The Man with Hypnotic Powers Doesn’t Hold Back the Second Time Around

Chapter 227

The tentacles threw me straight into the teleportation magic circle,
so fast that neither Master nor I, as Transcendents, could react in time.

Crackle.
[The Gate expands to consume divine power….]

…A barrier!?

To make matters worse, a barrier formed around the magic circle.
It was solid, clearly designed to keep everyone but me out.

The moment I saw it, I gave up on being rescued.

Grind.

…Looks like I’ll have to handle the boss fight alone.

It reminded me of that A+ Gate from the day Alice and Solip were filming the eye drop commercial.
A barrier had formed around the outer edge, preventing reinforcements from entering for 30 minutes.

Back then, Master had torn it apart with ease,
but that was just an A+ Gate—something she could rip apart with one hand.

This, however, was an EX-Class Gate.
Its barrier was bound to be far stronger, perhaps even beyond Master’s ability to break.

Waiting for rescue while soloing the final boss?
No way. I wouldn’t survive that.

Flash.

...No choice but to prepare to press the button!!

I focused my gaze on the status window.
The button Hypnosis-chan had created—the one that would make me a god with a single "click."

I’d declared that becoming a god was the "bad ending,"
but compared to the "dead ending," it seemed like the better choice.

So, I prepared myself.

Shia, Alice, Master... I truly loved—

"Why don’t you stop right there? I mean no harm to you."
"…What?"

I froze, my hand hovering over the button.

My surroundings shifted as I came back to my senses.
And there, amidst the new scenery, I saw her—a woman.

Her mere presence sent chills down my spine.

Gulp.

What the hell is that…?!

Instinct told me.
This was the master of the Gate. The final boss.
The one Paimon referred to as "that entity" with such dread.

And I also knew...

That facing her alone was as futile as throwing an egg at a boulder.
The gap between us was insurmountable.

I reached for the button again.

If I don’t become a god now, I won’t stand a chance….

Clink.

"Don’t. You don’t need to fear me."
"What?"
"There’s no need for us to fight, you and I."
"…?"

Just as I was about to press the button, she raised both hands calmly,
a gesture of peace, as if to say she had no intention of fighting.

"You tie me up and then start spouting nonsense…."
"I only restrained you to bring you here. If other mortals came along,
I wouldn’t have been able to speak with you."
"As if I’d believe that—"

Rustle.

"I released you. Does that help you believe me?"
"Uh, well…"
"If you’re still upset, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry."
"…"

She even bent low, bowing deeply enough to show the crown of her head.

...This was confusing.
She wasn’t just capable of communication—she lacked hostility.
She had even apologized for tying me up with tentacles.

From this angle, she seemed like a perfectly ordinary person.
A disturbingly powerful one, sure, but not unlike the transcendent older sister I’d encountered before.

Still, something felt off.
I couldn’t bring myself to trust her entirely.

The unease gnawed at me, so I called out to Hypnosis-chan.

Hypnosis-chan, what is that?
[…...]
Your mom is pretty impressive, huh?
[…...]

...Guess the status window’s busted.

No response.
Only meaningless static from the status window.
Even Hypnosis-chan stayed silent.

It had to be because of the woman before me.

Her overwhelming power—it was enough to make my knees feel weak.
Either the status window was malfunctioning, or Hypnosis-chan was too frightened to come out.

Either way, it seemed I had no choice but to deal with her alone.

I’ll have to gauge her through conversation.

Smile.

"You really don’t seem intent on fighting.
With your strength, you could squash me like a bug."
"That’s correct. I have no desire to fight you."

And so the conversation began.
I forced a smile, and she smiled back warmly.

"On the contrary, I want to help you."
"…Excuse me?"
"I’m tired of it all. Of innocent people being dragged into the conflicts of the Constellations."
"What are you talking about?"
"You—you were pulled here from another dimension. And then you were made to regress."
"……!!!"

My smile immediately cracked.
Meanwhile, her smile remained unmoving.

"How do you know that…?"
"I’ll explain. What happened to you and why."

She began speaking, her lips moving steadily.

She was about to reveal the truth behind my transmigration and regression—
the mysteries that had plagued me for so long.

What she revealed was nothing short of shocking.

"The truth is, it’s rare for Constellations to fight directly.
The laws of causality make it too costly for them.
So they usually appoint proxies, Apostles, to fight in their place.
The Demon Lord and Hero dynamic is one such example.

But sometimes, Constellations drag beings from other dimensions into their conflicts.
When they can’t find suitable candidates in their own world, they resort to abduction.

You were abducted by this world’s Constellation."

So transmigration was actually kidnapping.

"Not only that—they abandoned you.
They watched as this world was ravaged by insignificant creatures.

I’ve never seen a Constellation like that before.
One who deliberately withholds power from their Apostle,
allowing the world to be destroyed just to instill a thirst for vengeance.

If they had trusted you with their power from the start,
you wouldn’t have needed to regress at all."

Regression, it seemed, was a direct consequence of the Constellation’s mistrust.
The hell I endured—the first timeline—
was orchestrated by the Saintess to plant a seed of vengeance within me.

"Turning back time doesn’t erase what happened.
The pain you suffered doesn’t disappear."
"…"

My mouth clamped shut on its own.
It was a plausible explanation for something I’d tried not to think about—
why the first timeline had to end in such utter devastation.

She seemed to notice my expression, and her smile widened,
turning into something more chilling.

"So here’s my proposal. Don’t fight for her.
Hand over the divine power inside you, and give it to me."
"…Divine power?"
"Yes. You and I don’t need to fight."

She pointed to a spot.
A portal shimmered with a blue hue.

Through it, I saw a familiar scene:
a typical bachelor’s apartment.
A glowing monitor displaying an erotic game illustration.

It was my old apartment—
the one I lived in before being transmigrated.

"I’ll send you back to your original dimension.
You won’t have to deal with Constellations anymore."
"But my wives…"
"I’ll send them with you. Ten, a hundred—however many you want.
Just leave the divine power behind."
"…"

So that’s what she was saying.
You’ve been caught in the crossfire of a battle between whales.
Just go back to your original world.
I only want your divine power—I don’t care about you otherwise.

It was an offer hard to ignore.

"Why not just kill me and take it?"
"Why would I need to kill you? I have no reason to."
"Wouldn’t it be simpler for you?"

The only lingering question was why someone as powerful as her
was taking such a roundabout approach.

"The reason this dimension’s Constellation entrusted you with divine power—I don’t know.
But it’s obviously a trap. I’d rather avoid it."
"…You too?"
"Yes. So I’ll steer clear of it."
"Ah."

The explanation for her behavior was surprisingly clear.
It seemed the Saintess had some hidden agenda in giving me divine power.
But since she couldn’t fully grasp it, she chose to err on the side of caution.

It was a reasoning I could accept.

"And… sometimes, ridiculous things happen."
"Ridiculous things?"
"Long ago, I had an Apostle I was quite fond of, and I gave them a good deal of power.
Yet, they lost to a much weaker opposing Apostle."
"That’s unfortunate, but calling it ridiculous seems like a stretch—"
"It wasn’t that they died to a sword or anything. No, they were killed by braised short ribs."
"…Braised short ribs?"
"Yes. A Hero’s party pried open my Apostle’s mouth and force-fed them braised short ribs until they were defeated."
"……."
"After an experience like that, you learn to be cautious.
It’s why I decided to act personally instead of relying on Apostles."

It seemed like she had her fair share of troubles.
I decided not to dig deeper. Asking for details felt like opening the door to an unnecessarily long story.

"Ahem. So, what you’re saying is this: if I hand over the divine power the Saintess gave me,
you’ll let me go."
"Exactly right."
"Hmm. Mind if I take some time to think it over?"
"Take as much as you need."

I crossed my arms and pretended to be deep in thought,
making it clear that this was not a decision I could make lightly.

Luckily, the woman before me was patient.

"Still not ready?"
"Hmm, thinking… thinking…"

Five minutes passed.

"Still not ready?"
"Hmm. Deciding who to bring along is hard—Suyeon, Hayoung,
the in-laws, Suguru, Dr. Brooks…."
"……."

Thirty minutes passed.

"Still not ready? Still not ready? Still not ready?"
"Good decisions take time."
"……?"
"Just a little longer. Please."
"……."

An hour passed.

For a full hour, I dragged this out, faking deliberation until her patience wore thin.

"Still not ready?"
"Just a little more…."
"You have no intention of accepting, do you?"

Her voice turned cold, and the atmosphere grew tense.
...She must have realized I was stalling on purpose.

Let’s see if I can push it just a bit further.

Grin.

"You know, something about this doesn’t add up."
"What doesn’t?"
"The fact that the Saintess regressed me. Isn’t that a blatant violation of natural law?"

I opened my mouth as if wringing out a dry rag.

The Saintess’s act of forcing my regression was no small thing.
It fundamentally went against the natural order.

And yet, supposedly, she regressed me simply because she didn’t trust me?
Just to instill a sense of vengeance by making me experience destruction?

"Does that make sense?"
"……."
"The Saintess bore the full cost of defying the natural order to regress me.
To go to such lengths for a pawn is not a profitable move."

If her goal was merely to make me her pawn,
she could’ve just controlled me with hypnosis.

Even now, as a Transcendent, her hypnosis seems to remain effective—
my incomplete memories of not having children and the moments surrounding regression are proof of that.

Crackle.

...Is it about time yet?

"And, above all…"

I spoke one last time, looking her squarely in the eyes.

Her expression remained the same as it had from the beginning.

"I’ve had this nagging feeling from the start.
Something about you feels off."

"What do you mean?"
"You give off this distinct vibe. Like a villain.
The kind you can’t reason with. The irredeemable kind.
The kind who turns others into villains by their influence."

"You’re basically the mother of all villains.
Every villain exists because of you."

With that, I stopped acting.
Unable to hide my disgust any longer, my face contorted into a scowl.

"There’s no negotiating with villains."

Her reaction?

Grin.

"…What a pity. I thought I was doing a decent job pretending."

Her gums showed as she smiled widely,
the grotesque grin characteristic of a villain.

Just as I had been acting, so had she.
Her mask of normalcy dropped.

Clang!

"S-Class Rank 7, Seo Yujin.
The boss raid for the EX-Class Gate begins now."
"I really didn’t want to fight."

I unsheathed my katana, and she began summoning tentacles from thin air.
The final boss battle had officially begun.

"You’ll regret this…."

Crack. Flash!!!

[YUJIN!!!]
"…Hm?"

But, apparently, it wasn’t going to be a fair one-on-one fight.

"How did you break through?
You’ve only just transcended…."
"HRAAAAH!!!"

Slash.

"…KYAAAH!!!"

And to top it off, I began by spreading divine essence everywhere.

The final battle had commenced, reeking of the scent of acacia blossoms.