Chapter 159
Heaven’s Door (25)
***
“It’s done. Be careful, it’s hot…”
“Wow…!”
The sky had darkened, and the oil lamps were glowing like stars. The small table, barely big enough for the boy’s family, was laden with delicious dishes.
His friends’ eyes sparkled as they looked at the spread. The boy’s mother smiled contentedly as she glanced at him.
“It looks really good… I wish I could eat here every day…”
As Jin Ho swallowed his saliva, Ina glared at him as if she would kill him and snapped sharply.
“Hey! Who said you could touch the food before the adults?”
“Pfft… It’s okay. Let’s eat quickly…”
The boy’s mother gently intervened between the two and served food into their bowls. At that, the friends stopped fighting as if nothing had happened and began devouring the food with great enthusiasm.
“It’s delicious…!”
“Really… It’s even better than what my mom makes…!”
“…”
The boy, sitting silently at the table, watched the scene unfold.
An old house, a small bed just big enough for him to lie down, and only two friends.
And his mother, who always scolded him sternly when he caused trouble, but would comfort him with warmth.
It was the very scene he had always dreamed of, the one he had longed for so desperately.
The only thing the boy, who had rejected wealth and noble honor, truly desired.
“The new girl moving in… She’s really… a girl…”
“Her name was definitely… Seo Yeon…”
“I saw her face… She’s really pretty…”
Amid his friends’ conversation, a familiar name hit his ears. The boy groaned in deeper agony.
He glanced at the mirror hanging on the wall. Then, as if by habit, he raised his hand and touched his face. His fingers traced the smooth, soft skin, without a single scar.
Soon, the most important moment of his life would come. The boy, who knew everything, had a chance to correct his mistakes. This time, he could protect both his family and his lover.
“Hyuna?”
And then, a warm and familiar voice called out to him.
When he raised his head, he saw his mother looking at him with a mixture of concern and confusion.
“Are you feeling unwell? You’ve been quiet for a while… and your complexion…”
The moment he heard her voice, his chest filled with a heavy sadness. The inner demon beckoned to him even more fiercely.
The unattainable wish was right in front of him.
If he took just one step into that sweet swamp, he would unknowingly melt into that scene. And he could finally achieve the eternal happiness he had always longed for.
But the boy tightly shut his eyes. He was desperately resisting the addictive temptation with all his might.
No matter how sweet it was, he knew that in the end, it was nothing but a fleeting lie.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
Finally, the boy spoke, his face twisted in sorrow.
“I… I think I have to go.”
***
“Huff… Huff…!”
-Bang!
An attack came from the side. Jin Yeseo barely managed to block it by turning her blade sideways. Then she immediately swung her blade with all her weight behind it.
-Boom!
-Screech!
The monster let out a dying scream as it was thrown back. But another monster immediately took its place, drooling as it lunged at her. She had already cut down more than dozens of monsters, but there was still no end in sight.
“Huff… Huff…!”
Her hair was soaked in blood and hung limply, her face covered in filth and pieces of entrails.
Yet Jin Yeseo continued to cut down her enemies. Even when a sharp tentacle pierced her shoulder, or claws tore into her thigh, she did not stop. She wasn’t fighting for her family or to defeat someone.
Even in the midst of the battle, she never forgot to check behind her. There, a tall man wearing a gas mask stood motionless, his body limp.
For the first time in her life, she was burning herself out to protect someone.
“Get up… Hurry… Get up, I said…!”
-Slash!
-Boom!
She continued cutting through the bloodthirsty monsters. At some point, she no longer even realized she was swinging her blade. She simply moved in a trance, trusting her instincts, her arms flowing gracefully.
Her latent talent, buried within her blood, was gradually awakening. The particle structure, redefined to its optimal form, imbued her body with new strength.
As she swung her blade again and again, something miraculous happened.
Like flowers blooming, green particles, the same color as her eyes, filled the space around her. Along with them came a sweet fragrance, like honey from the heavens, spreading throughout the hall.
The manifestation of color and scent.
“Ah…!”
A woman standing a step behind, witnessing the evolution, clasped her hands together as if in prayer and let out a cry of joy.
“Amazing…!”
***
-Drip.
With the boy’s words, time came to a halt. This was his inner world, after all. A place where he held dominion over everything. Now that he knew everything, there was no point in further deception.
In that space, where neither clocks nor stars moved, the boy’s mother opened her mouth and spoke in a warm voice.
“…Who?”
“…There’s someone… someone waiting for me…”
The boy barely managed to speak, his voice trembling.
“There’s someone who… can’t make it without me. And, and…”
“And?”
“My friend… is fighting outside… I have to… help them…”
The boy squeezed his eyes shut. Each word he spoke felt more painful than death. He knew better than anyone that these people in front of him weren’t real. They were illusions created by a malevolent being to trap him.
But even though they were false, he felt that if they held him, he would crumble.
“Hmm… I see…”
A brief silence followed. The boy trembled all over, waiting in fear for the response.
“…Then you must go.”
“Huh…?”
But the voice that reached his ears was unexpected.
The boy lifted his head. The blue sky, the clear clouds, and a lake as vast as the heavens stretched out before him.
Beyond it, three figures stood, looking at him with wistful smiles, as if they had expected this all along.
“Why are you so surprised? You said you have a friend to help outside. Then you should hurry and go help them.”
“Hyun finally has a new friend besides us…”
“That’s great, but… I’m a little jealous…”
Each of the three spoke casually, adding their own comments. And the boy realized something.
Even if they were illusions, their essence was exactly as he remembered.
“Ah… Ugh…”
The boy’s voice, now filled with emotion, began to tremble.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…”
Overwhelmed by the flood of emotions, the boy could no longer hold himself up and collapsed to the ground.
“If only I hadn’t gone to the cabin that day…”
He had so much he wanted to say. But his mind went blank, and nothing came to him.
If only he had been a little stronger… I’m sorry, I’m sorry…
He began to babble incoherently, as if confessing his sins.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry for surviving alone… Everyone else died… but I survived so pathetically… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
“No.”
But soon.
A warm hand rested on the boy’s head, and a firm voice pierced his ears.
The boy, who had collapsed, lifted his tear-streaked face.
“It’s not your fault.”
His mother, wearing a stern expression as if scolding him, looked him straight in the eye. But then, as if it had never happened, she smiled gently and softly stroked his hair.
“Thank you. Thank you for enduring alone. For overcoming despair… and standing up again.”
“…Mom…”
The sky was slowly breaking apart, piece by piece. The space, now bathed in pure white, was gradually closing in on them.
The boy’s will to awaken was shattering the illusion that surrounded him.
“It’s time to go back.”
“But…”
“Come on. I didn’t raise my son to be weak, did I?”
Her tone was firm, but the hint of sadness on her face was unmistakable. In the end, she couldn’t help but offer him one last tender word.
“…We can talk later, right?”
“Take care, Hyun.”
“Next time, introduce your new friend to us, okay?”
His friends smiled brightly and bid him their final farewells.
And the boy, who had finally stopped crying, nodded as he looked at them.
“…Okay.”
The white space closed in, enveloping them. The memories that had held him were scattered like the haze of a spring day.
Light surrounded the boy’s body. With renewed determination, he accepted the sensation without hesitation.
A faint smile had already formed on his lips.
***
“Huff… Huff…!”
Jin Yeseo barely held herself up on shaky legs, her breathing ragged. Her head was spinning, and her vision was blurred. She had just enough strength left to keep herself upright.
She looked around with her blurry eyes. The sewer, once filled with the deafening roars of monsters, had fallen eerily silent.
In front of her, the pale corpses of monsters were piled high like a mountain.
The fortunate thing was that she had managed to take down all the monsters before she succumbed to particle exhaustion.
But the unfortunate thing was… there was still one enemy left.
-Clap, clap, clap…
The sound of applause echoed through the quiet hall. Jin Yeseo gritted her teeth and glared ahead.
The nun, her face filled with an unsettling joy that didn’t match her calm demeanor, was walking toward her.
“Truly, truly… remarkable.”
“Huff… Huff… You damn bitch…”
Jin Yeseo cursed with all the venom she could muster, but the woman paid no mind. Her head was filled with regret and fear.
She had finally manifested color and scent. If only she had obtained it a little earlier. If only she had swallowed her pride and learned circulation magic sooner…
“To witness the evolution of life… It’s such a moving experience…!”
“Huff… Huff…”
“As I thought, even lower life forms have potential… That’s why I said not to exterminate them, but to keep a few alive… Sigh…”
The woman muttered incomprehensible words, her face genuinely filled with regret. Her words, devoid of any context, sounded all the more bizarre.
“Well… Don’t worry too much.”
Then she looked down at Jin Yeseo with a serene smile.
“It seems you still have some use.”
“What… Huff… What are you going to do to me… Huff…”
“The womb.”
The woman’s lips stretched into a grin, reaching her ears.
“Surely, with such an excellent placenta, you’ll be able to produce offspring worthy of it, don’t you think?”
The woman pricked her fingertip with her nail as she approached. Soon, drops of blood began to form on her slender finger.
“Wasn’t the term ‘non-responsive’…? Unlike them, you’ve already completed your evolution, so simply manipulating your mind won’t be enough.”
The woman knelt down to meet Jin Yeseo’s eyes and grabbed her chin, forcing her mouth open. Though her exact intentions were unclear, it was obvious that she intended to feed her the blood.
‘She’s trying to turn me… into one of them…?’
Jin Yeseo, who had no strength left in her arms, couldn’t resist. Her trembling eyes could only dart around in fear.
“Don’t worry. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You’ll simply become one with us. Now…”
The overwhelming terror of the unknown being. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“Sniff…”
The tears soon fell to the ground like raindrops.
“Help… me…”
Without realizing it, she was pleading for help from someone.
“Get up… Hurry… Get up, I said…”
But no answer came. Her desperate plea echoed hollowly through the sewer.
The evil being’s twisted smile grew wider. The blood-stained finger drew closer to her lips. Just as it was about to drop into her mouth.
-Bang!
“Huh…?”
Suddenly, a deafening roar rang in her ears. Something flew past her and smashed violently into the stone wall, shaking the entire sewer.
Jin Yeseo collapsed onto the ground.
But she didn’t fall onto the cold floor. Instead, she found herself in the warm embrace of someone.
And when she realized who had caught her.
Jin Yeseo’s face was instantly filled with joy and relief.
“You…!”
The man, who had caught her, gently set her down in a corner. She had never waited for anyone like this before.
With a face full of smiles, she grumbled at him, pretending to be upset.
“You’re late.”
“…Sorry.”
The man, unusually, accepted her complaint. He looked over the blood-soaked Jin Yeseo and asked how she was.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Jin Yeseo replied in a deliberately cheerful voice.
“But I’m suffering from particle exhaustion… I can’t fight anymore. Sorry…”
“You did well. And… don’t worry.”
He nodded. Then he stood up and looked toward the opposite side, where the dust was thick.
As the dust cleared, the silhouette of someone standing in front of the collapsed wall came into view.
“…How…?”
The nun still appeared unscathed. But her usual calm expression was nowhere to be found. She stared at the man in shock and disbelief.
“…”
The man didn’t respond to her question and instead took his stance.
With the spark of hope rekindled, Jin Yeseo watched the man standing protectively in front of her.
Now that she looked, his eyes were burning with a deep, heavy anger.
End of Chapter