361 – HGL 361

361

Eui-jae helped Sa-young up, who had been pushed even harder than he had and had fallen to the floor. Sa-young gritted his teeth.

“That… fucking bastard.”

“Hey, it’s okay. We got in thanks to him, though.”

“Haa….”

Sa-young swept back his messed-up hair with a frustrated expression. Eui-jae put his arm around Sa-young’s waist to support him as he surveyed their surroundings.

What lay before them was a completely white space. No ceiling, no walls. A place with nothing but white. Eui-jae poked the floor with his spear. Not even a scratch was left on the white floor.

“That’s weird. When I took out one of my past selves’ eyes… I don’t think it was like this.”

“Well… I guess we have no choice but to go forward. Don’t think about turning to the side, just go straight ahead.”

Eui-jae nodded and moved his feet. He felt strange every time he stepped. It wasn’t hard, it wasn’t soft, and it wasn’t like it was moving. It felt like walking on air.

No matter how much he walked, the surrounding scenery remained the same. Maybe they were just walking in place. As if having made up his mind, Eui-jae opened his mouth with a resolute voice.

“Sa-young.”

“No.”

What? Eui-jae looked at Sa-young with a dumbfounded expression, but he wasn’t even looking at Eui-jae, as if he had said something obvious.

“Hey, how do you know what I’m going to say?”

“Not ‘hey,’ Sa-young. And if you’re going to say something weird, just be quiet.”

“Listen. We can’t just walk around here until we run out of stamina.”

“So?”

“Since this place is connected to Doomsday, they must have blocked it off with a solid wall, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Let’s make a scene.”

Only then did violet eyes turn to him. Sa-young narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. Eui-jae nodded and pointed around.

“Who knows? Maybe this is just an illusion. And maybe we can draw Doomsday’s attention here. Then the people fighting outside might get a chance to catch their breath.”

“Ah…. That’s a pretty reasonable argument. Do you have the confidence to fight and win against Doomsday? Do you.”

“I don’t know about that.”

“…Are you ready for it?”

“Nope.”

“…….”

“I’ve never been ready, not even once. I’m a coward, so if I wait, it’ll be too late.”

Eui-jae grinned.

“So I decided to just do it and think about it later.”

Ha, a hollow laugh escaped Sa-young’s lips. He shook his head. A person like a bouncy ball that you never know where it will bounce. A person who can never live quietly. A person whose body moves before he thinks.

“Hyung, you’re really….”

“What, you got a problem with that?”

“No.”

The corners of his mouth curved into an arc. Sa-young slightly lowered his waist to meet his eyes. There was a smile in his narrow eyes.

“That’s why I think I like Hyung.”

“What…!”

“You’re telling me to make a scene, right? Come here.”

Sa-young grabbed Eui-jae’s arm and pulled him into his arms. And he reached out into the air. Black liquid flowed from five black fingers and dripped onto the floor.

The black liquids spread rapidly, filling the entire floor except for the small space where the two were standing. Sa-young frowned and moved his black fingers. The spreading speed increased each time his long fingers tapped the air like playing the piano.

Soon after, everything visible was filled with Lee Sa-young’s Poison. Eui-jae, with his waist hugged by Sa-young, poked the black floor with his spear.

“Huh?”

Unlike before, when not even a scratch was left, it went right into the floor. Sa-young watched Eui-jae push the spear in little by little as if he were harpooning something, and muttered.

“Looks like the floor’s gone.”

“What do you think, should we jump in?”

“…You’re really….”

Sa-young shook his head and pulled the arm around his waist. And he pressed the face of Eui-jae, who was pulled in, against his chest.

“Take a deep breath, and don’t look up, ever. Not until I tell you to.”

When he nodded, Sa-young wrapped his arms around Eui-jae’s head and waist and jumped into the sea of Poison.

Splash—

Whether he opened his eyes or closed them, he couldn’t see anything. It felt like a shipwreck sinking into the abyssal depths. Only the warmth of their bodies touching proved that it was real. They sank endlessly. Until he couldn’t hold his breath any longer.

How far had they sunk? Cough, the chest he was leaning on heaved, and bubbles rose. He must be running out of breath. Without hesitation, Eui-jae reached out, grabbed Sa-young’s cheeks, and kissed him. Breaths passed through the gap in their parted lips.

At that moment, his vision turned white.

Thud!

The long fall was over. Eui-jae took his lips away and patted the cheeks of Sa-young, who was lying beneath him, with his palm.

“Hey, Lee Sa-young, Sa-young! Wake up, are you okay?”

Cough, the body under his legs twitched and coughed. Sa-young rubbed his face with his hands, his face full of annoyance.

“Haa…. I’m fine, so stop hitting me.”

“Thank goodness. I thought you fainted.”

“Fainted my ass….”

Eui-jae got up. And he helped Sa-young, who was still coughing softly, to his feet. The place they arrived at the end of the long sea was another space, different from before. A sealed room with no doors or exits. The floor and walls were covered with countless scratches, knife marks, and brown stains.

“…Did someone fight here?”

“Hyung, over there.”

Sa-young pointed to the center of the space. There was a sphere floating in the air. It emitted a faint light, and it was tattered like the walls and floor of this space. Countless scratches and deep marks. The source looked so weak that it would crumble at the slightest touch.

“…….”

The desert where the memories of the dead piled up, the uneven road trodden by many people, the gap that could only be opened with the help of people who had passed by, and…

The source of Doomsday, weakened as if it would break soon.

They were traces left by the last struggles and failures of countless people.

Even if they failed,

If they didn’t give up until the end.

That all of it was not meaningless.

“Sa-young.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

They approached the source of Doomsday. A core as small as a person’s face. This was the source of Doomsday. Eui-jae let out a hollow laugh. Sa-young muttered as he looked at the source, which scattered a faint white light.

“Maybe it was bigger at first. So big that humans couldn’t even dare to touch it. Like the sun in the sky.”

“…….”

“But… someone must have kept trying to get rid of Doomsday.”

“People like us, you mean.”

“Yeah…. Maybe it’s right to call them crazy. Because you can’t do this with a sane mind.”

Their eyes met. The two exchanged smiles and reached out towards the source.

At that moment.

[Welcome, Cha Eui-jae, the first Awakened of the planet Earth.]

A pure white System Window appeared.

“…A System Window opens here?”

The hands of the two stopped in mid-air, just before touching the source. The pure white window reappeared after a slight pause.

[Congratulations on overcoming countless hardships and finally reaching the source of Doomsday.]

[Do you want to destroy the source of Doomsday?]

[Yes] [No]

He glanced at Sa-young, who was standing next to him. He only nodded, as if entrusting everything to him. Eui-jae took a breath and pressed Yes.

Then, this time, red letters appeared on the pure white window instead of black letters.

As if warning of what would happen in the future.

[Warning]

[If you destroy the source of Doomsday, the System will also disappear.]

[Caution! Here, the System includes not only the Awakened, but also everything that appeared with the advent of the System, such as Rifts, Dungeons, Gates, and Monsters.]

[Do you really want to destroy all of this?]

[Yes] [No]

“…Wait, System annihilation?”

Eui-jae’s hand stopped. The current world was running under the laws of the System. The Awakened, Hunters, Rifts, Dungeons, Gates, Monsters, Monster byproducts, Mana Stone, Guilds, and even the Status Window, all chosen and granted by the System. A world where all of this had become natural.

What if the System disappeared in this situation?

Sa-young tilted his head and muttered.

“Well… our abilities will disappear first. The world will change too. I wonder if we’ll go back to life before the Rifts opened. The Awakened Management Bureau, the Rift Management Bureau, and the Guilds will all disappear too.”

Sa-young twisted his lips and smiled.

“Haa…, there will be an overflow of unemployed people. Jung-bin and I will both become unemployed. You’ll have to support me.”

He laughed softly, as if it was funny.

The annihilation of the System, the world would once again face a cataclysm. Giving up the familiar new civilization and returning to the previous life. Could the people who had enjoyed the privileges of Hunters return to the lives of ordinary people? Could they adapt to a life without abilities? Corporations and workers, machines and factories running on Mana Stone, various equipment. And,

The fundamental change of the planet Earth was in this hand.

Sa-young, who was standing next to him, asked quietly.

“Are you worried?”

“It’s not that I’m worried, I’m just… thinking about it. What will happen if I don’t have abilities.”

Eui-jae suddenly looked at Sa-young with concern.

“You, if your abilities disappear… could you get sick again?”

“Maybe not. The wounds on my body were caused by Monster Poison. If Awakening and Monsters disappear together, the Poison won’t eat away at my body again.”

“…….”

“So do whatever you want. What are you going to do?”

The System exists because Doomsday exists, and Doomsday exists because the System exists. The two unknown entities must have been together for a very long time.

Someone had to break this cycle.

“…We can’t back down after coming this far.”

Eui-jae pressed Yes again. At that moment, the System Window turned bright red. The letters on the System Window became darker and then shattered in real time. The room turned bright red.

Creak…. A chilling noise that seemed to tear the ears apart filled the space.

[■■ Do■ of ■ource and ■■■ to des■■■■■■■■■]

[This ■oice can■ be rever■ed.]

[No]

[No]