< Episode 20. Disaster of Floods (5) >
The situation had become clear.
If I trusted Yoo Joonghyuk here, I'd end up neither alive nor dead—just ruined.
I shouted toward Lee Seolhwa.
"Lee Seolhwa! Take that bastard and get off this island right now. The Disaster of Floods is different from anything we've faced before. We need to form ranks and fight together. If we don't fight alongside everyone—"
"Don't interfere, Kim Dokja. Unless you want to die."
I heard a sharp whoosh, and before I knew it Yoo Joonghyuk was behind me, gripping my neck. Strength drained from my body all at once, and my knees hit the ground.
Grinding my teeth, I forced out my words.
"Yoo Joonghyuk, listen to me! The Shin Yoosung that's about to awaken isn't the Shin Yoosung you knew. If you meet her—"
I wanted to shout more, but my voice had already degraded into a choking rasp.
Damn it.
I used [Acupoint Strike] to gradually release the energy clogging my meridians.
At this point, brute force was the only option left…
But that went without saying—there was no one in Seoul who could overpower Yoo Joonghyuk.
Kugugugugu.
No—there was exactly one.
The one who was about to emerge right now.
['Disaster of Floods' is awakening.]
Along with the message, a blinding radiance burst forth from the meteorite.
At last, the meteor's hatching had begun.
The voice of a mid-grade dokkaebi rang out.
[The incarnations of Seoul are truly impatient. While other planets struggle desperately to avoid awakening Disasters, you rush to wake one up as quickly as possible...]
It seemed even Bihyung could no longer stall for time.
[Are you longing for your departed comrades? Very well, then prepare yourselves to welcome the Disaster. Your companions are waiting for you in the afterlife.]
[A new Main Scenario has arrived.]
< Main Scenario #5 — Disaster of Floods >
Category: MainDifficulty: SS
Clear Condition: Kill the Disaster of Floods, 'Shin Yoosung'.Time Limit: —
Reward: 100,000 coins, ???Failure: Destruction of Seoul
The massive meteor split apart completely, revealing an interior reminiscent of a womb. Inside it, a naked woman was embedded like a fossil, curled inward.
Her snow-white skin shimmered with a mysterious luster.
Beautiful hair tied in a ponytail enveloped her entire body.
That was the appearance of Shin Yoosung as an adult.
"A woman?"
"What the hell is that? That's the Disaster?"
It seemed Lee Hyunsung and Lee Jihye hadn't managed to block everyone—several incarnations had slipped through and were staring at her. Perhaps because the gap in combat power was too vast, they hadn't sensed it yet.
[Your exclusive skill, 'The Fourth Wall', nullifies your mental shock.]
The Disaster of Floods is different from other Disasters.
Unlike others, which suffer penalties if awakened early, the Disaster of Floods has no such drawback.
The earlier it awakens, the stronger it becomes.
The moment Shin Yoosung opened her eyes, something like white fur began growing across her entire body.
The pure white fur, reminiscent of animal hide, soon covered her completely, transforming into something like clothing.
Creak.
Shin Yoosung slowly stepped out of the meteor and placed her foot on the ground. Her steps resembled those of a child learning how to walk for the first time.
She had merely taken a step—
Yet everyone around her froze.
A powerful being of a different species.
Even Lee Seolhwa—considered strong among incarnations—was immobilized. Yet there was someone who showed no sign of being overwhelmed by her presence.
"I've been waiting, Shin Yoosung."
Shin Yoosung slowly turned her head toward the man.
"...Captain?"
From just a single encounter, Shin Yoosung seemed to grasp something.
"I see... the fact that you were waiting for me means... this isn't the first time you've seen me, is it? Right?"
Yoo Joonghyuk nodded.
"I need your help."
"But before that... Captain, what regression is this?"
"Why does that matter?"
"There's something I need to know."
After a moment's hesitation, Yoo Joonghyuk answered.
"The third regression."
"I knew it... then you must've met me in the second regression too. Right?"
"Yes."
The reason the second-regression Yoo Joonghyuk had managed to reach as far as the 46th scenario—
Was the 'Disaster of Floods' standing before us now.
Shin Yoosung, the Disaster of Floods, was a being from the 41st regression timeline.
An arrangement made by the 41st-regression Yoo Joonghyuk for his past self.
After being abandoned in her own timeline, Shin Yoosung wandered across dimensions for countless years, eventually descending upon Earth's past scenarios.
"So this being the third regression means… even after I gave you information in the last one, you still failed?"
"That's why I need more information."
In the second regression, Shin Yoosung chose to hand over all the information she possessed to Yoo Joonghyuk—then took her own life.
It was her final consideration for the Yoo Joonghyuk she knew.
At any rate, that was how things had gone in the second regression.
Shin Yoosung spoke.
"...It took thousands of years."
On her expressionless face lay a fatigue that defied the measurement of time.
What the 41st-regression Yoo Joonghyuk had done was more horrifying than murder.
Thousands of years—Enough time for an entire personality to collapse, for the self to be worn down to nothing.
Shin Yoosung endured that time, and at last became a Disaster.
"Captain, do you know how hard it was for me? How many agonizing years I endured just to honor your request?"
"...What are you talking about?"
"I missed you so much."
Yoo Joonghyuk could not comprehend the despair hidden inside Shin Yoosung's gentle smile. He spoke in an indifferent tone.
"Hand over all the information from the 41st regression. Did the me from that regression leave any other message?"
I wanted to scream that he shouldn't say that.
But no sound came out.
Shin Yoosung's eyes were calm—like the eye of a storm.
Only I could read the emotions raging beneath that gaze.
「So nothing has changed after all.」
By Yoo Joonghyuk's design, Shin Yoosung wandered alone through the labyrinth of worldlines for over a thousand years.
She endured two hundred years for humanity.Then another two hundred years, clinging to a promise to protect the world.
And another two hundred years, enduring while recalling her comrades and Yoo Joonghyuk.
As time passed, Shin Yoosung repeatedly replayed the few memories she had left, just to preserve herself.
But the more she repeated them, the more a question surged within her.
「What meaning does any of this have?」
Time erased her ideals and stripped away her sense of justice.
What remained in the absence of grand causes was nothing more than the miserable truth of a human being.
Resentment toward Yoo Joonghyuk—who had reduced her and her comrades to mere tools of "regression."
Soaked to the bone in loneliness and the despair of having lost her world, Shin Yoosung endured a thousand years while hating the man who had made her this way.
"Captain… you really never change."
"Stop spouting nonsense and give me the information. We don't have time."
"What were we to you, Captain?"
"...What?"
"I did my duty. I even gave you a chance. But you're still the same."
As her final act of mercy, she had helped the second-regression Yoo Joonghyuk.
"And you'll stay the same from now on too. You'll keep using people like tools, and you'll throw me back into that horrifying labyrinth of worldlines again. That pitiful sense of justice. That damn grand cause. I hate you—for living in this world all alone."
And now, she stood face to face with the third-regression Yoo Joonghyuk.
"So there's only one thing I'll tell you."
Shin Yoosung smiled chillingly.
"You can't save anyone."
"This is where your third regression ends."
The moment a dazzling light flickered from Shin Yoosung's hand coincided almost exactly with the moment I released my acupoints.
I sprinted with all my strength and took the Ether storm exploding right before my eyes.
"Get out of the way, Yoo Joonghyuk!"
Pain tore through me as if my entire lower abdomen had been ripped away, and my consciousness wavered.
A massive crater formed at the center of the island.
Yoo Joonghyuk and I were hurled into the air, rolling across the ground for a long while.
It hurts. Damn it. It really hurts.
"...Kim Dokja?"
A shocked Yoo Joonghyuk stared at me where I lay.
My breathing grew ragged, and the sky turned yellow.
Only now did I truly realize how lucky I'd been until this point.
This world had always been this kind of world.
A world where one wrong step meant instant death.
"Kim Dokja!"
Tch—what a drama queen.
I grinned at Yoo Joonghyuk and said,
"Hey. Kill me, will you? You've always wanted to anyway."
"...What are you talking about?"
"I'll let you kill me for just one minute. So do it."
Only then did Yoo Joonghyuk look down at my lower abdomen.
So this is what it feels like—to want to touch your stomach, only to realize it's gone.
Blood foam kept spilling from my mouth, and the whole world spun like I was about to vomit.
Hic—
My breathing kept hitching.
[Exclusive skill, 'The Fourth Wall', partially mitigates your pain.]
Without [The Fourth Wall], I might've been bawling my eyes out already.
Last time I died in one hit, so I didn't even get to feel it…
"Hold on, Kim Dokja! It's not too late!"
"It's too late, asshole."
"It's not too late!"
"If you kill me now, you'll even get coins, bastard. I'm already done for, so just do it."
I hadn't seen that look on Yoo Joonghyuk's face in a long time.
He'd had the same expression the first time he saw me on the subway.
"There's no way I can do that."
My vision blurred completely.
I could see Yoo Joonghyuk pressing on my blood channels, but I had already lost too much blood.
And more than anything…
With everything below my organs gone, there was no way I could survive. Even if Lee Seolhwa stepped in, this was impossible.
My consciousness scattered into the void, like a sandcastle collapsing.
[You have died.]
And shortly after, a system message sounded.
[Current Karma Points: 100/100]
[You have sufficient Karma Points to activate a privilege.]
[The privilege of 'The Immortal King' has been activated.]
When I opened my eyes again, as expected, I was in darkness.
…Again in this state.
No matter how many times it happens, it's still a disgusting feeling.
[Exclusive skill conflict error: Activation of the 'Immortal King' privilege is delayed.]
[Due to death, consciousness is completely freed from the constraints of the body.]
[Exclusive skill, 'Omniscient Reader Perspective' Stage 3 forcibly activates.]
In the darkness, a message I had heard before echoed again.
The next moment, a screen appeared in front of my eyes.
Third-person observer perspective.
「"Flood it."」
The middle-grade goblin had been right: even combining all the other disasters would not compare to the Flooding Disaster alone. At Shin Yoosung's single word, the void warped, and monsters began emerging.
The signature ability of her legendary trait [Beast Lord]: [Monster Gate].
Countless monsters, tamed by her across dimensions, were unleashed on Earth like a living nightmare.
「"Tear, crush, and destroy."」
Not only the Grade 7 monstrosities, but a significant number of Grade 6 monsters appeared as well. There were even some that could rival the Grade 5 Hwaryong-class, the so-called Sojaeang.
「"At last, the time of the disaster has come."」
Nodul Island exploded entirely, and the entire Han River became one massive wave.
Panicked avatars screamed as they were devoured by the monsters. Later, the "kings" who had prepared their formations began issuing orders. But then, behind Shin Yoosung, one figure appeared, radiating a terrifying aura.
「"I will kill you, Shin Yoosung."」
…Has that bastard lost his mind?
With a deafening crack, Yoo Joonghyuk's Ether Blade cut through the void.
Shin Yoosung lightly bent at the waist to dodge the attack and smiled.
「"Your 'Pacheon Sword Art' level is already quite high? But even with that, no matter how much you rampage, you can't beat me. At best, it's only 'level'."
"This time, you will definitely die."
"Well… not happening. Maybe in ten years, but not now."
"I will make sure you die."
"…You're getting excited for once, Captain. What's the reason?"」
I quietly prepared [First-Person Protagonist Perspective].
In this situation, empathizing with Yoo Joonghyuk would be the best choice.
It might feel unpleasant, but if I could empathize with him and draw out his skills, facing the [Flooding Disaster] would become somewhat easier.
「"Something feels off… Is this really the Captain I know?"」
Shin Yoosung's gaze tilted in confusion—and then it landed on my dead body.
「"Who is that person? They weren't in the regression I knew."」
Yoo Joonghyuk still said nothing.
Instead, he swung his sword. And swung. And swung again.
As if that alone was the only answer he could give.
And after countless swings… Yoo Joonghyuk slowly spoke.
「"…That person is—"」
Shin Yoosung's face gradually darkened with disbelief and suspicion.
After a long silence, Yoo Joonghyuk ground out his words.
「"…my comrade."」