The First Apostle

I had arrived at the finest gukbap house in Daejeon, the kind of place that drowns a bowl of rice in boiling broth. The collapse scare had kept its doors shut all last week, and only today had it opened again. Even so, the faintly gamy, deeply savory smell of simmering soup drifting out into the street was enough, all by itself, to make saving the city feel worth it.

No line, thankfully. Most people still hadn't made it back from the evacuation.

"Ma'am, one bowl of piping-hot gukbap, please."

"Aigoo, young man, it's been ages! You been getting by all right?"

"Yes."

"Had somewhere to evacuate to, did you?"

"Yeah, well. A relative's place."

"That so... Today's on the house! Eat two bowls before you go!"

"Why's it free?"

The old woman smiled, warm and easy.

"What, you think this old lady turns into a beggar if she doesn't take a few coins?"

"That's not what I meant."

As of right now, she was probably a lot richer than I was. There wasn't a TV network, a YouTube channel, or a streaming service she hadn't been on.

"This old lady just wants to pitch in a little, is all. Everyone's working so hard to get by."

"I see..."

The gukbap came out a little later. Sorted by lineage, it sat closer to a Gyeongsang-style beef soup than anything else. Pepper, salt, a dab of the red chili paste they set out on the side—I was seasoning it to taste and just about to take a big spoonful when a groan burst from the next table.

"Aigoo..."

"They blew it again. Look at this."

"Whoa. What are we supposed to do?"

"Right...?"

The other tables were no different. What in the world was going on?

A young man shouted.

"Ma'am! Could you turn on the TV!"

"The TV?"

She picked up the remote and switched it on. The moment the picture came up, the regular broadcast was already gone, replaced by an emergency ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bulletin.

"Oh, lord..."

"I had a feeling farming Floor 51 this early was rushing it."

"What do we do if Kim Minsung's dead?"

"What else? We run again."

"Guess it's something that we've still got three months?"

Kim Minsung is dead...?

I shoved a hand under the table, shut my eyes, and dropped my voice as low as it would go.

"Activate Heal. Target: Kim Minsung."

But the Heal would not take.

"Activate Heal. Target: Kim Minsung...!"

I tried it a little louder. Still nothing. The Heal refused to cast.

I shot up out of my seat.

"Hm...? Young man? Young man! Where are you going!"

"Thanks for the meal! I'll leave the money!"

"I said it's free!"

I left the old woman behind and sprinted for home. Even as I ran I didn't stop, throwing the skill out at the top of my lungs.

"Activate Heal! Target: Kim Minsung!"

In that instant—

"...!"

It had activated. The Heal. So it really had needed to be louder? Either way, the skill had gone off, and that meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there was no problem. Kim Minsung was still alive—

"...What?"

Kim Minsung—the Daejeon Tower's only S-Rank Awakener—was dead?

Impossible. Then who was supposed to clear the uppermost floors? The other Awakeners were still floundering somewhere between Floors 40 and 45...

Regret came flooding in. Whether Kim Minsung wanted the Heal or not, I had to keep him alive, no matter what. If he lived, I lived.

"Do I... do I have to climb it myself?"

That might be the only way. Heal was the only ability I had, but in level, at least, I could crush the other Awakeners outright. I stood a better chance than the ones who had been wandering Floor 40 for months.

But the power of level thinned the higher you climbed. Unless your level was absurdly high, level alone didn't look like enough to clear a place like Floor 53 or Floor 55. In the end, my Heal had been powerful because it gave wings to people who already knew how to fight.

Again. One more time. They had declared Kim Minsung dead, and yet the Heal had activated anyway. There might be meaning in that.

"Activate Heal. Target: Kim Minsung of the Daejeon Tower."

Sure enough, the Heal activated.

The notice of his death was identical. Was there really no way...?

"No. Wait."

One thing came to mind. When I awakened, my Heal had carried a single important trait.

"The Mark of Omnipotence..."

Right. I had this. A mark that could call down a greater miracle. But there was only one. Was spending it here the right call? What if I used it and nothing changed?

That was when it came.

This couldn't be.

"Resurrection was actually possible...?"

Wasn't this truly a miracle on the level of a god? The power most worthy of the word omnipotence.

"Resurrection..."

Spend the Mark of Omnipotence to bring Kim Minsung back, or give up. Less than thirty seconds remained to choose, and inside I was a mess—the terror that I might never obtain another Mark of Omnipotence, set against the plain fact that I still had to save him.

"Ngh..."

Kim Minsung opened his eyes. The whole world was steeped in gray.

Ah... I'm dead, aren't I.

It had been carelessness. The first wave had been manageable enough that his movements grew wilder and wilder—until elite orc soldiers pinned every limb, and a minotaur's axe drove into him with a wet, final crunch. A single instant. That was all it took.

They say your life flashes before your eyes. It really did. In that brief span, every regret came flooding in. Things left undone. Words left unsaid.

...I shouldn't have clung to that useless pride. He had known perfectly well that he hadn't cleared Floor 51 on his own strength. The Heal granted to him like a miracle was something he could never thank enough, no matter how many times he tried. What on earth had he been so dissatisfied about?

Regret ran from him like tears of blood. At the far edge of his vision lay his own torso, the head severed, discarded like trash.

I didn't have to end up like that. This was the price of foolishness, clear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as anything. And because of it he had endangered not only himself, but the lives of more than a thousand Awakeners bound to the Daejeon Tower.

Please... Please let there be someone to carry on after me. Let that person not choose as foolishly as I did. A last wish, prayed with everything he had as his consciousness drifted away.

That was when it happened.

The gray-stained world blazed with light all at once. Radiance enough to illuminate everything, and a celestial hymn rising from every direction. Then a notification he could hardly believe appeared before him.

Resurrection. But the miracle had a price.

System windows crashed over me in a rush. It was enough to leave my head spinning. But the substance of it was simple.

I had resurrected Kim Minsung. The Mark of Omnipotence could be earned again inside the Tower. And Kim Minsung was now my Apostle.

The ability, exactly as the world already knew it.

I opened a system window to send Kim Minsung a Revelation.

A Revelation, it seemed, could go out as voice, as text, as an image—whatever I wanted.

Then... how do I send the first one?

Kim Minsung moved a finger.

A twitch—!

The fingertip curled, and a strange thrum traveled the length of his arm. He moved a foot next. Joint by joint, his body announced that everything was whole again.

"Ah..."

He pushed himself up through tears of joy, and the minotaur and the orcs that had taken his head whirled toward him in alarm.

"Chwik? Wh-wh-why is that one back...?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"A resurrection...?"

"A resurrection? Don't be absurd! What kind of bastard could possibly—"

Shunk— Kim Minsung's blade punched through an orc's throat.

"He is capable of it."

"Ch-chwik...!"

One orc down, he swept the sword without a pause and cut through the minotaur and the rest of the orcs in turn.

"Hah..."

The next wave would be on him soon. Kim Minsung reset his grip, tension drawn tight. He couldn't throw away this life he had only just gotten back.

This body isn't mine alone anymore. It belongs to Him—the One whose name I don't even know.

"I beseech You... please grant me Heal..."

Had the desperate wish reached? A blue system window appeared without warning.

"...!"

Kim Minsung was shaken to the core. His voice, so vivid and alive— no. It was text.

He scrambled to restart the broadcast he had left frozen.

And then—

The chat caught fire. Kim Minsung drew a long breath, then spoke in the plainest voice he could manage.

"The fight got a little rougher than I expected! I cut the stream for a minute so I could focus. I'm all right now."

The title...?

Kim Minsung changed it at once.

Kim Minsung nodded, deep and solemn.

"Everything you viewers are saying is right! I was arrogant. I was a damn idiot. To the Heal villain... no. To Lord Heal, I bow my head and beg. Please grant me Heal. You can take all my EXP and all my loot!"

"Yes...!"

Kim Minsung reset his grip on the sword.

Everything, solely for Him.

Resolve set like stone, Kim Minsung turned to meet the new wave.