By Zephyria 354
The waist, kicked twice, throbbed. Hong Ye-seong, I will repay you for sure. Eui-jae gritted his teeth and slowly raised himself. The sand under his hands and feet was soft. No, it wasn’t sand.
He bent down and picked up what was piled on the ground. The pure white powder flowed softly through his hands and scattered. It was too soft to be sand, and it didn’t stick to his hands like ash.
Then what is this?
Eui-jae looked up at the sky. Heavy snow was falling from the hazy sky. Eui-jae reached out his hand. The moment a snowflake landed on his calloused hand,
‘…I love you, honey.’
The face and voice of an unknown man flashed through his mind and disappeared. The man was vomiting blood, his stomach pierced by something like a pipe. Eui-jae quickly clenched his fist. What was that just now? He reached out his hand again. Another snowflake landed.
‘…I don’t want to die….’
This time, it was a woman’s whisper. She was crouching, hiding under a building. Blood flowing from her side pooled on the ground. Again, an unfamiliar face. Eui-jae looked at the snow pouring from the sky and suddenly realized.
This isn’t snow….
‘Is it like… the last memories of the dead?’
The memories, shattered like snow, became one with the desert dust the moment they touched the ground. A chilling premonition ran down his spine.
Is this vast desert made of people’s memories?
The desert was vast, with no end in sight. Even the distant white horizon was blurry. How many people’s memories are buried here? He couldn’t even begin to imagine.
This isn’t just Cha Eui-jae’s world’s memories. It must be a desert formed by the accumulation of countless other worlds, destroyed by Doomsday.
How many worlds have been destroyed?
Eui-jae moved his stiff legs, stepping on people’s memories as he moved forward. Eui-jae raised his voice.
“Lee Sa-young!”
Cha Eui-jae couldn’t have arrived alone. If it’s Hong Ye-seong, he would have definitely sent Lee Sa-young too. He has to find him. Eui-jae called out again.
“Lee Sa-young! Where are you!”
No answer came back. Eui-jae looked up. People’s memories continue to fall. At first glance, it was a beautiful scene, like heavy snow falling, but knowing the reality, it was chilling.
How many people are dying? In places where he isn’t.
Eui-jae gritted his teeth. He knows it in his head. He has to find the source of Doomsday first. So he has to stop this damn snow. So that no more people die.
But.
He spread out his hand. The long scar on his hand, the golden chain above it, sparkled. Eui-jae clenched his fist.
“…Sa-young!”
He couldn’t leave Lee Sa-young behind.
Instead of waiting for an answer that wouldn’t come, Eui-jae kicked off the ground. His gray hair fluttered. His body swayed as if he would fall.
‘You come find me first. Like you used to.’
Cha Eui-jae doesn’t know who said those words. Lee Sa-young wasn’t in the West Sea Rift. He was in the lab back then. But….
Eui-jae gritted his teeth. He regained his balance, which had been swaying as if he would fall. He ran. Beneath his feet, the pure white powder, the memories of people he didn’t know, scattered into the air.
The light pouring from the sky gradually faded. The Whitehole, which had been swirling white, gradually turned black, and finally became completely black. Doomsday closed its eyes.
“The eye… is closed!”
Cheers erupted from the situation room. Ham Seok-jeong let out a sigh of relief. But she couldn’t relax yet. Not until that thing completely disappeared from the sky. She gave instructions in a stern voice.
“Don’t let your guard down. Recover the casualties and proceed with the rescue operation! We don’t know when it will open its eyes again!”
The Hunters began to move busily. Min-gi Seo cautiously approached her side. He whispered in a low voice.
“Hunter Song Jo-heon opened the prison door and left.”
“Hmph, he finally made up his mind after the situation was over. It’s a shame he didn’t have any room to play an active role.”
Ham Seok-jeong scoffed briefly.
“Shall we bring him back?”
“Let him be. It’s a waste of manpower to bring him back.”
Min-gi Seo shrugged and disappeared back into the shadows. She stared at the screen with fierce eyes.
“What’s the situation with the Seowon Guild?”
“It’s already over capacity! They can’t accept any more injured people, and they’re prioritizing Mutation patients. Civilians and general patients are being directed to civilian hospitals.”
“Be careful not to cut off power to the hospitals, and deploy personnel to guide the injured. And….”
At that moment, a red goldfish popped out of her ear and hovered in front of Ham Seok-jeong’s nose, wagging its tail.
[We’ll take care of that, Director~]
It was a sly voice. She laughed in disbelief and asked.
“Have you finally decided on a new home?”
[Don’t even mention it. Moving is no easy task.]
“…Where is the new home? I’ll tell you where it is later. That’s not what’s important right now.”
Blue light flickered in the dark room. It was the light coming from the huge screen that filled the wall. A young man sat on the desk in front of the screen, legs crossed, tapping his loafers. He had a phone to his ear and a relaxed smile on his face.
“There’s no need to waste valuable manpower guiding the injured~ I’ll attach a goldfish to each one to guide them. Right, Hyung?”
“U-uh….”
As the young man sitting in the chair typed something, the screen expanded and a large map appeared. The younger brother, Mackerel, got off the desk and put his arm around his brother’s shoulder.
“Okay, tell me where to send the goldfish.”
“A-alright.”
The younger brother, Mackerel, pushed up his brother’s slightly slipped glasses and greeted the person on the other end of the phone.
“If you share the Bureau of Rift Management data, it will go faster~ Please send the data to the number you always contact. Ah, the price? We can negotiate the price later~ Yes, yes~ Oh, thank you~”
Pop!
The goldfish swimming in front of her disappeared in a puff of smoke. It was a timely help in a situation where every single person was precious. She changed her instructions.
“The Mackerel Brothers will guide the injured! The deployed Hunters will be responsible for transporting the injured who have difficulty moving. What’s the situation with Team Leader Jung?”
“The police have subdued the civilians, and Hunter Honeybee has already subdued Matthew. He is being escorted to the Bureau of Rift Management.”
“I understand. Then….”
“…Ah!”
The face of the Hunter who was watching the screen turned pale. Ham Seok-jeong approached the Hunter, leaning on her cane.
“What’s wrong?”
“The, the eye….”
He pointed to the screen with a trembling finger. The screen he was looking at was a camera aimed at the vortex in the sky.
The edge of the Black Hole was turning white again.
“…Damn it, how long has it been since it closed!”
Ham Seok-jeong raised her voice.
“Contact everyone immediately! Don’t let your guard down! We have to respond again!”
Cold sweat pooled in her palms. She closed her eyes. You can’t leave everything to one person. But….
“J…!”
At this moment, she couldn’t help but look for one person. Ham Seok-jeong prayed earnestly with her eyes closed. Please let him do it, and, please let him come back safely.
Lee Sa-young.
Amidst the noise of the airport, someone’s call brushed past his ear. The young Sa-young, holding a doll in his arms, suddenly stopped and turned his head. Hadn’t someone called his name? He looked around, but saw only people busily going their own way. His mother, who was holding his hand, also stopped.
“Sa-young, what’s wrong?”
“…Nothing.”
Did he hear wrong? Sa-young blinked his black eyes. His mother pulled Sa-young’s hand and said kindly.
“Then let’s go quickly. I booked our Sa-young’s seat by the window. Let’s go while looking outside. Okay?”
“…Okay.”
Sa-young nodded. The moment he stood at the end of the long line, the scenery in front of him became mixed up.
When he opened his eyes, he was holding a huge spear. The spear was piercing something grotesquely twisted, something that was neither human nor Monster. Red blood dripped from the tip of the spear. His hands trembled. ‘He’ was afraid. He was scared. Of this situation in front of him.
In front of him, the people who were dismantling the Monster looked at him. They had empty, vacant faces. He struggled to gather his voice, which wouldn’t come out, and squeezed out a voice.
“…Don’t eat it.”
“…….”
“If you eat it…. You can become like ■■■ Hunter. Don’t eat it.”
No answer came back. The people mechanically began to dismantle the Monster. He closed his eyes. Helplessness weighed down his entire body.
Lee Sa-young.
Again, he heard someone calling his name. In an instant, Sa-young came to his senses. He was in a memory that wasn’t his. The young man wearing a black mask pulled the spear out of the corpse. Thud, blood splattered on his body. He staggered and began to drag the corpse he had killed.
In an instant, Sa-young was overwhelmed by the desire to embrace his slumped shoulders.
His transparent body became a little clearer.