Another Choice (1)
The cola can crumpled in my hand with a sharp crunch.
The fizzy sweetness danced across my tongue, a taste I hadn’t experienced in months. I never thought getting a can of cola on American soil would be this hard. What a ruined world.
Well, I guess snagging one intact can in this apocalypse really is a miracle.
With a self-mocking thought, I scanned my surroundings.
The strongest hunters humanity had to offer were gathered here, and not one of them could hide the tension etched across their faces.
Of course they couldn’t.
We were the last stand. That was what people called us.
If the hunters here died, humanity’s resistance would end today.
The final battle was almost upon us.
Rumble—
Cursed storm clouds rolled in, swallowing the sun. The sky darkened and an unnatural silence fell over everything.
Then an overwhelming killing intent blanketed the world. Every cell in my body stood on edge.
Damn it. This is awful.
Even when I’d felt my master’s killing intent as a kid, it hadn’t been this bad.
“Th-the Doom Dragon!”
As if on cue with someone’s shout, the creature tore through the storm clouds and revealed itself.
Some people had named it the Doom Dragon, meaning the being that would bring about the end of the world. Over time, the title became what everyone called it.
A black form hundreds of meters long. Its body was covered in rock-hard scales.
One massive flap of its wings swept away the rubble of a collapsed city.
“Attack!”
Someone screamed the order.
Those capable of long-range attacks activated their skills. Beams of multicolored light shot toward the Doom Dragon.
But everything was swallowed by the dragon’s breath. A black torrent of energy swept across the battlefield.
The barrier held for a split second before shattering like glass.
An S-class tanker dropped to his knees, then vanished without a trace. America’s strongest mage coughed up blood from mana backlash and collapsed. He was erased too.
It was such a surreal sight it almost didn’t feel real.
Last stand? Wasn’t that title a little too grand?
After all, one breath had nearly wiped us all out.
Everyone behind the barrier seemed to be dead except for me. I’d barely survived by deploying my internal energy to protect myself.
If not for the blood surging up my throat, I might still have been struggling to accept reality.
The only reason I’d endured at all was because the breath had been weakened by the barrier first. If I’d tried to block its full power, I would have been obliterated too.
I let out a deep sigh.
So this is it, huh.
Maybe because I’d already expected it, I didn’t even feel despair anymore. The only emotion left was a heavy sense of regret.
If only I’d realized my potential sooner. If only I’d grown up in a better environment instead of with Taeseong.
Could I have stopped it then?
After spitting out its breath, the Doom Dragon caught its breath and fixed its gaze on me.
The moment our eyes met—its ferocious pupils boring into mine—an intense killing intent crushed my body.
My legs trembled. I wanted to run away right then and there.
But I clenched my teeth and gripped my sword tighter. What was the point of running? The world was already doomed anyway.
The only choice left was to go down fighting gloriously and end my life here.
After that, the remaining humans would be hunted by the dragon and its minions.
That was when I heard it.
“Ah…”
A faint groan from behind me made me realize there was another survivor.
The Saintess is still alive?
She wasn’t in good shape.
Her clothes were torn in several places as she sat slumped on the ground, and the white mask she always wore was gone, revealing her bare face for the first time.
She was East Asian? She looked so familiar I almost thought I’d seen her before—a classic Korean beauty.
Damn, she was ridiculously pretty. I finally understood why she’d hidden behind that mask all this time.
She was the woman the top American guild had treated like a precious treasure, thanks to her large-scale healing magic and buffs.
I’d run into her a few times while staying in the States. I’d wanted to get close to the best healer and buffer around, but every time she saw me she radiated hostility, so I could never even strike up a proper conversation.
“Mister Shin Yuseong.”
Yet now she was calling my name. In Korean, no less.
I hadn’t heard Korean in years after listening to nothing but English. Was the Saintess actually Korean?
Even someone as arrogant as her apparently needed someone to talk to in the end.
Just like me.
“Your name is…”
“You don’t need to know that.”
Her cold tone made me shut my mouth.
It’s the end of the world. Couldn’t she at least tell me her name? The thought crossed my mind, but her eyes were far too icy to press the issue.
“Ha…”
She sighed again and lowered her head.
What did she want from me?
I shook my head and looked up at the sky.
The Doom Dragon was preparing another breath. Simple, but it was the creature’s strongest technique.
How many humans had already been wiped out by that attack? At least a hundred million, easily. Most of the world’s densely populated cities had been destroyed by it… maybe even…
I was lost in pointless calculations when she spoke again.
“I have no choice. I never wanted to use this skill on you, but I hesitated too long. Now there are no other options left.”
“…?”
“Still… I have to stop the world from collapsing. I don’t even know exactly what this skill does. But I hope you live up to your reputation as the Thunder Emperor. I don’t know about your personality, but your skill is undeniably the best, right?”
“What the hell are you talking about? What’s wrong with my personality?!”
I snapped.
I remembered the rumor that the Saintess absolutely despised the Taeseong Guild.
But had she hated me separately from that? Since I was directly involved, I’d never heard those rumors myself.
We’d had no connection whatsoever, so I had no idea why she would loathe me this much.
That was when it happened.
“Huh?”
A soothing sensation spread through my body. The Saintess had healed my internal injuries.
Is she a tsundere or something?
I thought about trying to talk to her again, but there was no time.
“———”
The Saintess closed her eyes and began chanting. Her loose priestess robes flapped wildly, revealing curves that had always been hidden before.
My gaze was momentarily stolen, but that distraction vanished in an instant.
A pure white light enveloped my body.
This wasn’t a normal healing or buff skill. I’d never seen an effect like this before.
Then what was it?
I didn’t feel any wariness.
She wouldn’t do anything harmful. And even if she did, what did it matter at this point?
Whatever it was, I’d accept it. I’d take whatever skill the Saintess had prepared.
Luckily, the Doom Dragon waited. Maybe it saw me as nothing more than a bug it could crush with one hand.
The chant was shorter than I expected.
Finally, the skill was bestowed upon me.
Self-Sacrifice Skill 'Miracle' has been granted.
What…? A self-sacrifice skill?
“Wait! Hey, if it’s a self-sacrifice skill, doesn’t that mean you’ll—huh…?”
The Saintess didn’t move. Her hands were clasped together, eyes tightly shut with an unreadable expression.
One of the two remaining survivors had died. By her own choice. After granting me the self-sacrifice skill called Miracle.
“…”
I stared down at her in silence.
My feelings were complicated.
I’d originally held quite a grudge against the Saintess.
I was acknowledged as one of humanity’s strongest hunters, yet she had always hated me. She refused to even speak to me, and the eyes visible through her mask were always cold.
I’d thought of her as a rude woman.
I even wondered if she was racist for treating a struggling foreign hunter in America so harshly. But I decided to forgive everything.
After all, she had given her life to cast this skill on me.
It seemed more for the sake of the remaining humanity than for me, but a favor was still a favor.
Shin Yuseong, a man of his word.
I will gladly carry out your will.
“Fine. Since you offered your life, I’ll do my best too. I would’ve died a dog’s death anyway without you.”
I muttered and turned my gaze to the sky. The Doom Dragon somehow looked like it was laughing at me.
Grinding my teeth, I steeled my resolve.
I had no idea what this Miracle did. Even the Saintess herself didn’t know, so how could I? I didn’t feel any physical changes either.
There was no way to reach the Doom Dragon as it soared without support.
But.
Whoosh!
I awakened my innate true energy. A forbidden secret technique that would inevitably lead to death upon use.
My internal energy surged, filling me with a sense of omnipotence. As if I could do anything.
For example, techniques I had never been able to use before?
Anyway, I have no lingering attachments to this ruined world. I’ll burn my life here and leave the rest to those who remain.
The sword, crafted by the greatest artisan, pointed toward the sky.
My target was the Doom Dragon, looking down at me like I was a toy.
Sword and body as one.
The feeling of becoming one with the sword was always exhilarating.
Sword flight.
I launched myself into the air. Sword and I became one, soaring upward. The tip of the blade aimed for the Doom Dragon’s vital point.
Crackle!
Lightning covered the sword, radiating blue energy. If I could drive it into the vital point properly, I might be able to inflict a fatal wound.
The dragon finally seemed to sense the threat. The breath it had prepared came crashing down on me.
Come on, Miracle! I don’t know what you are, but show me! If an S-class Saintess sacrificed her life for this skill, you’d better do your damn job!
And then.
I was struck directly by the black breath. My sword energy lost its light, my protective energy shattered. The breath engulfed my body without any resistance.
You called it a miracle? It’s nothing! What a total scam!
That was the last thought I had… along with unbearable agony.
***
“Mister Shin Yuseong, what do you think of my proposal?”
“…?”
My eyes snapped open.
A familiar pattern hung on the wall. A man sat across from me with his fingers interlaced.
Leaning back in his chair, he looked completely relaxed.
What the…?
I ignored him for a moment and observed my surroundings, then checked my condition.
The excruciating pain that had torn through my entire body was gone.
***
It didn’t take long to figure out the situation.
I knew the perfect word to describe this.
Regression.
Hey, Saintess. I take back calling it a scam. I didn’t know the effect of Miracle was regression.
I never thought something like this was possible…
I had been given a chance to repay my debt to the Doom Dragon.
“Mister Shin Yuseong? Are you not listening to me?”
Only then did I take a proper look at the man in front of me.
It was faint because it had been so long ago, but he was someone from my memories.
The Taeseong Guild recruiter.
It seemed I had regressed to the day I applied to join the Taeseong Guild.
After seeing my awakening ability and falling into despair, he must have come to me as a last resort…
A hollow laugh escaped me.
After regressing, why the hell would I join Taeseong again?
Luckily, it looked like the contract hadn’t been signed yet.
“Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought for a second… where were we?”
“Well…”
The man sighed at having to repeat himself and continued.
“I said all you need to do is give one testimony. Just tell the truth.”
Ah, I remembered now.
In my previous life, I had desperately wanted to join the Taeseong Guild and had jumped at the job they offered.
I had given testimony exactly as they requested about something I barely even remembered anymore.
But I wasn’t going to do that now.
I wasn’t planning to join Taeseong, so I had no desire to do something like that. Even though I hadn’t heard the full story, it probably wasn’t anything good.
That’s how it always was with schemes that witch cooked up.
Turning it down cleanly was the rational choice. It was definitely rational, but…
Who was the testimony about again? It was definitely some woman… Should I listen first and then refuse?
She might get angry if I listened and then said no, but… I could just play dumb.
“Oh, right. What kind of testimony do I need to give?”
Did he take my attitude as agreement?
“I’m glad we understand each other.”
With a satisfied smile, he pulled out a document from beside him and slid it toward me.
The first thing that caught my eye was a photo of a woman.
“All you have to do is say that you saw this person at this location, Mister Shin Yuseong. It was a long time ago so your memory might be fuzzy, but you were definitely there. It’s not difficult, is it? Just testify truthfully, and you’ll become a member of our Taeseong Guild.”
“…”
I was at a loss for words.
Now I understood why the Saintess had hated me.