Deadly flower (5)

"Cough cough!"

Yoo Jonghyuk was on the verge of dying.

As he continued to repeatedly cough up flower petals, he was glad that Yoo Mia was elsewhere at the moment.

By his side, Lee Jihye worriedly called out to him.

"Master! Master!"

She was worried to see her usually strong master in such a state.

At that moment, he felt it. His death was near.

Struggling to breathe, he repressed the coughing and maintained a normal expression, gazing at his student for the last time.

"Lee Jihye."

The high school girl was relieved when her master returned to 'normal' and accepted the mission she was given, glancing behind her a last time in concern.

After sending her away, Yoo Jonghyuk gritted his teeth and managed to move away from his spot, hiding behind a building so that Lee Jihye wouldn't find him right away when she came back.

Yoo Jonghyuk finally couldn't hold back and collapsed, losing strength.

"Cough cough cough!"

Petals after petals fell to the ground in quick succession.

The coughing continued even harder, blood pouring out from his mouth as he choked.

As he died, thoughts went through his mind.

He thought about his companions in this round. Lee Jihye and Yoo Mia would be very sad when they'd learn of his death. Would Lee Seolhwa mourn him this time?

Would the rounds he had abandoned be destroyed? If he succeeded in the next round, then what about this one?

Invisible chains coiled around him like snakes, putting pressure on his chest when it was already difficult to breathe.

If he was indeed able to reach the end of the scenarios one day, what about the rounds he had left behind?

It was like the devil was whispering in his mind as familiar thoughts continued to hunt him.

That when he regressed, the Lee Jihye, Yoo Mia and Lee Seolhwa of this round would eventually die in the scenarios.

For him to reach an ending, so many world lines were sacrificed. Would it be better if the previous rounds stopped to exist altogether each time he regressed?

'I am the only living being in this world.'

The others had died countless times because he failed to save them, he had seen their deaths with his own eyes, so were they really still alive?

If they could simply be brought back to life by regressing, how did it matter if they were alive or dead?

Sometimes Yoo Jonghyuk had these thoughts.

However, there was one person who hadn't be brought back, and he was the one responsible for his current predicament.

Yoo Jonghyuk was about to die. He couldn't even say goodbye anymore, nor give them an apology.

Would Lee Jihye resent him for leaving her behind?

He knew that all the happy memories of this round would be erased again, and when he would wake up his companions wouldn't even know who he was.

As a regressor, joyful moments were a burden more than anything, a weight that brought him deeper into the abyss.

Strange thoughts came to mind as he recalled this round. He thought he was accustomed to death already, but that didn't seem to be the case.

Did his death really matter if that could bring millions of people back to life?

It was like there was a giant scale where his life was sacrificed on the other end to let everyone else live.

But then again, what about the round where these millions of people were dead and even more would continue to be massacred?

If all this was a dream, then it was a very cruel dream.

Why did he have to die? Why did he have to regress?

Couldn't the world let him do as he wished?

The pressure and responsibility that he was the only one who could save this world were suffocating.

It shouldn't have been like this.

Once again, there was something wrong with this round.

He shouldn't have gotten this curse and wasted this life.

Infinite regrets went through his mind as he was slowly and painfully dying. Maybe this pain was only what he deserved for abandoning another world line to its fate of destruction.

If he hadn't met Kim Dokja, maybe he wouldn't be worrying so much about this now.

Lying on the ground, Yoo Jonghyuk looked at the sky through his blurry vision, feeling the gazes of numerous constellations.

There would be ones wishing for his death and others spectating, maybe some of them would momentarily mourn for him before leaving to another story; but Yoo Jonghyuk was searching for a particular star in the sky.

Even though it was impossible, he hoped that a miracle would happen and Kim Dokja was still watching him from up there as a constellation.

A message popped up in front of his eyes but he was unable to distinguish the letters from one another.

More and more blood poured out creating a pool of crimson as the crimson petals bloomed into flowers around him, creating a nearly sacred sight.

The regressor resented the constellations. He resented the Star Stream, the creator of the Star Stream and the one who had made him be in this state.

However, first of all, he resented himself.

He resented himself for failing over and over again, for dying in the second round even though Shin Yoosoung had given him a lot of information, for not preventing Kim Dokja from becoming the demon king and, above all, for being this weak.

Yoo Jonghyuk resented himself for being so attached to someone who had only appeared in one round.

Why couldn't there be a regression where he didn't fail?

It was as if the entire world wanted him to die.

On his deathbed, the protagonist realized something.

His wish to reach the end of the scenarios, something that even the constellations had never attained, may be impossible.

Maybe he was simply fated to continue regressing endlessly with useless hope, as if punished for a crime he didn't remember.

He was only alive for someone else's enjoyment to watch him suffering again and again until he had nothing left.

He wanted to reach the end.

He couldn't do this alone.

He couldn't do anything.

He would continue to do so at all costs until he completely lost his mind.

But what about the countless deaths left behind until he attained his goal?

Why did he even want to regress?

The constellations had read his fate because he was too strong, but if he had been weak then he would've also died.

What was he supposed to do then?

Throughout all this, Yoo Jonghyuk's coughing never stopped. It felt as if his lungs were tearing apart as flowers were taking root around his heart and growing. It hurt like hell.

It shouldn't end like this.

Dying because of the Hanahaki disease was one the most stupid mistakes on his part.

In the first place, Kim Dokja shouldn't have died and they should've ended the scenarios together.

It should've been like that.

Yet here he was.

Surrounded by crimson petals that had turned into flowers, his coughing finally stopped, not having the strength to move anymore—or maybe it was because of that disease that had parasitized his chest and taken roots in his lungs—but the regressor knew he wouldn't be able to survive this.

He had lost too much blood.

Kim Dokja. Eventually, his thoughts always came back to Kim Dokja, even though it was the reason he was dying here.

Because that fool wasn't there.

The Demon King of Salvation or whatever, now, Yoo Jonghyuk would die and regress to another world line where he didn't exist.

Unable to breathe, Yoo Jonghyuk felt his sense of touch disappear due to the lack of oxygen.

Feeling dizzy, his vision darkened. Yet, before he lost consciousness completely, he seemed to vaguely see the worried faces of his student and his sister screaming out his name.

Yoo Jonghyuk's mind was sluggish as everything turned black, his surroundings devoid of any sound or any sensation. He became unable to form any concrete thought, forgetting them before they could form completely while the instinctual fear of death of had long been replaced by an overwhelming fatigue.

In his last moments in this round, Yoo Jonghyuk only felt regret.

He had been foolish.

He shouldn't have met Kim Dokja on the bridge, he shouldn't have accepted Kim Dokja's offer and shouldn't have become Kim Dokja's companion.

That way, he wouldn't be in this situation now, and he wouldn't be waiting for a dead person to appear and save him.

Yoo Jonghyuk's skill activated, ready to send him to the next round where he would only helplessly go through hell and complete the scenarios once again. He didn't know how many times he would have to repeat this until he could reach the end.

What he did know, however, what that it was the end of this round.

Due to a fictional disease that made him cough up flowers, no less.

Then, sprawled on the ground in the middle of a field full of crimson blooming flowers, Yoo Jonghyuk died.

Because affection is a deadly flower for a regressor.