Ch.74Chapter 74 – Everyone’s Prayer (1)

* * *

Bi-wol and the other disciples who entered Shub-Niggurath’s mouth couldn’t help but notice something strange as they looked around.

“Where is this…?”

“Something feels off.”

“I never dreamed an Outer God’s mouth would look like this!”

Before their eyes was a scene they had never witnessed before—small houses with wooden plank roofs clustered together, forming what looked like a mountain.

“Seeing the moon up there, this place doesn’t seem too different from where we lived…”

In what appeared to be a shantytown or slum, Bi-wol looked up at the sky and saw a full moon shining brightly.

“Don’t let your guard down for a moment. This could all be part of Shub-Niggurath’s scheme.”

Azazel Blackheart was eyeing everything around her with suspicion. For someone who knew Outer Gods well, being here was like jumping straight into danger.

– Azazel, this may be confusing, but trust me. This is the world where a man named Bing-yeon once lived.

At that moment, Azazel heard a voice. It was Morgidian, who had been silently following behind her.

“…Lord Morgidian? You’ve been unresponsive since your future vision. I thought you had surrendered to Shub-Niggurath.”

– She is a being sometimes called the Mother of All Things. She might seem cruel and fanatical at first glance, but she’s more benevolent than you think, Azazel.

Morgidian slowly began explaining to Azazel what Shub-Niggurath had told him.

– Mother desires the end of this world. She said she doesn’t care whether it’s an open-ended conclusion or a closed one with no sequel.

She had no intention of killing anyone; she was merely curious about the new ending that the man called Bing-yeon would create for this world.

“The end of this world…? What does that even mean? I don’t understand.”

Azazel doubted her own ears after hearing Morgidian’s words. Wasn’t the end of the world desired by an Outer God equivalent to destruction?

She couldn’t understand why it was being described with such ambiguous terms as “open-ended conclusion” or “closed ending.”

– See for yourself with your own eyes. Follow the path I indicate, and you’ll discover the true identity of the man called Bing-yeon.

Morgidian pointed his tentacles like signposts and then fell silent. He believed he had no right to speak about the truth.

This was something only Han Do-hyeon and the women had to resolve—the grudge that had built up between the author and his characters.

“…Let’s move. This appears to be my brother’s past life.”

Azazel took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. All the suspicions and circumstances were gradually converging.

The cruel fact that the man called Bing-yeon had originally lived in another world and was connected to their creation.

“So past lives really do exist! I thought it was just nonsense from ignorant people!”

“This place seems too shabby and rundown to be where Master used to live.”

As they climbed the steep stairs of the shantytown, Verdandi Astraia and Bi-wol showed contrasting reactions. Due to the cold season, the stairs were covered with ice, and snow had piled up on the handrails, making their hands cold.

“But when it snows, there’s no place more beautiful than this!”

Verdandi was as excited as a puppy looking at the shantytown completely transformed into white, while Bi-wol wore a cat-like disgruntled expression.

“This could truly be considered Master’s real hometown!”

“Sister is right, but… I wonder why Shub-Niggurath led us here.”

Azazel couldn’t shake off an uneasy feeling as she headed toward the place Morgidian was pointing to. From her perspective, there was no way Shub-Niggurath would recreate such a place in her mouth without reason.

The winding paths like a maze, collapsed walls, and red graffiti filled with curses and eviction notices gave her an ominous feeling.

“This place is in terrible condition. It’s like watching a sand castle that could collapse at any moment.”

Azazel thought this place resembled the back alleys of a slum. She began to see various sick people, children, and elderly—the socially vulnerable.

“The people here don’t seem to notice us…”

Bi-wol muttered to herself as she watched a child pass through her. It felt too real to be a hallucination, and they hadn’t lost their sense of direction, so it couldn’t be a formation trap.

“Did we really come to the world where Master used to live?”

“Yes! That seems to be the case! My eyes tell me these people are real!”

Verdandi responded cheerfully to Bi-wol’s question, her eyes shining. Her ability allowed her to see whether the children’s chatter and the neighbors’ friendly conversations were false or true.

If these were all illusions, Verdandi’s ability would have detected it.

“We’re almost there. The path hasn’t changed direction from here.”

Azazel looked around while talking to the others following behind her. To think that entering an Outer God’s mouth would lead to another world—it was so absurd that she couldn’t help but sigh. It was unbelievable even for a dream.

“So Master’s past life is just ahead! I wonder how cute he looked!”

Unlike the others who were worried and suspicious, only Verdandi was excited about meeting Bing-yeon’s past life.

“He might be different from the person we know. Are you okay with that, sister? He might not remember us…”

“It’s fine! He’s still our Master after all!”

Verdandi simply believed that the warmth he had shown her couldn’t change overnight, but…

— Crash!

With the sound of something breaking, her expectations were completely shattered. As they headed to where Azazel was guiding them, they saw a middle-aged man choking a boy.

* * *

“You damn brat…! Your brother is dead, and you’re writing this garbage instead of making money, saying you want to become a novelist?!”

A father spewing verbal abuse and inflicting violence on a boy who appeared to be his son. The women couldn’t believe their eyes at the sight.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, sorry… Dad…”

The boy, his face red and barely able to breathe as he was being choked, kept apologizing to the man who appeared to be his father.

“What is this…?”

“Huh? What…?”

“That boy must be… Brother Bing-yeon… but what is that man doing…?”

Shocked by the scene, Azazel checked the direction Morgidian was pointing again, but his tentacles were still pointing unchangingly at the boy who was choking and gasping.

– This is the truth about the man called Bing-yeon that you need to know.

Morgidian sighed deeply as he watched them and told them not to turn away from the truth.

No matter how much they denied it, this was the origin that had brought them into existence. They had the right to know.

“…Azazel, this can’t be true. Master’s past couldn’t have been this dark. Look, the boy has glass shards in him and he’s bleeding, but that man who looks like his father doesn’t even care…”

Bi-wol shook her head, denying reality. How could someone so strong and kind, who had saved her, be suffering from domestic violence like this?

“No. It must be true. Lord Morgidian just said that boy is Brother Bing-yeon’s past life, and this is the truth we need to know.”

“No!! This isn’t something Master should have experienced! How could a father be such garbage that he doesn’t even care about his child!”

Bi-wol raised her voice in anger, unlike her usual self. No matter how much she tried to draw her sword to save the boy, her hands couldn’t reach him.

“Don’t give up! There must be a way to save him!”

Only Verdandi was still clinging to the young Han Do-hyeon, continuously trying to save him.

“…Let’s wait a little longer. There must be a reason why we were brought here.”

Azazel was barely maintaining her composure in this situation. She thought that if she lost her rationality and turned away from the truth, she would truly fall into Shub-Niggurath’s plan.

– You worthless trash, I should never have had a child like you.

As Do-hyeon’s father spat and stopped choking his son before entering the room…

“…What’s that?”

Bi-wol noticed Do-hyeon preciously clutching a worn-out notebook titled “Diamond Fist King” as he ran away.