A World Rewritten

Chapter 61: A World Rewritten

Hyun's breath came in ragged gasps as he staggered to his feet. The golden light that had saved him moments ago was now flickering, fading into the unknown. He turned in slow circles, trying to make sense of the world around him.

But this was not the void.

It was… something else entirely.

The sky above him was painted in hues of violet and deep blue, swirling as if caught in an eternal dusk. Towering structures, neither modern nor ancient, stood in the distance, their surfaces shifting as if made of liquid glass. The air hummed with an energy he couldn't describe, a silent whisper coursing through his veins.

Hyun swallowed hard. "Where am I?"

A soft voice answered him. "You have stepped beyond fate."

His heart stopped.

Slowly, he turned to see a figure standing at the edge of a shimmering river. Her silhouette was familiar—achingly so. As she stepped forward, the glow of the strange sky illuminated her features.

Yuna.

But not the Yuna he remembered.

Her eyes held a knowledge far beyond anything he had ever seen before, a sadness carved into every fiber of her being. She smiled faintly, though it didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Hyun… you weren't supposed to come here."

His chest tightened. "I had no choice. I had to find you."

She looked at him for a long moment before whispering, "Then you must understand—this world does not follow the rules of the one you left behind. And if you stay too long… you may never return."

The air thickened around them, the strange hum growing louder.

Hyun clenched his fists. He had fought through the abyss, faced his own darkness, and shattered reality itself to reach her.

And now, she was telling him to leave?

Chapter 62: Between Love and Oblivion

Hyun's breath caught in his throat.

Yuna stood before him, close enough to touch, yet she felt further away than ever. The sorrow in her eyes burned into him, deeper than any wound he had suffered. He had fought through darkness, torn apart reality itself, and now—now she was telling him he didn't belong here?

"No," he said, his voice hoarse. "I won't leave you."

Yuna exhaled, shaking her head. "Hyun, you don't understand."

"Then make me understand!" He reached for her, his fingers grazing her wrist—only for his entire body to be hit with a searing pain. It was as if something inside him was being ripped apart, an invisible force clawing at his very existence.

Hyun collapsed to his knees, gasping for air. His vision blurred as waves of agony crashed through him.

Yuna knelt before him, her hands trembling. "You're not supposed to be here," she whispered. "This world—it's rejecting you."

He forced himself to look up at her, eyes burning with determination. "Then tell me why you're here. Why are you different, Yuna? What happened to you?"

Yuna's lips parted, but no words came. Instead, the world around them trembled. The river behind her pulsed with light, its surface rippling unnaturally. The sky above them darkened, cracks of white light streaking through the void.

A voice—not hers, not his—whispered through the air.

He should not have found you.

The ground beneath Hyun cracked. He barely had time to react before the force that had been clawing at him intensified, yanking him backward. His body lifted from the ground, his limbs thrashing against the unseen force.

"Hyun!" Yuna screamed, lunging forward. She grasped his hand just as the world itself seemed to rip apart around them. The sky shattered, the river pulsed like a heartbeat, and Hyun's grip on her faltered.

"No—Yuna!"

Their fingers slipped.

A tear in reality swallowed him whole, and the last thing he saw was Yuna's devastated face as she disappeared into the collapsing world.

Then—

Darkness.

Chapter 63: The Price of Fate

Falling.

Hyun tumbled through the abyss, his screams swallowed by the void. There was no ground, no sky—only the endless, suffocating darkness dragging him deeper and deeper into oblivion.

Then, without warning—

A searing light exploded around him.

He hit the ground hard, pain jolting through his entire body. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs, leaving him gasping, his vision blurred. The air was thick, heavy, like a storm pressing down on his chest.

Groaning, he forced himself onto his elbows. His surroundings were… wrong. The world looked distorted, as if reality itself had been shattered and hastily pieced back together. The sky was a fractured canvas of swirling gold and black, the ground cracked and unstable beneath him.

And then, he saw her.

Yuna.

She stood a few meters away, but something was different. Her body flickered, like a mirage caught between existence and disappearance. Her gaze met his, pain and longing swirling in her eyes.

"Hyun… you shouldn't be here."

Hyun's heart clenched. "I don't care! I told you, I won't leave you!"

She took a shaky step forward, but the moment her foot touched the ground, the entire world trembled. The cracks beneath them spread, jagged lines of light splitting through the earth. The universe itself was unraveling around them.

"Hyun, listen to me!" Yuna's voice was desperate now. "Something is wrong. If you stay—"

A chilling laugh echoed through the air, cutting her off.

Hyun's blood turned to ice.

A shadow loomed behind Yuna. A figure stepped out from the fractured air—tall, cloaked in darkness, eyes gleaming with cold amusement.

"So, you found her again," the stranger murmured. "How persistent."

Yuna's face twisted in horror. "No… not him."

Hyun lunged forward, but the moment he moved, an unseen force slammed into him, pinning him to the ground. He struggled, his heart pounding as the shadowy figure reached toward Yuna, fingers barely grazing her shoulder.

"No! Stay away from her!" Hyun roared, thrashing against the invisible restraints.

The stranger ignored him. Instead, he leaned in closer to Yuna, his voice soft, almost mocking. "Did you think you could escape your fate? That he could change what was always meant to be?"

Tears welled in Yuna's eyes. "Please… don't do this."

The figure chuckled darkly. "It's already begun."

A blinding shockwave erupted from where they stood. Hyun screamed as the force ripped through him, and the last thing he saw was Yuna's tear-streaked face before everything turned to black.