Chapter 206 – Recover (2)
A long time had passed.
His senses were absent, so he couldn’t tell the passage of time. There were so much thoughts entangled in his mind that it reached a point where he couldn’t think about anything….
A sense of emptiness was left behind when he suddenly realized something.
‘A lot of time has passed’
He hadn’t gone anywhere, and he hadn’t moved.
He stood in one place as everything remained the same.
The amount of idle time he had might have drove him insane, but now he was moving farther away from it.
‘Thank you.’
Several hundred to several thousand beings surrounded him.
He could feel each one of them.
It was a long enough time where he could have gotten lost, but he clearly felt them protect him at all times.
Evil spirits?
He had thought unblemished souls had fallen to torment him.
He had deluded himself to a ridiculous degree.
They had always been trying to protect him.
From what?
Pah-ah-aht.
Light pierced his eyes.
Eyes?
Did he really have them?
He had no body…
He started thinking about the thoughts he couldn’t perceive before.
He kept trying. He tried hard to recollect his memories.
‘Kang-woojin.’
‘Immortal.’
‘Terraforming.’
It felt as if scattered fragments of memory were being absorbed into him, and the pieces were being put together one by one.
The only thing he found lacking was the fact that these fragments were pieces from two different boards.
‘Who am I?’
Was he a scientist, who used to research the Material Transfer System between planets?
Or was he the high school student, who was summoned to be the Necromancer on Alphen?
‘I….’
It was the beginning of a new world.
Nothing existed there, and it was a space where anything could be substantialized… The ever expanding space were given owners, and they were split up in ranks….
Then there was the first supreme being, who had the authority to delete everything. He could destroy them all….
God of Destruction Thrash.
‘I….’
His chaotic fragments of memories were trying to fit into a single board, where space was getting sparse. These fragments clashed against each other, and they were being chipped away.
However, the board kept expanding, and these fragments eventually settled into place.
His soul…
His consciousness was being put back together clumsily….
They settled to form a bowl.
Pah-ah-aht!
He opened his eyes.
He blinked several times as he looked at his surrounding.
It was a familiar old castle.
It was cozy and familiar….
At the same time, he felt a powerful sense of repulsion…..
“H…hyung?”
Dongsaeng?
When he heard the strangely familiar voice, he turned to look.
It was a young man with white hair and sunken eyes.
“Jaemin?”
“Yes, hyung! Are you ok?”
“…….”
He had no idea.
He didn’t know if he was alright….
He was no longer sure…
He had no idea what he was.
“Did you come back from the Moon World?”
“Moon World?”
He remembered it now. He insisted on going to the Moon World. He went there to find out the truth.
He went there to find out, which world was the fake one.
It had been an attempt to protect his dongsaeng, and the nearby people, who were protecting her. He had tried to save earth.
“How long have I been gone?”
“A fortnight.”
“…….”
Fortnight….
Kahng-woojin.
Kahng-woojin’s memories started to speak to him.
His body’s senses were slowly coming back, and it was also speaking to him.
“I was dead.”
“What?”
His slow mind quickened. His stagnant memories started to connect to each other, and he understood the current situation.
“What happened to earth?”
“…it is a mess. I’ve been doing countless Dimensional battles to supply power to Bibi’s Castle.”
Since Kahng-woojin was absent, the tens of thousands within the Undead Army had to be maintained using the Colony’s Points. Of course, these Points was also essential to the defense system of Bibi’s Castle.
They were no longer gathering Bloodstones, and someone had to earn the Points. Do-jaemin had worked tirelessly to fill this role by doing Dimensional battles.
He plundered the Domain of other Dimensional lords, and whatever he gained was being used by Bibi’s Castle.
“I have to go.”
“What? Where?”
Woojin turned around.
The door that had been shut was opened.
“It is a place I’ve never been to.”
He had a feeling.
No, he was starting to recall a memory.
He didn’t know if the memory was true, manufactured or a lie.
However, he felt that this was his only chance.
One could call it a hunch or maybe it could be called destiny.
There had been three doors lined up behind Kahng-woojijn’s Dimensional Domain, and the third door, which had been barred, was opened..
***
“What about the professor?”
“It seems he is having a hard time finding the exit.”
“Jeez.”
Captain Leone had never been inside, so he couldn’t go there himself. The plan had been to let someone else acquire the Code, and this person would be logged out by them.
“Let’s do a force logout.”
“Then he will never be able to connect to Trahnet ever again.”
“Isn’t this already the endgame?”
Even if Dr. Toppler was able to acquire Earth’s Code, the Reset was already a failure. Even if they possessed the Recovery Code, Kahng-woojin’s body was missing.
Since events had turned out like this, he had to awaken the professor as soon as possible. They needed to discuss about this problem.
“The report has been sent.”
Dr. Toppler’s spaceship had been brought here, so he could use it after disconnecting from Trahnet.
“We’ll return to the base on the moon.”
“Yes, sir.”
When they received the order from Leone, his subordinates hurriedly prepared for takeoff.
Suddenly, one of his subordinates, who had been in charge of monitoring outside, yelled out.
“Captain Leone. A living organism is approaching us.”
“What nonsense are you spouting!”
What kind of a nonsense report was this?
How could there be any living beings left on earth?
There were people still alive, but they were all in the capsules….
The only ones, who could move freely on earth, was the soldiers on Leone’s ship.
“Is it a Guardian?”
If those nasty machine were able to exit the subway station, it might be…
“Please look at it yourself.”
Captain Leone was at a loss for words when he looked at the screen pointed out by his subordinate. The screen displayed what the security camera was picking up. It really was a living organism.
Moreover, the being walking towards them looked humanoid.
The earth was completely devastated.
It was year 2529, and a person, who was not of the Moon World, had appeared on earth.
This man of unknown identity wasn’t wearing equipments that was needed to purify the air. Moreover, he was wearing a cloak made out of a piece of a straw mat. He looked like a vagrant seen in the old western films.
He was walking slowly towards them, and he looked very out of place on this current version of earth. The sense of incongruity increased the uneasiness and fear felt by the men.
“What is it?”
They couldn’t assume it was human just, because it was walking on its own two feet.
Still, even if it was a human, not all humans were friendly and safe.
“Sound the alarm!”
“Yes,sir!”
Everyone on Leone’s ship were excellent soldiers. It took them mere seconds to arm themselves.
“Open the hatch.”
Pshhhhk.
Captain Leone was wearing a helmet, which filtered the air. He descended the spaceship with four armed men.
“Stop.”
Captain Leone’s warning rang out through the speakers. However, the unidentified lifeform didn’t stop.
Too-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!
Their opponent only stopped when they fired warning shots into the air. There was only 20 meters between them.
It was close enough to discern the identity of this being.
“What the hell is it? Is he human?”
The Captain and his men kept the barrel of their guns trained on this man.
The man gave no answer, and Leone unconsciously gulped.
He felt fear, a sense of vigilance, and wariness.
This man wasn’t showing any basic emotions even though he was in an unfamiliar surrounding. His attitude was overly bold. He acted as if he was the master of this place.
“Are you human?”
However, there was no answer forthcoming in regards to his question. The only thing that had changed was the fact that the man started walking again.
He took one step after another.
This mysterious being was making Leone feel…
Leone was barely able to push down the feeling any human would feel in this situation.
“Stop!”
Too-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!
Leone shot another round of warning shots into the air, yet the man didn’t stop his advance.
“Shit! Shoot.”
Too-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!
Light erupted from the barrel of the guns held by the soldiers.
The charged lazer quickly dropped in power reserves as it shot out.
Tee-dee-dee-deeng.
Instead of a blast, there was a strange sound of resonance as the lasers all missed. No, it was as if the attacks were being deflected by a barrier.
“What the hell!”
Leone pulled out the pistol from his holster on his waist in an agitated manner. Instead of a laser, this gun was a primitive gun. It used gun powder.
Tah-ahng, tahng!
The bullets flew true, but it was deflected into the sky before it was able reach the forehead of the man.
Tah-ahng, tah-ahng!
“Eeek….”
Leone had more bullets left, but he could no longer fire it. The man was right in front of Leone. The man pushed his face forward. It was as if he was daring Leone to pull the trigger.
Leone spoke as if a gun was pointed right at his forehead.
“W…who are you?”
Leone couldn’t hide his trembling voice as he asked the question.
“Are you guys from the Moon World?”
“…….”
He knew the language that had come out from the man’s mouth.
“Where’s Toppler?”
Leone carefully deconstructed the man’s face in front of him.
He had seen this man’s face during a briefing. This man was one of the targets, who was essential to their plan.
“Kahng-woojin….”
Leone didn’t know how this was possible, but Kahng-woojin had appeared on earth.
“You really logged out through your own effort….”
Leone mumbled to himself, and Kahng-woojin bared his white teeth as he laughed.
“It seems I’m at the right place.”
The people of Moon World had been phantoms to him, but now they were revealed in front of him.
He could most definitely feel them. He could feel Leone’s… He could feel the souls of the soldiers behind Leone.
***
He was tethered to an antenna that looked like a pole. It had been four days, and he was hanging there like a corpse.
The unidentified Dimensional lord, who was now being called the Black Armor, razed China to the ground. It had come straight towards Alandal, and a fight occurred above the Yellow Sea. The fight was still ongoing after four days.
Poo-ahhhhhh!
The water dragons were like the blue dragons from legend. They flew through the air as they let out their Dragon Breath. It was an imposing sight.
The problem was the fact that the Black Armor’s power was beyond imagination.
[Koo-hahahaha]
The fight….
The bastard enjoyed the act of destruction. The Black Armor was laid back as he fought the 17 Dragons, and the Dragons were being killed one by one.
The bastard didn’t have any monsters as underlings. It fought alone, and the Undead army was gradually lessening in number.
Ironically, Dr. Toppler had the front seat in watching this fight.
Since the Necromancer wasn’t present, the Undeads had to draw their energy from the Colony. This was why Bibi’s Castle was never far away from the battlefield.
“Do I have to watch the destruction of earth like this?”
The Reset was out of the question. All he could do was watch the revived absolute being eventually acquire the Earth’s Code.
They couldn’t attempt the Reset anymore.
It would now be impossible to login to Trahnet from outside.
He could no longer predict the fate of the tens of thousands of people connected to Trahnet.
Everything will now be in the hands of the absolute being.
Any change to this world would follow the absolute being’s will.
“I made a mistake.”
The speaker’s words were right. There had been too many variables.
The council had travelled the well beaten path for a reason, and they had been right.
He had acted rashly in meeting Kahng-woojin.
He had created a butterfly effect that couldn’t be contained.
The original plan was to conduct enough tests in regards to Terraforming. Then Iello would be awakened, and the Earth would have been Reset.
The fact that Alandal was able to withstand the assault by the absolute being for four days was astonishing. If Alandal fell, it would take less than a day for the earth to be razed to the ground.
There were no other opponent that could stand up to the absolute being.
Koo-ooh-oong!
The wounded Bone Dragon landed on the deck.
The control tower was the Colony’s Symbol. The vines encasing the control tower let out a light as it expended energy. It quickly regenerated the Bone Dragon’s wounds.
[Give me wings!]
Hwee-ahhhhhhhhh!
After recovering its energy, Dolsae turned into a ball of blood as it encased the Bone Dragon.
Toppler had seen this sight for the seventh time.
The Blood Dragon was no match for the Black Armor. It could only prolong the inevitable.
Moreover, it seemed the Colony’s energy was about to run out. The Undead army was being replenished at a much slower rate.
“This is the end.”
The humans were exhausted, and there number of Undead had been reduced. The VR Earth was the last incubator of humanity, yet it was about come to an end.
Pah-paht.
“Mmmm.”
Dr. Toppler groaned as he saw his hands melt away into gray light. It seemed his associates were going to attempt a force logout.
“I made a mistake.”
It was useless to feel regret over it. His relationship with Trahnet would end now. His role to save humanity had come to an end.
Pah-pah-paht!
His faded consciousness returned, and his senses recovered at the same time. He opened his eyes.
“Mmmm.”
He could see the lid of his capsule had been ripped away. When he raised his body, he saw a man, who was standing in front of him with his arms folded. Toppler became frightened when he saw the man, who was letting out an odd laugh.