Chapter 693: Let’s Prepare The End (2)
“Cheer up… cheer up, Honorary Cardinal.”
‘I have to. But f.u.c.k, it’s terrifying.’
I had already finished preparing my mind, but the premise was still scary.
‘Will it hurt when I die?’
Honestly, it was not something I wanted to think about. I was expecting how things would roughly work, and I judged that the odds were high, but how could I know what would happen?
I really wanted to pick up the dice that I threw just by thinking that I couldn’t avoid the moment of dying and face the ending.
Lee Jihye even scoffed, saying that I was getting into the mood when I wasn’t really dying anyway, but if she was in my place, I could guarantee that she would never be able to say that.
‘I mean, what if I really die?’
Those thoughts came intermittently. Wouldn’t it be quicker to understand if I thought about it as if I drank a poison that might kill me?
Even though I knew that someone would give me the antidote after I pa.s.sed out and someone would stop me right before I drank it, how many people could really take the poison?
‘Wow, that really is my situation when I think about it.’
Lee Kiyoung decided to sacrifice himself and take the poison. He had a heart for the continent that was bigger than anyone else.
‘You can’t be shaken, Kiyoung. All you have to do is finish this. That’s right.’
At that point, it wasn’t unreasonable to nod my head to the thought that there was no sense of incongruity even if I was a real hero of the continent.
Regardless, everything was ready except for Jung Hayan. She was yet to cross the wall, which I thought was the most important. I had many schedules to do during the day, so I wondered if it was correct to finish it at that moment.
It wasn’t bad. I was helped by a guy who came out in the middle, and I could lower the agitation of the war refugees a little.
The face of the saint, who was responsible for throwing everything, was undoubtedly shown in the G.o.ddess’s Mirror, and at that moment, I could reconcile with my mind once more.
“You don’t have to see me off separately, Pope.”
“Haha, that’s okay, Honorary Cardinal. Are you going back now?”
“Yes. I’ll probably come back soon.”
“O-O-Oppa.”
Not surprisingly, a small voice began to be heard with the flow of magic power. At first, it seemed to have called me quite vigorously, but the voice was gradually getting smaller because Pope Basel was next to me.
“I-I am here.”
“Then I should go and leave you two alone.”
“…”
“Then… I wish you luck, Honorary Cardinal.”
“Yes. Pope Basel too…”
I didn’t think he had a hopeful mood. Pope Basel might also have felt the unidentified sense of responsibility in my eyes.
The same went for Jung Hayan, who came to pick me up. As if something would soon explode, she couldn’t hide the anxiety that made her look bitter.
“Shall we go then?”
“Yes. N-Now…”
“How have you been?”
“I’m fine. I’m in good condition, too. I-I think I can do it well.”
“If so, that’s fortunate. There are a lot of things I expect from you.”
“R-Really?”
“Of course. I have a lot more expectations from you than anyone else. Are you familiar with the manual?”
“Yeah. O-of course. I am. B-But, I think something’s wrong. I think the manual’s changed… It seems different from what I thought.”
“What?”
“Ah! Ah… it’s nothing. T-Then I’ll teleport us now.”
“Thank you, as always.”
After a brief moment, my view changed again.
We arrived in the center of a familiar place. While I was checking my body for a moment, I saw Jung Hayan staring at me as if she wanted to tell me something.
‘I think this one will also be telling me.’
I wanted to keep the light mood, but it was natural that I felt more awake when I looked at her face. It was because of her eyes looking at me with a bothered expression.
She didn’t feel the energy of sacrifice in my eyes. In the first place, I hid such emotions right before I met Jung Hayan.
Wasn’t it Sora’s condition that Jung Hayan doubted rather than mine?
‘Ah… I’m nervous about this.’
I was starting to be scared of pressing the switch.
‘I really need to, though.’
That was because I was worried that she would run in a direction I didn’t expect. I agreed with my plan, regardless.
‘I’m dying anyway.’
The battle itself couldn’t be won if Jung Hayan couldn’t cross the wall.
That was why I expected she would cause trouble and avoided her until the day before.
I didn’t know what she’d do. Hence, shouldn’t I meet her only after I’d done all the preparations?
Even if Jung Hayan did something right at that moment, humanity was already prepared.
She still looked like she wanted to ask me something but couldn’t. It was when I tried to leave so I could endure until the end. Jung Hayan, who finally found the courage, slowly opened her mouth.
“Um… um, Oppa.”
She seemed to be inquiring about the strange thing that had happened to her recently. Naturally, the reason she currently had her doubts was Han Sora.
[Generating a common-grade forced quest.]
[Sora. Get ready. (0/1)]
[Delivering a common-grade forced quest to Han Sora. You have not registered any quest-clear rewards. The subject will not be compensated.]
‘No, should I… just drag some more time on? If she bursts right now, I may not have time to make a speech.’
“Oppa…”
‘f.u.c.k. I don’t think I’m ready yet… Can I start now?’
“So…”
‘Ah… f.u.c.k. I might really have to die… should I think more about it?’
Naturally, many thoughts came into my head.
I was aware that from the time I opened my mouth to Jung Hayan marked the beginning of the day of prophecy.
If the hidden truth were revealed, there would undoubtedly be a reaction. Jung Hayan had always been like that. It wasn’t my business, but I could bet that she was going to be radically reacting to what was happening to Han Sora.
“I-I mean… I have something to tell you about Sora.”
“Yes?”
“L-Last time… W-when I saw her at the meeting, I felt this, different energy…”
The dice were cast.
“A different energy?”
“It’s… energy that I can’t e-explain. I mean, actually, when I fought with S-Sora, I felt something s-similar… you know.”
“…”
“At that time, it was so small that it was hard to notice… s-so I wasn’t sure about it, but actually, I felt it in your body… too… so I also erased it.”
“What? What are you talking about right now?”
“It seemed like there was something wrong with your body…”
“Can you tell me a little more?”
I had to set the mood as if it was a dire situation. Jung Hayan looked a little confused, almost as if she recognized that her anxiety had become a reality.
Maybe she realized that it wasn’t going to be as small of a deal as she thought.
She must have known that this is not the norm by looking back at things a little carefully.
One day, the different energy suddenly came to Han Sora, and she watched a situation where a different magical power increased as the days pa.s.sed.
She promised that she would never care about the friend who betrayed her, but how could Jung Hayan not care about Han Sora?
If she was preparing for a battle with an unknown enemy, it was correct that she should go over that matter at least once.
If it were the way it was, it would’ve been normal to ask a long time ago, but the fact that she said that to me, not Han Sora, was an excellent example of Jung Hayan’s lack of communication skills.
Jung Hayan was currently suspicious. Until that moment, she was trying to close her eyes, but…
‘Did she sneak up on it today?’
Jung Hayan was curious about the large ma.s.s of cancer that Han Sora was currently infused with, what the h.e.l.l that was, and why it kept getting bigger.
“T-there’s nothing wrong with her body… It’s just w-weird. Just… weird… I thought it was a buff. or something like that, but… it kept getting weirder.”
“What are you talking about?”
Jung Hayan’s breath noticeably became more and more coa.r.s.e. She seemed to be imagining things she didn’t want to imagine, and the wizard made a face just like when she first saw Doom Kiyoung.
Her eyes were constantly shaking, and she began to bite her nails. Did my expression look that serious? Tears were filling up in her eyes.
I, too, took a breath. I knew Jung Hayan would panic, but her reaction exceeded my expectations.
“So… So… t-the problem with Sora… is that Park Mijin buffed her… Park Mijin… she did something to S-S-Sora…”
And, the moment Jung Hayan’s eyes were filled with tears, I had to stop breathing and slowly open my mouth.
“Who is… Park Mijin?”
“…”
“…”
“Well?”
“Who is Park Mijin? Wasn’t Sora always with you?”
“Huh…? What? P-P-Park Mijin… that… wizard… I mean you… definitely Park Mijin… huh?”
“Who the h.e.l.l is Park Mijin?”
“The one… that also won against Cha Hee-ra… and that went on the mission instead of me…”
“Why mention Cha Hee-ra again? Hayan. Didn’t you get the manual? No one went on a mission instead of you. I… I’m not sure what you’re talking about… Anyway, is Sora… is Sora okay?”
“Park Mijin… huh? Huh? There was a Park Mijin… definitely… There was definitely someone named Park Mijin. Huh? There… There was definitely… It can’t be… No way…”
She was visibly confused. She looked like she was wondering what the h.e.l.l was going on.
I could deduce what she was thinking. It felt like she’s trying to answer the question about what went wrong from where and why the person named Park Mijin disappeared.
Park Mijin existed. Park Mijin definitely did. Although it was a minority, some people, including me, definitely put the name Park Mijin in their mouths and spoke as if she really existed.
Thanks to Park Mijin, she came down from the 1st-ranked wizard to the 2nd rank. Jung Hayan certainly remembered her.
It was a story that could quickly be brought up if I simply thought about it. Not knowing that I was suffering from amnesia symptoms, there was only one conclusion that Jung Hayan could reach.
‘Park Mijin… erased his memory.’
And the purpose?
‘To harm him.’
However, it wasn’t the worst situation.
Because Jung Hayan always protected Lee Kiyoung, when she saw the strange energy that had been planted in his body, she immediately took care of it. If so, wasn’t it possible to explain the foreign element?
‘Foreign being.’
It didn’t take long for the puzzle pieces that were scattered in her head to gather slowly. Her body was trembling as if she became aware that she was approaching the truth herself.
The conclusion has already been made. Jung Hayan succeeded in removing the cancer lump from Lee Kiyoung’s body, but…
“…”
She couldn’t remove the cancer lumps attached to Han Sora’s body.
“Ah… Ahh… Ahhh… Ugh… Ahhhh…”
Her body was trembling, and her tears were flowing ceaselessly.
“Ah… Ah… O … Oppa. O-Oppa… Oppa…”
“What’s wrong?”
“S-S-Sora… Sora…”
“Sora…”
“Ahhhhhh… aaahhh… Ahhh!”
I guessed she became very affectionate with Han Sora. Unusual guilt came into the confused Jung Hayan, but at that point, I had no choice but to show that Lee Kiyoung also realized.
The war had begun much earlier. While we were preparing and had our guard down, the alien beings were already ready to eat humanity.
‘I should have acted a little more carefully.’
Lee Kiyoung was lucky to escape the misfortune, but Han Sora…
Han Sora couldn’t escape it.
‘This… dirty foreign trash… these dirty motherf.u.c.kers.’
I didn’t realize early on that the war had begun. I was utterly fooled without even having the chance to do something. Needless to say… It was Lee Kiyoung’s complete defeat.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
I had no choice but to hold tightly to Jung Hayan’s hands, her who was falling apart.