Kim Jeok-woo’s dream was swallowed by endless darkness.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeSn9XE1Smf
In the dream, he was trapped in a swamp, countless hands dragging him downward, pulling his body deeper and deeper.
Then, a burst of light tore the darkness apart.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQS9DqqkP0z
The source of that light—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJzoQhzywP
was his memories with A-ko.
From their first meeting,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12zU4Hm42r
to the time they spent together,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb83kEyz8KO
to the moment she transformed into the Xianzhong Emperor.
A sequence of memories painful enough to break a man.
Those fragments then scattered into particles,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMrFVPEA2Rr
and reassembled into a humanoid figure.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhW2Z2xwjWA
At first, the silhouette shone with the golden glow of Sophia.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR3PbGRgGkh
But when her face finally emerged, the golden light vanished,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnDTpzcOoy
and a black fog swirled around her entire body.
“Sophia…” he whispered her name.
But Sophia didn’t respond.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ86TLeG5EkB
Instead, her five fingers turned into claws—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OJxYzJsiw
and she drove them straight into her own eye sockets.
Right in front of Kim Jeok-woo, she gouged out her eyes.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi5eEkVzPY6
Black, pus-like blood trickled from the hollow cavities.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHje5PGbWc8
The eyeball fell into her palm,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8kFk35tg5
staring silently at him.
Kim Jeok-woo screamed and bolted toward the other side.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdLxL6HfCjs
Voices overlapped around him, echoing everywhere:
“You really think what you see with your eyes is the truth?”
At the far end, a faint light appeared.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmhKhYV4ZFy
A figure stood within it—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0uIJ7ln3T
dressed entirely in black leather, only one eye exposed.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7kHgpJr8V
Kim Jeok-woo couldn’t recognize the face,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvxfPoyjBK
but the aura was unmistakable.
The figure spoke slowly:
“If in your understanding there are only black bears and white bears, then sooner or later, you will be eaten by the gray bear.”
He jolted upright from bed, drenched in cold sweat.
“So… it was all a dream,” he muttered.
That was when he noticed someone sitting beside his bed.
Yayoi.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDPEm9fCKH
Smiling gently at him.
“You were having a nightmare,” she said softly. “You kept shouting… and you still look terrified.”
“I… I don’t know. It felt too real.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsZ5HUqXo8h
Kim Jeok-woo gasped for breath.
“I’ll get Fr. Phano for you. And some water.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboRF8SJpxY
She left the room.
When he wiped his face, his hand came away wet with sweat.
A few minutes later, Phano and Yayoi entered.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjZugAKlpz
Phano wore a deeply troubled expression, pacing back and forth.
“This is terrible. The base is gone. Several of our people died,” Phano complained.
“Then stop pacing around. It’s annoying.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7r7K3YZpbT
Kim Jeok-woo snapped.
“Both of you, please stop. Your emotions are unstable right now,” Yayoi interjected.
“I know… I was never suited to be any kind of leader, I—” Phano started complaining again.
“Yeah, if not for your arrangement, A-ko wouldn’t have ended up like that.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxiVDjRVUrQ
Kim Jeok-woo shot back instantly.
“You damn brat… now you blame me?” Phano retorted.
“Enough! You two grown men arguing like children—shameful!”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmh65MH47d
Yayoi, unusually, raised her voice in anger.
“He started it.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6YkYNoAtI
Kim Jeok-woo pointed at Phano, refusing to back down.
Yayoi gave him a glare that screamed hopeless idiot, then stormed out of the room, leaving the two men staring at each other.
To break the awkward silence, Phano said,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡodCRS8O1UO
“I’ll go get her back. She said she had something important to discuss with us.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOVLhzFl18u
Then he, too, stepped out.
Sophia emerged from Kim Jeok-woo’s body.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPz51y5v6rW
Golden particles swirled and reshaped into her human form.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdD48a7iMD
She placed a hand on his forehead.
“My dear… you’re ice-cold. And drenched in sweat…”
“Can everyone just leave me alone for a moment? You’re all so damn irritating.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEYYSZ1awg
He brushed her hand aside.
Sophia wasn’t offended.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdauvPPQvAf
She continued gently,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP5oeK0Rh2
“I know you’re grieving. You’re angry. But that girl’s transformation wasn’t because of you…”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPGnloUVh8
She placed both hands on his shoulders, eyes locked with his.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoN4fbmSL5
“If you need someone to absorb your anger, someone to be a punching bag—then use me.”
Seeing the softness in her eyes, Kim Jeok-woo sighed.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYoisWgZVh
“I’ve known her a long time. Maybe… back then, she was the only family I had in that small town…”
He recalled the days with A-ko—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6Y7O3Hsiv
sometimes she was like a mischievous child who played pranks on him,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwUZBYxNHl
sometimes like an older sister listening to his loneliness,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55FOPPsVu4
sometimes like a comrade, encouraging him through life.
Now, his heart could only be summed up by one line:
“This feeling was once worth cherishing, yet when I look back, it has already faded.”
“Do you know the Three Metamorphoses?” Sophia suddenly asked.
Kim Jeok-woo was ready to dismiss it as “nonsense,”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhoXpU2EhjE
but the dream’s lingering impact silenced him.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmv9EEre8tT
For the first time, he acknowledged how much he had been refusing to confront the irrational side of humanity.
He survived this long not only by skill—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVNe6WKGJX
but by staggering luck.
“I need to abandon my old mindset…21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZYWaTnKI8
otherwise in this apocalypse, I’ll lose everyone I want to protect.”
He felt something inside him snap free—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuYDZmBQ3Q
like a chain breaking.
“Go on. But if what you say makes no sense, I’ll downgrade you from ‘neurotic goddess’ to ‘witch hag.’”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdiDZrp6MY
He managed a weak smile.
Sophia blinked her lake-blue eyes, relieved that he was starting to recover.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGe46hdpbn6
She puffed her cheeks and pretended to be angry.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPcMgDXATk
“Hmph! Bullying me!”
“Alright, tell me. What are the Three Metamorphoses?”
“In this dimension of yours, a wise man once said the human spirit must undergo three transformations—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJb2gwRGhT
the Camel, the Lion, and the Child.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzoCLeCRZnw
And the Child stage is where creativity is born.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdW0rmuUlGX
Especially since you and I have formed a contract…”
“I don’t get it.”
“I don’t fully understand it either.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMq6Cg2OgBS
But I know this—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYIqitrJn1b
once a person acquires power from the Realm of Illusion,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiUdUshme1
and transforms mentally into the Child,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8m9ciCv551
it becomes an evolution of life.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3krXWB4Wcr
If you endure the trial—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYl3GnCUtqa
and cast what must be discarded into the volcanic abyss—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4J5oNL7G53
you reach unity of heaven and man,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9w71ILzqhq
turning the impossible into reality—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbkTbhoyGdI
creating new life…”
Kim Jeok-woo scratched his head.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzE1nNhFrMb
“Sounds like nonsense to me. Creating life? From what I heard from Phano, that’s basically resurrecting someone.”
“Yes… resurrection.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhes3zGKJRi
Giving new life to the dead.”
“But the problem is—where do I find a volcano?21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0jdwzijN8F
Do I drink some kind of de-aging potion?21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjOmKNKuGi
There aren’t any volcanoes in Fog City…”
Sophia was speechless.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIL0LWF4Cr
She herself only understood the concept from informational layers,21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MuGEKDyuc
not real experience—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lNpY6qQG5
which was her greatest flaw.
At that moment, noise erupted outside.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOIJZ0GdUn
People rushed from indoors to outdoors.
Kim Jeok-woo and Sophia followed.
A crowd surrounded Yayoi—21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnX73xFfU3q
but she no longer held her usual gentle expression.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYyjZN3LUi
With tears in her voice, she said:
“I heard the voice in the mist…21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLG5SU4P8E
So I managed to return alive…”
and then Add to home screen.