#176
Acrid smoke spread thickly. The damp dust smell invaded deep into the lungs.
Bang! A sound that could tear the ears rang out. A massive, overwhelming sound shook Lee Han-sol’s consciousness. He thought he was fine. It was because he had felt completely unaffected until now. No, not unaffected—he had actually felt good. He had made Choi Tae-hyuk eat shit, and despite being C-rank, he wasn’t relegated to the back as if useless. It felt like some kind of revenge.
The system had wanted to kill Han-sol, and so it had buried him in the mud. It must have relished its omnipotence through Han-sol, who was breaking down day by day. It must have been pleased and satisfied. So Han-sol felt as if he had finally crawled back from a grave where he had been buried alive. A thrill of damaging the system’s omnipotence. He was now with Ki Baek-woo, and everything was flowing unprecedentedly as he wanted. It was too easy. He hadn’t thought that would become a problem.
Easiness was comfortable and nice. So nice that Han-sol overlooked the fact that he had no immunity to things being easy. He became intoxicated by that feeling without any doubt. That’s why he had no sense of tension even when reaching the place that had always been his end. Everything will pass easily like this. If something were to go wrong, it would have gone wrong already, right? He had been intoxicated with such a vague sense. He should have been suspicious. It’s strange, isn’t it? When has your life ever gone this smoothly? Face reality, you idiot.
But he hadn’t done that, and so he was now forced to face reality like this.
Look. You mistakenly thought everything was going fine, but in the end, nothing important has changed. You’re standing before the destruction that savored you deliciously, Jung Yi-dam is relishing your crisis as if it’s giving him an erection, and Baek-woo is gone.
Ah, are we back to square one after all?
Then will Baek-woo turn a blind eye to my death this time too? No, he’s not even here in the first place. So I really can’t change the decisive things? Unfortunate thoughts eroded his consciousness. Memories he had long embraced sprang out as if they had been waiting.
Baek-wooo… Baek-woo who wouldn’t look back despite such desperate calls. Baek-woo who coldly watched as Han-sol was swallowed into the belly of destruction, as if it only mattered that Yi-dam was safe. Baek-woo’s back. An inorganic expression that didn’t even feel cold. And himself, dying.
Han-sol couldn’t move. The pain of flesh being squished and bones crumbling vividly revived. The shocks he had been easily ignored hadn’t actually disappeared but had been hiding somewhere in his body. They were waiting to inflate and bind him with fear the moment Han-sol, who had mistakenly thought everything was okay, set foot here again.
So in the end, will the conclusion flow as predetermined? Yes, someone like me couldn’t possibly defeat something like the system. Someone as insignificant as me…
It was too hard to feel good. But becoming unhappy was too easy. This easy. Han-sol, who had become powerless as if it were a lie, closed his eyes and resigned himself.
I can’t do anything. I can’t even call for Baek-woo. I’m scared…
Soon the pain of his body being crushed would come. Han-sol waited for it.
KWAAAAANG!!!!
A thunderous sound rang out.
‘Am I dead…?’
Han-sol thought listlessly. I must be dead. The fact that I don’t feel any pain might be because I’m too used to it, or perhaps my brain is paralyzed from unexpected fear. Should I be grateful it doesn’t hurt…?
It was as he was self-deprecatingly thinking.
“Hyung!!!!!”
Han-sol’s eyes flew open. An unbelievable sight was right in front of him.
“…Baek-woo?”
Baek-woo was standing in front of him. With a terrified look beyond urgency.
“I, I was late. Hyung, I’m sorry. I was late.”
Baek-woo was embracing the stiff Han-sol, not knowing what to do. Buried in his arms, Han-sol listened to the rapid heartbeat going koong, koong, koong. He lifted his head to look at the spot where destruction had tried to engulf him.
“…Am I alive?”
Han-sol blankly asked, looking at the scattered pieces of destruction like chunks of meat.
“Baek-woo, did you save me…?”
Did you rescue me? This time, you didn’t abandon me?
As Han-sol whispered in a deflated voice, Baek-woo hugged him tightly once more.
“I told you I’d protect you…”
You were scared, hyung. I’m sorry, I’m sorry for being late. I’m sorry for scaring you alone. You must have been very startled. It’s okay now. Everything’s okay… From now on, I won’t leave your side even if I die. I made the wrong judgment. No matter how urgent it was, I shouldn’t have left your side. It was my mistake. I’m sorry, everything’s fine now…
Han-sol quietly felt the desperate touch stroking his cheeks, head, back, and waist. The memories from the past that had been binding him until just now. The back view of Baek-woo turning away from him. Those things he had anticipated seeing again were nowhere to be found. Han-sol was nestled in Baek-woo’s embrace, hot with tension, and the destruction had disappeared into fragments.
And Han-sol was alive.
He hadn’t died.
That destruction was Han-sol’s end. It was the last thing he knew. Han-sol had never, not once, lived a life beyond that destruction.
“Ah.”
He was alive for the first time until now. His sense of reality began to return. It was different from the vague, stupid excitement he had felt before. His heart beat again. Blood flowed back to his cold fingertips. The helplessness that had been trying to crush him faded. Han-sol truly felt it.
I thought I was mistaken. But it’s really changing. It wasn’t some playful euphoria of vaguely thinking things would work out. It’s real. Han-sol took a deep, stuttering breath. He couldn’t explain this feeling. It was a feeling that made him curl his toes in regret at being unable to express it…
“Baek-woo… I’m alive…”
It really seems like something is changing… I’m only now realizing it…
Baek-woo couldn’t help but embrace Han-sol more tightly as he mumbled shallowly and slowly. The two of them caught their breath like that for a while. They didn’t know why they were out of breath when they hadn’t even moved vigorously. Han-sol couldn’t define this overwhelming emotion he was feeling right now. He just… just wanted so desperately to live. He lifted his head as if rising to the surface of water and blinked rapidly.
We don’t have time for this. I want to live, Baek-woo. I really want to live. I want to live with you…
It was the moment he was about to say those words. Han-sol discovered Jung Yi-dam staring at him over Baek-woo’s shoulder.
“……”
The emotion instantly subsided. Yi-dam, who had been shyly blushing as if hoping for destruction to engulf Han-sol before it happened. And now he had changed again, as easily as flipping his palm, and was wearing a cold expression. His black eyes like a doll, devoid of vitality. His eyes like Go stones reached in a straight line toward Han-sol and Baek-woo, who were tightly holding each other.
After begging Han-sol for death, saying only he could kill him, he had suddenly reversed his attitude just moments ago, acting as if he wanted Han-sol to die, and now he was glaring at them with an expression like an empty trash can.
That mentally ill bastard, what the hell does he want? Why is he so fucking twisted till the end…
Yi-dam, who acted unpredictably from beginning to end, gave Han-sol the creeps. If Baek-woo hadn’t been beside him, he might have gone on a rampage, saying he couldn’t stand it and would kill him. That’s how unbearably ill-fated he was. Han-sol internally tore him apart, chewed him up, and ripped him to shreds. Yi-dam, who had been standing like a government official, twisted his head for a moment as if he had read Han-sol’s inner thoughts. He muttered in a flat tone, as if a machine was speaking.
“…I don’t know when this story became a fairy tale.”
There aren’t any princes or princesses here. The tragic cursed prince is saved by the beautiful princess, and the pitiful princess in mortal danger is saved by the brave prince… A flawless, wonderful story.
If there’s a problem, it’s that those two aren’t the protagonists. Yi-dam’s voice was faintly cracked and low.
I feel sorry for the protagonist, who must feel like their destiny has been completely stolen. No, it has been stolen. Poor… poor protagonist…
Poor me. Yi-dam raised his eyebrows as if he was sick to death of it all. His eyes, which looked like they might roll back, somehow felt frightening.
“Now I really don’t care about anything anymore. This won’t do. I want to die right now. Right now…”
With those final words, Yi-dam walked forward alone with heavy steps. He moved away with empty steps, as if all emotion had instantly evaporated. Soon he disappeared.
“…Baek-woo.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s go too.”
The two people, who had been sitting down and still clinging to each other, got up. They could tell without having to ask. Where Yi-dam was heading.
“…Baek-woo, you know where the gate core is, right?”
“Yeah.”
“This is really the end now.”
“Don’t worry. It will go as you want.”
“You’re guaranteeing that…”
“It’s true. I’ll make it happen somehow.”
Now hyung doesn’t need to be scared or struggle. You can leave all that to me…
With those words, Baek-woo’s fingers burrowed between Han-sol’s fingers. As they held hands, Han-sol glanced at Baek-woo, who was taking the lead. He looked somewhat solemn. They passed the scene where Baek-woo had participated in battle earlier. A complex space where traces of a fierce battle with dozens of destruction beings remained scattered everywhere. The two of them entered a dark alleyway, avoiding the gazes of hunters who were scattered and catching their breath.
“This way, hyung.”
Han-sol nodded. Their destination was the gate core. They had truly arrived at the brink of the end.
***
It felt like crossing a maze. Han-sol followed Baek-woo through damp and humid places. Destruction beings attacked them intermittently, but Baek-woo was relentless. The monsters were all shattered before they could get close to them. Nevertheless, Baek-woo kept glancing back to check Han-sol’s complexion, even though Han-sol was just clinging to his back like a cicada, merely observing the unfamiliar situation.
Han-sol couldn’t believe that this was the gate that had caused him so much pain, that had remained as a trauma still binding him. Han-sol, who should have already died and disappeared as usual, was still alive and moving, and his body, which should have been in tatters, had no injuries at all. He hadn’t even used his ability, which Choi Tae-hyuk had mocked as being only at the level of a lighter. If he hadn’t felt suffocated in front of the destruction earlier, he might still not have felt any sense of reality. To think that everything could become this easy just by having Baek-woo by his side.
Just by being with Baek-woo, everything was like this, as if it were the right answer…
Han-sol focused on walking quickly to avoid getting lost in thought. When not dealing with destruction, he tried to only look at his and Baek-woo’s hands that were now naturally holding each other. The warm sensation of their palms, damp and sticky with mixed sweat. He suddenly recalled his childhood. When monsters had devoured their home and guardians. The hands of a ten-year-old and a seven-year-old, desperately clutching as they constantly fled. The slippery, hot, and damp sensation of clinging to each other’s hands with all their might, as if hanging from a rope…
It’s the same.
Han-sol thought. Strange. Everything has changed, so why has this regressed to the distant past?
It was truly strange. The people, the situation, and even their lives. Everything surrounding him and Baek-woo had unfamiliarly flipped. Yet only Baek-woo and Han-sol were going back to the past. Back to the past, like the desperate feeling of the hands they were holding right now. Except back then, Han-sol had taken the lead, and now Baek-woo was leading.
‘If the life outside the system is the real life that was originally given to us… if all these changes now are the process of reclaiming the destiny that was stolen, then…’
Then we are… Han-sol stopped his thoughts and held Baek-woo’s hand tighter. He quietly followed the back in front of him to ensure other hunters wouldn’t notice their departure. Focus on the current task. He closed his eyes tightly and reopened them. They couldn’t get caught while lingering in unnecessary sentimentality. Because the others wouldn’t let Yi-dam die. And Yi-dam clearly knew this and had left first. The two quickened their pace slightly.
A massive space appeared as if a hole had been drilled.
“Why are you so late… What if I had died with my neck broken before you even arrived, making me wait like this, you slugs.”
Jung Yi-dam spoke in a childlike tone.
A large, dark space that seemed independent. Yi-dam was standing with his back to the gate core, which was irregularly flickering, embedded in the wall. Seeing it made everything clear. That this was their destination.
It was the exact place Yi-dam had spoken of, where everything could be ended.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
