By Zephyria 203
Nam Woo-jin slowly blinked. Ga-eul clenched her fist.
“I, I don’t know if you’ll believe me… I saw the previous world. That world was a little different from ours… but we were there, and Doomsday came. J fought desperately… and failed. And he turned back time. Using the clock.”
“……”
“A-at the last moment, the clock J was holding didn’t break. Since J was the last one to possess it… if we can find that clock… couldn’t we turn back time too? Get one more chance.”
Having finished speaking, Ga-eul gasped for breath. Nam Woo-jin took a deep breath. Even breathing seemed difficult, but he tried his best to answer.
“If that’s possible…”
“……”
“It would be a miracle.”
“……”
“And right now… we need a miracle. But…”
Eyes burned pure white quietly took in Ga-eul. The clenched fist was trembling. Nam Woo-jin tilted his head slightly. Fingers as dry as a mummy’s twitched.
“You’re hesitating.”
Yoon Ga-eul bit her lip. Nam Woo-jin closed his eyes and exhaled a ragged breath.
“I suppose so. Turning back time means giving up on this world…”
“……”
“Alright, shall I give my opinion?”
Nam Woo-jin brought the tips of his two hands together, so dry that the bones were visible.
“We can’t abandon this world based solely on our judgment. People are still fighting against Doomsday. It won’t do.”
Ga-eul tried to say something, but soon closed her mouth. Nam Woo-jin nodded as if dozing off.
“I know what you want to say. We won’t be able to overcome Doomsday. You probably think there’s no point in fighting since we’re going to perish anyway…”
“…Yes, that’s right.”
“But.”
Nam Woo-jin propped his chin up crookedly. A crooked smile hung on his parched face.
“Our failure will be the foundation for success. I believe that.”
“……”
“Isn’t it thanks to that that you found a way? I don’t know how you did it, but you saw J turning back time. As a last resort.”
“……”
“Let’s keep that as a last resort for us too.”
Eyes burned white groped through the air and fixed on something. It was exactly in the direction where Eui-jae was standing. Could he be seeing him? Surely not. That’s impossible.
Soon, a bright smile appeared on his lifeless face. Dry lips parted.
“Doomsday doesn’t come silently. There’s no reason, no purpose. It just comes. To take the life out of everything. As if that’s the natural order. Like a natural disaster.”
“……”
“We can’t avoid it, I suppose. But we can reduce the damage.”
“……”
“Even to find out how to do that… shouldn’t we fight to the very end.”
Dry fingertips pointed at Cha Eui-jae. Nam Woo-jin’s whisper struck like lightning.
“Let’s figure it out.”
Eui-jae’s eyes widened.
Baaang— The horn blared loudly. Eui-jae inhaled sharply, regaining his senses. The truck had already reached the middle of the road and was stuck in traffic. Not the dark library. Eui-jae quickly turned to the right. Ga-eul, who had been drooping, groaned softly and opened her eyes.
“Ugh… Huh?”
Ga-eul blinked and looked around. And her eyes met Eui-jae’s. Ga-eul opened her mouth slightly. She scratched her head.
“We, we…”
“……”
“We saw the same thing… right?”
“……Probably.”
Eui-jae stared blankly at the road full of cars. Let’s figure it out. Nam Woo-jin’s last words echoed through his body. He could tell instinctively.
That those words were definitely.
‘Meant for me…’
Eui-jae gripped the steering wheel tightly.
A boy in a white coat hurried down the hallway. Every time people passing by bowed their heads, the boy also bowed in greeting. The deeper he went into the hallway, the fewer people he encountered. When all signs of people had completely disappeared, he opened the door at the end of the hallway and descended a dizzyingly long flight of stairs.
At the end of the stairs was a firmly closed iron door. The boy placed his card key on the impriting device next to the iron door. Kugu-gung…. The iron door slowly opened.
It was a giant prison.
From inside the prison bars arranged in a circle around the operating table in the center, a hand covered in thorns reached out.
“Yay, high five.”
Someone crouching in front of the bars bumped their hand against the outstretched hand. Geueo-eo, something howled. And under the pale incandescent light, a man with white hair in a white coat and a woman wearing a cap pulled down low were standing. The boy took out a file from his arms.
“Master, the official document sent by the Bureau of Rift Management has arrived.”
“Put it over there.”
Nam Woo-jin gestured to the side with his chin. The woman shrugged.
“I’ll tell you what it says instead. They said don’t miss the General Assembly.”
“Looks like you got it too.”
“They probably sent it to everyone who always attends. And you, why don’t you stop bothering poor people for no reason and come over here?”
“I was just playing with him because he looked bored~”
The man who had been crouching stood up. His light sky-blue hair shone white in the light. Gyu-Gyu, Ban Gyu-min, stuck his hands in the pockets of his furry jumper and swaggered over.
“Actually, you know, now that he’s in that state, I don’t know if you can still call him a pers―”
Chaeng—
A sharp metallic sound rang out. The pale, shining Rapier blade was aimed precisely at his neck. Murderous intent flickered in Honeybee’s eyes. Gyu-Gyu raised both hands. Honeybee warned in a low, sunken voice.
“You better watch your mouth…”
“…Almost made a slip of the tongue. Sorry?”
Nam Woo-jin, who had been moving his hands busily, snapped irritably.
“Don’t fight, you idiots. I can’t concentrate.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“……”
Honeybee sighed and sheathed her Rapier. Nam Woo-jin clicked his tongue and busily moved his hands again. Lying on the operating table, bathed in pale light, was Matthew. Although thorns were protruding from various places, he was still maintaining a human form.
Honeybee anxiously bit her thumbnail.
“…How is it? Is it getting any better? Do you think it’ll work?”
“……”
“I’ve exhausted all the lists I got from Lee Sa-young. That’s the most I could scrape together. If it doesn’t work this time…”
“Honeybee.”
Nam Woo-jin sighed and straightened his upper body.
“Don’t be so anxious. There’s no point in rushing.”
“But……”
Honeybee, who had mumbled weakly, sighed deeply. And she slapped her cheeks hard enough to make a smack! sound.
“No… Doctor is right. Mok Taeo won’t wake up just because I’m doing this.”
“……”
“I have to go. I need to prepare for the General Assembly. I’ll leave Mok Taeo in your care.”
“Alright. Leave it to me.”
Honeybee, who had turned around and was striding towards the iron door, looked back. Gyu-Gyu was still standing in the same place. Honeybee frowned.
“Why aren’t you coming?”
“Huh? Am I going with you too?”
“The employment relationship hasn’t ended yet. Follow me!”
“Oh, geez…. Yes, yes. I understand~”
Gyu-Gyu nodded towards Nam Woo-jin and followed Honeybee out. Soon, the iron door closed with a heavy thud. The boy asked from a few steps away.
“Is there anything I can help you with?”
“No, not right now.”
“Are you alright?”
“…Yeah.”
Khuluk, Nam Woo-jin coughed softly and shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s strange…”
The boy waited for him to continue, his clear eyes shining.
Nam Woo-jin held his hand up to the light of the ceiling. It was as dry as a mummy’s. It looked like skin was barely clinging to the bone. He closed and opened his eyes. It returned to a normal hand. An optical illusion? A hallucination? Nam Woo-jin gestured behind him. A small presence approached.
“How do I look?”
“Height 178cm, thin, white hair, long hair, glasses, white eyes, slight turtle neck…”
“No, no, not that.”
Nam Woo-jin clenched and unclenched his hand. His hand turned mummy-like again. Or perhaps his eyes were deceiving him. He turned around. The boy was still waiting for his instructions in the same posture. Nam Woo-jin spread his arms and asked.
“Do I look like a mummy?”
“No, Master. Your weight has decreased by about 300g compared to a week ago, but there are no changes in your appearance.”
“…Really?”
“Yes. Is there a problem?”
“Hmm, maybe.”
Nam Woo-jin looked around and picked up a scalpel to look at his eye. Skin clinging to the bone, sunken eye sockets. The only thing that hadn’t changed was the eyes that held a pure white fire. Nam Woo-jin muttered like a sigh.
“I don’t know what it is, but something’s seriously wrong.”