By Zephyria 
Tae-un leaned back against the sofa, resting his arm along the top as if draping it over a shoulder. Even with his head tilted down, his gaze remained above. When had the little kid who barely reached his chest grown so much?
〈What if I don’t grow even after I go to middle school?〉
〈Your father was tall. You’ll have a growth spurt soon, too.〉
〈Taller than you, hyung?〉
〈How about a goal that feels achievable rather than one that’s too high?〉
He had replied playfully when the boy, who wasn’t even 150 centimeters, expressed the ambition of wanting to be taller than him—a man over 180 centimeters—but he had truly grown far taller.
From his thick eyebrows to the firm set of his lips. Except for the fact that he was still pretty, there were almost no traces of the old days in his features, yet the look in his eyes remained as gentle and soft as it was in his boyhood.
“Stop acting up.”
When Kim Si-baek flicked his forehead with an index finger, Tae-un retreated with a bashful smile.
[Death and Beauty points out that it is inappropriate to associate the description ‘bashful smile’ with a man of that size and impression.]
‘He might be big, but he’s still a kid…’
No, that wasn’t right. He was thirty-five years old and the representative of a company; he couldn’t treat him like a child forever. Kim Si-baek put strength into his eyes to avoid seeing Tae-un as a child, but…
“…?”
When Tae-un met his eyes and gave a beaming, eye-curving smile in confusion, Kim Si-baek melted instantly. Even the way he smiles with his eyes is cute… like a baby rabbit…
[Death and Beauty is suffering, pleading for you to please snap out of it.]
Feeling suddenly embarrassed, Kim Si-baek cleared his throat and changed the subject.
“Whether the system is a god or not, I don’t think we should ignore the warning that Earth might be destroyed. The vision felt vivid and real, but were there any incidents that could be seen as omens?”
“Hmm, I’m not sure about other countries, but for now, there haven’t been any special problems in our country. Around the time you returned, hyung, the magical beasts near Daejeon suddenly went on a rampage, but they were suppressed within the barrier.”
“What about Seoul? The scenery in the vision looked like Seoul.”
“Because the magical beasts appeared primarily in Seoul during the Great Cataclysm, people barely managed to escape with only their lives. To this day, Seoul and northern Gyeonggi Province remain as habitats for magical beasts.”
Tae-un brought over a laptop and accessed a website that appeared to be a security site, pulling up photos. They were satellite images.
“Let’s see… these are satellite photos taken ten days ago, and Namsan Tower is intact.”
Since he wasn’t familiar with satellite imagery, he struggled for a bit, but he could faintly see Namsan Tower where Tae-un pointed. The dark, clumped energies scattered here and there were likely the nests of magical beasts.
Why on earth did the vision show Seoul?
“There shouldn’t be any magical beasts with a height that tall in Seoul currently… was it perhaps a flying type?”
“I’m not sure. It passed by too quickly.”
“Since Han-gyeol is a mage, it’s extremely rare for him to go to the front lines. If he died, there’s a high probability that everyone, including me, would have died too.”
His tone was indifferent and businesslike, as if he were giving a briefing.
“By the way, Si-baek hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“I thought you would go back to mak slecht immediately.”
“….”
For a moment, he didn’t know how to answer. Because what he said was the truth.
Tae-un looked down indifferently at his teacup, which he hadn’t taken a single sip from.
“Honestly, it’s true. You finally returned to Earth, only to find all traces of your existence erased; what lingering attachment could there be? I’m not blaming you; even I would have wanted to go back. You’re the one who was hurt.”
“….”
“And the only human you remember isn’t as cute as he used to be.”
The gaze rising from the teacup captured Kim Si-baek, flickering with mischief again. Kim Si-baek swallowed a shallow sigh and lightly pinched and shook Tae-un’s cheek. It wasn’t plump with baby fat like when he was young, but it was soft.
“You’re cute.”
“Really?”
“It’s like how children always look cute to parents in their eighties, even when the child turns sixty.”
“Comparing us to parents and children… somehow that feels more immoral.”
“Huh?”
“It’s nothing.”
Tae-un brushed off the sudden remark with a laugh and continued the interrupted conversation.
“It was this world that forgot and abandoned you first. So, whether it’s destroyed or not, there’s no need to care. I want you to only think about how to return to mak slecht. If it’s you, you must have made many precious people there as well. Right?”
“…Un-ah, what about you?”
“I’ve met you, hyung. I’m satisfied just knowing that you haven’t gone crazy.”
As he spoke, he took Kim Si-baek’s hand and quietly interlaced his fingers.
“And I can be sure again that you’re a living person, not a vision.”
“….”
“Above all, I don’t like that the system forces duty and sacrifice only upon you. If it’s a world that can only be maintained if someone sacrifices themselves, it’s better for it to be destroyed. Moreover, if that target is you, I almost want to destroy it with my own hands.”
When he said those last words, his ink-colored eyes murmured gloomily and dryly. Tae-un’s fingers, interlaced so tightly it almost hurt, constricted his hand.
Unlike the strong force gripping him as if Kim Si-baek were the only one left in the world, the only person on Earth who remembered him readily allowed it.
“You can go back, hyung.”
✽ ✽ ✽
A way to return to mak slecht.
Right now, no ideas came to mind. Not only was he ignorant of the relevant knowledge, but as a priest, there was no way he would know something that Biyendwe did not. Furthermore, Biyendwe was not in a position to seek advice from other gods in the divine realm.
However, if it were mak slecht, the story would be different.
[Death and Beauty asserts that the method will be found in mak slecht.]
The concepts regarding multi-dimensions are established in mak slecht. However, his crash-landing in mak slecht 68 years ago was an event that even the gods had not anticipated. Even the gods had no way of knowing Earth’s coordinates.
This situation was different from back then.
The incident occurred in mak slecht, and a god’s avatar had crossed over to Earth together. Since the divinity was connected, it should be possible to determine Earth’s coordinates. Though it would not be an easy task.
“As long as you and Lord Biyendwe do not give up on returning.”
[Death and Beauty trembles, wondering if you would actually abandon me.]
“It’s a joke, a joke.”
He could abandon a mere apostle, but he would not ignore Biyendwe in the divine realm. The premise of protecting a child is the same whether for a god or a human.
Kim Si-baek swallowed a sigh inwardly and leaned deep into the sofa. The time spent contemplating was not short, but he still felt as if he were wandering through a fog.
If a path back to mak slecht ever opened, would he be willing to leave Earth behind, leaving the destruction of a world that did not remember him? Did not returning truly mean his own sacrifice?
[Death and Beauty evaluates that since it is a duty forcibly imposed only upon my apostle, it is indeed a sacrifice.]
Yes, perhaps so. Even though this world had abandoned him first, it might be forcing sacrifice and threatening him while pretending to welcome him out of necessity.
“If the coordinates with Earth are connected, should I return immediately?”
[Death and Beauty guesses that maintaining a dimensional passage for a long time would be difficult.]
Even if it could be maintained, they wouldn’t keep it open for a mere human.
[Death and Beauty emphasizes that I and my apostle must return to mak slecht. He explains that the destruction of a world is a task that the god and humanity of that world must bear; there is no reason for my apostle to sacrifice himself to stop it. Above all, he argues that it is not right to place the entire burden on one person’s shoulders. Furthermore, my apostle is angry that he was abandoned.]
As if he were quite displeased with the current situation, Biyendwe’s divine utterance grew longer. As the divine utterance lengthened, Kim Si-baek’s thoughts became more tangled.
A habit he usually had when his mind was complicated emerged. As he injected divine power into the ring, old photos from the orphanage came to mind. In mak slecht, he had calmed his heart by looking at photos taken with his younger siblings, but now it only made him more distressed.
Seo Gae-un and Lee Han-gyeol. And the grown-up versions of the siblings he hadn’t seen yet overlapped blurrily over the photos. Since Un-i, Ga-eun, and Han-gyeol grew up so well, the others must have as well.
He found it horrific to imagine himself searching through piles of corpses, like a lingering afterimage in his mind, looking for bodies he suspected were his siblings. If he didn’t see anyone who looked like them, would he feel relieved and return?
Even after turning away knowing those children would die, could I truly live properly? Could I eat, sleep, and enjoy a peaceful life while pretending not to know and smiling?
“Damn it.”
This world was the one that abandoned me first.
“…If it was going to be like this, they shouldn’t have erased me from the start.”
Kim Si-baek muttered lowly and closed his eyes. His head felt heavy, exhausted from long contemplation, but sleep would not come. Perhaps it was better, as he would only have nightmares if he fell asleep.
A distant fall gripped his ankles.
A full day passed after that, but the situation remained unchanged. After telling him to go back, Tae-un did not bring up the topic at all. On the other hand, Biyendwe, who was quite displeased that his apostle had to play the role of humanity’s savior in a world that had abandoned him, spoke a few words.
Kim Si-baek, who gave only ambiguous answers about whether he would return or not, stared at the tablet screen for a long time. The screen of the tablet he received from Tae-un showed a satellite photo of Seoul.
“…It’s all ruined.”
Biyendwe, who had been drooping listlessly on top of his head, opened his eyes.
“Here, this is the neighborhood where I lived before entering the orphanage.”
Steep stairs that climbed endlessly upward and narrow, winding alleys. The shanty houses that had once filled his vision had long since crumbled. In the hillside village, where bloodstains scattered everywhere had faded and skeletal remains rolled around, magical beasts—not humans—were roaming everywhere.
Even if Seoul were restored, no one would be interested in that decayed and dilapidated place. This village, where he was born and raised, now forgotten and standing at the edge of destruction and ruin, felt just like Kim Si-baek himself.
“I left forever after my sibling disappeared and my father passed away. One of the things I regretted most in mak slecht was that I never returned after leaving this neighborhood.”
Before meeting his siblings at the orphanage, Kim Si-baek had a biological sibling. A sibling who had disappeared when he was young, and whose death he only learned of very late.
“Returning to the neighborhood was too painful. I felt as if the remaining traces and memories of my sibling would resent me.”
“….”
“Isn’t that stupid? This was the only place with memories to reminisce about my dead sibling.”
Kim Si-baek, who rubbed his face in pain while vomiting memories of a sibling who died decades ago, put down the tablet.
“If my sibling hadn’t died and were still alive, would they have forgotten me too? Would I have turned away from them again, saying it doesn’t matter because I was forgotten?”
Biyendwe let out a small sigh and curled up snugly on top of his head. This was because he could guess his apostle’s intention. As expected, as Kim Si-baek spoke to him, his voice gradually became calmer, as if he were untangling the confused threads of his heart.
“I need to meet Un-i.”