Ranker Who Lives Twice

"…that's strange."

"I know, right."

『What's strange?』

The Heavenly Demon slowly lifted his head up from his book, and Cha Jeong-woo nodded as if in agreement. Shanon gazed in their direction. Although he couldn't make a facial expression since he did not have a proper physical face, Shanon started firing out questions to seek clarity on the two's conversation. Moreover, based on Nocturne's facial expression, it seemed Nocturne knew something as well. The matter seemed to be serious, as everyone's expression hardened.

"Yeah. Something's off."

『Wait, something is off? Tell me, what's so strange?』

Shanon looked towards Nocturne and asked, but Nocturne only looked back at the Heavenly Demon and Cha Jeong-woo with a serious expression.

"Did this ever happen in the previous 'wheel'?"

"No. Absolutely not. This is a first."

"Then…!"

"Could it possibly be an aftereffect of me dividing the worlds?"

"No. Even if the worlds are divided, they are all still within the confines of the 'wheel'. Thus, this anomaly phenomenon is specifically occurring within this unique context."

"I have no idea how this could happen…"

The Heavenly Demon, Cha Jeong-woo, and Nocturne were busy exchanging words with one another. In addition, they were using difficult terms that made it hard for Shanon to follow their conversation. Shanon was only able to pick up on the aforementioned quotes. For a moment, Shanon felt as though he was being singled out from the conversation.

『Hey, tell me!』

The three, who were in deep discussion, quickly swung their heads toward Shanon.

『Tell me, too! I'm so curious that I feel like I'm going to go mad!』Shanon almost seemed to be begging. Based on his personality, Shanon's inability to intervene in their conversation was nothing less than psychological torture.

Only after hearing Shanon's outburst did Cha Jeong-woo realize his mistake. Jeong-woo scratched his temple with his index finger. If one started a conversation while omitting the subject, it was obvious that most people would not be able to follow the conversation. And since the Heavenly Demon and himself were the librarians in charge of the Changgong Library, their understanding of the world was beyond the level of a creation god.

On the other hand, Shanon had only lived as a familiar of the Black King. Moreover, Shanon was not interested in headache inducing issues, such as understanding the world or the secrets of the creation of the universe. Thus, it was easy for Jeong-woo to empathize that Shanon was getting frustrated by their seemingly convoluted conversation.

Jeong-woo contemplated where he should start his explanation. While contemplating how to best explain the situation, Cha Jeong-woo decided to just state the main points. "Do you know what emperors are?"

『Yeah, I know. I've even used it in some of my tunes.』 Shanon answered proudly. Emperor Temper was one of his more upbeat and often sung songs.

Cha Jeong-woo shook his head to shake off the strange feeling of the Emperor Temper's song's melody and lyrics creeping into his mind. An emperor is a being who is completely free from the countless iterations of the 'wheel' and freed from the laws of the world and the constraints of Ideas. No matter how the 'wheel' turns and no matter if another universe begins, the existence of an emperor does not disappear. This fact remains even though the concept of the 'wheel' has largely disappeared and only the division of the worlds remains."

The division of the world could be understood as a multiverse or parallel universes. Assuming that there was a person, 'a', the universe in which 'a' exists could be expressed as 'A'. Here, 'a' was placed in a relative context based on a certain point in time, and depending on the choices 'a' makes, the universe could take on a slightly different appearance. For convenience, let's call this alternate universe that appeared due to the choice 'a' makes as alternate A.

Alternate A would have an appearance that's not significantly different from A. There was only a slight difference. However, when 'a' faced another moment of choice, another alternate A would arise, followed by another alternate universe and another. In this way, 'parallel universes' were established, exponentially growing into an innumerable number of alternate universes.

Thus, the critical problem arose. If there was a parallel universe called A-10 that originated from a singular choice, followed by other successive choices, from the universe called A, could alternate A-10 still be called a parallel universe of A?

The answer was 'no'. The universe called A-10 would have a completely different appearance, as it would have undergone substantial transformation. It would be more appropriate to denote this universe as 'B'.

In other words, 'B' was a 'multiverse' that is different from A. Based on this line of reasoning, C would be created after B, and then D, E, F... They would be created successively. Thus, universes exponentially would grow in number, creating parallel universes and multiverses. Moreover, these universes repeatedly collapsed as well.

Infinity (∞)... In the end, so many universes would fill up the 'wheel' and 'the world'. Reaching the limitations of this constantly expanding number of universes was unavoidable, even for transcendent beings such as gods and demons. In the first place, the essential existence of gods and demons themselves were like 'laws' imprinted on the universe in which they existed. The gods and demons thus referred to their 'laws' as divine positions.

These gods and demons called themselves 'transcendents'. In Cha Jeong-woo's view, these so-called 'transcendents' were nothing more than blubbering idiots who self-restricted themselves to obtain a few abilities and skills. After all, if there was 'Zeus' in the world of A, there would also be a Zeus with a similar personality and divine position in alternate A.

However, beings who deviated from even the laws of a world and achieved complete 'transcendence'. These beings were freed from the limitations of parallel and multiple universes, and were fully independent. Even if one were able to observe all the universes, one would not be able to find them. Rather, the beings would be above all the universes. These beings were known as emperors.

Throughout the long history of the 'wheel', there have only been a few beings who achieved the 'emperor status. They possessed omnipotence and omniscience. They were beings who had everything.

However, one problem arose.

"What will happen after an emperor dies?"

『…uh?』 It was then that Shanon realized something was off. Having heard Jeong-woo's explanation, Shanon had an inkling of what logical conclusion Jeong-woo was alluding to.『Well, in the Martial King's case…』

"Yes, he did become an emperor. He attained the level as his powers dramatically increased, but his rising powers also reinforced and strengthened Gaia's curse, which eventually caused his demise."

『Wait… Something is off!』 Shanon's voice quavered.『Didn't you just explain that a transcendent being is above all else? You said they're fully independent! They're like a singularity! And since they're above the universes, their existence eventually becomes forgotten to the beings inhabiting each universe, no?』

Shanon still vividly remembered the day when Yeon-woo became the complete Black King after slaying Sage/Yvlke and cleaning up all the associated legends. Shanon did not forget that Yeon-woo had to also face the unfortunate consequences of his actions…

That would be the dilemma of having to become a person who no longer existed in the world, as Yeon-woo was now completely free from the 'wheel'. And because he loved his family more than anything, Yeon-woo chose to sacrifice himself to create a world where his family could live in peace, even if it meant that he would be completely forgotten. And it took Yeon-woo countless attempts and an absorbent amount of effort and time to return to this world.

In that process, Cha Jeong-woo, following after the Heavenly Demon, became an official ambassador to manage the Changgong Library. Furthermore, only after Jeong-woo had acquired the ridiculous divine name of 'Deus Ex Machina' was he able to pull Yeon-woo out of the swamp of the abyss/void.

In other words, though emperors denoted independence and uniqueness, it was more like a curse than a blessing. At least, this was what Shanon thought.

In Shanon's eyes, the Martial King had been promoted to become such an emperor at least for a brief moment in time.『To become a being a unique being and then completely disappear… Doesn't that mean complete elimination? But, the Martial King…』

"He existed. He even looked the same as he did right before he disappeared."

『…』

"Originally, even if Hyung and Phante rewound the 'wheel', they shouldn't have been able to meet the Martial King. Moreover, those in the One-horned Tribe shouldn't have been able to possess their memories of the Martial King…or he may have just been remembered as a great ancestor of theirs who passed long ago."

Worshiping of the Heavenly Demon was common in many universes. However, the exact name and the legends that constituted him were different. The King of the Underworld, the Supreme Light, the light that defeats darkness, the messenger of civilization, the Heavenly Demon, the father of Day… These were all words and descriptions that alluded to either light or death.

It was the same with the Black King. Each remained in a different form within each universe, so Jeong-woo had his hands full to try and find a 'Cha Yeon-woo' that most resembled his brother… Thus, it should have been the same case for the Martial King. However, the Martial King was present in the One-horned Tribe. Moreover, he was the exact same being as before.

"But another issue here is that…there is no way that Hyung is unaware of this discrepancy."

The Heavenly Demon nodded in agreement. Since Yeon-woo suffered so much, the Heavenly Demon believed that Yeon-woo absolutely knew what it meant to be an emperor. Thus, Yeon-woo must have already had some idea of why the Martial King existed as he did.

『…this damn boss of mine.』

Crack. Though Shanon apparently had no mouth, the sound of grinding teeth seemed to be coming from his being.

『He's up to something again, right?』

Cha Jeong-woo gave a bitter smile as he reluctantly nodded. They were all having a similar thought.

"He always wanted to put everything back in its original place. He wanted to bring back all the beings and things that disappeared or suffered after everything went wrong. He probably also wanted to enjoy a bit of happiness."

The sudden disappearance of Yeon-woo was more likely an absence rather than a disappearance, and a voluntary absence at that.

"The existence of the Martial King…may be related to what he's doing right now."

The problem was no one had any idea how Yeon-woo was carrying out this plan. How was an eliminated being brought back? How was the Martial King returned back into the 'wheel'? However, one could speculate that the method was not yet perfect, which was why the Psychic Medium's divination stated that the Martial King would be eliminated by a 'mortal'. After all, the Martial King should not have even been able to exist.

'Damn it… Would it really hurt to give us a heads-up before going off?' Cha Jeong-woo mumbled while recalling his brother's stubborn and unyielding personality. No matter how old Yeon-woo became, no matter how many years had passed, it did not seem like his brother's personality or temper would ever change.

***

Going back to the book, the time zone zipped forward and stopped at the time just after Yeon-woo and the Martial King's reunion.

"…Ugh! That guy! How could a disciple not understand his master's feelings?" The Martial King was grumbling.

Originally, the Martial King was looking forward to having a nice fight with Yeon-woo, not a duel with Phante. The way the Martial King saw it, Yeon-woo's understanding of martial arts was so deep that it was difficult for even the Martial King to measure or grasp. Not only was Yeon-woo's power level high, but his spirit awareness was also far beyond any general level. Yeon-woo had clearly reached a state that only beings who had been patiently and repeatedly experienced and learned for a long period of time.

And to that extent, it seemed that Yeon-woo had already established his own path. The Martial King tried to recall what Yeon-woo had called his attack… Was it called Sword Thunder? Anyway, the Martial King was interested in the mechanics of Yeon-woo's attack since it seemed to utilize darkness with relative ease.

However, the Martial King was not able to get what he wanted in the end. Whenever the Martial King launched an attack on Yeon-woo, Yeon-woo would just 'nullify' the Martial King's attacks.

"Hey, fight properly!"

"I'm not here to fight."

"Why not?"

"Didn't you know that I'm a peace-loving being?"

"Screw you…!"

"It's true."

The Martial King was dumbfounded at his disciple's nerve and brazenness to babble such nonsense with a straight face.

"How could I, a disciple of yours, ever consider raising a hand towards such an… Ahem… Esteemed master… Ahem… Hahaha. Ah, I'm sorry."

"Whether to be truly sorry or laugh… You should choose one."

"Then… I'll just laugh… Hahaha."

"This little turd."

"If you want to reach my level, master, you'll have to live another million years at least."

Hearing the same line that he previously used to always tell Yeon-woo spoken back to him by none other than Yeon-woo, the Martial King could not help but make a stupefied expression. Shitty luck… This was the first thought that popped into the Martial King's mind. The problem was that he knew his other disciples, his children, and the members of his tribe must have felt the exact same way whenever he stated that line. But still. Even though he made others feel this way, he was not willing to be on the receiving end.

『Do you know what a hypocrite is?』

"I know. It's what I am."

『…Well, I guess it's good that you know.』

The Psychic Medium could only laugh at the Martial King's frank answer. What other answer was she supposed to expect from her husband? He could do it, but others could not… This was what her husband had always said. At the same time, she admired how her husband did not waver or concern himself too much with her divination.

Although he seemed overly arrogant and petty sometimes, the Martial King was very wise. This was probably why the Martial King looked so free and unencumbered. And this was the quality that made the Psychic Medium fall in love with the Martial King during their youth.

『Still… If only he could be a bit more reflective and understanding…』

"Huh? Did you say something?"

『No, it's nothing.』

***

"Please come in."

"Uh, yeah…"

With a nervous expression, Yeon-woo followed a shy Edora to her room. However, Yeon-woo soon stopped in his tracks. Whoosh! The moment he took a whiff of a peppermint smell, which was coming through Edora's bedroom door, Yeon-woo's mind went blank. Gulp. Yeon-woo audibly gulped.