Ranker Who Shatters Myths - Chapter 310

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Broken Ranker

Devours Myths

Chapter 310

The Other Side of the Sun (6)

Lee Hyeon and Moon Su-chan stood in the old orphanage director’s office.

A place all too familiar to them.

Young Lee Gun-san, his hair still black, was looking down at the playground.

At the end of his gaze was young Moon Su-chan, covered in dust as he played around.

‘I always thought I was the protagonist. Born with divine lineage, rewinding time, standing against the apocalypse to save humanity.’

Young Lee Gun-san’s monologue pierced through Lee Hyeon and Moon Su-chan’s minds.

‘But now I understand. I’m not the protagonist. I’m just an old man winding the clockwork that turns back time.’

Lee Hyeon and Moon Su-chan looked at young Lee Gun-san.

The helplessness he felt when faced with the truth at the end of countless failures and despair.

What kind of expression would he be making?

‘The hero who will save the world is that child. Moon Su-chan. I can see the shadow of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven behind him. I’ll dedicate this life to completing that child.’

In that moment, Moon Su-chan’s shoulders trembled.

More than the fact that he was designed to be a hero, it was because of another child in the corner of that gaze.

The scrawny little kid who followed Moon Su-chan around everywhere. It was young Lee Hyeon.

‘That child next to him… has no talent. But he’ll be useful as an accessory for Su-chan’s emotional stability.’

Accessory.

That dry word became a dagger that stabbed Moon Su-chan’s heart.

He never imagined his younger brother would be treated like that at first.

Lee Hyeon beside him was also smiling bitterly.

The Lee Gun-san of this time had his human emotions greatly ‘worn down.’

[Record of the 78th cycle]

The scene changed.

A training ground in the rain.

Lee Gun-san was pushing young Moon Su-chan harshly.

Lee Hyeon was excluded from training and crying from afar.

“You must become stronger! That’s the only way to survive!!”

Moon Su-chan became strong.

But a blade without a sheath eventually cuts its own body.

Adult Moon Su-chan ultimately couldn’t endure the terror caused by the tsunami from the outer sea, and his ego collapsed.

He stabbed his own heart.

‘Failure.’

Lee Gun-san knelt before Moon Su-chan’s cooling corpse.

‘Strength alone isn’t enough. What the children needed wasn’t an instructor but… a father.’

Young Lee Hyeon, who had been holding his dead brother’s corpse, was glaring at the mechanized Lee Gun-san with burning eyes.

[Record of the 101st cycle]

The burning ruins of Seoul.

Lee Gun-san, covered in blood, was looking up at the sky.

Another failure.

Moon Su-chan had died again.

‘There are things that don’t change even after a hundred repetitions.’

The tragedy of the Gangneung incident.

Moon Su-chan’s isolation.

And… Lee Hyeon’s early death.

Lee Hyeon always failed to survive here.

And the Gangneung incident became the trigger that summoned the tsunami from the outer sea.

The collapse of the Korean Peninsula that occurred here became the magnet that drew in the outer sea.

For over 100 cycles, preventing this was too difficult.

No matter how much preparation he made, this moment seemed fixed as if held by tweezers.

‘I decided to call this a convergence point. History flows like a great river toward a predetermined catastrophe.’

Only venom and malice remained in Lee Gun-san’s eyes.

‘How can I change this damned current?’

[Record of the 312th cycle]

Inside the barracks. The Thunder Unit’s emblem was clear.

Lee Gun-san created the unit to avoid the convergence point.

Shields to support Moon Su-chan.

All the techniques and arrangements Lee Gun-san had learned through countless cycles were gathered.

Blue Thunder was invincible.

But…

The result was tragic this time too.

“Hyung! Go quickly!!”

Supporting the collapsing dungeon debris with his whole body, Lee Hyeon was coughing up blood.

Even as the sound of bones crushing could be heard, Lee Hyeon was smiling to save Moon Su-chan.

‘Strange.’

Lee Gun-san’s thoughts wavered.

‘Lee Hyeon, whom I considered a talentless accessory… dies for Moon Su-chan every time. In some lives as a shield, in others as bait.’

Lee Gun-san wailed as he collected Lee Hyeon’s crushed corpse.

‘Is that child’s death the catalyst that awakens Su-chan? Or… does Su-chan only become complete when that child lives?’

The real Lee Hyeon watching this remained silent, while Moon Su-chan bit his lips until they bled.

During hundreds of lives he couldn’t remember, his younger brother had always died for him.

[Record of the 892nd cycle]

An old beer hall.

Lee Gun-san, Moon Su-chan, and Jang Lee Hyeon were sitting at the same table for the first time, clinking beer glasses.

Three people smiling brightly. Such an ordinary and happy evening.

‘Don’t smile.’

Lee Gun-san’s monologue rang out like a scream.

‘Don’t give affection. Happiness creates vulnerabilities. I must not love you. When you die… I’ll collapse and won’t be able to prepare for the next life.’

[Record of the 1,249th cycle]

A dark basement.

Lee Gun-san was carving wood and applying plaster to make some kind of mask.

Blue Thunder alone wasn’t enough.

He needed a legion that would block the outer sea through more vicious methods from the shadows, not the light.

‘The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was betrayed and ultimately met his death. The Jade Emperor cannot be trusted. So I’ll reach places untouched by the Jade Emperor’s influence.’

Lee Gun-san had tried to avoid any future related to the Jade Emperor by any means.

And fortunately, there was something that could fill this gap.

Countless repetitions of life had made one fact clear.

The privileges he possessed were not simply given.

Divine Bloodline (Θεογονία, Theogony).

He was one of the many descendants left behind by Zeus, who had numerous affairs with women, and this world was full of ‘brothers’ who inherited his traits.

And they usually showed outstanding talent in their respective fields, or had something exceptional about them.

If he could unite them all.

‘Su-chan needs a partner. The stronger the light, the deeper the shadow must be.’

Lee Gun-san’s gaze turned toward a young man.

A face barely visible in the slight shadow.

‘I need the most insane one. A shield of madness who will stain his hands with blood instead of Su-chan, who will go mad in his place.’

The scent of fermented grapes seemed to drift from somewhere.

‘I chose Dionysus.’

[2,500th Cycle Record]

A battlefield turned into a sea of blood.

But this time the enemy wasn’t the Outer Sea.

Dionysus, who had lost control, was massacring allied forces.

Moon Su-chan tried to stop him and had his arm severed.

‘A mad hunting dog is a double-edged sword. The moment its master shows even slight weakness, it bites the throat. I must become a more ruthless sun.’

[5,555th Cycle Record]

Finally, they had stopped the tsunami from the Outer Sea.

But what stood atop the ruined Seoul was not a hero.

They say when you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.

Moon Su-chan had drawn too much power from the Outer Sea, losing his humanity and becoming a new Outer Sea.

The birth of a new convergence point.

Lee Hyeon had his neck snapped by Moon Su-chan’s hands.

Bang.

Lee Gun-san shed tears as he shot his son who had become a monster in the head.

‘There is no salvation in this world. The child who became a monster to catch monsters… I had to kill him with my own hands. Again. I must start again.’

[8,900th Cycle Record]

A dark room.

Old and weary Lee Gun-san was pointing a pistol at his own temple.

Repeated failures.

A loop without salvation.

In hellish agony, he wanted eternal rest.

He didn’t know if he could truly obtain it.

But after countless repetitions… wouldn’t even the wheel eventually wear down and show an end?

With that thought, the moment he placed his index finger on the trigger,

“Father! We’re here!”

The voices of young Lee Hyeon and Moon Su-chan from outside the room.

The gun fell powerlessly from Lee Gun-san’s hand with a thud.

‘I want to die. I want to end this hell. But… how can I die after hearing those voices?’

The old man collapsed on the floor and wailed.

‘I am a sinner. Children who had to die thousands of times because of my greed. No, children I ended up killing. My sons. If I could save you,’

His breath became choked.

‘If only I could do that, it wouldn’t matter if I no longer saved the world. It wouldn’t matter if I wasn’t in the saved world. If only you two, if only you brothers could live, I would…!’

* * *

And…

Time flowed and reached the present.

[9,982nd Cycle Record]

Four years ago, in a hospital room right after the Gangneung incident.

Lee Gun-san was staring blankly into midair.

The spring of the old pocket watch in his hand was now completely broken.

‘9,982nd attempt. The spring has worn out completely.’

Moon Su-chan had died. The destined hero had disappeared.

The convergence point mocked him once again, foretelling catastrophe.

In fact, he had made many preparations for this ‘final’ cycle.

To prevent the convergence point called 【Ice Palace】, he maximized the Thunder Unit’s power,

And to avoid the convergence point of Dionysus’s madness, he made the bold gamble of bringing in ‘Seo Chang-woo’, the Jade Emperor’s apostle.

‘This cycle had unusually many strange things. The Jade Emperor made contact with the Outer Sea for the first time.’

Something that could never be found in previous cycles.

Normally, he would have boldly eliminated such ‘variables’,

But Lee Gun-san decided to actively utilize them this time instead.

A strategy of fighting barbarians with barbarians.

Having only repeated failures, he had no cards left.

Of course, it could have been the worst move that would draw in the Outer Sea faster and accelerate the convergence points.

But he couldn’t just sit still and wait…

However, the convergence point exploded once again in the end.

Through the ridiculous act of Seo Chang-woo’s betrayal.

In the process, this time Moon Su-chan died in place of Lee Hyeon, showing the opposite result,

But Lee Hyeon was also at death’s door, showing no signs of opening his eyes.

Humanity’s destruction was… already certain.

‘It’s over. This life is also a failure. Once again I’ve lost both sons.’

It was when Lee Gun-san was about to leave the hospital room, sunk in despair.

Lonely footsteps.

Heavy footsteps.

His first son had died in battle, and his second son was hovering between life and death.

The reality that no salvation could be found no matter how many times he wound the spring pressed down on his shoulders.

Just then…

Twitch.

Lee Hyeon’s finger, who had been lying like a vegetable, moved slightly.

And his closed eyes opened.

Lee Gun-san held his breath.

In Lee Hyeon’s eyes, the ‘Golden Eyes of Truth’ left behind by the dead Moon Su-chan glowed eerily.

‘…A child who should have died by all rights has come back to life.’

Lee Gun-san’s thoughts surged violently.

A scene he had never witnessed once during thousands of regressions.

‘In the place where the destined hero disappeared, a variable arose with the eyes of a king.’

It was something not in Lee Gun-san’s plans.

It was the moment when the scenario he had devoted his entire life to writing was torn apart.

However,

Lee Gun-san was trembling.

‘I cannot know. Whether this is destruction, or salvation. But….’

Lee Gun-san in his thoughts, and Lee Hyeon and Moon Su-chan in the real Room of Clocks simultaneously clutched their chests.

‘My heart is beating. The stopped clock hands have begun moving in a completely different direction.’

At that moment,

Faaaash!

The panorama of memories came to an end.

The two brothers returned as if bouncing back to the center of the Room of Clocks.

“Haa, haa…!”

Moon Su-chan collapsed to the floor as if crumbling.

Thousands of stopped clocks filling the walls.

Each and every one was an epitaph of the hellish life Lee Gun-san had endured.

“Father….”

The word that finally escaped from Moon Su-chan’s lips.

At first, he had used them like heroes for the greater cause,

but later, to create a happy future for them to live in,

he took on the role of the villain who used them as heroes,

enduring heartbreaking times and ultimately unable to die even when he wanted to, having to live by turning back time countless times—the paternal love of an old soldier.

The weight of it was too heavy to bear.

Trickle.

A single tear flowed down his cheek.

Then two streams, three streams….

Moon Su-chan finally burst into silent tears.

“….”

In contrast, Lee Hyeon stood silently.

In his hands was the notebook from this final cycle.

Where his gaze fell.

The notebook with the word ‘Hope’ engraved on it was naturally turning pages.

Rustle.

―There is nothing more I know about this life.

―Perhaps I have been trying to shoulder too much all this time, forcibly trying to design and tailor the world.

―Perhaps such worst-case moves gathering together only brought about continued apocalypse.

―So,

―let’s just entrust it.

―Let’s just believe.

―In those children. In my sons.

‘You did not fail, Father.’

Lee Hyeon clenched his fist tightly.

‘I will prove that the variable you created after long contemplation and suffering, the life you have walked, was not wrong.’

Lee Hyeon did not wipe his wet eyes, and grasped his brother’s shoulder.

“Let’s go, hyung. We need to set everything right. With ‘our brothers” hands.”

“…Do I have the right to do that? The face to meet Father…!”

“Hyung. Don’t say such pathetic things.”

Lee Hyeon steadied the wavering Moon Su-chan.

“There’s no father in the world who would abandon his sons just because they went astray for a brief moment. He is… our father. He will understand and accept all our pathetic flaws.”

“Lee Hyeon.”

“So let’s go. To Father.”

“Yes…. Let’s do that. Even though I’m the older brother, I showed such a pathetic side.”

Moon Su-chan slowly rose from his position with Lee Hyeon’s support. When he stood up, his eyes had changed.

The world he had seen countless times. As Moon Su-chan with the eyes of the hero Moon Su-chan.

“Then shall I be the older brother from now on?”

“No. That’s a bit much.”

“Why? You said I’m more mature.”

“If you become the older brother, you’ll probably stand on top of my head and mess around.”

“That’s not entirely wrong. Hehe!”

The two brothers turned their steps away from the Room of Clocks.

Now,

it was their turn to take up the legacy of the sun.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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