Chapter 388: The Time He Waited, The Time He Walked (1)
In the beginning, there was that which existed alone.
There was nothing else.
It stood solitary and thus could bear eternity by itself.
But being able to and having to are not the same. Just as it needed nothing else to be itself, it also thought it need not be alone.
For one to become two, it must be split.
It chose to be cleaved. With a great sword forged from its very essence, it divided itself. The lower half, split horizontally, sank to become the earth, while the upper half rose to become the heavens.
To commemorate the birth of the heavens and the earth, people named the moment of the first cleave the ‘Year of the Sword.’
Silvia.
A former Goldencup of the Sormewin Academy, currently the Chamberlain and Gardener of the King of Death’s household.
She was oversleeping again today.
“Ugh… Hmm… Did you see… My Lord, no, Kim Gong-Ja… This is, [My True Power]…”
She must be having a pleasant dream.
At a point where she was starting to confuse whether her family name was Evanair or Evanile. Dreams were the only drug this world permitted her.
But of course, the bizarre and nightmarish world crafted by the merciless evil god that had ruined her life in its entirety did not wish for her to indulge in such sweet slumber.
“Silvia.”
The voice that awoke the deeply slumbering Silvia belonged to a woman with a gentle demeanor.
Once an Immortal Dragon Emperor, a Goddess of Protection, an Imperial Sword Saint, and a sword known as ‘Shiny,’ among other disconnected careers amassed rather impressively in various unrelated fields, this woman was called Hwiya.
Now, she spends her time in the King of Death’s household, having tea with Ester, her former nemesis who drove the world to ruin, or playing old Smash Bros games with her previous partner, Kim Yul, who helped her lead a life worthy of a title like [The bullied girl in school reincarnates into another world, meets a goddess, forgets her memories, and steadily walks the path of a God Slayer with her overpowering skill]…
Among those activities, one was to wake up the oversleeping Silvia.
“Silvia, it’s time to get up.”
“Hmm…”
“Silvia.”
“Five more minutes…”
Silvia mumbled as she clutched her goblin doll pillow tightly.
“Just five more minutes… Please, just shut up and wait a bit longer…”
Not getting angry was one of Hwiya’s virtues.
She quietly waited for another five minutes before speaking again.
“Silvia, five minutes have passed.”
“Five minutes? That’s commendable… If you waited five minutes… then you can wait ten… I believe… in your… [Will to Wait]…”
Being able to be convinced logically was another of Hwiya’s virtues.
After another ten minutes, she said,
“Silvia, ten minutes have passed.”
“Nyeh…”
“It’s time to wake up.”
“Why…?”
“You have work to do.”
“What if… I don’t want to work…?”
Silvia showed just one hand from under the pillow where her face was buried.
“Think about it… Goddess of Protection… Hwiya… Shiny… whatever. Just think…”
“I am not Shiny.”
“Oh, come on, it’s all the same, you light bulb… Anyway, just think… If I… don’t want to work… if I have such a golden will… what will you do…? Force me to work…?”
Silvia then spread just one finger and wagged it back and forth.
“No, no, no… You wouldn’t do that… not you, Shiny…”
“I told you, I’m not Shiny.”
“Hwiya, you’ll just let me sleep… And then, you will… gladly do my work for me…”
“Hmm… And why is that?”
Could this be yet another of Hwiya’s virtues, calmly responding even to such nonsensical babble?
Or, perhaps, it’s a flaw.
Either way, Silvia answered in a dreamy voice, as if she was half-asleep.
“Because you are… a goddess…”
“……”
“Goddess… please help… If you’re going to look like Verdandi anyway, might as well earn your keep… It’s Silvia… That’s all…”
“Silvia…”
Silvia didn’t respond further. Her hand, previously raised, dropped down.
She had drifted off. Back to the world of dreams. Leaving a goddess waiting for 15 minutes.
“……”
Even after such treatment, Hwiya did not get angry. That was indeed a virtue, a strength.
Because not getting angry meant [There’s no need for her to personally get angry]. Just as Silvia said, Hwiya was a goddess, and there were plenty who would get angry on her behalf.
So many that there might even be a few within Hwiya herself.
“Please, sister…”
“Understood. Leave it to me, sister.”
[The Goddess of Protection transforms into ~Sympathy Form~ of the Goddess of Protection.]
Hwiya’s hair and wings turned black.
[The Goddess of Protection’s Constellation is being adjusted.]
[The skill set of the Goddess of Protection is being changed.]
The robe Hwiya was wearing tightened around her, transforming from a flowing dress to a plain, dark-colored habit. Even her once platinum-like nails darkened.
A black angel had descended.
If Hwiya looked like she could be sued for trademark infringement by Verdandi, then one of Hwiya’s Sword Facets, [The Stance of the Pity Sword], looked like it could receive a copyright infringement notice from the Salvation Army.
Even the personality seemed similar, judging by the way she spoke.
“Pain without injury.”
“Aaaahh!~”
Silvia leapt up like a cat that had just encountered a cucumber. The power of the Pity Sword, the ability to inflict pain, had snapped her awake.
“Ah, what is this! This is abuse of Silvia!”
“Are you awake now?”
“Awake? No. It’s like my sleep got scared off so far away that it’s never coming back. What the hell is this, really? Can’t you treat Silvia a bit more preciously!?”
“Shall I give you another?”
“I’ll go wash up and come out.”
Silvia hurried off to the bathroom.
A while later, a refreshed Silvia emerged to find the original version of Hwiya had set the table for breakfast.
Silvia grumbled as she mixed her egg rice bowl thoroughly.
“Do you know? It’s because of such reluctance to get your hands dirty that the Aegim Empire ended up doing that to the advisors. Reflect on it.”
“Ah, indeed. Could that also be related…?”
Hwiya frowned, looking downcast.
Silvia stared at her, then banged her rice bowl with a spoon until it clanged.
“What… are you even talking about? You were sealed by that guy you summoned. And now you’re saying [Could that also be related]? What’s that about?”
“But still…”
“Stop blaming yourself. I was just ranting because I was annoyed. Gods aren’t supposed to be this naive, right?”
Having inhaled the egg rice and guzzled down the sungnyung*, Silvia finished her meal in a flash. She stretched as she stood up, while Hwiya silently waited by her side, still wearing a somber expression.
*Sungnyung is a traditional Korean infusion made from boiled scorched rice.
Silvia clicked her tongue and draped her gardener’s uniform over her shoulders, then asked,
“By the way, what were you fighting about?”
“Excuse me?”
“Kim Yul, or Kim Yulmu Cha, whatever his name is. There must’ve been a reason to summon him. You even fought with him for a while, didn’t you? What was that all about? I’m curious.”
“Ah, well.”
Silvia had a habit of oversleeping so often that the Director changed the morning assembly to the evening. Ester was furious, accusing Silvia of inconveniencing the elders, while Kim Yul silently stood by, exerting a non-verbal pressure on her. But Silvia, embodying the spirit of this nation that bows to no unjust authority, stoically endured.
This meant there was still plenty of time until the assembly. Carrying a spade, Silvia and Hwiya, with a bucket full of sunset, walked towards the garden, chatting.
Hwiya answered,
“I fought with another version of myself.”
“Good heavens. After all that tea time and camaraderie with the advisors… and now this alter form, when did the Viper virus spread that far…”
“No, no! Really, I mean it! I truly fought with another me.”
Hwiya, unusually flustered, waved her hands in denial.
Silvia, skeptical, crossed her arms and said,
“Explain, please.”
Perhaps due to her innate kindness, or shocked by the alarming accusation of being infected by the Viper virus, Hwiya willingly explained the fight.
According to Kim Yul, who joined them in the garden, the explanation went like this:
“Hwiya was split into two at that time. There was a bad Hwiya and a good Hwiya.”
“Are you a slime creature?”
Kim Yul, who had recently begun to reclaim his emotions, wasn’t as tolerant as Hwiya. He shot a rubber band at Silvia.
Feeling the physical sting, Silvia gritted her teeth.
“Ouch! What are you doing!”
“Head maid. You may insult me, but do not insult my former comrades. That is truly testing my patience.”
“Oh, right. Just a thought, but who was it that backstabbed that very same revered old comrade of yours?”
“…Above all, a slime? Either a minor monster or a formidable foe that’s hard to kill without magic and fire, such ambiguous titles should be avoided. Clear language leads to a clear mind. Silvia, as the head maid, you’re responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the household. It’s something you need to be more aware of.”
“You’re changing the subject, aren’t you?”
Kim Yul cleared his throat and began rifling through his notebook.
“Anyway, there are two types of sanctuaries. There are sanctuaries that are [created] by someone, like this one or the Constellation Killer’s, and those that are simply [born].”
“Oh?”
“Cheomsan World… Or Hwiya’s world was a [born] sanctuary. Everything there originated from Hwiya’s body. The entire mountain range covering the continent was formed from the decaying corpse of a giant dragon.”
“Ho?”
“That dragon was also one of Hwiya’s true forms. Thus, the long battle with herself ended with only two factions of Hwiya remaining. I was summoned by the weaker, kinder Hwiya to fight against the stronger, evil Hwiyas.”
Hwiya chimed in with nods and hums, crossing her wings as if they were arms.
“In a way, it was a process of [rebirth]. The battle that would ultimately decide what Hwiya would become. Just as the Lord cleared the trials of the 70th floor and became a complete constellation, Hwiya went through a similar process.”
Kim Yul shared the lengthy tale of how he broke each of the evil Hwiyas’ wings, one by one, converting their strength into his own, how he transformed Cheomsan World in the process, and how he gathered more people under his and Hwiya’s banners.
“It sounds like a story that, if the cruel parts were cut out, would make for a perfect 24-episode animation to be aired in the morning.”
Hwiya reminisced with a nostalgic look.
Kim Yul tilted his head.
“Really? I think it sounds like a story that, if made into an SRPG, could sell about 100,000 copies.”
Silvia merely showed a look of utter disgust, not bothering to comment on this delusional combo’s self-assessment.
Kim Yul asked,
“So, that’s the story. Any more questions?”
“So, you did change the subject earlier, right?”
A brief skirmish ensued, with rubber bands flying and the spade slicing through the air.
“Anyway, get to work! It’s almost mealtime.”
“Yessir. Oh, my fate.”
Thus, the three of them delved into tending the garden.
While Hwiya fluttered about, collecting sunsets, and Kim Yul shaped a long rock with his aura-infused hedge trimmers, Silvia knelt, turning the soil and muttering,
“Ah, really… I wish I could fight myself right now. Being unlucky Silvia and having a lucky Silvia knock me down and absorb me… No, wait, that would be annoying in its own way too. If there’s going to be absorption, I should be the one doing it. Sucking all the luck out of that Silvia to become the one true lucky being… Hmm.”
Silvia stopped mid-sentence, her own soliloquy perhaps too pitiful even for her.
“Ugh.”
At the end of Silvia’s gaze lay a small marigold.
She had noticed its roots slightly exposed.
“It cried so much yesterday… not like it’s some big-eyed frog. Oh. Come to think of it, there was that time I was a frog… Tsk.”
Silvia scooped up some soil with her spade and covered the exposed roots, grumbling,
“Lord, come back soon. How long are you going to stay up there, leaving the flowers like this?”
Of course, there was no response to her grumbling, as Hwiya and Kim Yul were far away.
Regardless, Silvia continued to tenderly cover the marigold’s roots while muttering,
“Or are you already there? Given how elusive you are, maybe you’re hiding there with your invisibility skill… Oof. If by any chance you’re there, please shake that carrot flower over there… Whoa, damn, that scared me!”
Silvia was startled.
A sudden breeze had shaken the carrot flower.
“That really shook me up… Are you there?”
Startled by the unexpected gust, Silvia managed to calm her heart.
“There’s no way, now that I think about it.”
Silvia scratched the back of her head.
“Damn.”
The grumbling continued.
“You made me like this. This, well, it’s not bad… not bad, but especially when I see the Crown Prince Kim Hwang-Tae turning from pollock to dried pollock, I think, ah, I’m better off… but still.”
Silence.
“I’m not the only one you’ve made like this.”
Silence.
“There are many of us… so.”
And then,
“Come back soon. Please.”
[Key manifestation complete.]
Somewhere, such a declaration echoed.
[All residents from the 81st to 90th floor remember you.]
[The 91st floor stage has been cleared.]
Such proclamations of the Tower did not reach Silvia.
What Silvia heard was merely this,
“Silvia, let’s go have lunch together!”
“Ah, yes.”
Responding to Hwiya’s call, Silvia got up from her spot.
After giving the well-covered marigold one last look, Silvia stretched her limbs.
“What’s for lunch today?”
“Today, we’re eating out. Let’s go to the Planetarium.”
“Ah, okay. Understood. …Well then.”
With a flick of her finger, Silvia activated a power granted to the vassals of the King of Death’s household, opening a staircase connected to another layer of the sanctuary.
“Let’s go chew on some salad while looking at that annoying hamster’s face.”
Silvia, Hwiya, and Kim Yul made their way down the staircase, one step at a time.
And following them, someone who had heard the Tower’s declarations also began descending the stairs.
[You are entering the 92nd floor.]
