CH 261

EPISODE 66. The tragedy at the end of longing

“Make a decision, what does that mean?”

Cheon Sa-yeon asked Edward on behalf of me, who couldn’t say anything. Edward, who had looked at the jackknife and me for a while, explained in a bitter voice.

“This jackknife is the key.”

“Key?”

“Yes. This is the only key to getting out of this space. Using this key is the only condition for activating the exit.”

Jackknife is the key? However…

‘Jackknife…’

It was the cause of Kwon Se-hyun’s death. That was the key. There was only one condition.

The worst was starting to picture in my mind. The air in the room sank heavier than ever.

“How can we use the key?”

Breaking through the chilly silence, Ha Tae-heon opened his mouth with a heavy voice.

“…as I said before, everything in the space, including this hotel, is filled with lines. It’s like proof that the producer made it.”

Edward’s ability was to see through the essence of the crafted items. It would be no exaggeration to say that with his help we found a clue to get out of this space.

“I found a grey line in it… I followed it and found the exit. But we couldn’t get out because I didn’t know the most important ‘condition for the exit’…”

Edward, who was speaking, paused for a moment, hesitated, then continued.

“After meeting this jackknife brought by Han Yi-gyeol-ssi and the store owner, I was convinced. For the jackknife and the store owner, I don’t see the line, instead, there’s light.”

“If it’s light…”

“The light on the blade of the jackknife and the light on the store owner’s body must match exactly. It’s like putting a key in a keyhole.”

The terrifying sensation of my blood rushing out of my toes just by talking about it came over. I moved my hard tongue and barely spoke.

“The light on his body… where exactly is it?”

“……”

Edward answered with a pale, tired face.

“The stomach. There… you have to stab him there with this jackknife.”

The ominous foreboding was accurately hit. For a moment, my eyes clouded over and I felt dizzy. I closed my eyes tightly and bowed my head, resisting the dizzy feeling. For some reason, I felt a hot pain near my stomach.

“I don’t even know why the space suddenly collapses. But I’m sure there’s not much time left.”

“How… much time do we have left?”

“For now… it will only last about 30 minutes.”

The pain in the stomach gradually grew stronger. I bit my lip and looked at the jackknife.

I resented myself for not keeping even my promise to that kid and regretted it even right before I died. Even Kwon Se-hyun, who was here, helped me to live a different life than I did.

I hope you live for a long time without dying and be happy even a little. I hope you keep your promise to that kid in the right direction… I sincerely hoped that.

‘However…’

I slowly raised my arm. And I held the jackknife in Edward’s hand tightly. It was clear that I trembled when I forcibly applied force to my cold hands with a cold sweat.

‘I also have people to protect.’

When I looked up, I saw the faces of everyone staring at me with complicated expressions. Everyone must have heard Edward’s explanation that the space was collapsing, but no one was rushing or anxious. They were just waiting for my choice.

How could I give up on people like this? Now I didn’t want to repeat the same mistake again. As I made up my mind, the heartbeat that had been pounding in my ears gradually subsided and my hazy mind returned to its original state.

“Let’s go.”

“Han Yi-gyeol-ssi…”

As I took the jackknife, Edward, who was standing there nervously, looked like he was about to cry. I turned away from him and spoke firmly to everyone.

“We’ve already spent way too long here. We can’t delay any longer.”

I was very concerned about the situation outside where the Praus Cult were going wild. More than anything, I was sure Chloe was worried because we disappeared.

So I made a choice.

“Let’s go straight to Dies.”

* * *

We changed into the clothes we wore when we first entered this space and went out of the hotel. People and objects kept disappearing from the street, just as I had seen from the window earlier.

It was truly terrifying to see an ordinary man, woman, or child passing by and turning into a liquid and melting.

“Those people… is it going to end like that?”

When I asked Edward, barely suppressing the sick in my stomach, he said as he watched a girl my age disappear.

“Everything in this space is a fake made up by someone…”

“……”

But that didn’t mean they weren’t… alive

No matter how fake the world was created, this place was real to them. They breathed here and lived their own life. It was me who broke it, no one else.

The world disappeared. Stepping on the countless lives beneath my feet, I didn’t stop.

“The store…!”

Edward, who saw the condition of Dies, who arrived without a break, exclaimed in surprise. The roof of the building was already flowing down.

“Let’s go in.”

I pushed the door with trembling hands. The inside of the store, which was usually noisy by sending greetings, was now suffocatingly quiet.

Clack, clink!

At that time, Park Joo-won, who dropped the wine glass he was holding, melted as it was. Kim Woo-jin, who saw the scene next to me, staggered briefly.

Not only Park Joo-won, but also other employees quickly disappeared one by one. They were the people who chatted, laughed, and had a drink with us until just a few hours ago, and they were precious little brothers who trusted and followed Kwon Se-hyun.

After taking a few deep breaths, I slowly walked inside. In the centre of the hall on the first floor, Kwon Se-hyun was seen kneeling and holding Go Dong-ju, who was disappearing.

Go Dong-ju’s eyes, whose half of his face had melted, had lost their lives and were blurry without focus. The rest of the body also turned into a liquid and Go Dong-ju, which flowed down, disappeared without a trace. Kwon Se-hyun, who had been watching it, broke into a cold sweat with a pale face.

I staggered over and stood in front of him. The jackknife I was holding was too heavy and the stomach, who had been uncomfortable before, was in so much pain that it was hard to turn away.

“Kwon Se-hyun.”

Hearing my call, Kwon Se-hyun slowly raised his head. His dark eyes that met my gaze trembled incessantly.

“I was wrong.”

“……”

“The end is decided anyway…”

This space was a world created based on my past memories. If I didn’t intervene in Kwon Se-hyun’s life and let it go… The moment he died because he was betrayed by Park Seok-jae, the exit must have opened normally.

But I didn’t let that happen. I wanted Kwon Se-hyun to have a different result than me, so I helped him not to die. I stopped Park Seok-jae and took the jackknife to change the future.

Since Kwon Se-hyun, who was supposed to die, came to live without dying, it was only natural that the world built around him began to collapse.

Kwon Se-hyun would eventually die here like me. Rather, because of my greed, my loved ones went through the loss. A bitter smile came out of nowhere.

“…yeah. I thought something was off.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who had only looked at me for a while, slowly turned to the people standing behind me and then opened his mouth.

“Since you guys appeared, I have often felt an unknown sense of incompatibility… It didn’t seem like I was living even though I was clearly alive. I can’t remember the old days well…”

Kwon Se-hyun, who was stuttering in a harsh voice, gave me a tired smile.

“Han Yi-gyeol, I think you know the reason.”

“This… I mean…”

I couldn’t easily answer. I didn’t want to tell Kwon Se-hyun that you were a created being.

You were a created being. You… you’re just…

Thinking that far, something hot surged. The hand holding the jackknife was too strong and it turned white.

I wanted to throw everything away and run away from this harsh reality, but I couldn’t in the end and continued explaining.

“The world is collapsing. In order for us to get out of here… I have to kill you, Kwon Se-hyun.”

Even when he was told that I had to kill him, Kwon Se-hyun just blinked without changing his expression.

“If you rebel or… run away in fear, they are useless. I’m going to kill you and get out of here anyway.”

Kwon Se-hyun, who had been silently listening, struggled to get up.

“It’s the life you saved.”

Standing at me from a certain distance, he gently raised the corners of his lips.

“The fact that I have been living without dying since that day… you know it too.”

Ah… It was then that I realized that Kwon Se-hyun knew who I was.

As if someone was strangling my neck, I was suffocated in an instant and a distant feeling of helplessness came over me as my feet collapsed.

“……”

A chill came from somewhere and swallowed me up. Haa, the harsh breathing I exhale filled my ears and I couldn’t hear any other sounds.

In a short time, when I took a few steps to kill Kwon Se-hyun, my eyes were flashed white again and again. Kwon Se-hyun’s expression, looking at me like that, gradually turned sad and distorted.

As I lifted my stiff arms, the sharp tip of the jackknife swung wildly along with my hand.

I have to stab Kwon Se-hyun like this. Don’t hesitate so that he can die right away without as much pain as possible…

‘I don’t want it…’

An unintentional, honest thought took over my head. It was a thoughtless thought that made me laugh out loud. Running away from here didn’t solve anything.

At the moment when I clenched my teeth and was about to swing the jackknife towards Kwon Se-hyun, someone grabbed my arm from behind. It was a very familiar touch to me. Tears welled up in my eyes as my body staggered backwards.