"At around 1 P.M. today, a group of monsters appeared in Seoul, leaving 500 wounded and 8 dead."
~Switch.
“Through the heroic sacrifices of Cube Cadets, the museum terrorism has not been exacerbated."
~Switch
"One Cube Cadet Dead. One Cube Cadet Injured. The Djinn Attack continues to spread fear to the masses. They are asking. Who is next?”
~Switch.
“The young chaebol Chae Nayun is currently in intensive care—”
~Switch.
“According to investigations, the monsters were led by an intermediate rank, grade 1 monster called beast inciter. This man-sized, badger-shaped monster has never before appeared in Korea. The association believes a third party brought it in and has set out a search.”
I turn off the TV. My mind is in calm disarray, a weirdly accurate way to put it, but I cannot get more unhinged and quiet at the same time. Suppressing it is cold hard reasoning that whatever this is… is an unforeseeable event that can never be ready for. No amount of preparation can stop whatever happened back then.
This future is a tangent separate from the tales of the original ‘Returnee Hero’ by Kim Hajin and the remake ‘The Novel’s Extra’ by Jee Gab Song. From now on, I can only move forward without relying too much on the plot development of the prior timelines.
Still, this doesn’t change what I have to do. I have to continue getting stronger. For that to happen, I must make more drastic choices. For a weakling like me, I can only make reckless choices. A safe choice is a luxury to me. My lack of resources is my strongest weakness. I hope Yoenha will be a little kinder to me and give me some money.
I guess I should only cash the favor from her in the future so that the favor’s value will appreciate on time. Sigh… There is no guarantee she’ll remember me by that time.
Lying on the hospital bed, I contemplate on myself my first-ever combat experience. I definitely am making mistakes, but that is only natural for a beginner. The good thing is I am alert enough to adjust, thus prolonging my life. My uncanny ability to dodge attacks allows me to extend the fight further. No matter how slow I can be, I manage to eke out a dodge because of the characteristics of my Gift. The invisibility’s offensive power is also impressive.
For now, I have to work on my magic power and stamina. The former improves my fighting ability, and the latter increases my survivability
I love to throw myself to some training already but with my injuries especially considering the cast on my arm, I don’t think I will be able to do some sweating. With my jelly legs, I don’t think I will be even able to walk for some time.
So, I enter deep meditative silence, and using Suho’s breathing method, I judge it apt to train my magic power instead. I have to get stronger. One way or the other, hard work will never betray me.
***
Kim Hajin watches in silent disbelief as Chae Nayun bath on the flames of the Djinn. How is this happening? This is unfair. And it infuriates him. The result is him unleashing a great splendor of bullets.
~Bang! ~Bang!
He doesn’t know what to do. The Djinn is hugging Nayun and releasing a great formation of demonic flames threatening to engulf everyone around him.
Hajin continues shooting. After spending all that remains of his SP to reinforce a bullet, he dashes forward with the intent not to miss. He walks to the side, where his eyes can see the headless Djinn’s side. He loads his gun with the light attribute bullet and fires it. It cleanly lands at the Djinn’s chest side rib, where his heart should be.
The bullet of light destructively penetrates the flames and the headless Djinn’s defenses. But even with that, the Djinn is persistently clinging to Nayun with its hateful flames.
The headless Djinn falls on its knees while still embracing Nayun. The demonic flames continue to burn and eat away at everything it touches. Hajin runs forth to the flames in blind helplessness and drags Nayun from there.
He carries her away from the flames, his legs and arms suffering second-degree burns. But he endures. He grits his teeth and brings Nayun away from the abominable flames.
The burns on Nayun are not as apparent as Hajin, but he knows. She must be using her vast [Sea of Magic Power] to defend herself from the demonic flames, and because of the natural disparity of levels, Nayun has no choice but to exhaust her mental strength to fight back.
“You did well…” Hajin cannot help but comment, finding relief in the fact that Nayun is still breathing.
With weak trembling from her eyelids, Nayun wakes up. “H-Hajin?”
Hajin gently places her far from the flames and settles her on the floor.
Nayun sees the terrible burns on Hajin’s arms. “I… I am sorry…” She cries.
For some reason, Hajin feels warm in his heart at the sight of Nayun feeling responsible for the burns he is suffering. “Apology rejected…” Hajin snarkily comments. And finally, Nayun falls into unconsciousness.
The development of the events is too different from what he remembers. No, it has gone stray too far from his own work. This bodes ill for the future.
Interrupting his thoughts are the mad cackling of the remaining Djinn’s head. “Heh~! What fun! Kekekekeke~”
Hajin feels disgusted at the sight of the abominable creature. He approaches it and aims his gun at the head at point-blank range. “Any last words?”
“Pfft…” The Djinn snickers at Hajin’s display. “Hah~! Is there even a need for me to say anything? Listen well, the end of the world is near! AND! I AM! JUST! THE BEGINNING! OF IT!”
~Bang!
Hajin pulls the trigger and sends the manic Djinn to his end.
~Triing! Riiiing! Ringing!
Hajin wakes up from the terrible recollection of events. It is a terrible memory, and more so, if it keeps haunting him on his head when he is asleep.
He is weak. He knows that now. But that is not where his problem lies. The future. The differences. The uncertainty. All of them will become shackles that will stop him from doing as he likes.
For the first time, Hajin truly and desperately is feeling helpless.
Chae Nayun has become stronger, but so is the enemies. There will be more changes in the future, and Hajin has no choice, but to prepare himself for the worst.
Hajin stands up from the hospital bed. His arms and legs have bandages, and he seems to be worse for wear. Still, They should heal over time. For now, Hajin needs to get out of here so that he can spend his time on more meaningful things.
***
“Die.” Kim Suho is in a daze, and waking him up from it is that particular memory of when he drove his sword to the Djinn. “Die.” The thought once again crosses his mind as he turns another left on his way to the auditorium.
He is far from being completely healed as the several puncture wounds on his body continue to hurt, but he has to go. Never has he experienced a sense of dread like this before. He knows death, but he doesn’t know what a funeral is.
In the auditorium, the picture of Ryeo Dae is in a hologram, presented for everyone to see. Everywhere Suho looks, the people are wearing black. The funeral is full of people both cadets and instructors.
Kim Suho starts wandering. What is a funeral for? Is it a celebration? That is kind of morbid. Sigh… Suho walks forward and sees the family of the dead. What should he say?
“Hey, you…” Calling to him is a little girl.
Suho feels a kind of hurt that doesn’t come from wounds. He looks at the little girl who shares a strong resemblance to Ryeo Dae. What should he say? Offer words of comfort? Just what does he need to do to reduce the prickling pain in his heart?
“I want to blame you.” The little girl says in an apathetic tone. Her gaze is unlike what a child should have. “Why is my sister dead? Why are you alive? Why did you not save her? Why does that have to happen?” In the same apathetic tone, she shows a lack of emotion by unfeelingly throwing rhetorical questions.
While the little girl might not be feeling anything anymore, Kim Suho is experiencing a lot of aches as each word is like daggers striking his heart with accuracy.
“I want to bawl, cry, blame you…” The little girl bows her head, trying to avoid eye contact. “But I won’t.” She adds while tears continue to pour down from her eyes. “Because…”
The little girl tries to wipe her tears away, but her head remains in a bow as she doesn’t want Suho to see her tears. “Because…” In small hiccups, she makes a great effort to utter her feelings. “Because this is a farewell for my sister… I won’t blame you… This day… This day is only for my big sister…”
Kim Suho feels like dying ten times over.
The little girl raises her head, not a single teardrop decorating her cheeks… Except for the red puffy eyes and wetness of her cheeks, she looks normal… normally in pain from a loss of a sister.
Such maturity can only be evident in the harshest circumstances— and in this case, that will be ‘lost’.
“Ah~ so that is what funerals are for… A farewell…” He bitterly realizes the meaning of his being here.
Kim Suho also wants to say goodbye.
"At around 1 P.M. today, a group of monsters appeared in Seoul, leaving 500 wounded and 8 dead."
~Switch.
“Through the heroic sacrifices of Cube Cadets, the museum terrorism has not been exacerbated."
~Switch
"One Cube Cadet Dead. One Cube Cadet Injured. The Djinn Attack continues to spread fear to the masses. They are asking. Who is next?”
~Switch.
“The young chaebol Chae Nayun is currently in intensive care—”
~Switch.
“According to investigations, the monsters were led by an intermediate rank, grade 1 monster called beast inciter. This man-sized, badger-shaped monster has never before appeared in Korea. The association believes a third party brought it in and has set out a search.”
I turn off the TV. My mind is in calm disarray, a weirdly accurate way to put it, but I cannot get more unhinged and quiet at the same time. Suppressing it is cold hard reasoning that whatever this is… is an unforeseeable event that can never be ready for. No amount of preparation can stop whatever happened back then.
This future is a tangent separate from the tales of the original ‘Returnee Hero’ by Kim Hajin and the remake ‘The Novel’s Extra’ by Jee Gab Song. From now on, I can only move forward without relying too much on the plot development of the prior timelines.
Still, this doesn’t change what I have to do. I have to continue getting stronger. For that to happen, I must make more drastic choices. For a weakling like me, I can only make reckless choices. A safe choice is a luxury to me. My lack of resources is my strongest weakness. I hope Yoenha will be a little kinder to me and give me some money.
I guess I should only cash the favor from her in the future so that the favor’s value will appreciate on time. Sigh… There is no guarantee she’ll remember me by that time.
Lying on the hospital bed, I contemplate on myself my first-ever combat experience. I definitely am making mistakes, but that is only natural for a beginner. The good thing is I am alert enough to adjust, thus prolonging my life. My uncanny ability to dodge attacks allows me to extend the fight further. No matter how slow I can be, I manage to eke out a dodge because of the characteristics of my Gift. The invisibility’s offensive power is also impressive.
For now, I have to work on my magic power and stamina. The former improves my fighting ability, and the latter increases my survivability
I love to throw myself to some training already but with my injuries especially considering the cast on my arm, I don’t think I will be able to do some sweating. With my jelly legs, I don’t think I will be even able to walk for some time.
So, I enter deep meditative silence, and using Suho’s breathing method, I judge it apt to train my magic power instead. I have to get stronger. One way or the other, hard work will never betray me.
***
Kim Hajin watches in silent disbelief as Chae Nayun bath on the flames of the Djinn. How is this happening? This is unfair. And it infuriates him. The result is him unleashing a great splendor of bullets.
~Bang! ~Bang!
He doesn’t know what to do. The Djinn is hugging Nayun and releasing a great formation of demonic flames threatening to engulf everyone around him.
Hajin continues shooting. After spending all that remains of his SP to reinforce a bullet, he dashes forward with the intent not to miss. He walks to the side, where his eyes can see the headless Djinn’s side. He loads his gun with the light attribute bullet and fires it. It cleanly lands at the Djinn’s chest side rib, where his heart should be.
The bullet of light destructively penetrates the flames and the headless Djinn’s defenses. But even with that, the Djinn is persistently clinging to Nayun with its hateful flames.
The headless Djinn falls on its knees while still embracing Nayun. The demonic flames continue to burn and eat away at everything it touches. Hajin runs forth to the flames in blind helplessness and drags Nayun from there.
He carries her away from the flames, his legs and arms suffering second-degree burns. But he endures. He grits his teeth and brings Nayun away from the abominable flames.
The burns on Nayun are not as apparent as Hajin, but he knows. She must be using her vast [Sea of Magic Power] to defend herself from the demonic flames, and because of the natural disparity of levels, Nayun has no choice but to exhaust her mental strength to fight back.
“You did well…” Hajin cannot help but comment, finding relief in the fact that Nayun is still breathing.
With weak trembling from her eyelids, Nayun wakes up. “H-Hajin?”
Hajin gently places her far from the flames and settles her on the floor.
Nayun sees the terrible burns on Hajin’s arms. “I… I am sorry…” She cries.
For some reason, Hajin feels warm in his heart at the sight of Nayun feeling responsible for the burns he is suffering. “Apology rejected…” Hajin snarkily comments. And finally, Nayun falls into unconsciousness.
The development of the events is too different from what he remembers. No, it has gone stray too far from his own work. This bodes ill for the future.
Interrupting his thoughts are the mad cackling of the remaining Djinn’s head. “Heh~! What fun! Kekekekeke~”
Hajin feels disgusted at the sight of the abominable creature. He approaches it and aims his gun at the head at point-blank range. “Any last words?”
“Pfft…” The Djinn snickers at Hajin’s display. “Hah~! Is there even a need for me to say anything? Listen well, the end of the world is near! AND! I AM! JUST! THE BEGINNING! OF IT!”
~Bang!
Hajin pulls the trigger and sends the manic Djinn to his end.
~Triing! Riiiing! Ringing!
Hajin wakes up from the terrible recollection of events. It is a terrible memory, and more so, if it keeps haunting him on his head when he is asleep.
He is weak. He knows that now. But that is not where his problem lies. The future. The differences. The uncertainty. All of them will become shackles that will stop him from doing as he likes.
For the first time, Hajin truly and desperately is feeling helpless.
Chae Nayun has become stronger, but so is the enemies. There will be more changes in the future, and Hajin has no choice, but to prepare himself for the worst.
Hajin stands up from the hospital bed. His arms and legs have bandages, and he seems to be worse for wear. Still, They should heal over time. For now, Hajin needs to get out of here so that he can spend his time on more meaningful things.
***
“Die.” Kim Suho is in a daze, and waking him up from it is that particular memory of when he drove his sword to the Djinn. “Die.” The thought once again crosses his mind as he turns another left on his way to the auditorium.
He is far from being completely healed as the several puncture wounds on his body continue to hurt, but he has to go. Never has he experienced a sense of dread like this before. He knows death, but he doesn’t know what a funeral is.
In the auditorium, the picture of Ryeo Dae is in a hologram, presented for everyone to see. Everywhere Suho looks, the people are wearing black. The funeral is full of people both cadets and instructors.
Kim Suho starts wandering. What is a funeral for? Is it a celebration? That is kind of morbid. Sigh… Suho walks forward and sees the family of the dead. What should he say?
“Hey, you…” Calling to him is a little girl.
Suho feels a kind of hurt that doesn’t come from wounds. He looks at the little girl who shares a strong resemblance to Ryeo Dae. What should he say? Offer words of comfort? Just what does he need to do to reduce the prickling pain in his heart?
“I want to blame you.” The little girl says in an apathetic tone. Her gaze is unlike what a child should have. “Why is my sister dead? Why are you alive? Why did you not save her? Why does that have to happen?” In the same apathetic tone, she shows a lack of emotion by unfeelingly throwing rhetorical questions.
While the little girl might not be feeling anything anymore, Kim Suho is experiencing a lot of aches as each word is like daggers striking his heart with accuracy.
“I want to bawl, cry, blame you…” The little girl bows her head, trying to avoid eye contact. “But I won’t.” She adds while tears continue to pour down from her eyes. “Because…”
The little girl tries to wipe her tears away, but her head remains in a bow as she doesn’t want Suho to see her tears. “Because…” In small hiccups, she makes a great effort to utter her feelings. “Because this is a farewell for my sister… I won’t blame you… This day… This day is only for my big sister…”
Kim Suho feels like dying ten times over.
The little girl raises her head, not a single teardrop decorating her cheeks… Except for the red puffy eyes and wetness of her cheeks, she looks normal… normally in pain from a loss of a sister.
Such maturity can only be evident in the harshest circumstances— and in this case, that will be ‘lost’.
“Ah~ so that is what funerals are for… A farewell…” He bitterly realizes the meaning of his being here.
Kim Suho also wants to say goodbye.
