Beyond the Eternity

My head hurts. It feels as though someone had swung at my head with a baseball bat.

No, that wasn't quite right—this pain was deeper, more disorienting, as if my brain had been scrambled by an explosion.

Right… the Disaster of Ruin. I had been caught in his blast, hadn't I?

How many times now? Three? Or was it four?

It's hard to remember. More importantly, how am I still alive?

If I was truly caught in the antimatter explosion, I would have died for sure. Did I manage to escape the blast radius somehow?

Shit! My memory is foggy. I can't think straight.

My thoughts swirled in a chaotic haze as if refusing to align. Was it the pain, or something else, that made it so hard to think straight?

Through the fog of agony, I managed to summon enough willpower to force my eyes open. At the same time, a sharp pulse of pain stabbed through my temple. My vision blurred at first, but gradually the crimson sky came into view.

I raised my body from the ground and looked around the vicinity. At that moment, I realised I was no longer in Gwanghwamun.

It seems I'm standing atop a building with a breathtaking view of Seoul. To be precise, It was an apartment complex.

"Where am I exactly? To begin with, how did I even get here?"

The more I thought about it, the less sense it made.

I was fighting against the Disaster of Ruin. It was a situation where I would have died no matter what I tried. But I was still alive. Not only that, my body was teleported somewhere else?

"Wait, could it be...?"

There was only one explanation for this strange phenomenon.

[A new nightmare scenario will be generated to supplement the Fourth Fable.]

[There has been a delay in the nightmare scenario generation.]

[During this period, the Disaster of Storms won't be able to attack the players (Actors).]

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I roughly understood the situation.

There are different conditions placed on the disasters depending on the situation. For the Disaster of Ruin, he slowly regains his original power with each person he kills.

If everyone remained in Gwanghwamun, It would have been a complete massacre and the Disaster would have regain his strength. Fortunately, It seems Aurora was able to change the setting of the narrative before she passed out.

Most likely, the rest of the survivors would have been teleported randomly throughout Seoul.

[A few constellations are disappointed.]

[The constellations are complaining about the Deux Ex Machina.]

[The constellations that enjoys good stories are pleased.]

The constellation indirect messages were enough to prove this was not a dream. I was still alive.

[The constellation 'Mother of Dragons'' is glaring at the newly arrived constellations.]

[The constellation 'Grand Duke of the East is looking at you.]

[The constellation 'Budda of Victorious Fighting' is picking his nose.]

I ignored the stream of messages and reached the edge of the building.

Looking down, I noticed the roads that seemed hit by bombs and the ruined buildings without any light source. Considering the layout of this place, I was probably in the Gangnam district.

Gangnam? Wait, this building... wasn't this MinoTech?

I snapped out of my reverie and started thinking about the situation.

... Since everyone was transported to random locations, this scenario will be difficult for the Disaster of Storms. And if enough time passes by, he will eventually be weakened. But that doesn't mean that the situation will be easy for me.

The locations of the party members was not known and there's also a possibility that Kagura was teleported along with that mad man.

Worst case scenario, he will kill Kagura and release the seals placed on him.

"Damnit."

Thinking about such a possibility really filled me with displeasure.

I couldn't be certain that Kagura was with Keikoku Amane. It was just as likely that she had been transported to a random location in Seoul like everyone else.

... But if It was the former, then I should probably get moving.

I opened the roof door and went downstairs. I was probably inside the building of a well-established company. Since I did not know the building's layout, I got lost on the way and had to retrace my steps.

But It was good that I memorized everything on the way.

Once I crossed the finance department, I entered the stairstair leading to the next floor and descended down the stairs. There were several workstations on this floor.

Was this the department of the QA team?

... If it wasn't for my current circumstances, I would have recharged my dead smartphone. Wait... Can't I find a few spare batteries around here?

Since smartphones were currently useless, batteries were also useless especially in my current situation.

Even so, my smartphone was rather important to me. To be precise, It was the files inside the smartphone that was important.

I entered the office and started opening the drawers one by one. After checking ten drawers, I only managed to find three spare batteries.

Should I say my luck was good?

"...!"

The sound of footsteps was heard. Somebody was coming this way?

I instinctively raised my flashlight and pointed it where the sound came from. As the light illuminated the figure's face, my body froze.

"....?"

The man blinked.

"....?"

I blinked. What was I supposed to say?

I wasn't sure if this was pure coincidence or if my luck had taken a terrible turn. To my surprise, the man standing before me was someone I recognized. Yet, calling him a friend or ally wouldn't have been right.

A thin man with a tall build and pale skin. Dirty white hair and eyes that seemed crimson as blood.

"Ha ha! Really now, what kind of cliche is this?"

The man laughed as if it was funny. The cause of this whole mess, the Devil Park Joonhyuk, was standing infront of me.

* * *

The atmosphere between us was really awkward indeed. Even the air quality seemed heavy. But It wasn't intimate enough to be called sexual tension.

The representative of the Devil Arcana, Park Joonhyuk.

He was the man that called himself the leader of the True Apostle— the one who killed the <World King> and stole the <Yellow Dragon Sword> as well as killing the other king candidates and the readers in the same scenario.

Coincidentally, he also happened to be the same person that stabbed me in the back at Gwanghwamun and used the False Grail despite knowing it will lead Seoul down the path of inevitable ruin.

Needless to say, looking at such a person filled my heart with unfiltered anger and displeasure. I thought about returning the favour by shooting him a few times.

But that bastard has the ability to create duplicates, so wouldn't that just be meaningless?

The first person to break the silence was Park Joonhyuk.

"What's up with that face? You look like you have seen a ghost."

"Not really. I'm just surprised you managed to survive, that's all."

"I'm not sure why you're so surprised. Everyone was teleported out before the antimatter explosion hit. Or were you hoping I'd get caught in it? Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not dying just yet. Besides, I still haven't had a girlfriend, so it's a little early for that, don't you think?"

"Why are you telling me all that as if I care? I would be more than happy if you dropped dead right now, but I guess a cockroach like you won't die easily."

"What a coincidence. I was just about to say the same thing, you fucking plagiarist."

This bastard.

.... He's not worth it. He's not worth it. He's definitely not worth it right now.

Those words repeated in my mind as I resisted the urge to shoot him and drew a deep breath. There was still a Disaster running around so fighting here was not ideal.

"What are you doing here, anyways?"

"Hmm..."

Park Joonhyuk tilted his head slightly as if in deep thought.

"Funny you mention that. You're the last person I was expecting to run into. I thought the system sent players to places connected to their past but it seems that was not the case. That stupid fairy must have rushed everything and messed up the transportation sequence."

"Well, that's expected. She was forced into such a position because of you. Honestly, what the hell are you thinking trying to summon that deity?"

"Obviously, I planned to kill it, so I could build my narrative. But that plan went to shit because a certain someone could not see my brilliance."

"Do you think you're the protagonist or something? Sigh... you know what, nevermind."

I expected the true reader to be more intelligent, but he turned out to be just a delusional Chuunibyou with main character syndrome.

How could I be impressed with such a scenario?

"Ughh..."

Upon realising I was tormented by such a person during all those years, I let out a long pitiful sigh.

I walked past Park Joonhyuk and headed down the staircase. Park Joonhyuk called out.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"What a stupid question. Obviously, I'm heading somewhere that is not here."

"C'mon now, can't we work together? Won't it be in your best interest?"

"Oh, forgive me for not considering that. Could it be that I was stabbed in the back by you and I'm not exactly in the mood to team up with someone who just tried to blow up my companions? Yeah, I'm feeling a bit on edge right now."

"In that case, why did you turn your back to me? It doesn't make sense if you're talking like that."

"True. But I don't think you're in any condition to fight. You can control your breathing all you want, but you can't hide your heartbeat."

"W-What... You..."

Park Joonhyuk looked as if he was feed rotten tomatoes. He was probably thinking about how I discovered his weakness but I ignored him for the meantime.

I continued climbing down the stairs while holding my nose.

The staircase was littered with rotten bodies and maggots. I was already used to such unpleasant sights but Park Joonhyuk seemed to have a reaction upon seeing those bodies.

Could someone like him wear such an expression?

Ah, that's right. I remembered him saying about the players being transported to places connected to their past. I guess a scumbag like him also has a story to tell.

"You used to work here, right?"

"Ah, yes. It was my first job after I graduated from college two years ago. Wait, why are you asking me this?"

"I'm just curious."

"In that case, I don't have to answer.,"

Park Joonhyuk remained quiet and continued walking. It seems he was uncomfortable talking about his past. In the first place, who would tell her history to a total stranger especially one they tried to kill a fee moments ago?

While I was thinking about something else, we finally exited Mino Tech. As expected. The ruined road was empty except from only low grade monsters that was feeding on corpses.

Park Joonhyuk looked at me and asked. "So what is the plan, plagiarist?"

"You bastard, stop calling me a plagiarist! And why are you asking me that? Aren't you supposed to be the true reader?"

"Unfortunately, even I am not omniscient. I may have the Yellow Dragon Sword, but stepping into the disaster's space would likely be the end of me before I could even land a hit. As such, It's natural for me to look for other alternatives. So what are you planning on doing now?"

He asked so nonchalantly as if he did not backstab me a while ago. What am I supposed to do with this guy?

I shrugged and replied.

"It's nothing special. I was planning on meeting up with my guy, but that isn't possible since the internet does not work. And you killed the guy that will be helpful in this situation."

"What? Are you talking about the Hermit? His communication skill is not that great. Didn't I show you a skill of mine?"

"Wait, does that mean..."

My eyes widened. Thinking about it, didn't this guy have a similar skill?

"I see. In that case..."

"Hey, don't get you hopes up. I have a similar skill to the Hermit, but skill radius is small. Even if I manipulate the internet, It will be difficult for them to receive messages."

"Oh, isn't that great?"

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. What's the point of such a skill if the effective area is small?

However, expecting a skill with an effective range large enough to cover all of Seoul was unrealistic from the start. I suppose my expectations were simply too high.

"By the way, what are we going to deal with those guys?"

"What else? If they are coming at us with Ill intent then It's natural for us to retaliate."

Those guys seriously needed to work on their stealth if they were planning an ambush.

As if they have grown impatient, the people that have been hiding this entire time came out from their hiding spots and approached with weapons.

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