Chapter 55 – Ruler II


    [Trantor – Jjsecus]


    [Proofreader – Gun]


    <strong>Chapter 55 – Ruler II</strong>


    3


    As mentioned in the previous episode, all guild masters across the country readily epted AI judges, except Tang Seorin.


    “Oh, really—.”


    Now, I want to talk about the reason for that.


    Because, in a sense, I couldn’t escape responsibility for this issue either.


    So, you could say this is a record of collusion between Tang Seorin and me.


    “Failed again. Again.”


    The starting point was the 6th turn.


    With her hat off (a very rare sight), Tang Seorin gripped her head with one hand.


    Like a novelist stuck on a plot or a lyricist dissatisfied with their song.


    In fact, this description wasn’t metaphorical; it was close to the truth. Tang Seorin was crafting magic, meticulously carving a goose feather into a quill.


    “This one’s taking a while. What kind of magic are you trying to create?”


    “Equivalent exchange.”


    Tang Seorin pursed her lips.


    “I’m working on a spell that swaps two different objects or phenomena one-to-one.”


    “…I can’t quite grasp where you’d use that kind of magic.”


    “Huh? You can’t judge magic based on practicality. First, you have to pursue romance and create something cool.”


    “A very Guild Master-like statement.”


    As mentioned before, Tang Seorin’s ability was song magic.


    In other words, she had to sing to cast spells, and of course, her songs had lyrics.


    In essence… for Tang Seorin, developing magic was no different from crafting song lyrics.


    I don’t know much about magic abilities since I never acquired them, but ording to Tang Seorin, when the right lyrics werepleted, there was a feeling of gears clicking into ce in her mind, and then the magic would activate or something.


    So, in reality, Tang Seorin’s trademark ‘Regeneration Magic’ was crafted with lyrics like these when you heard them in an actual song:


    Roll, roll


    The depths of the abyss, the apex of ether


    Spin and whirl everything around


    The apex of ether, the depths of the abyss


    Oh, wheel of fire breathing eternally


    By the way, all the lyrics were in Latin.


    Do you think Tang Seorin knew Latin? No, there was a guild member who majored in Latin, so they were used as a trantion shuttle. That guild member was promoted to an officer simply because they knew Latin.


    Now, I know it’s not surprising, but I hope you realize just how serious Tang Seorin is about her witch cosy. I mean, this person’s life is all about being a fan?


    “Latin is the superior poetguage, especially for choirs, they must sing in Latin no matter what,” thanks to Tang Seorin’s crappy philosophy, whenever arge-scale song magic like a Tenfold Subjugation Battle was activated, we could listen to a grand Latin choir that covered the sky.


    Honestly, it was cool.


    Of course, it was cool enough to be the top idol in the Korean Penins. Anyway.


    “What part are you stuck on?”


    “Umm… I feel like Ick intuition a bit? For example, a vice-guild master. What if someone offers you six cartons of milk in exchange for a factory-made bag of potato chips?”


    “That sounds like a fair deal.”


    “See? That’s exactly what I consider ‘equivalent exchange.’ The problem is, it gets a bit fuzzy when you exclude things to eat or drink.”


    Tang Seorin chewed on the tip of her feather.


    “For example… let’s say someone offered to rid this world of monsters for you. But in return, they ask you to spend 1000 years in prison.”


    “Hmm.”


    “By the way, it’s solitary confinement. You get meals, but you can’t talk to the guards. You can read books or watch dramas, but you can’tmunicate with anyone else.”


    If I heard the same proposal now, I would have probably epted it as a total bargain. But back then, I was just a regressor for the 6th time. I hadn’t lived for a hundred years, and even that short span of time felt incredibly burdensome.


    “So, are you in?”


    “…I’m not sure. I don’t know.”


    “Right. ‘I don’t know’ is an honest answer.”


    Lady Witch gave a satisfied smile.


    “Because, we don’t have an urate intuition about 1000 years, do we? In simpler terms, even if someone tells you to live for 1000 years, you can’t grasp how long that actually is. Whether it’s 1000, 900, or 1100 years, it all feels equally vague.”


    “Hmm.”


    Tang Seorin was right.


    In fact, in our rtionship, Tang Seorin was almost always on the right side.


    Now, I would ept the proposal because I finally had a precise intuition about what 1000 years meant.


    “Not only 1000 years, but my life experiences themselves are too limited.”


    “Hmm.”


    “…Right. I understand what you’re trying to say. My point is, even if I’ve had various experiencespared to others, I still haven’t developed enough to cast grand spells like ‘equivalent exchange.’ Got it?”


    “Who could umte such experiences? Life is finite, and lifespan is limited.”


    “…True.”


    Tang Seorin stood up from the wooden chair and suddenly began to sing. It was a song I’d never heard before.


    In fact, Tang Seorin often habitually hummed songs, and I, as an unofficial duty of a vice-guild master, had to critique them as a music critic each time.


    I pped. After finishing her solo concert, Tang Seorin gracefully picked up her hat and nodded.


    “Was that the ‘equivalent exchange’ magic?”


    “Yeah. The spell didn’t activate though. How was it?”


    “It was great.”


    “Good.”


    Tang Seorin grinned.


    And that was the end of it.


    asionally, Tang Seorin agonized over how to create the ‘equivalent exchange’ magic, or in other words, what lyrics to write to trigger the spell. But Tang Seorin neverpleted the creation of the ‘equivalent exchange’ magic.


    Before that, she died at the hands of the Ten ns.


    Even in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th runs, it was the same.


    At any turn, Tang Seorin was fixated on the ‘equivalent exchange’ magic and neverpleted her bucket list.


    In terms ofpletion, it was barely 10%.


    We were not allowed the long time it would take to create the ‘equivalent exchange’ magic.


    [Trantor – Jjsecus]


    [Proofreader – Gun]


    I couldn’t tell exactly how Tang Seorin died. I couldn’t protect her, but my only pride was that I always died a little earlier than our little witch.


    And thus, the long-awaited 10th run.


    “I can’t walk the same path as you, but at least I’ll follow your footsteps with my lifespan.”


    “Though we can’t live together, we’ll bepanions in death, won’t we?”


    “Take care from now on. My fellow traveler in time,” Tang Seorin left this parting message before she died.


    I couldn’t prevent her death, but at least I could arrange her funeral. I attended as the only mourner, as neither I nor Tang Seorin had any family.


    I don’t want to describe Tang Seorin’s funeral in detail right now. No, I can’t even guarantee that I’ll ever want to do so.


    The only certain fact is that Tang Seorin’sughter-filled parting words left a deep mark on my heart.


    After the 10th run, came the 11th.


    “Oh, really… I failed again. Again.”


    “This one’s taking a bit longer. What kind of magic are you trying to create?”


    “Equivalent exchange.”


    I no longer used honorifics with Tang Seorin, and she started calling me ‘Doctor’ instead of ‘Vice-Guild Master,’ but our rtionship remained unchanged.


    “Nice name. Is it a spell that exchanges two objects or phenomena?”


    “Oh? Uh, yeah. That’s right.”


    Tang Seorin blinked.


    “How did you guess? Surprisingly, you understood, Doctor.”


    I struggled to swallow the words, “Because I’m a regressor and I used to serve you as my leader,” which I was asked to keep secret until the end. I received that request.


    Thinking back now—Tang Seorin had a chilling aspect.


    To herself. To me.


    Humanity was sometimes about how much cruelty we allowed each other.


    “What part are you stuck on? It seems like your intention to exchange everything isn’t too ambitious.”


    “Oh? Yeah, that’s a reasonable point. But it’s more fundamentally aboutcking intuition about everything. Hmm.”


    Tang Seorin closed one eye.


    “Could you listen? Sometimes hearing others’ opinions can help generate ideas.”


    You, who believed that magic should always remain secret, and when asked if you wouldn’t cast any magic on me, you justughed and said, “Huh? Is that how it works?” I remembered all of that.


    As someone who remembered all that, I couldn’t refuse Tang Seorin’s request.


    “You want me to hear an unfinished piece from the Three Thousand Worlds’ leader? Quite an honor.”


    “Well, well. Let’s consider it an honor.”


    I listened.


    “How was it?”


    “I enjoyed it. It was impressive.”


    “Of course. What I want from you is feedback, feedback. This lyric in Latin means… Is there anything to fix?”


    “Hmm. Then, how about changing ‘object’ in this lyric to ‘starlight’ or ‘moonlight’?”


    “Oh?”


    “This part is about representing the immeasurable things in the world. So, rather than using a dry word like ‘object,’ it’s better to vividly show the meaning of being difficult to grasp by human hands.”


    “Ah, so starlight, huh. Hmm? Wait a minute. Then…?”


    Tang Seorin’s inspiration struck, and she scribbled with her feather pen in her notebook.


    Of course, Icked talent as a creator, insight as a critic, and qualifications as a magician.


    I just recited the lyrics of an unfinished song that Tang Seorin had tried to create in previous turns.


    “All right! Yes! There’s still a long way to go to finish it, but I definitely feel like some progress has been made!”


    “I’m d I could help.”


    “Yeah, thanks, Doctor. Hey, by any chance, do you have any witch talents? Why not join our guild after all? I’ll appoint you as an officer right away. Huh?”


    “Sorry, but the Three Thousand Worlds uniform doesn’t quite fit the Three Thousand Realms…”


    “What? You wanna die?”


    And so, our ‘Equivalent Exchange Magic Creation’ began.


    Though in the 10th run had begun the suppression of the Ten ns, Tang Seorin had poured most of her lifespan onto the battlefield, leaving her always short of time to devote fully to magic creation.


    Nevertheless, with each turn, Tang Seorin gradually approachedpletion, adding one word, one sentence at a time.


    “Wouldn’t ‘Judgment’ be more fitting than ‘Exchange’ for the chorus here? At least for you, Tang Seorin.”


    “Oh?”


    My role was to deliver this unfinished piece to the ‘next turn’s Tang Seorin.’


    “Alchemy might carry more emotion here than ‘transaction’…”


    “Perhaps insisting onpleting the Equivalent Exchange Magic with just one inspiration is unnecessary. We can split the song into two and activate it that way.”


    “First, regeneration, then a song about the immeasurable, and finally…”


    The 11th, 12th, 13th turns.


    Thepleteness of the Equivalent Exchange Magic improved day by day as we progressed.


    Tang Seorin’s expression, initially half resigned, brightened significantly as we moved forward.


    “Wait a minute. Hold on! If we do it like you suggested… Could we actually make it…?”


    Honestly,


    Perhaps all of this was just my little whim.


    Even if I couldn’t reveal to Tang Seorin that I was a regressor, I wanted us to have ‘a work created together with time and effort.’ It didn’t matter what that work was. Perhaps Equivalent Exchange just happened to catch my eye.


    There was always a part of me, as a Doctor, that was somewhat withdrawn. To myself, to you.


    I wanted to believe that sometimes humanity was about how far we could retreat from each other in certain situations.


    And I’ll say it again, Tang Seorin was right.


    “Unbelievable! It’s reallyplete!”


    Finally, the 26th turn.


    “I mean,pleting such a grand magic with just two inspirations… I must be a genius! And Doctor, you seem like a bit of a genius too!”


    Tang Seorin hadpleted the Equivalent Exchange.


    [Trantor – Jjsecus]


    [Proofreader – Gun]