Too Late
With a face twisted in pure irritation, Yujin quietly took in the sight of the Apocalypse, shredded to pieces.
One year ago.
The thing that had been guarding the top of the Tower had fought as if it were some kind of player itself, then fled—escaping the Tower entirely.
Even Yujin had never seen that coming.
What followed was all too predictable.
Once outside, the Apocalypse had brought death beyond counting, and in the end it had dragged this world into ruin itself. Though now, under Yujin's blade, even its soul was being torn apart and its existence was fading completely away…
"It's too late."
A hollow lament slipped from Yujin's lips.
Too late.
Was there any phrase that could explain the present situation more precisely than that?
Yujin soon pulled his attention away from the Apocalypse, which had died a miserable death, and looked around.
Corpses. Corpses. Corpses.
Wherever his gaze fell, the dead were piled into mountains. The last remains of the idiots who had poured every ounce of effort into conquering the Tower, and of the ordinary fools who had cheered them on.
"They're all fucking dead."
In this long and savage war, not a single person had survived. And it wasn't just Korea. The battlefield between Yujin and the Apocalypse had all but engulfed the entire Earth. Probably—no. Certainly. Everyone was dead. They had all collapsed and died without even being able to close their eyes, still hoping someone would come and save the world.
"Damn it, you bastards. So damn weak."
Yujin spat the thick curse while looking down at the corpses with sorrowful eyes.
■ Epic Quest Complete.
■ You have won the battle against the Transcendent-rank Boss: Apocalypse.
■ Level Up ■ Level Up ■ Level Up
■ Level Up ■ Level Up …(omitted).
■ Calculating rewards for quest completion and successful Tower conquest.
Shut up.
That damned Akasha System flooded his ears with notifications like a rampaging cascade. Levels had risen so many times he couldn't even begin to count them, and on top of that, it seemed determined to carefully hand him every scrap of reward it could find. He had spent a full year hunting the boss of the Tower's highest floor—the Apocalypse—and in the end had taken its head alone. There was no need to spell out how enormous those rewards would be.
But…
What good was any of that now?
"Victory?"
Sure. He had fought the Apocalypse and won. He had successfully cleared the 100th floor of the Tower. So victory was victory. But what meaning was there in that, really?
"I'm the only one left alive and breathing."
Was this what it meant to win the battle and lose the war?
Yujin clicked his tongue, ignored the endless chime of alerts, and lifted his head toward the sky.
The sky, dyed a deep crimson, was plummeting toward the earth along with the collapsed Tower. He had torn the Apocalypse into a thousand pieces and won the fight—but in the end, he had not been able to stop the world's destruction. Everything that had lived and breathed was dead, and the world was shattering like glass struck by a hammer, cracking and falling apart with a violent crash.
"Ah. If just a few decent people had survived, it never would have come to this."
If that had been the case, maybe they could have at least avoided the world's end. To realize it only now…
With a chest full of drained strength and regret, Yujin let out a hollow laugh and sat down on a pile of corpses.
"Haa—."
He exhaled a long, deep breath and quietly watched the world collapse.
"Fuck. This is actually badass as hell."
He had seen every kind of impossible thing inside the Tower, but without question, the scene unfolding before his eyes right now was the most overwhelming of them all.
"This is the kind of view you ought to watch with a bottle of soju in hand."
He found himself craving a drink for no good reason. But as always, time was not on his side. Yujin was not even granted the leisure to go looking for a single bottle of soju.
KRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRNG!
"Whoa. So this is really how it ends?"
The world, which had been barely holding itself together, finally began to fully collapse, howling in agony amid a massive tremor. Yujin watched the broken fragments of space-time raining down over his head—and closed his eyes.
And then.
■ Reward calculation complete.
■ Achievement Unlocked: 『Perfect Climb』
■ Achievement Unlocked: 『The Last One』
■ Achievement Unlocked: 『God of Combat』
◈ Quest Completion Reward: Skill 『Chronos's Hourglass [EX]』
◈ Tower Conquest Reward: Skill 『Revolving Lantern [S]』
◈ Achievement Reward: Trait 『King of All Weapons [S]』
A hidden condition for skill activation has been fulfilled.
Would you like to use 『Chronos's Hourglass [EX]』?