Chapter 761: Meteor Shower (2)
The smell of something burning drifted in from somewhere, as if a fire had broken out nearby. The sky kept flashing without pause. Blue, red, yellow—light tangled with the clouds and scattered in a dizzying blur. Boom—one falling star slammed into another. Far away, something growled.
The sky, battered by every kind of force, and the clouds at last began to spill rain. Tap. Tap tap. At the first drops, Han Yuhyun wrapped a faint layer of heat around them. Even a freezing winter downpour would have felt no different from dew brushing past his skin, but not for the brother in his arms. If his body got wet and cold, he could catch a cold easily. If his temperature kept dropping, it could become life-threatening.
Sss—
The raindrops that touched the heat vanished with a faint hiss. The asphalt darkened as it soaked through. Han Yuhyun ran wherever his feet took him. Peace kept signaling that he should ride him, but Yuhyun ignored it.
As the moisture thickened, so did the particular smell of a rain-soaked city. Blurred figures swayed through it like ghosts of the people in this dream—people who could no longer affect anything, nor be affected by it. Rounded forms without race, age, or gender. To Han Yuhyun, people had always looked like this. That was why he would never truly understand Han Yujin’s feelings.
Even the fact that he cherished Han Yujin and wanted to protect him was not something that had begun with him. It was behavior he had learned from Han Yujin. Han Yujin had told him he did not need to hold himself back. He had said he would accept him as he was. But Han Yuhyun’s true nature lay far beyond anything Han Yujin imagined. The wick of fire even Han Yuhyun himself had long since forgotten.
“…This is.”
At some point, the road had narrowed. Old buildings clustered together in the damp. Han Yuhyun blinked. A familiar alley. Familiar scenery. Without meaning to, he had come here. After leaving their current home, the Breeding Facility, his feet had found home once again.
Han Yuhyun stepped into the darkened entrance of the building. Peace followed after turning intangible. Mailboxes came into view, some with letters still stuck in them. He stared at one of them for a moment, then moved on.
Han Yujin had sold this place and left. Han Yuhyun had bought their old home. Since there had not been much to pack, most of the large furniture had remained where it was. He had preserved it as it was. At first, he came by now and then, but over time he stopped. A house without Han Yujin in it had never really been his home.
Beep beep beep— the door lock code was still the same. When he opened the door and stepped inside, a spotless living room greeted him. He had not come himself, but he had left it in someone’s care and given them a keycard, so it had been maintained. He laid Han Yujin down on the old sofa. Raindrops tapped softly against the window. The TV was gone, and only a faded stand remained. The handle of a drawer they used often still showed the grime of old hands.
– Kngh.
After looking around, Peace curled up under the sofa. Han Yuhyun stared blankly at the house, then at Han Yujin. This was the place where “Han Yuhyun” had been born. Here, a different “Han Yuhyun” had been made by Han Yujin.
His dark gaze dropped to his own hand. The origin of fire coiled softly around the back of it. The red lizard sprang over to Han Yujin, then looked up at Han Yuhyun with worried eyes.
– Yuhyun, come sit here. Stay with me, okay? I want to be with you too.
Together with Han Yujin. Han Yuhyun’s upper body tilted slightly toward him.
That was when it happened.
“…”
He felt something familiar. There was still one barrier between them, but it was coming closer. A being like himself. It would set foot in this world soon.
And what his brother was searching for was a corpse.
Kugugung— a huge chunk of a building collapsed with a deafening roar. Dust billowed into the rain, then quickly grew wet and settled. A drop of water slid from the end of faded hair. Water sprayed every time the chain moved. The shape crushed beneath the heel of a dress shoe melted away as if dissolving. Another magic stone was brought to Seong Hyunjae’s lips.
“As I thought, dependents aren’t enough.”
His power had weakened from forcing his way into another world, but the quality of the magic stones remained the same. Even so, compared to the time that filled Seong Hyunjae’s body, they were no more than grains of sand.
“Are you all right?”
Song Taewon, who had arrived a step late in pursuit, surveyed the wrecked surroundings and spoke with a hardened expression.
“This much doesn’t even shake me. It’d probably take a Transcendent before I’d feel anything.”
What Seong Hyunjae wanted was outside pressure, something that could rattle the power amassed within him. What had built up inside him was not simple force like that stored in magic stones, but time steeped in experience. The years he had spent seeing, hearing, and feeling all manner of beings across all manner of worlds had accumulated as power.
It was, quite literally, the accumulation of worlds.
That was why other people’s magic stones stood apart as foreign lumps of power, unable to mix directly into what had already built up in him. If swallowing magic stones alone could create a pseudo-origin, Crescent Moon would have sacrificed countless Transcendents long ago.
So his aim was to grow that unmixed mass of power, use it to shake loose what had accumulated, and digest it little by little. He was trying to shorten a process that should have taken ages by drawing in outside power instead. Naturally, that made it far more dangerous. If things went wrong, the magic stones could blend in all at once and fill him in a single stroke, turning him into a full moon.
“More importantly, are you all right, Mr. Song?”
His wet gaze turned to the man who was just as soaked.
“Even if the only way to save Han Yujin is for me to become an origin.”
“I have no right to tell him to keep living, even like that.”
Song Taewon answered evenly.
“So until Han Yujin says otherwise, I’ll help you.”
“You’re taking Han Yujin’s side? That stings a little.”
“The current Hunter Seong Hyunjae wants to live, but at the same time, he wants to die.”
“Director Song Taewon sides with those trying to live on, I see. So do I.”
The sky shook. Paths of light fell with the rain. Boom! The road directly ahead caved in, and a shapeless mass writhed, changing into the form of a beast. A giant wolf-like thing lunged straight at Seong Hyunjae.
– I am—
“Lime Jelly.”
– What?
The chain lashed out at the wolf before it could say its name. One side of the golden ring deformed, sharpening into a blade. One of the wolf’s forelegs came off with a clean slice.
“…”
“Hunter Seong Hyunjae!”
At the same instant, blood burst from Seong Hyunjae’s arm on the same side. He caught his falling arm. Song Taewon immediately pulled out a top-grade potion from his inventory and threw it. The tip of the chain shattered the potion, scattering the contents precisely over the severed limb. As Seong Hyunjae healed his arm, the shapeless dependent watched him like it was mocking him. The wolf’s foreleg regenerated in an instant, and the severed part writhed and was absorbed back into the main body.
– Any attack inflicted on me is returned exactly as it was.
“A type of curse, then. I miss Han Yujin. I really should have brought him.”
– As long as you can’t outpace my recovery.
Crackle! Electricity surged toward the wolf in waves. It ripped through the soft body in an instant—and at the same time, Seong Hyunjae’s own body staggered. He had powerful resistance to electricity, but that did not prevent the damage from being reflected back.
– It’s useless.
The wolf bared its teeth. Song Taewon moved to step in, but Seong Hyunjae raised a hand to stop him.
Then—
Crunch!
The tip of the chain pierced one spot in the shapeless mass. Its chest.
– Wh, at.
It had hidden its core where a living creature’s heart should have been. Seong Hyunjae had used the electric current to find the core, then destroyed it without hesitation. At the same time, blood surged up and spilled from his own mouth.
“…Doesn’t feel especially pleasant.”
“Just now, don’t tell me—”
“It wasn’t fully dead. You could call it a survival instinct. I simply borrowed about one life’s worth of power.”
The wolf melted away, leaving behind a magic stone. The chain wrapped around it and lifted it into the air. Through the rain came the repeated booms and crashes of meteors falling. A clanking metal giant walked out through the shell of a convenience store. On the other side, a bee the size of a forearm beat its wings too fast to see.
Then, over the roar of an engine—
“Are you both okay?!”
Moon Hyunah shouted. She was riding a high-performance hypercar. The entire front windshield and roof of the driver’s side had been ripped away, and a giant spear was braced in front of it. A charge at a speed no living creature could reach slammed into the metal giant before it had any chance to dodge.
Kwaaang—
With a sickening crunch, the tip of the spear crumpled as if it had gone through an industrial press. The car shattered, and Moon Hyunah and the metal giant were flung in opposite directions. After rolling once across the ground and landing, Moon Hyunah immediately pulled out a potion and poured it over her arm. The metal giant, its chest badly warped inward, staggered to its feet and then collapsed again.
“That thing’s insanely tough!”
Rolling her once-broken arm in a loose circle, Moon Hyunah got back up. Meanwhile, the bee buzzed out a sound no one could understand. Fragments of ruined buildings around it rose into the air, then changed shape into bees just like the original. In an instant, hundreds of bees had formed and came swarming toward Seong Hyunjae all at once.
“I don’t remember asking for a refill.”
The Seeker’s Chain rose into the air. The metal rings split apart, but there still weren’t enough of them to match the number of bees. The swarm bristled viciously. Venomous spikes erupted not only from their tails, but from their entire bodies. Song Taewon stepped in front of Seong Hyunjae and slammed the ground with a kick weighted to tremendous mass. The rippling road he struck once more, and asphalt and dirt surged upward in front of the swarm like a wave.
Kagagagaga—
The bees spun. The wall that had appeared out of nowhere was shredded in an instant. From one side came the thunderous sound of Moon Hyunah crashing against the metal giant.
“Do you think electricity will work?”
“Hard to say. But rather than that—”
The golden links of the chain rang out—jjjeong—and then shattered into pieces. More than hundreds, thousands of fragments surrounded the swarm, and current ran through them all.
“What the hell, Seong Hyunjae’s chain could do that too?”
“Its essence is light. In my usual state, I can’t control it well enough to use it.”
Though it had taken the form of a chain, in truth it was formless light. The swarm exploded like popcorn kernels in a microwave. Only the original body escaped the prison of current with a furious beat of its wings, but—
Shhk!
It was pierced by a flying ice spear and crashed to the ground. Rainwater gathered in one place as if drawn by a magnet. The metal giant’s two legs froze solid in front of Moon Hyunah. Boom! Dozens of ice spears rained down toward a newly fallen meteor.
“Yerim? What about Mister?!”
“Han Yuhyun’s with him! And Mister wanted to help Sesung Mister!”
Han Yujin’s wish. Han Yujin’s safety. Park Yerim could not bring herself to choose one over the other. She could not tell which choice was truly for Han Yujin’s sake. The only thing she knew for certain was that she wanted Han Yujin to be safe. That was why, instead of selfishly stopping Han Yuhyun, she had indulged her selfishness in another way and come here instead.
“I’m here in Mister’s place! Well, I was planning to help Sesung Mister anyway!”
“To think the young lady cares about me that much.”
“Don’t act like it’s all because of you. If it weren’t for Mister, I wouldn’t care about the Sesung Guild Leader either. Just like Sesung Mister wouldn’t have.”
She had heard countless people say that this was simply what Seong Hyunjae was like, but now and then the coldness in him had still left a sting. But looked at another way, Park Yerim would never have grown this attached to the Seong Hyunjae untouched by Han Yujin either.
“Yerim, be careful!”
Kwaang! Moon Hyunah shouted as she brought a giant hammer down on the rigid head of the metal giant.
“Don’t worry! It’s raining, and worst case, I can just make a run for the Han River! It’s huge!”
As if in answer, a human-shaped figure emerged, shaking off the ice spears embedded in it, black smoke coiling around its face and upper body. A message window flashed up in front of Park Yerim and Moon Hyunah.
[Be careful! The stronger the dependent is, the harder it is to open the way, so it takes longer!]
In other words, the enemies would only get stronger from here on out.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
The stars kept falling.
There were still countless stars left in the sky.
“Hyung! This is unreal!”
A wildly excited voice rang out. I forced my eyes open.
…And immediately wanted to close them again.
“I’m serious, it’s incredible!”
Park Hayul stood there with his shirt off, flexing his muscles. His head was the same size as before, but his shoulders had more than doubled in width. What the hell was wrong with this guy.
“You… this…”
“This is my world! So I’m affected by the power of the dreaming people too!”
My fuzzy head lit up all at once, like someone had flipped a switch. I jolted upright. This place was—right, the dream. Which meant I—
‘…Yuhyun.’
He had knocked me out. So I was still unconscious.
“But these insanely powerful beings keep forcing their way in, right? I got even stronger!”
Park Hayul let out a giddy laugh, then drooped. His enlarged upper body deflated back to normal too.
“I still can’t wake up, though, since my contract scales with my strength. You’re really good at contracts, hyung. Did you know this would happen?”
“…I didn’t expect you’d even be affected by the Transcendents. So you really did get stronger?”
“Yep! There’s not much I can do while I’m asleep, though!”
Then what was the point? Part of me wanted to wake Park Hayul up again, but that would only amount to strengthening Crescent Moon’s power. Better for him to stay asleep, honestly.
“Still, it’s gotten easier for me to meet you like this. Couldn’t you come by more often? Even after you go back to the real world, if you think of me before you fall asleep, we can meet.”
“Uh, sure, I guess. Can you interfere with other people like this too?”
“I don’t know. You contracted with me. And I swore loyalty to you!”
…When exactly had you done that? Park Hayul started fussing, asking if I needed anything. A chair and a tea table appeared. I sat down for now. I was worried about Yuhyun.
“As for what I need… I don’t know.”
I couldn’t have both of the things I wanted. I had struggled to hold onto everything somehow, but it felt like the moment had finally come when I had to choose.
“I don’t want to make my kids worry. I want to stay by my brother’s side for a long time. But I don’t want to back down like this either. It feels like everything I’ve endured up to now will collapse if I do.”
This wasn’t simply a question of whether or not to help Seong Hyunjae. This was my life. I had decided to take Yuhyun’s hand, and I had kept clinging stubbornly to that choice. I had held on even when I thought my brother had abandoned me. And after returning, after getting to know my twenty-five-year-old brother, honestly—
“There were so many things I thought were impossible.”
It felt hopeless. Even while I kept saying I’d never give up on getting my brother back, somewhere in the back of my mind that impossible truth had always been there. Still, I endured.
“An F-rank trying to catch up to an S-rank was insane to begin with.”
I didn’t regret it. But little by little, I had started to wonder if maybe I was supposed to break at least once. I was getting tired.
“…Though maybe I shouldn’t be saying that with you sitting here.”
“Want to meet someone else, then?”
“Huh? Who?”
“Now that I’m stronger, I’ve been able to wander around all over this dream, and I saw someone exactly like you. I also saw someone exactly like your brother!”
“…What? Me and Yuhyun?”
“Want me to call them over?”
I nodded before I could even think. Park Hayul flung both arms through empty air.
After a while, familiar faces appeared.
–TL Notes–
Tired of seeing Ads? Then please support me on Patreon! Any tier of subscription will make it so you won’t get any ads!
If you want to support me or give me feedback, you can do it at patreon.com/InsanityTheGame
Join my Discord! https://discord.gg/BWaP3AHHpt