Chapter 214 |
“Gift <Miracle>.”
Against the order of the world, the Gift, known for reconstructing the world itself, required an equivalent price once manifested.
For instance, <Empress> Shin Seo-young had to sacrifice her player’s life to fend off the forces rallying against the pledge to protect humanity.
For instance, <Maiden of the Sanctum> Iriya had to embrace the pain that countless people carried as a price for healing them and die in return.
For instance, <King of Shadows> Shin Do-rim became the king of the dead, losing his memories, as a price for reviving the deceased.
No one who manifested the Gift of <Miracle> survived unscathed.
Broken, dead, or gone mad.
As far as Eunha knew, there was only her, who survived after using the Gift of <Miracle>.
What her sister displayed back then couldn’t be considered a complete <Miracle>.
In reality, it was hard to call it reconstructing the world.
She merely interfered with destiny.
The Miracle emanating from intense situations of the owners surpassed what she demonstrated.
In that sense, Eunha couldn’t be seen as manifesting the Miracle.
And he had no intention of letting her manifest it in the future.
It was just lucky that they could save Shin Seo-young, who manifested the Miracle in this life.
If such a thing were to happen again, there would be no way to stop it.
But then, what price did Yi Yujung pay?
“….”
Returning, she hadn’t considered it.
She must have paid the price for the Miracle, considering she unfolded a magic that truly reconstructed the world.
She must have paid the price.
But that… he decided not to think about it, assuming she paid the price in her previous life.
The previous and current lives were separate.
There was no way she paid the price for using the Miracle in this life.
So, he was trying to think positively.
No, he wanted to think positively.
That in this life, she was safe.
As if he knew deep down that it would turn out this way.
This life… Is Yujung not here?
He had no choice but to dig out the box he had hidden deep in his heart.
The assumptions he wanted to avoid.
Was this… your price?
The owner of the Gift of Miracle had to pay a reasonable price for the phenomenon of reconstructing the world.
So, what about her?
What was the suitable price for her, who turned back time by reconstructing the world?
That’s the situation they were in now.
The reality without her.
Even if time had turned back, hadn’t she earned the right to exist in the second life?
“You, really….”
If that’s the case, if that’s true, then there’s no bigger fool.
It’s because I used up the strength I should have used for myself just to regress myself.
Even if it means not existing in the next life.
There wasn’t a more remarkable self-sacrifice.
…You were always like that.
Yi Yujung was always like that.
She thought of others before herself and lived a life of endless sacrifice.
Especially for him.
She followed silently, knowing that there was nothing but death awaiting her on the path he took.
While treating dying comrades, she tried to fulfill the wishes they yearned for deep in their hearts.
This led to her being ridiculed by the players as the ‘Grim Reaper’ for being a death angel.
She had never lived a life for herself, even though she could leave the Mist Flower Party at any time.
Until the moment he died.
That was the result.
Having sacrificed her life and manifested the Miracle, she did not exist in this life.
“Hey, No Eunha. What’s wrong with you?”
“Eunha, what’s going on?”
I don’t know how much time passed.
Lost in aimless wandering through the hall, he turned around at a hand on his shoulder.
His friends were there.
They were all looking at him with serious expressions.
“Captain, are you okay? Your face right now…”
“What’s… No, it’s fine. Let’s talk about this later.”
“…Are you really okay?”
Hayang, who stepped forward, tightly held his wrist.
As if trying to hold him back from going somewhere.
The other kids were the same.
It was only after Eunha saw the faces of his friends that he could regain his composure.
“…Sorry. It’s nothing.”
“Someone who says it’s nothing looks like that? Are you really okay?”
Seona asked, furrowing her brows.
Eunha forced a smile.
As if telling them not to ask anymore.
He left his friends behind and stepped forward.
“Aren’t we really late now?” “We got super late because of you!”
“Right! Because of you waiting, we’re late getting back to the classroom!”
Minji and Jin quickly followed.
The remaining kids glanced around, sighed, and followed him.
“If we’re late for orientation, I won’t let you off the hook!” “…Really?”
“Hey… A little. I told you not to smile with that face, didn’t I? It’s not a pretty topic!”
“But isn’t Blue oppa uglier…”
The friends tried to lighten the mood forcibly.
When Ha Yang attacked Blue, they all laughed together.
Eunha laughed along with them.
But inside, he still thought about Yujung.
Are you in this world?
Or are you really not here?
If there is a god, he wanted to ask.
Where is she?
But in a world where even the gods are dead, there was no one to answer his earnest question about her.
“Name.”
“…No Eunha.” “Ha.”
He was late.
After the entrance ceremony, there were orientation sessions for each class.
Eunha entered Class 6 after the time for orientation had passed.
The instructor standing at the podium sighed openly when he opened the door and came in last.
With a touch of irritation.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“What’s up? Hey.”
“Yes.”
“Hey!” “Yes.”
The Player Academy was not a typical educational institution. It was a facility that nurtured players. It was a place beyond the common sense of ordinary people and where the authority of the instructors was exceptionally high.
Approaching him, the instructor frowned and looked down at him.
“Why aren’t you answering loudly?”
“Yes.”
Eunha replied in the same tone as before, indicating he had no intention of answering loudly.
The instructor became irritated. He didn’t like the attitude he had shown since the entrance ceremony, especially at this moment.
“I apologize for being late. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
Eunha ignored the instructor. He had no interest in accommodating him in any way. It was entirely beyond his scope of interest.
On the other hand, the instructor was baffled. As soon as he finished speaking, Eunha passed by him.
It was so ridiculous that it made him chuckle.
“Student No Eunha. Even though you’ve entered as the top student, it doesn’t seem like you’re showing that… You’d better not act like that.”
“……”
“If you want to graduate safely from here and become a player, it’s better to pay attention to what you say and do.”
“……”
“I’ll tell all of you here. If you want to survive as players for a long time, it’s better not to make unnecessary enemies.”
While the students were overwhelmed by the instructor’s imposing aura, Eunha sat quietly, lost in other thoughts.
He didn’t care that the students were glaring at him, resentful of the atmosphere he had created.
Even though he was already considered an enemy by the assigned instructor and the students on the first day, it was of no concern to him at present.
“…Today is the first day of school, so I’ll let it slide, but remember that if something like this happens again, I won’t let it go.”
Quite some time passed.
The instructor, who lightened the mood, introduced himself to the students.
Afterward, he handed out papers to the students.
“A simple career survey. Write briefly about what kind of player you want to be in the future, your family background, and household situation.”
The students scribbled on the papers. Those who had just graduated from elementary school and entered the academy wrote with excited hearts.
On the other hand, Eunha vaguely wrote ‘to kill monsters’ as the reason for aspiring to be a player.
The rest of the information was similar.
“Alright, time’s up. The person on the far left, collect these and bring them up front.”
The students gathered the survey papers.
Next, the instructor handed out papers with nothing written on them.
“Everyone got a paper, right? Does anyone know what these blank papers I gave out are for?”
“……”
“All right, you.”
Students who thought they needed to impress the assigned instructor quietly raised their hands.
The instructor casually pointed to some students.
“I think it’s drawing my future self.”
“Wrong. Do you think we’re still in elementary school here?”
“…I think it’s a mind map. What I need to become the player I want to be….”
“To get used to the academy, you should quickly draw water from an elementary school. Next! You there!”
“Is it… making a timetable?”
“Diligence is good, but no. Next! You there!”
“…Bingo?”
“…This is ridiculous. How did you even get into the academy?”
The instructor laughed at the absurdity.
The student who answered “Bingo” blushed, and the students burst into light laughter.
The atmosphere in the class was filled with the papers distributed by the instructor.
At that moment, when all the students who raised their hands had answered and there was no response, the instructor noticed Eunha, who was looking out the window with his chin in his hand.
“There, second place.”
“……”
“Second place.”
“……” “Second place!”
“……”
“No Eunha!” “…Yes?”
“Yes? Did you just say ‘Yes’?”
The instructor scratched his head.
When his name was called, Eunha looked at the irritated instructor.
“…I’m sorry.”
“I have another piece of advice for you. It’s better not to answer the instructor’s questions with doubt. No Eunha, it’s the first day today, so I’ll let it slide. If you do it again next time, I’ll be tough on you.”
“Yes.”
In every class, there were always those who were arrogant about their skills and ignored the instructors.
The instructor, who sighed, decided to ask Eunha a question to embarrass him.
“So, No Eunha, the student who came in second in the entrance exam. What do you think the paper I gave you is for? Surely the second-place student knows, right?” “……”
The instructor provoked Eunha.
With an uninterested look, Eunha finally looked down at the paper the instructor had given him.
An empty sheet of paper.
He noticed the glances around him. The students were watching him with anxious expressions.
“Yes, I understand.”
“…Really? You understand?”
“Yes.”
Eunha asserted.
Ignoring the surprised instructor, he responded nonchalantly.
“It’s a will.” “…A will?”
The instructor widened his eyes, and the students chuckled.
Even in that atmosphere, Eunha remained indifferent.
What the instructor had given was a will.
He remembered receiving a paper from the instructor on the day he entered the high academy.
It was a will.
It wasn’t just that time.
Academy students or players had to periodically write wills to prepare for situations where they might die at any moment.
Moreover, when players performed dangerous missions, they had to rewrite their wills at that time.
“…Right, that’s correct. It’s a will.”
“……”
“Some of you might not understand why you have to write a will at this age. But you entered the academy to become players, and that means you might die at any time. Even academy students often die. The academy is such a place. And the world outside the academy, after graduating, the player’s world is even more miserable than this.”
Students listened attentively to the supervisor’s explanation.
The single piece of paper in front of them began to seem heavy.
“Dead people can’t speak. In our world, it’s common for people to die without leaving their last words. So, write down what you want to say before you die.”
“……”
A player’s life is arduous.
Many die without anyone acknowledging them.
Even more so when their final words aren’t recorded in the world.
That’s why they write wills.
To leave proof that they existed in this world.
And…
“…To comfort those left behind by the people who departed. If they leave without a word, how sad will it be for those left behind.”
“”””……”””
“Even if someone is an orphan, there will always be someone who remembers them on the path they walked. You should know that.”
Wills were also a means for players to reclaim their own hearts.
The instructor didn’t explicitly mention it.
The students, realizing the nature of the distributed papers, faced the wills with solemn expressions.
“As a member of humanity, there’s one thing I wish for you. Until the moment you die, kill more monsters and protect the world.”
The righteousness of a player is to kill monsters to protect humanity.
However, the instructor added a “but” after that statement.
“But as an academy instructor, as players like you. Survive. Survive with a smiling face and return to the arms of those you love.”
“”””……”””
“From now on, we’ll have you write wills every semester at the academy. The wills endorsed by the instructor will be strictly kept for that semester.”
With that, the instructor concluded the speech.
The students looked at the wills.
After a while, some picked up their pens.
Following suit, other students also took up their pens, starting to write something on the blank sheets of paper.
“……”
But Eunha submitted a paper with nothing written on it.
Because he had sworn not to die here.
TLN: Damn this chapter was long, and sad.