The Male Lead Is Obsessed With My Health Chapter 262

As if possessed, I picked up the nearest book.

《The 5321st Year of the 1st Regression》

The book was a patchwork, made by stitching together writings from multiple people, and at a glance it looked almost ragged.

As I turned the pages, I saw that each person—writing in a different language—was describing Dad’s life from a different point in time.

The part explaining how he was able to regress had been neatly cut out, but the scene where Dad, after regressing for the first time, saw me, broke down in tears, and thanked me made even me, who was only reading words, freeze up.

「I will protect you. No matter what.」

The very first promise—no, the first vow—Dad ever made to me.

“What am I supposed to do with someone this foolish?”

Having suddenly become a reader who knew the ending, I couldn’t hide my heavy feelings as I turned the page.

Contrary to my hope that it would all lead to a happy ending, the story always flowed the same way.

After I died and Mehen left, Dad’s suppressed madness resurfaced, and he met a horrific end.

Up to that point, it wasn’t much different from what I already knew.
What truly shocked me was something else.

“Dad was already suffering from madness…?”

Apparently, until now, he had been forcibly suppressing it with sheer reason.

Was that even possible?

Just from the book’s descriptions, I could tell how terrifying his madness was.

His senses were heightened to the extreme—tiny sounds from far away rang loudly in his ears. Hallucinations and auditory illusions distorted his perception, making it impossible for him to sleep properly…

“And even in this state.”

You’re telling me he didn’t show it at all?

Was he an idiot?

No… maybe he did show it, and I just didn’t notice. Images of those moments when Dad seemed unstable flickered through my mind. Even his usual listless 모습.

I had always wondered why he locked himself alone in the portrait room.

‘Was it because there was no one there?’

Reading this only made me miss Dad more.

“Whew… calm down.”

My vision kept blurring at random, and it was getting hard to deal with.

Second regression, third regression… with each loop, a lonely fight that no one recognized continued on.

At this point, I was the one who felt like I couldn’t bear it anymore.

Wouldn’t it be normal to give up by now? Wouldn’t it be okay to give up? No one would blame him. Not even me. So why didn’t Dad stop?

The Dad in the book said it was all because of guilt toward his older sister and a sense of duty, but there were too many things that couldn’t be explained by just that.

Such a long time. Such unbearable pain.

Enough time for guilt and duty alike to fade away and crumble into nothing—yet even then, Dad kept trying to save me.

My eyes burned. I kept choking up, making it hard to read.

“…Is it really okay for me to receive this kind of love?”

Dad’s overwhelming love made me feel like I was suffocating—happy, and yet in tears.

“You become a father, and all you do is make your daughter cry.”

I’m definitely telling Mehen everything later.

I was sniffling but still reading diligently when I suddenly realized that some regression volumes were missing.

“Huh? What’s this?”

There were so many books that it took me a while to notice. As I lined up the numbers, I found another strange book.

《The 5329th Year of the 572nd Regression》

“Why does this one have so many blank pages?”

Just in case, I looked for books from the same regression but different years, and those did have text—though the words were being erased in real time.

“What on earth is going on…?”

「Valer, left alone in the estate, broke Halbern’s oldest contract. As a result, he lost the key, but……」

A key. A contract.

“Don’t tell me… Dad broke his contract with Mac?”

Only then did I finally understand why the secret archive was in such a ruined state.

In this world, Dad must have been the last Halbern to contract with Mac—so when he broke the contract, it must have hurt Mac as well.

Trying to find out exactly what had happened between the two of them, I hurriedly flipped through the pages.

Krrrrrumble.

The entire secret archive shook, and a massive vibration ran through it.

“Uh…?”

Books fell from the shelves in a cascade as the ominous tremor continued. Realizing I couldn’t stay here, I tried to get up and move—

BOOM—!

A deafening roar filled the space, and my vision went completely dark.

 

 

****

 

 

“Gasp!”

It happened so suddenly that I was swept up in it before I even realized what was going on—but judging by the fact that I’d come to my senses, I must not be dead.

“Am I… alive? Yeah. I’m alive.”

I instinctively checked myself, half-expecting some organs to have fallen out somewhere, but everything seemed to be properly attached and working.

“What the hell was that?”

I’d been caught up in all sorts of things in my life, but this time I really thought I was going to die.

Why did the secret archive suddenly go berserk like that? Was it related to the words disappearing from Dad’s books?

“Ow… but where am I now?”

Only then did I really take a look around—and it was a completely unfamiliar scene. I’d thought, at worst, I’d been flung back into the Halbern estate, but instead…

I was lying atop a pile of rubble.

I smacked my lips in regret as I thought of the books of Dad’s I hadn’t finished reading, but well—if I went back again someday, I could read them then.

“But seriously, where is this place?”

Ahead of me stood a ruined building.

It felt familiar somehow.

I didn’t travel around much, so “somewhere I’ve seen before” didn’t exactly leave many possibilities…

“Don’t tell me… this isn’t Gairen, is it?”

I muttered to myself with a bad feeling creeping up, when someone approached and spoke to me.

“This city is sealed. Identify yourself. Who are you?”

“Luka?”

Luka, dressed in a mage’s uniform, frowned as he looked at me.

“How do you know my name? Were you sent by the Mages’ Association?”

“What’s the Mages’ Association now? Luka, don’t you recognize me?”

“……?”

Something strange crossed Luka’s face.

“What is this, some kind of lunatic?”

Hey. I can hear you.

Luka’s expression hardened. Mine followed suit.

Pointing his staff at me, Luka questioned me sharply.

“I’ll ask again. Identify yourself. If you’re not from the Mages’ Association or the Alliance, explain why you’re inside a sealed city—”

“Luka.”

“…Don’t call people by their names so casually.”

“Seriously, cut it out. This isn’t funny. You really don’t know who I am?”

“And who exactly are you supposed to be?”

Luka scowled in irritation. It was exactly the same reaction he’d had the first time he saw me.

I was so dumbfounded that no words came out.

Could someone please explain what kind of situation this was?

“Don’t tell me…”

Had I come to yet another dimension?

It sounded absurd—but given the circumstances, it was the most plausible explanation.

“Your identity—”

“Arellin.”

“Yes, Arellin. Why were you here?”

“I don’t know.”

Luka raised his eyebrows sharply.

“I really don’t. I’m just as confused as you are. And why is Gairen sealed again, anyway?”

“You don’t know that either? Are you messing with me?”

“No, I’m asking because I genuinely don’t know.”

Realizing that I was being serious, Luka looked suspicious—but still answered.

“…Because the ruins erupted and the area was designated a danger zone. No one can live here anymore.”

So the Gairen ruins erupted no matter the dimension.

“Can I ask who the emperor is right now?”

“His Majesty Emperor Pession, of course.”

Even while giving me a look that said why would you ask something like that, Luka answered honestly again.

“So Pession is the emperor in this world too.”

My head started to spin.

I couldn’t even organize my own thoughts enough to know what to ask next, so I let out a small sigh—

Woooong.

The sacred relic necklace suddenly flashed, and a massive boom echoed in the distance.

“This is—!”

Even from far away, the aftershock reached us. Feeling the ground tremble, I reflexively looked at Luka, who shouted urgently at me.

“Run! Now!”

Luka’s shout didn’t reach my ears.

All I could see was the person causing all of this.

Dad.

His disheveled appearance. His eyes devoid of reason.

The air itself felt crushed, making it hard even for me to breathe.

A razor-sharp killing intent, so vivid it felt like it could cut, even from this distance.

I stared blankly at Dad, now completely consumed by madness.

I knew I had to run—but he was right there.

Then Dad looked at me.

“I said run!”

I heard Luka yelling something in panic, but it was already too late.

“No—!”

I felt Luka casting magic, but Dad’s sword closed the distance faster.

So this is how I die.

The sharp blade reflected the sunlight as it flashed. Just as I felt the cold edge touch my neck, the sword suddenly stopped.

“…….”

“…….”

A tiny crack appeared in Dad’s expression as he looked at me.