Bang─! My Head Rips Off with the Gunshot
Bang─! With the gunshot, my head tore right off.
My consciousness faded, replaced by pitch-black darkness. A sinister void tinged with faint purple flames. I was sinking endlessly into that abyss.
I was dead. Not truly dead, of course. Just a death within the illusion. But it felt so vivid, so real, it tricked me into believing it was genuine.
“Father, Son, Holy Spirit─”
“When the first seal is broken, the rider appears─”
“Kya啊啊啊─!”
As I plummeted, grotesque scenes began flashing by in the darkness. Endless pits of roaring fire. Echoes of catastrophe thundering from the heavens. People screaming madly, fleeing in blind panic right before the disasters struck. All of it whipped past in mere seconds, like a spinning lantern show.
Sounds of crossing oneself, prophecies of doom, screams, clattering hooves, roaring flames. They all blended into a bizarre cacophony ringing in my ears.
Thud.
After falling forever, I landed softly on something plush. The endless darkness and visions vanished, replaced by a fresh, warm light filling my sight.
The light carried a subtle warmth, like a gentle heat. The chilling grip of death I'd felt moments ago was long gone.
I looked around, craning my neck in the glow. There was light and warmth, but nothing else.
“You've finally arrived.”
After scanning for a while, a voice emerged from the empty light. It was warm, infused with the same coziness as the glow, yet laced with an inscrutable ambiguity.
The tone and cadence felt familiar somehow.
“……Noah?”
“Yes, Noah. Who else? Only the ark's administrator can freely enter and exit a space like this.”
A space like this? What kind of place was I in for him to call it “a space like this”?
Noah's words often had cryptic edges, much like Baron Samedi's prophecies.
“You just died. Not really, of course! Haha. But it does make you feel like the Grim Reaper, doesn't it?”
I stared blankly at the light without responding, and Noah's voice came again. With it, a figure strode through the radiance toward me.
His sea-blue robe billowed with each step. It was Noah.
His steady, unwavering gait toward me was dreamlike, a reminder that this was all illusion.
“So, how was death?”
Noah, now right in front of me, asked with a smile. It was so nonchalant it made my recent seriousness feel embarrassing. Seeing it, I couldn't help but smile back.
“Made me wanna puke.”
“Hahaha. Everyone says that. You're handling it better than most students, though.”
Noah laughed heartily and reached into the light beyond. From the spot his hand touched, a tree sprouted.
It grew enormous in seconds. Hundreds of small olives clustered thickly at its branch tips.
Pluck.
Noah picked two fruits from a branch, handing one to me and popping the other in his mouth. I bit into mine, and a brutally astringent, bitter taste flooded my mouth. My face twisted involuntarily.
“Raw olives don't taste great. That's why people usually cure them or press them for oil.”
Noah chuckled at my grimace. But I had no breath to reply, too busy trying to spit out the lingering tang.
If you knew they tasted like shit, why give me one? A vague resentment bubbled up.
As if mocking it, Noah chewed his olive with obvious delight and spoke.
“I've rambled too much. I tend to drag on with preambles. Bad habit, but one I'm content with. …Ah, that was rambling again. Anyway.”
“……”
“You died, and in the second gate, Gu Jun-hyeok won. No disagreement there, right?”
Noah stated it flatly. I could only nod.
Whatever the process, I'd lost, and he'd won. Gu Jun-hyeok was the victor of the reelection exam. A clear, undisputed defeat.
No reason to deny it. But one thing nagged at me.
“So, what were the secret conditions?”
The two undisclosed conditions had never been revealed. I'd been killed by Gu Jun-hyeok in the second gate, making me the loser by results alone. But I felt entitled to know this much.
No, I needed to know, stubborn as it was.
Noah pursed his lips, feigning thought.
“The secret conditions… Normally, we don't disclose them, but for Do Seon-woo, maybe a special exception.”
“Special?”
“Yes, special. Because you're a special person.”
Special. The word felt off, laced with deliberate awkwardness. Maybe Noah had emphasized it oddly on purpose.
He gazed at me with an ambiguous expression and continued.
“The first condition, as you know, was stopping the tower's construction. Specifically, halting it without harming the ark's 'natives.' You did splendidly there.”
According to him, I'd met the first one perfectly.
A soft smile played on Noah's lips as he went on.
“The second was eliminating the 'interferer.' Gu Jun-hyeok played that role. Unfortunately, you didn't fulfill it.”
“……Too bad. I kinda guessed.”
“Not 'too bad.' 'Guessing' isn't the same as 'knowing.'”
Noah corrected sharply. I nodded. He was right. Vague hunch and certainty were worlds apart.
No real regret.
“Anything else?”
Noah offered another olive from the branch. I shook my head. No desire for more bitter raw fruit, and no more questions.
“Really?”
Suddenly, Noah's tone turned insistent, almost coercive. His smile vanished, replaced by icy sarcasm.
The gap between smile and sneer was as vast as hunch and certainty.
“Yes, nothing.”
I swallowed hard and forced the words out. The sarcasm lingered on his face.
“Is that so? Nothing? Got it.”
“……Should there be?”
“There should be. Of course there should.”
His eyes were dry, mechanical, like a doll's. Yet, oddly, I wasn't afraid. The enveloping light warmed me, granting peace and confidence against anything.
“Really, nothing?”
Noah asked again. I tilted my head, meeting his blank stare.
What did he want from me?
…Honestly, I did have one question. But it wasn't about the exam—it was about the ark itself. A sensitive one that might be taboo.
Which was exactly why I should ask now. Some instinct told me so.
“Did Seong Yu-da really make the ark alone? Ah, Cardinal Seong Yu-da.”
I finally voiced it. Noah smiled, satisfied.
“No one could build this massive ark alone. Just as thousands of laborers died building Babel, countless sweats and blood went into this.”
“Yeah, makes sense.”
“─That's the usual line. But you're special, Do Seon-woo, so a special answer it is. Words and questions carry different weight depending on who's speaking.”
Noah plucked an olive, rolling up his blue sleeve as he continued.
“A bit of preamble first… I'm on no one's side. Keep that in mind.”
It didn't click. Staring blankly, he nodded and elaborated.
“Meaning, I respected Do Myeong-jun as much as Seong Yu-da.”
He popped an olive in his mouth, crunching it appreciatively.
“The ark was a joint creation of Seong Yu-da and Do Myeong-jun. Do Myeong-jun crafted the illusions and memories; Seong Yu-da refined them for use.”
“……What?”
“Not the answer you wanted?”
It was, but not what I'd expected. I hadn't thought he'd say it so bluntly.
Do Myeong-jun—my father's name—was taboo, a sin in Romanica doctrine.
Yet Noah uttered it casually, even with honorifics.
“Why would you─”
Crack!
My words cut off at a sudden shattering sound. The surrounding light cracked, fissures spiderwebbing through it. Darkness peeked from the gaps—dense, deep, threatening to swallow me.
“Sadly, time's up. The situation won't let us chat more. Two final pieces of advice?”
“No. One last thing I want to─”
“Do Seon-woo, you always start with a conclusion when theorizing, then bend evidence to fit. Confirmation bias. Bad habit—fix it.”
I had a question, but Noah barreled on, denying me the chance. Just like the crumbling scene.
“And you don't need to chase your father's footsteps. Following only them won't let your talents fully bloom.”
Crunch─!
With that, hundreds of cracks splintered the light. They multiplied wildly, darkness devouring the glow as the illusion collapsed.
Even amid the ruin, Noah smiled calmly.
“Good luck.”
*
I snapped awake, bolting up and looking around. No first-gate meadow, no second-gate desert, no post-death light. Just the barren emptiness like when I'd first entered the ark.
My mind was foggy, like right after waking. I smoothed my tousled hair, replaying my talk with Noah.
He'd told me not to follow my father's traces—as if he knew exactly who and what my father was.
He'd spoken the forbidden name “Do Myeong-jun” so offhandedly.
Then certainty hit: Noah knew my identity. That I was the Voodoo Cult leader, son of the second leader Do Myeong-jun.
A chill raced down my spine. My body shuddered.
Ally? Enemy? Or neither?
Tap tap.
Suddenly, someone tapped my shoulder. I whipped around, startled.
“Got a proposal for you.”
It was Seong Ha-yeon, out of nowhere. I didn't want to show surprise, but Noah had rattled me—emotions raw, face hard to control. I turned away, brushing past her to exit the ark quickly. No way I'd let her see me rattled.
“Why the rush? Wait, hold on─!”
I ignored her shouts, striding out. The once-clear sky now burned with sunset hues. About half a day gone, it seemed. The illusion had blurred my time sense—seconds, minutes, hours melting together.
“Examinees who finished, turn in your receipts and board the bus─! Examinees who─”
Staring at the sunset in a daze, a teacher's distant yell reached me. She was collecting slips in front of the bus, bellowing.
Head throbbing, I headed for it briskly.
Grab.
But before I could move, someone seized my wrist. Predictably, Seong Ha-yeon.
“Wait, proposal. Haah, ha, hu, mm. Just one proposal. Don't ignore me.”
“……”
She panted heavily. Just a few meters of chase had winded her.
I stared silently, no will to reply.
She didn't care if I wanted to or not. Always putting herself first, she spoke anyway.
“Wanna become a high-ranking cleric?”
“……What?”
I couldn't hide my shock, blurting it out. No clue what she meant by that.
Of course I wanted to—but coming from her, it felt suspicious.
She caught her breath and spoke slowly.
“How about joining the International Theological Society?”
(To be continued)