Chapter 24
Her childhood friend's body lay cold as ice, no final words left to utter. Cause of death: unknown. All that was certain was that the monsters had torn her flesh beyond recognition. Only he, her childhood friend, could still picture her true form.
"……."
The world was brutal. People died so easily. He couldn't take his own survival for granted today. He'd known it all along. He'd braced himself for it. But when reality hit, the human mind and body were utterly powerless.
Why...? He wouldn't ask that. No one in this world died for a reason. He just felt resentment. At the world, at people, at the gates... and above all, at himself for prioritizing his own worries in this moment.
His one true understanding soul was gone. Vanished. She'd slipped away into a place of final severance, never to return. Now he was alone. Everyone would despise him, curse him, loathe him. In that vicious reality, the single tree propping him up had withered away.
Even if the man lived on, it wouldn't be living anymore. Crushed by that merciless despair, his mind followed his sole friend's lead into suicide. What remained was a husk. A mechanical shell driven by one purpose: to change this cruel reality by any means necessary. That body alone lingered in the world.
"Hey, freshman! Get your head in the game!?"
"Y-yes, sir!!?"
Yujin's mind snapped back at the hero's sharp rebuke. What was that just now? A daydream? But it felt too vivid, too real—no mere illusion.
"I get it, things blew up suddenly for a first-year, and you're confused. But that's exactly when you need to stay sharp! Your carelessness could kill not just you, but your teammates and civilians too! Got it?!"
"S-sorry!"
Stung by the reprimand, Yujin gripped his pile driver tighter. Everyone was busting their asses to minimize casualties, and here he was, a lowly cadet lost in a daze. What a disgrace.
Is it because I'm worried about Ayumi?
Was his anxiety over his one childhood friend manifesting as this daydream warning? If so, it was pointless. There was nothing Yujin could do. It just fueled maddening unease, dropping his survival odds. This brain is useless.
If Ayumi really dies... Just thinking it chilled his blood.
She wasn't just a childhood friend to him. Ayumi was his little sister and big sister all in one. Family, plain and simple. The family who'd believed in him unwaveringly through his darkest, toughest times. His one and only...
The chain of roles linking him to Ayumi—playmate, little sis, big sis—suddenly had another face wedged in: black-haired hime-cut, sleek eyes, an Eastern beauty with striking features. Right. Yeah. He'd been thinking wrong. Ayumi wasn't his only friend. There was one more.
"...Come to think of it, Hyowon was sleeping over at Ayumi's tonight."
He remembered Ayumi bragging excitedly about it. She'd even joked about Yujin crashing too. As if—what was a guy supposed to do there?
Just recalling Joo Hyowon eased his heart. She was beyond a first-year... hell, beyond a cadet. A monster. With her there, Ayumi's safety was guaranteed. He could trust and wait.
And Hwa Yujin's faith was quickly rewarded. At the city hall where cadets gathered at the heroes' call, the three reunited.
"Yujin~! Thank goodness, you're alive! No injuries?"
"Of course I'm alive. Got lucky and linked up with a hero right away. I was the one worried. Thought you might've spaced out and gotten yourself killed en route."
"Ehe, coulda happened, but Hyowon covered everything. Saved my butt. She's amazing! On a whole other level from us."
Ayumi gushed over Hyowon with sparkling, adoring eyes. It wasn't hard to believe she'd earned it. Even in the safe zone guarded by heroes, Hyowon scanned her surroundings warily, never dropping her guard. Veterans are on another plane.
"Thanks. For helping my Ayumi. They say it could've been bad without you?"
"Nah, no biggie. Helping a friend is just what you do, right?"
Hyowon brushed off Yujin's thanks while glancing around, searching for something—or someone.
"Something up? Looking for someone?"
"...Nah. More importantly, any rat bastards attacking your side?"
Her question darkened Yujin's face instantly.
"Yeah, a few. Lucky Sonya Instructor warned us—no deaths, but a couple got cut up and are in treatment."
"Attacking their own kind... even people trying to help them. Unbelievable."
That's what gutter rats did. The heroes' goal was saving all humanity, no distinction between good and bad. Courts would sort that out later. Probably death sentences across the board.
But gutter rats gonna gutter rat. Untrained hackjobs couldn't stand up to properly vigilant cadets. And with cadets moving in groups, direct confrontations were impossible anyway.
"...Whew, one worry down for now."
When the gate opened, the sky was still dark. Clouds hid the moon and stars; craning your neck yielded only fading artificial lights. Those would vanish soon under monster attacks. In that high, invisible void, a girl with a fishing rod overlooked the gate-struck city center.
"Not going as planned."
She hadn't expected a trophy fish right off the bat. Fishing was about savoring the wait. Hooking a big one immediately would've been boring. Still, she'd thought she could at least narrow candidates to spot a keeper... and even that failed. Unexpected.
"Humans seemed more useful than mindless beasts, so I tried them, but meh. The issue is humans make it hard to judge utility just by qi reserves."
Give those big, tough-looking ones the perfect chaotic setup to mess with academy humans, and they'd handle the rest—or so they claimed. She'd even opened a gate for them. Felt duped, leaving her miffed.
But that mood passed quick. Plans veered? Fine, roll with it.
"Qi drain's too high, wanted to conserve... oh well, necessary expense."
Monster cleanup was mostly done. Civilians nearly fully protected. Rats seemed to have assessed their allies' situations—no more sightings. Yet the gate stubbornly refused to collapse.
Weird. With qi that dense, monster spawns should be rampant. And they weren't even strong ones. This much qi could've spewed far fiercer hordes.
Gates vanished after dumping all their qi: via monster creation or breakdown/absorption by skilled technicians. Usually both, fading gradually. But this one? Barely any monster output.
And I'd seen this in the original work.
At this point? No way. Couldn't swear it was exact. Like Frieza firing a death beam without fighting Raditz. This shouldn't happen yet!
...Or maybe I'm wrong.
I knew the lore pretty well. But better than this world's experts? Absurd. Even official setting books weren't that detailed—catering to niche lore nerds only.
If I warned about what might come and they asked how I knew? What then? Plenty chance nothing happens. Hesitating on that...
The ground beneath us turned to swamp.
"Ah...!"
Like the safe zones sinking wholesale earlier, our bodies started sinking too. Difference: safe zones had qi barriers for temporary safety. Naked humans like us? Instant drowning.
It was exactly what I'd feared.
"What the—?! What's happening? First time seeing this!"
"What is it? How do we—?!"
Even heroes flailed cluelessly. Makes sense. In the original, this technique only appeared in late-game branches—if at all.
One of Taewang's secret arts among the Eight Kings. Abyss Erosion. No counter? Die.
I screamed till my throat tore.
"Bind the ground's qi together! Don't let the floor crumble! Hurry!"
How? Hell if I know! Haven't learned it! Just yelling what the original did. No need for details. Point the way; experts handle the rest!
"Ah, got a bite."