It was a tower regarded as having the largest scale. Because of that, the Creator’s grace would probably end up hitting GG even with that half a year.
As it was such an obvious failure, I wanted to prevent it if possible, but the guild leader had forced it through despite even Yun Seungah opposing it from the beginning. There had been no room whatsoever for an opinion like mine to be reflected.
—You’ll climb all the way to the top in style and come back.
“......I hope so.”
Since it had been delayed by about two weeks, the possibility of success might have increased slightly. But likewise, because it had been delayed by about two weeks, it might fail even more horribly.
From now on, I could have no certainty about the future. The only thing I knew was the true nature of something called the ‘forest’; the trees within it existed independently, unrelated to me.
—Oh, right. Hajin, you are going to meet Chae Nayun now, right?
I glanced at the clock.
11:59 a.m., one minute before the unarranged appointment time.
“........ Why would I?”
—What? Hey, you can’t do that. She booked all sorts of things.
“.......”
—No, she asked me what you liked and what you’d find fun. She was really looking forward to it. What are you going to do if you don’t go?
Apparently, Kim Suho was more worried about Chae Nayun and me than he was about Yun Seungah.
“......Enough. I’m hanging up.”
—Ah, don’t be a jerk and go if you can~ Please go~
“What’s with the cutesy act?”
It was the sort of meddling one would expect from Kim Suho.
I chuckled and ended the call. I closed the laptop as well, lay down on the sofa, and turned on the TV.
I let an hour pass like that.
Beep beep beep beep—
The door opened, and Evanjel and Hayang returned from their walk.
“I’m back~!”
“Meow~”
The moment they came in, they hurriedly sat down on the sofa and stared at me. Their eyes were clearly asking for something. Judging by that, it was almost time for their animated movie to start. I handed the remote to the two of them and went into the bedroom.
“Ugh.”
The moment I lay down on the bed, I unconsciously let out a sigh.
My heart felt stifled.
I checked my smartwatch. Chae Nayun had not contacted me. An hour had passed already, so she must have gone home.
With that thought, I picked up my game console.
........ And so, three o’clock in the afternoon arrived.
In the end, unable to bear my pounding heart, I went outside. Evanjel was sleeping with Hayang as a pillow. I walked carefully in case they woke up, and the moment I grasped the doorknob—
Swoosh.
Evanjel and Hayang suddenly woke up and looked at me with sleepy, narrowed eyes.
“Oh, Evanjel. I’m just going out for a bit. I’ll buy you something tasty when I come back.”
“....... Mm-hm, good.......”
After answering that, she fell asleep again. I hurried outside. I got on the bike parked in the lot and slowly drove toward the VIP ward where we had planned to meet.
“She’s still here.”
I had thought there was no way she would still be here, but she really was.
Chae Nayun was standing with her back against the ward’s outer wall. She was dressed with unusual care, her bobbed hair softly waved as though she had visited a salon, and the girl who was always barefaced had even put on light makeup.
I slowly approached Chae Nayun.
That was when it happened.
Chae Nayun, who had been peering at her smartwatch with a sullen expression, suddenly jerked her head up. When she spotted me, she broke into a radiant smile.
“Ah! Hey! Hey, Kim Hajin!”
She pointed at me and came running over.
“Ah, damn...... I mean, you’re incredibly late. What were you doing?”
“How can I be late when we never made plans?”
That was all I could answer. Chae Nayun merely shot me a sidelong glance, then unexpectedly took out her smartwatch without complaining much.
“Anyway, we had a lot to do today. Brunch at noon, bowling at one, a café at two, a tarot reading at three, games at the arcade at four, and entering the restaurant at 4:40 p.m......”
As Chae Nayun rattled off the schedule, I lightly smacked the back of her head.
“Urk.”
She froze in the exact position she had been struck in, then slowly turned her face upward. I had expected some kind of violent reaction, but Chae Nayun merely stared at me with blank eyes and asked,
“Why did you hit me?”
“....... Who schedules things down to the minute like that? Is this training?”
“Then what are we supposed to do?”
“Let’s go for a drive. We have about two hours left, I think.”
I said this while patting the seat behind me.
“A drive? Sounds good~”
Chae Nayun climbed on with a delighted expression, and I gripped the accelerator.
“Let’s go straight to the arcade like this. Arcade at four, forty minutes of games, then the restaurant.”
“Shut up. Dates are supposed to be spontaneous.”
“......D-Date? What are you talking about? Hey, I told you not to get ahead of your—urk.”
I accelerated abruptly so she could not say anything useless.
Without bothering to go to the arcade, I took a wide circuit around Seoul.
A snowy white Christmas, the beautiful scenery of Seoul. Though we met about three hours later than planned, we saw and enjoyed a great many things.
We stopped by a luxury clothing store, I forcibly made Chae Nayun eat a hotteok, and at the restaurant, we ate while dressed completely differently from when we had first arrived.
Two and a half hours passed together like that.
Now it was almost time for Chae Nayun to leave, so I rode the bike to the portal customs station.
[Domestic Portal Customs]
“Ah...... um.......”
The portal Chae Nayun had to take was connected to Hamgyeongbuk-do. However, she merely hesitated beside me, making no move to leave.
“Go on. You’ll be late.”
“......”
Chae Nayun tapped my shoulder with a sullen look.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“....... Did you have fun today?”
Her words made my chest ache.
“......Then that’s good.”
“Oh, right. But you, just in case, until I come back..........”
However, she did not finish the sentence. After mouthing words for a while, deep in thought, Chae Nayun eventually shook her head and gave a small laugh.
“Never mind. We’ll be seeing each other soon anyway.”
As she said that, she held out her hand to me. It was small and white, yet rough with calluses.
I smiled bitterly and took her hand. Perhaps because she liked the sensation, a faint blush rose on Chae Nayun’s cheeks.
“Your hand’s surprisingly big. And soft.”
“I only have to pull a trigger when I train.”
“......I’m jealous. Ahem. Anyway.”
Chae Nayun cleared her throat and let go of my hand.
“See you when it’s over.”
I smiled at her without answering.
“Well, I’m going.”
“Take care.”
With those final words, Chae Nayun walked toward the portal, glancing back several times as though she could not quite bring herself to leave.
* * *
January 3.
On the third day of the new year, with midwinter sleet drifting down, I climbed into a sedan parked in a deserted vacant lot.
Jane and an unfamiliar man sat in the front seats, while the captain sat in the back.
“You’re here? Ah, the man beside me is the helper I mentioned before, so don’t be too surprised.”
“Hello.”
A Black man with his hair braided up in a dreadlocked style turned around and spoke.
He was probably the Blue ‘Kalifa’ of the Wisaekdan.
“Now that the main person has arrived, everyone close your eyes and leave yourselves to my magic~”
Jane began emitting her magic in earnest.
I followed her instructions.
When Jane’s magic touched my body, I felt a strange sensation, as though something were being painted over my skin.
“Done. Here, everyone take your identification cards and IDs.”
Three minutes. It took a mere three minutes for her disguise talent to turn us into entirely different people.
I opened my eyes and looked in the rearview mirror. Reflected there was not Kim Hajin, but an unknown nurse who worked in the VIP ward.
“I don’t know why you’re making things so complicated when injecting a lethal poison would end it easily.”
Jane’s first plan had been assassination by poisoning. But the Demon Seed would not die so easily. That was why I had prepared even a God-Slaying Bullet.
“Anyway, the plan is simple. The four of us disguise ourselves as ward employees and enter Chae Jinyoon’s room. Then......”
Jane’s plan was simple: take Chae Jinyoon out of the hospital and kill him in a deserted place. In reality, though the words were simple, it was an incredibly difficult task.
But with Jane’s disguises—
And Kalifa’s ‘Portal’ ability—
it would be possible.
“Next is the portal. This helper can open portals. However, if the fluctuations in his magic are too strong, not only the mercenaries outside but also the security system will detect them. So a very small portal with a travel distance of twenty kilometers would be best. But once I pass through that portal, my disguise will wear off. Still, don’t worry about anyone seeing you. I’ve already set up a barrier at the place where you and Chae Jinyoon will meet alone.”
There, I would have to face Chae Jinyoon with my real face.
Jane had to stay near the hospital room to maintain the fake Chae Jinyoon—if she moved beyond a certain distance, the disguises on others would wear off.
“Now get out and go in one at a time. I’ll be the only one taking the sedan. I’ll match your speed, so don’t worry. Just make sure you don’t go more than four kilometers away.”
Jane’s ‘distance restriction’ was ten kilometers when disguising one person, eight kilometers for two people, and so on. The more people there were, the more restrictive it became.
Kalifa, the captain, and finally I got out.
The sedan started moving slowly.
The three of us followed it, keeping a suitable distance from one another.
* * *
We all successfully infiltrated the ward on foot without incident.
As I had studied, I stood at the counter and waited for Jane to call me.
“Hye-yeon?”
At exactly 11 a.m., Jane called for me.
“Yes?”
“Ah, yes.”
I went over to Jane and stood beside her. One assistant doctor and another nurse followed behind us. They were Kalifa’s and the captain’s disguises, respectively.
We took the escalator down to the basement.
In front of Chae Jinyoon’s room, Jane flipped through the chart and spoke to the mercenary.
“It’s inspection time. Eleven ten.”
“Yes.”
The mercenary moved aside without the slightest suspicion. The four of us entered and immediately locked the door.
Chae Jinyoon was sleeping peacefully in his bed.
“CCTV,” Jane said quietly.
The CCTV inside was my responsibility. Using my smartwatch, I temporarily suspended its operation. My Jomo SP was a whopping 200.
“Done.”
“Good.”
Jane then pointed at the captain.
“Captain, carefully. Don’t let the people outside notice.”
“Right.”
The captain emitted his magic with great care and created two magical puppets.
Jane overlaid each puppet with the forms of Chae Jinyoon and me.
“Done. Next, Kalifa?”
“Okay.”
Immediately afterward, Kalifa created a portal the size of a front door.
Goooo—
This time, however, the fluctuations in the magic rang out somewhat strongly. We had to move before the mercenary outside, who had sensed the magic, came in.
—What was that just now? Hey, hey! Did something happen inside?
I placed Chae Jinyoon in the wheelchair I had prepared and entered the portal.
* * *
Outside the portal was a desolate forest.
Sleet had piled up on the snowy ground, crunching beneath my feet, while the bare branches of the trees rasped in the brushing wind.
A neat bench stood directly in front of me.
I left the wheelchair with Chae Jinyoon beside the bench. Then I stood still and waited for Chae Jinyoon to wake up.
Suddenly, Chae Nayun appeared over Chae Jinyoon’s face. Chae Nayun looking at me with a radiant smile.
But I deliberately forced down the thoughts trying to rise in my mind.
Now was the time for emptiness and detachment.
“.....Fuck.”
But in the end, it was unbearable.
On a whim, I pulled out the pristine white paper box I had brought with me.
Cigarettes.
I took one out and put it between my lips, something I had quit without even realizing it, then lit it with magic.
The acrid smoke passed down my throat and invaded my lungs.
The unpleasant harmony of tar and nicotine calmed my mind, if only slightly.
........ How much time had passed amid the biting wind, cold snowflakes, and billowing cigarette smoke? At last, Chae Jinyoon opened his eyes.
“.....”
Even faced with the unfamiliar scenery spread out before him, Chae Jinyoon showed no particular agitation and looked at me.
I met his eyes and lowered my head.
Chae Jinyoon spoke.
“........ Kim Hajin?”
I did not answer.
“Where is this?”
I did not answer.
“Did something happen to the hospital room?”
I did not answer.
I simply drew a pistol from inside my clothes and slid the vividly gleaming God-Slaying Bullet into the revolver’s chamber.
“Ha-jin?”
Chae Jin-yoon’s innocent question pierced my heart with pain.
I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath. I dropped the cigarette butt onto the ground and crushed the remaining ember beneath my foot.
Then I spoke.
“Mr. Chae Jin-yoon, have you ever heard of something called the ‘Demon Seed’?”
“What?”
“......It’s probably a concept that hasn’t been properly established yet.”
I continued speaking as I looked down at Chae Jin-yoon.
Because I felt that I had to explain to him directly the reason he had to die. That alone.
A shred of courtesy—or perhaps a cowardly attempt at self-justification.
“The Demon Seed is a demon that takes root inside the human body. A kind of ‘evil god.’ But once the Demon Seed germinates, the incarnation’s consciousness, will, and body are all usurped by the demon, and it becomes the demon itself.”
The strong wind tossed my collar. Perhaps because I had chain-smoked for the first time in a while, my mouth tasted bitter.
Slowly, I raised the pistol and pressed it against the space between Chae Jin-yoon’s brows.
“Mr. Chae Jin-yoon. There’s a seed inside your body.”
Chae Jin-yoon met my eyes without a word.
“You’re a body destined to become a demon.”
My vision blurred.
The hand gripping the gun trembled.
I took the pistol in both hands and steadied the wavering muzzle.
One last deep breath.
Then I hooked my finger around the trigger.
“I’m sorry. I’m truly, truly.....”
But I couldn’t help hesitating. Chae Na-yoon’s face came back to me. The girl who had smiled so brightly and Chae Jin-yoon, standing before me, overlapped. The tender, innocent feelings Chae Na-yoon had held for me came rushing back into my heart.
How terrible a wound would she suffer? How deep a scar would she be left with?
That was what I feared.
It was at that moment.
Chae Jin-yoon’s face, which had been watching me, twisted horribly. At the same time, demonic energy seethed from his entire body. The demonic energy whipped around, scorching the ground and choking my breath, until Chae Jin-yoon’s whole body turned black as ash.
Chae Jin-yoon—or rather, the demon that had stolen his body—reached out toward me. A vicious, glittering blade of a hand, and eyes blazing blood-red..
The demon’s killing intent was carried out without hesitation.
Even as I watched it rush toward my throat, I hesitated.
That hesitation of mine should have been directly connected to death.
In that instant, which felt like one one-hundredth of a second. Yet no harm came to my body.
Rather, it seemed as if the entire world had come to a stop.
It was quiet and distant.
In the very heart of that forest, so still it was almost serene, I saw the demon’s eyes.
The demon’s crimson pupils had hardened, utterly motionless.
The moment I saw them, my heart sank heavily.
The demon inside the seed, which had not yet fully germinated, had been obstructed by Chae Jin-yoon’s will and could not ignite all of its evil.
Chae Jin-yoon was looking at me as he suppressed the thing inside his body.
He could not say anything in this situation. Nor could he bring about any further change.
But his will was clear, and I could not betray it. I could not allow his resolve to be in vain.
I clenched my teeth and realigned the muzzle.
The space between your brows.
This time, I won’t hesitate.
For my sake, and for yours.
.....At the instant my finger pressed the trigger from beginning to end,
a small thought occurred to me.
Chae Na-yoon, who had smiled at me. And the man named Chae Jin-yoon whom I had created.
He had been kinder, warmer, more devoted, and more just than anyone else......... He had been a hero.
Bang.
The pistol fired.
In an instant, the entire world seemed to recede far away from me, and then a brilliant flash erupted, bathing everything around us in light.
The God-Slaying Bullet pierced Chae Jin-yoon between the brows. And it shattered the seed lodged within.
Blood and brain matter splattered across my entire body. Fragments of bone struck me. A strange ringing filled my ears.
Unable to remain standing, my body bent at a right angle. Every unbearable emotion came surging over me. Things I could not tell apart—tears, saliva, blood, or viscera—smeared my face.
“Ah....”
Whether it was the cry of a beast or a human groan, a sound flowed from my mouth that even I could not distinguish.
Today. I murdered Chae Jin-yoon.
The End
My body, staggering as it touched the ground, felt heavy. My vision turned upside down, and I was dizzy.
Unable to maintain my composure, a strange question arose within me.
Was the world I was standing in now a novel, or was it reality?
Suddenly, the sentences from the novel I had written came back to me. The contents of the novel had come back to life with physical substance. The trajectory of the heroic life Chae Jin-yoon should have walked in the future, its many scenes, flashed before my eyes. The Tower of Despair. The Relic Contest. And the Tower of Miracles······.
But none of those things would happen now.