Player who Returned 10,000 years Later

Chapter 477: I’m Way Too Kind

Rumble—!!

Translucent light burst from Kim Tae-Hyun, shaking the entire building they were on the rooftop of. Tae-Hyun’s jacket was fluttering aggressively and his hair was spiked up.

‘What the hell?’ Oh Kang-Woo stared at Tae-Hyun enveloped in light as if he had been wrongfully accused. ‘Why am I being made out as the villain?’

Tae-Hyun’s will to save the world was that of a textbook shonen manga protagonist. Forced to stand against him, Kang-Woo felt like he needed to say a shitty line like “Hahaha, struggle as much as you can!”.

‘What the hell did I do so wrong?’

Kang-Woo had saved Earth from the Parasite invasion only a few hours ago. Being forced to pay for something that had not even occurred yet was giving him a headache.

Kang-Woo was slowly beginning to lose his patience. “Haaa.”

‘This is pissing me off.’

He recalled how much he had suffered to escape from being accused as the Demon of Prophecy.

He couldn’t help but find it funny that he was being driven to the corner as a sinner because of a future that could change at any point in time.

‘Why don’t you guys fucking protect the world, then?’

Kang-Woo’s pent-up frustration was released all at once. Regardless of the method, he had given his all to protect the world, so he couldn’t help but be irritated when berated for it. One could argue that a person who protected the world while enduring all sorts of criticism was a true hero.

‘What a load of bullshit.’

He would not stand for being framed for something he had yet to do. Kang-Woo slowly raised his arm with a frown.

“I…!” Tae-Hyun shouted as immense power burst forth from him. The translucent light pouring out of the necklace wrapped around his dagger. “I will protect this world!”

He raised his head to look at the enemy in front of him. His hyung was enveloped in golden light, unlike what he saw in his future memories.

‘It’s fake.’

Tae-Hyun already knew the divine light around Kang-Woo was nothing but a façade to fool everyone around him.

‘Unforgivable.’

He gritted his teeth and pointed his dagger at the man whom he idolized and respected more than anyone. The immense power pouring out of the necklace lit the seething rage within him. The immense power soon became confidence and then firm willpower.

“Die—!” Tae-Hyun shouted.

Boom!

Kang-Woo shot forward before Tae-Hyun was about to leap at him.

Wham!

Kang-Woo grabbed Tae-Hyun’s face and slammed his head into the building rooftop, which was reinforced with demonic energy.

“Kurgh!”

Tae-Hyun looked up at Kang-Woo in surprise.

“What?” Kang-Woo smiled due to the absurdity. “Did you think something would change once you powered up after spouting all sorts of bullshit? That everything would be resolved if you shouted hard enough like an action novel cliché? I’m sorry, but you’re in the wrong fucking novel; this novel’s genre is a little unique.”

“Kurgh, cough!” Tae-Hyun coughed violently.

Kang-Woo grabbed the back of Tae-Hyun’s head and slammed his face into the ground this time.

Bang!

“Tae-Hyun.”

Bang—!

“My beloved little brother.”

Wham—!

“Kurgh! Kurgh!”

Blood poured out of Tae-Hyun’s nostrils. His entire face was bruised.

Kang-Woo crouched and brought his mouth closer to Tae-Hyun’s ear.

“Why did you do it?”

“A-Arghh.”

Tae-Hyun, his face covered in blood, looked up at Kang-Woo. His eyes were filled with obvious terror.

“Hm? Answer me. Why did you do it?” Kang-Woo continued.

Tae-Hyun trembled. He then replied as if pleading, “H-Hyung…”

“Pfft! Hahahaha!!” Kang-Woo laughed brightly. “Hyung? After all that you just did?” He grabbed Tae-Hyun’s head, his eyes deeply sunken. “Tae-Hyun, I was being nice in the beginning, wasn’t I? You can admit that, right?”

Tae-Hyun looked up at Kang-Woo, his eyes shaking violently. The kind older brother that he knew was no longer there.

Zzzzt.

His vision filled with gray static again.

“B-But… you’re…” he stammered.

His future and present consciousness continued to tangle. He could still remember one thing vividly amid the chaotic entanglement of memories; the demon crouching on top of a mountain of corpses, devouring each one.

“The Demon of Pro—”

“Yeah, I get what you’re trying to say.” Kang-Woo smiled widely and continued, “I’m sure you’re confused. Your future memories suddenly shoved themselves into your brain, didn’t they?”

“...”

“But I’m sure you already know this— no, you know it the best, don’t you? That the future can change.”

Tae-Hyun predicted attacks by seeing his future self being attacked through Foresight; once he dodged the attack, the future was changed. If the future was set in stone, he would be hit by that attack regardless of whether or not he made an effort to dodge it.

“That’s why I suggested we try to change it, yeah? What you saw was merely one of countless possibilities, so it’s more than possible to change it if we start now.”

“H-Hyung, th-that’s—”

“So why the fuck aren’t you listening to me, Tae-Hyun?” Kang-Woo grabbed Tae-Hyun’s neck and squeezed harder. “What? Did you think you’d be able to beat me just because you happened to get an item by luck, of which not even I can figure out where its power comes from?”

In the end, an item was an item; Tae-Hyun had not gained it through endless effort and countless trials. There was no way such a thing would be able to surpass the wretched struggles that Kang-Woo had gone through for ten millennia.

“In your dreams.”

Bash!

“Kurgh!”

Kang-Woo kicked Tae-Hyun in the stomach, sending him flying backward.

“Guh…” Tae-Hyun groaned.

Kang-Woo walked toward Tae-Hyun as he looked down at him coldly.

“Don’t worry. I’m not going to kill you.”

He needed to pry information out of Tae-Hyun; it was crucial for changing the apocalyptic future that he saw through Foresight.

‘Well, I could also kill him, which would change the future.’

Tae-Hyun survived until the end in the apocalyptic future of Kang-Woo being taken over by the Demonic Sea and ending the world. If Kang-Woo killed Tae-Hyun right here and now, the future would change for sure.

‘The problem is that I have no idea how it would change. It might even end up getting worse.’

It was not the best idea just to change the future; he needed to change the future that would head to the end of the world.

‘To do that…’

Kang-Woo needed prior information about the details of the future to change it, just like how Tae-Hyun dodged attacks using the information he gained through Foresight.

‘I can’t kill Tae-Hyun.’

Kang-Woo looked down at Tae-Hyun, who was trembling uncontrollably as he looked up at him.

‘And even if I don’t have any information to get out of him, killing him is a bit much.’

Kang-Woo clicked his tongue with a sad expression. He had no intention of rampaging without distinguishing friend from foe like he had done so when he had almost been taken over by his Deific Essence of Voracity. He would only devour those who bared their fangs at him.

‘I can’t say that Tae-Hyun has fully gone against me.’

It was true that Tae-Hyun pointed his weapon at him, but that was simply because he had been taken over by his future consciousness; it couldn’t be said that it was entirely Tae-Hyun’s will. In Tae-Hyun’s perspective, his control over his body was stolen by his future self. He was practically innocent.

“Dayum, Oh Kang-Woo. You’ve become so kind.’

Kang-Woo nodded with a satisfied smile.

‘I can’t believe I’m sparing someone who attacked me, even if it wasn’t of their will.’

It would have been unthinkable for Kang-Woo back in his days in Hell.

‘No wonder I was granted the Deific Essence of Splendor.’

The light naturally shone on him because he was generous enough to forgive even a deplorable asshole who attacked him with the intent to kill.

“Then… what are you planning on doing to me?” Tae-Hyun asked.

“Hm? I mean…” Kang-Woo said calmly as if he didn’t know why Tae-Hyun was even asking such a question. “Once I get the information regarding the future from you, I’ll either put you in a coma until my battle against Bael is over or just erase your memories.”

“Pardon?”

“Don’t worry, man. I won’t lose control over my strength like how I accidentally incinerated Huan.”

“U-Umm… Wh-What is Huan…?”

“Hm? Oh, you don’t know? Well, it doesn’t matter.” Kang-Woo placed his hand on Tae-Hyun’s shoulder and said in all seriousness, “I promise I won’t kill you. I may not look like it, but I’m a pro in making someone a vegetable.”

Kang-Woo swung his hand in the air as if bragging.

“Just one strong smack on the back of the head and you’ll be able to rest comfortably in bed.”

“Umm…”

“Oh, don’t worry about not being able to wake up. I’ll do whatever it takes to wake you up once everything is over.”

“K-Kang-Woo hyung?”

“You know that thing in sci-fi films where people wake up from cryo chambers after a super long time, right? You can think of it like that.”

“It sounds nothing like th—”

“Sheesh, why do you have so many goddamn complaints when I’m doing you an amazing favor?!” Kang-Woo pounded on his chest in frustration. “Do you want me to just explode your head? Is that what you want?”

“I’ll keep the fact that you’re the Demon of Prophecy a secret.”

Tae-Hyun looked at Kang-Woo seriously. As Kang-Woo said, it would be better to cooperate with Kang-Woo as long as they could change the future, even if he was the Demon of Prophecy. No, Tae-Hyun had no other choice since he knew better than anyone that he would die if he didn’t cooperate.

“Come on, man. It only takes an instant for shit like that to spread.” Kang-Woo refused Tae-Hyun’s proposal without hesitation. He then raised his hand and continued, “Right, I’m sure it’ll take a while for me to hear everything about the future, so why don’t you sleep for a few days? I don’t have the time to sit around and chat at the moment since we only just stopped the Parasite invasion.”

Kang-Woo had been worried that he might accidentally kill Tae-Hyun before, but that was only during combat; it was a piece of cake to knock Tae-Hyun out for a few days when they were not in combat.

“Wha— H-Hyung! W-Wait!”

“For God’s sake, Tae-Hyun. Just stick your head out. It’ll hurt more if you struggle.”

“N-No…”

“It’s alright, man. It’ll only be a slight prickle.”

“This isn’t some dentist appointm—”

Smack!

“Kurgh!”

Kang-Woo had no choice but to punch Tae-Hyun in the stomach because he was struggling too much. Tae-Hyun crouched as he grabbed his stomach.

“Haaa, haaa.” Kang-Woo breathed on his palm and smacked the rooftop railing for practice.

Crush!

The railing was destroyed with just a single karate chop.

“Good, it’ll be perfect once I add some Divinity to it.”

Kang-Woo nodded in satisfaction. It would be completely painless as long as he controlled his strength.

“Shiiiet.”

He couldn’t believe he was going this far for his beloved little brother who had attacked him.

“Jesus fuck…” Kang-Woo clenched his fist as his shoulders trembled. “I’m way too kind…”

He wondered if he had truly become the light instead of pretending to be chosen by the light.

“Alright, here I go, Tae-Hyun.”

“C-Cough! W-Wai—”

Kang-Woo’s hand moved before Tae-Hyun had a chance to finish his sentence.

Shatter—!!

At that moment, the sound of something breaking rang from the Eye of Nostrian on Tae-Hyun’s neck.

“Huh?” Kang-Woo looked down at Tae-Hyun in confusion. “The hell was that?”

‘I haven’t even hit him yet.’