Chapter 770: Adrift (2)
Only the tops of high-rise buildings broke through the calm surface of the water here and there. The flood had risen dozens of meters deep, swallowing everything from Seocho past Gangnam, only to stop dead at Tancheon in front of Jamsil Stadium, as though the city had been cleanly sliced apart. Standing atop a skyscraper near Samseong Station, Han Yuhyun looked out at the sheer edge of the water, towering like a cliff face.
There was no awe in his gaze. No surprise. Only cold calculation, weighing the enemy’s power.
The subordinates who had descended into this world had been swept away by the flood as well. Of course, none of them were weak enough to drown. They had all made it out alive, but not one of them dared step back in. It showed plainly in the way they held themselves back. If that water stopped being something that merely sat there and became something properly controlled, then no subordinate could possibly fight it—not without the power of a transcendent.
‘But an S-rank body has its limits.’
No being that belonged to this world could ever fully claim that water. Even now, all Park Yerim had done was drag it here and spread it out. Even if she grew used to it, at best she would only be able to move part of it.
Even that was dangerous enough.
More than anything, it was a power that directly opposed Han Yuhyun’s own attribute.
Han Yuhyun opened his status window.
[Awakened Han Yuhyun (SS)]
Before he died, he had still been S-rank. Now his rank had risen to SS. He had already been on the verge of SS-rank back then. It could only have been a matter of days. If he had received the stat increase from ranking up, along with the reward for becoming the first SS-rank in his world, would the outcome have changed?
That was probably why Diarma had moved so quickly to target Han Yujin.
But nothing changed.
Not for him as he was now.
Still, even his indifferent, sunken gaze wavered when it landed on the title sitting at the very top of the status window.
[A World of One – (L)
Your world consists of only one person.]
When Han Yujin awakened and came looking for him.
And when Han Yuhyun pushed him away.
That was when this title had appeared.
Unlike his other titles, this one had offered him a choice.
Would he accept it, or reject it?
[If another enters your world, or if the world, ‘Han Yujin,’ dies completely, this title will vanish.
The disappearance of the title is the disappearance of the world.
The disappearance of the world is your disappearance.]
It granted no extra stats. Only an effect that put his life at risk. It was a suspicious title, one whose purpose was impossible to guess.
And even so, Han Yuhyun had accepted it.
He had had no reason to refuse.
If anything, he had welcomed it.
Proof that Han Yujin still belonged to his world.
A connection to his brother, given to someone who technically belonged to Haeyeon, yet was no more rooted than a drifting weed with no home.
This title had comforted him.
It had promised he would not be left behind alone.
If Han Yujin were ever utterly erased, beyond even the possibility of revival, Han Yuhyun too would disappear. Even in the body of a dead man, something that could hardly still be called Han Yuhyun, his world remained.
After staring at the title for a moment, Han Yuhyun’s gaze lowered.
Lone Raider.
‘So I still can’t use it when Hyung is nearby.’
The effect was excellent, but the condition was too restrictive. There could be no intelligent beings nearby who held affection toward him, which made the title hard to use outside a dungeon. Han Yuhyun himself was indifferent to everyone but Han Yujin, yet there were many people who felt favorably toward him.
‘Though right now, Hyung’s the only one.’
The moment Han Yujin appeared, the title’s effect vanished.
Han Yuhyun looked out at the water again.
Park Yerim.
There wasn’t much information on her. Since she had been involved with Han Yujin before the regression, he had looked into her at a basic level, but once Han Yujin had distanced himself from her, Han Yuhyun had lost interest as well.
‘She’s favorable toward the current Han Yuhyun.’
She was still young, and she cared deeply for Han Yujin. Which meant that unlike the others, there was a high chance she would extend that goodwill to the Han Yuhyun from before the regression simply because he was following Han Yujin.
In other words, using Lone Raider would be difficult.
‘And I probably can’t count on Footsteps of Ash’s incineration effect either.’
Burning his surroundings to raise his stats would be difficult in an environment like this. And the Puppeteer was not an opponent he could ignore, either.
Han Yuhyun assessed the situation without emotion.
Alone, the odds of achieving his goal were low. If he had to give up Lone Raider and Footsteps of Ash, then it would be more efficient to draw in the other subordinates rather than act by himself.
As Han Yuhyun sorted through the information in his head, he turned.
Blue willow leaves fluttered over the surface of the water.
A man with the same face as his, only younger, landed on the rooftop. He kept his distance and looked at Han Yuhyun.
There was no conversation.
Only silence, and the exchange of a few steady looks.
In truth, no long explanation was needed.
Both of them were Han Yuhyun.
The twenty-five-year-old Han Yuhyun immediately understood the decision the other had made. To Han Yuhyun, Han Yujin came first. Now that it was clear Han Yuhyun was undeniably dead, there was no need to treat him as an enemy. If anything, they could now move together toward the same goal.
The twenty-one-year-old Han Yuhyun was certain the other understood him.
So he spoke without any preface.
“If you can keep moving in that state, Hyung won’t give up on you.”
Even if it was a death no one could come back from.
Han Yuhyun answered.
“The source of Han Yuhyun has vanished from me. It’s probably gone back to the Snowfall Tree. What remains in this body is nothing more than the trace left behind by the Han Yuhyun who stayed in it for twenty-five years. Like a scent that lingers after someone is gone.”
Ghosts, in the common sense of the word, were much the same. The root of a being had already departed, yet the traces left behind by long presence still moved. But footprints pressed into the ground, a scent soaked into fabric, the marks of a hand once laid somewhere—all of those disappeared in the end.
Han Yuhyun reached toward the black butterflies circling him. One of them settled on his pale fingertips.
“The Gardener is replenishing my magic power through these butterflies, but it won’t last long. A month at most. If I keep spending power in battle, maybe a week. I can’t maintain this any longer than that.”
Once even the remaining traces disappeared completely, all that would be left was a corpse that moved.
The current Han Yuhyun accepted that.
Han Yujin would have no choice but to accept it as well.
“Your exact objective.”
“Taking Sigma.”
“Wouldn’t this end the moment you hand the Sesung Guildmaster over to Crescent Moon or another transcendent?”
“Not Crescent Moon.”
It was the Han Yuhyun from before the regression who answered. A look demanding an explanation landed on him.
“Crescent Moon’s goal is the destruction of the existing Sources. She never explained the risks, but there’s no way to know what kind of variable that might create.”
Crescent Moon likely intended to erase only the Sources themselves, not the worlds that belonged to them. But no one could predict what would happen once a Source was gone.
“There’s a chance the worlds tied to those Sources could disappear too. The world Hyung lives in included.”
If the sun vanished, Earth would not remain untouched. According to the Gardener, something similar was highly likely to happen.
“And it’s dangerous if the full moon is completed here as well. There’s no way the birth of a new Source would leave the surrounding area untouched.”
The aftermath alone might wipe out everything nearby.
As he listened, Han Yuhyun’s face slowly hardened.
“And the Gardener is safe?”
“White Bird wants to protect the Sources, and White Bird chose to work with the Gardener. That’s proof enough that the Gardener has no intention of harming the existing Sources. The moment the Gardener secures the pseudo-Source, the Gardener will retreat into the garden and hide there. To study it somewhere Crescent Moon can’t reach.”
That was why White Bird had wanted the Gardener to step in only at the very last moment, when the full moon was on the verge of completion. If the full moon fell into the Gardener’s hands, then at the very least, the destruction of the existing Sources could be avoided.
“So it’s not the Sesung Guildmaster the Gardener needs, but Sigma.”
“The current pseudo-Source is apparently in a state that makes it difficult for other transcendents to touch. Even if someone captures him, it would only be temporary. Undoing the contract with Crescent Moon is nearly impossible.”
“And Sigma is the key.”
“Because Sigma is the same being, but one that broke away from Crescent Moon long ago. In other words, the clue needed to erase her contract.”
The only crack in the contract binding Seong Hyunjae was Sigma.
That was why the Gardener had tried to deceive Sigma and the Puppeteer, and take Sigma first. Capturing Seong Hyunjae alone would only end with Crescent Moon taking him back anyway.
Of course, even with Sigma as the key, it would be difficult to unravel a contract that had been layered over such a long time all at once. But if they reversed the current state—put Seong Hyunjae to sleep and woke Sigma instead—even Crescent Moon would be unable to locate her little moon. After that, the contract could be peeled away slowly.
Han Yuhyun looked at the face that showed more age than his own.
“Hyung won’t want to send the Sesung Guildmaster to the Gardener either.”
“As far as I knew, the only person he kept close was Chief Song Taewon.”
The Han Yuhyun from before the regression spoke as he searched his memory. The Seong Hyunjae he knew had kept everyone at arm’s length except Song Taewon. There had been a brief period where he spent time with Han Yujin, but after Song Taewon’s death, he left Korea behind—Han Yujin included—and disappeared overseas. Han Yuhyun had heard nothing about him after that. Since it was all outside Korea, there had been no reason for him to care. Even before then, the Sesung Guildmaster was someone Song Taewon could handle.
“So why would Hyung…”
“…Because Hyung has too much heart.”
Han Yuhyun’s gaze slid aside, just a little.
Should he have kept Han Yujin locked away right after they reconciled, where no one could meet him? Should he have hidden him so the Sesung Guildmaster would never take an interest?
But the time he spent with his brother had been too sweet.
Even if he went back to the past again, he felt like he would waver all over again, aching for even one sentence saying his brother would accept him.
Unlike the Han Yuhyun standing in front of him.
“But I can’t let Hyung be put in any more danger. If I want to find Sigma… do I have to kill the Sesung Guildmaster?”
“One of them has to die or fall into a coma for the other to wake. Sigma has to be awake before I can find the location.”
Sigma was already bound by the Gardener’s contract. The moment Sigma woke up, Han Yuhyun would be able to head straight there. Sigma was weaker than the Han Yuhyun from before the regression, and in front of the Gardener’s subordinate, Sigma would be rendered powerless by the contract. Capturing Sigma alive would not be difficult. The Puppeteer had used a guard to buy one escape, but getting away twice would be much harder.
The current Han Yuhyun turned his head and looked across the water, toward where Haeyeon Guild was.
“It won’t be easy.”
“I’m going to contact the other subordinates.”
What Han Yuhyun—and the Gardener—wanted was Sigma. That meant negotiating over ownership of the pseudo-Source would be relatively simple. Once Sigma fell into the Gardener’s hands, Seong Hyunjae would become the Puppeteer’s share. For the sake of that child, the Puppeteer would drag Seong Hyunjae to the Gardener somehow.
Sesung No. 1 sank beneath the water. Honestly, it had looked way too flimsy to carry three grown adults anyway.
“Farewell, Sesung No. 1.”
“Wasn’t it Dodam?”
“The moment it sank, it became Sesung.”
“It floated back up, though.”
“That’s a good sign. Looks like Sesung Guild is going to collapse completely and then come back to life. Congratulations.”
“Then I’ll be counting on you until the resurrection, Partner.”
“What are you even talking about? My partner is the emotional masterpiece born from a moving birthday meal. I don’t have that kind of relationship with someone like you who fried his emotions away.”
“Well, since it’s fallen into the water, all we need now are candles.”
“There’s a convenience store on the first floor of this building. Dive in. Get tiramisu and candles. I’m getting hungry, so bring cup ramen and triangle kimbap too. You’ll only need to dive, what, fifty meters or so.”
I wondered if Yuhyun was hungry too.
…Could the other one even eat?
Gardener, you bastard, did you at least take proper care of my brother?
“We don’t have enough materials.”
Chief Song said it with complete seriousness. We’d gone around collecting whatever we could from the floors that hadn’t flooded, but this was an office building. Most of what we found dropped straight down with a sad little plunk the moment it hit the water.
And swimming wasn’t a great option either. The flooded area was just too huge. The Puppeteer had checked from the air and said the water covered all of Seocho and Gangnam. Even on foot, it would take two hours to get out of the flooded zone. Sure, with S-rank swimming skills we’d be faster than walking, but we’d still burn out.
“Yerim～ Are you still asleep～”
I shouted as loud as I could, but no voice came back.
After pulling in this much water, maybe she was out cold from sheer exhaustion. Ms. Hyunah had probably been swept away too, and the phones weren’t connecting. At least modern phones were water-resistant enough that they still worked.
“Should we check for any big-box stores nearby? Not sure they’d be selling summer gear in the dead of winter, but maybe they’d have something like an inflatable boat.”
“But where exactly are you planning to go?”
The Puppeteer dropped down onto the rooftop as they asked.
“Not go somewhere so much as find Yerim and Ms. Hyunah. Yuhyun’s… probably going to come back to kill Mr. Seong Hyunjae. And, well, he’ll probably bring the other subordinates in too.”
If Yerim was around, Yuhyun would have trouble using his skills because of the nature of his attribute. Normally Yerim would freeze or vaporize the water, but this was the Mermaid Queen’s transcendent power. That was probably why he’d backed off for now.
“…And the subordinates are only going to get stronger as time passes.”
“Because the system’s skills will start applying to them. We should deal with the subordinates first.”
“Yeah. Mr. Seong Hyunjae, don’t go pulling out magic stones.”
Those golden eyes only smiled at me without answering. He could joke around with me, sure, but he made it blindingly obvious that I had no right to interfere in his business. Look at him—not even bothering to say he was rejecting my interference.
In the end, we gave up on building Sesung No. 2 and searched for stores that sold inflatable boats instead. There weren’t any real boats around here, though. There would’ve been plenty near the Han River.
[Honey! Are you okay?]
Just as the three of us climbed into a boat that was really too small for us, a system window popped up.
Rookie, good to see you.
Am I okay? Honestly, not really.
–TL Notes–
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