Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health - Chapter 271

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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271
Chapter

Whether it was the Ruin’s power or the Divine Power itself, I couldn’t say for certain, but I found myself able to observe all the Parallel Worlds connected to this Ruin.
‘If I want to destroy the Ruin, I’ll need to sever all of these first.’
Countless worlds repeated their collapse. How many worlds were actually connected to this Ruin?
I’d been vaguely wondering what had become of the world where Father had regressed. This let me know for certain.
‘They’re all ruined.’
I could only close the Gate connecting each world to the Ruin after watching it reach its end.
In doing so, I inadvertently witnessed Father’s great journey to save me.
A world the novel never showed—the one after I died.
‘Mehren…’
Mehren’s life after leaving Halbern was far from easy.
Perhaps worn down by overwork, his health had deteriorated overall.
And once he stopped working entirely, he couldn’t bear the grief of losing me.
‘If he’s going to suffer like that, why did he draw such a line with me? Really!’
Even if he seemed infinitely great and remarkable to me, Mehren was only human.
Remembering how he’d said he’d be my mother while also saying he didn’t know what family was—Mehren must have been afraid too.
‘When I get back, I’m definitely making sure he gets a health checkup.’
The next person who caught my eye was, predictably, Fession.
‘That Fession doesn’t know me.’
There was no point of contact, no chance for us to recognize each other. Since I’d died before we ever met, it was only natural.
‘But where did the female lead go?’
What was strange was that I couldn’t find the novel’s female lead, whom I’d always expected to be at Fession’s side.
In no Parallel World could I find any trace of Chloe, the heroine.
After Empress Azeni’s death, Fession struggled against the mounting crises threatening the Empire and the continent, only to fall with it in the end.
In every single world I’d witnessed so far, without exception.
‘…Wasn’t this supposed to be a sweet romantic fantasy?’
What kind of world had I been reborn into?
In my twenty-second year of reincarnation, I felt doubt about this world for the first time.
“Shouldn’t a reincarnation reveal everything from the start?”
Weren’t all the web novel protagonists these days experienced hires?
‘Gods and Divine Power and all that—they never even appeared in the novel.’
Since I hadn’t seen Part Two, I can’t say with certainty they weren’t there, but…
Thud.
Another world disconnected from the Ruin.
Thud.
What mattered to me was whether the people I cared about were happy or not.
Thud.
For that to happen, it would be better if this world survived and didn’t fall to ruin, of course.
‘But that’s not something I can solve right now, so I’ll set it aside.’
It pained me that I could only watch the Fession of another Parallel World, struggling alone to restore an Empire and continent that had become a wreck.
‘I’ve always wanted Fession to be happy.’
Sometimes, affection for someone would surprise you in unexpected ways.
That I could be this kind of person. Truly.
“But Fession, I hope you’re happy in whatever world you’re in.”
Even if you don’t know me.
Even if I have no place in your life.
I wish for you to never suffer, and to be happy forever.
Thud.
Another Gate closed, severing the Ruin’s connection.
The Ruin shook violently, and I felt the people inside it stumbling about in confusion.
[What on earth is—!]
[Where is the Dark Star? Where are they?!]
[What is happening?!]
Regardless, I continued closing the open Parallel World Gates.
In the process, I also saw Luca—whom I’d left behind saying I was going to the Secret Archive—searching for me.
[But I need to find them! A person has gone missing here!]
I also saw the Fession of another Parallel World questioning Luca about me.
[That lady at the time…]
[Your Highness, is that noblewoman bothering you so much?]
[I wonder why. Why does she linger in my thoughts?]
As for the world where I destroyed the Ruin, it was already disconnected and no longer visible…
Thud.
The end of yet another world.
As the number of worlds connected to the Ruin decreased, I felt the Ruin’s power weakening.
And with it, Father’s presence, wandering beyond.
‘Father’s presence is growing more distinct.’
If I severed the connections to just a few more Parallel Worlds, I might be able to pinpoint Father’s location.
“Father, get ready to be scolded.”
If you try to run off somewhere alone again.
Next time I bring you back, I’m tying you up and connecting you to Mehren.
While I was thinking such things and giggling to myself, I felt a tremendous force blocking my path.
-Arelin.
A voice that pierced not through my ears but directly into my mind.
‘This is…’
Before, I could only feel fear—not perception. Now it was different.
-It’s been a while.

* * *

“It’s been a while.”
A heavy voice reverberating through both ears and mind.
From the darkness, like a curtain being drawn back, a presence revealed itself.
“Cheiyen.”
Before, just seeing those golden eyes would leave me paralyzed with fear. Now I could face him directly without a shred of it.
Rather, one mystery had been solved.
“So it was you who activated this Ruin.”
The “one” that Duke Gremwart mentioned was probably Cheiyen as well.
“Arelin.”
Cheiyen smiled with his eyes closed. It was clearly radiant and beautiful, so why did it feel so chilling?
“How are you alive?”
“Why, are you disappointed?”
“Really. I’ve never thought about how you’d be alive. How are you? Hmm?”
This arrogant Immortal was still bothered by the fact that I’d rejected his proposal.
“Someone saved me.”
“Who?”
“A taciturn, terribly lonely, pitiful, and kind person?”
“Is that so?”
Cheiyen’s gaze turned toward me.
As if reacting to Cheiyen’s emotions, mist poured forth, wrapping around both of us.
“But why do I sense a familiar aura from you?”
A pressure crashed down like a blade pressed to my chin, yet inexplicably, I only felt like laughing.
“Because my teacher is a taciturn, terribly lonely, pitiful, and kind person.”
Cheiyen burst into laughter.
Watching him laugh like a madman, I confirmed once again that he was truly insane.
‘I should never have gotten involved with him from the start.’
What could I do? My fate was just that miserable—I was already entangled with him.
Cheiyen wiped the corner of his eye as he spoke.
“That was a very amusing joke.”
“It’s not a joke.”
“Actually, it wasn’t funny at all.”
“Is that so? I thought it was funny.”
In an instant, the smile vanished from Cheiyen’s lips. Meeting his sharp gaze, I smiled brightly in return.
“As you know, I’m not one to pry into other people’s affairs. Honestly, aside from the people I care about, I couldn’t care less what happens to anyone else.”
“I know. That’s why I like you. We’re alike, aren’t we?”
“But my teacher is different.”
My teacher didn’t love me unconditionally. From the beginning, he drew a line and refused to give me affection.
‘I never intended to give him any affection either.’
I don’t understand it myself. Why did I come to care for my teacher so deeply?
I only meant to repay the debt of being saved.

“Why did you treat me?”

I still remember my teacher’s answer.

“Pity.”
“Or perhaps compassion, atonement, substitution, maybe even hypocrisy.”

I clearly saw the complex tangle of emotions that flickered across my teacher’s face.

“And there must be a reason you appeared before me.”

I didn’t understand it then, but now I could grasp how much resolve my teacher had needed to save me.
“Are you the one who became your teacher’s sore spot?”
Only now did I realize that ascending in rank as a human meant becoming an Immortal.
‘So that’s why everyone keeps saying Mac should be reborn.’
The reason I could perceive the hidden Cheiyen, purify the Corruption of mages, receive blessings from all the stars, become a magic genius, and become Terminal—it all stemmed from the same source.
‘I have a power so immense that I cannot bear it without becoming an Immortal!’
That’s why I kept dying!
‘A power that will inevitably kill me unless I become an Immortal—is this really the intended difficulty level of life?’
So my current body was half-Immortal, having received my teacher’s rank.
My teacher had diminished his own rank to make my body similar to an Immortal’s.
What this meant was…
‘The treatment I received was actually a procedure to create an Immortal… or something like that.’
And my teacher had publicly declared that there existed a person who received this treatment and yet lived.
“Are you the one who made your teacher become a shut-in in their room?”
The one who made the first Grand Mage, once passionate about spreading Magic, never leave the Sky Tower again.
‘This bastard is probably the blemish on the Magic Tower, some kind of incomplete mage or god, or something like that.’
I vaguely understood what happened then. Didn’t they say he killed every living mage and destroyed the stars, only to be sealed?
‘Did my teacher seal him because he couldn’t kill him?’
Just as Cheiyen felt my teacher’s rank within me, I too could sense my teacher’s rank that had made Cheiyen an Immortal.
“I can’t believe it.”
Cheiyen glared at me with the expression of someone who’d lost the world.
“Your teacher… saved you? By their own hand?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
Cheiyen, wearing the face of a child robbed of his parents’ favor, stared at me.
Your teacher is incredible.
“So now, who is your teacher’s true disciple?”

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