{ Chapter 21 – Unplayed, Target }

Late dawn, at the aerial fortress of the Dominating Hands:

“Hmm.”

Paradise stood on the deck, bathed in the soft moonlight, murmuring to herself in a low voice.

“I was slowly trying to catch her eye.”

Surprisingly, Lee Se-ah's sweating figure appeared on the smartphone she was holding.

“By the way, what exactly was Lee Se-ah’s ability?”

She looked at it with an expressionless face and quietly closed her eyes.

– Swap…!

And the next moment, countless cards spread out beside her.

“Was it the concept of foreknowledge?”

Dice, who had been flipping through those cards, quietly tilted her head and muttered.

“I must have copied it somewhere.”

The concept of foreknowledge; A powerful ability that no one knows about its existence except for the holder, who was called the child of prophecy, just like Lumia,

Of course, Paradise couldn’t have it.

Because it was impossible to have more than two concepts in the first place.

“…Ah, here it is.”

However, she took out a card with a percent sign among the many cards, and soon closed her eyes and flicked her hand.

“Let’s see each other, Lee Se-ah.”

When she said that after a while, her eyes were dyed blue like Lee Se-ah.

“Anyway, mine is disposable.”

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“ah.”

Dice woke up to a sight that wasn't the moonlit deck but the ruins of the middle of the city. 

“……..”

As soon as she saw it, her face turned pale, which was quite unusual for someone who always had a relaxed smile.

“It’s the same as… that day.”

She muttered in a trembling voice, her face contorted with an expression of despair.

“It’s strange. Things have obviously changed a lot.”

Then, she started moving slowly forward.

“Why is the ending the same?”

She felt sick to her stomach. She wanted to close her eyes immediately and stop her ability.

But there was still a chance that something might have changed. And so, with a heavy heart, Dice took a step forward.

“…….”

Then, the figures of people gathered in the middle of the ruins came into her eyes.

“Nothing has changed.”

Dice quietly squirmed between them, then muttered with a bitter smile.

In front of her, there was Trauma that revealed Kang Ha-neul’s face with the mask completely shattered.

There was no blood on his face, and his eyes were closed quietly as if he was asleep.

Seeing the deep wounds in his chest, it seemed as if his fate had already changed a little.

“Except for this kid.”

It was a sight she never wanted to see again, but Dice had no choice but to continue observing.

It was because there was a new variable that was different from the ending she knew.

“Is she, Ariel?”

There was a girl on her knees quietly holding Trauma with her eyes closed.

She was none other than Ariel.

Kang Ha-neul’s eyes were also tightly closed and he was sobbing with a pod in his hand.

“…ha.”

Dice sighed deeply and looked away, quietly frowning.

“Did he die saving this child?”

She guessed roughly what the situation was.

“Are you going to hand over Justia’s abilities intact?”

Kang Ha-neul now has another goal besides the goal of ‘extermination of all monsters’.

This time, that was to protect Justia’s flesh and blood, who did not die on the day of the entrance ceremony.

No matter how much she thought about it, that was the only reason why Kang Ha-neul would die at this point.

– Ugh…

Dice quietly looked up at Kang Ha-neul, and carefully reached out her hand to his face.

But her hand just passed through him.

“By the way, why can’t I see her?”

Nevertheless, Dice, who had been stroking Kang Ha-neul’s cheek for a while, quietly got up from her seat.

“I want to go see it myself...”

Although it was ‘disposable’, the ‘concept of prophecy’ copied on Paradise’s card was somehow more powerful than that of Lee Se-ah.

To the extent that it was not uncommon for her to shift her point of view to someone she knows well.

“……..”

Just like that, Dice’s expression hardened as she moved to another place in an instant.

“Kang Ha-neul, is this your revenge?”

Then, she saw a person in front of her burst into laughter while saying that.

However, the smile soon disappeared from her face, and her eyes turned serious.

“Th-that's you.”

It was Kang Ha-neul’s older sister, Absolute Commander, who for some reason was at home dressed in a suit, watching the news on TV in a daze, and waiting for someone.

“It’s your revenge?”

She muttered to herself before jumping up from her seat and running out of the house.

The Kimchi jjigae that she had prepared with her modest culinary abilities was steaming on the table, garnished with crispy seaweed.

“…Ugh.”

Dice suddenly started gritting her teeth and said.

“Is this too far…?”

Before long, after confirming that blood was flowing from her eyes, she cautiously snapped her fingers.

Then, the light in her eyes slowly began to disappear.

“Ha…”

Eventually, the appearance of the deck returned again, and Dice leaned against the railing with a weary expression on her face.

“As expected, disposables are not efficient.”

Then, looking at the moon floating in the sky, she muttered in a low voice.

“Lee Se-ah, do you want to see the same thing as me?”

She couldn’t say that even though she had the same ability, she saw the same scene.

Because what Dice wanted to foresee was the ‘end’ of this world.

Of course, Lee Se-ah had foreseen something other than that.

But since her face was so pale blue, she must have come close to the correct answer.

After organizing her thoughts like that, she began to mutter with a smile.

“It’s okay, no matter what happens, the future isn’t fixed yet.”

She knew it well.

The future seen through the concept of foreknowledge was not unconditionally confirmed.

The concept of foreknowledge, it merely showed the most probable future.

“I can change it, as much as I like.”

Dice, who had muttered so much, suddenly lowered her head.

“……..”

Changing the future...

In theory, of course, anything was possible.

Right now, several of them have succeeded in changing the future.

However, in order to prevent the death of Kang Ha-neul, a fundamental countermeasure was needed.

“Ummm…”

The reason Kang Ha-neul continued his life now was because of his revenge on the monster and Lumia, and his sense of debt to Ariel.

In other words, if all of them were resolved, Kang Ha-neul would lose the will to live.

So how to prevent it?

‘…there is a way.’

It was surprisingly quite simple.

That was, for someone to become his purpose of life.

“Hey.”

“……..!”

After thinking about that, she quietly clasped her hand, and shifted her gaze, startled by the sound of a voice next to her.

“What are you so excited about?”

Kang Ha-neul, who was holding the Trauma mask in his hand, was suddenly on the deck.

“…Did you just return?”

“Yes, I’m here to say hello.”

Dice, who had blinked her eyes, immediately raised her hand with a smirk.

‘After all, there is only one way to save you.’

And then, she slowly moved forward.

‘I, being a part of your life.’

Her eyes, facing Kang Ha-neul, shone through the moon.

“Kang Ha-neul.”

“……?”

In that state, Dice took one step closer to him.

“If you have time, would you like to have a drink?”

Having said that, she smiled, and Dice’s body lightly touched Kang Ha-neul’s chest.

“Whoever gets drunk first loses.”

In that state, Dice whispered in Kang Ha-neul’s ear.

“The loser grants the winner’s wish, how about it?”

Kang Ha-neul, who had been looking at her blankly, replied scratching his head.

“Sorry, but I have a prior appointment today.”

“What?”

Dice made a slightly flustered expression at those words, and Kang Ha-neul pointed backward with an apologetic expression.

“It's with Pandora.”

Where his finger pointed, there was Pandora sticking her head out on the deck.

[ Kang Ha-neul is currently in use. ]

As Dice put on a dazed expression, Pandora sent a chat like that to her smartphone and then approached her.

[ Don’t touch him. ]

Eventually, she pulled on her sleeve and moved forward, leaving the message and going down with Kang Ha-neul.

“……..”

Just like that, Dice was left alone on the deck.

“…Could she be the one?”

She muttered blankly, then tilted her head and began to head downward.

Then there was only one thing she had to do.

“…Can't we do it together?”

She quietly began to move to Pandora’s room.

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“Hey, heh heh…”

Around that time, Lee Se-ah’s office.

“Uh… uh…”

Lee Se-ah, who had been lying on the floor with her body drenched in sweat, staggered and got up.

“Lumia…?”

Then, with a pale face, she began to mumble.

“Why are you attacking me?”

Lee Se-ah’s eyes slowly began to color with fear.

“Why are you suddenly betraying me…?”

– Ti-Ring, Ti-Ring♩

The cell phone started ringing quietly behind her.

[ Se-ah, are you here now? ]

Lumia’s message was quietly floating on her smartphone screen.