Chapter 112
Before the artificial Gate created by the professor had fully formed, the entrance to the space began to shake violently. I looked at the entrance with an anxious face. It seemed that some people Yu Hyunjae hadn’t managed to stop had already come down here. Breaking through the locked entrance was an easy task. As soon as the door opened, Han Jaemin’s bloodshot eyes were the first thing I saw.
“You crazy bastard, stop it!”
Han Jaemin ran to me and grabbed my shoulder. Just as his fist was about to fly, someone violently pushed him away. As the space expanded, Han Jaemin flew endlessly far. Surprised, I looked behind me to find Yu Hyunjae breathing heavily. Yu Hyunjae was covered in blood and limping. Several bodyguards protecting Han Jaemin quickly blocked Yu Hyunjae. Before he could defend himself, attacks infused with mana came crashing down on him.
“When will it be done? When will it come out?”
When I asked urgently, the professor frowned and answered.
“20 minutes.”
“Can it be shortened?”
“No. We have to hold on.”
The fight continued as the space expanded uncontrollably. It was the first time I’d seen Yu Hyunjae use mana with my own eyes, but even a quick glance was enough to feel how dramatically different he was from other Rankers. Yu Hyunjae dodged attacks at speeds that ordinary people couldn’t even perceive, looking for openings in his opponents. Since it was many against one, he seemed to know he needed to be on the defensive and take utmost care.
“When the hell did he learn combat skills like that…?”
Han Jaemin, who had been knocked down far away, struggled to his feet. Since Han Jaemin wasn’t a Ranker, I thought I might be able to handle him myself.
“Don’t bother stepping in and just leave it to me. I’m in a better position than you.”
“Professor, you need to focus on creating the Gate…”
The professor sighed deeply and looked at the Gate.
“Take it easy. If you create the Gate only to die, that would be troublesome.”
“I won’t die.”
Han Jaemin was still staggering, unable to steady himself, as he walked toward us. His suit draped over his long limbs. I slowly raised my head to face him.
“Yu Chanhee.”
“What.”
“I told you to knock it off.”
“I warned you too. That this wouldn’t end well for you.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Judge what? Are you going to realize it’s wrong only after experiencing everything yourself? Just listen to me. Why not? You don’t want to?”
“I really hate bastards like you.”
“What?”
“Talkative, chattering, noisy kids.”
Han Jaemin took a pistol from his pocket and fired at me without hesitation. The bullet shattered right before my eyes. It seemed the professor had caught that split-second to block it. If neither Han Jaemin nor I used mana, it would be one thing, but if they started using weapons, that was another story.
“You’re going to kill me? What will you do about the mana if I die?”
“Shut up.”
The place Han Jaemin aimed at was oddly off-center—somewhere around my arm or leg. The professor continued to block the attacks, but there would be limits to that. Fortunately, it seemed he had run out of bullets. Han Jaemin lowered his gun for a moment and glared at me, breathing roughly.
“Now I have no reason to tolerate your childish behavior anymore, so I’ll just cut off your limbs.”
“Same goes for you. Do you think anyone wanted to participate in your precious rebellion game?”
“Still all talk. Someone who can’t even use mana.”
“Look who’s talking—someone trying to steal mana from someone who ‘can’t even use mana.'”
In the middle of our verbal standoff, a purple window suddenly appeared in mid-air.
[99% to user’s goal, 1% remaining until achievement!]
[You’re about to reach your ultimate goal! Prepare to celebrate!]
“Celebrate my ass.”
I couldn’t know how the situation would change once the goal reached 100%. Since the goal was ultimately my death, I might simply die in vain and return to the previous state, or perhaps I would meet eternal rest. So, before this goal was achieved, I needed to quickly place all of Yu Dohyun’s remains inside the Gate.
“8 minutes left.”
“Can you hold out?”
“Against that one guy, maybe, but if those guys behind him join in, it might be difficult.”
Already, several Rankers that Yu Hyunjae had taken down were on the floor. Yu Hyunjae staggered, breathing heavily. I sensed that he had reached his limit too. I couldn’t helplessly rely only on Yu Hyunjae and the professor. I desperately called up the status window again.
“Status window, come out.”
[Welcome, Administrator.]
[You can now control all settings.]
[To view goal progress, press 1; to view user’s critical values, press 2; to modify goals, press 3; to manage user settings, press 0; to exit, say ‘exit’.]
“Am I definitely the administrator?”
[The person currently logged in is the Administrator, the Administrator.]
[Searching for Administrator information.]
[Name: Yu,]
It only showed “Yu,” and then the system window froze. This had never happened before. I tried summoning the system again, but with the same result. Having confirmed what I needed, I began gathering mana energy for the first time in a while. It was unfamiliar but not difficult. The surging mana was clearly different in scale and feeling compared to before. Naturally, since I now fully possessed Yu Dohyun’s as well. In this situation, it didn’t matter whether I was Yu Dohyun or Yu Chanhee.
“Hyunjae.”
When I called Yu Hyunjae’s name softly, he slowly turned to look at me. Even keeping his eyes open seemed difficult.
“You’ve done well. I’ll finish it from here.”
“No, you can’t use mana.”
“It’s okay. I just need to use this damn thing and then get rid of it right away.”
“Chanhee, no. We just need to wait a little longer…”
Without listening to Yu Hyunjae until the end, I extended my right hand. Something like a condensed ball of air shot out quickly and hit the head of a Ranker behind Yu Hyunjae. After using mana once, I felt lighter. I charged toward them, moving quickly with energy in my feet. I could sense Han Jaemin’s subordinates becoming flustered at my sudden movement.
I ran to the fallen Ranker, picked up his gun, and quickly shot the thighs of the one standing at the front. With a scream of agony, one man collapsed pathetically.
“Attack together!”
At Han Jaemin’s command, the Rankers began rushing toward me in unison. It seemed they hadn’t received their training in vain. I kicked the side of the leftmost guy with all my might. There was a cracking sound of ribs breaking, and the remaining two who were pushed by him rolled far away together. I didn’t know the limits of the space expansion, but they were out of sight.
“Wow. Yu Dohyun’s strength is insane.”
“Chanhee, you…”
Only then did I realize that blood was flowing from my nose.
“I’m fine. At least for now.”
Yu Hyunjae collapsed as he tried to walk toward me. I held him and laid him down to the side.
“I’ll finish this quickly and come back.”
Yu Hyunjae nodded slowly at my whisper. I got up at the professor’s cry that only 2 minutes remained and approached the Gate. Faint forms had begun to appear in the Gate.
“Is it coming out soon?”
“Yes. It’s just a puppet in Yu Dohyun’s form anyway, so don’t think about awkward communication or anything—just release the mana.”
“But there’s an important problem.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know how to extract mana.”
When I laughed hollowly, the professor pressed her forehead.
“Both the Gate and that puppet were made as absorbers, so you just need to make skin contact anywhere.”
“I see.”
“Yes. Even though it’s a puppet, that doll still has some information values about Yu Dohyun that I remember. That’s necessary to create a human-like shape. Whatever it says, don’t mind it—just grab its face or something.”
“Can I hit it once?”
“I don’t mind. Though it would pain me as its creator.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
I gave up on my determination to cleanly hit it once and looked at the Gate. The figure inside the Gate was becoming increasingly distinct. It was definitely different from the previous necromancy. When performing necromancy, it looked as if Yu Dohyun was walking from far away, but here, it was created as if mud was being clumped together. Just as Yu Dohyun’s face was plausibly formed, I heard running footsteps from behind. I instinctively used mana to restrain him.
“Never give him mana!”
“Stop now. It’s all over.”
I looked coldly at Han Jaemin.
“I told you in a way you could understand. Yu Dohyun’s mana and system are useless to you. Having them would only be poison. It’s better to let them disappear. So why do you need them?”
“You don’t need to know. Hand it over! Hand it over!”
“No.”
“…I’ll give you my company.”
“What?”
“I’ll give you everything I have that you need. So please hand it over…”
“You’re crazy. Why do you want this so badly? You’re not even a Ranker.”
“Give it to me. Give it. I need it…”
Han Jaemin’s expression was filled with desperation.
