A Thousand Degrees of Flame (3)

Kim I-seok, the team leader of Rescue Team 1 at the 119 Safety Center, was sprinting madly through the Ma-seok battery factory. He directed the removal of the injured, ordered crews to move the fire trucks that had run out of water, and kept a frantic eye on the movements of his men.

Then, in the middle of all that chaos, someone came stumbling out from Building 4.

It was Han Tae-sik, who had been paired up with Gu Ja-min and rushed into the scene for rescue work.

"Tae-sik!"

Kim I-seok ran toward him.

Han Tae-sik was half-carrying a woman as he came out.

"Ma'am, stay with me. Keep your head clear."

"Let’s get her to the ambulance first."

The two of them carried the woman on a stretcher.

After handing the rescued woman over to the ambulance crew, Kim I-seok searched for someone else.

Ja-min isn’t here.

A bad feeling pressed hard against his chest.

"Tae-sik. Where’s Ja-min?"

"That’s... well..."

Han Tae-sik was gasping for breath.

Kim I-seok realized his mistake too late.

It had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been too abrupt to ask after Gu Ja-min without even checking on Han Tae-sik first. Soot coated the rescue gear, and greasy grime ran down his face in filthy streaks.

"Ah, damn it. Are you okay?"

"...My back stings, but I’m fine. It’s nothing."

It probably wasn’t nothing at all.

If they stripped off the protective gear, his back would likely be nothing but peeled skin, the flesh beneath burned raw.

No question, it’s a bad burn.

And he wasn’t the only one. As the fire crews fought the blaze from every direction, injuries were piling up one by one across their bodies.

"Ja-min’s inside," Han Tae-sik said, pointing toward Building 4. "He hurt his leg..."

At that moment, a booming explosion split the air.

The shockwave shattered the windows with a violent crash, and razor-sharp shards of glass fell like rain.

"Danger!"

The two of them stumbled back in a hurry.

Kim I-seok lifted his head.

Flames were surging up from the entrance to Building 4.

"That’s where the mana-stone warehouse is, right?"

"...Yes. There’s a ridiculous amount stacked in the basement... Ja-min, Ja-min is..."

Gu Ja-min was still inside Building 4.

They had to get him out before another explosion hit.

"Hngh!"

Han Tae-sik dropped to one knee.

The burn on his back was far worse than Kim I-seok had guessed. Thick, sticky fluid was already running down to his waist.

If they didn’t treat him immediately, he’d be in real danger of dying.

"Tae-sik. Sit down for now. Go to the hospital first."

Kim I-seok brought his air respirator up toward his mouth.

"I’ll go in myself."

"No, Team Leader. If you go in there now..."

Both men looked toward the entrance.

The fire there showed no sign of calming down. Like the maw of some monster vomiting flame, it only grew fiercer by the second.

He knew from long experience what that meant.

When a fire started from a mana-stone explosion, the internal temperature rose beyond imagination.

Kim I-seok’s expression darkened.

At least 1,000 degrees. Maybe more.

He checked the gear Han Tae-sik was wearing.

Because of the heat, the respirator and the valve had already melted.

If the valve melted, the air would be cut off, and breathing would become impossible.

Two or three minutes at best. Five minutes if you’re lucky.

He wanted to throw himself into the flames right then and there.

But acting blindly was not the way to save Gu Ja-min.

We’d just die together for nothing...

Kim I-seok hopped in place, his foot stamping anxiously at the ground, and barked at the people around him.

"Where’s the fire truck?"

The truck that had gone to refill its water would still need a long time before it could get back here.

Kim I-seok remembered what he had told Gu Ja-min.

"You know the situation already. We’re all covering each other’s shifts. Tae-sik’s even heading toward Gwanghwamun despite his kid being sick."

Even after hearing that his wife was in labor, he had still shoved Gu Ja-min out the door.

Ugh. You pathetic bastard.

He cursed himself and writhed under the weight of his own guilt.

I’m sorry, Ja-min.

Staring into the flames, Kim I-seok clenched his teeth.

Then someone flashed through his mind.

A man in a purple mask who had appeared at Gwanghwamun.

Purple Devil.

Someone had said Purple Devil had headed for Building 4.

If that was true...

I hate to be shameless, but I’m begging you.

Without even realizing it, Kim I-seok clasped his hands together and prayed with all his might.

Please, save our Ja-min!

One step. Then another.

I dragged myself up the underground stairs leading to the surface as slowly as a turtle. Having to carry a pile of people on my back was killing me.

"I’ll help push from behind!"

From behind me, Gu Ja-min lent me his strength.

"We just need to go a little farther. Hang in there! Mister Purple Devil!"

He cheered me on with a voice that was trying hard to sound bright.

Far ahead, I could see the light coming from the entrance.

Almost there.

The moment hope seemed close enough to touch, one side of the staircase gave way with a sickening collapse.

It wasn’t because of the fire.

No way.

With a thunderous crash, the ceiling caved in.

"Crap!"

I lost my balance and dropped the people I’d been carrying.

Dizziness rolled through me so hard I could barely keep my head straight.

How long had it been?

Everything’s gone black.

After catching my breath and forcing myself to adjust to the darkness, I looked around.

"Ugh..."

Gu Ja-min was leaning against the wall, barely conscious as he forced his eyes open.

Several people were sprawled across the stairs.

"You okay?"

"...Yes."

Blood from a gash on his forehead had smeared across his face, turning him into a mess of red.

He must have been hit by concrete debris when the building collapsed.

Gu Ja-min swallowed hard, his face filled with despair.

"What do we do now..."

The entrance had been sealed shut like a clam snapping its shell tight.

Sand was already trickling down from the ceiling, as if warning of a second collapse.

What I could do was simple.

"Give me the sword."

I took back Heoksikdo, which I had entrusted to Gu Ja-min.

"Here."

I slowly drew the blade.

Then I looked up at the way to the surface and lowered my stance.

Can I do it?

It was a technique I had never once succeeded with until now.

It was the deathblow form of Ilcheon-illyu that Na Sang-min had taught me.

I wanted to take my time and complete it properly, but the situation would not allow it.

I have to do this.

I shoved my doubts aside.

"Yeomhwa, First Form."

Clenching the sword, I thrust my arm out like lightning.

Flames sparked, but that was all. The only result was that the concrete was scorched black.

Focus.

Again.

"Yeomhwa!"

I didn’t stop even after failing.

Again. Again. Again.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Again. Again. Again.

...

"Hah... haah!!"

I could feel my mana draining away bit by bit.

I squeezed out even the last scrap of strength I had left.

Again!!!

Like a hook catching the edge of a cliff.

For an instant, a strange sensation ran through my fingertips.

At last.

Along with a great burst of flame, the slash was unleashed.

KRRRSHHH!!!

The sword aura shot out at a slant, shattering chunks of stone as it stretched all the way to the entrance.

It worked!

At last, a path forward had opened.

But then—

RUMBLE-

From the shock of Yeomhwa, the ceiling began to collapse.

Damn it!

I quickly sheathed Heoksikdo and held up the ceiling with both hands.

"Now! Hurry!"

Gu Ja-min just stood there, blankly, unable to move.

His whole body was trembling.

Severe exhaustion, oxygen deprivation, sheer depletion, and the terror of death itself...

When all those miseries hit at once, anyone would go into shock.

The fact that he had lasted this long was a miracle in itself.

Gu Ja-min shook his head, staggering in place.

"...I—I can’t do it."

I looked him straight in the eye.

"You can."

In my previous life, Gu Ja-min had died.

The news had shown his funeral, and the camera had caught his wife and newborn baby crying their hearts out.

"Go on. Get this done and head to the hospital."

I added, almost as an afterthought,

"A fine son’s waiting for you there."

It might have sounded strange.

It might have sounded like a man from the future was trying to pass himself off as a prophet.

But Gu Ja-min’s eyes grew wet at my words.

"Hng!"

He dragged his injured leg and started moving.

A fresh aftershock hit, and the entrance was blocked again, but there was still enough space for one person to pass through.

At that size, he can make it out.

There were seven people lying on the stairs.

Only one person could squeeze through the narrow passage.

Gu Ja-min supported them one by one and limped up the stairs.

From below to above.

From above to below.

From below to above...

He repeated the same motion again and again.

"That’s everyone!"

Gu Ja-min smiled brightly, like a child.

All that’s left is for me to get out...

"I’ll go back down again!"

He started down the stairs to help me up next.

That was when a boom rang out behind me.

I turned my head.

Shit.

I’d known all along that the mana stones piled up in the basement could explode at any time.

Why now of all times...

Gu Ja-min was coming back down the stairs.

Behind him were the people he had already moved to safety.

Below them, the fire was surging upward from the basement...

And I was standing in the middle of the stairs, holding the ceiling up with both hands.

The fire immunity I had gotten from Pippi had already vanished when its time limit ran out.

What now?

What now?

How was I supposed to save everyone?

...No.

I didn’t need to save everyone.

If someone had to be sacrificed...

I guess there’s no helping it.

A bitter smile slipped out of me.

I lowered one hand from the ceiling.

Sand rained down across my face.

Gu Ja-min seemed to understand what my movement meant, because he frantically reached out to me.

"...N-no. Don’t do that."

I wasn’t sad.

I wasn’t desperate.

This was the path I had chosen.

This was the life I wanted.

Looking at Gu Ja-min, I smiled faintly.

Then I lowered my other hand as well.

"Mister Purple Devil!!!"

In an instant, the ceiling came crashing down, and everything around us was swallowed by the collapse.

That would block the explosion with the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wall.

Instead, the raging fire burst free and swallowed me whole.

"Ghk!"

The heat seared my flesh black in an instant.

Along with the stench of burned meat, horrific pain tore through my lower back.

The flames devoured me like a starving beast.

Thick, choking smoke poured into my nose and mouth, burning down into my lungs.

"...Hk."

Once the pain reached its absolute peak, even my groans faded into nothing.

Even my hero abilities were useless now.

Regeneration had already been activated.

But the damage was outpacing the healing speed by a mile.

My skin cracked apart under the savage inferno, and my hands and feet began to melt.

The peak temperature of a mana-stone explosion reached 1,600 degrees.

My body was basically being thrown into a furnace hot enough to melt iron.

...Am I really going to die like this?

My mind began to drift in the violent rhythm of the flames.

In this life, I had wanted to become a hero who saved many people and stood together with many people.

Why? Why did I want that, anyway...

Because I was selfless?

Because I was some human being overflowing with love for mankind?

No. That’s not it.

I’d become rich, but I still hadn’t let go of my obsession with money.

Whether I earned hundreds of billions, or even trillions, whether I became a hero or not...

It was all...

for me.

Even when I did something altruistic, even that was for my own sake.

Because I still had regrets from my last ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life, I wanted to live this one without looking back.

Just like Grandma said.

I wanted to live by my own convictions, doing what I believed was right.

That was why I put on the purple mask.

So I could be freer.

So I wouldn’t be bound by law or rules.

Purple Devil wasn’t a figure of justice.

Maybe...

Maybe I was just terribly selfish.

Inside the roaring hellfire, I let everything go and felt, strangely enough, relieved.

So what?

I had decided that hypocrisy was worse than evil.

Some people said hypocrisy was still a form of good.

As for helping others...

Intent doesn’t matter.

I was satisfied with every moment in which I carved out my own path and walked it proudly.

I took pride in becoming a hero. I felt honor in it. I felt pride in myself.

So for now...

For now,

it wasn’t time to give up.

It was too early to surrender.

"Aaaaaaagh!!!"

I detonated mana throughout my entire body.

At this insane heat, it didn’t really change anything.

Muscle and fat melted away, and the bones in my hands and feet were laid bare.

Hold on.

It was too early to die.

Hold on. I’ll hold on no matter what!! Survive!!!

I had to protect my family.

I had to become the strongest hero.

I had to save humanity.

...

I still have things left to do!!!

That was when it happened.

A new ability appeared after Assimilation.

Assimilation Upgrade?

That was strange.

Usually, a hero’s second skill was shown in gray.

To get something like that, I should have had to complete a mission.

In my previous life, I’d been a hero fanatic, and I’d devoured hero series at the movie theater whenever I got the chance. That included even animated shows for children.

In Bear Man: The Counterattack of the Underwater Empire, Bear Man blocks a collapsed dike with his own body to save plants and animals trapped in a desperate situation.

It had been a common, almost cliché hero story.

The fact that the conditions were met meant...

My choice came from the same place Bear Man’s did.

Another alarm rang out without warning.

Silvion Albatrone...

I recognized the name.

Oh. Right.

It was Pippi’s name.

Pippi had the attribute of fire.

Even if she plunged into flames, she would never get burned or singed.

That kind of broken talent...

...is being permanently retained.

So that was what happened.

From the moment the notification appeared onward, I was completely calm inside the 1,000-degree flames.

It felt as if I’d been soaking in a bath of hot spring water.

What exactly was this strengthened version of Assimilation?

If Bear Man’s story is anything to go by...

Purchase was a miracle that turned things possible only in comics into reality.

Let’s try it.

Inside the blazing fire, I closed my eyes and spread both hands with all the tenderness I could manage.

Ding.

The ground shuddered as if the earth itself were resonating.