This death didn’t hurt. Well, maybe.
Cha Eui-jae was in a dark void. A place of nothingness. He stretched out both hands. Good, he could see them— his eyesight must have returned to normal. Cha Eui-jae traced the scars on his palms. Golden chains shimred over them.
The contract is still valid. That ans both I and Lee Sa-young are alive.
"..."
But there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t open his inventory, summon a system window, or even move freely. All he could do was drift aimlessly in the void. In the end, he was forced to think about what he had been avoiding.
’It seems like staying with Lee Sa-young kept from dying completely, but...’
Honestly, he had thought that dying would let him return to his original world. This was a morial Dungeon— one’s mories should end there upon death. Yet instead of returning, Cha Eui-jae was trapped in this strange place.
’Is this a glitch?’
Was I originally ant to die here? Last ti, I t Hong Ye-seong in a place like this.
’He won’t co...’
The thought of Hong Ye-seong’s last monts left him feeling heavy. Cha Eui-jae curled up and shut his eyes. What was Lee Sa-young doing now? He hadn’t appeared even as Cha Eui-jae was swallowed by monsters and took his final breath. He must have watched the whole process, yet he did nothing.
’How cold...’
...
He wanted to see Lee Sa-young.
He hadn’t seen his face in so long. Just touching him wasn’t enough. He wanted to look at Lee Sa-young properly— with his own, unclouded eyes...
At that mont.
Tick. Tock.
The sound of a clock’s hands moving reached his ears. Cha Eui-jae snapped his head up. A massive clock appeared in the pitch-black void. It looked exactly like his broken wristwatch. The hands of the clock began spinning rapidly.
And instinctively, he understood.
’Ti...!’
It was rewinding. Golden light swallowed the void. Cha Eui-jae closed his eyes.
He opens his eyes.
White ash drifts through the air.
Cha Eui-jae slowly blinked. Before him stretched a vast, white wasteland. It was a familiar sight. He spread his hands.
No scars.
Hurriedly, he touched his face. A smooth mask covered it.
At that mont, a voice rang out, clear and distinct.
"This kind of rift... it’s my first ti seeing one."
A familiar voice. No— one he could never forget.
Cha Eui-jae turned toward the source. A short-haired hunter, bow in hand, was sweeping her fingers through the ash on the ground.
"There’s really nothing here. No ecosystem, nothing has ford."
She had always been interested in the ecosystems within rifts. Before the world beca like this, she had worked for the Forestry Service. She was always curious— about why each rift and dungeon had its own unique environnt.
A muscular hunter approached her and asked,
"Maybe the advance team already cleared everything out?"
"Hah, you don’t get it, do you? Nothing can survive in an environnt like this. No water, no creatures that could serve as food— there’s not even a single blade of grass."
"Then the advance team..."
"Most likely dead. And we can’t afford to stay here for long either. We’ll starve."
She spoke bluntly. Silence fell over the group. Cha Eui-jae gripped his trembling hands. His mind might have forgotten, but his body rembered.
This was right after they entered the West Sea rift.
’I don’t want this.’
"The exit is gone, too, so..."
’I don’t want this!’
"We should move as quickly as possible, J."
’I don’t want...’
But his mouth moved on its own.
"Understood."
Their official mission was to search for and rescue survivors, but the real objective was corpse retrieval. J knew that. He just hadn’t abandoned hope yet.
Even though, in the end, that hope had been buried under white ash.
A firm arm wrapped around J’s shoulder.
"But at least we have J with us!"
The muscular hunter had an ability related to the earth. More specifically, he could dig. He was ranked B, but since his power wasn’t directly combat-related, he mostly worked with construction companies. What did he call himself? A human shovel? He’d said it himself.
J turned around. The entrance they had co through was gone without a trace.
There was no going back. No way to escape.
"So... what should we do?"
All eyes were on him. It was ti to answer. Ti to take responsibility for everyone’s lives. His altered voice ca out naturally. His body rembered. The words, the actions— everything.
"First, we’ll secure the area and set up a base camp. Once that’s done, we’ll begin the search. We’ll split into two teams."
He called out the nas of those under his charge. Before entering the rift, he had morized all of them...
Scenes flashed before his eyes like a panorama. mories that had once been fragnted and jumbled, that had remained only in pieces—
mories he had locked away began to resurface, one by one.
Their first al together, lively with chatter. Let’s do our best. Let’s get this done and go ho. Clinking glasses of water, restless sleep. J had lain awake, unable to drift off amidst the rustling, tossing, and occasional snores.
The next day, they began the search in earnest.
One day, they found nothing. It’s fine. There’s still ti.
Two days, nothing. It’s fine. There’s still ti.
Three days, nothing. It’s fine. There’s still ti.
A week, nothing. It’s fine. There’s still ti.
Two weeks, nothing. It’s fine. For now.
Twenty days, nothing. It’s fine.
Thirty-five days. They found the remains of a reinforcent team. No survivors. Food was running low.
There was no way out.
There was no ti to grieve the loss of those he cherished. J could not afford to grieve. He had people to take care of. Or perhaps, he simply lacked the courage to face his aunt’s death.
They had found remains, but not the master of the rift. At this rate, they wouldn’t even make it out with the remains— they would die, trapped inside the rift. With each passing day, the group spoke less and less. The smallest things set them on edge.
At so point, their goal had shifted from searching for survivors to simply surviving. They sifted through the white ash, searching for food. A single blade of grass, a drop of water— anything. Even with the ample provisions they had packed, supplies could only last so long.
Soone must have thought it.
There were too many people compared to the amount of food.
One day, soone reported finding the sea. J and four others went to investigate. What they found was a beach covered in white ash, and a sea with specks of floating ash drifting atop the water. They brushed the ash away and took a sip. J turned his back and drank a mouthful beneath his mask. It had no scent, yet the taste was sickening. Soone gagged. The short-haired hunter shook her head.
This won’t work as drinking water.
Soone cracked a joke.
If you gave it to a dead man, I bet he’d wake right up.
A few lifeless chuckles followed. Soone muttered under their breath.
Well, at least we could use it for laundry.
J thought he saw sothing swimming beneath the ashen sea. It must have been his imagination. There was no way anything could live in a sea like this.
The food supply ran out. Rations were no longer distributed evenly. J reduced his own share. It still wasn’t enough. Soone had to starve. So they took turns.
A scream broke the silence. How can you even call yourselves human?! The muscular hunter had soone by the collar, shaking them violently. That day, a group of four left on a scouting mission. Three returned. Where had the last one gone?
The heightened senses of an Awakened were a curse. J slled sothing he hadn’t in a long ti. The scent of roasted at. The stench of blood. A sickening, revolting sll... Soone broke down, sobbing.
What else were we supposed to do?! I refuse to just sit here and starve to death!
J. Before there’s another victim...
A heavy voice called his na. J nodded. Bloodshot eyes stared at him. A greasy mouth scread at him. Useless bastard! So what if you’re a hero?! Heroes don’t put food on the table!
That day, J stained his spear with human blood.
alti was silent. Only the sound of tin cans being picked at filled the air. J calculated how much food and water they had left. They would not last much longer. He was sure of it. This would happen again. And when it did— Would he have to stain his spear again? The stench of roasted at would not leave his nose.
He missed his aunt.
He missed the boy.
Cha Eui-jae bowed his head.
He wanted to go ho.
A white monster appeared.
They killed it.
Food was running out.
After a long discussion, they decided to eat the monster.
It was better than eating each other.
The short-haired hunter, her face gaunt, said,
"We’ve all eaten monster at at least once before. It might not be as bad as we think."
"Do you think we can drink its blood? It’s not red... more like translucent."
"Who knows? Guess we’ll find out."
The blood had no taste. It was bearable.
A white monster appeared.
They killed it.
Food was running out.
They decided to eat the monster. It was better than eating each other.
...
One day, J went to the dead sea to clean his bloodstained spear. He swept away the white ash. In the rippling water, his reflection stared back at him.
Gray hair.
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