Chapter 299: Joaquin Academy (3)

“Are you not going to regret it?”

That’s what my other self said when I chose one of the two options without hesitation.

“No.”

I nodded. There was nothing to think about; my answer was already decided.

“You knew I’d choose that one, didn’t you?”

My other self knew it perfectly well, yet still asked. Because no one knows me better than I do.

“I knew it, but until you say it out loud, it’s not set in stone.”

My other self shrugged and smiled. I looked at him in silence for a moment before asking,

“Hey, you’re a foreign god, right? Is it really okay for you to interfere with mortal matters like this? According to the Pope, foreign gods are only observers.”

He let out a laugh.

“Normally, yes. But there are no immutable laws in this world. The world is flexible, full of variables. And right now is a perfect example of that. Want the truth? I thought you’d pick option one.”

An unexpected answer. It threw me off for a moment, but I let him continue.

“Because I picked option one. Don’t ask me why. It’d take too long to explain. It’d be like asking you to tell me everything you’ve experienced since you possessed yourself in that world.”

“Ah.”

“You get it instantly, right? Even if you summarized your one-year journey, it’d be a full-length novel. Mine would be even longer. In my timeline, for example, after graduating from Joaquin Academy, the Second Great Human-Demon War broke out. Want to hear about it? Say the word, and I’ll tell you. I’ve got all the time in the world.”

My other self spoke as if probing, but I immediately shook my head.

I know how precious time is. If you rewind hundreds of millions of years at superluminal speed, a second feels like pure gold.

‘He probably doesn’t mind too much.’

After all, he’s me. And if he’s like me, he’s probably not good with words either.

‘Now that I think about it, the God of the Sword was also me.’

Then I get that strange way of communicating. Besides, he had no one to talk to…

I regret treating him so coldly back then. But nothing can be done about it now.

“Well, looks like our talk is ending. Let’s wrap this up.”

My other self kneeled and slowly stood up. I looked up at him, slightly awestruck.

‘He should be the same height as me, yet the difference in perspective is overwhelming.’

This other self I’d spoken with so familiarly stood in a place no one else could reach.

The ambition of “those idiots” to claim every timeline now seemed like childish whimsy.

‘Maybe the reason he doesn’t interfere with timelines directly is because, from his view, he doesn’t need to.’

I was convinced. No matter how hard they try, they’ll never surpass him. Even if they jump, they’re still within the Buddha’s palm.

In other words, because this foreign god intervened, those idiots achieved their goal. After all, the entire timeline trembled because of him.

“You don’t have to worry about crossing timelines again like when you first arrived. You’re already there—or rather, I’m already there. Technically speaking, we’re just going to ‘swap’ our existences.”

The foreign god held out his hand.

“Simply put, we’re switching shifts. I didn’t do much, so don’t worry. The most I did was bring Leon back to Earth from the Moon, where he was sobbing.”

…Isn’t that quite a lot? His intent to downplay it was pretty obvious.

“Take my hand. You’ll be home.”

My other self smiled warmly. I reached out to take his hand, but paused for a second.

“Congratulations on your graduation. At least you finished high school.”

That was my farewell. The foreign god was stunned for a moment, then lifted the corner of his mouth.

“Then congrats in advance to you too. Two years feels long to a teenager, but it’ll fly by.”

“I know. I was in my forties in my previous life.”

I gripped his hand. Then my body began to disintegrate, starting from the limbs, like turning to grains.

“That’s why I want to record every day I have left at the Academy. My teacher always said—”

“The habit of keeping a journal.”

My other self finished the sentence.

“Journals are good. You never know… maybe someone somewhere will read your story. Maybe someone even above me.”

“Someone above a foreign god?”

“Told you. There are no absolute laws in this world. I’m just another cog keeping the timeline running. I’m not everything. Anyway, time’s up.”

His final words were—

“Be happy. Because you deserve it.”

And so, as my consciousness faded, I disappeared completely.

***

[You have acquired the Final Fragment, “Joaquin Academy.”]

—Flash!

『The beginning and the end of all things.』

[With all fragments obtained, your latent divinity is fully unlocked.]

[…]

[…]

[Well done.]

***

Through the curtain of rain, Kuarne turned pale at the sight of the dark divine silhouette.

His body trembled as if in spasms. His goat-like chin quivered, and his rectangular pupils shrank completely.

‘What kind of state is that…?’

If Kang Geom-Ma had ascended as a true god, he would’ve welcomed it with joy. Even if he stabbed him in his frenzy, he would have accepted it with a smile.

Kuarne’s desire was never for himself. His mind was filled only with Kang Geom-Ma. There was no space for himself in that place.

He dreamed of it every night. That man becoming the master of the world, and he, kneeling beneath him in obedience.

Just imagining it sent shivers down his spine and made his body tremble. But now, Kuarne shuddered for a very different reason. As a former lackey of the gods, he could tell at a glance.

That being approaching—Kang Geom-Ma.

He was not a god.

From that perspective, his presence was extraordinarily unnatural. Though human, the power he held surpassed that of the gods. It was truly astonishing.

“H-how is this possible!?”

Kuarne screamed at the top of his lungs, wringing out his voice in desperation.

“How can a mere human body contain a god!? This goes beyond blasphemy, beyond language itself!”

It was a tantrum. His desperate wish of hundreds of thousands of years had crumbled. The wave of madness drowned his reason completely. His already hideous face became even more grotesque.

Kang Geom-Ma did not respond. He stared steadily at Joaquin Academy.

It lay in ruins. The once radiant buildings were now covered in blood, the majestic main hall split in half. It was hard to find a single intact corner.

And there, the heroes, covered in dust, looked at him in reverence. They leaned on each other, intoxicated with relief.

‘Ah, of course.’

The Academy was the cradle and home of heroes. In the end, buildings were just structures. They could be rebuilt.

The heroes were still alive. That was enough. The Academy stood firm. Its knowledge and wisdom would live on.

“Answer me, Kang Geom-Ma!”

Kuarne demanded furiously. The demon had lost everything. All that remained was the life he so despised.

Kang Geom-Ma raised his sashimi. A swirl of light enveloped the blade. A light so cold it was as if the sun itself had frozen upon it.

Fwoosh…

A gentle breeze blew. The low grass bent. It cooled the sweat of the heroes. Even the demons felt kindness in that wind. It was a current that made no distinction between friend or foe.

“I can’t accept your existence! You could’ve shone brighter than anyone! Why? Why did you choose the filthy human path!? How!? How could you give up everything in this world!?”

Kuarne screamed as he charged. He violently shoved aside Leon and Metatron, who tried to stop him. His torn black arms lunged with brutal force toward a single point.

“I haven’t given up anything.”

That was Kang Geom-Ma’s reply. Though his words meant nothing to the deafened Kuarne.

He wasn’t expecting an answer anyway. He didn’t have the habit of chatting with the dying.

“I’m not like you.”

That was all he said.

Kuarne drew close. From his back, black arms rose like mantras and snapped their fingers in unison.

Five thousand pairs of dark arms. Ten thousand spells cast at once. Spells powerful enough to lay waste on their own surged toward Kang Geom-Ma.

The sky filled with dazzling magic.

Space twisted and tore as Kang Geom-Ma brought down his sashimi.

A single cut descended. A strike that embodied all the laws of the sword. And immediately, the vision went white.

The magic and black arms stopped just an inch from his face. Just before impact.

In that completely bleached world, they exploded like crisscrossing lightning and then, like small suns detonating, burst one after another into red spheres.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The gentle wind became a scorching tornado that swept everything away, heat clinging to the ground.

Heroes and demons lay flat, clinging to the mud to avoid being swept away by the gust.

Amid the deafening noise, someone slightly lifted their head. Their eyes widened.

“…!”

Their pupils grew as large as lanterns. They looked up with a stunned expression, and the heroes beside them also lifted their gaze.

And all showed the same reaction. The greatest awe is expressed in silence.

When the sky and earth divide, the horizon is born. When the sea splits, the waterline emerges. Thus, everything in the universe is organized in up and down, in horizontal lines.

But here, that principle and logic were denied.

The open sky revealed a universe filled with stars and galaxies.

It wasn’t just a split cloud.

The sky itself had been divided.

That majestic, breathtaking sight overwhelmed everyone. In the crystalline retinas of the heroes, stars shone. And in the center, Kang Geom-Ma, standing above the clouds.

Inaccessible. Supreme. The stars looked like dust next to him. Even galaxies and celestial bodies were mere ornaments to him.

Oh, heavens… If that man isn’t a god, who could dare claim to be?

The heroes wept.

They bowed their foreheads to the ground and worshiped the sky with their napes exposed.

The gods’ blessing that guided them manifested in that scene.

Despair and pain were wiped away. A wave of reverence spread across the land instantly.

Not even the demons were an exception. Each, in their own way, bowed in devotion.

In the deep silence, only Kuarne whimpered.

“…Ah.”

Kuarne looked down. He scratched his chest with thin nails.

A line of blood split his sternum. From that tiny crack, spiderweb-like fractures formed all over his body.

The breaks thickened. Until not an inch of skin remained untouched.

Kuarne slowly raised his head. Tears slid down his blood-lined face.

“You truly took everything from me…”

And with those words, he vanished with a soft pop. Nothing remained. He evaporated without a trace.

Step.

My feet touched the ground. My hair waved as if I walked underwater.

My eyes lingered on my feet for a while. How long had it been since I stood on solid earth? It felt strange.

I took a deep breath. Felt the texture of the air in my nose. Then I looked away from the ground and glanced around.

A field full of corpses. Pools of blood among bodies, all bowed before me. A heavy silence spread everywhere.

I let out a bitter smile. Still, everyone desperately waited for me to speak.

“Raise your heads.”

I spoke.

“We’ve won.”

My declaration echoed across the silent world.