboard and talked to me.
“Have there been any instances where I, observed Ms. Koyori through Clairvoyance and had a breakdown?”
“Yes, it was in the 89th round.”
“How did the incident unfold?”
“It happened too quickly to know the details, but at that time, Koyori was a member of our party. Perhaps Seo Gyu was brainwashed first. But Seo Gyu knows what your ability is and where you live, right? With that information, Koyori probably approached you. When I rushed over, I found you hanging from a towel rack.”
“Was it suicide?”
“Probably. More accurately, it was induced suicide.”
“…”
The saintess stroked her chin.
“Mr. Seo Gyu. Indeed. It’s important to always keep Seo Gyu as a reliable ally. Apart from that, as for me, it wouldn’t hurt to dig deeper into Koyori’s identity with the readiness to abandon this round… but…”
After examining my expression, the saintess nodded.
“…I don’t necessarily need to take such risks. Then, please let me know what else I should be careful of.”
“Except for what I’ve mentioned so far, there’s nothing else.”
That was both true and a lie.
“I’ll handle all remaining risks.”
The sound of typing stopped. The saintess tilted her head and looked at me.
“Doctor Jang.”
“Yes.”
“What will happen to me if you leave the risks alone?”
There was a moment of silence.
There were several matters I intentionally kept silent about. Matters regarding time seals and mentioning overseas fell into that category. They required some preparation to unravel.
Very rarely, but if an Awakened ‘corrupts,’ they turn into monsters. That’s something I hadn’t mentioned until now.
So I’ll speak about it now.
The story of what happens when the saintess corrupts―the so-called ‘Executioner Route.’
2
Since we met at a convenience store by the river and became aware of each other’s existence, in any round, I trusted the saintess, and the saintess trusted me.
Having lost Old Scho, I desperately needed an ally. The saintess also needed a warrior to make up for her lack of combat power. Our alliance was inevitable.
[Thank you for your hard work in exterminating the Ten Clans, Doctor. This means most of the threats south of the Han River are eliminated.]
At first, there were no problems.
[Udumbara… extermination complete. If what you said is true, then the flowers blooming from that corpse would have covered the entire world. It’s a very sad thought. Thank you for your hard work.]
Among the people I knew, the saintess had exceptional mental strength and survivability.
She always survived until the day the world ended. She was strong in that she could live without interacting with others and without relying on physical strength.
[Meteor Shower, extermination complete. …Now, no more Awakeneds and civilians will be wiped out overnight without understanding why. It wouldn’t have been possible without you, Doctor. Thank you so much.]
We safely passed the critical point of the seventh year when the meteor shower was guaranteed to appear.
The changes were noticed by the twelfth year.
[Doctor.]
“Hmm? What’s the matter?”
[A civilian massacre occurred in Nampo, North Korea.]
The saintess’s clairvoyance reached most of the Korean Peninsula. It was no exaggeration to say that, limited to the peninsula, we had unlimited vision.
“Excuse me? A civilian massacre? Exactly where? I’ll go check it out.”
[…No. I just found out now. The massacre is almost over. It is estimated to have occurred from the morning of July 11th to now, July 13th.]
But the saintess’s clairvoyance only applied to the Awakeneds. She couldn’t observe every person living on this land.
In other words, she was utterly powerless when civilians killed civilians.
Murder. Massacre. Whatever the crime, if it happened among civilians, she was always one step behind, observing only the ‘scene of the already finished event.’
[Doctor.]
[I think my ability is gradually getting stronger.]
The situation worsened a bit more.
“Oh, really? Depending on the Awakened, their abilities can either grow or remain stagnant, but it seems yours is the former. How far does your clairvoyance reach now?”
[It’s still a bit iffy, but when I’m in Seoul, I think it can reach the tip of the Shandong Peninsula.]
“Wow. That’s amazing. Congratulations.”
[…Yes. Thank you.]
“By the way, have you thought about learning martial arts from me? You should exercise, Saintess. Training is essential not just for strength, but for health.”
[I’ll think about it… Thanks.]
Originally, the saintess’s abilities developed slowly.
When the Korean Peninsula was swept away by the Ten Clans, when the world ended by Udumbara, when the world collapsed due to the meteor shower, the saintess met her death.
She died before her abilities could mature.
But as the rounds progressed, her lifespan gradually extended.
Five years, seven years, twelve years, fifteen years. The longer her time stretched, the broader the world she could observe became, inch by inch.
Most importantly, by this time, I was giving the saintess almost all the elixirs that were no longer useful to me. She was my most reliable ally.
[……]
As a result, the tragedies the saintess had to bear also increased.
It was manageable when we limited our scope to Korea.
Even though we couldn’t take care of everyone, we created a social system called the National Road Management Team.
Furthermore, due to the presence of the constellations, it was rare for Awakeneds to commit severe transgressions, and even if they did, the [Clairvoyance] would quickly detect it.
Large guilds in Korea, like Tang Seorin’s Three Thousand Worlds, were also cooperative with us.
However, things were different beyond the sea.
We simply couldn’t afford to pay attention to everything out there. We lacked resources. Before even discussing the lack of materials and manpower, the simple fact was that as a regressor, I didn’t have enough time.
For instance, even if I took the least amount of time to travel to Tianjin, China, it would take a week. This meant that for a week, I would be absent from the Korean Peninsula, and I would inevitably miss crises that required my intervention.
[……]
The saintess was wise. She deeply empathized with the premise that all good starts with the efficient allocation of resources.
In fact, the saintess was considerate of me.
After mentioning the massacre in Nampo, North Korea, just once, she never again brought up tragedies that occurred outside the jurisdiction of the National Road Management Team. She worried it would be an unnecessary burden for me.
But her silence didn’t stop the killings.
[……]
Thanks to our extermination of the Milky Way, countless people were saved both domestically and abroad. But what they did with their lives afterward was up to them, and it was not uncommon for some to take others’ lives with their own.
We could have turned a blind eye.
We could have severed our concern, and there would have been no problem.
But the saintess never stopped ‘observing.’
If the world had shrunk as much as she ignored, it might have been different. But that didn’t happen.
As long as the world existed, and as long as someone died without even being able to scream, the saintess wanted to remember at least that death.
Poison.
The poison accumulated in her heart, drop by drop.
[……]
The saintess’s heart was strong.
It could withstand 16 years’ worth of time.
3
Crash-
The sound of breaking glass echoed through the old playground.
This playground used to be in the middle of an apartment complex. The buildings had long since crumbled, leaving only the echoes of their former value, but the half-demolished remnants resonated well enough.
In reality, it wasn’t the sound of glass breaking.
It was the sound of metal clashing with metal, more precisely, the noise of aura colliding with aura.
“Wow.”
I deflected the hand axe the saintess had thrown with my sword and marveled.
“Impressive. Not only do you have aura, but you also have a natural talent for martial arts.”
“…Thank you. I still have a lot to learn.”
“No, no. Compared to me, you’re almost a natural prodigy. While I’ve mastered aura training, I lack martial talent. If I had even half your talent, I would’ve saved the world long ago.”
This wasn’t entirely flattery.
In truth, I had almost zero talent in martial arts. In terms of martial arts fiction, I was the type who simply kept accumulating inner strength to brute force my way through with sheer power. Even this was something I barely managed to achieve, as my skills were preserved from my 10th regression onwards.
“It’s also fascinating how your aura is transparent. I mean, how does a transparent aura even exist?”
“……”
Most notably, the saintess’s aura felt almost imperceptible.
It was literally colorless and odorless. A clear, transparent aura.
When it clashed, it made a noise like glass shattering—crash, crack!
It seemed that the saintess’s aura was reminiscent of a ‘mirror,’ which suited her perfectly.
“Anyway, that’s enough for today. You’ve worked hard.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Doctor.”
“If you’ve achieved this much in just a year, in three to five years, you could be fighting in my place. Why did you avoid training for so long when you’re this skilled?”
“Moving my body wasn’t a hobby of mine.”
“Has your hobby changed now?”
“…Yes.”
I felt a sense of pride.
‘Even the perpetual recluse saintess can change.’
Although it took about 16 years for this change to occur. But what did it matter? Throughout my entire life of regression, this was the first time the saintess had learned martial arts.
I handed the towel to the saintess and spoke, “Saintess, do you have any separate plans for today?”
“……”
“Saintess? Saintess.”
“…Ah.”
The saintess blinked.
It had been happening frequently lately.
Originally, the saintess had a strong tendency to observe everything from a distance, but lately, has the air around her thickened? She often spaced out and stared into space even during conversations like this.
“Are you okay?”
That absent-minded expression strangely suited the saintess, aesthetically, there was no problem, but I worried if there might be a health issue.
If the saintess fell ill, Noh Doha would immediately try to seize control. The saintess’s clairvoyance was crucial for operating the National Road Management Division.
“Yes, I’m fine… Sorry. What did you just say?”
“Do you have any plans to go out separately today?”
“No.”
The saintess replied promptly.
“I don’t.”
“That’s a relief. Hasn’t the security been worsening lately? Although I’m sure you’ll handle it skillfully, please be careful. Sometimes you overexert yourself, Saintess.”
“…You know me well, Doctor.”
“Of course. I’ve been watching you for a few years.”
The saintess took the towel from me and wiped her face.
At the time, I just thought she was bowing her head to wipe off sweat.
Looking back now, maybe she used the towel to subtly avoid my gaze.
“Thank you as always, Doctor.”