Chapter 256 Selfishness Or Selflessness

[???]

As his eyes adjusted from the blinding light, he blinked a few times before finding a familiar scenery before him: it was the parking lot of an apartment complex, sitting beneath a pale-blue sky.

–It was home.

Though it seemed to be prior to Armageddon as dried blood didn't paint the asphalt and the parked cars were kept in fresh condition. He looked around, seeing that the streets were empty, but not filled with bloodshed.

I'm home, he thought.

Still, he knew such a sight was not normal as his sights were set on the only possible destination: the prominent door on the second floor, his apartment.

As he walked across the parking lot, looking around at the nostalgic view, he realized how he'd gone, and how he'd lost all the same, finding a bittersweet feeling inside of him before he ascended the staircase.

Reaching the second floor of the dingy apartment complex, he peered from the heightened view of the city, finding that detail was lost the further he looked as a veil of light prevented him from seeing too far.

It's all just a recreation…an illusion. Is "he" showing me this? The one responsible for everything? He questioned.

Though he knew there was little merit in theorizing when the answer to his question was likely just a few steps to his left.

After all this time, even the sight of his home didn't sway him from moving forward as he approached his door, stopping for a moment as he hesitated. A single breath was inhaled before he gripped the handle, turning it as he opened the entrance to his old home.

"Hey! Get your own loot!"

–Unexpectedly, he walked through the front of his apartment to find a red-haired young man spouting angrily at his own computer monitor, fiddling with his keyboard frantically while yelling through a headset.

It was Jeong-Hui, or at least, a spitting image of his past self.

This is…He began to realize.

As he stood there, he looked at his old self with surprised eyes, finding just how different the two were from one another, watching the "other" Jeong-Hui adjust his glasses before grabbing his vibrating phone.

"...It's a text from Mom," he mumbled, watching.

It seemed the other version of himself couldn't perceive him as he stood there, caked in blood and looking as though he walked out of a medieval fantasy world.

He whispered to himself, "...This is right before it happens–right before Armageddon descends."

Realizing this, he raced out of the front door, leaning against the railings of the second floor as he looked up towards the cloud, waiting for the sight of "God" to appear before–nothing.

No such event occurred as he looked back, witnessing his other self respond to the text on his phone before continuing to play video games.

"No fair, man! I was texting!--N-no, it was my girlfriend! I'm too old to be bugged by my mom!" the other Jeong-Hui spouted on his headset.

As he stood on the patio, watching the unknown scene unfold, he was left perplexed before time itself seemed to drag to a halt around him with the alternate Jeong-Hui freezing mid-sentence.

What? He thought.

"Congratulations, Jeong-Hui. You've won."

Speaking directly into his ear was a silvery, masculine voice that came off as sublimely gentle, though shook him to his core.

As he dragged his vision to the left to meet the source of the words, he found himself looking at a humanoid-shaped entity that wasn't made of physical flesh, but of the cosmos itself. Galaxies swirled in the perpetually-moving body of the enigmatic figure.

[??? Recognized: "God" | Level: ???]

"You…" Jeong-Hui's guard went up as contempt laced his voice.

There was palpable animosity oozing from the red-haired man as his eyes laid on the one responsible for it all.

"I completely understand your anger, Jeong-Hui," God told him, "You've experienced a lot. I've watched you from the beginning–every step of the way, I've watched you grow. I watched everybody. But, in the end, it was your journey that bore fruit."

Part of him wanted to swipe his daggers through the divine figure's throat, but something deep down inside of him knew it was pointless.

"...It's all your fault. They all died because of you," Jeong-Hui told him upfront, "Even if humanity had its problems…it didn't deserve to be destroyed."

"I see," God responded.

"You see…?"

The cosmic figure walked by him, paving a new landscape in his step as the patio expanded into a vast garden around them. At the gentle wave of his hand, God caused life to blossom in the form of colorful flowers.

"Life has little significance to me; at but a mere thought, I can create and destroy it," God said, swaying his hand again.

Just like that, the lively flowers wilted as all life was siphoned from their core. The being of matter and antimatter looked at Jeong-Hui with eyes made of swirling galaxies, shining with brilliant stars within.

"Humanity was an experiment–the millenia their existence stretched, the bountiful history they produced, it was merely a passtime in the scope of my existence," God explained, "That's why I chose to destroy it and recreate it anew–changed."

"But–" Jeong-Hui stepped forward.

"However," God interrupted him, "I wanted a sign beyond my own divination. Though minuscule to me, I understand the beauty of consciousness and the infinite potential for joy and life. That's why I gave humanity a path to prove itself."

"A path…?"

God moved his formless hands, weaving a new scenery of colossal temples around them, displaying paintings of famous artists.

"It's your choice, Jeong-Hui, last of humanity," God presented him with two options, "Live a life with whatever you'd like in Heaven; filled with luxury, satisfaction, and all you desire, or…Sacrifice that ultimate utopia to recreate the world and humanity, before Armageddon."

"What…? That's…you're lying," Jeong-Hui shook his head.

"I speak only the truth–lying is not a concept beneficial to me," God assured him, "If you choose, you can live as a god yourself in utopia, or save your brethren–however."

"However…?"

"You will be the only one aware of what occurred," God told him, "You alone will be the witness to Armageddon."

The choice was clear to Jeong-Hui, after all he'd suffered, he wanted it to come to an end, one that he wanted most.

He clenched his fists, remembering all of the pain he endured, all of the losses that weighed his soul before parting his lips with a smile, for the first time in years, feeling optimism:

"Bring them back."

God stared at him with his nebulous gaze for a moment, "Is that your final choice? Make no mistake; a life in paradise can be whatever you'd like–"

"Do it," Jeong-Hui affirmed.

There was no doubt in his mind; this was the only choice. If there was even a minuscule chance of returning those he lost, he'd take it.

"--Good choice, Jeong-Hui, savior of mankind," God said, raising his hand.

Before he realized it, an all-encompassing wave of light blinded him, bringing him to a state of subconsciousness as he could feel the world itself being recreated around him. It was a warmth unlike any other; his body was mended.

The swirl of time flowed backwards, bringing the shattered crust of Earth together, reforging ashen buildings and bringing cities built upon foundations of humanity's ingenuity together once more.

I did it, everybody, he thought.