By Zephyria 
Kugugugugung!
“Aaaagh!”
“Kyaaagh!”
The surrounding buildings collapsed due to the massive earthquake.
And to make matters worse, huge debris fell like a shadow over the children’s heads.
“Kids!!!!”
Kim Yeong ran from afar with a pale face.
“Get out of the way! Everyone, get out of the way!”
He shouted, pushing people aside. Hearing his desperately cracking voice, the children instinctively hugged each other. It was too late to escape. Ah, was this how they were going to die? Their shoulders hunched with fear.
“You, son of a bitch!”
Kim Ju-won cursed and embraced his younger siblings as if to protect them.
The moment everything seemed to end.
Ting-.
A clear, pure sound like a drop of water rang out.
An unbelievably clean resonance in the midst of the chaos.
Soon, an amazing thing happened.
The falling debris stopped in mid-air.
The sharp fragments remained floating in the air, the broken steel frames remained tilted.
Only the children could move.
“……!”
“W-What… is this?”
“Are we… alive?”
At the same time, a faint light was seeping out from somewhere in the Fatal Spirit’s torso.
Kim Ju-won stared at it as if possessed.
A place that pulsed and throbbed like his own pounding heart.
If you looked closely, the darkness of the Fatal Spirit was gathering there, desperately trying to block the leaking light.
“……!!”
Kim Ju-won suddenly realized.
“Ki Jae-eon.”
It was Ki Jae-eon’s power.
Yes, the fact that he was watching us from inside, protecting us!
Kim Ju-won pushed the children to safety and narrowed his eyes.
“……Heart.”
Somewhere in his heart, something clicked. He took out the Mystical Item, Thousand-League Flash, from his waist. The hand holding the bow naturally took position. The muscles of his whole body moved familiarly.
“A gap, uh. Yeah, I need a gap.”
Just like you helped us, you need our help too, right?
Kim Ju-won muttered and pulled the bowstring without hesitation. His bloodshot eyes stared at the throbbing part without a flicker.
Like a small help for a young bird that can’t break out of its egg.
If that small gap opens, hope will pour out!
“Please, …please.”
The bowstring taut.
Hoo, as the last breath escaped, his fingers released. Tung-! With a powerful snapping sound, the arrow flew like a slip.
The trajectory connecting hope is drawn high in the sky.
“Please!”
Thwack!
Did his wish reach?
The Thousand-League Flash’s arrow pierced the very center of the throbbing heart.
Crackle-! Cracks spread like spiderwebs from the arrowhead. Before long, the evil split apart, and light gushed out from the gap.
Paaat—-!
In an instant, the world was swallowed by a white flash.
A strong cluster of light that made it impossible to open your eyes.
Soon, a person walked out of the tunnel of light.
The evil began to crumble away following his steps. As if to show that darkness could not overcome light, it collapsed helplessly. The Fatal Spirit, which had even lost its form, the black mass, fell to the floor in pieces.
“You’re finally here…….”
Kim Ju-won, who had poured out all his strength, sat down on the spot and let out a hollow laugh. It was because an unbelievable sense of relief washed over him like a wave.
He swept his sweaty bangs back with the back of his hand, thinking he wanted to lie down.
Then suddenly, he jumped up and shouted.
“Ahn Seo-myeong!”
“What.”
“Uwaaaaaagh!”
A blunt answer came from behind.
Turning around, he saw Ahn Seo-myeong crawling up with his body in a mess.
“You, you how……!”
A squeak escaped from Kim Ju-won.
Ahn Seo-myeong hooked his elbows on the edge of the hole and pushed his upper body up. Ugh, I’m going to die. He spat out indifferently, not like someone who almost died.
“Hey, you, are you, okay?”
“Yeah, well. Sort of.”
“How…….”
“While falling… time stopped.”
One side of Ahn Seo-myeong’s lips lifted slightly.
“About a minute. If it hadn’t, I would have gone straight to hell.”
His gaze reached one person as he said that.
“Jae-eon hyung… saved me.”
At Ahn Seo-myeong’s answer, Kim Ju-won felt something welling up in his chest. An emotion that he couldn’t force himself to swallow. A feeling of wanting to embrace it all and pat him on the back. This is, uh, well done. Yeah, well done is right!
“Aish, seriously.”
Kim Ju-won eventually sniffled and raised his eyebrows sharply.
And he laughed.
It was a laugh that resembled crying, but anyway, he laughed.
“Good job, you bastard.”
“Well, it’s not over yet… I’ll save the praise for later.”
Hoo, Ahn Seo-myeong, who had caught his breath, took out the [Cursed Womb Cave] from his arms. A beautiful gourd was held in his blood-soaked hand. Ah, I didn’t know I would use this like this.
“It seems like a fitting end.”
Ahn Seo-myeong looked at the remains of the Fatal Spirit clinging to the floor and wriggling. The gesture was ugly, and at the same time, pitiful.
The desperate struggle to hold on to even the slightest breath until the very end, ironically, resembled a human being.
“…….”
Ahn Seo-myeong quietly lifted the bottle.
As the mouth of the bottle opened, a strange energy began to flow out little by little.
“As long as there are people in this world, Fatal Spirits will be born again. Because we are always anxious, suspicious, and angry.”
A vortex with great power arose from the entrance of the Cursed Womb Cave, and began to suck in the remains of the Fatal Spirit.
“So, we should rather create a place to hate to our heart’s content.”
[Gu Poison]
A hell that repeats until the last one remains.
“The Fatal Spirit will continue to multiply, so it will probably never be able to come out.”
Yes, the Fatal Spirit will endlessly eat, trample, and dig into itself, repeating annihilation and rebirth inside the Cursed Womb Cave.
Without being able to come out, forever.
“It’ll just struggle.”
Click.
The bottle cap was closed.
“Hoo.”
The fishy smell that had wrapped around the world disappeared with a single breeze.
Really, it’s over.
Like the future…….
Humanity has won.
Ahn Seo-myeong slowly turned his head.
In front of him, stood one Exorcist.
[Genius]
: Innately born, much more outstanding talent than others.
A talent who will lead the future of the Exorcist world.
A hero who saved the world once again.
Ki Jae-eon.
“…….”
Ahn Seo-myeong felt his heart warming and opened his lips.
“Welcome back, hyung.”
As soon as those words were spoken, the sun rose behind Ki Jae-eon.
A bright smile returns, today.
The long winter is over.
“Jae-eon hyung!”
“Oppa!”
“Hey, Ki Jae-eon!”
“Wow, it’s Jae-eon!”
The children ran from afar. Some staggered as if they were about to fall, some waved their arms wildly above their heads and smiled brightly, and others burst into tears, saying they had missed him.
In that way, at their own pace, in their own way, the children jumped at Ki Jae-eon.
No, perhaps Ki Jae-eon was reclaiming his world and walking back to his place.
“Uwaaaagh!”
“Agh!”
Eventually, Ki Jae-eon and the children got tangled up and rolled around on the floor. His head hit the hard floor with a thud! and tears welled up, but he soon forgot because the sky was so blue and beautiful.
“Heavy!”
“Get out of the way!”
“Aaaagh! Hey, my arm!”
The children, who had already started grumbling, forgetting their tearful reunion. Ki Jae-eon muttered without realizing it in the midst of them.
“……I’m hungry.”
“Huh?”
“Hyung, is that your first word?”
“Wow… uncool.”
“But I’m hungry too…….”
Gurgle!
Laughter erupted from all sides at someone’s hunger, and Ki Jae-eon laughed along with them in the middle of it.
“Heu, heut! Ahahaha!”
Yeah, this is what everyday life is like.
Ah, it’s so good.
I’m glad I held on until the end.
Well done, well done, me.
‘Thank you.’
Thank you for living!
*
[XX Month XX, 20XX]
Excerpt from the diary of an Exorcist.
There was a time when I resented God.
I worked so hard, betting everything in my life and making vows, but why give me another painful ordeal?
I resented and resented again.
Is it a punishment for taking my own life?
Is it a meaning to repent for my sins in reincarnation?
I asked the sky again and again.
But now I know.
I realized it myself.
Another life that I thought was a curse was an opportunity to undo everything.
Yeah, it’s not a curse.
Even if it doesn’t go my way.
Even if unbearable misfortune comes.
Even if I spend hard times that no one recognizes.
We must live.
We must drag our legs forcibly.
It’s okay to collapse several times.
It’s okay to give up.
It’s okay to cry.
It doesn’t matter if you complain and resent.
But live.
For yourself, not anyone else.
-How to Live as a Fallen Genius End-