Chapter 131.1

Chapter 131 – Henceforth, the Leader Adheres to All Rules (4) – Final

Snow lay quietly piled up in Neo Seoul.

The real work of the 45th Disciplinary Committee Leader was now over. It was as if his term had already ended.

Unless a state of emergency occurred during winter break, they would revert to the existing operational system until the 46th Disciplinary Committee Leader was elected.

*Swoosh.*

Ahn Woo-jin stared at the mirror as he adjusted his black tie.

He dressed neatly in a black suit.

There was a place Woo-jin wanted to visit now that his term as the Disciplinary Committee Leader was over. So, he dressed up properly.

Woo-jin used spatial leap to arrive at the outskirts of the Mayeon High School autonomous district.

His destination was a cemetery near a closed underground hideout.

─ ‘Han Seo-jin helped us. She investigated the Human Tree, so I heard.’

He recalled the conversation he had with Geumyang after the Academy Great War incident had ended.

─ ‘As I said before, time in the real world flows much slower than in the hidden world. Han Seo-jin must have investigated that Human Tree for a long time…’

The grave before his eyes belonged to Han Seo-jin.

Since her body could not be found, they had made a grave at the location where the Human Tree in the hidden world once stood.

“You still remembered me.”

Woo-jin spoke calmly.

Previously, Geumyang had delivered Han Seo-jin’s last words to Woo-jin.

She thanked him for calling her dream wonderful.

She was grateful for allowing her to go with good memories.

Recalling those words, Woo-jin placed a single white chrysanthemum flower before the grave.

“Take care.”

May it be a place with the blue sea you longed to see.

Woo-jin turned around, took a few steps, and used spatial leap to move again.

He arrived in the ruins of the Center Area, right in front of the completely collapsed Central Tower.

Woo-jin came here because he thought of Lee Se-Ah.

She was buried somewhere beneath this land.

He had no intention of mourning Se-Ah.

However, remembering the help and affection he had received from her made his heart feel complicated.

Se-Ah’s words that she liked Woo-jin were genuine.

‘Come to think of it….’

Next, Moon Chae-won came to mind.

Her whereabouts were unknown.

He heard that Baek-seo had promised not to pursue her further due to her past accusations. In exchange, Chae-won helped Woo-jin.

By now, she might be living quietly somewhere in Neo Seoul.

Woo-jin didn’t know for sure, but all he wished was for her to live well now.

Chae-won was just a girl who followed the Head Principal’s words because she wanted to survive… In the end, Woo-jin had also seen the resentment towards the Head Principal in Chae-won’s eyes.

Woo-jin placed a single white chrysanthemum flower before the ruined Central Tower.

Then, he moved, creating a rift before leaping through space again.

The white chrysanthemum flower left behind swayed gently in the wind.

Woo-jin’s next destination was the outer world.

It was the massive crater left behind from his battle with Goliath.

Over time, mysterious-colored grass had grown to fill the crater.

In the middle of the crater, there was a grave.

Woo-jin looked down at the grave.

It was decorated with a long rock stuck into the ground, like Han Seo-jin’s grave, and adorned with a wreath made from entwined flowers.

It was his own modest design.

Woo-jin placed a white chrysanthemum flower before the grave.

At that moment.

[Ahn Woo-jin.]

A familiar voice came unexpectedly from behind.

Woo-jin turned his head.

Standing there was a dignified creature with the head of a mountain goat, staring silently at Woo-jin.

“You’re from Goliath’s…?”

[I am the avatar of the Golden Sheep, the Gravity Golden Sheep.]

Woo-jin turned his body towards the Gravity Golden Sheep.

[Did you make my servant’s grave?]

Goliath was buried beneath the grave.

Woo-jin nodded and glanced briefly at the grave.

“He wasn’t all that bad, he even helped me… I felt it was proper to make something like this.”

[Then why come all this way? To pray for the dead’s peace?]

“I just couldn’t figure out what Goliath wanted from me.”

Woo-jin spoke.

“I think he wanted me to become a hero, someone who would support the city and have a positive influence… But what exactly does that mean?”

[Is that something you need to ponder? It was merely my servant’s personal belief. You don’t need to align with it.]

“I know. It’s not about Goliath. I’m doing this because it might give me answers to my own questions.”

[Questions?]

The reason Woo-jin wandered today, thinking of the dead, was due to one lingering question.

“What kind of life I should live from now on. I’ve achieved everything I wanted when I became the Disciplinary Committee Leader. It’s… a personal issue.”

[…Wait.]

“Hm?”

The Gravity Golden Sheep approached and stood before Woo-jin.

[I intended to tell you later, but it seems better to reveal it now. I think it will answer your question.]

“What is it?”

[Space Golden Sheep. Come forth. You know, don’t you?]

*Crack.*

Suddenly, a rift opened in the air, and Geumyang emerged. Geumyang glared at the Gravity Golden Sheep with a discontented face.

“I know, I know. I was also wondering when to talk about it.”

“Geumyang?”

What did they know?

Geumyang turned to Woo-jin instead of answering.

“Kid. Don’t be too surprised.”

“What are you two even talking about…?”

Geumyang stood beside the Gravity Golden Sheep and extended his arm in front of Woo-jin’s chest.

Golden energy gently flowed from their hands.

[Behold the Golden Sheep.]

Woo-jin’s eyes widened.

“What the—?!”

Before he could finish his sentence, Woo-jin’s consciousness was suddenly sucked into a faraway place.

“……?”

It felt like his body was floating, enveloped by a sensation of weightlessness, and an obscure world unfolded before Woo-jin’s eyes.

Then, he saw stars, constellations, and distant galaxies.

It looked like a beautiful universe.

Feeling a presence, Woo-jin turned his head toward it.

“!”

A giant creature radiating golden light filled his vision.

Though the light was bright, it was not blinding, creating an unsettling feeling. However, its exact form was hard to discern because of the light.

Upon closer inspection, he could make out the ram’s horns and a large staff held in its right hand.

It exuded an immeasurable, overwhelming presence, the kind that made Woo-jin instinctively certain—no matter what, he could never defeat this being.

“Golden Sheep…?”

Woo-jin instinctively knew that the creature before him was the Golden Sheep.

The creature’s head, bathed in light, turned toward Woo-jin. The Golden Sheep’s will metaphysically transmitted itself into Woo-jin’s mind.

[Your role is finished.]

It wasn’t a voice, but Woo-jin understood its meaning.

Your role is finished.

Woo-jin quickly grasped the significance of that statement.

“My role…”

[I was the one who sent you to that world.]

Woo-jin listened intently to the Golden Sheep’s story.

[I was impressed by you humans who fought against me, and I made a promise.]

If it was humanity who fought the Golden Sheep, it could only be the heroes, the Argonauts.

[They had three wishes: for me to leave that world, not to interfere with it any further, and to allow humanity to live safely. As gratitude for entertaining me, I accepted their proposal and bestowed land where humanity could live peacefully.]

The land where humanity could live peacefully must have been the places blessed by the Golden Sheep.

Still…

‘A promise?’

This was the first time he had heard of such a thing.

The reason why the Golden Sheep had suddenly blessed certain lands and ascended to the sky after fighting the Argonauts was because of a promise made with them.

Fitting the puzzle piece of that promise into the inexplicable actions of the Golden Sheep made sense immediately.

[However, another being like me became interested in humanity. He planned a new world on the land I had made safe. Due to the promise, I could not interfere.]

It seemed to refer to Aktonom, the king of the hidden world.

He dominated Neo Seoul’s backside through a deal with the Head Principal, but he had since negotiated with Geumyang and left.

[Leaving him alone would mean violating my promise. Failing to provide safe land as I had agreed. To us, a promise is heavier and more significant than anything else in the world. So, I created conditions to resolve the situation.]

“So, that’s me, isn’t it? You knew this would happen all along?”

Woo-jin was a reincarnated person brought by the Golden Sheep.

By having players learn the rules of this world through the game and how Goliath became stronger…

The Golden Sheep had reincarnated Woo-jin, the talent capable of solving the problem, into this world.

“And because of your promise, you couldn’t interfere directly, so you left an avatar to deal with any unexpected variables, huh….”

Woo-jin deduced why the Golden Sheep’s avatar appeared.

In the case of individuals who stood out as exceptionally strong, like Woo-jin or Goliath…

The Golden Sheep’s avatar was designed to choose them and bestow power, should the need arise.

To grant the power necessary to resolve the situation.

Since the Golden Sheep itself couldn’t act.

Now that the issue—the primary reason for Woo-jin’s reincarnation—was resolved.

That was why the Golden Sheep was saying that Woo-jin’s role was complete.

[Now, make your choice.]

Suddenly, two rifts appeared before Woo-jin.

The rifts were clear enough that he could see through to the other side.

Unlike the wormhole rifts created by Geumyang, these seemed to be true magical techniques of space wielded by the Golden Sheep’s main body.

One rift showed the urban forest of Seoul, South Korea, with Namsan Tower standing tall.

The other displayed the landscape of Academy City, Neo Seoul, with Ahsung High School’s clock tower visible in the distance.

Seeing the familiar scenery of Korea, Woo-jin lost himself momentarily.