Empty Dream
Empty Dream
"So you came here again."
As I sat quietly staring up at the sky, a voice called out from behind me.
I didn't even need to turn my head to know who it was.
The voice, the mana signature, the subdued presence... all of it was familiar.
Footsteps approached, and someone plopped down beside me.
"......"
Silence hung between us for a while. Only the occasional distant howl of a monster pressed against my eardrums. Just as I was letting my thoughts drift and empty out with those noises, I felt a sidelong glance from next to me.
I turned my head slightly and looked over.
A woman with striking features—brown hair gathered roughly into a ponytail, and grass-green eyes that openly held tension and worry.
The Successor of Taesan, Lee Ji-yeon.
"Um... so..."
A thoroughly limp voice trailed off. She was watching my reaction, dragging her words out.
"What. You have something to say?"
"No, I just... wondered if you'd cooled your head a little."
Since the Calamity Flame had settled down too, I waited patiently with what composure I had. Lee Ji-yeon studied me as she asked.
I shrugged.
"Yes, nicely cooled. Taesan has a nice effect."
The foul-tempered Calamity Flame had gone quiet, and now Taesan was poking its head in.
The emotions that had been blazing just moments ago had collapsed, and now a sense of calm was surging up.
If Azure Sea had awakened instead... I probably would have just gone cold.
'I'm seriously a textbook manic-depressive.'
The thought made a bitter smile cross my face.
Calamity Flame, Azure Sea, Taesan. Every time those three unique abilities surfaced—sometimes trading off, sometimes all at once—it felt like my emotions were being puppeteered.
Sudden rage would send me charging in like a mad dog, then it would all fizzle and I'd collapse under my own weight, and then I'd feel nothing at all and act like a normal person before sinking back down again... I really was a complete lunatic.
"...Taesan, huh..."
As I babbled that out with a bitter grin, Lee Ji-yeon's expression sank.
She hesitated for a moment, then seemed to steel herself and opened her mouth.
"Earlier, I lost my temper. It was something I didn't need to react to, but I snapped back anyway... That was my fault. I'm sorry."
It was a firm voice—I could barely tell where the hesitant demeanor from earlier had gone.
The tension and worry were still there, but she wasn't avoiding my gaze. She was meeting it.
I studied her eyes for a moment, then turned my head forward as if dodging her stare.
"...What do you have to apologize for, Senior. It was my fault in the end. Couldn't control one side effect and threw another tantrum."
"No. That's not true. I knew the circumstances. I should've handled it calmly. The fact that I didn't is on me..."
"So I'm saying... tch. Fine. Let's just call it both our faults."
We went back and forth for a while—I was wrong, no, I was more wrong—until the whole thing suddenly felt pointless.
What a pair of idiots. What were we even doing?
"Pfft..."
I was shaking my head at the stupidity of it when a small laugh sounded beside me.
"What's so funny?"
"Just because."
When I arched an eyebrow and asked, Lee Ji-yeon snorted and shook her head.
I stared at her for a second, then decided not to push and changed the subject.
"...Alright then. How's the situation outside? Still the same?"
"Yeah... still the same."
How was it outside? The moment I asked, Lee Ji-yeon's laughter cut off.
The sight of her shaking her head, her face aging ten years in an instant, told me roughly what was going on out there.
"Jeez."
So it was still a mess. I let out a deep sigh.
The situation we'd worried about since our Siyoram days had finally blown up.
In a place that packed with people, crammed with observation devices—I'd gone and used my abilities with no restraint.
The result: the unique abilities of the Three Great Families I possessed were exposed to the world... and things went to hell.
Even unrelated factions went nuts, and the Three Great Families themselves were completely turned upside down.
Just remembering being swept up in the middle of that chaos sent a shudder through me. It was a painful memory I'd rather not dredge up.
In the end, I couldn't take it anymore and half-fled, half-hunkered down here on the Demon Realm Frontline.
Even with all that, no one would have the guts to follow me all the way out to the frontline.
'Hoo...'
I couldn't honestly say I had no regrets.
But one thing was certain... even if I could go back to that moment, I would do the same thing.
If I hadn't used them then, everyone I could have saved would be dead.
I used my abilities, and I was able to save them.
Of course, someone might sneer and call it a meaningless gesture.
...No. Maybe I already thought it was meaningless myself.
"......"
No matter how desperately I struggled, the odds of stopping the Tower's invasion were pitifully low. And even if I won, it would probably all be for nothing.
'Tch...'
I knew that. But I just couldn't sit still.
If it were absolutely impossible, I would have accepted it.
If it were a delusion I could never achieve no matter how hard I bashed my head against it, I would give up and resign myself.
But it was right in front of me.
In places my eyes could see, at a distance where just stretching out my hand could reach, there were people I could save if I just tried a little harder.
There were so many people like that—I couldn't just look away with the excuse that it was all pointless anyway.
So I just asked myself.
If they aren't fakes. If this world doesn't just vanish into nothing but keeps going.
If I turn away from that sight, live like a mouse without reaching out my hand.
And then one day someone asks me if I have the right to feel wronged... I wasn't confident I could answer yes with my head high and without hesitation.
That's why I was fighting like this.
Not solely for others—but so I could stand tall before myself.
So that someday, if I were treated unfairly and unjustly, I could answer without hesitation that I hadn't lived a life that deserved such treatment.
Maybe it was too lofty an ideal for my vessel.
I was full of greed without the ability to match it.
I desperately chased power beyond my means to achieve my goals, and I became a mental wreck whose emotions swung up and down.
And after all that, I'd succeeded at so little. Countless people were still beyond saving.
"Junior, you're digging tunnels in your head again."
"?"
"What's up. Did Calamity Flame flare up again?"
A hand pressed firmly against my cheek. When I turned my head, the fingers sank in deeper, and Lee Ji-yeon's worried face filled my vision.
"It's nothing."
"Nothing, my foot. It's written all over your face that you're thinking gloomy thoughts."
"I said it's nothing."
"I don't know what's worrying you, but..."
I stood up to get away from the hand that kept poking my cheek, and Lee Ji-yeon rose with me.
"If you need help, just say so. I've gotten so much help from you, haven't I? I'll back you with everything I've got, anytime. Don't worry. As you know, Junior, I'm kind of a big deal."
As she said that, Lee Ji-yeon's expression looked rather self-assured. She didn't look at all like the person who'd been tiptoeing around me just moments ago.
"......"
People really are confusing.
Sometimes she seemed this dependable, other times she shrank into herself... They say people have many sides, but Lee Ji-yeon seemed to show that tendency strongly.
And that made her more endearing somehow. Especially when she showed that shrinking side—did I unconsciously feel a sense of kinship?
Maybe the reason we got close so easily at first was because Lee Ji-yeon, having realized I manifest Taesan, acted oddly deflated and familiar. It oddly opened my heart up fast.
So I hope she doesn't die either. If the future is going to continue, I want her to be happy.
Wearing a strange expression, I smacked the hand that was brushing my rear.
"I'm stronger than you, Senior. And don't touch my butt."
"What? When did I touch your butt?! I was just dusting you off!"
The smacked Lee Ji-yeon squawked with an incredulous look.
"Jeez... More importantly, can you make some time later? I have something I want to say."
After going back and forth for a bit, Lee Ji-yeon ran out of steam.
Then she let out a heavy sigh, checked my expression again, and asked.
I tilted my head.
"Do we really need to set aside time? Just say it now."
"No. I want to do it separately later. It's something I need to prepare my heart for."
"Prepare your heart... Fine. I'll make time after I make one more stop at the inner area."
I answered in disbelief, but for some reason Lee Ji-yeon gently insisted on doing it later.
In the end, I promised I'd make time on my way back from a visit to the Demon Realm's deep core.
"It might take a while, though. I'm planning to clean things up a bit while I'm there."
"Okay. I'll wait."
Only after hearing me agree to make time did Lee Ji-yeon finally smile faintly, as if she were relieved.
* * *
[ HP has reached 0. ]
[ Player is dying. ]
[ Bad End 4 - Died in the ｢Demon Realm's Deepest Core｣. ]
[ Calculating data. ]
[ Iteration: 3rd Iteration ]
[ Selected Configuration: Vessel ]
[ System Title: Three Ends三終 ]
[ Cause of Death: Self-detonation from repulsion between Unique Abilities ]
* * *
"...si? Ha-yul~"
My consciousness, which had been submerged deep, bobbed smoothly to the surface.
My ears, which had felt muffled as if stuffed with water, cleared, and a voice calling me came through.
[Huh?]
[Eh?]
[Droo...]
[Three Ends]
[Wild dream]
[Sadness]
My awareness floated up.
Sensation returned. A cooling energy flowed into me from the soft thing pressed against my body.
And the voice I felt above my head—it seemed to be Baek A-rin calling me.
[Uhhh]
[Yes... What is it?]
Still half-asleep, I sent back a groggy reply.
Pulling my head away from where it had been buried in flesh, I activated Observation.
Baek A-rin's face, wearing a peculiar expression, soon registered in my mind.
Her blue eyes flicked between my face... between the Confession Necklace and my lips, then she plucked a few tissues from the box beside her and wiped at my lips.
- Mmphb...?
I tilted my head, wondering what she was doing. Why was she doing this all of a sudden? As I radiated confusion, the tissue quickly grew damp.
'?'
A question mark popped up over my head. The tissue that had been dabbing at my lips now wiped around my mouth. It came away wet again.
"Goodness, it's all wet."
Wiping around my mouth with her usual casual demeanor, Baek A-rin glanced down at my face.
My sleepy, dazed face.
She let out a little laugh, then grabbed a fresh tissue and wiped at her chest, which was thoroughly damp.
The very spot my face had been buried in until just moments ago.
'Ah...'
The pieces clicked together in my still-hazy head.
My mouth hanging open as I surfaced from sleep. The dampness around my lips and on Baek A-rin's chest...
I pieced it together. My face promptly went splotchy with mostly red hues.
"You were drooling in your sleep—must have been a deep one, huh?"
And as if to land the finishing blow, Baek A-rin patted my backside with a teasing look...
My face dropped on its own.
* * *
On the way to the lecture hall.
Lee Ji-yeon was rummaging through her bag when she suddenly narrowed her brow.
A tickle rose in her nose. She tried to hold it back, but it didn't obey.
"Ah, ah-choo!"
She sneezed.
The sneeze was so forceful her body heaved, and the chatter around her was swallowed up for a second.
The friends talking beside her opened their eyes wide.
"Whoa, Ji-yeon, what's that? A random sneeze? You're not catching a cold, are you?"
"If a Taesan manifester catches a cold, aren't we all already dead?"
"Ha-hah! Listen to that sneeze! So ridiculously cute."
"N-no, I..."
Her friends swarmed her, jumping on the tiny scrap of amusement in the middle of boring downtime.
Lee Ji-yeon, an excellent punching bag, wilted under the combined assault.