Soldiers continued to rain from the sky like snow. Having already said his farewells to his Shadow soldiers, Jin-Woo now looked at the Rulers' representative without a trace of hesitation.
"I'm ready."
The 'Radiance' brought forth a beautiful chalice with a face that seemed just a touch wistful. A strange light gleamed in Jin-Woo's eyes.
'So that's the divine tool that can turn time back to the past—the Chalice of Reincarnation…'
He gulped. The thought that the moment had finally come to end everything and start anew made him swallow dryly before he even realized it. Seeing Jin-Woo's tense face, Radiance spoke.
[Are you truly… not going to regret this?]
Having spent countless ages fighting alongside the Monarchs, he knew the weight of war better than anyone alive. The weight of the burden the Shadow Monarch was trying to shoulder on his own, too. The second Shadow Monarch, Jin-Woo, nodded. The first battle had been a success. The second battle would be far better than this one. It had to be. Seeing the determination and confidence mixed together on Jin-Woo's face, Radiance nodded in return. He could see the resolve in the young man's eyes—the determination to reclaim everything that war had forced him to sacrifice. How could he not understand? He, who had defied the Supreme Being to stop his subordinates from dying without end in an endless war.
[May your courage be enough to save your world.]
Radiance prayed sincerely from the depths of his heart, then turned the Chalice of Reincarnation upside down. The light that had filled the chalice poured downward, rapidly soaking the ground. The world began to be enveloped in a blinding radiance. Soldiers wounded on the battlefield. Families weeping as they watched the tragic news on television. Those praying for the safety of their loved ones. Those whose faces had gone pale watching anxious news broadcasts. Those who had dropped their heads in despair. In their homes, in their cars, in hospitals, at school, at work. Everyone saw the dazzling light seeping through their windows. Before long, the entire world was submerged in light. Then, as silently as it had appeared, the light that had blanketed the globe flickered once and vanished.
* * *
Morning. Through his closed eyelids, Jin-Woo felt the morning sunlight telling him a new day had begun. Without opening his eyes, he ran his fingers across the familiar texture of the bedsheet he was lying on. He wasn't fully awake yet, but with senses that had long since transcended the limits of humanity, he could already perceive everything around him.
'Jin-Ah freshening up, the smell of stew simmering on the stove, the sound of a cutting board, and the air of my room still carrying my scent…'
He was home. He had come home. Jin-Woo's heartbeat gradually began to quicken. From beyond the bedroom door, he heard his mother's voice.
"Jin-Ah, could you go wake your brother up?"
Right. Even though his younger sister Jin-Ah was a growing girl who loved her sleep, she never seemed to oversleep in the mornings. She would always answer their mother's requests and go wake up her lazy, late-sleeping brother.
"Okay!"
Jin-Woo smiled as he realized that the childhood memories he had only ever dreamed of were playing back vividly before his eyes. Creak.
"Brother…"
Before his sister could even fully open the door, Jin-Woo slowly sat up in bed.
"Huh? When did you wake up?"
His younger sister's eyes went wide at the sight of her brother sitting up so silently. Jin-Woo simply smiled at her without a word. There she was—Jin-Ah, who had never lost her friends to the monsters. Jin-Woo swung his legs off the bed and passed his sister on his way to the living room.
"Oh, you're up, son?"
His mother turned around at the sound of footsteps behind her while she was preparing breakfast. She was no longer the woman who had thrashed and struggled, never able to wake from her endless sleep. But the sight he wanted to see more than anything was— Jin-Woo turned his head toward the dining table, following the soft rustle of newspaper pages turning one by one. His father, quietly reading the paper while waiting for breakfast, felt his gaze and looked up. The moment their eyes met, Jin-Woo's breath caught in his throat.
"Father…"
The word slipped out before he could stop himself. Seong Il-Hwan gave his son a puzzled look—the boy who always called him "Dad" had suddenly used a more grown-up word. Had the child had a terrible nightmare? Seeing his young son's face, which seemed to be desperately holding back tears, the father stood up and walked over to him.
"Son, what's wrong?"
His father's voice, right in front of him. For Jin-Woo, who still remembered the sensation of his father vanishing like dust from his fingertips not so long ago, this moment felt like a dream. But this was no dream. It was the opposite—it was the reality he absolutely had to protect. The tears that had momentarily welled up in Jin-Woo's eyes gave way to a fierce, unwavering resolve. Before him stood his father and mother, watching him with worried expressions. Jin-Woo forced a change in his face and smiled.
"I think I had a nightmare."
Yes. The nightmare was over. The nightmare had ended, and here remained his little sister, his healthy mother, and a father who had not disappeared. He had been given one last chance to set everything right. He would not let this chance slip away. Now, with his own hands, he would rewrite the future that lay ahead. With iron determination, a fierce light blazed in Jin-Woo's eyes.
* * *
It felt as though he had made that promise just yesterday, and yet already a week had passed. Jin-Woo still had not found an opportunity to enter the dimensional rift. Leaning his chin on his hand and staring blankly out the classroom window, he heard Beru's voice.
[My King…] 'I know.'
He did know. Even now, beyond that sky, Monarchs were eyeing this land and preparing a massive Gate. But. This was like a short vacation he had been given after a major battle. Was it really so wrong to enjoy this peaceful time, just a little… just a tiny bit? As a reward to himself.
'…'
While he spent his time lost in various thoughts, a welcome sound reached his ears. Ding-dong— Dang-dong— The school bell announcing the end of classes. Up until that moment, the faces of the students had been half-dead, but now energy suddenly flooded back into them. Jin-Woo's face brightened too. Even if the person inside was a twenty-four—no, now twenty-five-year-old man, his outer appearance was that of a fourteen-year-old kid. The noisy chatter of the final period filled the room as class came to an end. Several boys with their bags slung over their shoulders rushed over to crowd around Jin-Woo.
"Jin-Woo!" "You're coming to the PC café today, right?"
Jin-Woo glanced at their flushed, eager faces and nodded with a grin.
"Oh yeah!" "Hey, Jin-Woo's on our team today, right?" "What are you talking about? He was on your team yesterday." "But we're bringing along Jong-Sik, who's the worst." "Ugh, forget it. We'll take Jong-Sik and all the weak players, so Jin-Woo goes on our side." "Then let's settle it with rock-paper-scissors." "Deal!"
Right now, a famous strategy simulation game was all the rage in middle school classrooms everywhere, and Jin-Woo's remarkable reflexes and game sense were showing the other kids a whole new world. For middle school boys, gaming skill was basically the same as social ranking. Every one of them was practically burning with desire to have Jin-Woo on their team. While the rock-paper-scissors contest, originally meant to be best two out of three, gradually shifted to best three out of five, the girls with no interest in gaming watched the boys' desperate battle for Jin-Woo with looks of exasperation before filing out of the classroom. Toward the back of that same classroom, there was a kid slowly packing up his bag, stealing glances in their direction from time to time. A kid who was interested in the games but not very good at making friends. That kind of kid could only watch the classmates who clustered together with envy. With a quiet grin, Jin-Woo laughed softly. Things he had never noticed as a child were now coming into view one by one. Was it because he was an adult now? Or because his senses had surpassed human limits? Even within the small confines of a classroom, countless emotions were colliding and sliding past one another, forming a tiny world of their own. And while that was happening—
"Whaaa—!"
The kids who had ended up on Jin-Woo's team erupted in cheers, completely oblivious to how embarrassing they looked. Jin-Woo clicked his tongue inwardly.
'No wonder the girls stare at them like that…'
The winners, grinning from ear to ear, once again surrounded Jin-Woo, leaving the losers who had lost at rock-paper-scissors looking deflated.
"Let's go, Jin-Woo!"
But instead of answering, Jin-Woo pointed toward the back of the room.
"Today I'll team up with him." "Huh?"
The boys turned to see a kid who had been quietly packing his bag without a word. As everyone's gaze converged on him, the startled boy's eyes went wide.
"Uh… me?"
Jin-Woo answered.
"That's right. You."
The boy's face flickered with a dozen competing emotions, and Jin-Woo grinned and asked again.
"What? You don't want to?" "No… it's not that."
Watching the boy break into a shy smile, Jin-Woo picked up his own bag.
"Let's go."
The boy slung his bag over his shoulder and nodded.
"Y-Yeah!"
Jin-Woo smiled. Just a little longer. Just a little more of this feeling. If this time he was enjoying didn't hurt anyone, then even just one more day—please.
'Let me stay here…'
As Jin-Woo walked out of the classroom with his friends, his steps were at once light and, at the same time, impossibly heavy. The sun hanging over the hill behind the school had already dyed the sky red. When Jin-Woo paused for a moment and gazed up, his friends called out to him.
"Jin-Woo, what are you doing?" "If you keep standing there, the PC café will be full!"
These guys, always in such a hurry…
"Coming, I'm coming."
Jin-Woo caught up with the kids who had raced ahead. The boys chattered excitedly about the epic match that awaited them at the PC café today. Even without joining the conversation, Jin-Woo could feel their excitement and anticipation. And so, beneath the red-stained sky, Jin-Woo walked the streets with the childhood friends he had reunited with after so long. Walking together, and smiling.