Chapter 135
Chapter 135
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Doomsday Believer VII
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Shin Noah
9
I had guarded the deaths of countless comrades up until now. I had watched over their deaths and witnessed their ends.
This, too, might be one of the reasons I was given the name Undertaker.
But looking back now, surprisingly, Sword Saint—Emmett Schopenhauer's death always passed by too quickly, too easily.
"Old Man! Tentacles there!"
"Huh?"
Old Man Show fought at the forefront like a proper dealer. Therefore, compared to me, a supporter, he had no choice but to perish early.
If someone requested me to draw a picture on the theme of [Old Man Show's Death], I would capture one of two scenes on the canvas.
A scene where he was cooked into KFC chicken by the Ten Tribes' tentacles, portioned by front legs, hind legs, torso, and breast. Or the sight of him collapsing in the old Baekje Hospital cafe as a dullahan who had lost only his head.
In either case, the death began too swiftly and ended in haste.
Old Man Show's final moments never afforded me the leisure to hear his last words.
Even when we mutually agreed to end the cycle, it was the same. Those deaths were merely the "Continue" button, not "Game Over," so there was no need to leave parting words.
Therefore.
This was the first time in the truest sense that I witnessed the end of my friend.
"......Ah...... Ad, elle......"
Splash. Splatter.
Emmett Schopenhauer crawled forward. Toward Go Yo-ri. Black briquette-colored blood oozing from between his shattered nails.
"......"
At the sight of my old comrade fallen into ruin, my sword hand wavered, lost.
Should I sever his neck right away to preserve his final dignity? Or let him close his eyes seeing Lady Adele's face, even if in illusion?
Click, clack. Do-ha wobbled at some midpoint between drawing her sword and her sheath.
At either end of those short strides hung dignity in reality and happiness in dreams.
"Shh."
Go Yo-ri's whisper reached me a fraction faster than my sword.
"Leave this to me, Guild Leader."
"......"
Go Yo-ri winked one eye and pressed her index finger gently to her lips. The corners of her mouth curved in a smile.
There was a time when I truly cherished that smile. Now, I no longer trusted Go Yo-ri.
Even so, at that moment, I let go of my sword.
Was it because I had spent a week with her and been subtly brainwashed without realizing it?
Or, simply as an undertaker, did I instinctively sense that I was not the one who could give Old Man Show a proper funeral at this moment—only Go Yo-ri could?
Under my silent gaze, Old Man Show crawled on unsteadily.
"Ah, Del...... Ade...... lle......"
Finally, his mangled nails brushed Go Yo-ri's foot.
Gush. The black blood Old Man Show spilled stained Go Yo-ri's shoes like ink. The sticky, viscous blood trickled down her loafers.
"Yes."
Go Yo-ri bent at the waist. With both hands gloved in white, she firmly grasped Old Man Show's tattered, crumbling hand smeared in briquette-colored filth.
"Emmett."
"......"
Old Man Show looked up with an expressionless face. Go Yo-ri smiled faintly.
"You've worked hard, Emmett."
"......"
"My goodness. You look so exhausted. Where have you been running around?"
"......, ......"
"Yes. You get so fixated on strange things sometimes, never listening to anyone. I'm always worried."
"........."
"Are you all right? You mustn't push yourself too hard. We always need to think about your health."
Only 'ahh' and 'huhh' breaths echoed from Old Man Show's mouth.
Thinking about it, there weren't many beings burdened with as pitiful a fate as that regressor.
His wife was a scholar. Invited to an academic conference at a Korean university, Old Man Show had traveled with her to this distant, unfamiliar land.
Old Man Show had no particular interest in the place to begin with. In the old man's mind, the Korean Peninsula was merely a gray zone he had never thought about.
It held color only as a place for a light overseas trip with his wife.
Now, having lost that wife, what meaning could this land hold for Emmett Schopenhauer?
I could hardly imagine the sorrow of those who lose beloved family in a foreign place.
The path given to Emmett Schopenhauer was nothing but the journey to find his beloved wife.
And that reunion happened in only two ways. A brief call lasting mere tens of seconds. Or illusions in dreams born from this unconscious void.
"....... ......"
"Yes. You."
Go Yo-ri bent her knees. And gently embraced Old Man Show.
"I love you too."
"......"
With an 'ah' breath, Old Man Show's body crumbled.
His flesh melted into black sludge, and the sludge soon turned to briquette ash, scattering. For a long while. It seemed there was much in Old Man Show's body to turn to powder.
The pitch-black ash scattered far toward the city's ruins.
Until then, Go Yo-ri knelt, embracing the ash.
That must have been Go Yo-ri's way of giving a human a funeral.
I moved my lips.
"...That old coot."
"Yes."
"Was he smiling at the end?"
"Upsy-daisy," Go Yo-ri stood up. She lightly brushed the ash from her body.
Powder flew everywhere, accompanied by coughs of 'cough cough' and 'achoo.' Go Yo-ri smiled sheepishly.
"Well, who knows. Maybe he dreamed a happy dream. Which would you prefer, Guild Leader?"
"Prefer?"
"Do you wish he smiled in my arms? Or that, realizing this was false comfort in his very last moment, he came to his senses?"
"......"
I had no choice but to stay silent.
Go Yo-ri peered into me for a while.
Her long, curved eye smile seemed to observe not my face, but my heartbeat.
I hoped she couldn't hear my pounding heart. Rationally, there was good reason to expect she couldn't.
Ruuuuumble......
Just then, the city's ruins roared, swallowing all surrounding sounds and echoes.
Go Yo-ri looked up at the sky.
"Ah. This place's bad ending is over too."
Go Yo-ri clasped her hands behind her back.
"Finally, I can breathe a little. Thank you, Guild Leader. Thanks to you, I'm a bit more at ease."
"...What do you mean?"
"Ahaha. Lately, too many powerful nightmares have been piling up here. Even Cheon Yo-hwa and the Dollmaker you purged last time—I couldn't have handled them alone."
"That's strange."
I furrowed my brow.
"In Yo-hwa and Ha-yul's eyes, you probably looked like me. Wouldn't that make it easier for you to dominate them mentally?"
"The doll ignored me and tried to kill me, saying there couldn't be two of you in this world."
"......"
"Come on."
Clap. Go Yo-ri clapped her hands.
And suddenly, we were in Busan Station's concourse.
Proof that control of this unconscious world had passed to Go Yo-ri.
"Now you can leave anytime. Before, my power was too weak to help you. But sleep here and wake up—it'll be reality."
"......"
"Lie here, Guild Leader."
Tap tap.
Go Yo-ri sat on the bench, playfully patting her thigh. Probably about to pull the lap pillow cliche again.
"Hmm."
Now able to return to reality.
This 'dream within a dream,' 'post-bad ending world,' 'parallel world'—having purged it to some extent was good news.
But Go Yo-ri's words had many inconsistencies.
If Go Yo-ri had intended to cooperate with me from the start, why did she eliminate Fairy No. 264 from the tutorial?
To make me dependent on her, to borrow my hand to clean up the 'bad endings,' she preemptively removed the dream demon variable.
Above all.
"You're not just a simple illusion."
"Pardon?"
"A week ago, when introducing yourself, you claimed to be merely the product of my fears and aversions unconsciously taking form—separate from the real Go Yo-ri."
That's right.
Go Yo-ri had definitely said:
-To put it bluntly, isn't it your fears and aversions manifesting, Guild Leader?
-Of course, it's quite sad that your unconscious terror took my form.
But just now, Go Yo-ri had confessed.
"Then how could Yo-hwa and Ha-yul nearly kill you while approaching them? Before I entered here, my fears wouldn't have materialized yet, and you wouldn't exist."
"......"
'Hmm,' 'hmmm' sounds leaked from Go Yo-ri's lips.
After a long pause, her lips curved.
"How strange."
She smiled as if perplexed.
"Guild Leader....... Your 'memory' is incredibly, really incredibly strong?"
"......"
"It's not just good memory, is it? Ah. Well, that explains a lot."
"You."
"I've always been here, Guild Leader. For thousands of years, and thousands more to come."
Step.
Go Yo-ri walked toward me.
"You helped me, so I'll help you. You've lived so diligently that too many sediments have built up here."
"Sediments."
"Yes. Think about it. You were never supposed to witness the 'log-out game' and meet your end that way, right?"
"......"
"But you did witness it. Humanity's nightmares, which should have ended at the Ten Tribes, keep growing the further you advance. Endless forms of dooms piling up. Ah."
Of course, Go Yo-ri said.
"I'm not blaming you, Guild Leader. I'm just pointing out that the nightmares you've witnessed keep piling up in your unconscious depths, if nowhere else."
"......"
"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back into you. Your favorite phrase, right? Yes. You've been nurturing this abyss in your heart."
Step.
Go Yo-ri drew closer.
"So—it's better to come down here occasionally for periodic cleaning."
"Cleaning."
"Yes. Like cleaning house. When you return, I'll come greet you like this sometimes."
"...So you're saying you're my ally?"
"Of course, Guild Leader. I've been your guild member from the start."
"Then you can grant my request."
I said.
"Yo-ri. Disappear from my dreams. That would be far better for my mental health."
"Ahaha."
Swish—
Go Yo-ri reached out. Her palm gently covered my eyes.
Warm darkness of body heat.
"Sorry, but no, Guild Leader."
Apple-scented breath whispered in front of my nose.
"Because we're already one."
Fade to black.
10
There are epilogues.
First epilogue.
Afterward, as Go Yo-ri promised, I safely returned to reality.
But the tutorial fairies who should have surrounded my bed were gone. For some reason, weren't they perfectly fine, working at the casino?
It was truly bewildering. When I asked if they weren't in the middle of a ritual to send me into the unconscious world.
"Hoe?"
Fairy No. 264, whose head had surely exploded in the dream, tilted her head perfectly fine.
"What are you talking about, Secretary Comrade? We can show humans the dreams they want, but we can't take them to such terrifying places."
"......"
"Dreams are for enjoying, not ruins for exploring! We've never received such an order from you, Secretary Comrade, and even if we had, it's impossible to fulfill!"
The fairy giggled hic-hic-hic.
It might be my imagination, but apple scent seemed to drift from somewhere.
11
Second epilogue.
Setting aside the fairies' story, it was certain that I had more or less purged the 'dream within a dream,' 'bad endings,' 'parallel worlds.'
Starting the very next day, the effects of my purge began to manifest.
First, testimonies poured into SG Net.
-Anonymous: Slept like a baby this morning, feeling great, upvote lololol
└Anonymous: You too?? After the void expedition, I've had nightmares every night, but today I swear I slept soundly.
└Literature Girl: ? Me too, weird.
-[Yuldo Nation] Sword Marquis: Healthy sleep is essential for rigorous training. Today too, this seat greeted slumber in proper posture to glimpse the lofty realm of nothingness.
-[National Highway] Historian: Habits while awake carry over to sleep habits. Those suffering insomnia should first reflect on daily life and correct issues one by one.
-Anonymous: F*ck if I know anything else, just sleeping soundly like today every day would be a dream come true.
Similar phenomena probably occurred overseas too.
As I always emphasize, mental state is crucial for humans, and healthy mentality largely stems from healthy sleep.
In that sense, shouldn't I, the Undertaker, celebrate a bit for tending to humanity's collective mentality, even if just a little?
"Good morning, Corps Leader."
"Good morning my ass. It's a sh*tty morning. Thanks to someone, I only got three hours of side-sleep and feel like going insane. But you look so happy, it's nice to see......?"
"Ah."
...Come to think of it, I failed to purge the bad ending of the person who needed sleep health the most.
Next time, I need to find No Do-ha's form first in the unconscious world.
12
Third epilogue.
This final epilogue isn't something that actually happened in reality. It's merely a scene I, the Undertaker, saw in a dream.
But you know those dreams?
So vividly realistic that later, looking back, you can't tell if it was truly a dream or waking reality.
In that dream, I was dreaming Old Man Show's dream.
As dreams often are, the perspective was ambiguous.
Sometimes from a 'third-person observer' view looking down on Old Man Show.
Sometimes I briefly possessed Old Man Show, enjoying 'first-person protagonist' view.
And beside me, Emmett Schopenhauer, was Adele.
-......
-......
We spent the whole day enjoyably.
Adele liked walks, and I liked walking with Adele.
-I know a good walking path.
-Really? How?
-Well, just follow me.
To Adele, clueless about Korean geography, I revealed my secret walking routes.
For times like this, during regressions, I'd scouted paths here and there. In Seoul, Sejong, Busan—I introduced the routes I'd noted to my wife.
Adele was delighted, as if receiving a surprise gift.
-To think you have such sense!
Hearing that alone made my investigative efforts worthwhile.
Then, as the day neared its end.
Sitting on a bench with Adele, suddenly, far off, beyond blue hydrangeas and Japanese plums, wasn't that a familiar face?
My friend. The Undertaker stood with his back to a tree.
'Ah.'
In that instant, I realized.
This sunset-bathed scene was a dream.
'Right. Before dying, I thought I wanted to see my wife.'
I wanted to grow old with you.
I wanted to live with you.
I wanted to die with you, I wanted to die.
But I couldn't.
-Emmett?
-......
I gripped her hand tightly.
In the scant time left, I murmured to Adele.
-Over there. I had a hard day today.
"Huh?"
-After parting from you, something really painful happened.
She was startled.
Asking if it was true, if I was okay.
I gazed at my wife's face. As long as possible. As deeply as possible.
-Yeah. But it's okay.
I'm glad I survived until now.
For the first time, such a thought came.
I'm glad I survived so diligently, so diligently. It might have been closer to escape than survival. Even so, it was good I didn't vanish forever.
Because thanks to that, this moment existed.
-Being with you makes everything okay.
I said.
-I love you.
And there, my dream ended.
Though merely a dream, I had to sit on the bed for a while.
Was that dream purely an illusion fabricated in my mind?
Or had I, with a passage opened to the unconscious world, briefly touched a scene Old Man Show once truly dreamed?
Or perhaps...... maybe the illusion Go Yo-ri showed while embracing the 'Sword Ghost' was exactly that dreamscape?
'Which would you prefer, Guild Leader?'
Suddenly, Go Yo-ri's voice echoed.
'Do you wish he smiled in my arms?'
'Or that, realizing this was false comfort in his very last moment, he came to his senses?'
I gave a wry smile.
Yes. Even if Old Man Show had fallen into a monster, I hoped his final moment was peaceful.
If that dream was truly the scene Go Yo-ri showed—ultimately, I'd have no choice but to acknowledge this one thing.
That the end in Go Yo-ri's embrace would be the coziest in the world, more than any doom humanity could face.
-Doomsday Believer. End.