The fake quietly stared at my hand and then spoke.
“I can more or less guess what you’re trying to do. And you’re right—right now, that being isn’t fully developed enough to be called the Catastrophe.”
“Then...”
“But I can’t allow it.”
“What? Why not?”
“It’s not that I won’t—more like I can’t. There are two reasons for that.”
As I frowned, the fake calmly continued.
“First, sending a living being from the current tiline to a previous one can only happen twice. You’ve already used it once.”
“...Only twice?”
“Of course. Did you think ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) you could go back and forth infinitely?”
“......”
“The previous ‘trial version’ was necessary to convince you and earn your cooperation. The remaining ti travel is ant as a reward after you stop the Catastrophe in this tiline. I can’t just waste it here.”
The fake pulled his lips into a smirk.
“Well, if you’re willing to give up your reward, I won’t stop you... but you’ll regret it.”
I couldn’t bring myself to say no. It felt like a needle was twisting around inside my chest.
eting the Catastrophe to gain information, or dying together with the people I cared about. Of course I had to choose the latter.
“And second—it’s too dangerous. You know this, but the Catastrophe is a being beyond human limits. You’d die in the blink of an eye.”
Even if I did et the Catastrophe, I’d be beheaded before I could even gather information.
And it wasn’t like I could watch from afar, either. He’d have senses far sharper than anything an S-rank like could comprehend.
Now I understood why the fake had refused so firmly. And yet, I couldn’t help letting out a sigh.
I was about to ask for sothing else when the fake spoke up first.
“There’s another way.”
“......!”
I had thought both issues were insurmountable, that I’d have no choice but to give up. But now he was saying there was another way?
I quickly straightened up and asked,
“What is it? Is it reliable?”
“Before that, let’s clarify why you want to et the Catastrophe from the previous tiline. I’m assuming it’s to get information about what it was like after awakening. Am I right?”
“That’s right.”
I wanted to see the Catastrophe’s status window. I needed to understand how Cha Sahyeon would change when the Seed of Catastrophe reached 100%.
As if he’d expected that, the fake nodded slightly and continued.
“It’s difficult to send you back in ti again, but if the goal is to et the Catastrophe, then we can just create one.”
“What do you an by that?”
“I an I’ll create a temporary version of the Catastrophe. A replica. I’ll replicate his power as closely as possible—but I’ll leave out the ego. If I copied the mind too, he’d go berserk and try to kill you.”
My mouth dropped open at the absurdity of it all. It wasn’t even surprise—it was just disbelief.
Create a replica of the Catastrophe? Was this bastard serious? Is that even possible?
‘...If he’s saying it so confidently, then it must be.’
Surely he wouldn’t be joking in a situation like this. And yet, it was a proposition that was hard to swallow.
“If you could do that, why not just clone him earlier and have soone fight the replica instead?”
“A replica is still just a replica. The one I’ll make for you will be inferior to the original in a lot of ways. That kind of power can’t just be bottled up on a whim.”
“......”
“If that kind of replica is good enough for you, I’ll let you see it. I don’t know what you’ll be able to glean from it, though.”
“You’re saying this is the only way?”
At that, the fake calmly closed his eyes. The slight furrow in his brow made it seem like he was gauging sothing invisible.
“Yes.”
Eventually, he opened his eyes and gave a brief answer.
The decision was now mine. I didn’t rush to agree. Instead, I ntally reviewed everything we had just talked about.
‘No matter how you look at it, using the ‘trial version’ again would be a bad move, based on those two reasons he gave.’
The danger of the Catastrophe was one thing, but the fact that I only had one trip left to the past was another huge issue.
Losing my reward might hurt... but that was my personal problem.
The bigger question was: was it worth burning my last ti-travel use for information that might not even help? I could save that chance for a better purpose.
The past world may be ruined in places, but it held more experience. It was the senior tiline.
When the junior is lost on the road ahead, they follow in the footsteps of the senior who’s walked it before. It could be used to find a better path. Or as a cautionary tale.
‘Well, if I never find a better use, I’ll just claim it as my reward.’
That’s what I hoped—but an ideal isn’t the sa as a realistic goal.
I wanted to protect the ti I had reclaid through regression no matter what. And I was ready to give up anything for it.
After finishing my thoughts, I looked at the face that was an exact copy of Song Jiwoon and said,
“Make it as close as possible to the Catastrophe from the previous tiline.”
“You’re agreeing to pay the price, too?”
“I don’t care.”
If I was scared of that, I wouldn’t have co this far.
When I answered indifferently, the fake chuckled and stood up. Then he reached out a hand toward .
“Wait—what are you doing?”
I flinched back, rembering what happened during the ‘trial version,’ but the bastard just grabbed my shoulder outright.
“Hold still. I’m creating a temporary space where I’ll summon the replica.”
“And you’re going to throw in there?”
“Better than letting the real world fall apart, right?”
True. Even at 62% progress, Cha Sahyeon gave off a terrifying aura as an L-rank. If a 100% complete Catastrophe replica were summoned into reality, who knew what disaster would unfold.
“I’m not just copying the Catastrophe—I’m replicating the surrounding environnt too. The entire space will be a fake. Like I said, there won’t be an ego, so he won’t attack you.”
“Got it.”
“The space will last exactly five minutes. After that, it’ll collapse and your consciousness will return here.”
The fake lightly pressed my forehead with his fingertip. My upper body tipped backward helplessly.
“Go. I hope you get what you ca for.”
The sofa I’d been sitting on vanished, and everything around was swallowed by black light. Like sinking into deep water, my body kept falling into the darkness, and my senses began to fade.
***
Crack, snap.
Sothing was burning. A heavy burnt sll stabbed into my nose. My twitching hands felt rough, dry soil.
No wonder it had looked dark—I’d had my eyes closed this whole ti. As my consciousness sharpened, I cautiously opened my eyes.
A smoky gray sky stretched above, black smoke drifting lazily across it.
The air was hot and heavy. I suppressed a groan and pushed myself upright, only to suck in a sharp breath at the black silhouette standing in front of .
“Gasp...!”
The mont I realized what I was seeing, a chill of pure terror surged over like a crashing wave.
The heat I had felt just seconds ago vanished without a trace. My entire body froze, consud by a dreadful cold.
My limbs were stiff as if frostbitten. My breath stuck in my throat, barely moving past my chin.
‘Stay calm, co on—calm down.’
I beat back the rising panic, forcing myself to think clearly.
The fake had given only five minutes. I couldn’t waste this ti trembling like a fool.
“Hoo...”
I forced myself to breathe slowly, trying to relax.
Gradually, the pounding of my heart dulled, and the shaking vision in front of began to settle.
I endured the crushing pressure on my shoulders, the deadly aura as sharp as a blade, and focused on the figure before .
Long black hair fluttering in the wind. A tattered robe with a torn hem. Cloudy green eyes that couldn’t seem to focus.
A man stood in front of the ruins, a face I was all too familiar with. In a hoarse voice, I whispered his na.
“...Cha Sahyeon.”
He was looking down at slightly, but it didn’t feel like our eyes had truly t. His expression was as blank and emotionless as a doll.
Ironically, it was that very emptiness that made realize: this replica, and the Cha Sahyeon I knew, were not the sa being.
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