Chapter 317: The Transfer Student is a Singularity (5)

A modest seafood restaurant exuded a simple and warm atmosphere.

A regular customer, a middle-aged man with a prominent belly, came to the place after a hard day at the office, looking to unwind with a drink before heading home.

“Boss, I’m here.”

“Welcome. What’ll you have?”

“Haha, are you seriously asking me that?”

“It’s just courtesy. Have a seat.”

As always, he left the menu entirely in the owner’s hands.

For the past three years, the ritual had been the same while the owner prepared the fish, the customer sat at the counter and they chatted leisurely.

It had become a solid weekly routine.

The man watched, mesmerized, as the owner handled the fish. Suddenly, he brought up a long-standing question.

“Boss, why are you really in such a remote place like this?”

“They say country folks aren’t very friendly, but that’s a bit harsh for someone who just managed to get a business going.”

For a moment, a dark eye reflected on the sashimi knife’s blade before disappearing.

The man quickly waved his hand.

“No, that’s not what I meant… It’s just a shame to see your talent go to waste here! With your skill, if you’d opened in Seoul, you’d own a couple of buildings by now.”

“I appreciate your words, but my skills aren’t for show. They’re just enough to make a living.”

“I may not have a fish’s eye, but even I can see your skill is exceptional.”

“…Are you calling me a fish now?”

“It was a joke.”

The owner chuckled lightly while slicing the fish’s belly. The knife’s path was fluid—almost elegant.

“Hey boss… don’t tell me you were a gangster in your youth?”

“And if I were, would you stop coming?”

“Of course not! I’m already hooked on your food. I tried sashimi elsewhere the other day and couldn’t even finish it. Sashimi isn’t seasoned much, right? But the fish you serve is totally different. Especially…”

The man stopped mid-sentence, looking past the owner’s hand holding the knife.

Seeing him swallow hard, the owner spoke casually.

“Having only one hand doesn’t stop me from living.”

“…That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“It’s only annoying when I’m in the bathroom looking for toilet paper.”

“A guy who lives off food shouldn’t say things like that.”

The awkward moment faded naturally. The owner went back to his task while the customer sipped his drink.

Then—

“Hmm?”

The customer’s gaze shifted to the side of the counter.

There was a photo.

Looking closely, it was a picture of the owner in his youth with a boy.

“I’ve never seen that photo before. Has it always been there?”

“That guy who looks like a gangster… was he married?!”

Maybe the owner sensed the surprise because he also glanced at the photo and smiled faintly.

It was the first time he had smiled like that since the customer had known him.

“That’s my disciple. The last one.”

“You had a disciple? Must’ve been tough to teach with that stern face of yours.”

“It wasn’t easy. I thought raising a wild animal would’ve been simpler. But…”

The owner’s lips curved with pride.

“At least with a knife, he was simply incredible.”

“And compared to you? Did he surpass you?”

The owner served a dish. The shiny surface of the sashimi reflected the customer’s face—skill bordering on divine.

“Comparing him to me would be disrespectful.”

“That bad, huh? Well, I don’t know what brought you to this corner of the country, but seriously, your skill is among the best in Korea.”

The owner shook his head while wiping the knife with a towel.

“It wouldn’t be disrespect to me. It’d be to him.”

“…What?”

“That kid was the best in the country. The most skilled swordsman in the land. If you like fish, you’ve probably heard of him.”

“The best in the country… the legendary swordsman…”

A spark lit up in the customer’s mind.

He recalled hearing about someone.

A man known as the “God of the Sword,” the finest bladesman in the country.

A title that sounded over-the-top, like something from a martial arts novel, but anyone who had tried his sashimi agreed—it was incomparable.

And he never stayed in one place.

When the time came, he left a resignation letter and vanished. He changed restaurants just as his fame peaked. The story spread across the country.

A swordsman in the most literal sense.

But he had disappeared about ten years ago and was only spoken of in hushed tones since.

“Quite the disciple you had…”

“The hardest steel makes the best blade once forged. He was a lot of work, but he had real talent.”

“You didn’t take on more disciples after that?”

“He was the last. So no.”

The customer nodded, as if understanding.

“Makes sense. If your disciple was the God of the Sword, no one else would’ve measured up.”

With that, he took a bite. Ah, that taste made his jaw tingle. Every time he ate it, his mouth watered until it hurt.

“Before him, I had seven other disciples.”

“Whoa, you had a culinary empire!”

The owner just smiled without replying.

“By the way, where is the God of the Sword now? Last I heard of him was about ten years ago.”

“That kid’s studying abroad.”

“…Studying abroad? What kind of studies?”

“He’s only ever held knives his whole life… he needs some moral education…”

He staggered.

The owner’s vision warped. Like he was wearing 3D glasses, the background split into multiple layers. Objects crashed to the floor.

Clang!

He clutched his forehead and slid slowly down the wall until he sat. The middle-aged man rushed over in panic, shaking him.

“Boss! Boss!”

Damn it. Had his time run out?

This blue planet he’d come to—even with the help of the —his liver was finally punishing him for how well he’d taken to Earth’s liquor.

‘That kid never stopped nagging me about drinking less. How shameless, trying to teach his own father…’

The owner, Ho Ah-Hyun, reached forward with his only hand. His desperate gesture pointed to the photo frame. The one with him and that kid…

“…Ah…”

And thus, the curtain fell on his life.

***

Everything was white.

So white he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or shut. In that foggy, milk-colored space, the man slowly sat up. Staring blankly, he muttered.

“…Is it finally over?”

The founding hero, Balor Joaquin. A man bound to an eternal cycle. That was him.

He opened his eyes again and again after each life ended. A cruel fate never let him rest in peace.

He couldn’t even remember how many unfamiliar ceilings he had woken up to. He had counted up to life number 666, then gave up. Including accidental deaths, he had surely passed the triple digits long ago.

“This is the first time something like this has happened…”

Perhaps this white space was the final end he had long hoped for. Ever since that dream ten years ago, he was sure deep down that the boy had saved the world.

Maybe because of that, the chains of endless regression—meant to turn him into a tool to save the world—had finally been broken.

“He really became a legend in the end.” Such a praiseworthy son.

Though, in part, he was also worried. He feared the boy might drift too far from humanity… He hadn’t been very human to begin with. Left unchecked, he could become a monster using the name of god.

“Am I overthinking it with all this fatherly worry?”

Just as that concern surfaced, footsteps echoed nearby. Who else could possibly be in a place like this?

Turning his suspicious gaze, his eyes widened.

“You’re… the one from that time…?”

“It’s been ten years.”

A figure outlined only in contours flashed a brilliant smile. Though it was a space of absolute nothingness, the dimension around him warped as if it were collapsing.

“Father.”

He—the God of the Sword—sat before him.

“What… is this…?”

He was both a piece of the god and a fragment of its consciousness.

Simply put a piece of an outer god who ruled a universe.

“I wanted to give you time to reflect. And for this reunion. But there isn’t much time. This space was only created by opening a small tear in the Domain of Suppression. It won’t last long, so I’ll do the talking. Just listen and remember.”

“I’ll listen… No, it’s fine…”

The God of the Sword smiled calmly.

“For now, that world ended with a ‘happy ending,’ just as you wanted. It couldn’t have been better.”

“I see…”

“But there’s a problem. The Suppression does not tolerate finished universes. When a story concludes, it tries to erase it from the world line and replace it with a new universe. To use a metaphor the world line has a maximum capacity, and the stories that take up space but no longer generate content are deleted.”

As Balor Joaquin’s face grew tense, the God of the Sword continued in a cold tone.

“As you know, the Suppression doesn’t distinguish between good and evil. It simply acts. It has no will or judgment. Yet, the world you prepared—and that ‘boy’ brought to a close—was not deleted from the world line. Everyone still lives happily there.”

“…”

“That kid, who insists on remaining human despite transcending divinity, is holding back the collapse.”

“…I understand…”

In short, the world line had reached its full limit. Yet somehow, his son was containing it all on his own.

As a result, the very structure of the world line was on the brink of bursting.

Balor Joaquin went silent.

He had lived through countless eras, believing he had neared the truth.

‘I was reckless.’

Everything that exists must come to an end.

Even those with absolute power cannot escape that principle. It’s absurd.

But even so…

For something to begin, there must be an end. Like when the First Great Human-Demon War ended and the Joaquin Academy was founded.

Crack.

The white space began to fracture. Cracks and chaotic breaks appeared everywhere.

“What do you wish to do, Father?” asked the God of the Sword.

“Will you let your world vanish as it was meant to?”

“I…”

His lips trembled.

Through infinite regressions, he had come to understand Suppression always acts for the greater good of the universe.

And if someone interferes, consequences follow—no matter when.

Still.

“…I…”

They say no father can defeat his son.

“I will honor my son’s will.”

Balor Joaquin rose against the Suppression.

“Ha ha ha ha! I knew you would!”

The God of the Sword burst into laughter, clutching his belly. Much of the shared space between the two began to crumble into dust.

“You’re going to try to stop the end of the world?”

“But what can I possibly do…?”

“What is your title, Father?”

The Founding Hero.

The Hero of the Beginning.

“There were many heroes before you. But they call you specifically the ‘Founding Hero.’ You know, at least vaguely, why that is—don’t you?”

“Winning the First Great Human-Demon War was huge, yes… But not enough to earn that title.”

With each regression, his past memories had grown dim. The further back a life was, the more fragmented the recollections.

“Because there is a beginning, there can be an end.”

The God of the Sword embraced Balor Joaquin.

The smooth, egg-like surface of his body broke apart, revealing black hair.

“Begin again.”

Balor Joaquin felt a lump in his throat. Part of that emotion was because the space held by the God of the Sword had collapsed, and the ground beneath them was falling away.

But more than that—

“Please, go and save me.”

He understood immediately. The God of the Sword was transferring all his divine power to Balor Joaquin.

Since Kang had saved the universe and stopped the cycle of infinite returns from Suppression, the God of the Sword was sacrificing himself to seal it one final time.

That meant Balor Joaquin would never see him again.

The being who had walked beside him since he took the name Balor Joaquin would vanish forever.

“Father…”

The God of the Sword pulled back a little, smiled, and said.

“May the blessing of the gods go with you.”

Light shimmered in Balor Joaquin’s eyes.

***

[Suppression has detected an anomaly.]

[※ Interference from impure element detected! ※]

[Suppression will begin identification of the cause…]

[Loading ■ロロロ］

[Complete!]

[Identifying the true nature of the “impure element??”]

ニニニニ

Name: Balor Joaquin

Age: –

Abilities: Blessing of 00, Demonic Eye of the Ring

Titles: Founding Hero, One-Armed Swordsman, He Who Knew the Truth, Master of the Heavenly Eye Sword

Achievements: Founder of Valhalla, Trainer of the Einherjar, Creator of DD

Unique Traits: Human trapped in karma, Mortal blade that shatters immortality, Father of all things

True Name (Special): In process of identifying the name of the first iteration (···)

[Individual classified as level GX, shrouded in a veil.]

[Time required for full identification pending.]

[…]

[Identification of True Name (Special) completed.]

–Flash!–

[He who lost an eye by abandoning the Vision of Balor.]

[He who heralded the beginning of the Bilskirnir saga and became the Founder.]

[He who enabled the gathering of the Ravens of the Inverted Sky.]

[He who will interrupt the Apocalypse, act of Suppression.]

[His true name is Odin (PONPAPY).]

***

『Proceeding with Ragnarøk』