Chapter 241
The circular shadow spreading out from beneath Jin-Woo’s feet rapidly grew large enough to swallow up the Dragon Emperor. The creature’s expression hardened.
‘From the beginning, had he been aiming for this….?’
From the moment he appeared in the battlefield all alone, directing the Shadow Army behind everyone’s back and mopping up the western front, and finally, even drawing the Dragon Emperor to here – were all of those just for the sake of this moment?
Although this human was its enemy, the King of all Dragons couldn’t help but admire the meticulousness of the Shadow Sovereign.
At first, he created a situation where it simply had to make a move, and through what looked to be a pretty obvious tactic to lower its guard, then finally, by relying on an unexpected hidden card, he eventually got what he was aiming for.
‘….To think, he’d actually use Dragon Fear here.’
The Dragon Emperor formed an expression of someone suffering from a sucker punch. Jin-Woo’s grip on the creature’s arm tightened after witnessing that unmistakable expression.
‘I did it.’
There had been no mistakes so far. A couple more steps, and then…
Soon, the shadow swallowed up both Jin-Woo and the Dragon Emperor.
The darkness blinding them quickly rescinded and they re-emerged at the pre-selected destination.
Having succeeded in his endeavour of inviting the Dragon Emperor to the true battlefield of his own choosing, Jin-Woo quickly distanced himself away from his opponent.
And now, finding itself in a location very far away from its underlings, the creature began scanning the surrounding scenery with mystified eyes.
[And this is….?]
“A place on the opposite side of the world from where your army is.”
Truthfully, it was a bit incorrect to call it the exact opposite side, but regardless, that’s how far they were now.
They were in Japan, a land where an enormous amount of Mana had densely permeated into its every pore after the King of Giants died.
The land and atmosphere fortified by Mana should be able to withstand much of the potential impact forces resulting from his battle against the Sovereign of Destruction.
Once a massive sea of forest, this location now resembled a barren wasteland stretching endlessly beyond the horizon, all thanks to the concerted efforts of his Shadow Soldiers cutting down the trees present here.
What particularly drew one’s attention was this huge white-coloured fortress built up on the top of a hill. The Dragon Emperor pointed at it with a black flag flapping in the wind on top.
[Is that your castle?]
“….Something like that.”
[For a castle of the Shadow Sovereign, its size is fairly lousy, isn’t it.]
Why did Jin-Woo briefly feel apologetic to Beru all of a sudden? Of course, there was no reason to get suckered into his enemy’s pace now, was there?
Jin-Woo threw out a genuine warning at the Dragon Emperor, currently looking rather relaxed despite the situation – it was unknown whether that was because of its sky-high confidence, or it was simply trying to bluff him.
“Well, I think that building’s just about the perfect size to commemorate your death today.”
Only then did the gaze of the Dragon Emperor fix on Jin-Woo. He didn’t try to avoid meeting that glare.
[….]
The King of Berserk Dragons stopped looking at the human and closed its eyes for a moment while trying to communicate with its underlings.
Sure enough, not a hint of their signal could be captured. Some creature borrowing the power of the Shadow Sovereign was using a spell to interfere with all forms of communication.
The Dragon Emperor grew conscious of the fact that his human enemy had prepared everything from the beginning in order to perfectly isolate it.
It slowly opened its eyes again and found the entirety of the Shadow Army surrounding it from all sides.
A battle that should have been ten million against one was suddenly turned on its head to become two hundred thousand against one, with the ‘one’ being a completely different person.
The Dragon Emperor had been surrounded.
[So, this is it…. A battle where either I survive or fall, until my soldiers pinpoint my current location.]
However, its expression was not as gloomy as one would hope for in the current situation.
The thing was, although it didn’t mind the types of battles where it’d use the overwhelming numbers to completely massacre its enemies, it also found the exact opposite of that situation quite enjoyable too, where it’d get to overwhelm the enemies alone.
In short, it was an existence born solely for warfare.
It was the incarnation of destruction, one who would not mind its own demise if it was all for the sake of blood, screams, madness, and destruction swirling in a dizzying storm of warfare.
That was why the Dragon Emperor could smile brightly.
[Allow me to show you the real thing.]
At the end of those words, that smile vanished from the creature’s face.
Jin-Woo also sensed something at the same time. His senses that had far surpassed the limits of a normal human continuously rang loud warning bells.
Shiver.
Along with a chill running down his spine, goosebumps broke all over his skin.
It was then. Like a scene from an unrealistic movie, a truly frightening roar scary enough to stop one’s heart just from hearing it exploded out of the Dragon Emperor’s mouth.
Khayaaaaaaaah-!!
This was the Dragon Emperor’s Fear, the ruler of all Dragons. The level of terror previously never experienced before slammed into the Shadow Army like a massive shockwave.
AAAAAH-!!
A seemingly endless chain of ripples began shaking the atmosphere. Even the ground quaked violently.
As the shaking akin to an earthquake rocked the world, Jin-Woo detected an extreme amount of terror, pain, and confusion from his soldiers and he urgently brought them back inside his shadow.
AAAAAH-!!!
During that process, vicious dizziness assaulted him and he wobbled unsteadily for a moment there.
The Dragon Emperor finally ended its roar. The corner of its lips curled up after seeing how pale Jin-Woo’s complexion was.
[That was the real thing.]
The true Dragon’s Fear.
Jin-Woo roughly shook his head in order to get rid of that attack’s horrifying impact. Meanwhile, the Dragon Emperor addressed him in a calm manner.
[When you grabbed my arm, I could’ve easily shaken you loose.]
However, there was a reason why it didn’t. It continued on.
[It’s only because you impressed me with your efforts to trap me.]
Jin-Woo stared at the Dragon Emperor praising him with a suspicious glare. However, there was not a single hint of ridicule within that serious light shining from its eyes.
[That made me want to speak to you in a quiet place as two Sovereigns on equal ground.]
Jin-Woo’s breathing, disrupted by the Dragon Fear just now, finally reverted back to being normal. He quickly righted his posture, his vigilance remaining high.
The Dragon Emperor continued to address Jin-Woo and his tightly-shut mouth.
[If you have inherited the previous Shadow Sovereign’s memories, then you should know this by now…. Our real enemy is not this land, but well beyond the sky up there.]
It was referring to the armies of the Rulers. The first and the last ultimate command given to them was to annihilate all Sovereigns born from the darkness.
Quite obviously, the Shadow Sovereign wouldn’t be an exception.
[I originally thought of disposing of you first and then get ready to fight them. However, I changed my mind after seeing how you conduct your battles. You possess a different set of skills compared to Osborne. And from your skill set, I foresaw our glorious victory.]
The Dragon Emperor extended its hand out towards Jin-Woo.
[If you take this hand, then I shall do as you want.]
His gaze slowly lowered towards the extended hand.
[If you wish to save your family, so it shall be. If you wish to save your nation, then that shall be done. If you wish for me to leave this land, fine. My soldiers and I shall quietly withdraw from this world.]
Jin-Woo gaze briefly lingering on the hand gradually rose up again until it stopped at the Dragon Emperor’s face. The creature was carrying an expression full of compassion.
[You shall become the master of this world. Become a master of this whole planet, not just that small castle on the hill. You amply possess the qualification to do so. All you have to do….]
A gentle smile formed on the Dragon Emperor’s lips now.
[….Is to take my hand.]
Once we cooperate and defeat the forces of the Rulers, not only you and your family, even your country – no, even more than that, everyone living on this land will gain peace and freedom.
That was the promise the Dragon Emperor was making here.
[So, how about it? Shadow Sovereign?]
Did he get enticed by the offer? A thin smile slowly spread on the face of the Shadow Sovereign as he quietly listened to the tempting words.
The King of Dragons also formed a smile of its own.
[Will you join me?]
Too bad, Jin-Woo’s reply was rather curt in nature.
“Don’t make me laugh.”
The Dragon Emperor’s expression hardened after hearing that pointed retort.
“You want me to trust a b*stard with the eyes of someone that can barely hide its desire to kill me?”
[Haha…. Euh-hahahahaha!!]
The King of all Dragons grasped its forehead and guffawed for a long time. Its laughter must’ve contained Mana, because every single wave of sound emitted by the creature caused a powerful reverberation within Jin-Woo’s heart.
When it finally took its hand away from its forehead, both of its wide-open eyes had changed to that of a reptile’s.
[I just can’t seem to hide these eyes of mine.]
Appeasement attempt had ended in failure. If conning the other party didn’t work, then the remaining way was to destroy him with everything it possessed.
The Dragon Emperor finally revealed its true self. A hostile aura that couldn’t be concealed anymore flooded out from its body.
[Bet everything you have and attack me, oh, Child of Shadow!!]
Jin-Woo’s eyes widened in shock.
In an instant, choking heat rushed into his face. He quickly retreated to a far-off distance, his gaze still locked onto the unbelievable event unfolding right him.
A mountain of raging inferno suddenly materialised in front of his eyes.
If a sea of boiling lava gained sentience and willingly morphed into the shape of a Dragon, would it look like that?
Jin-Woo watched this appearance of a Dragon made up of endlessly-burning flames and immediately recalled the outer shell of the Demon’s Castle instant dungeon that was also burning in perpetual flames.
A battle between a living ‘castle’ and a man.
It wouldn’t be too surprising for anyone to get scared by this incomparable pressure, but Jin-Woo calmly grasped the pair of Kamish’s Wraths.
BOOM-!!
When the Dragon Emperor took one step, the world rocked viciously.
‘It’s coming!’
The massive Dragon was trying to stomp him to death, so Jin-Woo quickly evaded that and ran to create some distance before summoning up the Sky Dragon ‘Kaisel’.
Kiiaaahk!
His mount was already getting ready to take off, so as soon as it emerged from the shadow, it flew up into the air. Jin-Woo quickly climbed up on its back.
Kaisel rose up as fast as it could; Jin-Woo then had his ride change directions and descend towards the Dragon Emperor’s location. As if it was waiting precisely for that, the Dragon made up of flames fired a Breath of Destruction.
“Go down!!”
Almost at the same time as the blinding flash of light exploded forth from the Dragon Emperor’s jaw, Kaisel descended at the rate of knots. The flames capable of erasing everything – the chill-inducing white beam of light brushed past right above Jin-Woo’s head.
Kuwaaaaah-!!
Kaisel followed after its master’s instruction to descend closer to the Dragon Emperor while barely managing to side-step the Breath continuously pouring out towards it.
Fuuuwoo….
Once the Breath attack came to an end, Kaisel was already near the head of the gigantic flame Dragon. Jin-Woo gathered every drop of his Mana while riding on the back of his mount.
‘You did well, Kaisel!’
The gathered Mana flowed into the Kamish’s Wrath held in his right hand. The black aura danced and tumbled about as if to signal that it was ready for that final strike.
With everything in his power – Jin-Woo swung his sword containing all of his might towards the Dragon Emperor.
SWIIIISH-!!
The black aura that looked capable enough to tear through anything in a single breath split up like the claws of a predator and took a powerful swipe at the head of the flaming Dragon.
Kwa-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gahk!!
However…
‘….How can this be?!’
Jin-Woo’s brows shot up high.
There wasn’t even a scratch on the creature’s flaming scales; instead, the unscathed Dragon Emperor began raising its head towards him.
Jin-Woo’s expression crumpled.
‘Is it Breath again?’
He got ready to quickly descend again in case another round of Breath of Destruction came at his way, but he was greeted by an ear-splitting roar, instead.
Kuwaaaaaah-!!
Dragon Fear!!
Jin-Woo had developed some amount of immunity after experiencing it the last time, but it was a different story for his Sky Dragon. It couldn’t withstand the roar from the Dragon Emperor and froze up in mid-air.
Not even giving him any time to un-summon Kaisel, in came the ruthless beam of light signalling true destruction spat out by the King of all Dragons.
RUMBLE-!!
Even though they were in a free fall, Kaisel still twisted its body to push Jin-Woo away to a safer location, and collided head-on against the Breath of Destruction with its body.
“NOOO!!”
Jin-Woo cried out as he watched Kaisel disintegrate in an instant, not even leaving behind ash in the process. Utterly disregarding his wishes, the Sky Dragon was erased from existence without a single trace.
Grit.
Jin-Woo bit his lower lip and fired Mana out from behind to fly into the chest area of the Dragon Emperor in an instant. And to make sure he wouldn’t fall off, he grasped tight the scale of this nonsensically humongous creature.
Chiieeiik!
His palm was instantly scorched by the ultra-high temperature.
“Euh-euhk!!”
Jin-Woo gritted his teeth and raised up the Kamish’s Wrath held in his other hand up high above his head. The shortsword held in reverse grip was enveloped in the dancing black aura.
Crack!!
The blade stabbing down with all his might managed to break past the scale. But that was all it could do.
Crack! Crack! Crack!!
No matter how many times he lashed out, all he could do was to leave behind small, inconsequential nicks on the Dragon’s flesh just below its scales.
It was then. Sensing this ominous chill creep up behind his neck, Jin-Woo hurriedly took a look behind him.
‘…..!!’
The giant arm of the Dragon Emperor was swinging closer to his location. To dodge that, he unhesitatingly jumped down.
He didn’t suffer any impact damage when landing on the ground due to his Mana, but then, without giving him a break, yet another round of the Breath of Destruction poured out from above.
Kuwaaaaahhh-!!!
Somehow managing to evade that merciless attack once more, Jin-Woo breathlessly panted hard.
“Hah-ah, hah-ah, hah-ah….”
He rained down so many attacks, yet the Dragon Emperor remained standing, imperious like the legendary Mt. Tai. It possessed the level of defence and attack power that not even Giants could match up to.
He realised that he couldn’t subjugate this Dragon by relying on the same tactics.
‘I need stronger power….’
Indeed, he needed an even stronger power – the power that might bring down a giant covered in thick armour with nothing but bare hands.
Just like how an insect small enough not to be noticed by one’s eyes couldn’t do much about a human being, one needed to become a mountain if a mountain was blocking his path.
It was then.
‘Hang on…. Armour, is it?’
A certain possibility flashed by like a bolt of lightning in Jin-Woo’s head.
If he could manipulate the power of darkness to create regular-sized armours, then couldn’t he also be able to create something much larger and thicker than that, too?
When his thoughts reached that far…
….The shadow beneath Jin-Woo’s feet suddenly began growing much larger.
[….??]
Even the Dragon Emperor noticed this change.
The blackish liquid bubbled and rose up from that shadow to wrap around the Shadow Sovereign, layer upon layer, his size abruptly increasing at an alarming rate.
‘What is this human b*stard trying to do now?!’
The thing was, answering its instincts took priority before satisfying its curiosity.
Just before the Dragon Emperor got ready to fire yet another round of Breath of Destruction towards that unidentifiable black mass, it felt the sensation of something poking softly at its back.
‘….??’
It quickly took a look behind.
Fangs had been hiding in a distant corner to perform the communication-disrupting spell but to aid his Sovereign, he had grown into a giant to fire his own pillar of flames at the back of the Dragon Emperor.
Once their gazes met, the Bead of Avarice powerlessly fell from Fangs’ grip.
Tumble, roll….
The massive Dragon’s murderous rage was now redirected to the scared and trembling Fangs.
[How dare a measly b*stard like you….!]
The Dragon Emperor shifted the direction of its head.
And naturally, the aim of the Breath was shifted towards Fangs, as well.
Just before the attack capable of erasing everything could be fired from the Dragon’s maw….
A humongous black shadow that had risen up high into the sky, before anyone had noticed it, viciously punched the head of the Dragon Emperor.
KA-BOOOM!!!!
Chapter 242
As it was being shoved away by the enormous impact force coming from the side, the Dragon Emperor saw it.
It clearly saw a gigantic shadow tall enough to touch the skies standing there proudly. And perhaps trying to reject an existence that shouldn’t even exist in the first place, thousands, no, tens of thousands of black lightning bolts could also be seen violently roiling and crackling beyond the shoulders of this black shadow.
‘….Spiritual Body Manifestation?’
No, that couldn’t be right.
The Shadow Sovereign used to be one of the Fragments of Brilliant Light. He didn’t have any other ‘hidden’ form to activate, and how he appeared was how he looked.
However, how could the current Shadow Sovereign assume such a massive form right this moment?
Kwa-gah-gahk!!
The Dragon Emperor pushed down hard with its legs, causing a thin layer from the ground to peel off like the skin of an apple, as its gigantic body came to a stop.
‘Could it be….?’
When a certain theory brushed through its head, the eyes of the Dragon quaked in sheer surprise.
‘The b*stard…. Could he be summoning the power of death to the surface world?’
But, how could that be?
How could a man who used to be a normal human not too long ago control the power of death to such an astonishing degree?
[So, that’s how it was.]
Another sigh of admiration left the mouth of the Dragon Emperor.
[You have spent a lot of time on the border between life and death, haven’t you?]
There was a reason why the previous Shadow Sovereign, Osborne, chose to hand all of his power over to a measly little human being. This particular human had been continuously fighting a bitter battle against himself right up until he inherited this power.
All for the sake of his life.
The Dragon Emperor had been looking down on the current Shadow Sovereign just a tad in comparison to his predecessor but now, he felt renewed respect for its human opponent.
[….]
And then, it reflected on itself for even thinking of manipulating the weakness of humans to pit him against the Rulers earlier.
‘Without a doubt…. This human must die. As expected, he’s far too dangerous.’
While the Dragon silently glared at its opponent, the giant Shadow Sovereign was also doing the same thing in silence.
Having become this gigantic Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo shifted his surprised gaze lower to his hands that had also grown into a size easily exceeding his own imagination.
‘This…. Is this really me?’
He tried to move his fingers. The ginormous body that had become the darkness itself began moving according to his will. It wasn’t just his body that had grown huge, though.
From deep within his gigantic frame, the kind of dizzying power that defied all attempts to estimate how big it was gushed out infinitely. He had truly become a mountain in order to bring down another mountain.
Jin-Woo raised his head back up again. And there it was – the personification of Destruction rushing towards him.
BOOM-!!
Violent flames and black lightning bolts scattered in all directions.
Jin-Woo propped his body with his legs extended to his rear and stopped the charge of the Dragon Emperor.
Their physical strength was about evenly matched!
An even contest of strength briefly played out before the Dragon suddenly bit Jin-Woo on his shoulder. Crimson-red flames danced around the bitten part. Jin-Woo didn’t panic, though, and proceeded to grab and yank at the Dragon’s horn to pull the creature’s head away.
And then, one more punch to its face-!
Ka-boom!!
This time, though, the Dragon Emperor wasn’t pushed back.
Kuwaaah-!!
Almost as soon as it was shoved back, the Dragon pounced towards him again, before opening its huge maw wide to take a big bite of Jin-Woo’s side.
“Keuh-eeeeuhk!”
For the first time since he began fighting against the Dragon Emperor, Jin-Woo couldn’t hold back and spat out a pained cry.
Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!
He used his elbow to smack down on the Dragon’s head several times, but the creature still lifted him up in the air and began shaking him around without mercy.
An incredible pain akin to his waist being snapped in half rushed up from below.
“Kuwaahk!! Keuh-eeeeuhk!!”
Deciding that enough damage had been inflicted on its enemy, the Dragon Emperor threw Jin-Woo to the ground.
THUD!!
That was followed by another round of Breath of Destruction pouncing on him. When the conflagration-like Breath swept by, one of Jin-Woo’s arms had vanished.
However, he didn’t scream in pain. He just gritted his teeth. He instantly closed the distance and shoved his remaining hand deep into the Dragon Emperor’s jaw.
Rip, riiiip!!
Along with the thick leather being torn apart, the Dragon Emperor’s huge tongue was ripped out of his throat.
[Kuwaaaaahk!!]
Rather than blood, crimson lava exploded out from the torn wound of the creature’s tongue.
The Dragon writhed in pure agony. Jin-Woo took this opportunity to punch the head of the creature. The lengthy maw was spun to the side as lava spilt in all directions.
The Dragon Emperor glared at Jin-Woo with its vertical-slit eyes and rammed into him with its horns.
The battle’s flow see-sawed between the two over and over again.
BOOM-!!
Whenever the two collided, the ground quaked and the heavens screamed. Every plot of land being showered by the falling flames was scorched black; every square inch being struck by the black lightning bolts was ripped apart without mercy.
A desperate battle ensued.
From the sideline, Fangs witnessed the battle between two Sovereigns with dazed eyes.
At this grandiose yet frightening spectacle unfolding right before his eyes, the High Orc Shaman was left completely flabbergasted, unable to turn his head away nor close shut his slack jaw.
What if…
….The Absolute Being created these beings in order to witness a fight of this magnitude? If that was the case, the High Orc Shadow Soldier thought that he might sort of understand the reasoning behind that decision.
Indeed, the battle between these two was no doubt a world-ending calamity but, at the same time, it was a spectacular once-in-a-lifetime event as well.
Tears slowly fell from the eyes of Fangs as he continued to take in the sight of two god-like beings colliding with everything they had.
The power of Destruction and the power of Death smashed into each other, writhed around, and shook the world to its very core.
Jin-Woo clenched his fist even harder.
Boom-!!
It was working.
It’s working, it’s working, it’s definitely working!!
Each of his punches, issuing shock waves that tore apart the air every time he threw one, landed on their targets with scary accuracy.
Boom!! Bang!! Thud!! Kwahng!!
The Dragon Emperor struck out with its sharp claws, brushing past him and hitting the empty air.
WHOOOOSH-!!
Jin-Woo took a step back to evade the attack before pushing forward on his tiptoes to slam his shoulder against the Dragon and shoved it to the ground.
KA-BOOOOM!!!!
He then quickly mounted the toppled Dragon Emperor. What followed next was the continuous stream of vicious punches.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!
Brutal attacks rained down from above, without a single break in-between.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!!
Lightning bolts, sparks of flames, and the screams of air being torn endlessly reverberated throughout the land.
Unfortunately, it was clear to see that just one hand was not enough to land that one fatal blow.
He concentrated all of his Mana to the remaining hand, but as if he was stuck inside a dream, his strength continued to seep out of him the longer he continued on.
‘What’s going on?’
Jin-Woo’s expression hardened gradually.
Not too long afterwards, the Dragon Emperor also noticed the change taking place in Jin-Woo. Its clawed hand shot up to grab his fist.
Grab!
It happened too suddenly. Jin-Woo got flustered as he couldn’t pull his fist back. Meanwhile, the Dragon Emperor addressed him.
[This is the difference between our experience level!]
Jin-Woo’s eyes widened considerably.
“Uwaaaahk!!”
The Dragon pierced into Jin-Woo’s side with the claws on its remaining free hand and spat out its mocking words filled with laughter.
[Didn’t you know that maintaining a large body wastes an unimaginable amount of stamina?]
After completely immobilising Jin-Woo, another round of horrifying energy began gathering and swirling inside the Dragon’s maw. The Breath of Destruction was being readied to put an end to this battle.
‘This is the end….!’
The Dragon Emperor was sure of its victory now.
However….
Just before the Breath was ready to fire, a new arm suddenly sprouted out from Jin-Woo’s shoulder missing a limb.
‘He still had that much energy left?!’
The Dragon was stunned but knew that it was still impossible for a different victor to emerge from this situation.
Soon, a blinding light formed inside the maw of the Dragon Emperor. It was then – Jin-Woo shoved his newly-generated arm inside that maw.
“Uwaaaaah-!!”
And then, he scrounged up every ounce of energy and concentrated it to his hand.
Wuuong-!!
Accompanying an incredible impact force, powerful blinding light blanketed the surroundings.
Eventually, the light receded and silence descended on the land.
*
Jin-Woo reverted back to his human form from the giant shadow. He lay sprawled on the ground and panted heavily.
“Pant, pant, pant….”
His entire body was burning up as if flames had scorched him. He was covered in wounds from head to toe. His current status was an utter mess.
He did his absolute best to control his heavy breathing while sucking in a lot of air. A short while later, he forced his fatigued body to slowly stand back up.
Just beyond the veil of thick fog kicked up from the explosion, someone was making its approach towards him. Jin-Woo could only marvel wryly as the Dragon Emperor, in its human form, revealed itself.
‘What a monster….’
The Dragon b*stard was not okay either, but compared to Jin-Woo’s own condition, it was noticeably better off.
[You are a very tenacious b*stard, aren’t you?]
‘That’s my line.’
Too bad, Jin-Woo wanted to save the energy required to make that retort so he had to swallow back his opinion. Instead, he wordlessly summoned the pair of ‘Kamish’s Wraths’ and held them tightly.
The Dragon Emperor also unsheathed its sword as well.
Shurung-!
Even though it no longer possessed enough strength to maintain its Spiritual Body Manifestation, the King of all Dragons still scrounged up every little bit of remaining energy in order to kill the human for good.
Jin-Woo, too, held his rough breathing back and gritted his teeth.
The Dragon Emperor arrived before him in just one step and swung its longsword at him. The pair of shortswords and one longsword clashed and clanged chaotically.
Every time sparks flew off from their clashing blades, sweat and blood sliding off their wielders’ bodies rained down on the surroundings.
It was then.
Crack!
One of the Kamish’s Wrath shattered after its edges had been badly damaged from attacking the Dragon Emperor’s toughened steel-like scales earlier.
‘…..!!’
He managed to tilt his body in time to let the longsword cutting down diagonally brush past him, but that resulted in him losing balance for a brief moment.
The Dragon Emperor didn’t miss that opening. It thrust forward its weapon in the blink of an eye and penetrated Jin-Woo’s midriff.
Stab!!
Even in the midst of the torrent of terrible pain, he gritted his teeth and swung the shortsword held in his other hand towards the neck of the Dragon.
Too bad, just before his blade could reach the Adam’s apple belonging to the Dragon Emperor, the creature grabbed the weapon with its bare hand. The black aura wavering around the blade was blocked by the reddish-black aura of the Dragon.
A mocking grin floated up on the creature’s face.
[Did you truly believe that the shortsword fashioned out of a Dragon’s tooth can actually hurt this body of mine, the Dragon Emperor’s?]
After declaring confidently as so, it pushed the hilt of the longsword with even more power. The weapon sunk deeper into Jin-Woo’s midriff and he vomited out a mouthful of blood.
“Keo-heok-!!”
The Dragon Emperor pushed Jin-Woo off with its foot and pulled the longsword back.
Jin-Woo ungainly rolled along the ground and barely managed to stop himself. Just before he could force his body up, the Dragon Emperor arrived right in front of him and pointed the tip of its blade at his throat.
‘…..’
His actions came to an abrupt halt at the weapon that was uncomfortably close to his vital point. The Dragon Emperor chuckled as it addressed him.
[Don’t you find it funny?]
Not even once doubting that it’d end up as the victory, the Dragon in human form looked down at the face of its helplessly cornered enemy.
[A battle between the flame born from the darkness and the darkness born from the light. However, this battle is finally drawing to its conclusion.]
Jin-Woo readily agreed with the Dragon Emperor’s assessment.
“You’re right. Its conclusion is around the corner.”
[Oh-hoh.]
The Dragon formed a half-puzzled and half-satisfied expression and scanned Jin-Woo’s grievously-wounded body, before asking him a question.
[Have you decided to give up on the meaningless resistance now?]
It was then.
He seemed energyless and defeated, pretty much ready to give up, but in an instant, the light gleaming within Jin-Woo’s eyes changed.
[….!!]
The Dragon Emperor urgently thrust the blade forward. To its great surprise, however, Jin-Woo unexpectedly pushed himself forward instead of dodging backwards.
The longsword brushed past his artery with barely a hair’s width. The skin on his neck sliced off and blood spluttered out like a fountain, but it wasn’t a fatal wound.
‘I can do this.’
By paying the price of a grievous wound, Jin-Woo got near the Dragon Emperor’s vicinity. He then summoned his father’s shortsword stored in his ‘Inventory’.
The Dragon’s eyes widened.
Even before the creature could decipher this new turn of events, Jin-Woo’s shortsword stabbed deeply into his enemy’s chest.
KWA-JEECK!!
The blade penetrated past the chest armour and stabbed the Dragon’s heart.
[Kuwaaaaaah-!!!]
Not yet.
Not over yet!
Jin-Woo knew all too well that this much of an attack wasn’t enough to kill a Sovereign. Even he himself was continuously fighting on with the types of injuries that would have killed any normal human being, after all.
Jin-Woo yanked the shortsword out and activated the skill ‘Violent Slash’.
Dududududududududu-!!!
Countless attacks stabbed deeply into the Dragon Emperor’s body.
One more time!!
Dudududududududu!!!
[You… you b*stard….!!]
Shockingly enough, even though it was being subjected under the barrage of countless attacks, the Dragon Emperor still raised its sword up.
An earthquake erupted within Jin-Woo’s eyes after seeing that.
The Dragon, inflicted with heavy injuries on its chest where various holes could be seen, began deflecting Jin-Woo’s shortsword. The longer his skill was deployed, the faster the Dragon Emperor’s speed became, as well.
This was the display of the might possessed by the strongest creature borne out of darkness for the sole purpose of destruction. Cold sweat drops formed on Jin-Woo’s forehead as he was gradually pushed back in the one area he felt most confident in – his speed.
[Khayahk!!]
The Dragon Emperor spat out a beastly howl and shoved Jin-Woo away. The force was so strong that he thought his wrist broke just now.
‘Keu-heuk!’
By the time Jin-Woo regained his balance, the Dragon was already right before his eyes. Unlike before, though, the creature didn’t repeat the same mistake of staying its sword.
The weapon penetrated past his Black Heart.
“Keok!!”
Jin-Woo felt the burning pain shooting up from his chest. His breathing tightened and he couldn’t even voice his pain anymore. All strength abandoned his legs and automatically, he knelt down on the ground.
Plop.
As if its anger hadn’t been cooled down, the Dragon Emperor viciously roared out towards the sky.
Kuwaaaaaaaahhh-!!!
It transformed into a Dragonewt-like form that was halfway between a human and a Dragon’s appearance before anyone noticed it, and extended its claws out in order to attack for one last time.
A growling-like voice leaked out of the Dragon’s mouth.
[You b*stard, I shall rip you apart piece by piece and feed you to my Sky Dragons!]
If trying to show courtesy and give the Shadow Sovereign a death fitting for a king was a mistake on its part, then the Dragon Emperor would bestow a cruel and miserable death that would make up for that mistake many times over.
‘I shall show you what happens to the one daring to obstruct me, the King of all Dragons, at the end!’
The Dragon Emperor raged on with such thoughts filling up its head. It bared its lengthy fangs and continued to roar on. But then…
….Out of the blue, a loud chorus of vigorous warcry exploded forth from the heavens.
Waaaahhhh-!!
The Dragon Emperor raised his head. It was greeted by an unbelievable spectacle just then.
The army of the Rulers, the soldiers of the heavens were endlessly pouring out from a gigantic Gate that wasn’t there before. Their flapping wings began filling up the gloomy, clouded sky with the colours of whitish silver.
‘Impossible…!!’
The Dragon Emperor inwardly freaked out.
Without a doubt, there was no Gate when it arrived here. So, just from where did that Gate come from, and how could the soldiers of heaven enter this world so quickly?
One would need an incalculable amount of energy to open up a portal connecting this world to the other side. So how….
When its thoughts reached that far, the Dragon Emperor looked down with its trembling eyes at Jin-Woo on the ground, currently panting heavily on his knees.
[You b*stard…. The reason why you attacked me with everything you had from the beginning was to….?!]
It wasn’t the difference in experience levels, but he had been working towards this end result from the very beginning? To call the allies from the other side by tearing the space up with the collision of two great sources of power?
Up until now, the Dragon Emperor had been guessing what Jin-Woo’s scheme might be through its own world view. The reason for attracting the attention of the army of the Chaos World, the reason for bringing it to this desolate location…
The Dragon took that as the human not wanting their battle to be interrupted by outside factors. But as it turned out, the Shadow Sovereign had a different goal altogether.
Even then…
[Even then…. You couldn’t have any other way to communicate with the Rulers….?]
The Dragon Emperor couldn’t finish its sentence.
There was a way – the vessels of the Rulers.
Weren’t there still a few vessels, connected to the Rulers through the lending of their powers, left on this planet? And that was how the Fragments of Brilliant Light were able to prepare a Gate in this location.
[…..]
The Dragon Emperor glared at Jin-Woo.
Just for that one-in-ten-thousand chance, he had chosen the method where even if he lost the fight, he’d still win the war before starting this battle.
It was a complete defeat for the Dragon, who only focused on the fight in front of its eyes and nothing else.
Jin-Woo, barely managing to hold back the dizzying pain from all of his wounds, formed an energyless smile.
“It was you, wasn’t it?”
[…..?]
“It was you who told the Sovereigns of White Flames and Beastly Fangs to ambush the Shadow Sovereign from behind.”
[….Did the Sovereign of White Flames run its mouth off?]
Rather than answering right away, Jin-Woo looked up at the sky filled with innumerable winged soldiers. He lowered his gaze back down to the Dragon Emperor a little later and formed a grin.
“Osborne wanted me to pass along this message.”
Jin-Woo slowly unfurled his middle finger. The Dragon Emperor exploded in pure rage just then.
[You b*stard!!]
The deadly-sharp claws rushed towards defenceless Jin-Woo kneeling down on the ground.
Too bad, those claws couldn’t reach him, instead getting blocked off by six beautiful wings gently embracing Jin-Woo’s figure.
The Dragon Emperor stopped its actions and withdrew its claws. It looked at the figure that blocked its attack and spat out a pained grunt.
[The most Brilliant Light….]
The Dragon raised its head next.
From above, six angels, each with three pairs of wings, slowly descended all around the creature.
Indeed, the conclusion of this battle had been around the corner. The Dragon Emperor recalled that brief conversation he shared with Jin-Woo, and began forming a self-mocking smile.
[….This is the end.]
Soon, the spears belonging to the Rulers penetrated the Dragon Emperor from all directions.
Chapter 243
The desperate and gruelling battle between the two Sovereigns also left its mark up in the sky, as well. Ash, scattered into the heavens from the aftermath of the fight, quietly fell like snowflakes.
Jin-Woo watched the grey ash settling down on his shoulders one by one and lifted his head up.
From the distance far away, somewhere above him – the soldiers of the Rulers utterly blanketing the sky were moving to another location via countless Gates.
The spectacle of tens of millions of soldiers all marching in unison according to their Rulers’ bidding was truly an overwhelming spectacle to behold.
Their aim was to completely eliminate the remaining forces of the Sovereigns. Now that not just the Dragon Emperor, but several other Sovereigns, had died, there was no chance in hell that the Army of the Chaos World would be able to survive.
That was why the soldiers of the heavens were marching forward to announce the end of this war that had been going on for far too long.
Jin-Woo felt his chest become numb for some reason while watching their deployment. While he was stewing in his emotions, the ‘most Brilliant Light’ finished giving commands to its soldiers and returned to where he was.
A truly beautiful lifeform that no known expression in human language could adequately describe folded its proudly-unfurled six wings at once, after landing in front of Jin-Woo. Other Rulers also landed behind the ‘most Brilliant Light’ one by one.
It studied Jin-Woo’s current condition. At a casual glance, he seemed to be any other regular human being.
‘However, this lone human managed to bring an end to the war between us and the Sovereigns.’
Who could have imagined such a thing?
Who could have thought that the curtains on the eternal war, with seemingly no end in sight, as designed by the Absolute Being, would be closed by a weak existence in a world so far away?
At the least, this angel had never imagined it.
And that was why its initial surprise had morphed into pure respect for Jin-Woo’s accomplishments.
[You have ended our war. I do not know how to even properly express my gratitude.]
“…”
Jin-Woo wordlessly looked at the ash falling from the sky before shifting his gaze to look at the Brilliant Light.
“There’s a favour I want to ask you, although it might come across as a bit too big for a gesture of saying thanks.”
[A favour…?]
The Brilliant Light formed a slightly puzzled expression.
The power of the Shadow Sovereign could very well be on the same level, no, maybe even greater than its own. However, such a being was asking for a favour?
As if to lessen the confusion within the head of the Brilliant Light, Jin-Woo answered first before the obvious question could be asked.
“It’s something only you can do.”
The angel with six wings nodded its head.
[If it’s within my power to make it happen, I pledge to aid you to my fullest.]
The Shadow Sovereign played an important role in killing the Dragon Emperor and the Rulers now owed him a large debt of gratitude that couldn’t easily be repaid. There certainly was no excuse not to do fulfil his favour.
However, a rather difficult favour came out from Jin-Woo’s mouth.
“One more time…. Can you use the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’ one more time?”
The Brilliant Light felt a shock akin to someone hitting it at the back of its head. Even the other Rulers standing behind it couldn’t hide their astonishment.
As their leader, the Brilliant Light simply had to confirm it again.
[Did you ask me for the usage of the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’, and to reverse time once more?]
“That’s right.”
Jin-Woo nodded his head and explained himself.
“And after reversing the time flow, I’d like you to not send anything to Earth. I shall kill the Sovereigns, and their armies, in the gap between the dimensions.”
The Brilliant Light was left flabbergasted by what Jin-Woo wanted to do after the time reversal and couldn’t immediately say the words stuck in his mouth.
‘Alone… He wishes to fight this war all by himself?’
Jin-Woo had heard the explanation on the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’ from the former Shadow Sovereign.
Even if the tool of God was used and time was reversed, the higher-beings such as Rulers and Sovereigns would keep their memories. In that case, since he had inherited the power of the Shadow Sovereign through becoming one with Osborne’s ego, his current abilities wouldn’t disappear.
Jin-Woo was planning to take this power, as well as his memories, and willingly enter the gap between dimensions.
[You wish to fight them all by yourself?!]
The Brilliant Light spoke in a disbelieving voice.
[But, why do you want to do that? We have used the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’ many times before, but never did we achieve a result better than this.]
‘…..’
Jin-Woo looked down at his father’s shortsword and calmly made his reply.
“Far too many lives were lost during this battle. I just wish to bring them back, that’s all.”
If it meant he could bring them back by reversing time itself, then Jin-Woo was fully prepared to fight the Sovereigns one more time.
The Brilliant Light closed its eyes to give itself some time to think, and suddenly realised that it did empathise with Jin-Woo’s answer. Regardless of what, though, reversing time remained a very dangerous action to take.
[The ‘Chalice of Rebirth’ is nearing its limit. In case you fail in your objective, it is likely that we won’t be able to reverse the time itself.]
Those words implied that a future far more cruel and horrible might be in store for this world. Meaning, the current development might be the best end result for everyone.
[If you wish for it, you could remain in the memories of everyone, forever, as a hero who has single-handedly stopped the invasion of the Sovereigns. But, instead….]
An all-too-easy to see sorrow suffused on the expression of the Brilliant Light.
[The battle you wish to start will be remembered by none except yourself. If you are defeated, annihilation awaits. And even when you emerge victorious, no one will celebrate your accomplishments.]
The six-winged angel confirmed Jin-Woo decision for the last time.
[Even then, do you still wish to turn back the time?]
Before he answered, Jin-Woo quietly closed his eyes and thought of the important people in his life. The eyes of the Shadow Soldiers inserted into their shadows allowed him to see them in real time.
His mom and young sister were holding each other’s hands with worried faces, anxiously watching the news coming from Japan on their TV.
Cha Hae-In had her eyes deeply closed as if she was ardently praying to someone. Meanwhile, the Association President Woo Jin-Cheol was also watching the news broadcast with tearful eyes.
Jin-Woo felt their heartfelt emotions and a certain corner of his chest warmed up gradually. And when he opened his eyes, his mind was already made up.
“I’m going back.”
….To those people who still remained, and even to those who were no longer here.
The faces of Association President Goh Gun-Hui, Adam White, and his father all brushed past his mind. Lots more people besides them were sacrificed in this war. Jin-Woo swore that no one else would be lost ever again.
The Brilliant Light clearly saw his unwavering determination.
[…..]
The reason why the Rulers went as far as to use the ‘tool of God that should never be used’ and save this world was because this planet was originally unrelated to their ongoing war.
However, a denizen of this world and a hero who saved it came to a decision. He said that he’d save not just a portion, but the entire world with his own powers.
And that he’d bear that burden all by himself.
For a moment there, the angel thought the face of the former Shadow Sovereign had overlapped with that of Jin-Woo’s just now.
It was the face of its stubborn comrade that refused to step aside even though the soldiers of heavens completely blanketing the skies threatened him so he could protect its master, the Absolute Being.
He might have been a scary enemy, but at the same time, the angel greatly respected him.
‘….They resemble each other.’
A thin smile formed on the lips of the Brilliant Light after recalling Osborne’s face.
[I understand. I shall pray for your success.]
“Hold on.”
Jin-Woo quickly asked a question.
“What will happen to my Shadow Soldiers that didn’t exist in the past?”
For instance, soldiers like Beru.
Osborne’s original soldiers would still remain within his shadow, sure, but what about others like Greed who was a human named ‘Hwang Dong-Su’ back ten years ago, or Beru, who didn’t even exist back then?
The Brilliant Light explained according to what it knew.
[Those that ends up being overlapped with the time flow of the past will be erased, while those that don’t will remain as they are.]
That meant that Beru would continue to exist, while Greed would disappear. He could now hear the soldiers crying out in sorrow from inside his shadow.
Jin-Woo bade his goodbyes in his mind to those soldiers about to part ways with him and raised his head up with a smile.
“I’m ready.”
The Brilliant Light summoned out the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’ from subspace and nodded its head.
[I pray that your courage will save your world one more time.]
*
The blinding light enveloped the entire world.
A small, easy-to-miss article about a middle school student who went missing after leaving behind a letter with the words ‘I’ve something to do’ appeared on the corner of a certain local newspaper.
And about two years later.
The world became noisy for a brief moment after the middle school student who went missing suddenly came back home completely fine, as if everything had been a dream. But everything soon returned to its usual calmness, as it should.
And then, time marched on, quietly.
No incidents of Gates, monsters, or Hunters stepping forward to hunt those monsters ever happened again.
***
Yu Jin-Ho found himself in the middle of a freshman welcoming party but his expression remained quite stiff.
The enticing odour of pork belly strips sizzling on the grill coming from here and there tickled his nose, but thanks to how tense he felt, he just couldn’t work up his appetite at all.
But, how could this be?
Although he was hiding his family background, for the time being, he still lived a life fitting for the last born son of a wealthy ‘Chaebol’. For some reason, though, this diner specialising in the frozen pork belly didn’t feel unfamiliar to him.
‘But, how come?’
Yu Jin-Ho tilted his head this way and that, leading one of his university seniors to lightly tap him on the shoulder.
“Hey, Jin-Ho? C’mon, man. Loosen up, dude. Someone might think you’re being led into a slaughterhouse or something.”
Yu Jin-Ho got flustered and his voice naturally rose higher.
“N-no, that’s not it, Senior!”
“What I’m saying here is, stop doing that for the time being, alright?”
The senior guffawed mischievously but then, sneakily withdrew his laughter.
“Ahh, right. I think, you know, it’ll be prudent to behave yourself in front of ‘that’ senior, just in case. We have this really scary senior in our faculty, you see.”
“Heok.”
Yu Jin-Ho’s expression stiffened a lot worse now.
“You know, that kind of a guy? He doesn’t just punish or discipline the juniors for no reason, but just by standing next to him, his incredible charisma is so…..”
If one were to talk about such a person, Yu Jin-Ho also knew someone like that pretty close by, too.
He briefly recalled his father’s face, often referred to as the CEO of Iron Blood, before roughly shaking his head in order to get rid of the distracting thoughts.
Perhaps he was getting properly drunk now, the senior began talking enthusiastically about this mysterious and scary ‘senior’ all of a sudden.
“Hey, you know that athlete named Cha Hae-In?”
“Uhm…. Are you talking about Cha Hae-In who became really famous not too long ago as the idol of the athletics world?”
“Right, right. Her. That Cha Hae-In is the GF of our scary senior, you see? Aigoo, here he comes.”
The senior jumped up from his seat after seeing a certain man enter the diner and hurriedly bowed his waist.
“Senior-nim, thank you for coming!”
“Senior-nim!!”
“Senior-nim!”
After seeing the polite, disciplined greetings of his seniors, Yu Jin-Ho realised that the drunk senior hadn’t been exaggerating a thing until now. With the entrance of one single man, the atmosphere of the noisy, boisterous freshman welcoming party changed instantly.
The useless nervousness he felt right now was good for nothing other than to make his dry saliva slide down his throat quite painfully.
Gulp.
The thing was, though – an unlucky man would supposedly break his nose even when falling on his butt. Yu Jin-Ho couldn’t even raise his head from all the fear he felt, but for some reason, that scary senior in question settled down on the spot right next to him.
‘Ah….. Dear senior-nim, why did you have to choose the spot next to mine when there are so many available elsewhere?!’
Yu Jin-Ho spat out a sigh deep inside his heart, his head still lowered in dejection, but then, that scary senior suddenly presented him with a glass filled with a clear liquid.
“Take a cup from me.”
To think, a glass of booze given to a freshman was not one of those tiny little soju cups but an actual glass cup??
Yu Jin-Ho thought that this action was as expected of a hardcore senior and cautiously took the offered cup, hoping to not make any mistakes here.
‘I’m actually not that good with alcohol, though….’
He squeezed his eyes shut real tightly and forced the liquid down his throat. But then, his eyes shot open wide in surprise and he ended up asking a question at this unexpected development.
“S-senior? Isn’t this soda?”
“It is.”
That supposedly-scary senior was making an expression that was definitely not scary at all as he shook around a soda bottle.
“Why don’t you and I drink this, instead?”
For an unknown reason, the senior was forming the face of a person running into someone he really wanted to see after a long, long time of separation.
“Oh, and Jin-Ho? I’m gonna feel really bad about myself if you keep calling me senior this and senior that, okay?”
The senior filled the empty glass up with soda and spoke in a friendly tone of voice.
“From now on, call me ‘hyung’.”
“Eh?”
“What, you don’t want to?”
The once-affectionate eyes of the scary senior suddenly changed to something far more serious. Yu Jin-Ho instinctively straightened his back and energetically shouted out his reply.
“N-no, I shall, hyung-nim!!”
‘…Huh?’
After involuntarily spitting out the words ‘hyung-nim’, Yu Jin-Ho suddenly grew puzzled by how they felt so familiar to his tongue.
‘Besides… Hang on, have I ever told the senior what my name is before?’
He continued to tilt his head this way and that, and in the meantime, the senior lightly clinked their glasses.
“Cheers.”
For some reason, Yu Jin-Ho realised that grin on the senior’s face was not unfamiliar at all; the corners of his eyes grew reddened with moisture as he energetically clinked his own cup with the senior’s once more.
“Yes, cheers!!”
***
Yu Jin-Ho’s somewhat dissatisfied voice came out from the phone’s speaker.
– “Ah, hyung-nim? Why haven’t you come to the faculty classroom yet?”
Jin-Woo replied with a grin.
“I’ve got a small errand to run today, you see. Ah, that’s right. Hey, Jin-Ho?”
– “Yes, hyung-nim?”
“There’s this really important matter I gotta take care of first, so can you sub for me during the afternoon class? Thanks.”
– “Eh? Hyung-nim? Hyung-nim!!”
Jin-Woo distanced his ear away from the voice desperately calling out to him and ended the call.
Click.
Jin-Woo raised his head and caught the name of the hospital written in large font right before his face.
‘Seoul Il-Sin General Hospital.’
There was someone he had to meet staying in this place.
He stopped walking for a bit to fix his attire. Then, just as he took a step towards the hospital, a rather familiar face brushed past him.
He didn’t mean to get noticed, but perhaps because his gaze had lingered on for a moment too long on her, she stopped and turned around to face him.
“…?”
It was Ju-Hui.
The rank B Healer who got scared often but still entered the Association and did her best so that the power given to her wouldn’t be wasted.
She used to be like that, but now, she was staring at Jin-Woo with the appearance of a regular university student. He ended up forming a gentle smile after realising just how well not being a Hunter suited her.
Ju-Hui intensely studied Jin-Woo for a long time before she opened her mouth in a hesitant manner.
“Uhm, excuse me…? Have we met somewhere before?”
The words of happy greeting rushed up all the way to the tip of his tongue. However, he chose to shake his head, instead.
“No, I don’t think so.”
And then, turned around to leave without looking back.
For a little while there, Ju-Hui tilted her head this way and that as she looked at Jin-Woo’s departing back before she too continued on her path. He heard her distancing footsteps and formed a satisfied expression.
He had protected her.
He had protected the peaceful everyday lives.
Whenever he ran into the evidence of peace created from his sacrifice, it felt as if he had reaped the benefits of all his hard work.
That was why….
‘That’s enough for me.’
….That was enough for him.
Jin-Woo stood before the entrance of the hospital and took a look at his left palm with untreatable burned skin. He then slowly stepped inside the building.
If someone asked him about this wound, he’d always reply like this:
That he got this injury while saving the world.
***
When the doctor in charge walked into a hospital room, a certain patient lying on the bed gestured at him to come closer.
“Can you… help me sit up, please?”
The doctor hurriedly ran up to the bed and cautiously helped the upper torso of the patient lying on his back to sit up.
“Thank you.”
It was then, the doctor spotted a wooden bottle he had never seen before on top of a table next to the patient’s bed.
“What is this, Chairman?”
The gaunt patient, as thin as a desiccated tree, painfully coughed and wheezed before making his reply.
“A young man gave it to me just now.”
The doctor formed a flustered expression.
This was a VIP patient’s room in the hospital, which meant that there were two guards constantly manning the front entrance. No one could enter without express permission from the doctor himself.
But just who managed to sneak in here to leave behind that bottle?
“It is a truly strange thing, indeed…. However, what that young man told me was even more incredible.”
That young man told the tale of a time now long overwritten, when the patient used to battle ‘monsters’ alongside him. The young man continued on and said that he came to visit him with this gift as a thank you for everything that happened back then.
“And then, he just simply vanished. As if he was a mirage, as if he was never here, to begin with.”
If it weren’t for the physical evidence, even the doctor in charge wouldn’t have believed it. But there it was, the gift supposedly left behind by that young man.
While the doctor stood there wondering how should he respond in a situation like this, the patient’s trembling finger was now pointing at the wooden bottle.
“Give it… to me.”
The doctor picked the bottle up and placed it in the patient’s hand. The old man sitting up in the bed studied the bottle and chuckled.
“He said that, as long as I drink what’s inside this thing, my disease will be completely cured as if being washed away. Huh-huh.”
“C-Chairman. You can’t possibly be believing in the words of a…..”
“I’m tired.”
The Chairman cut the doctor off.
“Let me ask you this one thing. Even if I don’t drink this, how long do I have left anyway?”
“….”
The doctor couldn’t make his reply.
Even now, the absolute best that modern medicine had to offer only barely managed to keep the patient breathing, that was all.
At this point, one could even claim it a miracle that he was still alive.
The ‘Chairman’ lightly tutted as the doctor was unable to say anything.
“If I drink this and things go wrong…. I want you to write this down on my gravestone. Chairman Goh Gun-Hui, buried in this place, having never given up, and fought against his illness right until the end.”
“Mister Chairman….”
As a doctor, he knew it was his duty to stop this, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so when Chairman Goh Gun-Hui formed a determined expression on his face while opening the lid of the bottle.
He then began drinking the liquid inside with some difficulty.
Gulp, gulp.
After making sure that every drop had entered his throat, Goh Gun-Hui began recalling the face of that young man who left this bottle behind. He recalled those eyes, specifically.
Goh Gun-Hui felt that it was definitely worth it to trust a man with such a powerful pair of eyes.
And then…
Once he finished drinking every drop of this medicine…
Ba-dump.
Ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump.
His dying heart began pounding healthily once more.
His heart… was beating again.
[Only I Level Up – Fin.]
<< Author’s afterword >>
Hello, everyone. It’s Chugong speaking.
Actually, after I wrote ‘hello everyone’, I’ve been stuck deliberating on what to write next for almost ten minutes now. But, it’s as expected.
If the afterword at the novel’s completion is a letter from the author, then as I thought, there can only be one thing I should say.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I’d like to thank you from the depths of my heart for following these lacking words of an untalented wordsmith, for liking and following them, and for waiting patiently as much as you liked them.
We’re at the end now.
A few of you have expressed your worries that the end has come too abruptly, but honestly speaking, this conclusion had been planned from the very beginning.
Things like Jin-Woo reversing time, Ju-Hui that made her appearance at the beginning of the novel appearing again at the end, or even him healing Goh Gun-Hui’s illness, all of these.
Although, I did add the reunion with Yu Jin-Ho a bit later on after writing the diner scene between Jin-Woo and him, thinking that it’d be fun.
And so, at the end of the almost-250-episode-long march, [Only I Level Up] has come to an end in this fashion.
When I asked other authors on what they felt after ending their novels, they all said that it was a mixture of relief and sorrow, but why do I not feel any relief, just sadness?
Even as I write this afterword, tears threaten to break out my eyes.
I can’t even act my age, it seems.
I might be feeling sad for some reason, but truth be told, I’m thinking of taking about a week off before coming to visit you again with a series of side stories.
I pray that you will all remain unscathed until then!
And since I’m writing this afterword, I might as well burn some page real estate and take this opportunity to express my gratitude towards those who helped me to make [Only I Level Up] a success: my greatest partner, Goh Dong-Nahm Deputy Manager-nim, Lee Seok-Won Associate Editor-nim, who helped me in various ways, as well as Author Leltree, the rising star of our Unique Team.
In all honesty, I thought it’d be awkward to thank just two people so I added Author Lel as well, but after I did that, I was reminded of me whining to him over the phone whenever I got stuck in the writer’s block and now I feel really apologetic about almost forgetting him.
I’m really sorry, Leltree!
And so, I’d like to announce once more the end of [Only I Level Up] created out of 10% whining, 39% hard work, and 50% love from all of you, dear readers.
One more time, I’d like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Although it was quite tough during the writing of this novel, I still found the journey very enjoyable because of you, my readers, who chose to accompany me on this ride.
I shall prepare even more thoroughly and come back to you better than ever before next time.
Everyone, stay healthy, and farewell!
Chapter 244
Side Story 1
1. I am an employee of the Hunter’s Association.
When you’re taking a stroll on a street, ask this question to any student you run into. Ask them what kind of job they would like to have in the future.
A hundred times out of a hundred, you’d get one of these three answers.
One, a famous Hunter; two, a staff member of a major Guild; and three, an employee of the Hunter’s Association.
If a kid you talked to was a bit slow in the head, he or she would end up wasting each day wishing to become a famous Hunter.
A kid smarter than the above example would want to get a job in a major Guild that paid you according to one’s abilities.
The smartest cookies of the lot would choose to become an employee of the Hunter’s Association, where one would still get paid as much as the large Guilds while being treated as a quasi-government official which lessened the danger of getting unceremoniously fired from the job.
Me? I was a smart cookie.
A very smart one, to boot.
And perhaps that was why when I announced my intentions to join the Hunter’s Association, both Mom and Dad were saddened somewhat, which was a bit different than how other parents would have reacted.
Dad wanted me to become a prosecutor, and Mom preferred to see me become a doctor. Of course, as the only son in the family, it wasn’t as if I didn’t know my parents’ wishes of seeing me follow after their career choices.
However, I too had my own dream. And that dream played a big part in me choosing to become an employee of the Hunter’s Association.
– Why do you wish to become a member of the Hunter’s Association?
Those words were thrown my way by none other than the Chairman of the Association, Goh Gun-Hui, as I sat in the interview room with a stiff-as-rock face.
I was busy scolding myself for messing up almost all of the questions asked by the interviewers because of how nervous I had been. But, when I heard that question piercing into my brain and waking me up in an instant….
The light shining in my eyes changed.
At least, I remembered replying to that question with a determined look flashing up on my face.
– Even now, Hunter-nims are risking their lives to protect innocent civilians in many parts of our nation. In that case…. Where are those people who risk their lives for the sake of Hunter-nims?
My voice rose up while saying that I wanted to become a member of the Association and stand on the side of those people that protected Hunters.
Was I mistaken back then when the still-nervous me heard the soft gasps of “Wow” coming from my side and to my front?
But, one thing’s for sure – I distinctly remembered seeing a nearly-imperceptible smile on the face of Association Chairman Goh Gun-Hui as the corners of his lips arched up slightly.
That was how I became an employee of the Hunter’s Association, a job that others would certainly die for. Putting my parents’ slightly lonely farewells behind me, I set off from the hometown that I grew to love and came to Seoul, where the HQ of South Korea’s Association was located.
I felt totally over-the-moon because I’d successfully taken my first step in fulfilling my dream of becoming a member of the Association that protected Hunters.
I even had this vague expectation clouding my mind, wondering if everything was going the way I wanted them to.
Unfortunately for me, though, my beautiful image regarding the Association was shattered into a million little pieces on the first day of work. My thoughts of something still remaining that only I could do for the sake of Hunters was completely wrong.
It had already been over nine years since the Awakened, Gates, and monsters began appearing in this world.
The society had already entered a period of stability after experiencing many failures as well as countless trials and errors. And as a newbie member of the Association who had taken his first baby-steps in said society, there was not a snowball’s chance in hell that I could have my say in it.
Since my initial goal was to help Hunters out, I was assigned to the ‘Support’ department accordingly, but what waited for me there were all sorts of unrewarding miscellaneous tasks.
And that was me being kind here. In reality, it was no different than taking care of the mess left behind by the Hunters affiliated with the Association.
– What’s this? I heard that Hunters in the area next to ours get a cup of coffee or snacks before going on raids, so how come we don’t get any?
– There’s this thing I urgently need to take care of, so can you give me an advance on this month’s wages?
– If I participate in today’s raid, there’s no one to bring my child home, so can you do me this favour for me, please?
Indeed, it was always something like this.
Even if it was low-ranked Gates worth not much money, someone still had to deal with it. But, the number of Hunters were limited, so their needs and wants had to be met no matter what.
In an unlucky chance that someone lodged a claim against Hunters, a pretty awful day would wait for me, but if the Hunter with a claim against him suddenly decided to leave the Association, then….
As I ran around all over the place trying to put out all these fires, I grew disillusioned at the reality that was just too different from my imagination, and as I become more and more fatigued, I also became used to my situation, as well.
And so… on a certain day.
As I was listlessly spending time, a phone call came at my way.
Ringggg…. Ringggg….
I spat out a long, long sigh while looking at the phone ringing off the hook, and wondered just which dear Hunter-nim was calling me this diligently to lay out his or her complaints. I reached out and picked up the receiver.
As soon as the plastic touched my ear, a seriously agitated voice exploded forth from the speaker.
– “I told you people never to send Mister Seong to my location, yet why didn’t you listen to my requests?!”
I had no idea what this guy was talking about, but first things first – which was to apologise.
“I’m terribly sorry, Hunter-nim. There must’ve been an error during the formation of the raid team. Can you please tell me what happened in detail?”
– “What the heck, my man. Forget about details or whatnot. I told you my team don’t want to be responsible for a corpse, you know? You keep pushing this weak guy who gets injured from falling over on our team claiming that he’s still a Hunter. How do you expect us to take care of the aftermath if something happens?! You guys do this again, and I’m just gonna quit right there and then, got that?!”
The call was one-sidedly cut off there.
I put the receiver down while repeatedly recalling the spelling of the word ‘patience’ in my head, and then, began collecting data on the Hunter the person on the phone spoke about before any sort of claims could be lodged.
Just like how varied the reasons were for demanding one’s raid party member to be changed – such as disagreement over the leader’s decision, they didn’t like each other, or didn’t fight as well as one hoped, etc – such requests were made quite often so I never really paid much attention to the specifics until now.
But then…
‘Mister Seong…. Mister Seong…. His name is Jin-Woo, right?’
I saw the record of Hunter Seong Jin-Woo and soon realised that something had gone really wrong here.
‘Huh….??’
His rank was only ‘E’. As for the amount of magical energy he possessed, it was right at the bottom of the rank E, too.
‘Hey, his magic energy emission is no different from a regular person’s, isn’t it??’
As expected, his record was full of all the instances where he ended up getting injured.
“Oh, my god.”
I closed his file in stunned amazement, my heart wildly pounding away.
This… This was definitely wrong.
If I pretended that I didn’t see his story and move on here, he’d really die not too long from now.
It was at this point when I recalled the declaration I made back in the interview room.
Hunters risked their lives for the regular citizens, but who risked their lives for the sake of these Hunters?
My head nodded all by itself.
For the first time ever since I started working for the Hunter’s Association during this past year or so, I finally found what I needed to do.
***
The first thing I did was to seek out a senior officer.
Unfortunately, neither my immediate superior officer, or the officer above him, or even the person above that guy, wanted to get involved in a matter that could potentially prove to be too much trouble for what it’s worth.
Eventually, I had to seek out the Chief of the ‘Support’ Department.
“Sir, this is a matter concerning a person’s life. It’s not going to get solved by itself when we continue avoiding reality like this.”
Chief was forming an expression of a deeply concerned man after seeing the junior agent suddenly transform from a well-behaved kid who worked hard without complaints to the current me.
However, I didn’t stop voicing the things that needed to be said out loud.
“What if that Hunter dies during a raid, sir? What will we say to his surviving family members then?”
“Uh-huh, you shouldn’t say anything so unlucky….”
“That’s how much Hunter Seong Jin-Woo’s life is in danger, sir. Please, take a look. This is his hospital admittance record. It’s already a miracle that he managed to survive until now.”
“….”
For a while there, Chief wordlessly scanned the data I brought along before raising his head.
“So, what you’re saying is that we need to do something as the Association and stop Mister Seong Jin-Woo acting as a Hunter, is that it?”
“Yes sir, that’s correct.”
Because he’d definitely die in the end if he continued to act as a Hunter.
“Fella, I hope you’re aware of this Hunter’s backstory while telling me all this.”
I nodded my head.
His mother was currently admitted to the intensive care unit. I knew that she’d not survive for another day without the aid of the life-support machines.
And I also knew that he worked for the Association in order to receive financial support for the hospital fees.
“But, sir. Patients struck with the Eternal Sleep Disorder will never wake up. Surely, we can’t let a living person march to his grave for the sake of a dead person, don’t you agree?”
Even now, countless people were dying because of the illness, the Eternal Sleep Disorder.
It was indeed a regretful thing, but we just couldn’t continue to drive him into death traps over and over again for his mother’s life. We needed to save him, at the least.
Even though Chief did his best to dissuade me and change my mind, I didn’t back down from my decision.
In the end, Chief had to nod his head.
“Alright, fine.”
My expression brightened quickly, only for the Chief to add a stipulation first.
“Except that you will personally be responsible for changing Hunter Seong Jin-Woo’s mind. If he willingly decides to stop, then we shall do so.”
I had already made up my mind about that. Indeed, I’ve never even entertained the idea of forcibly kicking him away without his consent, to begin with.
Even though I was facing perhaps the most difficult hurdle…
“I understand.”
….I still nodded head at the Chief, my expression full of determination.
***
Seriously now, have I ever been so committed to something to this degree in my life before? I was preparing so much data that I ended up asking myself that question.
This wasn’t to make a grand announcement in front of higher-ups nor to pass a difficult examination. No, it was just to persuade one single Hunter named Seong Jin-Woo.
‘He’s twenty-three years old… he’s younger than me by six years.’
Thanks to my meticulous preparation, I felt reasonably confident of my chances today. Well, I had in possession plenty of evidence and records of him driving himself towards the jaws of death, more than enough to chide him for his reckless actions.
I was planning to go through each and every one of these records to argue my case why he should stop being a Hunter. I was even prepared to lecture him that one needed to value one’s life as much as one valued the life of his mother.
Clink.
The door of this cafe opened and a face that I only saw through the file photos stepped into the establishment. When I saw him in person, though, I froze up solid on the spot.
He scanned the cafe’s interior before spotting me. He cautiously settled down on the seat opposite mine.
“H-hello, there.”
He greeted me first. I couldn’t say a single thing I’ve been preparing in my head, though.
***
“It’s not as if we haven’t tried to do the same thing.”
Chief pushed forward a shot glass filled with soju and I swallowed it one go, my expression scrounging up afterwards.
Whether it was because of the bitter taste of the booze, or maybe my heart felt heavy, I didn’t know why my expression refused to loosen up.
“Even then…. Sir, still, this isn’t right, you know? That was just wrong, sir. He’s a young kid, only 23 years old, so his eyes shouldn’t look like that.”
I honestly thought that, at the very least, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo would show up to the meeting place with an expression filled with unfounded confidence, believing that he’d always survive no matter what, or with a look of a scared person searching for someone, anyone, to help stop him.
And I felt confident of persuading him regardless of where his mental state was in.
However, Seong Jin-Woo was different. He seemed to have completely acknowledged the predicament he was stuck in.
There was this thin smile on his face implying that, although he was shivering away in fear, he somehow barely managed to overcome it.
So, how could I push someone’s back towards a corner, to the precipice of a cliff, when that person had barely managed to overcome his fear?
I just couldn’t do that.
And also, I came to realise that I shouldn’t bad-mouth my superior officers just because they failed to do something that I, too, had failed to do.
Chief didn’t say anything while filling up the shot glass, but then he quietly asked me a question.
“Fella. Why did you join the Hunter’s Association?”
“I….”
That moment when I began thinking about helping Hunters out for the first time – my head dropped a little and recalled the events of that fateful day.
“When I was young, I saw a certain news broadcast, sir. It was about a Hunter who ended up being trapped inside a Gate while trying to save his comrades from getting stuck like him.”
I recalled seeing the grounds of a theme park, a place where people were supposed to smile and have a good time, now filled with Hunters soaked in blood from head to toe as they lay there helplessly while moaning in pain.
Back then, I became really curious.
– Those folks saved other people while bleeding heavily like that, but who is saving them now?
My parents couldn’t answer my question, and that was when I made up mind. If no one could help them, then I shall be the one to do so.
I shall do everything in my power to make sure that Hunters don’t get injured or die.
“But now, even I became the same as the rest, sir.”
I failed to become that source of support, strength, to Hunter Seong Jin-Woo who was facing a deadly crisis in his life.
There was nothing I could do for him.
I scolded my uselessness with such thoughts. Meanwhile, Chief studied me for a moment or two before putting down his shot glass.
“What if you still have something you can do?”
“Pardon me?”
I raised my head up.
Chief reached into his bag and pulled out a file containing information on a high-ranking Awakened. He then placed it before me.
“You see, there are people who Awakened as a high rank but due to not being interested in monetary gains, they chose not to become Hunters.”
“….??”
“How about helping the Hunters affiliated with the Association by persuading these folks to join us?”
My mind snapped awake from that and I looked down at the file.
“Rank B Healer Hunter Yi Ju-Hui….”
An upper-rank Healer!
If someone like her joined the Association, then surely, she’d be able to save people from dying or suffering from heavy injuries. Even a weak Hunter should be able to fight to his heart’s content without being worried about his safety.
For a moment there, Hunter Seong Jin-Woo’s face I saw earlier brushed past my mind. My eyes were sparkling brightly, causing the Chief to gently chuckle and speak up.
“So, how about it? Are you interested?”
I stopped staring at the file and nodded my head energetically.
“Yes, sir. I am!!”
Chapter 245
Side Story 2
2. Reunion (1)
Ash continued to fall from the sky like snowflakes.
Jin-Woo bade farewell to his Shadow Soldiers as their time to part drew near, and without a shred of hesitation, turned around to face the leader of the Rulers.
“I’m ready.”
The ‘Brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light’ summoned out a stunningly beautiful chalice, its expression slightly sorrowful. Jin-Woo’s eyes shone with interest when he saw that artefact.
‘So, that’s the Tool of God that can turn back time, the Chalice of Rebirth….’
Gulp.
Dry saliva slid down his throat all by itself right after he realised that the moment when everything was over and would begin anew had arrived. Jin-Woo’s face was filled with tension. Seeing him like this, the Fragment of Brilliant Light asked him one more time.
[Truly… will you not regret this decision?]
It had spent aeons fighting against Sovereigns and knew better than anyone how heavy the burden a war of this magnitude imposed on one’s soul was. Meaning, it understood full well the weight of that burden this Shadow Sovereign was about to bear all by himself.
The second Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo, nodded his head.
He won the first battle. The second battle should be that much easier. He had to ensure that would be the case.
He formed an expression half-filled with grim determination and confidence. The Brilliant Light also nodded its head.
This man’s drive to save all those lost in this war – how could this angel not know his determination when it too raised a flag of rebellion against its master, the Absolute Being, all for the sake of countless subordinates that died during the course of this everlasting war?
[I pray that your courage will save your world one more time.]
The Fragment of Brilliant Light made a heartfelt prayer and flipped the Chalice of Rebirth around. When it did, light filling up the Chalice poured down onto the ground, gently and gradually soaking it.
The most blinding veil of light slowly began enveloping the whole world.
Everyone – injured soldiers waiting in the battlefields, their families learning of their fate through TV, those praying for the safety of their loved ones, those with pale complexions after hearing ominous news broadcasts, those dropping their heads lower in despair….
In their houses, inside their cars, inside hospitals, inside schools, inside their workplaces….
Everyone saw the blinding light gently permeating through their windows.
Eventually, the whole planet became awash with pure light.
And then, the light silently blanketing the whole world, quietly dissipated and disappeared without a trace, just like when it first appeared.
***
Morning.
Past the closed eyelids, the rays of morning sun signalling the start of yet another day could be felt. Jin-Woo kept his eyes closed for the time being and while lying on his back, stroked the familiar material of the bed sheet.
Although he wasn’t fully awake yet, his perception that had far surpassed the boundaries of a human being could pick up on the unfolding situation of his immediate vicinity with ease.
‘Jin-Ah is coming out of the bathroom after washing up, the smell of the boiling stew, sounds coming from the cutting board, and then, the air in my room with this familiar smell….’
This was his home.
He had returned back home.
Jin-Woo’s heartbeat began quickening bit by bit from the realisation. He then heard his mom’s voice through the closed door.
“Jin-Ah? Can you go and wake your brother up?”
That’s right.
His little sister Jin-Ah really liked sleeping, as befitting a growing girl of her age, but oddly enough, she always woke up early in the morning. And almost always, Mom would ask her to go and wake her oppa up every day like this.
“Okay!”
After realising that the memories of the childhood he dreamed of reliving were now playing out so vividly in front of his eyes, a wide grin quickly floated up on Jin-Woo’s face.
Clunk.
“Oppaaaa…”
Before his sister could fully open the door, he slowly pushed himself up from the bed.
“Uhh? When did you wake up?”
She stared at his already-awake figure with wide-open eyes, and Jin-Woo formed a deep smile as his reply. In front of his eyes stood Jin-Ah, who hadn’t lost her friends to the monsters yet.
Jin-Woo stood up from the bed and walked past his sister to enter the living room.
“Son? You’re up?”
Mom stopped preparing breakfast and looked behind her after hearing his footsteps. From today onwards, he’d never get to see the sight of her trying her hardest to escape from the clutches of the Eternal Sleep that no one could wake up from.
But, the most welcoming scene that he really wanted to see again was…
Jin-Woo heard the sounds of a newspaper page turning and quickly shifted his gaze towards the dining table. His father, waiting for breakfast to arrive by quietly reading the newspaper, felt his gaze and raised his head.
The moment their gazes met, Jin-Woo felt this rush of breathless emotion.
“Father….”
He muttered the word ‘father’ out unbeknownst even to himself.
Seong Il-Hwan formed a puzzled expression after hearing his son use a rather grown-up word when the boy always used the term ‘Dad’ up until now.
Did his boy wake up after experiencing a scary dream?
The young Jin-Woo now looked to be struggling to suppress his tears, so the alarmed Seong Il-Hwan quickly got up from his chair and approached his son.
“Son? What’s the matter?”
The voice of his dad, now coming from right in front of Jin-Woo’s nose. He could still vividly remember that feeling of his father scattering away like dust from his grasp, so this moment came across like a dream come true.
However, this was not a dream. No, it’s THE reality that he needed to protect, no matter what. Tears of happiness briefly welled up in his eyes, but soon enough, they were replaced by the gritty determination, instead.
Both his mom and dad were studying him with worried expressions on their faces. Jin-Woo forcibly changed his own expression and formed a grin.
“….I must’ve had a nightmare.”
Indeed.
His nightmare was over.
The nightmare was over, and his young sister, his healthy mother, and his father, who hadn’t vanished, were all here.
He was given one last chance to make everything right. And he swore never to let this chance slip through his fingers. He’d rewrite the future with his own two hands.
His eyes gleamed brightly as his resolve firmed up even further.
***
It felt like only a couple of days ago when he told himself that, but…
….A week flew by already.
Jin-Woo failed to grasp the right timing to enter the gap between dimensions until now. He rested his chin on his hand and dazedly stared outside his classroom’s window. Beru began talking to him from his shadow.
[Oh, my king….]
‘Yeah, I know.’
Indeed, he knew.
He knew that the Sovereigns desiring after this land were getting ready to deploy a gigantic Gate just beyond the blue sky above his head.
However, these last few days had been like a holiday for him, someone who had ended a big fight not too long ago. For a little while longer…. Wouldn’t it be fine for him to fully enjoy these peaceful times for a little bit longer? Especially as a reward for his hard work so far.
‘…..’
As he spent his time worrying about this and that, the much-welcomed sound rang around the classroom.
Ding-dong…. Ding-dong….
The bells signalling the end of school noisily resounded out from the speakers.
Kids all looked to be slowly wasting away until then, but renewed vitality suddenly seeped into their expressions. Going with the flow, Jin-Woo formed a bright expression as well.
Even if the inside was a young man aged twenty-four, no, twenty-five, his outer appearance was that of a child only fourteen years old or so.
The after-class goodbyes with the homeroom teacher came to a quick end in a heightened, noisy, and boisterous atmosphere. Soon, though, schoolboys sporting buzz cut hairstyles quickly crowded around Jin-Woo.
“Hey, Jin-Woo!”
“You’re stopping by at the internet cafe today, right?”
Jin-Woo checked out the excited faces of the kids and grinned softly before nodding his head.
“Oww yeah!”
“Hey, hey! Jin-Woo’s playing for our team today!”
“What? What’re you on about?! He played for your team yesterday already.”
“But, we also took in Jong-Shik too, you know. And he’s the worst player here.”
“Ah, ah, fine. We’ll take Jong-Shik and Min-Pyo too, so Jin-Woo is on our team.”
“Let’s decide with rock-paper-scissors!”
“Deal!”
Around this time period in the classrooms of the nation’s middle schools saw the boom in the RTS video game genre. Jin-Woo’s stunning reflexes and perception were more than enough to show these kids a whole new world out there.
For the middle school boys, top skills in a video game meant that you were the most popular kid in school. Just about every kid out there competed hard to be in the same team as Jin-Woo.
The matches of rock-paper-scissors were supposed to be decided on the best out of three but soon morphed into best out of five.
Meanwhile, middle school girls, clearly not interested in the matters of video games, stared at the boys intensely competing in the warfare to steal Jin-Woo away with eyes reserved for looking at helpless idiots and left the classroom.
Also, right by the rear door of the classroom, there was this kid who kept stealing glances in the direction of the crowd while he belatedly packed his school bag.
He liked playing the video game like everyone else, but was no good in making friends. Such kids could only look on with envy at the rest of their classmates going around in groups like that.
Smirk.
Jin-Woo quietly smirked to himself.
He began noticing things that he wasn’t conscious of before as a kid one by one. Was it because he was an adult now? Or, because of his perception that had exceeded the norms of humanity?
Even in this cramped space of the classroom, so, so many emotions swirled around and collided against one another to form a small world of its own.
In the meantime…
“Wow-!”
Kids who finally found themselves in Jin-Woo’s team exclaimed out loudly without a shred of embarrassment.
Jin-Woo inwardly clicked his tongue.
‘This is why girls are looking at you like that….’
The victors of the rock-paper-scissors battlefield left behind the dejected kids and hurriedly crowded around Jin-Woo once more.
“Alright, let’s go, Jin-Woo!”
Before he did that, though, he pointed to the back of the classroom.
“Hey, I want to form a team with him.”
“Uh?”
In the direction the boys turned their heads to, there was only that lone kid packing up his bag in silence. He flinched from surprise after realising that everyone was looking at him, his eyes growing larger in panic.
“Uh….? Me?”
Jin-Woo replied back.
“Yup, you.”
At that moment, he found countless traces of agonising dilemma flit in and out of the boy’s expression. He just smirked again and asked.
“What’s the matter? You don’t wanna?”
“N-no…..”
The boy was now forming a shy but happy smile. Seeing that he was successful in his mission, Jin-Woo picked up his bag and spoke up.
“Okay, let’s go.”
The boy quickly picked up his bag and nodded his head.
“Y-yeah!”
Jin-Woo grinned brightly again.
For a little bit longer.
This feeling – just for a little bit longer.
‘If these moments that I’m living my life aren’t harming anyone, let me enjoy them at least for another day.
Let me stay for a bit longer….’
Jin-Woo’s steps taking him outside the classroom alongside his friends were cheery and light, but at the same time, also incomparably heavy as well.
The sun leaning against the mountain behind the school was already dyeing the sky amber. Jin-Woo came to a stop for a moment there and looked up at the heavens above, prompting his friends to call out to him.
“Hey, Jin-Woo? What are you doing?”
“Our spots in the internet cafe will get taken over at this rate!”
‘These guys, trying to hurry me and all….’
“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.”
Jin-Woo caught up to the rest of his friends walking a step ahead. They were noisily chatting about their famous victories soon to be written in history with voices full of anticipation.
Jin-Woo didn’t really need to enter the conversations to sense their excitement and hear their throbbing heartbeats.
And so….
Under the skies dyeing in the colours of vivid copper, Jin-Woo walked on these streets with friends he met again after what felt like an eternity.
He walked with a wide smile still etched on his face.
Chapter 246
Side Story 3
2. Reunion (2)
After entering the gap between dimensions, Jin-Woo developed a habit he never had before. And that would be jotting down things he saw and experienced on that day on a notebook.
He wasn’t doing it with some lofty purpose of leaving behind the records of his bitter life-or-death struggle against the Sovereigns.
The gap between dimension was a perfectly ’empty’ space, pretty similar to the land of eternal rest. Without battles against his enemies, this world of nothingness where only the eternal darkness existed would have been incredibly dreary and lonesome – he’d have difficult time trying to keep his sanity as a result.
However, his reason wasn’t as simple as there being nothing to do in here.
Jin-Woo now possessed the experience of living the same timeline twice and because of that, realised something crucial – the perspective on an event would shift depending on when you were looking at it.
Meaning, after some time had passed, he might see some things he previously failed to notice.
And that was why he became rather curious as to how he’d feel after going through these records again when his memories started to fade away and grew indistinct in the distant future.
Would he become embarrassed that he left behind written records? Or would he feel regret, thinking that he could’ve done it better? Or, maybe even miss this war, although he felt almost completely fed up with it right now?
That was his reason for writing a diary whenever he had a chance.
Jot, jot…
Within this endlessly deep darkness, only the sounds of a pen softly scratching on the surface of a paper quietly rang out. As he continued to jot down the records of the day’s events, a smirk suddenly formed on his lips.
‘….Even still, I’m pretty sure I’ll never miss the stuff that happened here in the future.’
Jin-Woo raised his head and caught the sight of the monster corpses too numerous to even count strewn about in the darkness.
Yet again, Jin-Woo tasted victory in the battle against the Sovereigns, and through this particular engagement, killed the ‘Sovereign of Transfiguration’ – the one that gave him the most headache so far.
It had already been 27 years since he entered the gap between dimensions. Finally, the closing curtains of this long, dangerous, and monotone warfare was in sight.
The only remaining enemies were the Dragon Emperor and its direct subordinates, the ‘Army of Destruction’. His heart briefly beat faster from knowing that he’d go home soon.
‘What a relief that the time flow in here and outside is different.’
Only around two years should have gone by on the outside.
Coming home after two years of absence, was it?
How much would Jin-Ah have changed? What about Dad? Mom? Were they holding up well? Should he have explained a bit better before coming here?
All sorts of worries briefly fleeted in and out of his head.
‘No, hang on.’
Jin-Woo shook his head as if to get rid of all distracting thoughts. Now wasn’t the time to focus his attention on how to decorate the last pages of his ‘diary’.
With excellent timing, Bellion walked closer and bowed his head.
[My liege, the surroundings have been tidied up. There are no living enemies left.]
Jin-Woo took a look around him.
The Shadow Soldiers had finished sweeping up the battlefield and massacred all the still-breathing enemies, and now, they stood in near-infinite columns as far as his eyes could see, silently waiting for his next command.
Guooooh….
He had already given up counting the number of his current soldiers quite a while ago. With a chuckle, Jin-Woo closed the diary.
“Alright.”
He stored both the notebook and the pen within the subspace and descended from the top of a hill made out of the monster corpses.
It was now the time – time to meet his greatest enemy. The one he so badly wanted to meet.
It was time to go and greet the ‘one’ who handed him his first defeat ever since becoming the Shadow Sovereign. The Rulers intervened and the end result was flipped on its head, but without a doubt, Jin-Woo did lose to the Dragon Emperor in that battle.
‘….I won’t lose again.’
A cold gleam dangerously flickered within Jin-Woo’s eyes.
His heart beat only softly when he thought about going home soon, yet now his eardrums were hurting from its vigorous, thunderous pounding.
Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump!!
What if…
Jin-Woo focused on the sounds of his beating heart, only to begin wondering if there would come a day in the distant future when he’d really start missing this war.
He then wordlessly turned in the direction where the aura of the Dragon Emperor could be felt. And, along with the soldiers that would participate in the final battle….
“Rise up.”
From next to the countless dead monsters strewn about everywhere, an equal number of shadows rose up after hearing the command of the Shadow Sovereign.
Right behind Jin-Woo, his three Marshals, Bellion, Beru, and Igrit, plus many commanders, stood in an orderly fashion.
And behind them, the enormous army, more than large enough to cover an entire continent, quietly waited on standby for his next command.
‘…….’
Although this world lacked the flow of air, it still felt like a wind signalling the end of the war was faintly blowing around.
Jin-Woo quietly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And when he opened his eyes, he uttered out the words that ushered in the end of this lengthy war.
“We march forward to attack the Dragon Emperor.”
***
The Dragon Emperor also felt it.
It felt that a truly gigantic horde with a scale that couldn’t even be estimated heading in its direction.
Since when did it start?
When was it that the Shadow Sovereign, initially starting off with the repeated tactic of hit-and-run to shave away the massive Army of the Chaos World, began to openly hit his enemies with the full might of his army, instead?
The position of the army chasing him down had suddenly reversed and now, they were being chased down by him.
Out of all the armies that had been scattered around on their own, only the Army of Destruction remained. So, it wasn’t all that difficult to guess where the attention of the Shadow Sovereign would land next.
The final, deciding battle.
Although the Dragon Emperor never imagined that the seemingly-everlasting war would end not with a grand battle against the Rulers but as a conflict between Sovereigns, it still believed that the upcoming battle would be a perfect finale nevertheless.
Indeed, didn’t its blood boil from just remembering the battle against the Shadow Sovereign that took place decades ago?
‘….’
The Dragon Emperor quietly stood still and glared in one particular spot. In the meantime, one of its subordinates cautiously approached it.
[Oh, my Emperor….]
The Dragon Emperor standing there with its arms crossed quickly replied.
[Yugumunt has died.]
After hearing the news of the Sovereign of Transfiguration dying, the subordinate formed a stunned expression before bowing its head again.
[That is why… perhaps it is advisable to move to somewhere more distant….]
[No.]
The Dragon Emperor bared its fangs as murderous aura rose up from its body in a red mist.
[I’m already sick and tired of running away. We shall fight the b*stard right here.]
That man had spent over twenty years to hunt and whittle down the armies of the Sovereigns. So, he’d not even give his enemies sufficient time to regroup and reform their army.
If it was impossible to escape from his siege, then the Dragon Emperor would fight back head-on and decide everything. Now that would be a choice befitting of the King of Berserk Dragons.
[Get ready for battle!]
One command from their Sovereign and the Army of Destruction got ready to fight in an instant.
Kuwaaaah-!!
The Ancient-grade Dragons, Dragonewts, and the Sky Dragons they were riding on, all raised their heads up high and roared out.
‘He’s coming!’
The Dragon Emperor’s head snapped in the direction where it just detected the movement of a gigantic power.
There was a clear reason why the Army of the Chaos World was defeated by the lone Shadow Sovereign.
‘….Outstanding mobility.’
No one could even come remotely close to the mobility of the Shadow Army that could be summoned freely by their Sovereign whenever he felt like it.
No matter how close one was, the distance would grow in an instant, and no matter how far away they were, they could close the distance in the blink of an eye, too.
And right this moment, the Dragon Emperor was looking at the reason why the Sovereigns’ armies had been so thoroughly defeated. The Shadow Sovereign slowly rose up from the darkness. And at the same time, millions upon millions of black soldiers lined up behind him.
The Shadow Sovereign!!
The fighting spirit emitted from the entirety of the Shadow Army standing behind him was so great that it even made the Dragon Emperor shudder from this slight sense of disgust for a moment there.
Two decades of war later, he had finally got himself the greatest army imaginable.
[Kuhahahaha!!]
The Dragon Emperor roared out with boisterous laughter after coming face-to-face with this incredible army.
[Amazing. Truly amazing, oh, King of Shadows.]
Fight the smaller number with overwhelming numbers – the situation back then when he first faced off against his enemies had now completely turned on its head.
[I never imagined that you alone would be capable of completely shaking up the entire army. Who would have thought that we’d arrive here?]
The Shadow Sovereign, currently outfitted in jet-black armour, wordlessly stared at the king of all Dragons.
The previous immaturity of the Shadow Sovereign had been replaced by this still weightiness and he emitted a much stronger aura than ever before.
Flinch, flinch….
The Dragon Emperor’s body shuddered from excitement, as a truly powerful enemy stood before it.
It so desperately wanted to rip him into pieces.
It so badly wanted to rip him into several pieces and devour him.
The nature of a berserk Dragon began wiggling madly from within the Dragon Emperor. However, it was still too early to confirm whether this encounter was a celebration or a punishment. It wanted to enjoy this moment as it trembled from the anticipation for a little bit longer.
[I want to ask you one thing.]
Also, there was this thing it was quite curious about as well, which was rather convenient.
[Why did the Rulers use the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’? Why did they revive all the dead Sovereigns and their soldiers?]
There was no doubt that on that day, the Dragon Emperor’s life came to an end at the hands of the Rulers. The pain from the spears that pierced into its body was still vividly etched in its memory.
The grand army of the Chaos World would have crumbled pretty quickly after their leadership was lost through the Dragon Emperor’s death. And with that, the lengthy war between the Sovereigns and Rulers would have come to its natural end. With the Rulers as the final victors.
It’d have been a perfect defeat for the Sovereigns, with not even a bit of room for any excuses whatsoever.
However, they went ahead and revived every Sovereign for some unknown reason, by reversing the time through the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’.
Ever since that day, it tried to decipher the intentions of the Rulers over and over again, but failed to even come close to guessing the reason. That was why it simply had to ask the Shadow Sovereign, who was with them at the time.
And then…
[Because I wanted it.]
….That completely unexpected answer caused the brows of the Dragon Emperor to shoot up.
[What did you say…?]
Jin-Woo slowly spoke again, enunciating every word clearly so his opponent could understand him.
[I wanted to kill you lot with my own hands again so I asked them for the favour of using the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’.]
Crazy son of a b*tch!
The Dragon Emperor somehow managed to suppress a torrent of swearing that rushed up to the tip of its tongue. To attack an army of over ten million-strong soldiers with just one hundred thousand combatants, he resorted to using a Tool of God to reverse time?!
Although it was a truly nonsensical declaration, but at least, it did resolve one of the questions burning up inside the Dragon Emperor’s head.
The reason for the Rulers using the Chalice of Rebirth, and the Shadow Sovereign suddenly going on a rampage – these two matters were actually related, as it turned out.
[Haha…. Ahahahaha!!]
As if it found the whole thing too absurd, the Dragon Emperor shook its head helplessly and roared out in a burst of loud laughter.
The Shadow Sovereign wanted to fight the massive army of the Chaos World again on his own volition, and just as he wished, managed to succeed in driving his enemies to a corner.
This feat demanded a level of respect that transcended all types of respect. The Dragon Emperor had no other way to express its opinion on the Shadow Sovereign who had managed to almost succeed in a challenge that seemed utterly impossible to accomplish in the face of it.
And he was now staring down on one final hurdle of that challenge.
Whether to devour, or be devoured.
For the first time ever, the Dragon Emperor became curious about the name of its opponent, the one that would either devour it, or end up getting devoured by it, instead.
[My name is Antares.]
The name bestowed unto it by the Absolute Being, but revealed to no one until now – the Dragon Emperor readily revealed its name to the Shadow Sovereign.
[That is my name. Remember it well.]
It did so, in order to learn the Shadow Sovereign’s name.
With a sombre, serious expression on its face, the King of Dragons asked its question.
[What is your name?]
The Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo, decided to answer what could very well be the last-ever question of the Dragon Emperor.
[It’s Seong Jin-Woo.]
And then, he spoke up in a tone of voice implying that there wouldn’t be any further Q&A session after this.
[Is there anything else you want to say?]
The power of death in a pitch-black aura ominously quivered and rose up above Jin-Woo’s shoulders.
The gap between dimensions was very similar to the world of eternal rest and it was rather easy to summon out the power of death in this place. The Shadow Soldiers that were resonating as one with their Sovereign’s power also raised up their fighting spirit higher.
Uwaaaaahh-!!!
The entirety of the Shadow Army seethed and writhed. The corners of the Dragon Emperor’s lips curled up as it witnessed this spectacle.
‘Anything else I’d like to say, is it?’
Would there be a need for any further discussion when there was this grand feast laid out before its eyes?
[….I don’t have any.]
The Dragon Emperor transformed into a burning Dragon and stood before Jin-Woo, who also transformed into a humongous black giant as well.
A mountain against another mountain.
The two gigantic existences glared at each other just before the final battle. But, that lull only lasted for a moment.
Kuwaaaaaah-!!!
The Dragon Emperor roared out loudly as if to shake the dimensions themselves, and the entirety of the Army of Destruction charged forward.
Jin-Woo was far quieter than his opponent as he simply pointed to his forward. Right away, near-ten million soldiers made their move.
At the same time, he too dashed forward towards the Dragon Emperor with everything he had.
The end of the lengthy war was here. He had been waiting with bated breaths this reunion with the Dragon Emperor just so he could witness the end.
A chilling ray of light began gathering within the Dragon Emperor’s maw.
It was now Jin-Woo’s chance to display the amount of growth he had gone through due to the experiences he earned before reversing time, as well as things he learned during this long war.
The flow of time slowed down to a crawl and only him and the Dragon Emperor remained within Jin-Woo’s vision.
Just as the light of destruction exploded out slowly from the maw of a burning Dragon, Jin-Woo’s fist enveloped in jet-black aura was thrust forward.
And so, light and darkness clashed once more inside the gap between dimensions.
Chapter 247
Side Story 4
3. Return
The entirety of the United States of America became rather noisy when a certain fortune-teller made an announcement.
“Not too long from now, the God of Death will descend on this land!”
Now normally, a prophecy like this, one better suited for a spot on a comic book cover, wouldn’t have garnered any attention from the public. However, the big issue here was that this prophecy had been made by none other than Madam ‘Norma Selner’.
Just who was this woman?
After abruptly opening her ‘Heavenly Eye’ around two years ago, she accurately predicted the death of North Korea’s leader, terrorists kidnapping an aeroplane full of passengers, the stock market crash brought about by the sudden collapse of the housing markets, etc., and she had been the centre of many controversies for a while now.
And such a person made an announcement that implied the end of the world was coming, so it’d only be obvious that everyone would start freaking out.
Madam Norma Selner was also known as the ‘prophet who is never wrong’. The mass media that saddled her with that label went into full-on panic mode and tripped over themselves to get an interview with her.
Too bad for them, though, she refused to speak to every reporter save for one person, who just so happened to be a personal friend of hers. It became known later that she had invited him privately and gave him a message.
– The God of Death will descend on our land accompanied by countless soldiers of death. Just as we can’t escape from the grip of death, we cannot run away from the God of Death, either.
And the very next day.
A gigantic black hole suddenly opened up in the skies of Seoul, one large enough to almost completely cover up the capital city. And Madam’s prophecy dominated the headlines of every newspaper in the world.
***
Meanwhile, inside said Gate….
Jin-Woo could only let out a gasp of surprise after spotting the humongous sea of people, as if the humans of the entire world had gathered in one spot, right below him.
“Huh-uh….”
How wonderfully moving would it have been if all those people were here to welcome him back? Unfortunately, Jin-Woo knew better than anyone that would not be the case and could only form a wry smile.
Soon, this Gate would open up. To all those watching on from the ground, this portal might be a source of sheer terror, but to him, it was an important doorway back home.
Home.
Jin-Woo’s heart was rapidly filling up with warm emotions from the knowledge that the pathway to his home that he missed so much would soon open up.
‘Now that I think about it, isn’t this my first time looking at the outside from the inside of a Gate?’
The outside world was in full display from inside the Gate. That was how Jin-Woo got to spectate on the sea of people below his feet. He placed his hand on the ‘wall’ of the Gate that separated the two spaces.
In the past, he needed to give it his all in the battle against the Dragon Emperor in order to break this wall down, but now…
‘Now, I….’
Jin-Woo lightly pressed down, causing minute cracks to form on the wall with sharp noises. If he pushed a bit harder, then this wall would surely break down without much resistance.
For a short moment there, Jin-Woo pondered whether he should do that and make his descent now or not, but eventually, he shook his head with a gentle smile on his face.
‘….No, I shouldn’t.’
People on the ground were scared already, so there was no need to alarm them even further. Besides, he’d been waiting for this moment for almost 30 years, so it was not a problem to wait for a few more days.
Jin-Woo carefully withdrew his hand, only to discover something else.
‘Hold up. Just who would think that this is the hand of a third-year middle school student??’
Indeed, he just realised that his hand was simply too big now. Having spent 27 years in the gap between dimensions, Jin-Woo had naturally become a middle-aged man.
His physical age had already surpassed his own father’s now. However, he’d been missing for only two years on the outside.
He needed to adjust his physical age to that of the outside one so that he could avoid the situation of people who knew him freaking out after seeing how much he had changed.
Although, he wasn’t that keen on looking young to other people…. Hang on, maybe he was?
…In any case.
“I guess there’s no helping it.”
Jin-Woo grinned and looked down at his body before activating his powers. With him being able to perfectly control the powers of the Shadow Sovereign, the biological clock of his physical body posed no problem at all.
Soon enough, Jin-Woo’s figure shrunk back down to that of a middle school student.
Shururuk….
The bearded face of a middle-aged man became that of a fresh-faced teenage boy with a bright complexion in no time at all.
The black smoke enveloped him for a brief moment and when it receded away, even the clothing had changed to the school uniform he wore on the day he went ‘missing’.
‘This should be enough, right?’
Jin-Woo formed a satisfied smile after confirming his new look, which was definitely that of a student no matter who took a gander at him.
Both his mind and body were now ready to go home and meet his family.
The only thing remaining was to wait.
‘Two more days left….’
Even the wait until the Gate opened up proved to be something to enjoy to Jin-Woo, who was nearing the end of one hell of a long journey.
***
“Uh… Uh?? H-hey, it’s opening up!!”
“The hole is opening up!!”
The crowd of people screamed and pointed at the Gate now beginning to open up.
Aaaah-!!
Kyahhack!
However, only the interior of the Gate connected to some other place was revealed to the waiting eyes outside. No feared events of scary things jumping out from there happened.
“….??”
“What’s this?”
“It’s over, just like that?”
The folks from all corners of the globe, here to spectate on the giant Gate, began murmuring in uncertainty as they watched the mysterious portal slowly dissipate.
In the meantime, Jin-Woo blended in with the completely-unawares crowd and upon arriving at a quiet, deserted street, undid his Stealth.
Since pretty much everyone was focusing on the disappearing Gate, none of them paid much attention to a middle school student that popped up out of seemingly nowhere.
Jin-Woo briefly observed the crowd of onlookers for a bit, before turning around to head towards his home.
It was precisely at that moment he discovered a young man holding an expensive-looking bouquet of flowers standing before him.
This man smiled brightly and addressed Jin-Woo.
“Welcome back home safe and sound, Mister Seong Jin-Woo. Or, should I address you as the Shadow Sovereign, instead?”
He had never met this guy before. However, he didn’t sense any malice from this unknown dude, either. So, he decided to lower his vigilance.
“It doesn’t matter what you address me as.”
Jin-Woo received the bouquet of flowers from the man and smirked softly.
“Having at least one person welcome me back isn’t so bad, I guess.”
He leaned in and took a sniff at the flowers before raising his head up again. The man spoke as if he was genuinely surprised.
“Honestly…. I’ve never imagined that you would successfully finish your mission and return home like this. By the way, I see that your steps carry the weight of ten million soldiers.”
The ‘Army’ was defeated, and without a single exception, the denizens of the Chaos World that made up its fighting force came under the influence of the Shadow Sovereign.
Jin-Woo now wielded the biggest fighting force when both the Sovereigns and Rulers were taken into account. He lowered the bouquet and asked the stranger.
“I’m sure you didn’t come here to hand me this bundle of flowers, so… What does the emissary of the Rulers want with me?”
Quite different from the tone of his voice that could’ve come across as overbearing, his expression was filled with a relaxed composure.
A lion would never fear a lamb, after all.
His overwhelming strength, honed even further through the lengthy war, was more than enough to make this unknown man shudder slightly in fear, even though the latter already knew who he was dealing with today.
Indeed, it was the role of the lamb to fear the opponent, not the other way around.
Now faced with the dignified air of the Sovereign that was not too dissimilar to a king of all predators, the unknown man chose to politely lower his head first.
“The Rulers have sent you a message, Shadow Sovereign. Our conversation might take a while, so may I inquire if it’s fine with you for us to go elsewhere?”
“Fine.”
Jin-Woo walked past the smiling man and took the lead.
“I just remembered a place I wanted to stop by, anyway.”
***
“….”
The unknown man wordlessly stared at the bowl of ice cream presented before him for a bit and raised his head.
“The place you wanted to stop by was an ice cream parlour?”
Sure, just because he became younger-looking, that didn’t mean his tastes had changed, as well.
It was just that…
“Well, staying in a distant ‘place’ for a long time does make you hanker for something sweet, you see.”
Jin-Woo replied with a grin and began scooping the delicious ice cream into his mouth.
This wonderful, refreshing coldness transmitted from his tongue. And then, followed by this thrilling sweetness.
Only now did it strike home that he had returned for real.
The unknown man tried to get to the main topic several times but Jin-Woo stopped him again and again. Only after he cleaned out the ice cream bowl did he open his mouth to speak.
“So, what did the Rulers say?”
The unknown man had been dazedly watching the Shadow Sovereign’s snack time until then. He hurriedly regained his wits and spoke up.
“Oh. First of all, they wish to express their genuine gratitude….”
“Why don’t we skip the perfunctory greetings and move on?”
The Rulers should not have any further business with this world, yet they still sent an envoy to speak to him like this. Jin-Woo deduced that the matter at hand must be something extraordinary, so he wanted to skip the opening remarks.
“Did a new problem pop up from somewhere?”
“No, not at all. It’s nothing like that. Rather, I’m here to speak to you because all the problems had been resolved, instead.”
Came to speak to him because all problems had been solved, he said.
The light in Jin-Woo’s eyes became even more serious. The unknown man greeted that sombre look and gulped down his dry saliva out of sheer nervousness. Still, one shouldn’t forget to perform one’s duty just because the other party happened to be quite a scary person.
The man opened his mouth with some difficulty.
“The Rulers, they…. They are worried about the potential side effects your powers might have on this world, Sovereign-nim. As you may well know, the powers you possess are not something this world can cope with.”
“….Okay, so?”
“Without the presence of Mana, this world is just too fragile. If it’s okay with you, we’d like to transfer you to a world that can take on your powers, Sovereign-nim.”
“Or, they can just go ahead and seal me up instead of transferring me around, saving us from potential headaches.”
“Of course, that is an option….”
Bang!
Jin-Woo lightly slapped the table, causing the unknown man to flinch and stop his attempt to reply, his bright complexion frozen solid mid-speech.
The heavy voice of the Shadow Sovereign slowly came out of Jin-Woo’s mouth.
“So, they wish to get rid of me since I’m no longer useful, is that it? Because they fear the power that I possess?”
Jin-Woo maintained a smile, but the glare in his eyes was incomparable colder than before. The unknown man nearly jumped up in fright and quickly waved his hands around.
“N-no, that’s not true! I swear, it’s not like that!”
He then presented Jin-Woo with a certain newspaper he had prepared earlier. Jin-Woo took the paper and read the article dominating the front page.
That’s when he spotted a rather familiar face there.
The article was about a prophecy made by one Madam Norma Selner, who used to work as the ‘Upgrader’ in the previous timeline.
– Not too long from now, the God of Death will descend on this land!
Jin-Woo’s brows quivered a little at the words ‘God of Death’.
“She wasn’t originally an exceptional soothsayer even back in the erased timeline. However, coming into contact with our world has changed her life a great deal.”
Jin-Woo’s gaze stopped at a certain part of the article, the part about when she had abruptly opened up the so-called ‘Heavenly Eye’. It was around two years ago.
Her ‘awakening’ matching up with the exact point in time he found himself after the timeline had been reset using the Tool of God couldn’t be chalked down to simple coincidence.
“So, what you’re saying is, my existence can potentially cause other changes like this one?”
“Yes, that’s correct, Sovereign-nim.”
Once Jin-Woo showed signs of calming down, the unknown man spat out a sigh of relief.
“The Rulers’ thoughts are to present you with a suitable location where you can stay, if that’s what you decide, with their intentions being to prevent the potential adverse change taking place in this world.”
“…”
Jin-Woo leaned against the chair.
He still couldn’t sense any malice from this unknown man. The Rulers connected to this man were making this offer out of good-will and other similar emotions.
However…
To think, he’d have to hear such news on the first day of his return.
Jin-Woo had been in a state of anticipation from the thoughts of going home, so he found it hard to hide how disappointed he was.
He definitely didn’t want to discuss stuff like this right now. And he didn’t bother to hide his thoughts on that matter.
“Can you come back some other time?”
“….I shall do so, oh, great Sovereign.”
The unknown man performed a smart, courteous bow towards the greatest hero who brought to an end the war between Sovereigns and Rulers. The only thing remaining after the man had left was a black-on-both-sides business card.
Most likely, that signified the unknown man requesting him to call the number on the card when Jin-Woo had made up his mind.
He studied the face and the back of this card before stuffing it in the inner pocket of his school uniform, a bitter smile slowly spreading on his face.
The bubbles of anticipation and excitement from coming home had burst for good now. Many thoughts swirled in his head, almost making him dizzy.
‘If all living creatures have a clear goal, a purpose in their lives….’
He was certain of one thing.
As the Shadow Sovereign, he had fulfilled his purpose after stopping the invasion of the Sovereigns, as well as making sure that no weird phenomena occurred on Earth.
Meaning, he had accomplished his goal.
So, the enormous power that served its purpose would only become a headache that was hard to dispose of, just like the nuclear waste at the end of its life cycle.
In that case – a question suddenly popped up in his head.
‘In the end, have I become an existence surplus to this world?’
When the chain of his thoughts reached there, he spotted a certain familiar face jogging past the ice cream shop. As if he was entranced, Jin-Woo got up, pushed open the front door, and stepped outside.
Without a doubt that moving forward, there would come many occasions in the future where he’d have to ponder whether remaining in this world was a good idea or not.
However….
‘As long as there is a reason for me to stay, even if it’s just one, then….’
A teenage girl kitted out in an athletics uniform stopped jogging and turned around to look behind her.
At the place where the scent she really liked was coming from, she discovered an unfamiliar teenage boy standing in front of the wide-open exit of an ice cream parlour.
‘What’s going on? Did ice cream smell this good before?’
The teenage girl tilted her head this way and that while glancing behind her, but in the end, she failed to solve her confusion and continued with her jogging.
Seeing her departing back, a brief smile formed on Jin-Woo’s face.
‘There are still people that I love in this world.
And also, those who love me, and those who used to love me exist in this place, too.
That is more than enough reason for me to stay here.’
Jin-Woo smiled and inwardly told himself to find other reasons to stay in this world.
Chapter 248
Side Story 5
4. Igrit’s memories
The first time I met ‘him’ was inside the irregular space created out of my liege’s power. My mission was to test the human about to enter this place.
Although my liege said that he wished to find out if this human was fit to become his vessel, I knew the truth, somehow.
I knew that this order might be the last one my liege would ever give me. My liege had lost all interest in warfare after forgiving the Rulers. From that point alone, I knew that he had harboured a deeper meaning in why he was so focused on this rather unremarkable human being.
I began guessing that I’d soon bid farewell to my liege. However, the command issued by my liege was still absolute. I had no thoughts of questioning his motives or changing his mind. All I could do was to comply with his command.
That was all I could do.
And so, after most of my powers were sealed away, I was made to stand all alone in the space where the testing of that human would take place.
‘Humans of this world call spaces such as this one dungeons, don’t they?’
At the far end of this imaginary dungeon shaped to resemble an audience chamber of a king’s castle, I saw a large throne. I combed through my fading memories of the time when I was still human and studied this place.
‘As expected…. You have certainly created quite a detailed stage with my liege’s power, haven’t you?’
I continued to touch and feel each large pillar lined up from the entrance to the plinth where the throne was and expressed my admiration towards the abilities of the architect, who had created all these.
As the fruit of this meticulous planning, that human’s body would continuously be modified to accept my liege’s power.
It was then.
I sensed the presence of someone approaching this place.
‘He’s here already….?’
I panicked at this unexpectedly fast arrival of the test subject and ended up sitting down on the throne.
However….
“…..”
After I settled down on the throne, I began wondering if me sitting here would be seen as a bit ‘insolent’.
The consciousness of my liege had already taken root within the human I was supposed to test, so I couldn’t help but wonder if me sitting on a throne like this, in front of my master, would be seen as me being disrespectful.
‘…..’
In the end, I judged that I should refrain from displaying any uncouth sight and hurriedly climbed off the throne to hide behind the nearest pillar.
Geuh-gugugugu-!!
With a truly gobsmacking timing, the massive entrance opened up, but thanks to the surroundings being too dark, that human failed to discover me panicking grandly like that.
What a relief that was.
It’d be no good to make this serious test my liege had planned out into a farce with my mistakes, now would it?
I inwardly spat out a sigh of relief and when the human was about ten steps away from me, I slowly walked out from behind the pillar to block his path.
‘….!’
Through the still air, I sensed his nervousness.
He was a young man.
Obviously, my gaze lingering on him couldn’t be described as favourable.
‘So, he’s the one my liege has chosen…’
Even if this mission wasn’t the final order bestowed unto me, I never planned to go easy during this fight. If I believed that he wasn’t qualified, I’d kill him with my own hands.
And so, as I stood there, igniting my fighting spirit…
….This young man suddenly clenched his fists tightly and put his dukes up.
‘…..??’
Wait, could he be thinking of using his bare fists to defeat me?
I briefly thought about how praiseworthy his bravery was, for a human being. To fight him in equal conditions, I took off my cape and removed my weapons one by one.
‘….!!’
Why was he getting so surprised by every single thing I did, anyway? Sure, his eyes filled with drive were rather likeable, but did he possess the same level of abilities to match those eyes, I wonder?
So, time to check it out…
….And the results came out pretty quickly.
“Keo-heok!”
Plop.
Even though I was forbidden from bringing out my full power, he was already kneeling before me. What a disappointment that was.
However, just as I felt disappointed, I also felt an equal amount of relief. Because, if the one supposed to inherit the power of my liege turned out to be not qualified, then that meant my liege would remain as he was for a little while longer.
For the first time ever, and also for the last time, too, I felt relieved by my liege’s failure.
And then, I decided to bestow a fitting end matching the level of bravery this man had shown me even though he was a mere human being. I used the ‘authority’ briefly granted to me by my liege and dragged along the sword discarded to a distant location.
Cutting his head off in one go and sending him off on his way with minimal pain was what I planned to do. I figured that such a gesture would be the best form of mercy I could show this human.
Perhaps he had read my mind, he even presented his neck before me.
‘You made the right decision. Wisdom matching your bravery…. Although your loss is lamentable, there is no way other than this to change my liege’s mind.’
For the sake of the man choosing an honourable death, I performed the beheading. But then – he seemed to have accepted his fate without a struggle, but the light in his eyes changed abruptly at that moment.
Clang!!
My sword was blocked off by his hand, and instead, his dagger stabbed deeply into my face next.
Stab!!
Kuwaaaaah-!!
I was stunned.
Not by the fact that he managed to block my blade, no, but from the fact that he never gave up on his life right up until the end, even under the current circumstances.
Also, although it was for a brief moment, I saw the light coldly gleaming in his eyes and belatedly realised that it was uncannily similar to the light within my liege’s eyes.
‘Ah, ah… That was why my liege has…’
I completely lost all of my desire to fight, and was unable to respond to any of the continuous streams of attacks landing on me.
I was slammed into the wall, and…
Ku-waahng!!
….And, I was stabbed repeatedly.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Eventually, the metal protector surrounding my neck couldn’t endure and broke off.
Crack!!
The strength he possessed, and then, the one I possessed – since this was a test to confirm whether he possessed enough of a qualification, I should possess higher stats than he did.
However, I still lost.
And quite obviously, too.
Was this the result of me underestimating him after seeing him as just another human being, or a miracle brought on about by his tenacious nature that didn’t know the meaning of giving up?
As my consciousness blurred, I caught the sight of him raising both his hands up high to celebrate.
“Uwahh-!!”
Well, now. Since I began chuckling while watching him be like that, it could only mean that I wasn’t right of mind, no?
My consciousness blurred even further as my gaze drifted up towards the ceiling.
It was too dark up there, and I couldn’t tell what these endlessly-stretching pillars were connected to. However, I was just a bit saddened by the thought that the distant darkness above seemed to signify my own growing distance away from my liege.
‘Am I supposed to feel happy that my liege’s choice turned out to be correct, or feel sad that I couldn’t manage to change his decision….?’
I couldn’t decide, and that’s how I lost my consciousness.
That was… until that man came closer and shouted out ‘Rise up’ in my direction.
***
He really cherished me.
Was it because I was his very first soldier – no, technically speaking, not his first but someone very close to being one?
There were many occasions where I thanked him for the kindness I felt from him. And there were many things that remained etched in my memories, such as…. Indeed, that one time.
On a certain day, he said this to me.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to talk once your grade goes up, right?”
How was I supposed to describe the state of my mind that nearly overloaded with emotions when I saw his bright smile? I wasn’t sure of what he thought of me, but at least to me, he was my master, my friend, and my ally.
He and I overcame many battles together.
At times, against denizens of the Chaos World, sometimes against monsters of the instant dungeons, and sometimes, even against other Hunters.
When he was happy, I too was happy, and when he was struggling, I too struggled. And when he was sad, I also felt sad, as well.
I knew that the deeper my loyalty to him became, the longing towards my former master would get fainter and fainter. Despite that, though, I gradually grew to accept my new liege.
Of course, it was not always smooth sailing, either. There were moments that I was actually sweating buckets.
“Use this.”
Such as, when I fought against a much stronger female Hunter while still being under several restrictions, with only a sword that could shoot out some lightning bolts.
“Was the black knight you brought out really your strongest summon?”
‘…..’
I was even subjected to such insults, too.
And then, I even became a ‘roommate’ with a Shadow Soldier who possessed an abnormal fighting strength rather unexpectedly, as well.
Kiiiieeehhhk-!!
‘……’
Now I found myself saddled with a ‘roommate’ who, although very loyal by nature, his nature also happened to be quite vicious. You have no idea how badly I missed my dignified comrades from the past.
That’s how I felt when I met Bellion again. And if I were being honest…. when he taught Beru a lesson, I felt just a tiny bit refreshed.
Just a bit.
Too bad, my joy at reuniting with my old comrade didn’t last long.
Because, not much time passed by before Bellion became influenced by Beru’s antics, too!
[Look, Igrit. This black flag… if we plant it on top of this castle, don’t you think our liege will become happy?]
[….Are you being serious?]
[I don’t possess any skills to craft things like ants do, but if it is to make my liege happy, I’m prepared to do anything.]
[N-no, that’s not what I meant….]
[Kiieehk-hehehet, is that the flag for our liege?]
[…..I give up.]
Of course, there was no need to even mention the reaction of our new master.
In any case, our boss’s powers became even greater after absorbing the original Shadow Army that had been patiently waiting for his summons from the gap between dimensions.
Contrary to my worries, he didn’t treat the ‘soldiers from the previous liege’ any differently from his own, and after uniting under one banner, we were now fully prepared to sacrifice our lives regardless of what battle it was, all for his sake.
Our training time came and went way too quickly, and…
….And, our determination was fully put to the test in the war against the Sovereigns.
We fought with everything we had for his sake and successfully ended the war against the Sovereigns in our decisive victory.
When he was fighting against the Dragon Emperor, we watched with bated breath, this incredible life-or-death battle, from inside the shadow. The brilliant face-off of the two Sovereigns was so beautiful that I was almost overcome with emotions.
[Kiiehhk? What’s this? Igrit, are you crying?]
[….Shut up.]
The entirety of the Shadow Army was up in arms inside our liege’s shadow, thinking that a seriously dangerous moment was upon their master, but then, the armies of the Rulers opened up the doorway in the sky and decided to crash the party.
Waaaahhh-!!
We all cried out in elation after seeing the reinforcements blotting out the sky.
[You lazy bums, couldn’t you have come a bit earlier?!]
[Wait, could they have deliberately waited until now to make us anxious as heck before making their entrance??]
[If I was standing outside, I’d have kicked their a*ses already!!]
We were pouring out our complaints and dissatisfactions, but inwardly, we were celebrating our master’s victory with great relish.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to sing our songs of celebration for long.
Because… our liege spoke.
“One more time…. Can you use the ‘Chalice of Rebirth’ one more time?”
He said that he wanted to reverse the time and completely erase any signs of Sovereigns and Rulers from this world he was living in.
Back when I was still a human being, I too had people that I wanted to protect, so I could easily sympathise with his emotions. Maybe, I’d have chosen the same path if I was allowed to make the same decision.
I completely respected his choice.
Myself and my comrades were fully prepared to clash against any opponents once more, whether they be the armies of the Sovereigns or not, as long as it was for our master’s sake.
Regrettably, though, not everyone was invited to this battle.
When we learned that some of us would disappear when the time was reversed, those soldiers that fell under that condition all plopped down and began to sorrowfully cry out.
All I could do was to console Iron who had been with us for a long time, Greed who got on the liege’s bad books from the get-go and ended up going through a lot of hardships, as well as other wailing soldiers.
And so, the moment of farewells came to an end like that. We returned to the past and were gifted with a brand-new battlefield.
Our master became more and more adept at warfare, and following after our master’s growth, we too, became stronger in turn, as well.
We faced several dangerous crises, both big and small. However, he grew even stronger every time he overcame them, to a point that it was getting harder to keep up with him.
That’s how almost 30 years flew by.
All of our enemies were defeated, bar the ‘Army of Destruction’.
The desperate clash of our liege against the Dragon Emperor.
While our master was fighting against the leader of the enemy forces, we faced off against the Ancient-grade Dragons.
One of them named Granodeh decided to engage me in a chat as I was mercilessly and crazily cutting down the army of Dragons.
[IGRIT!!! You were supposed to be one of the twin wings of the Shadow Army, yet you follow the orders of a Sovereign who is a measly human?! Are you not ashamed of yourself??]
Not even possessing enough energy to maintain its Dragonic form anymore, the b*stard had reverted back to a humanoid appearance, panting laboriously as it clutched the sword sticking out its chest. I ended up staring at the dying creature with dazed eyes for a long time after hearing its final words.
Indeed, I had forgotten it.
The moments spent with my new master had been so glorious that I had completely forgotten about the previous liege.
Since when did this happen?
Since when did the previous liege completely disappear from my mind?
Granodeh’s breathing came to a stop a long time ago, and fierce skirmishes continued to break out all around me, but I just couldn’t bring myself to leave this spot for a while.
I thought that my master was everything to me – but, in reality, he meant so little to me?
Such feelings of doubt caused the inside of my mind to blank out.
But then, this happened.
I heard a loud yell coming from somewhere that woke me up real fast.
“Igrit!!”
It was the voice of my liege.
I urgently raised my head to look. In the direction my gaze landed in next, I was greeted by a ray of blinding light.
‘Breath of Destruction!!’
The Dragon Emperor had spent most of its energy after battling my liege and reverted back to its humanoid figure as well. But, for some reason, it was firing a Breath in my direction.
No, wait.
That b*stard wasn’t aiming at me. It just so happened that I was standing in the path of the Breath, that was all.
Indeed, I was rather unlucky. The truth was, most of the accidents happened because of some bad luck, and the victim at the end would lose his life. And it was my turn to become that victim.
Khuwaaaahh-!!
I realised that it was too late to do anything after seeing the ray of blinding light about to swallow me up. I couldn’t even do anything and just stood there, frozen.
I resigned myself to my fate.
While facing the light enveloping my entire vision, I began thinking to myself. Maybe this was… a punishment for completely forgetting about my pledge of allegiance to the previous liege?
‘If so, then I shall gladly accept it.’
After all, I was a sinner, wasn’t I?
And so, as I quietly waited for my final moments approaching me at the speed of light…
…In that blink of a moment, someone stood before me and extended his hand out to block the ‘Breath of Destruction’.
Kuwaaaaahhhhh-!!!
His left hand was burning away from the horrifying attack of the Dragon Emperor, but he showed no signs of pulling away.
I watched him defending against the flames capable of burning away everything in the universe for my sake and even before I had realised it, I was calling out in desperation.
[My liege!!]
Once the Breath of Destruction came to its end, my liege turned to look at me with rebuking eyes.
‘….!!’
Just like back when he loudly yelled out my name, I woke up again with a start just now. My liege scanned my condition for a moment or two, before dashing towards the Dragon Emperor again.
I too, raised up my sword in order to cut down the Dragonewts trying to surround me.
Clang!!
Blades clashed with blades once more to create flying sparks, and the Dragonewts being cut down by my sword screamed out in anguish.
‘That’s right.’
I had never forgotten about my previous liege. My loyalty to that person simply had been extended to my current liege, that was all.
How could me staying loyal with all my being to the inheritor the previous liege had personally chosen, be seen as a bad thing, a sin?
‘I am a knight.’
I was a sword of my liege.
I was one of the twin wings that led the Shadow Army.
If a one in ten thousand chance occurred… if I were to face the moment where I had to part ways with the current liege, then I’d add the words of farewell I didn’t get to say to the previous liege as well.
Every day I fought under my liege had been honour and privilege to me.
[Uwaaaahhhh-!!!]
I roared out viciously and pounced on the Dragons dashing towards my direction.
***
The lengthy war ended safely, and we all returned to the liege’s homeworld.
Jot, jot….
My liege was focused on studying until late at night. Hidden inside his shadow and sharing his vision, I decided to offer my advice.
[My liege, the answer to the 14th question was not the first one, but the second option.]
“Ah, really? Thanks.”
Thanks to not being able to meet the minimum required number of school attendance days, my liege was unfairly expelled from this institution called ‘middle school’ and now found himself stepping into a brand-new battlefield, called ‘GED’.
Although he maintained near-perfect score in every mock test he participated in, there were still a few problems that did slip through the cracks of inattention every now and then.
But, whenever something like that happened, just who was qualified to lend the liege his aid?
Grand-Marshal Bellion, who only had his huge physique and nothing else? Or Marshal Beru, who could legitimately claim to be pretty smart but ultimately, still a lousy insect at heart?
In the end, it fell upon myself to counsel our liege, as I had graduated the knight training school with top marks when I was still a human being.
“Hey, by the way, here, it says that the answer to the 14th question is… the first one? Igrit, can you really stake your life on the second one?”
My liege opened up the answer sheet and pointed out my flaw with razor-sharp accuracy. So, as befitting a knight, I owned up to it.
[It seems that my training is still quite lacking, my liege. I shall devote myself even further to my liege’s cause.]
‘……..’
I am my liege’s knight.
My liege’s sword.
The battlefield of my liege is my battlefield; now that he had stepped into a new war, it seemed that my glorious days would continue on for a little while longer.
Chapter 249
Side Story 6
5. Your daily routine (1)
Every once in a while, Woo Jin-Cheol felt this inexplicable sense of loss in his heart. One heck of a weird thing this was, as if he had forgotten something really important to him.
However, no matter how hard he combed through his memories, he knew that he had definitely not forgotten anything. Only, the emptiness in his heart would grow larger and larger the more he thought about it, that was all.
“Hey, senior. What are you thinking about so deeply like that?”
The youngest detective in the unit asked him while handing over a cup of warm coffee taken from a vending machine. Woo Jin-Cheol shrugged his shoulders to say that it was nothing important and received the coffee.
“Thank you.”
Once this aromatic smell of coffee entered his nostrils, it felt as if the emptiness in his heart was filling up just a little bit.
His name was Woo Jin-Cheol, a fourth-year detective in the National Police Agency’s Violent Crimes Investigation Unit.
It wasn’t as if he lived a soft life where his mind would sway gently from the warm breezes of the incoming spring, but still, this sense of loss started chasing after him out of the blue, about three years ago.
When he mentioned this to his acquaintances, they all promptly reminded him with the cruel fact that he had no family to call his own, even though he was already at a ripe old age, and that must’ve been the reason for his restlessness.
Just like the bitter aftertaste of the coffee, Woo Jin-Cheol formed a bitter smile, too, and emptied out the paper cup in no time at all.
‘….That’s right.’
Didn’t someone say that a busy bee had no time to feel sad, or something like that? The best medicine to heal this trivial depression of his was, traditionally speaking, more work.
With excellent timing, Woo Jin-Cheol’s sharp gaze landed on the backs of some men sitting in a line as soon as he stepped into the offices of the Violent Crimes Unit.
He crushed the empty paper cup with his hand and pointed at these three men with his chin.
“What’s their story?”
“Ah… those b*stards? Well, uh….”
Woo Jin-Cheol heard the youngest detective’s somewhat hesitant voice and walked over quickly to stand before them.
Sure enough….
These men’s facial complexions were whiter than snow as if they had seen something they shouldn’t have. They couldn’t even meet his gaze and continued to shiver like a lone leaf in the wind.
Seeing their faces, Woo Jin-Cheol began muttering to himself.
“It’s the Shadow Monster again…?”
***
It wasn’t all that rare to see criminals turning themselves in and confessing to their wrongdoings out of the sheer weight of guilt, or out of fear of getting caught.
However, it was a completely different story to see a bunch of hardened career criminals, scared sh*tless, begging the cops to throw them into jail cells as quickly as possible.
And for the last several months, the so-called ‘not rare at all’ spectacle repeated itself over and over again.
“S-Shadows…. The… the, the shadow stood up from the ground… and spoke to me. If, if I don’t turn myself in during the next 24 hours, I’ll end up regretting that I’m even alive…. D-detective, I’m a bad guy, so please, please! Throw me inside the slammer! I beg you!!”
They all generally retold the same story.
When similar situations kept repeating itself, the higher-ups got fed up and had ordered their underlings to get to the bottom of this matter right away.
Woo Jin-Cheol’s voice rose up higher.
“So, what you’re saying is, you all saw the Shadow Monster?”
“T-that’s right!! Right!”
Woo Jin-Cheol began writing up his report with the testimonies of these criminals, and when he got to the part called ‘the reason for turning oneself in’, he spat out a long, long sigh.
‘How am I supposed to write a report about this, again?!’
His head began developing a migraine just from thinking about writing yet another report on the unbelievable story of the ‘Shadow Monster’ cursing people.
It was then.
Tap, tap.
Someone tapped him on the shoulder so he took a glance back, and that’s when he spotted a senior detective standing behind him.
“Hey, Jin-Cheol-ah? Let the junior here take over writing up the report. Can you come to the conference room for a sec?”
‘The conference room?’
What with the blindingly wonderful antics of the Shadow Monster reducing the number of violent crimes recently, there shouldn’t be a need to use the conference room anymore, but he was being summoned there without a prior heads-up, regardless? What was going on?
The senior detective left behind the puzzled gaze of the younger officer and headed straight to the conference room; Woo Jin-Cheol tilted his head a bit before standing up from his seat as well.
“Senior, I’ll take care of this.”
“Good luck.”
Woo Jin-Cheol encouraged the junior, now charged with finishing up the miscellaneous work, and headed towards the conference room along with other detectives.
***
“Pardon? You want to release the suspects back on the street?!”
“Uh-huh! Lower your voice, Detective Woo! Someone might hear us from the outside and get the wrong idea.”
Woo Jin-Cheol asked again in a disbelieving voice.
“What do you mean by releasing the suspects back on the street, sir??”
“It’s not ‘releasing’, but we just let one of them outside for 24 hours and observe what happens afterwards.”
After listening to the opinion of the senior detective, one of Woo Jin-Cheol’s colleagues formed a deep frown before voicing his own.
“Senior, I’m telling you, these b*stards are talking bullsh*t after getting themselves high on drugs. This crap about monsters and whatnot, it’s definitely them having a new type of bad trip from the sh*t they’ve been taking.”
“But, their drug test came back negative, didn’t it? I personally went to Forensics to confirm it myself, didn’t I?”
“Well, that…”
“Besides, just because of some nasty side effect of a drug, these b*stards without any connection between them saw the exact same thing and decided to turn themselves in?”
“…”
In the end, the colleague shut his mouth as if he had nothing else to say. The meeting of the detectives continued on.
“The brass told us to get to the bottom of this a while ago, but look at us, we haven’t even gotten anywhere. What choice do we have? We gotta do something this drastic so that, at least, we can find us some clues.”
The detectives, initially unmoved and hesitant, began sneaking glances at each other and nodded their heads.
Since every single one of them saw the exact same type of hallucination, then there had to be some kind of a clue from the rubbish they were all spewing at the same time.
“So, like…. What I’m saying here is, let’s create an opportunity for them to continue spewing rubbish.”
Woo Jin-Cheol, quietly listening on until then, opened his mouth.
“But, what if something really does happen?”
“….??”
“….?”
The gazes of every detective seriously contemplating their next actions all shifted in Woo Jin-Cheol’s direction at once.
Smirk, smirk….
The corners of their lips began curling up next.
“Detective Woo, you believed in ghosts and stuff?”
“I didn’t take you for someone like that, but I guess our Woo Jin-Cheol has an unexpectedly sensitive side, doesn’t he?”
“Hahaha…”
Of course, Woo Jin-Cheol wasn’t foolishly believing them, taking some nonsense story about monsters at face value. However – if everyone was seeing the same hallucination, then there should be a reasonable explanation for that, no?
For some reason, he felt this ominous foreboding that, through the testimonies of the suspects, he was now meeting some kind of a gaze that was staring straight at him from beyond the darkness.
He got this feeling that he shouldn’t poke his nose in this matter.
The squad captain must’ve interpreted Woo Jin-Cheol’s concerns in a different manner, since he said the following words while lightly tapping on the shoulder of his detective forming a worried expression.
“There shouldn’t be any accidents, Detective Woo. We’ll just take one suspect, place him inside a quiet storage facility somewhere and see if anything pops out. I mean, several burly and healthy officers will be watching him like hawks, so with what miracle will he escape from us?”
The squad captain looked at him with eyes that said ‘You can’t possibly be believing in this supernatural hocus pocus, can you?’ and Woo Jin-Cheol could only nod his head in defeat.
That elicited a burst of manly laughter from the captain.
“Right. Let’s say that 24-hour time limit elapses, and a monster does appear to do something to the b*stard. If that’s the case, isn’t that something we can also feel thankful for, in a way?”
These criminals were serious, vicious offenders who specifically targetted the homes of senior citizens to rob and even ended up beating a couple of pensioners to death just because the victims dared to resist.
The captain then spoke half-jokingly, but also half-seriously, that, rather than such b*stards staying in the slammer getting fed three times a day, it was only right that they got ripped to shreds by a monster.
“So, now we need volunteers….”
The captain shifted his gaze over to Woo Jin-Cheol and formed a rather sly grin.
“Detective Woo, you can sit this one out if you’re still hesitant about it.”
“…..”
Anyone who had lived in society for a while should already know this – those words definitely meant “Don’t sit this one out”.
Woo Jin-Cheol still felt unconvinced so he had to deliberate on this for a little bit, before eventually making his reply.
“No, sir. I shall come along as well.”
***
“D-Detective-nims!! N-no! You can’t! You seriously can’t! I’ll die!”
“Just be still. I told you, we have stuff to confirm.”
“I will die!!”
“Hey, man. Just who’s going to die here? Can’t you see us protecting you? Detective Kim? How long do we have until the 24-hour mark comes to an end?”
“Let me see…. I think roughly 30 minutes?”
“Is it? Uh-whew, it’s pretty cold tonight.”
The air of spring remained frigid and white steam rose up from the lips of the waiting detectives.
They were currently inside a quiet storage building, the time being in the middle of dawn. To observe the ‘change’ that might take place with their suspect, detectives were waiting around with nothing much to keep them company.
Only one among them – Woo Jin-Cheol – kept a close watch on his surroundings, his glare remaining sharp.
‘Something’s different….’
For some reason, the surrounding air felt different from the norm. It even vaguely felt like something he should never be near was approaching this location.
He prayed inwardly that this feeling would prove to be nothing but a simple fuss….
Woo Jin-Cheol sucked in the cold air repeatedly in order to calm his breathing that tried to get faster and faster.
And so – the hour warned by the existence called the ‘Shadow Monster’ slowly encroached upon them.
“Uhm…. It’s time now, everyone.”
“Really?”
One of the detectives took a look at his watch and stood up from his chair.
Tick, tock.
The 24-hour mark the suspect was strongly emphasizing earlier on had come and gone now.
“….”
“….”
Should one say that this turn of events was entirely not unexpected? Nothing had happened, and there was no sign of anything about to happen, either.
“What the heck?”
The detective with a short fuse began glaring at the suspect, prompting the criminal to stop shivering in fear and peek his head out before forming a dumbfounded expression himself.
“Uh….?”
Since there was no one watching anyway, the detectives surrounding the criminal began mercilessly shouting at him.
“Hey, you little sh*t! You as*holes probably got high as a d*mn group, didn’t you?!”
“Stop wasting our time and just be clean with it, will ya? Why don’t you make all of our lives easier, ah?”
The suspect shifted his head this way and that while blinking non-stop, but when nothing happened even after a long time passed by, he began sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
“No, hang on, the thing was…. We definitely saw it, you see? Actually, there were four of…..”
When his words arrived there…
Woo Jin-Cheol, who always stayed a couple of steps away from the group and watched the surroundings, quickly turned around towards his fellow detectives and urgently cried out.
“Get away!! Get away from there!!”
What was he trying to say now?
The faces of the detectives seemed to be asking that question as they looked at Woo Jin-Cheol, but then, they were all blown away on their backsides without warning.
“Uwahk!!”
“Keok!!”
Detectives rolled along the ground and, as if they had lost their consciousness just like that, remained dead-still in their sleep after coming to a stop.
Woo Jin-Cheol tried to run towards his colleagues, but after discovering something, his steps came to an abrupt halt. His irises were engraved with the images of ‘monsters’ slowly rising up from the shadow on the ground.
“Ah…..”
He couldn’t say anything.
His breathing suddenly felt stifled, choked up.
These…. No, hang on, these things were definitely not human.
They were ‘insects’ that just so happened to possess the arms and legs of a human being; above their necks sat the head of an ant, rather than that of a human.
Woo Jin-Cheol’s eyes quaked in fear.
‘There are three such monsters?!’
These suspects definitely didn’t see any hallucinations, nor were they suffering from adverse side effects of some strange narcotics, either. Their testimony had contained not one shred of falsehood, as it turned out.
“U-uwaaaaaahhhk!!”
Now completely surrounded by these ant monsters, the suspect began screaming at the top of his head.
It was the most desperate, frightened, and sorrowful scream a human could emit. It was unmistakably the death throes of a dying man.
The ant monsters ripped the suspect apart without hesitation and began devouring him.
“Uwaaahk!!”
His scream didn’t last for long.
Only some splotches of blood and bits of flesh remained on the spot where the feast of ants took place.
Woo Jin-Cheol dazedly stared at that spectacle. And then, two of the ant monsters also discovered the dazed detective after ending their meal.
Kiiehk.
And their gazes were now fixed on him.
Woo Jin-Cheol thought of turning around in a hurry to escape, but his feet didn’t want to move. His legs had frozen up solid and he couldn’t lift them up at all.
“P-please….”
It was then.
The biggest ant monster with wings, situated behind the two other ants, stopped his comrades (?) from going any further.
The winged ant grabbed their shoulders and turned them away, and for some reason, he formed the kind of expression that said, “Hey, nice to see you again”. Heck, he even formed a grin, too.
“….??”
An ant… was smiling?
No, hang on a minute.
‘Never mind the fact that an ant is smiling – how the heck can I even tell that it’s making a delighted expression?’
It was so, so strange.
Even though he now found himself in this deeply horrifying, frightening situation, Woo Jin-Cheol was suddenly overcome with this sense of longing.
As if, there once had been a time that he was quite familiar with situations such as this one.
‘But…. How?’
Woo Jin-Cheol fell into a state of confusion and panic, only to realise that the ants were disappearing into the shadow.
“H-hey!! Hold on!! Wait!”
Too bad, despite how desperately he called out, the ant monsters were gone without a trace, in the blink of an eye.
By the time he ran over and stood above the shadow itself, there was not a single trace of them left anywhere.
He felt this sense of loss assaulting him again and bent down to slowly rub the shadow that the ants had disappeared into.
Just how long passed by like that?
“M-mm….”
Woo Jin-Cheol belatedly regained his wits after listening to his colleagues toss and turn behind him.
“H-hey, are you alright?”
He checked out their current conditions and quickly called the emergency services. Even after he did that, though – even when ambulances arrived on the scene to take his colleagues away to the hospital, his gaze remained fixed to the shadow.
***
“Brilliant!! Absolutely f*cking brilliant!!!”
The squad captain was, understandably, up in arms.
But, that was to be expected.
The suspect had completely vanished without a trace, while the detectives supposed to watch over the man were struck unconscious by something and couldn’t remember a thing.
The captain looked at the two detectives covered in bandages here and there with their heads hanging low in embarrassment, and spat out a long sigh. He then shifted his gaze over to Woo Jin-Cheol.
“Detective Woo? What about you?”
“…”
“You called the ambulance, didn’t you? Can’t you remember anything?”
“My apologies, captain. When I came to, I saw my colleagues unconscious, so I just….”
“God d*mn it!!”
Captain pounded on his chest as if the frustration was about to kill him and sighed out again.
“Thankfully, this matter hasn’t been reported to the higher-ups yet, so all of you, keep your mouths shut, okay? And you two, you got hurt by mistake while trying to investigate the gangs in the Guro-gu district. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Yes, captain.”
Along with the energyless replies from the two detectives, this incident had come to its conclusion – for the time being.
The Violent Crimes Unit became rather quiet for a while afterwards.
“Senior? You know, you look a lot better nowadays. Did something good happen to you lately?”
The youngest detective in the squad asked while handing over a cup of steaming coffee taken from the vending machine to Woo Jin-Cheol.
“Well, I wonder.”
Woo Jin-Cheol shrugged his shoulders as if to say there was nothing to see here and received the cup.
The thing was, though – the youngest detective’s words of something good happening weren’t entirely off the mark.
After that day, after meeting those ant monsters, it felt as if that emptiness in his heart had been filled by a little, for some unfathomable reason.
‘There’s definitely something here.’
Without a doubt!
The instincts of a veteran detective, no, the instincts of a human being named Woo Jin-Cheol, were telling him that there was definitely something there.
The youngest detective stole a glance over Woo In-Cheol’s shoulder to see what was on the pages of a small memo pad the latter was concentrating so hard on.
“Uh? Uhh? Senior? You’re still investigating that missing suspect incident? But, didn’t the captain say…..”
“I know, I know. It’s something I’m looking into in my spare time.”
Woo Jin-Cheol made sure that his junior wouldn’t run his mouth off and finished off his share of coffee. However, unlike in the past, the junior didn’t shut his mouth up immediately.
“Wowsers…. There are quite a lot of suspects turning themselves in because of the Shadow Monster beside our precinct, isn’t it?”
“….”
He couldn’t simply treat this young detective badly when the number of hopeful officers applying to join the Violent Crimes Unit was in decline lately.
Although he was slightly annoyed by this unnecessary attention, Woo Jin-Cheol still did his best not to show it and replied calmly.
“That’s what I heard.”
“Mm….”
The junior stared hard at the contents of the memo pad, before asking another question.
“Huh? Wait, why did the number of suspects turning themselves in suddenly decrease by a lot between the end of February and the beginning of March?”
After hearing that astute observation made by the junior, the veteran’s eyes gleamed brightly.
“Hey, can you think of something?”
“Ah, well, it’s actually nothing much, but…. My aunt used to run a small book rental shop, you see.”
“….Okay, so?”
“I just remembered that she used to whine about business going downhill during the end of February and the beginning of March, because the new school semester started around then, senior. Haha, it really was nothing much, wasn’t it?”
Perhaps he felt a bit sheepish, the junior scratched the back of his head with a smile. But then, he gasped out in sheer surprise when he saw Woo Jin-Cheol carefully jot down what was said on the memo pad.
“S-Senior??”
“Well, you never know.”
School opening, students, semester.
Those four simple words with no adjectives or modifiers attached were quietly added into Woo Jin-Cheol’s memo pad.
***
Meanwhile, in XX High School.
A day before the entrance ceremony for the new students, the headmaster of the school secretly summoned the teacher serving as the director of the students’ affairs department to his office.
“We’ll be welcoming a problem child in our school tomorrow.”
“Pardon me, sir?”
The headmaster pushed forward a set of prepared documents. The director of the students’ affairs scanned the profile of a certain student written on the document and tilted his head.
“His father is a firefighter, his mom is a regular housewife. His academic records aren’t too shabby, and I failed to see anything major with this child, sir.”
“Uh-huh. This fella. Look at the bottom. Look at the details on his expulsion.”
“…..!!”
The student had run away from home for two years when he was only a first-year middle school student. Rather obviously, he was expelled from his previous school.
But then, he ‘completed’ the middle school diploma through GED and applied to enter their high school.
‘Not even as a high school freshman, but a child who just graduated from the elementary school ran away from home for two years?’
The director sensed the entrance of a powerful adversary and his eyes began quaking ever so imperceptibly. Meanwhile, the headmaster spoke in a hushed voice.
“What do you think? This student, do you think you can handle him?”
The director of the students’ affairs took a deep, deep breath and closed the file of this problem child.
Tap.
“Sir, you know very well already why I’m called the ‘Venomous Snake’. No matter what kind of a problem child he is, just leave him to me. I shall make sure to discipline him correctly so he won’t go around causing trouble.”
His eyes were now shining with a sense of duty and unbridled confidence. The headmaster nodded his head in approval.
“Very good, then. I shall trust your judgement in this case, Teacher Park.”
The expression on the headmaster softened after hearing the assurance straight from the mouth of the director. A thin smile crept up on the latter’s lips.
The fated encounter would take place the next day.
His heart was racing already from his determination to suppress the troublemaker in one fell swoop during the welcoming ceremony before the kid had a chance to start anything.
*
< Extra Spin-off > Beru’s Memories
Kiiiieeehhhk-!!
Kiiahk!
Kiiieeehk, kiiiieeehk, kiiehk, kkiiieehhk.
Khaahk, kiiieeehh, kiiek.
Kkiiieehk!
Kiehhehehehehehet~!
Kkieeehhk! Kiiaaahk!
Kaahrurururururuk-!
Kihak.
Chapter 250
Side Story 7
5. Your daily routine (2)
The high school freshmen were gathered in the school’s athletics field for the entrance ceremony.
Noisy, noisy….
The new students used the gap created by the still-lax surveillance of the teachers to form small groups comprising of the graduates from the same middle schools and noisily chatted away.
It was then.
“Silence!!”
Like a lone shark scything its way into a school of sardines, the ‘Venomous Snake’, Teacher Park Gi-Sool, made his sudden entrance and shot a scary glare, prompting the new students to hurriedly shut their mouths up at once.
“Who dares to make a noise? Who??”
Rather unfitting for his name, Teacher Park Gi-Sool was in charge of the physical training. But, fitting for a man who competed in amateur wrestling in his youth, he was blessed with cauliflower ears, a thick neck, broad shoulders, as well as muscular thighs.
Everywhere Teacher Park Gi-Sool’s glare landed, kids quickly dropped their heads lower. The war of aura – nerves – at the beginning of school life wasn’t exclusively fought between the students, oh no.
If one took into consideration the potential atmosphere for the rest of the academic year, or even the classroom itself, then the war of nerves between the teacher and students would be far more important than the one taking place between the headstrong students.
And as far as his track record for this kind of war was concerned, ‘Venomous Snake’ Teacher Park Gi-Sool had never tasted defeat before.
Starting from ten years ago, when he took his first step into the teaching profession, last year, and the year before that too, never had he failed his mission. He was planning to extend the streak to this year, as well.
The school of sardines in front of the shark, no, the new students in front of Teacher Park Gi-Sool couldn’t withstand his fierce glare and quickly lowered their gazes.
All the noisy kids shut their mouths for good wherever he walked past. Meanwhile, his colleagues watching on from the sidelines could only look on with eyes of pure respect.
“As expected of Park Teacher-nim….”
“Looks like we can rely on the director of students’ affairs for another trouble-free year, as well.”
Park Gi-Sool scanned the new students and their broken fighting spirit while forming a content smile on his face.
‘Right, that’s how it should be.’
However, he couldn’t be satisfied with this much of ‘victory’ yet. Not today. Didn’t he already have a real target in mind for today, the one the headmaster personally entrusted him with?
As long as he didn’t break that problem child’s fighting spirit, then it’d be rather difficult to claim that he had performed his duty of guiding these students properly today.
Park Gi-Sool continued to scan the faces of the new students and eventually located the problem kid in question.
‘There he is.’
The moment he located his target, that content smile was wiped off from his face immediately.
Even at a casual glance from far away, one could tell that the boy was no ordinary challenge, what with his height far taller than his peers, the hints of firm muscles all over his figure, as well as powerful vitality that could be gleaned from his eyes.
‘So, that kid is Seong Jin-Woo….’
The thing was, an expert would be able to recognise other experts.
No matter how wild they were as a student, they all would become a well-behaved sheep in front of him before long. And in case the boy decided to show off with inadvisable bravado, then Teacher Park simply had to reveal just a wee bit of what was in store for unruly children.
There hadn’t been a single problem kid that ‘Venomous Snake’ Park Gi-Sool failed to discipline properly. His confidence oozed out from every pore of his body like an actual aura.
‘Alright….’
….Time to get started.
Before that, though, Park Gi-Sool’s snake-like eyes quickly scanned the problem kid from top to bottom. And then, his eyes gleamed brightly.
‘That’s it!’
There was a black glove on one of the problem kid’s hands.
A teacher in the student affairs department couldn’t possibly ignore the problem kid violating the dress code, such as wearing hats or gloves, while standing in the middle of the athletics field, now could he?
Of course, it wasn’t as if he had forgotten about the small fact that the boy’s left hand had a serious scar and needed to wear a glove all the time.
Such a thing was already written within the student’s records, after all.
However, Park Gi-Sool needed a pretext, however small, to butt in and start his operation of breaking that problem kid’s fighting spirit.
Indeed, what could be a better pretext to scold a student than the violation of the school’s dress code?
Having discovered a suitable gap to dig in, Park Gi-Sool’s eyes gleamed sharply like a real venomous snake, and he quickly made his way over to the problem kid in question.
It seemed that the boy hadn’t sensed his approach yet, which was good. A surprise attack was very effective in breaking the enemy’s fighting spirit, after all.
Once he got close enough distance where a whispered name could be heard by the other party, Teacher Park Gi-Sool’s brows shot up as he got ready.
“Hey, you fool! Where do you think you are to wear a glo….”
The loud, energetic roar coming from Teacher Park Gi-Sool prompted Jin-Woo to turn his head around. And then, his eyes met Park Gi-Sool’s.
In that moment….
“Uh, uhhh….??”
….Teacher Park Gi-Sool saw ‘it’.
He saw the countless black monsters, standing seemingly endlessly behind this ‘problem kid’.
The entirety of the athletics field, filled with students, disappeared in darkness from Park Gi-Sool’s view, only to be replaced by the sight of a massive army of ten million soldiers standing in columns that stretched endlessly towards the distant horizon.
“Heok!!”
Teacher Park Gi-Sool was instantly shoved away by the absolutely overwhelming pressure and tumbled on his backside while loudly screaming out.
“Teacher-nim?!”
“Park Teacher-nim! Are you alright??”
Other teachers in the vicinity hurriedly rushed over there and supported Park Gi-Sool. His complexion was as white as a sheet of paper. He took another look at Jin-Woo, but by then, his view had reverted back to normal.
“B-but, how….??”
He roughly shook his head and blinked his eyes several times while the attention of the surrounding students began falling on him.
Noisy, noisy….
“Everyone, keep quiet!”
“Park Teacher-nim, maybe you’re feeling unwell somewhere?”
Now being on the receiving end of the worried gazes of his colleagues, as well as unsettled looks from the students, Park Gi-Sool’s face reddened up considerably from embarrassment.
“I, I’m fine.”
He shook off the support from his colleagues and quickly made his escape from the area.
Bellion hiding in his master’s shadow quietly whispered to Jin-Woo while watching the departing man’s back grow further away.
[My liege, that man must’ve…]
‘Yeah. It seems that he has seen you guys.’
Jin-Woo nodded his head.
There were some people who possessed far keener senses than other regular folks, although there weren’t that many. Such people would sometimes – not very often, mind you – discover that Jin-Woo was a bit different from everybody else.
Just like now.
‘….Could this be one of the adverse influences I have on this world, too?’
He couldn’t tell for sure. Jin-Woo recalled the pale, frightened face of the urgently-escaping teacher and tutted softly to himself.
It was then.
The speakers located in the athletics field issued ear-piercing static before commencing with the campus broadcast in earnest.
– The Headmaster-nim will now address the new students and welcome them to the school.
Jin-Woo stopped looking in the direction where Park Gi-Sool had disappeared to and shifted his gaze forward, just as the broadcast ordered everyone to do so.
It was a brilliantly sunny spring day.
Under the warm rays of the sun gently beating down on Earth, the headmaster’s smooth forehead blindingly reflected the excitement these new students were feeling right now.
***
For a reason only known to him, Jin-Woo deliberately applied to a high school that was some distance away from his house. And naturally, he recognised no one in the new class.
‘Well…. Isn’t that obvious?’
He scanned the faces of other kids without feeling bummed out about it, a smirk slowly creeping up on his face.
He was already well past the age where his heart would start beating nervously from the burden of sharing a classroom with kids he didn’t know.
If it was him in the past, he’d start greeting others even while under the vicious assault of awkwardness, but now? It just felt too annoying, so he didn’t even bother.
While other kids were busy scanning their classmates to see what was what, Jin-Woo simply took out a book he brought from home and opened it up.
Maybe spending such a long time in the gap between dimensions, where there was not a sound to be heard, had changed him somehow, because he gained a renewed appreciation for reading a book in quiet stillness.
Besides, even though they were ostensibly his classmates, there was the age difference of several decades to consider here, so what could he possibly say to these kids, anyway?
Indeed, it’d be more preferable to share a wordless conversation with a good book, instead.
But then, just as he got ready to spend some quiet time with himself, someone actually approached him to engage in conversation.
“Uh-uhm…. Could you be…?”
The voice sounded a bit powerless. Jin-Woo raised his head towards where that voice came from.
The owner of the voice flinched a bit when their gazes met, but when he confirmed Jin-Woo’s face, he seemed to have gained a boost to his courage.
“Y-you are Jin-Woo from XX Middle School… Seong Jin-Woo, right?”
Who could this kid be? Jin-Woo’s eyes narrowed slightly.
‘Huh. He does look kinda familiar….’
However, they must not have been all that close, because he couldn’t immediately recall this boy’s name or things they did together. He tried to dig deeper into his memories, but then….
“Uhm, I….”
As if this sort of situation was a common occurrence for him, the boy with a rather faint sense of existence re-introduced himself without minding it at all.
“I’m Oh Young-Gil…. We belonged to the same class during freshmen year in middle school.”
“…Ah-!”
Hearing the name helped Jin-Woo to remember.
He was none other than the boy that kept glancing at the group of kids getting ready to go to the internet cafe with envious eyes. The boy with the buzz cut hairstyle had grown up to become a high schooler now.
His facial expression now half made up of amazement and delight, Jin-Woo extended his hand for a shake.
“Hey, good to see you, Young-Gil-ah.”
“Uhm…..”
It seemed that shaking hands was a gesture still too foreign for a boy just entering high school life, because Oh Young-Gil was hesitating somewhat on what to do next, but eventually, he cautiously grasped the offered hand with a sheepish expression.
“Y-yeah, me too….”
As they shook hands, Jin-Woo felt this great sense of relief coming from the boy. Indeed, one would certainly feel relieved after finding a familiar face, a friend even, when entering a new school and a new class.
Jin-Woo formed a warm smile so the friend he met after a long time could feel relaxed now. It must’ve been pretty effective, because Young-Gil grew just a bit chattier than before.
“You live around here? My family moved house to the area nearby.”
But, just as the boy’s words reached there, Jin-Woo had no choice but to stop him for a bit, slightly peeved by the fact that he was unable to enjoy this unlikely reunion with a friend to its fullest.
“Hang on.”
Jin-Woo turned his head to the side, and that was when four kids who didn’t look to be a nice sort, even at a casual glance, surrounded him and Young-Gil.
“Hee~ya, hey man. You must be somebody important, right? You even have a glove?”
The hooligans pointed at Jin-Woo’s left hand and cackled among themselves. Meanwhile, Young-Gil’s complexion grew gloomier at the rather obvious approach of these fools.
‘He’s supposed to be a man, but he’s just too timid…’
Jin-Woo found it rather unfortunate that his friend’s expression was hardening like that and he shifted his gaze over to these four hooligans surrounding him.
The kind of faces and glare in eyes best described as worthless were the only things he saw.
These four might not have graduated from the same middle school, but they had been acting as local hoodlums for a bit and had become acquaintances as a result. After finding themselves in the same class, they took a look at the faces of their classmates and arrived at a consensus that there was only one hindrance to their plan of taking over this class.
And so, they were here to prod this potential hindrance a little and see what would happen. Other kids in the class were scared and couldn’t even meet these four’s glare, but in Jin-Woo’s view, who had been fighting non-stop for almost thirty years, these four were….
….Quite adorable, actually.
The quartet, oblivious of how they were being judged, continued their mission to provoke Jin-Woo who had grown silent now.
“Hey, hey. Why don’t you take off that glove? I wanna try it on, too.”
“By the way, why did you put a glove on only one hand? Maybe, you have a Dark Flame Dragon on your arm, too?”
“Euh, euh, euh-! My hand! My right hand’s Dark Flame is roaring out!”
Ahahaha!
They must’ve found something really funny, because all four of them burst out into boisterous laughter. Seeing them react like that, Jin-Woo formed a derisive smirk at them.
When he did, the glare in the four hooligans’ eyes changed.
“Oh, you think this is funny?”
“Seriously, did this b*stard plug his ears with crap or something? We told him to take the d*mn glove off, yet he ignores us?”
“What? What gives? You have a tattoo there or something?”
It was then.
From his shadow, Jin-Woo heard the extremely agitated voice of Beru crying out.
[Oh, my king!!! Grant me the permission so that I can tear the heads and limbs off of these fools and make sure they can never ever disparage you in this manner!!]
‘I ain’t giving you permission.’
[H-however!]
‘Stop it.’
Jin-Woo reprimanded Beru, and before the ant soldier’s rage could be fuelled even further, he took his glove off and showed the hooligans his hand. When he did that, a hideous burn scar starting from his palm to his wrist was revealed for all to see.
“….”
“….”
The quartet of troublemakers became speechless from the scar that implied a pretty serious tale even at a casual glance, before they began mouthing some vague excuses.
“T-this guy, we were just fooling around, so why are you getting serious?”
“H-hey, dude. Put your glove back on. I might have nightmares about it now.”
“Whoa…”
Perhaps realising that this should be enough, the quartet withdrew from there. Jin-Woo didn’t say anything and put his glove back on, before powerfully stomping on a certain blotch of shadow on the floor sneaking towards the departing quartet.
‘What were you planning to do after catching up to them?!’
[K-kkiieehk-!]
Beru was really incensed by those kids that dared to insult his liege, but Jin-Woo was ultimately successful in holding back the irate ant soldier. He raised his head again afterwards.
Wasn’t this good?
He had already killed all the enemies that bared their fangs at him back in the gap between dimensions. Enemies that threatened him inside dungeons also lost their lives, too.
However, this place was Seoul, the Republic of Korea, where there were no Gates and no monsters to worry about. This was a place filled with peaceful, everyday normal stuff.
Jin-Woo was enjoying to the fullest this peace he achieved with his own two hands, so such a little provocation was nothing more than minor stuff to simply chuckle over and forget about it.
And that was why…
‘I’m sure this much is fine.’
Jin-Woo’s gaze shifted over to the back of the quartet.
When he did – the hooligans making their way to the rear of the classroom got tripped by the ‘invisible something’ and fell on their faces as a group.
Tumble, crash!!
Beru, currently being pushed down by Jin-Woo’s foot, watched the boys tumble ungainly like that and shifted his dumbfounded gaze back to his liege.
[Uhm… Oh, my king….?]
‘I did that for a laugh. You know, so I can laugh.’
Since that was humorous, everything was fine now.
Jin-Woo smirked softly and settled down on his seat again after seeing the flustered expression of the female teacher, who just so happened to enter the classroom at that exact moment to discover that four of her students had fallen face-first on the floor.
With that, his high school life began for the second time.
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