Just Came to Secure the Truth 3
Hui-a sensed that So Gang-seok's chest had been pierced countless times and his heart completely crushed.
Even with her recovery ability, she couldn't regenerate the devastating destructive nature of the attack.
It was an attack that no one could possibly have.
'I'm dying.'
So Gang-seok felt that Hui-a had abandoned him and his breathing quickly stopped.
Even if he was an SSS-class villain, surviving without a heart was impossible.
* * *
'What is this?'
After meeting death, So Gang-seok became aware of his own existence in a state of nothingness.
Expressing it this way might sound strange, but it was the only way to describe his current situation.
'I must have died?'
How could the version of himself that had died exist with such clear consciousness?
Once that question was answered, all memories of Hui-a came flooding back.
Memories of being controlled by her for the past few years and being used as her puppet.
'Heh, heh heh. How ridiculous. Nothing about this is fun.'
Being stripped of his own will and merely obeying commands had brought him no joy at all.
It was only unpleasant, and now that he had regained his freedom of consciousness and could think for himself, he remembered that he had died.
Someone had pierced his heart and crushed it completely while he was still breathing.
Because he had died, he could reclaim himself.
'Who exactly was it?'
Who had killed him?
Although he had been controlled by Hui-a, he was an SSS-class awakener.
Baek Hyeong-won, the guild leader of Baekho Guild, which was one of Korea's top 10 guilds, wouldn't have stood a chance against him.
Controlling him was no big deal for Hui-a, who could dominate even an SSS-class consciousness in an instant, and So Gang-seok knew she was an existence beyond human comprehension.
Comparing himself to the otherworldly divine beings who sought to destroy the world, he realized he was just a trivial human being.
But the one who killed him wasn't Hui-a.
It was probably one of the humans in this world, and even if it was a sneak attack, someone strong enough to kill an SSS-class villain like him in an instant could only be Choi Kang-in, the highest authority in South Korea.
'Could it be Choi Kang-in?'
Choi Kang-in.
The owner of Kangin Guild, which effectively ruled South Korea, and the one who possessed the power of the world's strongest awakener.
And as the undisputed world strongest awakener, various titles like National Power Level, EX-class were used to express his strength.
However, it was hard to imagine that the one who had come all the way to Somalia was someone who had gotten bored with operating the Kangin Academy and hadn't left Korea.
'Choi Kang-in? Or not?'
With that thought in mind, a young boy's voice reached him.
"Hello, So Gang-seok."
With the voice of a boy he had never heard before, his vision was no longer trapped in pitch-black darkness.
The darkness that had shown nothing suddenly lifted, and in his vision appeared the figure of a young boy standing in front of him.
The voice was clearly unfamiliar, but the appearance was familiar.
The handsome boy with blue hair and red eyes, who looked about fifteen years old, was immediately recognizable to So Gang-seok.
"You're not Baek Seo-jun? Baek Seo-jun?"
The eldest son of Baekho Guild, the unfortunate boy sold to him.
Five years ago, he had thought the boy who had been subjected to countless human experiments and then thrown into a rift to die was now standing in front of him.
"Correct. It's been five years, hasn't it?"
Baek Seo-jun smiled with a grin.
But So Gang-seok confirmed that killing intent overflowed from his smiling face and laughed with interest.
"Did you die too? Or did you appear alive in front of me?"
"How leisurely."
"I've already died. Hahaha, I never thought I'd become free by dying like this. What an interesting thing."
"Interesting. Still looking for fun? Haha, this is good. I also found something fun."
Baek Seo-jun smiled while exuding killing intent.
It was as if he was saying the current situation was extremely fun.
"What do you mean?"
"You think that death is the end? You didn't think about what comes after death, did you?"
After death?
So Gang-seok hadn't thought about it.
Because he had been too busy enjoying the strong power he had.
It was enjoyable to make countless people suffer and see countless others in misery.
Especially when he saw scenes that highlighted the ugliness of humans, it felt like watching a fun movie.
But where would he have found the leisure to think about what came after death?
"I thought so. You villains probably didn't believe in an afterlife or something like that."
It was true that he hadn't believed in concepts like "if you commit many sins, you go to hell when you die."
However, he hadn't deeply thought about it.
He hadn't felt any sense of guilt.
"But, even if the gods don't judge, I expected you to judge me. Well, I never imagined that the little kid I used as an experiment would come to seek revenge five years later."
"Revenge?"
So Gang-seok felt something was off.
"Yeah, revenge. You. I killed you."
So Gang-seok couldn't immediately accept Baek Seo-jun's words.
An SSS-class awakener like himself killed by a fifteen-year-old boy?
Even if it was a sneak attack, it was an unbelievable fact.
But if it was true, something came to mind.
"You gained power from the rift, didn't you?"
"Well, something like that. But instead of explaining the details, it would be better to experience it directly."
Baek Seo-jun's smile changed to a refreshing feeling.
"It will be a good experience for you, So Gang-seok."
"Wha— Aaaaargh?!"
So Gang-seok suddenly felt indescribable pain.
It wasn't physical pain.
The pain that shook his soul was a pain that couldn't be expressed in human language at all.
Was it because only his soul remained?
The pain he felt was so terrifying, yet his consciousness remained unperturbed in the midst of that pain.
If he had a body, he would have lost consciousness from the pain, but now he was just a dead man with only his soul left.
"S-Stop it! Aaaargh!"
So Gang-seok screamed to stop the horrific pain.
The only thing filling his consciousness was the desperation for this pain to end.
"You didn't tell me to stop when I was in pain? Why?"
While watching So Gang-seok suffer, Baek Seo-jun now smiled with a pleasant face.
"So, you'll stay in that pain from now on. While I extract the memories you have, I'll enjoy watching you suffer."
* * *
While watching So Gang-seok's soul suffer, Baek Seo-jun felt a sense of relief.
Five years ago, the version of himself who had screamed in pain under So Gang-seok's torture had successfully made him feel the feeling of a life-and-death reversal.
According to the original plan, he was supposed to not kill him but torture him while alive and then kill him, continuing the pain even after death. However, due to The Fox That Devours the World, he had killed So Gang-seok early, so the plan was slightly altered, but it wasn't bad either.
"I only came to secure the truth, but I ended up saving the world."
Without anyone knowing, I saved the world and slowly extracted So Gang-seok's memories.
With Lamia's power from the original final boss absorbed and digested by me, it was a simple task to enjoy even a single memory of a human.
"Hmm, so this was it."
In just two seconds, I completely read So Gang-seok's memories.
I identified the identities of all the items So Gang-seok had collected.
But I wasn't particularly interested in the other items.
What interested me now was only one thing.
"Found it."
The video storage containing the truth from five years ago.
The video files stored here would reveal the truth, completely different from the disgusting lies of Baek Hyeong-won and Kim Yu-jeong, to the world.
'I won't release it right away, but I'll make sure you fall to the bottom when you are at your happiest.'
Anticipating the day of revenge, I spread my power.
It was to capture all of So Gang-seok's subordinates gathered nearby.
'There are even the researchers who did all sorts of research on me.'
I would give them a chance to feel what reversal of life and death was.
Anyway, since So Gang-seok was dead now, the eyes of The Fox That Devours the World who had been observing this place while controlling So Gang-seok's consciousness no longer existed.
That existence wouldn't be able to recognize this place for a while, so there was no need to worry about controlling my power.
That's why I would freely give pain to all these villains.
Although I couldn't feel refreshed by revenge on Baek Hyeong-won and Kim Yu-jeong, it was different for the villains.
It suited them to give them this pain.
- Seo-jun, do you have any plans until the day of revenge?
"I have a few."
To Lamia, who asked me about other plans, I smiled and said,
"I need to occasionally see my little brother's face too, don't I?"