Episode 13: Epilogue / Chapter 208: Choi Hyuk
TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk
There was nothing but not.
He was lying down but standing up. He was here but over there as well.
Every different kind of emotion flooded him at the same time until there was nothing in the end.
He continued to dream.
At some point, an annoying fellow appeared.
The fellow used strange things like ‘words’.
He kept ignoring her until he couldn’t endure it any longer and ended up using ‘words’.
Go! Don’t come back.
Right? You’re awake, right? I knew you were.
He pushed the happy fellow away and dreamed again.
However, the fellow kept coming back tirelessly.
…
You came again? Leave me alone…
What are you saying?
Just who are you? I’ll kill you if you keep waking me up.
Who’s going to kill who?
Arg! Leave me alone! I want to rest.
Bear with it for a bit longer. You can’t sleep too deeply.
Why are you doing this?
Do you not remember who I am?
Who are you?
Who do you think? The one you couldn’t kill.
This…!
Anyways, just stay put. It’ll come soon.
What?
The time. And the person you’ve been waiting for.
I don’t have anyone I’m waiting for.
You do.
Ha… Then tell that person to come quickly. Stop waking me up constantly.
Bear with it for a bit longer. We’re almost done.
Do you know how many times you’ve said that?
Hey!
Hey!!
Did that fellow leave again?
Haa… Waking me up when I’m about to fall asleep again and again…
I’ll kill you the next time you come!
**
They observed a ripple in the monsters’ universe’s emptiness that day as well. It occurred once every few years or decades. It was proof that Choi Hyuk’s consciousness was still active.
Waking upon signal, Lee Jinhee shook her head as if to shake away any residual drowsiness and raised her sword. Frost fell from it. Her frozen stiff joints screamed from sleeping so long, but she was already used to it.
The Weapon of Conclusion ‘Lee Jinhee’s World’ shined faintly.
As long as her friend was there, her sword would lead her to him no matter how many dimensions she had to cross and even if that place didn’t exist yet.
Whoong.
There was literally nothing in the place she arrived in. Her faintly shining short sword floated in this place where even darkness didn’t exist. Wary of this light, the concept of ‘darkness’ came into being temporarily.
“Choi Hyuk! I’m back.”
Lee Jinhee always loudly called out to Choi Hyuk.
However, his reaction was different from before.
-Lee Jinhee…
He definitely called her by her name.
“Huh?”
Lee Jinhee’s eyes widened with surprise. Her pupils trembled within teary eyes.
“You… Choi Hyuk? You remember me?”
-Go back. I’m grateful you haven’t forgotten about me, but it’s no use. This universe is about to be born. And once it does, the ‘me’ that is talking to you right now will disappear.
“Wow… It’s really Choi Hyuk.”
-Everything had already concluded back then. I died that day. You’re talking to the dead right now. The only one who’ll be unhappy is you if you keep calling out to a dead man. Forget me and go live your life.
When the soft voice attempted to persuade her, a single tear landed and dripped down her cheek without her realizing it. It truly, truly had been a long time. So long that even she found it difficult to believe.
With a firm determination, she said,
“No, I vowed that you will definitely not die before me.”
-No, I already told you! I’m already dead!
Choi Hyuk’s calm speech suddenly became childlike as though he had become a different person.
“Huh? What are you doing?”
-Ah, I give up. This didn’t work either. I said it because I suddenly thought of it… I thought it would work… Ah, this is so annoying!
At a loss for words, Lee Jinhee clicked her tongue.
“Haa… This is depressing. You got my hopes up for nothing. Anyways, you’re doing good. It seems that you’re at least recovering fragments of your memory. We’re actually really close so bear with it for a while longer.”
-Hey! Hey!
-Gone again?
-You left early today… I’m bored.
**
“Choi Hyuk, wake up.”
The annoying fellow woke him up yet again.
-Go. You’re going to leave soon anyways.
“Playing hard to get? Get up. It’s time.”
-Time?
However, the one who replied wasn’t Lee Jinhee.
“Choi Hyuk.”
The moment he heard her voice, the void universe squirmed.
Blazing transparent flames. A friendly, kind-hearted person who wasn’t suited to her position.
-Huh? What?? Who are you? Why do I know you?
The voice was taken aback.
Lee Jinhee smirked.
“Why are you acting like that when you even remembered me?”
-It’s different. I only recalled it. I didn’t feel any emotion. But you… Why… Who are you?
“Wow, how nice of you.”
Lee Jinhee pouted as if she was upset.
Flame-Rain had a subtle smile as she stepped forward.
After hearing that Choi Hyuk was alive from Lee Jinhee (though whether this was living or not was up for debate), she had waited a long time for this day. Enough to reach the end of one’s life, enough for one’s youth and dreams to have faded away. Until the dead universe was reborn. Until the era of the coalition, which was established after the alliance, changed. She was now older than what Flame-Hell had been. Such a long period of time had passed that Chu Youngjin and Shiro had reached the end of their lifespans and were now gone forever.
However, in a manner a seven-year-old would speak, she said,
“Because I want to become your friend.”
The universe squirmed once more at her words.
-Flame…-Rain?
Flame-Rain’s smile grew, but her voice was still nonchalant.
“Well, you can call me that, but what’s the point of names now? That’s from my past life.”
-Past life…?
“During the war, you did your best in your own way and I did my best in my own. Now we need to brush it all off and live our next life. In our next life, let’s become closer friends.”
He suddenly recalled various memories. A sword, fresh blood, corpses, and a girl with petite hands who approached him. Ahh, were these the memories of the man known as Choi Hyuk?
The voice became more bitter.
-But I’m not the Choi Hyuk you knew.
“And I’m not the Flame-Rain you knew.”
There was nothing in this universe, yet it seemed like their gazes were locked on each other.
The voice sounded frightened.
-But this universe will be born. No one can stop it. I have to partake in it and have no choice but to be dispersed into nothingness. It has already been decided since long ago. Now go. You are making me sad.
“That’s why I came. We researched and prepared a lot.”
Flame-Rain raised her Sword of Conclusion ‘Flame-Rain’s Glory’. Flames blazed above it. Flames of glory.
The voice naturally understood. Though he had long since forgotten the concept of karma, if it were those flames, that power, then it would be able to trigger the universe’s birth instead of him. Yet, he also knew…
-But if you do that, you’ll-!
“Lose my power. Maybe even my body. Forever. But it doesn’t matter. Didn’t I tell you? This is all from my past life.”
Flame-Rain said jokingly while raising her sword.
“Then shall we start? In Earth’s fashion.”
Flames of glory raged around her. Not leaving even a tiny bit out, she contained them all into her sword.
Raising the brilliantly blazing glory, she said,
In the beginning,
“Let there be light.”
Riip!
Her sword stabbed into the air. It was a world devoid of anything, yet her sword pierced through and embedded itself in it.
-Ah… It’s begun…
A blurry shadow appeared in front of ‘Flame-Rain’s Glory’. Though he was slightly short, Lee Jinhee thought he was definitely Choi Hyuk.
When the shadow placed his hand on the sword, ‘Flame-Rain’s Glory’ turned into flames and melted away.
The brilliant flames, which shot forth endlessly with the ‘Glory of Creation’, surrounded the shadow, and then dispersed into the universe. Like dark clouds fading in the sky, the emptiness melted away to reveal a vaster universe beyond it.
The universe, which was enclosed in an egg after Choi Hyuk killed the monster queen, was opening once more. Its shell was cracking and a new world unfurled its wings from within.
“Haa… It was a life without regrets.”
Flame-Rain closed her eyes as if relieved. Having squeezed out even the karma that made up her body, her body was dispersing as sparks.
Before her hand disappeared, Lee Jinhee tightly held her hand and whispered,
“Don’t worry, they said the calculations were precise.”
When she heard her, Flame-Rain’s still-remaining lips fluttered before smiling.
“I’m not worried. I told you. It was a life without regrets.”
At this time, flames covered everything.
Like a boat drifting in a storm, only Lee Jinhee watched the birth of the universe by relying on her white short sword.
First, a galaxy was created. The brilliant galaxy was so vast that it could be seen from anywhere in the universe, and each bend was splendid.
Fragments of stars appeared around the galaxy. Lee Jinhee called them ‘fragments’ because they were completely different from the stars in her universe.
First, they weren’t round. They had edges, were curved and simple, yet were also beautiful and modern (though this was an outdated concept). One by one, or sometimes in groups, they made their appearance. There were some that orbited each other like Earth and its moon, and others that simply floated next to each other.
Some stars were desolate while others had green land and blue oceans. A small star, in particular, looked like one the Little Prince{1} might live on, having blue oceans and green ground.
The first lifeforms were born and soon after spread throughout the universe. Various colored plants grew thick, and in some cases, stars were so close and trees grew so tall that their branches intertwined.
Various species that resembled humans in appearance were born, and as soon as they did, history was created. Although the universe had only just been born, hundreds of millions of years of history had been established as though it was normal when a universe was created.
Sometimes fighting and other times competing and cooperating with each other, these species flourished and climbed the steps of the great galaxy that could be seen anywhere in the universe. Connected between stars, these species climbed up the helix stairway that followed the galaxy upwards. Between each step was a glorious city and temple.
In their mythology, a god and a goddess had created the world. Apparently, they had gone on a long journey after creating the world.
“Huuu…”
“Ah…”
The god and the goddess who had left on a journey returned.
Glittering flames left over from the creation of the world gathered together to form two figures.
Though they looked like high schoolers in puberty, they were Choi Hyuk and Flame-Rain without a doubt. They were wearing the normal clothes of the just-born species.
“Oh, you’re here… That’s good.”
The birth of the universe had been marvelous, but Lee Jinhee could finally let out a sigh of relief after watching the process with a nervous heart.
Flame-Rain greeted Lee Jinhee.
Seemingly still finding his body awkward, Choi Hyuk touched his entire body.
After examining himself for a long while, he finally raised his head.
He wasn’t a god but a human. One belonging to this universe.
He had fulfilled his duty of awakening the universe, he was now simply a member of it.
He was Choi Hyuk but not at the same time. Memories of his intense past were faint as though they really were from a past life.
Flame-Rain was right. This was his next life. One where he and Flame-Rain had just been born.
Like an embarrassed boy in puberty who didn’t know what to do, Choi Hyuk asked,
“Uh… What do we do now?”
The great galaxy was shining behind him.
It was a galaxy where souls belonging to this universe returned to once they died. Souls who lived a life of regret would gather there, sit around and drink alcohol together while talking about the things they hadn’t accomplished as though they were talking about someone else. One by one, they returned to the world, forgetting what should be forgotten and keeping what should be kept.
There might have been an afterlife in the universe they had inhabited in the past, but if there was a difference, it was that no one knew of its existence there while everyone knew about it here. This was quite a significant difference.
Whoever imagined and made this… Flame-Rain thought that it was a very cute view of the world.
As if she coincidentally happened upon Choi Hyuk, she acted surprised. Then she took a step towards him, raised her head, and stared directly into his eyes.
“Wow, to meet each other here. Since this is quite the coincidence… How about a date?”
She linked her arm around Choi Hyuk’s while smiling.
Choi Hyuk awkwardly folded his arm and, as if hesitating, said,
“The-then should we?”
Excited, he took a step forward.
His previous life had gone awry since the very beginning.
After reaching the end of his misaligned life,
After going around and around,
A completely new world lay in front of them, who had finally met again.
{Epilogue – Choi Hyuk End}
**
Lee Jinhee was taken aback as she saw the two disappear, embracing each other like tied barley bags.
“Yes, yes, you probably have no interest in me. Yes, then good luck you two. The unwelcome guest will be taking her leave now.”
She grumbled before crossing dimensions.
“Damn it… And who was it that repeatedly hibernated for such long periods of time…?”
Finding it unfair, her voice echoed throughout the newly born galaxy.
{1} The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery