I Became the Childhood Friend Who Commits Sui**de

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How long has it been since I came here?

The place where I first encountered the Holy Grail.

I arrived at a shrine in Japan.

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be any special problems.

The tranquil and peaceful scenery of the shrine seemed to indicate that it hadn’t yet suffered from the Apostle’s attacks.

Of course, I couldn’t be sure yet, so I carefully surveyed the surroundings.

Torii.

The entrance gate commonly seen at Japanese shrines.

As I gazed at it, memories of the past came flooding back.

They say that beyond this point lies the realm of the gods.

The old man from the council had also utilized the realm of the gods.

It displayed overwhelming performance, weakening or sealing away abilities entirely, going beyond mere levels of strength.

I stopped my thoughts and stepped into the shrine.

The moment I crossed the Torii, I felt a change in the flow of air.

At the same moment, a priestess clad in a white robe approached me.

“Welcome.”

“Did you expect me to come?”

“No, I believed it.”

Like she was certain that I would visit this place, the priestess greeted me without any reaction.

“Has the student from the academy not come yet?”

“She will arrive tomorrow.”

Only then could I finally feel relief.

Fortunately, it seemed I wasn’t completely late.

“Do you know who I am?”

“The Apostle of the gods.”

Apostle?

Does she think I’m a demon?

But I soon realized that wasn’t what she meant.

A person who acts according to the will of the gods.

Interpreting her words literally, it was indeed a clear fact.

I had returned to the past upon receiving a favor from Hana, who had become a god.

“Let me ask one more thing. Is the Holy Grail in this shrine?”

Instead of speaking, the priestess pointed with her finger.

Directly at my heart.

“The Holy Grail is right there. Didn’t you come here to return it?”

“…You’re right. Please guide me to the sanctuary where I can place the Holy Grail.”

With that, it was confirmed.

A sacred relic cannot exist simultaneously on the same timeline.

Unlike Kim Shinwoo from ten years ago and Kim Shinwoo from ten years in the future being together, sacred relics must exist solely as one.

I followed the priestess’s guidance to the sanctuary.

Right. I was drawn into this place by the light emitted by the Holy Grail.

Contrary to that time, this space was now empty.

Is it time to give up the Holy Grail?

Honestly, to say I’m not disappointed would be a lie.

I can’t even count how many hardships I overcame through this.

But because of that, the Holy Grail must be left here.

Only then can I obtain the Holy Grail ten years ago.

I took out the Holy Grail that I had kept close and placed it on the altar.

This is enough. Now, all I have to do is wait for the event to unfold.

To do so, I need to stay within this shrine.

Since the student will come on a school trip tomorrow, I only need to spend a day here.

“…Oh.”

I turned back to seek the priestess’s permission, but she had mysteriously vanished.

I looked around in confusion.

Where did she go in the blink of an eye?

The place I found her was the main hall.

Seeing the priestess kneeling and reverently praying, I quietly waited for her prayer to end.

After a while, she opened her eyes while still keeping them closed.

“Leave for the place where everything began.”

“…What?”

“If you go there, you will understand everything.”

Vague words without meaning.

“Where is that?”

“You know it best.”

“…What if I ignore you and stay here?”

“It’s your freedom. Destiny definitely exists, but it all changes in the end.”

Is it really right to follow the mysterious priestess’s words and search for a place I don’t even know?

Wouldn’t it be better to stay here as I thought and minimize the variables?

“Is that the prophecy the god told you?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Understood.”

With that last question, I made my decision.

I will leave.

Of course, it might be the wrong choice.

Even so, I decided to believe.

She didn’t deny my question but evaded it by saying she couldn’t tell me.

That in itself must hold some special meaning.

Once a choice is made, there’s no time to hesitate.

I immediately left the shrine and headed to the place where everything began.

I narrowed down the possibilities of where that might be.

Since the sentence itself is quite ambiguous, it could be interpreted in many ways.

First, the academy.

It was the first place that came to mind.

But if it’s referring to here, wouldn’t it have said to return instead of leave?

The second is the cave where the crown was located.

This too was excluded from the candidates for the same reason.

After all, the last place I was before coming to the shrine was the cave.

The third. The temple of the Apostles.

However, I felt that this place didn’t quite fit the expression of where everything began.

If I were to argue, Hana became a god here, but that felt closer to everything coming to an end.

In fact, aside from these three, I couldn’t think of any other suitable spaces.

Where could it be?

While pondering, another place came to mind.

From my and Hana’s perspective, it is literally where everything began.

The possibilities were ample.

*

Even while coming this far, a sense of unease lingered within me.

Why must I come here?

I questioned myself, but no answer surfaced.

It could be the place where everything began, but I found nothing particularly special about this area.

This place was just a quiet countryside.

Due to the monster attacks, it was now merely a remote area with hardly any people living.

However, arriving here after a long time, it didn’t feel bad.

I had grown up in this small village, creating memories.

I believed it would continue to be filled with peace.

But when a gate opened near the village and monsters invaded, the situation completely changed.

Friends and the director, who had stayed at the same orphanage, all died, leaving only Hana and me alive.

At that time, I awakened my powers and enrolled in the academy, thinking I could finally live happily from then on.

How did things end up like this?

Is it right to simply express this moment with the two words of fate?

Everything began here.

But perhaps it went wrong from the start.

Like trying to button the first button incorrectly.

“…”

Nonetheless, it seemed that the village had regained its peace.

That time when monsters attacked this remote area must have been the anomaly.

Even though I returned to my hometown, nothing special occurred.

Did I misjudge it?

A deep sigh escaped my throat.

I couldn’t stay here forever.

I should hurry back to the shrine.

If I set off now, I might barely make it on time.

But then something stopped me in my tracks.

“…Should I go up for a moment?”

Nostalgic memories of my childhood made me decide to at least greet the family that left the orphanage.

The grave wasn’t far away.

In fact, it was almost embarrassing to call it a grave.

What could two little kids do back then?

All we could do was crudely etch the names of the departed on a huge rock in the mountains.

It only took five minutes to reach the stone.

I caressed the rough stone, recalling memories.

And then—

“You’ve come.”

I was startled by the voice of a boy that came from behind me.

There shouldn’t be anyone else here.

I turned around.

The sight of the boy standing there was incredibly familiar.

“Magi… No, Hanseol?”

Why didn’t I notice?

The form of the Magi that Hana miraculously created that day at the academy was him.

He wasn’t alone.

More and more people began to appear around me. All familiar faces.

The deceased from the Hope Orphanage swept away by the monster attack.

The family I had parted with.

“How…?”

Am I finally going crazy and imagining things?

“It’s the 77th time you have met us here.”

“What does that mean?”

“The previous 76 versions of you all failed.”

Failed?

Does that mean I have regressed to the past 77 times?

My head was filled with confusion.

“How do you know a fact that I don’t even know? No, before that, how are you alive?”

“This is the realm of the gods that transcends timelines. At least here, we neither die nor live, but eternally exist.”

Hanseol spoke with a bittersweet smile.

“‘LAB-3859.’ The Hope Orphanage was a Babel tower created for humans to ascend to the sky of the gods. The result was the absolute AI, the intelligence of the gods, Magi.”

“…”

“Inside this realm of the gods, since it’s not bound by time, Magi can collect all information of the world. It’s like the Akashic Records reincarnated on Earth.”

I found it almost impossible to utter anything in response to such a shocking statement.

Seeing my reaction, Hanseol stepped cautiously forward as if she understood everything.

“You want to save Sister Hana, right? We will tell you how.”