Transmigration Labyrinth (2)
"How have you been?"
I didn't want to cry. I refused to become some pathetic man sobbing while a fake wife comforted him. But life rarely follows our wishes. I accepted the touch of Sera's hand as it gently wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes.
"You must have been so lonely. To shed tears even at the sight of a fake like me."
"...I've been living as best I could."
"Yes, I can see that."
Her hand carefully stroked my cheek. With tender care, she brushed past my eyelids and tucked the stray hair that had fallen across my forehead back into place. I closed my eyes for a moment, savoring her warmth, then slowly opened them again. There I was, reflected in her blue-gray eyes—eyes like polished mirrors. I was smiling. Ridiculous as it was, a fake was comforting me.
"It's hard to believe. That I'm the fake one. That I'm already dead."
"I'd feel the same in your position."
"How much time has passed?"
"Twenty years."
"You must have been terribly lonely. But... where are we? I didn't want to ask because it seemed like you didn't want to talk about it."
It was such a Sera thing to say. I lifted my head briefly and gazed at the hazy fluorescent lights of the office beyond the break room. I had spent sixty years with her. My memories were flawless. I knew so much about Sera—her personality, her habits, the way she moved. There was no doubt in my mind. But I couldn't expect everyone else to be like me. My comrades might be in danger. They might have already faced their own crises.
We rose after a short rest. While we recovered, I told her everything. What I had gone through. What had become of Seoul. What had become of Earth. Sera listened with grave attention.
"It's a difficult story to believe. But I trust you."
That was the kind of person she was.
"Because Jinwoo would never lie to me."
It was true. We had built our marriage on that kind of trust. A single year fighting side by side could bind comrades tighter than blood. We had been both comrades and husband and wife for sixty years. I trusted my memories, and the Sera within those memories had trusted me the same way.
"Still, this world feels primitive. Killing people based solely on one-sided information."
"It's not all that different from our time."
"True. Actually... no, it's too soon to make assumptions."
Sera was quiet, cautious, and mature. She often expressed affection toward me, yet she carried herself with the poise of an older woman. I had always loved being cared for by her.
"So I'm the version of me that lives inside your memories?"
"Yes."
"You must have remembered me fondly."
"I did."
"Would it have been the same if our roles were reversed?"
"Without question."
Sera walked with her pistol ready. I drew the longsword from its sheath and held it in my hand.
"...So that's why you use a sword now?"
"Yes. It belonged to the knight I fought."
"I didn't know you could handle one."
"Until recently, I couldn't. I learned by watching my daughter use it."
Sera's eyes widened.
"Daughter...?"
Suddenly flustered, I rushed to explain.
"The Korean government preserved my genetic material. The Blood Clan—the vampires—used it to create a daughter."
"Ah."
She collected herself and offered an awkward smile.
"Hmm... I never expected a stepdaughter. So much happened while I was gone."
That familiar, slightly amused smile. I had worn the same expression once. Being called Father had felt strange, as had the way she sought my paternal love.
"She's often prickly and quick to anger... but she's cute."
"Treat her well."
"I will."
As I smiled faintly, Sera rounded the corner where the office bent into an L-shape. She swept the area with her pistol before lowering it again.
"Still... a sword. You never even considered using one before."
"The captain used one too."
"The captain... you mean the Devil?"
I nodded. Devil. Usually a term of insult. But Captain Gu Si-hyeok had loved that name. He'd grin and ask, Isn't it cool? He was a strangely sentimental man.
"That's because the captain was special. Everyone else used guns."
Sera still called him the Devil, but since he'd liked the title himself, I simply nodded. After all, anyone watching a man deflect bullets with a sword while burning alive across the battlefield would call him a devil. No one but the captain could have done it. No one else needed to.
Yet something felt strangely familiar about the way the Sera in my memories spoke. I asked quietly as I walked beside her.
"Have you met him before?"
"Yes, twice. I tried to snipe him. The first time I hit his leg instead of his head. The second time he deflected my shot with his sword. When he started chasing me, I ran."
Just like the captain. The heat haze would have ruined her aim, and the bullets might not have been enough. But the revelation planted a seed of doubt in me.
The suspicion that this space summoned beings from memory had already become certainty. Still, it was strange. The fact that Sera had encountered the captain—information I had never known. Perhaps it was the result of overlapping memories. Or maybe something I had unconsciously absorbed. It could even be Alice's memory. Whatever the case, it didn't damage my trust in this Sera. I trusted her completely. People had always said I gave my trust too easily, but with Sera it was different. Her heartbeat, the signals in her muscles—since she wasn't an android, every signal purely conveyed her emotions. I trusted the Sera from my memories, my own feelings, and hers. I believed she would never betray me.
Instead, I continued our conversation. Lifting the sheathed longsword in my left hand, I said, "The sword is more efficient here. I have the Royal with me, but... ammunition is scarce. I need to conserve it."
Sera nodded. "Certainly, the larger striking surface and lack of need for resupply make it practical."
I caught a hint of forced agreement in her tone. She hadn't fully grasped what this world had become. Sera was clearly uncomfortable. That was understandable. She was used to exoskeletal armor, specialized weapons, injectable ballistic skin, auxiliary drugs, firearms, and constant ammunition drops during the war. After deserting, she'd grown accustomed to scavenging weapons and rifles herself. Now she was down to a single pistol magazine, counting every bullet. Even I felt the awkwardness. It had been the same when I handled the rifle earlier—both foreign and intimately familiar. Once, we had been the nightmares of the battlefield, receiving unconditional support from the nation. The exception had been the captain. The man they called the Devil, sweeping across battlefields with nothing but a sword. With neural acceleration far beyond mine, he melted bullets, deflected them, dodged them, and tore through enemy lines. It was a sight worthy of the name, yet to me he had been a good older brother and commander. In the end, until the day he died...
"Ah."
I hastily shook off the rising memory. Sera hadn't meant to, but I was doing something dangerous. In this place, dwelling on the past was forbidden. Since monsters born from twisted memories had already appeared, Captain Gu Si-hyeok was one person I absolutely could not recall. If he appeared as an ally, perhaps. But if as an enemy? Disaster. Especially in this confined space, my chances against the captain weren't good. Not unless he transformed into lightning.
Restraining myself, I opened my mouth to change the subject—right as the sharp smell of gunpowder stung my nose.
"...Jinwoo."
Too late. I'd thought too deeply. A mistake.
I broke into a run, and Sera kept pace beside me. If Captain Gu Si-hyeok had appeared, it was better that I face him. If another companion encountered him and turned hostile, it would already be too late. Better for Sera and me to handle it. If possible, I would even try to recruit him.
Following the scent of gunpowder, I spread my micro-current as I ran.
The roar of flames. An output that made Flama's power seem laughable. Unlike me, who balanced offense and defense with Astrape, micro-current detection, and drone jamming, this was pure annihilation. The true worth of Captain Gu Si-hyeok, who had incinerated entire trenches while pushing back enemy lines, lay in those flames.
With a mixture of dread and anticipation, I rounded the corner and stepped into the flickering fire.
There I saw a familiar face. But it was not Captain Gu Si-hyeok.
It was Vertea. The halfling stood with both hands overflowing with flame, panting as she scorched everything around her. She looked ready to burn the entire office to ash.
I felt glad to see Vertea, yet I wondered—what had happened to make her unleash fire like this? What had she been fighting? Her firepower was already high; if she released it without restraint, even I would be in danger. What kind of creature could force Vertea to burn this intensely?
I quickly pushed down the barrel of Sera's pistol as she raised it.
"Lower your gun. She's an ally."
"...Ally?"
"Vertea!"
Unlike Sera, who tilted her head in confusion, Vertea whipped around at the sound of my voice, eyes wide. Relief washed over her expressionless face—right before her eyes suddenly widened again, staring past us.
Beyond the flickering flames, something crawled across the floor. Lightning. Pure white current burning with heat. Nothing like my own blue electricity. As the flames parted along its path, a man appeared.
Two hundred and twenty centimeters tall—taller than me. A gaunt frame. A scientist's lab coat that didn't suit him. White lightning dancing across his large hands. The moment I registered it all, I was already moving. I pulled the shotgun from my coat and aimed. The shells were depleted uranium. Special rounds designed to kill even super soldiers. A custom order the Korean government had made for my weapon. I fired without hesitation.
The figure burst into flame, blood spraying as it collapsed. Even though it showed no sign of rising again, I couldn't lower the gun.
It was him.
The first super soldier, the one who had slaughtered countless others. A scientist who could emit lightning directly, unlike me, and possessed monstrous regenerative powers. The pioneer of Russian biological weaponry. His real name had been forgotten, but everyone who lived through that era knew his alias.
Immortal Koschei. The bastard who had killed the captain and Sera. The human garbage who had experimented on countless people, toying with them as he killed, right up until I put him down. The strongest super soldier—the one who had nearly killed even me. Now he lay in the flames, his body shattered as if resurrected from my memories.
"...Master...."
I couldn't respond to Vertea calling me. Instead, I focused every sense and my micro-current on Koschei's corpse. No signs of regeneration. But it wasn't over.
Beyond the burning flames, countless presences suddenly flooded my micro-current awareness. I holstered the shotgun and drew my sword.
"Jinwoo."
Sera pressed her back to mine, aiming her pistol in every direction. Vertea moved to our side, still panting but gathering flames in her hands.
Beyond the fire, I saw the horde of twisted monsters emerge. Their numbers were so vast my micro-current couldn't count them all at once. They panted as they slowly advanced through the flames, their original forms nearly unrecognizable. I didn't know where they had come from, but they poured forth endlessly, radiating murderous intent. As they closed the distance, the count passing two hundred, I became certain.
If we fought here, we would all die.
The moment one monster let out a roar, I shouted without hesitation.
"Run!"
Hundreds of monsters surged toward us.