Chapter 121
Chapter 121
The Beginning of Salvation - Tae-jin, Renia & Ercia
****
“Hah, hah, hah.”
My chest heaved greatly as I gasped for breath. It didn’t feel like waking up from a nightmare, but rather like being forcibly woken from a sweet dream.
I looked at the calendar with large numbers written on it.
“July 23rd…?!”
It was the day I had fallen asleep while reading the [Hidden Piece Academy Setting Book], which I had obtained through two days of sleeping on the streets thanks to my unemployed life.
“Wh-what the. It wasn’t a real dream… was it?”
I hurriedly got up and looked at the mirror on the wall.
The bottom was cracked, but it was a mirror sufficient enough to display a shabby face.
Reflected in that cracked mirror was not Han Tae-jin with brilliant black hair and a sophisticated face, but Choi Su-han with messy brown hair and a gloomy face.
A face stained with sweat left by the midsummer.
“N-no….”
In the small room that endured with only a single fan without a common air conditioner, there was only a stuffy heat and clumps of tissues.
The reason I had been absorbed in novels.
And among them, the reason I had been absorbed in the novel [Hidden Piece Academy].
It was all… to forget this damn reality for a moment.
The protagonist of the novel, who grew coolly through hidden pieces that others didn't have, and enjoyed popularity and wealth, gave me a catharsis that I would never taste.
That’s why I was enthusiastic, and that’s why I longed for it.
And also.
I was happy.
The life I lived as the character Han Tae-jin gave me a big scoop of catharsis that I couldn't taste, and that catharsis had enlightened my mind, which was stained with a sense of defeat.
But…
“No, this isn’t it. It’s just an illusion.”
What was reflected in the mirror now was a face stained with sweat.
The appearance, for which the word ‘shabby’ was more fitting than ‘face’, revealed how pitiful that life was.
Jjaak—!
I slapped my cheek with my right hand.
The sweaty skin made a slapping sound, and soon a strong pain spread.
I could taste the faint taste of blood in my mouth.
My shaking vision slowly stopped vibrating.
It didn’t break.
Really….
Could it really have been just a dream…?
“No. That’s impossible.”
I firmly drew the line.
The events of the novel world, which were so clearly drawn, were definitely not a passing dream.
Dadadak—!
I hurriedly ran out of the house.
The humid heat pierced my skin.
The vivid senses made me mistake reality for another reality, but I gathered my mind and ran.
But,
“Damn…! Daaamn—!!”
I was just out of breath, and nothing changed.
The stuffy heat suffocated my whole body, and my back was drenched in cold sweat.
“Hah…! Hah…! Renia-!! Na-yeon-!!”
I stopped running and cried out the two names.
People passing by glanced at me as if I were a madman and avoided me.
The only sound I heard was the sound of the train that had disturbed my sweet sleep.
I opened the [Hidden Piece Academy Setting Book] that I was holding tightly in my hand.
And…
As if chanting a spell.
“Wow, if I get possessed, I’ll really chew up the protagonist. Just how many hidden pieces are there?”
I repeated the words I had muttered to myself before being possessed.
I closed my eyes.
And opened them.
The train that had not yet passed was clattering by with its tail end.
“Wow-! If I get possessed, I’ll really chew up the protagonist! Chew him up. Just how many hidden pieces are there?”
I repeated it again.
I closed my eyes.
And opened them again.
But…
The trial showed no signs of ending.
“Hah…! Hah…! N-no. This can’t be happening-!!”
My head was dizzy, and my heart was pounding as if it would burst.
I tried to deny it as nothing more than a trial, but my skin, burning under the scorching sun, denied that denial.
Even though I knew, I couldn't help but be helpless.
Even though I knew, I couldn't help but fall into a state of panic.
As Ercia had said, that final trial, which I myself was not aware of, was beginning.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
‘Huh?’
“You’ve returned. This duty was completed quite quickly.”
Wh-what is this?
I remember exactly up to the moment I entered the entrance of the tower… why am I hearing my mother’s voice?
“What are you standing there for so blankly?”
“M-Mother…?”
When I lifted my head, I saw my mother sitting in a noble posture.
Two horns rising above a golden crown.
A swaying tail.
It was definitely my mother, and this was the palace.
“Eh…? Suddenly? What is this…?”
“What’s wrong?”
What?
What is this, all of a sudden?
No, I just entered the tower, so why am I seeing my mother and the palace when the darkness has lifted?
‘This situation… this is what I should see only when I return after completing my duty…?!’
What on earth happened?
Could it be that I failed in my duty?
“M-Mother. What on earth is going on…?”
“Get a hold of yourself. You have returned because you have successfully completed the duty given to the summoner.”
“Yes…?”
But, I don’t even remember fighting the head of Illusion, God R'hell.
Of course, partial memory loss or distortion can occur as a side effect of interplanetary travel, but I’ve never had that happen before, and for a partial memory loss, the lost part was too big.
Besides, if I had returned after ‘succeeding’ in my duty, I should have brought back a reward.
But now I’m empty-handed.
There was no information engraved in my mind either.
In other words.
“…I-I failed…?”
My mouth fell open.
I hadn't thought for a second that I would fail in my duty.
Of course, the difficulty of the duty was higher than that of the lower succubi, but I had never failed before, and I believed that with Tae-jin, there was no possibility of failure.
But…
“N-no way. This isn’t it. This isn’t it-!!”
No, no, no.
An echo close to a scream resounded to the corners of the magnificent palace.
“…What? Are you saying that you, who will become the next queen of the succubi, have failed in your duty? That cannot be. My blood flows in you.”
I couldn't hear my mother’s words.
No, this can’t be happening.
My hands and feet trembled, my legs went weak, and my mind went blank.
Thud!
My legs gave out and I sat down.
“Failed? Me? I failed…?”
Chalssak—!
I slapped my left cheek hard.
A tingling pain spread.
Chalssak—!
I slapped my right cheek hard.
A tingling pain spread.
“B-Bersha. What’s wrong?”
Failing in the duty meant that I had been defeated in the battle with the head of Illusion.
That meant.
“T-Tae-jin…!!”
It would mean death.
Renia cried out towards the high ceiling of the palace.
I had vaguely heard it when I was kidnapped by Choi Do-han.
That Ercia had been regressing for quite a number of rounds.
Therefore, there would be no eternal death, but Tae-jin was a person who had been possessed in this round due to some incident.
In other words, it meant that the possession could be broken in the next round.
“Mother!”
I called out to my mother and hurriedly climbed the stairs of the throne.
“Maintain your dignity, Bersha. What on earth is wrong with you?”
My mother reprimanded me, but my mind was full of Tae-jin.
“I-I have to go back…!”
I had to go back.
Whether Tae-jin remained as Tae-jin, or whether the planet called Earth had gone down the path of destruction.
I had to check.
“…Water that has been spilled cannot be put back. It’s a pity, but you just have to reflect on this failure as a lesson and strive until the next summons.”
“B-but I have to go! I didn’t even get to say goodbye properly!”
“Are you trying to go against providence? There is no way or reason to do so. Forget what has passed.”
“No-!!”
I shouted.
How could I forget?
No, even if I were to forget, I had to confirm Tae-jin’s life and death and his existence.
As a summoner, and as his woman.
“Ahem. Has your mind been broken upon your return?”
“When I was young, my nanny told me! That there was an ancestor who moved to the planet where they performed their duty with the blessing of the main god!”
“…Ha, has that old woman put foolish ideas in your head? It’s a story from a long time ago, and it’s just a vain mythological story with no hypothesis, let alone evidence.”
“B-but…!”
“Ahem!! Can you not be quiet-!!”
I don’t want to believe it.
It’s not a mythological story!
My nanny said she saw it herself!
It’s not a lie!
“It seems our princess has a problem with her mind upon her return. Guards-! High Priest-!!”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Transport Princess Bersha to the returnee treatment center and focus on her treatment until this nonsense ends!”
“Yes. I understand.”
N-no-!
I’m going back!
I have to go back-!
“Mother!!”
“Ahem! It is not enough to fail in your duty, but to try to go against providence is to blaspheme the main god-! What are you doing, not transporting her at once-!!”
No.
This is a dream.
It’s just an illusion.
It’s just a trial given by the tower!
Right, Tae-jin said so too!
That reason would be needed more than emotion.
That we had to be careful!
There was a reason Ercia used a mental protection skill!
So this is just something like a trial of the tower!
I’m going to break it.
A trial, for Tae-jin’s sake, I will definitely break it!
“Mother!!”
“Even if you cannot maintain your dignity, do not show a disgraceful sight! I am ordering you not as your mother, but as the queen of the clan!”
“No-! I don’t want to-!!”
“Drag her away at once-!”
“Yes! Your Majesty!”
All I could do, being bound and dragged away, was struggle within the trial.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Hmm…. This is unexpected.”
Was it because this round had a stronger conviction and faith than any other round?
The ‘trial’ that had been shown until the 52nd round had changed.
It was always the same.
The despair of failing to save.
A devastated Earth, corpses piled up on the streets, the ground covered in dark clouds, and a black rain falling steadily.
The trial had always been presented as the same scenery.
Because for me, the mission was always a priority over emotions.
But now.
“Hahaha. So I really thought I was going to die then.”
“I saved you. You know that, right? Disciple-nim?”
“Pffft. You’re still a master and disciple?”
“Miss Ercia? Why are you spacing out? Here, have some. I don’t know if it will suit our apostle’s taste. Hoho.”
“Among Mom’s cooking, this is the most delicious.”
…The meal we had promised someday was spread out before me.
Trials take on various forms.
Longing and despair, sadness and tragedy, regret and remorse.
And among them, the most powerful trial was ‘happiness’.
It presented a happiness that could not be had, and a cruel mockery that this happiness could never be enjoyed.
The life of an apostle was always lonely.
Because I was carrying out the grand mission of the fate of a planet, I had no choice but to be lonely.
Being lonely didn't hurt.
Because I had lived so calmly for 52 rounds.
I had built relationships based on purpose, goals, and necessity, and had carried out my mission.
So it wasn't hard, and I was able to overcome the repeated sadness. Because starting over the relationships with the colleagues I had been with was quite a difficult task.
If emotions had surpassed the mission, I would not have been able to spend the eons of 52 rounds so dully, and I thought that for the sake of the greater good, it was natural.
But… in this round, the valley of my emotions seems to have deepened quite a bit without me knowing.
Come to think of it, I had revealed Ercia’s form a few times during the 52 rounds, but I had only shown it to the subject of the mission, ‘Choi Do-han’.
In this round, I revealed my form in front of everyone.
That event, which I hadn't given much meaning to, had a big meaning to me.
‘….’
Baek Mi-hwa, who was placing a piece of fish on my rice.
Renia, who was placing a cup of liquor in front of me.
Han Tae-jin, who was smiling at me.
Park Na-yeon, who was teasing me that if I couldn't drink, I couldn't get married.
Han Yu-ra, who was whining that she wanted to drink too.
Kim Hye-seo, who was drinking while enjoying a solitude of a different kind from mine.
This time, gathered together after the end of the mission, sharing the brilliant adventures and tales of bravery that we hadn't forgotten, was a happiness that I would surely never taste.
As an apostle of Eternity, I would leave them and take on another mission to leap to a higher existence, and I would walk a different path from them.
But that didn't mean it hurt.
Because the emotions that had been worn down and dulled over 52 rounds were not fazed by any scratch.
Just.
‘…This is nice.’
This moment was nice.
This moment, completing the mission and chatting with colleagues who no longer had to lose their memories, was certainly closer to a blessing than a trial.
The feeling that a happy ending had been decided.
Trials always come in unexpected forms, but if it's in this form, I might quite like it.
“Ercia! Let’s have a toast!”
“Unnie! I’ll have cider!”
“I wonder how much the cosmic being can drink~?”
“Raise your glass.”
At Kim Hye-seo’s command, I raised my glass.
And I stood up from my seat.
The people on this planet who were the only ones I could show my ‘true’ self to.
I was happy to be with them, and I was happy to be able to taste even a glimpse of the happy ending.
Therefore,
“Everyone, thank you for everything until now.”
I greeted them with sincerity.
The glasses that had been raised for a toast all faltered at once.
The trial, disguised as happiness, would only tie me down here.
The sweet taste was enough for now.
For staying longer would be pointless—my dulled heart outweighed the sweetness of the trial.
Han Tae-jin looked at me.
“…We’ll see each other again, right?”
Instead of an answer, I smiled brightly and nodded my head.
Han Tae-jin smiled brightly back at me.
Following that, the sunken glasses rose again.
“Then let’s have a toast!”
Clink!
The glasses, like holy grails, clashed, and happiness overflowed the glasses and drenched us.
There is one phrase that I like the most among the adages of the human world.
‘If you can’t avoid it, enjoy it.’
Just as trials come in their own forms, the way to break them also has its own form.
I was happy to be able to see my colleagues who hadn't lost their memories, even in a trial.
And because I hope this happiness will unfold for them.
I had to wake up.
Gulp-gulp-gulp!
I drank the liquor in the glass without leaving a single drop, and performed the [Emptying the Glass Over the Head] that I had always wanted to try.
It was the first time I had tasted liquor, even in a trial.
““Ercia, goodbye!””
It was a taste that was hard to describe.
<w:pgmar w:bottom="1440" w:top="1440" w:left="1440" w:right="1440" w:header="720" w:footer="720"><w:pgnumtype w:start="1"><w:r w:rsiddel="00000000" w:rsidr="00000000" w:rsidrpr="00000000"><w:rpr><w:sz w:val="28"><w:szcs w:val="28"><w:rtl w:val="0"><w:t xml:space="preserve">But it was the most refreshing taste of anything I had ever drunk.