Chapter 47: The End
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 47: The End
18
Pain.
What was I doing?
Crunch, creak.
The sound of muscle and bone twisting of their own accord echoed around her.
When her eyes looked down, she saw the legs of a bizarre monster.
A scream nearly escaped her at the unspeakably hideous sight, but as she saw the legs moving according to her will, her mind slowly began to clear.
Right. This happened after she took the pill from that man.
She must have lost consciousness for a moment after finding Seo-ho, running on a burst of emotion until she slammed into a wall.
“Seo-ho. I have to find Seo-ho.”
I have to reclaim what was stolen from me.
At that thought, Kwak Sa-yeon’s legs began to move again.
As if it were imprinted on her, she instinctively knew Seo-ho’s location.
Could this be fate?
She frantically moved her six legs.
She had to get Seo-ho back.
She had to kill that man and woman and bring Seo-ho back!
That thought alone was enough to send her charging forward like a tank once more.
CRASH!
Kwak Sa-yeon’s eyes darted around as she smashed through the already half-demolished wall.
The space would have been too dark for an ordinary person to see, but to her, the hallway was perfectly visible.
And so, Kwak Sa-yeon easily found him.
She could see the back of Ha Seo-ho, running at the end of the hallway, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
“Seo-ho!”
Tears of joy welled in her eyes the moment she saw him again.
And that joy shot straight to her legs.
Seo-ho. Seo-ho is right there.
My treasure is right there.
He’s all I need.
I will never let anyone else take what’s mine.
Obsession and madness filled Kwak Sa-yeon’s eyes as she stretched out her hands and legs simultaneously.
Just knowing Seo-ho was right in front of her made her heart pound wildly, and her face flushed crimson.
Thud!
But it was in that very moment.
The legs she had thrust forward suddenly stopped, suspended in mid-air.
A powerful resistance held her in place.
As her face contorted in disgust at the unpleasant sensation, she saw Seo-ho getting farther away, and a wave of anxiety washed over her.
“Seo-ho, Seo-ho! Where are you going! I’m right here! Where are you goooing!”
But whether she screamed or not, Seo-ho never looked back.
“This… this damn thing!”
The moment Kwak Sa-yeon began to struggle to break free from whatever was holding her…
Rustle—
Goosebumps suddenly erupted all over her body.
What is this?
She didn’t know.
But this sensation was dangerous, so much so that it made her stomach clench.
An intense feeling, as if her brain were being pierced through—it was none other than the instinct for survival.
Having become one with a dimensional entity, her reason had diminished while her instincts had grown stronger.
And those instincts were now screaming at her to flee this place.
In that instant, Kwak Sa-yeon’s eyes flickered to the side.
What met her gaze was a man holding a pure white gun.
Kang Ha-chan.
The man who had walked around with his chin held high after graduating top of his class with a full scholarship at her university.
Right. He was the one whose life she had sent to hell with accusations of sexual harassment and curses because he’d dared to remove her name from a group project, thinking he was all that.
And now, he was aiming a gun at her.
Crackle—
Red lightning sparked around him.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The goosebumps rising on her skin made her understand the gravity of the situation.
Danger.
If I get hit by that, it’s dangerous.
The moment the alarm bells in her head began to ring violently along with her survival instinct, she acted.
In that same instant, a light ignited from the muzzle of his gun.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Acrid smoke enveloped the area, and red sparks flew between the shattered pieces of the wall.
And then, Kwak Sa-yeon’s charred body began to slowly scatter into black particles.
A single Brain Thunder had completely erased her body from this world.
Crack!
But in that brief moment, something scurried away from between the disappearing body parts.
It was Kwak Sa-yeon, crawling on the floor with the shrunken legs and arms of a spider.
The instant the light had flared from the gun’s muzzle, she had torn herself free from the dimensional entity’s body where her torso was connected and escaped.
It was the right decision, made in a split second.
Even Ha-chan realized it a moment too late, his eyes widening in shock.
Kwak Sa-yeon felt like she would lose her mind from the pain of ripping her own flesh apart, but her will to survive and her obsession with Seo-ho were stronger than the agony.
“Seo-hooo!”
Even as blood splattered around her, she ran, chasing only Seo-ho.
From the very beginning, Ha Seo-ho was the only one she pursued.
She had lost her massive body, but her mobility had increased, and her speed was far greater than before.
She zipped past Ha-chan, crossing his path.
In Ha-chan’s wide eyes, Kwak Sa-yeon’s form was crystal clear.
Because he hadn’t been able to control the power, he had gathered all the aura in his body to fire the second Brain Thunder, and from that moment, Ha-chan felt a deep sense of exhaustion throughout his body.
The strange sensation, as if he were completely hollowed out, made his eyelids heavy.
But the moment he saw Kwak Sa-yeon chasing Seo-ho, that exhaustion vanished.
He had failed.
He had failed to kill Kwak Sa-yeon.
For a moment, the world in his eyes seemed to slow to a crawl.
Seo-ho was in a weakened state.
Kwak Sa-yeon had all but lost her sanity.
Would she be able to control her strength?
Absolutely not.
Kwak Sa-yeon’s power had increased dramatically, just like his own.
It was only natural that she wouldn’t know the extent of her own strength, and it was certain she couldn’t control it.
Like a child holding an ant, unaware of their own strength, and crushing it to a pulp.
The moment she collided with Seo-ho, he would be gravely injured or killed.
As his thoughts accelerated, red sparks flew from his fist.
As a Brain Thunder bullet formed out of pure reflex, Ha-chan realized his vision was turning red.
It was because the bullet was fueled by his very life force, drawing on more than the aura left in his body.
Gurgle—
Blood surged up his throat.
In that moment, he understood why Baeksan had told him his limit was only two shots a day.
“Kang Ha-chan!”
Baeksan’s roar struck his ears, but Ha-chan loaded the Brain Thunder even faster.
“Si-ho!!!”
Ha-chan roared at Si-ho, who was slumped on the ground, clutching her bleeding nose.
With that, Ha-chan aimed Keraunos Astrape at Kwak Sa-yeon and Seo-ho.
Seeing the sequence of actions, Si-ho instantly understood what he wanted to do.
And the reason he had called her name.
Crackle—
The red sparks flaring around Ha-chan signaled that the Brain Thunder was about to be fired.
Horror dawned on Kwak Sa-yeon’s face as she finally noticed him.
If he fired like that, both she and Seo-ho would surely be hit.
But he aimed the gun at them without a hint of hesitation.
In his eyes, she saw a madness different from her own.
Is he insane?
Is he really planning to kill both me and Seo-ho?
Kwak Sa-yeon’s eyes fell on Seo-ho.
No.
Seo-ho is mine.
I can’t lose what’s mine.
For the first time, she, who had lost her reason and was stained by the instincts of a dimensional entity, acted on her own will, spreading her arms and legs to shield Seo-ho.
The gesture, as if to protect him, might have seemed sacrificial at a glance, but…
“Right. In the end, you only ever think of yourself.”
The voice that came from behind her pierced through to the truth.
Her action contained not a shred of self-sacrifice.
It was simply greed—the desire not to lose what she wanted to possess—overpowering even her survival instinct.
And the one who had seen through that twisted desire was none other than Ha-chan, who was now aiming his gun at her back.
How?
Just a moment ago, he had been in front of her, aiming at both her and Seo-ho.
So why was he behind her now?
Her eyes caught sight of Si-ho extending a hand, but that didn’t provide an answer.
Click—
Only the sound of metal clicking into place from the gun in his hand echoed in her ears.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Amidst the exploding torrent of lightning, Kwak Sa-yeon’s fading eyes fixed on Seo-ho.
His back, as he ran without ever looking back at her.
It was a sight that reminded her of why her mother had ultimately been abandoned by her father.
‘Ah, I see.’
I fell in love with the beautiful moon reflected on the water, wanting it only because I could not have it.
I see now I was just churning the water, trying to possess a mere reflection.
But such an epiphany…
…offered no second chances. It only marked the end of her life.
19
After blasting Kwak Sa-yeon away with the Brain Thunder.
I fought against my darkening vision, grabbing the wall to stay upright.
“Cough.”
Drip, drip—
Blood poured from my mouth, splattering onto the floor.
My vision was blurry from my bloodshot eyes, and the blood that kept gurgling up drained the strength from my body.
The heat rising from within was so intense it felt like my brain was going to cook.
“You brat! This is what you get for recklessly using your aura like that! Snap out of it! Your body is overheating from internal injuries. If you don’t cool down somehow, you’re going to die! Get a grip!”
I could hear Baeksan’s shouting, but my head was just ringing, and I couldn’t properly get my bearings.
It felt like the world had been turned upside down.
“Manager-nim!”
I saw Si-ho running toward me from a distance.
She had pushed herself too, judging by the traces of a nosebleed on her face.
It must have been from using her power to hold Kwak Sa-yeon in place.
Thump—
Just then, someone caught my collapsing body.
When I looked up, Seo-ho was looking down at me.
“Ha-chan-hyeong-nim, thank you.”
In that moment, a chill began to seep into my body.
The burning sensation I’d felt just moments ago slowly subsided, and I gradually began to feel more comfortable.
I noticed that the metal chain that had been around Seo-ho’s neck was gone.
‘Did it disappear when Kwak Sa-yeon died?’
Perhaps the key to the lock on his neck had vanished from this world, setting him free.
“You can leave the rest to me.”
Feeling a sense of relief in my gut, I slowly nodded and lost consciousness.