Chapter 760: Meteor Shower (1)
“Grab the items first!”
I shouted. Maybe Rookie had done something, because the message window started to warp.
[we… w… gi… y…]
[NAME NAME NAME NAME]
[to youyouyou… giv…]
[that new world… how dare you tou…]
[origin beginning / origin end]
[Get out! All of you, get out! This place is under my jurisdiction!!!]
Yuhyun sprinted past me. Lips pressed tight, he chased after me without a word. Yerim, who’d teleported over in an instant, started shoving every item piled around us into her inventory. Every time my hand landed on a sword ranked S-class or above, I threw it to Yuhyun.
The sky flashed again and again. It looked like silent lightning.
Then the stars began to fall.
Streaks of light carved long trails through the black sky. The first thing to crash into the Haeyeon building rose to its feet.
– I am.
A clumsy, muffled voice crackled through a guttural rumble.
– The gatekeeper of Kwai Ta Paan.
The pronunciation was twisted, hard to make out. From the place where the building had stood, a gigantic pillar shot upward. It was a monster that looked as though its whole body had been plated in layered steel armor. It had no limbs, no eyes. Near the top were two round holes punched straight through it. Clatter, rattle—its body made a sound like tens of thousands of insects beating their wings.
I hurriedly used the Sprout skill, but no status window appeared.
[Honey! That’s a monster affiliated with a Transcendent! Something in between a sapient being and a monster! That’s why its status window is private!]
“You showed me one for that bastard Diarma!”
[That was because he was the Transcendent assigned to Honey’s world. He was obligated to disclose system information for beings that belonged to this world. But these ones are different!]
So these were uninvited intruders who’d barged into our neighborhood without even filing an entry permit.
Giiik, giiik. The thing calling itself a gatekeeper bent what I guessed was its head.
Before I knew it, Seong Hyunjae was standing beneath it. Perched at the edge of the Breeding Facility rooftop railing, he looked up at the gatekeeper.
– Lesser source. I propose negotiation first.
“Negotiation.”
– State what you desire.
The corner of Seong Hyunjae’s mouth lifted.
What he desired.
There wasn’t a single Transcendent here who could grant it. They could act like gods all they wanted, but they weren’t omnipotent.
“So you’re saying you’ll give me what I want.”
– You possess… value.
Boom!
Gold lashed out. A chain tore savagely through the air and bit into the gatekeeper’s shell. But it did no more than crack the surface. The Seeker’s Chain couldn’t even leave a proper mark—its defensive power had to be at least SS-class.
– Useless.
Seong Hyunjae vanished.
Even with the Teacher skill active, he moved so fast I could barely follow him. He ran along the chain stretched taut through the air. Right after the gatekeeper flinched and twisted, Seong Hyunjae was standing on top of its head.
Tap.
The toe of his shoe knocked against the hardened armor, almost politely, and with a bright metallic chime the chain coiled around the pillar-like monster’s body.
At almost the exact same moment—
Kwarooom!
Light exploded.
An intensely concentrated current surged through the chain. In between the links, I saw thin needles that had somehow already slipped into the gaps in the armor. The electricity was drawn into them, funneled straight through their tips. The gatekeeper’s body spasmed once, and then the light disappeared.
All of it had forced its way inside the monster.
– …!!!
Perfect control over electricity, a force that should have scattered. The gatekeeper went rigid—
Thunk, clack—
Its armor began dropping away piece by piece. What was revealed beneath it looked like a mass of charred black coal. Seong Hyunjae kicked off its head. The impact sent the layered armor crashing down in a wave, and the blackened body collapsed into powder.
The Seeker’s Chain hooked something from within.
Back on the Breeding Facility rooftop, Seong Hyunjae caught the small gem the chain handed him over.
“Since you put it that way, I’ll gratefully accept.”
He lightly bit down on the magic stone. The hard jewel melted into light and vanished.
What the hell—
“W-what are you doing?!”
He absorbed the magic stone?
Seong Hyunjae turned to look at me. He didn’t answer.
Was he seriously planning to literally devour the Transcendents’ subordinates?
Kwaaang!
Another meteor crashed down not too far away. Then another—boom! The earth shook with the impact. A row of buildings was wiped away in an instant. Something let out a roar.
Seong Hyunjae slowly turned his head that way.
Those weren’t the eyes of prey. They were the eyes of a hunter.
“If you keep swallowing magic stones like that, you’ll reach the limit even faster—!”
Yuhyun cut me off by snatching me up by the arm. Willow leaves swirled around us.
“Wait, Seong Hyunjae! Just hold out! Wait for me!”
You left me a chance. That practically meant you were willing to wait!
He’d said what filled Seong Hyunjae was new experience, but he was already nearly full. If he poured in the magic stones of beings sent directly by the Transcendents, it was obvious he’d be pushed into dangerous territory. If they were subordinates, maybe he could still endure it.
But if one of the Transcendents jumped in personally, like Chatterbox had—
Even though I shouted, he didn’t so much as glance back.
The chain shot out long and straight. Seong Hyunjae landed lightly on the golden line stretched toward a building across from us. Chief Song looked at me. His mouth set in a hard line, he gave me a brief nod, then turned away.
“You two, I’ll—!”
No matter what I wanted, my body was being dragged in the opposite direction. The Teacher skill cut off the instant we left its range. Stepping on willow leaves, Yuhyun quickly put distance between us and the Breeding Facility. Yerim and Peace followed right after us.
Moon Hyunah came leaping down toward our side, the hem of her lavish coat flaring behind her.
“Big bro! I’m heading over there first!”
“Ms. Hyunah, I need to go too!”
“…Young master doesn’t look like he’s planning to let you.”
“But—! And now even dreams are in danger!”
The current Moon Hyunah was a dream with no system protection. Her real body might be fine back in our world, but mentally she could still take damage.
In the worst case, even a death of the mind.
“You’re still safer than the rest of them. Mari and the Saintess are on standby too. Big bro, get some rest.”
Running on the wind as she kept pace with us, Moon Hyunah suddenly dropped back and vanished from sight. Far away, thunder rumbled. The stars kept falling. The crashes against the ground and buildings blended with the pounding of my heart.
“Yuhyun, I have to go back!”
I wanted to survive. I wanted to keep living. So I knew perfectly well I was supposed to retreat.
But if I backed down like this, I didn’t think I could go on living as myself.
“I can’t live alone! I can’t just leave them behind!”
If all that mattered was my own safety, I would’ve let go of my brother’s hand a long time ago.
This stubbornness had started back then.
“I’m here.”
“Yuhyun!”
“You’ve got poison resistance from Grace, so I don’t really have a choice. Sorry.”
“…!”
My breath caught.
Through my blurring vision, red-tinted black eyes looked down at me in silence.
“Han Yuhyun?! Hey!”
Yerim’s shocked voice faded. Peace’s growl was the last thing I heard before everything went black.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
Park Yerim shouted. The Flame Horned Lion bared his teeth. Han Yuhyun adjusted the limp, unconscious Han Yujin in his arms.
“If I need to hide hyung until the dream world stabilizes, this is the best way.”
If he wanted to keep Han Yujin from running off. Once the disturbances caused by the Transcendents’ intrusion settled down, they could return to the original world. Their target was Seong Hyunjae. As long as they stayed away from the battlefield, they could hide safely without getting dragged into it.
Without Han Yujin breaking any further.
“B-but…”
“I’m the one forcing him to stay. So none of this is hyung’s fault.”
“Mister will still feel guilty anyway!”
“He’ll feel less of it than he would otherwise.”
He would suffer. Of course he would.
But he would keep living.
And that meant Han Yuhyun had to choose this.
Park Yerim gripped her spear tightly. She wanted to protect Han Yujin too.
“…I don’t know. I really don’t think we should keep Mister here like this, but… but I don’t know what else to do!”
“All I’m doing is protecting hyung.”
That should have been enough from the very beginning.
Han Yuhyun started running again. Peace hesitated, then followed. Park Yerim glanced back. The thunder was faint now.
“I’m going to check the situation and come back.”
“Hyung wants you safe.”
“He’d want Mister Sesung and Chief Song safe too! So if I can, I want to help them. It’s not just because of Mister. At this point, I don’t want to turn my back and leave anyone behind!”
Han Yuhyun looked at Park Yerim for a brief moment.
“Mister is… yeah. I don’t want him pushing himself anymore either. So I’m leaving it to you. I’m not planning to do anything reckless. I’ve got a teleport skill, so I’m confident I can get out if I need to.”
Checking her phone’s signal, Park Yerim shot upward.
“Call me right away if anything happens!”
Her wave-like shawl vanished into the distance. Han Yuhyun picked up speed along the broad road. The Flame Horned Lion ran beside him, still slightly wary.
‘Hyung will be okay.’
He would suffer badly, but he would get back up.
And even if he collapsed forever, to Han Yuhyun, he would still be the same Han Yujin.
Better to hold on to even a damaged piece than lose his whole world.
Unlike Han Yujin, he only had one.
He tried to understand his brother, but he couldn’t. A being that could hold only one thing, and a being that lived among countless others, could never stand on equal ground. They had to remain in different places, reaching out across the distance, to come anywhere near each other.
Han Yuhyun had reached out as far as he could.
And when Han Yujin took his hand, he hadn’t dragged him into his own world. He had only held on.
But if that hand was about to disappear, then he had to pull.
He had to keep hold of more than just the hand. He had to make sure he didn’t lose the whole person.
– Grrr!
Peace bared his teeth and came to a stop. Han Yuhyun stopped too.
The asphalt road turned thick and molten. Black tar bubbled as dark flames leaked out. A black-green fire took shape. Beneath a head like an eagle’s was a massive humanoid body covered in feathers of flame. Between the deep green fire burned two vivid red eyes.
– The strongest fire in this world.
A hissing voice slithered out.
– My master is the fire that once devoured an entire world.
Han Yuhyun carefully lowered the unconscious Han Yujin onto Peace’s back. Peace stepped backward in silence.
– Fire yields to stronger fire. Obey me.
Perched on Han Yuhyun’s shoulder, Iryn trembled.
The thing blocking their path was fire itself, a blaze that had fully consumed even its own flesh. The wavering flames poured off brutal heat. It was a purer elemental flame than any Han Yuhyun had ever faced.
Compared to a fire like that, a human made of blood and flesh—still only S-class—shouldn’t have stood a chance.
But Han Yuhyun’s eyes stayed calm.
– What are you doing.
The bird of fire extended a flickering hand. Even as a subordinate, it was far older than Han Yuhyun. It should have been able to crush a mere young flame not even a hundred years old without effort.
“Fire yields to stronger fire.”
Han Yuhyun’s voice came out low.
Older.
Purer.
He held out his own hand. A faint aura of flame curled around his fingers, the back of his hand, his wrist.
It was the oldest beginning.
Panicking, Iryn fluttered off and flew over to Peace, to Han Yujin.
– Y-Yuhyun!
As if he couldn’t hear him, Han Yuhyun took a step forward.
The bird of fire flinched. Instinctive danger prickled through it, but it immediately cast the feeling aside. This was still an immature flame. It should have been easy enough to dominate.
– For my master, lesser source. Follow my command.
Han Yuhyun’s fingertips touched the outstretched hand of the bird.
His black eyes curved, just faintly.
A fragment of the primordial fire smiled.
At the tiny fledgling that had touched it without fear.
– Hk! How is this—!
The fire scattered.
It was swept away by an inferno beyond comparison. Having abandoned its flesh long ago, nothing remained behind. It simply melted away into the empty air and vanished.
Han Yuhyun blinked slowly.
– Yuhyun, that! That fragment! The primordial fire!
Standing on Han Yujin’s shoulder, Iryn jumped up and down.
– You have to throw that away too! It’s way too dangerous!
“Don’t tell hyung.”
– Yuhyuuun!
Han Yuhyun looked down at his hand, his wrist. The fragment of fire lay quiet. The emotions and sensations that had briefly synchronized with it were gone too. He could feel that it was slowly blending into him.
Maybe cutting it away would be safer.
But safer for what?
‘For… me.’
Right now, there was very little reason to actively protect himself.
Because Han Yujin would be sad.
And that reason only held if Han Yujin still existed.
For now, power came first.
Han Yuhyun turned. He picked Han Yujin up again. Iryn looked up at him anxiously.
“If it’s fire, then anyone can be suppressed by a stronger fire?”
– …If it’s pure fire, and if it doesn’t resist. Even if it does resist, if the gap is too wide, it won’t matter. Yuhyun, I really think that thing is too dangerous. Okay?
In Iryn’s voice, Han Yuhyun heard Han Yuhyun.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
–TL Notes–
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