episode_0221

Day when the sun sets (4) ― Neutral power ‘Train’

[You failed to return.]

The last system message seen in Hell Dungeon ‘World Cinema’.

It was a sentence that still lingered in Kang San’s mind.

The past and present quietly connected like a dream.

To Kang San, who stood at the end of the present, the system simply announced ‘failure’.

Seongju, who was unable to overcome the aftermath of failure, offered to watch the life of ‘Gangsan’.

Seongju’s offer, which pinpointed exactly the one thing he hoped for more than anything else in the world, was a sweet temptation that he could not refuse.

Kang San had no choice but to hold his hand with trembling eyes.

All of this—

It was a decision for the future.

All of this—

It was an arduous process to believe in something difficult to believe in.

Is the being called Han Gu-won a god, an awakened person, or a human?

A chance to watch the movie ‘Han Gu-won’s True Thoughts’ – which may be the last opportunity.

But Kangsan-

He had thrown away the opportunity he had longed for more than anything and was now boarding the train.

I couldn’t help it.

Wanting to know Han Gu-won’s true feelings was ultimately an expression of his will to protect his precious people.

Because I wanted my precious people to be safe even in an unpredictable future.

“… … Damn.”

A rare curse word that comes out of Kang San’s mouth.

The old man looked at him with worried eyes and cautiously opened his mouth.

“… … Sana. What happened?”

The old man, drawn by Kang San’s more urgent expression than ever before, finally asked in a worried tone.

Kang San muttered while looking at the scenery outside the car window that was quickly passing by.

“… … I don’t know, old man.”

Swipe your face with one hand as if dry washing your face.

“Seongju broke his promise.”

The gaze of Seongju, who looked at him with his icy cold eyes.

His snake-like whispers still lingered in my ears.

“As you heard, that strange man declared war on the leader of the Salvation Church.”

While waiting for the train on the train platform, a new man suddenly appears.

Kang San had no choice but to board the train more hastily because of the man’s words.

“… … The Salvation Cult declared war that cannot be heard.”

Because Han Gu-won was already trapped in the theme of ‘return’.

Because he and Seongju made it that way.

“… … .”

Have you finally realized the full story, or is it for another reason?

I smiled bitterly at the silence of the old man who said nothing.

It has to be that way.

One of the conditions for cooperating with Seongju was that the old man not be deeply involved in this plan.

That is why the old man did not experience ‘reversion’—

You didn’t even know the detailed plan.

The old man he knows so far clearly has this plan-

“… … It was obvious that you would be against it.”

“… … .”

“… … So I don’t know.”

With a voice full of confusion, I looked out the window again.

A completely different scenery from usual Seoul.

Keekeeek!

Zombies running through the desolate city roar as they look at the train.

puck-! puck-! puck-!

The train was shaking as if it was continuously hitting something, and rotten blood was spreading on the window.

Kang San muttered as he looked down on Seoul being overrun by zombies.

“… … I don’t know.”

This wasn’t what I wanted-

I just wanted to know the true feelings of Han Gu-won, who suddenly became the leader of a cult…

I just-

“Kkisss—!”

The sound stalker thrusts his face into the conductor and roars as if to cut off his thoughts.

I was clinging to the train like a cockroach, searching for the whereabouts of the sound I had just heard.

“… … Do you remember, San? Yeongjongdo Lotte Mart.”

Keekeeek!

thud-! thud-!

As soon as Sound Stalker heard the old man’s voice, he went crazy and hit his head on the car window.

The rotten blood leaking from the guy’s forehead splashed everywhere, but fortunately the car window did not budge and was intact.

thud-! thud-!

Kang San looked at the Sound Stalker and smiled.

“… … I remember. It wasn’t that long ago.”

If you think about it, less than a year had passed.

The old man and himself enter the mart with our colleagues who attract zombies by ringing a clock.

“… … I never imagined that I would quit smoking.”

The old man smiled broadly, flicking his middle and index fingers as if he was still holding a cigarette.

Come to think of it, my old man, who always had the acrid smell of tar, stopped smoking at some point.

“This is so- What a waste it is to buy cigarettes with points instead of money- If you save a little bit of that, your stats will go up, not a Lamborghini, hehe-”

A random joke that didn’t fit the mood.

A slightly wrinkled hand approached Kang San, who smiled bitterly as if responding to the old man’s joke.

“Do you want to remember this too.”

Kang San stared at the dark-colored pistol in the old man’s hand.

“The place we went to get the scarce food was the Sound Stalker’s nest, and we almost had no choice but to leave empty-handed. It didn’t just come out, it was a lot of hassle.”

The voice of the old man going through the past in detail and the pistol quietly placed in his hand again.

“Right now, guys similar to that guy were clinging to the ceiling like cockroaches, and we barely escaped with a smartphone alarm and a show of strength carrying the man on his back. I ran away.”

The feel of the pistol that I feel again after a long time naturally reminds me of that day.

A pistol that was aimed at the ceiling by being carried on the old man’s head in an embarrassing position.

In an urgent situation, a flashlight is hurriedly placed in the mouth and a shaky aiming line is used.

“So we failed to procure food. There are probably some comrades who have lost their lives due to our failures. But-”

Tuk!

A gentle hand grasping Kang San’s shoulder.

The old man made eye contact with Kang San and recited.

“That didn’t end everything. Even if we failed to procure food, we had a next mission – aren’t we living in a tomorrow that seemed like it would never come?”

Sana-

“You can’t put back water that has already been spilled. I was an old man who shouted that he would rather die than quit smoking, but I already quit smoking – and now you have become an adventurer who is more familiar with a spear than a pistol. We’ve already come too far, and too much has already changed.”

It has changed.

Kang San smiled bitterly at the gentle voice of the old man.

The Hell Dungeon comes to mind again through the old man’s recitation.

His past in ‘World Cinema’ –

“… … .”

perhaps-

Because he knew himself better than anyone else, the system may have declared him a failure.

Even if he goes back-

He would have once again rejected Seong Ga-eul’s dissuasion and saved Seotaesan—

He would have once again shaken off his tears and set off to save the river and sea.

That’s how I met the old man, met my mother, and-

I must have been reunited with the sea again.

“… … Not one.”

Kang San whispered, trying to hide his trembling voice.

“… … What if nothing has changed?”

“… … It’s better.”

The old man looked at Kang San with an unchanging smile.

“You can rewrite Volume 2 of the Gangsan Adventure Story that I missed, right?”

“… … Ha.”

A breath escaped like a light laugh.

Kang San didn’t know why, but he lowered his head, feeling his hands and lips trembling slightly.

A soft voice flowed to Kang San, who was looking at the dark-colored pistol trembling in his hand.

“Okay― What is the content of the second volume we need to write?”

Regardless of success or failure, this is the most important task we must accomplish now.

Kang San again handed the pistol into the old man’s hand and made eye contact with him.

“I have to tell Gaeul. What is happening now.”

I-

What have you done?

“Yes. Just think about that for now.”

Sooo!

As the old man finished speaking, the orange protective shield that was spread out in the distance got closer and closer.

thud-! thud-!

The closer it gets to paradise, the more the car shakes louder.

Black dots completely surrounding the orange shield are already visible.

Kkkk!

The howling of black dots that resonates as if a train is vibrating.

thud-! thud-! thud-!

With more violent shaking, the number of zombies climbing the tracks and throwing themselves onto the train increases.

In the end, the zombies clung to the train so much that they covered the car windows.

There were more zombies that somehow managed to hit their heads on the conductor than zombies that couldn’t overcome the speed of the train and fell off.

bang-! bang-! bang-!

Keekeeek!

Red eyes burning with appetite looking at the mountains and rivers reflected in the car window and inspiration.

The zombie, who had been hitting the car window with his fist several times, let out a roar and pulled his arm back.

Keekeeek!

Fuwaaa!

Not only the zombie that pulled its arm back, but all the zombies and the orange shield collided in an instant.

A howling that no longer sounds on trains passing through the shield.

The entire car was covered in rotten blood, as if it had just been painted over.

Zombies could never overcome the Salvation Church’s defense shield.

Only the train continued its journey to paradise beyond the shield.

“… … .”

However, Kang San looked at that and bit his lip even more tightly.

There isn’t much left of this great protective shield.

As Seongju said, a system without main power will inevitably collapse.

The world where the castle owner disappeared in the first place did not collapse in an instant.

If that were the case – unless the adventurers were fools, they wouldn’t have thought that the world was ruined and that the castle lord had taken away his power.

The system collapses very slowly.

Like a lamp nearing the end of its lifespan, it gradually loses its light.

That’s why he participated in the castle lord’s plan.

I was confident that I would find out Han Gu-won’s true intentions before this great protective shield ended.

However, the plan changed suddenly.

Seongju was crazier than he expected, and a threat he had never expected suddenly reached out with its claws.

no-

In the end, all these words were just excuses.

You were so absorbed in something important that you missed something else important.

Efforts to ensure the safety of precious people ended up endangering their safety.

If only you were a little smarter –

If only you were a little stronger-

This wouldn’t have happened.

If only Gaeul had been a little more calm and thought about it more times like she repeatedly nagged-

I- I am like Han Gu-won-

Crackle!

His fists were clenched so tightly that both hands turned white in an instant.

Kang San stood up from his seat as soon as the train door opened.

For now—let’s just think about one thing.

I have to tell Gaeul about this.

As I exited the train with my friend, the paradise train platform greeted them.

However, it is a fun platform where there is not a single guide and believer who always smiles and politely greets you.

Kang San hurriedly left the platform and ran to the center of paradise.

As soon as you step down the platform stairs, you can clearly hear the noise of the Salvation Church believers.

Busy and lively cars and white believers traveling to and from paradise were hurriedly moving in one direction.

As Kang San runs in the same direction as them, a large white building appears.

The center of paradise that Inari was guided to.

I crossed the square where believers were still hastily gathering toward the temple where the officials were obviously located.

The children who saw the fountain at the fountain that had stopped operating were clutching their parents’ ceremonial robes and looking around with anxious faces instead of the smiles they had seen at the time.

Keekeeek!

The roar of zombies breaks through the protective shield and echoes through the square.

In the end, their parents quietly hug the crying children.

However, the parents’ faces were equally filled with anxiety and fear.

Kang San looked at Paradise in panic and hurried his steps.

“Congregants, please gather at the square as soon as possible―!”

“This is an evacuation in preparation for an emergency situation that may arise, so don’t worry about anything―”

While comforting the believers, he beats the frantic knights and climbs the stairs of the temple.

A huge door, no different from the day I first visited paradise, and two paladins guarding the front.

“Stop—!”

After seeing Kang San, they stretched out their hands and stopped Kang San.

“If you are a believer, please gather in the square, not the temple―”

Kang San quickly waved his hand with an urgent look on his face.

“Voyeon owner!”

He shouted like that and grabbed the shoulders of one of the Paladins who was restraining him.

“You need to meet the vice-principal!”

Sooo!

A train was leaving above their heads.