Chapter 238: Agreement

There was once a person who wanted more and created a fake world, in their lies people who he knew well. At some point, he departed from the horrors of reality, and in his departure came those who grew fond of his creation. A story with an end, but a setting full of chaos, not to mention the obstacles that overthrew its destined end. Hope came not in the form of a hero but in the presence of its creator driven by his rage to kill

[So this is the end? I could’ve thought It’ll be something grand, but this outcome was always destined to be. Ainsley… what’s next? The hope you tried to protect was snuffed of their existence, what’s next for this ruined world? Do you want to do that now?]

The world was no longer stable. Every greenery burned, water polluted, and the land unfit to produce life. This dying world had no hope to prosper and the only remnants were the few who wandered searching for a delusional paradise. One of which was the order of fate, a guild led by Ainsley who serves as the incarnation of the primordial god of time

“Guild master… cough. This… Bluargh! The end for me, I beg of you, please can’t you stop blaming yourself? This isn’t your fault, none of it isn’t your fault!! You did everything you could, so please. Just let go,” Ainsley’s come demeanor was put to an end with the heart of his last comrade died

“No, no, no, no!!! Don’t give in, I can fix it, just give me enough time. I always have time, just a second and I’ll patch you up… please, say something! Anything, I don’t want to be alone!!!”

Her body was impaired with dozens of scars, bones fractured, and a missing eye, yet the thing which hurts the most was her loss. No amount of potions could make any difference and she could only watch as another one of her comrades die while surrounded by the corpse of her crew. Everything went downhill from the death of her beloved the person who sacrificed himself for her survival and yet all she could do was nothing

[It’s already been a week, why are you visiting their graves? You have to move! Don’t forget their coming for the rest of the players, they won’t stop unless everyone is dead. What’s the point of their deaths if you can’t survive another day—]

“Will you give it a break!!?” She yelled whilst she held the cross she place on top of her fallen comrades

“I did everything in my power, and what did I accomplish? Nothing… I have no one. I’m left alone to rot and live the rest of this miserable life. Do you think I care if die today? It must be for the best, they’re waiting for me on the other side, I can finally be at peace,”

[This is how you die? Blaming yourself for a natural cause? Everyone dies Ainsley, whether you like it or not, I’ve been with you for as long as I can remember. You’ve done nothing? Are you blind, why do you suddenly have a hero complex that you want to save everyone you’ve met? No… I won’t accept this. Not even for you, this is how you want to die? You’ve never changed. You’re still running away from your problems blaming yourself and not seeing the reality of things!]

The rain pours down and she remains still in her position unaffected by the harsh winds and replies. “What do you want me to do? There’s no way I can undo everything, I can’t even enter the state of ’Manifestation’. Yet you expect me to keep living? Bullshi—”

“Then there was a huge explosion and I died, Long story short before I died I pulled off a miracle. When I was on the brink of death I manifested for the first time, the enemy was so strong, and even with my abilities it was one-sided. My only thought back then was to escape, since I manifested I can tap into Chronos’s full power. All in all, it resulted in my regression, the end,”

She finishes her story and slammed a dagger into the table, tempting Jin to end her life whilst she hasn’t sobered up. “Okay… nice story, but what’s with the dagger? For fucks sake! Are you that freaking suicidal?”

She was baffled by his reaction her eyes widened and was dumbfounded by such a normal reply. “What the fuck? What the hell’s wrong with this timeline, in every timeline Morris has a chance to have a different personality. You on the other hand. Don’t take this the wrong way but every time you see me it felt like you’re possessed. You tried to kill me in a heartbeat, what’s so different from this timeline?”

“H-hold up! What do you mean by I killed you? What the hell did you do to me on the other timelines huh? There’s no way im secretly a psychopath, there has to be a mistake… yes you could say I was trying to kill you but I was joking. I just wanted to spook the hell out of you,” She didn’t see any lies in his tone and the way he spoke was just as confused by the statement she spoke of

[All of that back then was to scare you? I thought that was the real deal, props to the guy for being realistic. But isn’t this strange? Normally he’d grabbed that dagger the moment you gave him the chance. This timeline is an anomaly in itself, what do you think should we do? Should we trust him?]

“This is too much… I can’t. I just can’t swallow this whole regression thing, how about we tell this to Morris—”

“Don’t!!!” She quickly acted and broke the door handle with her swift movement whilst knocking him back to the ground

“You can do whatever you want but you can’t tell him I regressed… no matter what happens he can’t know. The reason why I left that day was to make him who he is today. If he learns about the past then he’ll regress to the way he was. An idiot that trusts anyone without a doubt in his mind, after everything I’ve done he can’t turn back!”

His mood darkened and his worries as overshadowed by the rage quelling from the very reason for her disappearance. “Do you think this is a joke? Morris had a mental breakdown when you left without a word. I thought you were the one for him because you gave him self-confidence, love, and fulfillment but his nothing but a guinea pig. In your eyes did it even matter what he would’ve felt to be broken from your experiment?”

She silently stood there and sighed for a long time and she replied. “It doesn’t matter if he hates me till his driven with anger to kill, im ashamed. But happy at the same time, if he came here with his kind attitude do you think he’ll survive even for a day? I had to break him down, make him feel on top of the world, and then push him back so instead of an act of kindness he chose to kill,”

“Why did you have to make it so hard, Rachel? You could’ve just come clean… I don’t even know you anymore, or was it all an act in the first place? Did you just befriend me back then just because of your grand plan,” He was angry but he couldn’t disagree with her statement, and his rage was replaced with doubt

“I told you, I had a twisted fate… my regression. Don’t you think there are no consequences to my actions? Christopher Morris’s death will be advanced, in my timeline we lasted for 3 whole years until he sacrificed himself. The karma I bring whenever I regress aims to end Morris’s life at any given time, that’s why I’m always by his side,” She opens a handwritten book tallying every time she saves him from the brink of death

“I made sure to properly rearrange the forest where he fought against the goblin king, his first death flag. I killed the reinforcement of the Mad Alchemist when they were about to assist Seper Alinea. Lastly, I was there the night he stormed the Raging Hyena, I killed every one of their returning members,” She spoke only a few but the list goes on until the present where she wrote about her battle with Song Hye-ri

“All this time, I was there… every important moment of his life, the current Christopher Morris is surprisingly calculative. I’m surprised as well, I’ve done this method with his many alternate counterparts, but he’s unpredictable. What im saying is that whether or not you’ve seen me for yourself im always there, supporting him from the dark,” Once she was certain about winning him over she sighed an awful lot from such a near-death experience

“Maybe I can trust you, I’ll let you in on my work, but first you have to sign this… oh you’re not surprised after seeing something like this? I guess this is how you deal with those bastards who want the goods you make, Incarnation of Hephaestus,”

The sight of a life-and-death contract was nothing new to Kurenai who traded only by this condition. He knew this so well, a contract that tests each other’s mutual trust and a symbol of absolute fairness. If one writes their name on this paper they’ll have to obey the deal with the orders from the opposing party

[System: You’ve signed a life-and-death contract! If the vow is broken your soul will pay the ultimate price. You’ll cease to exist if you dare betray the vow you’ve made this day]

“I wrote my side of the deal, what are you going to write? A pledge so I won’t even bother killing you?”

He snickered but it soon stopped when he saw the condition Rachel had written on her side of the deal. A command that wasn’t hard yet confusing on his side, a thing that’ll never happen, and yet… for some reason, Rachel was wary of the man who tried to kill her countless times. But the order she place on her side of the deal was something that never guaranteed her safety

[Life and Death contract penalty: No matter what the player “Jin Kurenai” must never harm Christopher Morris in any form of manner. Betraying the person in question will be the end of your life, we advised you to follow through with the request. This is the order of the other contractor, Rachel Ainsley]

“Rachel what the heck is this—” Before he could talk Jin fell into her grasp and she tightens her grip, clasping tightly on his neck with a menacing glare

“I’ve been through countless timeliness, Jin. It wouldn’t be weird if I’d say that it has endless possibilities such as regression in a timeline when Morris is a girl. I’m not afraid of dying but you’re right on one thing my dear friend… he’s been hurt for far too long, and you’re the only one he could fully trust, so you better make sure to live by my side of the deal,”

She stared deeply through his eyes as if she was looking into his soul himself, what Rachel said wasn’t a request but a threat. The only person that could bring about the trauma she gave to her former lover was the person he trust the most. Jin could feel the intensity of that moment and only nods upon seeing the insanity written all over her eyes

’Morris… what the fuck is wrong with you? I can’t believe you fell in love with this kind of woman. She’s more psychotic than she ever led on, I guess love does make anyone blind especially that fucker,’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep