Ch.192Chapter 192. IF – If the Cathedral Had Remained Intact (3)

Chapter 192. IF – If the Cathedral Had Remained Intact (3)

“Huff, huff.”

It was a blazing summer day. As usual, I was jogging slowly in a nearby park after lunch.

Rumble-!

Without warning, thunder and lightning struck, and the ground shook. The sky darkening was just a bonus.

That wasn’t all.

Whoong-whoong!

I heard the sound I’d heard when fighting the evil god in the capital. My memory was hazy, but I remembered this. It was the sound of an evil god opening a dimensional gate.

“Huh?”

I stopped and looked up at the sky, confused by the inexplicable phenomenon. Something appeared between the clouds that had suddenly turned black.

A massive rift formed by dimensional distortion.

Unlike what I’d seen in the capital, this one was red, but it was definitely an evil god’s dimensional gate.

“…!”

I froze, unable to even scream. Why a dimensional gate? Here?

I wanted to run away, but my feet seemed frozen too, refusing to move as I willed. I just stood there, staring at the dimensional gate.

Within seconds, a massive monster appeared. It was a zombie Eastern dragon with exposed bones and muscles.

“Ma, Malak?”

– KROOOOOO!

True Malak roared with glowing red eyes, as if wailing. The horrific sound sent chills down my spine.

“M-monster!”

“W-we need to call the police…!”

“Forget the police! We need the military!”

“There’s no time! Come here now!”

“L-let’s run…”

The park instantly became chaotic with fleeing people, and my phone kept beeping with emergency disaster alerts.

In this surreal, hopeless scene, I could see a man riding on True Malak’s back.

– Gods of Earth! Behold! And despair! My name is Charon! I am the end of gods, the conclusion of myths!

Though his appearance was different, I instinctively—no, intuitively—knew. The man shouting loud enough to make my ears ring was definitely Charon.

Kyaaaaa!

Wooooo-!

Countless zombies poured out of the dimensional gate behind the zombified dragon True Malak and Charon. They fell to the ground and indiscriminately slaughtered people.

Among the zombies was a large man swinging an axe as big as his body, and a little girl zombie who trudged along and bit a man’s neck.

– Sans… I see you…!

Charon, hovering in the sky, looked down at me. I trembled like a mouse before a cat, unable to even think about running or resisting.

“No. No. This can’t be…”

Charon was alive.

He had been building his strength somewhere unknown, and in the absence of me and the possessed, he had finally succeeded in destroying the other world.

– Did you think you could escape? Or did you hope it would remain just a memory? No. It can’t be that way. I am your nightmare, your death.

Zombie Malak writhed its massive body and descended toward the ground. Faced with overwhelming terror, I wet myself and collapsed.

– It doesn’t matter where you go. You can’t run, you can’t escape.

Thud!

True Malak landed in the park, and Charon, fully armored as a paladin, flew toward me with his cape fluttering.

His eyes glowed bright red with hatred, rage, and madness.

– Have you enjoyed playing god until now? You clown. Your deception and mockery end here.

Charon, now a transcendent being, burst into laughter.

“F-fucking insane.”

My rigid body loosened slightly. I quickly turned to run away, but it was useless.

Charon reached his hand toward me. An invisible force restrained me and lifted me up.

– Now, it’s time to pay the price.

Whoong-whoong!

A small dimensional gate opened before my eyes. What emerged from it was… a black-haired tall female warrior holding a black curved blade.

Though her eyes had turned red, I recognized her immediately.

“Ah…!”

This wasn’t how I wanted to meet again.

“Grrrr…!”

Zombified Lakye approached me with tears dripping down her face.

“Lakye…!”

The meteor sword she held flew toward my neck, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

***

“Nooooooo!!!”

I jumped up from bed, screaming.

What? Bed?

“Oh shit. It was just a nightmare.”

That’s right. I thought something was off.

The evil god died with his head cut off. I watched his corpse fall to the ground and turn to ash that scattered in the wind.

But Charon using dimensional gate abilities? That made no sense. From the start, it was absurd that he could kill and control True Malak, who was so powerful that he couldn’t manifest alone.

Being in a dream, I couldn’t make rational judgments.

“Phew…”

Maybe it was because I met with someone from that Management Bureau or whatever. I had a nightmare for the first time in almost ten years.

Given that I couldn’t move, I might have had sleep paralysis too.

“At least everyone’s safe. That’s good.”

I muttered as I pulled back the covers. The sheets were damp.

“Well, fuck.”

Not from sweat, but from the ammonia that had poured out from my lower body.

“Son! What’s wrong? Why are you shout—hey!”

My mom threw the door open and shrieked. Looks like I’m about to get smacked.

Charon, you bastard. Is this your petty revenge, even in this form?

You should be getting tortured by the King of Hell in the underworld. Tsk.

“Oh my! I can’t believe this! A man almost fifty years old!”

Smack!

“Ouch!”

In the end, I couldn’t avoid getting hit by my mom and letting out a pained sound. Physical pain is still something I can’t get used to.

After doing the laundry, I checked the time. 7:30 AM. I had plenty of time to shower and meet Hanna.

“Sigh.”

Right. Needless to say, Hanna and I had talked for hours on the phone and agreed to meet today.

Since we were both unemployed (can’t help that), we had nothing but time. As we talked, it naturally led to meeting in person.

Well, I wanted to meet her too. After all, she was my comrade who saved the demon apocalypse world.

Though I said I’d adjusted, I was actually living in a somewhat detached state, so I couldn’t help but look forward to this meeting.

What did the real Hanna look like?

She hadn’t posted her photos on Outstagram or her Cocoatalk profile, which made me even more curious.

Mysterious woman, indeed.

“If she’s ugly, I’m going to tease her mercilessly.”

With that idle thought, I entered the bathroom.

It takes about an hour by bus, so I had plenty of time.

***

I arrived at the café first and was slurping an iced tea with an extra shot of espresso when it happened.

Ding!

The door bell rang as the café door opened, and a woman with short red-dyed hair appeared.

A woman in her twenties with sharp eyes and a prim look.

I didn’t even need to ask. She was obviously Hanna.

“Over here, NotACatfish.”

I waved to her as she was looking around and about to check her smartphone.

“Ah…!”

She smiled brightly when she saw me, but immediately frowned at the name “NotACatfish.”

It was an expression I’d often seen in the other world too. Feels nostalgic, really.

“Don’t ever call me that again. I’ll pinch you for real.”

“Okay.”

Hanna made her cute threat and sat down.

“Did you dye your hair today?”

I’d wanted to ask this from the moment I first saw Hanna. I was planning to ask after chatting a bit more, but my mouth was itching.

“What? No. I’ve always had it dyed.”

It really looked like she’d just done it today though.

“…Just. I wanted a change. And, well, I thought you might feel awkward otherwise.”

When I just grinned silently, Hanna muttered as if making excuses.

“It suits you well. Looks exactly like what I saw in the community photos from the other world.”

There was some flattery mixed in, but it wasn’t a complete lie.

Hanna’s face as a 21st century Earth Korean woman retained traces of her appearance as a Western fantasy paladin.

It made me think that the artificial bodies of the paladins might have been upgraded versions based on their original forms.

Oh, that’s not to say that the current Hanna was unattractive. Objectively speaking, she was pretty.

How should I explain this?

She had a cat-like face that suggested an extremely strong personality and high pride, but also seemed like the type who might actually have a fragile mentality?

Usually, people with puppy-like faces who smile brightly like social butterflies tend to have stronger personalities.

“Aren’t you dressed too casually? What’s with the sweatpants?”

“I couldn’t help it. My parents buried all my clothes with me in the grave. I didn’t have time to buy new ones.”

“It’s been a week already. That’s just an excuse.”

“It’s not.”

“Pfft. We’ll need to go shopping for clothes too.”

We talked without noticing the time passing. It was more comfortable than talking with a female peer—it felt like chatting with a close same-sex friend.

Actually, our conversation flowed even better than with same-sex friends. Was it because she was active in online communities?

Anyway, as we talked, the conversation naturally shifted to “that topic.”

“The Management Bureau, did they visit you?”

Hanna was the first to bring it up.

“Yeah. Just yesterday.”

“Me too. Looks like they visited everyone on the same day.”

“Right.”

“Didn’t they give you a paper about job support?”

“They did. I still have it.”

I took out the booklet the Bureau lady had given me.

“Me too.”

Hanna also took out her booklet and continued.

“Have you thought about what you want to do and where?”