Chapter 20 A Ruined World, and Awakening

I obtained the [Hero] skill and became a body that doesn’t feel fatigue.

It had already been three days since I became a body that can’t even sleep at night.
Although I felt slightly uneasy about not sleeping, I tried to force myself to sleep, but no matter how long I lay down, sleep wouldn’t come, so I accepted it.

But while accepting this, one simple question arose in my mind.

I couldn’t feel fatigue and didn’t feel the desire to sleep, but all my other senses were alive.

Emotions like joy and sadness, tactile sensations on my skin, stress and sense of achievement after doing difficult tasks—all my senses were alive.

So if I were to be seriously injured during combat and forcibly close my eyes.

I wondered, ‘Could I fall asleep?’

What would happen if I reached a state where I could no longer sustain life activity and lost consciousness?

Of course, I knew that sleeping and losing consciousness were similar yet different actions, and this was something to think about deeply, but weren’t they the most similar actions?

It was worth considering.

So I thought about conducting an experiment.

I considered inflicting just enough non-fatal wounds on myself to forcibly lose consciousness.

I became curious about what state I would end up in.

But I eventually stopped.

Because the risk was too great.

If something went wrong, I would die on the spot.

No matter how curious or interesting, it wasn’t something worth risking my life to know.

So I just thought, ‘I’ll know someday’ and let it go.

But that situation came.

I lost consciousness and finally forced my eyes closed.

Whether I liked it or not, I could now see what would happen when I forcibly lost consciousness.

“Hmm… Where is this?”

When I regained consciousness, I found myself in another world.

I could definitively say this was absolutely not a dream.

This was definitely a different world.

I was slightly surprised.

I thought I might dream or recall memories when losing consciousness.

But actually arriving in another world felt like a novel experience.

But my exploratory desire took precedence first.

I began walking and looking around.

“There are no people…”

It was a dark and red world.

The city was burning under a completely black sky.

The surroundings were hot, and breathing was extremely difficult.

It felt like my lungs were being roasted.

Just breathing, I could potentially suffer permanent disability.

Though fortunately, my Hero’s body might prevent that.

“Huh?”

Anyway, I could move, so I walked.

And in the center of this burning world, I found a person sitting.

I could see her back from behind.

Though I couldn’t see her face, she had shining silver hair and looked quite mysterious.

“Excuse me… Who are you?”

“…”

The woman didn’t answer.

But I approached her step by step.

And when I finally stood before the silver-haired woman, she spoke.

“This won’t do…”

Her voice felt beautiful. And somehow powerful.

But it was incredibly sad.

“Hero… Please… Stop the Nephilim.”

Though she didn’t turn her head, she was definitely speaking to me.

I could only be bewildered, not understanding what she was talking about.

I needed more detailed explanation about what wasn’t working and what the Nephilim were.

But somehow, I could sense it was a cry of crisis and warning.

“Take this and return. This… will be of some help, however small.”

Finally, the woman extended her hand and offered me something.

It was something like a white crystal.

I reached out. And as my hand touched the crystal to grab it, the crystal disappeared.

No, it didn’t disappear.

The crystal was absorbed into my body.

“Hero. You must not lose again.”

And with the goddess’s words, I could return to the original world.

ㅡ ㅡ ㅡ

I regained consciousness.

The musty smell of medicine, the beeping of machines.

I immediately knew where I was.

This was a hospital, and I was lying in a bed.

I reached out and touched my abdomen.

And I saw myself much more cleanly healed than expected.

There seemed to be no major issues.

“O-oppa!?”

As I opened my eyes, a familiar voice began to sound beside me.

A voice I heard every morning and night, but now mixed with even more sorrow.

The voice’s owner was my younger sister, Lee Si-eun.

“Oppa… I missed you.”

Si-eun hugged me, crying.

I stroked her head.

She must have been very worried.

“Oppa… Are you okay now? You’re not dying, right?”

Hugging me, Si-eun kept asking.

It was certainly worth worrying about.

I had a wound where my abdomen was pierced, and such an injury was absolutely not something an ordinary person could survive.

But right now, I was very healthy.

To the extent that I was much healthier than before being pierced.

I didn’t know why, but I felt strength overflowing.

I’d need to test the extent of my current power, but I could feel power on a completely different dimension from before.

“Why would I die, Si-eun?”

So I was very healthy.

I told Si-eun I was healthy.

I even showed off my muscles to prove my wellness.

“Hmm…”

Fortunately, seeing me like this, Si-eun’s tears stopped.

She couldn’t smile yet, but at least she wasn’t crying anymore.

“Hyung-nim Si-woo… Are you okay? Do you have any pain anywhere?”

As I was holding Si-eun, Park Jin-soo approached me.

Park Jin-soo didn’t hug me, but looked at me with eyes full of tears.

“Yes, I’m fine. I have no aftereffects.”

I answered honestly.

When I touched my abdomen earlier, I had discovered myself completely healed.

Perhaps due to the Hero ability, my monster-like body was still intact.

“Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness, hyung-nim.”

Hearing my response, Park Jin-soo sat down and began to cry.

His leg strength seemed to have given out from relief.

And there was someone watching us from a slight distance.

“Um… Si… Si-woo… I’m really sorry.”

The red-haired girl, Park Jin-ha, who was responsible for putting me in this state.

Fortunately, the misunderstanding seemed resolved, and Park Jin-ha was no longer attacking me.

Park Jin-ha apologized to me with an extremely sorry expression.

“Hyung-nim Si-woo. I committed a sin worthy of death.”

And as I looked at Park Jin-ha with a somewhat cold expression, Park Jin-soo immediately knelt before me.

Bowing his head, he began to beg for forgiveness.

From Park Jin-soo’s perspective, what happened to me must have been terribly shameful.

“It’s my fault for raising her too indulgently since childhood. I’m truly sorry. I know it sounds shameless, but I’ll definitely educate her properly, so please forgive me just this once.”

Park Jin-soo began to beg me pitifully.

Hitting his head on the hard hospital floor, he continued apologizing for the unbelievable incident.

“Heuuk… I’m sorry. I’m sorry. How could I dare do this to my brother’s life’s benefactor…”

And Park Jin-ha watched her brother begging me, shedding tears.

Teardrops fell from her cute face between her red hair.

“Repaying the person who saved my brother with such an act. I truly committed a sin worthy of death.”

Then she also approached beside Park Jin-soo and prostrated herself before me.

At my feet were Park Jin-soo and Park Jin-ha, siblings begging for forgiveness.

“Normally I should die, but shamefully, I want to live. I don’t want to die. I need to live for my brother…”

Park Jin-ha begged for forgiveness and wept.

Her emotions seemed to be overwhelming.

“I won’t ask to live with just words. If you’ll just spare my life, I’ll do anything.”

Come to think of it, I was Park Jin-soo’s life’s benefactor in some way.

I was the victim who had nearly been killed by Park Jin-ha’s sudden knife attack.

Now that all misunderstandings were cleared, Park Jin-ha begging me might have been a natural progression.

“Hmm…”

I paused, thinking while looking at the siblings begging for forgiveness.

“You’ll really do anything?”

And then I asked Park Jin-ha.