Episode 294 [I’ve been there (1)]
It was just as I expected.
The gap in the dimension I had hastily entered was filled with only pitch-black darkness.
There wasn’t a single star visible.
The newly created spatial movement coordinates and the dimensional gates of the destroyed world were not visible.
The dimensional door behind him also disappeared, covered in red lava.
Kyung-Hoon was left floating in the darkness without any light.
The situation was the same as a few years ago, but it wasn’t as daunting as it was then.
Kyung-hoon didn’t wander around the dark space looking for the door like he did back then.
He waited quietly.
Time passed. No, I didn’t even know that time had passed at all.
At some point, Kyung-hoon raised his head.
Something was approaching from afar.
It was something I had been waiting for.
The fast approaching object looked like a person.
‘He’ was approaching, dividing space and time.
‘Kyung-Hoon’ from a few years ago was falling into the past.
Whi profit!
‘Kyunghoon’, who was approaching quickly, passed by him.
He smiled as he saw ‘Kyunghoon’ passing by.
As expected, the image of my older self that I saw that day was not an illusion.
At that time, he passed by ‘old Kyung-hoon’ and flew into the past.
As expected, this space where no stars were visible was not a dimensional gap.
This space was a gap in time.
A link between the future and the past. It was a passage of time.
Kyung-hoon took his eyes off his now invisible figure and looked at the space he had passed through.
A line appeared there.
The path that guided him when he crossed the dimension.
The same line continued from the future to the past.
It was a line he had made in the past.
A line drawn without a goal. But the line clearly had a starting point.
He put his hand on the line. It was no different.
This line connected time instead of dimension, but the method of using it was no different.
He put himself on the line.
And I started to leave the past behind and move towards the future.
It was very slow, but he wasn’t worried.
Even when he flew to the past, it wasn’t through his own power.
“As expected.”
It
was not different from what I expected. This time, he felt a huge power surrounding him.
This time, he could definitely feel it. This power was a power that helped him.
And a power that was not that different from his power to move between dimensions. It was.
Of course, the magnitude of the force was completely different.
“Aaaah!”
A huge force began to push him.
The line quickly approached.
An incredible speed that transcended time and space.
Pain struck his body regardless of his physical condition.
Space was distorted and time became tangled.
At first glance, he saw the back of the child . It felt like he saw it, but he couldn’t see his surroundings properly due to the shock penetrating time.
Gyeong-hoon was launched into the future.
***
A week after the eruption of Mt. Baekdu.
“I’m sorry. I guess I’m the only survivor. The awakened ones “Everyone died in the line of duty after stopping the monsters.”
“We confirmed it with a satellite. Well, there is no need to see from a satellite that Mt. Baekdu erupted. Still, I am glad that at least one person survived.”
The President expressed his gratitude to Tae-seok, who returned in disrepair, saying,
“Unfortunately, I think it would be difficult to disclose this matter.”
“yes?”
“The awakened people were wiped out and Mt. Baekdu also erupted. We cannot make citizens anxious. sorry.”
“Then what about the honor of the dead? Are you going to bury them like this?”
In response to Tae-seok’s protest, the president took out the sword he had brought with him.
“Instead! I plan to give this sword to the awakened people of Taeseok. It is the Samjeonggeom. On behalf of the awakened people who passed away, please lead the awakened people of this country well.”
Tae-seok’s eyes were shining as he looked at the sword. He opened his mouth in a gloomy voice,
“…If the situation is that, there is nothing we can do. I understand. I will do my best.”
After a while, the two people smiled at each other and held hands.
The story about the disappearance of high-ranking awakened people was completely overshadowed by the sudden eruption of Mt. Baekdu. The eruption of Mt.
Baekdu made the food situation more difficult, but instead, the North It reduced the pressure of the monsters that were coming down.
Thanks to this, Korea was able to enjoy a boom for several years.
Guns for the awakened people were made and mana generators were installed everywhere.
Items were developed and the awakened people took their place as a new noble class. People forgot
all the warnings of the dimensional shifter.
*
Three years after the eruption of Mt. Baekdu.
Lava was still flowing from the top of Mt. Baekdu.
Monsters and humans were kneeling just below the peak with lava flowing on the side. .
A large black monster. It was a human wearing a robe with a dimensional overlord and a complex pattern. The
dimensional overlord was only able to cross the dimension again due to an injury he received in the dimensional gap three years ago. Instead,
he joined the forces of the Pharaoh in the destroyed dimension. We were able to attract more people.
The human, or rather the monster, currently kneeling next to the overlord was one of those forces.
“Greetings from the Pharaoh’s priest.”
[Laughs.]
An image of a human-shaped monster laughing at the words spread.
It was an image of lava flowing from the bottom of a volcano.
[After all, it’s just an imitation, but it’s a priest.]
The doppelganger appeared in the image that resonated throughout the volcano. I lowered my head.
“I’m sorry. If you want to blend in with humans, you must always maintain human habits…” [
It doesn’t really matter. You guys had no intention of taking them out of there, but it has come to this, so there is nothing we can do.]
The lava boils again and volcanic ash falls . It bloomed again.
Inside the volcano, the rock giant was spewing out its anger.
I wanted to raise my level by killing humans myself, but I couldn’t believe I had to recover from the lava like this.
But my whole body and head were shattered, and I even had to go crazy, so I couldn’t recover. It took a considerable amount of time.
Now that things were like this, there was no choice but to kill all the humans and absorb their mana through ley lines.
To do that, I didn’t like it, but I needed those mimicking races.
[Gather all the races and hide among the humans. South. [On the peninsula and across the sea, in the continental countries as well.]
The doppelganger bowed its head again.
The image scattered by the rock giant this time headed towards the dimensional monarch.
[Summon the monarchs. Scatter the monarchs where there are no humans. The time is right. When that happens, they will move the monarchs and erase the humans.]
Instead of answering, the black monster created a black hole under the feet.
The monster disappeared into the hole, and the image that hovered over the entire volcano also became quiet.
The doppelganger stood up.
He headed south. He started walking towards him.
Various types of monsters followed behind him.
From jelly-like monsters to monsters that looked like monkeys.
The monsters gradually changed their shapes as they followed the doppelganger. Their
bodies resembled the doppelganger’s, turning into humans.
*
No one noticed that the doppelgängers were seeping into humans.
The monsters’ attacks slowed down and the waves stopped. People were completely intoxicated by the brief peace.
But the peace did not last long.
Time passed and that day came.
A huge image that humans could not hear spread from Mt. Baekdu.
[Kill the humans!]
Numerous monsters that obeyed the image began to advance.
Towards Korea. Towards the United States. And towards the last surviving countries.
Monsters crossed the truce line. It came rushing in.
The soldiers and awakened people could not stop the wave.
Communication was cut off and terrorist attacks occurred everywhere. This was done by a doppelganger.
On top of the fact that even monsters were difficult to stop, the internal rebellion was added, so the people could not endure.
They abandoned Gangbuk, tore down the Han River bridge, abandoned Seoul, and continued to retreat.
Through Daejeon, through Daegu, to Busan.
And Korea collapsed.
The same was true in other countries. In the last wave, all countries except the United States perished.
The United States, the world’s most powerful country, was able to hold out for a while longer in each city, but it did not last long.
That’s how the world was destroyed.
All but one girl left.
***
Future. Another dimension.
The city there was also full of collapsed buildings. Smoke rose from everywhere.
Korean signs were broken and lying on the floor. New Mana Stone cars were also left smashed and abandoned on the streets.
There were many things scattered on the streets other than cars.
Spider robots were horribly broken and crashed drones were scattered everywhere.
The helicopter whose rotor flew off was stuck in the window of a building and was still emitting smoke, and smashed tanks were blocking the road.
And there was a huge, half-broken robot hanging over an abandoned high-rise building.
It was a city in ruins.
Monsters resembling wolves were moving through the streets filled with broken rubble.
The monsters were looking for humans, sticking their noses into the destroyed tank and scattering the drone wreckage around.
The monsters had been sniffing for a while and at some point looked at the rooftop of the southern building.
Something caught in my sharp senses.
At that moment,
pop!
The head of the monster standing in the lead flew away.
puck! puck!
The other monsters’ heads exploded one after another.
bang! Bang bang!
Then a gunshot was heard.
When all the monsters were defeated, a girl wearing a black body armor stood up from the rooftop of the building the monsters were looking at.
Crash.
she said, reloading her sniper rifle.
“Mangwolsa Point. Eliminate two elite level monsters.”
An answer came through the headset.
[Thank you for your hard work. Now we have to step back. The blowing up of the Han River Bridge is just around the corner.]
“Is the evacuation from Seoul over?”
[….It’s not over yet. There are more refugees than expected, so it will likely take more time.]
Isabel sighed at Eve’s words.
“I guess I’ll have to hold on a little longer.”
Isabel looked around.
Awakened people and soldiers holding blood-soaked weapons were seen on the roof of the broken building and inside the windows.
North Korean people, South Korean people, and even EV awakeners.
They were the last people who remained here in Uijeongbu.
It’s already been a week since the Battle of Mt. Baekdu ended.
The independent state of Manchuria and North Korea have become the land of monsters.
The Chinese countries, which had been in shambles due to civil war, had now stopped fighting each other and were engaged in a fierce battle with monsters.
Russia was also in a difficult situation. A large part of Siberia had fallen into the hands of monsters, and Russia was doing everything in its power to protect Moscow.
And in Korea, monsters were now right in front of Seoul.
Of course, the combined forces of South and North Korea, including the South Korean military and EV, were very strong.
Unlike other countries, the combined forces of North and South Korea were able to effectively block the monsters pouring down from Mt. Baekdu, but unfortunately, it was not just ordinary monsters that were moving south on the Korean Peninsula.
A huge monster resembling a Western dragon was coming down together.
The moment the monsters’ advance was blocked, a monster called ‘Dragon’ attacked the humans as a joke.
Each time, the Allied forces collapsed and were pushed back, and now they have created a defensive position like this in Uijeongbu City.
Many people died and many refugees fled south.
The reason why the evacuation of Seoul has not yet ended is because of the large number of refugees who came down from North Korea.
Fortunately, the monsters’ first advance toward Seoul was able to be stopped in Uijeongbu City.
“Now that we’ve blocked the wave, it’s time for him to come, right?”
Couuuuuung.
At Isabelle’s words, the robot that was thought to be broken began to move.
Pushuuuk.
The robot stood up, exhaling full of steam.
The joints screamed and the steel plates fell apart, but the robot was eventually able to stand upright.
[The guy is coming.]
At Shane’s words, Isabel looked at the northern sky.
fluttering.
A ‘dragon’ was flying through the clouds, flapping its huge wings.
***
The distorted space was gradually returning to its original shape.
His fluttering senses returned to normal, and the power that had surrounded him began to leave him.
When the force left, Kyung-hoon was able to look around.
A dark universe surrounded him.
The universe was full of stars.
They were all the stars he knew. They were the dimension doors he knew.
It’s finally back.
But there was no time to rejoice.
I hope it’s not too late.
He threw himself with all his might towards the brightly shining star.
