Chapter 281:

Chapter 281:

Chapter 281

Wi Muhyuk grabbed his weapon and left his house.

His massive frame, comparable to a bear, was weighed down by the giant sword on his shoulder.

The sun had set and night had fallen, but there were still some people in front of his house, protesting against him.

They saw Wi Muhyuk approaching them with his sword, and tried to say something, but they froze in fear.

They didn’t realize how terrifying the rank 1 collector was until they faced him in person.

They couldn’t utter a single word that they had been shouting before.

“Move.”

“Yes, yes.”

The protesters quickly cleared the way for Wi Muhyuk, who didn’t even spare them a glance.

He headed straight to the association.

Yu-hyun was sitting on the railing of a rooftop of a high-rise building, far away from Wi Muhyuk’s house.

He looked down at him with a solemn expression.

The man who had been suffering until he left had somehow cast away all his attachments in that short moment.

He even looked pious.

[Did you know this would happen from the start?]

Baekryeon asked Yu-hyun, who had been silently watching Wi Muhyuk.

Yu-hyun shook his head, wearing the mask of Aporia.

“Of course not.”

[You have Laplace’s power. Didn’t you see the future with it? Didn’t you say those words to provoke him? Not because you wanted to?]

“It might seem that way.”

Baekryeon’s opinion sounded reasonable. If Yu-hyun could see the future, he would know what to say or do to move Wi Muhyuk’s heart.

But Baekryeon missed one thing.

“Baekryeon. Laplace’s power is amazing, but it can’t read the future of a specific target. And the future of anyone related to it becomes obscure as well.”

Yu-hyun couldn’t see Jin Cheongwoon’s future because he was a fragment holder.

He couldn’t read the futures of the officers who were with Jin Cheongwoon, nor could he notice what he was doing.

Every time he tried to see, a faint light blocked his vision and hindered Yu-hyun.

The same was true for the tenfold world that was happening in Gwanghwamun.

He couldn’t see what was going on there, or who was heading there.

To Laplace’s eye, Gwanghwamun was still filled with fog and nothing was visible.

This power was not omnipotent, and it had a clear limit.

“Wi Muhyuk. No, after he received the seed from Unleashed, he lost contact with them. So if he wanted to, I could have seen what he would do in the future. But I couldn’t.”

[What?]

“I couldn’t see him clearly in any future I saw. As if no matter what I did or said, he was heading to a fixed place.”

That was what surprised Yu-hyun about Wi Muhyuk.

He could see the futures of other people.

They didn’t approach Gwanghwamun, but stayed away and watched or waited for the situation.

But there was one person.

The only person who was heading to the place where Yu-hyun couldn’t see the future.

Even though he must be sad.

Even though he had a clear reason to hate going there more than anyone else.

With countless wounds that others couldn’t see, he walked towards a single future.

“He would have gone to Gwanghwamun anyway, no matter what he went through. To take everything upon himself.”

Not being able to see the future didn’t mean uncertainty about the future.

Rather, because he couldn’t see it, he knew something for sure.

Yu-hyun realized it when he faced Wi Muhyuk, and when he activated Laplace’s eye.

That his future was not a myriad of branches, but a single path.

He knew that, so he tried to comfort Wi Muhyuk by choosing his personal desire over justice.

He said he would keep everything secret for him, but

The predetermined ending didn’t change anyway.

[So in the end, no matter what you did, he chose to become a hero...?]

“No.”

Yu-hyun shook his head.

“He chose to become a great father.”

***

The report came to Choi Joongmo’s ears that the power of the world in Gwanghwamun had reached its critical point.

It meant one thing:

The tenfold world would soon open completely.

They had evacuated the residents within 2km radius, and made them take shelter in an orderly manner.

They had to prepare for any possible situation.

And despairingly, until this moment, no one had volunteered to use Text Shredder.

‘Does that mean we have to force someone to do it?’

But this method was not perfect either.

What if the collector who was chosen against his will got angry and decided to die together, and deliberately didn’t use Text Shredder? Then an unprecedented disaster would occur.

No, even if he used it, it would be a problem.

The association, which was supposed to protect and lead the collectors, would be seen as sacrificing one of them.

The trust in the association would be greatly damaged.

The general public might think that the association made the right choice, but the foundation of the association was ultimately the collectors.

He didn’t want to imagine how much the association’s status would drop if they lost their trust.

But still.

‘I have to do it.’

Choi Jung-mo bit his lip and showed his determined will.

At that moment, the door of his office opened hastily and one of his subordinates came in with a frantic look on his face.

“What’s going on now?”

So some people wondered if Wi Muhyuk had also weakened.

How absurd and false that statement was, it was clearly revealed at this moment.

Ordinary people could not perceive that speed.

Even the broadcast cameras could not capture Wi Muhyuk’s real movement properly.

Yet the high-ranking collectors immediately recognized how skilled Wi Muhyuk was.

He was strong.

Unapproachably so.

A world that splits in a straight line.

Wi Muhyuk, who easily cut down the fire giant, entered the inner part of the Mental Realm as if he would not let it cause any more damage around him.

[Wi Muhyuk has entered the inner part of the Mental Realm! What is happening inside?]

Everyone held their breath, and only the camera reporter shouted like that. Meanwhile, the 10-layered Mental Realm continued to pulsate like a heart, emitting strange light.

The people who watched it on TV closed their eyes and prayed.

Please, let Wi Muhyuk succeed.

Did their prayers reach him?

Ziiing.

A white light burst out from the inside of the Mental Realm, piercing through and spilling out. Soon after, it caused a huge white explosion.

It quickly spread out in a hemispherical shape.

It swallowed up the broadcast helicopter flying in the sky, pushed through Gwanghwamun Square, and went all over the city.

In an instant, the TV screen turned white.

Soon after, the aftermath subsided and all the light disappeared. What people saw then was Wi Muhyuk standing alone where the Mental Realm had been.

He had succeeded.

“Woahhhhh!”

“He did it! Wi Muhyuk did it!”

“He did that by himself!”

People cheered as if a festival had started. But none of them knew what he was feeling.

Wi Muhyuk looked up.

The Mental Realm had completely broken down by the explosion just now, and the letters that had not yet decomposed were falling like snow and slowly melting into this world.

He stood still in his place, staring blankly at that sight.

‘Yeeun. Honey. I did it.’

He had vowed to hold back his tears, but hot tears ran down his cheeks.

Relief and sorrow came like waves and hit his heart.

In a world where everyone cheered.

Only one person cried silently.

***

“Did we fail? No way, Wi Muhyuk moved.”

Bukhansan National Park, far away from Gwanghwamun.

The Unleashed terrorists muttered like that as they saw the huge white explosion that was visible even from afar.

If they had to name the reason for this failure, it would be that it took longer to create a 10-layered Mental Realm than a 5-layered one, and

Wi Muhyuk, who they thought would not move because his family was held hostage, somehow stepped up himself.

“But still, this has greatly weakened the most dangerous existence. If Wi Muhyuk is weakened, it’s no different from us having less restrictions to act.”

“It’s still a shame though. I didn’t like him acting so proud as if he was ranked first. It would have been better if he had suffered more.”

“Well, whatever. He’s weaker than us anyway now, right? If we meet him later and he tries to interfere, we can just kill him. Or should we kill him now? Right in front of everyone?”

The combat members who received Jin Cheongun’s order thought that there was nothing bad about this either way.

It was unfortunate that people didn’t die, but that meant that the world would live in unprecedented fear.

Rather, this was an opportunity to get rid of Wi Muhyuk, who was a thorn in their eyes.

They chuckled and congratulated each other on their future plans.

“Are you having fun?”

Then a voice came from behind them.

More than 50 Unleashed members quickly turned around.

In the dark forest, four red eyes were watching them.

“Who are you!”

“What do you want!”

Everyone took their battle stance.

A figure emerged from the darkness and walked towards us.

“I was considerate of that man.”

He wore a devil’s mask with four eyes on his face, a suit with black gloves on his hands.

“Because I empathized with his situation.”

The moment we faced him, no one dared to open their mouth.

“He chose to remain a hero to the people. But I know. He was a great father more than anyone. I respected him for that.”

A dense killing intent that made it hard to breathe settled around us like fog.

The darkness that corrupted the world seemed to be alive and breathing.

No, it was not an illusion.

Around the masked man of unknown identity, four shadows rose and took on bizarre shapes.

They wore different outfits and masks. The only thing they had in common was that they were all pitch black.

Red glares exploded from the four new masks.

“On the other hand, what are you?”

Yu-hyun’s anger boiled coldly. Like an eternal flame burning inside a huge iceberg in the North Sea.

“Did you have such a noble will like him?”

No.

You did not.

You only mocked those who did.

“You who trampled on the dreams of others, who laughed at their beliefs, you will pay the price today.”

To the demon of Aporia.