Folding its white-feathered wings without a sound, the bird that prophesies the future slipped into a world teetering on the edge of destruction.

The sky blazed deep navy blue. Mana hung so thick in the air that it sparkled visibly, dense enough to make low-grade Awakened self-destruct from their own uncontrolled magic. But most beings—both weak and strong—had already vanished.

Every city in the world had fallen silent, even the capital of what they’d called the last bastion.

The protective power shielding this world had weakened, and the presence of transcendent beings lurking outside pressed down like a weight. Hyenas, all of them, waiting for the moment the barrier would shatter completely, just before the Source swallowed everything whole. Creatures who had lost their own worlds or devoured them themselves, now desperate for the homes they’d once known, scrambling to claim even fragments of another world.

He stood among the ruins, gazing up at the sky. A familiar powerlessness washed over him, along with crushing déjà vu. No—he’d witnessed this scene countless times before. Those memories stirred faintly in his mind: collapsing skies and spreading moonlight.

A white bird landed before him as he fumbled through his hazy recollections. Its pale hair flowed long in the wind created by beating wings. Though only a tiny fragment of its true self had squeezed through the gap where the world’s protection had weakened, the white bird’s presence was overwhelming. Still, the sunken golden eye regarded it with indifference.

– Crescent Moon’s groom-to-be.

His brow furrowed slightly.

“I have no memory of any such engagement.”

– I thought it the most fitting title. Since the completed you won’t be able to maintain your current self, you can’t even be called the same person anymore.

The white bird spoke with cool detachment.

“Why have you come looking for me? A future-prophesying species, wasn’t it?”

He’d had closer contact with this world’s system administrators than anyone else. He’d heard of the silent white bird too—the Bird that Counts the Stars.

“You’re quite chatty for someone with that nickname.”

– The future that a future-prophesying species can see isn’t singular. It’s about picking out a thread with high probability from among countless strands of possibility.

The white bird continued in low tones.

– But the moment it’s spoken aloud, that possibility becomes prophecy that must be fulfilled.

The power to lock the future you’ve seen at an even higher probability—that was the ability of the white bird, who had risen to the highest rank among the future-prophesying species.

– The future I prophesy transforms into something no different from fate itself, but it’s still not perfect. If the prophecy goes wrong, I must pay a price.

Depending on the prophecy’s importance, her power could weaken temporarily, her rank could drop, or she might forfeit her life. That’s why she’d chosen silence.

Hearing the white bird’s words, he lifted one corner of his mouth in a crooked smile.

“So you’ve come to open your beak because you have something to prophesy. Is that it?”

– For my beloved tree.

“Love? Don’t make me laugh.”

– You wouldn’t be able to feel such emotion anymore. You’ve become a being who can’t stand on equal ground with intelligent life from any world. Not just ordinary Awakened—even Vein-Bearers are trivial to you now.

“For now, I’m also a Vein-Bearer.”

– That’s your disguise. A Vein-Bearer can’t be your equal either. You’re a being close to transcendence, just hidden. You must have felt it already—how even things that briefly catch your interest soon scatter like grains of sand.

He fell silent. The white bird spoke the truth. Interesting things were rare, and even those grew tiresome quickly.

– One could love something trivial. But you cannot. Because you know your own worth too well, you’ll never be able to lower yourself and give your heart sincerely to someone of lesser rank. Because that would demean you both.

“So I can’t have normal emotional connections except with the transcendent beings outside? Is that what you came to prophesy?”

– The transcendent beings will be no different. You’re bound too strongly to Crescent Moon. Unless it’s a transcendent being equal to her or greater, both that being and you will unconsciously keep your distance.

“You’re saying in a roundabout way that I’ll have no lovers or friends. It’s a common trait of the prophet tribe, though.”

Such a trivial story.

“Get to the point.”

– You’ll never be able to hold anyone in your heart except Crescent Moon. You’ll continue wandering the worlds, and in the end, after gradually filling up, you’ll lose yourself and stand by Crescent Moon’s side. On that very day, the Source will be swallowed by the moon.

“Now, should I go about beheading the prophet who’s uttered such ominous words? Then you’ll babble about some way to escape.”

– You are a forced immortal.

The white bird continued coldly.

– Even if you cut your own throat, only the outermost memory will disappear. The rest, layered upon layered, will be retrieved by Crescent Moon. And it will repeat again.

Because he belonged to an inserted world under protection, the transcendent beings couldn’t touch him either.

– But.

“As prophecies always go.”

– Only two humans will become special to you.

The Bird that Counts the Stars continued her prophecy.

– One is a black lunar eclipse that will swallow you. The only being who ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ can bring you your end. So even though you’re bound by Crescent Moon’s chain, you can’t help but be drawn to it. On the contrary, because you’re bound without escape, you’ll want to be even closer.

“Some call death liberation, but it’s an escape route I don’t prefer.”

Even so, the fact that there was an ending wasn’t entirely bad. The golden eye, holding faint expectation, curved slightly.

– I won’t say the lunar eclipse will be perfectly achieved. That will depend solely on the choice between you and that human. But at the very least, the lunar eclipse will gift you a little more time.

“I’ll have to treat them well if we meet.”

He spoke offhandedly.

– The other is an ordinary human. Compared to you, he’s an absurdly weak and insignificant being. One of countless unremarkable humans.

“And yet I can feel something special about him?”

– It’s unknown.

The white bird raised its head high.

– Unlike the black lunar eclipse, he has countless low possibilities tangled around him that can’t be confirmed. Perhaps you won’t even notice his existence, and you may never cross paths. Even if you do notice, it might end there.

He was so uncertain that even with the white bird’s ability, raising the probability was difficult. If the opponent were a Vein-Bearer or high-grade Awakened, the strands of possibility would be fewer and clearer. Their goals would mostly succeed, leaving few crossroads.

But ordinary humans couldn’t break through all the countless obstacles they faced. They’d take different paths, give up climbing altogether, or even step backward. The longer and rougher the path to their goal, the more stubborn they were about not letting go, the more the crossroads multiplied.

– But if.

The white bird’s eyes crossed space and time.

– If you happen to meet an ordinary human who has come to love a being who cannot be loved, despite impossibly low odds. And if he doesn’t give up until the very end.

It looked at me.

– We will obtain what we have wished for.

“We?”

Instead of answering, the white bird spread its wings wide. White feather tips swayed in the wind. She slowly bowed her head, offering a polite greeting.

– I, the Bird that Counts the Stars, stake my life and declare.

The prophet’s gaze reached me. The fragment of memory I’d been clutching scattered completely. The system message window flashed red.

[Warning! The Sesung Guild area will be closed soon! Raider, please exit the said area!]

[Warning! Warning!]

The countless strands of moonlight—the silver chain—had vanished completely. I could see Seong Hyunjae’s body collapsed on the floor. His half-open golden eye looked up at me as I stood there, stunned.

[Raider, please exit the said area immediately!]

“Didn’t you say you were in a hurry?”

He laughed soundlessly.

[Special Quest! Let’s exit the Sesung Guild area!

Reward: 1,000 Points]

I took a step back.

[Reward!: 10,000 Points! ㅠ△ㅠ]

I turned around. With a limping gait, I approached the garden’s edge. Reaching the end that didn’t need jumping since building debris had collapsed it, I dropped down. My body hit the ground and rolled over and over. I couldn’t avoid minor scratches, but thanks to Grace, I suffered no major injuries.

Leaning on my cane, I started walking again. I kept walking even after emerging onto the empty, deserted road.

I felt slightly nauseous.

‘Crescent Moon, and Whitey.’

What they wanted had become clearer.

Crescent Moon wanted to complete Seong Hyunjae, the small moon, and eliminate the Source entirely. A transcendent being is born just by swallowing one world. So Seong Hyunjae, who’d witnessed the destruction of numerous worlds while refusing to become transcendent, would also be able to destroy the Source. It was possible—Whitey had confirmed it.

‘…My beloved, tree.’

The snowing tree. The fifth Source. If Seong Hyunjae was completed, the Source that Whitey loved would disappear too. So Whitey had to stop Crescent Moon, stop the completion of the small moon. But Seong Hyunjae was a being who belonged to a world where transcendent beings couldn’t directly intervene.

“So, damn it!”

Did you take my little brother for that? To keep me from giving up? Then if I succeed in stopping Crescent Moon, are you going to return him? No, why me in the first place? Why Yuhyun?

“…A being who cannot be loved.”

Because I loved him. Is that why? My steps slowed. It became hard to breathe. If you put it that way, then my little brother being wrong, I mean, from the beginning.

“Still, my little brother was adorable.”

I couldn’t help it. I just, I just loved my little brother.

“…Shit, what kind of greeting is that.”

As you said, I’m just an ordinary human. I came all this way because I couldn’t give up. To be honest, my body’s already falling apart. And yet you take my little brother away, saying I can’t stop.

My heart and mind were in turmoil. I couldn’t even figure out where to start blaming anyone. Whitey had made a prophecy, but in the end, it was my choice to come this far.

I missed Yuhyun desperately.

“Han Yujin?”

An unfamiliar voice called out. Could have been some guy I’d run into somewhere, but I didn’t remember. Probably didn’t need to remember either. Still, I turned my head. Three men who looked like Hunters stood there. Their grades were B to C. Here, that would be A to B.

My mind went cold. They were relatively low-grade monsters, wandering around outside instead of staying within a certain area.

“You’re living it up, walking around with your head held high in broad daylight.”

The guys started picking a fight with me, feeling nothing strange about the empty street. It wasn’t broad daylight—the sun had set. Even though they had self-awareness, they probably couldn’t break out of their monster routine.

“Why are you picking a fight with a powerless F-Rank? If you’re a successful Hunter, you should just mind your own business.”

I took a step back and drew my gun. The B-Rank, now A-Rank, looked bewildered.

“A gun?”

“I know it won’t work on you. It’s useful among the low-ranks, so I got one for self-defense.”

In the world before the regression, there were only ordinary firearms. Even a low-power pistol wouldn’t work on a C-Rank. Maybe leave a bruise. Thanks to that, the A-Rank approached me slowly as if to intimidate, completely unguarded.

“Now you’re openly breaking the law. As a mid-rank Hunter, I can’t just let this slide.”

“What do you mean, illegal? But are you really mid-rank? For that, you look too carefree. If this gun hits you, won’t it drill a hole clean through your head?”

“This bastard. Try shooting! It won’t even tickle—”

BANG!

Since you asked me to shoot, I pulled the trigger. The mana I’d packed tightly while he was approaching burst from the muzzle. A magic bullet with the power of up to an S-Rank. The A-Rank was flustered by the unexpected storm of mana, but it was too late to dodge.

CRACK—the A-Rank’s head vanished. My body was pushed back by the recoil.

“What!”

Amid the surprised shouts of the remaining A-Rank and B-Rank, I set off a smoke bomb. Then I used the Stealth skill. With the jacket’s buff, it was stealth that even an S-Rank would have trouble noticing. I ran—no, I couldn’t—I approached the closer B-Rank as quickly as possible and shot again. The B-Rank fell even more easily.

“This bastard!”

The A-Rank noticed my position from the direction of the attack. A quickly thrown wire SWISH, wrapped around my body. Since my leg was in bad shape, I couldn’t dodge, so I put the gun in my inventory first. Since I was already tied up, I deactivated the Stealth skill, and the A-Rank, who was about to rush at me, flinched and stopped.

Having killed two in an instant, perhaps out of caution, he didn’t approach recklessly but instead roughly pulled the wire. Since Grace only nullified damage, my body collapsed helplessly.

“You bastard…!”

“Do you still think I’m Han Yujin?”

“…What?”

“I was so well disguised, but some small fry started a fight. Let this go, clean up quietly, and I’ll let you live. It’s troublesome for me to do it for various reasons.”

The A-Rank’s eyes darted around in confusion. No matter how careless he’d been, there was no way an F-Rank could kill an A-Rank, or a B-Rank in his mind. Since there were no dungeon-made firearms, it must have felt like an attack skill disguised as a gun. At least A-Rank or higher.

“D-disguise, then…”

“These two here died fighting over a dungeon item. Report it to the Association like that.”

The hesitating A-Rank released the wire, turned, and ran away. As I watched his back disappear between the buildings, I let out a short sigh. I should use my stealth skill wisely.

I took out a dagger and was about to cut the wire binding my body. Damn it, it wasn’t cutting well. As I sawed at it, more like a saw than a knife, a hollow laugh escaped.

Why am I so full of lingering attachments that I can’t give up? Not only my little brother, but also Seong Hyunjae, and everything else.

Staggering, I got up from my seat. I started walking again.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep