Seeing the smile filled with so many tangled emotions, Cha Seohu couldn't help but ask.
"Why... does it have to be you?"
Even after the world had reset hundreds of times, the Catastrophe had always been Cha Sahyeon.
According to the system, even if Cha Sahyeon died, the Seed of Catastrophe would not disappear. It would simply move on to someone else and bloom again.
So, with all that time and all those cycles, the role of the Catastrophe should have passed to someone else at least once. And yet—it never did.
Cha Sahyeon blinked at the brief question, then opened his mouth.
"Hyung. I was taken to the research lab when I was ten."
"...What?"
"Since I was ten, I was kept in an underground facility. It was worse than where you were—fewer researchers, harsher conditions."
He paused. Cha Sahyeon seemed to struggle briefly with how to continue but soon went on.
"There were multiple cells. In each one, kids like me were imprisoned."
"..."
"We were test subjects. Abducted and forced to receive implants of replicated energy."
Cha Seohu realized this was Sahyeon's first memory.
Not the current Cha Sahyeon, but a powerless, fragile child—reliving his nightmare.
"Even if it was replicated energy, very few bodies could endure it. They injected the energy ten times. Most didn't survive."
There had been 120 children in the underground prison. By the end of the experiments, only three survived.
Only three.
One hundred and seventeen children died.
"Of the three who endured the replicated energy, I had the highest synchronization rate. So... they implanted the 'real one' into me."
As the ten rounds of injections continued, Cha Sahyeon had aged normally. But once they implanted the real thing, his body reverted to a child's—his physical state now in sync with the energy.
"The researchers called what they implanted in me 'the Seed.'"
After receiving the Seed, he was transferred to another lab—the one where Seohu had been kidnapped.
There, they tortured him in order to make the Seed bloom. After the raid, he was sent to a third lab. More torture.
Until the sprouting Seed finally became a flower.
Cha Seohu's face contorted at the words, his gaze trembling.
His lips parted again and again, but his throat seized up. No sound came out.
Of course, Seohu had never believed the Catastrophe was born easily.
It was a being created intentionally by a cult hell-bent on destroying the world. So naturally, its creation had to be surrounded by unimaginable events.
But to learn that it was a product of exploiting children, and that one of the three who survived hell was Cha Sahyeon standing right in front of him...
That was not something easy to accept.
Even as Seohu failed to speak, his lips pressed together tightly, Cha Sahyeon didn't lose his smile. He placed a finger over his heart.
"The energy that merges with the body... it carries memory. As long as it's inside me, even if time is reset, I remember everything."
That's how he'd been able to remember all those hundreds of loops.
Though the memories were mostly tedious and maddening, he also held useful information that could help Seohu.
"The energy's incomplete, so some memories are broken... but I know enough. I'll answer whatever you ask, just like now."
"Sahyeon..."
"Yeah, yeah. Aren't I such a kind and sweet little brother?"
"..."
Chronos's earlier emotional speech shattered into pieces.
Seohu glared at him in annoyance, and Chronos chuckled.
"Don't look at me like that. I brought you here to give you some information. And, while we're at it, I'll ask for a new favor."
Seohu narrowed his eyes at Chronos's nonchalant tone.
"I don't even need to hear it to know. The information'll be trivial, and the favor'll be a massive pain."
"That's not true."
"Oh really?"
"Well... it was originally critical info, but since you've got your memories from the future..."
As Chronos babbled on and on, Seohu snorted—then frowned.
Why didn't I lose my memories?
The time reset had been a global event. Cha Sahyeon had kept his memories because of the Seed inside him.
So what was the reason Seohu remembered the timeline just before the reset? Was it the system's doing?
Honestly, Seohu had secrets of his own—just like Sahyeon.
But unlike Sahyeon, who was willing to answer anything asked, Seohu had no intention of revealing a single thing.
Not that he even could explain if someone asked. He didn't know what the system really was, after all.
His mind tangled, Seohu looked up—and met Sahyeon's eyes.
Sahyeon had been staring at him the whole time. Whether he knew something or not, his gaze softened, and his eyes curled into a faint smile.
The mood was a little different from before. Just as Seohu was about to ask, Chronos spoke up again.
"Anyway, this is the most important piece of information right now. So, Cha Seohu. Will you hear it? As before, once you hear it, you'll owe me a favor."
"Like I have a choice. Go on."
"Knew you'd say that."
Smugly pleased, Chronos got to the point.
"You remember a new dungeon's about to appear soon, right?"
"Dungeon?"
When the cold eases and spring begins to warm the land. Around now, a new dungeon...
"...!"
As he skimmed through his past-life memories in uncertainty, Seohu suddenly remembered. A forgotten event with insane consequences came flooding back.
"...No way."
"The second S-rank mega-dungeon will soon appear."
The voice describing the future was firm. Seohu swallowed dryly, his thoughts racing back.
The second S-rank mega-dungeon. If memory served, it would appear in Incheon.
The national detection systems had picked up its formation, but no one realized it would be S-rank. The government hastily assembled a raid team.
Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu Sunghyun, both S-rank, along with government hunters and hired foreign mercenaries, joined the team.
Thankfully, the raid was a success. The mega-dungeon incident was resolved.
But that bastard wouldn't bring this up for no reason.
So the answer was clear.
"The cult freaks are going to mess with the mega-dungeon? Like the last dungeon break?"
"That's the most likely scenario."
"...Haa..."
Seohu let out a deep sigh and pressed a hand to his forehead.
They're seriously messing with a mega-dungeon? Have they completely lost it?
Then again, with heads like that, of course they're into cultist bullshit.
If the raid failed, the consequences would be catastrophic.
They'd need to mobilize strong, elite hunters. If the team failed, many would die, and assembling a second team would be far more difficult.
Chronos's golden eyes shimmered with light.
"Whether they tamper with it before the raid or sneak in during the operation, the future isn't certain yet. But one thing is—tampering with the dungeon is a near-certainty."
Even Chronos, fully aware of how severe this was, had lost all traces of a smile.
"Cha Seohu, this is the deal. Join the raid team and stop the incident."
"...If the reward's worth it."
"Of course."
With a troubled heart, Seohu accepted.
Even if Chronos hadn't asked, he wouldn't have ignored news of an impending mega-dungeon disaster.
As before, Kwon Taehyuk and Ryu ❖ Nоvеlight ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеlight) Sunghyun would enter that dungeon. If left unchecked, the cult's interference would get them both killed inside.
That was something he couldn't allow.
He didn't want the world to spiral into chaos because of a failed raid either.
Having come here to confront Chronos, only to be saddled with another heavy burden, Seohu spoke with irritation.
"You dragged me here just for that?"
"I've got a gift too."
Pleased that the important matter was agreed upon, Chronos regained his usual cheerful grin.
"Take out the gemstone you got from the so-called king in the snowfield. And the Source of Vitality samples you've collected."
It was an abrupt request. Seohu frowned, but obediently pulled them from his inventory.
First came the tiny gemstone, barely the size of a pinky nail.
It was a finely cut diamond-like jewel—but surprisingly, it was King Seohwa's tear.
Seohu had picked it up from the floor and returned it to her. She'd examined it with a faintly nostalgic expression and handed it back.
[It's been so long since I last cried, I'd forgotten about this. It's nothing important. You can keep it, if you'd like.]
He'd almost refused, but decided to hold onto it, suspecting a tear of King Seohwa might have some special power.
Next, he took out three flowers.
One from the Gwanghwamun incident, one from the snowfield, and one from the dungeon break. All were identical—dark green leaves, black roots, and an ominous, eerie energy.
"You're someone I trade with, after all. I should give you proper gifts."
Chronos opened his hands, and golden light burst forth, wrapping around the gemstone and the flowers on the table. The glowing shell shrank rapidly.
When the light faded, the gem and three flowers were gone. In their place, two round pearls wrapped in gold remained on the table.
Chronos picked them up, one by one.
"This one has my power mixed with the cold sealed in that gemstone. Go on, eat it."
"...?"
But Chronos didn't offer the pearl to Seohu. He handed it to Cha Sahyeon. Sahyeon didn't accept it, simply stared at it in his hand.
"Come on. Just swallow it like a pill."
"...Why should I eat that?"
"If you take this, your energy won't grow stronger for a while."
Watching the world god and the Catastrophe converse so casually, Seohu jumped in, shocked.
"What? What the hell does that mean?"
"It's exactly what it sounds like. The energy in that kid's body grows by feeding on negative emotions. Sure, he's learned to control his feelings better after recovering his memories, but you never know. If he swallows this, it'll block that growth for a while."
Seohu was genuinely stunned. Chronos's explanation was familiar.
This... isn't this the same effect as the 'Guardian's Core' item sold in the shop for 600 million?!
His heart pounded at the appearance of such a rare item.
He had to get Sahyeon to take it before Chronos could say something like, "Forget it if you don't want it."
Grabbing Sahyeon's arm, Seohu shouted.
"Eat it! Eat it now!"
"...Okay..."
Though he'd been glaring daggers at Chronos just moments ago, Sahyeon wilted at Seohu's intensity and accepted the pearl.
After confirming Sahyeon swallowed it, Chronos picked up the second.
"This one's also edible, but it has a different effect."
He handed the beautifully glowing pearl—hard to believe it came from those vile flowers—to Sahyeon and continued.
"It contains A-rank energy. It'll mask your heart's power, making you seem like an A-rank Hunter. It's temporary, but useful for deceiving others."
"I have a choker item that does that."
"That one turns you into a kid. Where you're going next, being a child will be inconvenient."
Seohu flinched slightly at his fingertips.
He now understood what Chronos meant by giving Sahyeon this.
And Chronos didn't bother to hide it either, offering a warning directly to Seohu's hardened face.
"Take him with you into the mega-dungeon raid. That's the only way you'll be safe."

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