Ch.185185 – The Coming of Heaven

# 185 – The Coming of Heaven

A steel lid with a lion emblem was engraved on the red temple.

And a man approached it.

“It’s been a while.”

[Finally, a proper clergyman has arrived.]

“I see you’re trapped.”

[Yes.]

“No, actually you’re not trapped—you’ve allowed yourself to be confined. You’re not a guardian but a selector. You just want to see humans suffer. You sent them, didn’t you?”

Pastor Cheon Boseong placed his hand on the steel mirror.

The mirror was as hot as a furnace and pulsating like a living heart.

Soon, the lion in the steel mirror smiled.

[Sometimes there are painful achievements. Just as you all experienced. So prepare for the wave. The parallel lines of death and life that can never meet will connect as one to form a circle—]

“—This world will be submerged in Aion’s inevitable sea for all eternity… is that it?”

[You remember.]

“Can’t it be stopped?”

[It cannot be stopped. What you stole originally belongs beyond. Dust to dust. Ashes to ashes. Like salmon returning home, everything must return to its natural order. I merely adjust the timing.]

Pastor Cheon Boseong, despite being a pastor, didn’t strongly believe in the existence of demons. But he knew that someone had imagined a being called “Marbas” and assigned it a role.

A demon said to transform humans into beasts, cause and cure diseases, or impart knowledge about machines. What was the reason for such a being to exist in this basement?

Among the countless demons that humans had named and imagined, why should this one exist underground? Cheon Boseong thought of a massive mechanical device he had never seen before.

“The Clock of Eternity.”

[Yes, I merely provide small bits of knowledge about the device. But what you humans created in this world is so imperfect that it only grants a single, truly desired wish.]

“……”

[Just one. How many humans will that push into the valley of screams?]

“You demon.”

[So behold. An inevitable heaven comes to this earth. A world of eternity that no one has ever seen—]

# # #

“Whew, I can’t believe I became a cat.”

The people who had turned into animals quickly put on the clothes they had shed. Everyone seemed disoriented by this unprecedented situation.

As we talked, we passed through a long tunnel and reached the entrance to the fourth floor.

I took a key from my pocket and inserted the thick metal rod into the lock to open the door. But suddenly, a hand shot out from behind the bars and stopped mine.

“Don’t.”

“Gah!”

I was genuinely startled because I hadn’t expected anyone to interfere. They say people are most vulnerable when eating or using the bathroom.

Apparently, the moment just before success is also when people let their guard down, because I was so surprised I almost wet myself.

“You mustn’t open this door.”

Someone’s hand gripped my wrist tightly. So tightly it hurt. But Yang Juhui reacted most strongly to this voice, with obvious joy.

“Sis! It is you! It’s me! Yang Juhui! Your little sister!”

“……”

Now I realized that the hand beyond these bars belonged to Yang Dohui. Yang Juhui seemed overjoyed to hear her sister’s voice, but Yang Dohui remained silent.

Crunch—

Meanwhile, the grip on my wrist kept tightening until I feared my bones might be crushed.

“Argh!”

It hurt. As expected of Yang Juhui’s sister. The strength and physical prowess ran in the family. Feeling like my wrist might break if this continued, I desperately shouted:

“We’ll rescue you, so please let go of my wrist!”

“Don’t open the door. You’ll regret it.”

Regret? What regret!

What was the point of all our suffering until now?

Why did we endure those hellish days?

It was all to reach this place.

The hopes of everyone rested on my shoulders.

The hope to move toward a better daily life. I was able to stand here to grant everyone’s wishes, and it was finally about to reach its conclusion.

“Please let go.”

“Long ago, the Cheon family obtained a book that had drifted in from somewhere. It contained instructions for creating something that shouldn’t exist in this world. Something that could grant the world’s wishes and desires.”

Crack, snap—

“Ow! My wrist! It fucking hurts! Yang Juhui, your sister is crazy!”

“Yeongwon! Everyone needs to help Yeongwon!”

“Sis, what are you doing?!”

The voices of Yu Dahui and Yang Juhui rang loudly in my ears.

Even amid the chaos, Yang Dohui’s voice spread clearly through the confusion.

“But human creations could never be perfect. People feared what they had made, so they hid it in the deep sea where no one could get their hands on it.”

Snap—!

“Aaaagh!”

What I had feared finally happened. My wrist broke. Breaking a hand with pure grip strength. This hadn’t happened even when facing demons or the Snake Shaman.

I never imagined Yang Juhui’s sister, Yang Dohui, would put me through such an ordeal.

But at this point, a broken hand wasn’t enough to stop me.

I just wanted to return to a peaceful daily life with everyone.

Shove—

Finally, my hand pushed the key into the entrance of the fourth floor. At that moment, I realized this barred door was more precise machinery than it appeared.

When I turned the key clockwise, there was a click sound, and I felt the lock release. Without hesitation, I opened the door, and an intense stream of water pierced through me as if to wash me away.

Rumble—

It was literally an overwhelming mass of water. Would someone facing the world’s largest waterfall with their bare body feel like I did now?

The only fortunate thing was that I had the trait “Diving Expert.”

When I held my breath and regained my senses, I saw everyone struggling in the water. They were all drowning.

Should I share my breath with them like last time?

No, there were too many people. I couldn’t share my breath with everyone. There was only one way. I had to move forward through that passage to the fourth floor and end all of this.

‘Everyone, hang on a little longer.’

I floundered through the swimming I wasn’t good at, heading toward the fourth floor. The experience of spending a long time underwater with Dahui at level 3.5 helped.

None of the memories and experiences in my life were useless now.

Like a train moving forward using all 17 years of my life as fuel, I crawled through the narrow passage and finally entered the fourth floor.

“Sea of Eternity”

Words appeared before my eyes. An endless sea. The bottom of that deep ocean.

There, I discovered an object like a massive tower. It was so enormous that it was impossible to ignore.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could tell that the object was a clock built to the size of a tower.

I don’t know who made it or for what purpose, but it looked broken and damaged from being submerged for a long time.

This was definitely what we had been looking for.

“You’ll have to make a choice.”

At that moment, I heard Yang Dohui’s voice in my head.

I spoke to her:

“Let’s get out together!”

“I’ve been submerged in this sea for too long. I am now like this sea. It’s impossible for me to leave. Though if you use that clock… perhaps it’s not impossible.”

Yes, nothing is impossible before a clock that grants wishes.

I desperately swam, reached out, and touched the clock.

At that moment, I felt knowledge beyond human comprehension swirling into my mind.

It was an intense energy that felt like my body might explode. If I didn’t scream wildly, I felt I might lose myself and my sanity.

But even in this chaotic situation, one thing was clear: if I wished upon this clock, that wish could come true.

Thump, thump—

From the pulsating wall of the clock, I could feel a wish that someone had already made. That someone’s wish was small and trivial. But to me, that triviality was equal to the world.

‘So that’s why.’

I understood why the demon had willingly sent me here.

I had to choose.

Just one. Like a Christmas gift I had agonized over since long ago.

I could only have one thing.

After much deliberation, I closed my eyes.

This was an incredibly selfish act.

# # #

“……”

When I opened my eyes, everything was soaking wet.

Sweat poured like rain. The time was 9 PM.

When I opened my phone, countless messages had flooded in.

“Emergency Disaster Message – Flood Evacuation Order for Gaeryong City Area”

“Emergency Disaster—”

“Flood….”

I got up, pulled back the curtains, and looked out the window. Despite the flood evacuation order, the world was still dry under the sunlight. There was no water to be seen anywhere.

But the world had changed.

I could tell.

The streets were filled with human figures I had never seen before—in a way, it was a flood of people.

Among them were faces I recognized.

“……”

“……”

Kwon Suho and Kim Geonho.

People who should have already died and moved on to the next world were on the streets. When I turned on the old TV, emergency broadcasts were coming from everywhere.

—Dead people are walking the streets… authorities are investigating….

—Please don’t go outside and stay indoors for now….

The dead had come to the world of the living.

But that wasn’t the only problem.

Beep-beep—

My phone rang noisily. Calls were coming in too.

I picked up the phone and held it to my ear, hearing someone’s loud, excited voice.

—Hey, Yeongwon! What’s going on? Ha Yeongwon! What happened? Didn’t you go to the fourth floor? Why did this happen? My deceased grandfather is knocking on our door right now!

Jeongseok seemed panicked.