Ch.11839. The End of the Struggle (3)

It was her, the Yuri I knew.

I had been with Yuri in the midst of heavy snowfall like this before. Back then, when we were controlling the gear together on Mount Seorak.

For a moment, I thought I might have awakened from a dream. But Yuri was dressed differently than she was then.

“Hold me…”

As she said this and nestled into my arms, Yuri was extremely cold, just like her usual self. I looked down at her. I confirmed that her outfit wasn’t her usual formal attire.

‘What is this exactly…’

It somewhat resembled the Oriental-style clothes Hong-ok had been wearing earlier, but the feeling was completely different.

The closest comparison would be the traditional attire of our neighboring country, Japan. She was wearing a white kimono that matched well with her hair color.

“Here, we can be just the two of us alone.”

As she said that, heavy snow began to swirl all around us. I tried to push Yuri away from my arms for a moment, but my body wouldn’t respond.

‘Could it be like that time?’

A few days before the conflict began, Yuri had suddenly entered my hotel room and bound my body with her mana. I couldn’t move, as if I were experiencing sleep paralysis.

I thought it would be the same this time, but when I met Yuri’s eyes as she lifted her head again, my thoughts changed.

Unlike the Yuri who had transformed into a snow woman with eyes so cold that emotions couldn’t be read, the eyes looking up at me now were full of emotion.

Affection, sadness, and wistfulness.

Though she smiled at me, her eyes were filled with sorrow. She was completely different from the Yuri who had changed so much that she couldn’t control herself.

“I love you. Just as you told me, I too…”

And then her lips met mine. Unlike her cold body, they were warm. And the heavy snowfall began to create a barrier around us.

‘A perpetual barrier…?’

I had already experienced her perpetual barrier twice. But this barrier was different from before.

Comfortable and cozy.

Even in this bitter cold, a sense of warmth spread from within the barrier, as if we had found a private space, a sanctuary for just the two of us.

Yuri, who had shyly pulled her lips away from mine, was smiling as if pleased with the kiss. But tears were flowing from her eyes.

Those tears turned to ice and fell to the ground like blue jewels.

“Here… we become one.”

I had heard those words from Yuri before, but these words weren’t frightening like those she had spoken in the hotel.

I wanted to hold her more. I wanted to respond to her feelings.

After all, Yuri was the first person I had fallen in love with. And until now, I had never loved anyone else the way I loved Ains’ Yuri.

‘Is that… really true?’

At that moment, I felt a terrible headache. And unconsciously, the faces of other women flashed through my mind.

I knew who those women were. Soso and Arinyi. And even Hong-ok, who had been wearing the shaman’s clothes earlier.

It was then that Yuri, nestled in my arms, asked me with a startled expression.

“A-are you okay? No… this can’t… this can’t happen… if you… Minsu, if you leave this world like this… I absolutely cannot allow that!”

With those words, my headache intensified.

‘Leave this world…? Is she saying I’m going to die…?’

That was something I already knew. I had been stabilizing my mana load with Soso’s acupressure as much as possible.

The mana heart that Hong-ok was barely holding together. There was no way to prevent the source mana from leaking out of that collapsed mana heart.

‘And I even used Wind Cutter on top of that…’

After acquiring Wind Cutter, I’ve been using wind spells beyond my original fire spells. And the new magical theory, Resonance Compression, which has allowed me to advance one, no, two levels.

That special spell allowed me to inflict a fatal wound on the Hell Blood Demon, but after launching Aerial Blade, I sensed it.

That the third-level seal was being released. And the status window reward I ended up using was further weakening that seal that Hong-ok had forcibly blocked.

‘How much time do I have left? If it’s now.’

I needed to stay alive at least until I reached the source of the Red Lake. All my remaining fire had to be completely consumed against them.

With only that will for revenge, I was enduring my burning body in the inferno, that terrible burning pain.

Without that will, I would have collapsed long ago.

While I was lost in thought, Yuri’s voice, which had been calling out to me while continuously shedding tears, began to fade.

Not only her body, but also the surrounding snowy mountain landscape. And once again, the scenery around me changed to an unfamiliar place.

There, just as Yuri had appeared in this snowy mountain, I repeatedly met other people.

Probably Soso and Arinyi. And Hong-ok again. The dream continued like that for a long time.

But even that dream, which seemed like it would never end, repeating back to the beginning, eventually reached its end and faded like a daydream.

I woke from the dream in an instant.

***

I opened my eyes.

It seems I had a very long dream.

As if that dream was something I had actually experienced. As if I had passed through a very long reminiscence. A dreamy afterglow filled my mind.

But soon, like a collapsing sand castle, the remnants of the dream began to fade.

I couldn’t remember any of the content except for their faces.

Yet, the vivid feeling that it was all real, not a dream, remained.

Feeling that dissonance, I shook my head as I tried to forcibly recall the contents of that dream.

‘Could I still be in that dream?’

I looked around.

It was dark, but soft lights were on. An elegant interior. It was a very familiar place.

‘This is… my hotel room.’

That’s right. It wasn’t a dream.

It was the hotel where I was staying for my work in Busan. At that moment, I sensed someone beside me.

“Mmm…”

At that sleepy voice, I looked right next to me. I was almost startled, but fortunately, I didn’t cry out.

‘Why is Soso in my room…’

I frantically checked under the covers to see what I was wearing.

Thankfully, I was properly dressed. I glanced at the sleeping Soso, and she was also fully clothed.

But since it wasn’t the outfit I wore to the conflict, someone must have changed my clothes. It was probably Soso.

‘Did Soso bring me here after I collapsed?’

I’ve lost count of how many times this has happened. Whether in front of Soso or Yuri, I’ve frequently passed out in such an unsightly manner.

‘At this rate, they might discover my physical condition.’

Until now, I’ve brushed it off as aftereffects of injuries, but I realized I needed to be more careful going forward.

Unlike Arinyi, who knows about my condition and still cooperates, I don’t know how Yuri and Soso would react if they found out I’m terminally ill.

‘I need to be able to control those two going forward.’

At least my physical condition is okay right now.

The third-level seal starting to break is unavoidable, but since I can endure the burning pain, it’s not the worst state.

I unconsciously looked at Soso. The fact that Soso is here probably means she performed acupressure on me after I fainted.

It means that through Cheonma Divine Technique, Soso calmed the rampaging fire-attribute mana in me.

Otherwise, Soso wouldn’t have disobeyed me and entered my hotel room on her own.

‘Soso promised me. That she would never come to my hotel room.’

It was dangerous if I didn’t draw that line.

Soso, who knew something about the state of my mana load, found various excuses to touch my body.

In other words, she performed acupressure on me. Over the past three months, as I worked with Soso in Busan, we grew very close, both physically and emotionally.

Even kissing as a reward after acupressure became natural.

So if Soso freely entered my hotel room, just as Arinyi freely entered my apartment in Seoul, honestly, I didn’t trust myself to resist.

That’s why I absolutely forbade entry to this room with various excuses. That’s why there was no trace of Soso when Yuri urgently visited this place.

Anyway, I can’t blame Soso for breaking that promise now. Without her acupressure, my physical condition would undoubtedly be a mess right now.

‘And if it weren’t for Soso, we wouldn’t have caught the Hell Blood Demon.’

Now that my mind was starting to work, I checked the time first. 2 AM on June 28th. Since the conflict began on the morning of the 26th,

I had been unconscious for a full day after defeating Lee Seon-woo. Still, I thought that was fortunate as I began to think about what comes next.

‘With this, Busan has completely fallen into the hands of the Union.’

The Union is, in fact, Red Breakers. Pyo Seong-hoon’s guild has already agreed to become a direct subsidiary of Flame.

So he will officially take over the branch manager position that Soso had been temporarily holding.

When Busan joins Flame, other guilds in the southeast region will naturally join Flame as well.

Flame, which was an S-rank guild, will now become a massive guild with a wide regional base.

‘With the giant distribution company Solaris behind Flame, rising to SS-rank shouldn’t be a problem.’

Then, Flame’s main raid team can participate as the main attack force in any mission led by the Association without any restrictions.

‘The Korean Hunter Association has the authority to participate in any mission worldwide.’

And we already have a good relationship with the White Cross Society, the other major force alongside the Hunter Association. So Flame has laid all the groundwork to officially approach the Red Lake.

I recalled the content of the original work again.

After Siwoo’s Justice established a regional base like Flame is doing now, the subsequent episodes form the latter part of the novel.

Afterward, Justice receives missions from the Association to focus on finding the identity and headquarters of the Red Lake.

Since the Red Lake was mentioned as the final villain in the original work, readers all considered that episode to be the final chapter.

However, readers never got to see the ending of the original work.

When Justice finally encountered a direct executive of the Red Lake for the first time, the original work was discontinued during that first battle.

‘The original Justice. Thinking back on the content, it was like hitting a rock with an egg.’

Justice’s main raid party. Its members were Siwoo, Chae Min-ah, and Soso. Not only that, but in the very final part, Yuri and an elite knight from the Snow Field Knights also joined.

But considering the description in the original work, that final party didn’t seem that powerful.

Perhaps wanting to depict a grand final chapter, Red Drake set the power of the Red Lake much higher than the skill level of the protagonist’s party.

‘That’s why readers thought Red Drake discontinued the original work because he couldn’t handle that unreasonable setting.’

I coldly compared the original Justice with the current Flame.

‘At least Soso is much stronger now than in the original.’

The Hell Blood Demon Lee Seon-woo was a villain who tormented Justice terribly in the original work. Even the original Soso barely caught Lee Seon-woo after a fierce battle.

But, even with the help of my magic, it was surprising to me that the current Soso caught Lee Seon-woo without sustaining any injuries.

‘Clearly, in the original, Siwoo and Chae Min-ah also participated in the battle.’

In contrast, only Soso and I faced the Hell Blood Demon in the recent battle.

Considering other descriptions from the novel, it was clear.

The Soso sleeping soundly beside me now is unimaginably strong. I couldn’t help but think about what caused this difference from the original.

‘In the end, is that because of me too?’

The biggest difference between the original and the current reality is, of course, me.

And in the original, which was a pure love story between Siwoo and Chae Min-ah, there was no romance for Yuri and Soso, who were rivals and colleagues.

Even Arinyi had less significance than her older sister, Seong Chae-rin. So the conclusion was clear.

‘I, who have already deeply involved myself with those three, must lead all three of them to the end.’

Not just as guild members or colleagues, but all three are entangled with me through intense emotions.

If the three have changed from the original because of me, and if those three are the core members of Flame replacing Justice,

I must take responsibility for the three until the moment I die. All the way to the ending of this changed story. Without derailing.

‘Yes… by any means necessary.’

Of course, I am not a novelist like Red Drake. I am a person who has come to exist in this damn reality within a novel.

Naturally, Yuri, Soso, and Arinyi are not characters in a novel to me.

So moving them as I wish would mean playing with the hearts of all three people.

Because all three want me. So being with all three until the end means I absolutely cannot choose just one.

‘It might be… a frightening thing.’

To be honest, I’m wavering in my feelings for all three of them. I’m not confident I can perfectly maintain this precarious tug-of-war, this emotional balance.

‘No. I still have to do it. Just like with Yuri… like how I controlled Yuri when she turned into a snow woman…’

At that moment, I felt a terrible headache.

Like that headache in the dream. And simultaneously, the women I saw in the dream. What happened with them circled through my head again like a panorama.

In the recurring dream, she who loved me. And I who loved them.

‘I’m not some teenager. To have such a silly dream…’

Thinking that my current confused feelings might have unconsciously manifested in such a dream, I tried hard to shake it off.

But to dismiss it so easily… even though most of the dream’s content had disappeared, the emotions remained vividly present to an excessive degree.

Feeling that I couldn’t continue like this, I deliberately tried to think about future matters when a voice suddenly came from beside me.

“Mmm… Minsu? Are you… are you awake?”

I met eyes with Soso, who was lying next to me. Dreamy black pupils were looking at me.

And when I thought those pupils were too close,

Soso pressed her lips against mine.