The Moment of Departure

A barren gray land where not even the wind blew.

Sunwoo stood facing his master, Seong Seorin, close enough to touch if either of them reached out a hand.

Fwoosh—

Seong Seorin threw out her fist, and Sunwoo answered with one of his own.

Their extended fists met with perfect precision at the center.

…….

No sound followed.

Not a single trace of force leaked outward.

Perfect cancellation.

Baekseol thought ordinary people could never even begin ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to imagine what that meant.

Even with their level deliberately suppressed, Sunwoo had displayed a depth equal to the Heavenly Demon within those restraints.

Yes.

Not with just anyone, but with the Heavenly Demon herself—though Sunwoo had stood immeasurably far behind her, he had still managed to thrust out a fist of the same depth.

"Excellent."

Seong Seorin smiled, a smile of breathtaking beauty at her disciple's accomplishment.

"The Mind's Eye. A body that shall never collapse so long as your will does not break. And even the skill to wield that body exactly as you desire."

"You have obtained everything needed to walk the path, and at last, you have arrived."

It had been only a single exchange, yet it was enough to understand everything her disciple had achieved.

"Come. Let us have a cup of tea."

"Yes, Master."

After confirming her disciple's attainment, Seong Seorin sat facing him.

At her side was the snow-white cat, Baekseol. It was the same scene as that first day, now long faded into a distant past.

If there was one difference, it was that a handsome blond man had been added to the gathering.

"That one doesn't drink tea either."

So once again, tea was set only before Seong Seorin and Sunwoo. After savoring a sip, Seong Seorin spoke.

"Talent may let one walk the path more quickly, but that speed is not infinite."

"Sooner or later, a limit comes. And from there, only then, does the true beginning arrive—the point where one must walk by one's own power."

"The talent that let you reach that place with such ease no longer functions. It loses even its light."

"From there on, you must illuminate the way ahead with nothing but your own will and keep moving forward."

"Disciple. That is the path you must walk."

Sunwoo looked back at his smiling master.

He had been looking at her all this time, and yet not truly seeing her. Now, at last, he could.

The path Sunwoo stood upon.

A black and boundless road, vast as outer space, where nothing could be seen and no end was visible.

Beyond that path, he saw his master.

The gap between them was so immense he could not even measure it.

And yet Sunwoo smiled—a smile very much like hers.

Far away, but visible.

Because he could see it, he knew that one day, he would surely reach it.

"Yes. I'll keep going."

"Good. Yes. I have nothing more to teach you now, so go down the mountain."

She said it lightly, on purpose.

But those words confirmed it.

Sunwoo had to leave.

There was something he had to do.

Something only he could do.

Until now, he had remained in this gap where time slid past, but one day he had been bound to leave, and that day was today.

He had crossed the wall of talent and reached the road where he would have to advance through his own strength alone.

He had learned from his master everything he needed to walk that road.

Do-jin-gong.

The martial art the world called Cheonma Shingong, the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Now he understood why it was called the martial art that advanced along the path.

So now—

It was time to leave this space buried under regret and walk the road he had chosen.

"So the promised time has come. Take it."

The handsome blond man who had been watching stepped forward and held out a mysterious golden bracelet.

Half of its body was transparent, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and within it, lightning raged in a storm.

Astrape.

The divine relic of the spirit that had guarded the upper spirit realm—the Thunderbolt Dragon.

The System displayed the item's information.

SSS-grade.

And the displayed rank was indeed SSS-grade.

In Goddess Saga, it was the highest rank of item a player could possess.

Even when a character was outfitted to the absolute limit, SSS-grade items—treasures treated as the world's greatest relics—were scarce enough that owning even two was considered the limit.

And now he had been given one.

......

Shhhh—

The moment Sunwoo focused on it, the bracelet melted like liquid and became one with him.

It had assimilated into his soul.

This meant he would be able to take Astrape with him when he used Restart.

"Then I'm counting on you."

"Yes."

Sunwoo nodded and turned his gaze to the handsome blond man—the Thunderbolt Dragon.

The Thunderbolt Dragon.

Just like his master, the Heavenly Demon Seong Seorin, he too had only ever been mentioned by name in Goddess Saga.

A divine spirit who had guarded a spirit realm of even higher dimension than the spirit realm connected to Earth.

But because that upper spirit realm had never been connected to Earth, he had remained, quite literally, nothing more than a name.

And yet, unbelievably, that Thunderbolt Dragon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been here in Hanwa.

And over the three hundred years he trained here, Sunwoo had learned why.

The reason the upper spirit realm could not connect to Earth.

The tragedy born from that fact.

Even the Thunderbolt Dragon's own regret.

The divine relic now assimilated into Sunwoo's soul existed to wash away even a little of that regret.

And with it...

It seemed possible to resolve the tragedy of one of Sunwoo's precious companions as well.

Rustle.

Baekseol stepped up beside Sunwoo.

Unlike usual, there was something grave in the air, and everyone grew serious.

"Have you decided?"

Seong Seorin asked, and Baekseol answered, "Yes."

Then she stepped in front of Sunwoo.

"Take me with you."

"Yeah. Let's go together."

She told him to take her along, and Sunwoo nodded without hesitation.

Unlike the Thunderbolt Dragon, who had stopped at giving him a token, Baekseol had decided to go with Sunwoo herself.

She, too, was a being tied to Goddess Saga.

The Thunderbolt Dragon was not the only one with whom Sunwoo had shared many stories over the past three hundred years.

He had come to know his master, Seong Seorin, in great depth, and the same was true of Baekseol.

Likewise, they had also come to know Sunwoo deeply, and all four of them had arrived at a single truth.

What connected the four gathered here was Goddess Saga.

And the world of Goddess Saga that Sunwoo had played was the story of what came after the ruin of the world they had once lived in.

Yes.

Shockingly enough, Seong Seorin, the Thunderbolt Dragon, and even Baekseol were all beings from a world destroyed in the unimaginably distant past, long before Goddess Saga.

And the remnants of that ruined world had connected to Earth as fragments.

There was one difference, however.

Unlike the Heavenly Demon Seong Seorin or the divine spirit Thunderbolt Dragon, Baekseol had never once been mentioned in Goddess Saga.

Back when he had known nothing, young Sunwoo had accidentally wandered into a dungeon far beyond his level.

There was no story there—only monsters at an absurd level and unfair gimmicks packed into every corner.

No matter how many times he challenged it, it was a dungeon where moving forward was impossible.

So he posted a question on the forum, and the answer he got was: EX dungeon.

A place where creatures far beyond even the final chapter's dungeon bosses roamed around as ordinary monsters.

A dungeon that remained impossible to clear head-on even after completing every possible form of progression.

It was content prepared for players who, after seeing the full story and defeating every boss, asked what there was left to do.

That was what people expected, but until the day Sunwoo died, no story was ever added to any EX dungeon.

Baekseol was a being tied to one of those EX dungeons.

And through Sunwoo, she had seen a possibility of resolving her regret.

Because in the world Sunwoo had to return to, there was a dungeon that could free her from it.

So Baekseol chose to leave Hanwa with Sunwoo.

But to do that, she had to give something up.

Shhhhhhh—

Her True Body.

She had to abandon the spiritual body that, though she had died, could still eat, drink, and train.

And so Baekseol's body began to scatter into particles of light.

It was a process that stripped away not only her physical form, but even her spiritual one—a state infinitely close to death, where only the mind remained.

A being left with only the mind could wear away over the ages and vanish completely, unable even to enter reincarnation.

"Congratulations, Baekseol."

And yet the Heavenly Demon Seong Seorin smiled as she said it.

"Mm. Congratulations."

The handsome blond man, the Thunderbolt Dragon, congratulated her as well.

Because this was the process of letting go of the regret that had bound them to this place.

A regret so deep and dark it defied even the law of the universe that said the dead must pass on.

Something that shackled them here, in this desolate gray gap where even time slid away.

Baekseol had chosen to cast aside that regret once, in order to cleanse it—and in doing so, she could no longer remain in Hanwa.

She had obtained hope.

"Not very honest, are you."

"...Whatever."

After saying her farewells, Baekseol sprang lightly into Sunwoo's arms.

Sunwoo held the leaping Baekseol carefully, and before her spiritual body disappeared completely, she spoke.

"Make it quick. You have to make it so we can talk again soon. Got it?"

"Yeah. I promise."

"Don't... take too long."

"I won't."

Shhhhhhh.......

The snow-white cat dissolved completely into particles of light within Sunwoo's arms.

But not everything vanished.

Left behind in his embrace was a pure white sphere that reminded him of Baekseol's snowy fur.

A Core.

Quite literally the essence of a being formed by mana.

Even within Goddess Saga, it was both an especially important concept and an item.

EX.

And what caught Sunwoo's eye there was that rank beyond all standards.

EX.

A word meaning outside the norm.

It could only be seen in EX-grade dungeons, and even then, players had only ever seen it—never obtained it as a drop.

And now that very EX-grade item was in Sunwoo's hands.

It was undoubtedly something extraordinary, but...

It did not surprise him.

Because Sunwoo, who had now stepped onto the path, could finally see clearly.

Just how transcendent Baekseol truly was.

That a core representing Baekseol's very essence would be EX-grade was, if anything, only natural.

Shhhh—

Just like Astrape before it, Baekseol's core seeped into his soul.

And so Baekseol, too, would go with Sunwoo to Earth.

And she would seize hope.

At last, all the preparations were complete.

Sunwoo straightened his posture and faced his master.

"Then... until we meet again, Master."

He did not say goodbye.

He said he would see her again.

At that, his master Seong Seorin smiled as well.

"Yes. We shall meet again."

Because they had promised.

If he kept walking the path, they would surely meet once more.

The Heavenly Demon and the Thunderbolt Dragon, who would not be going with him, still had things they had to confirm here.

Things they needed to confirm in order to grasp hope themselves.

Sunwoo engraved his master's smile into his ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠heart and lifted his head.

The thing he had long pushed off to one side.

Yet, as if projected onto his soul, it always rose to the center of his vision the instant he became aware of it.

Without a moment's hesitation, Sunwoo chose Y.

And then—

Bzzzt—

Huh?

Noise crackled through space.