Chapter 359: Ascension to Immortality (15)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 359: Ascension to Immortality (15)
“Ah, just so you know—I’m only guiding you to the entrance. I still haven’t found the herbs I need.”
The man, who casually told me to just call him ‘Mister,’ was a rather peculiar person.
Setting aside the truth of his words, he seemed to genuinely enjoy just listening to someone talk. He avoided speaking about himself, yet if I stopped my story, he’d subtly threaten me to keep going.
Of course, I didn’t think he was a bad person.
He didn’t seem to have any intention of harming me, he acted as a guard in exchange for my stories, and he even shared a bit of his food.
Above all, he was guiding me through a shortcut, so I couldn’t exactly call him a villain.
“Hmm, we’re almost there. Just a little further.”
“We arrived faster than I expected.”
“Hmm? Well, yes. This place isn’t exactly vast.”
…Not vast? This is Hell, isn’t it?
“Ah, I know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t the 8th Hell you said you fell into. It’s not the 9th Hell, either.”
“Huh? You just let it slide earlier when I said it was the 8th Hell.”
“I never said you were right, did I? Well, you weren’t entirely wrong, either. To put it simply, think of this place as a gap. A tiny pocket of space existing between the Hells. It’s where the forgotten, the wraiths, and those trying to hide from something gather.”
Chuckling, he stopped walking and pointed straight ahead.
“Now, let’s skip the trivial details. We’re here. This is the shortcut. It might look like an ordinary rocky mountain to most, but I assume you can see it?”
“…Yes, I see it.”
To those without special eyes, it probably looked like a normal mountain, but through my Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, it was different.
There was an ‘entrance’ flickering with an ominous red light, resembling the gaping maw of a monster.
“All the Gaps of Hell are connected to one another. Entrances appear and disappear, but there are some, like this one, that remain constant.”
“The design is a bit unsettling to enter, don’t you think?”
“Well, it is indeed filled with dangerous things—evil spirits, demons, divine beasts, and yokai.”
“…Didn’t you say this was a shortcut?”
“Did I say it was a safe path?”
“You said it was a shortcut.”
“You might not realize it since you ended up here after collapsing, but returning normally from this place is near impossible. Even if it were possible, it would take a very long time. So, in the sense that this way is faster, I wasn’t lying.”
Wow. I rarely get out-talked by anyone, but this Mister really has a way with words.
“And seeing how you handled those wraiths earlier, you’ll probably be fine.”
“That’s very reassuring.”
“Good grief. Why are young people so picky these days? Fine, if you’re that worried, I’ll give you one last hint.”
“A hint?”
The moment I tried to turn around—
Thud.
The man’s foot slammed into my back.
To put it bluntly, I was kicked.
“…You son of a—”
“Don’t forget! As long as you don’t forget, you’ll be able to go where you want to go!”
…That’s a real practical and easy-to-understand hint, isn’t it? Don’t forget what, exactly?
“Ah, wait. I didn’t expect them to try and intervene like this.”
After kicking me, he muttered to himself for a moment, then quickly smiled and waved.
“Well! I’m sure you can overcome it! I’ll be rooting for you!”
I wanted to snap back at his incredibly irresponsible attitude, but unfortunately, my body was swallowed by the red portal faster than I could open my mouth. His figure vanished, and even his voice was cut off.
Passing through the portal with the momentum of the kick, the sight that met my eyes was a demonic realm in a completely different sense than Hell.
Not only was everything red, but the ground was missing in patches, and trees—or things like them—grew upside down from land floating in the sky.
Things that looked like flowers were baring teeth, singing or laughing; skeletal animals wandered about; and it wasn’t hard to find creatures resembling that massive clump of wraiths from earlier.
To put it simply, the place was a total mess.
“…And I have to go through this alone.”
It would be reassuring if Sun Wukong were here, but judging by the lack of response no matter how much I called, it seemed I’d be on my own for a while.
It felt daunting, but I’d received first aid and had something in my stomach, so the situation was at least better than before.
Before I knew it, the monsters in the vicinity were turning their gazes toward me.
The way they clearly viewed me as prey and licked their lips was quite unpleasant, but I suppose from their perspective, I looked like a special treat that had suddenly dropped from the sky.
Come to think of it, this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
I’d had plenty of similar experiences during the 1st Timeline.
“Screw it, let’s do this.”
* * *
Meanwhile, around the time Kang So-hyun began his struggle in the Gap of Hell, an evil god was watching him with a smile.
Occupying the body of his precious person, she looked as if she were watching a fascinating spectacle. Seemingly in high spirits, she let out a giggle.
“The opportunity came sooner than expected. Seo-ha, isn’t this fun? Our precious protagonist having such a misunderstanding.”
‘It’s not fun at all. Give me back my body…!’
“You’ll lose your memories once you get your body back anyway, so what can you even do?”
‘That’s…!’
The evil god felt like laughing at the sight of the girl who was once a greater existence than herself, but was now becoming almost a part of her, unable to even offer a rebuttal.
How could she be so lovely yet so foolish?
If you had been just a little wiser, you could have met a much more wonderful future.
“He seems to think he can overcome that trial on his own. Why doesn’t he realize that the very act of ‘overcoming’ it is the trap?”
‘Stop… I was wrong, so please stop.’
“Stop what? All I did was strengthen the wraiths of Hell a bit and drop him into a ‘deeper place’.”
‘If you want my body, I’ll give it to you. Just save him…’
“That’s not a very attractive offer, since it’ll be mine soon enough anyway. Besides, you shouldn’t give up so easily. You have to resist and hold onto hope until the very end. That’s what makes the sight of you breaking so much more charming, don’t you think?”
With a smirk, the evil god looked at his struggling figure beyond the landscape with satisfaction.
“Yes, just like that.”
There was a light there, desperately trying to grasp even the smallest hope, struggling and refusing to give up even while covered in blood.
“So, you endure a little longer, too. It would be pitiful for the prince if the princess gave up so easily. You must exist as yourself until the moment the prince comes to rescue you, so the story of his arrival becomes even more cruel.”
A monster bit into his arm, tearing away flesh, but he plunged a dagger into the monster’s neck and began to flee again.
How could he be so perfect?
Even in such a situation, all he thought about were ways to survive, his friends, and ‘me.’
“I can see why the other gods are drooling with greed.”
What kind of human could act like that in such a situation?
“Yet, he is still arrogant. He thinks he can escape that place with his own strength, that as long as he isn’t deluded, there will be no problem.”
He likely thought this because he remembered overcoming even harsher trials in the past.
But unfortunately, there was a massive difference between the time he faced those harsher trials and his current situation.
He had no one by his side now.
In the past, he mistakenly thought he was alone, but ironically, he was almost never truly alone.
‘I’—that is, Seo-ha—was there, as were those who were like his comrades, the heroes who pursued him, the Time Flower, and the Lord of Myriad Worlds. They were all by his side.
But what about now?
He was in conflict with me, separated from his friends, and due to the unique nature of the Gap of Hell, he couldn’t even speak with the artifacts that subtly supported his mental state.
Until the moment he escaped that place, he was left entirely alone.
The sight of him failing to notice that difference was so delightful and lovely. The way he moved forward calmly despite bleeding, beginning to indifferently dispose of the monsters, was beautiful.
The malice-filled being watched him with an ecstatic expression.
“I wonder, can you endure even while alone? Can you hide your most hideous parts until the very end?”
Ah, I hope you don’t break just yet.
Please, stand tall even if you’re covered in wounds until you reach me.
Yet, sometimes I also want to see you broken and crumbling, bursting into tears.
I want to hold you, soothe you, and comfort you in your broken state, making you mine.
“I hope you show me something wonderful, so I can hold back a little longer.”
[You have terrible taste.]
“Yep, I have a bad personality—did you just realize that?”
Which would come first: the moment his warmth ran out, or the moment he touched warmth again?
* * *
At the same moment Kang So-hyun entered the red portal.
Tick.
With a small sound, the device Cathy was holding began to malfunction.
“…Huh?”
The signal from the device that displayed So-hyun’s heart rate, which should have been connected to him, grew weaker and weaker until it finally displayed ‘UNKNOWN’ and stopped transmitting.
To reiterate, it was a malfunction.
If something truly serious had happened to him—if he had sustained a fatal wound—the signal wouldn’t have weakened; it would have shown that his heart had stopped.
Therefore, it was more likely that the signal had been cut off as he moved.
Or perhaps he had encountered a special enemy whose jamming prevented the signal from being sent.
Of course, that was also dangerous, but the hope that he might not be dead allowed Cathy to hold onto the last of her sanity.
However, it was only the last of her sanity; she soon bolted upright.
The others, guessing the reason for her actions, reacted similarly.
“We have to go.”
If he was in danger, they would go to save him.
But unexpectedly, the one who blocked their path was his mother—the Witch of the Time Flower.
“So-hyun is in danger. Please move.”
“Yes, I should move. I’ll certainly let you go, so don’t worry. But there’s one last thing I need to confirm. Could you wait a moment?”
No matter how urgent it was, they wanted to tell her to do it later, but seeing her sorrowful eyes, the group decided to wait and see what her ‘last confirmation’ was.
“Can you handle it?”
However, her confirmation was somewhat abrupt and uncertain.
Handle it? Handle what?
“…Pardon?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean So-hyun. I realized it after talking with him. How hard So-hyun tried to show only his best side to all of you, and how much he is hiding himself.”
She looked toward them with a sense of pity.
“Even if So-hyun reveals what he’s hidden and shows a side different from the one you know… can you still love him? Can you still cherish him?”
They wanted to answer ‘of course,’ but her solemn expression made them hesitate for a moment.
“I have no intention of asking you to take my place, nor do I intend to block your love. But still… I don’t want you to become new wounds for So-hyun.”
That they might become new wounds for him.
“That boy won’t be able to endure it if even you all distance yourselves. If you are going to save him knowing that, then I…”
Before she could finish her sentence, they took a step forward.
…Honestly, they wanted to show their resolve and look cool, but unfortunately, everyone else stepped forward at the exact same time.
“I might not be in a position to offer thanks, but thank you, everyone. And I beg of you. Please help my son.”
The moment she bowed and made her request, the door opened, and a woman they had never seen before appeared.
“I found him! A report came in from someone identifying himself as a herb gatherer…! He said a Taoist matching the description seems to have fallen into the Gap of Hell… an extremely dangerous place!”