The mind is a very complex construct. It wields emotions, carries memories, and can express intention. That makes Chae Nayun a very complicated person.
“Where am I?” She asks herself this question as she wanders on the fleeting images of the future past. Her first actual date with Hajin. Her learning of Hajin killing her brother. Her bloody reunion with Hajin on the Tower of Wish. “These are my memories…”
Jagged mirrors surround her, each of them playing a particular memory of Nayun.
“Incorrect,” The voice calls to her. When she turns around, she sees an unfamiliar woman.
Blonde, emerald eyes, and regal beauty. Even Nayun feels mesmerized at the presence of the interloper in this world of mirrors. “Lilith?” Nayun trusts her hunch, yet she doubtfully calls to the new arrival.
The doubts are only natural as Devil cannot describe the presumed Lilith in front of her. She seems so human, so mortal, and lacking the features of a monster, she can only be as such— a person. But Devils are a creature of deceit, thus Naun doesn't let her guard down.
“…”
The new arrival’s silence is enough confirmation for Nayun. “What do you want? If you want to usurp my body, then good luck!” She spiritedly says as with a thought, she shatters the world of mirrors turning the area around them to the black void.
Chae Nayune easily recognizes this place as the interior of her own mind.
She suspects her coming here is a result of the Devil's ability, and now, she has to fight for her right to exist lest she is usurped. There is one very special characteristic to Chae Nayun that not even the Kim Hajin of this timeline does not know. It is Nayun’s resilient mind.
As a result, Chae Nayun is confident in her own mental resilience. This is not a boast, but the truth. It is her character, and it is in her trait to get back up no matter how much she has fallen. That is why no matter how many times she is subjected to tragedy, never the thought of suicide comes across her mind.
“I have a very strong mind, so if you want to take a bite at me, then good luck, because you will need it.” She proudly tells Lilith while she summons a familiar cafe in this black world. She seats on a chair and summons a latte.
“Please be my guest,” She points at the seat opposite to her.
Lilith comfortably sits, while Nayun summons a cup of water for Lilith. “Hmmm…” Nayun hums, thinking as to how to proceed from here. "Why so quiet? Do you want me to start? Aren't you the one who wanted this meeting?"
It does not take Nayun long to connect the dots. “I know it is a bad habit of mine to assume, but I feel like it will be impossible for you to usurp me. That aside, even if you are confident, I don't believe that is the sole reason why you wanted to see me. Let’s see… The only reason you are here could be that you want to talk.”
“I see… You are not as dumb as Baal suggests you to be…” Lilith playfully utters the name of the Devil King which makes Nayun seethe with hatred.
“I knew it… I was played like a fool…” Hearing it directly from another party is different from harboring it as a suspicion alone. “I already thought that I have been tricked, but I cannot do anything about it anymore…” It must be about the regression again.
Lilith mentioning Baal to Nayun all but confirms that the Devil King does have a hand in her regression.
“Since what happened to my brother, I have been researching Devils for a long time. I have lots of resources to refer to, with the Devils becoming a more integral part of society back then. So, I am to a certain extent aware that you must be paying something big just to visit me like this.”
Nayun continues speaking to Lilith with no reservations, revealing the facts to her in a way to get the conversation going. “Judging by your lack of reaction, you must know a lot about me. I guess you are aware of my regression if you can casually speak out Baal’s name in front of me.”
“Yes,” Lilith finally opens up in the conversation. “Kum Seungyeon, my apostle, is suffering from something called Bleeding of Time which is an aftereffect of the multiple regressions Earth has gone through…”
“Multiple?” Nayun expresses her shock at learning this. “What do you get on telling me this?”
Lilith smiles in a sickening way as if she is disgusted by something. “My intentions are my own. Just be happy that I am telling you all of this, Chae Nayun…” The devil squints her eyes, while she sports a grin on her face. “I studied and reconstructed the Bleeding of Time, so I know so much more than you, Chae Nayun… I want to make a deal with you. Give me Yoo Yoenha’s body, and I shall aid you in removing the Devil’s Seed on your brother. On top of that, you shall have my aid as you see fit!”
“Ridiculous! As if I will fall into something so obvious…”
“Shhh…” Lilith cut off her words as she is not done yet. “Let’s establish a contract. I will subordinate myself to you, and I will even go as far as to tell you where the current Balmung, your legendary sword from your past life is… I am very sincere about this offer… All I want is for you to ally with me…”
“…”
It is tempting. Very tempting.
It is an Alliance— this is what Lilith is suggesting to her. Again, just like how she faces the dilemma with the Miracle Stone, Nayun is plagued with doubts about whether to go in or out.
***
*Cough! Cough!
I am literally coughing blood in here. Not to mention the blood pouring from my nostrils. There have been too many close calls, and it seems fighting three Djinns at intermediate rank is still too much for me.
Still, the broken ribs from under my chest are very damn well worth it. Biggie, I call him, is a fatty Djinn with monstrous defense. He is more bulky than Muscly but slower. I stand on his shoulders, his head just under my crotch.
I twist [Wolf Fang] from his eye socket, while the two other Djinns, watch helplessly as their companions turn to ash. I drop down on the ground with my abdomen hurting with hate.
Biggie manages to retaliate by smashing his back on the walls in the process of ambushing him, thus the coughing of blood and several broken ribs. “Hey, fellas! We ain’t done yet!”
I label the two remaining Djinns as Mantis and Joe. The former have mantis arms like scythes thus the nickname, meanwhile, the latter is a seemingly normal average Korean.
[Durability rate of the Door is at 32%.]
“Can you guys please move away from there?” I politely ask.
I prepare myself for another intensive battle ahead. Contrary to my expectations, the two Djinns start running off. “Huh?” I feel happy for a moment only to learn that I shouldn’t be.
[I have been hacked! Yoo Yoenha’s location has been exposed!]
Ugh… I fucking hate hackers.
Blasts of magic power explode from the Detention Center, and escaping from it is Kim Suho. Chae Nayun comes chasing him with ferocity. I weirdly glance at Nayun’s new fashion choice. Black armor decorates her petite build with bones and eldritch tentacles
[Kim Hajin has been severely injured. Commencing immediate treatment on the site.]
I exasperatedly complain. “Chae Nayun has turned to the dark side…” That sounds way funnier in my head.
The ‘Nayun’ fighting Suho turns to me and blasts a beam of magic power. “Hey, that’s a copyright move!” I fumble backward, escaping her line of sight. I should chase the other Djinns as completely neutralizing them is the only safe choice.
[Hacking the Intercom at 100% progress. They are using psychic channels.]
What kind of freaky technology is that? Psychic channels?
Finally, some good news. These Djinns are fearsomely technology-oriented, and despite Cube, a supposed to be Super AI, being on our side, we are still at the mercy of the enemy.
“… I will... hold... them back. Retrieve... package. It is under..ground. U.se an..y means ne..cessa.ry.”
It is Nayun’s voice in a static. What the hell? Did she really turn to the dark side? Moreover, the hacked communication is very intermittent and barely comprehensible. "Track them. See where are they going?" I instruct Cube.
I press on my earpiece to address Hajin about the Dark Nayun who is hurling her magic power like a savage monkey alien. “Hajin, what is happening? Nayun is shooting hadoukens and kamekahamehas like she doesn’t care about copyrights! Is she on super saiyan? No, supersaiyan 2 perhaps?”
“Are you serious?” Hajin buzzes from my earpiece, maybe he is still in the process of healing. “Seungyeon got us. She used some secret technique… and is now in possession of Nayun…”
[At your 5 o’clock. Highly Concentrated Energy Beam on its way!]
I am already hiding behind some sturdy wall, but she still manages to pick me up. I barely dodge the attack by ducking. The transfer of information between me and Cube is within microseconds, thus allowing me to dodge that attack.
With Cube, I have like a second brain. But then again, no amount of brainpower will allow us to fix this conundrum. Especially with Dark Nayun on the loose.
[First Level of Security of True Cube has been breached.]
[Locked on the Djinns: Mantis and Korean Joe.]
I glance at my holo map from my System Interface and see where the two mofos are at.
“I am going! Their aim must be to get Yoenha! Just do something, Hajin! Tap in the power of friendship or something!” I run away from where Suho and Dark Nayun are changing blows and head to where my System Interface’s map I should go.
***
Kim Suho is beginning to get overpowered by Nayun, but he is far from losing. He realizes that Nayun herself doesn’t have any of the regenerative ability of the Devil’s Seed’s host which suggests that Nayun and the Devil’s Seed has not become one yet.
To make an analogy, the armor covering Nayun is most likely Seungyeon herself, meanwhile the real Devil’s Seed is hiding within Nayun.
“To cut accurately… I should be able to do it…” Kim Suho understands the idea, but is far harder than one might imagine. “If it is like this…” Then he should be able to do it.
Kim Hajin has finally recovered from his lung injury. He cannot use his [Stigma] anymore, and he is almost out of bullets, except for his sniper bullet reserves. He has not found the chance to use it yet, but now, he can only do this.
“There is no such thing as short-range sniper rifles…” But here he is, planning to use a sniper rifle for the wrong purpose. The Desert Eagle transforms into a sniper rifle in the brilliance of light.
~Bang!
The sniper rifle releases a scary resounding bang from mid to short range. The bullet shatters Nayun’s head armor. It must hurt a lot considering the pained cry that comes from Nayun.
Hajin reloads his gun in a painstaking motion, while Nayun shoots an energy beam full of magic power. Suho strikes Nayun’s wrist causing the energy beam to miss Hajin.
From the four-VS-one, it turns to a four-VS-two, and now, a two-VS-one.
The mind is a very complex construct. It wields emotions, carries memories, and can express intention. That makes Chae Nayun a very complicated person.
“Where am I?” She asks herself this question as she wanders on the fleeting images of the future past. Her first actual date with Hajin. Her learning of Hajin killing her brother. Her bloody reunion with Hajin on the Tower of Wish. “These are my memories…”
Jagged mirrors surround her, each of them playing a particular memory of Nayun.
“Incorrect,” The voice calls to her. When she turns around, she sees an unfamiliar woman.
Blonde, emerald eyes, and regal beauty. Even Nayun feels mesmerized at the presence of the interloper in this world of mirrors. “Lilith?” Nayun trusts her hunch, yet she doubtfully calls to the new arrival.
The doubts are only natural as Devil cannot describe the presumed Lilith in front of her. She seems so human, so mortal, and lacking the features of a monster, she can only be as such— a person. But Devils are a creature of deceit, thus Naun doesn't let her guard down.
“…”
The new arrival’s silence is enough confirmation for Nayun. “What do you want? If you want to usurp my body, then good luck!” She spiritedly says as with a thought, she shatters the world of mirrors turning the area around them to the black void.
Chae Nayune easily recognizes this place as the interior of her own mind.
She suspects her coming here is a result of the Devil's ability, and now, she has to fight for her right to exist lest she is usurped. There is one very special characteristic to Chae Nayun that not even the Kim Hajin of this timeline does not know. It is Nayun’s resilient mind.
As a result, Chae Nayun is confident in her own mental resilience. This is not a boast, but the truth. It is her character, and it is in her trait to get back up no matter how much she has fallen. That is why no matter how many times she is subjected to tragedy, never the thought of suicide comes across her mind.
“I have a very strong mind, so if you want to take a bite at me, then good luck, because you will need it.” She proudly tells Lilith while she summons a familiar cafe in this black world. She seats on a chair and summons a latte.
“Please be my guest,” She points at the seat opposite to her.
Lilith comfortably sits, while Nayun summons a cup of water for Lilith. “Hmmm…” Nayun hums, thinking as to how to proceed from here. "Why so quiet? Do you want me to start? Aren't you the one who wanted this meeting?"
It does not take Nayun long to connect the dots. “I know it is a bad habit of mine to assume, but I feel like it will be impossible for you to usurp me. That aside, even if you are confident, I don't believe that is the sole reason why you wanted to see me. Let’s see… The only reason you are here could be that you want to talk.”
“I see… You are not as dumb as Baal suggests you to be…” Lilith playfully utters the name of the Devil King which makes Nayun seethe with hatred.
“I knew it… I was played like a fool…” Hearing it directly from another party is different from harboring it as a suspicion alone. “I already thought that I have been tricked, but I cannot do anything about it anymore…” It must be about the regression again.
Lilith mentioning Baal to Nayun all but confirms that the Devil King does have a hand in her regression.
“Since what happened to my brother, I have been researching Devils for a long time. I have lots of resources to refer to, with the Devils becoming a more integral part of society back then. So, I am to a certain extent aware that you must be paying something big just to visit me like this.”
Nayun continues speaking to Lilith with no reservations, revealing the facts to her in a way to get the conversation going. “Judging by your lack of reaction, you must know a lot about me. I guess you are aware of my regression if you can casually speak out Baal’s name in front of me.”
“Yes,” Lilith finally opens up in the conversation. “Kum Seungyeon, my apostle, is suffering from something called Bleeding of Time which is an aftereffect of the multiple regressions Earth has gone through…”
“Multiple?” Nayun expresses her shock at learning this. “What do you get on telling me this?”
Lilith smiles in a sickening way as if she is disgusted by something. “My intentions are my own. Just be happy that I am telling you all of this, Chae Nayun…” The devil squints her eyes, while she sports a grin on her face. “I studied and reconstructed the Bleeding of Time, so I know so much more than you, Chae Nayun… I want to make a deal with you. Give me Yoo Yoenha’s body, and I shall aid you in removing the Devil’s Seed on your brother. On top of that, you shall have my aid as you see fit!”
“Ridiculous! As if I will fall into something so obvious…”
“Shhh…” Lilith cut off her words as she is not done yet. “Let’s establish a contract. I will subordinate myself to you, and I will even go as far as to tell you where the current Balmung, your legendary sword from your past life is… I am very sincere about this offer… All I want is for you to ally with me…”
“…”
It is tempting. Very tempting.
It is an Alliance— this is what Lilith is suggesting to her. Again, just like how she faces the dilemma with the Miracle Stone, Nayun is plagued with doubts about whether to go in or out.
***
*Cough! Cough!
I am literally coughing blood in here. Not to mention the blood pouring from my nostrils. There have been too many close calls, and it seems fighting three Djinns at intermediate rank is still too much for me.
Still, the broken ribs from under my chest are very damn well worth it. Biggie, I call him, is a fatty Djinn with monstrous defense. He is more bulky than Muscly but slower. I stand on his shoulders, his head just under my crotch.
I twist [Wolf Fang] from his eye socket, while the two other Djinns, watch helplessly as their companions turn to ash. I drop down on the ground with my abdomen hurting with hate.
Biggie manages to retaliate by smashing his back on the walls in the process of ambushing him, thus the coughing of blood and several broken ribs. “Hey, fellas! We ain’t done yet!”
I label the two remaining Djinns as Mantis and Joe. The former have mantis arms like scythes thus the nickname, meanwhile, the latter is a seemingly normal average Korean.
[Durability rate of the Door is at 32%.]
“Can you guys please move away from there?” I politely ask.
I prepare myself for another intensive battle ahead. Contrary to my expectations, the two Djinns start running off. “Huh?” I feel happy for a moment only to learn that I shouldn’t be.
[I have been hacked! Yoo Yoenha’s location has been exposed!]
Ugh… I fucking hate hackers.
Blasts of magic power explode from the Detention Center, and escaping from it is Kim Suho. Chae Nayun comes chasing him with ferocity. I weirdly glance at Nayun’s new fashion choice. Black armor decorates her petite build with bones and eldritch tentacles
[Kim Hajin has been severely injured. Commencing immediate treatment on the site.]
I exasperatedly complain. “Chae Nayun has turned to the dark side…” That sounds way funnier in my head.
The ‘Nayun’ fighting Suho turns to me and blasts a beam of magic power. “Hey, that’s a copyright move!” I fumble backward, escaping her line of sight. I should chase the other Djinns as completely neutralizing them is the only safe choice.
[Hacking the Intercom at 100% progress. They are using psychic channels.]
What kind of freaky technology is that? Psychic channels?
Finally, some good news. These Djinns are fearsomely technology-oriented, and despite Cube, a supposed to be Super AI, being on our side, we are still at the mercy of the enemy.
“… I will... hold... them back. Retrieve... package. It is under..ground. U.se an..y means ne..cessa.ry.”
It is Nayun’s voice in a static. What the hell? Did she really turn to the dark side? Moreover, the hacked communication is very intermittent and barely comprehensible. "Track them. See where are they going?" I instruct Cube.
I press on my earpiece to address Hajin about the Dark Nayun who is hurling her magic power like a savage monkey alien. “Hajin, what is happening? Nayun is shooting hadoukens and kamekahamehas like she doesn’t care about copyrights! Is she on super saiyan? No, supersaiyan 2 perhaps?”
“Are you serious?” Hajin buzzes from my earpiece, maybe he is still in the process of healing. “Seungyeon got us. She used some secret technique… and is now in possession of Nayun…”
[At your 5 o’clock. Highly Concentrated Energy Beam on its way!]
I am already hiding behind some sturdy wall, but she still manages to pick me up. I barely dodge the attack by ducking. The transfer of information between me and Cube is within microseconds, thus allowing me to dodge that attack.
With Cube, I have like a second brain. But then again, no amount of brainpower will allow us to fix this conundrum. Especially with Dark Nayun on the loose.
[First Level of Security of True Cube has been breached.]
[Locked on the Djinns: Mantis and Korean Joe.]
I glance at my holo map from my System Interface and see where the two mofos are at.
“I am going! Their aim must be to get Yoenha! Just do something, Hajin! Tap in the power of friendship or something!” I run away from where Suho and Dark Nayun are changing blows and head to where my System Interface’s map I should go.
***
Kim Suho is beginning to get overpowered by Nayun, but he is far from losing. He realizes that Nayun herself doesn’t have any of the regenerative ability of the Devil’s Seed’s host which suggests that Nayun and the Devil’s Seed has not become one yet.
To make an analogy, the armor covering Nayun is most likely Seungyeon herself, meanwhile the real Devil’s Seed is hiding within Nayun.
“To cut accurately… I should be able to do it…” Kim Suho understands the idea, but is far harder than one might imagine. “If it is like this…” Then he should be able to do it.
Kim Hajin has finally recovered from his lung injury. He cannot use his [Stigma] anymore, and he is almost out of bullets, except for his sniper bullet reserves. He has not found the chance to use it yet, but now, he can only do this.
“There is no such thing as short-range sniper rifles…” But here he is, planning to use a sniper rifle for the wrong purpose. The Desert Eagle transforms into a sniper rifle in the brilliance of light.
~Bang!
The sniper rifle releases a scary resounding bang from mid to short range. The bullet shatters Nayun’s head armor. It must hurt a lot considering the pained cry that comes from Nayun.
Hajin reloads his gun in a painstaking motion, while Nayun shoots an energy beam full of magic power. Suho strikes Nayun’s wrist causing the energy beam to miss Hajin.
From the four-VS-one, it turns to a four-VS-two, and now, a two-VS-one.
