#76 Life is a Series of Choices
A barren wasteland stretched out beneath a blood-red sky, where dry thunderclouds roiled and spat lightning without end. A lone man sat astride a pile of corpses, his massive greatsword plunged into the ground beside him. His crimson-black hair hung in wild tangles, framing pointed ears and murky teal eyes. It was Agares, the Warlord ranked second in the Demon Realm.
His signature teal gaze fixed on the distant void beyond the Demon Realm—a pitch-black expanse devoid of even a sliver of light, like the depths of some infernal abyss. No one knew what lurked at the bottomless pit's end, not even him. All he knew was that horrific monsters of demonic energy dwelled there.
They called that place the Demonic Sea.
'It's been a month since Lord Baal headed there.'
He closed his eyes briefly.
Then, a figure materialized before him. Agares opened his eyes. A man with a lion's head stood there.
[Marbas.]
The man's name was Ipan Marbas Areg. A powerhouse ranked fifth in the Demon Realm. Thick, sinewy muscles like those of a beast bulged across his body.
[Let's go, Lord Agares. Bassago is ready.]
His voice rumbled like a beast's growl. His massive, fur-tufted fists looked hard enough to shatter mountains.
[Destination?]
[The dimension called Earth.]
[Earth, huh.]
Agares murmured dryly as he rose to his feet. Marbas watched him silently. He swore Agares was the second strongest demon he'd ever seen—perhaps even a match for Baal. The thought of this monster leaving the Demon Realm for another world was utterly unprecedented.
Earth. No idea where that is.
But—
'That world's done for.'
Marbas thought, smirking.
[The wild is a brutal arena of survival.]
A documentary blared from the TV. Kang-ho lounged on the sofa, lost in thought, when he glanced at Seol-a.
"......?"
She knelt primly, utterly entranced by the screen. Kang-ho checked the clock.
8:30 a.m.
The little one always woke early and begged for food by now, but she hadn't budged, glued to the TV.
[There is no mercy in the wild. That's the world of beasts.]
The screen showed a top predator Titanoboa devouring a lesser monster.
"!"
Seol-a's eyes lit up with fascination. She sprang to her feet, her three tails stiff and perked, battle lust gleaming in her diamond eyes.
"Karrung!"
She threw her arms up in triumph, growling a mock threat.
"......"
She's ridiculous, Kang-ho thought, dumbfounded.
[In the wild, top predators charge at lesser prey with all they've got. Winners and losers, strong and weak. The wild adheres to those principles. The logic of power. The law of the jungle.]
The world had changed. Kang-ho chuckled wryly.
Back in the day, animal documentaries had been a genre unto themselves. After monsters appeared and wiped out most wildlife, they'd shifted to monster docs.
[Even top predators have their worries. Everyone must make choices for survival.]
'Choices.'
Kang-ho mulled the word.
'Yeah.'
The time for choices was drawing near.
Thump—
Thump—
His heart beat slowly. A shiver of tension rippled through him.
'How long has it been?'
-Kang-ho.
Kang Jun-seok.
His old friend. That last moment—he'd felt this tension then.
-Sorry.
Thirty years ago, the scene was still vivid.
It was a rainy night.
"Finish me off."
The final battlefield in Daegu. The last great demon had fallen. Kang Jun-seok stood before it, drenched in blood. Suddenly, his body began darkening. He'd clearly unleashed a forbidden power. Black demonic energy boiled from him.
The power he'd suppressed through the long war was now consuming him.
Kang-ho hesitated. A chill prickled his skin.
He glanced back. The five heroes stood there. Cheol-bae nodded gravely. Jun-woo took a drag from his cigarette. Ho-young stared at the sky. Min-ah wept openly.
He turned back to Jun-seok.
Shing—!
Kang-ho's Oerblade slashed at full power.
Shing, shing—!
Blood sprayed from deep gashes. Kang-ho gritted his teeth but kept his eyes open. Veins bulged in his eyes. Crushing loss surged, but he swallowed it.
Whoosh—!
Suddenly, the black energy writhed like a living thing, rising from Jun-seok's body.
......!
Jun-seok's shocked eyes met his. The energy roared beyond his control.
But then he grinned.
-Live well. It was fun, you bastards.
Far off, he hurled himself into the twisting, collapsing gate—the boss defeated, on the verge of vanishing.
And with the gate, he was gone.
Pouring rain.
The war had been endless. So many died—friends, comrades, family. They called it the War Era. A time when "I survived today" was a greeting.
Kang-ho had lost Seolhwa defending Incheon, and under the sky heralding the war's end, his oldest friend and comrade.
Thump-thump-
Thump-thump-thump-
His heart raced. Kang-ho opened his eyes to find Seol-a on his lap, tilting her head.
"Food."
She rubbed her belly and licked his cheek.
"Pwaap."
"......"
"Meat."
The fruits had boosted her stats. She'd grown a bit taller, her silver hair a touch longer.
"Meaty good."
She whined, then peered at his face worriedly, as if wondering if he'd gone deaf.
Kang-ho nodded and hugged her tight.
-Lately, everything I do leaves regrets, Kang-ho.
-Am I just getting old? The past haunts me now. All sorts of things.
Cheol-bae's words echoed. Kang-ho smiled bitterly.
'Yeah.'
Life was a chain of choices.
'Looking back, mine leave nothing but regrets.'
But even if he could go back, he'd choose the same. Some choices you regret, but must make anyway.
"Alright, Seol-a. Let's eat."
A heavy tension hung over Seoul's streets. Disaster. Even in this age of peace, history lingered. Witnesses from 50 years ago still lived, and every TV channel screamed the word.
"Hoo."
Cheol-bae sighed, lighting a cigar. Mercenary Guild was on high alert. Magic stones poured in; artifacts for instant combat rolled out. Morale was sky-high. It always was with them.
As he puffed deeply, a knock came—not from the door, but the window.
Tap-tap.
"......?"
Kang-ho stood there on the less-than-inch-wide railing of the 30th floor, grinning.
Cheol-bae chuckled and opened the window.
"What's up?"
Kang-ho stared, then shrugged.
"You said visit more."
"True enough."
Cheol-bae clapped his shoulder. Seol-a reached for his beard from Kang-ho's arms. He smiled softly, leaning in to let her tug it.
"Fancy a drink? Or food?"
"Nah, got places to be."
Kang-ho's eyes turned serious.
"......"
He stared, then propped his chin.
"Training again today?"
Cheol-bae's muscles bulged perfectly honed, radiating heat.
"Obviously."
Kang-ho grinned.
"Good enough."
"Huh?"
"I'm out."
"Hey—"
Kang-ho patted his shoulder and leaped out. Cheol-bae peered down. Furball appeared like a shadow, catching him. It flashed a toothy grin at Cheol-bae, kicked off the wall, and bounded to another rooftop, vanishing into the distance.
'That direction...'
Cheol-bae smiled wryly.
'Daegu. They're gearing up already.'
He leaned on the window, drawing deep on his cigar.
'Time we did too.'
Tatata—
Furball raced on. Kang-ho rode, pondering until they neared Daegu.
'Rough blast radius—'
Top-tier Awakener battles weren't fights—they were bombs. Massive mana clashes caused huge explosions. City fights could raze rebuilt civilization.
Kang-ho knew his power well.
'Against someone my level—'
The city would be rubble.
Bzzz—
A fight with an equal or stronger foe. He planned to scout the battlefield ahead—terrain, features, local monsters. Prep work.
'Ideally inside a gate.'
If the enemy could talk, maybe. As he scouted Daegu thoroughly—
Whoosh—!
The world flashed blindingly.
"Hm?"
Kang-ho frowned. The glow rippled in midair, then descended before him, forming a circular gate.
"......!"
Krreung—
Furball tensed warily. But Kang-ho soothed it, staring intently.
Not a normal gate's color. That alien mana. This phenomenon.
He'd seen it once before—with Kang Jun-seok, when a suspicious gate spawned the gauntlet of constellations.
'Just like then.'
No warning, no reason—it had appeared before Jun-seok.
Kang-ho dismounted slowly.
"Looks like something's up."
He stepped inside.
Whoosh—
The world shifted. Stars poured like a meteor shower in the gate's realm—an endless void. Terrifying velocity streaked the sky.
Not stars falling. A massive meteor storm. Like standing before world's end.
One old man stood there, gazing skyward before eye-searing crimson flames like molten gold lava.
Clang—
His hammer struck the anvil.
Clang—
The clear ring sharpened Kang-ho's mind.
Clang—
Kang-ho approached slowly. The old man's hair was dandelion-white, beard and brows matching. He wore an indeterminate white robe.
Clang—
The final strike. He turned to Kang-ho.