918

 [Chapter 227]

[Relife (4)]

I had a bad dream.

In the dream, I was hiding in a closet, trembling.

The memory of my mother being eaten by a monster through the closet gap was vivid.

"Ga-yeon, what's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"

"Maybe you're tired from playing too much today. Or are you feeling sick somewhere..."

"..."

I hoped that dream would end as just a dream.

But Son Ga-yeon realized.

So this is a dream.

A world reflecting her lingering attachment.

If monsters hadn't appeared that day, she could have enjoyed a happy dinner with her parents.

And she would have lived a different life, receiving her parents' love.

"Ga-yeon? Are you really okay?"

"This won't do. Let's go to the hospital with Dad." "..."

I hate this, so much.

It's a dream I don't want to wake up from.

I want to see my parents a little longer.

I want to live together with Mom and Dad.

Son Ga-yeon wished.

Nevertheless─

"─Mom, Dad."

""..."

She had to wake up from the dream.

Son Ga-yeon in her young appearance opened her mouth and spoke to her parents.

"Thank you for protecting me that day."

""..."" "Thanks to Mom and Dad, I was able to meet many good people. So..."

Son Ga-yeon was surprised that her voice came out so clearly.

Was it because she had fallen into the world of the past?

No, that's not it.

She had overcome that day.

So her words began to carry more strength.

"So I can't stay here. I have to go now. There are people waiting for me."

There was a time when she wanted to die.

But she who was afraid of dying engraved a reason to live in her heart.

Monsters.

Saying she would kill all of them in the world, that she would die fighting them.

Son Ga-yeon had lived in the world relying on such feelings.

But not anymore.

"They are really really precious people, so much that I want to live happily together with them."

She gained precious people.

There was On Tae-hee, Seon Mi-ye, Yoo Su-jin, and Noh Eun-ha.

And many other people besides them.

Now she was determined to live a joyful life with them.

So─

"─I'm really sorry."

She couldn't remain trapped in the past.

Son Ga-yeon bowed her head deeply to the people who gave birth to her and loved her.

"Is that so? That's really great."

"Then we can be at ease."

"..."

Her parents didn't blame her.

Rather, they respected her will and cheered her on.

Son Ga-yeon raised her head.

Her parents were smiling brightly.

Seeing their smiles, Son Ga-yeon smiled naturally too.

"We wanted to see you grow up." "We wanted to see you playing happily with friends."

"When you got someone you liked, we wanted to listen to you talk about it."

"When it was time for you to think about your career, we wanted to worry together with you."

"We wanted to see what kind of friends you'd meet, what kind of man you'd introduce to Mom."

"When you experienced failure and felt frustrated, we wanted to tell you it's okay to fail."

"Ah, when you became an adult, we wanted to drink alcohol together as a family."

"Dad wanted to teach you then."

"But we couldn't do that... Mom and Dad are really sorry."

Words of love that came from her parents' mouths.

Son Ga-yeon burst into tears at the immeasurable weight of love.

Then her parents stood up from their seats and hugged her tightly.

"But Mom thinks it's fortunate. Instead of us who couldn't do enough for you, now you have many people by your side." "That's right, one worry has been lifted."

"I too..."

""..."

"I too... wanted to do many things with Mom and Dad."

Son Ga-yeon hugged her parents.

Before she knew it, she was hugging her parents in the appearance of .

She who had finished her growth period was taller than her mother and shorter than her father.

The three embraced like that, whispering words mixed with love and happiness.

Eventually─

"─I'll be going now."

Son Ga-yeon said, sniffling.

She couldn't stay here any longer.

She broke free from her parents' embrace.

"Do you know the way out?" "...I think I do."

Son Ga-yeon softly answered her mother's question.

A world created from her memories.

If so, she thought she knew where the way out of this world would be.

So she said goodbye to her parents and hurriedly climbed the stairs to the second floor.

She arrived at her childhood room.

"This must be it."

Son Ga-yeon opened the door and entered.

A room with no lights on.

Son Ga-yeon headed to one place without paying attention to the objects in the room.

It was the closet that had become her trauma.

Then she opened the tightly closed closet door.

Kyaaaaargh!!

A monster jumped out from inside the closet.

It was the one that killed her parents.

It pounced on her to prevent her from waking up from the dream.

"Don't interfere."

She wasn't scared at all.

She who stepped back a few steps avoiding the attack stared at its eyes.

And she took the stance of holding a rifle and aimed at it.

There was no rifle in her hand.

But that's okay.

She wasn't afraid.

If this world is her world─

─Fairy Ring

Machina Sniper

It will come true as she wishes.

She who summoned the Machina Sniper's fairy ring thrust the rifle into the monster's maw.

There's no mercy.

She kills it combining past grudges too.

Gift

Rail Gun

Light tears the monster apart from inside and leaks out.

Not enough with that, the light that penetrated the monster pierces through the inside of the closet.

Light bursts and the dream breaks.

☆

Swoosh.

Incheon, Grandmother's house.

Rain falls outside the window.

Jin Pa-rang had a pleasant conversation with Grandmother while looking outside the window.

"Ah..."

Then he felt a sense of discomfort.

A world that seemed to be created based on memories from elementary school days.

This was inside a dream.

The memory of when he was picked up by Grandmother as a child and felt happiness for the first time.

Jin Pa-rang who had become younger to that age soon stopped wagging his tail.

He put down the watermelon he was eating too.

"Are you going? Don't you want to stay longer?"

"..."

"If you want, Pa-rang, you can stay here as long as you like."

Words he heard back then too, so kind they made him shed a few tears.

Grandmother asked with a benevolent face.

Jin Pa-rang didn't answer.

He turned to Grandmother.

"Honestly, I want to stay longer."

"But?"

"But now the place where I should be isn't here. I have many things I need to do too."

"Is that so?"

Jin Pa-rang didn't lie.

So Grandmother didn't hold him back, but made him speak his honest feelings.

It seemed to help him gain conviction by doing so.

"Yes, now is different from back then. I have to take care of kids who are hopeless without me."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, especially that Noh Eun-ha guy."

Jin Pa-rang snickered.

He jumped up from his seat.

Before he knew it, he had regained his original appearance.

Now he looked down at Grandmother whom he had to look up at when very young.

He felt emotional.

"I made a promise with Grandmother too. You asked me to take care of Eun-ha, right?"

"Yes, that's right." "He's hopeless without me. So I have to go help him."

"Is that so."

"Yes, so I'm leaving now."

How to wake up from the dream.

Jin Pa-rang intuitively realized.

He gently closed his hand.

It was like the stance of holding a claw.

He slashed the air just like that.

Then the claw revealed itself and its sharp blade tore through space.

A subspace appeared.

"Are you going now?"

"Yes! I have to go. It was really good to see Grandmother after a long time."

"I feel the same."

He received many things from Grandmother.

So much that there would be no end to repaying.

He who lived in the world alone could never forget that fact.

He wanted to repay the kindness, but in the end he was leaving without even repaying...

Rubbing his stinging nose bridge.

He smiled showing his canine teeth.

"I'm going."

"Take care. Be careful."

Grandmother waves her hand.

Jin Pa-rang also waved to Grandmother and jumped into the subspace.

☆

A world based on his regrets.

Eun-ha gave a bitter smile.

"I'm happy, really."

"..."

Eun-ha told Lee Yu-jeong.

How could he not be happy?

It's the life he wished for before regression.

Before regression, had unconsciously longed for such a life.

But that was─

─'s longing.

It was never the happiness that his regressed self wished for.

It was lacking.

Too lacking.

Now he couldn't be satisfied with 's happiness.

Noh Eun-ae needed to be there.

His wives needed to be there.

His children needed to be there.

Above all, his comrades needed to be there.

"I'm sorry. But I want to become happier than now."

Eun-ha apologized to Lee Yu-jeong.

For a moment her eyes wavered.

Then she smiled gently.

"Yeah... I knew you'd say that."

A face that seemed to say it can't be helped.

She knew too.

no longer exists.

29 years since regression.

29 years of life had completely changed him into a new being.

All of it─

"─It's thanks to you. Thank you so much."

"..."

"If it weren't for you, Yu-jeong... I wouldn't have been able to live a second life."

Eun-ha stood up from his seat.

He turns around and embraces her.

Lee Yu-jeong quietly gave in to his body.

"I only received things I can't repay. To the point I don't know how to thank you properly." "If you know, don't forget, idiot."

He presses his face against her face.

Lee Yu-jeong tightly grasps Eun-ha's hand.

The two spent time like that.

Meanwhile, the people sitting at the dining table disappeared becoming mana particles.

The world had turned pure white.

In that world, there was only Lee Yu-jeong sitting in a chair and Eun-ha embracing her from behind.

"Go quickly now."

"Yeah, I should."

"If you're grateful to me, treat the current me better."

"I will, definitely." "I'm really glad I could be with you in this life too."

"Me too. Thank you so much for meeting me twice."

A world based on his regrets.

But Eun-ha didn't think the Lee Yu-jeong he was embracing was just a part of his memories.

No, the one before his eyes must really be Lee Yu-jeong.

You are the Yu-jeong I know.

Eun-ha was certain.

She is the lingering thoughts of Lee Yu-jeong before regression who melted into the world's will as she died.

Something that could be called memories of the soul.

He whispered in her ear.

"I'm glad I could meet you again."

"...Me too."

Lee Yu-jeong sobs.

Eun-ha kissed her cheek and pressed his lips against hers.

"I'm going now."

"Do well this time. There's no one to make you regress if you fail now."

"I must definitely defeat it this time."

Eun-ha loosened his arms embracing her.

He hugged her once more after she stood up, then separated.

She wipes her tears.

He advanced into the pure white world, leaving behind her waving hand.

"Come out now."

There were no swords in his hands.

But the swords were surely by his side.

Eun-ha recalled two swords.

Then the swords revealed themselves in his hand that tapped his waist.

The Dawn Sword and Twilight Sword.

Eun-ha holding two swords in his hands tore through space with all his might.

A space to exit to reality was created.

Eun-ha set foot in that space.

He who grasped the gap in space with his hand turned around.

Lee Yu-jeong was standing there.

"Yu-jeong."

Eun-ha called Lee Yu-jeong.

Then with an embarrassed face, he spoke words he had never been able to say until now.

"I love you."

"..."

Lee Yu-jeong flinches.

Then her face relaxes.

She burst into laughter.

"You idiot, you should have said that before regression. Coward, dummy."

"You're right. I was wrong."

"But since you said it now at least, I'll forgive you. Express yourself honestly like that from now on too."

Lee Yu-jeong giggles as she approaches.

She stands on tiptoes and presses her lips against his.

"Take care."

"Yeah."

"Spill all your secrets now too."

"..."

"No matter what you say now, no one will be afraid of you anymore. So don't be afraid."

Lee Yu-jeong pushes his back.

Eun-ha completely set foot into the broken space.

He looked at her beyond the space and showed the brightest smile he could.

"Yeah, I will."

Lee Yu-jeong was right.

There's no reason to hide anymore.

There's no need to be afraid.

Everyone will accept him.

Eun-ha shook off the last worry remaining in a corner of his heart.

"I love you too."

Lee Yu-jeong confesses from behind his back.

Eun-ha raised his hand holding the Dawn Sword to respond to her words.

He moves forward.

Now he goes to kill the monster holed up in this abyss.

☆

A world of white.

Lee Yu-jeong was standing alone in the world.

Then someone appeared.

She could tell who the person approaching her was.

"Thank you, unnie."

"Hm? For what?" "For giving me time to be alone with Eun-ha."

"Oh my, I've been found out. So did you have a good time?"

"Yes, I wish I could have stayed longer though."

Lee Yu-jeong let out a faint smile.

She seemed to look relieved.

Noh Eun-ah standing next to her didn't hesitate to think so.

Then she sighed.

"By the way, Eun-ha really... I was so shocked when he said he would conquer the black dungeon."

Noh Eun-ah shook her head.

She was so startled just recalling that time.

She who had melted into the world's will and occasionally regained consciousness wanted to desperately stop Eun-ha.

But she who had become the world's will and was drifting couldn't voice out.

Even if she had spoken in the first place─

"─You know well that Eun-ha isn't someone who listens to others, unnie."

"Sigh, that's right."

"I expected it from the start though? That Eun-ha would somehow remember unnie and try to conquer the black dungeon."

"This side of him hasn't changed at all before or after regression."

"But he's come this far."

"That's true. He's really amazing, even though he's my brother."

Since the person himself wasn't present.

The two kept talking about Noh Eun-ha and giggled.

"But are you okay, unnie? You couldn't even talk with Eun-ha because of me. You must have had things you wanted to say too, I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about that. You probably had more to say than me. And I believe in him."

Noh Eun-ah shrugged her shoulders.

As if she didn't know her own brother.

She could say with certainty.

"He will win, won't he?"

Noh Eun-ha always did.

He accomplished everything others said was impossible.

He achieved everything he set out to do.

So no matter how strong the boss of the black dungeon is, Noh Eun-ha will win as he always does.

Noh Eun-ah had a strange premonition.

And Lee Yu-jeong agreed with it.

"Yes, he has to win. If he loses again after being beaten once, then he'll have to get scolded by me. Just let him lose."

Lee Yu-jeong exaggeratedly glared with her eyes.

Noh Eun-ah burst into laughter seeing her.

By then, the white world began to fade away.

"It seems like everyone else has woken up too, so let's go back now, unnie."

"Yes, let's do that. It was hard waking the kids up, wasn't it? Especially Chang-jin... Even at his age, he still clings to me and cries."

"It would have been nice if he showed a more dignified side."

"That's right! Even though people say Eun-ha has problems with women constantly flocking around him, Chang-jin should learn from this."

"Haha... But thanks to Grandmother and many people helping, we survived."

"I guess it's because everyone feels the same way. They all wish for them to win."

A dungeon is a world created by mana concentrated in one place.

The black dungeon is no different.

However, mana contains the lingering thoughts, emotions, and memories of its existence.

In short, a dungeon made of mana can be said to be like the world's will.

Among them, the black dungeon was special.

The will gathered in the black dungeon could move relatively freely instead of concentrating on the boss.

Especially in the deepest part, it was more active.

So the will related to the two people and the conquest team members helped them wake up from their dreams.

In a way, it was a miracle.

"Unnie, get ready quickly."

"What kind of preparation?" "Preparation to return."

"..."

"Eun-ha will win, right? Won't he?"

"...Yes. He has to."

Anyway, Noh Eun-ha will win.

Noh Eun-ah wasn't worried.

Eventually, she disappeared becoming mana particles along with the world's disappearance.

Lee Yu-jeong also became mana particles.

She looked at the place where Eun-ha had left and moved her lips silently.

Be happy.