Like a Comet Into Your Heart (8)
Like a Comet Into Your Heart (8)
[Body temperature has dropped. Heart rate has decreased. Excessive blood loss detected. Apply hemostasis. Transformation is not recommended in your current condition.]
His vision was red. His sight wavered and refused to focus. His head spun, his gut spun worse, and a bone-deep chill shuddered through him. His blood couldn’t carry enough oxygen, so his breath came ragged, and his body screamed a silent scream that he was about to die right now.
[Transformation is not recommended. Seek medical treatment immediately. Repeating once more...]
The Belt’s warning tone sounded without pause. A warning that life support was unsustainable.
Transformation placed enormous strain on the user’s body.
That was why, when the user took a life-threatening hit, the transformation was forcibly cancelled.
To protect the user’s life.
Attempting a transformation in this near-death state was obviously a direct path to death.
“Girl, I will say this once more. Step aside from that place.”
Libra sternly warned Baek A-hee.
“You there, where has your earlier resolve gone? Surely you are not abandoning resistance merely because death has drawn near. If so, I am greatly disappointed.”
Han Jae-jung couldn’t believe it. The monster had just ambushed him into a near-death state and now it wanted a fight? He spat out the blood pooling in his mouth and laughed.
At the same time, he understood the purpose of this attack.
Libra was testing him.
Right before death, in a fragile human body incapable of even transforming—could he still dedicate himself to protection?
That was the question.
It was absurd.
What right did he have to inflict pain and put someone to the test?
“Ah...”
How was what this monster was doing now any different from what he himself had done to Red Vega?
Forcing his own standards on another, demanding they pass.
He had been no different.
Arrogantly, as if he had any right, he had inflicted pain and oppression. On a girl who needed warm comfort more than anyone, who was more desperate than anyone—he had driven her harder, faster. He had become a torrent, sweeping her away and cutting off her breath.
He had sworn to protect her. What disgrace was this?
‘All I ever became to her was pain.’
He had failed to protect her—mentally, physically.
He had let his guard down. A monster would never act with mercy or sentiment.
An ambush like this was perfectly obvious.
Contradiction’s earlier advice surfaced in his mind.
If you want to kill me, ambush me.
Now he understood viscerally. That advice was well-earned.
There was nothing better than an ambush for killing someone.
Now that he was on multiple monsters’ radar, he needed better precautions.
If only Red Vega had been transformed... but she had come out in her ordinary appearance to be considerate of him. And as a result, she too had taken substantial injuries.
All of it was his karma.
His consciousness gradually dimmed. His vision was hazy, like opening his eyes in fog or underwater.
At the edge of death, what Han Jae-jung examined—beyond the fear—was not his own safety or future, but the girl’s pain.
What settled on him at the threshold of death was guilt.
Alongside it, he felt a sliver of relief.
‘Still... thank goodness...’
There were countless regrets, but one hope was clear.
The fact that Libra’s objective today was him, not the girl. The fact that she now knew fear.
Those facts were Han Jae-jung’s hope right now.
People are multifaceted. So are the ways a single event is seen.
An event witnessed yesterday can be felt differently today.
A single event can be seen with many emotions in a single moment.
It was a feeling comparable to love-hate.
Resenting and regretting his own misdeeds, yet feeling a sliver of relief at the outcome those misdeeds had spiraled into.
It wasn’t a particularly unusual emotion.
If things went well, Red Vega might survive and return.
How deeply moving a fact was that.
Han Jae-jung was cornered anyway.
If he didn’t transform, Libra’s attacks would kill him. If he did, the aftereffects of forcing starlight into his weakened body would kill him.
What was done couldn’t be undone.
No matter how much he regretted it, the past wouldn’t change.
If he had sinned, he must repent.
If he had resolved, he must follow through.
If he had acted, he must bear the responsibility.
Because the only thing a penniless man like him had to offer was his life.
As his repentance, his follow-through, his responsibility—as always—he staked his life.
As the fullest apology he could make, he chose to stake his life.
A one-sided apology might simply be a burden to others.
But a brain starved of oxygen by failing circulation wasn’t capable of complex thoughts like consideration for others.
Right now, breathing alone consumed most of his energy.
‘Just a little... more...’
He tried to reach for the Belt, but his hand wouldn’t take strength. In the end, the belt-shaped device flew to him and landed in his hand. With so little strength in his fingers, it was more natural to say it had been placed there than that he had grasped it.
He had the sense that Libra had smiled.
‘But how the hell am I supposed to transform in this state? Ah, fuck, I’m so sleepy. Is it because it’s nighttime? Or wait, was it daytime? Whatever. Just... hurry...’
Old memories surfaced again. The days of dying surrounded by monsters, his stomach torn open—they returned with an oddly youthful, almost fond feeling.
Dreams like the past and reality layered and blurred together like thin sheets of cellophane, confusing his vision. As Han Jae-jung tried to rise, a different starlight flickered before him.
“Dress Up.”
It was Red Vega.
[Dress up your star!]
Brilliant ribbons wrapped around the girl’s body, and in an instant, the ribbons became flame. Fire scattered in all directions. Libra pulled back, and parts of the rubble were destroyed.
The girl cloaked in magic showed no hesitation. She shattered the remaining smaller debris that lay over Han Jae-jung.
“Quickly.”
Then she scooped him up with one arm. Her fractured left arm, even wrapped in starlight, was difficult to use.
But with her enhanced strength, a single arm was enough to lift and carry a grown man.
She rose into the air. Beneath her feet, she expelled flames compressed as tightly as possible. The girl shot upward like a missile.
“Ah, don’t worry. I will definitely take responsibility and...”
Red Vega’s words trailed off. Even she couldn’t muster conviction. High-altitude flight was extremely harsh on an ordinary person.
There was gravitational acceleration, the temperature was sharply lower up high, and wind resistance was brutal.
He could stop breathing before she reached a hospital.
The arm holding the man was damp. It was the blood. It still flowed ceaselessly from his stomach. She hadn’t pulled out the embedded steel pipe—removing it would only worsen the bleeding.
Red Vega was lost. What did she need to do to save him now?
Was saving him even possible?
’...What am I thinking?’
She clenched her teeth. The fact that she was contemplating the possibility of giving up horrified her.
‘Take him to the hospital, then return to the fight right away. That’s all.’
She met the eyes of the man in her arms and smiled with all her strength.
“I’ll take responsibility. I’ll save you.”
Han Jae-jung laughed emptily—she was admirable and pitiful all at once.
Most lives are probably like this, but why were there so many regrets at the end?
In a life not even very long, countless tiny moments like grains of sand had overflowed. Before he could gather them, the wind scattered them away, and the few traces left in his hand became regrets.
Above his field of vision, another starlight appeared.
‘How long has it been since we took off?’
Libra had caught up.
“Fall. How disgraceful for a hero to flee. Pathetic.”
That massive fist came at them.
Just as Han Jae-jung had done when the building collapsed, Red Vega wrapped her whole body around him. The fist struck true on the girl’s back.
“Kghak!”
Her flame-spouting feet churned the air as if swimming, and the buoyancy filling her body turned at once into the fierce wind of a fall.
Like placing a paperweight on a book, Libra used his fist to force her to the ground.
The ascent had been swift, but the fall was swifter. Like the rise and fall of a hero.
Just before hitting the ground, Red Vega regained her senses and attempted reverse-thrust and flight magic again, reducing the impact of the fall.
Boom!
Perhaps because she had ascended so vertically, she crash-landed near the collapsed building. The dust cloud scraped at her throat.
“I’ll... definitely...”
Red Vega murmured emptily. Her arm was already soaked in blood.
His wound had torn open.
It was because she had handled the patient roughly. Even the smile she had forced out moments ago was now impossible.
[S-rank monster currently appearing in Sector B-12!]
[S-rank monster in Sector D-1...]
Multiple familiar support requests sounded from her gem. They were continuous.
No one was coming here.
The girl’s expression hardened. Then it crumpled. She looked like she might cry. She held it back. A hero cannot show tears.
‘What am I doing?’
It didn’t feel real. The life of someone who had been laughing and chatting just moments ago was fading.
The suicide counseling liaison.
This work had started to stop people who tried to end their own lives. But now she couldn’t save him?
‘What am I even doing right now?’
The wind was cold.
Every breath brought the chill rushing in, jolting her faltering consciousness awake.
It was early winter.
Winter is special for children nearing adulthood.
The time to seriously decide what to do as an adult.
A choice that would define a life, forced on children who hadn’t yet lived a quarter of a quarter of that life.
Right now, other people her age were probably busy preparing for their futures. Staking their lives on studying, deciding where to burn their youth.
What youth was there for her to burn? What future? What was she supposed to be preparing for right now?
“I’ll... I’ll definitely...”
Someone’s words brushed through her mind.
—You are weak.
That was exactly right. She was weak. So weak that she couldn’t protect a single person in front of her, let alone countless others. No—she could barely protect herself.
She knew it from that one blow alone.
Truthfully, she had known it even before.
That monster was far too strong for her to defeat.
Even more so with an injured body.
If only it were slow—but it could move faster than her.
Was it even possible to shake off that monster and save him?
Reality was cruel. The word impossible shook her brain.
“I’ll definitely...”
...protect you. She couldn’t say those words. She couldn’t be certain. She needed to say them anyway, even if forced. She needed to be his hope.
She was the only person who could save him right now.
‘Because I’m too weak...?’
A single tear she had been holding back rolled down her cheek.
Something wiped it away. It was his hand—the man she was holding.
“Jae-jung...?”
Just as she had smiled for him moments ago, now he smiled and encouraged her.
“It’s okay to run.”
“...?!”
Red Vega swallowed her breath in shock. What was he saying? On the verge of death, what was he saying?
“I—I can’t...”
“Like I said earlier, you’re a more precious and special person than you think.”
Strangely, once he grew numb enough to the pain, his mouth moved. As if anesthetized, Han Jae-jung spoke while holding her gaze blankly.
“You’re a comet, but... you’re too precious to fall here and lose your light. Don’t embrace everything and crash here. Don’t be sad, don’t blame yourself.”
Red Vega knew she should stop him, but she couldn’t. His words carried an oddly potent force. They drew out her silence.
“Don’t cry. You haven’t done a single thing wrong.”
Or maybe her unconscious mind wanted to listen to his words. Maybe she wanted to find comfort in them.
A wandering girl still needed someone to lean on.
The magical girl, as a girl, listened closely to his words.
“You haven’t done anything wrong. None of your suffering is your fault. So don’t blame yourself.”
Han Jae-jung gradually lifted his body from where he lay cradled in her arms.
“I don’t care whether you’re a magical girl or not. No person has an obligation to save another. Moral acts and obligatory acts aren’t the same. So my pain right now isn’t your responsibility either. What you should blame isn’t yourself—it’s the cause of this pain... you should blame the monster.”
Was this terminal lucidity? With death so close, Han Jae-jung could muster more strength than before.
“I’ll say it as many times as it takes. You’ve done nothing wrong. So your life shouldn’t be spent on responsibility.”
Han Jae-jung embraced her. Carefully, preciously, as if holding a bouquet made of dandelions.
Red Vega didn’t feel discomfort.
She sensed not the slightest sexual intent from him.
It was purely, genuinely, encouragement for the girl.
“As a hero... you mustn’t take life lightly. As a magical girl who protects love and peace, you need to know how to love yourself and protect your own peace.”
Her pure white outfit was gradually stained with blood. The abstract concept of his life took on physical form and touched her.
“Even a hero can be afraid of frightening things. It’s natural to have fears.”
Red Vega asked.
“Even if that fear might make me abandon you...?”
“I won’t resent you.”
Han Jae-jung answered immediately.
“Didn’t I tell you before? To run when things get dangerous... This is exactly that moment.”
“...”
“I’m the one who said it—how could I resent you? For a better future, right now you’re just stepping back to get a running start.”
Han Jae-jung released his arms. Nothing was holding the girl anymore.
“You have so many better futures ahead of you. I don’t want to be your death.”
Meeting her eyes again, he spoke a single line.
“Fear is hope.”
“...!”
The words he had tried to tell her before.
Words delivered badly the first time.
He was delivering them again now.
“Fear is not your despair. When you push forward, you can’t see the whole picture—your vision narrows. Taking a step back to widen your sight is just so you can do even greater things ahead. Look at the whole of your dream.”
Han Jae-jung pushed her away.
Red Vega stared into his eyes for a long time.
She had mountains of things she wanted to say and ask, but now, she stayed silent.
“Go. Quickly.”
Han Jae-jung spoke his final words.
Her face hardening, Red Vega flew into the sky.
Han Jae-jung watched that sight with happiness.
“Have you made up your mind?”
“As you can see.”
The moment she vanished from sight, the previously hidden Libra came into view. Graciously, it seemed he had given them time to talk.
“Do you think I will simply leave that fleeing girl alone?”
“I’ll have to stop you from doing otherwise.”
Han Jae-jung laughed and pulled the steel beam out of his stomach. Crrrunch! A horrific sound of tearing flesh rang out.
Having drawn it from his stomach, he raised it high like a hero drawing a holy sword.
“Hahahahaha!!”
Then he drove it into the ground. Using the steel beam as a crutch, he rose to his feet.
“Good! Prove your justice to me—ara!”
“Your way of talking is something else.”
With a trembling right hand, he gripped the Belt.
“Fine, let’s end this here today!”
He pressed the Belt hard against his stomach, as if driving it in.
The belt strap wrapped around his blood-soaked waist and attached.
[Transformation is not recommended at this...]
Ignoring the Belt’s words, he shouted.
“Trans—“
He steadied his swaying feet and moved his body. At the edge of his blurred vision, he saw a red starlight.
Starlight blazing down like a meteor, fierce and distant.
And then that starlight slammed into the monster’s head. A magnificent flying kick.
Kwaang!
Libra flew backward, and the girl planted both feet firmly on the earth.
“...We agreed no resentment, right?”
“...You’re insane.”
Red Vega had reappeared.