episode_0184

“Profile.”

[Username: X X]

[Age: XX years old]

[Data has been corrupted.]

*Sigh*

The system window that makes me feel suffocated every time I look at it.

It feels like my breath is being cut off, but I have never lost hope.

It’s not ‘deletion’ of data, but ‘corruption’.

There is a way to restore it.

The problem is that the path to restoration is long and treacherous…

‘Nothing is impossible.’

It’s not impossible.

I confirmed that fact with the God of Time, so it’s certain.

If restoration was truly impossible, I wouldn’t have come back to this world at the cost of erasing my existence.

Even if I come back, living a life that the heroines can’t remember is more dreadful than death.

“How did it come to this…”

In the midst of despair, the path I’ve walked flashes before my eyes like a mirage.

The things I left behind in the dimensional crack come to mind.

There is no regret, but the bitterness remains.

Dark.

Cold.

And suffocating.

‘Where am I?’

As I ponder this question in my mind, I realize how foolish it is.

This is not ‘somewhere’.

It is not any place, yet it is every place.

A space that is not a space.

A place that a mere human cannot comprehend.

Stumbling and falling into the abyss, knowing that I must cross over to the next dimension, I realize that it is the gap of spacetime.

‘Mijung…’

As all my senses dull and gradually fade away, I firmly grasp the tiny hand in mine, feeling it as clearly as the palm of my hand, never letting go.

And then, a small hand grips mine tightly.

We are together even in death.

Mijung, who has become inseparable from me.

‘Is there no way…’

But that doesn’t mean I want to die with her.

If it’s possible…

If there is a way, I will save Mijung, even if it’s just her.

I close my eyes (not that it makes a difference) and calmly assess the situation.

With my senses fading, I fumble in my pocket and barely grasp Longinus’ spear.

Pressing the button repeatedly, I soon realize it’s futile.

‘There’s no magic power.’

There is no magic power.

It’s not depleted, it’s simply absent in this dimensional crack.

‘Not just magic power. I can’t feel anything at all.’

It’s natural.

The dimensional crack is emptiness.

There is literally nothing here.

No matter, not even the concept of spacetime exists in this place.

If asked how we can exist in a place with no air…

We don’t exist.

But we are not dead either.

We are ‘absent’ in this place.

In a place with nothing, nothing can ‘observe’ us.

We neither exist nor can exist.

Only the parts where Mijung and I touch, remain observable and vaguely exist due to our interaction.

I exist because of Mijung.

And Mijung exists because of me.

We are barely holding on, proving each other’s existence.

If we let go, we will both be lost and completely disappear.

‘Are souls an exception to this rule?’

Although it seems somewhat regular, there are many contradictions.

Wasn’t this a world where magic didn’t increase energy indiscriminately?

But there was one relatively free thing in the rules, and that was the soul.

‘Soul!’

At that moment, I found a clue.

I should have thought of it sooner.

I immediately began to focus and recalled the sensation of the God of the Underworld entering me.

I delved deep within myself.

Everyone harbors a world within themselves.

Regardless of their status, everyone does.

Even if they never realize it in their lifetime, it always exists there.

As long as the existence of ‘me’ remains.

That world does not disappear.

“Sigh…”

In the moment of reflecting on that teaching.

As the air fills with dust, the cold wind brushes against the skin, and the chilly yet warm and soft sensation in the hands surprises the body, causing it to tremble.

A voice comes out!

Breath is taken!

I am alive!

“Mi-jeong!”

“Uh…”

Turning to the side, I tightly embrace the girl who holds my hand in my arms.

My small and frail body still floats in the air.

Although Mi-jeong lets out a slight cry of discomfort, she was too overjoyed to even have the luxury of adjusting her strength.

“I’m sorry…”

Suppressing the overflowing emotions, I gently put down Mi-jeong.

Only then did the surroundings come into view.

“Wow…”

“Welcome. To the world within me.”

A vast field covered in pure white snow.

It seems familiar from somewhere.

The ‘world within me’ that the deity guided me to.

“Eugene, inside. Feels like this, huh.”

Crunch.

Mi-jeong walks forward, stepping on the snow with her eyes fixed ahead.

I also follow behind her, taking in the cold air.

‘Just because it’s the world within me doesn’t mean I can control it as I please.’

Whether it’s because of my low status or it’s simply not allowed, I’m not sure.

But at least, I’m not all-powerful in this place.

Although I’m the master of this world, I’m just a humble resident here for now.

A desolate wasteland with no buildings or trees.

In the midst of the relentless snowstorm where nothing can be seen beyond a step, the only place where sunlight shines.

Mi-jeong and I walk towards it as if entranced.

“What… is that?”

“That… is…”

And finally, we discover the four flowers.

As Mi-jeong asks, I try to answer but swallow my words.

What on earth is that.

Even I don’t know yet.

I don’t know anything about this world to begin with.

Perhaps this is just an illusion.

Our true selves may be disappearing in the gap of dimensions.

It might just be an everlasting sweet and bitter dream.

But.

I have an inexplicable conviction.

I have a strong feeling that there are answers here.

Taking the words of the deity, there is a strong force emanating from those flowers.

Of course, not in a physical sense.

“What on earth is that… Hey!!!”

“Uh?”

Snap.

At that moment, Mi-jeong decisively plucks a red camellia and holds it in her hand.

I rush over in surprise to grab it, but it’s already too late.

“What are you doing?”

“Flowers… are meant to be picked. They’re… there. Right?”

“…”

Mi-jeong casually speaks, tilting her head.

I’m momentarily speechless, unable to refute her words.

I feel like I’ve been hit on the head.

‘Come to think of it, I never thought about picking them.’

Just observing from afar and pondering what they are.

I’ve never had the courage to actually pick them.

Mi-jeong is not wrong.

Flowers are beautiful as they bloom in the field.

But they are most beautiful when picked by someone, held in their hands, and used meaningfully.

“Ah…”

It finally dawns on me.

The direction in which the flowers are facing is not towards the sky where the sunlight shines, but towards the inside.

Even as I take a step forward, it remains the same.

The flowers slowly move, still gazing at me.

As if pleading.

As if drawn to me.

I hold the camellia Mi-jeong handed me dearly in my hand.

Kneeling down, I reach out to the other flowers.

The yellow jasmine.

Blue cyclamen.

And black roses.

Even though my hand was pricked by thorns and injured, I didn’t care.

In my arms, a bouquet of ne songi flowers bloomed.

Each flower emitting a different light.

Even though I held all of ne songi’s flowers in my arms, I couldn’t grasp what to do next and felt bewildered.

“Oh?!”

The flowers disappeared in an instant.

Only a red camellia remained in my arms.

The rest had clearly disappeared.

But it still felt like they were there in my arms.

And it wasn’t just a misconception.

“Haha. Finally catching on, huh.”

“······?!”

“Don’t turn around. Look ahead. Just look ahead.”

A warm sensation on my shoulder.

And a chilling voice coming from behind.

A damp yet strong hand caressed my cheek and held my head in place, preventing me from turning.

“Yeri?”

“I’m here too······. You fool.”

The hand extended further.

Embracing my waist, a soft touch leaning against me.

Jill wrapped around my waist, preventing me from turning back.

“Jill doesn’t resent you. So don’t be too scared.”

And gently grasping my hand, Yulia’s touch guided me forward.

Invisible, only voice, breath, and touch.

But it was clear who it was.

“You guys······.”

“Yes.”

Even though it was the same voice, the tone and emotions conveyed were different.

These were the heroines of the timelines I had abandoned.

The ones I thought had disappeared.

“We haven’t disappeared.”

How many times did I beg not to lose them?

How many times did I long for past timelines that I could never return to?

Perhaps the determination gathered to make a miracle happen.

The ones I cherished were here.

My past, holding me from behind.

A strange situation where each word carried resentment, anger, obsession, affection, and purity.

“Since when?”

“Always. We’ve been here from the beginning.”

“From the beginning······. I didn’t even know that······.”

“We haven’t disappeared. Eugene’s efforts were not in vain. We’ve been here with Eugene all along. Sometimes quietly cheering, sometimes helping······.”

It wasn’t meaningless.

The failed timelines hadn’t disappeared.

Without realizing it, I had been building my own world.

I thought I had only saved three.

But the ones I lost were all within me.

“I missed you······.”

“But that doesn’t mean you have to look back. We’re always with Eugene. Come on. Shall we look ahead?”

“Ahead······.”

Yulia’s hand unfolded mine, pointing upwards.

A hand that blocked the sunlight.

The sky was vast, too big for this small hand to cover.

“From now on, you will move this world, Eugene.”

“How······?”

“It’s simple. Eugene is the master of this world. This world is Eugene. It’s just a matter of moving what’s yours.”

“But within this, I’m just a small speck of dust······.”

“That’s it.”

“······?!”

In that moment.

The voices and touches that bound me from behind vanished all at once.

All that remained were the ne songi flowers in my arms.

And Mi-jeong clinging to my sleeve.

My hand still reaching towards the sky.

Like a foolish child trying to cover the sky with this small hand.

How am I within this world?

Small.

Infinitely small.

No matter how hard I roll my feet, I leave behind only a small footprint.

Meanwhile, this world is vast.

Then how big is it?

That question arose in my mind.

And finally, I found the answer.

‘Infinite.’

The snowstorm subsided.

My vision expanded.

And at the same time, this world also grew larger.

I am still small.

My world expands infinitely.

The dimension that was nothing but emptiness is filled with ‘me’.

The gap that was only darkness is now filled with light.

How far will it expand?

Until it collides!

Until it reaches somewhere!

Beyond the emptiness that seems infinite, until it reaches somewhere else!

“Huh?”

But right at that moment.

Suddenly, my inner world is engulfed in pitch-black darkness.

I lost consciousness.

[Achievement Unlocked]

[New-

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|This guy is insane|

|Human? Is this what a sane person says?|

|Could this be the mark of the Time King… Is it his puppet?|

A man and a girl lying unconscious.

Eyes are fixed on the two of them.

Whispers of concern mixed with fear erupt from all around.

It’s definitely a human body.

A living body, not a spirit or a demon, has been brought here.

How is that even possible?

Surprisingly, the answer was clear.

|Just crossed over? By yourself? With your own power?|

|What do you think the gap in dimensions is!|

|I just told you what I saw…|

Crossed over by themselves.

Of course, there is nothing in the gap in dimensions, so there is no way to walk through it or fly through it.

Navigating through the empty void.

Only a being capable of turning the impossible into possible could do it.

|No way! That’s an area only the great ones can access!|

|Is it Draken? Did that bastard bring them here?|

|What’s going on?|

|I don’t know… Handle it, Anger|

|Understood, Elders|

Various discussions were busy going back and forth.

But no consensus was reached even as time passed, and it all ended up in confusion.

|Whatever the case may be… Welcome to the demon realm, human|

For now, they could only wait for the human who had arrived in this strange world to wake up.