Chapter 113
“That person, there must be some reason why he’s so obsessed with this mana.”
“I don’t care. It’s probably just a worthless reason anyway.”
“You think so?”
The professor glanced at Han Jaemin. Tears were now streaming from Han Jaemin’s eyes. It was the first time I’d seen him cry. He wept devastatingly, like someone who was about to lose his entire world. Despite seeing Han Jaemin kneeling and crying before me—something I had always wanted—I still felt rather unsatisfied.
“Now it’s all over…”
Before I could finish speaking, large status windows suddenly began popping up chaotically in front of me.
[User’s goal 100% complete, goal has been achieved!]
[Congratulations! You have achieved your goal! Your attachment to life and the desires you wanted to fulfill have helped you advance one step closer to your goal!]
[Administrator,]
[User,]
[Administrator,]
[User,]
[Administrator,]
[User,]
Two windows began to densely block my view. Surprised by this vast amount of system windows I was seeing for the first time, I stepped backward.
“What is it? Can you see something?”
“The system windows…”
The system windows began to multiply infinitely. In this endless expansion space, the system kept widening its domain. At this rate, I wouldn’t be able to see what was right in front of me. Overwhelmed by the intensity, I unconsciously kept stepping backward.
“Where are you going! It just got completed!”
Only when the status windows filled the entire space did their movement stop. The small windows soon expanded and merged into a single window. The red window had this written on it:
[Now executing the user’s goal, which contains the administrator’s wish.]
[The goal will soon be achieved. Please receive your reward.]
[The rewards are ‘Death,’ ‘Death.’ User, please use the reward after receiving it.]
“Damn it… I don’t want the reward.”
[You have chosen not to receive the reward.]
[Failed.]
[Following the administrator’s instructions that the user must receive the reward.]
[Please receive the reward.]
“Haa… damn it. Really.”
Instead of saying I would receive the reward, I ran back toward the Gate, trying to touch the puppet that looked like Yu Hyunjae. That’s when it happened.
“What’s this?”
The professor looked bewildered. Yu Dohyun’s body, which should have existed with only half of it emerging from the Gate, began to slowly come out completely. I exchanged glances with the professor. It seemed this was completely unexpected for her as well.
“It shouldn’t be able to move like this.”
“What is it? I’ll touch it first.”
I tried to place my hand on the puppet that looked like Yu Dohyun. The puppet avoided my touch, lightly throwing itself to the opposite side where Han Jaemin was. The puppet soon stood behind Han Jaemin.
“What’s going on here?”
“It seems that if you touch it, the mana will disappear.”
Han Jaemin slowly stuck out his tongue. On his tongue was a half-melted orb.
“Are you crazy? This isn’t even a real Gate, and that’s not the real Yu Dohyun!”
“But it’s coming to me.”
“That’s…”
“Whether this is real or not doesn’t matter. He’s just a dead guy anyway.”
Han Jaemin approached me.
“A being summoned through necromancy blindly follows the person with the orb. You know that, right?”
“…So?”
“You need to touch it quickly.”
“…”
“Anyway, I can’t kill you. I can’t do anything until someone comes. All I can do is stall for time. But it seems stalling only disadvantages you. From what I can tell.”
He wasn’t wrong. The blinking speed of the red status window was getting faster and faster. I glanced at the status window and swept my hair back. Han Jaemin wouldn’t agree to any negotiation except me transferring my mana, and I had no more cards to play. But if I gave up on this Gate and tried to create another one, it didn’t seem like the status window would wait for that.
“There seems to be no other way. We’ll have to do what he says.”
“He wants my mana right now.”
“So you’d rather die?”
The professor shouted.
“Don’t you know what’s important? The only reason we’re doing this is for your life! It’s not about some petty justice or doing good. We’re going through all this trouble just to save your life, and you can’t even transfer that damn mana?”
“Do you know what kind of mana this is? Do you?!”
“You said it has Yu Dohyun’s mixed in. It probably also has the source of that unfortunate secret he possessed. So what? What does it matter? If you transfer it to him, he’ll become miserable as you want, and you’ll be free from your constraints, won’t you?”
“That’s not the issue… This mana… It really needs to disappear.”
“That guy’s fate is for him to decide.”
“You have no idea how much I’ve suffered because of this power.”
I continued slowly. I was holding back tears as I spoke.
“Even to Han Jaemin, who killed my parents and tormented me for years.”
“…”
“I don’t want to inflict this pain on him.”
“…”
“Do you understand?”
The status window was now blinking so fast it was hard to look at. I realized I had reached my limit. I took one last look at Yu Hyunjae’s face. He was still unconscious, lying with his eyes closed. Since it was rare to see Hyunjae sleeping, I cherished this image in my memory.
“I’ll die. Because of this power.”
“Transfer it! Just transfer the power!”
“No.”
“Do you know how much Hyunjae has struggled to save you?”
“I’m sorry. Please take care of him. I still can’t transfer it.”
“When stubbornness goes too far, it becomes selfishness.”
“Yes.”
My vision began to flicker. My legs lost strength, and I collapsed on the floor with my full weight. My head was ringing, but that no longer mattered. The faint light pouring in gradually converged and then disappeared.
I am dying.
And this death would be my tenth—probably my last death.
*
Now I was standing in front of a bedroom. It was a bedroom I had seen once before in a dream. On a bed large enough for two people, someone was clutching the blanket tightly. I knew who that person was.
“Wake up.”
“Just one more minute…”
“We need to go soon.”
Yu Hyunjae pulled me onto the bed. Finding myself immediately in his arms, I embraced him familiarly.
“Let’s wait just a bit longer.”
“Okay. But only for 10 minutes.”
“Chanhee, you’re the best.”
“You got home late yesterday. Aren’t you having too much work these days?”
“I only slept for three hours.”
“Team Leader Kim is really too much. Working a new employee like this.”
“I know, right? You should scold him for me.”
I chuckled. Yu Hyunjae pressed his lips against my nape, kissing me deeply. Then he slowly got up and went into the bathroom. That’s unusual. Getting up so obediently. Meanwhile, I tidied up the bed.
“I’ll do that!”
Yu Hyunjae rushed out with a toothbrush in his mouth.
“Just finish getting ready.”
Yu Hyunjae nodded and walked back to the bathroom. I paused while organizing the blanket and buried my nose in the warm scent that emanated from it. The warmth against my face, the familiar cozy scent, a peaceful day, morning, everyday life… I immediately realized: Ah, this is a dream. It must be a dream, since it’s so happy. But I decided to enjoy this dream. Unlike other dreams, I somehow didn’t want to wake up from this one. At that moment, Yu Hyunjae came out of the bathroom, shaking off water. I turned to look at him and smiled naturally.
“Aren’t you going to change? You were the one who said we should hurry.”
“Ah, right. I should change quickly.”
After quickly getting ready, I left the house. The place where we lived was that luxurious villa I had seen only once in a dream. Yu Hyunjae and I went down to the underground parking lot and found our car.
“It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve gone.”
“Yeah. Should we buy something to take with us?”
“Let’s just go. We’re late.”
“Should we buy some liquor that Father likes?”
Yu Hyunjae asked as he slowly drove the car toward the parking lot exit.
“No. Dad seriously drinks too much.”
“Really? Isn’t that just because you keep him company too often when he’s drinking?”
“You’re no better yourself.”
We continued our conversation, playfully bickering. The weather was impeccably clear and sunny. I lowered the car window halfway and leisurely enjoyed the incoming breeze. It smelled like warm spring. Yu Hyunjae also followed suit and lowered his window. I belatedly checked a missed call.
Missed call.
“It’s from Father.”
“Really? He must be wondering why we’re late. We should hurry.”
“Don’t speed.”
“Okay.”
Was the missed call originally from Father? I raised my head with a puzzled expression. The car soon began to enter the outskirts of the city where there were no buildings. Where are we going? Home isn’t in this direction.
“We’re here.”
Columbarium. The place we arrived at was a columbarium. I tried to hide my bewildered face as I followed behind Yu Hyunjae. Among the many urns, Father and Mother were standing. It had been so long since I’d seen their faces. Mother spotted us and waved.
“Come quickly, your brother is waiting.”
“Yes.”
We walked toward the urn where Father and Mother were standing. After checking the nameplate, I blinked a couple of times. Yu Dohyun. The man in the urn had the face of the Yu Dohyun I knew.
“This can’t be right.”
“What do you mean?”
“My brother is dead?”
My parents tilted their heads at my strange outburst. Looking at Yu Dohyun’s photo staring back at me, I said:
“I guess it’s because this is a dream…”
Nevertheless, seeing Yu Dohyun’s face somehow felt repulsive. As I stepped back, I fell into Yu Hyunjae’s arms.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine. It’s definitely… good, that this is a dream.”
“Dream?”
“Dream.”
“Chanhee.”
“Yes?”
“This isn’t a dream.”
“What did you say?”
Yu Hyunjae whispered to me in a warm voice:
“This is reality, and that was the dream.”
