Episode 159
[“Will you be our savior?”]
[The Clown Lord has descended, exercising absolute influence...!]
An intangible vortex swirled, and ‘another
meteor’ fell to its knees, wounded by the hands of humans. This made me laugh.
He twisted his upper body in a bizarre way and started shaking his shoulders and giggling, wondering what was so funny.
“You imitator of my shadow hero, you are truly repeating foolish things endlessly.”] [The
Clown Lord mocks the ‘King of Heroes’]
[“You have always been like that. “He’s a clown of the world who doesn’t even understand the slightest bit of despair that ‘we’ are going through.”]
Whoo!
At the same time, the scenery of the world I was stepping on changed.
It was a scenery that Yooseong remembered from a long time ago.
The interior of a cheap, cramped PC room. In a landscape where the world has not yet become a game and peace has not yet ended, people do not know anything about what will fall in the future.
Kang Yu-seong, who was just an eighteen-year-old high school student, was also there.
He was in his immature days when he was neither a hero nor a player yet.
And as if fast-forwarding a videotape, the immeasurable scenes began to accelerate rapidly. The building shook from an unknown impact, screams rang out, and the city began to burn.
The end of the first season of peace. When this world first became a game, Kang Yu-seong was not a player. He was just a helpless boy who had to be unilaterally protected.
[“This was an ordeal that only ‘humans’ had to endure. There was a grand reason. “It’s a ritual of ascension that intelligent races must go through, so blah blah…”]
The jester monarch said, leaving the scene behind.
“But humans were not qualified to take this test. But I wasn't weak enough to get eliminated and disappear like that. As you know, we are the most selfish species in the universe.”]
“What do you want to say?”
“Therefore, they longed for a ‘scapegoat’ who would bear the pain and endure this ordeal on their behalf.”] [“
That is how a hero was born.”]
It was not difficult to understand the meaning of those words.
“Oh my, that’s how we were chosen as sacrificial lambs for humanity.”]
Yoosung did not answer. And facing him was a man wearing the same black business suit as Yoosung and holding a winter night sword.
[“I’m a kid who wants to be a hero. “None of the decisions we make in life that we believe are ours are ours.”]
‘Do you want to be a hero?’
That day, when the Clown Lord held out his hand. Yoosung accepted the offer without any hesitation. He believed it was his decision.
But that was just a predetermined answer on the grand stage of fate.
When you realize that the decisions you made in your life that you thought were your own are not yours.
Can he truly call that life ‘his’?
[“Look around, you clown. And take a good look at the mask you are wearing,”
said the Broken Hero, the Clown of the World.
Hearing those words, Yoosung moved his hand without thinking.
On his face... I felt something very unfamiliar. I soon realized.
It was a mask.
I found myself wearing the mask of “The Clown Who Doesn’t Smile.”
[“When one clown finishes his performance and the stage comes to a close, the next clown takes over his role and a new stage begins.”]
I just raised my head.
There he was, wearing the mask of The Laughing Clown.
A hero wearing a black business suit and holding a sword of the winter night.
There wasn't one.
An incredible number of heroes were there.
Clowns wearing dozens or hundreds of different masks, each crying, laughing, or showing joy, sorrow, comedy, and tragedy.
“Whether you succeed or fail on stage is not important. The important thing is that this stage will never end.”]
[“Oh, by the way... did I mention the definition of insanity?”]
“I did.”
“No, I didn’t.”]
The Jester Lord chuckled.
“Heroes kill monsters. Afterwards, the hero dies at the hands of humans. Or become a monster and die at the hands of a new hero. And humans once again long for a hero who can defeat monsters for them. In this way, the stage of madness continues with endless eternity and cycles. “Aren’t you really sick of it?”]
Saying that, the Clown Lord bent over again and burst into laughter like crazy, before suddenly stopping.
“And the true creators who created this game on the stage of madness brought about by human contradictions... Even the Overlord was unable to overcome the ‘madness’ of humans and disappeared into the other side of time. So, how can I not go crazy and be exhausted?”]
“Home Somehow, it seems like a work that pours out the truth about the world one after another, but the sales are bad, so the editor is urging me to finish it quickly.”
“Don’t be afraid, child, when your performance comes to an end. Because our stage will never end.”]
Humanity will repeat the same thing endlessly for itself, and the stage will never end.
That was the decision made by the ‘Lord of Humans’ who sat in the position of overlord.
And there was a hero and a clown who endlessly played roles on stage according to the desires of humans.
It no longer mattered who created this game and for what purpose. In the end, there were only two actors and the audience left on this stage.
Heroes and humans.
And clowns and humans.
When I realized the absurd truth, I couldn't even help but laugh.
“So what?”
Still, nothing changed. And it was the same for the 999 ‘broken heroes’ facing the shooting star.
Tomb of the Clown Lord Heroes.
“Becoming the savior of heroes doesn’t change anything. I’m a kid who wants to be a hero.”
said one of the broken heroes, a man wearing a laughing clown mask.
“This guy who doesn’t even know the nine letters of salvation is in a coma as if he has attained Buddhahood.”
“How can you be so sure?”]
“Because I am.”
The King of Heroes answered, and the Jester Lord facing him burst into laughter.
“How does a clown who can’t even save himself plan to save us?”]
“Ah, well said.”
said the Jester Lord, and the King of Heroes laughed.
“Because that’s what a hero does.”
And answered.
“For your information, the saint said that a hero is someone who lives for ‘others.’”
Without any hesitation.
“Not for me.”
‘Not being understood by anyone or even the wolf recognizing that fact, I swore that I would sacrifice myself to protect the world and repeat the same thing endlessly. ‘
As usual, the voice was full of confidence.
“As the King of Heroes, I will save ‘you’.”
And in front of that voice full of confidence, the broken heroes all fell silent.
[“....”]
After silence, a sound came out.
It wasn't laughter. It was neither ridicule nor ridicule.
The broken heroes there were all wearing the masks of the “Crying Clown” and looking at the shooting star.
[“...You’re really repeating the same thing over and over again.”]
It wasn’t difficult to understand what those words meant. Just as the thousandth Yooseong acted like that, the people who fell and broke in front of him must have been no different.
“Endlessly repeating to yourself that next time it will really be different...”]
Heroes are people who do not give up until the end and repeat the same thing endlessly.
I keep repeating to myself that next time it will really be different.
“Hero smiles a lot and is positive in everything he does.”
That's why Yooseong held the sword of the winter night and checked the texture of the mask on his face.
It was a mask from “The Laughing Clown.”
“And never lose hope.”
[“...You crazy bastard.”]
[The Clown Lord sticks out his tongue in astonishment!]
Insanity is simply repeating the exact same thing endlessly.
I keep repeating to myself that next time it will really be different.
The man in the clown mask kicked the ground. The sword of winter night in my hand swung.
The sword of the winter night clashed with the swinging sword of the winter night.
Heroes wearing hundreds of masks, filled with comedy, tragedy, joy and sorrow, were watching their fight.
——Endlessly repeating to myself that next time it will really be different.
The man swung his sword and the man returned the sword. The two blades interlocked. Immediately after, the distance widened.
The distance widened and then narrowed again.
Island and destruction.
The swords of the Heavenly Demon collided.
It was perfectly symmetrical, like a mirror, without any disturbance.
Once again, the two swords of the winter night clashed. Likewise, it was perfectly symmetrical.
However, every time the swords clashed endlessly on a winter night, every time the same combination was repeated endlessly... the symmetry of the perfect mirror began to crack little by little.
Blah blah blah.
A crack was engraved.
At first it was a very small crack.
It's so stupid.
And when that one crack became two cracks and then three cracks, the hero there even forgot what number he was.
I couldn't even tell if the crack was created from this one fight, or if it was possible because there was a foundation for the crack built up by broken heroes repeating the same thing endlessly.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine people? A thousand people? One thousand and one?
Nevertheless, it was probably a good thing.
‘So... did I tell you about the definition of insanity?'
I asked myself without thinking. After asking, I soon realized that it was probably a good thing.
And suddenly, he thought about how many times he was fighting this battle over and over again.
I couldn't remember that either.
The King of Heroes was simply repeating the same thing endlessly.
I keep repeating to myself that next time it will really be different.
Sigh!
The sword of the winter night was swung.
The cold air of apocalypse scattered along the blade, and telltale scars of emptiness were engraved on the black business suit.
[“...You won.”] The
broken hero smiled as he looked down at the wound.
“We won.”
And the King of Heroes answered.