Chapter 391 – Episode 391 – Academy (38)

Episode 391 – Academy (38)

I narrowed my eyes as I saw the huge heart that filled my field of vision.

‘···Since when have I been standing here?’

From the beginning. The answer came back at the same time as the question.

I could see that all the battles that had been fought so far were illusions created by foreign media.

However, it could not be dismissed as a mere fantasy. I vaguely realized what the foreign press was like.

‘···He specializes in mental attacks.’

A chill ran down the back of my head. It reminded me of the countless moments of choice that had occurred there.

‘What if you returned to the Academy District through the portal…?’

He would have been eaten without being able to wake up from his illusion for the rest of his life. All I had to do was get scared and take a step back.

I gritted my teeth and glared at the heart.

Thud···! Thud···!

My head throbbed at the sound of my heart, which reminded me of the sound of drums.

“Tsk…!”

Nothing had happened yet, but my intuition was warning me.

He tried to fight back immediately, feeling a sense of crisis he had never felt before, but strangely enough, he couldn’t even move his hand.

Duung!

The moment an ominous wave spread from my pitch-black heart, and a whitish energy overtook me.

Bleep—

At the same time as unpleasant tinnitus. Unidentifiable memories creep into my mind.

I was a great explorer who crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a faithful knight, and a slash-and-burn farmer in the mountain valleys.

My sense of self was instantly blurred by the flood of memories.

‘I am···’

I tried to come to my senses, but it was pointless. One hundred and ten million. Immeasurable memories that went far beyond what could be expressed simply in numbers swept over me.

They watched countless others blankly. The names and appearances were all different, but the ending was the same.

Just death.

‘Ah.’

An intense feeling of pleasure runs down my spine like a thunderbolt.

The only thing that comes to everyone in the world. Only death is fair and great.

Sigh.

I stretched out my hand without realizing it. To get a little closer to death.

That time when I approached you as if I was possessed.

Startle.

I feel a burning pain in my shoulder. Traces of battle, burned and cut by swords. The vivid pain I felt from my wound woke me up.

I held on to my pounding headache like it was a lifeline and gritted my teeth.

‘No.’

Death is just one element that makes up the world. It is neither sacred nor ominous.

I bit the tip of my tongue. Izzy, who had been blurred by the dizzying pain, returns. The vivid pain widened the gap between fantasy and reality.

Thanks to this, I was able to take one step away from the flood of memories.

‘I am Choi Si-woo. A person who started out as an ordinary porter and rose to the rank of police officer. Let’s kill foreign media. That is who I am.’

I muttered consciously and made myself stand alone. The moment when my crumbling self was fully established.

Stop.
Give up.

An ominous mantra. Soggy thoughts creep into my head. I lost all strength in my whole body.

‘···What was I doing here?’

I was worried about my depleted mental strength again, and I was also disappointed about my body covered in scars.

If I had known this would happen, I would have recovered properly. I was filled with regret over my hasty actions.

‘It’s tough.’

I wanted to rest even now. Tired thoughts ate away at me. All kinds of negative emotions surging in my head. Now I can no longer tell whose thoughts it was.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The heart sound gets louder. The foreign body that was slightly away came closer, as if it could touch my skin.

Sigh!

A single tentacle extends from the black heart and touches the forehead.

Bleep—

My thoughts were interrupted. A strange wave penetrated through my flesh and stirred my body.

“Tsk.”

Something unidentifiable covers the self that was just established.

I urgently built a wall around my image, but it was meaningless. No matter how strong the cliff is, it gets chipped away by the constantly rushing water.

The strange waves did not stop for a moment, and the wall, which had been gnawed away little by little, eventually collapsed.

I feel disoriented, as if I am being swept away by rough waves.

Give it away.

The moment the darkness penetrated into me. They mix with each other. The foreign media saw me, and I also saw the foreign media.

I realized it naturally, tangled together like clay. What kind of existence is foreign media?

‘Foreign media… Are the embodiment of malice.’

There were all kinds of intelligent beings in the infinitely expanding world, and the malice they spewed out flowed and pooled right here.

Lowest place.

An immeasurable long time. The outside world is a being born from the malice that has accumulated over eons.

An imperfect being born from an illusion. That’s why I longed for life and was jealous. Because life is something you can never have or reach.

Hurry and give it away…

What? The answer came back at the same time as the question.

‘My body.’

The first human to reach this point and not have his body collapse. The foreign body is trying to take my body and become a complete being.

I realized them thanks to the foreign media mixed in with me, but even though I knew it, I couldn’t resist it.

Ah. Finally…!

My mind is pounding. I felt like my brain was turning into dough and being crushed. A voice combed with greed shook me.

Just before the last remaining ounce of reason disappears.

‘You want my body?’

I feel irritated and angry. Unlike before, it was a pure emotion that only rose within me.

“Okay. Good night.”

However, even if I die, I will not hand it over lightly. The last strength I have left. The soul was used as firewood to light a flame.

Grumble!

An arrow fired by an old man who had no name, dedicating his entire life to it.

Four days. I burned my body with human obsession towards God.

Chi-i-ik…!

At the same time with an acrid burnt smell.

Sooooo.

I felt a terrible burning pain. I felt alive in pain that took my breath away.

“Hehe.”

I couldn’t help but laugh as I listened to the foreign media’s screams of pain.

Yes, you should smile. It didn’t matter how unanswerable the situation was. Sometimes, just smiling is the way forward.

Lift up your trembling arms, c’mon! I grabbed the tentacle that touched my eyebrows and ripped it off.

Gwaooooo!

Simultaneously with an angry roar. My heart split open and ominous eyes looked straight at me.

The malice accumulated over eons was turned towards me.

“Fuck you!”

This is a guesthouse that has been used for a long time. You have to handle it properly. Even if I die, I will struggle until the end.

I wrapped my fist around the flame that was made at the cost of my soul.

Kwasik!

As soon as you advance, extend your fist. It was a blow that put everything I had into it. The moment when the flash of light from the regime collided with malice.

“Gagging!”

My body floated up from the strong repulsive force.

I grabbed hold of my fading mind and kicked the ground once again. That time when I stretched out an ordinary fist that contained no force.

Something engraved within me shone. Strange sensation. The endless rise led me.

‘···This place?’

Before I knew it, the foreign media had disappeared, and everything became brighter. I wondered if it was the work of foreign media due to the suddenly changed scenery. For some reason, it didn’t seem right.

She stepped on the soft ground and raised her head. The cloudless blue sky soothed my heart.

I looked around blankly and saw the river water sparkling silver.

‘Ah.’

The narrow river continues endlessly. It was so long that even with my eyesight I couldn’t see the end.

‘No way···’

My eyes widened. I realized where this place was due to the familiar scenery. A high place reached while tracking down the apostle.

This was the silver river that I felt was part of life and death.

Gulp.

As if mesmerized, I approached the silver river. A mysterious power can be felt in the sparkling river water.

‘…It wasn’t water but a chain?’

I looked closely at the silver-colored object and found that it was not water. It was an endless chain of chains smaller than grains of rice interlocked.

I reached out my hand without realizing it and stopped.

The moment the strange feeling emanating from the chain touched my fingertips. I was able to realize the meaning contained in the chain.

‘This is the flow of cause and effect.’

Flowers bloom from seeds scattered by the wind, and those flowers bear fruit. The effect that blooms from the cause is cycled back to the cause.

From the beginning to the end of the world. An endless flow. The harmony of the world was contained in the silver river.

‘Ah.’

My heart swelled with indescribable emotion. Could this be a work of art created by God? It was so perfect.

The chains that were interlocked without any error were even beautiful at first glance.

Jump and jump.

I stepped on the soft ground and looked along the river as if taking a walk. As I focus my eyes on the chain, a faint vision comes to mind.

‘Her. ‘This is how it goes?’

I sighed as I watched the war that started from a pebble thrown by a child.

It was possible to know just by looking at what result was derived from what cause. I even forgot the passage of time, as if I were an omniscient god watching the flow of history.

That time when I was looking at the river with admiration.

“···What.”

My eyebrows furrowed. One part was especially annoying. The river, which had flowed without a single error, was subtly twisted.

The only blemish found in a perfectly flawless place.

It was like seeing paint poured into a work of art. Someone ruined the work of art that the master had put so much effort into.

‘What kind of guy would do something like this?’

I had to find out what on earth had happened to cause this. I frowned and glared at the chain.

A man spills his coffee, takes out his handkerchief and wipes his floor. The moment I saw that scene, I unconsciously slapped my forehead.

‘···It was me?’

It was the moment when I first felt the edge of life and death.

Because it was an event that could never have happened originally, the flow of cause and effect was distorted.

“Her···”

I walked along the river in a daze. In addition to that, places that were slightly distorted were seen sparsely.

He split the water’s surface, cut down the clouds in the sky, and gained strange luck while tracking down the apostle.

In addition, scenes of twisting cause and effect using aspects of life and death passed by.

“Hmm.”

It wasn’t a big problem yet. It was a twist so slight that it wouldn’t be noticeable unless you looked closely.

‘Was this what I lacked?’

The flow of cause and effect that was twisted with clumsy workmanship was so annoying. It seemed like if I trimmed these things down neatly, I would get closer to life and death.

I don’t know when I’ll come back here, but shouldn’t I return it to perfection now?

After thinking about it for a while, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

‘···It’s just that the flow got so twisted. ‘What happens if I kill a foreigner?’

Suddenly, an ominous thought took over.

What happens when cause and effect, which is like the providence of the world, gets twisted? Stone fragments might fall from the clouds instead of rain, and cold air might flow from the sun.

Literally, common sense itself is denied. Can I afford it?

I shook my head, thinking of the worst case scenario.

‘No.’

It won’t be that much. Because the world is more solid and flexible than we think. It will simply end up changing many fates.

People who would have been injured will die, and people who would have died without moving will live.

You literally end up living in a fate where you cannot know anything.

‘···That’s just the way it is, isn’t it?’

A laugh came out. What if it becomes disheveled and broken? That’s life.

Quickly!

I put my hand into the beautifully perfect river stream. Numerous streams were twisted into a mess, but I didn’t care.

The moment when you tightly grasp something that passes by your hand.

Woe!

Vision suddenly brightens. Before I knew it, I was holding a brightly shining silver sword.

“Ah.”

There is only one thing that has changed to achieve the result of killing foreign media.

It was me.

At the same time as holding the sword. Strength builds up within me. In one breath, my lost heart power was filled.

A supreme state that I will only reach in the distant future. It transcended time and space and stayed with me.

Gooooo!!

Before I knew it, a mouth had formed and I aimed the sword at my roaring heart. As long as I could stand on my own, any threats were meaningless.

“You beast that can’t even speak properly.”

Toward the foreign body that rushes at you, wielding dozens of black tentacles.

I lowered my sword.