By Zephyria “It’ll be over soon, this place too.”
“Well, there’s not much left. Don’t you feel relieved?”
Hong Ye-seong stretched his arms out wide and yawned. Sa-young, instead of answering, took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket and opened it. There were only two cigarettes left. The pack was one of Cha Eui-jae’s belongings. Did a man in such poor health really want to smoke? Tsk, Sa-young clicked his tongue softly, put a crumpled cigarette in his mouth, and asked the retreating figure ahead.
“Are the preparations done?”
“Of course! What do you take me for!”
Hong Ye-seong gestured as if telling him to follow. His light steps headed down a deserted, secluded path. After passing through a path between the bushes, an old, dilapidated warehouse came into view. The warehouse, weathered by the sea breeze, seemed to have been abandoned long ago.
“Let’s see, is it behaving itself….”
Creak, the old door opened with a dull sound. Unlike the shabby exterior, a huge iron cage filled the space from ceiling to floor. Sa-young slowly moved into the darkness. Clang, clang, the chains rattled violently. A growling sound scratched at the throat. Sa-young tilted his head.
“Turn on the lights. It won’t know whether they’re on or off anyway.”
“That’s true! Just a moment.”
Soon, the lights came on brightly. Beyond the iron bars, a huge Monster sniffed the air. Sa-young quietly observed the Monster. A quadrupedal Monster with no eyes. Its large mouth was tightly bound with black chains. The Monster shook its head and crashed against the bars several times, but the chains showed no sign of loosening. White saliva dripped from between its tightly closed mouth and teeth.
Hong Ye-seong joked.
“No ordinary gag would work. I’m glad the civil servant left the chains behind.”
“Can you undo it? That thing.”
“Hmm~ I wouldn’t recommend it. If you undo it, it’ll bite through the cage too. You know? It eats anything, people or buildings.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Sa-young rubbed his mouth. A languid face broke into a chilling smile.
“It has to eat me anyway.”
With Lee Sa-young’s back as the last thing he saw, Cha Eui-jae was ejected into an unknown void. It was similar to what he had seen when he opened the Memorial Dungeon. The void was black, silent, and empty.
But strangely, he wasn’t anxious. Rather, he felt comfortable. As if he had come to the place he was meant to be. Eui-jae curled up into a ball. Slowly, his eyes closed, and his mind became hazy.
‘Staying like this would also….’
No, what am I saying? Eui-jae hurriedly shook his head. He couldn’t die trapped in an unknown void. Student Ga-eul would surely rescue him. Probably. But….
‘I can’t just wait aimlessly.’
Eui-jae turned his body around, sat cross-legged in the void, and rubbed his chin. All he could do in a place like this was sort out his thoughts.
Getting a hint from Lee Sa-young’s memories had failed for now. Something unknown had rejected him. Then, what about his own memories? Cha Eui-jae had certainly faced Doomsday. Wasn’t there a clue in his unconscious mind that he couldn’t remember….
At that moment, he felt a sensation like a gentle wave shaking his body. Eui-jae opened his eyes. He heard voices talking to each other on his right. Without hesitation, he headed in the direction of the sound. Not walking, but swimming.
Soon, as he reached the source of the sound, the void that had been nothing but darkness began to reassemble. Yellow walls were erected, scattered junk appeared, and the savory smell of baking clay and the scent of tough jerky began to fill the air.
…‘Cha Eui-jae’ chewed on the dried jerky. It was Monster meat dried to a crisp, so tough that his jaw hurt. Hong Ye-seong’s workshop was even more of a mess than he remembered, and the owner of the workshop, Hong Ye-seong, had much longer hair. He looked like a loser. He muttered as he wandered around the workshop.
“Revenge, good. Getting one over on them, good. All good. I’m rooting for you, friend. But….”
“……”
“How the hell are we supposed to get to the Whitehole? We can’t put up a ladder, and planes and helicopters are sure to be attacked. A spaceship?”
“For your information, countless drones have been shot down.”
“That’s why I didn’t even consider drones!”
Hong Ye-seong retorted sharply. ‘Cha Eui-jae’ raised both hands as if to calm him down. Deciding to turn back time after facing the source of Doomsday was a good idea. But….
The problem was that there was no way to reach the Whitehole in the sky. How could they attack an enemy they couldn’t reach? Hong Ye-seong screamed, messed up his hair, and then began to mutter in a low voice.
“No, calm down, Hong Ye-seong, you can do it. You’re the world’s greatest genius…. Let’s start from the beginning. The order of Doomsday…. The first ones to appear were the big-mouthed Monsters….”
“That’s right.”
‘Cha Eui-jae’ chimed in. Hong Ye-seong swept all the objects on the desk onto the floor. Clatter! White dust rose into the air. Regardless, he began to carve something into the wooden desk with a carving knife.
“That’s a waste of a desk.”
“Shut up, friend.”
The letters were rough.
[Stages of Doomsday 1. Appearance of big-mouthed Monsters →
Disappear on their own]
“They suddenly appeared and suddenly disappeared…. What was their purpose? They wouldn’t have sent them as a tasting spoon.”
‘Cha Eui-jae’ also got up from his chair and went to Hong Ye-seong’s side. His calloused hand twirled the carving knife around. Hong Ye-seong muttered, deep in thought.
“They don’t even know what they’re eating and swallow everything in sight. That’s their instinct. Why do these guys exist? Aren’t they too stupid?”
“Why do they exist, they were made to kill everything, of course.”
“No, they could have made more high-dimensional Monsters. Like the ones that are appearing these days. Then world destruction without wasting time! The end!”
“The Monsters that are appearing these days are humans who have become Monsters. There must be a limit. I guess the stupid ones are more cost-effective.”
As soon as he blurted out what came to mind, he received a look of pity.
“Please, friend. You’re really the worst debate partner.”
“I don’t want to hear that from you.”
After a few punches were exchanged, Hong Ye-seong gasped and leaned on the desk again.
“There’s a reason for everything in the world, but the laws of the System are different. There’s a reason for everything. There must be a reason why those guys appeared first at the beginning of Doomsday….”
A reason. ‘Cha Eui-jae’ crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. Something came to mind. Come to think of it.
“Doctor dissected one of those guys. He said its stomach was empty back then.”
“…Empty?”
“Yeah. He cut open its stomach, but there were no organs, no people who had been eaten, no pieces of buildings. He said the inside of its stomach was completely black, like a void. Like a completely different Shield…. Why?”
“…Why are you telling me this now!”
Hong Ye-seong grabbed ‘Cha Eui-jae’s shoulders and shook him back and forth. ‘Cha Eui-jae’ asked back with a bewildered face.
“What? What is it? Is this important?”
“Of course, you idiot! A void! You said a void!”
Golden patterns appeared in Hong Ye-seong’s eyes. The patterns spun around rapidly. He let go of the shoulders he had been holding and paced around the workshop in a zigzag pattern.
“That’s right, that’s what it was…. That guy’s mouth is a kind of Portal. The things that are eaten are moved to another dimension through its mouth and stomach!”
“…Huh?”
“There’s no need for eyes. It has to swallow everything indiscriminately. That’s how it can confirm the components of this world…. That’s right! Those guys were the advance party and survey team!”
Hong Ye-seong stretched his arms powerfully towards the ceiling. He looked like a soccer player who had scored a goal. ‘Cha Eui-jae’ threw a piece of jerky into his mouth and asked.
“It’s good that you’ve had an epiphany, but explain it in a way that’s easy to understand. Don’t just be happy by yourself?”
“Okay, I’ll explain it so that even an elementary school student can understand. That’s the virtue of a good educator.”
Hong Ye-seong chuckled, swept back his hair, and then carved something into the desk with a carving knife. A Monster with no eyes and a big mouth. The appearance of the Monster, commonly called ‘Big Mouth’.
“If you get eaten by this guy, you might be able to go to the source of Doomsday!”
“……”
“How about it? Let’s get eaten right now!”
“……”
A long silence followed. Hong Ye-seong asked with a puzzled face.
“Why are you reacting like that? This is a huge discovery? If there was a Nobel Prize in the Monster world, it would have received the Nobel Prize.”
‘Cha Eui-jae’ grabbed Hong Ye-seong by the collar instead of answering.
“Finally, you’re repaying kindness with evil!”
Aaaaaah…. Hong Ye-seong’s scream and ‘Cha Eui-jae’s shouting gradually faded away.
At the same time, Eui-jae opened his eyes.