episode_0160

“All done. Be careful, it’s hot… ”

“Wow… !”

The sky is dark and the oil lamps shine like the morning star. The table, as narrow as the boy’s house, is filled with delicious dishes.

His friends’ eyes lit up at the sight of his outfit. The boy’s mother smiled with satisfaction at the sight of him.

“This looks really delicious… I want to eat here every day… ”

As Jin-ho swallowed hard, Ina glared at him as if she was going to kill him and snapped at him fiercely.

“Hey! Who is rude enough to touch me before an adult does!”

“Phew… It’s okay. Okay, let’s eat quickly… ”

The boy’s mother stopped them and put food in each of their bowls. Then, as if nothing had happened, the friends stopped fighting and began to savor their food absentmindedly.

“It’s delicious… !”

“Really… More than what my mom did… !”

“… ”

And the boy sitting at the table watched the scene silently.

An old house, a small bed that can barely fit your body, and just two friends.

And the image of a mother who always scolded the boy who always caused trouble, but also always comforted him warmly.

The very scenery I always dreamed of, the scenery I longed for so desperately.

The only thing the boy who refused both abundant wealth and noble honor wanted.

“The new person who moved in… was a real… girl… ”

“The name is definitely… Seoyeon… ”

“I saw your face… You’re really pretty… ”

In the midst of his friends’ conversation, a familiar name struck his ears. The boy groaned in even deeper agony.

He glances at the mirror on the wall. Then, as if it were a habit, he raises his hand and touches his face. He can feel the smooth, soft skin, without a single scar, along the tips of his fingers.

The most important moment of his life will soon come. The boy who knows everything has a chance to correct his mistakes. This time, he can protect both his family and his lover.

“HyunA?”

And then I hear someone’s warm, familiar voice.

When he raises his head, his mother’s face comes into view, looking at him with a mixture of puzzlement and worry.

“Where does it hurt? You haven’t said anything since a while ago…and your face is… ”

As soon as he heard that sound, the boy’s heart filled with sadness. The demon inside him beckoned to him even more fiercely.

That impossible wish was now unfolding before my eyes.

If he took just one step into that sweet swamp, the boy would melt into the scenery without even realizing it. And he would be able to achieve the eternal happiness he had been longing for.

But the boy closed his eyes tightly, resisting with all his might the deeply addictive temptation.

Because no matter how sweet it is, I know that in the end, it is just a lie that will fall apart.

“Sorry, Mom.”

Finally, the boy opens his mouth, his expression distorted with sadness.

“I think I should go.”

***

“Haa… Haa… !”

-Bang!

An attack coming from the side. Jinyeseo barely manages to block it by raising her blade sideways. Then she immediately puts her weight on it and swings her blade.

-bang!

-Keeek!

The monster spits out its last words and falls down. But immediately another monster steps in and thrusts its beak dripping with spittle. I have already cut down more than a dozen monsters, but there is still no end in sight.

“Haa… Gasp… !”

Blood-soaked, hanging hair, a face covered in filth and bits of entrails.

However, Jinyeseo continued to cut down his enemies. Even when his shoulder was pierced by sharp tentacles or his thigh was torn by claws, he did not stop. This was not for the sake of his family or simply to defeat someone.

Even in the midst of the fight, she didn’t forget to check behind her from time to time. There, a tall man wearing a gas mask was standing there, his body slumped over, motionless.

For the first time in her life, she was burning her body to protect someone.

“Quickly… Get up… It’s me… !”

-wickedness!

-Bang!

It was a moment when she continued to cut down bloodthirsty monsters. Before she knew it, she had lost the awareness that she was swinging her blade. She simply surrendered to her instincts in a state of trance and swung her arms gracefully.

The talent inherent in her blood gradually awakens her. The particle structure, re-established to the optimal solution, infuses new power into her flesh.

At that moment, as I was swinging the blade again and again.

As if flowers were blooming, green particles that resemble her eyes filled the space around her. Along with them, a sweet fragrance like heavenly honey spread through the hall.

Expression of color and particle scent.

“Ahhh… !”

A woman standing one step behind, witnessing the evolution, clasps her hands together as if praying and lets out an exclamation of joy.

“Awesome… !”

***

-Stop.

Time, which had been flowing along with the boy’s words, stopped. In the first place, this was the boy’s inner self. The place where he ruled everything. Since he had already figured everything out, there was no point in further deception.

In that space where even the clock did not tick, the boy’s mother opened her mouth and spoke in a warm voice.

“… Who?”

“… There is someone waiting for me… ”

The boy barely opened his mouth and let out a trembling voice.

“There are people who have a hard time without me. And, and… ”

“And?”

“My friend is… fighting outside… I… need… to help… ”

The boy tightly shut his eyes. Each word he spat out was more painful than death. He knew better than anyone that the people in front of him were not real people. They were illusions created by an evil being to capture him.

But no matter how false they were, it seemed as if they would just crumble if they caught hold of him.

“Hmm… I see… ”

There was a moment of silence. The boy trembled all over and waited in fear for an answer.

“… Then I guess I should go.”

“Huh… ?”

But the voice is heard.

Finally, the boy raised his head. Blue sky, clear clouds. A lake the same color as the endless sky.

Beyond, the three people were looking at him with regretful smiles as if they had known this would happen.

“Why are you so surprised? You said you have a friend outside who needs help. Then you should go and help him quickly.”

“Hyun-i finally has a new friend besides us… ”

“It’s good, but… I’m a little jealous… ”

The three of them continued to talk calmly. And the boy realized that even though it was an illusion, their true nature was still the same as he had known.

“Ah… Ugh… ”

The boy’s voice, realizing it, was now filled with moisture.

“Sorry, sorry… ”

The boy could no longer endure the waves of emotions that were rushing in and collapsed on the floor.

“If I hadn’t gone to the mountain lodge that day… ”

There were so many things I wanted to say, but my mind was going blank and I couldn’t think of anything.

If only I had just a little bit more strength… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… ”

He was spewing out ramblings as if he was confessing his long-standing guilt.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry I survived alone… Everyone, everyone died… I’m the only one who survived in such a miserable way… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… ”

“No.”

But soon.

A warm hand rests on the boy’s head, while a firm voice penetrates his ear.

The boy who had been sitting down raised his head, which was covered in tears.

“It’s not your fault.”

The boy’s mother stared at him with a stern expression as if scolding him. However, she smiled affectionately as if nothing had happened and gently stroked his head again.

“Thank you. For holding on alone. For overcoming despair… For standing up again.”

“… Mom… ”

The sky was gradually disintegrating into pieces. The space dyed in pure white was gradually moving towards them.

The boy’s will to wake up was destroying the illusions surrounding him.

“It’s time to go back now.”

“But… ”

“Oh, Mom, you never raised your son so weakly?”

Instead, she urged the boy with a firm voice.

But he can’t hide the regret on his face, so he ends up saying something affectionate as if he can’t win.

“… We can talk about it later. Okay? ”

“Goodbye, Hyuna.”

“Should you introduce us to someone later?”

Soon after, friends with bright smiles say their final goodbyes.

And the boy, who had stopped crying, nodded at them.

“… Yeah.”

Soon, the narrowing white space covers them. The old memories that held him back oxidize and scatter like the mist of a spring day.

Light continued to cover the boy’s body. The boy, who had once again braced himself, accepted the sensation without any hesitation.

A faint smile soon appeared on the boy’s lips.

***

“Haa… Haa… !”

Jin Ye-seo gasped for breath, barely able to support her trembling legs. Her head was dizzy and her vision was cloudy. She barely had enough strength left in her limbs to raise her body.

She looked around with blurry eyes. The sewers where the monsters had been howling loudly had now become quiet.

In front of her, the corpses of monsters with pale flesh exposed were piled up like a mountain.

Fortunately, we were able to take down all of those monsters before particle exhaustion set in.

But unfortunately… there are still enemies she must defeat.

-Clap, clap, clap…

Applause echoed repeatedly in the quiet hall. Jin Ye-seo gritted her teeth and looked ahead.

The nun of the day was walking towards her with a look of joy on her face that didn’t match her elegant appearance.

“Really, really… wonderful.”

“Haa… Haa… This fucking bitch… ”

Although Jin Ye-seo recited the curses with all her might, the woman paid no attention. What filled her head was regret and fear.

I finally managed to manifest color and scent. If only I had gotten them a little earlier. If only I had swallowed my pride and learned circulatory magic earlier…

“Witnessing the evolution of life… I never thought it would be this moving…!”

“Haa… Haa… ”

“As expected, even the lowest creatures have potential… ? That’s why I said let’s not let them go extinct and let them live a little longer… Really… ”

The woman was mumbling something unintelligible with a look of genuine regret on her face. It sounded even more bizarre because she had no idea what the context was.

“Well… Don’t worry too much.”

Then he looked down at Jinyeseo again and smiled faintly.

“I think you might still find some use for it.”

“Me… Ugh… What are you going to do… Huh… ”

“Mother.”

The woman’s mouth was wide open and hung on her ear.

“You must have an excellent placenta, so wouldn’t you be able to produce seeds that match it?”

The woman who approached lifted her fingernail and pricked her fingertip. Soon, blood began to drip down her slender fingers.

“Isn’t that clearly the expression “insensitive”? Unlike them, you have already evolved, so touching your mind without physical control is not enough. ”

The woman got to Jinyeseo’s eye level, grabbed his chin, and opened his mouth. I don’t know what her intentions are, but it was clear that she wanted to feed him the blood.

‘Me, me… Are you trying to make me into the same as them…?’

Jin Ye-seo, who had no strength in her arms, could not refuse him. She could only breathe heavily with trembling eyes.

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just become one with us. Okay… ”

The overwhelming fear of an unknown being. Soon, transparent tears well up in the corners of his eyes.

“Black… ”

It soon falls to the floor like raindrops.

“Help me… ”

Without realizing it, she was asking someone for help.

“Wake up… Hurry up… I said wake up… ”

But there was no answer. Her pleas echoed empty along the sewer.

The smile of an evil being with its mouth hanging from its ear. Along with it, a finger covered in blood-red drops gradually approaches. And finally, just before it falls to the corner of her mouth.

It was when Jin Ye-seo closed her eyes tightly in resignation.

-Bang!

“Huh… ?”

Suddenly, a loud noise passes by her ears. Something flies and crashes into the stone wall with a loud crash, shaking the sewer.

The Jinyeseo collapsed to the floor.

But where she fell was not the cold floor, but the warm embrace of someone.

And the moment he confirmed the identity of the one who accepted him.

Jin Ye-seo’s face was instantly filled with joy and cheers.

“You… !”

The man holding Jinyeseo carefully placed her in a corner. She had never waited for him like she did now.

She deliberately grumbled and complained to him, contrary to her smiling face.

“It’s too late.”

“… I’m sorry.”

The man rarely seemed to agree with her words. He quickly examined the bloody Jin Ye-seo and asked about her well-being.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Jin Ye-seo answered in a deliberately cheerful voice.

“But I’m exhausted… I can’t fight anymore. Sorry… ”

“Thank you for your hard work. And…you don’t have to worry.”

He nodded. Then he sat up and stared at the dusty opposite.

As the dust gradually clears, the shadow of someone standing in front of the remains of a collapsed wall begins to appear.

“… How on earth?”

The nun still looked unscathed. However, her characteristically calm expression was no longer there. She was staring at the man with a face full of surprise and shock.

“… ”

The man took his position without responding to the woman’s words.

With the spark of hope that had returned, Jin Ye-seo looked at the man who had protected her.

Looking at it now, those eyes were burning with a low, heavy anger.