episode_0080

The imposing figure of the giant monster, pushing the air aside, surrounded by a sinister mist of malevolence.

Between its gaping jaws, blood-stained saliva dripped, and its lively eyes glared in this direction.

All of this made him regret his recent choice.

He cursed himself.

Hwack! The wings of the sky behind him, hanging like a cape, extended vertically. Soon, they thickly wrapped around his arms like gloves.

Inside the wrapped wings of the sky, he injected a generous amount of strength inward and outward. The bottom of his magic was scratched slightly. The recovery power could not keep up with the consumption.

He clenched his fist.

His hands were too small and feeble to block the massive front paw.

The fierce bloodlust and intertwining strength swirled like a torch in front of a storm.

Swish! The sharp claw of the fierce beast struck his right arm. The strength was split. The wings of the sky tore apart, and the skin was ripped. Blood gushed out.

Kwaang! The massive front paw swung down as if to crush him. He blocked it with his opposite hand. Woosh! A chilling sound emanated from his arm. Muscles enveloping the bones tore apart one by one.

His body, unable to withstand the impact, was pushed back. It felt like his upper body might collapse at any moment. He firmly anchored his legs to the ground.

Yet, his legs were dragged back. The weakening legs slowly retreated.

– Kwaang!

A brutal shock spread through his entire body. His mind became hazy.

The location changed.

Suddenly, the door was shattered.

I, who had broken the door with my body and flew away, was rolling down a long corridor.

It hurt. The pain engulfed my mind. The unseen vision alternated between darkness and light.

A sense of danger flowed through my spine. I rolled as if throwing my body. Clang! The thick front paw was embedded in the spot where I had just been.

The claw pierced through the strength and grazed his side. Blood poured out onto the ground. Consciousness rapidly faded.

His stomach churned. The internal organs twisted, trying to protrude through the wounds. He wrapped the wings of the sky around the hole to block it.

Aeris did not consider my situation. The blood-soaked front paw and wide-open jaws continued to assault me.

Spatial perception was unsteady and unstable.

The pain receded. The sense of reality about life was fading.

In the unseen vision, death approached, guiding me to a peaceful path.

Peace was not the only option. Compromise gestured beside it.

Escape now. It might be possible. At least survival is possible. What are those people behind you saying? It doesn’t matter. Just abandon them. Am I not the most precious? Live now and save me later. There is no need to do this now. Later, you can save more people…

– Thud!

He cursed himself in agony. His teeth clenched, and blood gushed from his gums.

This pain was clearly transmitted. He spat out the blood that gushed out, shaking his hand.

Crack! The burst bundle of resentment swept Aeris from his grip. The control was clumsy. My left hand was also caught up in the chaos.

He rolled on the ground. His left hand, with the flesh torn off, barely touched the ground. The pain surged. He staggered to his feet.

He forcibly dragged his legs forward.

Death suddenly approached.

He was wrong.

It was him who was approaching death.

He was willingly offering his neck to death.

This was not coercion. It was not an unavoidable situation. It was not an inevitable fate.

Rushing into the chaotic dungeon was my choice. Killing monsters was my choice, and saving people was also my choice.

Blocking Aelus from the outside was my choice, and crawling in here together to fight and struggle was also by my own choice.

“I am…”

A vicious claw flew towards me. I twisted my body to dodge it. The blood-stained claw grazed my shoulder. Blood splattered. Strength drained from my left arm.

The onslaught continued. My body was getting battered. My armor gradually scattered. I swung my arms and legs with all my might. Squeezing out my power, I included myself in the range and cast a spell.

I was being pushed back. Despite my will, my body was bending.

I wanted to run away immediately. I didn’t want to die, nor did I want to feel this pain. I didn’t want to engage in a struggle with this monster.

“You’re such a pathetic human.”

In the dim vision, the past overlapped.

At most, it was a life of about twenty years. I hadn’t roamed the vast world freely.

But I had seen many people. Even if not face to face, the sea of knowledge contained various human figures.

There were many people living in the present. Many of them were happier than me.

A comfortable shelter that was neither cold nor hot. Parents who loved their children. Not worrying much about the future.

Jealousy tore at my heart. I couldn’t have the drive to strive for that… I didn’t possess a straightforward nature.

Looking up made my stomach ache. I didn’t have the confidence to rise to such a level. I didn’t think I could ever attain that kind of happiness.

So I deliberately looked down. I looked at what I could descend to at any time.

There were many people happier than me. So I sought out people unhappier than me.

There were many happy people, but there were even more unhappy people.

I was always beaten like a dog by my parents. There were too many parents like that in this world.

I resented my parents.

Anyway, I survived. There were those who became mere flesh and bones for their parents, and there were lives left as ice on the snowy ground.

I never had a proper meal at my parents’ house. I was always starving. I had many memories of eating scraps or drinking alcohol.

I didn’t receive love from my parents. There were too many parents in this world who didn’t love their children.

It was the same in the present. The 21st century was like that. Even the information recorded about them was like that.

The 20th century. How much worse was that era compared to the present? The 19th century, the 18th century, the 17th century…

I counted all the eras where humans existed and the cases of those unjustly buried without being recorded.

Could I dare count the numbers? How many unhappinesses were there. As many as the happiness… No, there would be an incomparable number of unhappinesses.

I took comfort in that.

There were too many people unhappier than me. It wasn’t a matter of being relatively unhappy. My situation was okay.

Complaining about being unhappy with such a trivial situation was a despicable thing to do. The truly unhappy ones were already buried in the cold ground before they could even complain.

I was an ordinary person.

So don’t act like a special snowflake.

I kept reminding myself. Even thinking about it, it was truly a despicable and vile thought.

I was a bastard who indulged in self-pleasure while watching the unhappy ones below in a topic where I had no confidence to rise up to see happiness.

I hated that about myself.

– Is there any difference between you and that bug?

Every time, my parents’ words filled my head. Just the thought of their voices made me nauseous, but I couldn’t help but recall them.

– They only consume and don’t produce anything. Even piglets leave meat behind when they die, but what about you? Huh?

My parents didn’t love me. They hoped for affection, but they didn’t give any.

If parents are supposed to care for the children they brought into this world, mine didn’t do that.

For some reason, the language I understood without learning was always filled with curses. Feelings of disgust, contempt, jealousy, envy, and resentment overflowed.

They were wrong. Under the assumption that the moral and social knowledge I acquired is correct, both of them are flawed as parents and as human beings.

– Someone like you shouldn’t have been born.

– Why was such a thing born? I didn’t want to give birth to something like this.

– Disgusting brat.

Filthy and repulsive. A despicable and selfish person. A person who shouldn’t have been born.

My parents were wrong. That’s what I thought. Therefore, everything my parents said had to be wrong.

When I pondered my vile thoughts, I couldn’t help but agree with them.

Feeling like trash that aligns with my parents’ words, who find solace in others’ misfortunes.

It’s been several years since my parents passed away, but I still felt like a pitiful person who couldn’t escape their shadows.

I had to deny it.

I couldn’t even say empty words like “I’m a good person.”

I haven’t done many small acts of kindness in my life.

I never stepped up to help. I didn’t go out of my way to assist others if it seemed uncertain or bothersome.

Because it was beyond my scope. Because it was out of sight. Because going out of my way to help others seemed too troublesome and annoying if it wasn’t certain.

Also, because I couldn’t do it. Because I couldn’t save someone dying on the other side of the world. Because I couldn’t solve all the hunger and suffering in the world. Because I lacked the ability to help others.

There were times when I couldn’t make excuses.

Things within my reach. Things I could help with.

Beyond that, at this moment, things only I could do.

It was the same back then. I don’t remember it clearly, but it was an ordinary day.

There was a car swerving dangerously, and someone who couldn’t avoid it. There was no one else around except me.

There was no one else who could help, and I believed I could help enough.

So, I threw myself. I pushed that person away and took the hit instead. My leg became disabled.

“I am…”

Even now.

I felt the presence of those who needed help due to spatial perception.

Among the superhumans running rampant, I am the strongest.

There is no one else who can stop Aelus but me.

“I have to deny it.”

I shouldn’t have become the son of a bitch my parents described. I shouldn’t have become the trash they talked about. I had to deny them.

But if I show my back and run away from the only place where I can help, where there is no one else to help, then…

I won’t be able to deny it for the rest of my life. I won’t be able to justify myself.

When someone asks if you feel unjustly treated by your parents, you will be unable to answer without hesitation.

“That’s not right.”

Thud! The one who couldn’t overcome the force cracked as if they would break at any moment.

I threw a punch.

Thud! A rough resonance was heard. Aelus’s figure was slightly pushed back. The monster it was attacking seemed to be making a final stand.

A shiver ran through my hand. I forced my fingers, twisted in a grotesque direction, back into place and clenched my fist.

My left arm, which couldn’t exert any force. I grabbed the protruding bone, forcibly twisted it back into place.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to get hurt or feel pain.

But I don’t want to run away from here and live a life of regret. I don’t want to live without making excuses.

That’s what a human is. Before the intention of helping others, I couldn’t step back even for myself.

“I’ll block it.”

To the best of my ability, because no one else can… I have to do it.

I’ll block this monster. I’ll do my best.

If I survive later, I should be able to confidently say that I did my best at that time.

The thoughts of a human.

One of the elements that make up and support me.

A belief that distinguishes me from others.

Uniqueness that sets me apart from other entities.

Facing death.

As I felt the sensation of disappearing, paradoxically, the entity called ‘me’ felt vivid.

– Thud!

At that moment, something resounded loudly in my body.

– Thud!

Rough waves shook my mind.

– Thud!

The waves continued.

My dying heart thudded.

Along with the heartbeat, my uniqueness was realized.

“Ah.”

Facing death, I realized.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

Affinity with magic and all-around beauty.

Not something bestowed. Not something given by someone else. Just realizing what ‘I’ inherently possessed.

Spatial perception… was bestowed. It was even two, not just one.

Above all, I don’t know why I have these.

Filled with questions, but for now, I put them aside because my life is important.

Time, which had been slowing down, was gradually returning to normal.

Clang- The sound of metal clashing echoed in the passage. It wasn’t the sound of teeth grinding, nor the sound of bones breaking.

Aelus, who was staring at me, shuddered and shook his head.

His gaze shifted upward.

The sky wasn’t visible.

It wouldn’t be visible, blocked by the ceiling.

A mocking smile escaped. A mocking smile directed at me.

“It’s not a game, it’s reality.”

Don’t treat the world like a game. Think properly because it’s reality.

To me, the ceiling was an obstacle to realizing my uniqueness.

Because it’s not a game. In my world, magic and abilities don’t exist, it’s common sense.

Even if I’m in this world, I’m originally a human from the real world.

It was a narrow-minded thought that made me guess and believe that I don’t have any unique abilities.

Crash!

A part of the ceiling with metal clashing collapsed. Debris from the ceiling fell on Aelus.

Also.

Spatial perception collapsed.

Spatial perception? That’s wrong. This was just a huge two things that I arbitrarily tied together at my level.

As what was called spatial perception collapsed, the ‘information’ disappeared. The map update stopped. The senses remained, but it was a clumsy map that was far from what it was just a moment ago.

It wasn’t a problem.

I know how to restore this map.

– Ring!

An alarm sounded through the foggy mind.

What’s going on. It’s strange.

The smartwatch connection has long been cut off.

* * *

– Ring!

[Player Yu Hee-ja realizes uniqueness]

[Unique ability “Magic Affinity” grows]

[Unique ability “All-around Beauty” grows]

[Reads Yu Hee-ja’s emotions]

[Player correction system: measurement]

…

▶ Current status

“Resolve”: Standing after overcoming death.

“Salvation”: Saves those in danger.

“Goodwill”: Will belonging to good.

“Sacrifice”: Sacrifices one’s own for others or a cause.

…

[Partially meets conditions]

[Temporary activation of the Savior Correction System]

[Aiding the rescuer]