What did it mean for the world to end?
I had vague images in mind, but now that the situation had truly arrived, it no longer seemed very important.
The process of the world collapsing looked drastic, yet at the same time strangely slow.
Gates erupted simultaneously across the capitals and major cities of the world’s leading nations.
Every single one was S-rank.
In truth, even that classification contained a slight trap. S-rank Gates might have a lower limit for Gate energy...
but there was no upper limit.
Countries with standing militaries rapidly organized response systems and launched immediate raids against the Gates, but those efforts soon proved meaningless.
There were simply too few S-rank Hunters capable of substantially contributing to Gate clears, and trying to request aid from other countries was pointless when those countries were already begging for assistance themselves because of their own Gates.
The internet exploded into endless arguments over it.
Hunter/Dungeon | Best Posts
Holy shit, I’m scared the world’s actually gonna end
Honestly I think it already ended lol
Most of the places that got hit are capitals or insanely crowded cities, and even if they clear the Gates, how the fuck are they supposed to recover all that?
Never thought I’d watch Earth get destroyed while I was still alive
Comments
― They’re assembling an army of S-ranks to clear it, stop posting panic-bait bullshit
└ Wake the fuck up lol governments always try to calm people down when the world’s fucked. The fact they keep showing “hopeful plans” means things are REALLY fucked
└ Korea only has Kwon/Im/Tae as S-ranks, how the hell are they supposed to clear this lmao
└ Three is actually a huge amount for the population size, dumbass
└ Who gives a shit if it’s a lot relative to the population
But should all three S-ranks even enter the Dungeon?
If they throw Kwon Taehan, Im Haekyung, and Tae Hyunjin into this Gate and all three die, then who clears the next Gate???
Honestly even if Kwon and Tae go in as tanks, at least Im should stay behindㅇㅇ Haeseong still needs management too
Comments
― If they can’t clear this Gate, there won’t be a next one. Do you not understand that?
― Holy shit you people are stupidㅋㅋㅋ all three have to go inㅋㅋㅋ that’s literally the duty of S-ranks. You all worship them like gods every day so obviously they should go, dumbassesㅋㅋㅋ
└ You completely missed the point. This isn’t about worship, it’s about everyone dying if another Gate appears
― Even if only two go in, it shouldn’t be Kwon and Tae together. One of them has to go with Im. Kwon/Tae are both attack-types and Im’s the only mental-type. You need balanced attributes. If only Im survives and then an attack-type-required Dungeon appears, who’s gonna clear it?
└ Idiot. If Im dies then who runs Haeseong?
└ Running Haeseong isn’t the issueㅋㅋㅋ Even if they throw every Haeseong Hunter into the current Dungeon there’s no guarantee it can even be cleared, what the fuck are you talking about
Im Haekyung should take point
The country’s hyped Im Haekyung up this much, maybe it’s time to actually do some work
Comments
― This is kindaㅋㅋ Im Haekyung’s literally number one in domestic Gate clears
└ Kwon Taehan surpassed that ages ago
└ Just checked, Im Haekyung reclaimed the record recently
― Im Haekyung stans are so insane that if Im Haekyung dies it’d become a national disaster in a totally different senseㅋㅋㅋ
└ Who gives a fuck?
― I kinda feel bad for Im Haekyung. If they’d never awakened and just became an actor with that face, they wouldn’t be getting told to go die by a bunch of inferiority-complex losersㅠㅠ
└ They’re already worshipped more than celebrities now, what difference would it make?
└ The desperate whining of someone who’s never been adored once in their lifeㅠㅠ
Kwon Taehan’s dereliction of duty is the real problem
What’s this bastard even been doing lately?
Comments
― He’ll probably go clear it this time. Sending in Kwon/Im is the cleanest setup while Tae Hyunjin stays behind
― Sleeping
└ ?
― Meeting his boyfriend
└ Fuckㅋㅋㅋ
└ But seriously, is that guy who’s always picking Kwon Taehan up actually his boyfriend?
└ Nah nah, rumor says he’s some chaebol illegitimate child. Probably sponsorship if you think about it
└ Who the fuck is sponsoring whoㅋㅋㅋ
└ Between a chaebol bastard and an S-rank Hunter, I’m pretty sure the S-rank Hunter’s richerㅋㅋㅋ
└ Seriously? That’s disgusting
― Kwon Taehan’s mental state looked really bad
└ Come on; has Kwon Taehan ever looked mentally stable?
└ Actually yeah, wasn’t his condition insanely good for like two years?
The world’s literally ending and you idiots are still posting online
Your lives are pathetic as hell
Comments
― People are acting like this because it really feels like the world’s ending
― Who cares if it’s pathetic? We’re all gonna die soon anyway
***
Kwon Taehan stayed shut inside the house for quite a long time before eventually leaving to clear a Gate.
It happened just as he climbed into the car.
Knock knock.
Someone tapped on the window, and then a hand landed against the glass.
Kwon Taehan absentmindedly turned toward it—
and his eyes immediately widened.
Even while performing the simple act of rolling down the window, his hands trembled violently.
“S-Seo Jehyun....”
I reached my arm through the open window, unlocked the doors, and walked around toward the passenger seat.
Kwon Taehan silently watched me climb into the car, and the instant I sat down, he abruptly grabbed my arm.
“Where... no, I mean, why didn’t you come back all this time?”
“Taehan, that’s not the important part right now. Drive.”
“You....”
I casually manipulated the car navigation system and entered an address.
Then, meeting Kwon Taehan’s unwavering stare directly, I warned him,
“Listen to me.”
“.......”
At that moment, a massive warning window filled Kwon Taehan’s vision.
Warning
Save the world from destruction.
Kwon Taehan’s eyes widened at the bright red warning window.
His foot, which had been pressing the accelerator, abruptly slammed the brakes instead.
Noticing the subtle reaction, I grabbed Kwon Taehan by the shoulders and repeated myself.
“Taehan, maybe focus on driving?”
The car exited the parking garage and headed toward the address I had entered.
Even then, warning windows continuously flooded directly in front of Kwon Taehan’s eyes like malfunctioning pop-ups.
Warning
Save the world from destruction.
Warning
Save the world from destruction.
Warning
Save the world from destruction.
Eventually I bullied Kwon Taehan into pulling over to the roadside and switched into the driver’s seat myself.
While blankly watching me drive, he asked,
“Where are we going?”
“Somewhere far away from the Gates.”
“...What?”
I drove quickly while answering,
“I’m not saying sit the whole fight out. Just enter one day later. Nothing’s even properly organized yet anyway.”
“What the hell were you doing all this time?”
“.......”
“Jehyun....”
“Taehan, we agreed not to suspect each other.”
Could this really be called suspicion?
Still, one thing was certain. That sentence had stopped Kwon Taehan’s suspicions every single time.
“You....”
He began speaking as though he had countless things to say, but eventually only turned his head away.
After driving for a long while, we arrived at an apartment.
Once we parked and entered the residence, I shrugged off my jacket and spoke to Kwon Taehan.
“Stay here until tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“People are gonna come looking for you. Since it’s a national disaster situation, if you stay there, they’ll forcibly deploy you into the Gate.”
“Even if they deploy me... I can clear it.”
“Yeah. I know.”
I answered absentmindedly.
Kwon Taehan faltered at my response before striding straight toward me. I stared right back at him, wondering if he was about to grab me by the collar.
But instead of punching me—
he forcefully dragged me into a fierce embrace.
The hug was so violent it landed with a dull impact.
“I imagined the worst. You....”
“You thought I died?”
“.......”
Instead of hugging him back, I removed the garter strapped to my thigh for artifact storage and tossed it onto the floor.
Even after I removed every other uncomfortable attachment piece by piece, Kwon Taehan’s arms remained tightly wrapped around me.
“You crying?”
“.......”
No answer came back.
I felt along Kwon Taehan’s cheek, grabbed his jaw, and forcibly tilted his head downward.
Now that he could actually feel my body heat, reality must have finally sunk in. He had apparently been crying this entire time.
I quietly stared at him before brushing away his tears with my thumb.
“Hey... at least tell me before you leave....”
It was only a short sentence, but his crying distorted it badly enough that it was difficult to understand.
I studied him for a moment before cupping his cheek.
His face was a mess.
At that moment, another enormous warning window flooded Kwon Taehan’s vision.
Warning!
Save the world from destruction!
After seeing it, Kwon Taehan slowly pulled away from me.
Two things mattered to Kwon Taehan.
One was his conviction.
The other was... “me.”
In a voice still hoarse from crying, he spoke.
“Stay here and hide. Then... I’ll go. I’m an S-rank Hunter. What if another Dungeon Break happens right now?”
“What if? Then things get troublesome.”
“They can’t! What if everyone dies....”
“Taehan. There’s only one Dungeon right now anyway.”
“What?”
I cut him off.
Still not understanding, Kwon Taehan stared at me blankly and asked again,
“What do you mean one?”
“Exactly what I said. There’s only one Dungeon. There are just multiple Gates.”
“.......”
“They’re all connected. Everyone probably knows by now.”
“...What?”
Warning windows and my face alternated endlessly inside Kwon Taehan’s field of vision.
He looked at me with shaking eyes before quietly asking,
“...How do you know that?”
“We agreed not to suspect each other.”
“I’m asking. ...What the hell have you been doing all this time?”
“Even if I explained it, you wouldn’t understand.”
My answer was firm.
At that, Kwon Taehan’s hand tightly seized my arm.
He gripped hard enough that the skin reddened beneath his fingers.
“Why do you think that?”
“.......”
“I understand you! No matter what you do, I can accept it. You just have to explain it to me. Even if I can’t understand it at first, I’ll still try to.”
His breathing was still uneven from crying moments earlier.
After clamping his mouth shut for a moment, he unexpectedly continued.
“I know you’re a little strange. Even so... even so, I don’t care. Why wouldn’t I understand you? I understand everything you say. And I know you’re worried about me too, Seo Jehyun!”
“.......”
What ridiculous nonsense.
This bastard who claimed he “understood” me while knowing absolutely nothing....
And the even more ridiculous part was—
Kwon Taehan genuinely looked like he understood me.
How could something so irrational exist?
“I” had repeated life over and over, trying to understand thoughts and emotions that changed with only the slightest variations each round—yet even when it was always Kwon Taehan’s first time, he still understood me every single time.
'Ah.... Must be nice?'
“I” slowly lowered Kwon Taehan’s hand.
“I understand you too.”
“If you understand me, then explain things to me.”
“.......”
Our gazes collided in midair.
Kwon Taehan spoke first.
“Seo Jehyun, I thought about it too. After everything’s over... even if the world becomes peaceful again, I still can’t live without you....”
“.......”
“You told me to build a family? You already became all that yourself. You’re my friend, my family... you took every place already. How am I supposed to stay normal without you? That makes no sense.”
“.......”
“You planning to die after everything ends? Why do you keep saying you’re bored....”
“.......”
Warning!
Save the world from destruction!
My gaze slowly drifted past Kwon Taehan into empty space.
As though I were staring directly at the warning window itself.
At that moment, Kwon Taehan tightly grabbed my shoulders.
Back when he first awakened, his body had been thin, but now he had grown solid enough to look impressive. He had probably gotten a little taller too.
The angle of our eyes, once slightly uneven, had become almost identical.
After a long stretch of time where I could not tell whether he was holding back tears or simply holding his breath, Kwon Taehan stared deeply at me.
“Seo Jehyun.”
“.......”
“Jehyun....”
Another long silence followed.
After staring at Kwon Taehan for a very long time with an unreadable expression—whether I wanted to break the silence or not—I finally asked,
“You want to go to the Gate?”
“.......”
“Yeah.... Well, I guess we can just do it one more time.”
“.......”
“I’ll take you there.”
And in that exact moment, I felt a sense of wrongness stronger than anything before.
'Why?'
When people repeated life over and over, their personalities naturally wore down.
I had witnessed that firsthand through the original story.
Humanity disappeared, lives gradually became lighter, and eventually only the goal remained while everything else lost significance.
If that was true—
then had I lost my humanity too while repeating life?
I removed Kwon Taehan’s hand from my shoulder and slowly picked up the jacket lying on the floor.
Then Kwon Taehan grabbed my shoulder again.
I obediently turned toward him and saw Kwon Taehan standing beneath the ceiling light, blocking it from view.
The distance between us was close.
Though we had rarely kept much distance in the first place, so it did not particularly bother me.
With emotions surging in his eyes—
yes, emotions I could never fully read—
Kwon Taehan stared at me for a long time before lowering his head.
Everything that followed felt instantaneous, and at the same time unbearably, impossibly slow.
Kwon Taehan approached as if he intended to hug me again, hesitated briefly, then twisted his head after overcoming a moment of inner conflict.
After a light collision, Kwon Taehan pulled away and stared at me with a completely flushed face.
“.......”
“.......”
A bizarre silence passed.
Then I set my jacket back down and grabbed Kwon Taehan by the jaw.
“I” leaned closer as though about to kiss him too—
before pausing.
“This part really is the first time....”
Did he mean his first kiss?
If so, then what variable this time had caused Kwon Taehan to develop emotions like this?
'Ah....'
Being unable to understand was exhausting.
But in the first place, I had never been someone capable of understanding everything.
Nor was I someone who only acted after understanding everything.
Honestly, there was not enough time left to even discuss understanding anymore.
When our lips touched again, Kwon Taehan was still stiff with tension.
As if it truly were his “first” time.