By Zephyria The bed where they had laid their bodies, followed by the frame and walls that formed the house, disappeared, and a pure white void filled its place.
Amidst the white ashes swirling like a small storm, Eui-jae pulled on the hand he was holding, embracing the firm body into his arms as if to protect it. The large body was pulled in without resistance. But that was only for a moment; the warm body temperature he felt in his arms slowly disappeared.
Cha Eui-jae opened his eyes wide. He released the arm that had wrapped around his back and spread both hands to check.
It was empty. Both his arms and his hands.
Cha Eui-jae gritted his teeth and shouted.
“Lee Sa-young!”
In that instant, Eui-jae’s eyes widened. In the void where nothing had been, someone wearing black clothes was kneeling, leaning his upper body against something black. It was a familiar yet unfamiliar back view. That was because it was rare to see his own back. But he knew.
That is ‘me.’
Eui-jae stared blankly at the back view. Soon, ‘he’ raised his head. Slowly getting up, ‘he’ looked down at what he had been leaning on. It was a black coffin. He whispered affectionately.
‘It’s okay.’
‘Just sleep for a little while.’
The next moment, Cha Eui-jae was walking. He crossed the desolate, dead grass that had dried up in the yard. Fierce flames flickered in the kiln located in one corner of the yard, and a pungent smell stung the tip of his nose. Cha Eui-jae roughly threw open the tightly closed sliding door.
In the middle of the workshop, where all sorts of tools and materials were scattered messily, Hong Ye-seong, who was wearing a magnifying glass that protruded like a magnifying glass, straightened his hunched body. The dirt-covered sandals slapped the floor.
“Hey, wipe off the blood before you come in.”
Cha Eui-jae roughly rubbed the blood on the mask with the back of his hand. His lips twitched.
“It’s not my blood.”
“Sure, sure. Is it still the same outside?”
“Yeah.”
“…….”
“It’s too late.”
“…….”
“I didn’t come here to talk about this… Hong Ye-seong, you said you can manipulate Shield, right?”
Hong Ye-seong blinked and shrugged his shoulders.
“Yeah? Well, as you can see, it’s not a big deal. Just enough to build my own nest.”
“I have a favor to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Create a Shield using my memories. It can be very small.”
“What? Out of the blue?”
“Can’t you?”
“Aish, what do you think of me? …Actually, it might not be possible. Hmm, I guess I’ll have to try.”
“…….”
“But why all of a sudden?”
Anxiety settled on Hong Ye-seong’s face.
“Don’t tell me Lee Sa-young is… cough, hey, you’re not thinking of following him, are you?”
“…As you may have noticed, this world is about to end. It’s already exceeded its limit.”
“…….”
“I can’t do it alone. Even with you, it’s impossible.”
Hong Ye-seong rubbed his cheek with a gloomy face.
“…Fortunately, there’s still a last resort left.”
Cha Eui-jae abruptly rolled up the sleeve of his combat uniform. And as if to show off, he held out his left wrist. A pristine silver watch sparkled. A shimmering golden aura rose like smoke above the watch glass.
Then he took off his mask. A tired face and red, swollen eyes were revealed. However, his eyes flickered with a vivid blue light.
“I’m going to turn back time. To before Doomsday happens.”
“But to use that… you need an axis.”
“I’ll be the axis. I’ve experienced it once, so I won’t fail next time. And I have time to prepare.”
Hong Ye-seong swallowed hard. He asked in a low voice.
“Is that really the only reason?”
“…….”
“No other reason…?”
‘Cha Eui-jae’ doesn’t answer and keeps his mouth shut. Before he knew it, Eui-jae was separated from ‘him,’ watching their appearance from a step back.
Cha Eui-jae doesn’t give up. If there’s something to protect.
That him gave up.
Eui-jae thought of the black coffin. He felt like he knew who the owner of that coffin was. No, in fact, he might have realized it from the moment he saw it. The owner of the coffin is….
A face smiling with narrowed eyes came to mind. As did the voice that softly called him.
‘Hyung.’
Lee Sa-young. His mouth went dry. He muttered as if chewing and spitting it out.
“I won’t lose you again.”
“…….”
“Never.”
Hong Ye-seong looked at Cha Eui-jae with a pitiful face, but didn’t add anything else. Instead, he brought a box from the corner, opened it, and began rummaging through it. It was a box full of Mana Stones of different colors and sizes. He held a purple Mana Stone up to the ceiling light and asked.
“Okay. Then why are you leaving the memories behind? How does that help?”
“…….”
Koo-oong…. The ground shook. The materials stacked on the cabinet fell to the floor with a crash.
“Aah!” Hong Ye-seong screamed and frantically picked up the materials. ‘Cha Eui-jae’ looked out the door. The sky was covered in a pure white vortex. It could no longer be called a sky. White ashes fluttered like snow.
Eui-jae’s lips twitched. The voices of ‘Cha Eui-jae’ and Eui-jae overlapped.
“Because that’s how I’ll be able to endure it.”
If I gather the best and kindest things, even if there comes a day when I can’t bear life…
I’ll be able to breathe there, even if only for a moment.
In an instant, everything around him was dyed black and white. Like a scene captured in a black and white photograph, the flow of air, the falling and shaking materials, even ‘Cha Eui-jae’ and Hong Ye-seong stopped. No one was alive and breathing. Soon, everything began to crumble like dust.
At that moment, he felt a gaze from somewhere. In the crumbling and collapsing taxidermied black and white photograph, the only thing moving. It was the golden Emotional Eye. Countless overlapping and intertwined patterns were alive and breathing.
The Emotional Eye stared intently at Eui-jae. Was that the signal? The taxidermied Hong Ye-seong creaked and wriggled. He slowly raised his hand. And with his index finger, he pointed directly at Cha Eui-jae. It was a stiff and clumsy movement like a doll. Goosebumps rose all over his body. His mind, which had been hazy, became clear again.
His lips twitched.
This is the third and final chance.
I can’t hold on any longer. Neither him, nor you.
Don’t fail this time.
What does that mean? He tried to ask, but he couldn’t move his mouth or body. A strong gust of wind swept through, pushing Eui-jae away. The lips below the golden Emotional Eye drew a long arc.
I’m watching.
Explain what you mean right now! Eui-jae desperately raised his arm with superhuman strength. And he reached out towards Hong Ye-seong. But he was already too far away to grab. Hong Ye-seong in the black and white photograph waved his hand with stiff movements like a doll.
Goodbye, friend.
You son of a bitch! Unable to contain his resentment, Eui-jae moved his stiff hand and flipped his middle finger up. Hahahaha…, a hearty laugh faded away.
Flash!
A dazzling light flashed like a camera flash. Eui-jae tightly closed his eyes.
When Eui-jae opened his eyes, he was floating in a pure white void. It was like becoming a glass bottle drifting aimlessly in the sea. However, unlike his peaceful body, his head was a mess. Third, failure, Lee Sa-young…. His head, which had been inputted with too much information at once, screamed.
In the Fragment that Yoon Ga-eul showed, wasn’t it clear that Cha Eui-jae had lost his life first?
Why is he alive and well in the scene I just saw?
Is Student Ga-eul safe? Is this the world where Student Ga-eul was dragged to?
Why am I friends with Hong Ye-seong?
Putting that aside, even if I turned back time, why don’t I have any memories?
What about Lee Sa-young, who was sitting alone in the dark space?
No, damn it, where is Lee Sa-young now?
Amidst the swirling thoughts, the last thing that decorated it was Lee Sa-young, who had disappeared from his arms. Eui-jae frowned. Did he return to the original world? Because he came over because of the System’s reward. He would rather that be the case….
At that moment, the empty space hummed.
…….
“…Huh?”
Eui-jae raised his head. The humming sound became clearer and clearer.
…Hyung.
He could finally distinguish the voice. It was Lee Sa-young’s voice. What, where are you? Eui-jae stretched his neck out like a turtle. And,
Cha Eui-jae!
Lee Sa-young shouted his name loudly. Eui-jae was overwhelmed and got up. He’s calling Hyung’s name again—
“Without…”
Cha Eui-jae opened his eyes. The pure white void was nowhere to be seen, and a familiar ruin with white ashes fluttering greeted him. He slowly blinked. In that instant, his heart beat rapidly.
It was too similar to the inside of the West Sea Rift. No, this might be the West Sea Rift. He might have finally been dragged there….
At that moment, he felt a strong pressure on his upper body.
“Shit….”
Along with it was the sensation of soft hair brushing against him. Eui-jae took a deep breath. He was being hugged by Lee Sa-young. He could hear the lukewarm warmth touching his body and the rapidly beating hearts of two people.
Lee Sa-young, who was clutching the back of his clothes as if to tear them, muttered.
“Why wouldn’t you wake up….”
Eui-jae carefully patted Sa-young’s back.
Boo-oo…. The cry of something huge was heard. Eui-jae, still hugged by Lee Sa-young, raised his head.
Blue eyes quickly scanned the surroundings. A familiar form of flame flickered nearby. It’s Yoon Ga-eul. But soon, a huge shadow covered the flame. Eui-jae raised his gaze to find the source of the sound.
Beyond the pure white horizon, a giant whale soared from the sea of white ashes.