Chapter 168 : Essence

So it’s not working.

Ho-cheol let out a faint sigh and rested his chin on his arm, which was propped up on the window frame.

He had tried to escape this situation several times, just in case, by trying to turn the steering wheel with force or opening the car door and jumping out.

But unfortunately, this situation was also just a reproduction of a memory.

He, in his current state, could not interfere with the situation or change the past.

If he were to attempt an action different from the memory, he would be ejected from his childhood body and forced to watch silently from a third-person perspective.

I wanted to see myself get out alive, but it was impossible.

The car, which had been crawling like a turtle, had now reached the center of the tunnel.

“Heo. Why is this happening.”

He looked at the back of his father, who was tapping the steering wheel with his fingertips as if anxious.

He was certainly much more lively than when he had only seen him in his portrait photo.

It would have been great if he hadn't been destined to die in 5 minutes.

Jjeojeok—

An ominous sound as a crack formed on the tunnel ceiling.

Unfortunately, not only Ho-cheol's parents, but also the people in the passenger car, did not notice the sign at all.

And the scheduled tragedy began.

Kwagwang—!

With a roar from above the tunnel, the tunnel, no, the entire mountain, shook violently.

Chunks of concrete and soil poured down from the tunnel ceiling, burying the cars.

The entrances of the tunnel, and even the central part.

The unlucky passenger cars could not escape being buried alive.

Debris fell on Ho-cheol's car several times.

Young Ho-cheol, who had been half-unconscious from the shock, belatedly came to his senses.

“……Dad? Mom?”

He called out to them in a small voice and reached forward.

But at that moment.

Another huge chunk of concrete fell on their car.

Kwang—!

A huge mass of tangled iron and concrete crushed the front seats.

“Ah… ahh…”

Ho-cheol saw the scene with his own two eyes.

The driver's and passenger's seats were completely crushed.

The car body was so crumpled that its shape was unrecognizable, and the roof of the car cracked as if screaming.

And under it were his parents.

A faint sound of breathing.

They were still alive.

But he couldn't save them.

Both the current Ho-cheol and the young Ho-cheol of the past, who was just a mischievous kid, could tell that much.

Nevertheless, Ho-cheol did not let go of hope and stubbornly reached out to the broken front seats.

A distance where his fingertips could almost touch.

His voice, choked with tears, trembled pathetically.

“Mom…! Dad…!”

“Ho-cheol…”

Then, his father's voice was heard.

Even though half of his body was crushed by a rock, he showed no sign of pain.

He suppressed the pain and instead barely opened his mouth.

“Get out of the car, quickly.”

His face, a mix of dirt and blood, visible through the broken rearview mirror, but his gaze was firm.

“No…! I, I’ll somehow…”

“Don’t cry.”

His father said firmly.

“We can’t get out.”

It was a moment he wanted to deny reality.

But even a 13-year-old child had no choice but to know.

Meanwhile, a scream was heard from far behind.

“It’s a villain!”

“Run!”

In the first place, this tunnel collapse was not a natural disaster.

It was a catastrophe created by someone's malice and killing intent.

His mother also slowly opened her eyes.

She turned her head with difficulty and barely managed to smile.

“Son. My son…”

A weak and trembling voice, as if it would break at any moment, but the affection in it was clear.

“My beloved son… You’ll be okay without mom and dad, right?”

“A-euh. Heuhaheong…”

“You have to live.”

Ho-cheol, already a mess of tears and snot, couldn't even utter a human word.

He just shook his head.

He couldn't even speak anymore.

His mother squeezed out her last bit of strength and reached out her hand.

Her barely outstretched fingers wiped away the tears flowing down Ho-cheol's cheek.

And then she lost her strength and went limp.

Kwang—!

With a roar, the ceiling collapsed again.

The pouring debris fell right next to the car.

His father, sensing that there was no time left, coughed up blood and shouted.

“Go, quickly!”

Ho-cheol sniffled loudly, opened the door, and got out of the car.

Ho-cheol, covered in blood, looked at the people around him and shouted.

“H-help! Anyone, please! My mom and dad!”

Unfortunately, the completely panicked citizens were of no help to Ho-cheol.

It was a relief that they at least didn't roughly push him down and trample on him.

A faint voice was heard again.

You have to live.

Only then did Ho-cheol come to his senses again.

And he barely managed to run in the direction the citizens were running, just vaguely away from the villain.

Even if it was a dead-end wall.

Meanwhile, the current Ho-cheol had his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

What happened after that was not very remarkable or surprising.

There was a hero in the tunnel.

The problem was that the hero was weaker than the villain and had a trait suitable for escaping in such a situation.

That's why the hero, even after seeing the villain's massacre, had abandoned nearly a hundred citizens to save his own life and had run away.

In fact, it wasn't surprising.

Even if they were heroes, not everyone could dedicate their lives to the citizens and be just.

And if the opponent was a villain who was clearly stronger than them, they would be even more afraid.

In the end, it was a human characteristic to value one's own life the most in an extreme situation.

Could he be blamed for that?

Both the current Ho-cheol and the young Ho-cheol, although they resented the hero, could fully understand.

Except for the fact that the hero had later come to his parents' funeral and tried to kill him.

The reason was also truly pathetic.

He had told the media, ‘I did my best to confront the villain and protect the citizens, but in the end, all the citizens died in the aftermath of the battle, so I had no choice but to evacuate myself.’

But it was because there was a survivor who could testify to the opposite situation.

Because he was afraid of a blemish on his career.

For such a pathetic reason, he had tried to kill the young Ho-cheol.

Conversely, he had been killed by Ho-cheol, who had awakened his Trait.

Human nature is so wicked.

There is only one way to escape from this harsh reality, this cycle.

To achieve transcendence.

Again, the monster's voice seeped into his ears.

Accept me.

I will achieve transcendence and grant your wish.

Your revenge is not over yet.

Ho-cheol did not answer.

He had gotten his direct revenge, and he thought he had pulled himself together, but his heart wavered when he saw the terrible memory in front of him again.

Terrible pain, memory, emotion, nothing will torment you.

The low voice was much softer than before, and the way it seeped into his heart was not just Ho-cheol's imagination.

Ho-cheol was wavering that much.

Now, look again this is reality.

Ho-cheol opened his eyes again.

He looked at his younger self.

He was running in the direction the other citizens were running.

No, he was swept away.

In fact, he had almost no memory of what happened after this.

To be precise, the series of memories from getting out of the car to the moment of escape was completely blank.

On the verge of death, where had the villain in the tunnel gone, and how had he survived?

It was hard to breathe in the tunnel due to the dust, his parents had been killed in front of him, and he had bled a lot.

In fact, it would have been stranger to maintain his sanity.

Then, something grabbed the hem of Ho-cheol's pants as he was running.

Ho-cheol stopped and looked to the side.

Was she a couple of years younger than him?

A much younger girl looked up at Ho-cheol with tearful eyes.

“H-help. My little brother! The car door won’t open!”

The crumpled car the girl was pointing to, the pair of adults in the front seats were already dead, and in the back seat, a little kid who looked to be about three or four was crying his eyes out.

Ho-cheol flinched.

No one in the tunnel had helped him.

So why should I?

If he had the leisure, maybe.

But the villain was leisurely and calmly killing people as if enjoying a hunt, and was approaching them.

A scream of ‘villain’ was heard from just a dozen meters behind.

Ho-cheol bit his lip.

Even if he were to knock away the hand holding his pants and run away, no one would blame or fault him.

But the girl in front of him overlapped with his past self.

He himself was in a completely unreliable state.

Nevertheless, the reason the girl had clung to him was.

Because she had already failed to get help from the adults several times, and now he was the only one left.

She had just clung to that one remaining sliver of hope.

Blood dripped from his lips to his chin.

“Damn it!”

Ho-cheol cursed, bent down, and picked up a chunk of concrete.

He slammed it against the car window.

Tung—! Tung—! Jjeojeok—! Jjaenggeurang—!

Only after swinging it three times did he finally break the window.

He brushed off the remaining glass fragments and pushed himself into the car.

His palms and body were all torn and covered in blood, but he didn't even have the time to feel the pain.

“Get out, quickly!”

He lifted the child with one hand and held him, and with his remaining hand, he snatched the hand of the girl who was still holding his pants.

Seeing the villain, who was now just a little over 10m away, he ran in the opposite direction.

Ho-cheol just stared blankly at the scene.

The monster, thinking that now was the perfect time, whispered in Ho-cheol's ear again.

Now take my hand, foolish child.

Escape from all pain and agony…

However.

“Puhahahahat!”

Ho-cheol burst out laughing.

A laugh that contained no other emotion, only pure joy, and for a moment, even the monster was flustered.

Why is he laughing?

In this situation, he should be filled with hatred for the unreasonable reality and the lowly humans.

Ho-cheol's laughter continued for several minutes.

He finally stopped laughing and even wiped away the tears that had welled up in his eyes.

“You know, I thought my foundation was a rotten piece of trash that was beyond redemption. I couldn't sympathize with the sorrow of others, and I had no intention of doing so. I thought my essence itself was pitch black.”

It was also the reason why Ho-cheol had been reluctant to be released at first.

No matter how important the choice of the moment was for a human, in the end, in an extreme situation, they would act instinctively.

Wasn't freedom and choice too much for him?

“Turns out, I was a better guy than I thought.”

In fact, until he had seen this scene, Ho-cheol had been greatly shaken by the monster's mental attack.

Although he hadn't completely fallen for it, a large crack had formed in his mind, which had been as solid as a castle wall, and there was a possibility that he would fall to another mental attack later.

But the past that even he had not known, his past self who had been weak without even a Trait, seemed to have been stronger than his present self.

Ho-cheol swept his hair back.

“I’m sorry, but what can I do?”

He smiled, looking more cheerful than ever before.

“Now, transcendence and all that crap, I have to beat you up and get out of here.”

Foolish child.

“I told you I’m not foolish, and I’m not a child, right?”

In the end, you make me use my power.

An unpleasant noise was mixed into the monster's soft and gentle voice from just a moment ago.

Chijijik—

At the same time, the world around him shook.

The dust, the corpses, Ho-cheol and the child, his parents' corpses, the world disappeared.

A world that had turned completely white.

And in the sky, a huge sphere was floating.

I will surely make you my apostle.

The cloth that had wrapped the sphere unfolded.

It did not take long to realize that it was not a cloth, but a wing.

Dozens of pairs of wings.

And in the center was a huge eyeball.

“Ah, so that’s the real body? It’s just as disgusting.”

It certainly had a much more imposing presence than the lump of flesh from before.

And although it was in a mental world, its life force was also vivid.

“Then I can finally kill you.”

Small and weak things.

It was not a being that maintained a form.

The wings that spread out from the eye wriggled grotesquely.

Dozens of wings.

No, in the first place, could that even be called a wing?

Accept the great being and I will grant your wish.

They were not feathers, but endless pieces of flesh and scales, tentacles, or even melting nerve tissue.

Every time it spread its wings, other eyes appeared inside it.

Transcendence is not far away.

Ho-cheol chuckled and raised his middle finger.